he is ALIVE!

happy easter weekend! i hope you all are making the time to reflect on the importance of this weekend for us as christians (if you are a follower of christ).

isaiah 53:5-6
but he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed
all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one-- to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

and while he are all guilty of crucifying christ, he has given us forgiveness of our sins and a hope... "he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of jesus christ from the dead...1 peter 1:3

and i've seen so much evidence that christ is alive and moving around me, around my friends, family, community and so on.... he is ALIVE! let's celebrate and give him glory!!

i thought this video/song was appropriate. gotta love john mark mcmillan....

Preggers!

remember when I didn't blog for a really long time.... (you might be thinking, which time?), but it's mainly due to me and jas being preggers!!! these last 2 1/2 months haven't been my most energetic (not to mention the nausea) and blogging just wasn't on the agenda. but I did want to announce it on the blog that jas and i are expecting a little one on September 3rd! we are so thankful and grateful to God for this little life in me. i'ts crazy to think there are two heartbeats going on inside my body right now. but we are just praising God our Creator-the Creator to this little babe being knitted and formed in my womb.

Here are some photos below....the first two are from the night we found out, which was Dec 27th. i took a pregnancy test at a dairy queen in madisonville, tx when we were on our way home from from visiting my parents in houston. it went a little something like this-i had the pregnancy test...and couldnt wait anymore and of course a blizzard is always a good excuse to stop, right? a blzzard and a positive pregnancy test would be the best combo one could order at DQ! so i ran to the bathroom with the pregnancy test in hand (more like in my purse so it wouldn't be obvi to the post-church lunch DQ customers) and had to be super accurate with my one pregnancy test (TMI?) and quick...because there were two ladies waiting behind me! anyway, i did what i needed to do and then washed my hands trying to get out of the bathroom quickly and not really looking at it because in all honesty I really didn't think it was going to be positive. and then i glanced at it to throw it away and then ta-da! there it was...a little positive sign. so then im sort of dizzy and leave the bathroom thinking for sure my face would give it away to jason. and i met him in parking lot and told him the news! baby sudan on the way! we celebrated with a chocolate dipped cone (for Jas) and a butterfinger blizzard for prego. needless to say--who knew that DQ would be such a memorable place for us?!

the last photo is the sono pic from 10 weeks! our next sono will be the 19 week gender appt, which will be in about one month. we are so excited to find out the gender and give the little guy/girl a name!! if you ever think about us, please pray our baby. it has been my prayer thus far that this baby would be a light in the darkness...a light in a dark world that would shine and exude the love of Christ to all who know him/her. please pray this with us. thank you!! :)

the civil wars

jason and i are suckers for girl/guy duo's...maybe it is because we secretly wish we could write songs and be a legit guy/girl duo. but we first got stuck on the swell season...saw them in concert a couple of years ago and we were hooked. now our new fave is the civil wars. i'd heard of their name before, but for whatever reason the name made me think they were some genre of music i wouldn't like. so i never tried them out. thankfully, jason's little sis suggested them and now (after one day) we are hooked! their new CD just came out yesterday- Barton Hollow. please enjoy this music video from you tube (it's from their previous EP). this song is beautiful...a great little tune to enjoy if you are stuck inside because of all this ice cold weather!

The Pancho Challenge

I talked to Alex, my wife, on the phone just before lunch and I told her I was craving Panchos and needed to make a Panchos stop. So, I did, off 183 East in Euless, TX. And I must say the 2nd time was just as good as the 1st
A few weeks back I issued the challenge to visit your local Panchos Mexican Buffet, fill your tray with tasty Mexican food and raise the flag.
So, I wanted to hear from you all that took my challenge and accomplished it. What did you think of Panchos Tasty Mexican Buffet? (I would add tasty in the title if it were my restaraunt)

For those not stepping up to the challenge, this is my encouragement, my nudge to do so.....and let me know.

Spurgeon on the Trinity

Over the past year I have heard many pastors encourage people to read books written by men who were dead. Authors such as C.S Lewis, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, Martin Luther, etc. A couple of months ago I was in my parents den looking through some of their books and I found "Spurgeon on the Holy Spirit", so I borrowed it and have been reading it for a month now. It is small (page number wise) but extremely thick (depth wise). In the 4th Chapter: Personality of the Holy Spirit, Spurgeon mentions the importance of the Trinity in the Gospel.
"A Gospel without the Trinity! It is a pyramid built upon its apex. A Gospel without the Trinity! It is a rope of sand that cannot hold together. A Gospel without the Trinity! Then, indeed, Satan can overturn it. But give me a Gospel with the Trinity, and the might of hell cannot prevail against it. No man can anymore overthrow it than a bubble could split a rock, or a feather break a mountain in two."


I will post more and more quotes, as I come upon them.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry belated Christmas and Happy New Year from the Sudans!






(this one was our christmas card)



JAson's little sister, Mary Beth, took these photos to help us with our Christmas card this year! Isn't she talented? Check out her tumblr at www.marybethsudan.tumblr.com thank you mary b!!

26th birthday and our midget tree

I'm not going to apologize for my lack of blogging...sometimes, there are just thoughts and ideas that are better left off the blog and more for a face to face conversation over coffee or tea. but other blog-worthy news... I just celebrated my 26th birthday on Saturday! i love birthdays and jas and family & friends made it really special, so thanks for the birthday wishes! It's crazy to think that I am close to 30 than 20 now....but I welcome this next year with anticipation and waiting to see what God has in store.

I also wanted to post a little picture of our little, midget Christmas tree. this will be our first christmas in the Marable's back house and space is limited. But even though we don't have much space, we didn't want to completely nix the Christmas tree this year, so here is our little guy (see below). He only cost $20 from home depot. He was kind of deformed, so we trimmed him up a bit, although he still has quite the awkward shape. we like him that way though. anyways, I'm hoping that this year I can shop for some Christmas ornaments after Christmas because there are always really good sales and our ornaments are lacking. what is everyone's favorite store to shop for Christmas ornaments...just looking for suggestions.



Happy monday!!