Friday's On Faith {Where Will You Land?}

I love this for a Fridays on Faith segment. The Story of Mary and Joseph if Social Media had been around. Pretty cool. 

One of my fave fave Christmas songs. Gotta love me some Barlow Girl. The voices are uhhh-mazing! 

And while many of you and myself enjoy the beauty and wonder of this majestic season, I know there are many people who are hurting. My prayers are turned to the Keller Family, who just today celebrated the valiant life of a devoted husband, father, and mostly a man who lived his life FOR JESUS. If you take just a quick glance into the life he lived and legacy he leaves, it is covered with a big fat, JESUS stamp all over it. I love that. My heart aches for his beautiful, kind wife and their two little boys. But his story and his legacy will continue to change lives for Jesus for.ever. I implore you to read his story and the blog where he and his wife shared their struggles but mostly their full trust and hope in our one and only hope. 

In the end, it's so so so so simple. SO. SIMPLE. It's what the twinkling lights, the spritzed cookies, the tinseled trees, the frantic shopping, the chaotic mess that we create out of it, is all about. 

A little, tiny baby, born of God into our world to bring us light, hope and life. This little savior all bundled in manger. 2000 years ago. CAME FOR A REASON. 

It's what Jack so passionately talked about and lived. 

The. reason. 

WAS. YOU. 

So you could have life. And not even in the sense that you will wake up each morning and breathe and can live a wonderful life here on earth. That's just a bonus. 

Really..... It's. not. even. about. this. life. The saving we get, when we accept. It's for a life beyond this life. It's walking into the embrace of JESUS. The Son of THE MOST HIGH. That's what Jack stepped into last week. That's what he was longing for. Jesus had called him home and Jack knew, without a doubt that he was running into the arms of his Heavenly Father. 

The question for you and me, is not when or how we will die. 

The real question is: 

where.will.you.land? 

Blessed

Wow- I have so many wonderful things to write about tonight. I can't even tell you how much my heart is overflowing right now.... Before I get into the details I must tell you that without a doubt, these blessings in our life/ in our family surely come from the great I AM.

I attend MOPs on Tuesday mornings and at our first lesson this year was about the great I AM. You see, the very first name that God called himself was I AM (Exodus 3). The words "I AM" indicate an action. I am...
...everything you need
.... more than enough
....creator of you and your children
.... inexhaustible
.... sustainer of life
.... with you

These are all descriptors of what the great I AM does for us. It's incomprehensible to me. So often, when things are going bad for me, I am reminded to turn to God-because I need him in those moments. But what about this moment? This moment of pure goodness? In this moment, I am filled with praise and in awe of that fact that He is who he says He is. The great I AM. Check out this link if you are curious about what He says about being the I AM.

My first bit of exciting news come from my brother's family. They have been in the adoption process for a long time now. We have been praying for a long time.... There have been a lot of ups and downs. We have known that God created a special child to join their family through adoption. But....knowing that doesn't make it easy. Waiting is never easy. Not understanding what and how things will happen is never easy. This has taken a lot of blind faith on their parts- and on our parts, as extended family members. We were blessed to find out that there is a precious little girl on the opposite side of the country waiting to find her forever family. We were blessed to find out that Aaron, Valerie, Jonah and Lydia ARE her forever family! She will celebrate her First birthday next tuesday-the day that Aaron and Valerie will get to meet her.
I could go on and on here gushing. I won't though because you can read all the details of this wonderful journey at their blog.

Next, I am so excited to report that my most best friend/double-cousin, Cassie's husband, passed his boards for Optometry! This has been a long and grueling process for Gerardo and we are all so proud of this huge accomplishment. I am extra excited because this gets them one step closer to moving back to our lovely state! Cassie's mom will be pulling for her hometown and I, of course, will be pulling for my hometown. I guess we will see who wins! It probably has more to do with the job market than with what MY needs are but come on, it would sooo fun to be stay at home mom's in the same town. (keep dreaming, Shannon, keep dreaming).

Above all, I am just plain thankful.

Never forget- 9/11/01.