HOORAY for life!

I feel like it's been forever since I posted anything about everyday life... my time has been occupied with studying for the nursing boards. But now that it's over and I have my license (WOOHOO!), I'm back to the computer.

We just took our first family hiking trip to a little waterfall in Pasadena. Oh my- can I just say surreal? It was the wierdest thing- all I could think was that here we were hiking, only now I was the mom instead of the kid running around having fun and learning about the rocks, trees and bushes God made. Motherhood has definitely crept up on me, slowly but surely convincing me that yes, this is happening. :) Whoa (as Keanu Reeves would say).

One thing that struck me about this picture: were it not for their undeniably similar facial features, no one would guess that this is Dan's baby! He looks like a little German baby, or something! Who knew he's 1/4 Mexican?

Corban thought hiking was the best thing ever and spent the whole 1.5 miles just waving his arms, gasping and smiling with his mouth wide open!

On another note, can I just say that it's official: I'm twitterpated! I cannot go 10 minutes without telling this kid how cute, handsome, adorable, amazing and smart he is! Every move he makes, every breath he takes (sounds like a song...) is miraculous to me. I cannot even put it into words because I won't do the feeling justice. I can see now how so many moms get trapped into living solely for their children: they're irresistible! I pray every day, now harder than ever, that I will be able to surrender my boy to the Lord and allow Him to do what needs to be done in Corban's life. I can only imagine how hard it's gonna be to actually try and discipline this child- he's such a charmer, I envision myself melting away with one smile from his little face. :)

well, that's all for now... We'll be posting more milestones soon, I'm sure!

Election Day Thoughts

So I can't really take credit for everything I'm going to say. My husband is the thinker of our household, and throughout this election season has raised very thoughtful and (I think) right-on points about us as Christians and citizens of this country.
We do typically stay out of political debate/activity because as pastors, you just gotta be wise... and we don't think it's our place to tell anyone how they should vote.
BUT I've had this on my heart for a while, so here it goes:
We are first and foremost aliens and strangers in this world. We are citizens of the Kingdom, and we submit to the authority of the Most High before anything else. That said, Paul exhorts us in Romans to do good, live a good life as citizens of the land where we dwell. So we do have a responsibility in this nation to vote and participate in the political process.

What saddens me the most is that the battlefield is not the election. It is not the president or law that brings salvation. We say we believe we must win people to salvation, to spread the Gospel to the hurting and the lost, but we shout on street corners, yelling that we must protect our families, shelter our children.

Now before I get flooded with outraged comments let me clarify: we do need to support morality. My point is this: NO ONE WAS EVER SAVED AT THE BALLOT BOX. We could outlaw abortion tomorrow and guess what? Young women in every city would STILL be hurting, lost and turning to all the wrong things. Yes, abortion is horrifically wrong and I abhor that we allow it to become so commonplace. But as believers and citizens of the Kingdom, our FIRST responsibility is to reach out to the lost.

We are called to be salt and light. We are not called to shout slogans and slurs. We are called to be Jesus' hands and feet. We are called to love people. We are called to witness, so that they would KNOW the love of Christ.

No matter the outcome of this election, God sits on His throne. He is ultimately concerned with the hearts of people, and He has called us to be His instruments of grace and truth.

Well, I have no doubt that I'll probably be misunderstood in the heart of this post, but I sincerely hope that I was clear: I care about our nation, I really do. But I'm more and more convinced that the answer is not the polls. In fact, it couldn't be more wrong. The answer is us. Believers living lives that bring hope to a weary world. Christ-followers who actually follow Christ.
WE are the vessels of change, through the power of our Savior.