Day 31: Cars, Trains, and Planes...A Boy's Life.

It's so crazy to see how much the boys have grown. I feel like they were JUST born. Trystin will be 2 years old already in August. Today I came home and played with Trystin and his trains. Boy he loves trains. It's crazy to watch toddlers and how their

minds work.
I often think about how they process things and what they really think. They are so smart. Trystin is like a sponge and he is at the point now where he repeats everything he hears. He's learning how to speak, how to say certain words, how to count, what the different shapes are, colors, and even animals. Trystin always puts a smile on my face. I miss him when he isn't with us and he always reminds me of child-like faith, to just be yourself and well have not a worry in the world.


Verse of the day...
"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established strength"
Psalm 8:2

As we get older, we find it harder to ask God, pray, and have faith in Him. Ask God to have that "child-like" faith and to remove any barriers you may have, to have a closer walk with God. We should all be reminded of this child-like quality so we can be more expressive and draw closer to Him.

Day 30: Something to say...

This is a picture of our poster and CD cover for the Coastal Steel Band CD. The title of the CD is "Something to say-from the neck down". Kurry ALWAYS told us to play with all of our heart and soul, and from the neck down. Meaning this...people take things so seriously and literal that sometimes you just have to let it go and and pull from your soul. That can be applied in everything. Kurry is such an encourager. He always told us that balloons were one of his favorite things because it reminded him of what his Dad used to tell him. "A balloon can take you where ever you want to go." The sky is the limit. I have so many memories of steel band, the percussion department and school in general but I will always remember the things I learned from Kurry. He has taught me, not only to spread the love, but to dissolve your inhibitions, you only live once. I am so thankful for all the opportunities and memories that were created because of Kurry and I know I am not the only one who feels this way too. We are all super thankful for all the awesome things he taught us, for the encouragement, for the strength in hard times, and for the "family" we have.

Verse of the day...

"I will thank the Lord because he is just; I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High."
Psalm 7:17

Thank God every day for all of the blessings He has given us. Be grateful because God is righteous. David believed and so should we. We should include God in ALL our activities and events in our lives and in doing so, God will bring justice. Be thankful.

Day 29: Nikon is only the best...

I am so in love with my camera. I take it with me every day, every where, all the time. Pictures to me are so important. They show time, memories, past, present, changes, and more importantly...growth. Nothing like it :)

"End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God."
Psalm 7:9

We can hide nothing from God. He knows everything about us..our motives, everything. We don't have to impress God with the things we do or put up a false front. BUT we should trust God to help us through our weaknesses in order to serve him as He planned. He will then reward us for our efforts.

Day 28: New Beginnings...

"Every story has an ending, but in life, endings are just beginnings."

This quote is from the movie Uptown Girls. In life we all have our "seasons". Seasons with tough times, seasons with our lives, seasons with where we are going and even seasons with relationships. I believe that God allows certain things to happen for our growth. He is an overcomer! He makes all things work together for our good. I chose to take this picture of a bud of a flower because it reminded me that with the old, comes the new and even in times that we have no idea what we are doing, or where we are going, or maybe even our purpose, we always have to remember that God is in CONTROL! He's got it, we just have to have the courage to give it all to him.

"You can be sure of this: The Lord set apart the godly for himself. The Lord will answer when I call to him."
Psalm 4:3

The godly are those who are faithful and devoted to God. Sometimes we may think that God doesn't hear our prayers because we have fallen short of His high standards. He has forgiven us and will listen to us. He hears and He will answer our prayers. It may not be what we expect always, but look at your problems in the light of God's power instead of looking at God in the shadow of your probems.

Day 27: Nenna

This is a picture of McKenna that I took today. After church, I had lunch with a lot of my church family :) I had my camera with me, but out of the 40 or so pictures that were taken, I only took about 3. One of which, was this one. The rest of the pictures McKenna took. He is my little photographer in training. I think he loves taking pictures with my camera as much as I do. I love him. A boy after my own heart. Loves music, drums, dance, and now photography almost as much as I do :)

"Serve the LORD with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.."
Psalm 2:11-12

We must surrender fully and obey God. He is the rightful King of our hearts and lives.

Day 26: Not so smart...

Yesterday, I made some bad decisions which turned into me hurting my hand really bad. I pretty much bruised all of my knuckles, especially my ring finger. Sometimes we can get off track, but God is sitting right there, waiting for us to come to Him to pull us back on. We need to choose where our focus is. We need to choose our perspective. We need to choose our happiness.

"For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ"
Romans 5:17

God knows just what to do in order to "fix" our messes and mistakes. He takes all of our things we mess up and uses them for good. Because of Him, we have hope no matter what we have done. "We may have made a mess out of genesis, but He "fixed" our mistakes with a triumphant revelation."

Day 25: Tension is good.

So with everything going on...I was quickly reminded of everything learned from the Catalyst Conference in October. Tension is good, that was the whole theme. I went back and read through a lot of the things I brought back from Catalyst and all of the notes I took during the conference.

‎"Tension within a team pushes them to better perspectives and deeper relationships, Tension is absolutely required if you want to have an authentic faith. It is critical if you hope to engage in God's story of restoration and redemption. Tension compels us to respond to a higher calling. Tension helps us face our doubts. Tension challenges who we think we are. Tension prepares us to live our lives with a deeper message as a part of a bigger story. Tension in a family provides an opportunity to demonstrate commitment and unconditional love. Tension is good."

Embrace it.

Verse of the day...

"Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night."
Psalm 1:1-2

Our friends and even some family members, can have a huge influence on what we do and the things we choose. Think about it, true friends should help you draw closer to God, not hinder your relationship with Him.