It's Snowing; Be Happy!

The past few years I have developed a negative reaction to that cold white stuff. This stems mainly from having to drive in it, which totally stresses me out. Also, the magic of snow fun kinda wears off when you grow up. And I plain don't like cold weather! But I've been driving long enough now that I've gained a good bit more confidence driving in bad conditions, though I still have to get used to it all over again with the first couple snows. So this year I have, begrudgingly at first, started taking more notice of the beauty of the snow. Not that I don't see it every year; I'm always awed by the sight of millions of sparkling jewels when a rare sunny day shows up the white brilliance. But I'm trying to appreciate it more this winter. And I've decided that I need to make some more snow fun for myself so I can get some of the magic back! Justin and I had a blast playing in it last week and i kept him out too long for his first time, but he was having so much fun! All we have for sledding is this pitiful little bank, but i try to make the best of it. Justin thought it was great! He wanted to go down again and again and again! Needless to say, I got some great exercise getting Justin and the sled up the bank all those times.


Here's the snow friend that my TALL brothers made and startled me one night when I got home from work!





I've been searching for places to go sledding on actual hills somewhere in Northeast Ohio, and I found out we actually have some ski resorts around here! I would love to learn skiing or snowboarding, but of course money is an object....One place offers snow tubing, which sounds totally cool to me! so I'm thinking if I do some really fun stuff in the snow I might decide to like it again! Snow tubing could actually make it cool to have a winter birthday! Now if I can just come up with a decent pair of snow pants....

Here's just a little brag on my sweetest little bro, Justin! 4 years old and full of spunk!






You can see what his current favorite pose is! I call it the Boz Face, it's an imitation of Boz the Green Bear Next Door who is Justin's absolute favorite character... these are the cutest movies that teach all kinds of basic stuff for toddler/preschool age while having tons of fun and learning about God!

Happy snow fun everyone!!!

Stuff of Life

Hey everybody! Happy 2010! One year closer to eternity.... though we're only a heartbeat away.
So it's been way too long since I've written! If anyone has been checking up on me, I'm sorry! I have the best of intentions to keep this going but life gets in the way; honestly i don't know how some people do it! Actually a lot of the problem is my perfectionistic complex. I like to write, but I want what I write to be really good. It has to come out just right and express my thoughts accurately and thouroughly. I have this desire not just to be good, but the best. And that, my friends, is called the pride of life. I think we all have this desire to be "all that". You know, the hero, the champion, the inspiration, the person everyone admires. Whatever you call it, it boils down to this idea.... "I will be like God." We all long for immortality and glory. Well, we are immortal, but not in this world or this body. There is no eternal fountain of youth or whatever else we may search for. And we were created to be fascinated and consumed with the glory of God, living to reflect that glory to the world. Right now I am memorizing a passage from 2 Corinthians. I love chapter 3, verse 18: "We all, with unveiled faces, are reflecting the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory..." Transformation! Remember the butterfly? We have been recreated! But we are still in the breaking out process. God had to remind me of this today. As I realized that by God's standard, my entire lifetime is only a breath, so this "breaking out of the cocoon" is a lifetime process. To God it is no more time than it takes the butterfly to emerge. And when we step from this life into eternity.... that is when we will be ready to fly! We will be all that God created us to be! All the suffering and sorrow and battling of life will be worth it because it is perfecting us into the image of Jesus and preparing us to soar with Him in full glory! This is the glory we long for! It goes so much deeper than the skin of this world. I dissolved into worship as my Beloved spoke truth into my spirit. I cannot really express to you what He gave me, but I can only tell you again that He is so awesome! He always meets me where I am, even at my lowest points, and He pulls me up to Himself. IF only I could stay as focused as I am in these precious times. To keep my eyes on the unseen and let the "skin" ie; all the outward appearance and image issues, dissolve and fall away in the immensity of His love and beauty. Let me share some lines from a song that has become my prayer in the last few months. It's called I Will Lift My Eyes by Bebo Norman. Thanks for sharing it, Cindy!

Your kindness is what pulls me up, and Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker of the mountains I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to you

There are so many things I've wanted to write about over the last month and so many more I'm sure I could think of,and many I'm sure I'll never get to,but that's okay. For now I just want to praise my amazing Lover God for His mercy and kindness that transcends my failure, and His truth and faithfulness that go far deeper than my darkness and confusion. He is the Light who rescues me! May He draw you deeper into Himself today.