Visit with Gram

Last week Kathryn and I spent a wonderful few days with Gram (my Mom's Mom) while Nick was in Maryland. What an enjoyable time we had! I always love time together with Gram...not only does she make her guests feel welcome and special, but she is so much fun to spend time with! We made jewelry in her workshop (3 new pair of earrings!), went out to lunch at a very cute cafe, enjoyed wonderful cooking (Gram's salads are my favorite!), watched two movies, took Kathryn to the park, went shopping (Gram entertained Kathryn with the three-way mirror while I tried things on), and even fit in a trip to the tailor to alter a dress that Gram bought me for my birthday. All in 2 1/2 days! Thank you, Gram, for the wonderful visit!

On the dock where there were tons of cool-looking boats anchored

Easter Weekend

Nick's parents, Dennis and Marilyn are here for the weekend...this is the first trip where Kathryn seems to recognize them, which of course is very fun for all of us. She is quite taken with "Papaw" and "Mamaw," and they have had fun playing with her all weekend.

On Saturday, we went to the church's easter egg hung outreach, including face painting (Kathryn barely sat still long enough to get her face painted)

"Hey, I see eggs out there! Lots of them!"

"Aha! I found two of them!"
Well, we joined the pagan tradition of easter baskets with Kathryn. :) She mostly just loved taking the grass in and out of the basket and was quite thrilled to discover that there were M&Ms in the plastic eggs! We also gave her a little toothbrush and trainer toothpaste (much needed for that "dragon Breath" of hers) and some crayons. As much as I enjoyed Kathryn as a baby, I'm finding that I am REALLY enjoying her as a 14 month old. I love seeing her respond more and interact. Of course there have been more challenging days, too, but on the whole I am really loving this age. Especially now that her molars are through that she was cutting for a while...that was not very fun for either of us. But now she's back to her sweet self, and Mama is much happier, too!

Gotta keep up on the news

Rekindle '08

We spent a wonderful week last week at Laguna Beach, near Panama City, FL with Mission 28 (CrossWay's college ministry). Since Nick is leading a third of the group in a small-group setting, we were invited to go along this year so Nick could preach one of the messages. Jeanie and I drove down with our three girls in a rental SUV, which was smaller than we thought. So we had three carseats across, which actually worked out well. We stayed the night at my sister Margaret's house in Atlanta (which was a lot of fun!), then headed the rest of the way to Florida the next day. We beat most of the people there since we left a day early, so we got to enjoy a nice afternoon at the beach with the girls when we got there. Kathryn really liked the sand (liked eating it, too!). The weather was pretty nice- a little chilly all week, but sunny every day but one. The highlight for me was enjoying the Worship and messages, enjoying time with friends, and getting to know some of the girls in our Care Group a little better. The ride back was interesting. Jeanie and I got to Atlanta around 9:30, and decided we thought we could drive the whole way back that night (4-5 hours from Atlanta). This was probably a bad idea. The first hour was great- girls were both zombies in the back, watching their DVD's (they were so tired but were just sitting there in the dark, eyes wide open, losing brain cells by the minute), and then the rest of the time involved loud crying/screaming, Kathryn and Alathea taking turns waking each other up....so, it was.....interesting. But we made it back to sleep in our own beds, which was nice.

"Vegging" while watching TV...too funny! Feet crossed and everything.

I think Kathryn was trying to imitate the sound the birds were making in this picture

On our balcony...right on the beach! Amazing.

The view from our balcony...beautiful!

The last morning was warm enough for swim suits, so Kathryn got a true "beach experience"

Sitting in a giant hole one of the students dug

loved the sand...eating it, too!

My Love and me

And she's off!

Beauty in Wasteland

I remember two years ago I saw these daffodils come up from a pile of stones near our house, but by the time I thought to capture them on film, the flowers had lost their bloom. I am not sure what strikes me about these particular flowers...I think it just seems so out of place to have these beautiful flowers, promising of Spring, in the middle of a pile of rubble.

Quest for More....

This week I started Paul Tripp's book: Quest for More: living for something bigger than you. It is excellent, and I highly recommend it to all reading this entry. The premise of the book (from what I've read so far) is how we all have a tendency to shrink the glorious kingdom of our Savior down to the size of our life and desires. It is about building God's kingdom instead of our own "kingdom of one." I have written down a ton of quotes that are so very relevant to my life and thought I'd share some here (this is long, but good!):

"In a fallen world there is a powerful pressure to constrict your life to the shape and size of your life. There is a compelling tendency to forget who you are and what you were made for. There is a tendency to be short-sighted, myopic, and easily distracted. There is a tendency to settle for less when you have been created for more." pg. 22

I think this is particularly true in this season. It's so easy for me to become so focused on day to day things like getting all my chores done, nap schedule, my schedule, messes, decorating the house...etc.

"Ask yourself: What makes your good day a good day? What are the things that tend to make you happy and satisfied? What gives your life a sense of meaning and purpose? What are the things you faithfully pursue, and what are you hoping to experience once you get them? If I watched the video of your last year, what treasure would I conclude you're after?" pg. 53

"Things as mundane as wardrobe, menu, schedule, workload, location, traffic, weather, being right, getting affirmed, money, housing, employment, gardens, family rooms, sex, leisure, who's in the bathroom first, who did what with my newspaper, who ate the last of the cereal, etc.--all of which are important in some way-- rise to a spiritually dangerous level in the heat of the moment...day after day, week after week, year after year, these little moments set the character of a person's life." pg. 31

"There is a rich and satisfying life to be found. There are delights to be known that will transcend anything you could plan or achieve for yourself...But these things will never be found as long as you are holding tightly to your life." pg. 121

And lastly:

"Hope. What are you hoping for? What basket have you put all of your eggs in? Where do you tend to say, "If only I had_____, then my life would be great"? What do you look forward to and hope that you can experience? What occupies your mind and controls your dreams? Are you constantly investing in what can't deliver and won't last? IS Christ your hope? IS he the solid rock on which your life stands? When Christ is my hope, he becomes the one thing in which I have confidence." pg. 107

You can buy the book here.

Birthday pics

Kathryn is taking a long nap today, which is a nice chance to catch up on some things that I've been meaning to do the last few days...one of which is post a new post. Here are some pictures from Kathryn's birthday. She loved eating the cake! Sorry, not too deep for this post but at least some new pictures so you don't get too bored checking my blog. :)

Our new little friend

Baby Girl Lechner #2 (name still is being decided) joined the world yesterday! We are so excited for this new little friend and neighbor! She is a cutie.

Happy Birthday, Kathryn!

More Pics

A few more to add to Kathryn's climbing pictures...I looked away for a second and found her doing this:

Ordinary Sacrifice

From Disciplines of a Godly Life (Donald Whitney):

"In some ways we would prefer to hear Jesus' call to deny father and mother, houses, and land for the sake of the gospel, than His word to wash feet. Radical self-denial gives us the feel of adventure. If we forsake all, we even have the chance of glorious martyrdom. But in service we are banished to the mundane the ordinary, the trivial."

This quote stood out to me as I read Donald Whitney's chapter on the discipline of serving. For someone who likes the approval of others, this is quite a challenge. Am I only willing to sacrifice in the "big stuff," that will be noticed by others? Or am I willing to serve in whatever way God would call me to, even if it goes unnoticed by others? Perhaps especially when it goes unnoticed by others. Whitney goes on to say:

"The ministry of serving may be as public as preaching or teaching, but more often it will be as sequestered as nursery duty. It may be as visible as singing a solo, but usually it will be as unnoticed as operating the sound equipment to amplify the solo. Serving may be as appreciated as a good testimony in a worship service, but typically it's as thankless as washing dishes after a church social...Beyond the church walls, serving is baby-sitting for neighbors, taking meals to families in flux, running errands for the homebound, providing transportation for the one whose car breaks down, feeding pets and watering plants for vacationers, and--hardest of all--having a servant's heart in the home."

Am I looking for ways to serve to be noticed by others or in ways that may be only noticed by God? Do I set aside my serving for "big stuff" or am I willing to sacrifice in the "mundane, the ordinary, the trivial"? hmmm. Food for thought.

Okay, I'm really not trying to turn this blog into a shrine of Kathryn, but I do think this video is pretty funny.

Christmas Pictures...finally!

Okay, sorry it took me a while to get these pictures on...Here are some pictures from Christmas. We went to Muncie, IN for 4 days then on to Wheaton for 5. We are once again thankful for wonderful families with whom to celebrate Christmas.

Kathryn learned where "nose" is, and she's pointing to her new dolly's nose.

Playing with cousin Hayden, who is 3 months younger

Of course the wrapping is the most interesting part!

One of our many attempts to get a cousins picture in Wheaton...at least in this one no one is screaming. :)

"Papa" (my dad) and the girls building a snowman with the 6+ inches of snow we got

Kathryn and "Papaw" (Nick's dad)

With "Mamaw" (Nick's Mom)

"Hey, I think I can figure this one out!"

Guess Who's Climbing?

Kathryn has discovered climbing, so now it's not too uncommon to see her in funny places that she's gotten herself into. She keeps us laughing!

How I spent my Friday Night

Here's a video clip from a gig before Christmas...I was sitting right next to the drummer onstage, and I was able to get some video clips with my camera when I wasn't playing. This was a very fun job...definitely not my usual fare. :) Sorry the video is a little blurry...I had to compress the quality to download it.