Jesse is 4 months and 2 weeks old!!!

So much has happened this week. Jeese went to the doctor on Tuesday for some more shots. He weighs 14 pounds, 6.5 ounces and he's 25 inches long!!! WOW!! 2 pounds and 2 inches in 2 months. He is growing way too fast. He also got his first snow this week, twice!! It snowed on Wednesday and again today! He justed starred at the snow falling. I can't wait till he's old enough to play in it. Today we tried feeing him rice cereal from a spoon. That was very interesting and messy!!! Everytime I'd put the spoon in his mouth, he'd try to stick his fingers in there too. We'll try it again next week. He has discovered his feet!!! He loves to hold them and pull them up to his face. He rolls his hips from side to side and soon he'll roll from his back to his tummy. He is doing very well rolling from his tummy to his back! He is jumping like crazy in his jumperoo! He laughs all the time!! He is such a happy baby! He is sitting up better and better each day! He sits very well in his bumbo seat and when we sit behind him. Soon he'll be sitting on his own!!! I love him so much!!! I am so proud of him!!!!

Back to seriousness

Since reading Mike Hickabee's book I have found a new perspective on things. My mom and I were talking recently about the fact that everything seems blurred. There is no longer a standard of right and wrong. There are no moral absolutes. The line between balck and white has become so skewed. We've made compromise after compromise until we can no longer tell the difference between good and evil. When you get right down to it, there is good and there is evil -- nothing in between.

Somewhere along the way we decided to believe this and not that. We believe the things in the Bible that appeal to our self-centered worldview and pretend that the others don't exist. Isn't that the same as "adding to or taking away"; something we are warned against in Revelation??

As I read Huckabee's book and in my daily readings in the Bible, I have found that God's Word is very clear about what we should do and what we should not do. Huckabee mentions that the problem in America is that we've left everything to personal interpretation. Because we are self-centered by nature, we will interpret God's Word's in a biased, self-satisfing way.

What I have noticed is that when God gave Moses the Law He made everything crystal clear!! There wasn't don't do this unless... It says "Do not.... How hard is that to interpret. Do not means Do not. There is no connfusion, no what if's. But we have taken God's laws and made ammendments to them to make oursleves feel less gulity for the sins we committ. We make compromises and changes to the "law" so it fits into our box - it fits our lifestyle, when we should be molding ourselves to fit into God's box. I am so tired of people using God as a crutch!!! To me that is a spit in the face to God.

As I was reading Leviticus, it occured to me that the Israelites took the law and the commandments seriously. If they didn't follow the instruction to a "T", they would be killed. God struck Aaron's two sons dead for not folling His instructions regarding offering procedures. The problem is that we don't take God seriously. Very few people fear God these days.

One of the biggest problems we have it that we don't memorize scripture anymore. I am guilty here too. I have known this my whole life, but it has become increasingly evident to me over the past few weeks - every answer we will ever need is in the Bible!!!

Are we willing to accept God's answer and make the necessary changes in our lives???

Just for the fun of it!

watch the older boy's face when Charlie bites him the second time.

What I Believe ......

Ok, so with the upcoming elections, I've been reading "Character Makes a Difference" by Mike Huckabee. In it he talks about how we have replaced God's Standards with our own interpretation of it. This is dangerous because we tend to interpret it in a selfish, humanistic way. He points out that if we view humans as basically good then we will seek to educate and inform so that the behavior will change. But if we view humans as God does, basically self-centered, then we will hold people responsible for their actions; consequences/punishment must be faced. The example he uses is drugs: basically good, teach them that drugs are bad - then they won't use them; basically self-centered, put them in jail and take away their liberties.

He states that every answer we will ever need to anything is the 10 Commandments. He also talks about knowing your convictions and drawing a line that you will not cross.

I've also been reading through the Bible with Jesse each night. Right now we are in Leviticus and I was (still am) getting bored with it because it is all about the Laws. It has made me so thankful that I am no longer under the law but under grace.

So, I feel like God is challenging me to deifne my beliefs. To write out what I believe to be true based on what the Bible says. Here goes:

I believe that:

• Jesus is the only begotten Son of God
• the Bible is the inspired, infallible, inerrant Word of God
• Jesus was born of a Virgin
• Jesus became 100% man while remaining 100% God on the earth
• Jesus was sent to earth to die for my sins
• Jesus is the only way to Heaven
• Jesus lived a perfect, sinless life
• God the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit make up the Trinity, 3-in-1

Things that are wrong - (based upon the Bible)

• Murder & Abortion - even in the case of incest, or rape
• Anything that harms the body - smoking, drunkenness, drugs, ect.
• Sex before and outside of marriage
• Pornography
• Lying, cheating and stealing
• Cursing, taking the Lord's name in vain
• Gay marriage and unions
• Gossip and False Witness

.... Jesse is about ready for his bottle so I will continue this later.

Just a bit of randomness, really. But it means alot to me.

So I've been thinking a lot lately about my family. Everyone is getting older and to be honest, I am so pround of my brothers and my cousins. That may sound really weird. The thing is, we all were raised by 3 different women who were raised by the same parents and each one of them raised their children differently from the other. (I am speaking of my mom and her 2 sisters.)

I often wonder what will happen to our family once my grandparents go to be with the Lord. What I mean is they are the spiritual glue that holds our family together. They pray for each of their children and their spouses and for all of thier grandchildren and great grandchildren each night by name. I know how my mom raised me and I know how her prayer life is. I know that she is almost exactly like my grandparents. In my family, I know she will continue the spiritual traditions that my grandparents have begun. But I often wonder what will happen to "the cousins" when that day comes.

It may sound terrible but it's hard to talk to my cousins about their relationship with God. I don't want to be the nosy, "mother hen" of the cousins. But I was just on my myspace and I was looking at all of theirs and they all talk about their realtionship with God. It may sound corny, but that really means a lot to me. It's nice to see that they are all so open about it.

The older I get the more I realize just how important my relationship with Christ is. I also know that with each generation we compromise a little more. My mom and I were talking about it this afternoon - about how things are no longer black and white (right & wrong). There are more gray areas - the line between right and wrong get more blurry with each generation. I fear that eventually, we will blend in with the rest of the world.

I know I'm babbling and some of this is scattered. (at least it feels that way to me.) But I just wanted to say that I am so proud of my brothers and my cousins. We may joke around a lot but we're all on the right track!! I hope this makes some kind of sense. :)

MercyMe - Bring The Rain

This song has become our "2007 anthem". This song brought us so much encouragment and everytime we were down or discouraged this song would come on the radio and we would know -- God is still here and He knows what's going on and He will provide for us.

"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Selah"
Psalms 68:19

A New Year

It's hard to believe that 2008 is here. It seems like we just started 2007.

2007 felt like it would never end, yet it seemed to go by too fast. So many things happened in 2007 - we found out we were expecting, we found out we owed the IRS, we prayed for a miracle so I could stay at home with the baby, Jeremy began working on his Paramedic license, we welcomed our beautiful baby boy into the world on Sept. 7th, and after 8 weeks of maternity leave we got our miracle. I feel so blessed to be a stay at home mom. I love being with my son!!!

I can't wait to see what 2008 holds for us. 2007 brought good times and bad and the circumstances that arose through out the year forced us to look further than oursleves. We learned that God is there waitng to meet our needs. There were times through out the year where I didn't know how the bills would get paid, but every time we needed something, God provided it. I remember one time in particular, I don't know exactly what we needed money for but we received a refund check from our car insurance company, and I was cleaning out a box and found a birthday check from the year before. When I took it to the bank they cashed it with out any questions!! The total of the two checks was exactly what we needed to pay the bill. I was completely amazed but that's how God works.

I am so thankful for the lessons we've learned this past year. We have grown closer to God and to each other. Given the opportunity, I wouldn't change anything about 2007!!!!