Little Paul is the adorable son of my long-time friend Gina and her wonderful husband “Big” Paul.  I have to admit I was sad when Paul married Gina and took her away from us all the way up to New Jersey.  But, he has made her happy, and she him, so what more can I ask for my dear friend?  Well, they have been blessed this year with a wonderful little baby boy.  I first met him when he was about 2 weeks old and now he’s magically 8 months!  It seems like it happened over night!  So when Gina told me she’d be down this month, I had to snap some more recent photos of this little guy!

There were so many great photos to choose from, it was hard to narrow it down to just these 15.  Paul started out the afternoon almost trying NOT to smile at me.  It was really weird, almost like he knew I was there to get him smiling, so he wasn’t going to do it.  Ha!  What a little stinker!  But as soon as his daddy came out, he was all smiles!  He was so wonderful!

Here’s Paul…

I thought this was going to be the only expression he would give me all afternoon!

(My friends are gonna hate me for posting these photos, but who cares!)

So, what’s with the title of this post?  I didn’t even fully know what Lent was until this past Sunday at church!  I know, I’m 28 years old and still didn’t know!  Anyways, the above statement, “Give it up for Lent,” is something I remember my good friend Gina saying quite often during the lenten season.  Gina was one of the many wonderful friends I was so blessed to be able to hang out with during high school.  We were thick as thieves, always at one another’s houses.  I distinctly remember, and I hope correctly, that when one of us would wish for something, or complain we didn’t have something, Gina would so kindly say, “Ah, give it up for lent!”  All I knew was that Lent was when my other friends would not have chocolate or coffee or something they usually ate for 40 days.

However, this past Sunday, my pastor, Keith Peck, explained Lent in such a way that made its meaning and purpose very clear to me.  He explained Lent as giving up something we rely on, something that makes our heart happy, something that we focus on more than Christ.  And in giving up that thing, we are better able to realize our need for Christ.  Here’s the kicker:  His challenge was to give up gossip for lent!  When you think about it, it sounds pretty easy.  However, when you put it the way Keith did, it’s gonna be tough!  He said, “I challenge you to fast from speaking about another person who is not in your presence with a negative intent, no matter if it is true or not. To only speak of people who are not in your presence in a positive light.”  Ouch!  That hurts because I know I am very guilty of talking about others in my nice sounding way, but with my ill meaning intentions hidden beneath the surface.  I am going to try to take on this challenge.  It’ll be my first observation of Lent.  I’ll let you know how it goes.  (Pray.)

I have to end with one more funny old photo of me and my friends.  Here we all are at the prom.

Consequently, Bryan, the dude in the middle, married Hannah, the girl to your left.  And in case you couldn’t tell, I’m the girl on your far left, in the dark blue dress.

Babies are so perfect! Their little hands, and feet, and noses, and mouths…everything about them! I had the chance to ride up to New Jersey last weekend to visit my good friend Gina, her husband Paul, and their new son, Paul Thomas. Paul is about 1 week old in these photos, but so alert…well, alert when he wanted to be. Enjoy oooohing and aaahhhhing over this cutie!