sunday song

I could dissect this song for a good long while.  Take the time and read the lyrics.  They are a beautiful poem of life as a believer inspired by a hymn by W.B. Stevens.

Farther Along
Josh Garrels

Farther along we'll know all about it
Farther along we'll understand why
Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We'll understand this, all by and by

Tempted and tried, I wondered why
The good man died, the bad man thrives
And Jesus cries because he loves em' both
We're all cast-aways in need of ropes
Hangin' on by the last threads of our hope
In a house of mirrors full of smoke
Confusing illusions I've seen

Where did I go wrong, I sang along
To every chorus of the song
That the devil wrote like a piper at the gates
Leading mice and men down to their fates
But some will courageously escape
The seductive voice with a heart of faith
While walkin' that line back home

So much more to life than we've been told
It's full of beauty that will unfold
And shine like you struck gold my wayward son
That deadweight burden weighs a ton
Go down into the river and let it run
And wash away all the things you've done
Forgiveness alright

Farther along we'll know all about it
Farther along we'll understand why
Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We'll understand this, all by and by

Still I get hard pressed on every side
Between the rock and a compromise
Like the truth and pack of lies fightin' for my soul
And I've got no place left go
Cause I got changed by what I've been shown
More glory than the world has known
Keeps me ramblin' on

Skipping like a calf loosed from it's stall
I'm free to love once and for all
And even when I fall I'll get back up
For the joy that overflows my cup
Heaven filled me with more than enough
Broke down my levee and my bluff
Let the flood wash me

And one day when the sky rolls back on us
Some rejoice and the others fuss
Cause every knee must bow and tongue confess
That the son of god is forever blessed
His is the kingdom, we're the guests
So put your voice up to the test
Sing Lord, come soon

Farther along we'll know all about it
Farther along we'll understand why
Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine
We'll understand this, all by and by

seeing family

During Spring Break we drove down to south Alabama to see my family.  We hadn't seen my siblings since before Christmas so a visit was quite overdue.  As always it was a fun few days with lots of togetherness!

The road next to my parents' house was closed down as they reconstructed it.  We spent a good bit of time watching all the trucks and workers.  Logan and Connor played with some trucks in the dirt as well.  Any chance to play in the dirt is taken advantage of by boy people.

I love that no matter how much time has passed my boys and my nieces jump right in together and play.  Logan and Abby are two peas in a pod and had fun while we watched Haley's softball game.

My brother coaches my oldest niece's, his daughter's, softball team.  

Because I don't get to see them often and because I don't get to hang out with little girls very much I went on two dates one day.  For breakfast Haley and Keelie and I went to Panera and I barely got two words in as they spilled all the beans about all the things.

For lunch Kayden and Abby and I went to McDonalds while I listened to them lovingly argue about all the things.

Because Zach and I had a trip planned for just the two of us to fly out west and go hike in Zion National Park we left the boys there for an extra few days.  I never have to worry that their every whim will not be taken care of which is totally fine as long as they remember that mama and daddy do say no occasionally when they get back home!

cousin zoo day

Logan and I had a great time taking my sister in law Jessica and her four kiddos to the zoo with us a couple weeks ago.  It was supposed to rain all day but it ended up being a perfect zoo day with clouds and a breeze.  The rain finally came while we were on the playground at the end of our visit so it was easy to get the kids to leave without much of a fuss.  Rain for the win!

Highlights of this visit were...

*Seeing all three lion brothers and the tiger-they were all off display last time we went

*really really active gorillas!

*baby orangutans climbing everywhere

*great grownup conversation-which is never to be underestimated!

*cousins to share it all with

*letting Logan pee (inconspicuously) in the parking lot- He found it hilariously fantastic and mama was not walking all the way back to the gate, showing my membership card, and going in the bathroom for a boy.  

mystery room

Micah and Connor are each a part of the Quest program at their school which is what they call their gifted program.  One day a week they go to a separate class with other kids in their grade level and learn latin vocabulary and do more hands on and deeper study into a theme.  This year the theme they are studying is forensic science and within this theme they cover all the basic subjects.  As a fun field trip they were able to go to the Mystery Room to use all of the deductive reasoning skills they have been learning.  I went with Connor on Monday and Zach went with Micah on Thursday.

The Mystery Room is just as it sounds.  A team of people are "locked" in a room and must solve a mystery in 45 minutes to escape.  These rooms are not meant for a group of first graders to be able to solve on their own so it was up to me and one of their Quest teachers to figure out the clues and then gently lead them in solving each clue on their own.  It has been awhile since I have felt that stupid.  Staring in the face of a woman your age while you both are completely clueless while trying not to act completely clueless because 8 first graders are looking up to you is a helpless and humbling feeling.  After getting a jump start from the employees and overthinking more than a little bit we were able to save the Professor and diffuse the bomb in the appropriate amount of time! 

Micah and Zach weren't as lucky.  They were placed in the second to hardest room with the Superheroes mystery.  The day I went their were 4th graders and numerous parents in the room who weren't able to get through it so the fact that the 3rd graders were only one lock away is still pretty impressive.  

Solved or not this was quite an out of the box field trip that we both loved getting to be a part of!

anatomy of an easter photo

I'll let the pictures do the talking...

easter basket hunt

When two people married their individual traditions intersect and mash up and become new with the sweet traces of old.

I love watching Zach hide the boys' Easter baskets because I can think about when his mom and dad did it for him and I love watching the boys scurry around the house hunting for then because I think about little Zach doing the same thing.

Our new home opens itself up to some much more fun hiding places although we did have to move over because apparently Zach had hidden a bucket behind the brown chair ever year!  

When their buckets are found they are filled with a few favorite items individually picked for that person, a tradition from my family, and then at the top is a book or Bible meant to point them towards the Lord and grow their hearts in a new way, a tradition we started on our own.  

This year Micah received The Case for Grace: for Kids, Connor got The Action Bible, and Logan got two Psalty Kid's Praise Albums which we have all already listened to no less than five times each and have initiated several really good conversations in the car. 

Happy heart indeed.