What's the Recession For?

I was talking to my friend Shawnda yesterday at church about all that is going on in our life, etc... and she pointed me to this message by John Piper on the recession.  I highly recommend you read it (you can read the whole sermon on the website), listen to it, or watch it.  This link should work, hopefully.  The link is from the Desiring God website.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Sermons/ByDate/2009/3566_What_Is_the_Recession_For/

Here are the points of the message:

(Some of) God’s Purposes in This Recession

Now what are some of God’s purposes in this recession? I will mention five:

1. He intends for this recession to expose hidden sin and so bring us to repentance and cleansing.
2. He intends to wake us up to the constant and desperate condition of the developing world where there is always and only recession of the worst kind.
3. He intends to relocate the roots of our joy in his grace rather than in our goods, in his mercy rather than our money, in his worth rather than our wealth.
4. He intends to advance his saving mission in the world—the spread of the gospel and the growth of his church—precisely at a time when human resources are least able to support it. This is how he guards his glory.
5. He intends for the church to care for its hurting members and to grow in the gift of love.

My heart is definitely stirred now to live this recession for God's glory and to experience His grace.  I look forward to what He is going to do in and through me, my family, and my church to serve those around us and throughout the world.

If you listen to it, let me know what you think.  Enjoy!

Baby Girl #3

Here are the pictures of our sweet little baby girl.  

Head, tummy, hands and upper legs

Definitely a girl.  See the three lines?  Classic.
Yes, I know she looks like an alien.  But still totally amazing.

Oops! Posted the girl parts pic twice.  Just in case you still weren't convinced....
Here we are at the ultrasound
Nanny, Gamma and the girls waiting to go in for the US

  Thank you for all of your congrats and sweet comments.  We did have a fun day.  And there's never a dull moment with my family!  We have a good time when we are together:)

On to the questions:  What do the girls think?  Well, they haven't really said much.  They seem totally fine with it and are calling her a girl exclusively now.  They haven't asked one thing about a boy since we told them.  I didn't get to see their reaction when they first found out.

What does Jeremy think?  He said he might have to work more:)  Poor guy, all that estrogen in one house.  But he said all along that he would be totally happy with another girl.  God designed him to raise girls.  He is soooooo good at it.  Seriously.

What do I think?  I was prepared for another girl.  I assumed it would be.  But I have to admit, I didn't have a feeling either way.  So I did let my mind wander to what it would be like to have a boy.  I felt for sure Gracie and Piper were girls during my pregnancy.  This one was just different.  But I know better than to think that just because it's different, it's going to be the other sex.  I am really happy with another girl.  I feel like that is perfect for me.  I honestly can't imagine having boys.  I love all the ones around me and they feel like they are my sons:)  And someone has to make wives for them!  So, I'm just doing my part.  There's just something about "the gibson girls" that has a ring to it.  It's just the way it should be.

  

  So on we march as a family with three precious little girls given by our Lord to raise for his glory.  What a privilege.

  Yes we are discussing names and probably won't be ready to share them for a little bit.  We actually agree this time!  So that's nice:)  But we like several and want to honor at least one special someone.  So more on that later.

Our Baby is a......

Friends!!!!!  I am SOOOO SORRY.  I tried and tried and couldn't get the video to upload last night.  So I gave up and went to bed.  Hopefully it will work this morning....

From last night:

Here is a video from our fun day:) So sorry it has taken me so long to get it posted.  

It was a little crazy at mom and dad's so I hope you can tell what is going on.  I should explain that what we did was pass out envelopes to everyone and only one of them had the sex of the baby in it.  So you will see everyone trying to see if they have the one....And then, the big reveal. It gets repeated twice, so I hope it's clear enough to hear.

More soon!  We are excited:)  Now the name deliberations begin...

Pause the blog music by going over to the right side of the blog and clicking the pause button at the top left corner of the playlist.

Wanna Guess???

Who's up for a good guess?  Boy or Girl?  We find out Tuesday night what we are having!!

What do you think it is?

I really don't have a feeling either way this time.  Definitely felt like Gracie and Piper were girls.  Jeremy says he really doesn't know either.  At first the girls wouldn't even let me say the word girl for this baby.  They really wanted a boy.  But lately they have been talking about a girl more and more and I rarely hear boy anymore.  So we'll see soon enough.

I'll try to post late Tuesday night.  It's tradition to go out to eat with my family for dinner and tell them the news first:)

Soooo, what do you think???

Piper's Third Birthday

Yesterday we had Piper's third birthday party!  It was a Tinkerbell hoorah!

Tinker fairy land
Pipey's cake, she was super excited about that
Fairy wands

Christopher came to be a helper and he was an excellent one!!  Thank you buddy!
How old are you Pipey?

All the fairies getting their wings and pixie dust
Ellie

Decorating for spring.  That's what tinker fairies do after all:)
Yes, Anthony has fairy wings on
Rachel
Sippy
Tristen
Present time, always a favorite
Piper complete with pixie dust
Cake time

Mmm Mmm Good

Poor little Piper spent the morning in the urgent care before her party.  She had a bad ear infection.  But the party went on and she was a trooper!  

40 DAYS for Life is back!!!

GOD IS MOVING FRIENDS!!  Here is the update from today.  And OUR city is featured.

I'm hearing GREAT stories about the impact from
Tuesday's "Silent No More Awareness Day" at many of
the 40 Days for Life vigils!

Women -- and men -- who've experienced abortion
stepped forward with signs reading "I regret my
abortion" and "I regret lost fatherhood."

It's an important step towards showing that there IS
healing after abortion and there IS redemption in the
merciful grace of Jesus Christ.

In Charlotte, North Carolina a number of people shared
their stories. "It was one of the most special times
of prayer that I have ever experienced," said Katherine
Hearn, one of the local leaders in Charlotte.

"Of those that came," she said, "some had never been
to an abortion clinic to pray and some had never
publicly acknowledged their past abortion. One of
those that came to stand and hold her sign had never
told her son about this previous abortion; this
gathering provided that opportunity."

See photo at: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=207

The vigil participants gathered for prayer, sang
"Amazing Grace" and concluded with the Lord's Prayer.
"I realized what a gift this day was for all of us,"
Katherine added.

A similar event in Indianapolis featured the testimony
of Alveda King -- the niece of Martin Luther King, Jr.
-- who now works as a pastoral associate for Priests
for Life.

See photo at: http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=207

"She was among six women and three men who proclaimed
-- outside the largest abortion center in Indiana --
that they would be silent no more," said local 40 Days
for Life coordinator Eileen Hartman.

Silent No More Awareness Day in Toccoa, Georgia
attracted the local media. Andrea spoke to a TV
reporter "who had seen the women holding the signs and
was glad to see women who wanted to help others, not
just those who oppose abortion, standing out as a
witness," Andrea explained.

She added, "We have seen the station vehicle go by
many times and we'd taken the 40 days info to the
station before we began with no response until now!
How awesome is our God!"

The need for post-abortion healing increases every
day, but so does the invitation for hope and healing
after the abortion.

Janet in Augusta, Maine asks for prayers for two young
women who spoke to 40 Days for Life vigil
participants. One of the girls said she'd had an
abortion. She said she would not have been able to
take care of the baby because she couldn't even take
care of herself.

"We told her we are not there to condemn her and God
loves her. There are many families that would love to
adopt children and this is an option," Janet said.

After staying just very briefly, the girl turned to
her friend and said, "I can't handle this right now.
We need to go."

"She was very upset," Janet noted. "She needs the type
of comfort and healing that only the Lord can provide.
Please pray for her."

Today's devotional was prepared for you by Fr. Frank
Pavone, the national director of Priests for Life...

------------------------------------------------------
DAY 17 INTENTION
------------------------------------------------------

Pray that we choose to trust God to bring an end to
abortion soon, no matter how impossible that may seem
to others.

------------------------------------------------------
SCRIPTURE
------------------------------------------------------

The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me
out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle
of a valley; it was full of bones.

He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great
many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were
very dry.

He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I
said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know."

-- Ezekiel 37:1-3

Calling all ice cream lovers

Free ice cream today at Bruester's if you wear your PJs!

It's a waffle cone and yummy!!  

The big one!

I am sure many of you are recovering today from the fun you had yesterday in the snow!  We sure are:)

We had a ball with our five inches of snow!  Isn't God fun to bless us with that white stuff?

It was snowing good and hard after Care Group, so the girls went out for a little bit then.

But to wake up to this was pure excitement!!  Here we all are making the trek to the hill to go sledding
The girls weren't too thrilled once we got there.  There were tons of kids and most of them were older.
How do you like them tails?
Jackson and Danny went down the hills.  And Ellie went down with me twice.
Pipes still isn't sure about all this, and she's thirsty.
Instead of sledding, they went swinging

We were so worn out that Jeremy went home to get the truck to take us all back.  Thanks honey!

And then it was home for lunch and naps.  We spent the evening at Mom and Dad's sledding.  This time the girls were totally in to it and having a ball!!  Mom and Dad have some really great hills.  But there's one little problem...there's a big pond at the bottom.  So the guys had to stand at the bottom and catch the kids before they went swimming:)  It was pretty funny to watch.

Gracie and Tristen
Oh boy, this is hard work...
La La and Gracie
Aunt Abbie and Piper.  Think they are having fun?
This is Gracie and Jack with Papaw pushing them
Piper and Tristen working together to get their sled up the hill
Jack, Pipey, T, and Gracie
Teamwork once again!

Ryan and Jack
La La and Pipes

That was such a fun day!  I sure hope we get more next year!  And now we can look forward to warm weather at the end of this week!  Awesome!