9/11...and Other Things...How Quickly We Forget

It is amazing to me how such monumental things happen, like 9/11, things that completely shake our world, change it forever, and we forget. Just like that. We go on like it never happened. Unless, of course, the affect it had on us was very personal. I am struck with how very self centered we are, myself included...and how very immediate we are. Like people who think- it was 7 years ago, get over it. Seven years doesn't bring back the dead.

What happened 7 years ago today was horrendous. The evidence of evil in the heart of man. Not just specific men. EVERY man/woman. In all of us. These are the things we are capable of without God as ruler of our hearts. 

And now, 7 years later, most of us didn't even think about it. We were busy with our day, getting our list done. Unless you lost someone in it and the affects are so close to home that it still makes your heart ache.

I don't want to forget. I want to ache with those who are hurting. I want to mourn for the reality of sin and what that makes us capable of. I want to hurt with the hurting who are still trying to overcome unforgiveness. 

Not just 9/11. I want to remember others who may have gone through other hurts that I may or may not have experienced for myself. To know that they have been affected by something and it has changed them dramatically. Haven't we all been through something that has come close to devastating us? The loss of someone close, maybe a husband/wife, or a child; enduring abuse of any kind; the heartache of betrayal; the pain of watching someone you love hurt deeply. 

I know what it is to be healed by The Healer through things that could have crippled me in this life. I know the Peace that comes in only Christ. I want others to know the Hope that is found in Him that makes it possible to go on another day. I want to love people. Genuinely. Deeply.

God, grant your people a love for you that pours out on others. Help us to love each other. To hurt with, to take on each other's burdens, to share in this life, to remember. And to point to You, our only source of Hope.

Better is One Day?!

Gary and I are reading through Psalms together...well, not together, just simutaneously for our daily readings...it helps with accountability and to be able to talk about it together. Anyway, so today is Psalm 84. Just read verses 1 & 2:

"How LOVELY is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!

My soul LONGS, yes FAINTS

for the courts of the LORD;

my HEART and my FLESH SING FOR JOY

to the living God."

Most of us have sung these words to the Passion song, Better is One Day. I remember how much this Psalm, and consequently, the song (since it is almost word for word), meant to me at the time it came out. God used it to burn that truth on my heart. Talk about conviction. I was single at the time and used to think about- better is one day in your courts than a thousand husbands. Yeah, that was my idol at the time. I wanted a man. Well, not just any man, a Godly, loving, worth it man. And continually God was reminding me that He is better. That is He worth more.

And today, I have that man. I have a wonderful, Godly husband. And today I can still read these words and sing that song with the same conviction, putting the most valuable thing to me on this earth on the altar. But this morning, in this season, the words of the first two verses are what stings, what we've been wrestling with, what we've been questioning in the "church" these days. 

Who can say these words and really MEAN IT?!  I mean, really. I'm all about being truthful. Brutally honest. God is truth. I want God. Thus, I have to be real. And real is this- on most days, at most times, I CANNOT say in complete, full, naked truth that my soul LONGS and FAINTS for the presence of God, that my HEART and my FLESH sing for joy to Him. Most days, I'm longing for a beer, and fainting for lack of sleep. Most days my heart and my flesh want to put someone in their place. Reality check. I need Jesus! Yes, I'm saved. I "have" Jesus. I am regenerate. I have tasted and seen, experienced His goodness, and cannot go back. The blinders have been taken off, by the grace of God, I can see. And like it says in Colossians 2- as I have  received, I must walk. TODAY, as I "do life", I still cling to the grace of God to change my heart and keep me from just being a "do gooder" and religious phony. I hate those. Don't you? I can't stand people who use God and religion as a crutch. You know what I mean. They don't really want God, they want everything else He gives. Unfortunately, many times, that means I'm not liking myself. 

So, today, pray with me that God would continue to pour out His grace and make us so in love with HIM. That His value would be so treasured in our hearts, that even if for just a moment today, we would long, faint for Him. That'd we'd so desire Him, we'd be overwhelmed with joy and just have to sing in spontaneous praise, regardless of the sound.  :)  I so want to do this life for His glory, but not with some religious, stuffy purposefulness. Yes, there's times that we have to be disciplined- which that too is a grace of God. Tools of grace. I'm not going to stop having my daily readings just cause I don't "feel" like it. But He is God. He deserves SO much more than just our religious duty. He is so WORTH our affections. Join me in asking Him to help us see Him as He is so that we'll really, really, genuinely LOVE HIM- with heart, soul, mind, and strength. The all encompassing. Funny, how we can't even obey the "greatest commandment" without Him. He's so about His glory. And that just proves how worth it He is. What an amazing God!

Happy Birthday, My Love!

Today is my husband's birthday. I am SO extremely grateful for him, I don't think I can even express it. Words don't do enough.  He is not perfect. But, he is mine.  :)   I have found that with my soul satisfied in Christ, I am even more grateful for the gift of my husband. Today I celebrate the life God has given him, and that I get to share that with him. I'm so glad I get to "do life" most closely with him. He is a man of God, desiring His glory before anything else, and is so real in the struggle. He is gentle, kind, patient (Oh, so VERY patient!), hard working, romantic...so many things that I appreciate. Happy Birthday, my sweet man! I love you!

Bethany's 1st Birthday Party Pics

Here are some of Bethany's "1st Summer Garden Party" pics:

Her sweet happy face!

Sitting pretty

I think she was laughing at our crazy attempts to get her to smile.

The Birthday girls- Bethany's 1st, Tiffany's 19th- fun sharing a birthday with your aunt!

The Birthday girl with her Mopa

What's a Summer Garden party without a bug hunt? So cute- the kids decorated their bug catchers with stickers and then went and "caught bugs" that we'd hid in the yard. Max had fun!

Sydney isn't so sure about those bugs...

Once Belle figured out what we were doing, she caught on and was pretty excited about her bugs!

Playing pin the butterfly on the flower

 

Bekah requested that Tia and JaJa play too...and they didn't seem to mind joining in the fun!

Bethany enjoying her first piece of birthday cake!

Happy 1st Birthday, Bethany Hope!

Our baby girl is 1 today. It has flown by so fast. She is now officially mobile, walking more than she is crawling. It has been a fast year of her growing, learning, and accomplishing all those "firsts" that are so memorable.

Bethany Hope- Bethany is a city mentioned in the Bible numerous times that is a place where many experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit. Lots of supernatural things happened there, and that's why we named you Bethany. We want you to be a place of God's dwelling, where His Spirit works and moves and is evident. Hope is what flowed from Grace and Joy, your sisters middle names- when we receive God's Grace, there is much Joy, and that gives us Hope. We want your hope to stem from our only source of true Hope, Jesus.

You definitely look a lot like your Daddy. It's like seeing him if he was a girl.  :)   And you love your Daddy tons, too. You prefer to be held by him and your eyes light up when you see him. We love your facial expressions, especially when you scrunch your face up and pucker up your lips. It's the cutest. And Daddy taught you this "growl".  You will chase people and roar at them when you're getting them. It cracks us up.

You share your birthday with your Aunt Tiffany, which is so fun. So today we'll celebrate together with family, and friends who are like family, those who have shared in your first year, and we pray, your next years. Daddy and Mommy have lots of accountability to grow you in the Lord, and for that we are grateful. 

We love you, little Princess. Happy Birthday!

Call Us Rednecks...

But we took our first official family vacation this past Sunday through Tuesday to...BRANSON. Yes, people, Branson, home of the most stage shows and cheesy things you may ever see in your life. However- it was SO FUN. 

Here's the deal: We've got so much going on (to be revealed in detail at a later time) that we knew we had to get away as a family before things started being put into place. Once the ball gets rolling on these things, there will be no time for a family getaway. Plus, baby #4 comes in late October/early November, then the holidays- there will be no vacations then.

So, we left on Sunday morning to Springfield to visit with our wonderful friends, Todd and Heather and their crew. We were able to go to their church service where Todd just recently took a position as youth minister/music leader, then went out to eat and hung out at their house for the afternoon. As we pulled out of the driveway, Gary said- well, I'm refreshed, ready to go back home. That's how we usually feel after spending time with them. It's like a breathe of fresh air. God definitely uses them to encourage us. 

We headed to Branson and checked out the Branson Landing, watched the fire/water show and ate dinner. Monday and Tuesday we went to Silver Dollar City. My husband, this prego, three girls, in 102 degree weather, walking the hills and pavement of SDC. Normally, I'd call this cruel. However, thanks to 1 1/2 cases of water and the sprinklers and misters the park had set up everywhere, and the best $1 I've ever spent on 2 little dorky hand held fans- it wasn't that bad. Really! I think God was being gracious. We found out when we got back that the news was there on Monday doing a little blurb on how hot it was at SDC and the numbers being down, etc. Funny. Anyway, so since it was Kids Fest, we got to cool off while seeing shows- VeggieTales (so cute!), Circus on Ice (way amazing!) and a Magic Show (baffling!). Bekah loved them all. We also road the train, which Belle was so excited about, she must've yelled "CHOO CHOO" a dozen times. We got to watch a man make a blown glass bowl, which at the end he actually dropped and Bekah was so sad; a women making pottery; and a women at Becca's house doing loom work. It was so fun. I also got to shop at the Branson Landing and at the Tanger Outlet a bit. That's always a good trip for me.  

I must say, though it was short, it was a wonderful time together. We'd never gone away somewhere new by ourselves. All our "vacations" have been to visit people or combined with a business trip. It was fun to all bunk in a hotel room and be together. Nothing like family worship time all on a bed in a hotel room. I hope there will be many more times like these for our family. I remember my own family vacations with my family and all the happy memories of them. I want our kids to have the every day moments of us being together and growing together, but that being what fosters times of actually wanting to get away as a family to spend time with "just us." 

Here are some pictures of the trip:

The Wallace/Hirsch crew- we can open our own daycare.  :)

The water/fire show at Branson Landing- Belle kept saying "WaWa!"

One of the many cute little houses when you first enter Silver Dollar City- they really wanted to play in it!

Play "CHOO CHOO"!

Okay, so Gary thinks this picture is so wrong- can you see Bekah on the elephant? No. It looks like he's riding it all by himself, having a great 'ole time. I think it's hilarious.

All of us in front of "Becca's House"- Bekah thought that was pretty cool.

Playing at "the Wharf" at Branson Landing

Mommy & the girls on the REAL CHOO CHOO!!!

The huge rocking chair in the Lumberjack area- too cute!

Bekah, still all smiles at the end of two fun filled, HOT, long days at SDC- though not without a few little reminders of our need for Jesus!  :)

The two little ones had enough! It was time to head home! What a great time!

100 Days and Counting Down

Woohoo! Looking at our little "Hirsch Baby" ticker to the right, you will see that today is the mark of 100 days! If you're reading this after today, it's UNDER 100 days! AHHHHHH!!!!!

Baby Girl #4 will arrive soon. It will go by quickly, no doubt, with all the things going on around us. It's funny how God works- just when we think things will start to simmer down, He's got something else He's working into our lives. So much fun! Life in Christ is NEVER boring, that's for sure. Sometimes, I'm looking forward to a "boring" day.  :)

Pray for us as we prepare for our next little blessing, and God works out a bunch of other things on our behalf for His name.