A Prayer

Dear Lord,

Help me to spread your fragrance wherever I go.

Flood my soul with your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of yours.

Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul.

Let them look up and see no longer me, but only you, O Lord!

Stay with me, then I shall begin to shine as you do; so to shine as to be a light to others.

The light, O Lord, will be all from you; none of it will be mine; it will be you shining on others through me.

Let me thus praise you in the way you love best, by shining on those around me.

Let me preach without preaching, not by words but by my example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to you.

Amen.

-John Henry Newman

(One of Mother Teresa's favorite prayers, said every day by the Missionaries of Charity)

We Are Family

It was a huge blessing to spend the past 5 days with my family. My mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, sister, brother-in-law and 3 month old neice Miko all came to see us in Cody, Wyoming! On Tuesday we celebrated Abigail's first birthday and my sister-in-law Tara's birthday. Abigail was born on Tara's birthday-July 26th. My friend Laura made Abigail's birthday cake. It was delicious. On Wednesday we went to Yellowstone and saw Artists' Point, the Mud Volcano, Norris Geyser and Old Faithful. While they were here we had a wonderful time hanging out, watching the grandkids play and just had a great time being together. Thank you all for coming! We love you all and miss you already!

Samuel's

1st

kite

My

big

brother

still

knows

how

to

make

me

laugh :)

Happy

1st

Birthday

Abigail!

Tara helped Samuel cut out things to become "Samuel the Chef."

Samuel's First Bug

Samuel was so excited when he found this little guy in the grass one morning. He asked me if he could keep it as a pet. So we found a plastic bottle, poked holes in the top of it and started to put dirt, grass and twigs in it. He had fun talking to his new little pet during the day. Later in the afternoon he wanted to take the ladybug out of the plastic bottle. So we took the bug out and a few minutes later I hear him crying, "Mommy, it's biting me!" It turned out this was not a ladybug after all. I looked them up online and they are called Asian Lady Beetles or Asian Ladybugs. I'm glad that Samuel had fun taking care of this new little pet, even if it was just for one day.

Yellowstone

On July 4th we went to Yellowstone. You never know how much wild life you will see on any given day, but this time we saw a lot of animals including 2 moose. My favorite part of the park is the Lower Falls. The following picture with the rainbow was taken there. Reminding me that the Lord's mercies are new for us every day.

God is love

Giving

Toby

some

love.

I love Samuel and Abigail a lot! But the love I have for them does not even begin to compare with the love our Heavenly Father has for each one of us. Sit back and rest in Him as He reveals His love to us.

He will rejoice over you with gladness,

He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

~Zephaniah 3:17

And Your thoughts toward us

Cannot be recounted to You in order;

If I would declare and speak of them,

They are more than can be numbered.

~Psalm 40:5

The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;

And in the night His song shall be with me-

A prayer to the God of my life.

~Psalm 42:8

For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

The Lord will give grace and glory;

No good thing will He withhold

From those who walk uprightly.

~Psalm 84:11

The Lord is merciful and gracious,

Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.

~Psalm 103:8

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them!

If I should count them, they would be

more in number than the sand...

~Psalm 139:17-18

The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,

Slow to anger and great in mercy.

The Lord is good to all,

And His tender mercies are over all His works.

~Psalm 145:8-9

You open Your hand

And satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in all His ways,

Gracious in all His works.

The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth.

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;

He also will hear their cry and save them.

~Psalm 145:16-19

You have ravished my heart,

My sister, my spouse;

You have ravished my heart

With one look of your eyes...

~Song of Solomon 4:9

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

For God did not send HIs Son into the world to condemn the world,

but that the world through Him might be saved.

~John 3:16-17

By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

~1 John 3:16

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

~1 John 4:7-9