Baby girl is on the move!!!

Jay called me tonight and told me Chloe took her first steps by herself tonight. He and Mandie were sitting on the floor passing a toy between the two of them and Chloe was walking back and forth to get the toy!! She's getting so big, so fast! I'm super jealous too because Mom and Dad are going out there this weekend, and they'll get to see her walk before me!

It's baseball time again!!!

Yippy skippy!!! Go Angels!!!

Easter in paradise

39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
--- Luke 23:39-43

I posted this yesterday on Good Friday, and it reminded me of something. When my grandma was dying last year, we were all sitting around her bed, and my grandpa quoted this verse. Then he said "Today, Jesus is saying to Norma Jean, 'Today, you will be with me in paradise.' "
 
Last year, my grandma was in the hospital on Easter. This year she is celebrating her first Easter in heaven with the Risen King! And although we miss her greatly, and Easter here on Earth won't be the same without her, what joy, what peace to know that someday, we will all be celebrating in paradise!

Good Friday

1Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. 2And they began to accuse him, saying, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king."

3So Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

4Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, "I find no basis for a charge against this man."
5But they insisted, "He stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here."
6On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. 7When he learned that Jesus was under Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

8When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. 9He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. 11Then Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate. 12That day Herod and Pilate became friends—before this they had been enemies.

13Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14and said to them, "You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16Therefore, I will punish him and then release him."

18With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!" 19(Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) 20Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.

21But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"

22For the third time he spoke to them: "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him."
23But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.

The Crucifixion

26As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' 30Then "'they will say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!" and to the hills, Cover us!' 31For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"

32Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

35The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One."
36The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37and said, "If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself."
38There was a written notice above him, which read:
 THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!"
40But the other criminal rebuked him. "Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong."
42Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
43Jesus answered him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Jesus' Death

44It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last.
--- Luke 23:1-46

Temporary home...

Tonight I went to Greg Laurie's special pre-Easter service. (He always has a Thursday night service in Irvine, and this was his Easter service for that group because he will be preaching at the Riverside church on Sunday.) His service was really good, and the gist of it is, Easter means hope. When Christ was crucified, His followers were lost, they believed He was dead and gone. They had forgotten that He said He would rise again. When the women went to the grave that morning, they had no doubt that they would find a body there. When He first appeared again, no one believed who He was. He had to show the disciples, men who had spent every day with Him, the scars on His hands before they believed Him. These men were lost, they had essentially given up. Then when He appeared hope was back. There was hope of life after death, for them and for us. We remember Good Friday, and the crucifixition with a different perspective than they did. We know that He has risen, we know that there is life after death.
Greg Laurie mentioned that this fact was especially poignant for him on this day. This would have been his son Christopher's birthday. Christopher was killed two years ago in a car accident. He said that knowing that he will see his son again, is what gets him through. I understand this feeling. I miss my grandma alot, but I know that I will see her again, and knowing this gives me peace. One day we will have a joyous reunion in front of Christ, a reunion that He died to give us. A reunion that he died to give me, and to give you.
This is one of my current favorite songs, and I think it fits in here perfectly. It's by Carrie Underwood and it's called Temporary Home. This particular video was recorded a few weeks ago, the night after she lost one of the drivers for her tour.


Old man, hospital bed,
the room is filled with people he loves,
and he whispers, don't cry for me
I'll see you all someday.
He looks up and says,
I can see God's face.
This is our temporary home,
It's not where we belong.
Windows, and rooms
that we're passing thru.
This is just a stop
on the way to where we're going
I'm not afraid because I know
This is our temporary home.

Happy Birthday Jay!

Today is my big brother's birthday. I'm a lucky girl to have such a great big bro and I'm glad that we have grown up to be friends. I once read something that said a person's relationship with their siblings are the most important relationships. You will know your siblings the longest of anyone in your life, and they know you the best. After all, you shared your childhood with them, probably shared a room with them, and shared a bathroom with them. Heck, my siblings and I even shared a bathtub when we were really little. :)
Happy Birthday brother!!!

my big bro and I

Back in the USSA...

Healthcare reform passed yesterday, so....welcome to the United Socialist States of America. I cannot believe that people voted for it, and that some people actually think it is a good thing. Everything our government touches breaks. It's like the opposite of the Midas touch, instead of turning to gold, it just rusts away and pollutes everything around it. Now I'm not saying that everything in this bill is bad, and I do agree that there needs to be some reform. But a socialist, European-style health care system is not the solution. And since I don't feel like people should complain unless they have some sort of solution to propose here's what I would do.
I agree with the fact that insurances shouldn't be able to turn someone away for pre-existing medical conditions. And I'll even give into allowing children to stay on their parents insurance longer, but 24 should be the age limit. Nowadays a 4 year degree usually does take 5-6 years, but by 24 one should be able to provide for themself. And I even agree with getting rid of the lifetime maximums. Medical care these days is expensive, and one shouldn't have to go without care for a critical condition because they've reached the lifetime maximum. That being said, I would charge people who smoke higher premiums. Smoking is the worst thing one can do for their health, and people who don't smoke should not be paying for medical treatment for those who do. Quit smoking and not only do you improve your health, you pay less for healthcare. Its a win-win situation.
People come into the ER all the time with medi-cal (medic-aid in other states) for the stupidest things, a sore throat at 3am, or a fever that they haven't tried treating at home at all. Sometimes they come in twice in one day, or they'll come in day after day. These people pay absolutely no copay at all. If I go to the ER, I pay a $50 copay, for every visit. If I go twice in one day, thats two $50 copays. I would make medi-cal patients pay a copay. They walk into the ER, talking on their iPhones, with their name brand purses, or shoes, drinking Starbucks, but they want a prescription for Tylenol so medi-cal will pay for it and they don't have to shell out the three bucks. If they can afford all that, they can pay a ten or fifteen dollar copay, and I would increase the copay if they visit the ER more than, say 5 times in a month. Not only would paying a copay discourage visits for non-emergent conditions, that money could go to paying for more urgent care centers to take care of these issues. This would free up our ER's for truly emergent conditions. Another thing people come in for all the time is refills for pain medications prescriptions. These people are addicted to pain meds, and they run out of their Rx's and so they come into the ER asking for refills. I would allow ER's to say to these people, this is not an emergency, here is a list of urgent cares, you can go see one of them. Again, this frees up critical beds for patients that truly need it. I personally have had several patients come in asking for pregnancy tests, we legally cannot turn these people away. This is ridiculous, go to the store and buy a five dollar EPT and do it yourself. But we can't say that, and that needs to change.
I would also allow small businesses to pay the same as large corporations do for insurance. I know large companies get a discount because they have more employees contributing to the premiums, and I would allow small businesses to pay those lower prices as well.
These are just a few ideas, but to me they're just common sense, and we need more of that in our politicians! Wouldn't common sense be nice for a change?
By the way, the only good thing about this bill passing..Republicans will take control of Congress in the fall (and have no fear, they will. Americans are going to come out in force this November and those who voted yes for this bill better be looking for a new employer.) Anyway, the best part is Nancy Pelosi won't be speaker of the house anymore, and I won't have to see her overly-Botoxed face banging that stupid gavel ever again! That's cause for celebration!