Freedom and Flowers

Praise the Lord for this Country!

Praise the Lord for the men and women that laid down their lives and CONTINUE to lay down their lives for our freedoms. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the morning of the 4th of July, we read through the Declaration of Independence and the beginning of the Constitution on our way to Lake Elmo. 

If you have not read the Declaration lately, YOU NEED TO!!

If there is ever a time that it applies to our country, it's now.

We spent the day with friends and family at Lake Elmo and then headed to Stillwater for the fireworks over the lake. Here are some pictures:

My son was out cold for almost 3 hours! He woke up and I filled him to the brim with juice and water. 

Hayven spent quite a while talking with my mom's boyfriend George.

Elias took a big... dump... yes... 

We went to Nelsons Ice Cream for a cool refreshing TON of ice cream. Mariah and I had to find a Natural Food store that sold ice cream and dinner that was corn free. Praise the Lord we got there 30 minutes before they closed!

Ahavah and I at the Pizza Place we go to every year. 

My sister and soon to be brother-in-law in an awkard picture :)

These lovely beauties were a cool historical attraction that were fired off before the fireworks... problem was they were part of the firework show also, which we did NOT appreciate. It was extremely distracting and scared all the kids... and adults. We had to be on guard to plug the kids ears for the cannons instead of enjoying the firework show. This might be our last year going to Stillwater for fireworks. 

Mr. Babe and the sparklers. He had to be reminded they were for the kids ;) 

 My prayer as a mother is that my kids LOVE Jesus more then anything else. I pray that their relationships with Him come above everything else. 
Every other love, 
every other passion, 
every other desire, 
every other drive. 

I want my kids to stand firm on the scriptures, on God's revealed word, even in the face of persecution. I pray they see that in my husband and I and I pray they know nothing else but bravery, conviction and love. 

I pray they know nothing else but Christ and Him crucified. 

Please parents, teach your children the truth.

Read them the Declaration of Independence. 

Teach them of those brave men and women who laid down their lives that we can be free. 

Lay down your life and stand up and fight for what is right. 

Teach them of the ultimate Veteran: Jesus Christ who laid down His life for freedom for all. 

Will you stand with me?

Will you allow your children to see you standing up for life?

For freedom?

For love? 

Real love?

Love that doesn't stay silent and watch people march into the slaughter house or through the gates of Hell?

Please stand up parents. 

Live by example.

Love boldly.

Love Fully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The "Flowers" part of this post has to do with weddings!!!

My baby sister is getting married on MY anniversary!! September 5th. We've been vigorously planning away and working on invitations, decorations, details, and arrangements. It's been a blast! I am so, so, so honored to have Lorn Ross McDowell marry my sister. I could NOT have picked a better husband for her. I am so excited to have a brother-in-law like him! He is a great uncle for my kids too! 

I am blessed and honored to be Mariah's maid-of-honor in her wedding. Mariah and I have had an interesting relationship our whole lives. I (being honest) never really liked her growing up. Long Story short, we went through several really hard situations over the last few years. I ended up being her mom for a while, I watched her walk through many hard things and prayed and cried my guts out for her.

Now I get the joy of seeing her walk with the Lord and marry a godly man and enter into a golly marriage. I get to enjoy her raising her children according to the Bible. I am so excited and blessed! Praise the Lord that He is in the business of restoration! I love Him so much!!

And I love Mariah so much :)