Owen turns 2!

Today, we celebrate the day Owen burst on to the scene. Can't believe he's already two years old! What a wonderful gift we've been given in this second son. He's extremely curious and mischievous. He loves to snuggle and read books before sleeping. All boy, he loves all things with wheels, digging in the dirt, and making a lot of noise. He loves to laugh and give hugs. And he still challenges our childproofing abilities on a daily basis! We can't imagine a world without Owen and are so grateful for his addition in our family.

We capped the day with a pizza party with some dear friends. It was a packed house, but a fabulous gathering for our little extrovert!

Praying Scriptures

I've been so blessed and thankful to be part of a marriage and motherhood small group ever since we joined our church back in October. We've slowly been working our way through the book "Praying the Scriptures for Your Children" by Jodie Berndt. What a wonderful tool to use as we pray for our kids! She includes many Scripture verses with every chapter to help us zero on specific passages to pray for every aspect of our kids' lives.

We just finished the book at our study yesterday, so it was fresh in my mind when I discovered a fabulous idea thanks to Pinterest. As soon as I saw it, I knew I needed to make it happen. And that's what I did on this rainy morning. I chose two verses for each boy that I wanted to focus specifically on praying for them over the remainder of 2012. Then, I traced their hands and wrote their special verses on them and laminated them with contact paper. For both Brennan and Owen, I chose a verse about their salvation. Then, for Brennan, I also chose a verse about kindness and compassion. For Owen, I also chose a verse about obedience. I tried to choose one that were applicable to our stage of life right now or areas that have been struggles in the past. There were so many great ones from that book to choose from that it was really hard to narrow it down to just two!

I hope this will become a yearly activity for our family, and even extend to finding a key verse for John and I to pray throughout the year. What a blessing to use the treasure trove of Scripture to pray for our kids (and ourselves)!

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was a full time for us! We had an extra full day with John since he had Good Friday off, which gave us tons of family time. We spent some time at the park, headed down to the James River one morning, had a great church time on Easter morning, and culminated our weekend with friends coming over for some fellowship and game time. 

We started a new Easter dessert tradition as well:  Empty Tomb Rolls. Brennan was so excited to get to help make them and it was a great opportunity to continue talking with him and teaching him about the meaning of Easter.

Both John and I felt the significance of Good Friday and Easter even more poignantly this year than in years past. Our recent loss has pushed heaven to the forefront of our minds. Instead of it just being a nice place we'll go when we die, there's simply a deep longing for a heaven. For me, ever since becoming a Christian, Good Friday and Easter have been significant. It's an amazing thought to think that not only would Jesus Christ take on human flesh, but that He would take on the sins of the world, my sins, so that I could live forever in heaven with Him. But this year, it has taken on a whole new depth. Because of Christ's death and resurrection, death was defeated and the way was paved for believers to enter heaven and gain eternal life. Because of His victory over death, my sweet little baby Ella is in heaven with Him (celebrating Easter with Jesus Himself!). Because of Jesus, the promise of heaven will one day be fulfilled in my life and I'll get to meet my precious little one for the first time. 

The promise of heaven is such an amazing one, one that has become far more real to our family in recent weeks.  So this Easter, we remembered and celebrated with greater depth Christ's death and resurrection, which secured eternal life with Him for us. Hallelujah! He is RISEN!

"And when I think, That God, His Son not sparing;

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;

That on the Cross, My burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died To take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!"

Wheels

Brennan has recently been showing an interest in learning how to ride a bike. We got him a balance bike to help him learn and we took it out for a little spin at the park this weekend. The weather was perfect and the trails were a great first learning environment for him.

 

He was thrilled to get to try out his bike and pretty focused on getting the feel for it.

 

 

Owen loves to walk the trails at the park (he prefers it to actually playing on the playground!) and is always searching for the perfect stick to carry with him.

Praying for Our Kids

I am part of a women's Bible study that has been going through the book "Praying the Scriptures for Our Children" by Jodie Berndt. It has been a wonderful encouragement to gather with other women who have small children at home, to learn from one another, share life lessons, and learn so much great stuff from our leader who have definitely "been there, done that" when it comes to children! The book has been fabulous to go through and focus on praying specific scriptures for various aspects of my boys' lives. I get reminded every day just how much I need to be praying for them!

Another great tool was first given to me by another woman in my Bible study. It focuses on 31 ways to pray for your children (credit to Bob Hostetler), brief one sentence prayers to help guide your prayer time as well (and what great things to pray for ourselves as parents as well!). For those who are interested, here is the list below. Enjoy!

1.  Salvation: "Lord, let salvation spring up within my children, that they may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory" (Isaiah 45:8, 2 Timothy 2:10).

2.  Growth in grace: "I pray that they may 'grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ'" (2 Peter 3:18).

3.  Love:  "Grant, Lord, that my children may learn to 'live a life of love,' through the Spirit who dwells in them" (Ephesians 5:2, Galatians 5:22).

4.  Honesty and integrity:   " May integrity and honesty be their virtue and their protection" (Psalm 25:21, NLT).

5.  Self-control: " Father, help my children not to be like many others around them, but let them be 'alert and self-controlled' in all they do" (1 Thessalonians 5:6)

6.  A love for God's word: " May my children grow to find your Word 'more precious than gold, than much pure gold; [and] sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb'" (Psalm 19:10).

7.  Justice: " God, help my children to love justice as you do and to 'act justly' in all they do" (Psalm 11:7, Micah 6:8).

8.  Mercy: " May my children always 'be merciful, as [their] Father is merciful'" (Luke 6:36).

9.  Respect (for self, others, authority): " Father, grant that my children may 'show proper respect to everyone,' as your Word commands" (1 Peter 2:17a).

10.  Strong, Biblical self-esteem: " Help my children develop a strong self-esteem that is rooted in the realization that they are 'God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus'" (Ephesians 2:10).

11.  Faithfulness: "' Let love and faithfulness never leave [my children],' but bind these twin virtues around their necks and write them on the tablet of their hearts" (Proverbs 3:3).

12.  Courage: "May my children always 'Be strong and courageous' in their character and in their actions" (Deuteronomy 31:6).

13.  Purity: "'Create in [them] a pure heart, O God,' and let their purity of heart be shown in their actions" (Psalm 51:10).

14.  Kindness: "Lord, may my children 'always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else'" (1 Thessalonians 5:15).

15.  Generosity: "Grant that my children may 'be generous and willing to share [and so] lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age'" (1 Timothy 6:18-19).

16.  Peace:  "Father, let my children 'make every effort to do what leads to peace'" (Romans 14:19).

17.  Joy: " May my children be filled 'with the joy given by the Holy Spirit'" (1 Thessalonians 1:6).

18.  Perseverance: " Lord, teach my children perseverance in all they do, and help them especially to 'run with perseverance the race marked out for [them]'" (Hebrews 12:1).

19.  Humility: " God, please cultivate in my children the ability to 'show true humility toward all'" (Titus 3:2).

20.  Compassion: " Lord, please clothe my children with the virtue of compassion" (Colossians 3:12).

21.  Responsibility: " Grant that my children may learn responsibility, 'for each one should carry his own load'" (Galatians 6:5).

22.  Contentment: " Father, teach my children 'the secret of being content in any and every situation. . . . through him who gives [them] strength'" (Philippians 4:12-13).

23.  Faith: " I pray that faith will find root and grow in my children's hearts, that by faith they may gain what has been promised to them" (Luke 17:5-6, Hebrews 11:1-40).

24.  A servant heart: " God, please help my children develop servant hearts, that they may serve wholeheartedly, 'as to the Lord, and not to men'" (Ephesians 6:7, KJV).

25.  Hope: " May the God of hope grant that my children may overflow with hope and hopefulness by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).

26.  The willingness and ability to work hard: " Teach my children, Lord, to value work and to work hard at everything they do, 'as working for the Lord, not for men'" (Colossians 3:23).

27.  A passion for God: " Lord, please instill in my children a soul that "followeth hard after thee," a heart that clings passionately to you (Psalm 63:8, KJV).

28.  Self-discipline: " Father, I pray that my children may develop self-discipline, that they may acquire 'a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair'" (Proverbs 1:3).

29.  Prayerfulness: " Grant, Lord, that my children's lives may be marked by prayerfulness, that they may learn to 'pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests" (Ephesians 6:18).

30.  Gratitude: " Help my children to live lives that are always 'overflowing with thankfulness,' 'always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ'" (Colossians 2:7, Ephesians 5:20).

31.  A heart for missions: " Lord, please help my children to develop a heart for missions, a desire to see your glory declared among the nations, your marvelous deeds among all peoples" (Psalm 96:3).