Shout out- Seminary Friends and so much more!

Alright everyone, take a close look. These women are amazing. They are dear to my heart, they are women who seek after the Lord wholly, parent their children fully, and devote themselves to the Lord in ways that spur me on. This is a picture from many moons ago, before there were any children screaming, pregnant bellies bulging, or miles and oceans separating us. We had just started our friendship while our husbands were in seminary and it was one of the first pretty days in spring. Of course, young marrieds that we were, we packed up and met at a park for an afternoon of quiet fun. What a ball, and who would have guessed that five years later we would be knit together, closer than ever, and living so far apart. As time continued, we grew in friendship, as did our husbands, and the first round of children was to come. Right before we left seminary (we were the first to leave Kentucky) we all took a trip together. This was the new stage of our lives and knitted hearts. We would meet once a year, take a thousand pictures, laugh until we cried, eat together, pray until we wept, and meet again the next year. It was and is something more precious to my heart than words can explain (and I usually have all kinds of words to say something!) Here's a pic from that first "reunion:"



That night Benjamin didn't sleep a wink! He was ten months old and Bright was a whole six weeks! What amazing, agonizing fun!

I guess the point is that the Lord unites our hearts to people for a variety of reasons, and I am so grateful that he paired me with these. May we unite again this year, ready to see the Lord together, ready to laugh together, and ready to leave further drawn to the Lord and each other.

Philippians 2:1-2 "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. "

Easter Fun!

Okay, so I have decided that I am totally into traditions- but not just traditions, the ones that unite the family, teach truth, and provide loads of joy and excitement. I think last year I talked about our Easter Egg Hunting fun, and this year we came up with a new and expanded idea. I decided to include a video here of the actual event, but after re-watching it, I decided it might need a bit of explanation. So, Benjamin, Samuel, and John went to the Christian bookstore last night and picked out a figurine Jesus- you know, plastic, like three inches tall, and this one even came with Peter and a boat.





So, Saturday night before we went to bed, I made a cake formerly known as Ding Dong Cake (thanks mom for the recipe, and sorry for the name change, it will still always be credited to you) that we now call Resurrection Cake. As you remember, Jesus was buried in a tomb that was cut out of the dirt and rock. So we decided we needed a re-enactment on our dinner table.




Hope your day was ever blessed and that we will continue to be amazed at and continue to put our hope in the resurrection of the dead!

Thank You!

To all my dear friends and family who have given love today, thank you! I feel blessed and overjoyed to be alive and pondering the resurrection. What an amazing day. . .

Read this and be awed at the Father in heaven. . . I was.

I could complain but. . . .

So we rode in the car all afternoon coming back from Northwest Arkansas, I went to the small group that I lead and no one came, IT IS SNOWING AGAIN, and I would love to sit here and complain. And yet, I am so clearly reminded of all that I have. I am looking around, seeing pictures of my sweet boys and reminded of the woman this morning who turned around after church and told me how well behaved they were. I hear the recorded bible behind me and am reminded of the amazing husband the Lord has partnered to me, one who values the spoken word of God, understanding it's importance in our lives. I am reminded of the wonderful time spent with my family this weekend- loving, spoiling grand and great-grandparents, and AWESOME sister, new shoes, a fantastic high school play (Bye, Bye, Birdie), wonderful long-term friends, and a very warm and sunny Saturday afternoon with a cute beagle puppy. I think sometimes it's really easy for me to get really caught up in the cares and woes that seem ever present in my life. I forget to look around me and see what the Lord has done and is doing in my life. Tonight I am making a choice. Despite my circumstance, I am choosing to be grateful. I am choosing to approach this Holy Week with awesome gratitude and holy reverence. I am choosing again, like every day before this one, to seek the Lord with ALL my heart, mind, soul and strength. I am choosing to see myself the way that He sees me. And I am choosing to believe that I will be resurrected with him sometime soon, that I will live FOREVER, just as He does, and that this weekend is simply a reminder of the wonderful things to come!

Snow. . . . Really???

Just thought I would shoot some pics to everyone. I am not sure we have seen this much snow on John's birthday in a long time. Still headed to dinner tonight though . . .

St. Patrick's Fun!

This morning, the family loaded up and went to one of IHOP's major outreach events in the spring. We march in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Kansas City. There's a massive float with a mountain on the truck bed and at the top of the mountain stands St. Patrick himself preaching in 30 second "sermonettes." At the close of each speech, the worship band (loudly amplified) plays a rousing chorus of the Amazing Grace version done by Todd Agnew. We then walked behind, with all the others fron IHOP and sang and danced behind the float. It was a sight to be seen, and as the 75 degree wind was blowing, I was amazed and struck at the simple opportunity we had to preach the gospel. We had many "Amen's" as we passed by, almost as many as beer glasses raised in our passing. Either way, it was a blast and we walked the 1.2 miles with smiles shining (or sleeping as you will see). And, as my friend Candace says, here's the numbers.

Number of estimated people watching the parade: close to 100,000!



Number of IHOP participants: close to 1000!



Number of Happy Harrigans: 4!



Number of hungry little boys. . . . 4 (though you can't see them all here)




OR Number of sleeping boys: 3



Number of good friends: 2 (this is my friend Jody, she and her husband Beau were the first couple we met at IHOP)





Number of happy daddy and Benjamin moments: countless (don't they look cute?)

Official Birthday Pics-

Okay, so this one is on his actual birthday. We had our Thursday night dinner, since it was Thursday, and Andrew's birthday is the same day. But, I figured this was pretty cute.

p.s. Benjamin was "helping" Andrew blow out his candles, but when there are only two it's kind of hard to split it all up! Anyway, lots of fun was had by all!

Here's some pics from the party yesterday afternoon.

Happy Birthday My Samuel

Dear Samuel,

I remember so well the day you were born, it is filled with immeasurable joy. You didn't want to come out quickly or easily, but you made it. They immediately placed you in my arms and I didn't let go (except for your daddy) for two days. You were perfect. You were beautiful. I never understood how the Father could love us all the best, and yet all of the sudden I loved you and your brother the best. You still are amazing. I look at you today as you are two and I cannot imagine life without you. Your smile is precious, your laugh is contagious and your words are thrilling. You love wholly, you run fully, you sing loudly, and you trust cautiously. You are sensitive, yet strong. What an amazing combination.

You see, you are a testimony of the healing power of the Lord. You got sick and had to stay in the hospital. The Lord healed your brain and your body. He has such plans for you, "plans to prosper you, not to harm you." (Jer. 29:11) You are growing so much and I am amazed at how the Lord is redeeming you, and today you are still a testimony to His complete healing. I will look to Him as your parent, you creator, and your protector. I only get to stand on the sidelines and watch. He has spoken about how you will know the Lord from an early age, how you will be raised in the house of the Lord. How, like the Prophet Samuel, you will hear from the Lord and speak to the nations. How you will lead others to see him as well. You have already shown me the heart of the Father over and over, thank you. I love you with my all and may we grow even more in the days to come.

Mommy



Thank you Father for this one, He is more precious to you than me. So thank you for knowing him. May we only grow in love together as the days pass.

Growing Samuel

Okay, so my last post was about the growing one I call Benjamin and this one is about his brother. Sweet Samuel has really taken to his daddy lately. We all (at least any of you who have been around us at all) know that Samuel has been fully attached to his mother's hip from the time he was born. He has no problem connecting with me. He has however, had a harder time with his daddy. Benjamin and John hit it off from the start. They also spent quite a few days together as I was teaching school. And Samuel definitely loves being with his daddy, but he has lately taken a new affinity for him. It is much fun to watch, and I get to see what it is like for a daddy to woo the affections of a human heart. I know that there is such a thing as "prevenient grace." I learned it in some wonderful "what it means to be a methodist" class growing up- the idea that the Lord is desiring our hearts before we even turn to him. That, as we are still sinners, not even recognizing there is a God, He is wooing us back to Him. We come to him, repent and believe, and spend the next months and years of our lives amazed at his care over us in that time. I have seen it over and over-- the heart of the Father displayed to unbelievers.



¹⁶ God so loved the world that He gave His only…Son that whoever believes… (Jn. 3:16)

⁴⁵ Makes His sun rise on the evil and the good…sends rain on the just and unjust. (Mt. 5:45)



So, I know all this in my heart and I am watching my son. Samuel is being wooed by his father. He used to come to me when he was tired and sad. He wouldn't go to anyone else. He would hold my leg until I (and only I) picked him up. If John tried, he would proceed to voice his discomfort, loudly I might add. This past weekend John was gone to a conference and we missed our favorite day of the week, Saturday, because it's "not a work day." It's a daddy day. Since we missed it we were going to do all kinds of fun things, but one of them included calling daddy. This picture is of Samuel talking to his daddy on the phone. I tell you this, he was ENGAGED. He listened intently to what his daddy was saying so he could respond and interact with the one he longed to talk to. I was amazed. And then today, he was fussing and holding my leg as he does sometimes and daddy came over to get him and rather than turn his head away and cry louder, he actually giggled and went running to his daddy. What an amazing testimony. That after months of playing and laughing together his heart learned who it can turn to in times of hurt. My Samuel has been wooed by his daddy. He runs, plays, talks, and loves him without a second thought. Daddy can kiss the bumps and bangs just as well as mommy. Tonight when I left for a meeting, I got a kiss and hug, but not a tear was shed. (except maybe by daddy, heehee) My baby has grown so much in love for a father that fought for his heart. He won't ever turn away. They trust he has for his daddy will never falter.



What an amazing testimony to the heart of the Father in heaven. He is so good to our hearts, he seeks us out, woos us to him. And when we turn to him in trouble instead of running away, His arms are so much stronger than any other we can find. He will hold us tightly- as long as we will sit still. I pray this over my boys as they are wooed by their heavenly Father, that they would see His heart every day in their daddy's. We are truly children, adopted heirs in the Father's kingdom.

Artwork and impact....by Benjamin Lee

Okay, so I have been asked over and over by a young and growing little boy to use the camera. SO, finally after much discussion about how to use a camera, I decided that he was old enough to have a go at it. Here are some of the wonderful selections that I thought you might appreciate.

The Human Series







The Life of a Spork






From Green Chair to Green Sippy







As you can only imagine, I have literally close to 100 new pics on my camera. Today he told me that he took a picture of each page in his Bernstein Bears book. It's hilarious, but what I find really funny is that while he is roaming around the house taking pictures of things he thinks are important, he is laughing. Not just the little giggling, but belly laughing out loud at himself and what he is doing. I find it so amazing that the human heart has this longing in it to make something valuable. We all show our creativity in different ways, but there is some need to make something that is important. "to make money, to make it right, to make something beautiful, to make someone well, to make someone smarter, to make the world a better place." We all have a desire for impact. My son was simply learning about making pictures that impact people. I suppose in the beginning, we start by making things that impact ourselves. I do know this- that the desire to make an impact is one put in us and created by a heavenly Father. One who knows that we desire to make a difference and he is giving us the tools to do it. The means by which we can make an impact, both now and forever more when he comes to rule and reign. How will our impact today make a difference in eternity?