"Crazy Love" Lessons

I have been reading the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. I'm only 2 chapters in, so don't ask me how it is yet...AWESOME!!! Here are 2 of my early lessons from it:

"Colossians 1:16 tells us that everything was created for God: "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." Don't we live instead as though God is created for us, to do our bidding, to bless us, and to take care of our loved ones?" My thoughts: I know I do. I forget that I am God's NOT the other way around. I act like He should work around my schedule and submit to my timetable. I always thought, (perpetuated by a lie unknowingly told by many Christians), that Jesus was just pleased when I gave Him any little part of me or my time. Hello!!!! Not even close!!! God requires ALL. I had heard that before too, but I always felt pretty good about what I gave to Him, and figured He understands that I am a busy wife and mother. Life revolves around me. Which brings me to another stand-out point in the book. "There is that perplexing command: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Phil. 4:4). You'll notice that it doesn't end with "...unless you're doing something extremely important."... When I am consumed by my problems-stressed out about my life, my family, and my job - I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities." My thoughts: Okay, I read this and laughed. It sounded so silly to me when I actually thought about it. My life is nothing more than a "2/5 of a second long scene" in the movie of life. The reality is that 50 years (give or take) after my death, nobody will remember me! This really isn't as depressing as it might seem. So long as Jesus knows me and I have brought Him glory, I could care less.  "The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing, God wants to be glorified, because this whole thing is His. It is His movie, His world, His gift." ... I know that you all are waiting for more pictures of the kids and more stories. They will be coming, but I'm trying to take them in and not disrupt our giggles with the camera. Just to give you a feel for how they are doing, here are some brief updates: Luke has pretty much stopped talking. He babbles, and continues to say mama and dada, but mostly he tries to get away with pointing, waving, signing "please", and throwing tantrums :) They are quite silly. He rolls back and forth on the floor, cries, kicks his feet and hits a lot. His favorite game is peek-a-boo/hide and seek. He loves to hide behind Trey's long curtains, and he won't let me fold a blanket or make a bed without running and diving into the blanket to hide his face for peek-a-boo. His dimples are enough to melt my heart. Trey is on the verge of reading/spelling. He constantly wants to know what letters different words start with or what things say. He will randomly tell me something like, "mommy, turtle starts with "T" just like Trey". He can spell his name, "Luke", "Mom", "Dad", and "Hot". He is great at spelling words with a little help from us. I knew that English was hard, but try explaining to a 3 year old that "C" says Car and Ceiling, but "K" makes the same sound as "C", and so does "S". "G" says grass and giant, but "J" says jump even though the "J" and "G" sound the same. How weird! I'll try harder for pictures soon. Love, Lindsay