Easter Weekend

This weekend was a wonderful, and very eye opening weekend. I was able to spend time with family and friends...I laughed and I cried, and sang my heart out during worship today in church. God is good, he is so so good. 

Friday Jason and I spent time with family at dinner, catching up and getting updates on my Grandma Hall. She is in extremely poor health and had made the decision that it was time to go into a hospice center.  This is a very difficult thing for family to process, but she is incredibly at peace with her decision, so we are all going to make every effort to keep her happy, comfortable, and surrounded by family until she is taken to heaven in Gods' time. 

We were also able to spend time with more family...Lindsay and Jessie and their families. Visiting and hearing all the wonderful things that are happening in their lives. Jess and Kris are busy with their twin boys, and Lindsay and Greg are building a house, and planning a wedding! It just seems so crazy how time flies! It makes my heart smile knowing that my girlfriends are so happy, and that we've remained so close after all of these years. 

My brother, Davey, is also home on leave to spend time with our Grandma. He surprised me at church this morning, and I felt like I was in my very own episode of the show "Coming Home" and screamed with absolute joy, and cried like a baby when he hugged me. I didn't want to let go. My baby brother was home. I'm so excited to spend time with him this week, as he'll be deployed to Iraq in July for 12 long months. 

On this Easter Sunday, I am reminded of Gods' unconditional love for his children. In the midst of pain and suffering, His love and grace is comfort, and the hope that lives in him also lives in me. It's been a tough week, and this weekend healed me a little bit. 

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die." John 11: 25-26

awards are fun

Thank you Catie (Our Little Beaner Blog) for passing on the Kreativ Blogger Award to me! 


The rule is to name 10 things about myself and pass it along...


1. I'm obsessed with smoothies. 2. I married my best friend on October 30, 2010, and no it wasn't a Halloween wedding! 3. I love classical music, it calms me down when I'm in a bad mood. 4. I'm a HUGE Michigan fan. 5. I wish I knew how to knit. 6. I have 4 brothers and sisters but I'm an only child. 7. I'm a really good bowler. I have my polish heritage to thank for that one! 8. I'm a neat freak...I am a happy wife when the house is clean. 9. I couldn't live in a world where there were no potatoes. 10. My family and friends sustain me. 


I'm passing this award on to The 311, and house of earnest!!! Love your blogs girls!!!

Baby Update

Larger appetite, bigger belly, tighter clothes, more energy, no more morning sickness, and counting down the days till we find out if we're having a boy or a girl are pretty much the standard for what's been going on lately! 


I had another doctors appointment last week and heard the beautiful heartbeat for the second time. It's healthy and strong, and my blood pressure reading was perfect. So all is well in the baby department! The next appointment is in the beginning of May...we'll have our first ultrasound and first picture of our lil'one! Jason and I are so excited to find out if we need to buy Michigan gear in pink and white, or maize and blue! 

Updated belly pic!!! 

The Lord Gives...

In the midst of pain and suffering the word beautiful doesn't really come to mind, but this morning in church, what I saw was beautiful. 

This past week our church community experienced two very tragic losses. One of our pastors, Derek Taatjes, and his six month old son, Dylan, were taken up to Jesus late Thursday evening. Devastating, sudden, and seemingly unfair. My heart is broken for his family...his wife and their two little girls who will never see her husband, or their daddy again. 

The question of "why" comes up constantly, and frustration ensues because in God's perfect plan for all of us, we'll never understand how something like this came to be. 

Our entire church community gathered together as one this morning to worship, pray, and grieve together. I could barely see through the many tears I was crying when they were talking about the amazing things he's done in the church and how he has changed the many lives he's touched. Dylan, so small and tiny, was Derek's joy and he wanted nothing more than to be the best father he could be. Then, they spoke of Derek's wife, Charity, and their two girls, and my heart broke that much more knowing that these girls so young, and fragile may not yet understand what it means that their daddy will never come home...

All we could do as a community was listen, acknowledge, and praise God. 

I am humbled and reminded how truly blessed I am for the gift of life God has given me, and the life I'm now carrying inside me. I know I take it for granted, and I really don't want to do that anymore. If anything can come of this sadness that I feel right now, it's that I want to be better than what I've been, and I know with God's encouragement and love, I can be. 

Our pastor Rod spoke of Derek's favorite verse today and it seemed incredibly fitting...

Job 1:21

Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. 

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.