Cover to Cover

Today I accomplished one of the great goals of my life.

I have many goals in life. Some are certainly attainable, others will be a long shot. Some of my goals in life are to author a book, climb a mountain, go to Jersusalem (the Mount of Olives in particular) and to go on a missions trip to Africa. I have many goals in life...these are just a few.

But today I accomplished one of the easier goals: I finished reading the Bible from cover to cover. It took me 2 years...a little longer than the original one year time frame. Over the course of my 27 year relationship with Christ, I've read all of the New Testament (not sequentially), Psalms thru Malachi and Genesis thru Deuteronomy. I've set out to read it all the way thru twice before, but failed. I've read, studied, memorized and preached on most of the other books, just not read them cover to cover.

I learned so much throughout this endeavor and my eyes were opened to the reality of the life of Christ that I am living. I gained a world view that's changed my perspective. I also gained an over-arching vision on how God operates. I also picked up on minor things life how Paul thinks and his perspective in Acts and then his corresponding letters to God's people.

This past year, we went to a lecture on campus and heard a traveling pastor share that he had read the Bible one time for each of the year's he's been alive but he didn't start until he was in college. That's making up for lost time! Even Zig Ziglar reads the Bible and other books and prays 4 hours each morning when he first wakes up...could I?

I'm not sure what my new goal I'll start working on. Maybe tomorrow I'll start with Genesis 1...again.

Sucking a thumb

We recently got a flip video camera, which is really fun and easy. (It has a flip USB drive that plugs directly into my brandy-spankin new laptop). Essentially, I'm trying out the device. This video was pretty fun as Sam offered his thumb for Hannah to suck on.

The Blessing of Handmade Things!

Over the past few years we've been blessed with some beautiful handmade things from some extremely close friends of ours. Madalyn has been the lucky recipient of some awesome scarves and sweaters... and even an adorable hat the first winter that she was born. Hannah has since inherited that hat and Samuel received a matching one in blue!

About 2 weeks ago the babies were given super adorable Christmas hats - so cute that I had to show them off. Hannah's is a candy cane and Samuel's is a Christmas tree! They look adorable in these hats. I'm so thankful to our dear friend for making these for us! They are even "stretchy" so we'll be able to wear them again next year! THANK YOU!
Madalyn with her pink hat on - a month old!
Hannah with the pink hat - 6 months old! (isn't the resemblance amazing just with the girls' eyes)
Sam in blue! - 6 months.
my handsome Christmas Tree - 7 months.
a super sweet Candy Cane - 7 months old.