This is me at 26 weeks with Connor.
I just bloom well I guess! Ha ha!
LOVE ONE ANOTHER - 1 John 4:7
6 years ago
Monday, January 25, 2010
Comparison
This is me at 26 weeks with Cameron.
This is me at 26 weeks with Connor.
I just bloom well I guess! Ha ha!
This is me at 26 weeks with Connor.
I just bloom well I guess! Ha ha!
Connor-kazie
Connor isn't really a "climber" like some of his friends are but he has discovered the thrill of standing on top of his ATV. Check it out.
He also has said 3 new words this week!
bu-bu (bye bye)
NO
nana (banana)
So much fun!
He also has said 3 new words this week!
bu-bu (bye bye)
NO
nana (banana)
So much fun!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Sweet Baby Boy Videos
Connor has learned how to "kiss" us. He prefers open-mouthed, as slobbery as possible and always on the lips!
Our friend Nicole gave us this "Fridge Fonics" toy and as you can see, Connor loves it! Even though there's a wardrobe change, this is all in the same day!
Our friend Nicole gave us this "Fridge Fonics" toy and as you can see, Connor loves it! Even though there's a wardrobe change, this is all in the same day!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tiny Dancer
On a much lighter note, here's my silly boy dancing while we put away Christmas decorations.
From the Mind of Sarah
At the risk of boring my usual readers who are looking for pictures of Connor, I have some food for thought that I've been chewing on lately. I will try to post soon about Connor & Cameron. (Cameron James is the name we've decided on by the way.)
According to Mark 8:34-38 "Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
In order to be a "follower of Christ" we must deny ourselves. The idea of "give up your life" is more complicated than it appears at first glance. The statement includes a lot more than being willing to die for your faith in Christ but being willing to suffer for it as well. I have to ask myself, am I seeking to "save" my life, i.e. preserve my comforts, expectations, security, conveniences, etc. at the cost of being fully surrendered to the call of following Christ completely?
I've been listening to a lot of Matt Chandler sermons lately. Just bored with music, I guess. Anyhow, in a recent sermon he mentions the idea of "Nominal Christianity." He labels those who attend church, try to do right, are moral people but are unwilling to completely invite Christ into their entire lives as "nominal believers." People who's lives really do not have anything to do with Christ. They don't study scripture or seek God's wisdom in making decisions, dealing with convictions or have any intention of submitting to the Lordship of Christ. A "Nominal Believer" may not actually have any real relationship at all with Christ.
Conversely, there are the verses above and many others that talk about what it takes to follow Christ. Phrases like "deny himself," and "lose his life," stick out to me. Scriptures, just like this one (and there are many others) are very clear about the cost we must pay to be followers of Christ. There is example after example in scripture and in history of men and women who have given their lives in their pursuit of following Christ. It is a sugar-coated fallacy to believe that following Christ will make your life easier and happier.
I think many of us would like to believe that we fall somewhere in between. We want to be fully surrendered. We want to follow Christ wherever He calls us, give up whatever He asks, but in reality we fall short. We hang onto some things and try to pretend He isn't asking more of us.
So as I have been wrestling with the idea of being a fully devoted Christ follower versus being a nominal believer, the following question comes to mind. Is this a continuum on which we can fall any number of places? or is it a black & white issue: you're either fully devoted or not? I want very much to cling to the idea of it being a continuum because while I am saved, redeemed and forgiven, I am still living in a world that isn't and in a carnal body. My spirit and my body are at war within me (Rom. 7) and the spirit does not always win. I give in to bitterness, entitlement, gossip, jealousy, etc. BUT I love Jesus. I want others to love him. I moved to a city where I am not comfortable because I believed that is what He wanted from me. Does that not make me somewhere on the "fully devoted" side of things? However, the word "fully" eliminates the possibility of anything less than 100%. In the above verses, Christ says that if we are looking to "save" our lives or preserve our comfort, look out for #1, etc. then we will not know Him. We are not following Him.
I don't have an answer or a conclusion. I just feel burdened to further explore what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. I want to be one. I believe that's why I'm here. I also know I am deeply flawed. I am selfish and struggle constantly with feeling entitled to different things that I am NOT owed.
According to Mark 8:34-38 "Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
In order to be a "follower of Christ" we must deny ourselves. The idea of "give up your life" is more complicated than it appears at first glance. The statement includes a lot more than being willing to die for your faith in Christ but being willing to suffer for it as well. I have to ask myself, am I seeking to "save" my life, i.e. preserve my comforts, expectations, security, conveniences, etc. at the cost of being fully surrendered to the call of following Christ completely?
I've been listening to a lot of Matt Chandler sermons lately. Just bored with music, I guess. Anyhow, in a recent sermon he mentions the idea of "Nominal Christianity." He labels those who attend church, try to do right, are moral people but are unwilling to completely invite Christ into their entire lives as "nominal believers." People who's lives really do not have anything to do with Christ. They don't study scripture or seek God's wisdom in making decisions, dealing with convictions or have any intention of submitting to the Lordship of Christ. A "Nominal Believer" may not actually have any real relationship at all with Christ.
Conversely, there are the verses above and many others that talk about what it takes to follow Christ. Phrases like "deny himself," and "lose his life," stick out to me. Scriptures, just like this one (and there are many others) are very clear about the cost we must pay to be followers of Christ. There is example after example in scripture and in history of men and women who have given their lives in their pursuit of following Christ. It is a sugar-coated fallacy to believe that following Christ will make your life easier and happier.
I think many of us would like to believe that we fall somewhere in between. We want to be fully surrendered. We want to follow Christ wherever He calls us, give up whatever He asks, but in reality we fall short. We hang onto some things and try to pretend He isn't asking more of us.
So as I have been wrestling with the idea of being a fully devoted Christ follower versus being a nominal believer, the following question comes to mind. Is this a continuum on which we can fall any number of places? or is it a black & white issue: you're either fully devoted or not? I want very much to cling to the idea of it being a continuum because while I am saved, redeemed and forgiven, I am still living in a world that isn't and in a carnal body. My spirit and my body are at war within me (Rom. 7) and the spirit does not always win. I give in to bitterness, entitlement, gossip, jealousy, etc. BUT I love Jesus. I want others to love him. I moved to a city where I am not comfortable because I believed that is what He wanted from me. Does that not make me somewhere on the "fully devoted" side of things? However, the word "fully" eliminates the possibility of anything less than 100%. In the above verses, Christ says that if we are looking to "save" our lives or preserve our comfort, look out for #1, etc. then we will not know Him. We are not following Him.
I don't have an answer or a conclusion. I just feel burdened to further explore what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. I want to be one. I believe that's why I'm here. I also know I am deeply flawed. I am selfish and struggle constantly with feeling entitled to different things that I am NOT owed.
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