Spring is the Season of New Beginnings

"For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives."

Romans 6:4

Our Easter Sunday attire this year. Lulu and her new best friend Oreo (my mom's dog) are pictured as well.

Spring is here, my favorite time of year. And this spring is bringing exciting things to our family. We have recently moved back to our home town in Kansas and love being so close to our family. Also we should meet our Little Man any day now.

Our house has been buzzing the past week trying to prepare for this baby. We recently got both a bassinet and the crib put together, and after I got all of those projects done last week we are starting to feel almost ready.

But, with all of those baby things aside, we also celebrated Hubby's 26th birthday and the most important holiday of the year, Easter on Sunday (and for Hubby, opening day of baseball).

Easter always brings feelings of happiness to my life. With the blooming flowers, and warm weather, this to me marks new beginnings. While most people use the New Year as their starting point for resolutions, Easter marks the point where Christ died for my sins, and is a reminder every year that even though I have failed many times, I can always ask for forgiveness and receive the grace of a new beginning.

I was baptized when I was around 13 after a mission trip to Guyana, South America. While in South America, I helped in a medical clinic and lead a VBS (Vacation Bible School) for kids in the area. While on that trip I think we baptized around 15 people, and while talking to some of the locals they asked why I myself was not baptized. I had attended church my whole life, but always thought that I needed to have a specific list of things accomplished before I could be a "true" Christian. After that mission trip it was the first time I realized that you didn't need to be perfect to be a Christian.  These locals were learning about God (most of them were Hindu when we met them) believing and changing their lives around in just a matter of days. This was inspiring to me, that they felt the conviction and God in their heart and chose to turn their lives around.

Once back in the States I got to thinking about what milestones I believed that I needed to pass to get my badge of honor, and realized that it was a silly notion. God is not looking for the perfect girl scout, He is looking for someone to believe, praise and honor Him, and to follow the gospel and become a disciple for Christ. I was baptized a few days later.

Since that day I have been far from perfect. In fact I fell away from God for a while during college, and decided that I was more important that He. But eventually He opened enough doors to reach out to me. Since then I have been trying to put my life in God's hands.

Just as nature gets a new beginning in the spring, I have committed myself to a few things to work on in my Christian walk. I am going to be better at reading my bible. I am going to try to be the best wife and mother that I can possibly be. I am going to introduce God into my son's life everyday. I want to Love not Judge. I want others to know that I'm a Christian BEFORE I tell them, through my actions.

So I challenge you to choose something to focus on this Spring to better yourself and your relationship with God.