Thoughts

"Nothing else but this seeing God in everything will make us loving and patient with those who annoy and trouble us. They will be to us then only the instruments for accomplishing His tender and wise purposes toward us, and we shall even find ourselves at last inwardly thanking them for the blessings they bring."
-Hannah Whitall Smith

I found this quote several days ago, and God keeps bringing it back to my mind. I am continually tempted to put “my plans” ahead of other people. My personality is one that likes order and schedules and lists. When someone or something gets in the way of accomplishing my list, I can become irritated. But, as Hannah Whitall Smith reminds us, everything is from the hand of God. He is above all and in all circumstances of our lives. My ministry here on this earth is not to have my to-do list complete. It is to care for and minister to those people God places in my path. And how much more wonderful it is to minister to others than to bury oneself in insignificant work.

So, do I let the housework go? Do I stop cooking and doing laundry? Unfortunately, I do not believe those are the answers either. The Bible warns against laziness too! And besides, I want our home to be a comfortable haven where we can relax, have family gatherings, and entertain friends. The answer is to put God in charge of my plans…my days…my priorities. My goal is to do the task at hand but recognize that interruptions are from God. I must abide so closely with the Lord that His plans become my plans.

I think it might take me awhile (like the rest of my life) to get this one right. Fortunately, we serve a patient and merciful God! :)

Happy Easter!

The words to this hymn have been going through my mind this morning:

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Our Sunday morning Easter get-ups

Daniel practicing for the Easter egg hunt

Daniel at his first Easter egg hunt...

He was actually more interested in watching all the other kids than in finding Easter eggs. We had fun though and thoroughly documented the experience in photos. :)

Beautiful wedding

Brian's sister, Sara, was married yesterday in a lovely ceremony. Everything was beautiful, especially the bride! And of course, their little ring bearer was too cute for words. Daniel did an excellent job...he walked right down the aisle with the little ring pillow in one hand. His tuxedo was a bit big, but he still looked very dapper.




I wish I had some more photos of the bride and groom to post. They are a gorgeous couple! Sara and Kevin, we love you!

Say cheese!

Recently Daniel has become very difficult to photograph. He is always too busy to pose for a picture! I get many shots of his back as he toddles away from me. On the rare occasion that he decides to flash those pearly whites at the camera, he becomes very cheesy. Brian and I think it is hilarious! Just look at those squinty eyes, scrunched up nose, and huge cheesy smile in the photos below.





Daniel will be the ring bearer in my sister-in-law's wedding this Saturday. Despite my love of the cheesy grins, I do hope Daniel gives one or two genuine smiles for the wedding photos! Stay tuned for photos of Daniel in a tuxedo!

5 years ago today...

Happy anniversary, Babe! I love you.

New favorite song

One True God -- Mark Harris

I don't have a God I can put on a stand
Or a God I hold in the palm of my hand
I have a God that's holding me
And I don't have a God that I can create
In the place I live with the money I make
I have a God, He made everything
So I don't need a temporary man made deity
When I got the real thing
I got the real thing

He's the Lord of all the earth
The maker of all things
He alone is the one true God
Kingdoms rise and fall
But even through it all
He remains
The one true God

I don't have a thing that I got on my own
I don't have a care that I carry alone
But I have a God who's carrying me
I don't have sin that He doesn't forgive
And I don't have a heart that is worthy of His
But I have a God who still loves me
So I don't need a temporary man made deity
When I got the real thing
I got the real thing

Who is this King of Glory
The Lord strong and mighty
Who is this King of Glory
The Lord strong and mighty
Who is this King of Glory
Who is this King of Glory

(You can listen to it from this link.)

Bathroom attraction

I am not sure why, but the bathroom is Daniel's favorite spot in the whole house. Whenever he disappears from my sight, I can almost always find him in the bathroom. He loves playing in the shower, as you can see below.

And like most little critters, Daniel is particularly fascinated with toilet paper. He also loves to flush the stool. He will go "fishing" too if the lid happens to be up. Just today, he learned to raise the lid himself, so we will soon be investing in some toilet locks. :)

He can turn the handle to run water in the bath tub too. As soon as he gets a good amount of water in the tub, he begins throwing anything he can find into it. Yesterday, he disappeared with my cell phone, and when I heard the water come on in the bathroom, I hot-footed it in there. Luckily, I saved the phone just as it was about to go in!


Daniel also loves going through all the drawers in the bathroom. We have put baby proofing devices on some of them, but he still manages to find things that he ought not to have.

I spend most the day chasing after the little man, but we have great fun! He absolutely loves playing outside with the dog, so we try to get out as often as possible. He says mama and dada, attempts to sing, and gives lots of slobbery kisses. These are good days!