Psalm 23 Revisited...

Having grown up in the church (and Christian school -- and Christian College for that matter), I had always heard the 23rd Psalm read at funerals, or when someone needed guidance. I read it again recently for the first time in a long time. And although the words flowed freely from my memory, something else popped out at me that I wanted to share with you.

A psalm of David.

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside still waters,
³ he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,^[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

This time, rather than hearing the words with a down-troddened voice, all that kept popping out at me where the PROMISES that God gives us. And here they are...

• Lead me beside quiet waters -- contentment
• Restores my soul
• Guides me in paths of righteousness
• Comfort me
• Prepare a Table before me
• Protect me in the presence of my enemies
• Anoint me with oil - my cup overflows

And a final resolve from the passage, "Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever".

I was encouraged by this passage as I approached it differently and received much more from it.

God promises us many things and he provides guidance, restoration, and confidence through his presences and his Word. I hope you take hold of them each day.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!!

Our Father's Day was celebrated as our sweet little family!! After church, we hopped in the car and headed to the local beach. And when I say local, I mean local... less than 6 miles away from our house! We stopped and picked up KFC on the way and had a lovely picnic together, before heading to the beach for a couple of hours of playing and swimming and lounging. It was a perfect day for the beach... not too sunny, not too hot... just perfect. And a perfect day to honor our sweet daddy and his love for our family!!

This was her favorite part of the day. Penny LOVES to have daddy throw her in the air. When he was doing it Finn, she'd just sit on the beach and cry while waiting for her turn.
My love -- although he looks annoyed -- enjoyed his day off.
My precious babies in the surf...
A boy and his dog... their first walk together.

Big Girl Bed

For weeks, I saw this day coming and just was unsure of when it would actually happen. Ocassionally when she doesn't want to go to sleep or to nap, Penny will put her legs up on top of the rails of her bed. I've always scolded her for it, but knew she'd get brazen enough to actually climb over. Recently, Finnegan has been entertaining his sister in the morning before we are up. On Friday, Finnegan went in and visited Penny before coming to see us. After he left her room, I was standing in our bathroom in a heard a thud, and then little pitter patter of her feet down the hallway. I knew exactly what the sound was. She ran into our room and bathroom with a huge smile on her face! She was so proud of herself. So knew that that would be the last day in her crib.

And since it was a Friday, it was a perfect opportunity for her daddy to work with her on each nap and bedtime routine to keep her in her bed. The first night, she only got out once, although she woke up once during the night crying and really inconsolable, well, accept until Daddy visited one last time. :) She also was sleeping on the floor when we checked on her right before our bedtime. I remember those days with Finn :) And at nap today, I went up to get her, and she was just sitting in her bed, waiting for us to come get her. :)

Here is a picture of her big girl bed, and our sweet princess, enjoying her new space. :)

I'm here

Readers - I do really apologize for the delay in recent posts. Things have been going well, and moving right along here.

I have much to share about what God is doing in my personal life. I hope to write more later this week.

Hope all is well with you, my dear faithful readers!

xo