To Be Drowned

A little girl with a pony tail.  Sun shining bright on her rosy cheeks, beach clothes whipping around her 3 year old body.  Standing at the shore, ankle deep.

Gazing out at the ocean.  It's sparkling vastness beyond measure.  As far as her eyes can see is blue.

She squints into the distance as her toes dig deeper in the flour-like white sand.  Curled under.  Waves lapping against her legs, again and again.

In her hands, a bucket.  Smaller than a juice box.  Bigger than her fist.

Jaw squared, eyes determined.  She is gonna catch that big blue sea in her bucket.

I was walking along the gulf and this girl caught my eye.  You see, I was in the midst of a conversation with God about His love.  I was trembling at the ocean side, amazed and fearful of the power and depth of the ocean before me.  How great.  How vast.  How relentless in its waves.  And I felt God saying His love is like that Ocean.  Only better.

Endless, deep, measureless, abundant, His love. And in the pounding of the waves I hear His love pursuing me again, and again.

And there I was, seeing myself in that little tiny girl.  Trying to catch His love in my little juice-box bucket. Limiting Him.  Believing Him for so little.

A little girl with a bucket, trying to catch the waves.

But He says, jump in to the endless deep.  Don't be afraid to spill it on the sand, throw it around, dive in it. Be engulfed by it.  Immersed in it.  Surrounded by it.  Dive in!  It will never end, His love.  I don't have to be afraid to lose it.  There is no scarcity when it comes to God's love.  No end to its reaches.  No shore it cannot overtake.

Fathomless.  Bottomless.  And as I step into the waves, each step deeper is a step closer to freedom.

And words penned in these songs ring out in my soul over and over again:

"My fears are drowned in perfect love!"

"And further and further, my heart moves away from the shore
Whatever it looks like, whatever may come I am Yours.
And you CRUSH over me
I've lost control, but I'm free
I'm going under, I'm in over my head.
Beautifully over my head."

Oh to be drowned in the ocean of His love.  Weightless.  Fearless.  Because unlike the ocean, His love will never run out.  Could never be measured.  Will never give up on me.

Silas' Birthday

Ooops.  This happened in January but I didn't post it.  Silas had an Art party and it was SO fun.  He is really into art these days so some of the party activities included:

1. Kids started out by decorating the table which had a large paper over it- with crayons and stickers while they waited for other kids to arrive.  

2. Then while the kids were each making bracelets and necklaces out of dyed pasta, they took turns blow drying crayons to melt them into an 's' shape for Silas to keep.  Note to self: don't over-dry the pasta because they break easy!  Mini disaster but, still fun.  (The kids LOVED the hair drying).

3. Each of the kids had a canvas to do a portrait which was super fun as well.

Some decoration details:

Paint chip banner!  (Free paint chips!), Crayon boxes, crayons wrapped around jars, art supplies all around

Streamers

Paint palette

the Cake (pretty simple exterior) 

Paint can (empty one) $5, plastic table cloth from dollar store

"spilling paint" effect 

Circle banner- little cut out paper circles strung together by sewing 

Silas wanted to add to the decor and made 'art' signs for the front door

Paint spilling on the front patio

$2 art sets from the dollar store as goody bags

 Streamers!

 Paint splatter 'confetti' on the art table

   

 Melting crayons

Rainbow on the inside!  

Fiona Turns 1

Cannot believe that this sweet little girl turns 1!  I unfortunately go back to work on her birthday so we decided to celebrate the week early.  The boys enjoyed decorating with a bit of pink here and there.  She was pretty crabby for most of her party, but then perked up after a few (first) bites of cake.  She didn't know what to do with it- picked it up, smeared it around, and gave lots of pieces to daddy but eventually took a few bites.  She loved eating the tissue paper from her presents (as usual) and figured out opening presents pretty quickly.

Sweet girl:

You are determined and feisty.  You are always moving and exploring, climbing, and investigating.  You have the sweetest dimpled smile, and funniest 'cackle' laugh.  You love your brothers and they adore you.  You love music and dance and chatter every time it's on.  You love playing guitar with daddy and playing piano with mommy.  You love cheese and snuggles, being held, and climbing on playgrounds.  You love soft things, and being outdoors- exploring, being carried, being pushed in your stroller.  You have added delicate beauty to our home and a sweetness we could not have imagined!

So blessed to have your curious, sweet, fun-loving spirit in our home!

She loves climbing in Toby's bed!

Just figured out how to sew banners with paper.  SO MUCH EASIER.

Pink & Grey themed

My pinterest cake attempt =)

What IS that?

Here you go Daddy!

Oh, this is actually pretty good!

Clothes!  (Such a girl)

Tea Set (Toby liked it even more than Fiona)

GIMME THAT!