Look Who's Walking

Parks is starting to get more and more bold. Here is a vignette of some of his recent tries at becoming bipedal.

A couple things to watch for:

Both boys are really starting to get interested in Duke and he is loving every minute of it. Watch for Duke and Wyatt playing, and Duke watching intently as he is left out of the "Circle of Trust." Also, notice the lo-tech play toys, like a printer box and Pampers box, the boys love to play with. At the end, I flipped the view screen around so the boys could watch themselves as I recorded. They are so fascinated and want to touch it...and eat it. Enjoy.

In Christ Alone - Travis Cottrell

I was blessed to attend the Deeper Still conference in Atlanta this past weekend. The speakers were Beth Moore, Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer. It was absolutely unbelievable to worship with 20,000 other women! The teaching was life-changing. I cannot possibly list all that I learned this weekend and all the ways I was challenged.

I was able to spend time with my good friend of almost 20 years, JMom, and several friends of hers that I had never met. What a blessing that was in and of itself, especially to hear those women ask about my babies and tell me how they prayed for them during and after my pregnancy. The Body of Christ is truly amazing!

I want to include this song, "He Is," that Priscilla recited Friday night. It was one of the most powerful things I have ever heard!

In Genesis, He's the breath of life
In Exodus, He is the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus, He's our high priest
In Numbers, the fire by night
Deuteronomy, He's Israel’s Guide
Joshua, He’s salvation's choice
Judges, He’s Israel’s Guard
In Ruth, the kinsmen's redeemer
1st and 2nd Samuel, our trusted prophet
In Kings and Chronicles He is Sovereign
In Ezra, He’s the true and faithful scribe
In Nehemiah, the re-builder of broken walls and lives
In Esther, He’s Mordecai's courage
In Job, the timeless redeemer
In Psalms He is our morning song
In Proverbs, He is our wisdom
Ecclesiastes, He's the time and season
In Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream
In Isaiah He is Prince of Peace
In Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
Lamentations, the cry for Israel
Ezekiel, the call from sin
Daniel, the stranger in the fire
Hosea, the forever faithful
Joel, the spirit’s power
Amos, the strong-arms that carry
Obadiah, the Lord our Savior
Jonah, the great missionary
Micah, the promise of peace Nahum, our strength and shield
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's brings revival
In Haggai He restores that which was lost
IN Zachariah, He’s our fountain
And in Malachi, He's the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings
AND THAT’S JUST THE OLD TESTAMENT

In Matthew Mark Luke and John, He is God and Messiah
In the spirit filled book of Acts, He is the reigning fire from Heaven
In Romans, He is the grace of God
Corinthians, the power of love
Galatians, freedom from the curse of sin
Ephesians, our glorious treasure
Philippians, the servant's heart
Colossians, He’s God and the trinity
Thessalonians, our calling King
In Timothy, Titus and Philemon, He's our mediator and our faithful pastor
In Hebrews, the everlasting courage
In James, the one who heals the sick
In 1st and 2nd Peter, our faithful shepherd
In John and Jude, He's the lover coming for His bride
AND in the Revelation, in the very end, when it’s all over, said and done, when time is NO MORE.
He is and will always be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, son of Man,
Lamb of God, The Great I am, Alpha and Omega, God and SaviorHe is Jesus Christ the Lord
HE IS EVERYTHING THAT YOU NEED!

And the other thing that absolutely blew me away (other than the teaching of course) was this song that Travis Cottrell and the worship band sang. Here's a video of "In Christ Alone" with the lyrics. Listen and enjoy!

Two More From The Party

I was looking back at the photos from the boys birthday party and found these two from different cameras that made me laugh. The first is a picture of the boys and us just before we let them dive into their smash cakes. Its a pretty normal picture that you would find at an event of this type...and this was the view from the other side of the camera. No wonder the boys
were a little overwhelmed!

Our New Home

We haven't blogged much about our big move, but some of the regular readers may have picked up on it. In March, Todd, the boys and I made a move to a different state. We had planned to move to Atlanta, where I was certain to get a good paying job, and Todd would be more likely to the type of job he was looking for. I ended up accepting a position working from home full-time. So when that happened, we decided maybe the big city wasn't for us after all, and we decided to settle in a much smaller town that might be a better environment to raise our children. No offense against the ATL of course, we love the city we used to live in, but we were worried about education for our children and the cost of living, not to mention the traffic and long commutes.

So, we took a bit of a leap of faith, praying that Todd would be able to find a job in the field he loves, construction. In light of the housing crisis, we didn't know if that would happen. He began to open himself up to the possibility of working in commercial construction rather than residential as it seems a little more recession-proof. After being here 2 months, he had no real job prospects, let alone an interview. We tried not to dwell on it much, but both of us were beginning to get very discouraged. On the other hand, he was able to get some quality time taking care of the boys.

I'm happy to report that on Monday Todd will begin work with a commercial construction company about 45 minutes from where we live. While it's still a bit of a commute, there's no real traffic to speak of, and the company is providing him with a vehicle. That will certainly help with the commute! But more importantly, we feel certain this is where God would have us be. The gentlemen he's going to be working for are Christian men, who have boldly told him their priorities are God, family and work, in that order. These men have decided to invest their time, money and energy in my husband and teach him what he needs to know. We couldn't be happier.

We have had a rocky road as far as jobs and moves in the less than 5 years we've been married. There were too many moves to count. We both finally feel we are where we are supposed to be, and we can now finally begin to grow roots. We are finally somewhere that feels like home!