Skiing, Thanks, the start of Lent...

...in other words, this is a random blog!

The most important first.

Lord, thank you for...

211. Seeing You in the mountains

212. Watching my kids ski down one of Your mountains

213. Time spent playing games and laughing with my family

214. Watching my sister be a great mom

215. My mom's listening ears

216. My dad's ski lift wisdom

217. Safety as we drove snowy mountain roads

218. Joy in being home...my home is a peaceful place

219. A trip to the library and watching the boys "read" new books all the way home

220. Hallie's smile when she got invited for a play date

221. A chance to be God's witness at work

222. Watching Hallie meet a new friend at dance class and seeing her graceful arms during ballet

223. The opportunity to help a friend in need

224. A messy kitchen...we have been busy living here lately

225. Grammy and Grandpa's house...dinner on Thursday nights...the comfort of being in their home, it's like walking into a big hug when we walk in.

Our start to the Lenten season...
First of all, I need to give a shout out to all my Catholic friends. I love the way that faith's traditions remind and prepare hearts for the celebration of Easter.

Yesterday we talked about the people we saw with ashes on their foreheads. I explained to the kids how God made us from dust, how we are sinners and then we talked about Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. That led to our decision to give up all sweets (cake, candy, cookies, donuts...) until Easter as a way to sacrifice something for God. I was so happy that all the kids seemed to be excited about the idea of giving something up because, "God is more important than sweets."

Tonight Zac was asking if we could give up something else because he really wanted ice cream at Grammy's house. :)

I also got a great idea of Ann Voskamp. We are going to make a confessions box this weekend and leave it by the prayer chair. Over the next forty days we will confess our sins on paper and put it in the box(pictures or words). On Easter we will celebrate by soaking the box in water, because Jesus washes our sins away (Hallie really liked this idea) and then throwing the box away to celebrate Jesus forgiving our sins and casting them away forever.

I am looking forward to preparing my heart and helping to prepare my kids' hearts for celebrating the Lord's death and resurrection.


OK, last but not least...Ski pictures