We finally made it to Choctaw on Saturday to meet our nephew Payson. It was strange to hold a new born again and it made me realize just how big Alea is getting. We went to the Hawthorne's house first where Alea had her first wagon ride. As you can see from the picture to the right, she loved it. We, then, went over to Natalie and Dustin's house to cook out and just visit with the family. I have to say that Shirley's mashed potatoes were AMAZING and there is, of course, nothing like grilled chicken and pork chops seasoned perfectly. It was a beautiful day at around 78 degrees which was very refreshing after several gray and rainy days. Alea wore shorts and a purple shirt and was the cutest I've seen her. I can't wait to put her in more of her summer clothes. It will be sweet to see her little arms and legs after being covered up all winter. I was telling Shirley that it is really neat that I can be with Alea all day and never get tired of looking at her. I knew before she came that I would love her and be proud of her but I never knew just how much until she arrived. There is nothing like it in the whole world. Alea was such a good girl during the day and slept all the way home.
Today was a day to myself. Wren woke up sick and after trying to get around, decided to stay home from church and kept Alea while I went ahead. Since I am filling in for a hand bell choir member, I stayed all day, through rehearsal then came home. I hardly ever ask for time to myself and even today I offered to take Alea to church with me but Wren wanted to keep her. I don't know why, but I felt guilty leaving her. From what I understand it's a normal feeling when a parent leaves a young child for an extended period of time. It's not that I don't trust Wren as a care giver because he's actually quite good at it, so maybe it's because I'm just so use to being with her all day every day and I, myself, have an issue with separation. We are quite attached to each other. : ) All that to say, it was a nice break but I was happy to get home to her at the end of the day.
Church was wonderful this morning!!! The theme God has had for me this past week has been freedom. It all started while I was driving home from Tulsa last Tuesday and was listening to a song by Jill Paquette called Free. She talks about how when Jesus comes again she'll truly feel freedom from sin. I know we all have experienced the heavy chains of sin and how it holds us back from experiencing all that God wants us to be. How sometimes it takes so much to bring us to our knees and we wonder why we push His ways aside for our own. Our Pastor, Bill Hulse, is out of town this week so Jeremy Freeman spoke in the service this morning and explained how important is is to get back to the realization that God is to be Praised NO MATTER WHAT, He is to get the glory for everything in good times and bad and THAT is just the way it is!!! Knowing God in this way brings us back to a place of humbleness and of knowing how undeserving we are of His grace and mercy. Praising God because HE IS GOD and deserving of it. Psalm 96 talks about this in a big way. It is a huge reminder to us that we need to be in a place of whole hearted worship on a daily basis not just on Sunday mornings. We get so mixed up in all of our stuff that we forget that basic lesson. GOD IS and is worthy to be praised. We don't have to wait until His return to feel freedom from our heaviness, however, I do long for that day when I will be truly free and I want to live my life with my heart set on it. I know what I said here can't and doesn't explain everything that I feel about this but, WOW, what an incredibly healing and freeing day this has been. Thank you God.
Jeremy's sermon that I mentioned should be available soon on the Parkview website. The link is located under "favorite links" to the right. It is worth a listen if you have the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment