titles for posts are over-rated.

A totally sweet moment at Charity's birthday party
was when her biggest cous wanted to serenade her on the piano.
As he plunked out the keys for Happy Birthday
Charity squealed in delight and added a duet at times
Totally. Sweet.

so...
Do you ever lose focus in life?
Well if you don't let me introduce you to someone who does:
"Hi my name is Laurie and I lose focus in life sometimes."
Probably more often than I'd like to admit

---but anyways---
I love how I can find a page in my Bible that is totally and completely
all marked up
(I still use my high school Bible)
and yet something pops out at me like I'm seeing it for the first time

"... the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit,
because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,
who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:24ff)

Amen?! 
 It's like all these well-quoted verses come together in this passage
and it's good.
I suppose that's why my profs in college always told us
not to pull Scripture out of context.
Not only to misrepresent what the text is trying to convey
but even further to not miss the connectness of all the words together.
they're even more powerful when they fit in the context

so that's it.
some Scripture to send you along your way today.

I love tuesdays--
coffee with vanilla creamer, a yummy breakfast, chocolates waiting for me at my table
an encouraging lesson from the Bible
and chatting it up with other moms
while my kiddos are cared for by....
not. me.

and for 2.5 wonderful hours at MomTime
I get to complete my sentences
and hang out with other moms
who totally get how awesome it is to complete a thought in life
(that isn't actually related to Bubble Guppies...)

do you get it?

have a SUPER tuesday!
love, Laurie for the fam

grace that is greater



just a few moments to myself
with a computer
 a Bible
an iced coffee
and a book called bittersweet


'Grace isn't about netting out on the right side of things.
Grace is smashing the calculator,
and using all the broken buttons and pieces to make a mosaic.
Grace isn't about having a second chance;
grace is having so many chances
that you could use them through all eternity
and never come up empty....
Grace is when you finally stop keeping score and
when you realize God never was,
that His game is a different one entirely....
Grace is an even better gift,
because it allows me to do more than just erase.....
It's forgiveness without forgetting,
which is much sweeter than amnesia.'

(p83 bittersweet by shauna niequist)

amen?!

have a SUPER tuesday
giving and receiving GRACE


love, Laurie for the fam



Jesus eesh ahwibe!

when this song comes on the radio
in our van
I am sure to hear this from the backseat "JESUS EESH AHWIBE!"
That's right, Matthias,
 Jesus IS alive!
And those big brown eyes filled with excitement are  pretty much contagious....

have a SUPER Monday!

love, Laurie for the fam
p.s. make sure you crank up the volume on your computer for this song-- cause if you (somehow) have missed it......it's crank-up-the-volume worthy

How He Loves

yesterday was Valentines day and I had a wonderful day with my Love
(thanks for the sweet post, Babe)

but, at the end of the day,
you know what I was struck with most?!
the awesome love that God has for me.
(for YOU)
it's incredible love that I just can't seem to ever grasp its full magnitude
and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to
so this song was a good one to have blasting through the speakers
(as I drove to Einstein bagels to grab an asiago cheese bagel with sun-dried tomato shmear)
to remind me that although I am blessed with a great lover by my side
no one loves me quite like God
wow
have you never heard this song before?!
you just have to give that triangle to the left a little click and check it out
I'm thinking you are just going to love it
but even if you don't love the song...
God still loves you
and isn't that just the best news ever?!

Have a super day! Hope the sun's shining wherever you are

Love, Laurie for the fam

all is made beautiful

Now isn't that a lovely thought?
linking up to Blessed Little Nest Life Made Lovely Monday



Be Still

linking up here

farewell 2010

I can hardly allow 2010 to go into the past without giving it a little farewell speech.

So here goes:

Good-bye, 2010.

You were a year like no other.

We raise our glasses and toast the end of you with great joy.

Thanks for--a year.

Today I heard a wonderful sermon given by my absolute fav preacher (hi Honey)

about perseverence.

Well, actually, it was about more than that.

It was about God. His mercy. His love.

And about the lessons in life that God must know

can really only be taught through

Living them out

Cause if there was one thing that was obvious to us throughout last year

If there was one thing that Justin and I pulled from 2010 as we lived it out

It is this:

Life is so not (NOT) about us.

But when things happen in our lives, because we're human-- we want answers, and we want all things to make sense...

RIGHT?!

But I love, love, LOVE the thought that God sees our whole life and it all makes sense to Him.

He has a plan

And, like, HELLO......He's not surprised by anything.

AMEN?!

Because.....sometimes I'm totally surprised.

Like "never saw that one coming" kinda shocked.

And God is so good.

When we trust Him, REALLY trust Him....

We can stand amazed at the awesome things He does.
Because, Blogger Buddies,

He does some pretty radical stuff (if you'll allow me to use that 90s word)

And to think that God uses imperfect people like us

To glorify Himself

Whoa.

So here's to a new year, 2011.

A year about Jesus shining in us.

May the lessons of 2010 never be forgotten.

But seriously?! Let's bring on a good year, k?

Who's with me...

Our (best)Gift of Love from 2010

O Holy Night

Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth

Oh, How He Loves Us

God sent His only Son,
His precious, perfect son, Jesus
To come as a baby to this cold, imperfectly sinful world
For us
Knowing there was no way we could be good enough
No matter what we did or did not do
Now we have a way to be with Him someday
A way to be with Him even today
In all our imperfection
In all His power grace and love
Though I cried out to Him when I was only 5
I'm pretty sure it will take me the rest of my life
To begin to grasp this amazing love
My Savior has for me
He loves you like that, too...I hope you know

Be exalted, O God

Anyone else need this reminder as much as I do?
Ever been excited AND anxious at the same time?
God tells us to come to Him about everything. And that excludes nothing.
And when we come we are to be thankful no matter what our "something" is.
Ever had the chance to give a worry over to God and experience His peace?
Pretty cool.
Just something to think about. Will you can join me?
That would be great!
Have a wonderful Sunday--even if yours is foggy and dreary like mine

God's handiwork

let me share with you a quote from a book I was reading last night "the me I want to be" by John Ortberg (surprisingly good.....I was pretty skeptical at first)

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (paraphrase Ephesians 2:10)
You are not your handiwork; your life is not your project. Your life is God's project. God thought you up, and He knows what you were intended to be. He has many good works for you to do, but they are not the kind of "to do" lists we give spouses or employees....Your spiritual life is not limited to certain devotional activities that you engage in. It is receiving power from the Spirit of God to become the person God had in mind when He created you--His handiwork." (p 14)

I love the fact that I am God's handiwork. Sometimes I have a day where I wonder if there's any "handy" in the work of my life. But when I read the truth from God's Word, there really is no question there. You are God's handiwork, too! How cool is that?! No matter what you may be struggling with today, God's not finished with you. In fact, He's already got plans for you that you have no idea about but He does. He views your future as if it's a story already in print....and He wrote it. Now doesn't that just put an extra little spring in your step?!

Have a super day, All!

Hope in His Unfailing Love

I John 4:8

Jesus Loves Charity and So Do We

You gotta love any and every opportunity that arises for a candid, posed family pic. Especially in front of big brown doors. Today was one of those occassions because those brown doors lead to our church's worship center....

where we celebrated Charity Lynn's Dedication

Deuteronomy 6:5-7

Love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your strength

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts

Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

Justin and I are committed to raising this precious little girl
In a way that points her to Jesus.
We promise to pray for her.
To teach her God's Word.
And love her unconditionally.
So that one day she will comprehend that her parents deepest desire for her,
Above all else,
...is that she will love Jesus, too.
Grasping His incredible love for her that lead Him to die on the cross.
And she will embrace a relationship with Jesus.
Living for Him all her days.
happy dedication day, Char!  we love you!!

Psalm 13:5-6

Psalm 13:5-6

But I trust in Your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in Your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord,

for He has been good to me

About Jesus

I don't just want to be about the things that are about Jesus.
I want to be about Jesus.

Does that make sense? We get passionate about the things Jesus is about: helping the homeless, adoption, caring for widows, funding a charity, filling a gap in a ministry in the local church, etc. These things are great. These things rock. These are, I repeat, the things that Jesus is about.

But do you ever notice that Jesus sometimes gets lost in it? We become so passionate about the individual cause, the specific ministry...that we lose sight of the One we are serving and striving to love more each day. I know that when I fall more in love with Jesus, when I'm spending time with Him, when I'm learning more about Jesus and His ways... that my ministry will be more of Him and not just about Him.

Those are my deep thoughts today. It's nice to know I still have some of those between deciding whether I like Diego or Handy Manny better; if I think Luke Skywalker is cool; and other profound questions I answer daily.

Sunday is about Jesus

All days are about Jesus, really (or at least they should be!).....but Sundays especially are about Jesus. I love that. I love that life isn't about me. I love that it's so much bigger than me and it's about my huge God and His huge plan.



"All men are like grass, and all their glory

is like the flowers of the field;

the grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of the Lord stands forever."

1 Peter 1:24-25



When this verse was read in church today, though I've heard it before, it really stood out to me. Now excuse me while I spend some time with the important Word that stands forever....

Prayer of my Heart

"Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting."