Sunday, January 22, 2012

Just had to share...

I am reading this book and it is amazing. I wanted to share with you something I just read that pretty much had me jumping out of my seat. This is exactly what our pastor has been preaching about at church lately and my small group has been having some great discussions on this same topic.

Excerpt from Driven by Eternity written by John Bevere

From page 82

"It's an exchange; we must give our entire life, and in place of it we get His life (nature). Jesus repeatedly communicates this:
If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interests] and take up his cross, and [joining Me as a disciple and siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me].  Mark 8:34, AMP
We are to continually cleave steadfastly to Him. It's not just a one-time prayer and then life as usaul except that you are now in the "born-again" club and are heaven bound...It's a definitive exchange; we give up our rights as owners of our lives in order to follow His desires, and in return we receive His eternal life. With the gospel that is preached today, we've not emphasized this extremely important aspect of following Jesus; we've only told the benefits. In essence, we've preached the resurrection promises without preaching the impact and decision of the Cross. "

From page 91-92

"Grace empowers us to serve God acceptably. Why have we not proclaimed the entire Gospel, just half the story? Yes, salvation is a gift--it cannot be purchased, and it cannot be earned. This is all true. However, we forgot to tell people that the only way to obtain it is to forsake all, lay down our lives confessing His lordship, and in doing this we will be empowered to live in accordance to His nature."



Just wanted to share with you what I have been learning lately about God and what it truly means to serve and follow Him. Hope you have a blessed day today and think about what you can do to serve God with your whole life.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Raise your hand...

Raise your hand if you went to the grocery store today.


Now keep your hand up if you were halfway through the produce section before you realized the zipper on your pants was unzipped!

Oh, was I the only one that happened to? Cool! ;)

Have a good day!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Snow!

We got a nice amount of snow just after Christmas...or maybe it was before. Either way we got to play in the snow and we had a great time! The video is really cute of Harper. Josh was being goofy and wore my coat so don't worry, he really does have a winter coat that fits! :)

 


 

Sunday, January 15, 2012

God is good!

Lots of prayer going on around here for so many different people and situations. Sometimes it is hard when we feel like there is nothing we can do but really, prayer is all that we can do and it is the best thing to do in those situations.

I have really been enjoying our sunrises lately! God is reminding me so much of his infinite greatness and his great love for us. I pray that nothing will keep me from loving and living for Him each day.

Taken this morning from our back door!

2 Corinthians 4:1-9 (NIV)

 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 
Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. 
On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Lamentations 3:21-23 (NIV)

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 


Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Christmas Photos

Have you ever tried to take Christmas photos at the last minute before you take down your Christmas tree?
Well, here are ours. We had to get something formal with Harper since it was her first Christmas!



girls-christmas2011-2 girls-christmas2011

Monday, January 9, 2012

Christmas in Michigan

We celebrated an early Christmas in Michigan and had a great time. One of the highlights of our trip was visiting Frankenmuth and going to Bronner's. If you are ever in Michigan, you need to go. It is Christmas all year long!

We have been pretty bad with using our camera lately, probably because we are too busy enjoying the moment and making memories and the camera isn't always part of the moment!


The best picture of 4! Notice, my [hot] babywearing husband!
christmascollage1
Avalyn & Grace; Tucker; Jackson; Aunt Joyce & Avalyn

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Currently

Working on: Wool Longies for baby Beckett. Magic Loop method for knitting two legs at once.
Reading: Driven by Eternity by John Bevere. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.
Cooking: Cheeseburger Salad. The name sounds a little weird but it is worth a try. It was delicious!
Baking: Artisan Bread from this book.



Wednesday, January 4, 2012

My Handmade Christmas

I had a lot of fun making Christmas gifts this year. Thanks to Josh for making it possible for me to make so many things! He has sat through many a movie or TV show so that I can crochet or knit. And taken care of the girls so I can have time to sew. Not to mention his providing the funding for these projects!
;)
So...way back when Josh and Avalyn went to Michigan for hunting season I stitched up 7 pillow covers out of some Ikea curtains that my sister gave me. I thought the metallic style fabric looked festive for the holiday season and it matched our current color scheme. I also made three owl pillows for Avalyn, Harper, and Grace (our niece) for Christmas gifts. There were some pajama pants for Avalyn and a dress for Harper - upcycled from some old t-shirts! I also sewed up a purse that I had cut out over 6 months ago. The purse took way too long to sew but it turned out pretty nice.
Those are all pictured here, Harper is wearing the dress and playing with the pillows.

 

I, with a little help from my mom, crocheted these toy airplanes for our nephew Kody and made this little learning mat to go with them. Idea came slightly from Ravelry and mostly from my own.
 
 We made this wall hanging for my in-laws for Christmas, it came with some super cute photos of their 3 grandkids that my brother-in-law took. Idea came from Pinterest but I could not find the original source.
 

There were also 2 crocheted angel ornaments that I know I photographed but the photos have seemed to disappear. I used this pattern. They were surprisingly easy to make and went really fast. 
I made a picture hanger for my parents using something similar to this and I never photographed it! I think that is all that I made. Oh wait, I finished a gift for myself too, the Honey Cowl! I better take photos of that today!

All in all it was a great Christmas. We felt like we were celebrating the whole month but it was great to have so much time to reflect on and praise the birth of Jesus.

Harper - 10 months!

Harper was 10 months in December! Here are the highlights from month 9 to month 10!
-Went on first road trip, to Grandma and Grandpa Miller's house. Slept all night in the car while we drove 1300 miles!
-Shortly after we got there we found out you had three more teeth that came in. We didn't even know! Your Uncle Ryan was holding you and saw them, the fourth on top is still just below the surface and hasn't quite broken through.
-You got to meet some cousins and aunts and uncles that you had not yet met.
-Mastered moving from seated position to your belly and you army crawl everywhere.
-Started trying to repeat our words.
-Had your first Christmas. You tried to help Avy blow out the candles when we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus.

We can't believe you are almost 1 year old! In some ways it seems like just yesterday we were driving to the hospital to have you. In other ways it seems like you have been with us forever. We love you!



Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Harper - 9 Months!

Harper was 9 months back in November!
Some highlights from 9 month checkup:
-weigh 17 lbs
-28.5 inches tall
-2 teeth on the bottom that appeared seemingly overnight
-love to clap and dance
-love to eat crackers...only crackers! It is hard to get you to eat anything else some days!
-still going strong with nursing
-wear mostly 9 month clothes but moving into 12 month sizes

Love you, Harps!


DSC_0145_2 
9 months