Caught Up In Grace...

And I find myself here on my knees again
Caught up in grace like an avalanche
Nothing compare to this love

(Hillsong United)

Ft. Worth Fun

I recently escaped the hecticness of Houston to go spend sometime with the Ft. Worth Brewers.  There's nothing better than some beautiful weather, my sweet family, and a trip to the zoo!!!

 Starting off the day right with french toast

 Giraffes and wildflowers

 Ft. Worth Brewers

 Feeding the birds



Bye Bye Blonde!!

Even Hollywood Loves The Houston Rodeo!!!

Llamas, Kanagroos, and Deer...oh my!

You know it's Rodeo time in Houston when the llamas come out to play!! Llamas and kanagroos at a petting zoo, who knew?! We also encountered a cute deer and then an annoying one that would eat our clothes, little potbelly pigs, and tons of sheep and goats.  Pethora of randomness at that petting zoo but tons o fun.

Lyndsey, Charis, and me with our llama friend

Lyndsey and Charis

Stand

So what can I say
What can I do
But offer this heart O God
Completely to You

So I'll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the One who gave it all

So I'll stand
My soul Lord to You surrendered
All I am is Yours

Come and Take It!

Happy Texas Independence Day!!!

The convention was convened on March 1, 1836 with Richard Ellis as president. The delegates selected a committee of five to draft a declaration of independence; the committee was led by George Childress and also included Edward Conrad, James Gaines, Bailey Hardeman, and Collin McKinney. The committee submitted its draft within a mere 24 hours, leading historians to speculate that Childress had written much of it before his arrival at the Convention.


The declaration was approved on March 2 with no debate. Based primarily on the writings of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson, the declaration proclaimed that the Mexican government "ceased to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived" and complained about "arbitrary acts of oppression and tyranny". The declaration officially established the Republic of Texas.

Based upon the United States Declaration of Independence, the Texas Declaration also contains many memorable expressions of American political principles:

• "the right of trial by jury, that palladium of civil liberty, and only safe guarantee for the life, liberty, and property of the citizen."

• "our arms ... are essential to our defence, the rightful property of freemen, and formidable only to tyrannical governments."

10 Important Dates:
University of Houston history professor Raul Ramos gives his take on 10 of the most important dates leading to the establishment of the Republic of Texas:

• May 17, 1718: Father Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares established the mission San Antonio de Valero, which would later become the Alamo.
 
• Aug. 18, 1813: The Battle of Medina marked the end of José Bernardo Gutiérrez de Lara and Augustus William Magee’s armed rebellion against Spain for Mexico’s independence.
 
• Jan. 3, 1823: Mexico passed general colonization laws under which Stephen F. Austin and other empresarios established legal immigrant settlements in Texas.
 
• Dec., 21, 1826: Haden 
Edwards organized the Fredonian Rebellion in an attempt to separate his colony from Mexico. Stephen F. Austin and Peter Ellis Bean aid Mexico in stifling the rebellion, but it causes scrutiny of the colonization program by Mexican government officials.
 
• Sept. 15, 1829: Mexico banned slavery but gave Texas a temporary exemption.
 
• April 30, 1830: Mexico stops American immigration into Texas after reports surfaced of Americans violating the colonization laws.
 
• January 1834: Stephen F. Austin traveled to Mexico City to advocate for Texas statehood and ask that the law of April 30, 1830, be rescinded. He was jailed for a year. Texans had already begun preparing for secession from Mexico.
 
• September 1835: The first shots are fired in the Texas war when American settlers in Gonzales refuse to return a cannon to Mexican military commander Domingo de Ugartechea.
 
• March 2, 1836: The Texas Declaration of Independence is signed, calling for Texas’ secession from Mexico. Fighting had already begun at the Alamo.
 
• Sept. 5, 1836: Texans voted for annexation to the United States, but the American government refused to annex the state because of the internal politics of slavery. Texas was finally admitted to the union in 1845.

(That was for you Brent!!)