Soli Deo Gloria

Summer Pics

2008-09-05T11:57:00.007-04:00

This was Aaron's birthday dessert ~ banana split pie!

Happy 30th birthday, Hubby!!

We visited with the Warner family and Trevor enjoyed playing with Abby again ~

This is celebrating the 4th of July ~ these pics are obviously out of order!!

Clark County Fair ~ we let Trevor ride on 2 rides and he LOVED them!!

2nd ride - if I knew Aaron would get on free, I would have gone too!! But, the pics are worth it!

I'll post more soon - maybe Aaron's 30th surprise party!!

Trip to New York!

2008-07-15T13:57:00.011-04:00

Shaelyn and I had a wonderful trip to New York in June. It was so relaxing!! Aaron and Trevor went to Canada to fish. We'll have to get their pics up here soon. In the meantime, enjoy these!

Sisters!

Me with Molly ~ she's a cutie!

Pop and Shaelyn doing 'instruments' or 'why are you punching yourself?' I'm not sure which...

Molly comes to say, "Hi!" to Shae. It was so cute to see Molly's mothering instinct kick in when Shaelyn was fussy!

Nana snuggles

Enjoying ice cream together at Holy Cow

Another ice cream shot

Uncle Skip with Shaelyn

Husband Tag

2008-05-30T14:41:00.003-04:00

What is his name? Aaron
How long have you been married? it will be 5 years in October
How long did you date? 5 months before we got engaged, then 9 more months before we married
Who eats more? hmmm...I probably snack more.
Who said I love you first? I don't remember...
Who is taller? He is.
Who sings better? Uhhh, ME!
Who's temper is worse? what kinda question is this?
Who does the laundry? I do, but he helps me fold it.
Who does the dishes? we both do, we're a team.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed (when you are facing it)? He does
Who pays the bills? we both do
Who cooks dinner? I cook and he barbeques
Who drives when you are together? He does the majority of the time.
Who has more friends? Hhmmm...not sure!
Who has more siblings? I do! He has 1 brother while I have 2 sisters and 1 brother.
Who wears the pants in the family? we both wear pants...hehe!
I tag Amy!

Picture Post

2008-05-21T14:37:00.007-04:00

Playtime with Beka ~
More play time ~
Sleepy time ~

Father/Son gardening ~

Pop comes to visit ~
A blessing ~
Dr. Seuss with Pop ~
Snuggles with my sweetie ~
Bath time ~ Papa's Little Girl ~
New Sandbox ~
Happy 3rd Birthday!
Smiles all around ~
The kiddos meet ~

My kids ~
First snuggle ~
Hospital Flowers ~
My chickadee ~

Blog Challenge #1

2008-03-31T07:55:00.002-04:00

What song uplifts your spirit when things are down or when things are rough?

What a hard question!! I've been 'putting off' answering this blog challenge question from a friend. How can I pick just one?? Well, the one that keeps coming to mind is "How Can I Keep From Singing?" by Chris Tomlin. Here are a few of the lyrics:

There is an endless song
Echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring
And though the storms may come
I am holding on
To the rock I cling

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives
And I will walk with You
Knowing You'll see me through
And sing the songs You give

I can sing in the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down again
I can sing 'cause You pick me up
Sing 'cause You're there
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my last breath
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels
And the saints around the throne

It always helps me to refocus my eyes on Him when I'm having a rough day. What I am going through pales in comparison to what my Lord did for me. How can I complain?

Easter 2008

2008-03-23T18:03:00.006-04:00

He is Risen! He is risen indeed ~ Alleluia! Happy Easter, everyone! Enjoy the updated pics ~

The Barrett boys...
The Barrett girls...

Mama and Trev...

Our family...

WAIT

2007-10-11T16:33:00.000-04:00

The Wait Poem by Russell Kelfer

~

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said,"Wait."

~

"Wait? You say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
"Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

~

My future and all to which I relate,
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to Wait?
"I'm needing a 'yes,' a go-ahead sign.
Or even a 'no,' to which I'll resign.

~

You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
Lord, I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply.

~

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting . . . for what?"

~

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
And He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

~

I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

~

You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me,
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

~

You'd never experience the fullness of love,
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

~

The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask,
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

~

You'd never know should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But oh, the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you.

~

So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see,
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know Me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still "WAIT".

Big Sigh...

2007-10-11T16:30:00.000-04:00

2 Corinthians 12:9, "and Jesus said," My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."

He loves me!

2007-09-15T17:51:00.000-04:00

So, I've been meaning to post about this for a while now. I'm finally getting around to it! I've thought about these pictures several times over the last several weeks.

This first picture is just the Earth with three other planets and Pluto. Compared to the others in the picture, our Earth looks relatively large.

Here you see the Earth down at the lower left corner of the screen compared to other even larger planets in our solar system, Saturn and Jupitar. The earth is looking smaller now...

Now we are looking miniscule once the sun comes into the picture and you can barely see Pluto.

The Sun is now the smallest sphere in the picture. These others are stars. Arcturus is among the brightest of stars.

Here the Sun is one pixel in the bottom left of the picture. Betelgeuse is the ninth brightest star 427 light years away from the Earth. Antares is the brightests star in the constellation, Scorpius. It is nearly 1000 light years away!!

This is a Hubble Space Telescope ultra deep field infrared view of countless entire galaxies billions of light years away!!

And this final picture is a close up of one of the darkest regions of the previous photo.

This just blows my mind away! This matter is so huge and to think that our GOD created it all and is even bigger than all the galaxies put together.

Even more - He loves me!! Wow!!

Encouragement

2007-07-25T22:18:00.000-04:00

Just want to say THANKS! to my friend, Lisa. She sent me a cookie arrangement today! It was so exciting to open my front door and have these awesome musical cookies to brighten my day. Trevor and I shared part of the yellow eighth note cookie after dinner tonight. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to eat the grand piano cookie...the icing is so intricate and there is a rose sitting on the piano keys!! Thanks, Lisa!

He's trying to get my attention...

2007-07-25T08:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday at Bible study, I felt like I was slammed in the face with this verse:

Philippians 4:6-7

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication

with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension will

guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

I've read that verse many times...maybe it's just everything that is going on in my life right now. I've been practicing being content, but is contentedness the same as not being anxious?

The dictionary gives this definition for anxious: "full of mental distress or uneasiness because of fear of danger or misfortune; greatly worried"

And here is the definition for content: "satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else"

From these definitions it seems that being content doesn't necessarily mean that you will not be anxious. But, the two words are definitely related...

Also in our study, Beth Moore talked about what we default to when we are going through tough times. Some people default to panic (do the wrong thing), becoming paralyzed (do no-thing) or pray (do the power thing). According to the verse above, we are to default to prayer, supplication and thanksgiving.

So help me, God!

2007-07-24T22:07:00.000-04:00

So here I am...first post. I'm looking forward to keeping a journal of daily life and thoughts. Please feel free to comment!

~kate~