The Lyon Cubs

The Balance

2012-01-30T11:14:00.000-08:00

I loved the post below, from my favorite blog Passionate Homemaking. It is from a woman named Ann Dunagan. It comes at a perfect time as I struggle through this very thing... the balancing act of caring for my family while also being involved in ministry and missions. There is no secret formula... just dependence and constant communication with the Lord. I am a new creation and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives through me. His Sprit will give me wisdom and discernment for each new day. Having a healthy world view can also help me to keep my kids from becoming an idol of my heart... millions across the glob suffer while we enjoy every comfort imaginable. Millions do not have the word of God while we enjoy every form of it. This reality can keep me sober minded and helps me keep an eternal perspective while I decide on the plan hour by hour during the day. Lord give me discernment to live a life in which you would be pleased and honored through my carful balancing of priorities.

Below excerpt by Ann Dunagen taken from Passionatehomaking.com.
"Finding God’s balance for motherhood and ministry is sometimes a difficult (and continually changing) tug-of-war; but I believe the struggle is healthy. As a homeschooling mother of seven, I place a high priority on God’s calling to care for our own children; however, I also feel a call of God’s heart for the needs of world missions. Multitudes across the globe desperately need God’s salvation and millions of orphan children are in need.

God cares about my kids and God cares about the lost. As a mission-minded mom, how can I keep these two “pulls “on my heart in balance — in a way that will truly please the heart of the Lord?

Most of the time, just doing another load of laundry, or drilling the kids on grammar, or reading a bedtime story . . . doesn’t seem very important. But God sees the big picture. He highly esteems motherhood and He values a faithful mom who is willing to lay down her “big dreams” . . . to serve her family.

At the same time, He sees the lost and the reality of heaven and hell. The blood of Jesus is the only way of salvation and the “unreached” must hear the gospel. Over 1.6 Billion people are still waiting to hear of the cross. According to UNICEF, there’s a minimum of 143,000,000 orphans in the world and many of these children are in desperate need. Unsaved people. Unborn babies. And so many real-life needs.

How can we balance this two-sided pull?

“Do not have your concert first, and then tune your instrument afterwards. Begin the day with the Word of God and prayer, and get first of all into harmony with Him.”

―Hudson Taylor, Missionary to China

The “healthy” motherhood & missions tug-of-war
If you’re a mission-minded mother (a Christian mom with a heart for others), I’m sure you’ve felt this tug-of-war between motherhood and ministry. Our children need to know that we love them; but they also need to know that we have a heart for others. Our kids need to know that we care about their needs, but they also need to know that they’re not the center of the universe, and that others have needs too. Finding the balance can be a struggle; but I believe the process of finding God’s daily divine balance is a healthy evaluation process, both for ourselves and for our family.

We all face this struggle . . .

Perhaps the phone rings, and your friend begins pouring our her heart about a desperate situation. Maybe a fragile marriage is falling apart, or someone at church was just rushed to the hospital. These needs are real, and often urgent. How do we find the right “combo” for each day, and each season of our lives? How do we balance these pressing needs with the ongoing “everyday” needs of our own family?

... I have found that the key to finding God’s balance is to stay in communication with God through prayer; however, He sees the full picture of both motherhood and ministry.

God sees the world’s needs, and He also sees the needs of our children. He can help us to see both in His divine daily balance, and God can speak to us . . . as a mom.

Our First Fracture

2012-01-21T10:29:00.001-08:00

Sara got the prize for the first fracture in the family. Justin was throwing the girls into a pile of leaves and Sara landed on her outstretched left arm. She cried for an extended period of time (15 min) so Justin and I knew right away something was wrong. She was also immediately reluctant to move it. I rushed her into the ER where she continued to cry for about 2 hours as I held her and cradled her arm in mine. The X-rays were the worst part as the required her to straiten it out. However, after about 2 hours of crying, and a large dose of Tylonal, the worst pain seemed to pass and she fell asleep in my arms. When they held her arm bent to put the cast on, she didn't seem to mind much. I was so thankful that it was not worse. It did not require any surgery or re-placement. It was a somewhat strait line fracture across the bottom of the humerus right above the elbow.
This was the worst pain any of my kids have ever experienced. Especially the drive to the hospital, poor little Sara was in agony with every shift of the car's movement. I have wondered how I would feel during something like this, and it was as I thought. My entire body ached along with her. When it first happened and I knew it was broken, I felt lightheaded and sick to my stomach. There is such an amazing bond between this sweet little person and I that I could feel her pain and it was as if my entire being was broken along with her. It gave me a new awareness and empathy with parents with hurting and sick children, and I pray God would allow me to know how to comfort parents going through hard and painful times with their children. It also reminded me that God always has a reason to bring Christians into the hospital. While I was there I saw so many suffering. We need to bring the light of Jesus to the hospital somehow. I am eger to explore the opportunities that our church might have in the future to reach out into the community hospitals in our area. Praise God for sicknesses and injures that force us into this dark place and allow us to love on the other people there. Sara and I pray for the man, Justin, who put her cast on. We gave him a "Why Christianity" tract and pray he would come to a saving faith in Jesus.

Of course, our little sunshine picked yellow when she got the option of a color for her cast. Her favorite color has been yellow ever since she could say the word. AND... of course no cast at Christmas is complete without a signature from Santa!

3 and 1/2!

2012-01-21T09:48:00.000-08:00

Sara Grace is now 3 and 1/2!! She is growing taller although she is still short for her age, and Katelyn is catching up quick. Sara is so happy and smily. She loves to sing and is a really good singer. She is always more on key than Kalena or I!! Her recent favorite song is O Holy Night, which she loved to watch various singers on YouTube sing it over and over again. Her all time favorite song is You are My Sunshine, which she and Daddy sing to each other on a daily basis. Sara loves bumble bees and has a favorite stuffed animal bumble bee named Zipps. Sara is our little Sunshine and we love her so much. She brings us so much joy!

Sara talkes a lot about God these days, and I love that she is getting older and able to understand more concepts in depth. Her little brian is always on and eger to learn and discuss everything. She loves her AWANA cubbies class and is very good at memorizing her verses. She loves it when I turn music on she dances like a ballerina. She is starting to read now and is always asking me how to spell words. The other day she asked me if Andrew has two Os at the end of his name :) She still doesn't say her "r"s when she speaks, and it is so funny... people always comment that she sounds like she is from Brooklyn :) We love her little accent and will be sad when it goes away!

6 Months Old!!

2012-01-21T08:58:00.000-08:00

Our sweet Andrew Buddy is 6 months old! He is the sweetest, happiest baby. He is such a joy and we all adore him. There is hardly a moment during the day when he is not getting hugged and kissed on. His sweet squishy cheeks just beg to be kissed! The girls just really can't stay away from him... sometimes I even have to give him some alone time to play and not allow anyone to touch him. He has started to eat, and his favorites are squash, meat and potatoes. He is 19 lbs and 2' 3" (76% and 83%). His eyes are turing from the deep blue they were at birth to something different, but it isn't quite clear what they are yet. They are steal grey with some green mixed in. His eyes are beautiful, just like his daddy! We love our little buddy and are so thankful to God for him.

Mess Monster

2012-01-12T10:06:00.001-08:00

We have been calling Katlyn a "monster" lately. She is my adventurous, independent, tornado of a child who I can't leave alone for more than 3.2 min before something disadvantageous to the house or others begins to happen. Yesterday I put her up at the bathroom sink, filled it half way and plugged it for some water play. She was happily playing with her dolphins in the sink. YES... there is nothing that could go wrong here, (toothbrushes and candle way in the back of the counter.. if they went swimming... then so be it, it wouldn't damage anything and worth drying them off for the 1/2 hr of mess free entertainment they might provide) the only thing she could do would be to spill water on the floor that needed desperately to be mopped anyway. I was finally able to have some worry free moments to tity up my messy bedroom. (taking a writing break to clean my glass of water she just dumped over on the kitchen table) I heard the water running so went back into the bathroom. (A sweet smell caught my nose and for a split second thought yumm, smells good!! UH OH!!, sented toddlers usually means trouble!)... the cinnamon apple pie candle was in the sink. The sink was unplugged and she had turned the water on warmish/hot. The warm water had melted the wax of the candle and she was digging for gold through the bright red sweet smelling wax. The wax had melted all over the dolphin toys and other bath toys I had given her to play with and was on her face and clothes. (clumps were streaming down the drain, oh my.. how do you unclog a wax plug from your drain?! never thought of that one... it will eventually harden somewhere down the pipe! Wenslawski's, plug your ears as I am sure apple pie wax is not good for "the system" :) Worse... the toothbrushes on the counter were swimming in a mix of warm water and apple pie wax, with the wax gooping within the bristles of the brushes.(the lyon fam should have some nice smelling breath for a while!) So... there you have it. My mess monster story for the day, and as I type she is currently unraveling all my dental floss. What is it with dental floss? They all love it!

Regardless of the messes and ruined household items, I couldn't love my free spirited girl more. She is such a joy and makes every moment of the day more exciting. I love Katelyn Anna and can't imagine how much fun and joy she will continue to bring us if God will allow. I pray He will allow me to keep her safe!

Picture courtesy of the hot pink sharpie she recently got ahold of.

Every Body Matters

2012-01-10T20:37:00.000-08:00

As I look ahead to 2012, one of the major things I need to resolve to do is to take better care of myself. I need to be more physically active, and eat better. Wow. I don't think I have ever made this most popular resolution in my life and I feel slightly disappointed that it has come to this. Give up all the good stuff? What a bummer! I have become that person who eats to comfort and to make the chaos in my life seem bearable.

Woken up 12 times during the night? Starbucks venti frap WITH whip :)
Poop smeared all over the toilet? Forget for a moment that i saw it and grab a fruit roll up.
Dinner and clean up took 3 hours and there is still goo smeared all over the table and what did i just step in?-BIG bowl of ice-cream WITH chocolate sauce (and sometimes heath crunch... yumm)
Hubby gone again tonight and a laundry pile that could easily stack to be as tall as me? Several handfuls of the kids haloween candy and a coke-a-cola

I have finally made the diagnosis of myself that I am trying to comfort my at-times-very-uncomfortable life right now with food. It needs to stop, and stop it will...BECAUSE... sin is no longer my master. My life in Christ that allows me to identify sin, and get rid of it. I have power over sin and gluttony is the sin I must master. YAYYYY God! Here we go!! No desserts for a month, then only once every other week. Seems reasonable to me.

Romans 6:6-7 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.

I was encouraged by this section of: Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas:

"The 300 Pound Pastor

When Mark Bejsovec, a youth pastor, saw the scale creep over 300 pounds, he gulped. During his high school football playing days, he carried just 186 pounds on his six-foot-two frame. In his early thirties, however, Mark started gaining weight steadily. At first, he rationalized it and even began using it like a tool. It made him seem funnier. He could push out his stomach until he looked like he was pregnant, and the kids in his ministry would laugh: “You look like you got twins!”
When he hit 300 pounds, though, Mark began to sense God speaking to him about his physical condition.
“I looked into Scripture, specifically at the men in the Bible who assumed leadership roles, and wondered how they must have looked. I couldn’t find anyone in leadership who was overweight.”
This wasn’t about vanity, but rather about being a better steward of his body and his calling: “If I was addressing only spiritual issues but not the physical ones, I considered I would be less useful to the Lord in my ministry. If I was going to remain in ministry, I needed to honor God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and also all my body.”
By definition, we can’t be a leader in secret. Somebody is following us. And the bodies we are leading with aren’t hidden.
A friend of mine, who works as a senior director for a major Christian development organization, recently shared with me the battle he faces with eating and exercise. On a recent business trip, he ate twenty-four restaurant meals in a row. He’s concerned about his health habits, and like many, he lives with a constant sense of failure that he could be doing more about his weight. What he doesn’t see are spiritual leaders taking this struggle as seriously as he does. “We’ve been taught in the evangelical tradition about adultery and lying and stealing and coveting,” he says, “and about lust and alcoholism and smoking and drug abuse. But many evangelical pastors who preach against these things are visibly overweight or obese. I don’t say this to judge them—I struggle with the same thing. But sometimes I wonder. Sure, they may have conquered the online porn, but it seems like they’re ‘medicating’ with food; I get that, because I do the same thing.”
For his part, Mark decided to quit his former eating habits cold turkey. When his weight started coming off, Mark experienced a rush of positive energy. “I started feeling more affirmed, my self-esteem went up, and my relationship with God grew. It’s not that my previous life didn’t honor God, but now it felt like I was living like God designed me to live.”
When I asked Mark what changed most about his life since he lost seventy pounds, he responded, “Let’s be honest: there were times I was discredited because of the way I looked. When I talked to kids about self-control in other areas, they could look at me and understandably ask why I wasn’t addressing my issues with food. But now, when I share my story, there’s an added inspirational element. If I can do it, anyone can do it, and my weight loss has become an effective tool in my ministry.”
As a writer whose most prominent books relate to marriage, I take it as a personal challenge to maintain the integrity of my own marriage. I can’t write and teach on marriage if my own is falling apart. As a pastor, however, when I talk to the church about self-control; when I preach on the necessity of personal discipline, good stewardship in all areas of life, and, above all, when I teach out of 1 Corinthians 6:20: “You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body” I am going to completely undercut my message if I’m preaching out of a body that denies this.
It would be convenient if being a leader didn’t require also being an example, but that’s not the case. Paul writes, “Follow me as I follow Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1)
Leaders, let’s ask ourselves, “Is my body serving or thwarting my message?” If you’re a pastor, you may well have accepted financial sacrifice for the privilege of being in the ministry; if you’re a leader of any type, you have readily accepted the sacrifice of your time, tranquility, and even reputation, as leadership assaults all of these. But will you also accept bodily sacrifice—watching what you eat, and putting in the effort to get appropriate exercise? Will you recognize that the body out of which you lead can either support or undercut the message that you carry?
I am not suggesting that we pick leaders by how thin they are, or that we make a direct connection between a person’s BMI and his holiness. That would be ridiculous, ignorant, and unfair—some bodies aren’t designed to be thin, other bodies seem to naturally stay thin regardless of how they are cared for or fed, but leaders, we know our own journey, we know whether this area of stewardship is feeding or hindering our maturity and ministry. Don’t all of us feel better, stronger, more energetic, when we’re being faithful in this area? And don’t we all know that there are negative consequences when we get careless?
So, in a spirit of encouragement and grace, let’s admit that this is something we need to start talking about. Just as we seemed eager to denounce the opulent affluence and money-raising scandals of the 1980s televangelists, let’s not be blind to our own contemporary challenges at the dawn of the 21st century."

The Gospel.

2011-12-31T14:09:00.000-08:00

The Gospel:
Isaiah 53:5-6 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

John 1:12 "But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,"

John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."

1 Peter 2:24 " He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed."

John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

Romans 3:23 "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"

Romans 5:8 " but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 10:9 "... if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

John 11:25 " Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,"

1 John 1:9 " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Hebrews 12:2 "looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

Mark 16:6 "And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him."

Ephesians 2:8 " For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,"

Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him."

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

God has always, from the beginning of time, required a sacrifice to be right with Him because of the sinfulness of man. In the old days (B.C.) the sacrifices that God gave specific orders to carry out, were of animals. Lams, sheep, goats, birds, cows, rams, etc. This began in the garden of eden where the first sacrifice for sin was the animal that had to give it's life so that Adam and Eve could have clothes on. This was the first recorded death in the entire world, and it was a result of man's sin. God gave detailed instructions about how to sacrifice appropriately according to sins, however, as in the story of Cain and Abel, Cain was giving God sacrifices not according to God's instructions and that led to more trouble. What an applicable story for today. How often do we give God sacrifices that "seem" right to us, without abiding by what God has spelled out for us clearly in the Bible.

God sent Jesus to be our sacrifice, once and for all. No more animals, no more lengthy decrees to be cleansed of our sin. Just one man, slaughtered for the multitude to follow. Faith in Jesus that produces a radically changed life will be granted pardon of sin and an eternal life after death with the Almighty God of the Universe. We believe that Jesus Christ was God in flesh, who came to teach about God, show his power as God, die on the cross for the penalty for our sins, then rise again having power over death, to ascend into heaven and prepare a place for us. This is the gospel. This is what Justin and I live every day for. This is why we have hope. This is why we eat, sleep and breath. This is why we weap for a world who hasn't heard of Jesus. This is why we need to tell others. This is what transforms lives. We can not rest on this earth because so many have not heard. We are the vessels God has chosen to take this gospel to the world and we can not fail. We must urge others to see the Truth. We must beg God for the mercy of imparting faith to others. We will be strong and courageous and declare this Truth to everyone. I love that our kids are picking up on our passion for Christ. Kalena's teacher told me she did this artwork on her own, totally unprompted. I pray my kids will be more passionate about the gospel than we are, and that they will do a better job telling others than we do. To God be the glory.

Spelling

2011-12-06T22:40:00.001-08:00

Kalena is in full swing of school, complete with a spelling list. I remember these as a kid. Lists and lists of words to memorize the correct spelling for... even though the English language follows only loosely the rules it claims. As we enter this season of spelling, I can only hope she inherits Justin's ability to spell and not mine.

For the record.. Salad should, indeed be spelled- Salid.

Sara and her Aunt Myia and Uncle Casey

2011-12-06T22:34:00.000-08:00

Cuddle Bugs!

2011-12-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

Twins?

2011-12-06T22:09:00.000-08:00

The time has finally come. Since Katelyn is catching up so quickly to Sara in height, I was wondering when people would start asking me if they are twins. Well it happened all at once... two people asked me in the same day.. then several since then. They were laying on the couch today and I was just struck by how they do sometimes look to be the same size. They even share shoes and shirts now! I love how convenient sharing clothes is!

The Cubs!

2011-12-06T21:30:00.000-08:00

A Visit with Great Grammy!

2011-11-30T15:35:00.001-08:00

4 months old!

2011-11-29T11:49:00.001-08:00

Andrew: 4 months old, 17 lbs strong
AKA: Buddy, Bubbles

Andrew is already 4 months old! He is growing so fast!
We love our little guy and are so thankful God blessed us with a little boy. He has an amazingly quiet and sweet disposition, and is always ready to smile. I can't change his clothes without making him giggle. He is also starting to reach out and grab things which is fun to watch and such an amazing developmental process. My favorite part of the day is when he reaches up and grabs my face. He is such a sweet boy! He has an amazing ability to vocalize as well. When he cries he says "Mammammmammaa" already.. not sure if it is on purpose or not. He also tries to talk to me and uses all kinds of sounds and noises. It is adorable. His sisters love him a lot and are constantly giving him hugs and kisses and playing with him. Kalena loves to pick him up and walk around with him, even though he is a little heavy for her. Katelyn loves to give him big bear hugs which I must regulate to make sure Andrew is still breathing. Sara is always talking to him and giving him sweet kisses on his head. He lights up when he hears their voices.

I pray that as Andrew grows he will be safe, healthy, and strong. I pray he will come to know Jesus Christ at an early age and worship Him alone. I love this little boy with all my heart!!

Katelyn is Two Years Old!!

2011-11-29T10:23:00.000-08:00

Our sweet Katie-baby is 2!!!
We can't believe how fast she is growing up. She is a busy little one, with so much curiosity and energy. I am kept on my toes all day long keeping up with her. Katie has amazing hand coordination and is even able to put on shoes quickly and can get almost any container or package open with little effort. She is very strong and can even get our sliding door open or shut past the tough spot where the door sticks (occasionally Sara will ask her for help :) Her vocabulary is really coming along and she is consistently using 3-4 word sentences. She surprises me with phrases like "Im fine" and "Don't worry". Her favorite phrases are "Watch me mommy!" "Sara, are you awake? Im awake" "Oh Andrew is so cute!", "I miss you" "I love you" "May I have cheese please" "I would like a warm bottle of milk" and her favorite things to do are play with blocks, baby dolls, and cook in her new kitchen she just got for her birthday.

This morning when she woke up and we all said happy birthday to Katelyn, she went around saying happy birthday right back to each of us. It was so cute and Kalena and Sara thought it was quite funny!

I thank the Lord Jesus for two sweet years with precious Katelyn. She is a gift of joy, laughter, and love. We are so blessed to be her mommy and daddy and pray she will come to know Jesus's love for her!

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Kalena's First Day of School

2011-11-29T10:11:00.000-08:00

Kalena started school this year at NorthCreek Academy. Her first day of school was so much fun and was loaded with emotion for Justin and I as we said goodbye to our little girl for the first time. Gone are my carefree days where every minuet is spent having fun with no thought of school bells and uniforms. Fortunately she only goes to school from 9-12:30, so we have the rest of the day together. I will cherish these days with her, knowing that next year she will be gone all day. The thought of it makes my heart so sad!!

I started thinking through all the ways I want to spiritually prepare my kids for school. Here are the areas I want to teach through with them every year before starting school, and throughout the year: obedience right away all the way with a happy heart, how to be a peacemaker, why we strive for knowledge (Proverbs), gossip, understanding appropriate behavior and inappropriate behavior... I am sure I will update this posting through the year when things come up.

I pray, as my little girl begins her school days, that she will be trained up in godliness, and that schooling will be refining, sanctifying and that we will all grow closer to the Lord though it. I pray she will gain the wisdom that leads to godliness.

A Ladybug Birthday!

2011-11-13T16:15:00.000-08:00

Our sweet Kalena has turned 5!! We had a wonderful Ladybug birthday party on September 17th... complete with 1500 live ladybugs, complements of Kalena's uncle Mark. The party started with Scruffy the "puppet with a heart" and Justin doing a little biblical counseling lesson for the kiddoes (...check out www.amazehealingwings.com, Scruffy has a heart/pocket on a string that you can pull out of him and put things in. It is a great way to tangibly teach kids about their own hearts) Certain yummy tasting delights, along with scripture, were flowing out of Scruffy and the kids loved it! Then we did some games, crafts, ladybug cupcakes and an aphid piñata. We did not have a ladybug piñata because that would have been horrible to hit a ladybug with a stick.. but ladybugs eat aphids, so it was a very appropriate to have a little green monster (we called an aphid) as the piñata. We are so thankful to all our family who helped out (and contributed the live bugs :) Grammy had yummy sandwiches for all the adults, mark got drinks, Emily helped decorate, Hannah and Jessie helped babysit... it was a fantastic day!

Kalena was so excited to turn five. She is so full of energy and curiosity. I love every minuet with our sweet five year old! I wish every day would just slow down so that I can just sit and cuddle and talk for hours with her!

2011-09-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

Often I try to be a super mom... when really it is just no use. I am a frail, forgetful sinner who is in need of a savior. I take comfort in knowing that God has redeemed me and while I will never be a "Super Mom", I will and can be a mom who abides in a loving, kind, powerful savior who loves me and gave himself up for me. Praise God!! (a small shout out to Pastor Daggs and his wonderful sermon!)

This was taken from www.abidingmom.blogspot.com

Super Mom vs Abiding Mom

The Super Mom:

Does

Tries to impress others

Is controlled by an agenda (curriculum, schedule, etc)

Her self worth is found in her accomplishments (clean house, perfect kids, the perfect bulletin boards, etc.)

Her peace is found in the “perfect” environment

She is discouraged by failure

She expects perfection from herself and others

She teaches her kids to be good

She is frustrated with her lack of spiritual fruit

She does things with her children

Her perspective is based on what is seen

She chooses quantity of activities

The Abiding Mom
Is (Psalm 46:10)

Pleases the Lord (Eph. 5:10, Proverbs 29:25)

Is controlled by the Holy Spirit: (Gal. 5:22-26)
(Uses curriculum & schedules as tools for orderliness so she's
more free to follow the spirit)

Her self worth is found in an accurate view of who she is in
Christ Jesus (Eph 2:10)

Her peace is found in Jesus in the midst of any storm (Is 26:3)

Failure reminds her that God's strength is made perfect in
weakness (2 Cor. 12:9-10)

She practices grace with herself and others.
(Eph 4:32)

She teaches her kids to be Godly (Proverbs 22:6)

She abides in Christ and bears much fruit (John 15:5)

She builds a relationship with her children (Deut 6:6-7)

Her perspective is based on what is unseen (Col 3:2)

She chooses the most excellent Way (I Cor 13)

Accusing

2011-09-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

This is from my favorite blog "Passionate Homemaking" and was written by Natalie Didlake. It was so helpful to me...I love it and I love how the Word of God speaks. I love learning from how God teaches others!

She is writing about training her children in their speech.

"I decided to just pray and ask the Lord to show me how to teach them about their speech patterns. I began seeing more specific issues that I needed to tackle one at a time. Things like interrupting (being rude, I Cor. 13); arguing (Phil. 2:14); and using harsh tones (Pr. 15:1).

These were the easy ones. Some we are working through, and others I haven’t identified yet. But one stands out in my mind as a moment the Lord spoke crystal clear, through a scripture.

My children suddenly had begun coming to me about every 2 minutes, saying things like, “Mommy, R. hit me.” “Mommy, S. won’t share.” “Mommy, L. ate my snack.” I believed they were telling the truth. And I knew it was my job to serve justice. But really? Complaining about each other all day long? I knew it wasn’t the tone I wanted in our home, but could think of no concrete way to explain it to my toddlers.

Then I remembered what I read that morning, what Jesus told his disciples:

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. John 5:45

Accusing…that was it! My children were accusing each other. It’s so clear that Jesus is about helping, defending, and rescuing, not accusing. No wonder it bothered me so much! I researched and found out that Satan is called the “accuser of our brothers…who accuses them day and night before our God.” (Rev. 12:10)

I was so thrilled to see a solution emerge right from God’s mouth, his very word. I sat down my kids and explained to them the contrast between Jesus and Satan, and how they speak about people. Their eyes went wide when I told them Satan is an accuser who spends all day accusing us before God!

How incredible, for God to speak so directly to me and my children, as I struggle to train them!"

First Smiles!

2011-09-09T15:21:00.000-07:00

Our Sweet little Andrew is growing fast! He is starting to smile, and we are starting to hear his sweet little voice make some really cute sounds! We adore this baby boy. We are absolutely in love with him!! We kiss his sweet cheeks all day long! :)

Mommy's Rules: Repent Quickly

2011-09-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

Mommy's Rule # 3: Repent Quickly

I am so thankful that my sweet little girls are sensitive to when I am angry or annoyed. They call me out almost every time I sin towards them in my tone of voice. Kalena will say "Mommy, you are being kinda harsh." and then Sara might chime in "Mommy, God doesn't like harshness," or "Mommy, the Bible tells us never to be harsh." Although this is hard to hear in the moment, I have made a commitment to myself and God, never ever to let these moments go without quickly repenting for my sin. Although they may have disobeyed, and I want to point out their sin to them in the moment... I need to be an example of what I want them to do when they are called out on their sin. I pull the plank out of my own eye first. I repent with an apology, and then I ask the girls to pray that God would change my heart. Then I pray for myself and ask that God would remove the anger in my heart and help me to always be kind and gentle to my children.

Occationally I see the fruit of my quick repentance. The other day I told Kalena she was being harsh to Sara. Without another word from me, Kalena asked for forgiveness from Sara. It was so sweet and so encouraging. They do learn from my behavior. I am so thankful they are not just immune to my sin, but they know it is wrong and are not afraid to tell me. To God be the glory!!

Mommy's Rules: No Rushing.

2011-09-06T16:39:00.000-07:00

Mommy's Rule #2: No Rushing.

Every mom knows the difference between a calm, collected but purposeful readying of the children, vs the chaotic mad rush to get out the door. I am a rush-a-holic... and I am coming clean and it is time I quit!! I am making a commitment to my children and my husband, (as I head quickly into the "soccer mom" role of getting different children to different places) to do it all without rushing. I want to remember: if I can't get there calmly, it is worth being late.

Things rushing does to me:

Makes me angry with my children. Why can't they get their shoes on faster and who just pooped in their diaper on the way out?

Makes me neglect discipline. Someone just disobeyed blatantly but if I take time to discipline the correct way we will be late!!

Makes me forgetful! Important things I have forgotten while running out the door: diapers, sippys, school supplies, paperwork, my phone, my purse, jackets, umbrellas, the stroller...etc.

Speed. I have delt with my lead foot tendencies in the past and thought I had this sin taken care of.
*(yes, it is a sin to speed..Romans 13:1-2 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.)
But in the busyness of carting around all the little ones, I have seen this horrible sin rear it's ugly head in my life again!! It seems I may have to post "Romans 13" on my dash board next to my speedometer once again :)

What rushing does to my children:

Makes them anxious.
Makes them whiney towards me and each other.
Makes them unhappy and frustrated.
Makes them disobey
Makes them wet their pants :) (forgetting to go potty before we leave!)

Lord, help me to slow down in the busyness of the day. Help me to plan ahead, and remember to set timers and give myself reminders so I am not rushing around to get all the children in the car, out of the car or back into the house. Thank you for the wonderful attitudes, the peace and joyful countenance you give to my children and I when we get ready to leave the house orderly and calmly. Help me to trust you fully and not rely on my own strength to do this!

Mommy's Rules: Tone of Voice

2011-08-05T16:53:00.001-07:00

We must enforce so many rules to our children... I thought I would start to keep track of the rules I have created for myself as a mommy.

Mommy's Rule #1: Always Keep a Gentle Tone of Voice. No exceptions!

Collossians 3:8
Put aside anger... put on compassion and kindness.

Talk softly and use the Rod. How easy is it for us to "talk harshly and spare the rod"? Far too easy for me, because the later is much easier, and convenient. Far too often I think to my self "f I am harsh enough they will obey me" or "If I am harsh enough, they won't ever do that again." These are lies from the pit of my sinful selfish heart!!

This is my first rule because of all the parenting rules one could possibly think of, this is the hardest rule for me to follow. I find myself failing in my tone of voice everyday. It is so easy to get angry (AKA: frustrated, impatient, needing to "get through to her") Wether it is "Get your shoes on, I've already told you twice", "Don't push her", "Don't spill that", "You spilled that!!", "Don't touch your poop", "Be nice", "get off her head" etc, I need to always remember to speak how Christ would want me to speak, with patients and loving gentleness. In times when a child needs to be quickly admonished, it is better not to speak at all, and to remove the child (gently) into a room or bathroom to discipline, than to speak with harshness. Our children are going to naturally want to become harsh when they become angry because of the depraved state we are in. Helpless and hopeless without the Lord. When we are harsh we are making it that much easier for our children to do what comes natural with their anger. It will take a gentle example and a lot of hard discipline and training to guide their little hearts to the biblical response to anger. Giving into our own anger in our tone of voice will teach them how to do the same. Even if we are just saying one word ("No") there are a hundred different tones you can use to say it. Staying always gentle and loving with our tone as a mommy will teach and train your children to be gentle and humble with their anger.

I love parenting Biblically. I love the Bible. I love my kiddoes. I love Jesus and the Word of our Lord, who gives us everything we
need for life and godliness. Thank the Lord!! Praise Him!!

A Few of my Favorite Things!!

2011-08-05T16:29:00.000-07:00

These are a few of my new favorite things this summer. Here is a wonderful glass sippy cup from Lifefactory. I love using this on a daily basis for Katelyn, and then taking our plastic ones when we are on the road. Glass holds up so much better and... who knows the benefit of daily glass vs daily plastic. I feel it is safe to leave water overnight in this sippy vs a plastic one because of all the talk of plastic leaching into the water.

This is my new favorite kitchen organizing method... glass jars. I love them. I bought widemouth glass jars and plastic caps to fit them from Amazon. I feel so much more organized in my cupboards, especially because some of our shelves are much higher than normal. I can use these for leftovers and in the freezer too!

On our patio we have a wonderful turtle sandbox. When it is hot enough, we fill it with water. However, it has been cool some weeks this summer, so I decided to fill it with beans. I didn't want the mess and hassle of sand. The first beans we have tried are El Dorado beans, bought cheap at a local Mexican supermarket. They have held up nicely in the summer heat, but they do break if an adult steps on them. I will be experimenting with different types of beans to find one that is more sturdy. My next try will be Pinto beans. When they are done playing, I simply sweep them into a dust pan and dump them back into the turtle. This has provided SO many hours of good "clean" fun for the girls!!

Our CG

2011-07-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

We love our Community Group. These people have become so dear to us in the past two years... we cherish the friendships we have with each family. We have laughed with them, cried with them, and shared our sins, struggles, and our victories in Christ with them. We thank God for giving us such an amazing group of people to walk through life together with. We look forward to raising our kids with their kids, strengthening our marriages together, and all becoming closer to the Lord with them. As Proverbs 27:17 says "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." We pray we will be able to sharpen these people as much as they have sharpened us, and moved and encouraged us on towards Christ. We love you CG!!

Andrew's Birth

2011-07-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

My contractions started in the evening of the 12th after a walk to the nearby CVS to rent a movie. Marci's small group was meeting at our house and we were glad to leave the girls in bed while we got out for a bit. The contractions were stronger than normal on our walk, and continued but were less intense, through the entire Harry Potter movie we rented. At bedtime, Justin fell fast asleep, while I was half asleep, still feeling contractions. At about 1am I got up, unable to sleep. It was about two contractions later (at about 5 minuets apart) that I woke Justin up. I flipped on the light and told him it was time to go. We called Hannah, who came right over to spend the rest of the night with the girls. We got to the hospital at around 2am. I was dilated to 5cm. I got an epidural at around 4am. As soon as I got the epidural, my contractions slowed down and became less intense. I was extremely worried that the epidural might cause something to go wrong with the baby or the labor. I was thinking of having them turn it off. Justin was very calm and, in his typical fashion, was trusting fully in God. His wise words were helping to ease my mind. The baby's heart rate dropped for a short time and the nurse came rushing in to reposition the monitor. I was worried once again. Justin came to my side and said "Lets pray." He prayed for the labor to progress and the safety of our sweet baby. At once after he said "Amen.", my water broke! It was amazing. It was as if God was reassuring me that everything was fine. After that the labor progressed very quickly, and our sweet son was born at 5:48am. About 45 min after we prayed.
God is powerful, and this is yet another lesson for me to learn to trust him. He is in control no matter what happens. This reminded me that i still have a ways to go in learning not to worry in hard or scary times. I thank God for my faithful husband who is such a wonderful example to me in so many ways. He has tremendous faith.
I was reminded of these two verses during labor:
Phillipians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
I have the confidence that I know God enough to really love Him... and I do... I really love Him. So therefore I can claim and hold to this promise that God gives. If we love him, no matter what happens it will work out for our good. Thank you God for this promise, and my your peace that surpasses all understanding guard my heart and mind!!

It's A Boy!!

2011-07-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

On July 13th we welcomed Andrew Edward into our family! He was born at 5:48am and weighed 8lbs 3oz and was 20 1/2 inches. We love him so much and can't wait to add some blue to our household of pink. God has been so good to us once again. We praise and worship Him for his kindness and this blessing of little Andrew! We don't deserve this life or any of our sweet kiddoes, but because God is overflowing with mercy for those who love him, we receive His grace and blessings.

Thank you Jesus, we are speechless before You.

18 Months Old!!

2011-06-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

Katelyn: AKA: Katie, Sugar, KK, Baby-Kate, Katie-Cat, Katie-Pops

Sweet Katelyn is now a year and a half. She is now not just walking and climbing, but trying hard to run and keep up with her sisters. She has really started to say a lot of words recently too and has started to put two words together like "More Please" and "Hi Daddy!" She adores her big sisters and calls Sara "SAAAA", and Kalena "Na na." She has a lot of energy and is a very loud, vocal child, but has a sweet soft cuddly side too. Katelyn is our most cuddly baby, never missing a chance to snuggle her face into Justin and I. She will just sit motionless on my lap for what feels like hours. So often I think she is sleeping but she is wide awake, just snuggling.

Katelyn's favorite foods are fruit (of any kind) and meat (of any kind). She would also eat every bag and box of raisins in the entire house if I let her. She loves books and balls and running free outside. She also loves bath time and really anything that has to do with playing with water (occasionally this includes the toilet, which unfortunately I have to discipline her for).

It has been so fun to watch Katelyn in the last few months. She seems to understand more and more of what I say to her. She has started to understand the words obedience and patience, and it won't be long before she will start to be able to understand biblical concepts such as "selfless" and "peacemaker". I am so thankful for the Bible, and it's clear guide to parenting. Scripture gives me hope and peace when in the midst of these amazingly impressionable years of my children's lives. I think without God and His word to us, I would feel completely overwhelmed at the task of training my children's hearts. Instead I feel the opposite. Excitement... joy... eagerness... and confidence in Christ alone as I "train up my children in the way they should go."

Katelyn brings us more and more joy everyday. Her developing capability to show love to me by hugging my neck and repeating "Mamma" in an affectionate tone is something I will always cherish about her and her sweet, tender heart and are my favorite moments each day with her.

Kalena's Larvae!

2011-06-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I am saying this... but the girls and I had been on edge every day last week... waiting for some larvae to come in the mail. Yes... it is ladybug larvae and it finally arrived this past weekend. It was really a huge deal in our household. Kalena and Sara have never been too entertained by the thought of a pet dog or cat... but for several months now Kalena has been begging me for a pet ladybug. When we saw the beloved "Ladybug Land" at Lakeshore, it was all she could do to contain herself. For months I had been telling her that she can't have a ladybug as a pet, and that God made them especially to live outdoors. I was wrong. We now have about 5 large, thriving ladybug larvae living in our Ladybug Land. They should be fully developed ladybugs in a few weeks. Kalena was so cute when they finally arrived... hyperventilating and dancing around the house. She even asked to sleep with them right beside her head (yes, they are still just ugly larvae) along with a flashlight to check on them.

Our four and a half year old Kalena has really made some educational strides this past week too! She has finally began to read, which has been so exciting and something she has looked forward to for the past year! It was an amazing moment when she first began to read her first words. Her face lit up and she gasped, and literally I saw the lights go on in her eyes...and something click in her little brain. It was a moment I will never forget. She was overjoyed, and so was I. We hugged and giggled for a while before we continued. It was so sweet. We are so excited for her to start Kingergarden this fall, and we know she will love school so much.

Kalena has been growing more and more in love with the coming baby. She is constantly wrapping herself around my belly, and trying to feel the baby move. She presses all over it to try to feel a foot or a hand and gets so excited when she feels a kick. She would love it if the baby was a girl, but I have finally convinced her that if it is a boy, she will still love him. She was not sure for a while if she could love a brother. She says she loves baby boys and grown up boys like daddy, but she doesn't like kid boys except for Judah Wenslawski and Luke Loving.

My favorite recent Kalena Quotes:
"Daddy, I love you all across the sky (waving hands in the air enthusiastically).... Daddy, I love you until my loves BOOMS into Heaven! (Jumps up excitedly)"

"Mommy, If I were as old as you, I would marry daddy."

"Mommy, you shouldn't have told me about Heaven because I am so sad that I can't just go there now." (puts her face in her hands dramatically)

"I hope I have 10 sisters." She tells the ultrasound technician.

(Kalena commenting about my very pregnant belly) "Mommy, it looks like you are going to need some more skin." (I quite agree with her :)

If the baby is a boy, Kalena wants to name him John or Thomas, and if it is a girl, she wants to name her Lemma.

I love Kalena so much, and I love watching her grow. More and more she has an awareness of sin and God's grace in our lives. I pray she will continue to develop a love for God and want to serve Him more and more!! I am desperately trying to think of new ways to help her and Sara fall more in love with our Heavenly Father. I am excited to read Elise Fitzpatrick's book "Give them Grace" this summer. I want my girls to become obedient for one reason... because they love our Savior and want to please Him alone... not for anyone or anything else this world has to offer.

Having said that... and on a lighter note... I just might bribe Kalena with some sort of material possession if she can hold back her hysterics when we go to get shots at the Dr. later this afternoon. :) No matter how much she wants to obey and have self control, she completely looses it and has a frantic breakdown in the Dr. office when the shots come out. I am praying this afternoon might be different!

Sweet Sisters

2011-06-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

Bonded to a Baby

2011-05-17T09:38:00.000-07:00

God has created, within a mother and a baby, an amazingly fierce bond that develops into feelings that are stronger than I have ever felt. Some would call this something like a "maternal instinct" but really it is an act of God, who pours into a mothers heart, an extreme love for her infant. Recently I have realized how this bond changes as our children get older. I know that I am in a unique time right now with my babies, and that later in life I will look back on and try to remember the feelings I had during the infancies of my precious girls. As my 4 year old Kalena becomes more independent and more intrigued by the world around her, I feel the mother baby bond slipping into a new developed mother child bond. While the feelings are no less intense, in fact probably are increasing in intensity, it is just different.

I am going to try to describe these intense, maternal, God given, feelings of love I have had with Kalena, Sara and now Katelyn. I always want to be able to look back on this special baby time and remember these amazing feelings.

When bonded to a baby, you feel as though every part of the baby is a part of you. They are more of an extension of your own appendages rather than a separate being. When she cries, something physical happens in my heart and mind, drawing me to her with an intense desire to sooth her. Holding her close to me never feels close enough, and if I could hold her all day long I would. When she smiles and giggles, my heart fills with joy. I would sacrifice anything to keep her safe, even my own life. I wouldn't think twice before running into a burning building or into any sort of harms way to protect my baby. I often imagine the fight I would put up if any stranger tried to pull her from my arms. It would be messy, like something out of WWF. Probably the most intense feelings I have for her, is at night when i watch her sleep. my heart aches for her future to be a worshiper of our Great God. I pray with fervency that the Lord will have mercy on her and draw her into repentance and salvation.

I am so thankful for the gift God has given me in these precious little girls and I wish I could freeze time and keep them cuddled in my arms forever.

Happy Birthday Sara Bear!!

2011-05-04T21:47:00.000-07:00

Our sweet sunshine has turned three today!!!
I didn't expect to be sad last night as I tucked Sara into bed... but kissing my little 2 year old for the last time was overwhelming. I wish I could just freeze time and have my little two year old Sara forever. All day today her little face has been proudly beaming... and she has been letting everyone know that she is now three.
Sara is such a tremendously happy little girl who is our little sunshine. She is so easy going, compliant, and always seems to have a smile on her face from the moment she wakes up till she is asleep. She has a funny personality that always has us laughing, and a sweet cuddly side that loves to snuggle everyone. Her favorite color (since she could talk) is yellow, and she has 3 yellow dresses that she constantly wanting to wear. She is always singing, and has a beautiful voice. Her favorite thing to do is play with Kalena and Katelyn who she loves so much (strawberry shortcake, my little ponies, and princesses) For her birthday today she wanted to go to the park and she wanted a banana split. G-ma is here for a visit and we had a great day with her, as well as some time with Grammy and Kristen, and some phone time with all the other grandparents, aunts and uncles. We even got a call from Great Grammy, which was very special. Kalena gave Sara a little pink star necklace that she picked out especially for Sara. This is the first time either have given a gift to the other. It was a very sweet exchange. Sara was so excited and gave Kalena a big hug and a big kiss. I wish I had video taped it. It was so sweet. I love how much they love each other!!
We will miss our sweet little two year old, but I know that this next third year with Sara Bear will be full of fun and excitement. Sara is especially looking forward to being a Cubbie in Awana, and joining the children's choir at church. We love our little sweet Sara more than words and pray constantly that she will come to know and love Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Happy Birthday Sara!

God's Sovereignty Through the Eyes of a Four Year Old

2011-04-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been working through concepts of God's sovereignty with Kalena. She is so sweet and curious, and wants to understand God and the Bible. I was pleasantly surprised when it seems my efforts to explain hard concepts have been sinking into her little heart. She was helping me with the dishes when one glass she was holding fell and shattered on the ground. I squelched my instinct to get upset (which was a blessing because expression of my frustration would have made the following conversation impossible). I calmly told her to stay on her stool and I will clean it all up. She then asked "Mommy, why do you think God had me break a glass?" Caught off guard... i pondered a while. "Im not sure." I answered. She then said "Maybe it is because we have too many glasses." It is true.. we do have too many glasses cluttering up our kitchen. We pondered other reasons God may have caused this.. then talked through Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." We discussed ways God could cause the broken glass to turn out for our good and God's glory if we love him. I just loved how her sweet little absorbent mind thought through this process.
My next quest is to tackle her recent question: "Mommy, God made us sinners, right?" ;) Should be a great time of learning and I am excited to see how her little mind continues to develop with Christ as the center of her life!

Part 2: Thoughts on Christian Dating

2011-02-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

More questions from my Kaleo small group:

What are the bigest mistakes you see Christian dating couples make?
Answers:
1. Going too fast. Aside from your decision to follow Christ, and what church you attend, this is the third biggest decision you will ever make in your life. Why rush? Is it wise to rush into something that has such huge ramifications on the rest of your life and your children's lives? Are you leaving enough time to seek enough Godly council? Have you been with this person long enough to see them during a crisis, or a life altering decision, and been able to watch them deal with it in a God honoring way? This is the man you will submit to for the rest of your life, is moving quickly going to give you enough time to see him in every aspect of his life with Christ?

2. Mature Christian women who date immature Christian men. This happens all the time, and can lead to spiritual demise for some, but for others a more subtle diminishing of ones spiritual life that you may only notice once you get to heaven and see what you sacrificed for "that lovin' feelin' ". Nothing is going to matter more when you stand before God, than your maturity in Him and your relationship with Him. How does your significant other (or potential significant) spur you on to be more like Christ? How does he teach you and guide you spiritually? Is he helping you grow in Christ? A family will be in danger of spiritual ruin if the mother is the spiritual leader of the household. A mother can not lead the same way God has designed the husband to lead. Men do not become more spiritual when they get married. I feel this is the thought of many women who date immature men. They see huge potential in these men. They think once he has the responsibility of being a husband and father he will become this huge spiritual giant they always dream and imagine he can be. This is a myth. In fact, if anything, a marriage can take a immature believer and squish them till they are hardly believing at all and just going through the motions. Marriage is not for the immature believers. It is for the solid believers who are growing, in which case it can be used as a tool by God to further sanctify us. Many spiritually immature men will never get to the place spiritually that a spiritually strong woman desires. This will create a marriage full of unfulfilled expectations, and a woman constantly trying to change her husband. This is not a fun place for either spouse to be in!!! It is worth noting that this can go both ways. A strong man should not settle for a spiritually immature, emotionally unstable Christian woman. She will be the major spiritual influence on his children and should consider this when choosing a wife!

3. A Christian couple who becomes self absorbed with their relationship and pules out of fellowship with the church. This happens all the time. A couple is so enamored with each other and wants to be alone constantly. This is a dangerous situation. Your walk with Christ involves your personal relationship to Christ as one foot and your relationship to the body of Christ as the other foot. If one is lacking, you will be limping along at a slow, spiritually handicap pase and you will eventually wear down and stop growing altogether. Satin loves to get people out of fellowship with the body so they are vulnerable and weak to stand against the evil forces of this dark world. If you don't have time for church and dating, cut out dating, not church. God will honor your choice and will bring you someone at the right time in your life where you can grow with the church and your future spouse.

4. Getting cheap council. Or not listening to council. When the leaders of your church tell you your relationship is not healthy or that you should not date but watch this person longer... or when they tell you this person is not as spiritually mature as yourself.... LISTEN!! Don't just think that you know better. The leaders may know things that you do not. They may have seen things in this person that you have not seen. Do not put on your lovie dovie blinders and dismiss everything because you think this person is perfect (and has great potential). Expensive council is council from someone who cares deeply about your spiritual growth and knows you and the other person on a spiritual level. If there is no leader who fits this category... that is a warning sign!! Does anyone who is spiritually strong know this person? Does anyone with a deep knowledge of the Bible really know you well? Be in fellowship with the Body of Christ with this person and there should be multiple people who are spiritually strong who know you both. Cheap council would be from your friends who have never called you out on any sin in your life. Or from your mom who he brought flowers to, and she thinks he is handsome, polite, and has a great job. Or the other people who sing in the choir with you. You told them about him and how great his is, so they are excited for you. This is cheap council. It has nothing to do with His heart before the Lord and his readiness to lead a family spiritually and emotionally.

5. Sexual sin. Doing anything with your significant other that you would not do with a brother or sister. You would not do it with a brother or sister because it is a sexual act, and not being sexually pure. It is hard enough, when dating, to keep your mind pure. So keeping your hands and lips pure is the start to keeping your mind pure. No one can french kiss someone and remain sexually pure. Set boundaries, don't be alone, find other ways to express your feelings. Write notes. Any spiritually mature man will not put himself in temptations way, and would not defile you as a sister in christ and cause you temptation. If he can not remain sexually pure outside of marriage, what is to say he will be able to control himself and remain sexually pure inside of marriage? My favorite little dating jingle: "Hands off... lips off." :) There will be plenty of time for that later.

6. Internet dating. When dating on the internet, people can put their best foot forward and do and say anything. They can be who they really want to be, but are living a lie. You need to be able to observe the person in the context of their life in Christ. What is their reputation? See "Thoughts on Christian Dating Part 1: Things to Observe" You can't see these things if your relationship is over the internet or long distance.
* Disclaimer: this has worked for some people. I am not saying the Lord can't use it... I am just saying I do not think it is a wise thing to pursue, it is risky, no one can deny that. Do you want to pursue marriage in a risky way? Not advisable.

Question: What if our theology doesn't match up?

Answer: Get to the real issue of why they don't match up. Who is he getting his theology from? Where are you getting yours? Are you both listing to those with the appropriate education and credibility? Or is he making up his own thoughts on theology, or listening to something on the internet or a pastor who is not valuing the Word of God? In order to create credible theology, we must go back to see what the original Bible manuscripts say and then translate them to English. This is difficult and requires a lot of studying. Is he backing himself with ancient Greek or Hebrew or by someone who knows these languages? Does he really even know scripture? Otherwise it is just mear speculation on his part and not a wise way to peruse and perceive truth. Wise men who know ancient Greek and Hebrew disagree on minor issues, so there may be minor differences, but major salvation issues must be worked out. The big question is: where are you both getting your theology, and why. Is it a wise way to peruse the truth or not? This is a great question and can have huge implications for your faith. Do you want to follow a man who is leaning on his own understanding instead of humbly seeking wisdom from those who are trained in it? Does he think he knows more than a pastor you respect? He could struggle with pride. If he is not going to be humble and teachable, God will not use him to his full potential, and this will cause struggles in your marriage in more ways than one. This prideful attitude may also be passed down to your children. People who trust in their own opinions and thoughts about God can be ones who often never fully understand or accept the true gospel.

Thoughts on Christian Dating: Part 1

2011-01-21T16:32:00.001-08:00

My small group of amazing women asked me a series of really great questions about dating, as a believer in Jesus. I am going to give "Part 1" of my answers.
Question: How can we prepare our hearts for marriage?
Answer:
A. Become the best follower of Jesus that you can be. Develop your relationship with God and increase your wisdom in the Word. Establish yourself in the body of Christ, and become a valuable asset to the Lord within His church.
B. Develop a heart of contentment. When you have mastered the secret of contentment, you will be successful through any marriage, no matter how hard or how many problems come. Being content in your relationship with Christ, and not in life's circumstances is crucial. When your contentment depends on your boyfriend or spouse, you are always going to be let down, and on a constant roller coaster ride of spiritual and mental ups and downs through your life. As believers we are instructed to find our joy and peace through Him. In Isaiah, the Bible tells us that "He will keep in perfect peace, him who's mind is steadfast because he trusts in You." I love this verse because it lets me know that when I am not in inner peace, I am not trusting in the Lord. Contentment comes from Him alone.

Question: What should we ask the other person in a dating relationship?
I would say that more than asking questions, observation can be the biggest way to get many questions answered quickly. Asking questions can lead to pride, in answers that might be slightly biased from a person putting their best food forward.
Things to observe: What are his priorities? Does he put the Lord first in his life? How? What actions do you see that show his priorities, not just what he says.
Does he serve the church? A believer's love for Jesus, is directly related to how they treat the most important thing to Jesus, his bride. How does he respect the pastors and elders? How does he show that he is under their authority? All believers are called to join in the Body. If you are not the "brain" of the body or the pastor or leaders, you are called to submit to them and be an asset to them. A body who's arms and legs are doing their own thing and think they know best are going to create a dysfunctional body. In fact any part of your body that is taking its own direction would become a hindrance! We must all work together and submit to our leaders, and be a joy to lead. When has he shown that he is excited and egar to submit to the leadership? Has he made it easy for the leaders to lead him? Does he respect and love the men God put in authority over him? **Key: What do the leaders think about him? Do they love having him there? Is he serving and helpful? What is his reputation among the leaders? Is he teachable?
Do the people around him benefit from his presence? Are the people around him encouraged and lifted up? Are they benefited spiritually by him? Would people in the church miss him if he weren't there?
Does he seek wise council? When making a decision, does he think he knows best or does he seek those who are his spiritual leaders to ask their advice? This will be an indication of marriage and if he will be willing to get help through hard times of marriage. Even strong Christian marriages need council! If he is not accustom to getting council this will be aquard for him and he will not want to.

Question: What about Christian courtship vs dating?
Answer: The term, and concept of Christian courtship is not in the Bible. The term "Dating" is not in the Bible either. So how do we know what to do? The answer is easy. We make biblically wise decisions during dating that reflect holiness and help us flee sexual immorality. "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness" If we stand on this verse, we will see the bible in every decision and it will help us be godly. We make decisions based on the standards we use for areas of the rest of our life: biblically based and God glorifying. If you don't feel you can be sexually pure by the standard "dating" format and you want to call it "courting" and do something different, that is fine. Whatever helps you to lead a holy life; one that you can stand before the Lord and feel confident you walked in purity. Imposing your non-biblical terms or standards on others is never ok. Being in a relationship that is sexually impure is also not ok. Brothers and sisters should always call each other out when in relationships and hold each other accountable to the highest standard of purity. If you wouldn't do something with a family member, then it is most likely a sexual act and not sexually pure before the Lord. Even if a guy said he could french kiss a girl without lusting (I am sure this is chemically impossible) then even if the couple is not sinning by lusting mentally, they are, by definition doing a "sexual act." Could you stand before the Lord and say you are sexually pure, while doing a sexual act with someone who is not your husband or wife?

This concludes part one of the questions. More to come!!

A New Lyon Cub!

2010-12-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

We are so excited for a new Lyon cubbie to join our crazy crew. Justin and I had a sweet date at CPK where we found out together (I took a test but didn't look at it until our date!) The girls were very excited when we told them. There is no doubt that Kalena wants another sister (she informed us she wants 10 sisters, and that she prayed to Jesus to ask for twin baby sisters) but we are sure she will love a baby brother too, she just doesn't know it yet. We are so thankful to God for the gift of another child. We don't deserve His kindness and love.

Stroller Nap

2010-12-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

Katelyn was playing next to me while I was cleaning the girls room. All of a sudden I realized she wasn't crawling around anymore. She had wedged herself into the doll's stroller. She tried a little to get out, but didn't seem to mind she was stuck. She gave up trying to get out, and in another couple minutes, she was fast asleep! It was so precious!!

The Bogstad's House

2010-12-01T10:14:00.000-08:00

Sara was playing with her playhouse and people yesterday and I was in the kitchen making dinner. I thought I miss heard her so I poked my head around the corner to listen. Sure enough, she was saying "It's the Bogstad's house." Every person and animal she had was crammed into her play house.

The Bogstads are a very dear family to us. They have been at NorthCreek Church for a long time. I babysat their kids, Justin and Dave served on Jr. High staff together and Justin asked Dave advice on dating me (thanks for approving Dave!). Chris came to live with us in L.A., was very involved in our Epoch Bible Study and is now managing our house there. He is such a solid man of God, it is hard to imagine I ever babysat him! Alli is a huge encouragement to me, as she strived diligently to lead and disciple a huge group of female students at UC Davis, and is now very involved in Kaleo. She is always striving after the will of God and trying to live her life in a way that pleases Him. We are so privileged now to be back in ministry with Dave and Cindy in Kaleo. They have served the group so faithfully and it has been such a huge encouragement for us to watch and learn from them as a God fearing, God honoring couple. Dave's teaching in Kaleo has been encouraging and convicting!! They have been so generous opening their beautiful home to Kaleo events. What an example they are... even to my 2 year old!! Even little Sara recognizes the importance of the Bogstad's house :) We are so thankful to the Lord for allowing us this wonderful time, and relationship with the Bogstad family.

Katelyn is 1!!

2010-11-30T09:04:00.000-08:00

Our sweet little Katelyn is 1 year old! We love our little Katie-bear so much!! It is hard to believe she is now one, because she still looks so much like a little baby (not much hair and only 2 teeth). We have nicknamed Katie our little "Monster" because she is very strong, and can plow right over Sara and over most toys and things that get in her way. When the girls are playing and Katelyn starts heading towards them, they yell "Here comes the monster!!"
Katelyn loves to read, to play with toys, and eat. Her favorite foods are cottage cheese, avocado, bananas, any kind of meat and bread. Katelyn has taken some steps on her own and can stand up on her own without help up, but she is not walking yet. She can, however climb up onto a two step stool in the kitchen and can almost climb right into the sink! She can also go from our wooden high-chair right onto the table if she is not strapped in.
She is a huge cuddler. Even right now as I write, she is standing next to me with her head in my lap. She is always putting her head on me to cuddle and I love it. Occasionally I see her cuddle one of her sisters and it is so sweet! I am so glad she is already finding comfort in them. Kalena loves to cuddle her, which includes grabbing her around her waist and rolling around the floor with her while their cheeks are pressed together. Katelyn loves it. A friend was babysitting recently and Katelyn was extremely upset after a nap, until Kalena came to comfort her. Immediately when Kalena comforted her she stopped crying and was ready to play.
The three girls have started to play together so well, often I hear them from another room and they are all three giggling uncontrollably. I love that they love each other so much!! I pray that their relationships between each of them continue to grow and would be strong, healthy and productive in their lives to encourage one another to be more like Christ! I am so excited to watch all three girls grow closer together!

My Little Ponies and Total Depravity

2010-11-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

Kalena and Sara play with My Little Ponies everyday now. They love them and play really well together. I ease dropped on them one day and heard this: "Sara, this is the God pony, this pony is going to be God." Somehow a My Little Pony being "God" immediately caused me to step in and re-direct Kalena, instructing her that God is not in the form of a pony. She then stated, "But mommy, the ponies need a God, they are all sinners!!!" I opened my mouth, thinking I was going to reply with something wise, but nothing came out. I shut my mouth. "You are right, sweetie, the ponies are sinners." I backed away and let them resume playing. She might not have a grasp on God as a Spirit being that we are not to make an image of, but it seems she is catching on to the doctrine of total depravity :) It excites me when I see that the hard work and words I poor into them each day didn't just go in one ear and out the other as so often it seems. Moments like these that catch me off guard and show me that they are learning about our Creator are so precious. I thank God that He is instructing their hearts, and I pray He continues to reveal Himself and His Truth to them more and more as they grow. I want them know Him personally, to trust Him, and to Love Him.

My New Favorite Word

2010-11-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to hear Sara say is "probably." Here is my best phonetic rendition: "Plobly"

Sara got very tired during trick or treating since during the day she was too excited to take her nap. I knew it was time for her to stop when at one house, the woman offered Sara candy and she replied "No, thank you," stuck her thumb in her mouth and turned around to walk back to me. The lady about died. Not quite what she was expecting from a trick or treater!

For several days now we have been having "Welcome home daddy surprise." When daddy gets home everyone gets a little candy treat. Recently while eating candy, Sara exclaimed "My mouth really likes candy!"

Sara Bear

2010-10-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

Our sweet squishy smily Sara is now 2 1/2! This half a year has flown by! Sara still such a funny little girl, always trying to make us laugh. She wants to play games and be tickled all day long. Her new favorite word is "usually" and she uses it frequently. I was making asparagus and Sara came in the kitchen to see what I was doing. When she saw what I was making was green, she asked what it was. I said it was asparagus and she said "Mom, I don't like es scary gas." Then when Lisa (our neighbor and dear friend) was trying to get her to eat it she exclaimed "I usually don't like asparagus." She is just so funny because she is so talkative and has so much to say about everything! We are constantly amazed that she can articulate her thoughts so well. When she gets really excited about something, she gets so overwhelmed that she can't speak in coherent sentences and she raises her little hands up by her face and waves them around. It is so cute and funny and I just can not contain myself when she is in this state. It is simply hilarious.

Every time she goes down for a nap or bedtime, she wants me to cuddle her. She still sucks her thumb and plays with her belly button to sooth herself, but she has also added pressing her belly up against anything cold. This sounds weird... and it is :) When she gets tired and starts sucking her thumb and playing with her belly she will go up to the wall, lift up her shirt and press her belly against it. While lying in bed she will roll over to the wall and lie flat against it to feel it cool against her belly. I typically have cold hands and especially now as the weather is changing, my hands are always cold. So, it has become routine that when I cuddle her, I press a cold hand against her warm little belly. She smilies and puts her little hand on top of mine. She is so precious.

I pray for my sweet Sara Bear to be able to use her humor and spunky personality for the Lord. I pray she will become excited about worshiping our great God and that her energizer bunny demeanor will never go away but will be used mightily for the sake of God and the Gospel. I pray that Sara will have a love for Jesus Christ that is greater than mine. Thank you God for the gift of Sara Grace!!!

Our 4 Year Old!

2010-10-24T20:06:00.000-07:00

Kalena turned four last month!! She has started some new activities this year like Awana at church, and "school" at home with me. We are having a blast with her and her maturing vocabulary and mental capacity. She has begun to ask more in depth questions about life, which is fun. Not too long ago we started a conversation about princesses. She asked me why some people are princesses, kings and queens. We got into an extensive conversation that even included taxes and what happens when we die.

Kalena is still a cuddler. I love to snuggle her. My favorite thing is when she hugs me and puts her head right next to mine and she says "I just want you mommy!" I want her too, all the time. I always want to be playing, talking, reading and doing art with her, it is so much fun. I am so blessed to be Kalena's mommy and I am not looking forward to her going to school next year. Maybe she won't. Maybe we will do home-school through college and she will just stay with me for the rest of her life. I would love it :)

Kalena loves her sisters so much. She plays with them, makes them laugh, and helps me take care of them. She tells me she wants more little sisters. Not boys, however, because she thinks that boys don't love Jesus. I tried to help her understand boys are just different and many of them do love Jesus :) (and she thinks the world of her daddy) but she still just wants more sisters.

I love Kalena more than I could ever write. I pray earnestly to the Lord to protect her and to save her at an early age. There is nothing I want more for her than to walk in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be all the glory for what a wonderful little person she is. I pray with my whole heart that she will come to know the full knowledge of the truth of the Gospel and character of our Great God! Thank you God for the wonderful gift of Kalena.

Judah

2010-08-10T10:18:00.001-07:00

The girls love playing with their good friend Judah!

Swimming!

2010-08-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

Sara got a pool for her second birthday back in May! They especially loved the waterfall I made from the kitchen sink.

Cracker Sandwich

2010-08-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

Sara loves to make a cracker sandwich. She takes about four crackers and eats them like a sanwich, and has been doing this about since she had her first cracker.

Chapstick

2010-08-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

Kalena decided she needed some chapstick on.

God Made Sara!

2010-08-10T09:52:00.000-07:00

Smiley Faces!

2010-08-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, it was so hot outside so I let the girls draw with chalk on the kitchen floor. Kalena made her first smiley faces!!

Worst Case of Bed Head!

2010-08-10T09:43:00.001-07:00

Daddy and his girls!

2010-08-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

Rommies!!

2010-07-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

We are considering moving in with some of our best friends, in order to save money, yet have a large space and lots of parking to be able to be more hospitable and increase our ministry in our home. While getting godly counsel on this matter, a funny connection was made that made the world a little smaller for me! :) This counsel came from my pastor's wife, who in turn asked her friend (who's husband is a pastor and they live with another family), who was the daughter of one of my wonderful table leaders in Seminary Wives Fellowship. What a fun connection, and really great way the Lord has once again used this family in our lives. Justin told me this professor has read through the entire Bible more than 45 times and was an amazing wealth of knowledge in his survey classes. Praise God for godly families like this one who have blessed and enriched our lives.
Here is what she wrote:
"Concerning our thoughts in terms of giving counsel to your friends who are seeking to maybe live under the same roof…

The principle Dan and I kept coming back to was the great necessity for both parties to have a commitment to the Word of God and specifically in how to biblically deal with communication and conflict resolution. Something that we have found to be a great resource is Stuart Scott’s booklet called “Communication and Conflict Resolution”. This could be a good resource for them to talk through that gets down to the practical daily living in terms of interpersonal relationships. Humility is so important in the life of a believer and we have learned when you live under the same roof you’re not just going to see sin in one another but a big question is how are you going to deal with preferences (ie things that are not inherently right or wrong).

So that is the first question: How are they planning on dealing with preferences, not just sin issues?

Other practical topics that could be helpful to think through and/or discuss:

· Regular communication: Is there a plan to meet regularly to give opportunity for both parties to discuss how things are going (ways to improve, ways to encourage, etc)? Or what will be a good manner in which to regularly give opportunity for each family to give feedback? In our situation it varied. At one point both couples met, and at other times just the husbands met. We also found it to be important for the husbands to shepherd their wife through certain issues. It wasn’t always easy.

· Are both families on the same page in terms of goals of discipline for their children? Are they open to the input of the other family in this regard? What are the expectations?

· Being above reproach (you mentioned this). We were careful to avoid situations where one spouse would be at home at the same time as the opposite gender spouse (even if kids were there). People in the church seemed to look favorably on our situation in general and I’m not aware of any concern or negativity in this way. Frankly, people had never seen it done and probably had never considered that someone would even willingly choose this situation.

· Habits of cleanliness

· Expectations/limitations in hosting people at the house or for out-of-town guests that would come visit. We could do a lot of hospitality together since we were in the same church.

· Meals/Shopping responsibilities: are you going to have meals together daily? If so, which ones, who will cook & shop, etc? Make sure to communicate if someone will not be at a planned meal. A weekly schedule in our situation was found to be helpful.

· Finances: I’m not sure if both families are planning to split housing costs up the middle. This is probably easiest for the husband of each family to discuss/decide together.

There are probably more things that could be mentioned. Again, humility, humility, humility is so huge. There will be sin to deal with at times. This takes humility to confront rightly and to receive rightly. And it is a guarantee that people will do things differently than you in matters of preference. (For example, this is minor but I learned that right now I don’t prefer that my boys play with toy guns.) How to deal with this stuff, even the “minor” preferences requires great humility because I can tend to view that my preferences are right & best J

Some of the PROS to living with another like-minded family is that it sanctifies, you learn to consider others better than self, and it can be a helpful testimony to others for the sake of the gospel.

The biggest CON that we came to was that if you don’t deal rightly with things it can lead to bitterness (which you can imagine can lead to many other negative things).

May your friends be a testimony of God’s truth and grace in whatever they decide,"

Baby Pictures!

2010-07-08T12:32:00.001-07:00

All the girls are about 1/2 a year old in these pictures.

Name That Baby!!

2010-07-08T11:39:00.001-07:00

Sprouting Scripture in the Hearts of our Children

2010-07-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

This is my recent project I am working on; memory verse cards for my kids. This first set will be for 1-3 year olds. They are being illustrated by my good friend Sara and then we are going to send them off to a publisher!! I can't wait to have the final product to begin using them with my girls! I am using some memory cards right now but they are not good quality. I am so excited about this project! I hope others will be blessed and encouraged in their parenting as well.
Sprouting Scripture
...In the Hearts of Our Children
“I planted the seed... but God made it grow.” I Corinthians 3:6
One of the first things you can do to make a seed grow, is to sprout it. Wikipedia says “Sprouting is the process of soaking, draining, and rinsing seeds at regular intervals until they germinate, or sprout.” Seeds need to be rinsed a minimum of twice a day until they sprout, and different seeds take different amounts of time and rinsing before the sprouting process begins. How true this is with our little ones! Just as it takes months of hearing the word “Ma Ma” many times a day before they actually say it, so it is with hearing the Word of God before it becomes effective in their lives. It may take years of “rinsing” our children in Scripture before God causes these little seeds to begin sprouting. The next thing a seed needs in order to sprout is indirect sunlight. These little sprouts can be overwhelmed, wither and die with direct sunlight. Our Heavenly Father gives us light from above in the Scriptures, and He has appointed us to be the ones to take this light and give it to our Children in a way they can understand and use it. It would be too overwhelming for them if we just handed them a Bible or read them a Bible story once in a while. They need us to faithfully explain it to them and teach them how to apply God’s Word to everyday situations. Our children can be the most exciting eternal horticulture project in existence, if we diligently tend to them with the loving care of scripture. With God as the ultimate cause for their growth, we can be used as His tool if we faithfully rinse our little seeds daily with His Word!
Verse Card Instructions
These cards were created to be used as a tool to help your children hide God’s Word in their hearts. Read these cards to your children daily and when a situation arises where a verse can be applied. Explain the pictures to them and eventually your child will memorize the verse and be able to recite the verse from memory by just looking at the picture. The hearts of the children in the pictures are key to helping your child evaluate the state of their own heart. "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.” Luke 6:45

Biblically Based Parenting
Since the Bible is God’s word written directly to us and for us, (All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17) and His Word should be our guide to our life (Your word is a lamp to my feet, And a light to my path. Psalm 119:105), it seems only natural that our everyday parenting should be full of scripture. Our children are our greatest evangelistic project, as they are unrepentant captives, needing, willing and especially when young, wanting to hear everything we say. (Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. Colossians 4:6) It is of upmost importance that what we say to our children be “seasoned with salt”, or in other words, sprinkled with scripture, throughout the routines of each day. As parents we want to be sure that the Word of God is planted deep into the hearts of our children. (So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11, But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:2-3 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11)
2 Timothy 3:14-15
You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

1 1/2 - 3 Years Old

Biblically Based Vocabulary!
Start using these words with your child before you think he is ready. You will be surprised how quickly he will start to learn them! God, Bible, Prayer, Obedience, Sin, Discipline, Forgiveness, Strength, Right Response, Wrong Response, Asking/Telling, Kindness, Love, Loving, Anger/Angry, Self Control, Gentleness, Gentle Tone, Angry Tone, Attitude, Peace, Peacemaker, Selfish, Selfless, Idol of the Heart GOD IS... (Introducing them to God) Loving, All Powerful, All Knowing, All Present, Forgiving, Perfect/Holy, Creator, In Control of Everything (Sovereign) Our Hearts are... Black, Sick, Dirty, Sinful and In Need of God to Make Them Clean. (Jeremiah 17:9, Psalm 51:10)
All throughout this age range you will be establishing to your child that God is our primary authority, and the next authority is his parent. Obedience Obedience is one of the primary focus for this age group. You want the child to tie the concept of obeying the parent, to obeying and pleasing God. It is essential that obedience happen (1) right away (2) all the way (3) with a happy heart. When a child fails in one or more of these areas, he has failed to obey and must be disciplined. Discipline When the child has disobeyed, remove the child to a private location within the home (avoid spanking outside the home). Ask the child if he obeyed or disobeyed, teaching the child the difference between these two words. (Ephesians 6:1) If the child is able to talk, have them tell you what they did wrong. If there is a specific verse dealing with the sin the child has done, read and explain that verse. Tell the child how many spankings he will receive. Spank the child. (A child distracted with apprehension about the spanking may need to be spanked first, and talked to after they are consoled) (Proverbs 13:24, 23:13) Comfort him until he is ready to talk. Explain Matthew 19:26, and pray with your child, and ask God to give him the strength to obey. (Isaiah 40:29) Start the habit of you, and or your child, praying and asking Jesus to help him change his attitude every time it is bad. Ensure your child that Jesus will give the strength we need for good attitudes if we ask him! (2 Peter 1:3) Asking Forgiveness When your child is old enough to talk, have him ask for forgiveness from God, and then you or whoever else (if anyone) the child has sinned against. (1 John 1:9, Colossians 3:13) Seeking forgiveness should always have two components. (1)Acknowledge the wrong doing. Anyone asking for forgivness should say the words “I was wrong, I sinned.” (2) Ask for forgiveness. It is easy to just let “I’m Sorry” suffice, but this is not the Biblical model of repentance that we want our children to become familiar with. The words “I was wrong, I sinned against God and You. Please forgive me.” should be used.
Helpful Hints
Asking or Telling? When your child is demanding something, ask him if he is asking or telling (ex: “Mommy, I want juice!” ask the child if he is asking or telling? He should realize he should be asking, “Mommy, may I have some juice please?”) When the child asks for something without manners, ask the child to “try again” until he is able to ask in the appropriate manner. “Yes Mommy” Have your child say “Yes Mommy” with a smile when you ask them to do something (they should be saying this many times a day!). When your child is speaking with another adult, you will want your child to use manners. Have your child occasionally practice saying “Yes Sir” and “Yes Mam” to you, so that it will come naturally to them with other adults such as teachers and friends. Having the “Right/Biblical Response” As children enter into the second year, they will start to respond more prominently to all the different circumstances throughout the day. The most common responses will be joy, sadness or anger. When your child gets sad or angry, he will begin to have “sinful responses.” It is helpful to teach the child the terms “right or biblical response” and “sinful response” and demonstrate what these mean. (ex: “When your sister takes your toy and you yell at her, that is a sinful response. What do you thing the right response is when your sister takes your toy?” A possible answer: “ask your sister kindly to please give the toy back,” or my favorite, “If your sister wants the toy, how can you be selfless and show love to your sister?”) Interrupting Often when you are talking, on the phone or in person with someone, your little one will want your attention. Begin to practice having them wait until you, and any other adult are done talking before they may say “excuse me.” Another good idea is to have them come up to you and place their hand on your arm or leg. This will signal to you that they want to tell you something. Then you can choose when to allow them to speak. Practice Time If your child has a particular thing they have constant disobedience with, have them practice. Some time, when they don’t really have to do the thing they don’t want to do, have them “pretend” their obedience. They will understand better what the right response is if they have practiced it. (ex: A child hates to brush her teeth and cries when it is time to brush teeth. Sometime during the day when it is not teeth brushing time, tell her that it is time to practice brushing. Assure her that she doesn’t really have to brush right now, it will just be pretend. Say “its time to brush your teeth” and ask her to give you the “right response” which is “Yes mommy” with a smile and happy heart. Get excited and joyful too while demonstrating the “right response” for your child. Make it fun, be silly, and try to get the child to laugh along with you!) Peacemaker When situations with siblings and friends escalate in anger, teach your children how to be a peacemaker. Using this term multiple times a day will also help them learn Matthew 5:9. Ask the child how he can “be a peacemaker” in each situation. Idol of the Heart We often think about the problem of having idols other than God in our hearts but fail to recognize it in our children. Anything that they want so bad that not getting it creates a sinful reaction is an idol of their heart. Even something seemingly innocent (like a sweet little girl who wants to wear the same pink dress every day) can be an idol. When this privilege is taken away, evaluate her response to know if this is, in fact, an idol. If you identify an idol in your child’s life, explain Psalm 24:3-4 to her and take away the privilege until you feel the child is ready to try again, placing God as more important than the privilege.
Ask For Forgiveness
Ask For Your Child’s Forgiveness! If you have a toddler, I would submit that if you are not asking forgiveness on a daily basis, you are sinning towards your child without reconciling every day. Some rare people were born with an abnormally loving, and extremely patient demeanor. Some godly parents have worked hard to attain this self-controlled gentle demeanor. If you weren't born with it and haven't attained it yet, you are going to get angry with your child on a regular, daily basis. Occasionally we will use code names for anger that don’t sound as bad so we can try to justify our anger or shift the blame for our anger to our child. Some code names for being angry are: annoyed, frustrated, fed up, aggravated, etc. Becoming angry in your tone of voice without repenting and seeking forgiveness from your child (even if it is just a raised tone of voice) is teaching the child that this sin of anger is ok. It already feels natural for them to become angry and have an angry tone because of our natural disposition to sin. You will be exacerbating what they are already prone to do, and diminishing their conscience towards anger, if you let your anger go without recognition and reconciliation. (Proverbs 15:1) Your children need to see you pray to ask Jesus to change your heart and attitude, just as they need to do.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

2010-06-29T23:49:00.000-07:00

Justin is 34 today, and although that might sound old, I can truly say Justin is young at heart! He has such a youthful energy and glow about him everyday, I often forget he is not still in his mid twenties. It is hard to believe that I met him more than 10 years ago when he was just 23 and I was 20!! We were just kids! As years have been added to Justin, so has wisdom, discernment, grace, humility, and boldness for Christ. Justin has surpassed my wildest expectations of a godly husband and father. A God fearing husband is a precious gift from the Lord, and I am so thankful for mine. Every day Justin's example to me of hard work causes me to be a better, more effective person. I love you Jus and I love the marriage and precious girls God has given us! Praise to Jesus Christ and Him alone for all good in my life!

And a special shout out to Justin's beautiful mother on this wonderful day! She bore Justin and his twin brother Casey like a true maternal champion, holding their restless bodies inside of her for weeks of reverse lamaze and being carried to the toilet. We love Shari Lee and are always craving more time with her!!!

7 Months Old Today!!!

2010-06-29T23:18:00.000-07:00

Our Sweet Katelyn is 7 months old! We can't believe our sweet little baby is getting so old. Katelyn is such a sweet, mild tempered baby. She can sit on her own now, quite well and she loves to sit and watch her big sisters play. Her smile is big and bright and gives me that overwhelming feeling of parental bliss and tremendous love for this little being God has entrusted me with! Kalena has taken to make it her mission several times a day to get Katelyn to laugh. This involves a series of loud obnoxious (a word i banned from the household for it's harsh undertones) noises that she repeats over and over again increasing in volume. While mommy can only take so much of it, Katelyn thinks it is really great and now laughs multiple times a day at Kalena. She has really figured out a lot of little special things to make Katelyn laugh and it is very precious. Sara loves her baby sister too and whenever Katlyn comes down from a nap, Sara yells "Katelyns awake" at the top of her lungs. She then runs to her and in a soft very high pitch squeaky voice talks baby talk to katelyn, saying, "Oh you are so cute and precious, I just can't stand it" or something of the sort. Neither of the girls really has a handle on being gentle with Katelyn yet so she gets roughed around quite a bit, but seems to enjoy her sisters regardless. In the past week she has gotten up on all fours (hands and knees) and I think is close to taking some first attempts at crawling! This is much sooner than her sisters, who both crawled about about 10 months! I love my little Katelyn so much!!! My favorite times with her each day are when she first wakes up and wants to be cuddled. We snuggle together and she just burries her face into my neck. It is the sweetest thing and something i look forward to everyday. She also loves to press her face against my cheek, which is just too sweet I simply can't stand it!!!

I am praying for my sweet little Katelyn to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Creator who created her so perfectly! I pray she will come to know Him at an early age, and be a woman who praises God and loves and serves him with all her heart, mind, soul and strength.

Q & A With John MacArthur

2010-06-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

April 18th, 2010. Questions and Answers with John MacArthur at Grace Community Church

QUESTION: Hi, I’m a Catholic. I’ve been a Catholic all of my life, that’s 75 years. The question I’m going to ask is a very, very basic and has been bothering me for many, many years of my adult life. To the billions of non-Christian denominations, I’m talking about the Jewish, the Buddhists, the Profuciests, Mormons and so forth that truly believe in their faith, that lived a very good life according to their faith. My question is, is there salvation...a heaven for them? Or all they all condemned to hell?

JOHN: Yeah, that’s a very good question. What’s your name?

CHARLIE: Charlie...........Simmons

JOHN: Hi, Charlie. That’s a very good question, Charlie.
The answer to that from the Word of God is they will all perish in hell because there is only one way to go to heaven. There’s no salvation in any other name than the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus said “You will die in your sins,” to the Jewish leaders, “because you believe not on Me...because you believe not on Me.” “God, that familiar John 3:16, so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes on Him shall not perish.”

There’s only one heaven and there’s only one way into heaven and that is through faith in Christ. It is the only hope, that is why we are told to go to the ends of the earth, preach the gospel to every creature. So all who perish without the knowledge of Christ, die in their sins and go everlastingly to hell.

Now the degree of punishment in hell will vary. But what makes it vary is not the goodness of the person because no person is good before God, no person. Only God is good and Jesus said that. No person is good, no person is good enough to earn heaven. The only difference in hell will be that the people who heard about Jesus Christ and rejected Him will have a greater punishment than the people who didn’t hear about Him. They will all be punished, but those who knew about Christ and didn’t receive Christ will have the greater punishment. That’s Hebrews, “How much sorer, or greater will be the punishment of those who trampled underfoot the blood of the covenant and counted the work of Christ, as it were, an unholy thing, rejected Christ.”

Now the other thing to say is this, that even if you believe in Christ, even if you believe in Christ as God and Christ dying on the cross and Christ being raised from the dead and Christ being Lord, and all those things, that may not be enough to get you into heaven either because in Matthew 7 it says, “Many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, we did this in Your name and that in Your name.’ And He’ll say, ‘Depart from Me, I never knew you.’” So you can know about Christ and you can know that He lived a holy life and was born of a virgin and that He died on the cross and He rose from the dead and ascended to heaven and reigns and is returning and not go to heaven.

But here’s the key. You must trust Christ for your salvation alone and reject any works of your own as having any contribution to your salvation.

JOHN: It doesn’t matter how many times you went to church, it doesn’t matter how many humanly good deeds you did, it doesn’t matter how many times you took the Mass, for example, in a Catholic situation, it doesn’t matter how many times you went to Confession, it doesn’t matter how bad you felt about the sins that you did, it doesn’t matter how many rosaries you said, it doesn’t matter any of those things...none of those things individually and all of those things collectively cannot save a person. A person will be saved by faith in Christ alone, recognizing that in my flesh dwells no good thing, by the deeds of the Law will not flesh be justified. You can’t earn your way in by being good. You can only receive salvation when you know you’re not good enough and you cry out to be forgiven of your sin by the sheer grace of God based upon the death and provision of Christ on the cross. Okay?

CHARLIE: Oh one last thing, I meant to add this. I am leaving the Catholic Church and hope to join this church.

JOHN: We welcome you. (Applause) Now you folks over there, you folks over there need to open your arms to Charlie, right? Let him know we love having him here.

You understand the gospel, right? The way I explained it? All right, Charlie, never too late, right? You’re the youngest-looking 75. What happened to me? I don’t get it. Okay. Alright.

[This has been taken from the Grace To You website.]

Kalena's First Prayer

2010-06-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

This was what I was so blessed to have witnessed:
Kalena and Sara were playing "school", and it was lunchtime at the school. They sat down at their little table, about 10 feet from me where I was working on the computer. Kalena said it was time to pray and asked Sara to hold her hands. Then they both bowed their heads and closed their eyes. Kalena began to pray. I scrambled to get something to write it down with. Here is what I caught of the last half of the prayer: "Thank you for our childs (she meant their baby dolls), thank you for the sky, (then she paused to think) thank you for all the things (lets go of Sara's hand to wave her hand around) that bless me. In your name, Amen." It was so sweet to hear Kalena pray. We have asked her numerous times before if she wanted to pray and she has always said "no", and that she doesn't know what to pray for. This was indeed music to my ears!!!

Amazing Banana Bread!

2010-06-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

Banana Bread
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 bananas)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease and flour one 9-inch loaf pan or several smaller pans. In a large bowl, cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and mix well. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; combine with the butter mixture. Add the bananas, sour cream and vanilla; stir well. fold in the nuts. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 1 hour, or until a wooden pick inserted near the center of the loaf comes out clean. cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out into a rack. Makes 1 loaf.
*Works with whole wheat flour too!

Sara is 2!!!

2010-06-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

Last month our sweet Sara Bear Cakes turned two years old! Here are some of our thoughts about Sara. Sara is the funniest little girl. She is smiling and laughing all the time and constantly trying to make us do the same. She is usually successful. Sara is a bundle of fun wrapped up in a small yet still squishy body that just begs to be squeezed and cuddled. She usually wakes up with a smile and an enthusiastic "Hi Mommy, Im awake!" She doesn't say her S's or her R's yet so it is our favorite thing to ask her what her name is "Thawa Gwath" She has a favorite baby doll she has affectionately named "Baby Mosif" (can't say the s on the end of moses). Kalena has a baby doll who is "Baby Jesus". So when playing dolls, Sara is usually Joseph and Kalena is Mary and repeats often that Joseph is her husband and they are in love with each other. When not playing joseph, she is Moses's mother, Jachobed (hilarious to hear Sara try to say that one!) Sara loves Dora the Explora, Boots, Poo Bear, and her Sea Horse (a pink seahorse that's belly lights up and plays classical music). She loves to read also, and every time I finish a book she yells "Again!". Her speech has become so clear and her sentences are very verbose. She uses "really" a lot, *substitute the r for a w ("I welly want a cookie") and one of her favorite phrases is "I bumped myself!" She is bumping her self a lot because she never walks anywhere. If it is more than two steps, she is usually running. She also has learned how to decapitate her "My Little Pony" and recently decapitated an angel doll (grammy had to sew it back together). She has lost the privilege of using markers because aside from eating them, she can not sit contained with a marker, she must be running around the house marking on things. She got into my sharpies the other day and drew on the couch's arm chair, coffee table, another chair, and all over her baby doll's head. After many spankings, I have decided to wait on giving Sara markers. I give her white chalk only. So far she hasn't eaten any, and anything it gets on can be easily wiped off. I have been letting her draw on the kitchen floor with chalk. she loves it. She adores Kalena and follows her around the house. She also adores Katelyn and is constantly hugging, kissing, and playing with her. When Grammy gave her a special treat of a Jamba Juice today, she said "Thank you for my pajama juice!" Sara is a treasure that we are so blessed to have around us all day long. We just can't get enough of her. I get sad when it is time to say good night to Sara. She makes everyone in the house a happier person, her laughter and humor are so contagious. We adore Sara, and are praying that she will become a woman who fears and honors the Lord. Thank you God for giving us our Sara Bear!

Praying for my Girls

2010-05-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

I read this on "Bring the Rain" blog, written by a woman who has three girls. I love these prayers and the scripture she uses. I have decided to pray these prayers for my girls as well.

1. When they wake up: "Let the morning bring (Kalena, Sara, Katelyn) word of your unfailing love, for she has put her trust in You. Show her the way she should go, for to you she lifts up her soul." (Adapted from Psalm 143:8)

2. When they are getting dressed: "Therefore, as God's chosen child, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Lord, help her bear with others and forgive whatever grievances she has against others. Help her forgive as the Lord forgave her. And over all these virtues, help her put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." (Adapted from Colossians 3:12-14)

3. While they are eating: "Teach (Kalena, Sara, Katelyn) the secret of being content in any and every situation whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Teach her that she can do everything through him who gives her strength." (Adapted from Philippians 4:12-13)

4. When they go out of the house: "(Kalena, Sara, Katelyn), do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will." (Adapted from Romans 12:2)

5. While they are taking a bath: Lord, give (Kalena, Sara, Katelyn) clean hands and a pure heart, and let her not lift her soul to an idol or swear by what is false. Let her receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God her Savior. Let her be part of the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. (Adapted from Psalm 24:4-6)

6. When they are going to bed: "The Lord Your God is with you; he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, be will rejoice over you with singing." (Zephaniah 3:17)

7. While they are sleeping: "I pray that (Kalena, Sara, Katelyn) will do everything without complaining or arguing, so that she may become blameless and pure, a child of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which she shines like a star in the universe as she holds out the word of life-in order that she may boast on the day of Christ that he/she did not run or labor for nothing." (Adapted from Philippians 2:14-16)"

Kalena's Procopation

2010-04-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

While cleaning out the car, I left the girls unattended in the house (leaving the door open so I could hear their sweet voices as they played). Little did I know that Kalena was unraveling an entire roll of dental floss as she weaved it through various polls and handles throughout the house. Literally, in the time it took me to clean the car out, Kalena had T.P.ed our home with dental floss, with floss extending all the way up and down the stairs. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was making a "procopation." (?) She often makes up words. She made up the word "procoration" not too long ago and so I asked her if she meant a "procoration" and she said "no, a procoration is a necklace or a decoration." Then she assured me with a proud smile "this is a procopation!" I decided to allow her to continue (the dental floss was already completely disassembled, and daddy was on a trip so he wasn't going to come home to the chaos) but then later, to Kalena's disappointment, had to walk around the house and literally cut my way through the floss. This picture does not do justice to the masterpiece "procopation".

Babies Babies Babies!!!

2010-04-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

Our Sunday School class is booming with babies! I love every minute I get to spend with these ladies and all the babies!!

Psalms 121:4

2010-04-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

As I battle through each day somewhat sleep deprived, I am reminded that my God supply's my strength, and not my hours of sleep. My God is never tired and He is always available to give me energy! This truth is so comforting! My friend Sara made this cute burp cloth at a baby shower recently. How appropriate is this verse for a nursing mother at 3am!

From the Farm

2010-04-16T16:57:00.000-07:00

Michelle Gutie recomended "Farm Fresh to You"... so we tried it out. I love that all this fresh, in season produce just arrived on my doorstep!! I got this entire box for $31.50 (that is including the delivery). Everything so far has been really wonderful!! Thanks Michelle!!

2010-04-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

K: Mommy, why do we have to wait for the icecream to soften, i really want to eat it now!
M: Sweetie, it is so hard that even mommy can't scoop it out!
K: Daddy, can you get it out?
D: No sweetie, we need to be patient and wait for it to get soft, even daddy can't get it out
K: Can we give it to God to get it out? Then he can give it back?

Shannon was over with her baby, Ryle, and he was really upset while she was changing his diaper. Kalena looked concerned and said to Shannon, "we need to call my daddy" Shannon replied, "Oh, why do we need to call your daddy?" Kalena said "Because he can make people feel better. He is really strong."

Kalena plays with KidPix, a fun drawing software for the Mac. Often times when she is done with a picture, she will want to print. We are re-arranging our computers and the printer is unhooked. Justin came home from work and Kalena stated... "Daddy, can you help me? The printer is having a bad attitude."

Every time I brush Kalena's hair, she gets upset because it hurts. Recently she has been telling me she wants to cut her hair off. I agreed to give her a haircut tonight and was asking her how short I should cut her hair. She replied "I want my hair like daddy's. I want you to cut it ALL off!" I tried to explain that we still needed to have a "girl" haircut, but for about 20 min or so she was persistently pointing to the very top of her head, pleading with me to "cut it all off!" I finally just had to say no, and we settled on right above her shoulders. It was sad for me to see beautiful big chunks of blond hair fall to the ground, but i can't argue that morning hair brushing will be a bit more pleasant from now on.

Converstations with Kalena at 3 1/2 years old

2010-03-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

Kalena: Daddy, I made this picture for you!
Daddy: Oh thank you Kalena!! Can I keep it forever?
Kalena: Yes.
Daddy: Can I keep you forever?
Kalena: Yea, well, except for when you go to Bible Study.

Kalena: Mommy, Sara is messing up the toys! (repeatedly Kalena had been "telling" on Sara)
Mommy: Kalena, just worry about yourself and make sure you clean up your own toys you get out.
Kalena: But Mommy, wouldn't that be selfish?

L.A. Trip!

2010-03-19T18:19:00.001-07:00

We had such an awesome time visiting friends down in L.A. for two days! We stayed at the smalls house with the Lins and got to visit with the Gebhards and a lot of the Foundry crew at a reception held for the Gebhards!! We are so blessed by our brothers and sisters in L.A. It was such a blast to see the Guties (Weston is getting so big!!), the Casalis and their new baby Everett (sooooo cute!!), the Becks, the Tolopiloes, Hohn, and so many others!!!

Our Visit with my Grandma and Cousins!!

2010-03-19T18:14:00.001-07:00

Dulce and Galilea

2010-03-19T18:04:00.000-07:00

One of my best new friends in the Bay Area, just had the most precious baby girl. She is also in my community group, and has recently been baptized. Her testimony of how Jesus Christ has worked in her life is amazing, and an encouragement to everyone around her. She is a solid woman of God and I am so excited to watch her new life in Christ. He has changed her life and what a blessing it is to watch!! I am so thankful the Lord brought us together!! Her new baby girl Galilea is so beautiful, just like her mommy!!

OneLife

2010-03-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

Justin and I (and the girls!) have fallen in love with OneLife, our sunday school class. There are so many new friends we have come to cherish and we are so thankful to the Lord for this blessing. These people have become like family!!

Professional Pictures!

2010-03-19T16:52:00.000-07:00

The girls and I failed today at trying to get a professional picture of all three of them. My dear sweet friend Lisa offered to help me get the girls ready and go with us to Sears... she even had a coupon! I thought this was going to be great fun. However, the photos turned out to be not so great, the coupon didn't work, and the lady still made me pay the sitting fee!! I am now determined to take better pictures than the Sears lady here at home. Instead of paying $20 for two pictures, printing them myself for about $2. Hopefully soon I will get a good one of all three!

Converstations with Sara at 23 months old

2010-03-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

(Kalena calls out from the bathroom: Mommy, Im done going poopoos!)
Sara yells in response: Ok, wait for me to come and wipe you!

M: Sara what would you like for breakfast?
S: Actually...(with a dramatic pause) I want Cheerioes.

"Mommy, your my precious girl!"

"Can you talk the titty tat?" (Sara doesn't say the "C/K" sound yet. She constantly wants us to talk for stuffed animals and puppets, she will then respond with another animal in the same high pitched pretend voice that we use)

"Im happy. Mommy, Im so happy. (she giggles and grins proudly, then exclaims "Im happy!" about 20 more times)

Sara's favorite songs to sing: Tomorrow (from Annie), Away in a Manger, and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

"Mommy, look, my seahorse!" Sara's favorite toy is a stuffed seahorse that plays music. EVERY time she sees it she gets excited.

My personal favorite Sara quote: "Tan you tuddle me?" Which she askes EVERY night without fail! We love to tuddle!!

Conversations with Kalena

2010-03-19T16:12:00.000-07:00

Mommy: Kalena, what would you like for breakfast?
Kalena: Rice Beefys
Mommy: ummmm Rice Beefys? Hummmmm
Kalena: You know, that we make treats out of...
Mommy: Ohh Rice Crispies?
Kalena: yes
(later that morning)
Kalena: I love Rice Beefys

"Mommy, can we turn Sara into a boy.... because I want a little brother."

I stuck my head into where Kalena and her friend Zoe were playing;
Mommy: What are you guys doing?
Kalena: This is baby Jesus (holding up a baby doll with a pink onsie on)
Zoe: We are taking baby Jesus to the hospital to get a heart surgery.

Kalena's Questions:
"Mommmy, who spanks you when you have a bad attitude?"
"Why are there bad people?"
"How do big people get disciplined?"

Almost Two!

2010-03-04T23:15:00.000-08:00

In several months our Sara Bear will turn into a little girl! It is not likely she will have lost her baby chub and baby face that soon though. She is still our little baby who's cheeks we can't resist pinching and kissing constantly. Sara is the happiest little baby, we really can't imagine her any happier. She constantly has a smile and is quick to laugh at everything and anything. She adores Kalena, and the two of them have so much fun playing together. Their favorite thing to do is run around and chase each other, giggling and squealing with laughter. Sara loves puppies and gets really excited every time she sees one. She hyperventilates with excitement every morning we have Raisen Bran because there is a picture of a puppy on the box. I always cut it out for her and she likes to carry it around for the rest of the day.

Sara has had a blooming vocabulary for the past five months (since about the beginning of October and it is now March). She is now constantly stringing sentences of 5+ words together all throughout the day. She can't say her K and C sounds so she substitutes the T sound for them and she has a lisp when she attempts the S sound. My favorite phrase she says now (imitating Kalena) is at night when she asks me "Tan you Tuddle me?" She also calls Kalena "Taina" and Katelyn "tatelyn"
Recently when Kalena was done on the potty, and Kalena called from the bathroom to tell me she was done, Sara responded first with what I usually say "OK, wait for me to wipe you." Sara also imitates Kalena when looking at and playing with Katelyn she will exclaim "She smiled at me!" She used the word "those" for the first time last week when she pointed to some cookies and said "I want some of those." It is funny to be able to get sentences out of such a young little person. Kalena was later to develop sentences that are as long as Sara's. I have learned a lot about what is going on in the mind of a 22 month old. She frequently talks to inanimate objects. Today she was maneuvering around some big balls in our cousin's yard and she said "excuse me balls". When we were looking at the clouds today she reached up to them and said "I can't reach them!" She also like to announce to every person in the house when she wakes up, and always with a huge smile, "Daddy, I'm awake, Mommy, I'm awake!" She is a morning person extraordinaire. She is really just such a happy baby that even if I wake her up in the middle of the night (during road trips and such) she is just very happy and greets me with a smile every time.
Sara has also mastered the somersault, and is a very good climber. She is very strong and really tough when she falls. She is a wild woman when we go to the park!
Sara really is truly happy to be alive, and she makes us all happier every day. We just really can't stand how cute, sweet and fun she is!

Three and a Half!!

2010-03-04T22:54:00.000-08:00

Our sweet Kalena is now 3 and 1/2 years old. We love her so much, she brings such joy and peace into our lives. Kalena askes me to cuddle her every night before bed and I love it so much. I never want her to stop wanting to cuddle (when Kalena cuddles, she puts me in a headlock then presses her cheek against mine then rocks back and forth)!!
Kalena has been really inquisitive lately and it seem she is reaching a new milestone for her little brain. She has been reading easy words like mom and can. She can read and spell both her and Sara's names as well. The best thing she has asked me lately is "Mommy, how does God punish big people?" and "Mommy, who spanks you when you sin?" She also memorized her first Bible verse this month (Galations 5:22)

While watching the movie Annie today with our cousins, Kalena turned to me and said "Mommy, can you always be here for me?" It was precious. She also tried to tell me I had bad breath (after a spicy Mexican dinner) by telling me "Mommy, your air feels bad". Kalena is such a great big sister to Sara and Katelyn. She gets really worried about Sara if we are walking and Sara runs ahead or behind us. Several times Sara has even made Kalena panic and cry out of fear that Sara would get lost. She loves to cuddle Katelyn (clearly her favorite activity of the day :) and I hear her several times a day imitate me when talking to Katelyn when Katelyn is fussy or crying. She will say "Oh sweet baby, it's OK" just like I do, even with the same tone of voice. Kalena is so tender hearted and we just can't get enough of her!

V-Day

2010-02-15T16:18:00.000-08:00

Best Valentines Day Ever!!
We were so blessed to have a wonderful evening yesterday. When the girls woke up from their naps we decided to ascend a good size hill behind the neighborhood we live in. The recent rain had turned the hill bright green, scattered with beautiful yellow mustard flowers. We drove to the base of it and hiked almost all the way up! Kalena did it all by herself and loved every minute. She was busy looking at the flowers and collecting sticks. Jus and I toted Katelyn and Sara while spontaneously breaking out into choruses of "The Hills Are Alive." We got to a good spot and had a picnic dinner we brought along. As we were eating a heard of horses trotted down behind us and one even came right up to the fence we were sitting near. We were sad we hadn't brought any carrots! We watched it get dark and opened a box of chocolates to share. As we were eating sweet Kalena rested her hand on Justin and said, "Happy Valentines Day daddy!" It was so sweet. This sounds like a fairy tale valentines evening for a family with three kids 3 and under, and that is exactly what it was. Perfect! We didn't have enough hands to bring the camera, so we will all have to use our imagination and memory to recall the evening. It was really the sweetest time we have ever shared as a family! I am so thankful to God for each of my sweet little girls, and for my wonderful husband.

Cheerleading Practice!

2010-02-10T23:34:00.000-08:00

Vaseline

2010-02-10T23:20:00.000-08:00

I had that "Sara is being way too quiet" feeling the other day. I went upstairs and found her playing with a very large tub of Vaseline. She had stripped down to just a shirt and rubbed vaseline all over her entire body including through her hair. In her full attire of vaseline, she also clobbered the floor, a pile of clean laundry, and my sheets and bedspread!! It was a vaseline nightmare...and I tried to hide my amusement and laughter when I asked her what she was doing. She replied "Mommy... medicine." Kalena knew enough not to participate, but she stood by watching, fully entertained with big wide eyes... wondering what mommy was going to do. I wisked Sara to the tub and we washed and scrubbed for quite a while and I must have rinsed her 500 times. Two intense shampoos later, this picture is what her hair still looked like. It was standing strait up from all the grease!! Sara's skin also had a nice shiny tone for the next several days. :)

Sara Eats a Tangerine

2010-02-10T23:17:00.000-08:00

I put several tangerines up in the Girl's room thinking we would have it after I put some laundry away. This is how I found Sara a few minuets later... she had eaten the entire tangerine except for these few remaining scraps and juicy mess. The peal didn't seem to bother her... "yummy orange" she said!

Painting!

2010-02-10T23:14:00.000-08:00

Kalena gets an A....and Sara... well she gets an A too for effort. She really did try hard! :)

Flying Paper Cutter!

2010-02-10T23:05:00.000-08:00

This morning I had a little run in with a paper cutter from my closet; it suddenly sprouted wings and came flying at me at an incredible rate!! I am so happy that all six stitches are nestled nicely in my eyebrow. The cut (as you can see in the picture) even curves along with my eyebrow!! The doctor doesn't think you will even be able to see it once it is healed! As she scrubbed it clean (before the lidocane... not quite sure why the lidocane couldn't have come first) I thought of all the people in Hati who were undergoing much worse without any medication. My heart aches for them and all the pain and suffering around the world.

2 Months Old!

2010-02-10T22:31:00.000-08:00

Katelyn is already 2 months old! She is now smiling at us, and has started to coo. She has a distinct deep raspy little voice that we just can't get enough of!!!! We think she is going to be just as talkative as her big sisters!! She is a really strong baby too, wining, by far, the Bumbo contest. At 2 months she is sitting for 5+ minuets in the bumbo... the other girls barely sitting in it at 3 months!!

Bath Confetti and Poison Control!

2010-01-26T15:06:00.001-08:00

While on the phone with my mother-in-law today, little Sara came crying to me sticking out her tongue. I swiped my finger across her tongue and got a pice of hair but that didn't seem to do make her feel better, she continued to cry and point to her mouth. I got down on her level thinking I would shine a light in her mouth to find a hair bothering her or something... when I smelled a strange fruity smell. I looked at her curiously and she again pointed to her mouth and cried.. this time she said "flower". I knew instantly that she had eaten something strange and I ran to the bathroom where purple and white flowered bath confetti was spread all over the floor. I found the container (It previously was a tightly screwed lid with plastic shrink wrap around it!! I would have had to use scissors!!) Only about half of it was on the floor... the other half I am assuming went in Sara's mouth. I figured she would be ok, but since she was really upset, I decided to call the poison control to see what would be the best thing to wash it down with. The lady who took my call was very sweet and laughed along with me about my precious little trouble maker. She told me to give her milk and juice and that in the next hour Sara might vomit or have diarrhea. Thankfully she did neither but she did make quite a fuss for about an hour. Never underestimate the power of the Sara Bear!

Community Group!

2010-01-20T15:03:00.001-08:00

Within the Kaleo group at church there are several smaller groups that meet weekly, called Community Groups (thanks to Pastor Kent!). My Community Group has been meeting since October. Bethany, Marianne, Kaitlin, and Dulce have been an amazing blessing in my life, and I love them so much! God has blessed me beyond measure by these amazing girls and their hearts for God and His glory. The goals of our group are: affection for one another, discussion about applying the sermons, and accountability (the three A's from Kurt Gebhards... thanks Kurt!)
I find my self constantly referring to verses from the Bible in our group, but I can't always quote the verse exactly and I rarely know off the top of my head where the verse is. It is also hard for me to look the verse up in the moment. I am very convicted by this and want to change. I want to be able to quote God's word with authority from Him, skilfully and quickly. I fully believe that when Hebrews 4:12 says "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." it means we are to activly wield this sword of God's word into our life and the lives of others for God to change us. This is a grusome picture, a worrier with a sword swinging around causing massive bloodshed. However if we look at a different annalogy of a skilled doctor, wielding a scalpel to remove a tumor from a desprete cancer patient, it becomes a differnt picture. It becomes an act of mercy and compassion, an act of one person just trying desperately to use the knowledge and skill God has given him to help another. Extreme effort must be made by the brain surgeon who applies his knowledge during surgery but can come within millimeters of killing their patient with their scalpel. We who are serious about God's Word, must take this same extreme effort in increasing our knowledge of the scalpel of God's word, and our skill in being able to insert it into the lives of others. So, here is my plan:
I am going to resolve to write down every verse I want to quote during group (or any other time) and then keep track of them. Here are the verses from this week that I wanted to quote at our group:
Proverbs 11:14
Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.

Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

Proverbs 15:22
Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed.

I know there were more verses I tried to quote and utterly failed, but I will do better next time about writing them down!! I am going to try to memorize this series of verses about counsel. It is an easy progression, Proverbs 11, 12 and 15!

Start Each Morning With the Lord!

2010-01-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

“He who fritters away the early morning, its opportunity and freshness, in other pursuits than seeking God will make poor headway seeking Him the rest of the day. If God is not first in our thoughts and efforts in the morning, He will be in the last place the remainder of the day...A desire for God which cannot break the chains of sleep is a weak thing and will do but little good for God after it has indulged itself fully."
E.M. Bounds

Thanksgiving at the Shepherd's

2010-01-04T23:48:00.000-08:00

Sara having some Grammy Time!

A ferocious game of football including tackles on the concrete!

Kalena's Favorite Food- Drumsticks!!

2010-01-04T23:38:00.000-08:00

Play Time With Daddy!

2010-01-04T23:28:00.000-08:00

Road Trips and Bodily Fluids!

2010-01-03T17:18:00.000-08:00

Our Christmas road trip was quite the experience. We laughed about it then and we laugh about it now. We can't explain all the throw-up, they weren't sick other than having slight coughs, maybe car sickness? I have recounted the yuckey car trip facts below the pictures. (I had to include these amazing shots of one amazing Dad. At the end of our road trip we took a little time at a Carls Jr. playground... to my surprise, when Sara cried because she was too small to go into the play structure... daddy came to the rescue!! I have a lot of respect for Justin, this structure looked like a claustrophobic nightmare... and you couldn't have paid me to go up there! If you look closely you can see Justin and Sara peeking through the windows! He is sure a super-dad!)

On the way to Santa Barbara:

Kalena threw-up twice

Sara spilt milk all over her and I, and all over Carls Jr.

Sara peed while I attempted to deck change her on the back bumper (no luggage affected thankfully, just

my boots.)

Katelyn Pooped about 20 times.

On the way from Santa Barbara to L.A.

Sara threw up twice (and once in the night while we were there)

On the way to Yosemite:

Sara threw up once (and once in the night while we were there)

Katelyn pooped all the way through her outfit and up her back (and this is all not including the many times she spit up in her car seat through the entire road trips!)

On the way from Yosemite home:

Nothing out of the ordinary!... praise the Lord!!

Christmas!

2010-01-03T17:09:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We started in Santa Barbara with Jusitn's extended family at the Holly Oaks Estate. Every year this is one of our hilights of the Christmas season. It was particullary fun to have 3 pregnant cousins there! This was also Katelyn's first time meeting a lot of the family. Then we drove to S.D. to spend some time with Justin's family which, like always, was a blast! We ate a ton and had a lot of fun with a book exchange at Justin's Dad's house and a wonderful homemade pizza feast at his mom's (including a christmas poem from 7 year old Myia Lyon, thanks to Michael's brilliance :)... hilarious. After that, on the 24th, we made our way up to Oak Hurst where we spent Christmas swimming in an amazing indoor pool and being pampered by the Best Western Yosemite Gateway Inn. The pool was on one side of our room and a neat playground/BBQ and little forest was on the other. We spend several days swimming and playing on the playground and forest (a toddlers dream) and Justin even cooked us up some amazing turkey burgers on the BBQ. We then moved on a little closer to Yosemite to the Tanaya Lodge. This was fun because it was in the snow. The girls loved playing in the snow! We swam more, ate more great food and even got to go to a "story time" at the lodge, which Kalena loved! It was a great trip, and Justin and I had such fun relaxing and talking about how we can make this year better than last. We made some new years resolutions that we have been faithful to so far. (Ok, its only been 3 days :) 1. To have a family daily reading time every morning that includes Justin or I reading the Bible to the girls. 2. To have a family worship time at least once a week. 3. I (jenny) will not eat anything that is supposed to be dessert except on holidays (including birthdays) and small group nights. (the lemon bar at church this morning was a breakfast food, right?) We really want God to be more glorified in our own lives personally and in our family. I pray God will enlighten us to more new years resolutions that will change our lives in this direction throughout the new year. Yeah 2010... bring it on!!!!

Sara was very apprehensive at first in the pool because she hasn't swam since she was a little baby. She was scared of the water and even more afraid when Justin would go underwater. She would reach for him and cry... asking him "Daddy OK? Daddy OK?" It was so sad!! As you can see in the pictures though, she soon got very used to it and now loves to swim!!

She didn't even mind having her head dunked!

Hopeful Post-Christmas Melancholy

2009-12-29T22:19:00.000-08:00

-by Jon Bloom
Each year Christmas night finds members of my family feeling some melancholy. After weeks of anticipation, the Christmas celebrations have flashed by us and are suddenly gone. And we’re left standing, watching the Christmas taillights and music fade into the night.

But it’s possible that this moment of melancholy may be the best teaching moment of the whole season. Because as long as the beautiful gifts remain unopened around the tree and the events are still ahead of us, they can appear to be the hope we are waiting for. But when the tree is empty and events are past, we realize we are longing for a lasting hope.

So last night, as Pam and I tucked our kids into bed, we talked about a few things with them:

Gifts and events can’t fill the soul. God gives us such things to enjoy. They are expressions of his generosity as well as ours, but gifts and celebrations themselves are not designed to satisfy. They're designed to point us to the Giver. Gifts are like sunbeams. We are not meant to love sunbeams but the Sun.
Putting our hope in gifts will leave us empty. Many people live their lives looking for the right sunbeam to make them happy. But if we depend on anything in the world to satisfy our soul’s deepest desire, it will eventually leave us with that post-Christmas soul-ache. We will ask, “Is that all?” because we know deep down that’s not all there is. We are designed to treasure a Person, not his things.
It is more blessed to give than receive. What kind of happiness this Christmas felt richer, getting the presents that you wanted or making someone else happy with something that you gave to them? Receiving is a blessing, but Jesus is right—giving is a greater blessing. A greedy soul lives in a small, lonely world. A generous soul lives in a wide world of love.
It’s just like God to let the glitter and flash of the celebrations (even in his honor) to pass and then to come to us in the quiet, even melancholic void they leave. Because often that’s when we are most likely to understand the hope he intends for us to have at Christmas.

-Desiringgod.org

Why Do You Think Christianity Is True?

2009-12-29T22:04:00.000-08:00

By: John Piper

Why do you think Christianity is true?
What compelling evidence do you see for it?

You can come at the truth of Christianity through several angles of apologetics and reasoning. Let me mention a few and tell you the one that is most existentially real for me.

1) One would be historical. I think arguments can be mounted that are solid and compelling—first for the existence of Jesus, and then for the death and the resurrection of Jesus—to give an account for why the apostles were the way they were after his death.

The arguments that Pannenberg and Evangelicals have developed for the resurrection of the dead—Who Moved the Stone?-type arguments—are strong and have helped many people get over the barrier. Because if Jesus has been raised from the dead, never to die again, and ascended into heaven, then we should take very seriously and credit what he said about himself. So that's one line of evidence.

2) A second line of evidence is called presuppositional. It says that without God and the Bible as an assumption all of our reasoning processes and all of our perceiving processes are not possible.

In other words, every time we start thinking and every time we start perceiving, something is happening in our heads which assumes something. And if you're going to have any kind of credible conversation about what you're thinking or about what you're seeing, then you are assuming certain laws of logic, causality, and existence which can't have any absolute significance unless they're rooted in God.

So everybody is talking nonsense, but hardly anybody will say, "We're all just animals talking nonsense." Even those who are total secular, naturalistic evolutionists don't like to be treated like animals.

When a dog barks, I don't assume he's writing poetry. But when a man puts poetry down, I assume he wants me to take him seriously as a human being who has serious meaning there. He doesn't like it if I say, "O that's just chicken scratch!" So he's assuming something unbelievably profound about the significance and the basis of what he's doing, which he couldn't do unless he had a Christian construction of God.

So that's the presuppositional angle. Here's the third one, and the last one that is most significant to me.

3) How do you, when you want to decide if someone's testimony or witness is true? You weren't there. There were no videos. There was no recording. And you have to decide whether what he's saying happened actually happened.

When I read the Bible, that's the way I feel I am. I'm reading Paul, say, the 13 letters of the Apostle Paul. And he's telling me he saw the Lord Jesus, that he was knocked off of his donkey on the Damascus road, saw the Lord Jesus, was commisioned by the Lord Jesus, and now is inspired by the Lord Jesus. And then he interprets all of that in terms of the gospel.

I've got to reckon, "Paul, are you a lunatic? Are you a liar? Or are you telling the truth?" (Those questions are usually used with Jesus: "Are you a lunatic, a liar, or the Lord?") I think it's a good argument, and I use it for the writers of the New Testament, not just for Jesus. I know that I've got Paul right here in my hand, and I want to know, "Are you crazy?"

So when I'm reading the Bible, whether it's the Gospel of John or Romans, I'm asking the question, "How can I credit what's here, both the testimony of the man and the portrait of Jesus?" And I think there is a light that stands forth from the text of the truthfulness of Jesus that is self-authenticating. And there is a kind of character for the writers that stands forth that is authenticating of their solidity and truthfulness, confirming that they're not lunatics or liars.

If somebody said to me today, "Just tell me in 30 seconds why you're a Christian," I would say, "The portrait that I see of Jesus Christ in the Gospels is self-authenticating to me. I cannot meet this man and have him speak like nobody else spoke and not believe him. He wins my trust."

And then if they say, "Ah, but how do you know that that person is not being created by somebody else?" Then I would say, "Then the person creating him is just as phenomenal, and they win my trust. And if they win my trust then they're not lying to me." The Apostle Paul is not a lunatic. I cannot read the 13 letters of Paul and think he's crazy or a liar.

So those two things:

-the self-authenticating portrait of Jesus Christ that I find in Scripture, and
-the character-endorsing way that the apostles write their books and reveal their own trustworthiness.

© Desiring God

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Doing Great!

2009-12-03T23:46:00.000-08:00

Today we had a great update from Katelyn's pediatrician... she is gaining weight and her bilirubin levels are getting back to normal. Big sister Kalena also got checked out while she was there, and the doctor said that her cough and other symptoms were from a sinus infection, and not contagious! Which means that we were able to finally let Kalena spend some quality time with her new baby sister. Jenny got some great photos, too!

Katelyn Anna Lyon has arrived!

2009-12-01T17:32:00.000-08:00

We're a bit late on the blog update, but unfortunately Kaiser Walnut Creek didn't have wi-fi! Katelyn was born at 2:14am on Sunday, November 29th! God was so merciful and gracious to provide a very quick delivery, family in town to take care of Kalena and Sara, and so many good friends to visit with while in the hospital.

In fact, really good friends of ours, Peter & Lisa Maclennan, had their daughter Emelia the day before us and were just a few steps away from us in the Mom & Baby wing! It was really fun sharing the joy of newborns together, and they were so cute when we put them next to each other in a bassinet.

Jenny and Katelyn are doing great at home, now, and we're so glad to be back together as a family. With flu season in full force, the hospital wouldn't let anyone under 14 or with any symptoms in the hospital, so we had to be without the girls for a couple of days, and that was the hardest thing!

Katelyn also has a little jaundice and she might have to be readmitted to the hospital if that doesn't improve. We will keep you up to date and try to post more pictures as we are able. We thank God for His goodness expressed through all your love and care for us!

Reflections on Pregnancy

2009-11-25T14:48:00.000-08:00

I am two days past my due date with "Pops." I am realizing more how these last days or even hours of pregnancy could be my last ever because of our desire to do foster care and adopt another child. There are certainly things I will miss about being pregnant. I will miss the extreme joy and excitement of taking a pregnancy test and doing a double take when it comes out positive. I will miss thinking about all the ways I could tell Justin, and I will miss the way his face danced with excitement every time I told him. I will miss that first ultrasound where you see a little heart and all it's chambers beating wildly. I miss the feeling of love for a little being you have not really ever seen, but who you come to know and think about constantly. I will miss the kicking, jabbing, turning, and rolling of a little one experimenting with her arms and legs inside me. I will miss the little hiccups that distract me just enough to not let me sleep. I love the looks of sympathy, compassion, and the smiles of joy that my belly bring to the faces of those around me in the neighborhood. I love the way people go out of their way for me in the grocery store, and all the questions about when I am due and if it is a boy or girl. I love the stories strangers randomly begin to tell me once they notice I am pregnant. I will miss the smile that brightens my day from the girl at the frozen yogurt store when I come in for the 5th night in a row.
I thank God for the wonderful pregnancy experiences I have had, and although it saddens me for it to come to an end, I can't wait for the joy of finally holding my new daughter in my arms!!

Thank You Jesus!

2009-11-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

This year I have so much to be thankful for! With the delivery of our third little one coming soon, I can truly say I am so thankful for the three great pregnancies the Lord has given me. I am even thankful for the times of horrible morning sickness, that He used to grow and stretch me in ways I never imagined possible.
Because of my deeper understanding in the past few years of God's sovereignty, I can say I would be equally as grateful to Him had the outcomes of my pregnancies been different, if there had been trauma, pain, death, or sickness. God orchestrates the events and situations in our lives for our spiritual good. Every situation is a gift from Him to those who love Him and follow Him. The anxiety of not knowing what will happen with this little one inside of me can creep up ... will she be healthy? will she have the cord around her neck? will she even be alive at the end of the birth? Because God's ways are too high and lofty for us to even begin to comprehend, I can rest in the fact that He is sovern and whatever he wills to do, it will be for my good, for the baby's good, for Justin, Kalena and Sara's good. I praise God for that this Thanksgiving. I am thankful that I can relax no matter what happens, and I will give thanks to him in all situations. For those who love and follow him, there are none who have their days cut short, who have there heath taken away, or who are outside any situation that pleases God. God sends death, sickness, trials and tribulations for our good. It pleases Him. Earthly sorrow is can be very appropriate in a believer, but great joy, comfort and thanksgiving come with knowing God has caused all things.

Kalena's First Recital

2009-11-11T11:55:00.000-08:00

Kalena had her first recital last week. It was a "Reformation Recital" at our church, NorthCreek, and Kalena was the youngest participant.

As I stood on a chair in the back of the room to get a clear shot of my daughter's sweet face... I realized that I was fitting perfectly into the stereotypical "dad with a video camera" role. But, all of that faded away when Kalena spotted me and said with her loudest voice and biggest smile, "There's my Daddy! HI DADDY!!"

Unfortunately, I didn't get that part on camera, but I grabbed a few other clips and threw together a quick video over the weekend. It's crazy how easy it was to do... less than 2 hours.

Click here to view or download the video.

Fall Festival / Halloween

2009-10-31T23:16:00.000-07:00

Had to post a couple of pics from our evening tonight! We went to the Fall Festival at our church, and had a great time playing games, getting candy, and being silly.
Click a picture to see more!

Afterward, we did a bit of trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. The first two houses we went to had dogs... which completely terrified Kalena. Every house we went to she would say as we were walking up: "This house probably has a dog... Daddy, could you carry me?"

It was pretty cute.