Going Deep With God by Having Him Carry Our Loads

This is the title of a snippet by John Piper that I have meditated on for a few weeks now. He states that not only has God carried our sins, but He pledges to carry our anxieties.
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. "The only other place this word for cast occurs is in Luke 19:35, where the disciples threw their coats on the colt for Jesus to ride." I love that word picture!
Piper says that he also pledges to carry our burdens.
Psalm 55:22 Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; The word for burden here is "lot," as in our lot in life.
He pledges to carry the cause of justice for us (1 Peter 2:23.)
Finally, He carries us-all of our life.
Isaiah 46:3-4 Listen to me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been borne by Me from birth, and have been carried from the womb; even to your old age I shall be the same, and even to your graying hairs I shall bear you! I have done it, and I shall carry you; I shall bear you, and I shall deliver you.
We can know Him better by taking Him up on His pledge to carry it all-including ourselves!

Beautiful Pics!

We had some pictures taken of the kids a few weeks ago by a VERY patient and sweet girl, Sarah! Here is a sneak peek from her blog!

A Weekend in the Country

Just a fun weekend outside at the farm and in Edom!

My Sunshine

Ephesians Chapter 1

This is the chapter we are going to memorize! And by we, I mean me and Max and Annabelle. It has continued to pop up in my life over the past month, and after listening to this sermon, we are going to commit it to memory!

Turning 5

Annabelle had a great birthday! The weather was perfect for jumping on her new trampoline (thanks, Chi Chi and Popi!), which she is graciously sharing with the whole family! We celebrated with our normal family traditions-birthday waffles, birthday hat, and silly string. Since Annabelle has been anticipating this birthday since last year, she was giddy all day! She wanted a "kids" birthday party ON her birthday, and she of course, reveled in the attention. When I asked her what she wanted me to cook for her birthday dinner, she replied, "I would rather have chinese food than what you cook, Mom." I don't blame her! She chose Ming's and had her favorite, shrimp with broccoli. What a big 5 year old girl! We love you, Sis!

Simon's First Haircut

Not as traumatic as I thought it would be! Picture by Max...

Visitors from Panama!

I am a little behind on my blogging, but we had visitors from Panama a few weeks ago! We were so glad to see our next door neighbors and to spend time with them! We met in Dallas, and had 2 packed and fun-filled days with them before they went home (lots of eating, Stars game, DMA, and more!) It was SO good to be with them again-THANK YOU FOR COMING, Los Ploche!

Vote for Steven!

Our friend Steven is applying to be the Caretaker of some islands in Australia! He is a finalist now, but he has to win, so go vote! I think this is so cool! You can watch his application video and VOTE HERE!

Creative Lounging by Simon

Reading Is Alot of Work!

No time for blogging these days. I have been reading/researching/meeting with people/and more trying to help Max with reading. I had NO idea homeschooling would be this hard and time consuming! I'm not saying it's not worth it, but it is taking over my life! If you are wondering about my whereabouts, I am either under a pile of books or at the kitchen table with Max. Everyhting else will just have to wait!