Easter Sunday!

Easter is probably my favorite day of the year...I am filled with emotions of joy, humility and wonder of all that my Savior has done for me! Our choir sang a song titled, "The Wonder of the Cross" which so powerfully expresses the awe I feel as I think about His sacrifice and His victory!

O precious sight, my Savior stands,
Dying for me with outstretched hands.
O precious sight, I love to gaze,
Remembering salvation’s day,
Remembering salvation’s day.

Though my eyes linger on this scene,
May passing time and years not steal
The power with which it impacts me,
The freshness of its mystery,
The freshness of its mystery.

May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.
May I see it like the first time
Standing as a sinner lost,
Undone by mercy and left speechless,
Watching wide eyed at the cost.
May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.

Behold the God-man crucified,
The perfect sinless sacrifice.
As blood ran down those nails and wood,
History was split in two, yes,
History was split in two.

Behold the empty wooden tree,
His body gone, alive and free.
We sing with everlasting joy,
For sin and death have been destroyed, yes,
Sin and death have been destroyed.

May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.
May I see it like the first time
Standing as a sinner lost,
Undone by mercy and left speechless,
Watching wide eyed at the cost.
May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.

May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.
May I see it like the first time
Standing as a sinner lost,
Undone by mercy and left speechless,
Watching wide eyed at the cost.
May I never lose the wonder,
The wonder of the cross.

~Vicky Beeching

Wow! Here are a few pictures from Easter Sunday morning...starting with the sunrise service at our property (that we almost missed because we set the alarm and forgot to turn it to "on"...Ahhh! Thanks for calling Michele!) We went to Michele's for a yummy family dinner of turkey and dressing...thanks Nanny and Aunt Beverly...we'll let you ladies cook anytime!

Caleb and bennett have gotten to where they really enjoy climbing the trees at Michele's house...after lunch, Caleb headed up...I had to post this picture. I couldn't believe how high he climbed!!!

Fun with Family!

This Easter we had an extra special blessing! In addition to Nanny being here, Corey's Aunt Beverly and Uncle Ferrell were able to celebrate by spending the weekend with us! It was so much fun! Uncle Ferrell told Caleb on Friday night that he would play with him all day Saturday...and he kept his word! Here they are together at the egg hunt...
The boys and Aunt Michele...they dye Easter eggs together every year!
After dinner Saturday, Caleb was insistent that the "men" all go hunting together for deer (with sticks!) in the woods behind our house. They had heard something moving around out there before we ate, and it was all he could talk about during dinner! And because Uncle Ferrell had promised, he went along for this hunt too! Here is a picture of the brave men (Ferrell, Corey, David, Caleb and Bennett)...Caleb told the women to stay in the house because it was too dangerous for us, hehe!
And here is Nanny with the boys in her Easter shirt from Aunt Beverly...Sisters!
Thanks, Nanny, Beverly and Ferrell for a fun weekend! We can't wait until the next time!

Easter Egg Hunts...and lots of them!

We had lots of exciting events surrounding Easter this year! But we definitely had more egg hunts this year than ever before! So, I'm having to dedicate one entire blog to that alone! Between story hour, preschool, and even a HUGE one here in Paris that required a "hunting license", plus the one from church and one with family at Paris Landing (Corey's cousin's sweet little girl, McKenzie), I think the count was up to 5 this year...whew! Now the hard part is figuring out what to do with all that candy!

BUSY!

We've had so many exciting things going on...Easter was wonderful, Caleb had his first T-ball game, several meetings, youth orchestra rehearsals, and Fish Fry this week...I can't wait to sit down and blog about it all. We're headed to FBC, Centerville this weekend (where Corey was youth minister for the first two years after we were married) for their Homecoming. Once we're back, I hope to get all caught up! Have a blessed weekend!

Sunday is Coming!!!

I can barely contain my excitement...tomorrow is EASTER! Each Friday and Saturday before Easter, I think back to what the disciples, Jesus' friends and family must have been feeling those two days following his crucifixion. I cannot image the emotions, the complete sense of loss and disbelief that he could actually be dead, that they must have felt as their leader, their friend, and their Lord's body lay in the tomb. Oh, but on the third day, that first Resurrection Sunday...I shiver with awe and excitement just trying to imagine a glimpse of the hope and joy they must have felt as they saw the empty tomb and were given the blessed Easter message...HE IS NOT HERE...HE IS RISEN! And it is on these words, this truth, that all our hope, joy, forgiveness, love and peace are found! We do not serve a once good man or even a once powerful prophet, but we serve a Risen Savior! Please, in all the excitement of pretty clothes, egg hunts, and wonderful time with family...don't forget that the true meaning of Easter is that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is ALIVE! Celebrate Him, worship Him, and bask in the joy that only He brings!

Just for Fun...

My brother, Zachary introduced me to this video. If you like the Carrie Underwood song, Jesus Take the Wheel, this might sound familiar.




The guy who did this is Tim Hawkins...he is a comedian that performs in churches and for other groups. Hope it made you smile as much as it did me! Have a wonderful Thursday!

Fun in the Sun!

Today we took our new boat out on the lake for the first time! Being new to the boating world, we had a few glitches (flooding the engine and taking off with the bimini top up...oops!), but we're learning! Once we got them worked out we had a great time! We decided that instead of a big family vacation to the beach this year, we'd buy a boat. After some much needed family time today, we know this is going to be such a blessing this summer. With the busyness of the church relocating over the next year, it will be really difficult to be out of town for a whole week. This will definitely give us that special family time to make lots of fun memories with our boys! Their favorite part today was fishing! Least favorite part...it is too cold to get in the water yet! I'm sure they thanked us at least 10 times for the boat, fishing and just the all around fun time we had out on the lake...here are some pics from the afternoon (notice the huge smiles on their faces).

Easter Egg Hunt

This morning while Corey and I went to the race, the boys spent the morning with our good friends the Cooks. Thanks, guys! They took the boys to our church for the Maplewood Easter Egg Hunt! They boys had a great time, and we were finished with our race in just enough time to enjoy part of the fun with them!

Relay for Life 5k

Today Corey and I ran the Relay for Life 5k in McKenzie. We have been running lately to get ready for a few 5ks and hopefully a few triathlons in the summer. Today was the first one! It has been since October since we've raced (the Splash 'N Dash) and it was a shorter run distance. So I was quite nervous! We had the encouragement of racing with friends...Michele (Corey's sister), Jennifer Shackelford and her running partner, Christy. Corey finished with a time of 30:12 which made him 3rd in his age division! He got a really nice metal...Yeah, Corey! The four of us girls ran together most of the way with Michele and Christy finishing just before Jennifer and I did with a time of 35:15! Although I didn't get a metal, I felt really good about this time...it's the fastest I've ever run that distance! We had lots of fun supporting a great cause!

Caleb's Last Leader Day

Friday was Caleb's last leader day at preschool :( It is hard to believe this year is almost over! He has really loved his school, and we are so grateful for a wonderful place for him to prepare for kindergarten while learning more about God! I mostly videoed, but did get this sweet picture...Caleb always wants his little brother to be part of what's going on, so he made sure Bennett had a spot beside him on the circle!

Fun with Friends!

We were so lucky the other day to have our good friends Caroline and Jack come over to play! The boys loved having a little girl around, and they always have a great time with their buddy Jack! The most exciting thing we did was build a train track from Caleb's room all the way to the den...that's one BIG track!