To be religious is to serve God. How? (1.) We must make a business of it, and not be slothful in that business. Not slothful in business. There is the business of the world, that of our particular calling, in which we must not be slothful, 1 Thess. iv. 11. But this seems to be meant of the business of serving the Lord, our Father's business, Luke ii. 49. Those that would approve themselves Christians indeed must make religion their business—must choose it, and learn it, and give themselves to it; they must love it, and employ themselves in it, and abide by it, as their great and main business. And, having made it our business, we must not be slothful in it: not desire our own ease, and consult that, when it comes in competition with our duty. We must not drive on slowly in religion. Slothful servants will be reckoned with us wicked servants. (2.) We must be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. God must be served with the spirit (ch. i. 9; John iv. 24), under the influences of the Holy Spirit. Whatever we do in religion it is pleasing to God no further than it is done with our spirits wrought upon by the Spirit of God. And there must be fervency in the spirit—a holy zeal, and warmth, and ardency of affection in all we do, as those that love God not only with the heart and soul, but with all our hearts, and with all our souls. This is the holy fire that kindles the sacrifice, and carries it up to heaven, an offering of a sweet-smelling savour.

Matthew Henry on Rom 12:11

Sorry for the extended absense. It's been a full spring so far....

My cousin David and his family visited from Seattle while they were on the east coast...
Adam hustled me in pool...




Hannah and I played with Little People... And tried to see who had the bigger smile.

Then that evening we had an unexpected visitor....


His name is Stanley. He came all the way from NJ to stay with us for a few days. So he and I hung out.



We had Easter dinner with the Darrows...
of course there was an egg hunt...

And Ava had her first Easter candy...

I love spring.

I love the colors of spring...
fresh green trees with pink and white blossoms against a clear blue sky.
the bright purples, pinks, yellows, and reds of blooming flowers.

I love the feel of spring...
a warm gentle breeze.
driving with the windows down.
the wonderful days when you open the door to go outside without any change of temperature...unfortunately, this doesn't last long before the sweltering heat and humidity of summer arrive!

I love the sounds of spring...
birds announcing the arrival of a new season.
a gentle rain washing the pollen away.
kids playing outside.
the crack of a bat announcing baseball season.

[Off course, there is also the issue of pollen...and bradford pears... but, I am willing to undergo a few weeks of discomfort if it means experiencing the beauty of God's creation!]

I love that there the climax of one favorite sport leads right into the beginning of my other favorite sport (which converge tonight...the final of the NCAA tournament and Opening Night at the same time...what will I do?)

During my spring break I went to the park with Joy & Ava!!

I also went to Charlotte for a Liz & Steve's wedding and hung out with Kendra...I also had a wonderful time with Jamie since we rode down & back together, but I don't have any picture of that since I was driving.