Keepin' It Kerns

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Psalm 23:1

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want..."

--giving us unencumbered freedom to obey. (Ed Saucier, pastor)

Saturday, July 11, 2009

I just need a moment to vent. I am going to go pony psycho...

Me-Tori, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Tori-A pony.

Me-Tori, what book do you want to read?

Tori-Let's read a book with no words with these characters. (AKA tell a story about the three ponies she has in her arms).

Me-Tori, what reward do you want for finishing the next part of your workbook?

Tori-So soft crawling Pinkie Pie.

Me-Tori, what movie do you want to watch?

Tori-Horseland. (An animated pony series she discovered on Netflix online).

Me-"Old McDonald had a farm...and on this farm he had a..."

Tori-PONY! With a nayhayhayhay here and a nayhayhay there...

Me-Tori, blah blah blah blah...

Tori-Ponies!

Me-Tori, blee blah blah blee blah....

Tori-Ponies!

Seriously, she's been stuck on ponies for about three years now. I don't know how much more I can stand before I break into a psychotic episode! Heh heh....my little pony, my little pony...la la la la la la la...

Monday, July 6, 2009

Happy Birthday...

...Nonna!

...Bad Dad!

...America!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

It's a....kitty!

Our newest family member, Tillatoo...

who is joining our other two feline friends... Gabby,

and Black Cat.

I love kitty cats!

Monday, June 22, 2009

God is...

Our church-to-be is doing a series on "God is..." right now. During the sermon this morning, I got the desire to spend a few minutes filling in that blank for myself. So I did, and following begins my list. Though I know God's Word says these things much more poetically, I don't know exactly where examples of my "God is's" are found in scripture, so I'm just listing them in a testimonial sort of way. Here we go...

God is mysterious. Try stargazing on a clear night and try to make sense of what you see.

God is nurturing. No matter what junk humanity heaves, there is always a safe, quiet place to rest in the peace of His presence.

God is persistent. Once He’s got you, there’s no ignoring Him. Go ahead. Try the wrong path and see what happens. Been there, done that.

God is forgiving. Okay, wrong choice? Give it up. Wholeheartedly (seriously, no holdouts) give it back to God. He’ll fix it.

God is passionate. Oh my gosh. Those first feelings of falling in love…the intoxicating, all-consuming blood lust. A sweet gift of heaven, and so incredibly beautiful when respected as that.

God is generous. How with my itty bitty human self can I ever thank God for sharing a tiny piece of His love for us by giving me two children. My greatest pain, love, understanding, hope, patience, and peace have come from being a parent.

God is all-knowing. I’m so thankful that when I can’t figure it out, it’s okay. I can rest easy because God knows. I am small. He is BIG.

God is forever. He has watched my great-great-great-great-great grandparents lead basically the same life that I’m attempting to lead, and He’s still going. I’ll die. My kids will live their lives (probably again very similar) and die. And He will still be here. God is bigger than death. Seriously. He’s got this.

God is exponential. The more I study His word, the more I understand, the more I love, the more I worship, the more I give…

God is beautiful. I see Him in every piece of nature. I feel Him in the goose bumps I get from worship. I hear Him in the silence. I taste Him in cheese and chocolate. I smell Him in the ripe dirt after a spring rain. I sense Him every time I sit still enough to try.

God is demanding. I am redeemed by the blood of Christ, and that is not a free gift. I am responsible every second of every day to share the light and love that was given to me. (PMS is not an excuse.)

God is alive. He is, therefore I am. (DesCartes almost had it right—he just didn’t account for God letting him think.)

God is loved. By me. To be continued... (but probably not on the blog). ;)

Friday, June 12, 2009

Cousins

Growing up, my sister and I had no cousins. Seriously. None. Of my mom's 3 brothers and sister and my dad's brother and sister, my parents were the only ones to procreate. Candace and I were always the ONLY kids at all family events. Weird, I know.

Well now that we're grown, we finally have cousins! My mom's sister is 16 years younger, and she and her husband now have 4 kiddos. Yay for us! Though they live all the way over in Arizona, we do get to see them now and then. Last week was one of those precious moments.

Here are my sweet cousins with my and Candace's children lined up from oldest to youngest...love you guys!!!!