A Sweet Aroma

There are many places in the bible discussing our worship being a sweet aroma to the Lord.   We first see mention of it in the Bible when Noah came out of the ark, turning away from his own sorrow and need and built an altar to minister to the Lord's broken heart.  What an act of worship!   We see that the sweet aroma of a worshipping heart is so important to the Lord that he instructed that an altar of incense be built in the tabernacle in Exodus 30.  It was to be placed in front of the curtain, before the ark of Testimony, in the place where God promised to meet with His people. Every morning and every evening, the High Priest was to burn the fragrant incense, made of a special recipe consecrated only to the Lord. It was to be burnt regularly, day in and day out for the generations to come (v. 7-9, 34-38).

And in John 12:3 the Bible says, "Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume."  You know her selfless act of worship was a sweet aroma (literally) to the Lord!

I have been studying a lot about worship in BSF (Bible Study Fellowship).  BSF is an awesome, in-depth Bible Study with a four-fold approach where you:

1. Answer daily lesson questions on your own.

2. Discuss your insights in a conversation with members of your discussion group.

3. Listen to a lecture that explains the passage, key principles from the lesson and the relevance of the Bible's truth to today's world.

4. Read lesson notes that further elaborate on the passage.

My Lord has really used each of the four pieces of BSF to speak to me specifically and grow me.  Lately, as I mentioned above, he has been educating me on worship---true worship which comes from the heart.   Worship that is a sweet aroma to Him.  (This year's BSF study is on the Life of Moses and I have gotten even more out of it than I ever expected to get from the Old Testament teachings.  And, it is amazing how every passage seems to point to Jesus.  If you want to find a BSF study near you, click here.)

At the same time that I am learning so much during the BSF Bible study, the kids are as well.  The preschool children's program is really amazing.  To see little 2-3 year olds have a quiet time with the Lord, share the gospel using the gospel finger play, and sing songs of worship to the Lord just makes my heart melt.  Abbey has been singing several songs lately that she learned in BSF:   "Holy, Holy, Holy", "Trust and Obey" and "Go Down Moses".  To hear our little 3-year old singing "Holy, Holy, Holy" as she lay in her bed falling asleep seriously makes my heart melt.  I had an a-ha moment the other day as I couldn't wipe the smile on my face and had tears of joy coming down my face hearing precious Abbey singing to God.  I thought, goodness, if I feel this way, just imagine how God must feel to hear her worship and even my worship.  I am just her parent---but He is her creator and the one to whom she is singing.   What a sweet aroma it must be to Him!

Yesterday, Abbey was singing as we were getting in the car after playing at a park.  So, I captured some of the "sweet aroma" on video.  She shortened the songs a bit here, but still so precious!  Enjoy!

Abbey's 3rd Birthday

A few weeks ago we celebrated Abbey's 3rd birthday.  (Sorry for the delay in posting!)  Abbey is at such a fun, cute age right now.   Pretty much everything that she does is just so adorable--well, except for maybe the "three-nager-ish" stuff.  (In case you missed the article that was floating around a couple of weeks ago and don't know what a "three-nager" is, just click here.)

We had a wonderful time celebrating Abbey's 3rd year--it was an intimate celebration with just Drew, Luke, Abbey and me on her actual birthday.  

Here is a video of us singing Happy Birthday to Abbey (please ignore my singing voice--so embarrassing):

She loved her healthi-fied cupcakes that she and Luke helped me make.

She elaborated in this video:

She also is a big fan of her new art smock from Grandma and Grandpa---as is obvious by this photo:

Abbey also felt pretty special getting to celebrate in Sugar Land with Mimi, Papa, Erica, Andy, Mitchell, Audrey and Lauren (Drew's parents, sister, b-i-l, nephew, and nieces) when we visited them last month:

that tongue is always working when she is the center of attention

Hooray for cake and homemade ice cream!

So much fun!

Abbey is 3!

What?  What did I just type?  I can't believe that sentence is actually a correct sentence.  How did Abbey turn 3 years old so quickly?

Well, I can't change the fact that you're 3 years old.  But, I can cherish every moment with you.  And, that is what I really tried hard to do each day with you this past year.  Here are some of those special cherished moments that I caught on "film".  I think they tell a bit of a story on what you were like as a two year old.

You're such a fun girl with a contagious laugh!

You're so silly.  You are also very determined...when you set out to accomplish something, nothing gets in your way.  (Like your determination to bathe in this pretend baby doll bath.)

You look up to your big brother and are so proud of him.  You tell everyone you meet about "Luke, your Big Brother."

You have a way of getting all of us to join in your shenanigans.  Here, you had us all do the potty dance, on day 3 of our 3-day potty training, early in the year. 

So silly!  And your face is always needing to be wiped!

There's the laugh and smile you give when you have just done something silly!

Party with your "friends."

you're always giving sweet hugs

Every time you see a puddle--it must be splashed in.  :-)

Your favorite place is in daddy's arms.

You just exude so much joy!  Daddy and I often say that "Joy" may have suited you even better as a name.

You are always willing to try something new, but are very careful about it.  You were excited to try "Texas Sledding", but made sure you held Daddy's hand all the way down.

Those eyes!

You're always offering us sweet gifts--like a sniff of a fresh flower you picked.

You love playing in the sand and dirt, but make sure to do so in the most prissy ways possible. 

We all love your sweet kisses.

That brain of yours is always thinking! You amaze us with the things you say and do, which are many times well beyond your age!

Momma's girl!

You love dressing up and fashion.  You also really enjoy reading!  You can't read by yourself yet, but you can identify and know all the sounds each of the the letters make and enjoy hearing others read you stories.

And your dancing is the most adorable thing ever to watch!

You always have something to say--it's usually either something sweet or sassy. And there is the prissy sand digging again.

You love to paint!

You were the most adorable puppy ("toto") for Halloween.  You made sure to stay "in character" while trick or treating.

Cutest little sack-racer ever!

This is the excitement you show every day for daddy's arrival home from work.  Daddy is just as excited to get to come home to that every day!

Ornery look.  And wow, you have really grown up a lot this past year.  You are transitioning from my baby girl to my little girl.

Abbey--you are SO LOVED!  If I could only use one word to describe you, it would have to be "Joy".  Happy 3rd Birthday sweet girl.  Mommy and Daddy are so proud to be your parents and we know what a blessing God has gifted us with in you! 

Lastly, I wanted to make sure I posted a little video of you, so I could record your personality, voice, etc. at this moment in time.  It's nothing super-special, but here is a short little video clip of me interacting with you last night.  Abbey, I love your sweet voice, that "squeaks" with joy and happiness in every sentence!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I said I would do a Christmas blog post in lieu of our card this year.  But, I am a little late due to all of the traveling we have done.  I thought I would post something on the one day we had between travels, but that got filled up with unpacking, laundry and then more packing.  So, here I am writing that Christmas blog post.  We'll just call it the short and simple Merry Christmas and Happy New Year blog post.  :-)

We have so much to be thankful for this year.  Of course, we are extremely thankful for our salvation, which comes through God's only perfect Son, Jesus Christ.  I love this verse in John, which describes Christmas for me: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14)  God decided to send His own Son, Jesus (called Immanuel, "God with Us"), to dwell with us.   But until the time was just right for Jesus to be born, God really wanted His people, The Israelites, to understand His holiness and His desire to be with them.  So, long before Jesus was born, God told the Israelites to build a special place, called a Tabernacle, as a way for them to see these two things.   Although they didn't know it at the time, every part of the Tabernacle was actually a symbol for Jesus.  The word Tabernacle means "tent, "place of dwelling" or "sanctuary." When Jesus was born, the "Word" (which was God) became flesh and dwelled among us!  Jesus, who was sinless, eventually became the ultimate sacrifice for all of our sins for those of us who believe and receive him.   And the moment we receive Jesus Christ as our savior, we receive the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the action by which God takes up permanent residence in the body of a believer in Jesus Christ. Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/indwelling-of-the-Holy-Spirit.html#ixzz3NPiWJdAn).   He dwells with us!  That amazes me every time I think about it.  So,  Christmas for me means all of this and of course I am thankful for it! 

We are also so thankful for ALL of our family!    We got to spend some great time with family over the Holidays.

We didn't get a lot of photos, but here is one with Some of my Oklahoma family (apparently, I tilt my head in many photos, so they decided to all show me what this looks like).

We are thankful for all the fun ways to celebrate Christmas.  We are also thankful for getting to spend these fun times with Drew (daddy), siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts uncles, grandparents, etc.

We are even thankful for cheesy Christmas jammies:

I am also thankful for another year of being cancer free.   I pray that continues through the New Year!  We are just thankful for so much!

Our family wishes your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in 2015!  And, if Back to the future II predicts accurately, this is what 2015 is supposed to look like:

Christmas Fun!

We have had a blast celebrating Christmas this year!  The kids are at such a fun age right now.  They love learning; and, we are teaching them all about the reason we celebrate Christmas this year: Jesus!   We have been going through an awesome family advent devotional book that our church, The Austin Stone Community Church, put together.  They gave each family in the church a beautifully bound copy of it.  But, it is also available for anyone to view here.

The 25-day devotional includes:

• Short, individual devotionals for parents to have our hearts stirred for Jesus as we lead our kids to do the same

• Gospel-centered devotional readings for our family to read together, connecting significant moments in Old Testament history to the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus

• Ornaments for the kids to color as we read the stories, reinforcing what they are hearing and helping them stay focused. (We received a separate Ornament Coloring Book for the kids to color each day as well.)

• Four recipes for meals that you can cook and eat with your wider community, helping you spread the anticipation for Christ beyond your immediate family members

We have truly been blessed by this great book, and it has helped to keep the focus for our family on Jesus this Christmas season.  We have done a lot of fun "secular" Christmas things as well, but we always remind the kids why we are so excited and why we celebrate:  because Jesus, our savior, was born.  That said and with keeping our family photo journal, I thought I would share some of the fun memories we have been making this Christmas season.  (Some photos are with our dslr and some are taken with our very outdated smart phones).  ;-)

We had a lot of fun walking through this awesome live nativity, which also followed the entire life of Jesus.  Both kids were so interested in this and we decided this will be an annual family tradition (i apologize for the poor quality video):

We got to see lots of fun Christmas Light displays--like this one that is super close to our house:

The kids loved that display.  Not only were the animatronics fun, but this house even had a snow machine that sprayed snow anytime "snow" was mentioned in one of the songs.  It sprayed it right on the sidewalk where all the kids screamed and tried to grab it as it sprayed out.  We found out that even Olaf liked celebrating Jesus' birthday!

We had fun in the snow at a fun Christmas festival:

We saw the awesome model trains that are on exhibit annually at Art Space Round Rock:

We've had fun seeing all sorts of Christmas decorations:

We even did our own decorating:

And we made our own ornaments:

at our church's Kids Christmas celebration

There was a fun "snowball" fight at the end of the kids Christmas celebration at church.  The snowballs were massive marshmallows.  Abbey preferred to gently hold hers. 

While Luke joined in the fun of launching and dodging "snowballs" with his friends, Benjamin and Jack. 

We visited the Zilker Trail of Lights with friends.  As true Austinites, we twirled under the big Zilker tree until we got dizzy.

They added a huge lit ferris wheel this year that you can ride:

And today, we had our obligatory visit to see Santa Claus.  In our house, we honestly don't talk about Santa that much.  The annual visit and photo with Santa is just a fun tradition we have.  We really try to focus everything on Jesus, so Santa really has a very, very small place in our Christmas.  But, our kids do believe in Santa and we play along.  Honestly though, I really feel bad about playing along, just because I feel like we are being dishonest.  But, it is so fun and magical for them, and it certainly didn't hurt Drew and I to believe in Santa when we were younger.  So, we are going along with it for now. 

They both chatted with him this time, and he had to gently let them know it was time to see other kids.  They were right at home on his lap this year.  

He looks so grown up here!

We always do our pictures at the Bass Pro Shop in the town where my parents live.  They have an awesome "Winter Wonderland" and the best part is everything is FREE!  (including the photos with Santa).  There are other fun things to do there though besides see Santa.

Luke was laughing at this talking reindeer's jokes

I think Abbey may have changed her mind on what she wants for Christmas.  :-)  This girl is so much like me!

Pretend "captaining" a boat---in a very dainty way

We have a week of Christmas left--this means even more celebrating Jesus' birth that we get to pack in!  

I will end this post with a song that our church worship leaders wrote--the words so beautifully explain what this season is about!