Lavishly Loved

For about 3 years, I've had the joy of hosting a expatriate women's bible study in my house. It's a time for us to let down our hair (sometimes literally) and keep spiritually fresh in an environment that isn't always friendly to Christians. We get to support one another in the midst of facing challenges that overseas living can bring. It is just nice to know you aren't the only one walking down this road and the thoughts and feelings you have are normal.

This semester we are in the books of 1,2,3 John. Our passage last week was 1 John 3:1 "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are....". My friend Jen lead the discussion and she gave us paper crowns to wear to remind us that we are daughters of the KING. She also "lavished" us by bringing a pumpkin shaped and decorated cake made from an American cake mix. Nothing says "lavish" over here like American food products!! We had a really good time and laughed a lot while looking a bit silly in our crowns. For those of us with kids the crowns got put to good use. Elianna loved mine and wore it the next day. It was a little big on her, but that didn't stop my little princess from wearing her crown. Isn't it good to be the daughter/son of the KING!

Here we are wearing our crowns. Only 1/2 showed up that night due to traveling and other issues. Notice the beautiful pumpkin cake:
















Here are a few pictures of my little princess wearing her crown:

Poor thing, she looks so sad. That's what you get when you take pictures early in the morning! A princess needs time to wake-up before the photo shoot begins :). Side note: Look at all that hair and she is still only a one year old. Well she is only a month away from two.