Never A Dull Moment

Brayden turned one this month! I can't believe it has already been a whole year since he was born. I remember when Lindsey called to tell me she was pregnant, and its even more weird that it was almost two years ago! Brayden is such a blessing to his mom and dad, and I feel so honored to get to pray for and support them as they parent him. I love you March family and can't wait to come for a visit! Here are a few pics of Brayden from his first year (courtesy of his mommy):

A passage in Hebrews was shared during worship this morning at church. The passage spoke directly to my heart. There is something about reading this verse, and thinking about the men and women who lived thousands of years ago with no idea they would become part of God's Living Word. They, who through faith, left a legacy despite their suffering. I'm amazed at how many times the journey didn't go so well - for Moses, for Job, for Naomi, for David, and on and on... But, it reminds me that my present suffering isn't in vain. It made me realize how much bigger the Story is - how I fit into just a small piece of it, but have the chance to play a bigger role if I accept. The role of sharing Christ's faithfulness no matter the circumstance. "And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths ...

Michelle, Jennie and Me All the "Walnut Valley" girls It was such a fun weekend! Last night Beth (a friend from Kindergarten, HS, and College) got married! Jennie and Michelle (oh, and their husbands) stayed with us and we loved having them here to hang out! We realized this weekend that, after being friends for YEARS, we all got engaged the same year. What fun memories we have together! The wedding was also a mini reunion for the girls in our graduation class. It was so fun to see everyone and made me so excited for our ten year reunion that's just around the corner! And, thank you to Carly for posting the group pic!

"In fact, what He's doing as we suffer is leading us into the depths of our being, into the corner of our soul where we feel our strongest passions. It's there that we discover our desire for God. We begin to feel a desire to know him that not only survives all our pain, but actually thrives in it until that desire becomes more intense than our desire for all the good things we still want. Through the pain of shattered [lower] dreams, we wake up to the realization that we want an encounter with God more than we want the blessings of life. And that begins a revolution in our lives." - Larry Crabb, Shattered Dreams I'm really good at avoiding what's on my heart. The funny thing is, and someday maybe I'll finally catch on, what's there can never be avoided for long. When my mom was diagnosed I was a sophomore in college. Though I had known for a while that something wasn't quite right with her, I felt like air had been taken from my lungs. There were ...