R: Look at Her Go!!!!!!

I really can't believe it Annemarie can STAND UP, WALK, and here's the best part she can TALK!  She's to little to stand up.  She's such a crawler and a stander every picture we have is either of her crawling or standing.  I love her and am sad that she is growing up so fast.  She is a blessing from God.  We love and cherish every moment with her as she is growing, because she won't always be a little baby who is 11 months.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_EXNbEeJU4&feature=plcp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPZ2_Fzcf_o&feature=context-cha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnG1QMQv9qs&feature=context-cha

R: Come Thou Fount/Mine Ebenezer

This morning we sang a hymn, Come Thou Fount. I have personally always liked the song, but I never knew what "Mine Ebenezer" meant.  So after we sang, I looked it up on the computer.  It said that it means Rock of help.  My Ebenezer story is that when I was watching things I knew I wasn't supposed to, God was my rock of help when he made a way for my mom and dad to find out.  I was so sad and repented when they corrected me and asked who else had watched with me.  I love all my siblings and I led them to watching things that are bad.  I would never want to make them turn away from God because of what they were watching.  That would be the last thing I would want.  I am glad God opened my eyes and this song is how I feel now. 
Here are verses 1 and 2.

                                                       

Come thou fount of every blessing, 
Tune my heart to sing Thy praise.  
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, 
Call for songs of loudest praise.  
Teach me some melodious sonnet, 
Sung by flaming tongues above.  
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, 
Mount of God's unchanging LOVE.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;  
Hither by Thy help I come.  
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, 
Safely to arrive at home.  
Jesus sought me when a stranger , 
Wand'ring from the fold of God.  
He to rescue me from danger, 
Interposed his precious blood.

Abbie

Ethan

Libby

Jojo

Myself

Jackson

Annemarie

Ethan and Tate

Abbie, Emma, and Jackson

                            

R: The Renewal

In 2008, my family did something really special.  My parents got married again. They renewed their vows, which is very special to me, because weddings have been my favorite thing since I was tiny. Plus, how many times do you get to be in a wedding?  Not very many times.  We had the renewal at City Church International, and then we did the reception at a fancy restaurant called Sambuca. We rented out the big patio, so that we could fit over 100 people. Here are the pictures.

We had a friend who's little girl was in Mama's dance class, who had a nail salon.
She did our nails for the wedding.

The Reeds helped with the flowers.

Angela Love, our hair dresser, did almost everyone's hair.

Emma did Libby's hair.

In the back of the room where we got dressed, there
were little finger foods and Jojo found them.

Tate was only 1 and a half then and now he's 5!

I was so thrilled that I got to be a flower girl.

I loved mom's dress, although I wish she wore a veil.

This was the sanctuary of the church.

All the boys were the ring bearers.

Libby, Jojo, and I were the flower girls.

Mom and Dad.

We got a fancy cake.

Mom and Dad got to feed eachother the cake.

There was also a daddy daughter dance.

Libby and Dad

Auntie Heather was the photographer for the wedding.

We did a big family photo.

Mom and Dad

E: God Has Healed Me from My Sins

My brothers and sisters learned about the hymn Come Thou Fount at camp last week. I have been humming and singing this song while I'm doing my school and jobs around the house and that makes my mom happy.  The man who wrote this hymn was named Robert Robinson.  We studied the story of how he became a Christian today.  When he was young, his mom sent him to London to learn to be a barber, but instead he struggled with drinking and he was friends with bad guys.  After being freaked out at a fortune teller's while he was drunk, he heard a pastor speak.  The pastor was talking about how God is mad when we live like He was, because God loves us and wants what's best for us.  Robinson thought that the pastor was talking about him, and 3 years later, he became a Christian, in 1755, on December 10.

                                          
When you do something bad, God will heal you and forgive you.  God has healed me from my sins.  This morning, when we sang this song, I was reminded that when I lie, it does not please Jesus or my parents. I learned from Robert Robinson that when I lie, God can forgive me and heal me. So that's what I wanted to say:  when you do something bad, God will heal you and forgive you.  God has healed me from my sins.

L: My Ebenezer

verse 2 "Come Thou Fount"

Here I raise my Ebenezer

Hither by Thy help I come.

Hither: to this place; to this point; to this end

Ebenezer: a stone of help; a reminder of 

                 Gods miraculous help for victory 

                 over our enemies

For a while I (Libby) have been struggling with being very bossy to my younger siblings, but now God has been giving me victory over bossiness!  When I went to ArtLife camp this year, we learned a lot about what Ebenezer means.  To me, what an Ebenezer means is a reminder of God's victory; so my Ebenezer is whenever I see my little brother and sister, Tate and Jojo, I think of Gods grace for forgiving me from being bossy, and giving me my amazing siblings.

The song "Come Thou Fount" was written by Robert Robinson; when his father died he was not a Christian, and his mother could not control him, so she sent him to learn to be a barber.  While he was learning to be a barber, he got into trouble.  One night, he and his friends were at a fortune teller's house.  He was drunk, but he felt God's presence; so that night, he suggested to his friends that they all go to the evangelist, George Whitefield's meeting.  So he and his friends went, and Whitfield preached on Matthew 3:7. Robinson was touched; he felt as if Whitfield was speaking to him. Those words from the verse were speaking to him for three years, until December 10 (my older sister, Abbie's birthday), 1755, he became a Christian.  From there, he became a pastor and served at Calvinist Methodist Chapel in Norfolk, England.  Robinson continued working for the Lord until 1790, when he was in Birmingham, England. 

We now remember him for writing "Come Thou Fount", one of the worlds best hymns.