"Do you love Me?"

During church yesterday we discussed John 21; it was a wonderful Bible study! What struck me the most and is still on my mind is John 21:15-19. In previous chapters we read that Peter denied Jesus 3 times throughout His trial and crucifixion (John 18:15-27). Now in John 21, Jesus has risen from the grave and has appeared to some of His disciples; Peter being one of them. In verses 15-19 Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him; agape love - an unconditional love. Peter responds 'Yes Lord, You know that I love You'; phileo love - to be fond of, brotherly love. Jesus tells him to feed His lambs.

Again Jesus asks Peter if he agape loves Him and Peter says, 'Yes Lord, You know that I (phileo) love You.' Jesus tells him to tend His sheep.

Wow; this got to me. I can see Jesus asking Peter if he loves Him like nothing else; above and beyond anything, that he would live for and die for Him. And Peter, he turns around and says, yes Lord, I love You like a brother; I am pretty fond of You...Wow; what God must have felt. I can see Jesus asking me, 'Shanna, do you (agape) love Me?' My heart screams 'LORD, My God, I love (agape) You so much!', but do my actions and daily life show this? Can I ever love God as He loves me? The answer I think is no, but I pray I can love (agape) God to the best of my ability.

Coming back to John 21, Jesus then restores Peter by asking him a 3rd time, 'Do you love me?', but this time He uses phileo. Can you imagine how Peter felt knowing he denied Christ 3 times and now this? I can imagine it when I look at the sin in my own life. Peter responds honestly 'Lord You know all things. You know that I love (phileo) You.'

Jesus responds by saying, 'Feed my sheep,' and then 'Follow Me.'

Despite Peter's past, despite his current state, God had plans for him. Peter; his job was to follow God step by step. Peter; he did his job. He grew as a man and he grew in God! Me? I am to follow God step by step. He has plans... I will follow. I pray we 'follow Him' as Peter did. May we grow in love (agape) every day; only possible through and with God!

Peace and Joy to you!
~Shanna~

St. Lucia 2009

Jason and I went back to St. Lucia where we had our honeymoon almost 3 years ago. We had such a wonderful time; it was absolutely perfect. It was the perfect balance of fun, relaxing, romantic, and entertaining. Great weather, food, activities and most importantly COMPANY!! We got to go scuba diving again 3 times (I will add more pictures at a later date), went on a fun tour of the island, hung out at the beach and pools, etc. The evenings were filled with great dinner reservations, and live entertainment at night. We also got our own private magic show and night of playing cards with the fellow islanders one night. I will explain more at the appropriate picture below. We were there a week. It was so hard to come back home, but then again, we just love our home and life together here, it was a great blessing to get back here and see our babies!


The sunsets were absolutely beautiful!

Even our little friends enjoyed our evening bottle of champagne!

This was the night was talking about. 3 years ago the resort we stayed at had a sports bar of sorts above one of the pavilions. We went to see what sort of entertainment they had one night, but walked into a bunch of 'islanders' dancing and having a good ol' time. We asked for a Guinness and they said that they actually weren't even open yet (they were remodeling and creating a new place called 'The Cricket'). We started talking to them and ended up getting our own magic show and started to play cards with them. We had so much fun hanging out with them for about an hour or so. At the end we asked for a picture with them before we left. They happily agreed and actually asked if they could take pictures with us too!

Which brings me to one of the things Jason and I just love about the island. The people. The people are all so nice and happy. When you drive through the island (they drive on the wrong side of the road which is pretty scary at first, haha), you see such wonderful smiles. There does not seem to be the 'class' distinctions we have here. You have rich, poor and those in the middle, but they all coexist and embrace that. You will have a multi-million dollar home right next to a shack and everyone is happy with that. There is no government that will 'bail' people out, so they know that it is up to them to make the most of their lives. People seem so content there. Work for what you want and then enjoy where you are. Being with them is truly a blessing we enjoy!

The Rain forest...

The majority of the island population is Roman Catholic.

Great food every night; we had seafood, French, Japanese Grill, Mexican, Caribbean, etc...

Our babies were sooooooo excited to see us when we got back home. We were so excited to see them too! I know people hate it when couples without kids compare their animals to babies, but we really do love our little stinkers! They do bring us joy.

Nothing too little

This morning I was filled with so much thankfulness. You see, recently God has been helping me broaden and deepen my prayers, an answer to my prayers... But this past week (and many others) I have also been coming to my Savior with small petitions and requests. Some of my prayers are deep and 'meaningful', while some of my prayers are for 'petty' things, small personal desires that really don't matter in God's great plan. This is what I am thankful for. God allows me to come to Him with deep prayers and concerns, but He also lets me come to Him as a child does; honest and simple. God says to let all requests be made know to Him, big or small; after all, He already knows every detail that is going on in my mind and life. Whether I am praying for others, for nations, for change, or whether I am praying for a parking space or not to get stomach problems from the water in St. Lucia if you know what I mean... He listens and cares. Nothing is too small or too big for our great God! I am so thankful that He is never 'too busy' to care, that He seeks a personal relationship with me, with us. I am thankful that I can talk to my LORD every step of every day. That I can tell him how thankful I am for the birds singing and how thankful I am that they didn't poop on my head (a fear of mine...)! I am thankful I can come to him as I am, with so much growth needed, knowing He loves me just as I am... sin and all. He loves me enough to not answer all my prayers and He loves me enough to answer the others. He loves me enough to work without regard to time, but rather His timing. The list goes on and on... today I am thankful that my God is with me and cares about all things me and us; big or small, 'meaningful' or 'petty'!