The Sullivan Family: February 2013

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

He paid the price even though we weren't worth it

Billy passed this story on to me a few years ago and I have never forgotten it, thought I should post it as a reminder to myself....

There once was a man named George Thomas, pastor in a small New England
town. One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty,
bent, old bird cage, and set it by the pulpit.

Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to
speak...

"I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming
toward me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three
little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright.

I stopped the lad and asked, "What you got there, son?"

"Just some old birds," came the reply.

"What are you gonna do with them?" I asked.

"Take 'em home and have fun with 'em," he answered. "I'm gonna tease
'em and pull out their feathers to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real
good time."

"But you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do?"

"Oh, I got some cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take
'em to them."

The pastor was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those
birds, son?"

"Huh?? !!! Why, you don't want them birds, mister. They're just plain
old field birds. They don't sing... They ain't even pretty!"

"How much?" the pastor asked again.

The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, "$10?"

The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He
placed it in the boy's hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The pastor
picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where
there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the
door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting
them free. Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and
then the pastor began to tell this story:

One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just
come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes,
sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set me a trap,
used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got em all!"

"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.

Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to
marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to
drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and
bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"

"And what will you do when you get done with them?" Jesus asked.

"Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly.

"How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked.

"Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you'll take
them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill
you. You don't want those people!!"

"How much? He asked again.

Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your blood, tears and your
life."

Jesus said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price.

The pastor picked up the cage he opened the door and he walked from the
pulpit.

Monday, February 25, 2013

How can my girl be 5?!?!

I am having a hard time accepting that my baby girl could possibly be FIVE years old!!! I seriously want to cry, she will be in Kindergarten next fall...where did the time go? I feel like I am having pre-empty nest syndrome! But that didn't stop my little gal from turning 5 today...

Blake, bless his little heart, has been planning Tay's bday since Christmas. He is proud to have a Nintendo DS that he is so graciously giving her. He even helped me pick out a new skin for it, to help make it her very own. He gave her the case and all the accessories to go along with it! He even stayed up late the night before to set it all up just perfectly, to make her birthday super special. He even made her an entire activity book by hand, he has to be the best big brother a little sis could have!

Taylor woke up to gifts, a handmade cake (thanks to Blake and I), steamers, and the whole nine yards. We always do this early in the morning, so Daddy can stay and be part of it.

Aunt Sissy and Uncle Danny came over to shower her with gift after gift. They really go too far, they brought her toy puppies, toy kitties, and so much more! Then we headed to Pizza Street for lunch together, we ate pizza and played arcade games...she won a ton of candy. She calls it "the load"! lol!

This little girl is growing up, I still watch her sleep like when she was a baby. Her lips are poochy and absolutely adorable. She always insists on hugging after we have an argument to "make up", she is a little princess that can battle to the end with her big brother and his friends, she loves pretending to be a Mommy and Waitress/store owner, but her heart lies mostly with her pet animal toys. She wants to be a Zoo Keeper when she grows up...I just want to take time to play with her, before she is all grown up...Happy Birthday, my big girl.