Monday, June 27, 2011

The Fruit of the Spirit



Deuteronomy 6


Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[a] 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.


Well, this verse has been consuming my heart and thoughts for weeks now. In the recent past, I started a devotional with the girls and read it during breakfast. They didn't like it...they didn't get it. So, I came to the conclusion, I need to try something else. Then, I remembered in a passing thought, my friend Amber had a picture of a tree with fruit in her house with the names of her children and the fruit of the spirit written with their names. Ok, great idea! Then I went to visit Cincinnati and my mom and I talked about teaching the kids God's word and truth and weaving it throughout every aspect of life. Then this same theme was talked about again in a book I've been reading on and off this summer. So, I prayed for the Lord to show me ways for His word to come alive in our family. I want to teach and show my girls what it means to know and love the Lord wholeheartedly. I want my children to know and love God's word.


The first teaching we have focused on is the fruit of the spirit.


Galatians 5:22
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Swimming Lessons



Chloe and Lizzie started swimming lessons today. I'm thrilled they both loved it! I knew Lizzie would greatly enjoy it but Chloe was a wild card because last year she was not a fan of lessons. And my poor Phoebe can't wait until she is old enough to take lessons. She is already like a fish!

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Crazy Pawpaw




We love our crazy pawpaw!!!

Father's Day







Cliff loves baseball! Loves it! So, for father's day, we went to a minor leage baseball game in Marion, IL. We watched baseball, ate food, played hard and had a great time just being together as a family. One a side note, Phoeber's was with us she just didn't want to be in any pictures that night...silly little girl.

Hillsong United



Awesome! This was our second year to attend this concert and we plan go going anytime we get a chance. In a few years we plan on taking our girls. It was a wonderful night. Cliff and I got to spend an evening together and we got to enjoy a great night of worship music too.

Cincinnati Visit





It's alway good to be with family! And the second picture is absolutely hilarious! My mom's facial expression made me laugh out loud! One of the bummers about the visit was not getting to see Kelly, Stacy and the girls.

Outside Fun



Oh the joys of summer!

Fishing






This was our girls first time fishing and both Liz and Coco caught fish! Way to go girls!

St. Louis Zoo








We had some good times at the St. Louis Zoo. It was our first visit and it was a good one! We saw lots of animals and road the train. We got to go with the Bengtson crew which we always love to hang out with.