Sometimes words don't come.

Eric went home to be with his beloved Christ this morning. This happy greeting meant a very sad parting here, however. I have no words to express the sorrow I feel. I love this family very much and I cannot bear to think of the pain this loss brings them. Please be in earnest prayer for his wife, Heather, and their six children.

Oh Lord, we don't understand why, but we trust You.

Yum

Thanks to Christianne (and her mom's secret recipe), I enjoyed this delicious breakfast this morning.

Love someone so much it made you cry?

I recently received one of those "friend survey" emails. You know, the kind where you answer a bunch of random questions about yourself and send it to all your friends, including the person that sent it to you. (Just for the record, I don't usually do those, so if you forward one to me, don't take offense if I don't complete it. ) Since this was sent to me by a new friend I just met at Bible Study and since everyone else on the list were other ladies from the small group, I thought it might be a good way to get to know random tidbits about each other, like favorite ice-cream, number of pets, regular bedtime, etc.

There were a few "deeper" questions on the survey.
Q3: What are you most afraid of?
Q10: Love someone so much it made you cry?
Q33: What do you want to do before you die?

My answer to Q10 was yes, but since I sent the survey off two days ago, I have been thinking more about the depth of that question. My quick response was in regards to being a wife and mother. I have cried many times because of the overwhelming love I have for my husband, Joshua, and son, Caleb. The amazing joy these two have brought to my life is inexpressible. Sometimes, tears are the only words that come close to capturing it.

But, as I started pondering the question, I began thinking of other loves that have brought me to tears.

The deepest and most intense love, the one that most often brings me to tears, especially in prayer or in worship, is my love for Christ. Or rather, I should say, His love for me! (We love Him because He first loved us. I John 4:19) Not that tears of love are a prerequisite for true faith, but I do imagine that every true Christian has had a heart so full of love for Christ that tears were the only possible release!

Just this weekend, I learned of a difficult situation some very dear friends are facing. I have mentioned the Davis family before, when Eric was in the hospital just before Christmas. Unexpectedly, he collapsed again just a few days ago, suffered multiple cardiac arrests and is now in critical condition. When I heard the news, tears of love poured forth. I love this family, even though I do not get to see them often. My love for them caused me to feel their burden as if it were my own. Sometimes the tears of love are painful.

Coming Soon. . .

Another baby will be joining the Redin family the end of this summer. The ETA for Baby R2, according to the sonogram, is August 28th. (For those of you who think in weeks, that puts me at around 7.5 weeks). We were able to hear the heartbeat and see our baby, little arm and leg nubs and all, in live action just yesterday.

Feel free to guess the gender. . . we don't plan on finding out until the big day arrives, but I'd love to hear your guesses.

Please keep this little one in your prayers. He/She still has a lot of growing to do!

Going Out With a Bang

Actually, it was more like a splash than a bang. . .

At our going away party, Josh, Dustin, Eric, Jordan, Jeremy and John decided that some male-bonding was in order. The solution: jump in the 42-degree pool. Needless to say they all rendezvoused in the spa afterward and stayed there much longer than they did in the pool.

All I can say is, boys are weird!

Merry Christmas!

Photography

Lately, I have been stealing ideas from my friends. I don't know if you can call it plagiarism, exactly. . . maybe more like inspiration.

There's Fletch, who recently posted an exhibit of some his amazing photos, and Kirsten who is constantly unveiling very artistic new profile pictures, and Gina who just posted some awesome Christmas portraits. Then, there is L.L. Barkat, whom I haven't actually met, but whose blog is teeming with great photography. And, of course, there's always D.V. who has never taken a bad photo in his life and who could probably win international prizes for some of his shots (since his blog is set to private, you can click here and here to get a sampling).

Anyway, I've decided that I really want to learn more about photography. I don't know much, so the best I can do right now is try to imitate. This morning I studied some of the professional portraits we had taken in July and, utilizing a few tips D.V. gave me a while ago, I came up with this:

A Portrait of a 14-Month-Old

This portrait leaves plenty of room for improvement, but it's way better than my usual flash-on, cluttered-background shots.

If any of you have any tips on how I could have improved the shot or just tips in general, please, please let me know!

Isn't It Ironic. . .

Today I bought a pair of scissors at Ikea. I thought it was rather ironic that, when I went to use them this evening, the only thing capable of cutting the plastic zip-tie was another pair of scissors! Wouldn't you think that the scissor-makers would know that reason you're buying scissors in the first place is because you don't have any!?

Christmas Giveaway

Check out our other blog for a little Christmas Giveaway.

Yummy Pie Recipe

We went over to a friend's house for dessert and she introduced me to this delicious recipe. She found it here on Oprah.com

Oats 'n Honey Granola Pie

Created by Suzanne Conrad

INGREDIENTS

Crust

1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened as directed on box

Filling

	1/2 cup butter or margarine
	1/2 cup packed brown sugar
	3/4 cup corn syrup
	1/8 teaspoon salt
	1 teaspoon vanilla
	3 eggs, lightly beaten
	4 Nature Valley® Oats 'n Honey crunchy granola bars (2 pouches) crushed. To easily crush granola bars, do not unwrap. Use rolling pin to crush bars.
	1/2 cup chopped walnuts
	1/4 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
	1/4 cup chocolate chips
	Whipped cream or ice cream, if desired

Heat oven to 350°F.

Place piecrust in 9-inch glass pie pan as directed on box for One-Crust Filled Pie.

In large microwavable bowl, microwave butter on high 50 to 60 seconds or until melted.

Stir in brown sugar and corn syrup until blended. Beat in salt, vanilla and eggs.

Stir crushed granola bars, walnuts, oats and chocolate chips into brown sugar mixture. Pour into crust-lined pan.

Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until filling is set and crust is golden brown. During last 15 to 20 minutes of baking, cover crust edge with strips of foil or pie shield to prevent excessive browning.

Cool at least 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled with whipped cream or ice cream.

Store in refrigerator.