Hope

I am still on hiatus; however, I could not let this weekend pass without sharing an excerpt of an email I received today from Bro. Brady, our Pastor. How timely a message for me after the past few weeks.

As your pastor, I want to encourage you to spend some time this Holy Week in private devotion, focusing on the magnitude of the sacrifice Christ made for you on the Cross. I believe your private devotional time will, in many ways, enhance our corporate times of worship on Easter. Often we come into worship services without a sense of expectation; such was the case of the women who came to the tomb on that first Easter morning. They were expecting death, but the surprise of the ages awaited them. The stone was rolled away, and Christ had risen—Hope had truly come.

We live in a world surrounded by emptiness; many are experiencing emotional emptiness, relational emptiness, or professional emptiness. The cure for emptiness is the Hope of Easter. I am writing this email in a small, twin-prop plane, high above the mountains of Panama. I “hope” I make it down. I “hope” my luggage arrives too (wishful thinking I know). I “hope”, but I can’t be sure. There are very few certainties in life.

One of the things I love most about Easter is that Hope is changed from wishful thinking to an absolute certainty. The resurrection of Jesus changed everything. Christ is alive; death is defeated; the barriers in our lives that keep us penned in can be rolled away...

Yesterday, one of my closest and dearest friends said something that I hope I will always remember. We don't praise God because He WILL answer our prayers, but we praise Him because we know that He CAN. I think it is easy to be hopeful when things are good. I think it is much more difficult to remember we have hope when we find ourselves surrounded by a sea of uncertainty. Life happens. If it hasn't happened to you, it will (whether you like it or not). I wish I could say that I am overflowing with joy and hopefulness at this moment but in reality that would be a lie. What I can say is I am reminded we have hope in all circumstances, both the good and the bad, because of the sacrifice one man made for each and every one of us.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -Romans 15:3

Hiatus...

I am on hiatus until further notice. I'll get caught up eventually. It has been a tough couple of weeks. I need to find MY happy place. I know I'm not going to find it here. Catchyalater girls.

We have embraced this verse as J's "story" for most of his life. It is even printed above the windows in his bedroom as a description of who he is to us. It is a reminder that God's plan and our plan are not always one in the same. Ultimately, His plan is always better (even though it doesn't necessarily feel like it at the moment)."For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." --Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

the hands and the feet and the mouth, Oh My!

I've been wondering what has possessed my child over the past few days. A few days of fever and an incredibly whiney child with no explanantion. Welcome little red rash and the world of hand/foot/mouth disease. Nice.

Introducing baby Julia...

Rebekah, Darren and Big Sister Elizabeth, much to their surprise, welcomed baby sister today. Miss Julia was born at 6:09 pm. She weighted 8 lbs 2 oz and measured 19.75" long. Her Daddy said "she is a picture of health" and she certainly looks it in her photo debut. J is ready to show Elizabeth the ropes of being a sibling (whenever the shock wears off). Welcome sweet baby Julia. We can't wait to meet you!

SNOW DAY...finally!

We woke to our first and only decent snow of the year this morning. J was soooooo excited I could barely get him to eat his breakfast. It was such a powdery wet snow we couldn't get a snowman to hold together. Bummer. MG was none too thrilled and pretty much whined and cried the entire time we were outside. She was not impressed. J would have stayed outside until it melted away if we would have let him. My camera battery died not long after we got out so I only got a few pictures. Happy Snow Day everyone. I'm sure it is the one and only accumulating snow we are actually going to get this winter so I hope you all enjoyed it.

You rest Mommy, I already made lunch...

Note to self: be sure to close the childproof latch every single time you open the junk food cabinet.

Fit for the princess...

Before:
the blue puppy Britax carseat cover I just HAD to have for J 5 years ago. It has seen better days.During:
a very distressed MG thinking Mommy is doing something terrible to her "go byebye"After:
the cutest custom made girly-girl Britax carseat cover ever created. Frogs, puppies, bunnies, kitties and turtles wearing smocked dresses with coordinating ruffle fabric to give just an extra hint of girliness. It even included the buckle and strap covers. What could be cuter than THAT?
(FYI: I provided my own fabric and she custom made it just for the Roundabout. The covers are not shown in the photo above but I have them. I found the lady on eBay. If anyone needs a new cover let me know. I have her email address.)

a ladies man...ALREADY?

This was our conversation coming home from church yesterday. We were discussing the fact that J's preschool classmate moved down the street on Saturday...

J: You mean C.H. lives in my neighborhood now?
M: Yep, she sure does
J: Awwwww, well maybe someday she can come over and then I'll marry her
[Ummm...what did he say as Daddy and I stare at each other?]
M: What?
J: Maybe someday I can go to her house and then we'll get married

Today after I picked him up from preschool...
J: Mommy, today N. gave me a kiss
M: She DID?
J: Yep, she sure did! [flashing huge smile]
M: Why?
J: Because she's so sweet and I LOVE HER

Mr. Cheese Please?

What do all good parents promise to encourage good behavior while they are gone for 6 days? I'll give you one guess.

This was MG's first visit to meet ole Chuck E Cheese. She loved the moving rides but apparently she takes driving very seriously. I don't have one picture of her smiling on any of them but you can see the slide was a big hit. She must have gone up and down that thing 50 times laughing and smiling the whole way down .

There's no place like home...

Dorothy said it best. If I owned a pair of red shoes I would have worn them today and clicked them all the way home. We are home safely. Grammy and Nene had a great time with the children. As for us, GREAT time. Beautiful city. Perfectly perfect trip. More to follow in a few days.

love to all,
Mommy

Day 5: a little glimpse of Heaven

When I think back on some of the most amazing days of my life, today ranks near the top of that list. There were moments when I literally thought I was going to cry Charlie Brown tears at the beauty before my eyes. I'm not much of a nature girl (no comments from the peanut gallery) but I think I caught a glimpse of the beauty God truly meant for us to experience here on Earth.

We picked up our rental car, hooked up the handy dandy GPS and we were off. I haven't felt that "free" in a long time...just me and my man exploring the world together...it was perfect.

First stop on the "Womble San Francisco Road Trip Extravaganza"...back to Golden Gate Park. We visited on our Friday tour but did not get to see the wind mills and tulip garden. We navigated our way through Monday morning traffic which was an adventure in itself. GPS doesn't have a handle on Monday morning reroutes and one way streets so we took the scenic route. Once we made it inside the park it was so peaceful and breathtakingly beautiful. It was 9 am and you could still feel the dampness in the air. The tulips were standing at attention and if you listened closely you could the waves crashing onto Ocean Beach. The windmill was beautiful. For just a moment I felt like I was in Holland surrounded by Dutch windmills and beautiful tulips. It was perfect.Then it was off to Ocean Beach and to take in the view from the Cliff House. This was the first time on our trip that we saw the rocky cliffs of the Pacific Ocean. San Francisco is surrounded by the bay on three sides so the water had been calm up until this point. The landscape was much different than what I think of as a beach. The sand was a medium brown color and in all honestly I thought it looked dirty (even though I know it was not). Of course, the sand I am accustomed to is white/beige so it was quite a change. Once over the Golden Gate Bridge, we navigated our way through the winding roads to Muir Woods National Forest. I thought I was going to be sick several times while Daddy was wishing for a sports car and a helmet. I was reconsidering my must see attraction by the time we arrived but I am so glad we didn't turn back. I don't even know where to begin to describe this place. It was freezing cold but breathtakingly beautiful. You couldn't even see the sky for the trees. It was definitely a little glimpse of Heaven. My words could never do this place justice so I will let the photos speak for themselves. Breathtakingly beautiful!
















Next stop: Point Bonita Lighthouse. I read the best view of the ocean and the bay could be seen from Point Bonita Lighthouse. Our friends Rachel and James are lighthouse hunters so I knew we had to take a few pictures just for them. We drove the winding roads to the entry point, walked about a mile (through a tunnel running through the middle of a huge rock) to reach the lighthouse. They were right about the view...beautiful. I couldn't bring myself to walk the suspension bridge over the rocks and crashing waves below to see the lighthouse up close and personal. It was built to replicate the Golden Gate seen in the distance. It was still very windy from the storms that blew in so there was no way I was going any further. If there is a sign that says "only 2 people on bridge at one time" and a group of adolescent school children nearby, DO NOT GET ON THE BRIDGE. I think my zoom lens showed me everything I wanted to see. :-) Again, see the pictures. My words can not even begin to describe this place.
















Before we left I read that you COULD NOT go to San Francisco without eating a hamburger at a place in Sausalito called "Hamburger". Original, huh? Daddy loves a good burger so off we went back down the hills to find some lunch. We ate and did a little bit of window shopping before we headed back in to the city. It was a yummy burger but I think Daddy (AKA Bobby Flay wannabe) could give them a run for their money. :-)

Photos from Crissy Field, driving down Lombard Street and exploring the neighborhoods of San Francisco rounded out our final day. Notice the word "CLEAR" at the top of Lombard Street. It is there to keep pedestrians from getting plowed. The road is so steep you can't really see where you are going until you've already started down the hill. I found it interesting that the street is made of brick. Daddy said it was kind of difficult to maneuver but I was busy hanging the camera out the window so I wouldn't know. :-)
We returned our car and walked back to the hotel exhausted yet invigorated by such a memorable time together. This was hands down my favorite day of our trip. We returned to our room, changed clothes and hopped a trolley for our dinner reservation at Frascati. Our food was out of this world. They get the award for Best Restaurant and Best Dessert for our trip. We devoured a White Chocolate Bread Pudding with Hazelnut Ice Cream that was unlike any chocolate dessert I have ever eaten. It was heavenly and a perfect ending to a perfect trip. Next stop...HOME!