Easter!

For Easter this year, we went to church and then to the Pagel's house for brunch! Jace was able to nap there, which was great. They bought a big floaty tube for the pool this summer, and we were able to sit in it and put our legs in the water without getting all the way wet. It was a lot of fun. We then went to my family's house to spend the afternoon and evening there. It was a packed day, but a lot of fun. Jace did very well for being on the go all day. At my parent's house, we had an egg hunt for the boys. Surprisingly, Jace was all about it! He would pick up the eggs and put them in his basket. He loved banging them together and then throwing them. He would take them all out of his basket and put them back in. It was really cute to watch! 

April 6th

April 6th is such a special day for Matt and I. It was the day we started dating and the day he proposed. Every April 6th we go back to the same Starbacks that it all happened at. This year, Barb and Denny watched Jace and we had a little date day after church. We went to lunch, and then played some cards at Starbucks! It's such a fun tradition and we plan to keep the tradition going! :)

Pagel Wedding 2014

I officially have a new sister!!! Sam and Ashley got married on March 21st. It was such a sweet ceremony and awesome to see the testimony of God's grace in their lives! I just love Ashley and am so excited to have another sister! :) Here are a few pictures from her Bachelorette Party, Rehearsal dinner, and the wedding!

Faithful God

I'm not sure if any of you have a song that you listen to that just speaks truth about God's character when you are just down or discouraged. Well I have one. "Faithful God" by Shai Linne. It is one of those songs that just has me shaking my head in total agreement with the words he speaks/sings. 

Faithful God (Hopefully the link works--it has the lyrics too so you can follow along)

My favorite part of the song is

 "From the things You say, You don’t budge

You’re faithful to save and You’re faithful to judge
The God who is just is not one of us
The faithful God is the God we can trust
We can’t trust us, on You we rely
Everything we need, Lord, You will supply
Even when we’re faithless, You remain faithful
You cannot deny Yourself" 

This song seriously just slaps me across the face and gets me out of the slump I'm in. Today is one of those days, but as I sit here listening to this song I'm reminded about God's character. He is faithful. His ways aren't my ways. I can be so faithless, especially during trials. But I'm thankful for trials because it's during those times that I am being refined. One of the verses hanging on my fridge is Psalm 66:10-12. "For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance." Trials are temporary. As it also says later in Psalms, He remembers our frame and remembers that we are but dust. Praise God for momentary trials. And even if they last a lifetime, they truly are only momentary in the grand scheme of eternity. 

Anyways, those are my random thoughts for today. The last 6 months have been so good for my heart--difficult to swallow, but good in the aspect that God is faithful to reveal sin in my life and through this trial, He has been sanctifying me greatly. 

With all this said, I really need to post some pictures from Easter. Jace was all about looking for eggs, which I wasn't sure if he would even care. I'll get them off my phone this week and post again.