Monday, March 17, 2014
Road trip 2014
We just returned from the most amazing vacation. We were gone for 10 days and spent time in 4 different states. We made wonderful memories and had such a great time. We traveled from Mesa, AZ to Albuquerque, NM then on to Parker, CO where we spent most of our time with my sister and her family and then we headed to Moab, UT and ended our time near Lake Powell in Page, AZ. What beautiful states we got to explore! Of course I took a ton of photos, I tried to dwindle it down to just our favorites but it's still a ton. :)
Thursday, February 27, 2014
9 & 13
February is always an exciting month around our house because two very special people have birthdays! Camden is now a teenager, turning 13 on Feb. 9th and Annagrace is now 9! We had a week filled with fun celebrations. Camden started it out by going to play air soft with his brother and 2 friends. On his official birthday, which was on a Sunday, he got to go out with Papa and Grandma for a special lunch. That evening we took him to In & Out and then went to a nearby park and played for a while. It was a special day!
The night Camden was born, the moon was amazing and beautiful. I do believe God showed off the night of his 13th birthday with this magnificent sunset.
For Annagrace's 9th Birthday, we let her skip school since it fell on a Monday. She got to invite 2 friends and we went and saw the movie Frozen.
These are pics from the night before her birthday when we were at the park for Camden's birthday.
Silly girl!
Opening her gifts on the morning of her birthday.
Anna and her two friends she took to see Frozen.
These are pics from the night before her birthday when we were at the park for Camden's birthday.
I just love her style.
iPhone photos, a day in the life....
...of the Ray family. I always enjoy downloading my iPhone photos, I tend to do it about every 3 months. It's always a nice walk down memory lane. Here is what we have been up to since the beginning of the year.
We finally sold our dining room set that we had listed on Craigslist, the same day we found exactly what we had been dreaming of and purchased this high top table courtesy of Craigslist. We LOVE it!!!!!
Our sweet Pepper has gone deaf. He seems to be growing old gracefully though. We love him.
On New Years Eve we enjoyed reading all the ways our family had been blessed in 2013. It was such a great reminder of all we have to be thankful for.
A heart made out of a stem. A heart, to me, represents God's overwhelming love.
We pretty much skipped winter this year. Hardly any cold days, but at least we weren't snowed in like the rest of the country and could walk around in jeans and flip flops and a short sleeve shirt.
Child #2 got braces. $$$$$$$$$
Camden's wing man, always there for him.
I let Annagrace read my old diary from elementary school. She was very amused.
This boy turned 13! I can't believe he is already a teenager!!!!!
Aunt TT taught Annagrace how to crochet, she is loving it!
This is the reason I blog, always a nice reward after a years worth of blogging.
A note Anna wrote to daddy. :)
I'm now sure what we were doing here but besides being silly I'm not sure what our point was.
I can't believe this is happening. Jadon will be heading off to MVHS in the Fall.
This book changed the way I pray, it was so impactful and I am a changed person because of it. The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson.
I love drinking ice water out of these cups.
A nice relaxing afternoon in the winter sun.
Anna's teddy bear, Teddy. I'm often on Teddy duty while she is at school.
We toured the mormon tempe in Gilbert, see previous post.
Selfies with my girl.
We rearranged our living room.
Superbowl Sunday!
We are still loving our essential oils!
All three kids were down with strep a few weeks ago, luckily they bounced back quick but it was very strange to have them all sick at the same time. That has never happened.
Annagrace turned 9! She is turning into such a beautiful young lady.
For Valentines Day Michael got me this hummingbird feeder. He knows how to pick the best gifts. I've been wanting one for a long time. It's hanging right outside of our dining room window.
Wildflowers bloomed early this year.
Not sure what a correct caption would be for this photo. :)
We finally sold our dining room set that we had listed on Craigslist, the same day we found exactly what we had been dreaming of and purchased this high top table courtesy of Craigslist. We LOVE it!!!!!
Temple talk
*I have had this blog post sitting in my "posts" box for quite some time now. I've spent a long time pouring over this post and trying my best to not come across in a way where I'm speaking negatively about my Mormon friends and the significance that they put upon their temples. If you know me, you know that I value my wonderful friends and love them dearly. I have been blessed with many friends who happen to be Mormon. Even though we don't see eye to eye on our faith and our views of Jesus; it doesn't mean I think of them any differently. I'm simply sharing how the tour of the new Gilbert temple affected me and the thoughts I gained from my experience. I'm simply sharing what I know to be true from being a lover and student of God's Word (the Holy Bible). It's this book that I back up what is true or what is false, it's what I base my life on and how I choose to live it. So with that said, here are my thoughts about the new Mormon temple in Gilbert, Arizona...
There has been a lot of buzz going around our neck of the woods lately. We live in an area very populated by Mormons and with the opening of their new temple in Gilbert, it's been a must see for many people. Normally the only people allowed in the temple are those who are part of the Mormon church and have what's called a temple recommend. But because the temple has not been dedicated yet, they opened the temple for public tours to anybody who wanted to see it. We were invited to go on a tour with our friends so out of curiosity we accepted their request. We also knew it would be good for our kids to have a view inside the Mormon temple and use this as a teaching moment as well since many of their peers are Mormon. So a few weeks ago we walked through the elaborate and beautifully decorated temple. It lived up to its reputation of beauty for sure, the detail was amazing, and it was neat to see inside of something that we normally would never get to be inside of. I walked away with a mind full of thoughts and spent the next few weeks processing what I saw and learned from that experience.
Much like the temple you read about in the Bible and the importance of it to God's people; the Mormons view their temple very much the same way. It's a sacred place for them, a place where they feel closest to God, a place where they feel God dwells. From a Biblical perspective I understand the importance of a temple, like the one Solomon built and then the 2nd temple built after the destruction of the first one. The temple you read about in 1 Kings was the place where God dwelled, in essence it housed God. It's other purpose was to make sacrifices to the Lord. The temple had great historical significance but this changed when God sent His one and only Son to Earth and died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. It was at this moment that the significance of the temple changed. It went from significant to totally insignificant. It lost it's meaning because God no longer needed a temple to dwell in because He now lived in us (those who believe in Him). As Jesus was breathing out His last breath on the cross it says; "Upon Jesus death on the cross and when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51)." The curtain tearing from top to bottom was so symbolic because it showed we now had direct access to God through Jesus. We no longer had to send a priest into the Holy of Holies to get atonement for our sins, but we (Jews and Gentiles) now had direct access to God. At this moment, God moved out of the temple never to move into it again. Acts 17:24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands." And in addition to this our bodies became the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 6:19 "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own..."
So what does all this have to do with my tour of the Mormon temple? I guess you can say that it really put things in perspective for me. I think we have come accustomed to associate God with a place instead of God with a person. There is no temple that can be made to house God. When we try to contain God to a place, we then put ourselves in a position where we gain control over God. God is simply too big and too glorious to be contained to any place and we of course can never control God. This doesn't mean that God doesn't dwell in our churches, but it's not the church building where he dwells, it's with the church body. "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them (Matthew 18:20)." God can dwell in a living room, a park, a stadium, a car, wherever people are gathered in His name. We are not tied down to a specific location to be in the presence of God. I don't have to go to a temple or even my own church building to feel closeness to God. Often times the closeness I feel with God happens in the early morning hours as I sit at my kitchen table soaking in God's word and talking to Him.
When we were on our tour of the temple we entered into what's called an ordinance room, this room is a place where a person can pray and reflect on God's promises and feel closest to God. While we were in that room I asked my friend if the temple is the only place where they can feel this closeness to God and she answered with a simple yes. I pulled these quotes off an LDS website.
President Thomas S. Monson (president of the LDS church) says this: “I think there is no place
in the world where I feel closer to the Lord than in one of His holy temples.“
President Boyd K. Packer said this; "At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can ‘see’ things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known.”
As much as I understand the significance of the Mormon temple to those who follow this religion, I see it much differently according to God's Word and the truths found in the Holy Bible. I think it's very clear in reading through the Old and New Testaments what is said about the temple and how it is very much insignificant nowadays. And what a wonderful thing because we have direct access to Christ and can approach the throne of Grace confidently. Hebrews 4:16 says; "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
And how exciting we have this to look forward to...
Rev. 21:22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
There has been a lot of buzz going around our neck of the woods lately. We live in an area very populated by Mormons and with the opening of their new temple in Gilbert, it's been a must see for many people. Normally the only people allowed in the temple are those who are part of the Mormon church and have what's called a temple recommend. But because the temple has not been dedicated yet, they opened the temple for public tours to anybody who wanted to see it. We were invited to go on a tour with our friends so out of curiosity we accepted their request. We also knew it would be good for our kids to have a view inside the Mormon temple and use this as a teaching moment as well since many of their peers are Mormon. So a few weeks ago we walked through the elaborate and beautifully decorated temple. It lived up to its reputation of beauty for sure, the detail was amazing, and it was neat to see inside of something that we normally would never get to be inside of. I walked away with a mind full of thoughts and spent the next few weeks processing what I saw and learned from that experience.
Much like the temple you read about in the Bible and the importance of it to God's people; the Mormons view their temple very much the same way. It's a sacred place for them, a place where they feel closest to God, a place where they feel God dwells. From a Biblical perspective I understand the importance of a temple, like the one Solomon built and then the 2nd temple built after the destruction of the first one. The temple you read about in 1 Kings was the place where God dwelled, in essence it housed God. It's other purpose was to make sacrifices to the Lord. The temple had great historical significance but this changed when God sent His one and only Son to Earth and died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. It was at this moment that the significance of the temple changed. It went from significant to totally insignificant. It lost it's meaning because God no longer needed a temple to dwell in because He now lived in us (those who believe in Him). As Jesus was breathing out His last breath on the cross it says; "Upon Jesus death on the cross and when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Matthew 27:50-51)." The curtain tearing from top to bottom was so symbolic because it showed we now had direct access to God through Jesus. We no longer had to send a priest into the Holy of Holies to get atonement for our sins, but we (Jews and Gentiles) now had direct access to God. At this moment, God moved out of the temple never to move into it again. Acts 17:24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands." And in addition to this our bodies became the temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor. 6:19 "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own..."
So what does all this have to do with my tour of the Mormon temple? I guess you can say that it really put things in perspective for me. I think we have come accustomed to associate God with a place instead of God with a person. There is no temple that can be made to house God. When we try to contain God to a place, we then put ourselves in a position where we gain control over God. God is simply too big and too glorious to be contained to any place and we of course can never control God. This doesn't mean that God doesn't dwell in our churches, but it's not the church building where he dwells, it's with the church body. "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them (Matthew 18:20)." God can dwell in a living room, a park, a stadium, a car, wherever people are gathered in His name. We are not tied down to a specific location to be in the presence of God. I don't have to go to a temple or even my own church building to feel closeness to God. Often times the closeness I feel with God happens in the early morning hours as I sit at my kitchen table soaking in God's word and talking to Him.
When we were on our tour of the temple we entered into what's called an ordinance room, this room is a place where a person can pray and reflect on God's promises and feel closest to God. While we were in that room I asked my friend if the temple is the only place where they can feel this closeness to God and she answered with a simple yes. I pulled these quotes off an LDS website.
President Thomas S. Monson (president of the LDS church) says this: “I think there is no place
in the world where I feel closer to the Lord than in one of His holy temples.“
President Boyd K. Packer said this; "At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can ‘see’ things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known.”
As much as I understand the significance of the Mormon temple to those who follow this religion, I see it much differently according to God's Word and the truths found in the Holy Bible. I think it's very clear in reading through the Old and New Testaments what is said about the temple and how it is very much insignificant nowadays. And what a wonderful thing because we have direct access to Christ and can approach the throne of Grace confidently. Hebrews 4:16 says; "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
And how exciting we have this to look forward to...
Rev. 21:22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
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