Menu and Update on Life

My hopes are my weekly menu posts will remind me that I still have a blog and to post more frequently on it... For now, I will just give an after midnight rambling, sort of update on our lives. The kiddos are growing so fast! Olivia is finally taking steps! I think the most she's taken is seven, but she still prefers to crawl. I think she just walks to get us excited :) Oh well, hopefully she will take off soon!

Landon's Thomas the train obsession is starting to diminish and the "tiny legos" are starting to take that place of love in his life. I don't know why this is a little sad for me. I knew this would happen, interests change, they grow, but I guess it just means that that part of his childhood is becoming history. Soon it will be, "remember when you loved Thomas the train?" and there will be more and more of those, "remember when"s. I just really want to treasure their childhood and not miss it being too focused on how shiny my floors are, or getting too caught up on whether or not I can walk through the living room, or re-do my fireplace :)

I loved Ann Voskamp's book, "One Thousand Blessings." It is such a good reminder to take notice of the tremendous blessings we have right in front of our noses. The car rides with lively voices, the smell of a candle, quite reading time with the older child while the other naps. We have so many sweet blessings around us if only we stop to take notice and remember to thank our Father for each one.

Ephesians 1:3

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ"

Breakfasts:
Baked Apple Oatmeal
Cinnamon Rolls
Cold Cereal with fruit
Smoothies and Toast
Yogurt Parfaits

Dinners:
R: Chicken Pot Pie
F: Pasta with White bean Sauce
S:Golden Veggie Fried Rice with stir fried vegetables
S: Easy Barbecue Chicken sandwiches
M: Chicken Parmesan Casserole with salad (didn't get to this last week)
T: Creamy Vegetable Chowder
W: Homemade Pizza with salad

God's Sovereignty

I am studying Acts this year in my BSF class and it has been powerful. Last week we studied Stephen and there are a few things that have really struck me and I needed to process. Since I am a verbal processor, I am going to try to process this here :)

Stephen was a truly remarkable man, filled with the Holy Spirit and with wisdom. Chosen by God and the apostles to ensure the care of widows along with other necessary tasks.

He delivered an amazing message, before the Sanhedrin, from the time of God's promise to Abraham to God's deliverance of the children of Israel and to the rejection of Christ by the very men he was speaking to.

Then, this remarkable man, was stoned to death by men who falsely accused him. Stephen, even at the end was asking the Lord not to hold this sin against these men.

It seems that a man like this could be used greatly for several years beyond this to spread God's word and reach many people for Christ.

But he wasn't... He was killed. Yet, God is sovereign.

God knew that Stephen's testimony would leave an incredible impact on those who stoned him, on the believers (at that time and even now!), and on Saul (later to become Paul).

This passage brings me comfort as I remember and miss our sweet Samuel. Sometimes I wonder what his little life would have been like. What kind of man would he have become? What kind of impact who he have had on people? As I process this story of Stephen, it is a powerful reminder that God is sovereign and He can even use the most horrible events for His glory and to bring others to Christ.

One last thing I noticed through the horror of Stephen's death, was that God is gracious. God revealed Himself to Stephen before he died. As the stones were striking and bruising his flesh, he saw the glory of the Lord - "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" (Acts 7:55) What a sight and a help to Stephen to endure the pain, gazing at the one whom he was suffering for.

Let us live out Hebrews 12:2 in our own lives:
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God"

Encouraging Thoughts from Camp and my weekly Menu

Last week, I had the privilege of being the camp nurse for a week at Sooner Bible Camp. It was so nice not having to cook for a whole week! It was a very encouraging time and Landon was a great assistant and trooper.

One of the speakers spoke on 5 of the 7 churches in Revelation. The example of the church of Ephesus was most convicting to me. The Lord praises them for all the things they are doing: for their hard work and toil, their perseverance in hardships, their intolerance for wicked men, etc...
But, the Lord rebukes them saying, "You have forsaken your first love."
Sometimes, it's so easy to get caught up in serving and being busy with things in the body of believers, that we totally miss the point. The Lord wants our hearts.

Psalm 51:17
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."



A HUGE praise from the week at camp. A girl named, Val, has been staying with the Erb family for almost a year and one afternoon at camp, she realized that she was a sinner and that the Lord Jesus paid the complete price for her sin, and she was brought into the Lord's family. What an exciting week!



Val had to leave yesterday to go back to her home in Mexico, we will miss her dearly (sorry, I can't figure out why this picture is so small!)

A Little late on this, but better late than never...

Breakfasts
Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie
Baked Oatmeal
Yogurt Parfaits with homemade granola
Purple Monstrosity Smoothie
Cereal with Fruit

SuppersT:Easy Mexican Casserole with chips and salsa
W: French Dip Sandwiches with homemade bread with a salad
R: Honey Baked Chicken with rice and a salad
F: Homemade Pizza with Broccoli Salad
S: Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp and Basil (minus the shrimp because of Seth’s allergy ☺) with salad
S: Beef Stew with a fruit salad