Kristin McLendon

Kristin McLendon: April 2011

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Easter Weekend

We had a beautiful Easter weekend visiting with lots of friends,
taking our little Jude to church for the first time,
and worshipping our RISEN Lord and Savior!

Here's a few pics to recap our weekend!

Little Man and the Easter Bunny!

We met up with the beloved Sheehan's in Atlantic Station
where we got our picture taken with the Easter Bunny!

 Love this picture!  And Timothy!  So dear to my heart!

The Sheehans are like family to us
and we are grateful for them and love
them oh so very much!


Next up was Lawrenceville for Jude to meet Miss Ashley
(and us to meet Charlie :)
The Walkers were in town which meant Jason and River
got to meet Jude too!


River meeting Jude for the first time:


River sharing his blanket with Jude
(which we gave River for his first birthday).
It was in this moment that we discovered Jude
likes to cuddle.  Upon returning home we gave him
his owl lovie that we had been waiting to give him and
he loves it.  He's been cuddling with it all week!


Our Little Hoot:


Daddy and Jude:


I think it's bedtime:


The "Mantel" Picture:


Easter Sunday
Getting ready to take Jude to church for the first time!




He's ready to go
(and wearing shoes for the very first time!)


Easter Family Picture!


We went out for Easter lunch at one of our favorite 
restaurants with Amelia and Stephanie


Later that afternoon we decided to pull out Jude's 
Bumbo...and he did great!
Looks like he's a big boy and ready for the office!


 Sunday was such a beautiful day...
Daddy went to play volleyball,
so we went to watch!


Easter evening we dyed Easter eggs together as 
a family!




Jude was thrilled!






It was a beautiful weekend.  
I'm loving my little family of three!

**For Jude's Easter pictures,  click here**

posted by Kristin @ April 28, 2011 0 Comments

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter 2011

1Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.



3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 



4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,


 5and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. to me. 


7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.


9For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 


10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.


On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.


12Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.


14And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.


16For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.


19If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.



21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.


22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

The Resurrection of Christ
1Corinthians 15:1-22

posted by Kristin @ April 25, 2011 0 Comments

Jude Robert, You Are Seven Weeks Old

 My precious baby, you are already 7 weeks old!
Time is flying by so fast!


Week Number Seven was a big one for you!
Lots of firsts!


You had your first road trip
which meant that you got to spend some 
good quality time with your grandparents.
And you got to meet your great-grandparents
which made this mama's heart content.
You also got to meet your cousin Aniston
and your Uncle Brett.
Don't worry there are lots of pictures 
of your special weekend 
coming soon to the blog!


We introduced the bottle to you during this week
and you did so good!!  I was so worried
since we didn't have the best track record
with feeding.  You weren't too sure when daddy
gave you your first bottle, but you caught on 
pretty quick!  And yet you still like for
mommy to feed you, so all is good!


You started sleeping in your own bed this week
(as opposed to the pack n play in our room).
We started out with small stretches and it's 
gradually increased to longer.


You've started having longer stretches of sleep at night.
Some have even been 6 and 7 hours long.
We just have to adjust our sleep schedule
so that we can partake in these long stretches of sleep!


You had a couple days this week where you thought
it was a good idea to eat every hour and a half.
You're growing like a little weed!


With week seven came my last week of maternity leave.
I want you to know my little bundle of joy
that I have enjoyed every moment of our
special time together.
Thankfully your Daddy is staying home
with you in the mornings
and then you are coming to work with me in
the afternoons.


But my little Jude,
thank you for the many long cuddly moments
you've given me over the past seven weeks.
I love you.



And for those that have wondered....
we still do have Abigail the cat :)
I know you were wondering since
she doesn't get highlight time here on the
blog anymore!

posted by Kristin @ April 25, 2011 0 Comments

Friday, April 22, 2011

Sunday's Coming...

posted by Kristin @ April 22, 2011 0 Comments

Can I have a 6th?

While looking over my bookshelf tonight trying to pick out my top 5, I did so based on what was up there. It was just now that I realized I left out one of my all time favorites and that would be because I have loaned out my copy.

I don't even know if this would be #6...maybe in the #3 or #4 spot.....


Confession--I was listening to a sermon by my now friend Tammy (I use to just stalk her listen to her sermons, but now I have the privilege of calling her friend) and she mentioned this book.  I held her in such high regard that I immediately ordered the book.

And for the book....I don't even have words...other than life changing...so go get it.  The End.

posted by Kristin @ April 22, 2011 1 Comments

TOP 5 FRIDAY

Hi friends!  I'm joining up with my dear friend Annie again for her weekly, Top 5 Friday Series.

This week it's our top 5 favorite books.  This one is hard.  Last week I could just look at my itunes page and it told me the answer.  This week I had to ponder it and narrow it down myself.  HARD.

My all time favorite book that is not even going to be in my list because it trumps it all is The Word of God.  Love it.  It is my life source and it sustains me.  My all time favorite book is Song of Solomon.

I've studied this chapter just a wee bit:



And my favorite devotional?  Smith Wigglesworths Devotional.



Okay.  Now onto my list.  Again, this was hard but I came up with my favorite top 5 books---and then I started to write this and realized they were all books that have deeply impacted who I am.


#1  Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
This book was given to me my first Christmas as a believer by my dear discipler, Kristi Kay.  I had only been a believer for about 4 months and this book rocked me.  I've read it several times now and each time I read it the Lord speaks to me in a different way.  I have two copies of it.  The one I've read over and over-my original copy.  Then I have the new one with the lady in the red dress and it has my notes in it as I taught it in a high school girls small group.  (Side Note---In the last year I've started reading other Francine Rivers books---and they are all good!!!  I love the Mark of the Lion Series and I just finished reading her newest ones, Her Mother's Hope and Her Daughter's Dream.  GOOD, GOOD, GOOD.)


#2  Passion for Jesus by Mike Bickle
Most life altering book---I was in a crucial spot with the Lord when I heard that Jesus called me His Bride and He is my Bridegroom.  This same time period in my life was when I developed my love for Song of Solomon.  And once again, I have my original copy (to the left) that I have read over and over again, made notes in and taught small groups out of.  I also have the new one (to the right) that a dear friend sent me.  Good thing since my original is falling apart!


#3  Always Enough by Heidi Baker
There was a time in my life that I was slightly obsessed with this woman.  I watched many sermons and read her books.  I haven't done that in the last couple of years, but her book is still in my top five as her life is one that I want to model my life after.







#4  Bruchko by Bruce Olson
My dear friend Mark Fritchman recommended this book to me and I immediately ordered it and could not put it down.  This speaks to my missionary heart and stirs me for more.  Makes me want to stop what I'm doing and go pick it up again.







#5  The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun
I'm starting to see a trend in my top five books--the ones that stir me to take Jesus to the Nations.  Warning--this book is one that once you pick it up you will not be able to put it down.  So, go, go get it and see the miracles that Jesus did in this mans life---and can do in yours!
Whew, that was hard.  Now it's your turn.  Let's hear it!

posted by Kristin @ April 22, 2011 1 Comments