Fisherman

"As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman.  'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.'  AT ONCE they left their nets and followed him.  When he had gone a little farther, he saw James. . .and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.  WITHOUT DELAY he called them, and they left their father. . .in the boat. . .and followed him".  Mark 1: 16-20

I read this passage this morning and was struck by the response of Simon, Andrew, James and John.  How I long to uproot myself to follow after Jesus at once and without delay.  I am so bogged down with the details of life that I am often saying, "Okay God, just give me one more second and I'll be there", because I have to finish up whatever it is that is occupying my time in the moment.  I hope that 2008 is a year in which I follow after the Lord AT ONCE and WITHOUT DELAY regardless of what I am doing or the plans I have concocted to execute in a certain manner and time interval.  Lord, I pray this year I will eagerly run to you to be a fisher of men!  

Sarah is Dead!

Yes, it is true, our dear hermit crab bit the dust last night!!!  Why do the animals choose to die when Matt is out of town???  First Sally and now Sarah.  She was really active last night. . .I could hear her all the way upstairs in my bedroom.  Retrospectively, I think she was trying to escape from the cage due to the frigid temperatures (the Wells' keep their home at 64 at night).  This morning I came down and saw Sarah out of her shell lying on the bottom of the cage.  Thankfully today is trash day, so after breaking the news to Madeline I brought her in her cage to the curb (just don't tell Madeline this :)).  I think the Wells are done with pets for a while!

Cathe Friedrich

Laugh as you may, but I have an obsession with an exercise enthusiast on Fit TV.  Her name is Cathe and she does a program called Cardio Blast.  The woman kicks my behind with her workouts and I love every moment of it!  If you like high intensity work outs and want to build muscle, check out Cardio Blast on Fit TV.  And what I really like about her is that she is both fit and feminine.  All this to say that I have added a link to her blog and I thought I should give an explanation.  Anyone want to take a trip to NJ with me to do one of her classes in person???

Happy New Year

For New Year's Eve, we had dinner at a Japanese steakhouse with many of our neighbors and Grandma.  The chef gave us a lively performance and we were all entertained.  Of course, this is the first time Madeline and Ryan have ever been to a Japanese steakhouse.  After the chef had packed up his cart and moved out of the dining room Madeline turned to her Grandma and told her how kind that man was. . .to her it appeared that this stranger came, put on a show, cooked dinner for her and filled her plate with food.  In her sweet innocence, she had no idea that it came with a price tag and not out of the kindness of the man's heart.

Today we had a great time at Raleigh's Life and Science Museum.  We ended up at a story time where we pet a 4 or 5 foot long pine snack, a very large rat, and an African cockroach.  Matt and I were so amazed by our children's courage and sense of adventure.  They both eagerly pet everything and Ryan even held the snake (actually, only a part of it since it was much larger than him).  The rest of the day Ry kept saying snake and Daddy kept saying, ask Mommy if we can have one (my response. . .over my dead body!!!. . .of course, I did not say that to Ryan).  Of all the creatures, the one Madeline showed timidity over was the cockroach.  Though it was large for a cockroach (4-5 inches), it was nothing like the rat or snake.  It is so interesting how we are all fearful of different things.  Oh. . .just remembered a cute saying from Madeline. When we walked into the museum, there was a huge replica of a great white shark's jaw (it was probably a 2.5 foot circumference).  She was quite impressed by it and told me that if she was a mermaid she would see this.  I thought it was such a funny remark.  It was clever that she associated the sea with mermaids and sharks, and funny that she said nothing about the impending doom if she was really a mermaid and came face to face with the jaw of such a shark.  Though the live animals were a great hit with the kids, Madeline's favorite part of the museum was the room where there were dinosaur replicas and a little television program on how a smaller, but sharp tooth biting dinosaur can kill a very, very large dinosaur.  The replica actually showed a bite out of the big dinosaur with blood running out of it.  Hours after we left the museum, she continued to talk about this, saying it was her favorite part of her visit to the museum.  Hope she won't be discussing this on the coach of a psychiatrist in 20 years! :)

And yes, the dreaded "thing" occurred when we returned to the car.  We lost the parking ticket. It was very windy today and we are convinced that it blew off of the inside of the windshield when we opened the doors, though we have no idea how it went unnoticed.  So, while we were only there for 2 hours, we paid for a full day of parking.  And to make matters worse, Mommy got us lost on the way home.  Thankfully we all had a good afternoon nap and put our car woes behind us.  

Oh and as a warning to those who have never gotten close to a snake, they do something called "musking" when they are frightened.  It is a disgusting smell they emit that seems to attach itself to clothing and the inside of your nose.  I have been smelling musking snake all day long!!!  At time during the day, when I was in the kitchen and Madeline in the family room, she told me that she could smell that gross snake on me. . .of course, I think she was just trying to be silly, but perhaps she could. . .

Grandma's Visit

Grandma, Aunt Josie, Uncle Rob and cousins Andrew, Sam, Ben and Matthew arrived on the 28th. Though our visit with Aunt, Uncle and family lasted only 24 hours, it was WONDERFUL. Madeline and Ryan loved being around their cousins. Though they are much older, Maddie and Ryan loved watching the boys and the boys were very sweet. Friday night we had fun playing games and Saturday morning the ladies got to go to the flea market. Grandma, Aunt Josie and I had a great time at the flea market, bar the fanatic at the kitchen store who held us captive for at least 30 minutes explaining to us the great health benefits of drinking a teaspoon of diluted Himalayan sea salt every day. I must admit that Grandma and Aunt Josie did end up purchasing the sea salt, but I think it was only to secure our freedom! :) Being around Aunt Josie is like breathing fresh air. She is so energetic and kind and loving and real. I think everyone needs an Aunt Josie in their lives!!!

On Sunday we had some special girl time. Since Ry was sick, Daddy stayed home with him and Mommy, Grandma and Maddie went to church, Jason's Deli for lunch and then to the movies to see Enchanted, a princess movie.

Quiet Time Reflections

I have been reading through Isaiah and was captured by Chapter 53.

It is amazing how Jesus is described, actually prophesied about since he was yet to make his appearance on earth.

"He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.  He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering".

Isn't it amazing that there was nothing humanly (appearance wise) remarkable about Jesus??? It was Him, the Lord within Him that drew people to him.  Isn't it amazing that He was despised and rejected, that he had sorrows and knew suffering?  It is amazing that we have a God who understands us as humans because He walked this earth and experienced life.

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. . .But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought US PEACE was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed".

It is so humbling to read these verses.  It makes me sorrowful that I don't live my life completely for the Lord, that I don't spend every moment of the day pursuing Him or seeking to live out His will in all circumstances.

"And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man's envy of his neighbor.  This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind".  Ecclesiastes 4:4

This verse grabbed my attention.  In no way do I want to live my life keeping up with my "neighbors" or desiring what they have.  It is so easy to live a life of comparison, but it is so futile.  Ecclesiastes is such a good reminder of why it is important to keep your focus on that which is important--living for the Lord.

Having children makes it difficult to decide how to celebrate the birth of Jesus, Christmas. Madeline and Ryan, I hope you read this some day and know that we (mommy and daddy) have put and will continue to put a lot of thought into how to celebrate Christmas.  We want you to experience the magical belief in Santa and enjoy receiving presents, but we want Christ to be the center of Christmas.  We want you to know that we celebrate Christmas to celebrate the birth of Christ and the salvation it ultimately brought.  

Christmas

The children are nestled all snug in their beds as visions of Christmas day dance in their heads. I cannot believe the day is almost over. It started out very early. . .12:30 am. Why? Because both Madeline and Ryan have terrible colds and coughs. We were up again from 4-5am, but the festivities did not begin until a little after 7am. As soon as Madeline woke up she asked if Santa had come. I told her that he had and she immediately starting jumping up and down and saying yea! I carried Ryan down the stairs and Daddy carried Madeline down the stairs with their eyes covered. Madeline was SO excited to see the presents. So far she seems most excited about the Cinderella doll set that Santa brought. Mommy and Daddy bought Madeline ballet slippers and dance lessons to begin in January, and Ryan got a train set, which he loves.

We then moved into the kitchen for homemade waffles and finished the morning watching Frosty and playing with the new toys. During naptime Matt and I both got to work out, which was good after my peanut butter and jelly waffle sandwich for lunch. . .if you have never tried it, you should because it is DELICIOUS! And after naptime we headed out for dinner with Pete, Tara, Julia and Paul. They graciously still wanted us to come over even though Madeline and Ryan have a nasty cold/virus. Dinner was delicious, dessert was even better, and time with the four of them was the best! We had a crown rib roast, vanilla sweet potatoes, garlic roasted asparagus, and onion-parsley bread. And dessert was a wonderful cake from the Blue Moon Bakery, a chocolate cake layered with a hazelnut mousse and Fangelico liquor, iced with chocolate buttercream and chocolate ganache.

Poor Madeline quickly deteriorated when we sat down for dinner. For some reason, eating triggered a coughing spell that lasted for an hour. At first we thought she was exagerating the cough, but we were quickly proved wrong when not even the offer of sucking her thumb or having dessert gave her the strength to stop coughing. I'm really hoping tonight is a better night, as we have had three rough nights in a row and I am exhausted.

Something cute. Madeline woke up from her nap before Ryan and I told her that when I went for my run she could watch a show. So right before my run I started a show for her and was chatting with her on the couch. She got annoyed that I was talking during the show and said, "Mommy, you really need to go work out now". Ha, ha, ha.

The only bummer of the day were the guilt trips from my family for not coming for Christmas. Here I am 31 years old with a family of my own and my mom is still laying guilt trips on me!!! Madeline and Ryan, when you read this one day, call me on it if I ever lay a guilt trip on you for not visiting me for holidays.

Matt and I feel so blessed today and so grateful for the birth of Jesus, our Savior. We pray there will be a day when Madeline and Ryan call on the name of Jesus as their Lord and Savior and delight in celebrating his birth.

Oh, Daddy got Mommy something very special for Christmas. A coupon book with all sorts of things Mommy can redeem from Daddy. It was very thoughtful and creative. The best gift I have received since we got married!!!

This boy is too cute for his own good! Here he is playing at Southpoint.

How precious! Matt and I loved walking behind them and watching them hold hands. They can be so sweet together.

RyRy on a sugar high. Can you tell that someone got a Pez dispenser in his stocking? Did you know that one can eat all the candy in the dispenser in 60 seconds or less? :)

Daddy teaching Ryan and Madeline how to use their Pez dispensers. . .yes, Daddy did sneak a few for himself, but the poor guy had not yet had his cup of coffee and was desperate.

Madeline is so excited about the Cinderella toy she just opened.

Our silly girl. . .always looking for a laugh.

Ry playing with his train set. He LOVES it.