Whew...

The second half of last week was a doozy! Here's a recap, that might turn into a novel... :

Thursday: Eli fell down the stairs. Went to the ER. Had a Cat Scan. He's fine.

Ok, so I can't just recap that! It was almost nap time for Eli, which can be anywhere from 10:30-11:30am. I was checking my email (grr, I'll talk about that in a minute) and the boys were playing. All of a sudden I hear something falling down the stairs. My first instinct was not that it was my child. I thought that Luke had probably gone upstairs and was rolling a toy down the stairs. -Let me interject here and say that we had a barrier up so that Eli couldn't (or so we thought) get up the stairs. Our traditional baby gate would not fit there so we had a pretty good (or so we thought) barrier up. We had tested it and Eli didn't seem to be able to get up the stairs. Can I also just chime in and say that when this happened he was one day shy of being 9 months old! Seriously. - So, I look up from the computer to see what Luke is throwing down the stairs and I see my baby land! I cannot tell you what that felt like because words cannot describe it! It was horrible! I grabbed him up and ran outside and started yelling for the Hubs (who was out blowing up Luke's new pool). He ran in and we began to look Eli over and calm him down at the same time. He was screaming, which I was thankful for, to be honest. After he calmed down, he seemed perfectly fine. He had one small bump on his head but other than that was acting completely normal. We both agreed though that to be on the safe side we wanted to get him checked out. I had not showered (it was one of those days) so Luke stayed with me and the Hubs called his dad to come and ride with him to the ER. We wanted to keep him awake and since it was nap time I knew that if someone wasn't in the back with him he would be asleep in no time. Oh... while we were waiting on the Hub's dad, I asked Luke what happened. He said, "I pushed him." Gasp! Yes, he pushed his brother down the stairs. I also wanted to know where Eli had fallen from so I asked Luke to walk to the step that Eli was on and he walked to the TOP step (there are 12!!!). They are carpeted but the floor at the bottom is hardwood. Since I had seen Eli land I knew that he had not hit his head directly on the floor, which is a blessing. Well, we had to deal with the whole Luke pushing Eli down the stairs later. I don't think he was doing it out of pure meanness* (is that a word??) although Luke does like to pull Eli's legs and slide him across the hardwood.. and I've caught him a few times trying to ride Eli like a horse. I know that Luke did not know how much danger he was putting his brother in by pushing him! But I knew that we needed to have a talk later! So, I got a quick shower (chock full of prayer for my little man, repentance for being at this stupid computer and just crying from the shock of it all!) So, I got to the hospital about 30 min later and they had just taken Eli back. The Dr checked him over and said that everything on the outside looked fine but they wanted to do a cat scan. So, we waited and then they put my sweet little angel on that big ol' machine. He was pitiful because if you know my Eli, you know he does not like to stay still. It didn't take long though and he was unstrapped and back in my arms! About 15 minutes later, the Dr came in and said that he had a few bumps on the outside of his skull but everything on the inside was fine. He said, "He's one lucky little boy." But I knew that God had protected my baby that day. Luck had nothing to do with it!

God taught me a big lesson that day. I have always tried to limit my computer time during the day. I rarely blog during the day but I do occasionally check my mail or facebook when they are playing. Lame and stupid. I could have prevented what happened if I had been in the same room with my children and not had my face stuck on this computer. I thought they were playing in the den. I was so mad at myself. So mad. I hated this computer that day. Hated it. It was my fault and I knew it. So, I had to repent. And that's what I did that day in the shower. No more computer unless the kids are napping or in Luke's case 'resting' (which is what we call him watching a Thomas or some other type of dvd). I don't think the computer is evil (although, if you'd asked me Thursday, I would have said it was) but it can be. I love to blog and I love to keep up with friends on facebook. I also love to send pictures of the boys to friends and family through email. And theirs also the necessary bill paying and such that I do. But that can all be done when the kids are in bed/napping or the Hubs is playing with the boys. I was wrong. I am thankful for the grace God showed me on that day. He is so good and I am so unworthy!

By the way, we now have a metal gate at the bottom of the stairs that fits very well! :)

Now, here is the summary of the rest of the weekend:

Friday, I woke up feeling HORRIBLE. I had felt like I was getting a cold Thursday but Friday I knew I needed to see the Dr. I get sinus infections often and I knew that's what it was. Luke's 3rd birthday party was Sat. so I didn't want to wait, not to mention that I felt really bad. Even if we wouldn't have been having the party the next day I'm sure I would have went to the Dr anyway. So, sure enough it was a sinus infection. Since I'm nursing there isn't much they could give me. I got an antibiotic and a get well soon. This is my 2nd sinus infection while nursing(had one in Feb) so I knew that it was going to take a while to get over since my Rx options were limited. I prayed all Friday night that I would feel better Saturday so that I could enjoy Luke's party. And I did... or at least I was too busy to really feel bad. Because after the party I felt horrible again! The party was a success though. Luke had so much fun! We had it at Party Central or the "Jumpy Place" as Luke calls it. Luke's room was decorated in Thomas and he had a Thomas cake. He loved all of his presents! When the lady announced over the mic "We all wish Luke a Happy 3rd Birthday" tears came to my eyes. I just wanted to cry!! I was like, Oh my goodness, my baby is almost 3!! (His actual birthday is June 5th or 'fif June' as Luke likes to call it). I still can't really believe it.

I stayed home from church this morning. Partly because I still feel bad.. and partly because I look like Rudolph. I do feel better this evening though. Tonight I can breath through my nose pretty good. And that's a great feeling considering that the past two nights I couldn't at all. So, there's what's been going on around here.. sorry it was so long! :)

Here's one of my favorite pictures from Saturday:

Time to sleep!


*Evidently meanness is a word because spellcheck says so! But doozy isn't! :)

Baby Jesus and King of kings

Today ends my "No sweets for one week"! YIPEE! I must confess that I did have a chocolate chip cookie and a cup of hot chocolate. For me, 7 days and only one cookie w/ hot chocolate is a big deal. Such a big deal that I lost 3 lbs!! Now, if that doesn't tell you how big of a sweet tooth I have I don't know what will! I really found that it was easier to do than I thought. I may try it again after this weekend. I'm doing a lot of baking and cooking for the girl's movie night Saturday so I'm not even gonna torture myself.

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~~Now back to regularly scheduled programming~~


The other night my hubby was preaching and he made a comment that I have been pondering over all week. Now, I don't remember the exact phrase but it went something like this:

The world loves baby Jesus, it's 'adult' Jesus that they have a problem with.

You know it's Christmas season and a lot of people get that warm and fuzzy feeling when they see that cute little baby Jesus in a manger. They might even shed a tear when they get an email with a picture of a star and three wise men and the faint sound of "Away In a Manger" softly playing in the background. Now is there anything wrong with that in particular? No, not at all.


But let's talk about 'adult' Jesus. You know, Jesus as a grown man was not a liked fellow back in His day. And not surprisingly He isn't today either. Now, many people will 'say' they love Jesus.. they will proclaim with their mouths, chain emails, or sporadic church attendance that Jesus is great. But the real evidence is the way they live their lives. In thinking about all of this, let's remember who Jesus is. Jesus is God. And God hates sin (Jeremiah. 44:4). If we are a child of God with the Spirit of God living in us, will we continually let sin reign in our lives... thus proving our love for sinfulness?

Ok, ok most of us will admit that we hate sin, right? I mean *most* people hate murder, rape, child abuse... right? Right. But sin is much more than just these things. Sin is any rebellion against God. Selfishness, prayerlessness, forsaking the assembling of believers together, lying, hatred, jealousy, infidelity, adultery, lust, gossip, putting other things/people before God {idolatry}, premarital sex, slander, laziness, gluttony, homosexuality, avoiding God's Word, not tithing, greed... watching a TV show with adultery, lust, infidelity or singing a song that is vulgar is agreeing with what you're watching/hearing, which makes that a sin as well. And I know God doesn't find sin entertaining. I could go on but you get the idea. There are no BIG or small sin in God's eye's. I found this quote today by John MacArthur on sin.

And, of course, there's just no interest in the public forum talking about sin today. I mean that is absolutely archaic. Sinful nature? To say that people are corrupt at birth? To say they inherited a wicked nature from their parents because they were all genetically, as it were, in Adam? They were all there and sinned in Adam in his loins, and everything that came out of that cursed man and that cursed woman bears that curse? Unacceptable. To say people are all born with an evil bent; that they are all born with a desire to violate the law of God and to dethrone God and replace him with themselves? To say they are incapable of doing anything good? To say that they are rotten to the very core, that everything about them -- everything they think, everything they say and everything they do -- is only evil continually? To say their heart is deceitful and desperately wicked? Frankly, folks, that is just not acceptable in the public forum. Our culture has really declared war not only on sin, because they don't want anything defined as sin. Everything is just a lifestyle choice.
Nothing is a sin. So our culture has declared war on sin and, consequently, declared war on guilt. The very idea of guilt is considered medieval, obsolete and certainly unhealthful.

Pretty true of what our culture today thinks... "Everything is just a lifestyle choice." Wow... speechless.


Why does the world love all kinds of sin and therefore hate Jesus? Because of what He stands for {purity, holiness, righteousness} and what He stands against {sin}.

Listen to His words....


"For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:20


"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matt. 6:21


“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24


“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:13-14


"Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’"Matthew 7:22-23


“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven." Matthew 10:32-33


Jesus is the King of kings. He will reign forever. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.. either today or on judgement day.

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Matthew 13:9

I wanna be in the light as You are in the light...

... So I realize my post yesterday was kind of randomly started. I'd like to explain where posts like that comes from. Often throughout my day my thoughts are filled with those people that I love.. that are lost, without hope of eternity in heaven. Family members, old friends, new friends, people I go to church with, people I have only met once or twice, even people I see but don't know. I pray for them, especially those I know because I can call out their name to the Father. It's just a heavy burden on my heart... a burden God put there. All Christians will have a burden for the lost. Charles Spurgeon said, "Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself. Be sure of that."
A prayer that I often pray for those that I know are lost is this verse:

Ephesians 5:14-
“Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light.”

Those who are lost are dead. Dead in their sin. When Christ's light shines on those who are walking in darkness their sin is exposed. (Ephesians 5:11-13~ 'And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.') I believe that praying Scripture is Biblical and powerful. God's Word is life.. so let us pray life giving Words for those who are dead in their sin!

Psalm 119:129-130~ Your statutes are wonderful; therefore I obey them. The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.

Pigs and slop buckets..

Oh, there are always so many things on my mind. So much to say and so little time to say it in.

~Who goes to hell? Those who have broken God's law. (Exodus Chapter 20) Um.. and that would be everyone... with one exception.. read on for it...

~Why must God send people to hell? Because all humans have broken His law. God is a just and right God. (The fact that He is Almighty God is good enough for me!) Think about it this way.... if I committed a crime, say murder, and I stood before the judge and pleaded with him, saying it was my first and only offense and that I would never do it again... Would this judge be a just and right judge if he let me go free? Of course not... it would be an outrage! God being just and righteous can not do that with us for breaking His law. He has every right to send every human being to the pits of hell.

We (the human race) are not good! We are not the slightest bit good! We are evil to the very core! The standard we are put up against is Jesus Christ... God's Son... God in the flesh. Perfect and holy. How can we even think for a second that we are good? But, unfortunately (and assuredly) most people think they are good. Why? Pride (sin). Morality has nothing to do with it. An upright moral life can't hold a candle to the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. A person can be the most good and moral person but end up in hell for eternity because they missed it.
Most are quick to point out others flaws but find it hard to admit their own. Another point is just that sin is not looked at as a bad thing anymore. The world (and church) has been desensitized to sin. It's no big deal.

Lost people do not see the need for a Savior... because they do not think they are lost.

So, our jobs as Christians is to help others see their need for a Savior. Point them to the law. Let them see how they have broken the law and their destiny is hell for an eternity.

~Who goes to heaven? Those who have realized their sin problem.. that they have broken God's law. They are genuinly remorseful and convicted over their sin. God deals with them. A person must be broken over their sin when they come to Christ. Not only are they convicted & broken but they repent. They turn from their sin and put on the person of Jesus Christ. They put their faith and trust in Him for their eternal salvation.
Most people just think it's that last sentence... trust... but it's much more.
From that day on that person will be different... act different.. even look different. When the Holy Spirit of God enters you, you are NEVER the same! NEVER!! Can you mess up? Of course. Will you mess up? Of course! But you will not wallow in sin like a pig does in slop! What kind of parent would God be if He allowed His child to wallow in slop (sin). God watches over His children. So, if a person falls into the slop bucket and decides to stay their for a while... well, I might be wondering who their father really is....
More on this tomorrow. I'm beat....