Family Pictures

Chloe and Emma were blessed to have all six of their grandparents here this weekend to celebrate Emma's birthday. If you can't tell, in our family, birthdays are big doings. My parents came in Thursday night, Chad's dad and step-mom came in on Friday and his mom and step-dad got here on Saturday...we had a houseful and wouldn't have had it any other way.

This was Friday night after dinner

The birthday girl




The granddad's trying to put together a canopy bed for Emma's Bitty Baby..









This is my dad(?) with Chloe.....living their rock star dream....

Then Sings My Soul Week Three

Thanks Amy for hosting this! You spur me on and I love you!

I LOVE this part of my week. At the time I'm typing this, it is Wednesday afternoon. This song is one of my all time favorites. It's off Israel's South Africa CD. When I grow up, I want to play keyboards with these people....

This song encourages me, makes me dance and is usually what I clean house to.....

More than that, it reminds me that my God is not only the Author, Finisher and Perfector of my faith, He has me here, on this planet for this time. HE thought out exactly what I was to be, before time began. He did the same for you. We aren't accidents. We aren't here by mistake. No, our God has a very specific plan for each one of us. Even when we feel like a nameless, faceless person, we are not forgotten.


Turn it up and dance along if you like!

Emma's Day

Today is my baby girl's 7th birthday. She started her celebration early this morning. Apparently, she got up at 2:30 and asked Chloe if she could sleep with her.

When I walked out of our bedroom this morning at 6:30 to start breakfast, the loft t.v. was on. They got up at 5:30. Needless to say, my special breakfast surprise was ruined. Oh well....


Emma put on the Birthday Crown and we all climbed on my bed to open her birthday gift.



She was given movie tickets for the "girls" to go see Horton Hears a Hoo. (daddy bought them yesterday for us to go see this afternoon after school) She also found her very own copy of Charlotte's Web. She was very excited.

Hanging out waiting for the movie to start.....still wearing the crown.



Mom and the birthday girl and big sis sneaking into the picture...


Dad and Emma...notice she still has on the crown.



We had dinner at our favorite Asian restaurant...they have a Tiki Hut in the restaurant and we were able to sit in there tonight. The two owners were both in the restaurant tonight and one happens to be the chef. Both of them make you feel like part of their family. They brought Emma this HUGE dessert and once again, she and Chloe devoured it.

The chef brought this out to Emma. You can't see it in this picture, but this dessert came with a flaming saucer of Saki. Emma looked like she was just about to dip some cake in there when Chad moved it off the plate...Then he gave me a look as if to say, do you want to try this? No. I did not partake. I am Baptist......



A warm(er) spring evening in this family includes some bike riding. So that is what we came home to do.

I'm off to make a grocery list and plan for her family party on Saturday. We have all 6 grandparents coming in, so I've got some work to do! And I just may be drinking Saki before it's all over!!! JUST KIDDING....

Easter Weekend

I know!!! I finally posted again. Thanks for coming back! :) WARNING: This post is for the grandparents, aunts and uncles and probably going to be full of pictures, not to mention randomness!

When I posted Thursday evening, I honestly thought I would be in the bed all day Friday. I felt so bad. God was gracious and gave me an incredible night of rest and I woke up fever free and feeling a little stronger. We took our time and left for Chattanooga around noon. God gave us a wonderful weekend.

Friday night we ate at our new favorite Mexican place. It was the second time we had been there, but apparently my parents refuse to eat at any other Mexican restaurant. Now, I understand why. This place is awesome! Abuelo's Mexican Embassy is a new "must eat at" when we go back to Chattanooga.

Our server heard us talking about Emma's upcoming birthday (it's Wednesday) and surprised her with their "Chocolate Eruption". Chloe and Emma finished the entire thing by themselves.


Emma, our veggie and fruit kid had a horrible tummy ache later in the evening and decided that she had had entirely too much cake. She went on to tell me that we would just have fruit cocktail for her birthday dessert.

We all needed to walk off dinner so we headed down the street to Target. My girls grabbed a buggy and off we went. We were looking for a "bug" t-shirt for Chloe to wear in her musical later in April. We found one that might work and then I had the bright idea to check out the garden center area for some cute little lady bug garden shoes that would be adorable for her role. (Her character is a science freak and is nicknamed "Bugs".) While we were checking out the shoes, my dad and Chad disappeared. This is where I found them.....





Cooking with Grams Saturday before our family Easter dinner.



This is my beautiful sister in love Megan with my nieces... This was their first Easter Egg Hunt.


These girls crack me up... they shared eggs and I honestly don't know who is who in this picture.







Gram's and Daddy Mack with four of their five grandchildren. (I guess it's five of six if you count Paddington)


Saturday's dinner was to celebrate all the March B'days in our family and Easter. It was great to have most everyone together. We missed you Val and Colin.

Sunday I had enough voice for one song and sang "In Christ Alone". Not Frydaddy's version, but one closer to the original Getty arrangement.

While I was doing my sound check, one of the church members came into the sanctuary with her arm around one of their teenage girls. The young girl was visibly upset, and they were looking for my dad or mom. This young girl has had a rough couple of years and that church has been praying for her for a long time.

Can I tell you what God did? While I did my sound check, my mom walked through the plan of salvation with this sweet girl. She prayed to receive Christ as her personal Savior on Easter Sunday morning, BEFORE the service! How cool is that! If you would, say a prayer for her. This little lady has had a life that has been hard. BUT, I can't help but think of how God can use her story to encourage and change the life of many women. It was a powerful service and I'm so glad we were able to be part of it.

We met Chad's mom and her husband for more Mexican and enjoyed a good time with them. I left my camera on the kitchen counter, so I don't have pictures with them. But we'll get some on here this weekend when they come down to help us celebrate Emma's Birthday.

I sure hope your Easter was filled with Resurrection Power. But more importantly, as my sweet friend Jill said last night, I pray that you are facing today acknowledging that you have that same Resurrection Power in you. She threw out two words together that I'm meditating on big time.... Resurrection Living.

Resurrection Living.....I'm going to soak on those for a little while!

Then Sings My Soul (a little earlier than)Saturday

Okay, I know this is supposed to be on Saturday, but...
1. I'm sick...AGAIN. Worse than last time. Apparently, Chad has shared his germs.
2. We are supposed to be headed out of town for me to sing on Sunday.

I am going ahead and posting this tonight believing God to heal me so that I can sing during my dad's Easter sermon on Sunday.

I just had to share this song with you. It has been a long time favorite of mine, and Chad loves it too.

To understand why this song this week, you need to understand where God has had me in my quiet times. In my study of God's names and attributes, I am currently in the "C's". You probably got that in my "Cover" post.

I shared earlier this week that I felt like I was in a battle. How I was blindsided by the enemy. Honestly, I was shocked that my armor was so easily penetrated. This time, that little twirp was so sly. It was a HUGE wake up call that we are to be on guard at ALL times.

So, I'm kind of in this war/battle mentality all week. I thought about Fran's posts on our spiritual armor often. Then yesterday morning as I was reading through my list of "C's", these two names became heavy on the heart.

CAPTAIN OF THE LORD'S HOST

COMMANDER OF THE ARMY OF GOD

Somebody say Hallelujah one time. Now, say it again.

Our Jesus is in charge of this battle and He knows exactly how I feel about this week.

I'm so thankful that my strong Commander and Captain, the one without sin, the pure perfect Jesus, knows how I struggle. He gets just how crafty and sly the enemy is. Hebrews 4:15 tells us that "We don't have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet He was without sin." Sometimes it's easy to feel isolated in our struggles, our personal battles, but oh sweet one He knows! He has been there and completely understands!

On over in Hebrews 12 and I read this "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

This week God showed me that He is in this battle with me and better yet, He is in this til the end. That was comfort enough but then He went and showed me this.....

We, those of us believers on this earth, have a great cloud of witnesses already in the heavenlies waiting on us. We have a holy army just cheering us on! They are in the presence of our Commander and Captain and He is just waiting on the "go" from the Holy Throne....

I don't know about you, but it excites me to think that I am in this battle with David, Abraham, Moses, John, Peter, Paul, Mary, Ruth, Sarah, my Grandfather, my parents dear friend Steve, Mamaw Wolfe, my sweet friend Haley's mom Kathy...all those who are seated in the presence of Almighty God. One day, we will ride into battle together...the last battle....you know, the one where we watch the enemy be defeated.

So for today, in this life, this battle, I will choose to ride with my Commander. My Captain. Who will you ride with?
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Cover

My experience with IT was one of the times where God took a bad thing, and taught or "re"taught me something about Himself.

Stick with me here.

Clothes. I.Love.Clothes. I love fashion. I love checking out the new stuff and trying to figure out each season, what new pieces I will purchase. To me, the adventure of finding those new pieces is fun. I like the challenge of finding just the right one and finding it cheap. (I've got some incredible stories of how God shows me just the right deals, but that is for another day.)

Clothes cover. They cover a multitude of things. Mostly girls here so I can be honest. The right piece of clothing will hide all the lumps and bumps we aren't very proud of. We take great measure to find the perfect fit so that we appear longer, leaner and look our best. Put on the right type of clothing and you can cover what you don't like about yourself.

What happens when you take those clothes off? Yep, the back fat is still there. The stretch marks, they're still there too. And don't forget about the cellulite, it seems to reproduce overnight sometimes. The "uglies", the things we don't like about our bodies. You can cover them, but at the end of the day they are still there.

I know you get where I am going with this.

Sin is our spiritual "ugly". When we try to cover it up our self, we are doing nothing but throwing on a piece of clothing that is several sizes to small. We can never say enough, do enough or be enough to make right, or cover our sin. There is only One who can.

Jesus Christ. The perfect tailor. He has custom designed a piece of clothing for each of us that will more than cover any sin. The sins we have committed in the past,are currently involved in and better than that, the sin we will commit tomorrow and the next day....

The Hebrew word for cover is "kasah" and it means to cover, conceal, hide; to clothe;....to forgive;to keep secret; to hide oneself, wrap oneself up."

Our Jesus has paid for our garment of salvation and our robe of righteousness with His Holy blood, sweat and tears. After this weekend I needed to be reminded that I have been wrapped up, covered, clothed by Jesus.

While I may have tripped over an old garment (that old stronghold) I quickly saw it for what it was, and it was a hideous thing!

The Lord has had me soaking in Isaiah 61. Verse 10 says this...
" I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.
For He has CLOTHED me with GARMENTS OF SALVATION and arrayed me in a ROBE of RIGHTEOUSNESS."


I challenge you today to trade your ill-fitting garment for the Cover that has been customized just for you.

It Came Back

It was back this weekend. A part of me I have not heard or seen in several years. A part of me that was once a stronghold. It didn't just take over one morning. No, it was there from childhood. It just got bigger, and uglier and stronger the older I became.

Through the Bible study "Breaking Free", I called it by name and asked Almighty God to have a holy intervention. That was six years ago.

Until this past weekend I have recognized when I feel weak in this area. The minute I feel this weakness, I mentally move into battle mode. I start speaking scripture out loud, I pray through it and sometimes fast until I feel the battle has ended.

But this time. This time, I was blindsided. Totally taken off guard. I was phone line to phone line with evil. The more I answered questions and responded to comments with the Word, the uglier the other side became. It was clear to me that no good could come out of this. I felt Chad's hand on my shoulder. "Be careful" he was saying. He had been praying during this entire situation. I should have listened.

Then, the enemy pulled out the big gun and hit me in my weak spot. He went "there".

I would love to tell you I stood strong and looked for the way of escape, but I didn't. My flesh took over and I allowed the old stronghold to show itself.

It ended bad. Very bad. My heart hurts. What happened was NEVER my intention. I didn't start it, but boy did I finish it.

For two days, I have felt beat up. I feel like a failure. Worthless, and totally inadequate to minister in the area God has called me to.

This morning, I was standing in the shower talking to the Lord about this. Okay, I was crying and asking Him to forgive me (again) for allowing this stronghold to take over in this particular situation. This is what I heard.

"Stephanie. You are forgiven. Quit insulting me and my forgiveness by continuing to bring this up. Praise me for the forgiveness, and leave the enemy to me. I can handle him."


Here is just a little of Psalm 51:
"Have mercy on me O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Retsore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
Oh Lord, open my lips and my mouth will declare your praise!"

And Praise is what I did.....

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