how great is our GOD

Last night I went to the Steven Curtis Chapman and Michael W. Smith 'United' concert and, as expected, it was amazing!! It was my birthday present from Jordan. He wasn't sure if I really wanted to go because this was my 6th time seeing MWS in concert but I think it gets better every time! We were in the top section of Central Weslayan Church but there wasn't a bad seat in the house. I don't even know how to give my description of the night justice but I'll try.


The concert got started out with both of them singing together and then SCC took the stage. In between songs, he gave sermonettes about his family and his music. For those of you who don't know, 11 months ago SCC's little girl was tragically killed. And it was awesome to see the faith that the Chapman family has kept throughout all of this. SCC had to re-evaluate his music and if he really believed it because if not, he wasn't going to continue. But he has kept his hope in Jesus and believes the promise that God is always sovereign. It was really moving to hear his take on things. He has even continued to sing the infamous 'Cinderella Song'. You can read the whole story of his loss here. Geoff Moore also made an appearance. He is a songwriter of many christian artists' songs and therefore, also very talented.

After a brief intermission, MWS took the stage and played a few of his old hits and that was great! I grew up on MWS and it was great to hear little tidbits of the songs that you'd never expect to hear in concert. He also had a good message about his ministry and about being a child of God. He put on a great show as well with his worship songs. Once again, SO moving. MWS played a song from his instrumental CD 'Freedom' (which I love) and at all of his concerts, he plays 'Friends' (one of his most requested). It was cool for me when he sang 'Friends' because a random thought came into my head that my 3 closest friends were all sitting at that concert: Katie, Sara, and Crystal. It was a cool (and kind of cheesy!) revelation!


I LOVE my life....I love being a wife and mommy and I feel fulfillment in so many areas of my life. I honestly feel as if I could not ask for more. But sitting in that concert last night, I am so excited to leave this life someday and join those who are not with us anymore and praise Jesus face to face. I mean, can you even imagine it? One of my favorite songs is Angus Dei and when the whole auditorium sang that together last night I tried to imagine millions more singing along while looking at Jesus. ...holy, holy, are you Lord God Almighty.. worthy is the Lamb, worthy is the Lamb, you are holy.... MWS and SCC also led us together in the song 'How Great is Our God' which was also amazing to sing as a group. These concerts are great because they just give me a spiritual boost! God was in that place and with the whole audience singing praises to Him....I cannot help but think that it was a glimpse of heaven.

ruby's baptism

Ruby got baptized this morning (or as Grandpa Jones would say, 'she got a sprinklin!'"). She did good in the front of church and was her happy, smiley self and Natalie didn't give us any grief either! I was more concerned about Natalie talking or throwing a fit. Afterwards, we had friends and family over for a lite lunch which consisted of cheese and crackers, chips, breads, muffins, ham-on-buns (we're so dutch, I know!) and cupcakes, butterscotch bars, scotcheroos. We had such a good time and thanks to everyone who came to church to witness it!

These are all but 2 of our nieces and nephews. We'll have 10 all together by June!

dad barkel

Sunday was Jordan's dad's birthday but the family got together to celebrate his birthday last night. We couldn't be more blessed to have him in our lives. He had the nicest prayer before dinner thanking God for his wife, his children and their spouses and the grandkids, and praised God for the day that HE came into his heart. It made me tear up. I know that he must feel so blessed with all that God has given him but I don't think he realizes what a blessing he is to the rest of his family. He always has the most beautiful prayers and is such a good example of what a godly man should be. I feel like I can talk to him about anything and he always has a good take on things. He is very wise. Not having a relationship with my own dad, I couldn't feel any luckier about having Jordan's dad as my father-in-law. I don't think he'll ever realize what he means to me as a daughter-in-law. He's so easy to talk to and so supportive of Jordan and I. He's the most generous and loving man. He's got such a great sense of humor and when we get together with Jordan's parents, I could sit and be with them for hours (and sometimes we are). Not only is he a great dad and wonderful grandpa, he's a mentor and a friend. Happy Birthday, Dad. We love you :)

Easter

Easter is one of my favorite holidays. Just like any other holiday, we stay busy and are usually with family all day. Yesterday, we started the day out with a great church service. At noon we went to Jordan's aunt and uncle for dinner, an easter egg hunt, and card games. Natalie loved finding eggs this year and it was nice enough weather that we could do it outside. At night, we had my family over for dinner. We wound up in bed at 9:30!! Hope everyone else had good days with family and may we never forget the price that Christ has paid for our sins.

barkel, inc.

Jordan and I have been very busy lately with just random stuff around the house. It must be spring fever. Warm weather is so close you can taste it but it's still cold out and we're going crazy being stuck inside! But whether the weather's the reason (like my clever play on words?!) for our productiveness or just because there are so many projects that have been on hold, we have accomplished a lot this week!

This week, I repainted Natalie and Ruby's room and this is the final product.

That's a chalkboard painted on the wall that Natalie loves. I would like to get some letters to spell out the girls' names and I found some cute ones on this website I'd like to buy. (Love that website, by the way....check it out!) I also re-painted the massage room and am waiting for Jordan to hang some crown molding before I put up pictures. And I painted a wall in our bedroom a different color which I am happy about. I made the curtains hanging in the girls' bedroom and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out. It was my first sewing project. I was inspired by how easy sewing was and decided to sew some matching dresses with the leftover material. So here are the finished products of the new curtains and Natalie's dress (it was the best one I could take - she was crabby at the moment!)

For some reason, I can't flip the picture :)

Another project got started on Wednesday night - Jordan started building a floor to ceiling cabinet to go in our bathroom. He got the thing built (minus drawers and cupboard doors) and then we had to haul this 200 pound thing up the stairs and through the house and into our small bathroom. IT WAS CRAZY. I think Jordan was going to kill me by the end of it for my lack of muscles and lack of common sense on which way to 'pivot' the thing. (Anyone ever see the 'Friends' episode where Ross and Rachel try to bring a couch up the stairs of an apartment building and he keeps shouting "Pivot!" Well that was us and we also got stuck more than once!!) I'm tellin' ya, if a marriage can get through that it can get through anything!! But we made it. At one time, we were pivoting it over the dining room table and over the island in our kitchen! Somehow, I was always ending up with the heavy end so we switched ends numerous times! To get it in our bathroom, we had to take down the hallway light fixture and the trim above the doorway (actually Jordan finally just busted it off out of frustration). The toilet seat got a little scratch and it's kind of wobbly now from getting hit, but somehow, we got it in! It took us an hour and a lot of patience but it's in and it's there to stay!! Thankfully the girls slept through it all (it was 11 pm once we finally got it in!) I love it and can't wait until it's finished!

But even with how busy we've been staying, I've still found time to blog!!

peeing, teething, running (another random post)

Last night I was going to take a shower with Natalie (or as she says, 'show') but was getting dinner going first. I know....weird time to take a shower but I had just ran on the treadmill! Anyways, the next thing I know, Natalie's butt naked and the bathroom floor is all wet! It turns out that she went potty on her potty seat which was sitting next to the toilet on the floor. But I gave her a high five for it anyway! That was the third time now that she's gone on her potty and it was all by herself!

Natalie is working on her last eye tooth and then we're done with her teething for awhile. I think she'll get some more molars around 3 years old...? But now Ruby is working on her first tooth. It just broke through yesterday. Ruby is just changing so much again. I'm thinking she weighs around 18 pounds now. She's also been eating her rice cereal everyday and yesterday I tried baby food and she loved it. Hopefully we can fill her belly a little fuller now with the baby food so she'll start sleeping through the night. That's right, she has only slept through from midnight to 5 a couple of times. So lately I've been feeling sleep deprived. At least Ruby's good at sleeping in but then Natalie wakes up at 6:30 everyday!

Update on my running: I have done really bad at keeping with it for the month of March. In February, I ran 70% of the days. In March, I ran 30% of the days. So, I'm going to work really hard this month because the 5k is in 4 weeks and I've only gotten up to 2.5 miles. I really wanted to get to 3.5 just to be on the safe side. I'm also afraid that the inches I lost were put back on... I don't dare to check yet. In March, we got the flu and I had a bad cold for a couple of weeks, so that is my lame excuse for not running much. Hopefully at the end of this month, I'll have a more positive update to share.

nienhuis wedding

This weekend we went to the wedding of good friends' of ours, Aaron and Heidi. It was a beautiful wedding and reception. Jordan and I danced the night away! We don't get out much so it was good times :) And we've got a few more weddings this year that we can look forward to partying at!! We know that Aaron and Heidi are going to have an amazing marriage and we're so happy for them!!

We have such a great group of friends. They're really good about just going out to our houses to hang out since we have kids. We usually hang out at least once a week, if not a couple of times, and it never gets old! Many of our friends were at the wedding and we all had a good time together.

Weddings always remind me of the vows that Jordan and I took over 3 years ago, now. I know it's such a cliche but I honestly fall more in love with Jordan everyday!! It's such an amazing feeling. We've been together for 6 years now and we've been through a lot. I wouldn't change anything about our past because, bad or good, it has shaped who were are now as individuals and as a couple. I am so blessed to be Jordan's wife and I pray that God gives us MANY years together. He is my best friend (and, honestly, I haven't always felt that way!) I love that weddings make me realize how lucky I am all over again! Sorry this post got so mushy!!