Luke Turns 6

My baby is 6. Hard to believe. He had a great birthday last week. I guess it is the birthday that keeps on going. We had a small party for him at home with just us. I took cupcakes to his classroom on Monday with goody bags. Luke was very adamant about the goody bags. He had a great time. He is still into sports, guns and now skateboards. He is life and love and everything happy. Luke is so smart and doing well learning to read. His handwriting is coming along nicely too. His favorite color is still black and he amazes me with the things he says.

The Car Accident

Well.....it happened.....the kids and I were in a car accident on I-5. I had taken a Friday off work to take Grace to an assessment at the Early Childhood Center and then I was planning to take the kids to the zoo. We had crossed over the 1-5 bridge and were working our way through Delta Park when we were hit by a driver in a dodge ram 2500. The police showed up. The kids were scared and so was I. Luke keeps informing me that if we happen to get in another car accident that I don't need to cry. It has been quite the process of getting things back in order. Once car seats are in an accident they no longer can be used. The seats might be compromised and therefore would not do their job in another accident. The van had the expensive seats in them and it has cost nearly 500 dollars to replace them. Thankfully the insurance paid for them. The van is fixed now and the kids and I are very relieved. We had a small rental car (which we were thankful for) but it was nothing like our van. We are very grateful that no one was hurt (I had minor whiplash) and that God protected us that day.

Grace Turns 4

I know it has been forever since I blogged last, but I am going to try and play catch up with the major events of March for our family (and yes there have been quite a few). Grace started out the month turning 4, even though she promised me she wouldn't :) We had a small celebration on the day because we were having a big party at the end of the month. She had a small cake and a couple of gifts. Grace is quite the character these days. If there is ever anything you need to know about a Disney princess she is the gal for you. She loves them all and talks a lot about going to see 'her' castle at Disneyland. I think her favorite princess is a toss up between Belle and Sleeping Beauty. Her favorite color is still pink and she is growing like a weed. We love you Gracie Girl!!!

Faith

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Hebrews 11:1

I was explaining faith to my almost 6 year old tonight as we said good night and I was reminded of the verse in Hebrews. His response, "what do we not see?" Faith is so necessary in our relationship with God. It is a driving force. So much of what we do requires faith and a belief in the in "unseen".

God has been speaking to our hearts some things that require a lot of faith. At times I think that it might require too much faith. But can a person really have too much faith? And I am reminded of what the bible says about faith in James chapter 2, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." I continue to pray for clarity regarding issues that require large amounts of faith. I know that I never want to come to a place in my life where I no longer give God authority to speak to me about my life.

This year I organized the 30 hour famine for our youth group. It has been a completely life changing experience. I guess I didn't expect it to have the profound impact on my life that it has had. I have been challenged in several different ways especially to examine my selfishness. My eyes have been open to the hurt/death/poverty/disease and famine that is occurring all around the United States. The statistics are staggering. We have been blessed as a nation with so much. I think sometimes we don't stop and appreciate and are truly thankful for what we have been given.