God's timing can be really mysterious and perplexing. Sometimes His timing of a certain event leads us to praise Him and marvel at His goodness. Other times we are left wondering, "Why, oh, why now?" It can seem especially difficult to see what God is up to when it hurts. Even behind the things I look at and say, "C'mon! I mean, really?! Now?!" I can trust that He is sovereign and has amazing purpose, but that doesn't mean that coping with those difficulties is smooth sailing. Still, what a comfort it is to rest in the knowledge of His goodness...and in His perfect timing.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
What Timing!
God's timing can be really mysterious and perplexing. Sometimes His timing of a certain event leads us to praise Him and marvel at His goodness. Other times we are left wondering, "Why, oh, why now?" It can seem especially difficult to see what God is up to when it hurts. Even behind the things I look at and say, "C'mon! I mean, really?! Now?!" I can trust that He is sovereign and has amazing purpose, but that doesn't mean that coping with those difficulties is smooth sailing. Still, what a comfort it is to rest in the knowledge of His goodness...and in His perfect timing.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Vaca Pics Recovered!
I big thank you goes out to TJ's Photo Center, who successfully recovered ALL of our vacation pictures off of our reformatted memory card! I am so happy to have the memories of our wonderful trip preserved so well now. I know it's been quite a few weeks since our San Diego adventure, but I'd still like to share with you what a suberb time we had. I hope you enjoy!
Visiting JoeyYou can tell he doesn't quite know what to think of our spirited girls! Eliana kept wanting to "baby" him, and Evangeline kept playing with all of his toys.
SeaWorld Eliana signing "whale" just outside the "Dine with Shamu" venue.
Evangeline really loved watching the whales. She was determined to let her presence be known amongst them.
Eliana's up-close and personal encounter with a killer whale.
Having a blast at Shamu's show
We all loved petting and feeding the dolphins!
A dream come true: Eliana gets to hold a real starfish.
Of course we had to see the sharks, too! 
Chris runs a marathon This man just ran 26.2 miles. He's my hero. :)
The girls were very proud of Daddy as well.
The BeachThe girls and I were all seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
Evangeline was a big fan of the ocean. She was sure to let it know she was there. 
San Diego ZooEliana was eager, as always, to see the elephants.
As promised (Justin!), Chris made his camel face for the camera.
I'm not sure which made a bigger hit, this statue or the real hippopotamus.
Me, feeling like an elephant carrying two tired little girlsThursday, July 12, 2007
A Year of Evangeline
10 days
1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months
5 months
6 months
7 months
8 months
9 months
10 months
11 months
1 year!Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Happy 1st Birthday to the Princess!
The smallest among us celebrated her first birthday on July 5! I can't believe it's already been a year since her birth! Our precious, little girl is growing up so quickly and doing so many new things now! It's as if she understands that she's a big girl now and has decided to prove it to us. She is a walking, talking, signing fanatic! I just love to see how proud she is of herself.
She had a great first birthday! See for yourself:
She really loved opening her gifts. She kept handing me all the little pieces she tore off.
Her new walking toy. She now wants to walk everywhere! Thanks, Grandma & Grandpa! 
Blowing out the lone candle (with some help from Mommy).
Getting her first bite of cake! (For those that are interested, I made the Bunny Birthday Cake from Super Baby Food.) 
Mmm...this is good!
Back off! This is my cake!Evangeline, you are so very beautiful to me, and I thank God for making me your mommy. Happy birthday, princess!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Eliana's Wish Come True
We are back from Las Vegas! It feels so good to be home. We had the wonderful opportunity to attend a live Signing Time! show during our trip. Eliana was, of course, beside herself with excitement. Evangeline, too, was obviously excited to see Rachel and try to sign along with her. She is becoming quite the Signing Time! fan herself actually.Seeing a star-struck three-year-old has to be one of the cutest sights ever. It was such a big moment for her, and I just love that we got to do this.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
San Diego
We had a wonderful time in San Diego at the beginning of this month! Unfortunately, we lost ALL of our pictures. (None of the pictures in this post were taken by us.) Instead of crying about it, though, I'm going to share with you what we did on our trip.
The next day, we went to SeaWorld. This was definietly the highlight of our trip for Eliana. (You really should ask her about SeaWorld sometime. She has much to say about it!) SeaWorld is a fun and interesting place for anyone, but our little lover of marine life was beside herself with excitement all day long. Shamu, of course, made a big hit, so much, in fact, that we no longer have a little girl. That's right, we now have a baby whale in the family.
The following morning, husband ran his first marathon (26.2 miles)! I simply cannot express how very proud I am of him! His official time was 4 hours 54 minutes. Remember that this was in spite of the fact that we had just been walking around an amusement park the entire day before not drinking nearly enough water. What an amazing man I am married to! I love you, husband!
After relaxing in the hotel pool for a while that afternoon we dined at a nice seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean. It was my first time to see the Pacific, and we enjoyed a nice, brisk stroll by the water's edge after dinner.
The next day, we visited the world-famous San Diego Zoo. It was big, beautiful and had many different animals, the most exciting of which was the pandas. However, it was the elephants, as usual, that made the biggest impression on Eliana. We truly did enjoy our time there, but at the end of the day, it was still just a zoo. I'm glad we went, but next time I would choose to spend two days at SeaWorld.
So, that pretty much sums up our trip. The flights went relatively well. We even got to see the Grand Canyon from the sky! The Denver airport's USO was fantastic and made our travel so much more enjoyable. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us!
On our first night, we had dinner with Andy, Megan and Joey, stars of There's Treasure Everywhere. They are friends from our Albuquerque church that moved out to California last fall. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and meeting Joey for the first time. Thanks, guys!
The next day, we went to SeaWorld. This was definietly the highlight of our trip for Eliana. (You really should ask her about SeaWorld sometime. She has much to say about it!) SeaWorld is a fun and interesting place for anyone, but our little lover of marine life was beside herself with excitement all day long. Shamu, of course, made a big hit, so much, in fact, that we no longer have a little girl. That's right, we now have a baby whale in the family.
The tide pool made a big hit, too. Eliana got to hold a starfish (another favorite of hers). We also enjoyed feeding and petting the dolphins. I loved getting to see penguins and manatees for the first time ever. There was so much to see and do. I wish we had had more time. I'm already trying to think of ways to go to SeaWorld again. We all really had a wonderful, very memorable time. A big thanks to SeaWorld for the free admission!
The following morning, husband ran his first marathon (26.2 miles)! I simply cannot express how very proud I am of him! His official time was 4 hours 54 minutes. Remember that this was in spite of the fact that we had just been walking around an amusement park the entire day before not drinking nearly enough water. What an amazing man I am married to! I love you, husband!After relaxing in the hotel pool for a while that afternoon we dined at a nice seafood restaurant overlooking the ocean. It was my first time to see the Pacific, and we enjoyed a nice, brisk stroll by the water's edge after dinner.
The next day, we visited the world-famous San Diego Zoo. It was big, beautiful and had many different animals, the most exciting of which was the pandas. However, it was the elephants, as usual, that made the biggest impression on Eliana. We truly did enjoy our time there, but at the end of the day, it was still just a zoo. I'm glad we went, but next time I would choose to spend two days at SeaWorld.So, that pretty much sums up our trip. The flights went relatively well. We even got to see the Grand Canyon from the sky! The Denver airport's USO was fantastic and made our travel so much more enjoyable. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Busy Times
Whew! What a month (or so) we've had! We've been up to so much, and I haven't had a chance to blog about it! So here's my fly-by post about a little of what were up to in May:
Evangeline said her 1st word (other than "Mama" and "Dada") - "Hi!"
She has since added "Uh-oh."
She still signs "milk" a lot and has recently started signing "Daddy."
We are now up to 4 teeth!
Mother's Day
What can I say? I love my precious little girls, and I love being a mommy! Thank you, God!
Our Anniversary
Evangeline said her 1st word (other than "Mama" and "Dada") - "Hi!"
She has since added "Uh-oh."
She still signs "milk" a lot and has recently started signing "Daddy."
We are now up to 4 teeth!
Mother's Day
What can I say? I love my precious little girls, and I love being a mommy! Thank you, God!
Eliana's Birthday
My little girl is now three-years-old! Sometimes I just look at her and wonder where the time went. I thank God that I am blessed to be a part of her world!
(Don't laugh at the cake. It was husband's fault.)
Our Anniversary
Celebrating 6 years! I am still crazy, madly in love with the amazing man God chose for me. He is my best friend in all the world. I am so very grateful for our life together and pray that God will be pleased to grant us many more years together.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
10 Reasons Why I Love Worshiping With My Children
10. "From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise." Psalm 8:2
9. It's a reminder of God's Covenantal Promises. As members of the Covenant Community, children of believers have been present in formal worship down through the ages. There are plenty of Old Testament passages that tell of this, including Exodus 12:24-27, Deuteronomy 12:17-18, 29:10-13 and 31:10-13, Joshua 8:35, 2 Chronicles 20:13, and 1 Samuel 1:4. And just so there's no confusion over appropriate ages, Joel 2:15-16 calls children, to include "those nursing at the breast," to the sacred assembly.
8. My children are learning to worship and trust in the Lord even at this very young age. Recall Samuel, who had just been weaned, worshipping in the house of the Lord in 1 Samuel 1:28 (and later in his youth in 2:18 and 3:1). We also have the example of David trusting in the Lord at his mother's breast (Psalm 22:9).
7. God not only can be praised by children, He wants to be! Matthew 21:15-16 describes the Pharisees becoming indignant when children in the temple (a place of worship) shout, "Hosanna to the Son of David." Jesus, however, gladly received their praise and rebuked the religious leaders.
6. I fear the Lord. The disciples rebuked those who brought little ones to Jesus in Matthew 19:13 (also recorded in Mark 10:13 and Luke 18:15), but Jesus called the children to himself and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Luke 18:16) In Matthew 18:5, Jesus says, "Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me," but then warns in the following verse, "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea," and in verse 10, "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."
5. Children are blessings not just to their parents, but to the whole Body of Christ. Children model the kind of faith God expects of us. "I tell you the truth, unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3-4) And what a blessing it is to all of us in the Church to see His kingdom advanced by these precious gifts He has blessed us with! The reminder of children in worship can and should help us in stirring up genuine praise to God, returning our focus to God and His blessings in our lives.
4. To arouse their curiosity and bring them to ask questions. Just as one of the purposes of including children in the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread was to stir up questions from them ("What does this ceremony mean to you?" Exodus 12:26), so our worship services and observation of Sacraments offer a valuable opportunity for our children to witness and question important aspects of our faith and worship. However worship is conducted, questions will be raised. What message does it send to our children when they are sent out to play or quarantined behind glass walls during worship?
3. To cultivate a love for God and a sincere desire to worship Him. My toddler asks nearly every day to go to church and pushes us all out the door on Sunday mornings, eager to worship God. Things I have the privilege of hearing during the week include, "I want to go to God's house," "I love Jesus," "I want to give money to God," "We are in Jesus's family," "God loves me!" "I want to answer my catechism questions," "Can we read our devotion book?" "Let's sing 'Holy, Holy, Holy,'" "I want to read about Jesus!" "Jesus is at God's house. Can we go to church?"
2. To impress God's commandments on the hearts of our children. We are commanded to do this in Deuteronomy 6:7. Being such a rich source of this, surely corporate worship would be one expected means of accomplishing this. Examples of this have already been pointed out in Reason #9.
1. I see the gleam in my toddler's eyes when she listens to the proclamation of God's Word and whispers to me, "I was made for Jesus."
9. It's a reminder of God's Covenantal Promises. As members of the Covenant Community, children of believers have been present in formal worship down through the ages. There are plenty of Old Testament passages that tell of this, including Exodus 12:24-27, Deuteronomy 12:17-18, 29:10-13 and 31:10-13, Joshua 8:35, 2 Chronicles 20:13, and 1 Samuel 1:4. And just so there's no confusion over appropriate ages, Joel 2:15-16 calls children, to include "those nursing at the breast," to the sacred assembly.
8. My children are learning to worship and trust in the Lord even at this very young age. Recall Samuel, who had just been weaned, worshipping in the house of the Lord in 1 Samuel 1:28 (and later in his youth in 2:18 and 3:1). We also have the example of David trusting in the Lord at his mother's breast (Psalm 22:9).
7. God not only can be praised by children, He wants to be! Matthew 21:15-16 describes the Pharisees becoming indignant when children in the temple (a place of worship) shout, "Hosanna to the Son of David." Jesus, however, gladly received their praise and rebuked the religious leaders.
6. I fear the Lord. The disciples rebuked those who brought little ones to Jesus in Matthew 19:13 (also recorded in Mark 10:13 and Luke 18:15), but Jesus called the children to himself and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." (Luke 18:16) In Matthew 18:5, Jesus says, "Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me," but then warns in the following verse, "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea," and in verse 10, "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."
5. Children are blessings not just to their parents, but to the whole Body of Christ. Children model the kind of faith God expects of us. "I tell you the truth, unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3-4) And what a blessing it is to all of us in the Church to see His kingdom advanced by these precious gifts He has blessed us with! The reminder of children in worship can and should help us in stirring up genuine praise to God, returning our focus to God and His blessings in our lives.
4. To arouse their curiosity and bring them to ask questions. Just as one of the purposes of including children in the Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread was to stir up questions from them ("What does this ceremony mean to you?" Exodus 12:26), so our worship services and observation of Sacraments offer a valuable opportunity for our children to witness and question important aspects of our faith and worship. However worship is conducted, questions will be raised. What message does it send to our children when they are sent out to play or quarantined behind glass walls during worship?
3. To cultivate a love for God and a sincere desire to worship Him. My toddler asks nearly every day to go to church and pushes us all out the door on Sunday mornings, eager to worship God. Things I have the privilege of hearing during the week include, "I want to go to God's house," "I love Jesus," "I want to give money to God," "We are in Jesus's family," "God loves me!" "I want to answer my catechism questions," "Can we read our devotion book?" "Let's sing 'Holy, Holy, Holy,'" "I want to read about Jesus!" "Jesus is at God's house. Can we go to church?"
2. To impress God's commandments on the hearts of our children. We are commanded to do this in Deuteronomy 6:7. Being such a rich source of this, surely corporate worship would be one expected means of accomplishing this. Examples of this have already been pointed out in Reason #9.
1. I see the gleam in my toddler's eyes when she listens to the proclamation of God's Word and whispers to me, "I was made for Jesus."
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Monday, April 30, 2007
Spring Has Sprung!
We have birds! I discovered a nest in the wreath on our front door during the last week of March after hearing a bird singing at my door for hours on end. Mama bird sat faithfully on her four babies for two weeks before they hatched.
All four baby birds seemed to be doing well until one evening just over a week ago. A neighborhood cat managed to jump high enough to hit the wreath and cause it to turn on its side. Two of the baby birds fell out and were eaten. After that, we decided to intervene and move the nest (and wreath) to a higher, safer location. Mama bird returned and continued caring for the remaining two birds. They have grown so big and, I expect, will be leaving the nest soon. I'm so proud! :)
All four baby birds seemed to be doing well until one evening just over a week ago. A neighborhood cat managed to jump high enough to hit the wreath and cause it to turn on its side. Two of the baby birds fell out and were eaten. After that, we decided to intervene and move the nest (and wreath) to a higher, safer location. Mama bird returned and continued caring for the remaining two birds. They have grown so big and, I expect, will be leaving the nest soon. I'm so proud! :)
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