I missed my girl!

Yesterday was the longest I've ever been away from Lily (9 hours) and I was missing her so much.  Even though it was a wonderful day of visiting old friends, my thoughts were never far from my girl.  On the way home a passage of scripture came to my mind from Isaiah 49:14-16...

"But Jerusalem said 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.' Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child, can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See I have engraved you on the palms of my hands."

Isn't that beautiful!  Those precious nail pierced hands are a reminder of His great love for His children.  I think it's great that God gives us descriptive pictures and illustrations so we can have a deeper understanding of His compassion, care, and love.  Let me tell you....the description in this verse of a nursing mother who can't forget her child.....it's very clear to me! :)  I was emotionally and physically missing Lily!  Here are some photos of my time with my friends and of course a few of our girl :)

My dear friend, Paula, will be moving to Pennsylvania on Dec. 28 and I was so glad to be able to spend some time with her before they go.  Her husband is going back into Senior Pastoring and they have taken a job at a Baptist Church there.  Could they be any further from us?! 
I will miss them so much.

My sweet friends that were in the youth group at Calvary Chapel and took part in the discipleship group that I led when I lived in Gulf Breeze.  They are all grown up now! It was awesome to see them and be able to spend some time sharing how the Lord is working in each of our lives.

(me, April, Jesse)

And since I missed spending time with Lily yesterday....

we spent the day together and had so much fun! She loves

Christmas trees so I took her to see a giant one at a local

shopping center.  They also have a splash pad (water falls)

and she thought that was neat too.

these photos are in sequence:

first reaction to seeing the fountains

not quite sure what to do

but she figured it out...

she's going for it!

this is just a sweet photo I took after

Church on Sunday

and this was Sunday night...

is this the cutest little blue jeaned babe you've

EVER seen!? :)