In whom I Delight

wow! God is amazing!He is the creator of all things and i just love being apart taking pictures of his creations.

i had the lovely opportunity to have fun and take a couple of pictures of my friend Nikki and her newborn Landon. All though in these pictures he isn't so newborn he is actually 3 weeks old. This sweet little boy was born 4 weeks early, but he was perfectly healthy and absolutely adorable. Enjoy!

who doesn't love gifts? i love giving gifts and i love receiving gifts. it doesn't even have to be much, a letter or some delicious tea. definitely one of my top love languages. but wow i was blindsided this afternoon by my daughter. i love her so much. there are some things that i don't have to tell my son not to do because he just understands from observing, my daughter on the other hand. well, she isn't the most observant little girl. she is passionate, emotional, sensitive, and well just does what she wants when she wants... and i have to remember that even though i'm more like caleb, joy isn't wrong in her way of thinking.

so with all that said, my daughter picked the heads of newly and not quite bloomed daffodils in the front yard. the only slight presence of spring. she came in running inside with them in her hands yelling, "mommy mommy mommy, i have pretty yellow flowers for you!" (now I was going to mention to them not to touch the flowers before i came inside, but i figured they are old enough that they would look & smell, not pick) so, i yelled out, "no no no joy" then i caught myself and held my tongue. she is bringing me a gift. they only way she knows how. i buy her a flower from the market when we go shopping, because she loves fresh flowers in her bedroom. here she is only trying to do the same for me. it was so hard at first for me to set my own feelings aside and see really her heart behind the act. she was trying to be thoughtful. i love my little girl!

"for everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving."

-timothy 4:4

 

so it started out with this question. "can we play with play-doh?" now all i am thinking about at this point is how i let them play with play-doh last week and it ended up being the messiest experience yet. so my answer was quickly, "no". at this point they are digging thru my craft cabinet in the kitchen. that is never a good sign. next question, "can't we put together this plane model and paint it?" yikes now i'm thinking about how long that could take and well we are trying stay with in the small time period of rowan's nap. so of course my answer is "no, sorry that takes way too long." now, i'm like trying to encourage them to go play down in the play room or find some books to read. my kids were not having that. they absolutely love art & crafts. so another question came out of my sweet son's mouth nervously, "so so um..maybe we can paint?" oh man. i love to paint. i love art. i just doing like doing art with little kids. haha. 

1) i'm a little bit of a control freak. i always seem to want to take over there projects or encourage them to do it the "right" way.  2) creates such big mess. you have to pull out so much and well my house is already a mess i don't really like adding to it.

i know. not really good enough reasons to not let them paint. that came to me quickly too . i needed to be thinking about how they would really enjoy getting to experiment with colors, eye and hand coordination, allowing to them express feelings through art, and that i could even make it into a little art/bible lesson. ok...so letting go. letting go to control. 

so not only did this become a lesson for the kids, but it was a lesson for me as well. we had so much fun. 

i am reading this great book called Sitting At The Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg. they point out, which i never knew, that king solomon was cover with expensive perfumes before riding a mule through town. it was a way people could recognize royalty. they would be able to smell the perfume as they would pass through the streets. and to see the amazing parallel of mary covering Jesus in expensive perfumes and incenses before riding on a donkey through jerusalem. the people shouted "hosanna! hosanna! blessed is the king of israel!" even they knew the Jesus was royalty. they didn't just view Him as an ordinary man, but a king.

what i can't imagine is the fact that the perfume would have lingered with him for days. all the way to the day he was taken to the cross. i mean. these guards were beating a man that smelled like royalty. they probably wondered who really is this man before them. 

^" But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are an aroma that brings death; to the other, an aroma that brings life."

-2 Corinthians 2:14-16

i just love this little piece of scripture. we are that sweet aroma to christ. ahh i love it! it makes me think of how a little bouquet of flowers in my kitchen can spread so much sweet aroma through out my home. how we also need to go out and spread christ's sweet aroma. 

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ray

we also had tim's grandparents from north carolina come into town for the weekend. they were here in grand rapids for the day before heading back up north to big rapids. amos got to meet them for the first time and that was pretty exciting. these grandparents were huge in helping tim and i start dating->engaged->married. they lived 20 minutes away from my home in nc. so there was a lot of back and forth from their home and mine while i was living in nc. it was such a blessing having that time and forming such a great relationship with them.  

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Happy  Birthday Amos!

Loved being able to celebrate with you!so thankful you are apart of this family now!

  

wow. what a day. to reflect on Jesus and to be thankful that he laid His life on the cross for us. i have had this song in my head all day and then my grandmother also sent me this great video from youtube with it in it. so i thought i would share the lyrics...

Lead me to the Cross

Savior I come

Quiet my soul remember

Redemptions hill

Where Your blood was spilled

For my ransom

Everything I once held dear

I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross

Where Your love poured out

Bring me to my knees

Lord I lay me down

Rid me of myself

I belong to You

Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I

Tempted and trialed

You are

The word became flesh

Bore my sin and death

Now you're risen 

To your heart

To your heart

Lead me to your heart

Lead me to your heart

our friends, the loverin's, host this beautiful celebration today call the Feast of Remembrance. i loved everything about it. where a bunch of friends come together to share a meal much like the passover with specific items 

lamb: the sacrifice to spare the homes of israelites in Egypt

bitter herbs: remembrance of slavery in Egypt

unleavened bread: the israelites left egypt quickly so they did not have time to make with leaven at their first passover

we also shared trials that the Lord has brought us thru in the last year and where He is leading us

it was such a great reminder to look back to see where he has brought us as his "chosen people" but also individually. i know for us a year ago tim and i were in a really weird transition in our life. we had been attending resurrection church here in grand rapids, mi for 4+ years had no friends and had two kids. we both felt lonely, unsupported, and a little lost. we were brought into this bible study were we met many other young families, starting attending new church called crossroads bible church which we LOVE. started making so many amazing connections. the Lord is so good and has brought us so far as a family. 

What has the Lord brought you thru this past year? i would love to hear your story...

-ray

i find myself anxious and stressed about so many things. i am realizing more and more how much i struggle with control not just in myself but with others, especially the ones closest to me, my husband and children.  i can't just let my husband throw a load of laundry in... no no no of course not, i have to micro manage every step of the way to make sure its done exactly the way i would do.  i can't just let the kids put stickers on a piece of paper how they want; they have to be right side up. oh my!!! what am i doing? do i have little faith in my husband and children?

lately, i have been stressing about all the things coming up both this summer and fall. caleb starts kindergarten. joy starts preschool. a very intense israel trip. and the list goes on & on. i have started doubting decisions we made a while ago. how are we going to make all this happen? i was talking to tim about everything that was weighing me down. he says, "do you not trust me? do you not have faith that i will figure it out or better that God will provide?" wow. i never thought of it as not trusting him. i quickly replied to him saying, "i do trust you", but when i honestly looked inside i knew i was doubting him and most importantly God. i felt like i was Peter on the boat looking out at Jesus walking on water saying, "command me to come out to you" i started to walk on water until the winds blew & then i started to sink - "Lord save me". he grabs me and says, "o, you of little faith, why do you doubt?"[Matthew 14:22-33] 

if you are like me i feel like i have to remind myself of the following passage frequently...

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i am so far from perfect & i have so many struggles, but i am so thankful for a God who takes on my burdens for me. who is beyond sufficient for me. thank you Lord that i don't have to worry about tomorrow!