my little brother is MARRIED! :)

Friday, July 24, 2009 my brother Jonathan became a married man.
Here's some sweet wedding shots of Jonathan and my new sister Kate. :)













And in just three short months... 89 days... I'm getting married too! :)

God is Working!

God is working,
He's still working,
God is working even now.

Though we often don't know just how,
God is working even now!

Hallelujah!!
He's working even now!
Hallelujah!!
He's working even now!

Though we often don't know just how,
God is working!
He's still working!
God is working even now!

MORE TO COME SOON!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONATHAN!!!!

just thought you should know...

TODAY

IS THE LAST DAY

OF SCHOOL!!!!!!!!

Psalm 34

I sought the Lord, and he answered me;

He delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to Him are radiant; 

Their faces are never covered with shame.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

and His ears are attentive tho their cry.

The righteous cry out,

and the Lord hears them;

He delivers them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

A righteous man may have many troubles,

but the Lord delivers him from them all.

-excerpts from Psalm 34

Owen Michael

Look who came to visit me last night!!  :)

This is me with my cousin Mark and his wife Lauren's little baby Owen.  

Owen Michael Burkey is 10 weeks old!

He he!!  Look at that face he's making for Ryan!  :)

Mark and Ryan were trying to get him to smile...

Awe, there he goes!
Ryan's so cute.  :)  I think he'll make a good Dad... don't you?  ;)

Here's me and the little guy!

I was holding him weird.  ??  Don't know what I was thinking.  He's a squirmy little dude.  :)  And he arches his back.  It's funny.  Oh... and his tummy was rumbling.  :)

He smiled every time right BEFORE Ryan snapped the picture.

I promise I wasn't choking him!

Ok... so this is "The Swaddle" technique.  I guess Owen won't sleep unless he's all swaddled up.  :)  And!  Apparently Mommy can get swaddled too!!  Check this out!  :)

So here's Mark starting to swaddle him...

Look he's almost done...

Oh no!!  Owen got out!  Mark thinks he's out-growing his blanket!

It was a whole family affair... Lauren had to help Mark with the folding...

And here we go again...

Done!!  Look at that cute little swaddled bundle!!

They're so cute!!  :)

I'm so glad they stopped by on their way home for Memorial Day!  And my fingers are crossed that they'll stop again on the way back to Nashville Monday!

update on the bluejay family...

Can you find the nest?

Over the past several weeks, I have been fascinated by the changes taking place right outside my window... in Mr. and Mrs. Bluejay's nest!  :)  Daily I peek out and see Mom and Dad right there... sometimes just one of them, sometimes both of them.  The eggs hatched about three weeks ago, I think May the 1st.  You could tell because Mr. and Mrs. Bluejay don't stay in the nest any longer... but they frequently come back with their chins stuffed with food.  :)  It's neat to listen to the little birdies chirping.  I keep trying to get some good pictures of them... but it's really difficult as I'm taking the shots through my window and the tree branches often block a good shot... even though it's easy to see the birds.  Yesterday when I got home from school, I looked out the kitchen window and the little guys were STANDING on the side of the nest flapping their wings... as if they were about to jump out!  I grabbed my camera, a blanket, and my computer (so I could download the pictures as I took WAY too many!) and layed on the floor in my bathroom as the window there gives you a better view of the nest.  I was rather freaked out for the babies... a big cat was sitting at the bottom of the tree!  But they never did jump.  Today, when I came home for my lunch break... the nest was empty!!  There was no movement coming from it... and I could hear the little birdys but I couldn't see them anywhere.  Dad and Mom were flying around... at one point I thought I saw a little bird on the ground, but by the time I got closer, it wasn't there anymore.  It's really neat to watch Mr. and Mrs. Bluejay fly around and scream as if they're protecting the babies and giving them a chance to learn to fly.  Mr. Bluejay ruled my neighbors back yard.  They have like 6 cats... and there wasn't a trace of those cats!  I've heard bluejays can be fierce and don't hesitate to attack cats... or even humans!  Sometimes I think he'll fly at my window!  (I never just stand on the porch... remember... I am still afraid of birds!!)  Here are a few pictures I got... they aren't great... but I cropped the last two so you can kind of see the babies and Mrs. Bluejay in the branches above the nest.  (If you click on a picture it should enlarge!)  Hope you enjoy!!  I wish I could invite you over to look at the birds with me!  And I really hope I'll catch a shot or get to see one of the little babies flying around!!  :)

See Mrs. BlueJay in the branches above?  She's slightly lighter blue than Dad.  The back of her head has more grey in it than his.  

Here you can see the little babies standing on the edge ready to jump!  They were SO cute when they fluttered their little wings trying to fly away!  Their wings didn't look quite strong enough yesterday!  Their little chirps get louder every day!

looking in the mirror and immediately forgetting its reflection

Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.  But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does.

-James 1:22-25

I could kick myself.

I've been teaching some teen girls a Bible Study on Monday nights and last night we studied Hannah... a woman who was barren for years and taunted by her husband's other wife.  Hannah's response to her situation was to go to God.  She wept in the temple and poured out her heart to God to the extent that the priest, Eli, who was standing there watching her thought she was drunk.  Hannah requested that God give her a son, and promised that if He would, she would give her little boy back to God for the fullness of his life.  God heard Hannah's prayer, and in the course of time He opened her womb and she had a little boy, Samuel, meaning "Because I asked the Lord for him".  Hannah had amazing trust in God and gave her little boy to the temple when he was probably around two years old without hope of another child.  God blessed Hannah and a few years later she had five more little babies: three boys and two girls!  I pointed out to the girls that Hannah had a choice in her situation... to turn to God or to become worked up about her lot in life.  Instead of responding like Abraham's wife, Sarah, who took matters into her own hands and then later laughed when an angel told her she was expecting, or Rachel, Jacob's wife, who became bitter and jealous of her sister Leah and pleaded with Jacob to give her a child as if it was him who made her barren, Hannah turned directly to the source, to the only one who might possibly provide her with a child, and who definitely would provide her with the comfort, patience, and peace that she needed to continue through life without a son or daughter.  My challenge to the girls last night was to turn directly to the source when troubles come our way - to pray and cry out to God like Hannah instead of taking it into our own hands or becoming bitter, angry and jealous.  

And what's the first thing I do last night when Bible Study is all said and done?  I freak out!  Last night right after Bible Study instead of practicing a Hannah response to a difficult situation by being patient and prayer-ful, I became upset, down-cast,  stressed, worried, frustrated, and angry.  That man in James seems like me today.  How easy it was for me to "look in the mirror and then walk away and completely forget what I look like"!  

Dear God, forgive me.  Help me to respond like Hannah.  Thank you that you are a God who listens, who understands, who cares, and who blesses and guides your people as we trust in you.  I'm sorry for my lack of faith.  I want to not just listen to your Word... I want to do what it says.  Create in me a clean heart, O Lord, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.  

Amen.  Yes Lord, let it be so.