What a beautiful weekend we had here in Alabama filled with our regular allotment of baseball games and sunscreen. We also attended Stadium Fest this weekend which was a family day at Samford University with Christian speakers and Christian musicians and then fun things for the kids to do too. Getting to hear Chris Tomlin perform some of the songs he is best known for was a highlight for me. Getting to stand in long lines for inflatables and water is sure to be the highlight for Chad. It really was warm here Saturday bordering on down right hot. It's like we forget year to year how hot it actually gets here. We will be begging for this day when we are all sweltering in the low 100's come August. I guess we just need to be eased back into it.
One of the main speakers (Rick, a radio personality here in Birmingham) spoke of the mediocre, lukewarm Christian. Those of us who grew up in the church....we know the words to all the songs, we know the right words to say and we know how to pretend like we have the perfect life, but what kind of impact have we made for Christ? We live this long and for the most part healthy life giving little to no thought of those around us who don't know our Savior. He was very blunt in his delivery and it would have flown in the face of a lot of Christians, but it was something we all needed to hear to push us out of this rut we get caught up in w/everyday life.
We are here for one reason only and that is to spread the message of Jesus Christ. It is a message of love and hope in a hopeless world. Rick lost his youngest son in a drowning accident over a year ago and has since used his son's story to share with so many about God's love and faithfulness. The impact that the life of this little 2 1/2 year old has made for the Kingdom has been far reaching, what is our impact? Wow, that will convict ya, won't it?
Rick doesn't want people to talk about the tragedy of his young son's life cut so short, he wants people to see Jesus. When I see Sophie Kate through the eyes of this world, I see tragedy and sadness. I am utterly devestated and can see myself very easily falling into a hole of deep dark depression, but when I look at her through the filter of the cross, I see hope. Glory to God y'all this life is not all there is, this is earthly pain and it will not last forever, Hallelujah! One thing I have heard Rick say several times is that he knows God loves him, but Rick knows he is not the only one God loves. I have to let that sink in....God loves me but I am not the only one He loves. "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10. May God be glorified through Sophie Kate's life and through the lives of all the children like her.
Didn't intend on going so heavy on you on a Tuesday, but that's just what has been on my heart since Saturday. What a neat experience it was to look out over the crowd of thousands all worshipping God together, all denominations, races and ages, pretty cool!
We didn't think we had enough children to keep up with among the thousands that were in attendance, so we thought we would add one more to our group just to make it a little more challenging, Cooper's friend went with us.
This is how Grey spent part of Stadium Fest, until he rolled off , oh yes he did. He (and we) quickly found out that that is an awful way for "he" to wake up. The short version of that is....we left within the hour.
How we ended up w/o a picture of Miss Sassy is a mystery to us all b/c she was sporting one of her cute summer dresses that day and also may or may not have had her toenails painted pink. She did great Saturday, we were at Stadium fest for 4 or 5 hours and she was an angel, which is more than I can say for Grey after he took his fall off the bleachers. He did make a quick recovery though when we rode the buses back over to our car. Who knew riding a school bus for the first time could be so fun to a 3 year old and so not fun to an 18 month old. SK did not appreciate the bumpiness that is a yellow school bus, just another fun weekend here.
Thanks for checking in on us, have a good week.
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