He is RISEN!!

I love Easter! We get into Easter almost as much as Christmas around the Scott house. We've made numerous Easter crafts, opened resurrection eggs, decorated our Easter tree, read books, decorated eggs, been to several egg hunts, and told/retold the Easter story using songs, cooking, crafts, or whatever means possible. It's a wonderful opportunity to teach the kids about what Jesus did for them on the cross and what He accomplished when he rose from the dead. Ingleside had a Family Fun Day on Saturday, and all of the kids enjoyed their egg hunts and playing on the giant inflatables. After that, the kids had portraits made by John Mullis. I haven't gotten to see them yet, but I can't wait. Avery had to wear jeans and her Xtreme Praise t-shirt to church on Sunday, so these were like my "Easter Pictures" since I didn't take any on Sunday. We went to church on Sunday, and both Avery and I were on the praise teams - she in the Xtreme Zone and me in the worship center. After church, we had lunch at Mom and Papa's, and then we came home to open up Easter baskets. The kids LOVED opening up all of their treats. What a wonderful day to celebrate the LIFE we've been given through Christ!

It's OK, Daddy's Here!

One night last weekend, when we were in St. Simons for the holiday weekend, Asa had a rough night. He woke up several times, standing up in his pack-n-play until someone came and stood by his crib and calmed him down. At some point during the night, (I don't even remember what time), he did the same drill, and Bryan got up. Asa was sleeping at the foot of our bed, so I just saw Bryan standing there, and Asa had laid back down. I quickly glanced at the clock and fell back asleep. I woke up 30 minutes later to see Bryan STILL standing there over Asa's bed. It got me thinking....there Asa was, trying to fall back asleep, but he wasn't at peace unless he knew his Daddy was right there. He might close his eyes for a few minutes, but then he'd rouse himself and look up just to make sure his Daddy was still there (because he knows that his Daddy will eventually go back to bed). I wondered how long this would last? Would Bryan ever get to go back to sleep. Then another thought occurred to me....the Bible says that God never slumbers or sleeps. How AWESOME is that? Asa would've been completely secure if he knew his Daddy could stay up and watch over HIM all night, but Bryan's human...and he can't. But GOD can! He never ceases to watch over HIS children, and when we are scared, confused, worried or anxious, we can always look up in our Daddy's eyes. He will surely be there saying to us, "It's OK, your Daddy's here." I am so glad for that! Kind of a deep thought for the middle of the night, huh?

More "God Talk"

A few nights ago, when we were in St. Simons, Brynn and I were lying in the bed and she looked at a shadow on the door and said,
Brynn: Mommy, that looks like a cross!
Me: Yes, it does. Do you know what happened on the cross?
Brynn: (nodding) God died.
Me: That's right. Jesus died, but did He STAY dead?
Brynn: No.
Me: What happened?
Brynn: He's sposed to eat the apple and fall down dead. Then a prince sposed to come and kiss him and wake him up!

Guess I need to work on her theology!

On the same vacation, Avery asked me, "Mommy, if God sees EVERYTHING, can He see me even if I am hiding?"

I love it when I get to answer these questions and have these discussions with the girls. What a privilege!

Avery's Birthday Party Idea

Avery came up to me the other day and told me that for her 6th Birthday Party, she wants to have a God and Jesus Party.

M: What would we do?
A: We can read the Bible and tell Bible stories and sing songs to praise God. And we can play with my instruments and learn about God.
M: What else?
A: We need white and yellow balloons.
M: Why white and yellow?
A: Because God and Jesus' dress has white and yellow on them. Oh, and the cake can have God and Jesus on it...with white icing. It will be SOOOO much fun!

Not your typical party, huh? But how can I say that to her? I LOVE the fact that she thinks learning about God and singing songs to Him would be the greatest party ever. If she still wants it, I may be trying to figure out a way to make it happen. As I type this, she said, "And you can dress up like God or Jesus...or some other Bible character. I can't wait until my 6th birthday!" I guess I'll wait and see if she sticks with it. Guess she's a party planner like her mom!

The Hour I First Believed....

June 7th was a SPECIAL day in the life of our family!! Last night, at a performance by Ballet Magnificat at our church, Avery asked Jesus to come into her heart. She sat in my lap throughout the show, and I explained to her what was going on in the story. She asked tons of questions. She was really concerned that Rahab was so sad because she didn't have Jesus in her heart. At the end, when Rahab became a believer, she realized that Jesus was what made Rahab truly happy. There were tons more questions throughout the show about where the missionaries went when they died and why they were dressed in white, and why were people not allowed to love Jesus in Russia. (The show was a modern version of the Rahab story from the Bible and was set in Communist Russia.) At the end, one of the men gave an alter call. It's funny, I could tell from the questions she was asking me all along that this had stuck a chord in her little heart and that the Holy Spirit was up to something, so I prayed right then for God to work in heart however He pleased. Then, this was the conversation...
A: Mom, what are they doing now?
M: They are letting people who want to pray come down and pray with them.
A: About what?
M: People can pray to ask Jesus into their heart, or pray for some kind of problem they are having, or just go tell them what Jesus is doing in their heart.
A: I wanna go! (gets up and starts walking...)
M: Wait, baby. Why do you want to go?
A: Because I wanna ask Jesus into my heart! (Of course I am already crying at this point)
So Bryan and I walked our baby down the isle, and Bryan led her in a prayer to receive Christ as her Savior. What a joyous day that we have prayed for since before Avery was even born!

Avery, Daddy and I are so proud of you. Our prayer is that you will always be able to look back on this night as the hour you first believed. You accepted Jesus with as much faith as a 5 year old can muster, and we know that you love Jesus more than anything in the world. I've never seen a child want to go to heaven and be with God so badly! I am thankful that you are His child, and I pray that as you grow older, He will reveal more and more of Himself to you. What a glorious day, when my child's name was written in the Book of Life!