Above All

It being the last day of 2012, I feel like I should have some deep, rich thought to share.

But I don't.

I don't have any resolutions yet, no word of the year. I haven't decided to take a picture every day this year, or run a marathon in September.

I'm just going to enter into this new year thinking about Christ. I want to keep Him above all else this year. So often I will forget; forget what He has done for me, forget His love.

So if you really want a resolution from me, it can be that I will pray for the presence of Christ in my life at all times. I want to radiate the light of one who dwells on Christ's goodness constantly.

I want to remember Him above all.

May God bless and keep you and yours in this new year. Happy 2013!

Merry Christmas!

from our family to yours!

{On The Events of Friday}

I was at a school on Friday.

For the first time in 6 years, I signed in at an office and walked the halls. I peeked through doors into classrooms full of kids.

And then I served 10 kindergarteners lunch.

They were cheerful and merry- their hearts were full of the joy that comes when it's almost Christmas and you're 5.

I saw Jesus in them.

It was several hours later before I got home, serving lunch to 20+ other students and teachers and then studying for a midterm at a friend's. Just before dinner, I logged onto the computer and kept seeing glimpses of something that happened in CT.

It puzzled me, but not enough to find out what happened. I finally clicked a link and came across a news article that notified me of the horrific truth- 27 dead. 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7. 6 women. and then he killed himself.

The stories filled our house over the next 2 days as we all tried to comprehend what we were reading and watching. The teachers who threw themselves in front of their students and died. The families never got to thank them.

The teacher who got her class to the closet and managed to barricade them in- and kept them quiet- for over an hour.

I look at the faces of those who died and my heart hurts for each of their families, who- as my mom put it- have unwrapped presents with now-dead names under the tree.

A co-op teacher of mine encouraged us to pick a name or two and commit to praying for those families for a year. I've picked Emilie Parker, because her picture reminds me so much of my girlies.

Will you pick a family to pray for? These are not just names on a list; these are people. These are living, breathing, hurting people. They need your prayers.

Will you give them?

A Christmas Video

I know that this video takes a few liberties, and is slightly unrealistic in the fact that Mary and Joseph didn't have Facebook. But I love the way it shows the Christmas story and I find it makes the common text more realistic for this tech savvy world.

I hope you are having a great Christmas season and taking time to rejoice in the true meaning of Christmas!

A Team

During Fiddler, one of my favorite memories is just remembering the camaraderie between all 6 members of the devotion team. Yes, we had been chosen by the directors as a group, but we were more than a team.

We were friends.

When we were together, God was there with us. When one of us gave devotions to the cast, the rest of us were behind that one, praying. When we had a problem or prayer request or a praise, that was the group we'd take it to.

Together, we were set-apart. 

Praying before closing night- in various stages of costuming

This year, our team is different. Janae graduated, Tanner has gone other directions, Chase is in Seussical, but Asia, Abby and I are still here. together. And we've added two guys, Andy and Jamie to our midst.

and it's incredible what God has done.

I hadn't realized just how much I depended on these people. They were the ones who I could always go to. They were always there.

But on Thursday, practice was a little different. Andy was gone, due to being sick, and Asia sprained her back and was taken away in an ambulance early in our practice.

HPA wasn't the same. Abby and I didn't know what to do- how to go about our day- without these two critical members of our group. It was as if our little family had been ripped apart.

And in those moments, Jesus reminded me to never, ever, take someone for granted. Asia showed us all how quickly someone can be perfectly healthy one moment, and gone away in a flash of red light the next.

So look around you. Find the people whom are stable. and imagine your life without them.

Then thank Jesus that that picture isn't reality.

And hug those people extra tight next time you see them.

Heaven is the Face of a Little Girl {Mallory Kate}

She's one week old.

I hold her in my arms and breathe in her fresh baby smell.

Not even 7 pounds, the furry blanket she's wrapped in probably weighs more than she does.

Photos from our hospital visit | Mallory at 34 hours old

I love her.

I love every part of her.

The way her downy hair covers her head.

The way her eyes blink in the light and the way she squiggles her face all up when it's too bright.

The way her wrist is too tiny for her hospital band and so it has to be on her upper arm.

It's incredible the way that love can grab hold of your heart and you know, oh, you know, that it will never let go.

She's been in my arms twice and I'm head over heels.

I adore her.

God is so good.