Time with family

We had a wonderful time being with our family for a few days.  We were able to see everyone and it was such a blessing.  Of course our reason for being there was very bittersweet, but we were ever so thankful for being able to go.  The Lord provided in every single way possible.  We had great traveling days which was huge.  We only had a little snow on our way to AL.  We rested well in hotels.  It was all just a blessing.

Celebration

Pa, my granddad, for the last 25 years went to be with Jesus on January 12.  He was 94 years old and served the Lord faithfully till his last breath.  He prayed for people consistently.  He loved people unconditionally.  He was a wonderful husband to my grandmother.  He loved his family so well.  He meant SO much to us all and he will be greatly missed, but we truly rejoice that he is residing with our Father in Heaven.


We celebrated his life this past Saturday and the Lord provided for our family to be there.  I cannot explain the gratefulness we had to be there.  It was indeed a wonderful celebration of his life here on earth.

Persistent

Persistent is my word for this year!


Persistent- persisting, especially in spite of opposition, obstacles, discouragement, etc.; persevering.  Lasting or enduring tenaciously.


I pray with the Lord's help I will be more persistent this year and forever actually.


I want to be persistent in my Bible reading, praying for others, praying for myself to grow spiritually, praying for revival in our church family, praying for people to come to know the Lord as their Savior, making healthy eating choices, exercise, being a Godly wife and mom, and in my own studies.


Now, I may not be very persistent with this blog, but I will try:)


Be blessed!!

Our Christmas Tree

We usually put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.  The girls are always SO excited to decorate it.  They are huge helpers now that they are older.  They helped put it together, decorate it, and clean up the mess afterwards.  We managed to only break one ornament!  They did a great job.  It looks so good!

New Nephew

My sister had her precious baby boy about 3 weeks ago.  He is absolutely adorable.  I was able to watch his birth via Skype, which was wonderful.  Eron had a really great pregnancy and delivery, thankfully.  I can't wait to hold sweet little Drew.  Love them all:)

Catch Up

I've been a real slacker with this blog.  It's not that I don't have time, it's that the extra time I do have, I do other things, like study.  I'm not quite into the blogging as I use to be either.  I don't really have a reason why, I'm just not, but I do still want to have things recorded here for the girls, especially.  I will continue to post, but probably not a whole lot.  I also don't use my camera anymore, just my phone.  I have no idea how to get my phone pics onto the computer, so I just get my pics from FB and put them on here!


We had a really great Thanksgiving.  We had a Thanksgiving celebration with our church family the Sunday before, with a wonderful service.  We spent Thanksgiving day with some sweet friends who include us with their family regularly.  We all took school and work off for Thursday and Friday.  It was very nice to just chill and be together.


I've gotten almost all of my Christmas shopping done, which is SO nice.


The big girls had their well visits today and both got great reports and we are so very thankful.


I did 3 weeks of CrossFit, which I was loving...... and injured my back doing deadlifts.  Ugh!  I spent a week on the couch, and it was the week of Thanksgiving.  Sooooo, no exercising and extra eating= not good:)   I'm trying to make up for it now that I'm feeling better.


We are decorating the church this Friday, which the girls look forward to every year!


We are looking forward to another school break here in a couple of weeks!


All 3 girls are still doing great in school and gymnastics.  It's actually really cool to see how much they learn and how far they have come in gymnastics too.  Very proud of all 3 of them.


That's all I can think of for now........until next time:):):)

Grace

Our pastor began leading our church on a Journey through the Epistles beginning in November that will last through December.  We are all reading the same section of Scripture each day and sharing what it means to us or how it encourages us.  We recently finished up Romans and although I've read the Bible through on many occasions, I've never really paid close attention to just how much grace is focused on in this book.  I have to say I was/am completely overwhelmed by God's grace in my life.


I feel as though I've kind of lived in a sweet little bubble all of my life.  That's not to say I haven't been through difficult times, because I have.  It's not to say my life has been all peachy, because it certainly hasn't.  It's not to say I've always done good and made wise decisions, because that couldn't be farther from the truth.  It does say however, that now more than ever, I recognize God's goodness and grace in my life from the time I was born. I was born and raised in a Christian family.  I was raised in church all of my life.  I married a man who loves the Lord and has grown SO much since the time I met him, it's absolutely incredible, because he desires to be closer to the Lord each and every day for His glory and honor.  That man is a wonderful pastor, so a lot of our life revolves around church and Christians.  Now, not all Christians act like Christians, but that's where grace comes in of course.


I see and hear lots of things in this world that people have gone through or are going through and sometimes it still just blows my mind even though I know evil and sin exist in this fallen world in which we live.  I think it kind of goes back to that bubble:)  While I can find it difficult to relate to some people and where they've been or where they are, I wouldn't trade my raising or my life now for anything in this world.  I'm am SO beyond grateful that God placed me in the family I was raised in and gave me the husband and kids that He has.  He is a great God and I never want to take His wonderful blessings for granted.


Hard times will come, and I want to praise Him.
Good times will be had, and I want to praise Him.
Doubts will arise, and I want to praise Him.


Thank you Lord for your goodness, grace, mercy, forgiveness, discipline (although it doesn't feel nice at the time), and love!  May I grow closer to You daily, and bring You much Glory!

Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous.  He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.  Romans 3:24