Worship...

It's a lifestyle, not just what we do on Sunday mornings...that's what the pastor said on Saturday at our Worship Arts Ministry Retreat.  And, wow, OH WOW, did that hit home!!!!

And then, about that time, I felt a little tapping on my shoulder and a whisper in my ear saying "You better listen to what he's saying, I've brought him here just so you could hear this message."  Of course, when you feel like you hear God speaking right into your heart, your going to stop and listen!

The pastor went on to talk about the Great Commandment and how we as Christians are missing the boat on what the Great Commandment actually is.  There a misunderstanding between the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.  And I think I have failed at the Great Commandment and have strived to accomplish the Great Commission.

And now that my eyes have been opened to it, God has shown me in several different ways, a particular set of scriptures, Deuteronomy 6:3-9.  But 6:5 is truely where it's at - "Love God, your God, with all your whole heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." NIV

But the verses that follow are my favorite part of these scriptures!!! 

"Write these commandments that I've given you today onyour hearts.  Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children.  Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.  Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates. The Message

Wow, I have totally not been living up to this commandment in the past couple of years.  We still do church pretty much any time the doors are open, but not much else.  We say prayers before we eat and before we go to bed, but how sincere are those prayers???

We talk about loving God and His love for us...but do we offer a lifestyle of worship?  Not even close...

So our household is changing our lifestyle...we will be rising early to get in the scripture before we start our day....we will be listening to worship music in the car....we will be cutting out the TV time...we will be seeking God's will in all we do!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday....

 

 

A day late...but my favorite time of year is upon us again!!!!!

Wordless Wednesday....

I have to add a few words today...this picture is of one of our awesome Youth from our trip to Puerto Rico.  You see, her and her twin sister were in a car wreck this past Monday.  And I SO have a special place in my heart for these girls!  So, I had to put a picture of her this week.  She's still in the hospital, but every picture or FaceBook post I have seen, she's been smiling and has such a sweet spirit!  I love you both, Michaela and Bekah!!!  Hope you feel better soon!

Something I never thought would happen to me....

...and it was probably the best feeling in the world!!!

Since Steve and I decided to head back to Puerto Rico, we thought it would be good to do some fundraising to help us get there this time.  So, we started brainstorming, what can we do to help raise some extra money to help us get there???  Especially with as crazy as our schedules are and with two kids in tow...And then it dawned on me...why not run the Country Music 1/2 Marathon and have folks sponsor us.  There's a website, which I'm sure many of you know about, www.gofundme.org.  It allows you to set up an account/blog and folks can log on and donate funds via a secured website. 

So, we set it up and started training. My awesome friend, Holly, decided to train with me for some extra support. So, 16 weeks of running 3-4 times per week started in February. And on April 27th, we did it!

This is us on the shuttle to the start line at 5:00 AM!  We had been up since 3:00!!!  Steve and Sam said no pictures that early!



The start line was on West End, so the shuttle dropped us off right by the Parthenon.  Thought we would stop and get a shot before going to the start.



These pics are from our view at the start line.  There were people everywhere!!!!  35,000 people really looks like much, much more!

A picture of all four of us before we get started.

A couple pics of us during the run.  We had to have proof we actually were out there running!!

And a couple of after pcitures.  Do you notice Holly & I have our shoes off???  I couldn't wait to take them off!!!  The tips of my toes were blistered and nasty!!!

 And the day after - we proudly wore our medals!!!  We were so exhausted!  But Ronnie, our friend in the middle, is a beast!  He ran the full marathon!!!!  I think I'll stick to 13.1!!!



Update on Casa de Barrios....

...since it's been so long, I thought I would post a short update on all things happening in Casa de Barrios the past two years...watch out, lots of pictures and most of them are from my long lost iphone.

Here goes nothing:

Emily started the 2nd Grade.  And started an sassy attitude at the same time.

Steve played and coached a lot of baseball, which meant lots of time spent at the ballpark.

Lots of dress up and play time.  And goodness gracious, so glad the "wah-wah", or pacifier for those not in the Barrios clan, is gone!!!!

Lots of weddings...

And a few new babies...

Ran our first 1/2 marathon.

Second trip to Puerto Rico.

We are officially potty trained!  YAY!!! No more diapers!



That almost wraps up our last 2 years.  You'll see some of these things in more detail in future posts and a few other posts from the past couple years I didn't include (like some partying!!).

Hope you didn't get too bored with all the pictures!

Wordless Wednesday...

Second Opportunity to serve the wonderful people of Puerto Rico!!!

Welcome Taylor Marie...

So, just came across this post from two years ago!  Pretty sad state of my blog!  The saddest part is Kim already has a second baby now!  But I thought I would go ahead and post this anywyas.  Here's the original post:

This past weekend a few girls threw a shower for our friend Kim, who is due Oct. 22nd with sweet Taylor Marie.  We decided to do a "bird" theme.  So we had lots of birds, a bird house, and a wishing tree.

It wa so much fun working with pink - it seems like a lot of my friends lately have been having boys!

 

Here's some shots from the day: