Fourth of July 2009

Started with outside fun with friends, a ball in the face, a bloody nose, an awesome taco salad, fireworks - the kind you feel in your gut! Then when we got home we had a "girl party" that lasted about a half hour (since it was mid-night). Fun day - A beautiful day!

My selfishness revealed - yikes!

Ok, I admit it, the older I get the harder it is to be patient about certain things, and God is not done working on this in me!

Today we were enjoying a beautiful day at the lake. Everything is perfect, the water, the sun, the kids and then....an older gentleman decided to take a seat at the picnic bench directly behind my chair where I was sitting. All our stuff is on the table; a cooler, towels, toys, etc. He sits down and stays and stays, and stays! We are all just kind of standing there wondering why he feels comfortable to hang out in our spot. He smokes, then smokes some more than smokes some more.

I got really annoyed. I finally got up and went to the table and nicely asked him if he wouldn't mind putting out his ciggarettes. He was polite, and said yes, but he kept sitting there with all our stuff and it kept bugging me. Later, he left, but I didn't ever say anything more to him.

I just finished dinner and I keep thinking about this old man and how I let my selfishness ruin a chance to talk to someone and find out about their life. I totally missed a chance to witness and live it out in front of my kids. I am feeling bummed about my selfishness! Ok, God, Don't let me become one of those older, harder, self-entitled people. Let me be generous, kind, and always looking for who You might want me to share your salvation with.

Bummer!

Happy First Birthday Lincoln!

This boy has my heart!

A Summer Read

Pete started reading this book and now I can't stop reading it too. Oh my goodness is Spurgeon so right on and so relevant today! I am sharing an excerpt from the book, but I urge you to pick it up and get passionate about sharing and living the gospel that has saved us! (you can read online on this link http://www.spurgeon.org/misc/soulwinr.htm )

Here's the quote:

“Soul winning is the chief business of the Christian minister; indeed, it should be the main pursuit of every true believer. We should each say with Simon Peter, ‘I go a fishing,’ and with Paul our aim should be, ‘That I might by all means save some.’”

"Such a man was Paul. I am not about to set him upon a pedestal, that you may look at him and wonder, much less that you may kneel down and worship him as a saint. I mention Paul, because what he was we ought every one of us to be; and though we cannot share in his office, not being apostles; though we cannot share in his talents or in his inspiration, yet we ought to be possessed by the same spirit which actuated him, and let me also add we ought to be possessed by it in the same degree. Do you demur to that? I ask you what there was in Paul, by the grace of God, which may not be in you, and what had Jesus done for Paul more than for you? He was divinely changed; and so have you been if you have passed from darkness into marvellous light. He had much forgiven; and so have you also been freely pardoned. He was redeemed by the blood of the Son of God; and so have you been,—at least, so you profess to have been. He was filled with the Spirit of God; and so are you, if you are truly such as your Christian profession makes you out to be. Owing, then, your salvation to Christ, being debtors to the precious blood of Jesus, and being quickened by the Holy Spirit, I ask you why there should not be the same fruit from the same sowing? Why not the same effect from the same cause? Do not tell me that the apostle was an exception, and cannot be set up as a rule or model for commoner folk, for I shall have to tell you that we must be such as Paul was if we hope to be where Paul is. Paul did not think that he had attained, neither that he was already perfect. Shall we think him to be so—so think him to be so as to regard him as inimitable, and so be content to fall short of what he was? Nay, verily, but let it be our incessant prayer, as believers in Christ, that we may be followers of him so far as he followed Christ, and wherein he failed to set his feet in his Lord's footprints may we even outstrip him, and be more zealous, more devoted to Christ than even the apostle of the Gentiles was. Oh, that the Holy Spirit would bring us to be like our Lord Jesus Himself!"
” Charles H. Spurgeon, The Soul Winner".

HBC 2009

Pete and I just got back from an overwhelmingly awesome week! we were houseboat parents on a houseboat of 16 girls and 2 counselors. It was a thrill to see God move over this camp and call His own to Him. Amazing! Definitely an awakening experience for us also, in that our hearts were burdened for the battle our teens find themselves in daily. We came home with an awakened passion for our own kids and for the teens of our time. We witnessed salvations and baptisms that were only explained by the work of the Spirit! I will never forget standing outside at 1 in the morning in pouring rain and thunder and hearing the cry of young hearts claim who they believe in, as they were baptized into a life of obedience to Christ!

A big thank you to a cool aunt Kaitlin who kept the fort intact at home!

To God be the Glory, great things He has done!

GO Mr. Bird!!!

Mr. Bird is Michael and Allie's 7th grade homeroom teacher. He is awesome. In addition to having the honor of having him as our teacher, it has been my privilege to play or should I say rock out with Mr. Bird in a worship band last summer. He has a very fitting personality for being a junior high teacher and has quickly become a favorite! You'll appreciate his quirkiness and creativity!

I had to share this link. This video that Mr. Bird and two other uprep teachers made for our annual talent show is getting some wild publicity and was featured on the news tonight.

Michael and Allie are sooooooo proud,,,,so here you go, something to make you laugh!
CHECK IT OUT!!! Cut and paste the link below into your browser bar for some great entertainment!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbwgmDWuORY

Elementary school days almost gone:(

Here are some old pictures of my baby turned almost junior higher!

I think last night was the beginning of a week of tears to come. Last night was the last elemantary open house I will attend for one of our kids and next week is Alex's last week of elementary school. Although I mostly have happy tears, some are sad ones too. Sad, because my babies are growing up way too fast. Everyone tells you this is going to happen. I remember hearing "enjoy it while you can" all the time.At the time they tell you that, life doesn't feel like it's speeding by. I think something happened around mid elementary school....time went into fast forward mode and since then it has felt like the days and months and years are blazing past me. It's not so much that I want to go back, but rather that I wish I could push "pause".

So, Alex proudly showed us his work last night, and as I was watching him show me his papers, I looked at him and it hit me...Elementary school is days from being over. WOW! Alex has been privileged to attend 7 1/2 years at Boulder Creek. 1 1/2 of preschool before the big K started and all the rest of it too. It has been a fun ride. From watching him play basketball and soccer as a bear to hearing his speech for president, BC has been a fun place for him and I'm sure he'll have memories for years to come.
Ready or not, life moves on with you in the throws of it. He is growing up right before my eyes and becoming such a special young man. This year he has become so much more independent; from school work, to asking to cook for himself, to thinking girls are not so bad...etc.

I'm trying to be excited for Alex and the new stage of life that it seems we have been thrown into these past few months, and I am. But last night as I tucked in my sleeping babies, I prayed that God would slow it all down, just a little, maybe even a lot!

Being a mom is the best thing that's ever happened in my life! It has been the greatest privilege, pleasure and challenge. I know that God will bless and direct these next years...so here we go, in one week all three kids will officially be in junior high!

A few of Alex

Since the last couple of posts have mostly been about the twins, here is a post for Alex. He wasn't feeling all that great this weekend, so I'm not sure that yesterday was all that much fun for him, but today he had a few smiles.

The BIRTHDAY HOMERUN!!!

baseball on the birthday

Michael and Alex played again this morning. It was more dry then yesterday, so that made it more fun. Michael got a cool birthday present - A HOMERUN! So here are some slides of it. The first slide is actually of Michael stealing home and the second one is of the homerun!

Have you ever seen a nun baby?

So after rainy baseball, a wet, muddy, lucky to be alive dog and prom pictures, I needed to turn my daughter and her friend into nun's. Allie and Ali are partners for a school project in which they needed to come up with a medieval costume. Allie and Ali had decided on the nun outfit. Since I only had one black sheet we decided to make costumes for their dolls. What I didn't know is that sewing on a small scale is acutally harder. Needless to say Allie and Ali definitely have the "tack stitch" down cold. So Allie's american dolls know have a nun outfit to add to their wardrobe closet, and hopefully their teacher will appreciate our creativity and be ok with smaller costumes! What a strange day!

There was almost a dog murder!

Yesterday was a craaaazy day! The boys have played in a tournament all weekend again, and there was a monsoon in Redding yesterday. I finally took Allie and left because I couldn't handle watching my boys get so soaked. I wanted to call the game myself...but they don't call the games unless there's thunder, so they played baseball in the pouring rain for 10 hours-crazy! When I got home I had a half hour before needing to go take some prom pictures for a friend. We let Cooper out to go potty and forgot he was out there, this is what I found after 10 minutes! A very happy, lucky he's still alive dog. It took 7 towels just to make a train of covering accross the floor, my bath looked like a mud puddle and if it weren't so funny I would have been crying. Now, my bathroom is spotless, due to the bottle of bleach cleaner Pete used on it for an hour! What to do!!!

The AMAZING RACE BIRTHDAY party!

Last night was one of the most fun nights I've had as a parent; Mostly because I know it was one of the most fun nights Michael and Allie have ever had. It was so cool to watch them with their friends! We had an "amazing race" 13Th birthday surprise party. We started at our church parking lot and then it went something like,,,crossword puzzle, gathering food prices on certain items at winco, counting tables at the food court in the mall, having to eat an entire pizza and then coming up with a cheer to perform at one of the main intersections in town....all that to say, it was a crazy, fun night. Imagine 3 groups of 19 just teenagers running around town. I knew the kids would have fun, but I had no idea they would get "so into it"! We couldn't have done it without our wonderful friends and family who drove them, and helped man all the "road blocks". It was so fun to hide the clues and go around town arranging everything. Alex was quite a trooper at keeping the surprise and helping me out by stuffing the envelopes and getting it all organized. A big thank you to Jenny and Kevin, Trish and Dave, John, Angie, Josh and Johnny, Daralane, and Mary!!! Couldn't have done it without all your help.
After the race they all devoured a sundae bar, played charades, murder and musical chairs at a very cooperative ice cream parlor, and then it was time to go home.
A full heart, full of memories is what Pete and I have. Can you believe our babies are going to be 13 tomorrow? Where does time go? I am so blessed to have 2 young adults who love God and have filled their lives with friends who are the same. Blessed!
Oh and if your wondering who the winning team was??? The only ALL girl team won. They weren't the fastest, but they were the only group that read all the directions on their clues; they had to end up at the finish line with a couple of things they were to collect on the way, and they were the only team to get it all. Yeah, here we go teenager years!

Trials....Gifts of Mercy?

Up until just recently I have equated the presence of a trial in my life to the necessity of a test, a consequence for my sin, or a tool that God is using to grow me. We know that sufferings/pain/hardships are allowed by God for the purpose of our growth in Him. I still agree that a trial can be a test, and I believe hands down in the promise that God works ALL things for the good of those who love Him, so He will always use what He has divinely allowed in our lives to grow us, even if it is consequences to our own sin. But I’d like to propose that beyond tests, tools, and sometimes consequences, the trials we face are often expressions of God’s sweet mercy to us; GIFTS.
Sometimes His will PERMITS suffering and trials and sometimes His will CAUSES it directly. We can look all through the Old Testament and find examples of God causing a disaster to make known to His people that HE is the Lord! Other times it is clear He allowed something that was horrible to take place and worked His good through it. But whether or not He has permitted it, or directly caused it, He has ordained it, so it will be for His glory

God has been impressing upon my heart that the trials He has allowed in my life recently have been expressions of His mercy to me. They have been a gift; an outpouring of His enduring patience and perfecting love in my life. As I read Ezekiel 14:5 “I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel who have all deserted me for their idols.” It dawned on me that if God will put His hand against his own people to recapture their hearts, then maybe that is what He is often doing in my life - Recapturing an ever wandering or divided heart. If by enduring the hardships we are faced with, we are weaned of our false securities, exposed of the false idols we have worshiped, and left bare to depend on only Him, than that trial is a gift. . We are brought closer to His desires for us to be holy and righteous. In the passage in Ezekiel, God is striking His hand against His people, so that He can “recapture their hearts”, so that “they will know He is the Lord.”
Isn’t it beautiful that God doesn’t leave us alone in our sin, but loves us enough to allow us to hurt if it will bring us to Him or perfect us in Him?
Is the allowed pain in our life more than just a test, or a tool or a consequence?
I would propose that often the trials in our life are expressions of mercy meant to recapture what God desires of us. Everything!

Senior Portraits 09!!!

You'll have to bare with me and my shameless attempt to put a little plug in for Portfolio. These were some pics from a Senior Portrait shoot I did yesterday. It was such a beautiful afternoon!

No, there not standing on anything

People keep asking me if in the Easter Picture below, Michael and Allie are standing on anything...the answer is, no. In fact the ground is pretty level there. I'll post a full length picture to prove it soon, but the sad fact is they have passed up their mama and at least one of them is on what seems to be a recent growth spurt that looks like it will end in passing up their dad soon. Michael's turn, which he is pretty excited about, has turned into a 4 inch growth spurt since this summer. Allie is still growing, but has slowed down in pace. Allie is right under 5 5' and Michael is about an 1/8 of an inch below her, if that. Now I get to be the "little Mama". oh, Alex wants me to add, he is 5 feet now too. Do you know how much milk/groceries we are going through??? Let's just say, next to the house payment, and Pete's student loans, it's the biggest expense we have, and I am thinking about getting a cow for milk, chickens for eggs and making them grow their own garden.

My sweet boys!

Vipers 2009

We just got home from a tournament this weekend. The boys had a wonderful time getting dirty. Great baseball. It was 99 degrees today, and it felt like summer. The boys got a good start on their farmers tans!

Catching Up

I know I'm quite behind on my blogging! When I get this behind, it's hard to start again. So, I'll just start with a few pics from Easter and the baseball tournament this weekend. More catch up coming later.

I stand alone on the word of God....The B-I-B-L-E

And...."My hope is built on nothing less, then Jesus blood and righteousness". These words ring through my heart today and I reflect on the promises from His Word that He has shown me I can bank my life on.

Psalm 119:140 " Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them."

This week marks one year since my dad passed away - As I reflect on some of what this past year has held, (a lot!) I am overflowing with joy from my Heavenly Father. I want to give Him glory! His promises have held me, sustained me, and changed me. It is true, they can be tested, and they will not fail. May my life be proof that God's tender promises to us can sustain the full weight of any trial, pain, or hardship. He is always Good!

Some Promises that have held me and been tested in my life:
He won't leave me! - Hebrews 13: 5
He works all things for my good! - Romans 8:28
He will renew my strength if my hope is in Him! - Isaiah 40:31
He will complete salvation in me! - Philippians 1:6
He will not share or forsake His own glory! - Isaiah 42:8, 48:11

"I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken" !!! Psalm 16:7

To God be the glory!