Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Hello all :o) I just wanted to post the amazing news that the Stringer twins are here!! *Yay* Sarah Marie and Rachel Elise were born yesterday evening. Sarah was 4 lb. 9.5 oz and 17 1/4 inches long and Rachel was 4 lb. 11 oz and 17 1/2 inches long. Please keep the twins, Christina, Kris, and Camron in your prayers as they experience the adjustments of having two new members to the family. So far, Christina and the twins are healthy and should be able to go home on Saturday. *Praise the Lord!* I will be going to see them next Wednesday, and I promise to post pictures as soon as I have them. I'm super excited about having two nieces!!

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
~Psalm 139:14

Be still

Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change, He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Be still, my soul: when dearest friends depart,
And all is darkened in the vale of tears,
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrow and thy fears.
Be still, my soul: thy Jesus can repay
From His own fullness all He takes away.

Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord.
When disappointment, grief and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: when change and tears are past
All safe and blessèd we shall meet at last.

Be still, my soul: begin the song of praise
On earth, be leaving, to Thy Lord on high;
Acknowledge Him in all thy words and ways,
So shall He view thee with a well pleased eye.
Be still, my soul: the Sun of life divine
Through passing clouds shall but more brightly shine.

At the Foot of the Cross

The cross is amazing. God has brought me to the fooot of the cross this week as the days lead up to the celebration of His resurrection. Jesus, thank You for being my sacrifice. Thank You that You are unfailing, that You are love, and that in You love is unfailing. I don't know why, but Satan has been attacking my self worth lately. Maybe it's because I've been preaching it a lot to a lot of people, that we have to embrace who we are in Christ and not get allow Satan to convince us that we can do nothing for His glory. Christ's glory is in me, so I can offer Him a worthy sacrifice. I can sing praises that are the sweetest music to His ears, because I am covered in the blood of Christ and I am blameless. Do I realize what I've been rescued from? I pray I never forget that I was without hope, without light, without love.... when I was without Christ. But now, I choose not to let Satan convince me that I cannot be effective. I won't let him deceive him into believing I cannot be a disciple of Christ who shines for Him in a way that people notice. That belittles God's power that is in me. No, I choose to embrace that I am perfect and holy in His sight. I lay every burden of self degradation down at the cross. My sin, my worthlessness, is wiped away. I trade my ashes in for beauty...

At the foot of the cross, where grace and suffering meet
You have shown me your love, through the judgment You received
and You've won my heart, yes You've won my heart

Now I can trade these ashes in for beauty
and wear forgiveness as a crown
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy
I lay every burden down
At the foot of the cross

At the foot of the cross, where I am made complete
You have given me life through the death You bore for me
and You've won my heart, yes You've won my heart..

Now I can trade these ashes in for beauty
and wear forgiveness as a crown
Coming to kiss the feet of mercy
I lay every burden down
At the foot of the cross

Happy Birthday Mommy

I drove down to Perdido Key Beach on Friday to surprise my mom (as well as the rest of the family save Kenley) for the celebration of her 5oth birthday (it's ok, Mom, we know you're not old ;o) ). Even though I was only with them for about 20 hours, I was incredibly blessed through the time I spent with my family. Today is Mom's actual birthday.
Happy Birthday Mommy!! Thank you for being the incredible woman of God that you are and for loving me through all of life's twists and turns. Thank you for being a faithful friend in my life more than anything. I value you so much and wouldn't trade you for the world. Thank you for being you. :o)
The place where we stayed because of the graciousness of some friends was absolutely beautiful. I got there on Friday in time to go to dinner for Mom's birthday with everyone. We went to a yummy Italian place and then headed back to the condo to hang out. The guys and I went to find the game room to play a game of pool. Compared to the rest of the condo's facilities, the game room was ghetto. Not sure how that happened, but as Kenley put it, you practically have to go through the catacombs to get to the place and then you end up in this little painted concrete hole. We all definitely displayed that the Stringers were not created to be pool players, but we had fun anyway. Then, we returned to our 6th floor condo to watch Father of the Bride II. I love that movie :o) We all went to bed, I was out fast.... woke up the next morning and spent some time sitting on the balcony, drinking coffee, and talking to Mom, Dad brought doughnuts before long and the rest of the family decided that was worth getting up for... then Kenley, Kevin, and I hit the outdoor pool, the outdoor hot tub, and then the indoor pool.... then we'd worked up an appetite again so we went to get Mexican food, then came back and had ice cream, went down to the beach and took pictures, and I said my goodbyes and returned to the road to come back to Waco...
Happy Birthday, Mom. Know that you are loved and cherished :o)