Andy & Holly's Wedding Weekend in Columbus, OH

Andy & Holly (now Malone) a few days before their Big Day

Me and my niece Anna

Aunt Sarah reads to Bram and Liyla

Justice and Abram passing the basketball back and forth as they watch the pick-up game at the hotel we stayed at

Jon and our sweet nephew, Justice, reading

Bram walking with his Grammy and Aunt Sarah

Bram and his dad "shooting hoops" at the hotel basketball court

Anna and Aunt Amanda entertaining Bram at the rehearsal dinner

Bathtub fun at the hotel (Bram just has a shower at home)

The cousins enjoyed bubbles outside at the hotel

More basketball fun.

Abram, Liyla, and Justice reading with their Grammy and Jon

Bram checking himself out at the hotel before we headed to the wedding.

The cousins with their Papa

Saying goodbye to the happy couple at the reception. I think Andy was trying to get Abram to smile.

Bram with his Papa at the reception.

Bram and his Aunt Amanda at the reception

You Are Love by Aaron Hansel

A friend and former colleague of mine, Lindsay, shared with me a song called You Are Love that her husband Aaron wrote this past week as he reflected on the massive tornado that swept through the Moore, Oklahoma area and leveled many houses, schools, and a hospital. They live about one mile from the major destruction in Moore. The song is full of great reminders of God's character and sovereignty. Please listen and pass it on, so that, as Lindsay says below "it can give hope and glory to God".

Here's what Lindsay had to say about what they saw and experienced after the storm passed and how the song came to be:

"Aaron and Cole (Aaron and Lindsay's son) took a walk to see if anyone in our area needed help. What they saw was utter destruction which was expected, but they also saw people standing in the middle of streets with propane grills grilling food for those who needed a hot meal, and people driving around handing out bottled water to those walking in the area and those in stop and go traffic on the road trying to get home. People pitching in, being His hands! This was Monday evening around 7. Yesterday, during the long morning and still without power, Aaron pulled out his guitar to play for us and pass the time. After awhile, a new song started to form. He headed into the bedroom (he writes best in solitude) and opened the window for some light, and within a few hours, "You Are Love" was born. As soon as our electricity came back on, he recorded it and now I'm sending it out to as many people as I can. Please send it out to anyone and everyone you want. I'm including the lyrics as well for those who'd like them. He wants this to be used in any way it can to give hope and glory to God."


YOU ARE LOVE by Aaron Hansel

Help us find a way, through the loss and pain      

To call upon Your Name, and give You praise

‘Cause our hearts are failing, and we don’t know how

To give thanks in mourning, God, remind us now, that….

You are still Worthy, You are still Holy

You are still Mighty, still Righteous and Just

And You are Love

You’re still our Healer, You’re still our Shelter

You’re our Redeemer, our Savior has come

Yes, You are love

In these darkest days, Jesus, light our way

And as we walk by faith, bring us to a place

Where we will remember, all the kindness You’ve shown

And though our sorrow’s like thunder, You’re in control, and….

You are still Worthy, You are still Holy

You are still Mighty, still Righteous and Just

And You are Love

You’re still our Healer, You’re still our Shelter

You’re our Redeemer, our Savior has come

Yes, You are love

And though the storms are raging

And the rain keeps falling

We know that You are love

And may the world that sees us

Long for Jesus and our hope

Because we know, that…..

You are still Worthy, You are still Holy

You are still Mighty, still Righteous and Just

And You are Love

You’re still our Healer, You’re still our Shelter

You’re our Redeemer, our Savior has come

Yes, You are love

Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma

As of last May, my husband and I lived but 2 or 3 miles away from where the tornado devastated a hospital and schools in Moore, Oklahoma. As we watch the news, we recognize the places, and hear that the friends of so-and-so and so-and-so's house was destroyed. What can we do when faced with the reality of a natural disaster? Where can we find God and where can we find hope in this situation? Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY provides some great perspective on this issue in his special edition podcast from Monday night, The Briefing (link below).

Special Edition of Albert Mohler's The Briefing - Moore Oklahoma

Read this excerpt below if you don't have time to listen to the whole podcast:

{Mohler cites a passage in the podcast from the gospel of Luke 13:1-5 that he references in the excerpt below:

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5, ESV)}

"With human sin having corrupted so much, that every single atom and molecule of the universe now bears the effects of that sin, what we're looking at is the fact that tsunamis happen, tornadoes happen, termites happen, tumors happen. In this case it was the tornado.  

But we also need to remember that that's not where the narrative of Scripture ends. All of this points to the fact that we, as human sinners, are desperately in need of a savior. And God has provided that Savior for us in Christ. And He has saved us utterly from our sins.

But that's not all that Christ has accomplished for us. As Romans chapter 8 makes very clear, not only are we promised redemption, but the cosmos is promised redemption. That we are told that even the world, suffering under the effects of sin, will be redeemed by the power of Christ as He rules over all things - that creation which even now is groaning, waiting for the appearing of the sons of God. What that creation is telling us, is that a savior is needed not just for human beings but for the entire cosmos that God made for His glory....In the future there is a restoration of all things...a new heaven and a new earth.

Christians looking at this need to hear the words of Jesus we repeated from the gospel of Luke. This is a reminder to us, as is the death of every single human being, and the occasion of every single tragedy, that death is coming, that judgment is coming, and that we must repent lest we, as Jesus said, also likewise, perish. We need to remember that there is a dual destiny that Scripture makes very clear. There is restoration, there is redemption, there is adoption as the sons and daughters of God for those who are in Christ. And there is the bearing for all eternity the full weight of the wrath of God for those who are not under the mercy of God in Christ.

There is a new heaven and a new earth that is coming by God's promise. And Christ is going to rule over this new heaven and this new earth in such a way that the lion and the lamb will be able to rest together safely, and securely. There will be no more tsunamis. In the new heaven and the new earth there will be no tumors and no termites, there will be no mosquitoes and no need for antibiotics. There will be no grieving, there will be no tears, no eye that must be wiped dry.

...We have to wonder if the people of Moore, Oklahoma are thinking some of the thoughts that were experienced by Job of the Old Testament, when he spoke of God saying "He bruises me with a tempest". And but for Christ we would have no answer as to how we are to have a hope of any rescue from all of this. But then we remember the fourth chapter of the gospel of Mark, when the disciples were with Jesus on that boat that was tossed on the sea, such that they thought they themselves were going to be destroyed. And then you remember that Jesus rebuked the wind. And then His disciples said, "Who is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him?". Well, who He is, is the incarnate Son of God. And He is the Ruler over all things, even this, even now, even in Moore, Oklahoma. That is the assurance of how any of us have any security in this life, and in the life to come."

-Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
From The Briefing, 5-20-13

New Cookbook

Thanks, hubby, for the Mother's Day present! I'm excited to "dig in" (pun intended?) to this new cookbook, but as expected, it's size and amount of content is intimidating. Any readers out there have this book and have any favorite recipes from it you could direct me to?

Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind

The past few weeks I've been watching a Mama Robin care first for four little blue eggs in a nest in our front bush, and now I get to watch her (and Mr. Robin on occasion) feeding the hatched baby robins worms throughout the day. The babies are scrawny and a little scary looking when they stretch out their necks to eat, but I'm looking forward to (Lord willing) watching them fill out and learn to fly. This bush backs up to our front window so luckily I get to spy quietly from inside our house.

This has got me thinking about a few things, God's good creation and His providential care. Bram has been listening to some free music (Iink below) from the Songs for Saplings series. One of the tracks, Let The Waters, is a simple song about the fifth day of creation recorded in Genesis 1:20-21 and the lyrics are as follows: "Let the waters swarm with fish, and let the skies be filled with birds of every kind. God saw it was good, good, good; the fifth day was good. God saw what He made on the fifth day and it was good." I especially love that the song focuses on God's creative power making the fish and birds as being good, and not on the fish and birds in themselves. We serve the Creator, not the creature, and the creatures testify to His life-giving, creative, and powerful nature! HE is good and His works are wonderful.

I've also been thinking about Jesus' commands to His followers in Matthew 6:26 not to worry, but to trust the Father because His posture toward believers is as a loving Father whose nature is to provide for His children "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap not gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you of more value than they?".

Here's the link to download a free! sample album of songs from each volume of the Songs for Saplings CDs. Bram after listening just a few times, learned the answer to one of the questions based on the Westminster Shorter Catechism, "Who made you?". Bram says "Gah may me!" (God made me). 

Download here: http://music.songsforsaplings.com/album/free-songs-for-sampling

I know it's a good thing...

...that we are all feeling better around here. But the week of Bram taking two long naps a day will be missed!

Funny things this little one year old is doing right now:
- putting together his first sentence. "Bye-bye (fill in the blank). Usually it's "bye-bye Dada" or "bye-bye tiger" (we watched episodes of pbs's Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood to pass the time while we were both sick).
-sings "Holy, Holy, Holy" often and unprompted. Sounds more like "Hoey, hoey...ah Gah! Mighty! (mumbles)...orning! Song! Eye! Eee! Hoey, hoey...(mumbles)...mighty! GAH! Tree pah-sss. Bah, tin-i-tee!". Often times he will start in the middle and just say "GAH!". Must be an exciting part of the song for him.
-loves saying "Shoot! Score! Misses!" when throwing a ball. He's quite self-deprecating for his age. ;)

The Missing Five

Bram is still feeling virus-y, has a low fever and a double ear infection to top it all off! So that would make now a funny time to get a video of any milestones, right? I have been hoping to get a video of him counting this week but he usually stops what he's doing when I pull out my iPhone to record. So, seeing as he's so puny right now, he started counting and just kept going (didn't notice? just out of it?) when I pulled out the camera. He's picked up on all the numbers 1-10, but skips 5. He will say five when prompted but otherwise has been consistently skipping it.

Providence

The little guy and I headed to Target yesterday to pick up several things and also to get out of the house. My sinking suspicion is that I do not have mono (or any other virus) but I am reacting to mold that is somewhere in the attic (I have not gotten lab tests back to rule out mono for sure, but it's just an educated guess). So, all the more reason to get out of the house, if it's the house that's making me sick!

We shopped, we paid, we were wheeling away from the cashier when I happened to look at that little coupon that printed out after my receipt. It was for some Seventh Generation product. Seventh Generation!, I think to myself. I wheel back into the store proper. That little coupon (and God's providence) reminded me that we were out of Seventh Generation detergent. Another purchase and a few minutes later we were walking to the car.

Fast forward to the afternoon. Little one took a good nap, and woke up happily chatting to himself in his crib. I wait a few minutes for it to turn to crying, and it does. Something sounds off. I go in to get him and he's throwing up! This happened twice more before bedtime but hasn't happened since. (I'm knocking on the wood frame of the futon I'm sitting on.)

All that to say, I had several unexpected loads of clothes and towels to wash last night. I'm so glad I was reminded to get detergent before I left Target. Little mercies, everyone! God's kindness to our little family.