Jesus Loves You

Today I attended my uncle's funeral (my dad's sister's husband). He was diagnosed with acute leukemia a few months ago. He was only 61 - way too young to die. My heart is broken for my sweet aunt and cousin. I am also sad for my dad. They lived next door to my parents and he and my dad had gotten to be pretty close the last couple of years. They were enjoying their retirement together. They say that every cloud has a silver lining and the silver lining in this cloud is the the fact that he was a great Christian man and we all have peace knowing that he is no longer suffering and we will see him again in Heaven. This doesn't mean that our family isn't hurting, but it is definitely comforting.

As I sat at the funeral today my heart was breaking for my family; but it was breaking more for the lost - people that don't know Jesus. So if you are reading this and you don't have a relationship with Jesus I want you to know that Jesus loves you - and it's not just a warm fuzzy saying. Our society has turned Jesus into a "good" man from a fairytale or some people believe that he's just a myth. There are also some that believe that He is God's son, but they don't know Him and have a relationship with Him. I want you to know that God is real. Jesus is God's son and he lived a perfect life on this earth. He died on the cross for you and me as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. And the best part is that he conquered the grave and rose again. This isn't a warm and fuzzy story, this is real truth. It is also real truth that if you don't know Him, your family and friends will not have that peace of knowing that they will see you again in Heaven. I will be there and I want to see you there and Jesus is the only way that's possible.

Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
Romans 5:8 - But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us
Romans 10:9, 10 - That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved...for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."
Romans 10:13 - For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.

If you are still skeptical and this all sounds too good to be true, I recommend that you read The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. Mr. Strobel was an atheist on a quest to prove that Jesus was not God's son. He wanted the answers to questions like How reliable is the New Testament? Does evidence for Jesus exist outside the Bible? Is there any reason to believe the resurrection was an actual event? He finds the answers to these questions and many more and is now a believer in Jesus Christ.

If this is something you want to talk more about, please contact me at darrenandjulie@centurytel.net.

Snugglebuggin'

Before Nate was born Oscar and Emmy were my babies. They have honestly been pretty neglected the last 2 years. Don't worry they always (well, almost always) have food to eat and water to drink, but they are not the pampered pooches they used to be. This morning they were "snugglebuggin'" on the same pillow and I just thought it was too cute. I guess it's about time they get some blog time, since I don't think I have ever done a post about them.

County Fair

There were lots of tractors at the fair and I think Nate sat on almost every one of them


Nate loved this toy chainsaw


Milking a "cow"


First merry-go-round ride

Bedtime Prayers

We always pray with Nate before bed. After we finish our prayer he tries to delay bedtime by saying "pray for mommy" or "pray for daddy" or various other family members. Tonight he says "pray for dinosaur train." This is one of his favorite TV shows. So we said a prayer about dinosaur train. Then he says "pray for sand." So we thanked God for the sand. This cracked us up! I know this is just the beginning of many other interesting things that he will want to pray for in order to delay bedtime.

The Headless Horseman

Nate thinks it's so funny to put this bucket on his head. In one of his books a character gets a bucket stuck on their head. I don't know if that's were the idea came from or if it's just a fun thing for a 2 year old to do. He cracks us up running around his room saying "I can't see, I can't see, " giggling the entire time.

I mentioned in Nate's 2 year post and he loved music and dancing. He loves to listen to his children's praise and worship CDs. At the end of each song, he'll say more music please, but it sounds like mia muushic peas. It's too cute.

Labor Day

We spent Labor Day weekend camping with my parents on Lake Martin. We had a great time. On Saturday we went to a huge flea market that sold everything from puppies (can you say puppy mill?) to faux designer sunglasses. We didn't buy anything, but it was fun just looking at everything. On Sunday we went to a really neat gourmet market that has been built since our last camping trip. It was quite different from the flea market. :) We didn't buy anything at the market either, but I love to cook and watch Food Network so it was fun to see ingredients and different things that you don't see in the grocery stores in our neck of the woods. It was a great place to take pictures and as you can see I definitely took advantage of the beautiful grass and landscaping. Later that evening we went to see an Elvis impersonator. Who needs Vegas when you can see a free Elvis impersonator at a camp ground? I was not real excited about going, but Nate loves music so I knew he would enjoy it and he did. Nate had a fun time dancing and watching the other kids dance. Elvis would throw candy to the kids, which kept them interested, which kept their parents there, which gave Elvis an audience. He was actually fairly entertaining throwing scarves, roses etc. out to the "fans." He had a pretty snazzy jumpsuit with lots of shiny sequin appliques which was fun to look at, but also made me think what in the world was the real Elvis thinking.
Overall we just had a great trip. We have a beach trip planned in a few weeks and we are really excited about it. I hope the weather is as good as it was last year.



A few of my favorite pictures...


Nate and Pops


I love this picture because Nate was laughing and having such a great time and this picture definitely portrays that.

Ashlyn's 15th Birthday

My niece, Ashlyn, celebrated her 15th birthday on August 22nd. I cannot believe that she is already 15. I will never forget the day she was born. She was born around 9:00 AM the first day of my senior year of high school. I didn't go to school that day so that I could be at the hospital when she arrived. I was so excited to meet her and it was love at first sight.

We actually celebrated her birthday on two different days. I personally think it's a great idea to celebrate your birthday on more than one day. I know people who celebrate the entire week, which is also another good option. :) On her actual birthday our family went out to dinner and bowling. Nate had a blast at the bowling alley. He LOVED all of the bright colored balls and the music.

Nate was getting really sleepy...and wild. Why is it that the sleepier toddlers get the more energy they seem to have?

We celebrated again later that week with yummy cake and ice cream. My dad actually got Nate to eat cake and ice cream. He usually will not eat either one of them. The highlight of the night was going for a drive with Ashlyn. She only scared me a couple of times. I'm joking. She drove really well. Hopefully she will drive that safe when she's by herself or with friends.