Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Watch the Lamb

Recently I had this song brought to my memory. I will never forget the first time I heard it sung in church. It was a week or two before Easter and I was in high school. I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the place.

Read the lyrics and the listen to the song here. Its long, but totally worth it.

And think about the Lamb that took our place. And the ultimate display of love that He gave for us. for me. for you. And remember that we put Him there. He took our spot. We were the guilty ones. As guilty as those yelling, "Crucify Him!" and even as guilty as the soldiers nailing Him to that cross.

Watch the Lamb

Walking on the road to Jerusalem, the time had come to sacrifice again,
My two small sons, they walk beside me on the road,
The reason that they came was to watch the lamb.

Daddy, daddy, What will see there,
There's so much that we don't understand,
So I told them of Moses and father Abraham,
Then I said dear children watch the lamb.

There will be so many in Jerusalem today,
We must be sure the lamb doesn't run away,
And I told them of Moses and father Abraham,
Then I said dear children watch the lamb.

When we reached the city, I knew something must be wrong,
There were no joyful worshipers, No joyful worship songs,
I stood there with my children in the midst of angry men,
Then I heard the crowd cry out Crucify Him!

We tried to leave the city but we could not get away,
Forced to play in this drama a part I did not wish to play,
Why upon this day were men condemned to die,
Why were we standing here, Where soon they would pass by.

I looked and said, even now they come,
The first one cried for mercy, the people gave him none,
The second one was violent, he was arrogant and loud,
I still here his angry voice screaming at the crowd,

Then someone said there's Jesus, I scarce believed my eyes,
A man so badly beaten, he barely looked alive,
Blood poured from His body, from the forms upon His brow,
Running down the cross, falling to the ground.
I watched Him as He struggled,I watched Him as He fell,
The cross came down upon His back, the crowd began to yell,

In that moment I felt such agony, In that moment I felt such loss,
Till a Roman soldier grabbed my arm
and screamed, you, carry His cross.

At first I tried to resist him,
Then his hand reached for his cross,
So I knelt and took the cross from the Lord,
I placed it on my shoulder, and started down the street,
The blood that he'd been shedding was running down my cheek.

They led us to Golgotha,
They drove nails deep in His feet and hands,
Yet upon the cross I heard Him pray Father, forgive them.
Oh, never have I seen such love in any other eyes,
Into thy hands I commit my spirit
He prayed and the He died, I stood for what seemed like years,

I'd lost all sense of time until I felt to tiny hands
holding tight to mine, the children stood there weeping,
I heard the oldest say, Father please forgive us,
the lamb ran away.

Daddy, daddy,
What have we seen here, there's so much
that we don't understand, so I took them in my arms,
And we turned and faced the cross,
Then I said dear children
Watch the Lamb.

Turns out...

We spent a significant amount of time and money having a hitch installed and purchasing a rack to go on the back of our van for this trip.

Jordan just loaded the van all up.

Turns out...we didn't need the rack.

Lets hope Amazon has a good return policy.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

All is well...

Camera = found.

Actually it was never even lost.

I apparently am just bordering on insane right now.

Seriously.

Vacation, here I come.

Monday, March 29, 2010

not good

We leave for FL soon.

And my camera...

is missing.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

oh ye of little faith

Today I was reading in my 'Jesus 365' Devotional (get it!)

The lesson was about when Zechariah was told that he and Elisabeth would be parents.

Zechariah responded, 'HOW?!'

And I just love what Gabriel said (this is the BV - Becky Version)..."Hey, human, I'm an ANGEL who gets to stand beside GOD! He sent me to tell you. But because you have such miniscule faith you cant talk now until your baby is born!"

Take that.

And that is what I do.

daily.

I question God on everything. Every. Little. Thing.

And often He has to say, "hey human! I'M GOD, that's why!"

I need to stop questioning Him and start praising Him more! I needed that reminder today.

And I kind of love it that God has an amazing sense of humor. Not letting Zechariah speak...that's a good one!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Get Territories!

Jordan recently introduced Sullivan to the movie, The Gladiator.

(yeah, very age appropriate)

They watched the opening fight scene where Maximus is trying to pump his soldiers up for the big battle. And he says chants, "Strength and Honor!"

So the next day Jordan was trying to get Sullivan to recount this scene to Lauren and Avery and he said, "Sully, tell Lauren and Avery what Maximus said to his men."

Sullivan yells out, "Get territories!"

Now, that might not be funny to anyone reading this.

But to us, its hysterical.

You see the main point in the game of Risk is the 'get territories'.

And Sullivan tied together the battle in Gladiator with his battles in his favorite game.

And it made for a really great laugh for Jordan and I!

And I don't want to forget him at age 4!

Monday, March 22, 2010

Absolutely the BIGGEST news...

Avery ate meatloaf tonight.

And asked for seconds.

And thirds.

And was upset when she couldn't have fourths.

If you know Avery...you know how excited I was.

And that I almost fainted.

Contessa, its time to come inside!


Well that didn't go over too well now did it!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

PROUD 2 B A PANTHER!!!!

I'm pretty sure that was the loudest our house has EVER been.
And that's saying a lot.

Go PANTHERS!



Tess wanted in on the fun...so cute.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

P-A-N-T-H-E-R-S!!!!!!!!!!

Sullivan was very excited (and adorable) about mom and dad's alma mater,
UNI's big win tonight!
Go Panthers!!!!

And Contessa thought this was hilarious!
Wearing big brother's underwear.

A little help...

We are looking for a 'van topper/carrier thing' to borrow for our trip to Florida in 2 weeks.

Anyone know of one we could use?

Email me if you do!

Thanks!

Lunch time conversations

Avery: "Boys are lucky - they dont have to get ears pierced or have babies!"

Sullivan: "Well boys have to watch!"

huh!?!?!

again, huh!?!?!?

One year

mid-march 2009

mid-march 2010
and that is as old as she is allowed to get.
period.

Spring!

Yesterday afternoon was almost 60 degrees and sunny!

We made our first real trip to the park.

Sullivan seems a lot older than he did last year at the park.
He has no fear and could careless if I am even there!

Of course there was swinging...

Sully liked this version a little bit better.

Tess decided that worked for her too.

She's got a fun spring and summer ahead of her. She can do almost everything she wants at the park now and is fully enjoying being mobile and independent!

Today is supposed to be in the mid to UPPER 60's!!! We are headed out.
And then guess what...this weekend...its supposed to snow!
Oh Iowa, why must you be so fickle?

Ta-da!!!

Yesterday afternoon I got the greatest email from Avery and her preschool teacher.
It simply said that she had a surprise for me when she got home.

She came home to show me that something was missing!
See that adorable little space in her mouth?

There you go.

She got to bring the tooth home in this special first tooth necklace.
Then in true Avery fashion she lost the tooth before she could show it to daddy.
But also in Avery fashion...she wasn't upset by it.
We assured her the tooth fairy would still come!
Lauren would NEVER have lost her first tooth and if she had she would have been worked up for days. They couldn't be more different!

And then in true Becky and Jordan fashion we both got choked up talking
about Avery's tooth and how she is growing up. Saps I tell you...total saps.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

lap!

Tess loves to have us read to her.
She goes and finds a book.
And says, "Book".
Her favorite right now are Sullivan's superhero stories. Funny.

After she has her book she turns around and does this back up thing and says, "lap. lap."

And then we sit and read. Only she insists on turning the pages so its not real easy.
But she is so hard to resist!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Sickie

This weekend Tess started running a temp and was not quite acting right.
By yesterday I had myself pretty worked up, convinced that she had another UTI.
I have this fear that she is going to get another one before our appointment in Iowa City this summer to determine the next course of action for her.
So I took her to the dr. today. Luckily no UTI. But she does have 2 nasty infected ears. Its never good when the doctor looks in the ears and says, "owchiewowa!"

But as you can see, she's pretty happy...here she is reading books with daddy at lunch today.



Now I'm praying we get a little more sleep tonight than we did last night!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

a great end

A walk in 50 degree weather is the perfect end to any weekend.
(And now lets breakdown the funny parts of this picture.
1. Tess's boots. They were Sully's...ugly and boys.
2. Sullivan's inability to smile nicely AND have his eyes open at the same time.
3. just the hodge podge of clothing...after church I tell the kids to find whatever they want and wear it...On Sunday afternoons I really shut down!
4. Sullivan's bike...he loves that Barbie bike. He refuses to peddle. I've even bribed him with a new bike. He doesn't care. He thinks its faster to just use his feet on the ground.)

More St. Patty's day

When Grandma Cindy throws a party she really gets into it!

Just look, even the food is all green.

These two are just trouble. Cute trouble. But trouble just the same.
(oh and I was wrong...Adele, Alexa and Aaron do have some Irish
blood - according to their dad - but he also says they are related to
Lincoln so I'm not sure if we believe him...)

Awwww....

After lunch there were leprechaun stories...

a leprechaun hunt...

and hunting for gold coins...

Jackson enjoyed his first St. Patty's day party...until his bully of a
cousin Contessa attacked him and left some scratches on his face.
We're sorry Jackson!
Would you look at those brown eyes!? We don't get to see any of
that in our house...so we love to stare at Jackson's.

Thank you Grandma Cindy for a fun party!

Saturday, March 13, 2010

St. Patty's Day

We're off for a day of St. Patty's Day fun at Grandma Cindy's.
Which is kind of funny since there isn't an Irish bone in any of us!

Friday, March 12, 2010

They weren't kidding

I've been dreaming about a kitchenaid mixer for a couple of years now.
Friends told me it would, "change my life".

This week my husband made my dream come true.

And my friends weren't kidding...life changing I tell you - life changing!
Just look at her! She was ALMOST too pretty to use.
Almost.

And here she is in action. Look at her go!

And oh the yummy goodness she produced today.

Love it!
Thank you Jordan!

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The Light

Recently I've been brought to my knees for the pain of others. And while I am thankful that the pain is not mine to bear. I also realize that when my friends, my brothers and sisters-in-Christ hurt - I hurt.

Its a real pain.

All around us there is pain.

Satan is at work. He's sneaky and crafty and smart. 1 Peter 5:8 tell us, "...Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

We see him working everyday. We see him try to tear apart families, relationships, friends.

I can think of the Becker and Thomas families in Parkersburg, of friends whose marriages are being shaken to the core, of families who've lost loved ones and children way before they should have. All this pain. Consuming pain.

Last night I was reading and feeling really down for these people that I may just know through the news, or a friend or a blog. Feeling their hurt and thinking about how its not fair that Satan is so powerful. So powerful to tear down what has been built.

And it just so happened that I was led to the perfect passages. to remind me that Satan may be powerful. But he is not and will not be victorious. He is tearing down what he can now, because he knows...his day is coming. And then he will be locked in hell for eternity and have no more power over this earth. Rev. 20:10.

I turned to John 1:3-5. "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness cannot overcome it."

See that darkness, that pain, its not stronger than the Light. Its not stronger than our Savior. He allows Satan to do his best but He promises us that Satan does not win the war.

He does not end up in first place.

We do. With Christ beside us. Romans 8:31: "If God is for us, who can be against us?"

And then perhaps my most favorite promise from His Word, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full."

That's how much He loves us. Not just enough to give us an eternal life in heaven with Him (which that alone is the greatest love known) but also so that we can have life TO THE FULL. So that even in trials, pain, suffering; He's there, arms wrapped tightly around us, holding us up, at times maybe even breathing for us. And He wants to restore us to that life in full.

Reading that, remembering His power and His unimagineable love for me, restored my soul.

Tuesday, March 09, 2010

Sheer Joy

You know the look of joy on your kids' face that it seems you only see
when the sun is shining brightly above their heads with the grass beneath their feet?

Well I got to see those looks today!


Come Summer Come!

A little bball...

Sully was hard for me to pin down while we were there!

But I did catch him for awhile deep in a game of basketball.

Nice form buddy.

Swish!

Can you say INDOOR PARK!!??!?!?

Some of the mom's around here were getting a little tired of winter.
So when someone mentioned the Indoor Park in CF we were all for it!

Now pretty much everything they have - we have - but in garages stored away for winter.
So this was like total paradise for kids and mom's! Oh, and a few dad's and a grandpa I guess.

Of course the jump house was a huge hit!




Some gymnastics...

And some crash up derby....

Monday, March 08, 2010

Scared

I'm a little scared by how young our kids are but how fast we seem to go through

loaves of this

bags of these

and cartons of this...

How fast will it disappear when they are teenagers?!?!