Full Lives

Our lives have been very full lately, but we have seen blessing upon blessing these past few weeks. Last weekend Erik and I were abundantly blessed to attend the Bible Study Fellowship Leaders Retreat. Over 2500 BSF leaders all gathered to hear from the BSF staff members about God's immeasurable goodness to this ministry, now in its 50th year. We were also amazed by the new Executive Director, Susie Rowan, and her overview of the book of Revelations. Wow. Lots to take in there. I came away with a clearer picture of the majesty and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lion of Judah and the Lamb that was slain. Amazing and beautiful. I am also aware more and more that my life is not my own. I belong to Jesus. My hands. My feet. My mind. My time. My energy. My talents. All of it. I am filled with immeasurable joy at the thought of loving Jesus more and watching Him grow in me. The hymn for the weekend was "Crown Him with Many Crowns." Each time we met as a large group, five times in all, we enjoyed about twenty minutes of hymn singing, always ending with this one either before the Bible teaching or directly after. Some of my favorite lines are:

"Awake my soul and sing,

Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King,
Through all eternity"

I think it's my new favorite hymn. Singing praises with 2,500 people will do that. :-)

In other news, we are so thankful to Jesus for providing beautifully and perfectly for my mom's move. She's into her new place and is moving forward with an estate sale up north. There will probably be a few more trips to Puyallup, but we know that those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings as eagles, run and not grow weary, walk and not faint. We are living proof of this!!

The most recent excitement in our house involves Luke's bedroom. We have slowly been accumulating the pieces of his "big boy bed" and today was the day! Oma took both boys down to her place this morning, giving us time to rearrange Luke's room and assemble the bed. It's actually the same piece of furniture that we've owned since his birth, one of those cribs that converts. It's been really great for our boy who isn't all that keen on change. We bought new bedding for him, including Thomas the Tank Engine sheets and comforter. He was pretty impressed with the results. A few items had to be removed from his room, including his favorite chair and ottoman. Erik told him that Thomas was just too big and the pink chair wouldn't fit anymore. Luke looked at Thomas and said, "Okay!" The other funny thing that happened as Luke was first seeing his "new" room was that he asked, "Where's the bathroom?" I think his four year old brain was overloaded and he thought he was in a different house, and he had to go! His room did undergo a pretty radical transformation. Here are a few pictures.

That's pure delight on his face, in case you weren't sure.

Too happy to open his eyes. :-)

Daddy showing how bedtime reading will work now without the pink chair. Luke was pretty excited.