Then and Now!

A year ago....

Now!

The pictures tell it all. Isn't it amazing?! Day to day, in the trenches of parenthood, it's hard to see the growth and learning that's occurring... Our focus can be limited by the stresses of life ...getting so bogged down in the "messes" that we fail to notice the progress and miss out on celebrating mini, even micro mini milestones. Can't help but wonder if there aren't applications beyond parenthood here... Anyway, without digging deeper, just wanted to congratulate our girlie girls. "Way to go, Riley!" and "Well done, Vanessa!" Dad and I are looking forward to way too many celebrations to count in the days to come. You are our joy for sure!

LOVE Extravagantly!

Recently, it's been on my heart to write a "Love" blog. Not because of Valentine's Day, but rather in honor of Riley Lynn's birthday. Two years ago today, this precious little one changed my life forever in a most wonderful way. In fact, I really believe that being Riley's Grandmommy has taught me more about love than all my life experiences added together and I think the reason why is that, as a grandparent, I've found it totally impossible not to love or not show my love for her in anyway but extravagantly. True, shopping for her has been a total joy, but that's not what I'm feeling. It's much more of a heart thing… loving Riley has helped me grow in my understanding of how extravagantly I'm loved by the One who is love and challenged me in a very real way to strive to "be" love….not just to Riley, but to the whole world as I encounter it for His honor and glory.

Being love on our own is impossible, but praise God for his inspired word. Over 2,000 years ago, God gave Paul a "Love" letter, 1 Corinthians 13, to share with us…one that I'm using my blog to pass on with a prayer request that you pray for me as I'm praying for you, that together, as we all try our best to live life, we love…. Extravagantly!

"If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything as plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't have love, I've gotten nowhere. So no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end…..
Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love." (The Message)

Happy Birthday, Riley Lynn. Oh how Grandmommy looks forward to a lifetime of loving you!