Epic Weekend

Dear Madelyn Kate,
This weekend has been so busy and you have been quite the trooper through it all. Thursday night your Grandma volunteered to make 100 cupcakes (that were absolutely delicious) for dessert on Friday night! She whipped them out and made the meat sauce for the spaghetti dinner so that I would just have to heat it up! She is pretty much my hero and one of the hardest worker I know. Since it was such a late night, we just spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's so that you could get some rest.

We kicked off the day Friday morning with your first bath in the big tub!
You have been ready to take a bath in the big bath tub for quite some time now. Even though you would splash and make a huge mess, I continued to bathe you in your pink baby tub on the bar in the kitchen. Friday, I decided it was time to move on from that. As excited as I get when you reach a new milestone, I am always sad when it is time to pack something away because you have outgrown it. You are growing so fast. Too fast.
You loved the big bath tub! You were able to sit up really well and enjoyed kicking your feet in the water. When you made the water splash, your eyes would get so big!
I only planned on giving you one bath on Friday morning, but I think you enjoyed it so much that you plotted a way to get back in there. On our way to meet Judy and Katie and Nathan for lunch at Chick-fil-a you had a major accident that required us to go back home. After another quick dip in the tub and a wardrobe change, we were back on the road.

You were sleeping by the time we made it to lunch! After we were almost finished with our meals, I did something that I have never intentionally done before. I woke you up! I really wanted them to see your sweet smile and hear your baby talk. You did not seem to mind that I woke you up and loved being passed back and forth! It was pretty sweet because it has been quite some time since they have seen you in person.

From there we headed straight out to the church to help Daddy get a few last minute things done before the student's started to arrive for Disciple Now. He has worked so hard to prepare for this weekend so it was very exciting waiting for it all to get kicked off!
While Ashleigh and I were busy making massive amounts of spaghetti, you just hung out in your stroller. For the record, Madelyn, if you ever want to serve a large group of people a meal, call Ashleigh. She was a champ. She cooked, washed dishes as we went, served the students and then cleaned everything up!You did not see all of that because Grandma came to pick you up and take you home before dinner was served. It was the first time that you have ridden in a car without me! It was a little strange for me considering I was even able to ride with you in the ambulance. I knew you were in good hands though, so I didn't think twice about it. That was just the beginning of a lot of quality time that you spent with Grandma this weekend! She pretty much made it possible for me to help Daddy as much as I was able to!

After dinner the students started piling in to the new student building. It was pretty awesome to see it completely full! The theme for the weekend was EPIC:

ep·ic /ˈɛpɪk/ Show Spelled[ep-ik]

1. heroic; majestic; impressively great
2. of unusually great size or extent

It was centered around the fact that God's love for us is epic. It's heroic in that he sent his only son to die for our sins.

"In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him."
1 John 4:9

It is impressively great.

"Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13

Because of his epic love for us...we are called to live an epic life.

The Josh Morgan Band from San Marcos led worship on Friday and Saturday nights...
and Ryan Fontenot (who your Daddy has used for DNOWs in the past and gone to his camps) spoke both nights as well. God definitely has his hand on Ryan's life and has continued to use him to impact the lives of students across the country. This weekend was no exception.
He and his wife Heather have a precious 5 week old baby girl named Elyn. Maybe some day you two can have a play date!

Saturday afternoon, despite the snow/rain mix that was coming down, the students competed in a homemade derby car race outside. Their cars turned out to be pretty awesome and for the first time ever a girl's group beat the guys! Aunt Rachel was their leader...so of course they were pretty awesome!
They lined up at the starting line...
and raced around to six different stations...
where they had to complete gross challenges...
before racing on to the next station.
Thankfully, Grandma kept you at home for me because of the weather. She said you took a long afternoon nap. By the time I made it back home after the race, you were waking up and ready to head back out to the church with me to prepare dinner! After dinner we went over to the worship service. The band was a little too loud for your tiny ears so we protected them with some purple ear plugs! You did not seem to mind at all! You only pulled one out once, but other than that you left them alone!
Ryan and Amanda came to the worship service and had fun holding you and playing with you while I was helping pass out the awards from the derby car race!
You were so good during the service. You made faces at everyone that was hanging out in the back and played with your duck for at least 30 minutes. You are such a good, laid back, little girl!
While the students were hanging out playing games... all the girls would take their turn holding you. I hope that you continue to be a people person and don't mind being passed around!

Sunday morning it was snowing so Grandma once again watched you at the house while I went out to the church. All of the students were pretty worn out, as were all the host homes and the amazing small group leaders for that matter. I could not help but think about how one day you will be attending student events like this one.

Although my heart was full, it was also pretty heavy on Sunday morning. There are so many struggles that these students face that I pray you never have to encounter. Some of their stories of abuse, drugs and abandonment weighed heavy on my mind as we wrapped the weekend up.

I know that God brought together just the right small group leaders, students, host homes, speaker and band for DNOW. It was evident as we watched his spirit move throughout the weekend. My prayer as we move forward is that these students (who will be the leaders for your generation) continue to seek the Lord. That they grow in the knowledge of him and continue to find freedom from sin and the heartache of their pasts.

One scripture continued to come to mind as I was driving home on Sunday afternoon...

"but I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more" Psalm 71: 14

I could not wait to get home and squeeze you and give you kisses.

Your Aunt Kenda and her boyfriend, Michael stopped by yesterday afternoon to love on you for a little bit. You loved getting to see her and flashed your sweet smile the whole time she was here. You have grown so much since the last time that she saw you.

It was a quick visit but she will be back in a couple of weeks for Easter!

Last night we just hung out around the house! You love playing in your exersaucer but have not quite figured out how to turn around in it...
so you just lean back and stretch to get to the all the toys!
This weekend has made me really realize how big of an impact your daddy is making in the lives of the students at West Lake. I am thankful for his heart to serve. You are blessed to have him, sweet girl.

Hopefully this week we can take it easy and spend some time together relaxing at the house!

I love you,
Mommy