Grace

Grace is being given a gift that you don’t deserve.  Forgiveness is a great example of grace.  God’s grace was shown when He sent his son to die on the cross to cover our sins.  We didn’t deserve it, and nothing we can do will ever make us worthy.

There have been situations in my life, a lot lately it seems, that require me to question, “What did I do to deserve this?”  But that is pretty selfish.  If I truly got what I deserve, I would be destined to an eternity in the pits of Hell.  The fact that Jesus died on the cross for a dirty wretch like me, is a love we can never understand because nothing compares to it.   I certainly do not deserve such a sacrifice.  But I can understand forgiveness.

God has reminded me of His promise of grace through forgiveness.  There are so many times we are wronged by other people, and we are so willing to hold a grudge.  But what we must remember is that God has freely extended His gift of forgiveness, and if we are willing to accept His gift, we must extend it ourselves.  He isn’t asking us to do anything He hasn’t done for us.

Is there someone who has wronged you or hurt you?  Have you extended the gift of grace through forgiveness? 

Virginia Vacation and My New Blog

We left for Virginia two Thursdays ago, and spent 6 days with our dear friends, the Volpes.  Rob drove through the night, so we arrived in Kerrs Creek around 7:00 Friday morning.

Our first order of business was to get some sleep, but then the fun was on like Donkey Kong.  During the week, we went to Chuck E. Cheese, we got some ice cream, drank about 15 pots of coffee, and consumed nearly 2 gallons of this..

I have never been a fan of coffee creamer other than evaporated milk, until these folks got me hooked on this deliciousness.  I’m pretty sure this stuff attributed nearly 4 pounds to the 5 pounds I gained on vacation.

We made a trip to the children’s museum.  Everyone had a blast.

We rode tractors,

 

milked a cow,

 

tried on a bug’s armor,

 

got stuck in a spider web,

 

heard our heart beating on a drum,

 

laughed at Bryan and Christina as they battled it out on the bikes,

 

checked out the human body,

 

raced tiny wooden canoes,

 

went zip lining through the tunnels,

 

caught a fish with an Indian net,

built stuff with blocks,

 

attempted to start a fight with Daddy with said blocks,

 

lost the block fight,

 

and our favorite part (especially for my Scooter and her art skills) was painting on the walls of a room.

 

Cade even got to be a part of a rock band!

 

But the highlight of my trip was doing Zumba at the Moose Lodge.  I have recently found a LOVE for Zumba, but I have to say, you have never really done it unless you’ve done it at the Moose Lodge.

I mean, just look at these facilities!

 

The aroma was so THICK we nicknamed the class EMPHY-ZUMBA because we were so afraid we were going to leave with a slight case of emphysema from the cigarette smoke.

Regardless of how winded we felt, we had a blast.  I will never forget it.  How could you forget with a picture like this?

 

Now, about my new blog layout.  I contacted Tenille and she was a doll!  I sent her the pictures I wanted to use, and she had me up and running the next day.  I have no idea how she does this, as I spent an entire day trying to do it myself.  I am so proud of it and I hope you like it too!!!  If you are interested in a new blog design, I would HIGHLY recommend her. 

Yay!!!!

I have a fresh new look, and I love it!!! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. I will sleep a lot better tonight:)

HELP!!!

***Updated: This is a temporary fix. I am working on it, I promise....

Is there anyone out there who can help me re-design my blog? I have attempted to do it myself, which explains why it looks the way it does:(

If you know someone, please send me their info ASAP. I'm counting on you!

School Days

I can’t wait to share all about our vacation last week, but it’s gonna have to wait one more day.  We have something more important to share….Back to School.

 

These 2 little rascals started back to school today.

SG was so proud of her new shoes.  She said in the car this morning, “I can run really faster in my new shoes.”

Cade was not so interested in me taking a picture of him in his class.  But he was so glad to see all of his friends.

Scooter wasted no time finding the toys.  I think this learning thing may prove to be a bit an adjustment for my social butterfly:)

Here they are just one year ago.  My, oh my, how one year can change things:)

I hope everyone has a wonderful first day of school!!!

Faith and Blessings

We're back! We just got back from visiting with the Volpes in Virginia. We had a wonderful time and I have so much to share, but today is all about Faith. She would have been 3 months old today. Time has just flown by. Truthfully, I don't have many words of wisdom today. If I'm being honest, I would have to say that I feel a little lost. I'm stuck between what God has done in my life and what He's going to do next. I have been convicted to spend more time reading my Bible and in prayer, seeking what His will is for my life.

While we were in Virginia, I sang "Blessings" at Kerrs Creek Baptist Church, and we shared some pictures of our girl. That church has been so faithful to pray for our family and we couldn't wait to show them how beautiful she was. Christina made this precious video that played behind me as I sang. She then added the song sung by Laura Story. She worked on this really late one night while I napped on the couch. She added little snippets from my blog posts in between the pictures. As I watched and read these thoughts, it brought tears to my eyes, but joy to my heart. What a blessing Faith has been in our lives! I miss her soooo much, but will hold onto the blessing of being her mother for the rest of my life.

So in honor of Faith's 3 month birthday, I am sharing the video with you.

Much love to all of you!

Chuck E. Cheese with the Volpeese

We got to spend some time with our dear friends, the Volpes. Today we decided to take all of the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for some time of sanity! Our kids love each other so much, but lawsy mercy they fight like cats and dogs. All of the children (both big and small) had a blast visiting the lesser mouse.

We had bribed the kids all day with this trip to get them to behave. Cade was so excited to finally get there.

Skee ball is one of our favorites. The boys take it very seriously.

SaraGrace found some games she liked, too. Here she is driving the pirate ship.

Her and Cheyenne took part in a friendly alien race, and they walked away with a whopping 2 tickets.

Cade did some serious pedaling on this machine. Look at that concentration!!!


SG had no problem whacking the mole. She is pretty good with that hammer:)

The big boys got some tokens too. They are so competitive!!! Here they are playing a little basketball...



Rob was working hard to out-race this little boy.

SG's favorite ride of the day was the Ken-Chuck-E Derby. I'm sure we spent nearly 30 tokens riding this horsey. She was really gettin' on it....

We had such a great time with great friends! After 2 hours and nearly $80, this was the loot we brought home....




Lucky for us, we had some gift cards and coupons, so we didn't suffer too bad! Extreme couponing, extreme gaming and extreme friends at it's best!