We were having eggs.

One morning this summer, the boys and I were having breakfast and talking about eternity. Jackson had asked Christ into his heart at church camp in 2007, so he and I were doing much of the talking. Parker was mostly silent, but I could tell that he was deeply listening and weighing our words. J and I talked about what it is to be a Christian, and I explained how it is that a person would go about becoming a Christian, all while P thoughtfully picked at his eggs. Then P looked up and said, “I haven’t decided that yet.” And the way he said it, I thought that it might be a long time before he would.

Fast forward to bedtime last night. With a heavy heart, I told Parker that one of the teachers from his school, Kathy Albert, had passed away. We know that Mrs. Albert was a Christian. I reminded him that she had been very sick for a long time. Her body could not get better. God wanted Mrs. Albert to come to heaven. So, she did.

Thus began a discussion of heaven and hell. Parker told me about someone he knows who doesn’t choose the best behavior, and told me that he thinks this person is going to hell.

“Whether you go to heaven or hell is not decided by how many good behavior days you have at school,” I said.

“I know,” he said, and left the proverbial door wide open.

“Thank goodness for that, right? Because every person on earth messes up and sins. Every person EVER, except for one. Do you know which one?”

“Jesus,” he nods. Hooray! Children’s Church is working. Good job, guys.

“That’s right. Jesus lived a perfect life, without any sin at all. And sin is not just bad behavior. Our words and even thoughts can be sinful. We all sin. But Jesus didn’t have any sin at all. He lived completely without sin so that he could be the sacrifice for our sin. God knows that we can’t pay the price for our sin, so Jesus paid it for us. And because He paid our price, and rose from the dead and went to heaven, we can go to heaven too! Anyone who believes this can go to heaven.”

“Well, I believe that,” he shrugs.

“You do? That’s awesome, buddy! Have you prayed to tell God that you believe it?”

“Yeah, I did that a long time ago when I was six or something,” says Mr. Nonchalant. “At breakfast. We were having eggs. I prayed in my head and just didn’t tell you.”

And I knew the very breakfast he was talking about. It was this summer.

I’m glad that Parker finally revealed to us his decision to follow Christ. Now we can rejoice, along with all the angels of heaven and Mrs. Albert and all the others who have gone before us.

“…there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Luke 15:10

Hallelujah!

It's just easier to SHOW you.

I have so many words buzzing around in my brain right now. So many, in fact, that I can’t form a coherent post to describe what I’ve been doing lately. Instead of lengthy descriptions, I shall give you pictures with captions. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'm sure you'll be quite glad that I went with pictures.



This is what our hallway bathroom looked like a week ago. I forgot to take a picture before we took the big mirror down, but you get the idea. Notice the mauve stripes and frilly border. For once I am thankful that my boys are colorblind. They had no idea that they should have been embarrassed by this feminine wallpaper.



And this is what it looks like now! This is the best project that Andy and I have worked on together. Well, other than our children. But we’ll have to wait a while to see how they turn out.



This family tree originated in my mind several years ago, even before we had our own home, inspired by Owl’s house in Winnie the Pooh. We come from a long line of good-looking individuals! No wonder my little boys are so handsome.



Our tree went up a bit early this year. We had so much going on during the Thanksgiving holiday that I wanted to have this done ahead of time. Truly, the tree and the holiday music seemed a bit out of place until I watched the snow fall this morning. Now it all feels just right.



And this is my favorite little project of all. My Liberty Belle and her ten beautiful puppies! I’ve been planning, preparing, and praying for them for months now. I’m so glad they are finally here!



Somewhere in the midst of all of this, my little oak turned bright red. I love it!

So that’s my last three weeks in a nutshell. I hope you had a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving!