Owen asked Jesus to be King of His Heart

For awhile now, Owen has been talking about Jesus being in his heart.  How he wants him in his heart, how others have him in their hearts.  But as soon as I mention the *little* detail that you have to ASK Jesus into your heart, the crocodile tears start flowing.   Big frown, big tears, wiping eyes, sadness...

This is weird.

But we've done this routine at least twice.  And the last time we talked about it, I made it very clear that when Owen was ready to pray and talk to God himself, he could do that anytime he wanted.

Today is Memorial Day.  May 26th, 2014.  We are all in the living room.  Mark is trying to start Spy Kids 3 on the computer and have it display on the TV so we can all watch it from Amazon Prime Instant Video.  This process is taking forever.  So I make smoothies.

While we are sitting around, sucking down fruity goodness, Owen starts singing his own little song, "I love Jesus".  And then he folds his hands and says these precious little words - that I almost miss, but thankfully catch out of the corner of my eye.

"Jesus, I want you to come into my heart."

Wait.  What did you just say? What did you just say??!!???  AHHHHHH

Now I'm telling Mark to ignore the fool movie setup and talk to Owen about what he just said.  Mark starts asking all the 'did this just happen' follow up questions and Owen explains to us that Jesus died for our sins so that we could be forgiven and go to heaven.

He was ready.  And so he prayed.  It's that simple.

I have been praying and praying for Owen to open his heart to the Lord.  To not be afraid to face his sin, but be safe to approach the throne of grace.

And truthfully, on Sunday morning as we worshiped, I asked God to reach down and claim him.  To snatch him up.  To hold him close and make him his own.  Knowing full well that God doesn't snatch and grab. He patiently waits and beckons us.

My son's eternity is secure forever.  He was ready.  He was confident.  And there were no tears today.

All three of my kids have placed their faith in Christ.  There is nothing else that I need.  God has given me everything!

Charlie accepted Christ!

What a day today!  As I was driving home from school with Charlie today, he asked me, “Mom, why isn’t Jesus in my heart?”

I said, “Well, you have to ask him first.”

“But I did.”

“When?”

“Today, at school.”

Umm, okay.  (Keep your eyes on the road, don't crash the car...)

So we kept talking and he knew exactly what he meant and what was going on.  He told me what sin is (the bad things that we do.)  He told me that he told Jesus that he was sorry.  And that he asked Jesus to be King of his heart.

My selfish side is so bummed that I wasn't there to witness it and share that moment with him, like I was able to  with Lizzie.  But then I am overwhelmed with gratitude that the Lord came to him at just the right moment, and Charlie made such an important decision - all on his own!  Like the man I am raising him to be!  

Mark and I keep asking him to tell us the story and help us fill in the details.   He said he prayed before he ate his lunch at preschool.  

My sweet son prayed to ask our Lord and Savior to change his eternity - and then unzipped his puppy lunch bag and enjoyed the grapes I packed for him today.  

The angels and I have a party to go to tonight!!

One Front Tooth Down, One to Go!

Her front teeth started wiggling right before Christmas, but they made it all the way to March before they gave out!  Thank goodness Oma was at our house to handle this dental situation.  The first two teeth (front bottom) were small and simple when they made their exit.  However, the big front teeth are a bit more....dramatic!!  There was blood, queasiness, and then a final hurrah including a shoot-across-the-room exit from her mouth.

No there is no doubt - my baby girl is growing up.  The bottom two teeth have already grown in, so this latest blow is unmistakable.  She will never look the same.  That sweet gap between her teeth is no more.

Lizzie at Two Years Old

 

ScriptureArt Calendar

This calendar was my Christmas gift from Jenny.  And I LOVE it!!  It's a big sticker than I can reposition and won't jack up my wall.  And it's dry erase, so I can use it over and over and easily move things that inevitably get rescheduled.

Jenny's next door neighbor, Kelly, started this company, ScriptureArt, and I believe she is going to be a gazillionaire because her products are just gorgeous.

After I hung it up, I decided to 'embellish' it with the Christmas card photos we got this year.  I love having this little group of friends on my wall in an otherwise empty hallway between my pantry and laundry room.  It's become one of my favorite places in the house!

Twins Invitation

This was the batch of invitations for my friend, Susan.  She was hosting a baby shower for her sister in law who was pregnant with twin girls.  She wanted a classic pink invitation, and these came out so cute!  I used two ribbons, a lace and a scalloped velvet, and the combination resembles ruffle-butt panties.  I embellished silk flowers with stickles and rhinestones, and put two (for the twins) on the top.  

Cupcake Birthday #2

This one was for my niece, for her first birthday.  It's the first time I've done one that is action-packed.  I actually constructed this two ways.  The first, and the one pictured, involves untying the ribbon and the cupcake wrapper folds out and you can see the copy.

The way I decided to do it in the long run, was a bit different.  

I made the wrapper permanent, and made the cupcake a separate piece that you slid out of the wrapper.  It looked the same as the final product (top pic), but Mark felt like it was a stretch to expect the casual recipient to understand they were supposed to untie the bow.  So I changed the design!

This was not a Cricut project.  I handcut each piece and then bordered it with the Stickles glitter glue.  

Also, just to let you know, you'll get much cuter bows/knots, if you tie your ribbon upside down.  Flip the whole thing over, tie your bow, and then you'll see what I mean.  I don't know why, but it just turns out better.

Cupcake Birthday #1

Cupcakes are so "in" right now.  Being a baker would be a helpful skill.  

I don't have it.

So I make my cupcakes out of paper!

Here's another shot without the flash - that reflective vellum is tricky with the camera.