Behold the Lamb

Brad & I decided that our gift to each other this year would be tickets to Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb" tour at the Ryman. I am SO GLAD we went. It was AMAZING! The acoustics in that place are absolutely gorgeous. I think that everyone should go see that tour at least once. The first half was a "songwriter's in the round"... Every artist with him sang at least one of their own songs. I loved EVERYONE and foudn several new singer/songwriters we are in love with! Michael Card was there too... and it was such a neat thing listening to him. I remember being 8 years old, listening to "Scandalon" over and over again... I think that was when I really fell in love with music, and not just music, but especially music with a deep spiritual message that provokes me to fall deeper in love with Jesus.

The second half was the actual "Behold the Lamb" part. Have I said yet that it was AMAZING? They began with Andrew reading this quote from introduction to the Jesus Storybook Bible:

It's like an adventure story about a young Hero who came from a far country to win back his lost treasure. It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne, everything to rescue the one he loves. It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that have come true in real life.


You see, the best thing about this story is—it’s true.


It takes the whole Bible to tell this story. And at the center of the Story there is a baby. Every story in the Bible whispers his name. He is like the missing piece in a puzzle—the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together and suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.

And what a beautiful picture they painted! The songs started in the old testament, telling the prophecies, and the lineage of Jesus. One song blended into the next. My favorite was "Labor of Love", sung by Jill Phillips. (The song is in the video I posted on Christmas).

It was not a silent night
There was blood upon the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David's town

And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother's hand to hold

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love

Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David's town
In the middle of the night

So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move

It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love

It just made me think about that night in a way I never had before.

They ended everything, by having us all stand, and in that beautiful place with GORGEOUS acoustics, we all sang Gloria, in Excelsis Deo, and they on the stage listened to us sing.

It was magical and wonderful and awe-inspiring and I left feeling very much like I was taking the presence of God with me. He is always with me, but there are times where I feel him more powerfully than others, and this was one of those times.

Anyone and everyone that can NEEDS to go with us next year!!!

So much to blog, so little time!

I haven't had internet access for a few weeks so I am way behind!

I'll do a series of posts, telling you all about our Christmas season.

Here goes!

We are sick.

Before we got here, everyone came down with the stomach flu, but it was all over with before we got here, so we thought we were ok. But last night Sara & I were puking up all the red frosting from Sara's Elmo cupcake cake. Totally gross and I am never eating anything with red food coloring ever again. Probably a good idea anyway.

We were supposed to leave today but I am still feeling blah. SO pray I feel well enough to travel soon. Brad doesn't need to miss any more work.

Merry Christmas!!!!

I hope all of you out in blogland have a fantabulous Christmas! Remember the important things...Jesus, family, and friends!

Merry Christmas 2008!

Oh be careful little mouth, What you eat

My children!!! What am I going to do with them!

We were getting ready to leave Owie's house yesterday, and I picked up Emily to put her in the car seat. She was choking on something. I tried to scoop it out with my fingers, but it was already half way down and she ended up swallowing it. It felt like a big piece of wire. To me, it felt like a spring from a chip clip or a hair clip or something. She acted fine once she swallowed it, but I was worried.

I panicked. I called Wendy, knowing that she has lots of mother experience and would tell me if I was just panicking for no reason (I didn't call you mom, because I knew you would panic too and I wanted a non-panicking source Ha!). I asked her if I should take her to the ER, and she said yes. I would have taken her anyway though. The end of that thing felt sharp and I was worried about things getting tore up inside of her. *shudder*

I called Bro. Sutton and Mom Riddell. Couldn't get ahold of Mom yet. Dropped Sara off with Wendy and went to Vanderbilt Children's ER. I LOVE them. They had us in to triage and getting x-rays in under 5 minutes. Emily did so good. The only time she fussed was when we had to hold her arms over her head to get the side shot.

We didn't have to wait long for the doctor (well, a "fellow" really... teaching hospital you know. This fellow really was a fellow!). He said that whatever it was, was already in her stomach, and that's a good thing. If it got stuck in her throat or something back there or in her lungs, then that would be bad. But he said that the gut is really tough, and she should pass it with no problem. He also said that they've had kids come in that have swallowed open diaper pins and had no problems. YIKES! So, he gave me a list of warning signs to watch for, but she should pass it in MAX 3 days. If I haven't seen it yet (watching for it will be fun) in 3 days, then I have to take her back.

Here's pictures of the x-ray.

See that hooked white thing in the middle near her spine? Yes, that's it. *shudders again*

I'm be so glad when I see that thing in her diaper.

Christmas!!!!!

I can't wait!!!

I am slowly but surely working on getting my Christmas shopping done. It is not going to be much but at least something for everyone. And extra for the girls of course. We're celebrating Sara's birthday too before we leave for Arkansas so I have to bring her birthday presents with me.

Brad put up blue icicle lights on the porch gable... he couldn't get it to be long enoug to reach end to end, so he went all electrician on me and spliced it with a cord from a hair dryer I had quit using because something inside was sounding funny. It's hilarious but I don't think anyone would notice if they didn't know. :-) Then I went to Dollar Tree and spent $5 on "pine" garland and red bows to wrap around the little deck. FUN! I want to get a little tree for inside, but I want the house clean first. There is always something though so I guess I shouldn't wait too long!

I finished designing our family Christmas card just a bit ago! I am SO excited! I always have grand intentions every year but I never have gotten cards out. I sent it to Wal-Mart.com to be one houred and if the single print turns out good then I'll order more and send them out! So please everyone send me your address! Unless I go to church with you, then I'll just give it to you. :-)

I want to bake! Christmas always makes me want to make things and cook things and all that but there is never any time. Tonight though, we are going to have a yummy dinner, I hope. Our dinner meals have been blah lately, so I decided to try to change that. I got tilapia filets and I'm going to bake them in tin foil with butter, lemon pepper, garlic, and dill. I have NEVER cooked fish before (well, fish sticks don't count!) so I'm hoping it turns out good! And I'm going to cook red potatoes, carrots & onions. And rolls. Need something green but the dill on the fish will have to suffice. Ha! And for dessert, I'm making a coconut oatmeal pie! YUMMY!! It's been FOREVER since I've made one. If you like chess pie (something I've discovered since being in TN!) or even pecan pie, you'd like this.

PRAY dinner doesn't flop. I really really want to surprise Brad with something different.

I was invited to a get together tonight and I think it really would be fun. But I need time with my family and that has got to come first. There will be other get togethers.