Love Is the Greatest

"If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing." 1 Cor. 13:1-3

God has taught me a lot in 2009 about that four letter word, L-O-V-E. What is Love?

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand it's own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. IT does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." 1 Cor. 13:4-7

Wow, such great verses to live our lives by - wouldn't you agree? A few times this past year I have seeked God in how to respond to certain situations and I always came back to 1 Corinthians 13. We are to be patient and kind. We are to never give up on people, be hopeful and not keep any record of wrongs. We are to love always!

I've been reading a book by Bill Johnson and I love what he writes. "God's love for people is beyond comprehension and imagination. He is for us, not against us. God is good 100 percent of the time. These realities burn deeply into the hearts of all who simply take the time to behold Him."

I just love that. God loves us more than we can think or imagine. He only wants the best for us - He is good ALL the time. Not some of the time or most of the time but ALL of the time. If He's good all the time then we know that it is not Him that brings sickness, pain, abuse, etc. He brings GOOD out of the bad but He doesn't want bad things to happen to us. If he wanted bad things to happen to us then He wouldn't be good all the time and we know that He is because that's what His Word says! What a joy it is to know Jesus and trust Him in every situation in our lives! We have the choice everyday to love Him and trust Him no matter what life brings. As we trust Him it will be evident in our lives that He is taking care of us, providing for us, and He will never leave us! It's up to us to believe it and live in victory. It's up to us to let those realities burn deeply into our hearts.

I wanted to update on the kids but they are up from their naps and I have laundry to fold and dinner to get started. I will post soon with updates on the kids and will have some videos to share once I can sit down and upload them.

Blessed to know Jesus,
Keri

We're Moving!

Jeremy and I are excited to share that we are moving! We have been praying that God would provide a 3 bedroom house to rent that's in our budget and He has brought the cutest place to us. It's our friend's house so it's really cool that we are able to help them out by renting their place and for them to know that we will take good care of it and in return they have blessed us with a cheaper rent due to us being friends.

I have always loved old homes, they are full of charm, character and are so unique. The house was built in 1890, it's 120 years old! Of course it has been beautifully updated and it's just gorgeous. The kitchen is my favorite part of the house, every time I am in it it makes me want to bake cookies! It has beautiful hardwood floors throughout, 3 bedrooms, 3 full baths, beautifully painted, 2 fireplaces, 2 car garage, a deck, a large backyard with fence and more space for us. It's in a downtown so we can take stroller walks with the kids in the summer, so fun! We will be moving in the next couple weeks and we can't wait! (Ok, except for the actual moving part!)

We are unsure how long we will be here but for at least a year and we'll see from there. Here are a few pictures of our new home, eeeek! :)

The cute blue house

The Family Room

The Kitchen where I will be baking lots of cookies

Ethan's cute blue room!

Gracelyn's adorable lime green room (mom's favorite color)

It's been half a year....

Since our baby girl was born! Can you believe that? I cannot. It seems like just yesterday I was overdue and waiting for her to make her appearance and now she's already 6 months old. It's hard to believe.

Gracelyn is doing great. She is the sweetest little thing and I am just so in love with and thank God so much for giving me such a precious baby GIRL! I love having one of each, and am so glad she has a big brother :) She is scooting everywhere, getting up on all fours, trying to talk, "Baaa Baaa Baaa Baaa" and is just a joy. She is lovin' all sorts of baby food, even spinach! (Which Ethan loved also) She loves her big brother and he can make her laugh like no one else, it's the cutest thing! I can't wait to see them grow up together and for Gracelyn to be able to play with Ethan. She tries to play with him right now but of course is limited with her scooting. It's like the tortoise and the hare....Ethan runs off and Gracelyn slowly scoots trying to catch him, lol.

As far as her sleeping habits, well, they haven't been the greatest lately. She used to sleep so well for us at night but for the past month she is getting up 2-4 times in the night. Ever since she got sick with that cold that lasted a month her sleeping went downhill. So, momma is feeling more tired now than she was when Gracelyn was just a newborn. Oh well, it is what it is and eventually she will sleep through the night. I don't like to complain about these things (or talk about it much for that matter, then you just have people asking you every week how she's sleeping, if she's sleeping any better, etc and that gets old real fast) and you sign up for sleepless nights when you have a baby and I wouldn't trade it for the world. She was a ball full of energy at 5am this morning. I got up with her and she just played for a good 45 minutes on her belly while I surfed the internet and then she fell asleep on the floor. I quickly picked her up and put her in her crib as I was more than ready to climb back into bed myself.

Just for fun, here's a 6 month photo comparison of Gracelyn and Ethan at 6 months. Both are sooo cute:)


Happy 6 months to our sweet baby girl, we love you so much! I have her 6 month check up next week so I will be sure and post her stats when I get them. All is well with us, it sure is getting cold outside....time to put some plastic on the windows to keep us warm! I'm making a trip to Home Depot tonight.

Hope all is well with everyone and that you are enjoying the season :) I love Christmas time!!

Much love,
Momma Keri

Ps. I am waiting to get the CD of our session with our photographer any day now and once I do I have some adorable pictures to post.

A special video to my BZ girls and Gracelyn's friends :)

Here it is girls! Here's the scooting I've been talking about :)