Undignified

This weekend was the Worship Ministry Retreat at church. One of the highlights for me was viewing a DVD called "The Price of Worship" with Dr. Jack Hayford.

I'd heard of Hayford, but never really heard him speak or read his books. His messages were so full of meat and truth and I felt so full after listening today. One of his points really stuck with me.

He spoke about David and the unabashed praise he had for God, especially in 2 Samuel 6, where the Ark of the Covenant is brought into Jerusalem. He dances before the Lord, unable to contain his joy as the presence of God comes into the city. What a sight: "So David and all Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with much shouting and blowing of trumpets." (vs. 15)

Awesome.

And then he comes home to his wife, Michal. (v.20)

"...Michal came out to meet him and said in disgust, 'How glorious the king of Israel looked today!'" Obviously, sarcasm was a favorite weapon of Michal's.

I love David's response: (v.21,22) "...I am willing to act like a fool in order to show my joy in the Lord. Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this..." (Bring in the song "Undignified" by David Crowder Band!!)

But here is what Dr. Hayford pointed out - in verse 23, "So Michal, the daughter of Saul, remained childless throughout her life."

It's no coincidence that the loss of a heart of worship leads to unfruitfulness in the life of a believer.

Oh Lord, I pray I never grow cynical or prideful as I come into Your Presence! Am I humble enough to be a fool for Him?

who they are

Sometimes I have a hard time breathing when I think about these three souls. Everyday I wake up and I'm a Mom and I'm the only Mom they'll ever know and that's just about as scary and wonderful as anything I could ever imagine. The intensity and powerful personality of my first-born...exhausting, but thrilling...
D, with his laid-back nature, can sometimes be accidently forgotten, unfortunately. I hate that so much. I want to give him exactly what he needs, which right now, seems to be a lot of affection and simply being listened to. He is energized by solitude and one-on-one time, which of course, is the opposite of his older brother.
And this precious face, who has decided this week that being 2 means being THE BOSS of the world...He seems to take life as it comes and loves being with the guys. So far, he has the best sense of humor at this age than the other two. Can you blame him? How will he change or stay the same once he's no longer the baby? Thank goodness I still have 5 months to go and get ready for another personality, another color in the rainbow.

Hold Onto Your Hats

Mama is flying into Minneapolis tomorrow! I've never cleaned so hard in my life...not that she cares that much, but girls, you know what I'm talkin' about. You wanna make Mama proud.

In other news, our church here had a Senior Pastor candidate preach this morning. We've had an interim pastor for 18 months, so this is a real answer to prayer. I heard him answer questions at a meeting yesterday with worship and hospitality teams. I think he's a shoe-in, but we'll see how the vote went tonight. He did bring out a snake and dance awhile on stage, but hey, nobody's perfect...

Kidding!

I'm McFrustrated

My latest addiction - the online McDonald's Monopoly Game. Problem - now I can't get it to work. Maybe I'm impatient, but yesterday it worked fine, today I'm sitting there, just waiting for it to tell me to roll the dice. Not fun.

It's like the Coke Rewards thing. Yeah, we'll reward you, if you can put up with typing in those long, ridiculous codes. I am revolting against the culture. Quit giving me codes!!! Just let me play on my little McDonalds board and collect stickers like the old days!!!

I think I'll go redeem my free McFlurry.

Hittin' the Trail

Pattison Park is a great place to just walk around and take it all in.

This sign begged to be mocked.

Ashley shows Johnny what a cute picture she just took of him.

Doesn't it look like Spiderman is coming right at you?

Blue eyes get me every time

sweet love

The Visual Element

Alright, here are the pics that go with the post below...

Patrick and Ashley
We hiked from the Little Manitou Falls in Pattison Park to the Big Manitou Falls - a little chilly, but so beautiful, peaceful

It All Started in Texas

When we lived in Houston, I met this girl named Ashley in a Beth Moore Bible Study.

We started hanging out and decided our husbands should meet since they had so much in common. So after church one Sunday, we headed to Double Dave's Pizza (man, I miss those Sunday buffets...) where Aaron and Patrick started talking about hunting and fishing and Wyoming. Ashley and I sipped our sodas and raised our eyebrows at each other; this was too good to be true!

Then came lots of dinners out, hanging out on the weekends, watching old movies after the kids had gone to bed, bible studies, Thanksgiving dinner at our house, scrapbooking, the birth of Jonathan, etc. Since neither of us lived anywhere near family, this couple became our family.

Then, we moved to Minnesota and shortly after, they moved to Pennsylvania.

When we left Texas, we made a pact - we would get together at least twice a year. Last weekend, they flew into Minneapolis and then we drove them up to Superior, Wisconsin to hang out in the woods. (Thanks to Aaron's parents for the hospitality!)

And I am having trouble posting pictures tonight, so stay tuned!

Sunday Morning Conversations

Where: Yesterday morning in church, as Communion was being passed

Who: Daniel and Gregory

Why: Because they can't whisper quietly, and that makes it funnier

It's awfully quiet right before the juice comes to us, and my children begin this dialogue in their best stage whispers:

Daniel: "HERE COMES THE BLOOD!"

Gregory: "IT'S NOT BLOOD, DANIEL, IT'S JUICE!!"

Daniel: "BUT THEY CALL IT BLOOD!!"

Gregory: "IT'S GRAPEJUICE, DANIEL!!"

I thought the woman behind us would have to leave. It was highly enjoyable.

Life and Laundry

Washing machine....dying...losing power...

As we ponder the thought of a new one, does anyone have a machine they'd like to recommend? (Especially those of you with more than 2 children, doing loads non-stop) This thing has to be a lean, mean, cleaning machine - ready for anything I can throw at it, er, into it...

And, yes, I've already suffered from sticker shock when I looked online.

And, yes, it's going to be hard not to fall in love with those Kenmore lovely deep red machines. Sigh.