Happy Birthday Andrea!

Today is my sister's birthday! I am so thankful to have a sister. She is 3 years older than me so there is not a time in my life when she was not there. I count it a blessing to have her in my life to walk through the highs and lows. There is something very sweet knowing that friends may come and go but a sister will always be there. She is a great sister, daughter, wife, mother, and friend. I respect her in so many ways as I watch how she lives her life. She is beautiful inside and out and is so fun to be around! I love you sissy! I hope you have a blessed day!

Swing Set!!!

Today is a great day, we have a swing set!!!!! Thank you so much to all our family who has been giving financially to the "swing set fund" set up by Papa & Nana. We finally took the plunge and made the purchase and then had some men in town put it together for us. I told Jeremy that I really feel like a family with a mini-van and a swing set! We have been excited about this day for awhile. I'm calling this swing set a sanity gift to mommy:) Those of you with little ones need no further explanation!

Going up...

Getting closer (oh, and they worked in the rain for the first couple days!)

Almost done...

I see you Carson

It's done!!!

Yay!!!

One day Lydia.....no worries;)

Happy Birthday Grammy (Mom)!

What we love about Grammy:

Carson: I love when she comes to visit me, I love when I go visit her, I love when she plays with me and reads me books.

Jeremy: I love how she cares for us, it is evident that she desires to meet physical, emotional, and spiritual needs for others, she perceives people well and bears others' burdens and walks with the Lord.

Bryn: (after being asked "What do you love about Grammy?") Jesus (?)

Liz: I truly have an amazing mom! I am blessed beyond words and I could fill a novel with all the wonderful things about my mother so for now I'll just name a few. I love her warmth, how she is so easy to be with and leaves you always wanting more time with her. This is true if you are close to her or if you're a complete stranger. I love that she is authentic and lets you know the real her. She is a humble servant and has shown that in how she loves her husband (my dad!) and her children over the years and now her grandchildren. She never has to be asked to do something, she knows exactly how to jump in and help. I love her humility and how she is constantly learning and not ashamed to say that! I love how she loves on my children and seeks to have meaningful relationships with each of them. She has become one of my best friends and I absolutely cannot imagine life without her!

We love you mom and wish you a blessed day!!!!

A great word...

from John Piper...

The Sorrow and Joy of the Seasoned Soul

March 25, 2009 | By: John Piper
Category: Commentary

It is not a sign of a seasoned Christian soul that steady joy is untinged with steady sorrow.

Or to put it positively, the seasoned soul in Christ has a steady joy and a steady sorrow.

They protect each other. Joy is protected from being flippant by steady sorrow. Sorrow is protected from being fatal by steady joy.

And they intensify each other. Joy is made deeper by steady sorrow. Sorrow is made sweeter by steady joy.

For the seasoned Christian soul, I do not see how it can be otherwise while people are perishing and we are saved. I do not see how it can be otherwise while these two passages are written by the same inspired man:

I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. (Romans 9:2-3)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. (Philippians 4:4)

one of the best sounds...

laughter!!!

Advance Celebration

Last night was another amazing milestone in the life of Crosspoint church. Since Crosspoint was first started back in August 2005 we have met for worship at the BCM building, the Clemson House, Tillman, and the old Methodist church building. God has been so faithful to His church in every move we've had to make. It is such a privilege to be a part of this fellowship of believers! As our pastor says, "God has continually led us to the red sea where it looked like there was nowhere to go and then He called us to be still and watch!" Our church has been in another season of being still and watching.

We have to be out of our current building by this August and through the efforts of our pastors and building team God has opened the door for us to purchase the Lakeview Plaza (only one mile from our current location) in Clemson on highway 123.

Well, last night was the Advance Celebration where families and individuals were encouraged to bring their one time gifts and monthly pledges to the table to see if we as a church could move forward in purchasing and upfitting this new location. I'm amazed to share these results:

One-time gifts in hand: $1,643,492.00 - this is 49.2% of $3,320,000.00
3 year commitment totals: $476,619.00
Grand Total: $2,120,111.00

And the 3 yr. commitment breaks down like this:
$158,873.00 per yr.
$13,239.41 per month
$3,055.25 per week

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good!!!!!!

Training wheels are GONE!!!

We've been talking for awhile about taking Carson's training wheels off his bike and today was the day! We said that we would surprise Daddy when he got home and show him that Carson could ride his bike without training wheels (this was a good motivator). He picked it up pretty quick! Amazing!

Sittn Pretty

Tiger Baseball

Last night we decided to all go to a Clemson baseball game since it was so nice out. We had a good time!

Guilt and Parenting

Last week my dear friend, Cayce, copied chapter 3 from Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas for me to read. It is entitled "The Gold behind the Guilt" and it is about how raising children teaches us to deal with guilt. I suppose she gave me this because she knows me well enough to know that I have a tendency towards guilt and because she was aware that last week was a challenging one related to my mothering. The following are a few quotes from that chapter that stood out to me and some of my reflections on them:

"You want to hear a severe truth? None of us can be such good parents that God becomes obligated to save our children's souls. On the more encouraging end, none of us can mess up so badly that our children somehow extend beyond the reach of God's mercy."

This is so freeing!!!! Summary: it's not about ME!!!! That is such good news. As much as we know that God will not save their souls based on our parenting ability it is still very tempting to believe contrary. This was a great reminder that God will do His work in SPITE of me! This also makes me think of Job 42:2 which says, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." If it is God's plan to save my children then He will do it!

"We'll have good days and bad days. When we see parenting as a long journey, we don't drown ourselves in guilt on days that rate less than an A+."

Perspective!!! So many days I need this kind of perspective. I can often times be too hard on myself in how I rate myself as a parent so this is a helpful reminder that this parenting task is not a sprint but a marathon. His grace is sufficient for me on the good days and the bad days!

It's no accident that we have the children we have; God made them and placed them in our care."

Our God is sovereign and He chose to put Carson, Bryn & Lydia in our family for us to raise. This is a huge responsibility and privilege! What comes to my mind when I read this is how important it is not to compare our family with another family or my husband with another husband, or me to another wife/mom, or my children to other children. It is never comparing apples and apples and God is calling me to serve Him by loving MY husband and MY children and that will look different for the next family. I want to receive His plan as I nurture these precious children He has given to Jeremy and I.

God cares so much about you that he's willing to risk letting you raise one, two, three, or even more of his precious children."

God knows that I'm going to make mistakes, He is not shocked by that! He knows I'm not a perfect parent but He is so zealous for my growth in Him that He is willing to take the risk of letting me raise these children.

I hope this encourages you like it has me! I'm eager to go read the whole book now. Gary Thomas has also written Sacred Marriage and Sacred Influence which I have read and highly recommend!

2008

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Sweet little faces at Sarala's 4th birthday party

On a lighter (or heavier) note...

Being your typical 4 year old boy, Carson is pretty fascinated with trucks and trailers and tow trucks. He has also gotten into ropes and tying things up. Today we were outside while Lydia was napping and on their own they came up with this....

Pray for Lydia

Yesterday was a hard day. The kids and I were over at the Finley's house to play and eat lunch. We had just gotten the kids (minus Lydia) seated at the table with their lunch. I sat Lydia in the bumbo seat on the kitchen counter and when I put her in the seat it caused a bag on the counter to slide over which caused a cup to spill water all over the counter and floor. So, I quickly wipe up the water on the floor and counter and as I'm frantically wiping up the spill I didn't realize that I was pushing the bag that then pushed the bumbo seat that Lydia was sitting in. And yes, to my back I hear a thud hit the ground and then Cayce gasp and I turn around and my 7 month old baby girl is lying on the hard wood floor face down and I screamed!!!!! What an awful sight, I get teary now even recalling it! I feel terrible!!! I ran over and swooped her up and she was screaming with pain and fear. I initially didn't see any marks on her body or face so I wasn't sure what hurt the most. It took a long time to calm her down and she eventually fell asleep in my arms. We then headed home and I put her straight to bed for a nap. She slept well but woke up crying (which is abnormal) in pain. I tried to nurse her but she wouldn't nurse because it hurt. So, I called my mom who encouraged me to call the pediatrician. They strongly encouraged me to come in immediately. Jeremy came home to watch Carson & Bryn and I took Lydia to the doctor. We waited for about 45 minutes in the room for the doctor and right before the doctor came in I began to see a little bruising on her chin. It has became clear that she must have hit her chin first. This morning the right side of her face was pretty swollen but she hasn't been as fussy so we are just watching the swelling to see if we need to get an x-ray done. I realize that this accident could have been much worse and so I'm thankful beyond words that God has been so gracious to protect her little body. I'm still praying that He would heal her quickly and take away pain and that He would give us wisdom to know what to do (x-ray or not). Thank you for joining us to pray for her. This is certainly one of the "downs" of motherhood. It's amazing how everything in life no longer matters when you have a baby that is not well! As my mom said on the phone, "welcome to motherhood."

Date with Carson

This past Friday we took Carson on a special Mommy & Daddy date. We had a gift card (thank you BCM!) for Red Lobster and then we went to the RODEO! All week Carson has been asking about the Rodeo and I've been trying really hard to describe it for him. We really enjoyed our time with just our son!

At dinner I said, "What would it be like if we just had Carson?"

Carson replied, "It would be really easy if it was just me!"

Jeremy said, "Why?"

Carson answered, "Then we wouldn't have to get all those little sisters in the car with me."

Too funny! He's a good big brother!

Carson at the Rodeo....still not sure what was going to happen in that ring

Soccer

This week Carson had his first soccer practice. I think he enjoyed it and we hope it will be a good outlet for him to be around other kids his age and get some energy out! Here are a few pictures from his first practice.

At the homestead

Our little Bryn has gotten quite particular about how she is tucked in at night. She goes to bed great in her big girl bed but as she lays down she begins rattling off all her different stuffed animals and baby dolls that she wants in the bed with her. She wants them lined up next to her and tucked under the covers "just so." The girl knows what she wants! The only bad thing with this is when she got sick the other night and vomited multiple times in her bed and got it all over some of her animals. I have a feeling some of those animals may suddenly get "lost."

I let Carson go down for a nap a little later than his sisters so that we could have time to play games (which doesn't happen so much when his sisters are awake). He chose to play checkers. I had fun teaching him the game and seeing him really get it. I do hope he is a game lover like his mom:)

Lydia is 7 months

Lydia is 7 months old today! The months are flying by....she is growing up! She is close to sitting up (poor thing does not get many opportunities to practice), enjoying her solid food more and more, and babbling a lot. She is so sweet!

Winter Wonderland!

It is beautiful outside with everything covered in snow! We put Lydia down for her nap and bundled up and went outside this morning.

Jeremy had to move trees from our driveway

I get this expression a lot:)

Carson making his first ever snow angel!

The field next door