new life.

somewhere in the middle of the 4 AM golfball-sized hailstorm last night, i got a text message from mom saying our newest family member had made his debut. i'm unbelievably proud to introduce you to my brand new nephew, benjamin luke crowson:

9 lbs, 1 oz // 23 inches

i can't get over how kind God is to let our family celebrate new life on this easter sunday. it's too perfect. on a day in which we celebrate our savior who gives us new spiritual life by the shedding of his blood and the power of his resurrection, we also get to celebrate new physical life with this sweet little addition to our family.

apparently, his big brother was pretty excited about his arrival, too.

whit: "my ben..."

we're so glad you're finally here, sweet benjamin, and we absolutely can't wait to meet you next weekend. love, your favorite aunt and uncle.

happy easter!

p.s. it's also really cool that you decided to be born on opening day of the texas rangers' season. your grandfather would have LOVED that. i think it's another picture of God's kindness to us. thanks for that, ben. you're a gift. by the way, your astros-loving uncle chris is about to be very disappointed. let's go, rangers!

rock of ages.

last night, our church joined with other acts 29 churches in the okc area for a good friday service. it was simple, beautiful, and powerful... exactly what it needed to be. i was super thankful that several old hymns made it onto the set list. for whatever reason, i was so stirred by the lyrics to "Rock of Ages."

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From Thy wounded side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure,

Save from wrath and make me pure.

Not the labor of my hands

Can fulfill Thy law's demands;

Could my zeal no respite know,

Could my tears forever flow,

All for sin could not atone;

Thou must save, and Thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,

Simply to Thy cross I cling;

Naked, come to Thee for dress;

Helpless, look to Thee for grace;

Foul, I to the fountain fly;

Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath,

When my eyes shall close in death,

When I rise to worlds unknown,

And behold Thee on Thy throne,

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee.

such an incredible reminder that my only hope for salvation is in the cross. i hope you're celebrating your emptiness and his magnificence this weekend. what a gift! what a savior! 

life out of death.

i recently spotted a few flowers on a tree for the first time this spring. true story: i pulled my car over, got out, and snapped a pic of the baby blooms.

and the stunningly blue sky.

i thought my soul was going to burst. i know that sounds dramatic, but it's the absolute truth. i hopped back in my car and proceeded to drive around norman looking for more blooms (never mind the fact that i was originally in a rush to get to the grocery store). i had no idea how much my soul needed to see them, but once i did, i couldn't get enough of them. 

i needed to see life.

more specifically, i needed to see life coming out of death. living flowers out of branches that have been seemingly lifeless for months. come on, people. we can't act like this isn't a big deal. 

i couldn't get over it. just ask the friends we went to dinner with that night. spring was all i wanted to talk about. "i saw blooms on a tree today, y'all. there are flowers coming out of dead sticks. flowers, y'all. it's the most amazing thing. you've gotta see it." (i must have said this series of sentences at least five times... as if they've never seen flowers before. they were sweet to act excited.)

now, about two weeks later, i still can't get over it, even though the tons of bradford pears in norman (like the one pictured above) are covered in blooms. 

beautiful sight, unfortunate smell.

in romans 1.20, paul writes, "for his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made." i love how God knew we would need help knowing what he's like. i'm thankful he knew i would need reminder after reminder after reminder of who he is, so he created plants and trees and sky and wind. how kind and gracious is he?! how can you NOT see his eternal power and divine nature when everywhere you look this time of year LIFE is springing out of DEATH?!

this weekend we'll celebrate the ultimate story of eternal power and divine nature, the ultimate life coming out of death story. don't miss it, y'all. don't miss that all of creation is screaming this story right now. don't miss the opportunity to be overwhelmed all over again by the story of jesus facing death and conquering it with life. he takes our sin and gives us righteousness, takes our grief and gives us joy, takes our weakness and gives us strength, takes our past and gives us hope, takes our darkness and gives us light.

it's a story worth not getting over. don't miss it. 

thankful thursday: spring!

spring is here, y'all. i am by far the most thankful for that this week (and trying to pretend like the sunday forecast isn't for cold weather). we've had beautiful day after beautiful day this week, and i absolutely can't get enough of it. in addition to spring springing, here are a few things i've been thankful for this week:

1. blue skies.
i've been drooling over these robin-egg-blue, cloudless skies.

2. noonday.
i've already blogged about noonday in a previous post, but i went to another trunk show on monday night and fell in love with it all over again. it's literally changing women's lives, y'all. it gives them a sustainable income, which in turn allows kids to go to school and families to stay together. on top of that, it's helping families fund adoptions, which again is changing lives... not to mention that it's all super cute stuff! my friend, abby, is a noonday ambassador raising money for her family to adopt from ethiopia, and she threw monday night's trunk show to benefit our friend, nicole, and her family's adoption from uganda. result: lives changed and necklace purchased. boom.

3. pope francis I.
perhaps it could be argued that the new pope has little impact on my little protestant life, but if he affects over 1 billion people in the world and if he's recognized by literally everyone in the world as a poster boy of sorts for christianity, then i absolutely think he affects me. i eagerly watched on tuesday as history was made.

i was thrilled to see the cardinals select someone from the global south. this is HUGE, y'all. one of my favorite authors i read in seminary was philip jenkins. in his book, The Next Christendom, he writes, "Over the last century, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa and Latin America. Today, the largest Christian communities on the planet are to be found in those regions." he later goes on to say, "The era of Western Christianity has passed within our lifetimes, and the day of Southern Christianity is dawning. The fact of change itself is undeniable: it has happened, and will continue to happen." so, the fact that the man guarding the theology and practices of catholics is actually from the region where the majority of catholics live is really cool. i also love that he took the name francis. no other pope has ever taken that name, which makes sense when you realize francis was a man who chose to live in complete poverty. i think it says a lot about this new pope -- that he's a man of the people and wants the church to be about the poor. brilliant. and how cool that this story has commentators on major news networks talking about jesus and recognizing that this man sounds very jesus-like with his gentle, humble, poverty-loving demeanor. all of this to say, way to go, cardinals. great choice... and cool hats.

4. pi(e) day.
on a much lighter and less significant note, today is PI DAY! so clearly, i celebrated with pie, right? last night, the girls in our small group got together to bake pies and deliver them to friends. i mean, who doesn't like a surprise delivery of delicious pie? certainly no friend of mine. cheers to you, math geeks of the world! thanks for giving me a reason to eat pie!

5. patio sitting.
is there anything better?! not a chance. i determined to be outside today from the minute work was over till the minute i went to sleep. mission accomplished, thanks to a long walk, a sonic drink run, and a slow dinner on the patio at chimy's. i was crazy happy over the perfect weather, stringed lights, yummy food, and of course, good people.

what are you thankful for this week?

thankful thursday.

it's another thankful thursday, y'all. here are a few things i've been thankful for in the last couple of weeks:

1. the view from 30,000 feet.

i was in texas most of last week -- a work retreat, a gigi visit, and a conference. the best part was that it started out with a super early morning flight out of okc. i didn't love the departure time when i woke up that morning, but once we got in the air, i couldn't get enough of this sunrise view:

i hope we get to frolic on clouds like that one day.

2. time in texas.

last week was a busy week in texas, but it was so fun to be there. my work retreat was in the hill country (beautiful!), my grandmother lives with my aunt & uncle in san antonio (best mexican food!), and the verge conference was in austin (i mean... just the coolest.). plus, my rental car was a mini cooper! i had way too much fun zipping around in that thing. all in all, the work retreat went well, it was great to see my sweet grandmother, and the mission-focused conference was challenging and refreshing. 

3. dancers among us.

this book. it's so great. my sweet mom surprised me with this little happy in the mail this week. it's a photo book of dancers doing leaps and jumps and poses in everyday life, and it's so cool! the subtitle is so fitting -- a celebration of joy in the everyday. yes!!

4. hints of spring!

i went for a jog today and it was 70 DEGREES outside! it felt incredible. spring is coming, y'all, and i just can't wait.

5. black bean burgers.

ever since my friend, abby, posted this recipe on her blog, i've been dying to make them. seriously, i think i bought the ingredients two weeks ago and just got around to making them tonight. the husband was less than thrilled, but he was a good sport. we had a couple of girls over, too, and they seemed to like them. i, on the other hand, loved them. delish!

this was the husband's plate... when he was finished.

so... what are you thankful for this week??

happy texas independence day!

i'm one of those obnoxious texans that genuinely loves the state of texas... but aren't all texans?? sorry, people. we can't help it. texas is just the greatest.

so in honor of texas independence day, i had to post this recent buzzfeed article:

50 sure signs that texas is actually utopia.

i couldn't stop smiling while reading the list. read it. asap. it includes everything from beyonce to bluebonnets, and i love all of them.

thankfully, the husband and i were deep in the heart of texas this weekend for a conference in austin. god bless you, austin, texas, and your delicious breakfast tacos and food trucks and lovely capitol building and just overall coolness.

so happy texas independence day, y'all, from two homesick texans.

{old picture from a rehearsal dinner last june,
but don't you just love bluebonnets? even if they're fake?!}