happy.

the sight of these things in my house makes me happy.
I must be becoming my sister. :)
I hope so, for one thing because maybe it means that healthier foods are starting to appeal to me more (**not to say that junk has lost its appeal, thats for sure :) )
but also because I think my sister Sharon is perhaps the woman I most want to be like in the whole world. :)
But regardless of the healthy factor, these are things that anyone would love...even a junk food addict, even ME, even my MOM (with her fabulous baking skills and sweet tooth, in this way perhaps the polar opposite of Sharon) I am sure would enjoy these delicious items. You should try them out!! By the way, my MOM is the other woman I would most like to be like. :) I am so blessed with godly women in my life to encourage me!! So to my dear mother and sisters (Kev's too!) and girlfriends out there tonight...THANK YOU!! I praise God for you.

Trail Blazers

I finished reading the biography of Patricia St. John to the kids and am halfway through Hudson Taylor, while the nights that Kev is putting the kids to bed he is reading about Dr. Helen Roseveare. What incredible, amazing, powerful stories of the way God uses those who trust Him, the kids love to listen to them (well, the boys always drift off to sleep and aren't getting much out of them but Ashleigh just loves them). In googling Helen Roseveare I noticed that she spoke at the 2007 Desiring God conference with an amazing starstudded lineup - Piper, Macarthur, Alcorn and Bridges. Wow, it must have been amazing to be there...I'll have to listen to those speeches someday. Here is a video of Helen Roseveare.

http://vimeo.com/2495731

To have their faith!! Our God is great. How amazing that we can be encouraged in our faith by reading about what God has done through people like these, this is a gift in itself!

Right now I'm reading the adult biography of Hudson Taylor and Maria, also from Christian Focus. It is good to be reading again, since I have been book-making so much (as in, photobooks, totally self-centered I know) that I haven't read much lately at all (aside from reading to the kids). Any recommendations of books you been reading lately?

Have a great weekend, all!

gorgeous. baby.

he`s gotta be one of the cutest EVER! what a doll. We had such a great time with Mike & Victoria last night, it had been too long. and I had to get a few pics of such perfect cuteness.


not only adorable, he is so contented and happy and social! Julianna would call him `delicious`. :)

on a side note, I`m not sure what I have been thinking these past 5 years not using my bounce flash but it has been resurrected and what a difference!! (below, is with the built in flash)

I am posting them all for Victoria, I didn`t know how else to get them to her. :)

Thanks so much for coming guys!! Visits with great friends always go by too fast, don`t you thinkÉ (oh how annoying, I will have to reboot)

Have a good week, all!

"sustain them with your daily prayers"

Today at Hope we witnessed the installation of our brother Ralph into the office of elder. As the pastor read the form, different things stood out to me:

"The office of elder is based on the kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, when He ascended, left His Church in the world and provided it with officers who should rule in His name." Isn't it powerful to think of their work as "that of ruling in the name of the ascended King, and as servants of the great Shepherd, caring for His flock"? The form charges them to be faithful watchmen over the house of God, taking heed that purity of doctrine and godliness of life be maintained. The elders and deacons both are to serve in love and humility.

And I found the charge to us, the congregation, a good reminder:

"I charge you, beloved Christians, to receive these brothers as the servants of God, sustaining them with your daily prayers. Render to the elders all honour, encouragement and obedience in the Lord. Provide the deacons generously with the necessary gifts for the needy, remembering that in so much as you do it unto the least of these His children, you do it unto Him. May God give us to see in the ministry of the elders the supremacy of Christ, and in the ministry of the deacons the care and love of the Saviour."

I am very thankful for the wonderful, godly council we are blessed with at Hope!! And I will endeavor to be more faithful in prayer for them.

ps. it has come to my attention that we should all be more diligent to take pictures of a certain individual with the initials M.V. (that was the best I could find on his own family blog!! and I have some pics of him on my desktop but it is currently out of commission so I am stuck with the laptop...SORRY m.v.!!)

Forgetting and Straining in 2011

1 Cor 9

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Where are you running? When are you hunting treasure, HOW are you hunting the treasure that is Jesus Christ? You have to answer that. Whether that is this Bible reading plan, or you want to find some place to dive deep into Biblical community, you have got to have a plan. Otherwise you are running aimlessly. Forget whats behind , let God redeem it. What you do have is today. And today is absolutely shaping you tomorrow. You are cultivating the you of 2012 this year. Some of you have been stuck in the same goofy cycle for decades. Are you running aimlessly or do you have your path? Paul has this great analogy about boxing the air. Do you know where you are weak, and do you know where you need to fight and engage? I’ll throw out a couple: Is your marriage a train wreck? That might be a place to fight. That might be a place to really put some work in this year, and to really diligently try to find all the joy of Jesus Christ and His grace in your marriage. Maybe you have a lust issue, that’s something that needs to be subdued and fought and defeated by the grace and mercy of God. And we can go on and on here. But where is the fight this year for you? I think if we go, “I want to hunger after God. I want to follow after God, I want to know Him more deeply, follow His grace, really be compelled by His mercy this year", then I think you need to think through are you forgetting what is behind and how are you straining for what is ahead? Now ultimately this is what is ahead: you and me dead and standing in front of Him. Some of you just saw your last Christmas. I’m not fear mongering you, I’m telling you that’s reality. Some of you just opened your last set of Christmas presents. What’s ahead for you is a face to face meeting with your Maker. Now, two things: there’s plenty of reason to be terrified about that and there’s plenty of good reasons not to be. It’s this really beautiful mixture of joy and fear. Where we plead the blood of Christ. Can we be confident in that? Absolutely. Why? Because we have not pursued righteousness that is our own by the law but righteousness that comes by faith in what God has done for us in Christ Jesus. Isn’t that the word of Paul? That is my hope and prayer for you going into 2011.

Matt Chandler

listen to the whole sermon here

http://northway.thevillagechurch.net/resource_files/audio/201101021700FMWC21ASAAA_MattChandler_StandAlone-ForgettingandStrainingin2011.mp3

welcome 2011

happy new year!!

we rang in the new year with these dear friends, and had the greatest time. I hope your party was as fun and encouraging as ours was. Good friends are such a gift!!

Sweet Sierra. she thinks bellybuttons are made for showing off. :)

talk about amazing hospitality, Holly is incredible:

THANKS SO MUCH BRI & HOLLY!!

Working backwards in the year, Ashleigh has enjoyed this half of the indoor soccer season.

And we all enjoy watching her. THe boys get a little restless sometimes, so books come in handy.

She has a really really sweet coach who totally spoils the girls. :)

the week of Christmas we took advantage of my Mom being away on a ski trip with my sister, and used the 4 days to update her living room. so as you can see in the following pic, it was looking - shall we say - a little tired. she had no clue.

Here is the new look, not quite finished and there is a little house in the corner right now, but you get the idea. :) It was fun to do, and Mom is thrilled. It is so fun to surprise her. :)

so as I was saying, she had no idea that a host of people would be descending upon the place (within moments of her early morning departure) and completely changing it up. here are a few pics of the work crew: Steve & Tim were superstars, working so hard on the project.

the children were superstars, too...and played so sweetly together and kept themselves nicely occupied (ok, towards the end the tv came in very handy...but they were really good!)

I need to give special credit to dear Steve, once he gets in the mode he really really works hard. He is also usually very cheerful and great for morale. The notable mention is for crawling up in the attic through all the insulation and who knows what else to install all the potlights - i think there are 14. NOT a fun job. Steve, you're so great. :)

I think Liz came by for tea, shortly before we were expecting Mom home. She ended up helping out instead. :)




shocked!
Mom comes home & loves it! :)

on our way to St. T the next day!!


Steve & Colleen hosted the whole bunch on Christmas Day. it was wonderful, as always. We stayed with Dad the whole weekend, and went to Wade & Nic's place for Christmas Eve, and Bri & Lori's place on Boxing Day. We really made the rounds and are thankful for such great hospitality!!





so adorable!!

Boxing Day at Lori's


Cozy times at Papa's...


and an evening with Eli & Dauna & fam earlier this week...











I wish I had taken pics of the other visits we've had!! Thats one of my many resolutions, to take more and better pics. :) We are very thankful for a safe and healthy 2010, and are looking forward to the new year. May God bless and keep you all...I pray that we will love Him and His Word more and more, and be faithful. To Him be the glory!!

love to all!!