More Pictures!!!!

Ok, I know I am going crazy with pictures. Some of these are from the USC game this week where we did a great job winning! The other picture of Boo Boo with his mouth open is him talking more like making a lot of sounds for a long time. He also likes to stand now. He is brillant--haha.

Beautiful Savior

Here is the new song I am singing to Jackson daliy. I am pretty sure Casting Crowns wrote it---they definetly sing the version we have. Thought you might enjoy and let me know if you know who wrote this song.

All my days i will sing the song of gladness
Give my praise to the fountain of delights
For in my helplessness, you hear my cry
And waves of mercy poured down on my life

(chorus)
Beautiful Savior, wonderful counselor
Clothed in majesty, Lord of history
You're the way, the truth and the life
Star of the morning, glorious in holiness
You're the risen one, heaven's champion
And you reign, you reign
Over all

I will trust in the cross of my Redeemer
I will sing of the land that never fails
Of sins forgiven of conciounce cleared
Of death defeated and life without end

(chorus)
Beautiful Beautiful Savior
Wonderful counselor, beautiful risen one

(chorus)
I long to be where the praise is never ending
Yearn to the will where the glory never fades
Where countless worshippers sing one song
And the voices of the nations
Sing worthy, worthy, worthy
Worthy beautiful beautiful one
Jesus you are worthy, beautiful, beautiful one
Jesus you're wrothy, beatutiful, beautiful one
You are worthy beautiful risen one

Pictures of Zachary Brammer-

Here is Laura and her handsome son. We still talk weekly and I miss her!

Boo Boo and Grand

More Christmas Pictures 2006

Here are some more Christmas pictures. The first couple are of Jackson with his Geemaw (his great grandmother) in Rock Hill on Christmas Eve. Then, there is pictures of Mimi and him on Christmas day followed by pictures with Drew Toney (one of Charlie best friends from home). Finally there is pictures of Neely and Brad. Neely and I have been best friends since elementry school. She is living in LA, California because Brad is getting his PHD. Brad is from Pamplico, SC which is only 1 hour from Sumter. So they came and visited yesterday, and it meant the world to me!

The Habits of Holiness

Colossians 3:12-15:

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

This is Dr. Rummage sermon preached on the 20th of December. We know that God has called believers to put on Jesus' character. 3 points are that:

1) Foundations of Holy Life (vs 12)
a) Elect- meaning we where chosen by God in Christ before the foundations of the world
b) Holy-meaning we belong to God
c) Beloved-meaning that God loves us with a perfect everlasting love. He has forgiven us by his own blood, he has washed us clean. We have to be careful though because holiness does not lead to salvation. We cannot just be good all our lives and expect to be God's child and apart of his family. It is truly foolish to build a chicken coop on a sky scraper (Howard Hendrix's quote). We have to have a plan ticket to get on a plane and we have to accept Christ as our Lord and Savior to be saved and spend eternity with him. The foundation of holiness is accepting his son. Without Christ holiness is impossible.

2) Fabrics of a holy life (vs 12-14)
We are to put on
1) tender mercies-meaning we are to genuinely care and be moved by other people
2) kindness-meaning giving people the benefit of the doubt
3) humility- having a high image of God and being completely dependant on him
4) meekness- meekness is not weakness it is being completely in perfect control through Jesus. It is being careful with people as if they were the most breakable glass made
5) long suffering-do we get mad with people quickly?
6) Bear with another-have patience
7) forgive others
8) love

Isn't it interesting that being holy has to do with here how we treat others not one being isolated off somewhere?

3) Fulfilment of a holy life (vs 15)
Is peace!
Be thankful for what God has done for us and what he is going to do! We need to put on the cloths of the new life not live with the rags of the old life. Do we want to weep at the end of our lives because we did not put on what God tells us to here.

Charlie and I were talking about if someone could lose their salvation or not. I think through the prodigal son Jesus answers this question. Once someone accepts Jesus as their Lord and Savior they are adapted into God's family and God cannot break his covenant. Can Charlie ever not be Jackson's father? No! Now the question on if that person was ever saved to begin with is an entire other issue. If one does not have the desire to put on holiness do they even have the Holy Spirit in them? Feel free to comment.

Subject: Fw: This should be posted in all schools

This was forwarded to me by my dad, Greg Easterlin (better known here on this site as Gran).

Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! To anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice. Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. YourGrandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually Have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. If you agree, pass it on.

If you can read this - Thank a teacher! If you are reading it in English -Thank a soldier!

I found this very interesting. Life is not fair and we should not teach our children that it is fair. It is the will of God for us to suffer.

Romans 5:1-5
"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Don't we want our children to produce godly character through suffering? Or, do we just want them to receive everything they want and always be a winner so it is easier on us?

Psalm 62:5-8

"Help my soul find rest in You alone; my hope comes from You. You alone are my rock and my salvation; You are my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depends on You; You, God are my mighty rock and my refuge."

Christmas update on Andrew

Andrew asked me today to wish you all a very merry Christmas. So, merry Christmas everyone!
Andrew is doing well and has been enjoying today with all of us. We have Christmas music playing in his room and we're about to open up our family presents. Andrew also asked me to report that he enjoyed his first Dr. Pepper today. This is truly a very special Christmas.
The Spartanburg Herald Journal printed a very nice article in tribute to Andrew today. You can read it and see the slide show they put together online at http://www.goupstate.com/. They spent the day with my family a few days ago to get information for the article. We really appreciate the attention they have given to Andrew.
I hope all of you have a wonderful Christmas with your families! God bless you all!
~Katherine

I watched this slide show and was speechless! If you go here you can actually here Andrew talking! He is doing amazing and has so much to look forward to.

Christmas Visit in Sparkle City

We had a great visit in Spartanburg. We arrived Thursday and just got back today. We are going to Columbia for Christmas from the 24th to the 28th (it is Charlie's parents turn for Christmas). Jackson got to visit with my friends Virginia and Bonnie. The first to pictures are of Bonnie and us from our visit today. The other pictures of Jackson are of him holding his new pink bunny. It was my bunny and is one of the few stuffed animals he can grab and hold. He would not let go of the pink bunny last night. I think we might need to find him a blue one! It was so sweet him holding and hugging the bunny. Virginia is holding and feeding Jackson is the last picture. She is getting married this March and we are very excited about her wedding.

Merry Christmas from Boo Boo

Update on Andrew-December 20th

He is out of intensive care!

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2006 06:55 PM, EST

Andrew passed the swallow test today! So, he had a few very wonderful sips of a strawberry-banana smoothie. He had a huge smile on his face! So, from here he'll move to liquids, smooth solids and then normal food. This was very encouraging! Also, the surgery this morning went very well. I hope you all are doing well. Thank you for your prayers!!! ~Katherine

MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2006 07:52 PM, EST

The CT scan from last night revealed an abscess in Andrew's abdomen. So, the source of the fever was discovered. They performed a small procedure on him this afternoon to drain this abscess. He is doing so well after all of this. He will hopefully have his swallow test tomorrow; after this they will be able to determine if he can start to eat and then drink. I so hope that he will be able to soon. Will got in today. It was so good for him to see Andrew doing so well. And, Andrew was very happy to see him. The rest of us are a bit under the weather again. Please pray that we will all recover quickly so we can be available for Andrew. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. The outpouring of love to our family during this time has been so unbelievable! ~Katherine

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2006 09:07 PM, EST

Hi all. I'm here in the waiting room down the hall from Andrew's room. He is currently in a CT scan. I've been with him for the last few hours and he is doing pretty good. He has had a fever for the past few days, which understandably causes him to be less comfortable. To be honest, I have no idea how he does it. He has such a tremendous amount to overcome. Overall, he remains positive, though the internal struggle is so huge. Please lift him up to God. I cannot imagine his current suffering and the suffering to come. This is going to be a very long road. Please pray that God will give him the strength that he will need for each day. Also, pray that God will reveal to Andrew His plan and purpose for his life. Thank you! ~Katherine

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2006 09:24 PM, CST

Andrew is enjoying his new room on the fifth floor. He now has a window which brings in the cheerful sunlight. He is doing well, but is in a stage where he still needs a lot of care and prayers. Please pray for strength and energy for my family as Andrew's needs are very great. Thank you all! ~Katherine

Wonderful

Isaiah 9:6:

"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

This week Dr. Rummage gave a short sermon on "Why Jesus' Name is Wonderful:"

1) He is wonderful in His birth (Gal. 4)
2) His life is wonderful (Hebrews 2)-He is our older spiritual brother
3) His cross is wonderful (Col: 1-19-20)- Jesus makes us right with God
4) His gift is wonderful (Romans 5)-Not something we earn or pay for-2 Corinthians 9-can not even put it into words
5) His name is wonderful (Mathew 1:21) The Hebrew word for Jesus is Joshua which means the Lord saves

In this passage, the first word used to describe Jesus is "wonderful." God has truly given us a miracle. Now through His son we can have eternal life. We can know him truly.

I love it how every Monday when I listen to Dr. Rummage the Lord allows Boo Boo to sleep wonderfully so I can hear what he has to say about God's Word. God is so good and faithful.

Pictures from last weekend-Decemeber 15th

Wow! It was a big weekend. The first picture is from our Sunday School Christmas party that we had at our house. This is Brandon Osborne with our first baby Millie Boo. The second picture is of Jake Albright and Lauren Albright. Jake and Jackson are first cousins (this is Charlie's sister). This picture was taken at his 2nd Birthday party that was Saturday afternoon. Then, the rest of the pictures are from Jackson being dedicated at the church on Sunday. It is more a parent's dedication in that we covenant to raise Jackson in a Christian home, and tell him about our wonderful Lord and Savior. Sandi, Larry and Rylie Boo suprised us and got up at 5 am to see Jackson being dedicated. It really meant a lot to us! That night we were Mary, Joseph, and Jesus in the church musical. It was a very busy weekend and I think we wore poor Boo Boo out! I cannot believe it but he is already teething so that is an issue right now. He has 2 white bottom teeth visible. They say they can start teething at 3 months. We are going to get some teething tablets today (we might even try giving him some Tylenol). Hope yall had a great weekend as well!

Update on Andrew-December 14th

Andrew continues to do well. The real struggle right now is just the reality of what all happened setting in. He was able to read quite a bit on this site yesterday and he learned more details of the gravity of the situation he has been in. I know that has to be so very much to take in. Andrew also received his purple heart yesterday!! So, all in all, yesterday was a fairly emotional day for all. Please continue to lift him up. He needs a lot of prayer right now more than ever. The battle is now an emotional one as well as the physical one. I can’t wait to get there tomorrow and be with him during this time. Please pray for travel safety for Caroline, Courtney and I as we are on the road all day tomorrow. Thank you all for your care and concern. ~Katherine

Jackson and His Girlfriend

Here is Jackson and his girlfriend Anna Joy. They had a good time last night at Wednesday night church.

5 Distinct Word All Babies Say!

I wish I had known this 3 months ago!

A lady named Pricillia has discovered 5 words all babies communicate to their parents:

After testing her baby language theory on more than 1,000 infants around the world, Priscilla says there are five words that all babies 0–3 months old say—regardless of race and culture:

• Neh="I'm hungry" focus on the "nu" sound
  
• Owh="I'm sleepy"
• Heh="I'm experiencing discomfort"
• Eair="I have lower gas"
• Eh="I need to burp" focus on "e" part
  

Those "words" are actually sound reflexes, Priscilla says. "Babies all around the world have the same reflexes, and they therefore make the same sounds," she says. If parents don't respond to those reflexes, Priscilla says the baby will eventually stop using them.

Priscilla recommends that parents listen for those words in a baby's pre-cry before they start crying hysterically. She says there is no one sound that's harder to hear than others because it varies by individual. She also says some babies use some words more than others.

The Dunstan Baby Language DVD is currently available. Visit www.dunstanbaby.com to order
your copy.


The key is this sounds are what babies make BEFORE they really get to crying. Last night Jackson was going "eh, eh" and it was more than an hour after he had his bottle. Sure enough we burbed him and then he was fine and went right to bed! Babies really are trying to communicate with us.

Here is a picture of Jackson the day we brought him home from the hospital. I cannot believe how much he has grown!

Glory to God in the Highest

Luke 2:8-20:

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,"Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

This week Dr. Rummage preached on the gifts Jesus Brings to Everyone:

1) Jesus Bring us a Glory to Encounter (vs. 14)

2) Jesus Brings us a Peace to Enter Us (vs. 14)

3) Jesus Brings a Message to Explain (vs. 15-20)

Why do we never think about the Glory of the Lord at Christmas? Here in this passage the glory of the Lord shined all around them. Can you image the glory of the Lord shining around you? Dr. Rummage explained that the Hebrew word for glory is "kabod" which means heavy and the Greek word is "doxo" meaning light. It was the radiant shinning light of God's glory that was present at our Savior's birth.

Isaiah 6: 1-3 states:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."

Wow can you imagine the entire earth being full of God's glory? Additionally, Jesus brings us a peace with God. When we accept Jesus we are no longer an enemy of God. A peace comes over us as well when we learn to trust him completely by praying and turning all of our troubles over to him. However, peace here on earth will not be accomplished until Jesus finally comes back.

Pictures from last weekend-December 9th

Here are pictures from Matt and Meagan Cauthen's wedding. We had a great time seeing everyone!

Doctrine of Christ

As the Christmas season is here, it is good to reflect on the Doctrine of Christ.

• Jesus Christ is a prophet, priest and king. He is a prophet in that in his earthly ministry he taught. He is a priest in that in is dying ministry he sacrificed. He is a king in that in his glorified ministry he governed and is indeed still on the throne. Jesus Christ did not come to just deliver the Gospel, he is the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the cumulative event of the sending, coming, living, dying, rising, and continuing life of this incomprehensible one. Jesus came, lived, died, and rose (1 Cor. 15:1-4).
• Jesus coming to earth is often called the incarnation. The incarnation is defined as the act of uniting human nature with the Word accomplished by the Word in his assumption of human nature, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and into the unity of his person (1 Tim. 3:16). Jesus Christ was a person before he was a man. Jesus Christ is one of the three persons in the Trinity that consists of one nature. The four great Christological Passages of the New Testament is John 1:1-18, Phil 2:5-11, Col. 1:15-20, and Hebrews 1:1-4. In these passages, Christ is described as being the first born of all creation and by him all things were created. Jesus Christ is one person who is truly God and truly man. He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, sovereign, and worthy of worship. There is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are made and through whom we exist. Jesus was tempted in every way we are today
  
• Jesus died for all our sins. Throughout the Bible there is a need for atonement, and a promise that God’s people would be delivered. Jesus Christ was the penal substitution for our sins. The meaning of penal substation is that someone was punished for another. Key passages of Scripture include Isaiah 53 where Isaiah states that he was wounded for our transgressions, and he carried our sorrows. He is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29, Rev. 5).
• Jesus Christ is the risen Lord. The Gospel does not explain the resurrection rather the resurrection alone is what explains the Gospel. Christ did not simply come back from the dead only to die again – this is not a temporary act. He is now the first fruits of a new humanity (Col. 1:18). Jesus Christ did more than just die, he rose from the dead. A triune work existed in Jesus being raised from the dead. By the glory of the father Jesus was raised from the dead (Romans 6:4). By Christ his own power (John 10) and by the spirit (Romans 1) he was raised from the dead. There are six major theological reasons for the resurrection. The first fulfills the prophetic Word and by living Word. Secondly, it demonstrates divine justice. Third, it confirms divine Sonship, and fourth it testifies the work of the cross (1 Cor. 15 is the key passage on the resurrection). Fifth, it guarantees our regeneration/justification. Six, it guarantees our resurrection and victory over death. Seven, it is the basis for his ascension, session, and second coming.

Boo Boo

Here is my cute Boo Boo in his hat that Aunt Kelly and Sandi bought him at Old Navy. There is matching gloves that go along with the hat. It is really cold here now!

Update on Andrew-December 7th

Andrew has now been taken off of the ventilator (that was attached to the trach) and is breathing just fine. He still remains critical and in the ICU, but, he is improving rapidly and continues to maintain a very positive attitude. Dad told me today that he has gotten excellent at talking with his lips and at spelling out words on the word chart. He’s “talking” to all of the doctors and nurses, continuing to be the courteous and the sweet man my mom raised him to be. J From what I hear, he’s very aware of the situation he’s in, remains positive despite his circumstances, and is already looking to the future. He told a friend that he looks forward to getting his legs so he can go dancing again. I know this will be a difficult feat considering the extreme level of amputation he has suffered, but I also really believe that with Andrew, he can make anything possible. God has already done the impossible by keeping him alive and I really see how God is going to continue to astound us as He works in Andrew’s life. Thank you all for your prayers and support. I know I say that a lot, but I believe with all of my heart that your prayers have made such a difference. Thank you!

~Katherine

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Luke 16:19-27:

There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.' But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

This week Dr. Rummage preached on this passage. One reason he did was because without the place called Hell, there would have been no reason to send his son to this earth to die for our sins. One interesting point he made is that Hell is a holy place because it is set apart by God and is a place where he pours out his wrath.

4 Facts on Hell:
1) Hell is an actual place (22)
2) Hell is an agonizing place (23-24)
3) Hell is an always place (25-26)
4) Hell is an Avoidable place (vs. 27)

I know we do not like to talk or even think about Hell but Jesus surely talked about Hell. Are we just afraid of a little embarrassment so we do not talk about. There is no place on earth that even comes close to how unbelievably terrible Hell really is. Dr. Rummage talks about how it is good not to be mad at anyone when you preach or teach on Hell. We should probably make sure that we have gotten enough sleep. Are we too busy shaking people's hands that we forget about their souls? William Booth wished that all seminary trained people could spend 24 hours in Hell and come back to tell the good news of the Gospel.

Vote on Your Favorite Picture

Ah! Mommy is stressing out a little bit over the Christmas card picture. Jackson is such a ham and we want to capture that on our card but every time he sees the camera he stops smiling and stares at it. Which picture do you like best or do you think I should keep on trying? The second I get his Christmas sweater on he is not in a good mood anymore. The one with him raising his hand up is Charlie's favorite and the caption could be "Praise the Lord our Savior is Born" (since he is lifting his hands up).

We really have till like December 15th so be honest. Thanks so much!