Grace...

Ephesians 2:8 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--"

GRACE...Philip Yancey wrote a book called, "What's So Amazing About Grace?" Sadly, I never finished the book, but what I remember of the book was great...and I do believe after watching "The Grace Card" just now, I will start the book over and read it from cover to cover. But, on the back of the book it says, "There is nothing we can do to make God love us more. There is nothing we can do to make God love us less." Ponder that...

ISN'T THAT AN AMAZING STATEMENT!! Nothing...NOTHING we can do can make God love us more or less. He loves us unconditionally already. WOWZERS!! If you are a Believing Christian, you know this. If you're like me, as a Believing Christian, sometimes it just hits what God has truly done for me and that I was worthy of what He did for ME...measely me!! And then, I am reminded of what He expects in return...for me to show the same grace, mercy, forgiveness and love to others.

I just finished watching the movie "The Grace Card" and it touched me. If you haven't seen it, might I encourage you to go rent it (and buy a box of kleenexes too...and don't wear mascara ladies! My eyes look black now!). I won't give away the movie, but as I said, it touched me! Do I show that kind of Grace?? The kind of grace that God expects me to demonstrate to others?? This same kind of grace that God granted me?? Do I live for "that moment" that God orchestrates, see it and rely on Him to follow through with whatever it is He wants me to do or say??

Something to think about...eh?

Pre-K=First Day of Full-Day School

He was excited when he woke up this morning...to see his friends and to go back to school. And then, as I was showing him his lunch sack and putting his sandwich in it, the tears began to flow and he says, through his sobs, "I'm scared." So, I took a huge breath, said a little prayer that God would help ME not to cry too and asked him why. "Because I want to spend the day with you." As sweet as that sounded at that moment, I knew I couldn't cave...I had made the decision that if we were going to do Full-Day Pre-K he was going to stay Full Day (plus we're paying a mini fortune for it!)!! So, we arrived at school, he saw his best buddy, put his backpack away, and we went to the playground. I introduced myself to the teacher and Jackson to the teacher, then leaned down, gave him a huge hug, he hugged me back, messed with my hair, gave me the sweetest smile, and he was off to play. After a few minutes, I skeedaddled, but stuck around to peek around the corner as they came back in 15 min. later. He was great!

And so, that is that! It is 1:00pm...our boy has officially made it through more of a day of school than he ever has in the past (before, preschool was only 2 1/2 hours). So proud of him!

Time Flies

Yep, that's us, in Times Square celebrating our 10th Anniversary!! To those of you who were in attendance at our "crazy" wedding, thank you for celebrating with us 10 years ago! To those of you who have become our friends since, thank you so much for being our friends in these 10 years. Mostly, to my husband, thank you for a wonderful past 10 years...3 countries, 4 moves, and one sweet son later...WOW! God knew what He was doing when we met over 10 years ago! I love you much!!

We had a wonderful time in NYC while Jackson spent some undivided time with his Oma and Opa at our home in Vegas. I think Jackson and his Oma and Opa would argue with us about who had the most fun! It's probably a good argument, but I only saw the NYC part first hand, so I'll share a bit of that in pictures:

Man, we had a fun time...saw Chicago and Wicked, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Wall St., 911 site, Brooklyn Bridge, stayed at The Waldorf, walked Central Park, Radio City Music Hall, ate pizza, hot dogs and fabulous steak dinners, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Top of the Rock, the Hudson River, oh, I could go on. And some day, we'd like to go back, because 4 days just wasn't enough!! But, it was a fabulous time!

Time does fly! 10 years of marriage and an almost 5 year old! I was sitting with Jackson on the couch the other day just cherishing a calm moment of hugging on him when I had many flashbacks of the last 5 years and then the past 10 years. So much has changed and I never could have imagined all of the places and people and things that have happened to us. Only God could ever orchestrate it all so perfectly! Looking back at the challenges and times of rejoicing, I realize that the only way we could have made it through was with the loving kindness of God's Holy Hand. Ahhhh, I love to relish in that thought...God picking me up in His hand and placing me back on my feet so many times and God leading me through trials to learn to trust in Him more. I am grateful to have a soul mate to go through all of this with and a son to teach it all to.

As I think about tomorrow, I have butterflies in my stomach again. My "little baby" is growing way too fast. Tomorrow I will release him for 3 FULL DAYS of pre-kindergarten. I will start the 30 minute one-way drive to hand him over to a new teacher, a new group of friends and a new curriculum where he will learn new things, including how to make it through a day without Mommy. Sure, I'll have him "back" on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but there's something about this step that rattles my nerves. He'll be fine, and so will I, but he is growing. I only hope we've taught him what he needs to know to "be fine" and that we've taught him that the Love of God is with him always. I mostly pray that through his new teacher, he will continue to learn more about God and how to lean on Him through the day. And then, I pray God will calm me...and keep me calm as I hand him over to "life!" Why did I never think this day would come?!?!?

Time Flies, and it will continue to so I'll hold on tight...to God's Hand as He leads me through it all!!