Living & Learning: 01/2009

2009/01/31

More January Happenings

We went sledding a few times this month already which was a bit on the cold side but fun. I think kids don't think about the cold as much as adults. (I know... I'm a winter wimp!) We really have had A LOT of snow this winter and it is a beautiful scene!

We also had a pizza day at my parents' house with all the kids. Each person made their own little pizza. This was my sister Lisa's (the one laughing in this next picture)idea and everyone had a blast as you can see!

Everyone concentrating on their own pizza now.

FOCUS MARGARET FOCUS!

(You know Aaron, I wonder are you holding Carson so someone else will make your pizza!?)

The finished products!

Looks good guys! Garnet's must be really good, huh?

The End of that story

2009/01/30

Christmas Pictures

This took a while, but as promised here are a few Christmas pics. I had a hard time getting everyone to look at the camera on the family picture and then when I did, some were not smiling at all. (Oh well) It's hard to do when you just set the timer and then run back to your spot.

2009/01/27

Anthony's 7th Birthday!

7 years old and learning many new things each day. You are such a blessing to have in our family. God has a special purpose for your life.

Happy Birthday, Anthony!

2009/01/24

For Alyssa

Hope you had a very special day though I didn't get to spend it with you this time! May God be your guide through all the days of your life!

2009/01/17

Time for an Update

As you can see, I am slow with Blogging now. What might be the reason.... Maybe I have lots of secrets? Ha ha.... No, not me.

Busy... yes, and well this hasn't been a big priority. I do like to write here but there are times it is at the end of my list of things to do and I don't make it to the end of this list and then there are times I really think I should write.

Quite a bit has been going on. My mom-in-law just had heart surgery this week. It went well and I thank God for that. Thank you to those who prayed for her. I could see she was in a lot of pain yesterday. She will need prayers in the months to come. We will need to go over there and help out as much as we can.

Also, our nephew Johnny is finished chemo, for now anyway. I don't really know where things stand with his health now but he looked pretty good yesterday when I saw him. I think he is excited about the fact his hair is beginning to peek through again. He will be turning 13 next month, which will make it a year since his first seizure and then finding out he had a brain tumor.

On a different note... we started our ASL class. I am excited about it! I noticed that learning signs with song makes it easier to memorize the signs. I'm also trying to talk german to the kids more now so they will learn that as well. Who knows maybe knowing different languages will be something God will use in their life yet. I know I'm getting ahead of myself here , but next is spanish. :)

We had a good Christmas. A bit different this year but were blessed. I will post a few pictures of our events yet. Oh and then there was my birthday. I am 31 now!! (unreal) In many ways I still feel like a kid. lol. Honestly, I didn't have a very good day that day. Didn't feel very good and had a sick baby. Jamie really wanted it to be a good day for me and even baked a cake yet. That was very special and thoughtful. He even made me a card and he doesn't even like making cards.

There is my news broadcast :) If you made it to the end of it >consider yourself hugged.

Life saving Verses

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,—Romans 3:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.—Romans 6:23

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,—John 1:12

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.—John 3:16-17

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.—Ephesians 2:8-9

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”—Romans 10:9-13

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.—1 Peter 1:8-9

Saved By Grace

All of us are born sinful. People might do good things but we are not born good....because to be good would mean to be perfect, never breaking God's commands, always doing God's will. So first we have to acknowledge that we have all sinned. Then we can cry out to God for mercy and forgiveness and repentance. God has paid the price of sin through Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. If we believe in Jesus, confess our sins and turn from it, He will forgive us.The bible says to seek God and search for Him with your whole heart. If we do this and ask Him to fill us with the holy Spirit, He will and that gives us a new life. This is what it means to be born again. There is no other gift as great as the gift of the holy Spirit! We then will want the things of God. We will love God and He will become the most important thing.This does not mean now you will be perfect. This just means that God will teach you and show you day by day what he wants or does not want you to do. It will not make life easy, and there will still be temptations and mistakes. So we just have to continually pray and ask for His guidance.When a baby is born they need time to grow and learn . It does not happen all at once. The same thing when we are born again, we will grow each day, and become more like Jesus. God will show us bit by bit. Only God is able to do all this in our lives. .It is not the things we do that make us Christian, it is faith. We can not make ourselves Christians no matter how hard we try. By faith though he will bring us to Himself and we will want to live the way God wants us to and the things we are doing will often show that we are Christians. God will make us a light in the dark because of what he has done in our lives.