Ribbon

Lots of kids are out of town for spring break, so Lydia and momma had most of the pool to themselves during Lydia's swim lesson this week. Lydia is a joyful little swimmer for the most part and at the end of her lesson a few days ago, she received a ribbon. She was very pleased about this. Here are some photos of our happy little swimmer.

Around the house Lydia seems to be doing something new almost every day. Putting on my shoes and walking around is entertaining to watch.

And here is Lydia reading to her rabbit. It is fun to watch and hear her excitingly chatter away to whoever is nearby and also to hear her when she chats with herself.

Have a great weekend!

Politics

This week we are going to discuss politics.

Just kidding.

Not funny dad. Not funny.

Here are a few photos from last week. First up, here are a few of Jaynie and Lydia, with Lydia in her Easter dress.

Here we are with Grandma. We had a great visit but quickly become #2 & #3 to Lydia whenever she is in town as Lydia loves being with her Grandma.

The setup for the excellent Easter meal Jaynie cooked up.

Lydia's new glasses.

And some photos of Lydia helping out around the house. She likes to throw stuff into the garbage - sometimes even garbage! She likes to take a washcloth or paper towel and clean little spots on the floor or the cupboards or other random surfaces. And she also likes to vacuum.

She is quite the little helper!

Have a great week!

Easter Weekend

The Important Part

Easter and Christmas are about Jesus. There isn't much point in having Christmas without Easter. The reason Christ came was to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). That happened, for those who are in Christ, over Easter. Unfortunately, this seems ridiculous to a lot of people these days. Most people seem to be under the impression that they are good people, and that when they die being a 'good person' will get them into Heaven. Or, they simply do not talk about dying, like it doesn't happen to, you know, everybody. Or, people say ridiculous things like all religions are the same and everybody goes to Heaven. I'll start at the end first. All religions cannot be the same because Christianity is exclusive. Jesus says very clearly that he is the only way to Heaven (John 14:6). If Jesus is the only way, all religions cannot be true. Either Christianity is correct and Jesus is the only way - making it impossible that all religions are true, or Christianity is false - making it impossible that all religions are true. As far as the 'good person' argument goes, God calls us to an impossibly high standard - perfection. Not one of us meets this standard - but there is one who did meet it for us. Here is a quick little test to see what an impossibly high standard we are to meet: Ask yourself if you have ever wanted something that somebody else has - house, car, job, money, body, age, family, intelligence, etc. Ever. If you have, then you are guilty of coveting (Exodus 20:17, Romans 3:23), and you fall short of the standard that God calls each of us to. You have offended an infinite eternal God, and that God says the penalty is not good. It is an infinite and eternal penalty. Fortunately, God has lovingly given us two options here: 1. Receive and follow Christ who has paid the price for you, freely. 2. Pay the infinite eternal price yourself. There is no third option. That is it. Jesus pays or you do.

This often sounds very harsh to people. Below in the 'not important part' are tons of pictures of our little girl that we absolutely love. I do not love you enough to let our child die in your place. God does love you enough to let His child die in your place. He already has. It is the whole Easter message. It is crazy. But even crazier, would be to reject God's Son and pay the price yourself.

If for whatever reason any of this is new to you or does not make sense to you, I highly recommend a book called Mere Christianity by CS Lewis.

The Not Important Part

Lydia had a ton of fun this week swinging, climbing the stairs to our house, going to the Kids Museum with her best friend Eden, and going on an Easter egg hunt with Grandma. Here are photos of the week.

Happy Easter!

Visiting the Mitten

Lydia and I are currently in Michigan visiting her cousins, Grace and Ava to help celebrate their recent birthdays. They've had some good playtime and monkeying around time over the past two days. Lydia loves spending time with the girls, and the extra attention from her Mimi, Uncle Andrew, Auntie Becky, Auntie Jodie, and cousin Natalie. We are looking forward to the birthday party this afternoon.

Lydia is still not a fan of sharing her baths. Haha!

The above picture looks like it is Lydia's first selfie, but the photo was taken by my sister. Lol.