March 2011

March is always a time of great excitement and anticipation at our house. First, comes Sarah Ryann's birthday- literally, her birthday is March 1.

This year, I had the pleasure of hosting the 2nd annual sleepover party comprised of 10 9-10 year old little girls. Dan took the boys to my parents for the night (Thanks for the help Grandad!), and my mom, Mimi, came over to spend the night and "help" me. In reality, she did most of the work while I took tons and tons of pictures, refilled drinks, and made popcorn.  She got to deal with the mess made by the cupcake decorating adventure.

A BIG "Thank you" to Mimi for making both chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, and the buttercream icing, and providing the sprinkles, the dragees, and all the other great stuff! 

The girls had a ball. They danced until they couldn't stand, they played games, sang songs, and had a GREAT time together. It was a great party, we are so blessed that Sarah Ryann has such great friends.

 

And then there was Spring Break! We stayed at home this year and caught up on some much needed "house time". We did take a break one day for a trip to the Buffalo Park. We had a blast!

 

Thankfulness

The mercy and grace of our God amazes me on a very regular basis. More so now than at any other time in my life, and even more in recent years, months, weeks and days as I see His work in my life and the lives of those around me, and more so as I examine His works with a consciousness previously missing. I am constantly reminded that my life, my being, my existence, is for His Glory, only, and my highest calling is to serve  and exalt Him in everything that I do, and to do so not only because He commands it, but because He is worthy and I am not. That's a hard, hard concept for someone like me. Yet, here I am, put here by Him, for His Grace, for His Glory and by His Mercy, to do that one, tiny thing. And I fail, and fail, and fail. And by His Grace I am forgiven- over and over and over. My unfaithfulness is forgiven, my impatience is forgiven, my mistaken and illogical attempts to control my circumstances are forgiven, and I am gently reminded by Him, through others, that His plan is perfect, and mine is destined to fail. Thank you Lord for the gentle reminders, for the gentle pushes in the right direction, for the decisions that you made so long ago, and for the Mercy that you continue to show me. Thank you for the wonderful leaders that you place in my life, thank you for the wonderful examples of men and women who place their unwavering trust in You. "Thankful" is such a small word to express such an enormity of feeling.