A Walk With The Walkers

Grace. This five letter word packs a big punch! It is what the Christian faith is based on. There are many verses in the Bible that mention it, and there are thousands of songs written about it. As a matter of fact, quite possibly the most well known folk hymn, written by John Newton, was about "Amazing Grace." So, what exactly is grace? In the most basic definition, grace is a free gift, that we did absolutely nothing to earn. God himself hands it out to us, all we have to do is accept it from Him.  How cool is that!?! It's even better than those awesome gifts with purchase at the Clinique counter, because you don't have to buy anything!  I could tell you about grace in the past, but until we had our sweet daughter, I couldn't put a finger on what grace looked like in my personal life. And grace is a big deal. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift from God -- not by works, so that no ...

"Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." -- 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 Has this ever been you?  Pleading, praying, begging God to remove a negative thought, an illness, a judgement, a financial burden?  In our weakest times, as we plead and talk with God, that is when His power is made perfect in us.  It's so hard to wrap my mind around that sometimes.  As our family rallied around my father-in-law, Brick, as he battled metastatic melanoma cancer, there God was, with us.  We prayed daily for Brick's healing.  He prayed daily for his healing.  Even on hospice, where someone from the outs...

On August 16th, 2013, we announced to all of our Facebook friends, that we are expecting our first child!  We couldn't be more excited!  If I'm being completely honest though, I am mildly terrified as well.  I'm not that "let's just see what happens" kind of gal.  I'm a planner.  I'm an observational learner.  I'm a realist.  I know that babies aren't all cooing and cuddlie with those cute faces moms catch in photos.  Don't get me wrong, they are those things, but they are also screaming without words (so you have no idea what they need), poop that escapes their diaper & goes halfway up their torso, & sleepless nights.  I think that's part of the reason we waited so long to try and conceive.  Babies are a whirlwind of change, and I needed to wait until I was old enough to except that challenge.  I know that some moms will see this and say, "It's different when they're your own child," or, "The screami...

The thought of this post came about quite a few months ago, after having a conversation with someone about the convenience of a debit card.  But ironically enough, I couldn't find a convenient time to sit down and articulate my thoughts on the matter.  Partially, I paused, because I wanted to make sure that it was something I felt prompted to write about, and not something that I wanted to stand on a soapbox about.  But, it's been a few months now, and I still think about it constantly. Am I becoming a casualty of convenience?  Are you?  According to the "Concise Oxford American Dictionary," casualty by definition is, "a person or thing badly affected by an event or situation."  The event or situation in this case would be, convenience, defined as, "involving little trouble or effort."  Most of you are thinking that I conveniently Googled those definitions.  I did not.  I took the extra minute to walk to my bookcase, grab my dicti...

The other day I was on the way home from work, and I have no idea where the thought came from, but I got this grand idea that I should make a list of thirty things I want to do before I'm 30.  I have lots of great ideas that pop into my mind pretty regularly that I just let got to the wayside, but I think there are some great reasons to make a list such as this.  1. A list helps you to identify goals. 2. This list will help to get me out of my comfort zone.  3. Reading it will remind me of things I want to do, when someone says, "What should we do tonight?" So, here's the list... Thirty Things to do Before I'm 30 1. Break 100 on the golf course 2. Run a 5k 3. Pray with someone to accept Jesus for the first time. 4. Go to Europe (Lots of history there!) 5. Read my Bible cover to cover 6. Shoot a gun 7. Attend a hockey game 8. Go snow shoeing 9. Go to Leavenworth 10. Host a charity event 11. Overnight backpacking trip 12. Wakeboard/Surfboard 13. Ind...

There are moments in your life that you will never forget.  It's as if they are snapshots that are stored away in the attic of your mind.  Your first kiss, prom, your wedding day, laughs with your best friend...  The list is endless, and is different for everyone.  The thing each moment has in common is that it elicited an extreme emotion.  Excitement.  Happiness.  Thrill.  Sadness.  Grief...  I think that's the toughest one.  You remember the first moment, and even though the ones shortly thereafter are a blur, that first moment is a snapshot that will be stored for the rest of your life.  I had never experienced grief personally until this year.  I've had grandparents pass, and stood by friends as they went through their grieving process, but I never really knew what it felt like.  When someone dies that you're close to, it's a game changer.  It's a life changer.  When I left work on April 3rd, and c...

From the moment we found out your Momma was pregnant with you, we loved you. Each and every one of us. I didn’t know we could have so much love for an unborn child, but we did. And we do. The day we found out that you were a Princess, we prayed in the waiting room that you would be. Your Momma & I drove to the Dr.’s office discussing names & hoping that God would bless her with a beautiful & healthy girl. On June 30th, 2012, only 2 days after your due date, God did just that. From the moment we laid our eyes on you, we were filled with even more love. Grams, Uncle Aaron, Grandma Danielle, & Grandpa Dave were in the waiting room, while Heather & I helped your Momma bring you into this world. Grams came in to see you first, and everyone else was so jealous, because they wanted to get to see you too! After the nurse gave you a bath and did all of the necessary newborn things, they got to come see you too. When each person saw you for the first time, their fa...