snippets

* As you can see, I have decided to change the look of my blog (over a year with the same look; I decided it was time for a change.) I'm pretty sure I'm going to stick with the basic white background for now. The question is, which of these photos should I use for my banner above? You look at my blog as much as I do - which picture do you want to see again & again? Tell me your opinion in the comments section. I like 'em all but am leaning towards the leaves. Also, keep in mind that the blog title will be placed over the picture, near the top center. I haven't figured out how to customize the title so it can be placed anywhere on the picture; for now I'm stuck with Blogger parameters.

1. (rustic) 2. (peaceful)
3. (mod)

* Dave received the latest David Crowder Band album (Remedy) and it is (as was expected) freaking awesome. We've been listening to it nonstop. Get your hands on a copy. Lyrical goodness includes (all written by Crowder):

"all is lost/find Him there/find Him there/after night/dawn is there/dawn is there/and after all/falls apart/He repairs/He repairs" (The Glory of It All)

"He is the one/who has saved us/He is the one/who forgave us/He is the one who has come and is coming again/He's the remedy" (The Remedy)

"where there is pain/let there be grace/where there is suffering/bring serenity/for those afraid/help them be brave/where there is misery/bring expectancy/and surely we can change/surely we can change something" (Surely We Can Change)

We are playing it incessantly so that when we see them live at the Youth Specialties convention next month, we'll know all the words already!

* I experienced a moment of grace tonight with Lucy. Sometimes when it's just me & the kiddos at home, I have to leave them for a moment while I do something else in another room. For the most part, our living room is baby-proofed and Lucy-mischief-proofed. However, she only has eyes for our little end table of non-kid things (magazines, books, sodas, etc) that we scrunched between our couch and chair. I mean, the whole room is a play area except for this one corner, right? So when I leave, she pounces. And while I was out of the room, I heard a bump here and a thud there, and I thought, what is she doing? Is my moment of freedom (two minutes) worth whatever havoc she's causing in there? I decided, why, yes, it is, actually.

So when I went back in, I was calm & patient, since I chose to leave the room. And let me tell you, she pulled away from that end table with such quickness and agility that I was actually impressed. She heard me coming before I entered! She looked at me with those big brown eyes, waiting for me to scold her or send her to timeout. She was ready to face her consequence. And after a second of looking at her, all I could do was smile and laugh at her a little, because she is just so sweet. I kissed her head and said, "I love you." And I thought, this is grace. Jesus loves me like this too. Thank you God for showing me what grace looks like as I raise my children.

(Rest assured, Lucy gets plenty of consequences for misbehaving. Sometimes you just gotta give the girl a free pass, you know?)