bible

Reunited + Things That May Surprise You

Our little family was reunited on Saturday evening after Jimmy’s trip! 

Family laying on porch swing

My sister and brother-in-law dropped him off, so we hung out with them for a bit. Sadie and Caroline snuggled under a blanket at it was the sweetest thing.

I just adore watching their relationship develop as they grow ❤

Toddler snuggling under blanket

That evening, I crashed. The 3:30 am wakeup finally got to me and I fell asleep outside while reading this book after Sadie went to bed. 

It has been so nice to have Jimmy back at home! He wasn’t even gone for a week, but I missed sharing smiles with him during everyday moments of joy with Sadie, rolling our eyes together at the antics of the pets, and having coffee with each other in the morning. Marriage is such a huge blessing. 

We spent Saturday catching up around the house and just hanging out. It was a sweet weekend 🙂

Onto things that may surprise you. Or maybe they won’t. 

I heard a great sermon about how it’s important to examine why we believe what we believe. With things that are faith-related, is what we believe based off of a religious group, a religious leader, a book, what your parents believe, a tradition, or something else? 

I can remember when I first realized that my faith in God was my own faith in God, if that makes sense. My parents raised my siblings and I in a non-denominational christian church and we were required to attend church if we lived under their roof. What was being taught at our church lined up with the Bible and it really clicked into place for me when I was in high school. The Bible, which is God’s Word, is what I base my life and beliefs on. 

This kind of got me thinking about things that are practiced in some religions that claim to follow the Bible, but the practices don’t line up with scripture. I will never claim to be an expert on the Bible, but you won’t find these things in God’s Word:

  • Infant baptism
  • Lent and Ash Wednesday
  • The Sinner’s Prayer
  • Baptism that involves sprinkling of water
  • Confessing sins to a pope
  • Salvation through belief in Jesus only

Were you surprised by any of these things?

What’s your favorite part about being reunited with a loved one?

Weekend Fun: Challah, Studying, and Family

I liked reading everyone’s answers to the questions in my last post! Also, thank you to each and every person who checked in on Sadie and me. We still have the sniffles, but we’re doing just fine! 

Jimmy slept over my brother-in-law’s house on Friday so Sadie, Niva, and I had a girls’ night in the yard with a sticker book, coloring pages, and a blanket.

I got some Bible studying in, too. I spent a bit of time in James 1 and wrote out some notes. James is one of those books I can read over and over again and learn something new each time.

Bible study journal

On Saturday, Jimmy did some church work at a member’s house and Sadie and I baked a loaf of challah together. It had been a while since I braided some bread! 

We brought the challah to Jimmy’s aunt and uncle’s house and met my sister and her husband there for dinner.

Challah bread

We had such a fun night with Jimmy’s aunt and uncle, cousins, second cousins, and my sister’s family. Sadie and Caroline were in heaven running around the house, climbing everything, and playing with new-to-them toys. 

Jimmy’s aunt made homemade applesauce to go with our dinner and it was delicious. Our light eater (ahem, Sadie Mae…) housed a few servings of it! I guess I need to try my hand at making homemade applesauce. I also worked on a sewing project with the help of Jimmy’s aunt. Can’t wait to show how it turns out… if I don’t mess it up, lol.

Toddler girls sitting at kid table with food toys

Sisters with their toddler daughters

My sister recently had her hair cut short and I looooooooove it!

 

I plopped on the couch to snuggle with Niva as soon as we got home. She only chewed a water bottle and box of tissues while we were gone. Not too shabby for our food monger husky 😉

Girl and husky snuggling on couch

Jimmy and I watched an episode of the TV show Alone that’s on the History channel before we went to bed. Have you heard of it?

Ten men go into the wilderness alone with ten items and they see who lasts the longest. I don’t think I would last more than a few hours for fear of the dangerous wild animals… and lack of peanut butter 😉

Tell me about your weekend!