A Grandma's First Birthday

Just two days ago, a baby girl was born, sending ripples of excitement through one, very special family. It's a big deal, being born. At the moment this particular little one made her entry, a brand new grandma was born, too!

Happy Birthday, Grandma Barb!

I wish you a year filled with JOY (that seems easy enough), LOVE, and WISDOM! You are already the wisest mom I know. May God bless you with incredible grandma wisdom, too. I think he already has ;-).

If you don't have a friend like Barb in your life, I encourage you to ask God for someone like her: wise, patient (she denies it, but she is), loving, and generous. If you have your own Barb, then ask God for the opportunity to be a Barb to someone else. Pouring into one another, friend to friend, is a beautiful testimony of God's love!

As Paul prayed for the Ephesians (ch. 3:16-21 emphasis mine), I pray that:

...out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Together, through the generations, we can share the glorious love of Christ with others. A ripple much greater than the birth of a baby. A ripple of eternal significance!

Barb, I am blessed by your friendship and your faithfulness. Happiest of birthdays to you, dear lady.

Wishing you Faith, Joy and Peace

New year... and more new life! Our niece, Emily, marks a big milestone today. She is a teenager!!! Happy birthday, Emily!

As you embark on this new journey in life, I wish you more than anything, a deep and abiding faith in Jesus. Through the ups and downs of your teen years, remember He is immovable! If you don't think He's close by, it's because you walked away. He never does.

I wish you joy that comes in the big things (like fabulous visits with me :D - ha ha) and the little things (okay, maybe that's where fabulous visits with me come in). I wish you joy in the dark times - that deep inner peace and confidence that comes because you know that you know that you know that no matter what, Jesus is in control!

As your life changes, at the warp speed that only a teenager's life does, I hope you will remember that you are fearfully and wonderfully made. God made you exactly the way you should be. Your dreams, your passions, your personality... even the challenges you face... are yours, so that you can become the incredibly beautiful and special person you were always meant to be!

Happy Birthday.

I love you!

New Year... New Life

Long-time family friends welcomed a new member into the family early this new year morning. Her entire life lays before her full of endless possibilities and dreams not even dreamt yet. Her world is blissfully perfect, born to a mommy and daddy who love her beyond words, prayed for her before she even was, and will raise her to know Jesus.

Her new year sparkles and shines. How about everybody else?

A few years under the belt, and we carry burdens, regrets, disappointments. What happened?

God says that in him we have life, eternal and abundant. John 10:10 says that while the thief (satan) comes to steal, kill and destroy, Jesus came so that we can "have life, and have it to the full." We carry around satan's burdens like a heavy backpack, letting it weigh us down.

What about welcoming the new year with the same joy, hope and dreams not yet dreamt just like little Ari Taylor Haller? What about choosing that "life... to the full" that Jesus promises?

I wonder, what would 2010 be like if we lay down that backpack of burden, and choose life in Christ the way He really means it to be? Would it sparkle and shine?

Praying for a new year filled with wonder, joy in the little things, a heart that forgives quickly, and excitement for the dreams not yet dreamt.

Happy New Year!