Monday Morning Encouragement Romans 12:9

{Monday Morning Encouragement}

Romans 12:9 

Life {April 2014}

It's almost the end of April, and that means we only have about a month of school left.  I love this time of year.  The weather is warmer but not too hot.  The days are longer.  Spring is here!  Do you love the change of seasons as much as I do?  

Here are some random phone photos from the last week.  

You can follow me on Instagram @redbirdblue 

We had so much fun over Easter weekend that Ben and Will had a hard time waking up for school on Monday.  I feel your pains guys!  Monday mornings are rough.

Sweet brother moment.  I was reading to Ben, but I had to stop to do something so Will finished the book for me.  Ben has really been into the Knuffle Bunny books by Mo Willems.  We like all of Mo Willems' books.  If you look closely at the books you can see that Mo includes things from his other books.  I'd like to take credit for noticing this, but Will is super observant and pointed it out to me.

The boys have a fish, Mike, and this is the setup by his fishbowl.  They have aliens, a ninja, and a dinosaur guarding the fishbowl.  I love raising little boys!

Of all the Wii games that we own, Ben and Will love Wii Fit.  They can do all of the exercises.  Mark and I love to watch them.  It's very cute and funny.  They are very competitive and try to follow the instructions so that they get a high score.  We fully support it because it's healthy and builds coordination.  Ben did awesome holding this plank.  If only I could get motivated and use the Wii Fit...

Will had a baseball game last night.  It feels like it's been forever since I've watched him play.  I missed his last game because Ben was sick and then our games have been cancelled because of rain.  The boys played hard even though they lost.  I'm proud of Will.  He's having fun and trying his best.

Happiness is...

Happiness is a field of bluebonnets.  

I love our state flower so much.

Funny outtakes of the boys while I'm trying to get "the perfect photo".  

Ben didn't notice he had a scratch on his knee until I was ready to take a photo.  You can see when he notices the tiny scratch and then acts as if he needs stitches.  These boys make me laugh.

Friends

On Saturday I was so excited to see two my best friends, Cory and Terri.  I've been blessed to have these girls as friends for a long time.  We've had some fun times together.  We all went to Texas A&M together many, many years ago. Cory's family was like my second family in college.  Cory was even brave enough to drive across country with me when I moved to Seattle.  Now that is a good friend, if there ever has been one.  I also remember when Mark and I drove to the middle of nowhere in Louisiana to see Cory when she lived and worked there.  What memories!  I see Terri several times a year because we always make it to each other's kids' birthday parties.  We all know how crazy birthday parties are so it's not like we get a lot of quality time together at those, ha!  The girls have been there for so many happy times in my life, but they have also stood by me at my saddest.  When my grandpa passed away, they were both there for support through it all.  Those are the people who you know truly love you.   Their friendship is a blessing.

 Luckily Cory's parents live pretty close by and we were able to spend time together since everyone was home for Easter. I wish we could see each other more often, but busy schedules and living in different places don't allow for it.  That made me appreciate getting to see them even more.

Love these beautiful, smart, and funny ladies so much!
(Please note the photobomb by the horse behind us.  We were in the barn.)

The kids hunted eggs at Cory's parents' farm.  

They even had a bunny pinata.

Cory giving us all her favorite Easter candy.

Strawberry cake.  So good! 

My boys had so much fun.  Love this family!

Easter 2014

Easter 2014

Ben and Will before church this morning.

I was so happy to get a family photo outside of church.   

We usually end up with photos like this.  Here we are at home after church.  The boys were begging to get out of their church clothes, but I made them pose for just a few more photos.

After church, we went to Mark's parents.  We had a cookout with his family.  

The boys got to hunt Easter eggs with their cousins.

I'm not sure why Ben's face looks like this, but I think this is a really funny photo.

Will was ready to hunt some eggs. 

 Looking for eggs under the tree. 

Full baskets = Happy boys

  The boys were so excited to get Legos from the Easter Bunny this morning.

Although, I look forward to Easter because it's fun to spend time with family and friends, I don't ever want to forget the true meaning.  

1 Corinthians 15: 55-56

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

    O death, where is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 

 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Thank you, Jesus.

The Perfect Game

Last night we went to our first Texas Rangers game of the season.  It wasn't a "perfect game" by definition in baseball, but it was perfect, in my opinion, for so many other reasons.  First, there was amazing weather.  I'm used to sweating in the heat, but it was a pleasant 70 degrees.  That wasn't the only reason, the Rangers had a big Rangers win over the White Sox beating them 12-0.  Will just couldn't believe that the White Sox manager left the pitcher in for such a long time when the Rangers were getting so many hits.  It's always fun to see the Rangers score so many runs.  Another cool thing was that we ran into some of our good friends we didn't know would be at the game and got to hang out with them.  After the game, there was a cool fireworks show that brought the perfect night to an end.  As we were leaving Will said, "This was so much fun!"  We saved the game on the DVR and now Will and Ben are re-watching it this morning.  I love my little baseball fans.

Life father, like son.  Three of the biggest Texas Rangers fans that I know.

If you follow me on Instagram @redbirdblue, then you have already seen some these photos and ready my dorky captions. ;)

 Numero uno Rangers fan!

Everything is bigger in Texas! 

Fireworks after every home run.  We got to see this twice during the game.

Of course, I make them stop for photo ops every chance I get.  Sorry boys, your mom likes to take photos. 

Just a few more pics from the game. 

Surprised to see our friends, Durwood, Shelly and Dade there. Fun!

Good times!

Ooooh!  Ahhhhh!

On the way home we saw the Reunion Tower lit with the Texas Rangers logo.  Too bad Will and Ben had already fallen asleep and didn't get to see it.

Let's Go Rangers! 

"Selfie"-Reflection

Back in the Fall, I got a haircut and took a selfie because I was really happy with my new do.  I used the selfie to update my Facebook profile pic, and I was surprised that people liked the photo.  Why was I surprised?  I was surprised because I'm really insecure when it comes to photos of myself.  Most women are their own worst critics.  I'd say that goes way beyond our outside appearances and even deeper.  I'm not one to self-reflect but my selfie caused some "selfie"-reflection.  

Sometimes it's good to stop and look at your life and think about ways you could improve.  A little introspection never hurt anyone.

There are so many areas in my life that could use improvement.  I don't have it all figured out.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels inadequate.  I have flaws.  I worry about not being good enough.  I worry that people might think I'm fake or a hypocrite.  

When I think about the way I live my life, the number one concern is 

does my life honor God?

I try.  I really do, but this is where I struggle.  I'm not a perfect.   Just look at this long list of mistakes that I make all the time.  I get angry, I can be tacky, I laugh at inappropriate jokes, I say things I shouldn't, I yell at my kids, I'm impatient with my husband, I'm not a good listener, sometimes my priorities are wrong, I waste time, I don't spend enough time in Bible study and prayer.  The list could go on and on.  Pretty humbling, right?  

I'm not trying to make light of those things.  Knowing those are just a few areas where I fall short remind me that I'll never be good enough.  It's also a reminder that when we are weak, he is strong.  Pretty encouraging, right?

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 comes to mind where Paul is talking about his struggles.

 9 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. 10 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.

I don't ever want to praise the bad things in my life as me being "real" but through those weaknesses I have humility.  I'm just being honest about my struggles.  They are always there to remind me that I'll never be good enough on my own.  Those struggles keep me humble.

Philippians 2:3

3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Colossians 3:12

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,

My goal is to be genuine, honest, and real.  We're all struggling to do the best we can, and with Bible study and making a conscious effort to practice what the Bible teaches we can do better despite our flaws.  So now that I've come clean, can people still trust that I'm genuine?  I sure hope so.  Even though I make mistakes, when I talk about my faith it comes from a sincere place.  

1 Timothy 1:5

 5 The goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

Bird Watching

There's a sweet little mama bird who decided to make a nest in the wreath on our front porch.  After sharing photos of the eggs, we believe she is a House Finch.  It's typical behavior for them to make a nest in a location like the one we have.  In fact, when I did a Google search it showed numerous photos on front door wreaths.  

After stalking mama bird for several days and trying to get a photo of her, I finally gave up using my cell phone and used my DSLR camera with the zoom lens.  Anytime she would spot me, even if I was far away, she would immediately fly up high in a nearby tree.  

This is the best photo I could get.

Look at how well she blends in to the surroundings.  It would take me a moment to locate her.  Mark was helping me. 

One more of her with her head turned facing us.

I was at the end of my driveway for this one, but as soon as she saw me she flew away.

Here are her five eggs.  Please excuse my dirty front door.  I would have cleaned it, if I had known a bird was going to nest there and that I'd be photographing it so much.

I've been taking photos of the eggs almost each day and I can tell she rotates them.  I didn't know that until I studied this little bird nest.  My sister-in-law confirmed that you have to do that for proper development.  I can also tell by the shadow of the bird in the window that she changes the direction she sits on the nest.  Usually she faces one direction, but that occasionally changes.