Palm Sunday

I LOVE Easter. What a joyous time to remember who we are and what we have been given. Our kids came home from church yesterday swinging their palms that they got during the worship service, and I was singing "Hosanna" right along with them!

Picture it. . . Christ is riding into Jerusalem to take his place and proclaim his kingdom. Everyone is yelling, singing and praising him, and only Jesus knows why he is truly there. In the middle of all this rejoicing, he knows what he is about the face. Amid all the love and celebration, he knows that these people will ultimately betray him. How often I do the same thing. I celebrate Christ, I sing his praises, I adore him and love him - as long as I think he is on my side. As long as I think he's going to defeat my proverbial Romans. But when his plans turn out to be something a little different than I had imagined, I start to wonder if he's for real. But then I remember Easter. The reason for hope. Because Christ is who he said he is. He is God, our creator, who came to earth to become like us so that he could take the punishment for OUR sins - not his own. And when he came into Jerusalem that Passover, he knew all this - even though the people didn't! They were praising who they thought Christ was.

For a really great discussion on Christ's words on "Palm Sunday", check out Logan's blog. And take the time this week to think about who Christ really is. He is God, who made himself into the likeness of a man, so that he could take the guilt and judgment of God the Father onto himself to pay the impossible penalty for man. The penalty for sin that we are completely unable to pay for ourselves, because only something perfect can pay it. Only something as spotless and pure as God Himself is perfect enough to satisfy the anger and wrath that the Father feels for our sin. And Christ took this anger and wrath onto himself. Anyone who calls out to Him, admits that they are a sinner who cannot work hard enough to get rid of their guilt, and trusts that the Father will accept the sacrifice that Christ made for them - they can have hope. A hope that can only come from knowing that they are forgiven completely and made into a child of God. Accepted by Him as if they had never sinned. Hallelujah! I LOVE Easter!

The Things They Say!

I just wanted to share something Asa said to me the other day! I have been pretty sick for about a week with a head and chest cold that I just can't kick. (I remember being a kid and feeling very helpless and confused whenever my parents were sick, and I can see those same feelings reflected in my kid's eyes.) Well, my cough progressed enough that I needed to go to the doctor and I took Asa with me. We went to Kroger afterward to get my prescriptions filled. As I'm waiting at the counter, Asa is browsing the shelves looking at all the medicines, bottles and pills. He walks up to me after a pretty bad coughing spell and says very seriously and a little put out, "Well Mom, I guess we can thank Satan for all this!" It was hysterical. (Of course, we had to talk about the responsibility that Adam and Eve carried in the fall, and how we can't blame only Satan for all the sin and pain in our hearts and in the world) He's such a character. I love the things my kids say as they get older and start making connections and figuring out the world!

Winter!

I can't believe it was 4 days ago that I was writing my ode to spring. I think the Lord was giving me a few beautiful days to refill my tank in order to persevere through this weekend! Who knew that a record breaking snow fall was coming? I don't think I've ever seen so much snow in my life. Although Logan and I weren't set on moving to Bermuda, I must admit that it sounds pretty awesome right about now! I'm posting some pictures of the family playing in the winter wonderland!

Caroline had alot of fun experimenting with the snow. Right after I gave her to Asa, he promptly put her belly-down into the snow! She didn't quite know what to think about that!

We tried unsuccessfully to sled. The snow was so deep that we just sank down and weren't able to go anywhere!

Logan and our neighbor Mike were able to get out to the grocery store after the snow stopped. They said the aisles were bare of the essentials. But Logan was able to find some Cadbury eggs, so all was not lost! And we were able to get to church today . . . although I must admit the temptation of slippery roads and time change was pretty strong! It's about 40 degrees and the snow is slowely melting, and it's so beautiful having the sun glint off the snow and seeing the drips everywhere like a thousand glistening crystals!

Spring?

When Logan and I first moved to Louisville, it was in the middle of dreary winter. The weather in Charleston the week before we moved was 89 degrees and we have a picture of newborn Asa at the beach! Kentucky seemed a million miles away from everything pleasant. But. . . then spring came, and I can still remember the awe I felt at how beautiful it is here in spring. Charleston is beautiful when the azaleas are blooming, but I have never seen so much color as in Louisville in the spring. Kentucky is called the Bluegrass State for a reason. All this to say, I now love spring (even though we live in the Ohio River Valley and the notorious allergy capital of the universe.), and there is nothing more wonderful than the first spring-like days after many weeks crammed into an apartment with 3 kids!

We first felt the wonder of the days on the way home from church on Sunday when the kids begged to put back the sunroof. It was 65 degrees with a light breeze - Heaven!! Asa spent some time riding his bicycle (which he taught himself to ride after getting tired of waiting for Mom and Dad to teach him!) As a side note, Maddie learned to bowl this weekend. She went to a birthday party at a bowling alley, and although there are now some dents in the lane that weren't there before, she got the hang of it and was thrilled when she knocked down some pins! We played outside until the sun went down and spent time visiting with neighbors that we haven't seen much of over the winter.

After hearing the rainy weather forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday, I decided to head to the zoo for some time in the sun on Monday. We went with my neighbor Marcy and her son Zane. We had such a great time and the kids were thrilled to run and play and be loud as much as they wanted. The highlight of the day was lunchtime. We chose a place where the wild ducks and geese hang out, so Maddie and Asa spent the time feeding the geese their lunch. It was so fun and such a great time to enjoy the beautiful day! Caroline had never seen a real-life duck/goose (what's the difference when you're 1) before. She's only seen them in pictures, and she was SO excited to see them swimming around. She started yelling "Du, Du, Du" and laughing! All the other animals weren't of much interest to her yet, but she loved the ducks! As we were driving home it started to rain, so we planned the trip perfectly!

Asa and Maddie posing in their distinctive ways!

Asa loved feeding the geese. You can see in the background how the other people eating in the area felt about having the geese wandering around.

Maddie was more interested in the geese eating her lunch than in eating it herself!

Caroline was so glad to get out of her stroller and stretch her legs a bit!

Zane and Caroline watching the ducks as Maddie feeds them!

Zane and Caroline enjoying the day!

This one is just for fun! This is an example of what happens to a youngest child when they are at the mercy of their siblings!

Caroline's Birthday

Now and Then

We had another milestone this past weekend (Feb. 24). Our little tiny baby girl turned 1 year old on Sunday. I am amazed at how quickly this year has gone by, and I am also amazed at how many changes happen in that first year. Her personality is really developing, and while she has moments of exerting herself, she is a sweet tempered, smiley, happy baby. These pictures show how much change a year brings! Our orange Oompah-Loompah (brought on by jaundice) is now so big and healthy. There aren't many signs pointing to her walking anytime soon, but that's okay! Her favorite things are dogs (da-da), her daddy (da-da) and mommy (da-da). She's not sure of the cold (brrr) but loves every kind of food put in front of her (mmmmm). As you can tell, she's brilliant!

Unfortunately, the Preston family was struck by the plague this weekend as well. Asa started having stomach "issues" Friday night and shared his problems with Caroline. We couldn't figure out why she wasn't interested in her birthday dinner. And we were especially confused by her lack of excitement about her cake. Well. . . about 2 hours later we found out why she wasn't interested. The poor girl couldn't keep anything down and finished the night by falling asleep in my arms. Some Birthday! She is happier now and had her 1 year visit to the doctor today (she got 3 shots - she's going to think that being 1 is the pits!) She is over 20 pounds which means her car seat can turn around, so she can now see where she's going instead of where she's been. She is enjoying her birthday presents so much more now than she did on Sunday! And we were happy to attend church service tonight for the first time in 3 weeks. Our kids are very generous . . when one gets sick they happily share it among themselves!! Here are some pictures of Caroline's birthday! Hope you enjoy!

Playing with Aunt Becky's pretty ribbon . . um, I mean present!

We didn't know at the time that she was sick, so we couldn't figure out why she was screaming so bad. We had to sing "Happy Birthday" twice so she could hear us.

"HMMM...maybe I can be convinced to try the cake."

She couldn't decide between her fingers or the cake, so she tried both at the same time.

What good 1st birthday celebration doesn't end up with a bath? Of course, this was bath #1 out of 3 since she threw up all over herself after this, and then pooped in the bathtub during bath #2!

Update

A popular question for us lately has been, "What's going on with the ministry?" Are we moving to Bermuda, are we staying here, what are we doing? I wanted to use this blog as an opportunity to update everyone.

Basically, we have no idea what the Lord is doing or going to do with our lives. We are still in the 2 bedroom apartment, because everytime we try to move, something comes up to prevent us moving. But the Lord is abounding in grace to us. We are content (most days) and peaceful living here until he "allows" us to move. We have had 2 churches where Logan has candidated for positions, and in both cases, although they didn't work out and that was painful, the Lord grew our faith and our dependence on him, and for that we are thankful. Looking back on both situations we see how we have grown and changed through the process. Also, they both gave us a clarity in what to look for in the future as possible pitfalls and cautions in ministry positions. We have learned not to presume that the Lord is doing a certain thing because his path for us is not always the obvious one or the smooth and easy one. Basically, we've grown up alot!

Although we try to minimize any hope about future positions that we hear about (who wouldn't get excited about moving to Bermuda??), we are getting really excited about an opportunity that has come up in Boone, NC. Although it's early to say too much, Logan has had a really encouraging first phone interview and we're (gasp!) hopeful! Our first friends when we moved to Louisville (the Burnses) are serving at this church and feel that we would be a good fit for the children and families pastorate opening. Please be praying about this. We truly desire to be serving the Lord full-time, but we are trying to stay open to whatever his plan is for us. He has made his path completely obvious to us with every church we've interviewed with, and our prayer is that he will continue to do so. We'll keep everyone updated. And certain people (you know who you are) had better stop praying against every position that comes up!! :)

Bermuda

As many of you know, in November Logan and I took a trip to Bermuda to check out a church there. We (Logan, Caroline and I - the older kids stayed with my parents) had a wonderful 9 days of relaxation, fellowship and awe at the wonders and beauty of God's creation. Our first sights when getting there were of the incredibly blue ocean and bright colorful houses with white roofs. The roofs were painted that way because their water supply was from the rain - off the roofs into underground storage tanks. Logan and I were very careful to inspect someone's roof before accepting a glass of tap water. The pastor thought I was entertaining as I marvelled at the beautiful plants and flowers growing everywhere, wild aloe plants as big as a house, banana trees (who knew they didn't come from Kroger?), and chickens and cats running wild everywhere. When we arrived at our room, we discovered a house owned by a Christian couple with the downstairs room converted into "hotel" rooms. Our room was located on the backside of the house, overlooking a cliff with a panoramic view of the ocean. Sublime! Everyone was concerned that we would be cold in their 70 degree weather, but we'd just left the 30s, so we assured them that we would be just fine!

I can honestly say that I have never met nicer people in all my life. The church there was so full of joy, and the fellowship was amazing. They cared for us and loved us as their own even though they didn't know the purpose of our trip. We had so many wonderful experiences (bike tour of the country, the beach, eating in peoples homes, church meetings, shopping, a hair-raising trip on a ferry through a hurricane (ok, it was a mist and some wind, but it was SCARY!) We will never forget our experience there and praise God for the opportunity to be encouraged by a wonderful body of believers. Please be praying for the church there. They are experiencing many trials as the elders try to determine the future direction of the church. Although we are not going to minister with these people, we love them and pray for them often. I thought I would post some of the pictures for you to enjoy. This picture is of Logan, Pastor Troy and Caroline.

The view from our front yard right after a storm.

Caroline had no idea the danger she was in on this ferry that we were promised would be "as smooth as glass". "You won't feel a thing," they said. Huh! Notice the dark clouds looming on the horizon!

"The official tip of the Bermuda Triangle" - we barely escaped with our lives!

My attempt at a postcard cover