Flowers!

A curious package ended up on my front doorstep the other day...

...with this unsigned card, which should explain my confusion as to whom it was from...

I do not like surprises!
I do not like mysteries!
I cannot stand suspense!

So, you will understand that it was driving me nuts!

I made an investigative phone call, posted a status update with my desperate pleas, and wrote on a friend's wall, who I suspected was the thoughtful culprit, and VOILA! I found the "guilty" party!

Thank you, Melissa, for the thoughtful gift!
We were happy to serve you and your family, and we loved being with you while Brad was away!

The NATE Chronicles-Day 3

Yesterday was DAY THREE, "humpday," if you will-and we made it! :)

I cannot take credit for how well the day went. My sweet friend, Kristin, came to help! This was a definite reprieve! Now I had TWO happy babies because they could BOTH be held ALL DAY-just like they like!

Darby is still getting used to the "sharing" idea. As you can see, she has begun hoarding...

I'm not sure Nate knows how to fend for himself just yet. Instead of going up to Darby and taking his bottle back like the assertive little 10 month old I know is in there somewhere, he came up to me.

I love the look on his face! I KNOW what's going through his mind, too:
"Do you SEE what's HAPPENING, Ms. Kelly?! She's TAKING MY MILK! DO SOMETHING!!!"

Now she's drinking from a bottle again. Great.

Kristin and I went for a walk. It's the first time I've left the house since Monday. I'm totally in hobbit mode right now. Kristin is so sweet! She came and spent two weeks straight helping me with EVERYTHING last summer when I broke my foot and my ankle, and here she is AGAIN bailing me out!!! I love that girl! She has such a servant's heart, and she's going to be a fantastic wife to some lucky guy one day!

And, NO, we did NOT leave Nate at home alone! He's in the backpack! Dallas and I figured out yesterday, that he LOVES it!

And, in case you are expecting and are wondering, "What would be the most important baby item needed?" It's a hiking backpack. For real! This is, absolutely, the most important, most used baby item we own, and we have used the stuffing outta this same backpack for all three kids (and Nate), and it's still in GREAT condition! Oh, and you might need some bottles, too.

Bring on Day 4, Nate! I'm ready, and the backpack is waiting! :)

Wednesday's Word-Unceasing Anguish

Have you ever been totally burdened for someone? Well, I have. I have grieved over their spiritual condition, petitioned on their behalf, and prayed for them. But, I can say that I have NEVER ONCE wished that I could trade my place in glory for their salvation. Maybe that's selfish of me. Judge if you wish.

In Romans Chapter 9, Paul says, "I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers..." WOW, Paul! WOW! I can totally relate to the "great sorrow" part. I can somewhat relate to the "unceasing anguish" part. But, you wish you were cut off from Christ for their sake?!! WOW!

In my life, "great sorrow" looks like this: I end up feeling grief-a pressing and emergent grief. The Holy Spirit prompts me to pray, and I know that He is interceding in that moment, because the H.S. is amazing in ways I may never know, and will present the prayers that I WANT to come up with but don't know how to, to God! It's the "unceasing anguish" part that hurts. This part of what Paul is talking about is way down deep in your soul. It's the part where the Holy Spirit, who is with us and IN US, is anguished over a person or situation in your life. This may be anguish over a dear friend or family member who is lost, or has given in to sin, or who has just altogether turned away from the Lord. We may be able to suppress this feeling or busy ourselves until it passes, but anguish is what prompts us into action! We need to be more conscious of it and act when the Holy Spirit prompts!

Paul, however, takes it one step further. He says he wishes he could become cursed and cut off from Christ on someone else's behalf! What selfless sacrifice of him! Actually, when you think about it...

THAT'S

EXACTLY
WHAT
JESUS
DID.

JESUS became cursed. (2 Cor 5:21)
JESUS became cut off from the FATHER! (Mk 15:34)
JESUS KNEW ANGUISH!!! (Lk 22: 44)

Paul's heart was right in line with the heart of Christ, and that is where WE are called to be! If our heart is in line with Christ, and prompted by the Holy Spirit, we are right where we should be! How do we know? I believe the "great sorrow" and "unceasing anguish" will let us know that we're on the right track!

And still, in all this, we have a resounding JOY in Jesus!
...proof that the Spirit is alive and working in mysterious ways!

The NATE Chronicles-Day 2

SO FAR, SO GOOD!

I

sorta

feel

like

superwoman.

I know, it's only four kids, right? But, we had my oldest friend in the world and his family (wife, who I'm growing to love! And three of his fun-loving girls) Eric, Sara, Dallas and I were out on the deck with a fire until 11:30 last night while our littles destroyed the house, I mean, while they played. :) I knew there was a potential for this to be a painful day because of my 6 & 1/2 hours of sleep, but I was willing to endure that to spend more time with our friends.

I'm seriously bad at taking self portraits, but I looked horrible in the picture Sara took of us, so this will have to do!

Geneva, Darby, Naomi, Danette, Tate and Brianne

Tate didn't seem phased at all that he was sorely outnumbered by "Little Women!"

Unfortunately, it was a short visit with our friends because they were on their way to Chicago! I hope we see them again very soon!

THANKFULLY-NATE SLEPT UNTIL 7 THIS MORNING!

One thing I haven't been able to figure out how to remedy is mealtime. I mean, we're sorta chained to finger foods if I feed them at the same time, OR a rolling mealtime, and I don't exactly have time to feed kids for an HOUR!

Nate and Darby even played in the kitchen together today!

Bathtime went well, too! I gave Nate a "hawk," but I don't think he liked it.

So I held Nate for a good 2 hours today...one thing I'm learning is that he's a perfectly happy kid...as long as he's being held! :)

We made it another day!

VICTORY!!!

The NATE Chronicles-Day 1

Our friends asked us to watch their 8 month old while they're away at Young Life camp for the week, which we were HAPPY to say "YES" to! We have three kids-well, four for the week. !)

TODAY-DAY 1 of the NATE Chronicles

So far, Darby seems to LOVE Nate:


Naomi even loves Nate. She tried to carry him, but dropped him on his face and gave him a fat lip. (Despite our MANY attempts to get Naomi to stop picking people up, we still cannot seem to suceed) Nate cried, but took it like a man. Darby, being the empathetic one she is, cried, too.


One can only be so empathetic, though. At some point, he needs to just get over it, right? And, off she crawled. (It should be noted that Darby has not crawled in a good 8 months-until Nate's arrival)

It's been 8 hours since Nate arrived. He's a really good baby! But Darby, being the "misplaced" baby now, isn't taking it so well. Hopefully things get better when our out-of-town guests arrive tonight with their three kids!

Stay tuned for...

...THE NATE CHRONICLES!

Grove City or Bust!

Last weekend, Tate, Naomi and I were blessed to travel to Grove City to visit and serve our friends, Hannah, Jonah and Micah, while their Daddy and two other brothers were out of town. Their mom, Melissa, is expecting #6 in August, so we went up to help with Hannah (who is special needs), but more so I could "catch up" with Melissa and cook and clean so she could rest!

Jonah and Micah are adopted from Ethiopia, and this fun family showed us Ethiopia was on the map!

I took the kids outside with some of those "firework popper things," which they all loved!

Look how well they were all sharing!!!

I don't know what's up with that goofy look on Naomi's face, but here's another shot of these four friends!

Thanks for having us, Mowrys! We hope to see you soon!

Wednesday's Word--Postponed-again!

Hey there!

I have bad news.

No Wednesday's Word AT ALL this week.

I can explain...

We got back from the beach Sunday night-and brought all the respective laundry. Doctors appt Monday an hour and a half away. Doctors appt Tuesday 30 minutes away (and the doc was 45-50 minutes behind). Wednesday, we have Bible Study at our house, had to make my "famous" cookies and do some food shopping. Today, I'm leaving with Tate and Naomi to go visit some dear friends. While I'm gone, Dallas will care for Darby and our friend's 8 month old until I get home! (He's the BEST, isn't he?!) We'll get home super late Sunday night, and we have friends coming in to town Monday (so I had to make sure we had sheets, clean towels, and a somewhat presentable guest room before I leave today).

Excuses, Excuses...

Enjoy your weekend!

Father's Day Weekend 2011

We ventured down to Virginia Beach for a long Father's Day weekend. (I know, I know, I should get wife of the year award or something, right?) !) What I'm finding this morning is that I should have been clicking pictures left and right, but instead I was making sure my children weren't drowning! So, I have a few quick pics to share!

Darby had a front row seat our little bike thing! Naomi stopped for a shot in front of the sand dune, and Tate (the future lifeguard) climbed up the stand. Shh! Don't tell!

On our way down, Dallas and I were talking about our week and we started talking about conversations we'd had with our friends (who just graduated from High School). Dallas goes, "HEY! We should call them and invite them to come down!" "You know, that was JUST what I was thinking!" Only we don't have a cell (I know, how prehistoric, and the fact that we are constantly saying, "We would if we had a cell" goes to show that we should maybe think about breaking down and getting one one of these days) I have to say, though, that this story would be pretty boring if we'd been able to just call them up...Anyhow! So, we're approaching D.C. at this point, so I said, "Why don't we stop by Tyson's Corner and you can run into the APPLE store and contact them?!" HAHA! "Great idea, Kell!"

So, we took about a 40 minute detour, Dallas ran in and Facebooked them on an iPhone.

The message went something like this:

Chris and Kira! Come to Virginia Beach tomorrow! I'm at an apple store right now!
We are staying at the ____ _____ ___!

When we arrived at Va Beach, I had a message in our room from Chris. They were coming! So, I called him back with a calling card (yep!) I had left over from Young Life Camp last summer. He said Kira thought it was spam! HAHA! No, we're legit...just bad planners, Kira! We had a great time with them, and we're so glad they came! God Bless Apple! !)

Saturday, we were able to have my oldest friend in the entire world (and that says a lot since I moved every 3 years of my life) and his family over for a cookout and then we all headed to the beach for more near-drowning fun! Believe it or not, I didn't take a single picture with my "world's oldest friend"! I'm bummed about that, but I wasn't ready to risk my DSLR camera for the pic by taking it to the beach. After that, we played JUNGLE GOLF where Tate and Chris tied for second. I'm pretty sure I played the best game of my life, but still managed to come in fourth or fifth place.

Sunday, I took Darby out for coffee at 6:20 (since she was up and I thought it would have just been WRONG to wake Daddy up that early in the morning on Father's Day!), and then she and I found this "secret beach." I say that because at 7am, no one else was there-go figure! It was so gorgeous, we went back there with Daddy and the other kids after Chris and Kira left, at which point we saw dolphins swimming along the shoreline (which is one of my favorite things)! Then, we rented those "You-can-fit-six-to-eight-people-on-this-bike-looking-thing-if-you-want-to-peddle-your-way-into-a-heart-attack" things and quickly remembered that we said we'd never do that again! (The things we do to make sure our kids have a good time, right?!)

After lunch, we swung over to my "world's oldest friend," Eric's, house to play with his kids and see all the work he'd done on his house so far! Our kids had a lot of fun, and it was just FUN to be with him and his family! We're hoping to see them all again soon (Where I promise I'll take a pic with my old friend)!

So, it's back to the swing of things for us! And, my desire to live at/on/near the beach was (AGAIN) affirmed!

Wednesday's Word-In Too Deep

A few weeks ago, everyone was posting Matthew 24: 36 at every chance they could get. In case you didn't know, a false prophet prophesied that the end of the world would take place May 22nd. Obviously, since the world and all of its friendly occupants are still here, that didn't take place. And, hearing Matt 24:36 over and over, I sort of started just ignoring it. But, when I went back and looked it over more closely, I realized something:

Matt 24: 36-"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

Did you catch that?

"NOR THE SON"

You mean to tell me that THE SON doesn't even know when that day or hour will take place?

So, I started wondering WHY? WHY wouldn't the SON of the Father know the hour or even just the day?! Doesn't he, having given Himself up for mankind, have some sort of special privilege to know atLEAST the DAY?! That's when I realized something else: He's in too deep! Think about it. He loves us so much that He took our punishment in order to save our very lives. He's invested! He loves us more than he did before He took the punishment-if that's possible! He KNOWS us! He was WITH us! He cannot look at this situation objectively now. He HAS to take our side! He cannot let "that day" come too soon! He's in too deep.

The Bible tells us in Hebrews 4: 14-5: 10 that Jesus sympathizes with our weaknesses. He KNOWS our temptations firsthand because He experienced them, and still never sinned! Hebrews 7: 25 says "...he always lives to intercede for them [us]." Isaiah 53: 12 tells us "...he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Hear that? He LIVES to intercede for us! We have a full-time Intercessor!

Hebrews 9: 15 says that "Christ is the mediator of a new covenant...now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed..." A mediator between who (whom? I could never get that straight)? Between us and God (see 1 Tim 2: 5). And, a mediator, typically, would not take sides, right? But Jesus WAS the ransom! He chose US-OUR SIDE-knowing that without a ransom paid, we were as good as dead. He took care of "business!"

So, Jesus's role now is to mediate on our behalf! He cannot remain objective. He's personally invested! I believe His hope is that "that day" would be put off as long as possible in the hopes that more and more people can come to Him so He may mediate on their behalf. This is why we can approach the Throne of Grace (on which The Father Almighty sits) with confidence! It's like we walk up and God is about to condemn us for a sin and Jesus steps in between us and says, "Look, Father! Look at my hands-my side! This sin has been paid for, too! Don't count it against her!" Because Jesus, our Intercessor, our Mediator, our Ransom, has done His job, we are restored, justified!

Since HE is "in too deep," He will continue to mediate on our behalf as we wait for "that day!"

Victory at York County Prison!!!

I was a cheerleader throughout High School, so I'm used to VICTORIES (but MORE used to defeat). Anyhoo! So, we celebrate victories no matter how small in the Hills household! Today we took a chance. We "Stormed the Gates" as I posted earlier! When I wrote that, however, I didn't realize that the physical location of the Immigration offices was AT YORK COUNTY PRISON...oh the hilarity (is that really a word...I use it all the time)! So, we pull up, and I'm thinking "NO WAY are we in the right place!" Dallas, however, googled this place and goes, "OH! There's the prison...we're close!" WHAT?! That just SOUNDS wrong, ya know? And, REALLY? IMMIGRATION? ON PRISON GROUNDS?! That's SO ironic! Is that a THREAT?! I mean, I'm a US Citizen by BIRTH and I was a little intimidated!

Next, we pull up and had to answer the plethera of questions from our littles:

Mom? What are all those pokey things?

Why is that fence there?

Who lives there?

Answer: Um...people who do bad things (and if you act up today in this office...)

Dallas jumped out ahead of us to sweet talk the lady before we brought our three kids in while I unloaded our bunch. At this point, a lady drove up and asked me if I knew where prisoner pickup was! WHAT?! Um, NO. I do not. I have a very serious question for anyone willing to answer it:

DO I LOOK LIKE I BELONG AT A PRISON?!!!

WHY WOULD SHE ASK ME THAT QUESTION?!

(okay, so that was two questions: Feel free to answer both honestly!)

Remember, our appointment is scheduled for July 6th or 7th, but we went ahead and took a chance, drove the hour+, showed up and asked them to do them today! We just bought ourselves three weeks!

There was a slight snag that could potentially cause a problem. I didn't realize I was supposed to write my SS# on the line marked "ALIEN NUMBER." So, the computer assigned me a number. Can I get ONE PIECE of paperwork done properly?!!! They assured me that it would not cause a problem. We'll see and deal with that if it actually becomes a problem.

Until that time...I'm calling this one a VICTORY!!!

Naomi 2011 Spring Recital!

Last weekend, we were honored to be able to watch our little ballerina perform in City Ballet School's Spring Recital! She did a beautiful job this year! We just love City Ballet! The Director, Ms. Horochowski, is such an amazing and technical dancer, herself, and she fosters the love of dance in her dancers, regardless of age or ability! She makes them into the best dancers they can be! We are so excited to see Naomi improve year to year!

Naomi standing outside The Maryland Theater before dress rehearsal

We are encouraged to make our children "look like children" for their performances, but we can't let them be "washed out" in the lights, so blush and red lipstick will do!


After her part of the recital, I picked her up backstage so she could watch the rest with us!
Here she is with the beautiful bouquet from Grammy and Gramps!

Naomi and her supportive brother, Tate, with Grammy and Gramps!

Our family (minus Darby, who stayed at home this year) after the recital!

(You can see me sporting the cowboy boots I bought in Texas on my girls' weekend last fall!)

We are so proud of our little girl! We can't wait so see her perform in The Nutcracker this December as performed by The Western Maryland City Ballet Company! (She wants to be a mouse this year!)

We got MAIL!!

GUESS WHAT WE GOT IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!

CORRECT!!!

We received our much awaited FBI fingerprinting appointment in York! We also got an "insider's tip" from some fellow adoptive families at a training seminar that some locals took their appointment cards and "stormed the gates" (ie. just showed up and asked them to do their fingerprints one day, and since they weren't busy, THEY DID THEM!) So, I'm THINKING...that since our appointment is nearly three weeks away...we might do that, too.

STORM THE GATES!

Toms Eyewear

When Naomi was two, our pediatrician asked me if I had noticed her eye turning in. Nope. I had not, but three months later, I slowly noticed that her eye WAS turning in. I called our beloved pediatrician, and the next week we were in with the pediatric opthamologist who gave me news that I was not ready to hear. Our beautiful Naomi needed glasses. On top of that, we were to patch her weak eye all day. The superficial me came out, and I was a mess. After we got her glasses, I realized that she couldn't see a darn thing without them! Her personality came out! She could see her little world, and that was all I needed! We threw the first pair out in favor of a much more fashionable pair with aspheric lenses (the kind that lessens the "coke bottle effect").

About a year later, we were told that the patching DID work! Whew! But, she would need surgery on BOTH eyes to correct the vision in the one. REWIND, please, doc! Did you say you're going to perform SURGERY...on my BABY'S EYES?! Once again, I was a wreck. The day of the surgery was the worst day of my life. The next day? If it hadn't been for the bloodshot eyes, I would have NEVER KNOWN the kid had just had surgery! A miracle! Her eyes were straight! She would not lose her vision. SO very simple! GLASSES+PATCHING+SURGERY, and my daughter will NEVER BE BLIND. Without those somewhat simple and commonplace procedures done DAILY in America, my daughter would be going blind today.

Almost four years later, we had our little redhead, Darby! About 9 months later, I noticed HER eyes turning in. NOT AGAIN! I CAN'T HANDLE THIS, LORD! NOT AGAIN! (But I could, I can, and I do) Darby's vision is significantly worse than Naomi's. In fact, Darby's prescription is almost twice as strong as Naomi's. But, again, we found the cutest glasses possible for the cutest little redhead pixie we know, and she works them! We have not had to patch, and so far, the glasses seem to be doing the trick.

Fortunately for my girlie girls, we go back to the opthamologist in the next week for a routine checkup. Hear me---ROUTINE. This sort of eyecare is ROUTINE in our country, while BOTH of my girls would be going blind in almost any other country on earth.

Enter TOMS SHOES...again! I love TOMS shoes! Aside from being SO comfy...they give ONE PAIR OF SHOES AWAY with EVERY SINGLE PAIR PURCHASED! I cannot speak highly enough of them. I respect their business model immensely. And still...I am speechless at their newest product. Sunglasses. I'm choking up here because BOTH my girls would be going blind if it weren't for proper vision care. A COMPLETELY PREVENTABLE ISSUE IN AMERICA! Not so in the third world! Due to lack of proper vision care, MOST PEOPLE WITH THE SAME VISION PROBLEMS MY GIRLS HAVE WILL GO BLIND. Not MY girls, though. We HAVE while others do NOT.

SO simple. SO important! Jesus found value in healing the blind! WHY WOULDN'T WE?!! FINALLY! A voice has come for the voiceless! Thank you, TOMS! THANK YOU!!!

Please take 1 minute 30 seconds to watch the video of how TOMS is taking action on this issue HERE.

I can't wait to get my first pair of TOMS sunglasses! That means, for one mommy across the world, her little girl will not go blind, either!

I promise I am not a spokesperson for TOMS SHOES. Just a big, BIG fan! :) And, I wanted to let you in on what ONE COMPANY is doing for the world!

First Day of SUMMER!

It's our first official day of summer in Southern PA today! Let me let you in on what our day has been like:

~Kids woke up and quietly went downstairs to play by themselves!

~Darby slept in 'til 8!

~I made Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast! (before you beat yourself up thinking I'm some sort of mother-of-the-year...they were Pillsbury out of a can)

~Set up the slip-n-slide for the kids/lathered them up with sunscreen.

~It's officially 10:54am, and they are back in street clothes.

No more swimsuits?

No more slip-n-slide?

I spent 45 minutes inflating that thing, sunscreening everyone up, setting the thing up, staging water bottles and snacks!

Now all we have to show for it is greasy kids, grass in the house and towels to wash! Oh! And, swimsuits draped over the bathtub (if I'm the luckiest mom on the PLANET!)

What the heck?!

So, here's to SUMMER, and rolling out and rolling up slip-n-slides!

Wednesday's Word-The Wide World of Books

Okay, enough suspense already! Oh, you were not feeling suspenseful? Sorry! Guess I'll have to try harder next time! !)

The bad news? I have no more miracles to talk about this week. There are SO MANY to choose from, and I could go on and on, but who likes things dragged on and on these days? Aside from that, I can't even begin to do these miracles justice.

Onto my very favorite (very short) verse! BUT...first you have to watch this video! It's a minute and a half, a Disney great...

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!

Remember how Belle says, "I've never seen so many books in my entire LIFE!"? Well, imagine every book in the entire world. The ENTIRE world! Can't do it? Can you imagine every book on every shelf in that library in one little castle in the French countryside? Still no? Don't worry. Neither can I. The amount of information in ONE book would be a lot, but the thousands that must have been on those shelves...THAT is a LOT of information! Now, imagine all the information contained in every book in the ENTIRE WORLD. Yeah, I can't either. It's pretty much an unfathomable amount of information!

My favorite verse? It's at the very, VERY end of John. The last piece of information he decided to include in his book...

"Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." ~John 21: 25

Are you still WITH ME?! This is so fantastic that I can barely wrap my brains around it!!! All of the Gospels mention these miracles! Leprosy-healed! Blindness-healed! 15,000 people fed on a miniscule amount of food! People raised from the dead! The list goes ON and ON! But, the UNWRITTEN list....THAT LIST....would have gone even FARTHER! As John writes, "...the WHOLE WORLD would not have room for the books that would be written."!!! That is a SPECTACULAR amount of BOOKS!

Jesus affected lives with a great amount of miracles in His time. When you think about the magnitude of these miracles, and how they did not fill ONE book, and how Jesus performed SO MANY that the WHOLE WORLD could not contain them all in EVERY BOOK IN THE WORLD...Now do you see it?! This man was-IS-more than we can even imagine! And, JUST THE MIRACLES alone! There were SO MANY that we cannot FATHOM that amount! What does that say about HIM?!

He is MORE!

More miraculous than we can imagine!

More LOVING than we can imagine!

More forgiving than we can imagine!

More!

More!

More!

You name it, HE IS MORE!

So, what, then, is required of us?

Wednesday's Word-That There's a FAST BOAT!

On with the adventure toward one of my top 5 favorites in the Bible, I wanted to come atcha with ANOTHER MIRACLE this week! So, flip to John 6: 16-24, and let's get on our way! Oh, and don't forget your life jacket...this could get intense! !)

MIRACLE #2:

For the record, this is NOT the second miracle Jesus did. It is NOT even the second miracle recorded in the book of John, but it IS the second miracle I'm going to talk about.

Jesus had just finished feeding 5,000 people dinner (yes, five THOUSAND-but probably more like 15,000 people when you count women and children). Right. THAT would be the miracle right BEFORE THIS miracle. Jesus went to be by himself (a rare occasion) while his disciples jump into their boat and head out for Capernaum. It's dark, it's windy and the waters are rough, and they're exhausted (but well fed). They've been rowing for 3-3.5 miles by now (ie. they are in THE MIDDLE of the lake). This is where I have to stop and tell you a story...

When I was about 8-11yrs old, my family moved to Madrid, Spain. (Remember? My dad was a pilot in the Air Force) Anyhow, ALMOST daily in the summertime, I would walk to the pool with my friends. I have this vivid memory of my friends and I trying our darndest to actually walk on the water at the swimming pool. We would get a running start (followed by the whistles from the lifeguards and WAAAALK!)...splash. We would try to tiptoe in...splash. Anyone else ever try this? Okay, get ready for it:

I cannot walk on water.
There! Secret's out! Phew! That was intense!

Okay, so moving on...Jesus is on the mountain by himself, disciples are in THE MIDDLE of the lake in a boat. And...OUT. WALKS. JESUS.

NOT-"out SWIMS Jesus."

NOT-"out ROWS Jesus."

NOT-"out SURFS Jesus!"

OUT-WALKS-JESUS!

At this point, his disciples are scared. Imagine a bunch of fishermen rowing in the middle of the lake, out WALKS...A MAN-you'd be scared, too! That's just something you, um, don't see everyday in the middle of a lake? So, Jesus basically says, "Guys, guys, it's just me, don't worry!" Their response (paraphrased)? "OH! PHEW! I thought something WEIRD was happening, but it's just YOU!" !)

The good news about this week is that this "Miracle #2" is actually a TWO-FER. We get two miracles in one small bit of Scripture! The part that comes next pretty much boggles my mind!

"...immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading." (vs. 21)

"IMMEDIATELY?"

Remember! Jesus is a CARPENTER!

He's NOT a fisherman!

He is NOT a navigator!

He also, consequently, is NOT a Baker (He fed those 5,000+ people bread)

OH! And, if you're thinking from last week...He is also NOT a winemaker!

But, when He got into this boat, the boat

IMMEDIATELY

REACHED

THE SHORE WHERE THEY WERE HEADING!

Now, I don't know if this was some sort of Biblical molecular transport, or if it was something like THIS, but either way, this was phenomenal!

The next day, that crowd that Jesus had fed started looking for Jesus because they noted that the disciples got in their boat WITHOUT Jesus and rowed away, and verse 24 tells us that "Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus." I think John included this part so that instead of there only being 12 eyewitnesses that a miracle had happened, there were 5,000 or so.

So, what I hope you take away from this passage is this: That Jesus has some sort of supernatural ability to do things that NO ONE ELSE can DO (ie. walk on water. Remember? I tried. I failed), and that He is MORE ABLE to do a job that a professional could NEVER make happen (These professional fishermen could have NEVER made their boat immediately reach the shore)!

'Til next week, Smooth Sailing!

Wednesday's Word

Hey, Everyone! Just letting you know I have not forgotten "Wednesday's Word" this week! I'll be posting that tomorrow...on Friday. Sorry for the delay! Have a good one!

Five Buks, Pleas!

Typically, our ridiculous comments come from Naomi. Last night, however, Tate "took the cake." Earlier yesterday, Tate asked me to buy him some new little lego sets. My answer was, "You can save up your own money and buy them." (These are the $5 ones we're talking about) I was sort of frustrated with Tate yesterday because his room literally looked like a tornado hit, and instead of cleaning it up, he was happily playing in the midst of the disaster zone.

Later on, as Dallas and I were getting ready for bed, I noticed these two curious notes on display atop our bed.

Notice the carefully "decorated" (torn) left page.

It says, "Mom and Dad."

The page on the right is the point of interest.

Can't make out what it says?

It says, "I love you Mom and Dad give me 5 buks pleas."

You heard him correctly. He wanted 5 buks. Oh, and he loves us. (Surely an aside from the main point of his note)

Creative, huh?!

Well, this morning, I go down into the kitchen. Dallas had left a note for Tate...AND...FIVE BUKS!! I mean, BUCKS! WHAT?! Tate was obviously pleased with the outcome. He said, "What's this?!" My answer? "Ask and you shall receive, my son." (I guess) I can just see the note when he's sixteen:

"Mom and Dad, I love you. Gimme a kar, pleas."