Sunday HymnSing

God is not only a mighty fortress and warrior that will fight for His faithful children, but also a tender shepherd who offers comfort and shelter in the fortress. Amen! The plans of God's enemies will always be thwarted, "and He must win the battle"!

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he amid the flood
of mortal ills prevaling.
For still our ancient foe
doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great,
and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right man on our side,
the man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth, his name,
from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed
his truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim,
we tremble not for him;
his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure;
one little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers,
no thanks to them, abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours,
thru him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
the body they may kill;
God's truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever.

Watch it on YouTube by Chris Rice. 

Outside Play

We just love having a back yard. The boys spend most of their days back there. 

Water table is the same as bath time. Especially for Simon!

A million bubbles to play with.

Isaac helps daddy give Missy a bath. 

Love my yard, love my boys, love my husband, and love my God who gives abundantly.

Picnic lunch with daddy! My two handsome men.

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Sunday HymnSing

I loved seeing a good ole traditional hymn at church today. It was so full of doctrine, biblical truth, and encouragement for our hearts. enjoy!

Sing O Sing of My Redeemer

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.

 Chorus:

Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.

Chorus

I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant power I’ll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin, and death, and hell.

Chorus

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav’nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.

Listen to it on YouTube

This was last night. The looking at eachother part happened right as i snapped it. Love.

Easter Weekend

Many of you who have been reading my blog for a while know that I love Easter! I look forward to it with the same anticipation and excitement as I do Christmas. Now that Isaac is getting older, devotions and activities are even more fun. God blessed us with a weekend full of family worship.Warning: there are a lot of pictures in this post.

On Good Friday, we spent most of the day reading and reminding ourselves of the story of the cross. It is a sobering reminder to me of how the same people, that just a few days before were praising God and calling out HOSANNA were now, just a few days later, shouting out CRUCIFY HIM! How fickle I can also be. 

After Luke got home, we went on the hunt for rocks to build our own tomb. This was an idea we got from some friends and I loved it. I knew Isaac would really enjoy this.

Going on the hunt.

We gathered our things and we read the crucifixion story in the Jesus Storybook Bible.

Putting Jesus in the tomb.

The two guards pushing the stone :)

All done. Now we wait....

On Saturday,  after a baby shower with a sweet friend, we got ready for our neighborhood Easter egg hunt. This was a challenge from our church. I was a little nervous, but God was kind and gracious to us in so many ways.

The snack table. That garland ribbon and cupcake liners!!!

We had about 9 kids show up. Interesting fact (and God's grace), they are all related to one another.

Egg Relay

 While the kids ate their snacks, I read through the Resurrection Eggs with them. God was so good to provide courage for me and attention to the kids so that it all went smoothly and they all got to hear what Jesus did on the cross. Praise God!

Ready for the hunt!

Praising God again for our backyard!!

  It was such a fun time. God allowed us to see so many of His blessings as he answered our prayers and many other who were praying for us. We're praying that God will use this event to continue to build relationships with our neighbors.

Easter morning started out with us making Resurrection Rolls for breakfast. As an aside, I am so very thankful for the community of godly moms that the Lord has placed in our lives to give such great ideas that shepherd our children to Jesus.

Little Helper

The marshmallow represents Jesus, and when the rolls come out of the oven, the marshmallow has melted and the roll (tomb) is empty.

While the rolls were baking, we checked back with our tomb outside. In place of the two guards, there were two angels, and the stone was rolled away. Isaac was excited to see that Jesus was not in the tomb.

 Not only were the rolls a great visual for the boys, but they were yummy too! Then we were off to church. But not before a short photo shoot.

I love these Easter brothers!!!

Church was really great. Pastor Horner preached about running the race that is set before us. If that course isn't through cross, through the abandoned tomb, and to Jesus seated on the throne, then it's not a race worth running. AMEN!

 After church, we stopped by Luke's parents for a little bit so Grams could see the boys. She had this beautiful azalea bush that she wanted to get some picture of us with. I'm glad she did because I think this picture turned out great!

After some time at home, we went to the house of some great and godly friends for Easter dinner. Not only did we have a fun little egg hunt and an amazing dinner but it was an evening truly filled with family worship.

 

Josh and Bianca were so intentional about making every part of the evening about Jesus and the resurrection. During the egg hunt, there was the frequent reminder that the eggs represent our new life in Christ. While we were setting the table, the dads took the kids and went through the Resurrection eggs. At the beginning of dinner, Bianca had a cross with everyone's names on it. She explained that when God looks at us, who should be on the cross, He only sees Jesus who went to the cross to bear our punishment. AMEN! At the end of dinner, I used my little Easter people and book to again read through the Easter story.  Later, while eating dessert, Bianca read another great Easter story book. Like I said, a night filled with family worship. We loved it all. One of the sweetest things was that the kids all already knew the end of the story because they had been hearing it for weeks! Our prayer is that as we train our children up in the way they should go (God's way) that they will never depart from it. 

Thanks for hanging with me through this long post. I hope it was an encouragement to you.

Happy Easter from Us 4 Mehaffies!

Batman Sings Praises to God

Sunday HymnSing

We sang this at church today, Palm Sunday. Today starts Holy Week and this song was a great way to start the week. Let us remember this week as we approach Good Friday and Easter, God's great love for us. Jesus is the Spotless Lamb and by His sacrifice, death has passed over us. Praise God!! 

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that left Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Listen to it on YouTube

A Wedding...

On Saturday, Luke and I had the great great honor of attening a beautiful wedding. Doug and Melanie Lawson have been in our LifeClass for years and we were praising God that they tied the knot!!

Saying their vows

Becky, Marty and Bianca are some ladies in our class

A beautiful centerpiece

Us with the couple. They were looking at another camera :)

This was our first wedding together in a long time. It's always good to hear wedding messages. It reminds us of the joy we felt when we were first married and refreshes us as we have both been sancitified by fire at times:) Praise God for His faithfulness to Doug and Melanie in their wedding and marriage!