Life's an Adventure: March 2013

Good morning!

We got up extra early this morning and headed up to our church's sunrise service. It was so wonderful to be outside (even if it threatened to rain) and watch the sun rise and hear the birds sing as we celebrated the risen life of Jesus!

The kids stayed with us, so we were all a little dishevelled by the time we took this picture, but I love it anyway...it captures exactly where we are right now!

I saw a few words that Pope Francis shared this morning that I had to re-post here:

"How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to cross! Above all, the desert within, when we have no love for God or neighbor, when we fail to realize that we are guardians of all that the creator has given us and continues to give us," he said.

"Peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain, wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family, selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of slavery in this 21st century.

"Peace to the whole world, torn apart by violence linked to drug trafficking and by the iniquitous exploitation of natural resources! Peace to this our Earth! May the risen Jesus bring comfort to the victims of natural disasters and make us responsible guardians of creation."

Today as I celebrate what the risen Jesus means for me personally, I must realize that Jesus didn't rise from the dead just for me, but He did so so that all the marginalized, all the poor in spirit, all those that mourn, and all those in conflict-torn areas can experience a peace that surpasses anything we can imagine. Jesus came to make ALL THINGS new!

My prayer this Easter is that my family and I can be bearers of comfort to all, for it is no longer we who live, but (the risen) Christ who lives in us!

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It has been a crazy spring and I just realized that I haven't been blogging like I used to.

Lots of fun things have been going on around Houston, one of which is the opening of a Trader Joe's closer to our house. They have the tiniest carts imaginable, so thankfully I had Sander with me this trip and we were able to split the kids between two.

(oh, and I got a new hair cut...bangs!!)

Dexter's been doing so well at Montessori school. One of the highlights of this spring for me was seeing him take the role of host at his class "tea party". He spent the weeks leading up to the party making the food, learning the proper etiquette, as well as learning how to serve each item. The day of the party, he came home repeating the order of who he would serve when over and over again until we went to the party that evening. He welcomed us to the classroom, sat us at our seats, reminded us to put our napkins on our lap, and then slowly filled our glasses with punch and our plates with food.

Seeing how slow and careful he was about each task warmed my heart! A year ago we were looking for answers for his aggressive and very very active behavior -- now we were watching a year's worth of prayer and effort pay off. I am so very proud of him, but more than that, you can see how proud of himself he is.

(my mom happened to be in town helping Meredith with her new baby, Annaleigh, so it was good to have her stop by for the party too)

In other big news, Sander's grandfather turned 90 this Spring, while my Sir turned 85! Sander and the boys made it up for the big 90th birthday party. They did great on an all boys road trip and had a great time celebrating the standing room only party!