Pixilated: July 2007

Butterflies & Flowers

We went to the Indianapolis Zoo and White River Gardens today for a company picnic. Here are some photos of the butterfly and garden exibit. Enjoy!

New photos of the kids

Erin in her tent

Ethan playing computer games

They act like they like each other

Say cheese!

Mom put a stop to this one...

Ethan is so cuddly!

Pajama time!

Uh, you ok, Erin?

Princess Erin and Super Ethan

Yo Gabba Gabba

Someone must be on crack. I saw this while watching TV with my kids a few minutes ago...

She's cuckoo-pants...

I'm getting used to the blank stares I've been receiving from people when I tell them that we are helping to plant a church in Lebanon, Indiana. Some people's response has even been "why would you want to do that?" or "why you?". I've come to the conclusion that they just don't get it. I can explain it all day long but I still get that same empty stare--even from friends--Christian friends. How do you explain something to someone about a call of God on your life or a direction you feel Him prompting you to go? How do you discern God's voice from your own crazy thoughts?

I find a lot of comfort in scripture where God asks people to do things that don't make any sense. Or that He chooses people that are the most unlikely in the world to do His work even when people around them think they are nuts.

Noah: God tells a 600 year old man to build a big boat, collect two of every kind of animal and get his hiney and his family inside because it's going to rain even though they haven't ever seen rain. (Genesis 6)

David: A small shepherd boy goes to fight a giant (we're talking big foot) with a sling and 5 stones, kills the giant, lives to tell about it and becomes the next king. (1 Samuel 17)

Paul: A man who "saw the light" (quite literally), changed his ways (and his name) from a murderous Christian killer to a champion for the gospel of Christ. (Acts 9)

Mary the Mother of Jesus: A teenage girl who through immaculate conception, helped to bring the Savior, Jesus Christ, into the world. Try explaining that one to your fiance. "I swear, Joseph. An angel just visited me one night and POOF! Now there a kid growing in there!" (Matthew 1, Luke 1)

Joshua: A guy who had his army march around the walls of the city playing trumpets in order to make the walls fall down. (Joshua 6)

Moses: A leader who fights battles simply by putting his arms up in the air. (Exodus 17)

“I’ve lost my marbles,” is what you might mutter when presented with a task from God. You think you heard God, but you’re concerned that others will think you’re crazy. Let me reassure you. You are crazy. We all are. We believe in a Supreme Being that we can’t see, who rules the universe and will one day come back for us. We’re crazy. However, I Corinthians 1 reads, “The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom,” and we know that God chooses “the foolish things of the world to shame the wise” (v. 27). So let people think what they want. You only have to answer to God." -Jennifer E. Jones

So, yeah... I know I'm crazy. I understand this part. I really do. People let me know about it all of the time. And I'm beginning to understand that the people you expect to support you won't always do that. But that doesn't mean you quit. You keep going. You jump the hurdles that are placed in your path. You look to God for guidance and listen to hear His voice. And you don't loose heart. "...we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:28

A New Toy!!

Tonight, I was totally surprised by John with my birthday present. My birthday isn't for another week but he couldn't wait any longer. ;o)

YEAH!!!! WHOO HOOO!!! YIPEEE!!!

I love photography. I use to have an awesome SLR back in the day. I'd carry it with me all the time and shoot anything I saw. I even did senior and family pictures for people. Until... it got dropped down the stairs and the lens shattered. I never did have the money to fix it and by the time I did, I had forgotten about it.

We have now moved to the digital age where John and I have had a digital camera for a while now. While in Texas this past April, I dropped our digital camera on the ground at the Fort Worth Zoo. See a theme here? :o) The lens shattered too. Needless to say, it was not repairable.

John has been planning this thing for a very long time. He even sold one of his guitars to surprise me with this camera. I am so very grateful and humbled that he would do something like that. I truly have the most awesome husband in the whole world.

Here are some photos that I took tonight: