the real st. patrick

In honor of St. Patrick, and what he really represented.



St. Patrick's Lorica (a prayer recited for protection)

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

after these messages

we'll be right back...

happy week-ending!
~s
photo courtesy of google/ncaa

He's 3, He's fantastic, and He is Ours!

i just don't know how it happens.
how you bring a baby home that looks like this:

and kaa-boom, you blink, and 3 short years later they look like this:

 


our baby boy turns THREE, YES, THREE YEARS OLD, on Sunday.  we love our little man.

things i want to remember about him as he is today:

*he loves to cook. whenever i am in the kitchen, which is about 60% of the time, he is right there next to me.

*he gets emotions. which is going to be very beneficial in a house full of emotional girls. just the other day he found me locked in the closet having a good cry, and he was so concerned about what was wrong with me.

*he loves to hold the car door for his grams. and he loves their lunch dates.

* he loves, absolutely loves hummus. the other morning i woke up to find him sitting at the counter eating a bowl of hummus and carrots.

*he has the best little voice, EVER!

*he loves to sing a song he wrote called butterfly games, and do some beautiful choreography

*he is crazy about his dad

*he is pretty crazy about his mama, too :)

*he is not a girl. i know this sounds like i am stating the obvious, but after three girls the change is so unbelievably welcomed.

*he swings his legs when he sits at the computer

*he prefers to use the rest room outside, or while standing on a tricycle.

*he proudly picks his nose and eats it. it makes me laugh out loud just thinking about it.

*he answers to bug-a-boo

*he still is a really good cuddle monster

i think i have said it in the past, but having a boy titled my heart. i have always known that i would raise my girls with the desire for them to be women of grace and TRUE beauty. the weight of that responsibility seemed very natural. but the thought of raising a MAN who is strong, courageous, gentle, and leads by serving... makes me very grateful that he gets to watch and study his daddy who exhibits those characteristics with such humility.

three years ago, our prayers were answered when God blessed our home with a boy baby. And every day since March 18, 2009 at 4:21pm, we have been abundantly blessed by him.

Anderson Joshua, you fill our hearts and our home with a sweet, sweet unique flavor of love! May you continue to grow strong in your body, and may your heart be consumed with the undeniable love of Jesus.

We love you oodles and oodles,
Mama and Daddy

a record.

well, we have certainly hit a record for the most visitors through our house is the shortest span of time. i think we are up to 75 visitors coming through our house in the last 5 days. I LOVE IT! I JUST LOVE IT!

a full house ='s a full heart.

here is just a glimpse of some fun things we have done this spring break. they include; brewer tours, Hawaiian family bbq's, journey to the church mark's great-great grandfather designed and engineered, open house/birthday party, tours of the fire department, multiple trips to the park, and loads of family meals around the dinner table. all in all a pretty spectacular way to spend this gorgeous week.

here are some pictures for your enjoyment!

Poppo and Grammy with their newest grandson, Jaxon!

 Poppo with his boys

 Uncle Z and Jax

 The train cake Mark made

 The church

 Andrew and Liisa

 Deb and Zach

 Aimee and Lizzie

 A crew setting ready to sing to Anderson

 Blowing out the candles

 Yummy cake

 Little hands stole the camera

 A & E

 The three amigos

 the train set

 Grams holding Jax

 The boys playing

 Fire Station Trip

 Lucy very unsure of the man in the gear :)

a moment of silence....

before the craziness begins!

not like we have an abundance of quiet moments around our home as it is... but nonetheless, we savor what we can get ;)!

and just think of all the fun born of these seven people!

here's to a fabulous weekend full of people, partying, family, friends, and LOTS of together time!
~s

self propelled upgrade...continued...

for those of you pining to know, it was indeed our Katie bug whom gave herself the upgrade (is that the correct placement of "whom" uncle tom, before the verb?). lindsey s. was the first to guess the correct answer (to guess at all really).. therefore, she wins a private skype date with katie, where katie can ask lindsey endless questions ;)

i was thinking about self propelled upgrades this weekend, and it dawned upon we that we do this same exact thing in our spiritual lives.. hear me out.

sometimes, while most would never admit it, these are the following conversations, that in whole or in part, we have with God;

"hey God, here are our challenges for the week, let's divide them up and conquer. i can take the following burdens and worries concerning my children because I am doing really well with those lately. everyone is healthy and seemingly stable, so i've got that covered. moving on, how about you take the big dogs? the really big areas; finances, struggling relationships, world peace, the destruction of the EPA, just to name a few.  i am willing to give you those.  also, programming note, i would like to take back the areas concerning my husband, you seem to be moving a little bit too slowly and i would like to see if i can speed things up. maybe manipulate the situation a little to get the exact outcome i want without having to, you know, be patient. in addition, could you maybe transfer that really annoying couple from across the street to somewhere like, alaska?  i really appreciate these little meetings we have. i always feel so much better after i dump and run from our little convos.  i love being able to simply profit from this relationship. i like the warm fuzzies, i like the idea of being spiritual, i like to think that i can have my cake and eat it too! i don't really have to surrender my WHOLE life just some of it. i like to keep a little bit of control. well, because i am a woman, and we like control, we were just made that way. i like that i can dabble a little over here and a little over here and make this perfect concoction of what i think You should be. it suits me when i get to give myself a spiritual, self- propelled upgrade. "

over the weekend i heard my husband read a loud Isaiah 6 several times. it changed me. we often times tend to minimize our great God and put Him into this perfect, little, box with a bow on it. Our God will not be mocked by our luke warm commitment and religious sentiments. He doesn't want to divide and conquer.... He wants to REIGN in every area of our lives. He doesn't just want to trouble shoot the rough patches in our lives, He wants ALL OF US; every celebration, every valley, every misstep, every pain, every heart ache, every joy,....all of us, unhindered. He is a jealous God. He is Majestic. He sustains the world and all that is in it. There is none like Him, nor will there ever be. there is nothing to compare Him with. No one can even survive the very glimpse of His abounding power and glory. one day, no matter your preference, your good works, your best efforts, your best concoctions of who you think God should be, your disbelief in Him, your disdain for Him, or for someone who claimed to follow Him,  one day.... ONE DAY... "every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus (MY JESUS) is Lord!"

it is by this, for this, and through this, that we have LIFE!
~s

self propelled upgrade...

the kids use our bathroom. which currently isn't that big of a deal. it's easier to monitor the little guy in our bathroom. and for a while the upstairs shower would not drain, so by the time everyone was through showering the tub was almost overflowing. not.ok. 

anyway, last night when i was getting ready to go to bed and i noticed this:

my tooth brush is on the left, mark's is on the right... then someone gave themselves a "self propelled upgrade".. after 10 1/2 years of marriage someone decided that he or she was going to place their tooth brush on hallowed ground.

anybody want to make a guess who the offender is? (is that correct usage of "who", mark littlejohn? ;)

happy weekending,
~s