Oh Sacred Head

O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
Oh what a sweet song and sweet words about my Sweet Savior!

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
How pale Thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn!
How does that visage languish, which once was bright as morn!

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered, was all for sinners’ gain;
Mine, mine was the transgression, but Thine the deadly pain.
Lo, here I fall, my Savior! ’Tis I deserve Thy place;
Look on me with Thy favor, vouchsafe to me Thy grace

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

The Lord, King, Creator God who was blameless took my blame. The only One to whom all glory and honor should be given.. I mocked, scorned and turned my back to. He spared me from what my ignorant and hateful actions justly deserved and took the punishment on Himself. What a thought! What a King! What a Savior!
A tear comes to my eye when I sing that last verse I quoted: Make me Thine forever! Never let me outlive my love to Thee!
Overwhelmed by His Goodness to me, wicked sinner!
Goodnight.

Cute Cousins

Cute Cousins

With only 2 months between them I can just imagine the things they will do together from... Tea parties and dress up to sliding down slides and making sand castles.

But before all that: I guess first they must learn how to just sit up by themselves.

Baby Shower Highlights

Carey & Leslie's
Baby Shower

What a wonderful evening we had last monday celebrating the birth of these two precious babies: Eleanor & Benjamin. What a baby shower! The setting was lovely! The hall was dimmed with little white lights strung all around. Beautiful classical music was playing in the background, as we caught up with good friends. We sipped our freshly brewed cappuccinos and dipped our biscotti while sharing our funny baby stories. How delightful and relaxing! The night of fun was topped off by a word of encouragement from a veteran mother of seven. She shared that life is messy and hard, and we are needy and that’s normal. Even though there is a lot of change for all (mom, dad, brothers, sisters..) we can surely know that God is in Control. He states in the bible. So we really don’t have to worry but rather just seek him. Seek Christ for perspective and for strength. It was with these thought that we spent a very sweet time praying for both sets of parents, the kids adjustment to child number #2 and of course we prayed for these little precious babies & toddlers to seek after Christ and believe that Jesus came and died on the cross to set them free from sin’s punishment.

May the rest of us continue to pray for one another. As we look at these little babies (Eleanor & Ben) our faith in and devotion to Christ would model them: only being satisfied with the Word of God as our milk, with child-like humility accepting where the Lord takes us, and delighting ourselves in Christ just as a baby coo’s to see her mother’s face.

Congratulations Ladies!!

Motopolitico: Adventures in Babysitting part I

Motopolitico: Adventures in Babysitting part I
If you like comedies this is an absolute must read! Too Funny!

Beach Party

Beach Party

Well just the other day it was about 47 degrees here in Vermont. All the snow melted and ground started to thaw. Since we were in a bit of heat wave, the kids and I decided to do something fun. I layed my blue vinyl tablecloth down on the floor and also a tan blanket. Gabi and Sam pretended that it was the beach. So I pulled out the swimsuits and life jackets to complete the beach party. They made a little diving board from their step stool. For a couple hours they kept diving and swimming, diving and swimming. They pulled out their boats and rubber duckie. It was fun to watch. It reminded me of all the ideas and fun things my mom would do with us girls. Wow I'm getting old.

Elisha is Home!

After a week of being in the hospital, my niece Elisha, is finally home! We are so happy for the Voskuil's, no more hospital food, or bed. Praise God that the pnemonia was caught early and that it only took a week (instead of the previous time 2 weeks). We are just praising the Lord for His gracious hand in all this and for building our faith in trusting Him with everything.
Here is the card we send them.. Full of silly cousins!!!

How sweet is His forgiveness!

It amazes me how quickly pride and a judgmental spirit can infiltrate my heart. It seems to happen to me most when there is a legitimate issue or concern. It is if I am standing on a slippery slope, I can objectively observe something especially in those who I love and know the best, but I can quickly slip down the hill of thinking that I know better or that I would do it correctly. Yuck.

Romans 2:1 Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

Praise God that He does not let me get away with it. That He has put His Spirit within me to hate the darkness and love the truth. I wrestle and squirm until I come to Him in repentance. Praise God that I have a husband that loves to speak truth to me, and help me through the muck not by agreeing or adding a his own thoughts but by reminding me of the Cross of Christ. It is here, where both my husband and I and my sister who I judge, sit at His feet, gazing with thankfulness. What an overwhelming reality. Christ died on the gruesome cross for the sins of the elect. Wow! Even the sin of judging my sister in the Lord is covered by His sacrifice. How much I have been forgiven and how much do I need grace! Praise God that He is eager to forgive my sins when I come in humility before the throne! Oh may my the entirety of my life be consumed by knowing, going and praising the cross of Christ!

PLAYING IN SNOW IS FUN!!!!!

PLAYING IN SNOW IS FUN!
After about 45 minutes of putting on all the gear: long underware, 2 pairs of socks, 2 shirts, a fleece, snow pants, coat, hat, mittens and of course big boots, we headed outside to play. It was quite funny. Sammy-boy could hardly walk in all that gear. Which made him a site to see. But then the real challege came, WALKING IN THE SNOW. He would take a step and then just do a huge face plant in the snow. Of course we are still in the whinny stage.. so there is no "Help Me Mommy" it is just "ahhhhhhhhh....." Gabi seemed oblivious to the little packer fan. She had a grand time just shoveling snow into her pail. The wind was blowing pretty hard so we didn't stay out for too long. I got the sign Gabi-girl was ready when she came over and with her mitten off and a tear from the wind streaming down her chubby little check. I asked her if she was cold and she just looked at me. I took that as a yes. It was lunch time anyways. So instead of making Sam walk all the way back to the house only to watch him fall about 1000 times, I carried him in. Once we were inside we tore all the layers off in about 3 minutes and left a big puddle and mess. That seems about right. I remember us girls when we were little doing the same thing: trying to get all the snow gear off without stepping in a puddle to get your socks all wet.
Well that was our morning in a nutshell. Fun, cold and funny!

DancingMogs

DancingMogs
Phew... well, i am just now sitting down. This morning has been loaded with lots of activity. We had a play date with 2 other ladies and thier kids. Total of 4 boys & 3 girls all under age 4 plus two little infants. I'm just glad to be sitting with a glass of water.

Houston, We have Blast Off!

Well, after many weeks of reading everyone else's blogs, I have decided to start one of my own. I have been enjoying reading others thoughts on different things but I guess my 2 favorite topics to read are: faith in the Lord Jesus and mothering stories. I also enjoy leaving comments. Please do so here.