Reminisce

I was looking through some old pictures today, and came across ones that I took on the Fourth of July last year. I can't get over how much Joy has changed in a year! I can't help but wonder what next year's pictures of both girls will look like. I'm sure I will marvel then, too.

Picture Post

Not much time for blogging today ... my sister is visiting and we're planning on having real life fun, instead of my usual "I only have life on the internet" fun. So in lieu of a post, I leave you with pictures from Sunday, a beautiful day in the park with our beautiful family.

Simple Joys

Some things for which I'm grateful ...

Simple joy gotten out of a disposable pan turned vehicle for adventure

Blue sky and bluer river on a Sunday drive through the Adirondacks

Papa and his girls sharing a "forever moment."

Brave adventurer, exploring on her own ...

... and always returning to Mamma's arms

And at this particular moment, I'm happy for a sleeping baby in her swing, a happy toddler playing with her toys, a good night's sleep last night, and a rapidly-approaching weekend.

What are you grateful for today?

From My Youth ...

For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
you are he who took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.
Psalm 71:5-6

I have always felt a little embarrassed about sharing my testimony. It always just seemed too simple. "I was three years old when I asked my mom what it meant to be a Christian, she explained, and I prayed and asked God to forgive my sins and make me his child, and I've been a Christian ever since." I never strayed from the Lord, never had any spectacular sins from which he saved me, just lived a life of simple, steady faith.

People like to hear the impressive testimonies: "I was a vile sinner and God lifted me from the pit." Those are the ones that make us say "Wow, what an amazing and powerful God we worship." My husband's testimony, of God using divorce, teenage rebellion, and a broken heart to bring him to his knees in repentance and faith, leading him to the point he is now, of working toward becoming a professor of New Testament at a seminary somewhere (England, please?), is one that causes people to shake their heads in wonder. Then they turn to me, expecting something equally impressive, and I blush and stammer out my simple words, and see their faces fall as they politely murmur "how nice."

In recent years, though, I've slowly come to realize that I am wrong to be ashamed of my simple testimony. Something DA Carson once said in a sermon, quoting the above verses, first made me think of testimonies in a new light, and the more I think about it, the more convinced I am that we (human beings in general) have a wrong emphasis when it comes to hearing someone's tale of salvation.

Shouldn't we be more impressed by the story of one whom the Lord saved at a young age, and kept safe ever since? Shouldn't our eyes shine with wonder and awe at hearing someone honestly say "I have served the Lord ever since I was a child"? Someone who has seen and experienced the depths of sin, only to taste salvation at the end, yes, that is marvelous, but isn't it more marvelous when a person doesn't have to endure any of that, through his or her faithful following of Christ?

As LM Montgomery puts it in Anne of Avonlea:

"What are you thinking of, Anne?" asked Gilbert, coming down the walk. He had left his horse and buggy out at the road.

"Of Miss Lavendar and Mr. Irving," answered Anne dreamily. "Isn't it beautiful to think how everything has turned out. . .how they have come together again after all the years of separation and misunderstanding?"

"Yes, it's beautiful," said Gilbert, looking steadily down into Anne's uplifted face, "but wouldn't it have been more beautiful still, Anne, if there had been no separation or misunderstanding. . . if they had come hand in hand all the way through life, with no memories behind them but those which belonged to each other?"

I think Gilbert had the right idea--one way may be more romantic, but the other is more beautiful.

Or maybe, just maybe, there shouldn't be any "more" impressive or "less" impressive. Maybe every tale of salvation ought to bring us to our knees in worship, because every story is another individual picture of God's amazing grace. Because however simple our story may seem, it all points back to a God who is at once more simple, and infinitely more impressive, than anything else.

After all, isn't it all, in the end, about him, not us?

Captured Memories

Just some fun pictures from our weekend north ...

Grace looking ever-so-sweet in her strawberry outfit, nestled snugly in her Papa's arms.

Joy being about as cute as any 20-month-old could ever possibly be

Playing with the ball in Oma and Aunt Lis's little pool. The water was FREEZING--way too cold for swimming, but I held Joy (my legs went numb) and let her splash the ball around. Great fun!

My little flower child, on the way home.

Mamma and her girls. Yes, Grace is screaming. She had just finished eating and was ready to be burped, not photographed.