Let the Little Children Come to Me

On Wednesday evening, April 21st Luke expressed his desire to ask Jesus into his heart.  We had a sweet conversation about Jesus and how our sin separates us from Him.  When I asked Luke if he would like to ask Jesus to forgive him of his sins Luke said, "I already did that Mom; one night in my room!"  We prayed thanking Jesus for His forgiveness and love to us. 

Several months later, again on a Wednesday evening traveling to church, Luke asked, "When can I get in the water?"  That was his precious way of telling us he wanted to be baptized. 

Today, during the 11 o'clock service Luke was baptized. 

Matthew 18:2-3 reads, "He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.' "

I love that Jesus simply asks us to come and believe.  We don't have to have full understanding of faith, theology, scripture, etc.  We just have to come believing and trusting Him.  I'm so incredibly grateful that Luke has come to know Jesus at a young age.  Now he can spend the rest of his life walking and growing in relationship with Him. 

Pastor Drew asked Luke, "Who is Jesus to you?"  Luke's answer, "my Savior." 

I wish all of our family could have been here with us to celebrate Luke's public profession of faith.  I'm grateful that now we will have all eternity to celebrate together!

Fourth & Fifth of July

We finally ventured to Washington, D.C. So here is our trip in pictures with a few captions in between!  We started at Arlington National Cemetery.

                                                         

We then traveled to the National Mall.  We saw part of the Independence Day Parade.  We visited the Lincoln Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and the Vietnam War Memorial.  I don't have any pictures of the Vietnam War Memorial wall because there were a lot of people and I just wasn't able to get a good picture of the wall. 

It was a hot long day, but totally worth it at the end of the day!  This is definitely one Fourth of July that I will never forget!  The only way it could have been better is if all our friends and family were there with us too!

  The next day we visited the Smithsonian Museum of American History. 

We were able to see the 30'x42' flag that flew over Fort McHenry during the battle of the War of 1812.  It was the same flag that Francis Scott Key saw that inspired him to write his poem that eventually became the Star Spangled Banner.  We were not able to take a picture of the flag because it is so fragile. 

This was probably the boys' favorite thing; C3PO.

The Abraham Lincoln exhibit was my favorite.  On the left is Abraham Lincoln's top hat.  The last time he wore it was the night he went to Ford's Theatre.  The picture on the right is Abraham Lincoln's inaugural suit.  The shirt and tie were reproductions, but the coat and trousers were the real deal.  The gown was Mary Todd Lincoln's inaugural gown.  

The next few pictures are for my sister:  Julia Child's Kitchen

 

There was so much more to see.  I can't wait to go back!  We had a really great time!

Fun Times with Pa Jim

It has been so great having my dad here for a visit!  We've enjoyed showing him a few of the sights around town.  Friday, we went to Inner Harbor, downtown Baltimore.  First we went to the Observation Deck of the World Trade Center building.  It is the tallest pentagon-shaped building in the world. 

This is the view of the Francis Scott Key Bridge looking from the Observation Deck.

After lunch, we traveled to Fort McHenry by water taxi.  That was really fun.  Here is your history lesson for the day:  The British attacked Fort McHenry in 1814 at the end of the War of 1812.  The bombardment lasted for 25 hours.  During the battle, Francis Scott Key was being held on a US truce ship in the Chesapeake Bay.  In the early morning of September 14th, Key saw the huge flag flying over Fort McHenry and was stirred to write what would become our national anthem.  Enjoy some of our pictures and if you ever visit Baltimore, I highly recommend a tour of Fort McHenry.  You definitely do not want to miss the short film in the visitor's center, either.  The actual flag that flew over the fort is now in the Smithsonian in DC.

Fort McHenry is the shape of a star.  I thought that was fascinating!

During the Civil War, Fort McHenry was used as a temporary prison for captured Confederate soldiers.  We found a couple of rebel rousers!  They were released later for being so darn cute!

ammunition room

Saturday, after a full day of golf lessons and t-ball, we drove down the road to Annapolis for ice cream at a local favorite:

We definitely enjoyed it!

After ice cream, we walked down to the end of the pier.  We had a great time!