Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Raylen's New Car

On Friday, Raylen and I passed a garage sale in our neighborhood and a pink Barbie Powerwheels jeep called to her. I just new it would be too high for us because I have been scouting one of these cars on Craigslist for a while. Much to my suprise and Raylen's joy, the car was very affordable and it came with a brand new battery. We picked it up later that night and she actually drove it back to our house. It's surreal trying to teach your 3 1/2 year old to drive! It wasn't long before she figured out our dachsund, Molli Brown would fit in the "back seat" compartment. They both were in heaven....




Monday, May 12, 2008

The Glue That Holds Us Together

I received this as a forward from my friend Renee who got it from on of her friends Alissa. I loved it and had to pass it along.

"A couple of days ago I was running (I use that term very loosely) on my treadmill, watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio...and I was BLOWN AWAY! I want to share what I learned...but I fear not being able to convey it as well as I want. I will share anyway.

He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is...how He spoke the universe into being...how He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire...etc. etc. Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) .....and I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork. I remember so many times thinking...."How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???"

Louie went on t o talk about how we can trust that the God who created all this, also has the power to hold it all together when things seem to be falling apart...how our loving Creator is also our sustainer.

And then I lost my breath. . .And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!!

It was because he started talking about laminin.I knew about laminin.

Here is how wikipedia describes them :"Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue." You see....laminins are what hold us together....LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell. Without them, we would literally fall apart. And I knew all this already.

But what I didn't know is what laminin LOOKED LIKE. But now I do. And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already)....

Here is what the structure of laminin looks like...AND THIS IS NOT a "Christian portrayal" of it....if you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see...






Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!! Amazing.The glue that holds us together....ALL of us....is in the shape of the cross.

Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth , visible and invisible,whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things HOLD TOGETHER." Colossians 1:15-17

Call me crazy. I just think that is very, very, very cool. Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words. And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together...one cell to another....by the cross.

You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin "glue" would look like long before Adam even breathed his first breath!! We praise YOU, Lord!!"

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!

I had a great mother's day today. Jason and Raylen suprised me with a card and roses this morning and gave me a day at the spa in the next few weeks for me to relax! After church, we snapped some pics with my mom and my brother Justin and his girlfriend and her two precious little boys. (If you are wondering where Joey is, he overslept and didn't make it to church.) After lunch, Mom, Raylen and I went to the mall and Raylen got to ride Thomas the Tank. I am very thankful to be Raylen's mommy.

Instant Friends


Later on at the lake....

After PaPa's party, we went to my cousin Amber's inlaw's house on the lake and let the kids swim. They had a great time and when the water got too cold, they jumped in the hot tub. Laney, Raylen and Jordan

Jordan, Raylen and Jamie



Happy Birthday PaPa!

Friday was my PaPa's 79th birthday. He hasn't been feeling so well and has recently found out he has cancer. We are not sure what the prognosis is at this point, but we all decided it would be fun to suprise him with a cookout and birthday party at his house on Saturday.
We went easy on him and replaced 79 candles with a question mark.

Granny playing horshoes


Uncle Joey and Raylen

The Bikini Cousins

Jamie, Raylen and Laney

Fun in Abilene


Last weekend, we were able to go to Abilene to visit Jason's family. Raylen had a great time playing with her cousins.
Uncle Jason, Madisyn, Dylan and Raylen

At the mall playground




A wagon just his size!

Playing Dress Up

Ella and Raylen
Beautiful Princesses
And Baby Jesse looks on....