Weekend with Gramma!

Mom flew into LAX this past Friday evening to spend a long weekend with us. The main reason for her visit was the fact that Wesley and Andrew were getting baptized in church on Sunday morning. It was also nice for her to celebrate my birthday (just a few days late) and see our new house. It is always good to have mom visit! The kids sure do get spoiled, and I guess I do a little bit too.

What a blessing to see Wesley and Andrew get baptized this morning. Their testimony is so clear, and their love for Christ so strong and pure. They were a little nervous, but excited. Brooke's class sang in the morning service, too.

Happy Easter

One of my favorite Sundays of the year is Easter Sunday. I love walking into church when we have to park off site because the parking lot is so full. I love the bright colors everyone is wearing. I love the praise music. I love when the choir sings, and the special music is shared. One of the kids said, "I am so glad I am a Christian. People who are not saved do not have much to be happy about." It was kind of my feeling as I sat in church this morning. When I picked Brooke up from her class, her teacher asked: "Brooke, tell your mom the good news. Jesus is...." Brooke said, "He died on the cross." True, Brooke, but I don't think that was what he is looking for. "Jesus is alive!"

It is good to have a great family

I was without internet service at the house for a week and a half, and I went to school each morning just to check into my different e-mails and accounts. I realize how technologically dependent I have become. I am also taking an internet course, which can be difficult to do without the internet.

One thing that makes me most thankful for the internet, however, is the way that I can be in contact with family members who live many miles away. Even if I lived in the mid-west, I would probably not know them as well as I do now in reading the blogs. I laugh at Ann-Marie's long posts and candid comments. I am touched by updates of Naomi's little boy, Trey. I love to read about Beth and Deborah's "mother" moments. I smile every time I see Brielle's smiles. I am glad Aunt Juliet keeps me posted and pictured on Rehfeldt events. It was good to see my nieces' and nephews' lives through the posts of Linda and Danielle (though I must say they have been slacking off quite a bit lately). I am amazed at how big Tammy's kids are getting, and I am somewhat jealous of the fun Charity has with all of those Gagliano angels :) Mostly, however, it is a blessing to see how God is working in the different lives. Each one of us are at different places, and we question God in different ways, but it is such a blessing to see the constant thread: "God is so real to us and He is working in us!" I never knew God so much as I do now, as an adult. I am glad that my childhood "training" has become an adulthood reality. So, thank you, all of you, for sharing your lives. It is so good to get to know you in this way. I thanked God, several times today, for my amazing family. The pictures below are another thanks to an amazing mother-in-law and her enormous Easter boxes. "Let's call Mamaw and tell her thank you right now," Wesley said, "even before I open the box. I know it will be good."