Resurrection Sunday | 2019

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♫ Wonderful, Merciful Savior ♫

Wonderful, merciful Savior

Precious Redeemer and Friend

Who would have thought that a Lamb

Could rescue the souls of men?

Counselor, Comforter, Keeper

Spirit we long to embrace

You offer hope when our hearts have 

Hopelessly lost our way

You are the One that we praise

You are the One we adore

You give the healing and grace 

Our hearts always hunger for

Singing Easter hymns

Almighty, infinite Father

Faithfully loving Your own

Macie (3) singing "Alive, Alive"

Lucy (our granddog) hanging with Gampy

Here in our weakness You find us

Falling before Your throne

Judah's first Easter

Judah and Gammy in gingham

You are the One that we praise

You are the One we adore

You give the healing and grace 

Our hearts always hunger for

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

John 11:25-26

Easter Playlist

I love the day before Resurrection Sunday! As we prepare our house and home for a family celebration, we also prepare our hearts for the celebration of our Risen Lord. 

Actually . . . let me correct that.

We don't simply prepare our hearts to celebrate. We just go right ahead and do it, thanking Him for His great sacrifice and for paying the debt for our sin, meditating on the plan of salvation, rejoicing in the fact that He conquered sin and death and hell. And we lift our voices in praise!

I shared this play list with you last year, but I am going to share it again. As you frost your cake or fill your deviled eggs or set your table, or tomorrow as you gather with your loved ones, you may want to listen or sing along with these glorious songs of the Gospel! 

O the love that drew salvation's plan

O the grace that brought it down to man

O the mighty gulf that God did span

At Calvary!

Eighteen!

This weekend, we celebrated one of our best gifts ever: our Rebekah Hope who is now eighteen years old!!

If you know our story, you may remember that there were difficult days before and after Bekah was born. (Part of our story is ~here~ and part is ~here~.) But is was all a part of God's plan and every dark day was worth it. Our Bekah has been such a wonderful blessing in our lives!

Bekah brings music and joy and laughter and grace and beauty into our world. She is an "old soul" who loves old hymns and classical music, old movies and Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly. She loves to read. She has an eye for fashion and home decor. She has a tender heart and loves babies and animals (especially cats) and she adores her nieces and nephews. She is always willing to play a hymn (or two or three or ten) for me any time I ask. She loves to sing. She loves the Lord! (And isn't that the most important thing?!)

Bekah, we love you so much and we thank God for you! We look forward to seeing your adult years unfold as you follow His leading. We pray that you will always seek His face! 

Celebrating Forty Years and Seven Months

When our 40th wedding anniversary rolled around last August, we were on Baby Watch and couldn't really plan ahead. Then autumn was busy and we used Ron's time off for Bekah's senior trip and then the holidays came and time got away from us. And so a couple of weeks ago, we took a few days away from the day-to-day, away from wedding prep, away from the job, away from senior year homeschool, away from the clock.

Forty years is a big deal, and we wanted to mark the occasion. 

As we were planning for our little trip, I said something about it being crazy to take time away during this very busy season. Ron said, "Is it crazy? I think it's a good time to go away."

He was absolutely right.

Selfie fail. 😉

We had three lovely days of reflecting. Of looking back through the years. Of remembering the good and the bad, the victories and the challenges, and God's faithfulness. 

We had three lovely days for conversation. For no schedule. For meandering through antique stores. For relaxation. For putting aside the to-do lists. For coffee shops. For eating meals when we wanted them. For watching HGTV and a marathon of "Fixer Upper" (a treat for us, since we don't subscribe to cable TV).

We had three lovely days of looking toward the future, knowing that our lives are changing and feeling bittersweet about that, but knowing that the God who has been faithful over these forty years and seven months will continue to be faithful. 

We wanted some sort of tangible marker of our fortieth wedding anniversary. Although the traditional gift for forty years is ruby . . . 

~ source ~

, , , we thought that pewter was more "us." We are happy with our new sugar and cream set. 

During this busy season of our lives, we are grateful for the days that we were able to stop and reflect and enjoy time together. We thank our God for these forty-plus years!