The Saturday 7

1. I had this week off for Spring Break. It was fabulous! On Monday, we went to the zoo with Kelly and Presley and Carrie and Abby. (Lucy can say "Abby" so anytime we talk about the zoo, she exclaims "Abby!" She hasn't quite figured out Presley yet. Haha.)

Lucy was kind of a grump the whole time. I realized why later that afternoon . . .

2. We got home around 2 and she went right down for her nap. She didn't wake up 'til 6 and I knew we were in trouble. Sure enough: 104* fever. I gave her some ibuprofen and went to Bible Study, leaving her in Justin's capable hands. At 9:20 I got this text: "Lucy just puked all over. You need to come home and clean the carpet. She won't let me put her down." Haha. I was having flashbacks of the night she puked every 20 minutes for 8 hours, so hurried home. I had nothing to fear. She slept soundly all night and woke up fever free! Woohoo!

3. Tuesday night, my nephews Tristan and Tayton came over. (My other nephew, Tyler, is on a cruise in Mexico so he was unable to attend. Lucky duck.) They spent the night and we spent all day Wednesday playing games. We played Scattergories, Clue, Phase Ten, Skip-bo, and Blokus (my new favorite). It was great! I love them.

4. I made another winning recipe this week. From plainchicken of course. We got a free grill from my brother-in-law and have been looking for some good grilling recipes. This one got rave reviews, so I was excited to try it out. It lived up to its expectations!

Picture from plainchicken.com

Cajun Chicken
1 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
2 Tbsp dried Italian-style seasoning
2 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp lemon pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to an even thickness

In a small bowl, mix the oil, Cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and lemon pepper. Place the chicken in a ziplock bag. Pour marinade over chicken and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.When ready to grill, drain chicken, and discard marinade. Place chicken on hot grill and cook for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or until juices run clear.


5. Lucy will be 2 in just over a month and this week she finally started speaking in sentences! Well, at least she finally started putting 2 words together. She's been suuuuuper clingy lately, so a big one I've been teaching her is "up please." (Instead of just standing at my feet whining.) I hear that all the time now. And then yesterday, she was petting Lola and she randomly started saying "hi, kitty!" It's so cute. She drags out the hi so it sounds like "hiiiii, kitty!" And she chases Lola around the house saying it over and over. I don't think Lola finds it as cute as I do. 

6. I came across this article a couple days ago and can't decide what I think about it. The author describes his struggle with Jesus' phrase "My God, My God why have you forsaken me" on the cross. The author says a God who would turn away from his son in his time of need isn't a good God. And he questioned how the Trinity could be split. Anyway, his solution is to say that Jesus wasn't really accusing God of literally forsaking him. He was alluding to Psalm 22. The author claims that in Bible times, people quoted the first verse of a Bible passage in reference to the whole chapter. I understand some of the author's objections to God forsaking Jesus on the cross, but it makes me nervous to twist Jesus' words. Read the article and tell me what you think.

7. All right, it's time for the first Radical Experiment update! It went really well! I'm sure it's because it's the first week and I'm excited about it. Plus, I had the whole week off, so I had plenty of time to read the Bible and stuff. Anyway, I read Genesis 1-11 and Job 1-13. Job is really hard to read. Ugh.

We prayed for Afghanistan, Austria, Bosnia, Bhutan, and Armenia. I'm really enjoying the info on the Operation World website. It's crazy to see how few Christians are in these countries and how desperate their spiritual and physical needs are.

I'm going to leave you with a verse from Job that I read this week. I don't remember seeing this before (although it was underlined in my Bible, so I obviously read it years ago), but I thought it was appropriate for this Easter weekend:

Job 9:32-35

32"God is not a mortal like me, so I cannot argue with him or take him to trial. 33 If only there were a mediator who could bring us together, but there is none. 34 The mediator could make God stop beating me, and I would no longer live in terror of his punishment. 35 Then I could speak to him without fear, but I cannot do that in my own strength.


So thankful for that mediator!