Easter Blessing

I thought with today being Easter it would only be fitting that my Sunday Blessing this week be Jesus. I believe the Resurrection of Christ goes down as the most important day in history. Never before and never again will a man be crucified only to raise himself from the dead as it was professed so many times leading up to Christ's life. What a glorious gift God gave us 1,976 years ago. In John 14:6 Jesus says "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." What this scripture tells us, and what Jesus preached throughout his 33 years on earth, is the only way we as sinners can reach salvation is through Jesus. Good deeds and a kind heart won't secure our place in heaven. We must recognize that we are all sinners and we all fall short of the glory of God. Jesus died for our sins, and the only way in which we can be with Jesus in heaven is to admit to our sins, acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross for us and ask for God's forgiveness. I am so thankful for the gift of salvation and feel so incredibly blessed to have a husband and church that encourages me to want to be more like Jesus. This Easter Sunday I wanted to share this blessing with all of you and I pray that it might help open your heart to God's love. Happy Easter!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLJNpYbpNJo

Sunday Blessing

My friend Chanel turned me onto this idea of blogging about a blessing each week and so what better day to blog about your blessings than on Sunday. I will try and update my blog with a Sunday blessing every week, but we will see how long that lasts once Lyla arrives.

The first blessing I would like to blog about is our church, Community Bible Church. Scott and I have been so blessed in finding an amazing church since basically week one of being out here. I grew up in a pretty traditional Presbyterian church so CBC was quite a shock to me in the beginning. I remember after the first time I visited CBC I was sad when church was over. Growing up I couldn't get out of church fast enough but our Pastor, Barry Minkow, has an amazing gift. This is Barry's testimony in a nutshell...
At the age of 16, Barry Minkow started a carpet cleaning company in the family garage. By age 20, he had a 240 million-dollar company and was referred to as the "whiz-kid" of Wall Street. After milking highly educated investors out of millions of dollars, Barry's scam came to a sudden halt when he was arrested in 1987 at the age of 23 and sentenced to 25 years in the federal prison. Against all odds, and with a 26 million dollar court awarded restitution nailed over his head, Barry decided it was time to make a change. During his time in prison, Barry felt the calling of God in his life. With a call to the ministry and an unquenchable fire burning in his heart, he headed his life full speed ahead in that direction. After serving 8 years of his sentence with an unblemished record and with the recommendation of the sentencing judge, Barry was released into society. In the judge's own words, "Barry can do more for his victims out of prison than he can in prison."

There are so many Christians who judge people based on tattoos, piercings, clothing, etc. CBC does an amazing job of making anyone from any background feel welcome. We have ex cons, ex drug addicts, ex porn addicts worshiping together in an environment that is accepting of their past. It is easy for us as Christians to judge and point our fingers at these people but we are all sinners and are all in need of Jesus. When we first got to CBC I sent Barry an email about Scott playing for the Chargers and that if he ever wanted Scott to speak to the kids at the church we would love to help out. Barry took us up on the offer and Scott spoke with the junior high, high school and I shared my testimony with the junior high girls. It wasn't long before we started getting involved in the church. We fell in love with the kids from Ampt (the junior high church) and continue to spend our Sundays with these kids. I have met so many awesome people at CBC in small groups, bible studies, and at Ampt. I couldn't imagine living out here so far from my family without this church family. They have welcomed Scott and I with open arms and have really made us feel like we were part of this church community. CBC has been such a blessing to both of us and this week I wanted to share with all of you just how much we appreciate our church.

All done!

So this summer my sister April introduced me to a little book series by Stephenie Meyer...yes the Twilight series. Well it took me about a month to read the first three in the series and a ridiculous seven months to finish the last book. I think the reason it took me so long was partly due to me getting pregnant and reading "mommy" books and also due to the fact that I knew once I read the last book it was all going to be over. Well I finished it finally! It took me re-watching the movie Twilight to get back into the final book. I must say that I am sad it is over. Kind of embarrassing because kids in middle school and high school are going nuts over these books but they were addicting. Who wouldn't want to read about vampire love? Well I just wanted to give a shout out to my sissy April who exposed me to the books. I can officially say that the books were an awesome waste of time. Love you sis!

Friends

Thought I would show off Lyla's best friend Abbi and her boyfriend Cannon.

Abbi Makena Brown, our good friends Dan and Casi's little girl.

Cannon Wade Clary, my friend Breanna and Scott's teammate Jeromey's little boy.

Two Year Anniversary

Scott went above and beyond for our "last" anniversary before kiddies. The day was pretty relaxing starting off with me laying out while Scott worked out. When he got home we played it pretty low key with reading, video games, and a few games of sequence. As day turned into evening we got our fancy clothes on and headed downtown San Diego. We had reservations at Flemmings and ordered almost everything on the menu. We ordered Cajun shrimp and sweet Chile calamari as an appetizer. I ordered a petite fillet and potatoes. Scott ordered a New York strip with some garlic mashed potatoes. For dessert Scott we split a chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream with homemade whip cream and raspberries. The cake was by far the best part of the meal because when you cut into it, chocolate sauce erupted out of it. Once dinner was over we headed over to the Omni where we stayed for the night. Once we got to our room Scott had champagne and the best chocolate covered strawberries I have ever had in my entire life. Scott was too full from dinner so oops I had to eat all three because I didn't want them to go to waste. We ended the night by renting a movie and just digesting for the next few hours. When we woke up we were still full from the night before. Eventually our appetites came back and Scott had amazing french toast and fresh orange juice all lined up with room service. Once we finished our breakfast we headed home and said goodbye to our little mini vacation. I was sad that our anniversary was over but feel so blessed to have such a thoughtful husband who planned such an amazing evening. Thank you hunny for going above and beyond yet again. I love you!

Coronado Island, the view from our room.