Mr. 'Tato Head

One of Claire's best "spuds," oops, I mean buds, is Mr. Potato Head, or "Mr. 'Tato Head" as Claire calls him. She loves dressing him up in all sorts of different ways. It's a lot of fun for me, too, because I can reminisce back to my own Mr. Potato Head playing days. Today, she decided to dress him up with some beautiful red earrings (even though Mr. 'Tato Head is a boy) and purple bunny slippers. She even fixed him something to eat for lunch - hot dogs! Here is a picture of Claire and her beloved friend.

I'm Back

Due to a hard drive crash and other unfortunate events, I have been unable to update my blog for quite a while. Thanks for your patience, bloggers.

As I start back up again, I want to post a short section of Scripture that is on my heart a lot lately. Part of it is that I am currently teaching this one to Claire, but I also need these verses every moment of every day.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

My sinful heart is not bent toward obeying these verses. In fact, I have lately found myself complaining regularly, neglecting to pray, and wishing my circumstances were different. But this is the exact opposite of what God has called me to do. His will for my life is to follow these verses. How on earth am I to do them?

Three simple and beautiful words, "in Christ Jesus" is where I find my answer. It is only because of the cross of Christ that I can find God's grace to obey his word. I could never bring myself to rejoice in God and truly praise him if it weren't for Jesus dying on the cross and being raised. I could never approach God with my prayers without Christ's costly sacrifice. Any expression of thanks to God from my lips or heart leads straight back to Calvary.

"Oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!"