This Life on Earth Easter means that this life on earth is not all there is. 
Jesus went "to prepare a place for us" in His Father’s heavenly mansions for all eternity.
 Jesus died for our sins, paying our penalty, so that we could be forgiven. 
He was resurrected, to prove that death has no hold on those who repent and accept Him as Savior. 
This life on earth is a prelude to eternal joy with our Lord. Easter is a celebration of our eternal destiny. 
By Joanna Fuchs

I love this painting.  We have it hung in our living room right when you walk in the door.   It's called "Running to the Sepulchre on the Morning of the Resurrection".  When Steve and I were poor college students, we used to go to the mall and stare at it through the window of the art store there.  We loved talking about it.  The expressions on their face I think capture the emotion that Peter and John would have running to the tomb.  John looks like he is pleading that it be true.  Peter seems skeptical.   I live my life like the emotions expressed on this painting.  I go between true hope and deep skepticism.  Not about my faith or that God is who he says he is but just about what is the purpose of this life.  Have we got it all wrong?  What are we REALLY here for.

I think Easter should symbolize not only the celebration of life over death or Jesus conquering sin but truly that our lives should be lived as living sacrifices to God.  That is why Christ died on the cross.  Not because He loved me so much but because He was living His life in true obedience to the Father!!  AMEN!!  If only I could do that even a fraction of the way Christ did!!  This is how I want to worship the Father and celebrate and thank Jesus for what He has done.  Die to ME!!

"And so, dear brothers and sisters,

 I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.

 Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will find acceptable. 

This is truly the way to worship Him."

Romans 12:1

Happy Easter!  He is Risen!!!  Go celebrate this!

 

Where Has the Last Two Weeks Gone?

Life has been pretty crazy around here.  Crazier than usual.  People always tell me that I am so busy they don't know how I do it all.  Well, it just 8 months we have gone from a family of 4 total to a family of 4 boys.   Two weeks ago we got our second foster placement.   Steve and I had gone back and forth on about whether or not we would take more until "Little Bit" was adopted.  We had no idea at the beginning of all of this just how long this process would take.  We recently found out that adoption probably won't happen until the fall or possible next year depending on his bio dad's appeal.  Now the frustrating part is that dad is in prison and has no chance bc of past criminal history of violence and drugs of getting him back.  And in reality his bio dad has only been with him for a grand total of a month of his life anyway but something I am learning is that a lot of children in foster care are viewed as possesions to their parents.  It's not really about the child to them at all.  It's an attitude of "They are mine and you can't tell me that I can't have them".  Which is tradjic for those children who are returned to these parents.  But I could go on for days about this.... that's not what this post is about.

Our newest little guy is a 4 month old precious little boy that we call " Lumpling" around here.  He is adorable, squishy and smiles ALL of the time.  I can't tell you how sweet he is.  Although I can not go into specifics about his case, I will say this is much different than our first time fostering.  I have already met his mother and we are working together with CPS and my doctor to help his mom learn to care for him.  She really seems like a nice person who is either going through postpartum depression or just generally needs some coping skills and parenting classes.  She has profusely thanked me for taking care of him and said that takes comfort in the fact that he is in a good place right now.  It is such an ideal fostering experience for us.  We get to love on this little boy knowing that he is going to go home soon to a loving family that will care for him as an individual child and that she doesn't view him as an extension of her.  It feels like you are doing such a good thing in situations like this.

I won't say that this hasn't been hard though!!  It has for sure.  Fostering is not for the weak at heart and definitley not for control freaks like me.  I have had to give up so much of what I want or the idea that things have to be my way.  Nothing is in my control with two foster babies in the home.  I intended to write this post about what my schedule has been like for the past two weeks.  But I think that would seem like complaining and I don't want to.  Let's just say that the past two weeks have been the worst and the best of my life.  The realization that life is not about you and that God is so much bigger and in so much more control than me is such a comforting place to be.

We are still not sure what we are going to do after "Lumpling" goes home, which we think will be in a few weeks.  We are going to lay it all at His feet.  We truly are seeking God's plan for us not ours.

I do know we would like some sleep first though :)

No More Soda :(

In my quest for wellness, definitely giving up diet drinks is a huge obstacle that I have to overcome.  The above cartoon pretty much sums it up for me.  Yep... I am an addict!!   I would not be exaggerating if I said that I can drink at least 36 oz a day and not even think about it.  Now, I justify that by drinking a lot of water too but I know that it is toxic to my body.  Not only am I introducing all kinds of chemicals to my system, it dehydrates me as well as make me crave unhealthy food.

Now I didn't grow up drinking much soda of any kind.  Soda was reserved for vacations of special occasions.  We NEVER kept it in our house.  I didn't ask my mom for a soda at a restaurant or even think about getting upset if she said no.  I knew that it was a luxury only.  My soda addiction started in college when freedom came into the picture!!

 Now fast forward to my own children and their habits.  I have justified their addiction because of my own.  My kids have been begging for "Happy Hour" at Sonic since they could speak.  I would want my fix and knowing that if I said they couldn't have one because it was "bad" for them would mean I shouldn't either, I would push down that nagging conscious and get them one.... almost every day!!!  Now my kids get upset if they ask for a soda and I say no.  They always come back with either, "I haven't had one today or I have only had one today!"

Really?  When did soda become a right?  So when I get upset at that response, I have no one to blame but myself!  I did this to them because of my own weakness.

Well, things have changed around here over the last 2 weeks.  I can officially say that I have not had a soda of any kind for 17 days.  Amazingly when I set my mind to it, it really hasn't been that hard.  I find myself drinking about 64 oz of water a day with an occasional unsweetened tea.  The boys process is a little bit slower.  I am allowing them one a day until we run out of our stockpile and then it will be only on occasion.

I think this is a huge step toward wellness.  Click on my recipe tab for a sparkling recipe that has helped me get my "fizzy" soda fix.

I am an aunt for the third time :). My SIL gave birth a week ago today. He is a monster too. She was in labor 14 hours , most of that without an epidural. She is a trooper and for sure one of my heroes.

When Conlan Xavier finally made his debut, he weighed in at 10 1/2 lbs and 23" long. WOW!!! She practically gave birth a two month old.

I hate that he lives 19 hours away. I can't wait to kiss all that chub!!

Doesn't he look like a Hill man?

8 Weeks to Real Foods

I have been taking this challenge for a couple of weeks now.  It's a great way to introduce a new way of eating to your family.  If you sign up for the emails, each week you will be sent a different food to cut out of your diet.  They allow you to slowly weed out the food that is bad for you without making you go "cold turkey".  I didn't throw away any food that I had already purchased, that would be wasteful but I did stop buying them at the store.  So far we are down to just a few unhealthy items on the shelf and boy have my boys been complain'.  

We are working on week 3 right now which includes cutting out sodas, sugar and any kind of trans fat in our home.  This has been tough due in large part to the fact that  I and my boys have two very strong weaknesses; fast food and diet sodas.  I know that both of these vices contribute to my overall bad health.  So far I have not had a any type of soda for about a week now; the boys are down to just one small one a day.  Which is still a lot to me but slow and steadily I hope to wean them off.   Fast food on the other hand has been a slower process.  I have gone to get Chick-fil-A and Sonic in the past week but both times I chose healthier options than I normally do. I still had a french fry or two or ten but I feel myself already not wanting those things.  I am hoping reshape my boys palates by example on this one.  

This for me and Steve is not about weight loss; although I have a strong inkling that by just cutting out these two vices, it will come.  It's about putting in our bodies things that make it healthier.  I love that commercial about "You are what you eat" when the lady is walking down the sidewalk with two big cinnamon buns on her buns.  That is so me (:   I hope one day both of those buns will be gone!!