Rejoicing in the Resurrection!

Below is the Easter letter that I (David) wrote and shared with my dear and precious family! I hope that this letter will be a blessing to you as you read it. I encourage you to always use the giving of gifts to your children as an opportunity to communicate love and spur them on to know and serve our beloved Lord more and more!


Introduction

What great love God Almighty has shown each one of us through the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross. Indeed, God demonstrated His love for us while we were still sinners by sending Jesus to earth to be our sacrifice for sin. It is because of His suffering that through faith we can be made right with God and it is based on the truth of the resurrection that we can be assured of the great future hope that we have of heaven. It is these two critical aspects of the Christian faith (the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf and the resurrection of Christ) that bring such profound meaning to Easter for all who believe on the name of the Lord, who is our Blessed Redeemer. This Easter may our hearts be filled with gratitude and may this attitude of gratefulness in our hearts drive our thoughts, words, and actions in obedience to our Savior.

Preparing Amara for Being a Keeper At Home

This Easter we have selected gifts for each of you children with specific reasons and intentions. For Amara, we have chosen numerous cooking supplies (including a pan, a cookbook, and utensils). We decided on these gifts because of your interest in learning how to cook more in the kitchen and in order to help prepare you for your future role as a keeper at home. Amara, our hope and prayer for you is that you will be obedient to what we are taught in the Holy Scriptures with regard to the glorious role that you will be able to play in your future family. We are preparing you to carry out what we read in Titus 2:4-5, which identifies the blessed calling that lies before you:

“…to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.” (KJV)

We see that one of the key responsibilities that you will have in your family is the preparation of tasty, nutritious meals and these tools that we are giving to you today are a step in the process of helping you in furthering skills in this important area.

Honoring Aidan's Godly Request

For Aidan, we have chosen a new King James Version Bible in brown leather. Aidan, this gift is the honoring of a godly request that you expressed to us for such a present. We hope that this new Bible will be well used and will cause you to have a greater love for the Word of God. None of us can ever know too much Scripture and we hope that this Bible will be a great tool for you to gain in godly wisdom. We also hope that this present communicates to you our love for you as parents and our desire to bless you with good gifts that will be useful in your growth and development into godly manhood. There is certainly not a more important book than the Bible and in order to lead your future family in all manner of godliness and righteousness, you must be a good student of the words contained in the pages of Scripture. May you always keep 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 in the forefront of your mind each time you open the pages of this Bible: It states:

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (KJV)

Filling Jordan's Mind with Godly Reading Material

For Jordan, we have chosen two important books that you have wanted. Books have a great influence on our thinking, and our thinking is the basis for our words and actions. With the influence that books can have in shaping your thoughts, it is important that the reading material that you use to fill your mind be God-honoring. May you always remember the lesson of the significance of carefully choosing the books that you read. The first book that we have for you is on Christian filmmaking called “Outside Hollywood”. As you seek to animate and make movies that are pleasing to the Lord, this book will be a valuable tool in helping you to take dominion over this important and influential area of the culture. In addition, this book is illustrative of an important principle that everything that we do should be done as unto the Lord and not for our own selfish purposes. The second book we have for you is George Washington’s Sacred Fire, which shows the Christian devotion of this nation’s most widely studied founding father. There is much that we can learn from this country’s first president, including his commitment to honor, his trust in God’s Providence, and his sacrifice on behalf of others. May you enjoy both of these additions to your library and may they each help you in adhering to Philippians 4:8:

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Emphasizing the Resurrection at the Easter Breakfast

In addition, I would like to express a special thank you to each one in this family for the work that you have done in preparation for our celebration of Resurrection Sunday, particularly with regard to the Easter breakfast at our local church. The thought, care, and time that has been put into the decorations for this special meal is fabulous as there are many items that were made that will be continually pointing those that attend this breakfast to the real purpose behind Easter. The scenes that were drawn showing the life of Christ, the Scripture verses that were printed on the cards, the placemats that were drawn, and the flowers that were lovingly arranged and placed on the tables will provide an atmosphere that is honoring to the Name of the Lord. An extra special thank you to my most precious beloved Jill for all of the work that you did in making sure that this breakfast had the appropriate emphasis on Jesus and His glorious and victorious resurrection.


Conclusion

May today be a great day of celebration for this family as we honor our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! And may we all be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within us- based on the resurrection of our Messiah and King! Happy Resurrection Day to you all!

Changing Shape--Month 6

I had told my children long ago that I get pretty big in pregnancy. I told them that about month 6, I start hearing people (who do not know my due date) say things like, "You must be due any time!" and "You are getting close, I'm sure!" and the like, and then I watch with amusement as their eyes pop wide open and their jaws drop upon being told that I actually have 2 or 3 months yet to go.

Well, a couple weeks ago, they witnessed this event of which I had been telling them. In the course of our polite chit-chatting with a new acquaintance, the gentleman said something like, "I see you have another one on the way. You must be nearing the end, eh?" To which I replied with a chuckle that the baby was not due until middle of July (conversation took place the end of March). He looked incredulous and said, "Oh! I guess you have really big babies then!" Definitely. 9lb 5oz, 8lb 12oz, 9lb 9oz. Go figure. I am 5'2" and weigh somewhere around 110-115lbs. This does not go together!!

So, here you go--the latest photos of my blessedly growing child within (at almost 26 weeks):

I made this dress from a pattern from Vicki. It turned out nice, but I chose too heavy of a fabric! It is pretty stiff! I'm always learning....

What do you think of the new hairdo? All I did was get some bangs cut. I love it. Suddenly I look so much younger! :-) I have not had bangs for 7 years. I started growing out my very layered hair to all one length when I was pregnant with Amara. She is going to be 8 in July, so I have had one length hair for a long time. I grew it to my waist (which was something I had always wanted) once, and have kept it fairly long ever since. I will keep the long hair which I like, and now I have some bangs! The only problem that I have found with it so far is that they are bugging me after 2 weeks, so I will have to trim them regularly. One length hair is so much more forgiving while growing! Small price to pay for feeling better about how you look, right?

~J

Anniversary Pics

Amara had a blast taking pictures of us on our 19th anniversary last week. She did really well for being 7. David had brought home those beautiful pale pink roses. Isn't that what he's supposed to do? Any wonder why I love this wonderful man? (Read the Anniversary letter post from him from March 30 if you're wondering--it will clinch why I think he's terrific.) :-D

~J

Are You a Fool?

Click on the banner below to take this great quiz put together by Visionary Daughters (Anna Sophia and Elizabeth Botkin--blog link to the left also). I am NOT telling you my score, so don't ask. ;-)

Praise God that I can grow in the wisdom of His precious Word. Take seriously everything the Bible says, dear readers. It is life for all of us.

~J