My Spirit Rejoices

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior..." Luke 1:46-47

 



"Life gives us brief moments with another...but sometimes in those brief moments we get memories that last a life time..."

Last night, after the girls went to bed,...I found myself  flipping through photos of the past year. Funny thing happened. What started out as a humorously random moment in time, turned into a spirit filled moment of continuous joy.

This past year, like every year, is a sum of the good, the bad, and the ugly. And in my humble opinion, the goulash of our everyday is absolutely beautiful. Our family, like yours...is not perfect. Nowhere near it. Actually, miles away from it. The Pasquel's are in constant need of grace and mercy:
-We fight
-We yell
-We cry
-We make up
-We do it all over again

And then there's the condition of our hearts:
-We're selfish (especially me)
-We're impatient
-We're envious
-We're prideful
-We're unsatisfied
-We're wanting more!

As I write each ugly virtue about us, albeit vague, I can think of several specific moments in the past week that make me cringe. Spiritually, we suck.

And right now, although this is nothing to be proud of (and trust me, I'm not, its the constant source of my pain)...I find myself smiling. I'm smiling...and my spirit rejoices because my God is Savior! And again, continuing in my moment of joy, I am reminded that "there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not repent."

The Pasquels are sinners. Pia is. Hannah too. Sarah...ditto. And I feel like I'm leading the league in sinning percentage. We are sinners...and we make it look easy. But man, if heaven can rejoice over us...despite of us...well,

I have no choice but to rejoice!!!!!... "God My Savior" says that "it is by grace [we] have been saved, through faith-and this is not from [ourselves], it is the gift of God."

I suck. We suck. But God loves us regardless. He pours His grace over us. Daily. And for this, my soul glorifies Jesus and my heart overflows with joy. This past year has been a daily collection of moments. The good, the bad, and the ugly. My family is not perfect, but through grace...they are beautiful.

So...more on moments and memories. The remainder of this post is some of my favorite moments of this past year (some already shown above, like Hannah's sweet letter to Pia.). Hope you enjoy:

Shaving Oliver!

Ice climbing in Ouray

This crazy little girl!

More Oliver

Jeremy and I hanging/climbing at "The Red" in KY this year

Enjoying yummy dinners on climbing trips

 Spring Breaking with friends

Crazy little girls.

Passing on my passions to my family

Meeting my "real" brother in law..."BENNY" for the first time

Spending a day with the guys, relaxing, goofing, and laughing at each other

Reimerstock...nuff said

Cousins

Teaching

Exploring

Friends!

New goals, new challenges...good attitudes.

Adventure

Wonder

Boldness...or Stupidity. Can be the same.

Asian tourists

Buzzed moments

 Trying new things 

Steeler football with my dad

Good Beer!

Mind over Matter

Proudest Climb of the Year

Sisters

Parenthood/Family

Marriage

 

Ok...2015...here we go.