a beautiful song that captures the feeling of Easter

You spoke and made the sunrise,

to light up the very first day
You breathed across the water,

and started the very first wave
It was You
You introduced Your glory,

to every living creature on earth
And they started singing,

the first song to ever be heard
They sang for You

You make all things new
You make all things new

Then the world was broken, fallen and battered and scarred
You took the hopeless, the life, wasted, ruined and marred
And made it new

You make all things new
You make all things new
You redeem and You transform
You renew and You restore
You make all things new
You make all things new
And forever we will watch and worship You

You turn winter into spring
You take every living thing
And You breathe Your breath of life into it over and over again
You made the sunrise, day after day after day
But there's a morning coming, when old things will all pass away
And everyone will see

You make all things new
You make all things new
Come redeem and come transform
Come renew and come restore
You make all things new
You make all things new
And forever we will watch and worship You
Now and forever
You are making all things new
You're making all things new

Hallelujah...

("All Things New" by Steven Curtis Chapman)

Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the war-horses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Zechariah 9:9-10 (NIV)

Amen! Thank you Lord, for the fulfillment of prophecy in the beautiful person of Jesus Christ!

from "Got Questions?" (a website that answers questions about Christianity)

Question: "What is Passion Week?"

Answer: Passion Week is the time from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday (Resurrection Sunday). Passion Week is described in Matthew chapters 21-27; Mark chapters 11-15; Luke chapters 19-23; and John chapters 12-19. Passion Week includes: the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, Jesus cleansing the temple for the second time, Jesus giving His Olivet Discourse on the end times, Jesus' Last Supper with His disciples, Jesus' arrest and trials before the chief priests, Pilate, and Herod, Jesus' scourging at the hands of the Roman soldiers, Jesus' crucifixion, Jesus' death and burial, and gloriously - Jesus' resurrection. It is referred to as "Passion Week" because in that time, Jesus Christ truly revealed His passion for us in what He willingly went through on our behalf. What should our attitude be during Passion Week? We should be passionate in our worship of Jesus and in our proclamation of His Gospel!

Feeling nostalgic...

Thinking about 10 whole years with Adam (see post just below this one) got me to reminiscing (excuse that horrendous grammar) about our wedding day, and I thought I'd post some of the pix from that truly marvelous day, almost 7 years ago now!

A decade with my sweetie...

Over lunch today with my friend Tonya, we got onto the subject of how Adam and I met, and since it's one of my favorite stories, I was only too happy to tell it. In telling the story, though, I happened to mention that our first date together was on April 6th, and then in a moment of horror, realized that I'd forgotten it (today is the 7th)! You see, April 6th, November 23rd (the day Adam proposed), and July 10th (our wedding day) are our 3 most important occasions, which I always try to remember and celebrate in some special way.

Anyway, I was snuggled up to Adam on the couch tonight watching a movie when I remembered to tell him. We were talking about it when we realized that it was 10 YEARS ago! Our first date was April 6th, 1996! That was even before Katie graduated from high school!!! And I was a spring chicken and Adam a cradle-robber...I was a very wet-behind-the-ears 19 year-old!

It's so interesting to think about my life in that context...I'm almost 30 years old, so literally 1/3rd of my life has been spent with my love. Wow. Thank you, Lord, for the decade I've been given with my Adam. I am truly a blessed woman!

They are growing up so fast...

As you all know, Ethan, Ada, and Abby are "my babies by proxy." Sarah has often told me that she's happy to share them with me! (I just hope that the reverse will be true one day when I'm a frazzled mommy and need her!!!) Anyway, at 3, 2, and 1, they are still so little. But, I can't believe (from these pictures), how much a difference 1 year makes in their lives.














This is Abby, still so teeny-tiny, at about 2 months old. Now, she is a little woman of 15 months, full of spunk and attitude, wicked-smart and devastatingly clever. She can figure out how to do just about anything she sees others doing. Heck, she learned to walk at 8 months...there is nothing stopping this girl! But here, she was still a cuddle-bug. Just looking at this picture makes me antsy to meet the new little one in Sarah's womb. Can't wait to have another cuddle-bug!
















And here's my Ethan and Ada, at the time, just 2 and 1 respectively. I can't believe how much of their baby-fat is gone now! Ada used to be so roly-poly, and now she's pretty tall for her age and about 90% potty-trained! And Ethan, wow, he has changed so much. He rarely sucks his "fingies" anymore, he is potty-trained, and he's even in pre-school! His language, though still behind, has come a long way. At this time, VeggieTales were his favorite thing, but now he is interested in very little that isn't Thomas the Train. Awwww, I miss their baby selves. Even though they get more interesting every day, these pictures make me a little sniffly.

Part-time is the best!

How did I ever cope with a full-time job? Well, the answer is, of course, not very well at all. I always seemed to be dragging myself through the week, just hanging on for the weekend, when I could finally sleep and then sit by myself for a while and have a good "think." I know this must sound spoiled and bratty of me, but it's the honest-to-goodness truth: I'm a girl who needs time to herself! And I know all my friends would laughingly agree. Yes, I see you all nodding your heads right now.

Thing is, I used to really fight this about myself. I used to see it as a serious flaw in my nature. I used to describe myself as inherently lazy! However, I've really been re-evaluating my perception of myself in this way. You know, God makes us who we are for very specific reasons. So instead of wondering why I'm a person who needs a rested mind and a relaxed body in order to function at my very best, I think I'll just embrace that and do what it takes to give myself...a rested mind and a relaxed body! It's no accident that God worked it out for me to go part-time with my job, and how easy it was to request it and be granted it by my bosses (even though I was terrified to ask). You see, I've been wanting to write a book (well, okay, books plural!!!) for a long time, and I know that God has opened the door for me to do so. And in doing so, He also provided a way for me to get the sleep and rest that I need in order to have a mind that can focus and think and concentrate and most importantly, LISTEN to what the Lord is telling me.

So, gone are the days of doping myself up with inordinate amounts of caffeine just to stay awake. Gone are the days of frying my brain at work 40 hours a week, using all my mental energies, only to come home and be brain-dead for the evening and completely useless to my husband and myself. Gone are the days of going through the motions, literally dreaming of Saturday mornings when I could get off the merry-go-round and have a LIFE.

You know, I really look up to and respect the people who, as I've realized, God has blessed with abundant stores of energy for their jobs and ALSO their families and lives outside of the corporate world. But I've also realized, it's not a bad thing to not be able to group myself in that category. God made me this way. And God provided an out. I'm truly, truly thankful for who I am, who God intended me to be.