First of all, I'd like to give a grateful shout out to my husband, Justin, for fighting in Iraq during Desert Storm and to my friend Paula, who is currently serving in Afghanistan. Thank you to all Veterans. I appreciate your sacrifices!
Most of the day was pretty low key. I didn't enjoy the hot weather, like maybe I should have. What can I say? I was lazy. Besides, I knew we were going to be outside this evening.
Around 4:30 or so, we went over the Bessa's for brats and buffalo wings, as well as swam in their pool. By the way, the water was 62 degrees. Holy moly was it cold! My legs were completely numb after awhile! The craziest part is that Josie LOVED it! We were amazed that she didn't cry when she was in the pool!
But you wanna know what Josie loved more than the swimming pool?
Yeah, that's right. She's playing in the bucket in which everyone else has rinsed their dirty feet off. I didn't get photographic evidence, but there was also plenty of splashing in that dirty little bucket. She was having so much fun, we decided to just let her be. She also tried sliding down their muddy hill on her rear end, causing her little jumper/makeshift swimsuit cover to get horribly filthy.
More pics of Josie:
Here are a couple pictures of Deuce and Justin, as well as some more of our little man just being adorable.
And finally, some pics of the kids together. They really liked playing on the stairs, which is apparently, the best thing ever. Hey, whatever keeps them entertained...
I ended up giving Josie a bath at their house, because there was no way we were taking her home as nasty as she was! The kids were ready to go by 7:45, and in bed shortly after 8. The wore themselves out playing I guess.
I'm so thankful for the Bessas. What a fun evening with great friends! I'm looking forward to many more hours of fun and relaxation in their pool this summer!
A few weeks ago, while playing in the church nursery, Josie fell on her face, causing one of her incisors to shift slightly. There was a little blood and lots of crying. Thankfully the tooth wasn't loose. I could tell there was a difference, but it wasn't really noticeable according to those I asked. So, I didn't think much about it until.....A couple days ago, I noticed that Josie's tooth had started to become discolored. Oh no. 80( Does this mean her tooth is going to turn an ugly grey color and then fall out prematurely? I don't want my pretty little girl to have an ugly smile! Well, I just read an article by a pediatric dentist that said the discoloration that sometimes occurs after a tooth is injured might be temporary, and it doesn't necessarily mean the nerve is dying (like it does in a grey permanent tooth). It could take months, but there's a good chance her tooth will lighten up. And, even if it doesn't, I'm so thankful that it's a baby tooth. It's going to fall out anyway, so no use worrying about it now, right?
However, this has gotten me thinking about vanity in general. My daughter could care less that she has a discolored and slightly crooked tooth. She wants to be loved, play, eat and watch her favorite shows. She doesn't know anything about peer pressure to look a certain way. She is who she is. I think it's the same for most little kids: What you see is what you get.
And then one day, the comparisons start. I remember being in the first grade and comparing myself to another girl in my class with skinnier legs than me. Why is that? Is there any way it can be avoided or is vanity part of our normal development? I wish I could protect my kids from the pressure to feel like they need to look a certain way. I've been dealing with feelings of inadequacy for 25+ years, and I pray they have more confidence in themselves than I ever did!
Even now, I find myself stressing about how I look, especially in regards to what my two lovely children (and gravity) have done to my body. I would love to have a bikini body, or at least one that I could feel good about. I'm not sure which is a more difficult feat. The first goal is a physical one; the second is an emotional/mental one. I know that there are plenty of people bigger than me who are confident in their own skin (and flab!), because they know that God cares about what's on the inside, not the outside. I hope to someday feel that way. I don't want to get to the point where I stop taking care of myself, but oh what it would feel like not to worry about my reflection.
This past weekend I went on a scrapbooking retreat with five other friends (Mo, Kim, Raven, Julie and Heidi). What a blast!! We stayed at a place called Blooming Escapes near Madison. The house was built specifically for crafting retreats. There is a huge studio with lots of tables, computers, scrapbooking machines, tools and embellishments. There was also a full kitchen where we cooked and shared meals with everyone in the house. There were 4 bedrooms upstairs, each with 6 twin beds and a bathroom. We didn't spend too much time upstairs, because we had lots of scrapping to do! I didn't get too much done (15 total pages I think, but most need a little tweaking), but I sure laughed a lot! I love my friends! This is the longest I've been away from my kids, but I have to admit that the weekend went by super fast.I guess that's bound to happen when you're really focused on something.
While I was gone, my mother in law, Judy, helped Justin with Josie and Deuce. And unfortunately, both of them got sick! Both had a little diarrhea, and Deuce had a fever from Friday to Sunday. Deuce seemed better by the time I got home, but Josie's fever was just starting that day.
Her fever was off an on all day Monday and part of the day, Tuesday. She would be really lethargic one minute and up and playing with her brother the next. Tuesday afternoon, during her nap, she woke up crying and burning up. I checked her temperature under her arm, and it read 103.8! That's the highest I've ever seen it. Justin and I decided that I should take her to the ER, so I went to St Luke's, down the street. The nurse took her temperature with a digital thing that she just kinda scanned around her eye and ear (never saw it before), and it read 107! Her head was just radiating a bunch of heat, causing the machine to give an inaccurate reading. So she took her temperature rectally, and that said 104.8. Yikes! Surprisingly, the ER doctor didn't seem too concerned. He explained that in little kids, higher temperatures are not as dangerous as they are in adults (a temperature of 104.8 would be critical in an adult), because kids' immune systems are more active. Anyway, he thinks the fever was in response to a her eye infection (which she's had for awhile) and a mild ear infection. One of the nurses told me that sometimes a child will have a fever for a mild illness but won't have one he/she seems really sick. Interesting. The doc prescribed an ointment for her eye and an antibiotic for her ear. He also recommended giving her ibuprofin and Tylenol every 3-4 hours, alternately. She hates taking her medicine, so every time we have to give it to her, it feels like we're torturing her based on all the tears. Thankfully, her fever has been down since last night, so I'm hoping we will only have to give her the two antibiotics and not the fever reducers.
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
For whatever reason this verse made me think of those Verizon commercials in which that spectacled dude keeps asking, "can you hear me now?" in a variety of different locations. Except, we're asking, "Is Your grace enough now?... How about now? What if _______ happens; is it still sufficient?" And the answer is always, "Yes."
God's grace is more than sufficient; it is abundant! It is MORE than enough.
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)
Sometimes I wonder if God has a bunch of storage areas with different gates that He opens when He needs to pour out "something" onto people. There's the floodgates, the fireandbrimstonegates, the blessingsgates and of course, the gracegates. (I'm sure there are more, but I'm not clever enough to think of them at this moment.)
In Christ we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. (Ephesians 1:7-8)
We've had some pretty awesome Christmases over the years. There's always lots of laughter and great family time The piles of presents are huge. And to top it off, we eat tons of delicious food throughout the holiday! I think God's grace is kind of like that. God isn't satisfied with adequate. He's not even cool with more than enough. He wants to lavish us with His grace.
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus.(Ephesians 2:4-7)
I read an awesome quote once. I don't remember who said it, but it goes something like, "Jesus didn't come to make bad people good; He came to make dead people live." That has really stuck with me, because that's exactly what God's grace does! It raises people from the dead. There is nothing else in this world - or any other - that can compare to the saving power of grace.
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. (Titus 2:11)
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8)
God has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. (2 Timothy 1:9)
The best part about being saved by grace is that I don't get to take any credit for it. (Whew! Talk about a load off my shoulders!) It is the gift of God! Plus, I don't have to DO certain things to keep that salvation. The Bible doesn't say, "For it is by grace and baptism and tithes and church attendance and all sorts of good works that you have been saved through faith." Nope. Just grace through faith in Christ Jesus.
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. (Acts 16:31)
If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
I'm not ashamed of the Gospel, even the hard parts that I don't understand. In my last blog post, I left off asking, "from what are we saved?"
If we are saved, we will not perish.
For God so loved that world that he sent his one and only son so that all who believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
Unless you repent, you too will all perish. (Luke 13:3)
We will avoid spiritual death.
The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23b)
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death. (Revelation 2:11)
We will not experience the torment of of fire.
“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. (Malachi 4:1)
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. (Mark 9:43)
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12-15)
Without Christ, there would be continual destruction and utter separation from God.
He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (1 Thessalonians 1:8-9)
We will avoid eternal pain and anguish.
The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 13:41-42)
Those who are saved will not go to hell.
Jesus says, "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing, has the power to throw you into hell. (Luke 12:5)
If I am completely honest, I don't like the aforementioned verses at all. I don't like thinking about hell or what it would feel like being there. And I certainly do not want to imagine any of my loved ones there. It would be SO much easier to believe that everyone will go to heaven.
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke make it clear that few will enter into heaven and many will go to hell.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14)
Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?”
He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’
“But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’
“Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’
“But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ (Luke 13:23-27)
And then there's the story of the rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:
Basically, Lazarus was a destitute man, covered in sores and hungry for a bite of food from the rich man's table. Eventually the beggar died and was carried to Abraham's side in heaven, while the rich man was in torment in Hades. The rich man cried out for Abraham, " have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire." Abraham answers him, (and this is very important) "between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us."
In other words, hell is eternal, and there is no possibility of of entering into heaven after going to hell. This means that the ideas of Purgatory and Ultimate Reconciliation are completely false and unbiblical...
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (Romans 1:16)
But what is the gospel?
Put quite plainly, it is the message of the cross.
That is, God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
God forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:13b-15)
Sacrifice and offering you (God) did not desire,
but my ears you have pierced;
The Septuagint, that is the Greek translation of the Hebrew bible, has: "but a body you have prepared for me." This makes me think of Philippians 2:7 - Jesus made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not require.
Then I said, "Here I am, I have come -
it is written about me in the scroll.
I desire to do your will, O my God;
"My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." - Matthew 26:39b
your law is within my heart." (Psalm 40:6-8)
By Christ's will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus once for all. Day after day every (temple) priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all timeone sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:10-12)
The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)
Salvation is found in no one else (but Jesus), for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. (Romans 10:9-10)
In other words, God sent his son, in the form of a man, to die as a final sacrifice for all sins; therefore, whosoever believes and confesses will be saved.
