Congratulations Zac, Steph, Teagan and Chris!
I love this wooden door on their porch.
I didn’t turn any lights on and it was quite dark this morning.
I love this sweet bathroom. Give the mirrors to me if you want to get rid of them!!
The view from the dining room. I love the windows. I had to open all the shades in the house so I could see them.
A fire pit on the patio – yea!
Upstairs
A view into the master bedroom. It’s so New England. I love it!
Chapter 11 in Breaking Free by Beth Moore – The Obstacle of Prayerlessness
A quote -
You are probably familiar with Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. An the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
I decided that to bring home the impact of the verses I would have a little fun and paraphrase the passage from a negative standpoint. In other words, I turned this prescription for peace into a no-fail prescription for anxiety. My result looked like this: “Do not be calm about anything, but in everything, by dwelling on it constantly and feeling picked on by God, with thoughts like ‘and this is the thanks I get,’ present your aggravations to everyone you know but Him. And the acid in your stomach, which transcends all milk products, will cause you an ulcer, and the doctor bills will cause you a heart attack and you will lose your mind.”
Without a doubt, avoiding prayer is a sure prescription for anxiety, a certain way to avoid peace.
Church, work, hike, photo shoot (yuck!!). Rhonda is a good make up artist and Sarah is a good photographer, but I’m not a fan of either (photos and getting make up done). A group of business women of which I am a part took advantage of getting head shots. I was very hesitant to participate. I did it. The socializing was fun. Pictures were painful.
I guess that’s not such a spiritual thought for Palm Sunday. Keeping it real. I’ll have more spiritual thoughts when I start reading in a few minutes.
Watching Maggie out the window.
Warm day for a walk with Papa.
Mommy and bubs on a warm afternoon adventure.
Henry ate the receipt from our dessert date. Apparently I didn’t share enough.
God’s presence in our lives is absolutely unchanging, but the evidence of His presence is not. On some occasions God may purposely alter the evidences of His presence to bring the most benefit from our experience. Sometimes we receive the most benefit from seeing many visible “prints” of His invisible hands during a difficult season. Other times we profit most from seeing fewer evidences. God does not love us less when He gives us fewer evidences. He simply desires to grow us up and teach us to walk by faith.
In Matthew 14:25-32 in the midst of a storm, Jesus came walking on the water. To his terrified disciples, He said: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (v. 27), but the storm continued to rage until He got into the boat. The point is not that we have nothing to fear but that His presence is the basis for our courage. Christ did not say, “Take courage! I am calming the storm. Don’t be afraid.” Instead, with the winds still raging, He said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Christ does not always immediately calm the storm, but He is always willing to calm His child on the basis of His presence. “Don’t worry! I know the winds are raging and the waves are high, but I am God over both. If I let them continue to swell, it’s because I want you to see Me walk on the water.” We’ll probably never learn to enjoy our storms, but we can learn to enjoy God’s presence in the storm!
Breaking Free, Beth Moore
We had a busy week last week with Rye visiting and birthday parties. It was fun. Thank you Rye!
Thank you to everyone for all of Henry’s gifts and cards. So sweet.
We took Rye to the airport in Portland yesterday. It was a rough trip for Henry because he wasn’t feeling well. We did get him a front facing car seat on the way down. He looks so grown up riding in it.
Today is my cousin Nate’s birthday. Happy Birthday Nate! Some other birthday wishes this month – Brooke and Otis (Henry’s birthday twins), Kat, Steph, Teagan, Cheselle, Spencer, and my grandparents’ 57th wedding anniversary was this month. Happy birthday to anyone I forgot!
Henry and Nevaeh
Chris on his sister’s 4th birthday (today).
Teagan on her 4th birthday.
Teagan’s Party
Henry at his cousin’s birthday.
Chris and Nevaeh
Henry’s First Playground Visit Today with Rye, Annie and Nevaeh
