Faith As a Verb.

I've been reading The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel for a few weeks now.  I had put it down and recently picked it back up the other day.  It has a lot of great insights and is a great read...I highly recommend it!  Anyway, I have been reading the section called Objection #8: I still have doubts, so I can't be a Christian.  This quote in particular spoke to me, under a heading called Faith As a Verb:

"You could probably come up with a hundred questions about God that I wouldn't be able to answer.  But do you know what?  It doesn't matter, because I've discovered that this is true.  I didn't develop a silly grin and glassy eyes.  I've discovered it is more blessed to give than it is to receive.  I've walked and walked with this.  Every time I discover a new insight, every time Jesus speaks to me personally in ways I can't even articulate, every time I practice his teachings and experience the results - well, after a while I don't care how many intellectual questions you have about while this can't be true.  I KNOW it's true." -Lynn Anderson, from The Case For Faith by Lee Strobel

There is tons of evidence out there for Christianity.  It's the only religion substantiated by history, archaeology, literature, and experience.  For me, the experience part is the most important.  How do I know that doing God's will is what's best for my life?  Because when I do it, every thing is better.  When I don't?  Things start to fall apart.  When I'm actively seeking God, things just seem...smoother.  Are they always easy?  Not by any means! But when I look back at the many, many (many, many, many) mistakes I've made in my life, I see that the main problem was that I wasn't letting God be Lord over my life...I was trying to do things my way, and live the way I saw fit.  You should have heard some of the excuses I came up with to justify my behavior!  It's appalling.

While my former life may have been more appealing for many reasons (acceptance, excitement, and feeling good to name a few), living for Christ has so much more for me.  It's like the appeal of my former life, but times a million.  The acceptance you feel when you're with other people doing drugs doesn't even touch the acceptance you feel when you're surrounded by other believers.  The excitement of doing something illegal can't touch the excitement of being part of a bigger plan...being used by God for His good!  And well...getting high was nothing like the high you feel when you feel you're in the will of God.

Just wanted to share.

Epic fail, but then win!

This morning, I started with epic fail.  I was planning on getting up at 6am to hit the gym, but alas...that alarm went off, and I said FORGET IT!  I didn't plan well, so I didn't get enough sleep.  Oh well.  Next time!  When I finally DID roll out of bed, I was surprised by Levi AND the little boy with breakfast in bed!  I've never gotten breakfast in bed before...and it was a real treat.  Oliver helped Daddy pick a flower for my tray and EVERYTHING!  Levi made me eggs in the hole, which is one of my favorites.  I woke up feeling loved.  Maybe a little lazy for not getting up at 6am, but loved all the same!

I ended up going to the gym after Oliver went down for his first nap, and I did so well!  Instead of banging out my two miles in thirty minutes, it only took 37:49 this time!  It's a small improvement, but I'm looking forward to those numbers going down...along with the numbers on the scale.  It's been four weeks since I joined the gym, and so far there is no change with my weight.  Slow and steady...I hope, anyway!  I've really been enjoying this couch-to-5K program that  I've been doing from Cool Running.  It's been fairly simple thus far, but hard enough that I feel proud when I complete a workout.  Check it out...you might like it, too!

After my workout, I rewarded myself with a Passion Tea Lemonade, half sweet (my Starbucks drink of choice in the summer, unless I want caffeine, and then it's Iced Coffee, half sweet with *GASP* cream.  Mmm.).  After I got home and fed the tot, it was time to feed the hubs and myself.  Cheeseburger pizza!  Delicious.  Then I met Sarah for another coffee break, because she had called when I was at Sbux the first time but I had to rush home.  We chatted for about an hour, and I'm back home now.

The rest of my day?  I have to make some more baby food (peaches, pears, and green beans...yum!) and possibly throw in one last load of laundry.  Levi and I will probably watch Battlestar Galactica after Oliver goes down for the night.  You read that correctly.  I love my husband so much that I'll watch BSG for him.  That's love, my friends.

And anyway, he was super sweet today.  Brownie points.  <3

12 Month Pics!

SO.  CUTE.  Here we go!

This is my favorite!  Happy boy!

SUPER baby!

Mommy loves her little man.

Daddy does, too!

Family pic!  <3

We had such an awesome time.  Oliver wasn't too sure at first, but we got the job done.  Hooray!  We made it a whole year!  God has truly blessed us.  We couldn't ask for a happier, healthier boy.  <3

Changes!

Big changes around here!  Sorry I've been awol, I have been longing to get back to blogging, but life gets in the way sometimes.  Anyway, here we are!

Do you like the new look?  My friend Jenni over at http://jennibro.blogspot.com/ took on her first blog re-vamp, and I think she did a phenomenal job!  It took a bit of prodding to get the hubs to finally add it to the blog, but we did have vacation and parties to take care of.

Speaking of parties, my little guy turned ONE last month!  I can't believe how quickly the time has past!  He had a party when we were on vacation at St. George Island, FL, and then another one after we got home.  His actual birthday was low key...just a peds appointment and lunch with Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Robert, and Miss Ada Lou.  Good times!

Today was Oliver's first haircut!

We started with this:

And ended up with this little fella (pictured with his stylist, Ms. Lori!):

He looks JUST like his Uncle Aaron did when he was a little tot!!  Adorable.

Tomorrow, we're finally getting 12 month pics taken (after having to re-schedule due to equipment issues at the photography studio).  So there will be a picture intensive post tomorrow.  Glad to be back!  More to come.  Stay tuned!