so hard to believe this little Sweet Pea is already 18 months old!  

love her!  

forsaken?

"'Eli, Eli lama sabachthani,' which means, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'" 

(Mark 27:46) 

I have been taught for many, many years that this call from Jesus right before He willingly surrendered His spirit was a reflection of feeling abandoned because since Christ was wearing the sins of the entire world, God could not look at Him and therefore had to turn His back on Him.  This confused me as Christ IS God (but with skin on) . . . how could He turn his back on Himself?  I always chalked it up to the fact that the God in three separate forms is just too grand of a concept for me to fully grasp, because it is!  However, Why did Jesus say this in Hebrew when everyone around him was speaking Greek?  The Roman soldiers at the foot of the cross thought he was nuts!
But, Jesus did not go around speaking in Hebrew all the time, so why now?

Have you read Psalm 22?  Guess how it starts . . . 

You got it! 

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 

Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?

Christ was quoting Old Testament scripture!  This chapter goes on to describe, and prophesy about, Messiah, what was written in the 10th Century B.C., Jesus just fulfilled, confirming that He, if fact, WAS/IS the Messiah!

The Psalm that starts out sounding hopeless answers itself:

"For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; 

Nor has He hidden His face from him; 

But when he cried to Him for help, He heard."

The afflicted will eat and be satisfied; 
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD. 
Let your heart live forever!

It is true, God cannot deny Himself; and, if you are a Christ-filled believer, then His spirit is in you!

Isn't this beautiful?

 He cannot deny Him in you and will never turn His back on you.

We are so unworthy, but it truly is finished!

Lets's rest in this truth as we abide in Him!

pansy

if you have never read the book Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret, i highly recommend this biography.  this quote is an excerpt from that book, said by Hudson Taylor, that I, too find true with me.  if The Lord chooses to use me for His work, this will be the reason why.  if He does not, my pride will, undoubtedly, be the main barrier to that blessing.  i pray that i am always as week as this dainty little pansy so that He may be glorified all the more.  continually abiding in Christ, letting Him hold our heart, for our hands are more than insufficient, . . . this is the goal for Christian maturity.

fall ball 2012 . . .

Socrates is our resident baseball player... he loves it . . . loves hitting the most, most boys do right?  he is the smallest and youngest boy on his team this year . . . but next year, watch out!  

for now, we are telling him that "little" is the new "big!"

he has a powerful hit

enjoy!

daisy bow . . .

this pink daisy bow was a gift, but one of the only bows we have that ALMOST sticks up further than Sweet Pea's hair!  her hair is quite impressive.  out of all our babies, she surely has the most!  

it matches her stunning eyes!

enjoy!

morning visitor. . .

living in florida, we see so many different types of wildlife . . . especially since our property backs up to an impressive greenbelt.  

this was our visitor one morning a few weeks ago!

stunning!

enjoy!