Twinkle, Twinkle

Asher's favorite song is Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
Here's a video of him singing the song. Unfortunately, you have to hear me too!

Twinkle, Twinkle from Cheryl A on Vimeo.

A 4th Birthday!

Well as the saying goes, better late than never!

On September 19th, our sweet, funny, adorable Caleb turned 4.

The statistics:

Height- ?

Weight- 36 lbs. You now weigh yourself everyday on Mommy & Daddy's new scale. The first time you did, you were so excited to tell me that it said you were 3 lbs. When I asked you to show me, I realized that it was flashing E, which was a relief because I was pretty sure I was going to have to return the scale if it said you only weighed 3 lbs.

We go next week for your 4 yr. check up and I'm praying that you don't have to get any shots. You can tend to be a little over dramatic lately. For example, the other day you cried for 30 minutes when I told you that we were out of frozen waffles. When I told you either eat some cereal or go back to bed, you gladly ate your favorite, Reese's "Pups". It always makes me smile to hear you say that.

You are a child of the 21st century. You love to play games on Mommy's phone, or on Emma's phone or on Dougie's ip*d. You've even made this statement before, "I need a cell phone."

Not long ago, I introduced the concept of the speed dial #'s on my phone. I had no idea what I was doing, because you now make calls & have conversations with family members without me even knowing that you have my phone! The other day, you called Grandma and Paps' house and talked with Paps. When he told you that Grandma wasn't there, you told him, "I'll just call her on her cell phone." Paps asked if you knew her number to which you answered, "yes, she's #4."

You have really started to enjoy playing ball. Football, baseball, basketball, it doesn't really matter. This summer, we spent many a mornings(before it got too hot!) out on the back patio playing baseball. Thanks to your big brother, Dougie, you've learned the concept of slow motion. So now, every time you make a catch or a hit, you'll say watch what I did in slow motion!

I know that there are so many more things I could share, almost everyday you do something "blog worthy." But I sometimes think, do I really want to stop what we're doing so I can put it on the blog or do I just want to enjoy the moment and savor it? Lately, I'm choosing the latter. These days are going so quickly and I don't want to miss anything!

Caleb, Daddy and I love you so much and we pray that you follow in the steps of your namesake and wholly follow the Lord.

Happy Birthday!

Radical

Have you heard about this book? Have you read it? I can't remember exactly how I heard about it but I almost bought it for Steven for Father's Day. I ended up buying him something else. Then sometime this summer, he asked me if I'd heard about it. He said that several of his pastor friends were reading/recommending it and that he wanted to get a copy. So he picked up a copy and it took him a several weeks to read it. He doesn't read as fast as I do. I don't mean that in a negative way, Steven is just a v.e.r.y. deliberate reader. So he finished it and told me he wanted me to read it. By this time, I had found out about Marla and that she was going to start a book club through her blog to read this book and discuss it weekly. (The group can also be found on facebook, it's not too late to join our group!) I told him that I was definitely going to read it but that I was waiting until Sept. so I could be a part of this group.
So this post is supposed to cover Chapter One but to be honest, I've already read through Chap. 7. It's not that it's a "can't put this down" kind of book. Because honestly, at some points, you might actually want to throw it down! It's just that I've been so challenged by it that it spurs me on to keep reading. When I read a book like this, I like to underline and write thoughts in the margin. So for today's post I thought I would just share some of the things I underlined in Chapter 1. (In some instances I may not have underlined a complete sentence, so I'll share the page # also.)

....we have a choice. p. 3

You and I can choose to continue with business as usual in the Christian life and in the church as a whole..... Or was can take an honest look at the Jesus of the Bible and dare to ask what the consequences might be if we really believed him and really obeyed him. p. 3

But if Jesus is who he said he is, and if his promises are as rewarding as the Bible claims they are, then we may discover that satisfaction in our lives and success in our church are not found in what our culture deems most important but in radical abandonment to Jesus. p. 3

....that somewhere along the way we had missed what is radical about our faith and replaced it with what is comfortable. p. 7

....making it clear from the start that if you follow him, you abandon everything-your needs, your desires, even your family. p. 10

....certainty for uncertainty, safety for danger, self preservation for self-denunciation.
p. 12

These statements convict me, challenge me, and inspire me. I want to know more, be more and do more!

If you've not read this book, let me encourage you to grab a copy and join us in this journey!

The first time I ever heard David Platt preach was in June 2009 at the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. He stood before the convention and asked this question-

"Are we going to die in our religion or are we going to die in our devotion?"

Some things to think about today.
Love you dearly!