holly and darren's wedding weekend!

Holly and Darren's wedding will take quite a few posts because it was a full weekend of celebrating this exciting time for our family. To kick off the weekend, we enjoyed one last evening together with Holly's closest girlfriends over a delicious dinner at Blu in Norman. Thank you to all of Holly's sweet friends who made not only this evening but the entire weekend so memorable. Holly has been given such sweet friends that I have grown to love and adore over the years! We had such fun reminiscing of all the great memories these friends have shared together and I know there are many more to come. 

easter

So we are a little late in posting our fun Easter weekend but we had some super sweet pictures of Ellison and her cousin Addison that we had to share. We had a fun Easter weekend in Tulsa and were so thankful our family came up to share it with us. Uncle Drew, Aunt Jill, and cousin Addie came up on Friday followed by KK, Aunt Holly, and her fiance Darren. Following a wonderful service at church and an Easter celebration in community, we enjoyed lunch together at home. Rob fired up the grill and the weather was gorgeous! And no Easter is complete without the annual scavenger hunt. My mom (and the Easter bunny) has always made Easter so special by leading us on a super fun and creative scavenger hunt. It has always been one of Holly and I's favorite memories from growing up and was just as fun this year as all the years before.

Praise Baby

If you have never heard of the Praise Baby video collection, and you have an infant-toddler, then let me let you in on a little secret...these are one of God's very special gifts to parents.  Heather and I don't let Ellison watch much TV yet; although I have caught a few episodes of Sesame Street and find myself entertained, as well as educated...I digress...

However, we have relied on Praise Baby for many months now.  It was a very thoughtful gift from our dear friends the Hartsock's and Marilene Long, which happens to be the mother of Ellison's godmother, Emily (confused yet)? I will admit, when we received the gift I did give a very dramatic roll of the eyes, but I soon became a believer and as you will soon see, a promoter of the video. The PB videos show bright colors, animals, numbers and shapes all set the to tune of praise music.  What a great way to teach Ellie the songs of worship; and equally important, she is enthralled by it.  

She literally can be fussy, exhausted, hungry, and even a few times, screaming (traits that I suggest she gets from the maternal side), but when the music starts she is mesmerized, stoic, and content (of course, traits that come from her paternal side).  To increase the fun, Ellie recently received a microphone from Grandmommy and Granddad and has flawlessly incorporated her own singing along with the video.  
She is so hooked to this video, referred to as the "hymnal" by Granddad, that we loaded one of the videos on to heather's iphone and on to my blackberry, so we always have mobile praise baby in case of a melt down.  I highly recommend you check it out.  Once you are convinced, and you will be convinced, that this is the best thing since white bread, you can send your referral fees in care of "Ellison's Tuition Fund."  


More to come soon, as we had a wonderful visit with cousin Addie, Uncle Drew and Aunt Jill, Aunt Holly, KK, and "soon-to-be-Uncle Darren."  

Happy Easter

This past weekend we began our celebration of Easter a bit early.  With Easter Egg "Hunts" on both Friday and Saturday, it was fun getting together with friends to share these memories.  I use the word "hunt" lightly, as Ellison is still too young to comprehend why we are sitting her on the ground with a bunch of colorful, plastic, round, noise makers, typically filled with things she is not allowed to put in her mouth.  Needless to say, this year's hunts were still probably more for Heather and I than they were for Ellie!

With the first hunt taking place at our church, Asbury United Methodist, we gathered with about oh maybe 1,000 or so folks, and partook in the madness.  Saturday was a bit less occupied, but just as much of an event.  Located inside and out of the beautiful home of our friends, the Hulvers, this is one "hunt" that I look forward to each year.  It was fun to see the four or five other families who were pregnant last year, along with us, who now were in attendance with the new babies.

So as Lent draws to an end, and we enter into Holy Week, I hope each of you will celebrate the Sacrifice and the Resurrection that laid the foundation for this upcoming Easter Sunday.  We are thankful for our friends, family, and church that have continued to encourage our Spirits and challenge our Faith.  I pray you have those in your lives that do the same for you.

Margin

The past two weeks I led a discussion in our Community group about how most of us live Margin-Less lives.  For this discussion, margin is the amount available beyond that which is necessary.  I remember listening to this message live about a year back when Craig Groeschel spoke on the subject at Life Church.  Simply put, the normal approach to life is not working.  Society teaches us that being busy is productive.  Society defines happiness as "having more than you have." And as a result we find ourselves stretched to max, financially and with our time.  Normal is living in debt, having monthly payments, living beyond our means.  Normal is filling up our schedules, being on the go, and sacrificing our relationships to make our schedules work. We need to start living differently, because normal is not working.  

2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2  

15 Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise,16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Ephesians 5:15-17   

Instead of living lives at full speed, it is important that we create our schedules to allow for us to (1) spend time seeking God's will, and (2) spend time resting in God's presence.   

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33   

Similarly, we have to stop living beyond our means. Instead of chasing what the world teaches us is success, we need to strive to be content with that which God has already blessed us with.   

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.  1 Timothy 6:6-10   

The truth is, we may not have time for the things we "say" are important, but we make time for the things we believe are important AND we may "say" we wish we had more money to give, but in reality we spend our money on the things that give value.  Where our time and money are spent, there our heart is also. By requiring ourselves to realign our desires with God's will for our lives, then our time and our money will also be realigned.  

Margin is better, because with Margin we have the ability and flexibility to respond to the call of the Kingdom.  We are in tune with the Father to know whether something is a distraction of the world or an interruption from Heaven.  In Asbury's current sermon series, Be Generous, we learn that we cannot be generous if we have already fully committed all of our time and all of our money. But with Margin, we can pray about where to give, where to serve, and how to make a difference.

Margin is hard for me, especially with time.  But even more difficult is contentment.  Contentment has to be one of my fatal flaws. I continually struggle with how much is enough and always striving for more.  Considering all the blessings that have been poured out unto me and my family, I know I have acted ungrateful, selfish, and greedy.  I truly need to be reminded, daily, not to conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but to rather live carefully and wisely, so that I may seek first His Kingdom and find contentment with His blessings.