Don't know if this video will show up it or not....but Becca is getting baptized on Sunday. I am so proud of her. When she first said that she wanted to get baptized, I wasn't sure she was quite ready for that decision in her life. But through talking to her and praying with her, it is clear to me how genuine this little girl is about her love for Jesus. She has pages full of prayers to Jesus in her little prayer journal and it just makes my heart smile to see how much He has been working in her life. Oh yes, she is still Miss Little Attitude a lot, but she has such a kind heart and and loving spirit. I just love her to pieces.

turning my worries into prayers...

"If things go great, then God is God and God is good. If things go horribly wrong, God is still God and God is still good."

I forget which wonderful pastor of mine told us this a couple of weeks ago in church, but I was reminded this morning of this promise--that God is good no matter what.

I worry. I am a worrier. I worry in the morning that I won't get anything that I am supposed to accomplished. I worry throughout the day that I'm not doing the things that I am supposed to be doing. I worry at night when I realize that the majority of the plans I had set out for the day have not actually gotten done. I worry.

I also worry about the bigger things: if i am a good enough wife and mother, about my childrens' salvation, about providing for my family, about our budget, and about our future.

It hit me this morning when I was looking over my prayer journal for the past two years that I should turn all that worrying into PRAYING. This particular prayer journal was started in 2008, after a pretty dark time in my life and my marriage. I wrote a few prayers to God, but then, apparently, my worrying took the place of my prayers and I didn't write in this journal for over 2 years!

A lot has happened in these past two years. We lost two babies to miscarriage. I started working. I lost my job. We were blessed with the miracle of Connor's life. Our other little ones have gotten so big! Chris and I have grown and changed so much as a couple. I see now that all the worries that I turned over to God in these prayers written over 2 years ago were taken care of, even though I wasn't paying attention. I want to pay attention now.

God's plan is perfect. I can see looking through the pages of this journal and the pages of my life, that God cares about every little detail--even the ones that we don't even think twice about. He's been working out the tiny little details of my life to bring it all together at just the right time. He did that without my help and even without my cooperation at times because He loves me. Yes, bad things have happened, good things have happened, and very sad things have happened. But our God in His awesomeness has put together His perfect plan for my life (and yours!) that no amount of worrying will change.

Today, I'm turning my worrying into praying and trusting Jesus to take care of all the details that only He and I know about...

Ryan's decision...

I've been praying real hard for the Lord to begin to work in my little Ryan's heart. Last night, he was having trouble falling asleep, so he came to snuggle with me in my bed. I was asking him about what he learned in church yesterday morning and asked, "who loves you, Ryan?" and he said "God!" (disclaimer: he also added Becca, Mommy, Daddy, Levi, Nathan, and Caleb in there too!) I asked Ryan if he believed in Jesus and wanted to ask Jesus in his heart so that he could go to Heaven. I explained again about how Jesus died for all the bad things that we've done and told him that Jesus can help him make the right decisions. I asked him if he wanted to pray a prayer with me, and he nodded his head. So, I led him in a little prayer of salvation, and he said it with all of his heart!

I'm not quite sure that he completely understands the decision that he made last night., but nowhere in the Bible does is say that one must "understand" to be saved--it only says one must believe. After we prayed and were talking a little bit about all the people (and animals-ha!) that he would see in Heaven, he almost started to cry and said, "Mommy, I don't want to go to Heaven. I want to stay here so I can play with Connor". Oh, my heart just broke for the poor little guy. He really thought that he was going to go to Heaven right then and there! But that almost makes it more special because he chose to trust Jesus enough that he asked Him in to come into his heart fully believing that he would go to Heaven that very minute. Ryan was quite relieved when I told him that he didn't have to go to Heaven right away :)

I'm excited for my little man and I just pray that the decision he made last night at least laid a foundation for him to make a fully conscious choice to follow Jesus later on his life. Pray for him!