Life

"There is an appointed time for everything. 
And there is a time for every event under heaven - 

A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance."
~Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

     Yesterday, Mark, Marcus, and I took a road trip back to Mt. Airy and into Virginia to see family.  The real reason for the visit was to see my Grandmother.  She's 91 and in pretty poor health.  My sister and dad had tried to prepare me for her condition, but even with their words, I was still stunned at how bad she was.  She was in and out of consciousness but we saw a few glimpses of life while we visited with her.  She "woke up" one time while I was by her side, holding Marcus.  Dad asked her if she knew who that was a she nodded her head.  He said, "That's Marcus," and she slowly stammered, "Marcus Paul."  It was such sweet words to hear, because it told us all that she knew who we were.
     After visiting there, we went down the mountain to see my Papa, who's on the other side of the family.  He's 89 and still in decent shape, yet his mind is slowly leaving him.  He may be in the early stages of Alzheimer's, but still had his wits.  He really seemed to enjoy Marcus and the two of them just smiled and smiled at each other.  Although difficult to hear him say some things that were unrealistic, it was still a good visit because he seemed happy and well taken-care-of.
     In one short day, so many different thoughts and emotions went through this crazy head of mine.  I started thinking about life and how it's so short.  The Bible says that there's a time for everything, and in that I find great comfort.  Even though my grandmother will soon pass away from this life into the next, I have peace because I know she has/had a relationship with Jesus Christ.  I can't imagine how much harder this would've been if she hadn't been a Christian or if she were wavering back and forth in her faith.  Death is a part of life, but for those of us who believe in and have a relationship with Jesus, death is ONLY THE BEGINNING of eternal joy and peace.  For those who don't, it's the beginning of eternal sorrow and punishment.
     Some of you may say, "How can such a loving God do that?"  He's not the one sending people to Hell, it's their own choice, unfortunately.  Well ALL deserve Hell, because Romans 5:8 says, "While we were still sinners, CHRIST died for us."  He died for me before I was ever born and before I ever sinned.  Yet, it was my responsibility to choose Him as Lord and Savior, accepting His gift, choosing LIFE. 
     So with all that being said, what about you?  Are you SOLD OUT for Jesus? Just casually going to church and calling yourself a Christian? Or are you one of those who knows you're not a Christian?  I don't know what category you're in, but when my time to die comes, I want it to be clear that I'm SOLD OUT for Jesus Christ and I want to faithfully run into the arms of my Savior.  No, I'm not perfect, but dealing with all that I did yesterday made me really compelled to put this so-called "alter-call" on here for all to read.  I hope it allows you some self-reflection as well.
     And yes, I know this is a baby blog and I'm not supposed to get so deep, so I promise to make the next blog more light-hearted. But for those of you who don't really read it anyhow and just come for the pictures...here you go. :)

Marcus seems to like vegetables(unlike his Mama) but NOT fruit (isn't that weird?).  He's been better lately, but this was a funny session with apples and cereal.  He kept spitting them out so I decided to film his reaction.

Here's Marcus showing off his newest skills.  He rotates likes the hands on a clock and can scoot backwards.  Before we know it, he'll be moving all over the place...and I'll need to be on my game to keep up with him.