a thought from my heart....

The foundation of our life is designed to be first, firm and foremost in our Lord. We can say that God is the ground we stand on, but undoubtedly that ground will become what we labor for and love most.

If we treasure or value the people, plans and passions of this world, more than we treasure or value the pursuit of pleasing our King, than we anchor our feet into ground that shifts, breaks and can disintegrate underneath us.

It has been through the pain and trials in my life, that God has exposed the many layers of foundation that I had chosen to place underneath me; the sin of putting my primary hope in something or someone other then Him. When the ground I stood on, and walls I leaned on fell, it was then I felt the pain of standing on a shattered foundation (or life)

If we stand first on the foundation of our Father, then the storms can rage and the winds can blow, but our ground will be firm and we won’t falter in our faith. We can lose our happiness, but never our Joy. If we have lost our joy, we must ask ourselves what we had put our hopes in.

How is it possible that when we know the source of security and eternity, we invest our lives and hearts into the unstable and temporary?

We must constantly ask ourselves what is the anchor we hold to first.

We must love first our King
We must follow first our King
We must root only in our King,,,,,all other ground is sinking.

Then and only then, can we say with confidence and peace, this:

If today, I were to lose all I know in this world, I would still have more than I could ever deserve and need.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal;

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:19-22

Getting Air

The boys seem to always be looking for ways to be more impressive...bigger, higher, faster, whatever it is, it always seems to make me more nervous. Here they are practicing some of their stunts while I got some weeding done.

Alex taking a swing....

Alex had a lot of fun at this game too. You should have seen his face, when coach told him to take the mound and help close. He was shocked. This was the first time he's pitched live. He did great and had a wonderful time. I was biting my nails, rather than clicking the camera.

Michael from the plate....

Michael threw a great game this last weekend, with 12 strike outs. It was a beautiful night and felt good to be back on the dirt field for a night game!

Allie at her game last thursday....

Next to most softball players, Allie may look a little on the tiny side, but his girl can send the ball way out there, and she packs quite a throw from Center( her favorite position). This game, she was most excited about her slide into home, but the photographer was too busy watching.

opening day for Baseball Season 2008

The Grilled Cheese ThrowDown

And the winner is....... Well, Pete. But does it count that I won in the taste category?

The kids were the judges. The creators of the sandwich, even ingredients were kept very secret, so the results stand firm.

This was how we celebrated Pete's new job. We wanted to do something fun, and not just do the same old "go out to eat". The kids love the food network channel, along with me, and "Throwdown" is a show on that station in which Bobby Flay challenges chefs all over the country to a throwdown, and special judges come in and decide who is better at...... you get the point.

This was our first Golden family throwdown, but more may be coming, so maybe we'll end up on your door to challenge you.

Easter 2008

Thank you for your prayers....

I wanted to let everyone know that my dad is no longer suffering from the cancer that he battled for so long.

He passed away yesterday morning.

We cling to the hope of the promise of eternal peace for him.

UPDATE

Sorry for being the blogging slacker....there's been too much life going on, to take the time to chronicle it all. Pictures coming this weekend- I promise!

Here's a little run down though:

Michael made school baseball and is starting little league. In the last month, I've really seen God growing him in the area of compassion and tenderness. He is "stoked' about the way he figured out to move his bedroom around, and yes I let him do it, even though it is not "practical". He is thrilled about growing an inch, and is a touch shorter than Allie now, but not by much. He is getting to be quite the drummer, and I am enjoying playing piano with a drummer on hand. ( Many thanks to Ryan-his teacher)

Allie wrapped up soccer. They came in number 2 in the league. She has been doing a "GIRL class" at church this past 8 weeks. The class has focused on what God desires for young girls and has focused on areas like, dress, friends, boys and pop culture. I was able to go with her, and it has given us a lot to talk about this month. Scary, about how much comes back to me about Junior High, and that time in my life too.
She now is about 1/2 inch shorter than me. Although her tiny weight of 78lbs ensures that we can't share clothes:) We counted on the growth chart that she has grown almost 4 inches in 10 months. WOW!

Alex is about to finish Basketball and is getting ready to start little league too. He and Michael get to be on the same team again, which he is really excited about. He is maturing so much in his walk with God. He was very moved by a video presentation we saw at church last week, and It is so cool to see how God is widening Alex's view of God's sovereignty. Amazing. He's been loving the sun, and wants to play outside every minute he gets. I think he would live outside if we let him.

I don't really have anything new to report on my dad, but I appreciate all your prayers for him and for us.

Things have been busy at work, as we have upgraded our computers and changed networks, but Pete has been amazing helping me with schedules and daily stuff. I have started training for a duathlon in May, and it has been really fun. He is really enjoying some of the friendships God has put in his life, and is excited about the ministry God is growing with his "group of guys".


That's about it....the highlights at least. If you read this blog you might think all we do is play ball, and go to church, I promise that's not all there is to our life-but these are the fun things to write about. God is doing so much inside our family and we are looking forward to a Spring where we can continue to transition in this season of life.



Have a wonderful week,
Bre

prayer request

As many of you know my dad has been battling cancer. Yesterday they removed his colon which had a huge tumor. They removed it to make him more comfortable due to some very horrible side effects he was having because of the tumor. He has a feeding tube now. They found the cancer to be throughout many organs, the lymph system and also the liver. Of course, the Lord is the only one who knows the days we have, but at this point doctors say his time will be very short...days, maybe weeks. I would deeply appreciate your prayers for his physical comfort, and emotional and spiritual healing. We have heavy hearts for him and our reminded again of the temporary life we live in this body. For my dad, I long for him to know the comfort and peace that is eternal. Thank you in advance for your prayers. Bre

Cool News!

After a very busy week, the cool news is that Allie made her school soccer team, and Alex made his school basketball team. Yeah !

one more pic

Allie gets her braces!

Allie got her braces today! She is now on a diet of ice cream, pudding, jello and smoothies!( and here's a tip for you mom's-don't feed your child a blueberry smoothie when they first get them on.....tons and tons of seeds to pick out of a painful mouth!)

She is feeling pretty sore, but proud of the colors she picked.

Isn't it strange, how it makes a child look so much older?

New Years Eve-but pics from Christmas Eve

Well, It's New Years Eve! We just got back from having some appetizers, and the kids are playing Monopoly with Pete. I've been looking up some recipes on line. Thought, I'd take a minute to post some pics from Christmas, so I don't have to post them all at once. So here's a few from Christmas Eve. Happy New Year!

Prayers for our East Cost Family

Please pray for peace and comfort for Pete's family as they grieve the loss of Susan's mom this week. Please pray for Granddad too, as this is such a difficult time for him. She was a special lady to many! Our hearts hurt for the loss we know they feel, but we have joy for Nanna, and for the healing and joy she now has in Christ.

Rylin doing it all by herself

then he had a "family" party at the ice cream parlor....

This was the biggest bowl of ice cream I had ever seen. Appetizing???

Alex's favorite present this year....probably the game, "Are you smarter than a fifth grader?" We have played it nearly every day for a week and a half. He thinks it's so funny when Pete and I lose, and we,,,,"arn't smarter than fifth graders!" (thanks Jenny :)

Alex turns 10

Alex had a "friend" party at the bowling alley

Making Pottery Together

One fun thing we did together this month was go to paint together. The kids loved getting to use so many paintbrushes and colors. They made awesome candy dishes for us to use each Christmas.