December 14, 2012, at 11:17 pm | Some tragedies hit too close to home.
Tonight, as I was tucking my children into their beds, I couldn’t help but think of the families near us who are now faced with empty beds, empty arms. Ever since I heard about the Newtown school shooting this morning, I have been thinking about how broken this world is. How sin has broken the human soul. How there can be no earthly healing for suffering like this. How there can be no escape here from the dangers that sin wreaks in random and irrevocable ways. Living in a bucolic, quiet neighborhood and sending your kids to good, safe schools does not protect them from violence. Living a good, safe life does not protect us from the wages of our sins. We are helpless to save ourselves from eternal suffering, just as we are helpless against a crazed gunman. We need a Savior, one who bore the punishment for our sins and has redeemed us by His blood. On this day of senseless, purposeless earthly bloodshed, I think of the One who shed his blood for the most amazing purpose of all: He died so that we may have eternal life with Him. For “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13,14). He knows the suffering that we are faced with on this earth, and He longs to bring us Home where there will be no more grieving. “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
December 13, 2012, at 10:50 pm |
December 12, 2012, at 9:58 pm |
December 11, 2012, at 10:02 pm | Susie told me a very elaborate story today about a princess Dora and a prince Philip. I didn’t catch the first half of the story on video (including Susie’s detail that the princess ordered a pizza and lemonade at dinner, and her prince ordered a hot dog and soda), but I’ll show you the second half. It’s very hard to hear what she’s saying, but I thought you might get a kick out of her expressions, and of the sibling distractions caught on film. I especially enjoyed Susie’s impassioned question to Jimmy if he wanted to hear the story “or not.” Jimmy replied with a equally impassioned negative head shake.
December 10, 2012, at 9:45 pm | Jimmy finds it amusing to crawl into his brother’s bouncy seat and swing. Those baby items are well-built to withstand his toddler heft!
December 9, 2012, at 9:36 pm | Whether he’s awed,
or amused,
or elated,
I can’t get enough of my little guy!
December 7, 2012, at 9:14 pm | What happens when mama gets cabin fever, throws all the kids into the car, goes through the McDonald’s drive-thru, gets her daughters each their own milkshake and tosses a chocolate chip cookie back at her eldest son?
You get one happy, messy little man! (And a happy mama because now she’s had her iced coffee for the day!)
Photo credit: Becky!!
December 6, 2012, at 11:50 pm | I think I need to buy the kids some sturdy shovels so they quit using the silverware to dig in the dirt!
December 5, 2012, at 9:43 pm | 
Jimmy: “Hi! My mom is trying to get us to sit still for Christmas pictures. Good luck with that! I think she just better settle with a close-up of ME!”
December 4, 2012, at 9:40 pm | Okay, I promise this is the last post about our Tennessee trip. The vacation was just so much fun, I can’t get enough of the pictures!
Here are the girls coloring on the way down. We go through more than our fair share of coloring books and crayons around these parts:
Here’s Dad and the girls sporting safety glasses before touring the Mastercraft Boat factory. It was Jim’s dream come true to see the birthplace of his boats!
Here’s Danny wondering why he wasn’t allowed to go inside the factory with the big kids:
Here are some stuffed animals hanging from a tree at our campsite (don’t ask…):
Here’s Mom and the girls playing a competitive game of SkipBo:
Here’s Jim and Jimmy taking in a football game on Thanksgiving.
While Jim stayed in the RV with the boys, Mom, Dad and I took the girls to their first live performance, a Christmas special at the Smoky Mountain Opry. What a great night!
You can see the girls were very excited!
Jimmy decided it was past his bedtime when they came to pick us up from the show:
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ABOUT US I'm blessed to be saved by the grace of God, loved by my wonderful husband Jim, and embraced by my twin girls, Rebecca Faith and Susanna Joy and my sons Jimmy and Danny. I started this blog in May 2008 when I was hospitalized for pre-term labor at 24 weeks gestation. The Lord allowed me to keep the girls inside until they were 34 weeks along, and on July 27th, Rebecca made her debut, followed by Susanna, five minutes later, on July 28th. We ecstatically welcomed Jimmy into our lives on April 25th, 2011, and Danny on August 31, 2012. This blog has been a personal journal of faith and motherhood and the only way I can remember which child did what and when. Thanks for stopping by to share in my Faith and Joy! Feel free to e-mail me at: [email protected]. |
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