Sing your praise to the Lord...

In college, Nicole and I used to blast, I mean BLAST this song. We had the Amy Grant and the Rich Mullins version. We loved it. The words are actually really great, and what my heart longs for.

Sing your praise to the Lord
Come on everybody
Stand up and sing one more hallelujah
Sing your praise to the Lord I could never tell you just how much
Good that it's gonna do you

Just to sing Anew
The song your heart learned to sing
When He first gave His life to you
Well life goes on and so must the song
You gotta sing again the song born in your soul when
You first gave your heart to Him

Just to sing
Aloud the song that someone is dying
To hear down in the madding crowd
That you once were before you heard the song
You gotta let them know the truth
Is a light to shine upon the way that maybe they could go
And sing His praises once more

From the rising of the sun
To the place where it sets
The name of the Lord is to be praised
The Lord is exalted over all the nations
His glory above the heavens
Who is like the Lord our God
The One who sits enthroned on high
He who stoops to look down upon
Down upon this earth and its sky

Just to let the name of the Lord
Be praised both for now and ever more
Praise him oh ye servants
Praise the name of the Lord Come on everybody
Stand up and sing one more hallelujah

Sing your praise to the Lord
I could never tell you just how much
Good that it's gonna do you
Just to sing Your praises of the Lord
And everybody sing Your praises of the Lord

Happy Birthday Nessa!

Happy Birthday to my cuz Vanessa! Nessa has been married to Wally for 4 years, and is currently studying law. She's a smartie! Vanessa has a passionate heart for Christ and is a very compassionate person! She is very giving, and let me tell you, she comes up with the BEST games! SHAAAZZZAMMM!!!! She is the tops! I love you Ness!

Guy Smiley!

This is a picture of Alec and I at the Minnesota/Purdue Game! GO Gophers! It was a great game, and we had fun sitting in the homecoming student section, even though he has nothing to do with the homecoming committee. He scored tickets from his nerd work, at the Minnesota Daily. Seriously though, it was an awesome weekend, and I am so thankful for Alec and our friendship. I know I can always count on him, and I hope he feels the same. Oh, and as for the title of this post, when we were growing up I used to call Alec that all the time (you know Guy Simley from Sesame Street) because he used to star in our church Christmas plays, and he would smile through the whole play, even when he was supposed to be sad! Just his nervous tick I guess! I love you Al!

Happy Birthday Julia!

Happy 22 Birthday Julia! Julia is working at UW hospital as

a nurse! She is also living in her first apartment, with a

really comfortable couch, and an empress like lair. Loving anything orange, it definitely fits her funky fun personality. We love you Julia!

ON WISCONSIN!

OK its football season, so we root for the Badgers (but when they play Illinois we will have to root for the Illini). Justin and I got to go to the homecoming game today, thanks to his boss. It proved to be a good game, tied at the half, the Badgers came through in the end (big thanks to the defense) winning 31-20! Besides the fact that it seemed like we were sitting somewhere in the Arctic region, it was a blast! It is always fun to experience a game live, and try to beat everyone else out of the stadium! But basketball season is quickly approaching, and even though we both are graduates from Madison, (Justin spent the majority of his life in Illinois, and I was born there, its in my blood!) GO ILLINI!

God our Father

JI Packer has a good book titled "Knowing God." I highly recommend it. Some thoughts I had from a chapter titled Sons of God.
God the Father. He is Father to those who are his chosen ones. (Galatians 3:26- "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.") He ADOPTED us as his children, his grace poured out unto us. To understand who we as Christians, we need to know God as our Father, and realize how we are his children. As his children, we should have complete and total faith that we can rely completely on him, come before him (humbly) but at the same time confidently because we know as his children we can always trust him. He loves us, he is ALWAYS with us, and he is our king (authority).
To better understand adoption: (Westminster Confession) "All those that are justified, God grants, in and for his only Son Jesus to make partaker of the grace of adoption: by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God; have His name put upon them, receive the Spirit of adoption; have access to the throne of grace with boldness; are enabled to cry abba Father; pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him, as by a father; yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption, and inherit the promises, as heirs of everlasting salvation."
And here is something crazy,being adopted by Christ is an even better thing than being justified. I mean really, how incredible is it that God has chosen his children (what a endowment!) and has forgiven us is (amazing in itself), but he has furthermore, given us a RELATIONSHIP with him, an intimate, unbelievable, revealing himself to us, relationship. Praise be to him!

My Husband

Just a quick note.
Justin and I have been so busy these last few weeks, constantly in and out of the house, then spending last week sick. Life just slides by and we hardly notice. But today we paused. He has an exam tommorow, but it is important for us to have some moments together. Just the two of us. A hug from my husband. I love his hugs. He wraps his arms around me and places his chin ( that Swanson chin!) on my head. I absolutely love it! His hugs are so secure and warm, he doesn't even have to say anything. I am so happy I am his and he is mine. I love the small moments God gives us!

How Adorable!

Grandpa John helping Maxwell just before he started walking!

He looks pretty handsome all dressed up doesn't he?

13 months!

Happy Birthday Jaimee Grace!

Happy 7th Birthday to Jaimee Grace. Jaimee is the

sweetest 7 year old I know! Full of boundless energy

and an award winning smile, she loves lip gloss, art, reading,

movies, and disney princesses! She is well loved by her nephew

Maxwell, and of course by all of us!

Happy Birthday Judy!

(holding her first Grandbaby, Paul)
Happy Birthday to my gorgeous Aunt Judy!
She is the youngest of the four siblings! She loves
anything Harley Davidson...especially riding one!

Happy Birthday Mom Jane

Happy Birthday to my Mother in Law Jane!

She does not look a minute over 30 right?
I am so blessed to be related to this wonderful woman. She is an
outstanding mother, a strong woman, and the most incredible scrapper I know! You can see some of her stuff at www.scrapjazz.com
She has done pages of her childhood, famly, friends, our wedding, fun
outings, our family holidays, (meaning vacation for those of you who do not know our family lingo) and of her 1st grandson (Maxwell Jared).
What I love most about our relationship is that we get each other. We both love to craft, (we may compete on Craft Corner Death Match someday) we both love cute girly movies (all the Swanson women do of course) and we love good wine, and delectable chocolate. (a few to many consumed (chocolates that is) at a wedding recently...but hey we were celebrating!)
I love you Jane!

Happy Birthday Brett!

Happy 36th Birthday to Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers!
(this one is for you Jordan!!)

(also continue to pray for Bretts wife Deanna who has survived breast cancer

October is Breast Cancer awareness month)

Happy Birthday Andy!

Happy Birthday to our dear friend
Andy Thomas! Andy is a fabulous
friend who we love very much, and
so enjoy spending time with.
We always laugh a lot when we are
all together!

GO ILLINI !!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy 51st Birthday to my Mother!

My Mother is a loving, kind, selfless,

giving, and a godly woman ! I am

so thankful for her and all the advice she

has given me through the years, and for

always being there when I needed her! I love you Mom!

(side note: She also shares a birthday with Brett Favre ! )

Happy Birthday Katie!

Madeline Lauren Reuhl

Happy Birthday to my dear freind and fellow
swimmer Katie Reuhl. Katie and Steve both
welcomed Madeline Lauren on August 14,
2005. Happy Birthday Kates!

Coming soon to a theatre near you!

The Chronicles of Narnia!
The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe!

In Theatres December 9 2005! I cannot wait!

http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/index.html?deeplink=production

http://books.narnia.com/discover/explore/explorenarnia.html

"The fear of the Lord is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility." Proverbs 15:33

I can honestly say that I myself have not done that much research on different forms of birth control. Some people are totally against any form birth control, which I definitely do not agree with. There is no reason why a husband and wife should not plan out when they try and begin and family, and sometimes God brings an unexpected gift anyway; sooner than we may have planned.

But my point is that why can't a husband and wife choose when they want to start a family. And who are we to judge people for their decisions? "...for kingdom purposes, it might be wise to regulate the size of one's family and to regulate when the new additions to the family will likely arrive. As Wayne Grudem has said, "it is okay to place less emphasis on some good activities in order to focus on other good activities." For example, planting a new church might not be the best time to begin a family. I know that for Justin and I purposfully not having a child within our first year of marriage, prepared us for things to come in our future, furthermore, postponed for kingdom purposes, that we might enjoy and know Christ better through what we learned in that time before we became three.


May I suggest if you are interested in this subject the following link:
http://www.desiringgod.org/library/theological_qa/marriage_family/bc.html

The Ultimate Treasure Hunt

Thrift stores are a novel idea! People get rid of things they don't want anymore, and others come and buy them for a(hopefully) good price. I have run into a fair share of overpriced thrift stores ( like a tablecloth I saw once for $20 and I got a similar one from Target for $10) but overall they have proven to be worth my time! To have a successful trip you first of all have to be in the mood to hunt, second, going with some specific items in mind is a good idea and perhaps you will find some other treasures along the way.

I have been looking for good second- hand stores in our area for some time now, and today I found two!

The first one is called St. Vincent de Paul and is a large shop on Willy St. here in Madison and has lots of fun finds. I found a wonderful little bedside table for $6 and an adorable little weekend bag for only $1 , both of which would probably cost about $500.00 total in an Anthropologie catalog. The other shop is called Savers and they have shops all over the country. I am hoping to get there later this week. I am looking for a small table to set up in our room to work on my many on-going projects!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 30th Anniversary to my parents!
Congratuations, I love you both!

" What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?"

I really love weddings. Nothing sends my heart into a delirious excitement like a wedding. To see two people consumed with love for each other, and ready to experience the rest of their lives with one another makes me ecstatic. When I married Justin I felt an incredible joy and security that this man was taking me to be his wife forever! It is almost impossible to describe the happiness I felt.
As with all marriages there are good times and bad. The honeymoon does end, and often times in our day and age many marriages do as well. It saddens me to see so many marriages end up so broken and bitter.
It is so amazing to think of your marriage when thinking about your relationship with Christ. So many give up on their marriages so easily, as they do with Christ, but there are those who cling on to Christ when their marriage is in distress. This is our only hope. I have realized that my husband will not and cannot make me happy. Only Christ can. I can experience Chirst's glory through my marriage by loving my husband through good times and bad. I cling unto Christ when I feel as though Justin just does not understand me, because he cannot read my thoughts...But Christ can. And I cling unto Christ when things are good, so that his mysterious ways may be revealed to me so I can trust him more, and love him more deeply.
I read once that you cannot love someone "too much." The problem is that we love Christ too little. How true is that! I do love my husband more than I ever thought possible! But, my husband will fail my expectations...All spouses do, but Christ never will! My love for Christ should be even more so! He has given us such an incredible gift...himself! Better than any other gift we could ever think of!
EVERTHING in our marriage can reveal Christs' character. We can really discover and get to know him through it, or, we can battle everyday in our broken world to try and find happiness in our spouse which is impossible. To respect and receive respect, humbly seek and extend forgiveness, and so many other aspects of my marriage can be revealed though Christ and his purpose for our lives; for his ultimate glory!

"We find delight in the beauty and happiness of children that makes the heart to big for the body." - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

The glory of the nation rests in the character of her men. And character comes from boyhood. Thus every boy is a challange to his elders.- Herbert Hoover

a "weekend to remember"

My Father-In-Law, a man that I truly have tremendous recpect and often seek his wisdom has led us astray! I kid of course. Here is the story...

Ever since Justin and I have been engaged his father has encouraged us to attend a confrence put on by Campus Crusade for Christ. It is called; " A weekend to Remember" and is for engaged and married couples of all ages.

Eager to attend, the conference was held last weekend in Lake Geneva. I had even convinced my best friend (and cousin) Nicole and her husband Marc to come. Since the hotel was quite costly to stay at we opted for a nearby bed and breakfast.

So, we arrive, pens, highlighters, Bibles and Starbucks in hand. We take our seats and soon the couple leading the conference is introduced and giving background about themselves. Soon we are into the workbook and I am waiting for some depth into the the topic of oneness...exept it never comes. Just statistics and random stories about thier lives. Eventually I look over to Justin, Nicole, and Marc who are all doodling on thier pages and say, ' Are you kidding me?' Soon we are giggling like second graders, all aware of our immaturity and disrespect for those around us, but it could not be helped.

About two hours in we had a break, and decided to ditch out on the rest that night and go check out downtown Lake Geneva. We did not do much, but ended up back at Starbucks sitting outside laughing and actually having good converstation with one another. Justin felt guilty about leaving since his Dad had so badly wanted us to go, and I have to admit I did too.

The next day we decided to give it another try and it was worse. So, long story short, we left at the lunch break and went and had a long lunch together! We told John about it, and all laughed when we found out the last time Jane and he had been to this conference was just after Justin was born!!!

It truly was a "weekend to remember!"

Prayer

Please pray for my brother-in-law Jared as he moves today to Milwaukee to
work on some rehabilitation there. Our family prays that he will have good
care and benefit from the work he does. We love you Jared.

Happy Birthday Nic!

Happy 25th Birthday to my best friend and cousin Nicole!
Nicole and I have been best friends since well, since we were born.

Seriously! We have grown up together, and though

our middle and high school years were spent quite a distance

apart, we came back together as roomates in college.

Nicole is the best friend you could ask for. A girl with a stubborn will,

her heart is one of love. Her yearning for the Lord is never ceasing,

and her passion for Christ is solid!

She married (a week after I) a wonderful man I also love, named Marc.

They together are working towards teaching teenagers about Christ, and

to (if Gods will, and with his power) ignite a fire in thier hearts that seeks

the will of God. I love you Nic!