My Mama

To what can I compare my mother?
How can I liken her to any other living woman?
For she, who nursed, trains me, cares for me, and loves me
Is sweeter than all others to me

How could she not be?
She is my friend, my teacher, my advisor, my example
She loves Christ, His Church, His Word
She follows Him, trusting the Spirit to guide
She is never afraid, ashamed, or tries to hide

Life's not easy for her, nor is it bad
She reminds us of all the fun to be had
The beaches to walk, the folks there to talk
and the glories of nature, like God's majestic hawk

Oh that I never forget the lessons she's taught
To be honest and true
To give of ones self completely
To think through every single thing
And to hold it all loosely in the light of the Cross
To follow the promptings of the Spirit

                                                                                                                                                              

Her smile brings me joy, her sense of humor infects my reserved side

Thankful that she loves daddy, sticking it out, persevering

Making it work. Those two. the both of them, 

Are a testimony

Alas, this IS a Mother's Day post, so I won't digress

I love her. I don't know where I'd be without her.

My Mommy. My Teacher (too bad that's already been used:))

Her counsel to me and to others keeps many a boat afloat, prevents us from drowning in our own salty tear-filled seas.

Her natural smile, her pain-tolerating acts of love

Frankly. Honestly. I love her soooo much

Can she tell? I hope so.
I know she loves poetry

And I'm stretching myself to write a poem just for her.

Happy Mother's Day

Darling and Dear Mama!

beautiful family//beautiful day

A few weeks (or was it months?) back,

we spent a lovely afternoon at the beach.

The sun was streaming across the horizon

causing that wonderful 'golden hour' glow...

which of course, meant that the most beautiful people in my world

looked all the more breathtaking.

beautiful Em, in her color-coordinated accessories

handsome Hank, he was so kind to hold still for a few shots

 I think that all my convincing *ahem, wheedling and cajoling* was worth it, don't you

dearest lovlies in my heart

pretty mama and sweet lil' one

now for the piece de resistance...

these cuties, coordinated with each other nonetheless

(no folks, we don't plan these things, they just happen) 

not to fear, daddy was there, 

he just knows that the safest place is behind the person with the camera

which is such a shame because he's so photogenic!

 ah well...maybe next time...

you can expect more posts from me on a more regular basis...

since...

we now have a really fantastic

dslr camera

which means

our computer

and several memory cards

are chock full 

of pictures of the bestest people

in the wide, wide world

just sayin' 

"you don't have to take my word for it" meet 'em you'll agree

Isn't our heavenly Father so good to us 

He gave me, in just one afternoon,

the ability to see and to thank Him for:

salvation. family. beauty. nature.

love,

 Hannah

Happy Resurrection Sunday

He Is Risen

He Is Risen Indeed!

Surely he has borne our griefs

                                 and carried our sorrows;

                             yet we esteemed him stricken,

                                  smitten by God, and afflicted.

                             But he was wounded for our 

                                      transgressions;

                                    he was crushed for our iniquities;

                             upon him was the chastisement that

                                        brought us peace,

                                and with his stripes we are healed.

                                                         Isaiah 53:5

But the angel said to the women, " Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay."

Matthew 28:5-6a

Have a blessed Resurrection Day!

Love,

 Hannah

photo credit: the graphics fairy

sister-isms

Lately I've been kicking myself for not writing down all the precious things my baby sister says.

And she says a lot now.

 Tonight, whilst viewing some charming pictures of a new born babe

Elizabeth exclaimed: 

"Babies are my world"

After surveying the above evidence, I feel positive that you will be inclined to agree.

She is quite the little mother!

I wish that I had more pictures of her taking care of her dolls, and her cousin too...

she dotes on the wee lad, and can't fully wrap her mind around the fact that she is only 22 months older than him, and can't carry him around like the big folk.

Those days will come soon enough we assure her, but for now we are all very happy that she is still enough of a baby, that, when she isn't attempting to take dominion over her known world, she is the best little cuddle bug this side of the rockies!

7:30 am // failure

 By the time I'd finished my Valentine's post in the o'dark hundred hours of Valentine's Day I had such aspirations for the day. Namely, loving the family of God.   Things always seem so possible early in the morning.

  7:30 am came, and I was on a roll of failure after failure. We were supposed to be out of the house by 7:00am to help with the wedding prep, and there we were at 7:30 still running around like chickens with our heads cut off--oh wait, that was just me.  I was losing my patience with everyone, no one was going as fast as they should have been etc., Then it popped into my head:

   

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. 1 John 4:21

 How could it be that in only the span of a few hours I had lost my resolve? I felt like such a hypocrite! There I was encouraging others to "love and good works", and not living up to it myself! At that point I started to confess my sins and cry out to God; I haven't asked anyone if they noticed the change, but I felt slowly and surely that the Lord measured patience into my words and attitude.  He always does, and yet why am I so hesitant to trust in Him? Why do I wait until I fail and feel it so severely? 

 I don't have a set in stone, 'sure fire solution', but this is what my plan of attack is next time I start to replace loving words with impatience, rudeness, disrespect, and all the words that are opposite to love, because I know there will be a 'next time':

 1. Call out to the Lord

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am devoted to you; save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God; be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all day long. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call on you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my cry of supplication. In the day of my trouble I call on you, for you will answer me.

- Psalms 86:1-7

 “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  Isaiah 55:6-9

2. Meditate on God's Word. These are the verses that, although most are already committed to memory, I sometimes, altogether too often, neglect to meditate on them:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.  Romans 8:28

 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.Matt. 6:32-34

3. Seek Godly Accountability 
   Usually this means going to my mom and asking for her help. Help with prayer, help with time frames, help with encouragement....sadly this is probably the most often neglected point in my list. But I'm sure point 1, prayer, will help in that area.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. James 5:16

Last, but certainly not least:


4. Ask for Forgiveness 

     When I'm running around harried, I hurt those around me, it's just a terrible fact. I don't notice those who really need help, and I say so many things with out even the slightest thought to their effect on someone else. In the moment I can usually justify whatever it is I may say or do, even if I know that there is no such justification.  When all has calmed down, it all comes back to me, and I know it is time to start asking for other's forgiveness.  The verse for Point 3 applies itself to this point as well.

I hope you don't think that I'm writing this post to school anyone, but rather, I feel my blog is sort of a journal of thoughts and transparencies that I don't have the time to write out by hand in my journal. So please forgive my rambling. 

 The wedding was wonderful by the way and the bride and groom are the cutest couple on earth, in my opinion. We have loads of pictures, and hopefully I'll post a few in the coming days; but you know me pretty well by now, and a couple days might turn into weeks, months, never...oh well. It's late, and if I don't go now, this post might never get rid of me.

Love,

 Hannah