First Grade and Baptism

 Abby started 1st grade two weeks ago! She was excited and ready to see all her friends and explore her new classroom the first morning. 

Two weeks in and we are still mostly excited! Some days she really wants to stay home and play with her toys or the dog. Some days, she is up early and ready to go! We are discovering that first grade is a lot more work than Kindergarten! The teacher reviews her work and gives a smiley face, she will have spelling tests starting soon, she is already doing a lot more math each day, and she is learning cool facts. When at the high school football game on Friday, the national anthem started playing and Abby immediately whispered to me it was written by Francis Scott Key. I love when school facts collide with real world stuff!

We have three kinder friends in our classroom and that has proven to be good. Abby loves that she knows someone and luckily, she sits in a pod of desks with two sweet girls from her Kindergarten class. I love that both of these girls are quiet which is a good influence on my chatterbox!

I did not request a teacher for Abby through the school. I really prayed about it and left it up to God and He answered in a couple of cool ways. First of all, Abby's teacher has a peanut allergy! How cool is that- she is new to our school and a first year teacher and the decision makers didn't even know that! I love that God matched them up! In my mind, I had hoped for Abby to get a certain teacher and now that we are two weeks in, I am already seeing why she would not have been a good match for my child. Nice reassurance to not try and plan everything for Abby, but trust God!

Speaking of trusting God, after Abby accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior on July 31st, we scheduled her baptism and it happened on August 30th. She was baptized by her Daddy with our children's pastor, Mrs. Patty, sharing a little about Abby and her walk to Christ.

We are so proud of her and her decision to want to grow in her relationship with Christ. She is deep in her questions, big in her worship, and she is sensitive. We've taught her the phrase "break my heart for what breaks yours" and she is already trying to see the world differently. I have no doubt this will make parenting her my biggest challenge and my greatest reward. 

We gave her a little angel necklace to remind her little people can be big messengers for God. I hope she never forgets that. Her best little buddy Michael and his Mom Natalie came for the service. Natalie has been a wonderful example to Abby of the kind of love Christ has for us!

I so glad my Mom and Chuck were also able to drive over for the morning.

Our family on her big day! Congratulations Abby for making such a big decision and trusting God with your life. We are so proud of you and look forward to helping guide you toward Him.

Special Prayer

Abby is a deep thinker and I have had more religious conversations with her than anyone else in my life, maybe combined. I remember clearly while she was in preschool she asked me, "are people born good or with sin?" Excuse me, what? I'm not qualified to answer this! She came home one day from Kindergarten and told me she asked all the kids on the playground if they knew Jesus. Humbled because that terrifies me, I asked her what she said if they said no.... she told them He loves them and died on the cross for them. Wow.

Most of our conversations happen in the car. We listen to Christian music and she would ask what different phrases mean and it would spark conversation. Throw in 2 years of really catchy VBS tunes and we had lots of questions! Abby had asked enough questions by the Spring that in talking to our children's director, we sent her to Kids Praise (1st-3rd grade) on Easter Sunday to hear an official gospel presentation explaining how Jesus, sin and the cross all work together. At the end of that, she said in her response card that she wasn't ready to make a decision. In talking about that with her, we learned two things. One, she didn't understand the breadth of sin. It was just major sins in her mind- lying, killing, stealing. Two, the thought of being baptized was closely tied to accepting Christ and that thought TERRIFIED her.

We would talk about accepting Jesus casually and she would immediately talk about being scared and asking a million questions about being Baptized- how long am I under water? how deep is the water? will they hold me under? can I hold my nose? We fully understand she can accept Christ and not be baptized for a long time- years even- but I wanted her to know the decision was bigger than a fear of water and to want it all in her heart. So we continued talking about Jesus and focused on discussing sin, but also went full force into giving her confidence in the water.

She took swim lessons in May and then we've been at the pool 3-5x/week since then. We worked on swimming, but then focused on going under water. We'd look for toys and then started jumping in the 3 foot, then 4 foot and eventually 6 foot. Then we took off her life vest and did it all over again until now, she swims above and under water all over and can jump into the 6 foot without a vest. During this time, I bribed her with a lego set if she'd let me stand in the 3 foot and holding her body do a back flip underwater. She agreed. Just a few days later, I asked her if she wanted me to pretend to baptize her. She agreed. I did it in the pool and when she came back up, she had a big grin and said, "that's it?". Ha! It really wasn't all that hard after all she had done in the water!

In early July, Abby attended a camp at church that was outdoor fun, but also taught her a Bible verse, gave her a daily Bible story, and taught her more worship music.

Two weeks later, she attended VBS and spent all morning learning more about the Bible, Jesus, and worshipping. She has always loved music and since I really only listen to worship music, it is her favorite. She has combined her love of Jesus with Marcus' ability to learn song lyrics and she is a quote machine! 

Fast forward to July 31st, Abby in the car tells me she has made a decision. I think she is talking about her 1st grade haircut which is a popular topic this week, and she tells me "no, about Jesus. I want to say the special prayer tonight". Gulp. Okay, Let's do this! So, on the way to drop her off at the YMCA so that we could celebrate our 16th wedding anniversary, Marcus asks Abby lots of questions. We both want to make sure she knows the commitment she is making and it isn't due to peer pressure or to please us. He had spent Wednesday during VBS answering kids questions and counseling them so he was trained and ready. She understands Jesus died on the cross so that sinners like her could get into heaven and there isn't another way. Sin isn't allowed in heaven and she will sin. She loosely understands the holy spirit will be with her and help guide her along with the Bible so that she can learn to live her life for Jesus and be a worker on his team, as she likes to call it.

I'm proud of her- accepting Jesus is the first step in living for Him and one Marcus and I really didn't make until adults. I love that she has Him for as long as she can remember and will grow in Him from such a young age. I love that she is a deep thinker as I know understanding God's word requires deep study. I love that she sings to worship Him without abandon. I love that she wants to share Him with her playground friends. I love that I get a front row seat to see what He has planned for her precious life. God is good! 

For posterity, her special prayer with her Daddy is here.

And her goodnight prayer afterward...

Easters Past

In honor of Good Friday and our annual Easter Egg Hunt this morning, here are a few Easter shots from years past. Oh how I love watching this girl grow!

2009

I look sleepy :)

2010

2011- my all time favorite dress Abby has ever worn.

2012

2013- a little bit sad (and dramatic) that her Easter party had ended and her friends were gone. 

We are looking forward to another wonderful Easter with an egg hunt, pastel smocked dress, and the chance to better understand Jesus' love for us and his sacrifice on the cross.

Happy Easter!

Books of the Bible Video

Abby and I attend a Community Bible Study program on Thursday mornings. It has been great for helping me focus in on one book of the Bible and really work through all that is inside that book, but more than that, it has been amazing for Abby!

She has been in church all her life, done VBS, Awanas, and kids choir, but nothing has taught her the Bible as well as the CBS program. The stories are brought to life- they aren't told or colored on a sheet of paper.

These kids have been disciples and packed a bag and traveled the dessert (parking lot). They have made whales from milk jugs and tried to get Jonah (bean bag) out of the whale. Today, they had palm leaves and fabric cloaks and made yard stick horses to enter as Jesus did.

She has learned multiple Bible verses, the books of the Bible, people from the Bible, and so many songs. We play the 41 songs on our CBS CD daily and she knows most of them by memory. 

I sure wish I had enrolled her earlier! 

Here is the end of year video of the kids all singing the Old Testament books in order. It is impressive!

2013 Christmas Eve and Eve Eve

I am going to break Christmas up into two posts....

On Monday, the 23rd we joined our friends in Cedar Park to walk through Chianti Court. They live within walking distance, so it is wonderful to grab a drink, bundle up, and walk over to the most well lit and decorated street in our area. 

Every house goes ALL OUT and in the middle of the cul de sac, they have food, drinks, Santa and even had Monday night football on a big screen. They are serious and we love going!

We started a new tradition this year.... opening wise men gifts on Christmas Eve. It is three gifts in the vein of the gifts of frankincense, myrrh, and gold that the wise men brought to their king. We talk about Jesus being born, how He still is our King and what gifts we would bring.

Gold is something of high value and therefore it was something Abby really valued this year. She opened a baby doll that you can dress, fits in a stroller, etc. It is the Target version of an American Girl and she has not left her side since. We named her Goldie and then Kia Luca Cora. Who knows what will stick!

The gift of myrrh was given as a perfume- it made you smell good. So, we did Disney Princess bath toys. There are the five major Princesses. These were bought on the cruise in September and she loves them. We had to balance out the Star Wars. They will be great at the pool this summer.

Frankincense was an emblem or prayer and a perfume in sanctuaries, so we viewed it as something spiritual. Abby received a new Veggies Tales DVD and CD to represent frankincense. In future years, I imagine a devotional for the new year.

After our wise men gifts, we drove to my sister's house for Christmas with her and my Mom. We had a yummy BBQ lunch and my aunt and her boyfriend joined us. We did gifts to and from Mom and with the kids.

My Mom and the grandkids.... age 12, 9 and almost 5.

After spending the day with my sister, we came home, changed clothes and went to Christmas Eve service. It is always wonderful to stop with "santa", light a candle and sing Silent Night with other believers. I love Christmas Eve service.

Christmas Day coming soon.... it involved shooting guns and playing mafia!

Abby's Christmas Choir Concert

When we left our church of 10 years last fall, I was so concerned about Abby's sweet little friendships there. I didn't want her to miss out! After much prayer, we did leave the church but we have made the effort to keep her in church activities there. Our new church doesn't have as many activities during the week for kids, so we've tried to find a balance between both churches.

This year she did choir. Last year, she did AWANAs. And, we both do VBS each summer- she attends and I volunteer. It is my way of giving time back to the church that is shaping my little girl in so many ways.

So, we've attended choir practice each Wednesday night and last night, we saw the results of all that practice! She always wants to visit the Garden of Hope before church.

The church was all decked out for the program. It was choir, orchestra, full band and sweet little kids singing and playing.

 They sang two songs and did wonderful. Abby's last big public performance was her Christmas dance performance two years ago and she was awful (and funny, but don't tell her!) . This time she wasn't still or singing every word, but I loved seeing her progress.

She sang and smiled and lifted her dress and played with her hair. And, I was the proudest Mom.

And, then she did this! God love her. She raised her hands to praise Jesus with her song something her Momma has never done. I sing at church in the audience on Sunday morning, but hate to draw attention to myself and most certainly never raise my arms. Love that she had the confidence to just do it! 

Girls' Lake Weekend

I have had the best little weekend! Friday night many of the girls from my Sunday School class drove out to Lake LBJ for a weekend at our teachers' lake house. We intentionally made the weekend low-key. It was about good food, late night fellowship, and a scarf exchange.

We all brought a scarf and after drawing a number, opened scarves, traded and stole! It was fun and we all seemed to love the scarf we ended up with! I love that some girls stole to get the one they brought. Nothing like knowing what you love!

We met for dinner at Blue Bonnet Cafe in nearby Marble Falls and brought him a Banana Cream Pie and this Fudge Pie. Both were really good although this pie reminded Carrie and Morgan of a famour yucky pie in the movie The Help. Ewww.

We stayed up really late.... like 4 AM late! We were talking, snacking and ended up playing a game called Mafia. Essentially, one person is secretly the murderer and everyone else tried to figure it out. Here are more detailed directions- it was serious fun!

Saturday morning we had apple fritters from a nearby bakery. They were delicious. To balance the sugar, we also had a yummy high-protein paleo breakfast casserole and fruit.

We all got dressed about 11:30 and headed out on the lake! I have never been on Lake LBJ before, but it was beautiful. This time of year, the grass was still green and the tress were starting to change for Fall.

We saw a wide variety of homes on the lake- some really big and some needing a really big renovation!

This one is an event center- I'd love to have this view every day, even if it was at work!

The girls on the boat! Hooray for these girls that I've just recently gotten to know. I loved spending time with all of them.

We had such a good time, we are thinking of a repeat in the fall so that we can go antique shopping in the area!