Fun Spring Happenings

Hello everyone! Tonight at church we learned how God is attentive. He is always watching, always listening, and always acting in the world. It's neat how as a teacher you think you are only going to be teaching the kids, but in my experience God has been teaching me a lot too :) I don't feel like I am nearly as familiar and knowledgeable about the bible and even bible stories as I should be. I'm praying that God would increase my understanding and help me get a better grasp on it all. As long as I've been in church, I am very disappointed at how much I really know and understand about the bible. I guess it's good, bc it is motivating to keep trying to learn and grow. And it is exciting when God does teach me something and a light bulb goes off about how that fits with this or that.

anyway, here are some pics of braelyn at dollywood. she has been twice now and has really enjoyed the rides both times. the first time was with her cousins and the last time it was just us(me, aaron , and braelyn) and she still enjoyed riding them even by herself. i also included a few pics from the park. we can walk to the park, such a blessing. braelyn really enjoys going down the slide. she is getting better every time we go. and her vocabulary seems to grow day by day. she just got back from spending 4 nights with her nana and granddaddy in knoxville--wow! she did really great and we did pretty good too :) it was strange not having her around, but we were pretty busy the whole time and didn't have much time to miss her. i can tell that she is nearing the big TWO.....her little stubborn side is coming out sometimes. she loves to play with our neighbor ashley, who braelyn calls "ashee". she is 4 yr old and they like to play bubbles together. she is really into building with her blocks lately. she can count to 10, although she usually likes to go from 3 to 6. overall, she is just a lot of FUN!! I'm so thankful for her and so thankful to get to stay at home with her.

Praising the Lord

Here are some pics from about a month ago, yes, I am behind. we had a pretty eventful april. we had a wonderful outing to the knoxville zoo with my friend steph and her little girl addie. they are about the same age. thanks steph for such a great day of mommy and friend time :) and i think braelyn really enjoyed it too. braelyn wasn't as interested in the animals as i thought she would be. i think a lot of them were just too far away. but she liked the petting zoo part a lot.




Notices how Braelyn goes from brushing the goat's hair to her own hair :)) She loved it! And Addie decided to give it a try too.


Just wanted to share a praise. I just got done leading my first class of the summer for 8/9 year old kids at church!! :) I LOVE THOSE KIDS!! I love most kids, but that age is such a great age I think. We had 8 kids, 4 boys and 4 girls. they did a great job. i know they learned some things and they had fun too. it feels so good to have one under my belt now. I have been working hard getting the room ready. I think I have been there every day this week! But it feels so good to have something to prepare for. it also motivates me in spending time with the Lord each day, bc I know I can do nothing apart from Him. I just thank the Lord over and over for opening up this opportunity. And aaron is helping me too. It was a good night. I think I was smiling most of the way home.

Braelyn has developed her first obsession....."Praise Baby DVD". Yes, she asks for it as soon as we come downstairs in the morning and pretty much anytime she is in the living room. it was a great babysitter the other night when we went to a friend's house for dinner. we put the dvd in, and just like that....we had ourselves about 30 minutes of kid-free eating and conversation :) she is cutting some more teeth. the other day i walked in her room and she was sitting up in the rocking chair......just listening to her music and staring around the room :)) I thought I was sneaking in on her reading her books and I was looking in the floor for her, and couldn't find her and then realized she was up in the chair. i'm surprised this is the first time she has done it. she is climbing up in the kitchen chairs all the time now.
have a good rest of the week.

Pictures from Easter

We had a great Easter in middle TN celebrating with my Granny & Pop and all our Hasty family there. We also got to see Daniel and Joanna on our way in, which was really nice.



Playing peek-a-boo..........where's Braelyn??
There she is!!!!
Birthday boy, Jackson (3 years old) and his brother Colton
What a beautiful Easter morning!!
Mattie and Braelyn

ooooooooh! What a pretty yellow leaf :)



The Byrd boys....Colton, Jackson, and Hayden Too cute
All the grandkids on the Hasty side
The Jones'

First easter egg hunt. She wasn't really competitive...she just wanted to examine each one after she found it for a while




I am really excited about a couple of things.....one, I got to plant some flowers on Sunday, actually quite a few, in pots and baskets. and most of the time, i was all by myself in the yard, just enjoying the beautiful day without any interruptions. it was so nice to spend so much time on one task and feel like i actually accomplished something :)))) and now I get to smile and enjoy them every day when I look at them. Our God is SO creative (wish i could think of a more brilliant word), when you look at all the flowers, all the details in each one, all the different kinds. I praise Him and thank Him for allowing me the privilege to enjoy them each day.

secondly, I am really excited about teaching a children's class at my church this summer, ages 8-9 year olds. we are using Desiring God's children curriculum, which I have never done before, but am really excited about. I have been wanting to be more involved at church and God has answered my prayer :) We start next wednesday night. Please pray for me and the children. That God will be glorified and hearts will come to love Him and treasure Him.

For me.....God brought to my mind yesterday the word "surrender".......i was reading in the power of a praying woman....GREAT book, and she was just talking about how we must surrender EVERY part of our lives in order to be fully used by God and to experience what God has for us in the fullest. I struggle with this bc I like to be in control and I think I know what I want and what is best for me---WRONG! I have to let go of what I "think" I want....and what I "think" will make me happy. Surrendering my life daily to the Lord and TRUSTING Him to provide and reveal His plan day by day is where I can find true joy. Many times I am so ashamed of how little I trust Him. I think I trust Him a lot, but then when I look at my actions and my attitudes and my thoughts....I just have to pray "Lord help my unbelief and help me trust you more."
"For I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing" Galatians 2:20-21
"If anyone would come after me(Jesus), he must DENY himself and take up his cross DAILY and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it." Luke 9;23
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your path." Proverbs 3: 5-6