Weekend Wrap-up

I am happy to report that I survived the weekend. I was concerned about taking care of the girls with a sprained ankle and Gene being out of town. My mom came on Friday morning and stayed at my house most of the day. I sat in a nice cozy chair with my foot propped up and my computer in my lap. My older sister, Lori, and her family were coming to my parent's house Friday evening, so we headed there around 3:00 in the afternoon. Once I was settled in there, my mom went to buy groceries and my Dad took over watching my girls. We all had a nice night together...talking, riding the golf cart, eating a meal that I did not have to cook, and visiting with my niece and nephew, Ariel and Dean.

On Saturday morning, Gracen and I were back at my house. Reagan stayed at my parent's house to play with Ariel and Dean. Gene's mother came out and got Gracen about 45 minutes after Gracen woke up and kept her until 12:00. I then fed her and put her down for her nap. She slept until 3:00, so I basically sat on my hiney, with my leg propped up, all day long. I must confess it was really nice. I didn't feel the pressure to get the house clean or the pressure to move through a daily to-do list. I didn't chase kids all day. I just sat. I enjoyed a lot of Bible reading time on Saturday and spent some guilt free time on the computer and watching TV. I jokingly told Gene Saturday night that I should have sprained my ankle much sooner because sometimes I get tired of the constant going and doing that comes with having small children, coupled with our schedule. I haven't been sick since early in my pregnancy with Gracen so it has been almost 2 years since I was able to just lay down and S-L-O-W down. My spirit needed the break so I can honestly say I am thankful for the sprain.

On Saturday afternoon, we had a family birthday party to attend for my niece, Hayden. It was her one year old party and we were all looking forward to getting together to celebrate this little cutie's first year of life. I thought I would just share some pictures of the gathering.... without much commentary. Enjoy!

Here is the birthday girl. She looked adorable in her little birthday outfit. She had a cute bow in her hair, but like Gracen, she won't leave it in her hair.

It was a great party. Hayden was in a wonderful mood, and it was so fun to watch her dig into her cake and "open" all her gifts. There were a lot of children there, so it was also fun to watch all of them interact with each other. The food was good and the fellowship was even better. Great family time!

Gene came home Saturday night, and I was so happy to see him. He went on a white water rafting trip with the college students, which is a little dangerous. I prayed for him most of the day Saturday until I knew he was off the river. So glad to have him back home.

On Sunday, we went to church. We had a morning worship service at 10:00 and then had a potluck lunch following the service, with no evening services that night. Bro. Glenn preached a powerful message on making the choice between being cultural or being Christian. It definitely is a choice because you cannot have both. It was a much needed reminder that Christians should look different than the lost world around us. The foundation for the sermon was Jeremiah 10 and it starts out with this verse, "Learn not the way of the nations...." This is a thought that I have been chewing on in my own personal quiet time...how I want my life to be built on strong convictions, how I want to model Jesus Christ to my family and others that I come into contact with, and I want to look different from a "lost" person in my thoughts, words, and actions. The sermon gave me a lot to think about and I encourage you to read the chapter. It is a good one.

Lunch was delicious and we headed home around 1:00. It was a rainy, nasty day, so we all laid down and took naps. What could be better than that? When the kids got up, we watched TV and let Reagan play games on the laptop. We had pizza for supper and then the sun came out and we spent some time on our back patio.

It was a nice weekend...sprained ankle and all.

Until next time...