twenty twelve

I'm one of those people who is always reflecting on things. I'm a ponderer and an analyzer. And each new year, it's like I need to sit down and put things down on paper (be it literal or cyber).

2011 was another incredible year! Natalie began this year as a little girl, Ruby, a toddler, and Charlie, a baby. And now Natalie is a preschooler, Ruby is no longer a toddler but a little girl, and Charlie is the toddler. Parenting is one of the most rewarding things in my life! These kids have made us so proud! They have learned and developed so much in this single year. They are also behaving better and showing signs of their maturity. I cherish the moments that we have had this year with them. We are sooo incredibly blessed.

Each day there are many choices to make but there are three decisions I made in 2011 that stand out to me. Choice 1: I decided (twice) to do a Beth Moore bible study. It seemed like an easy enough thing to do and an easy decision to make. And it is one that has brought me closer to the Lord. Choice 2: I made the decision to run a 25k (and Jordan made this decision as well). That was something that had seemed completely impossible to me. I truly believed that I was setting myself up for failure. There was no way I'd be able to do this. But I took it one day at a time and pushed myself further each day. It was never easy but always fulfulling. It brought me closer to the Lord, it disciplined me in many areas, it cleared my head, it gave me energy, it gave me alone time, it empowered me, and occasionally it gave me shin splints. But as you can see, the benefits outweighed the cost. And I completed a 25k race. Choice 3: was whether or not to go on the Guatemala mission trip. We did go and it was a life-changer. It brought me closer to the Lord, it was a time of some personal reflection, it was a time void of all fear, it is a highlight of my life. Once we returned home, we realized that there was no cost at all of going on the trip. All of the things we thought it would 'cost' for us to go were far outweighed by the benefits of going. All of these little decisions yeilded eternal results. And each of these things took some courage on my part. This courage resulted in opportunites to grow in my relationship with Christ.

This year gave way to some reality checks in the sense that the reality is the kingdom of God. My uncle Bern died this year and it was a reminder that we are not in control and we have no way of knowing when our time is up. But what we do know is that everyday counts, some things are deposits into the eternal reality.

So far this year, I've been doing some thinking about a resolution. In 2011, though it wasn't intentional, I was courageous in some things and what a thrill it was. So I've thought of some goals for 2012 that I want to accomplish and I'm going to evaluate them to see what is required of me.

Goals for 2012: to learn more about and grow in Christ, to sacrifice more of my time to my family to ensure that we are forming deep relationships with each other and with God, to be more generous with my time and money especially including random acts of kindness, to run 500 miles and to take better care of my body.

My overall resolution is to be intentional with how I use my time. To make my time count. To make time for devotions and prayer, to make time for Jordan and the kids, to make time for others, and to make time for myself as well. I'm going to have to be intentional about all of these things since they don't always happen on their own. Faith, family, and God's family are what I think my core values should be. If I discipline myself in doing what I can to take care of those most important things, then I'm hoping everything else on my self-improvement and to-do list will fall into place.

Happy New Year.

ah, the holidays

We had a great holiday season around here. Jordan was laid off between Thanksgiving and Christmas and though we really wish he were busier, it was also very fun to just hang out! We love having daddy home! There were many late nights, sleep-in mornings, family shopping trips, visits with grandparents, movie days/nights, and lego building. For once, I didn't feel so busy with the holidays. We had just as much going on but Jordan was a big help around the house and even gave me some breaks from the kids! He is back to work now which is also a blessing.

Christmas was a blast. It really does get to be more fun as the kids get older and enjoy it. We didn't get our kids too many gifts knowing that the grandparents would improvise- and did they ever! We had both immediate family parties on Christmas Eve. One in the morning, then church, then one in the evening. Christmas day began with another party and that night, we did our own little Christmas party with the kids. They were exhausted after the weekend but they did so great for all of them.

These holidays always seem to remind us of how much we have to be thankful for. We are all in great health, we are warm in our house, we have food on the table every night, we are able to buy presents for our loved ones, and most importantly we can have joy in knowing that we have salvation in Jesus. The only reason for the season. And my prayer for you, the reader, is that you have accepted this perfect gift and embrace it as well.

Blessings!

And here are some random snapshots of our holiday season:

Charlie thouroughly enjoyed playing with Jordan's Star Wars ornaments...

...and Harry Potter legos with dad...

and our ukelele!

Isaiah 9:6

mas chichi pics

chichi pics

guatemala

This is going to be a hard post for me. Maybe that's why it's about a month overdue. Chichicastenango. That's where we went. We went there to build homes for widows. We went there to be a blessing to the people. But we were the ones who were truly blessed. I'm going to try to keep this to the point but my heart SWELLS WITH LOVE for this city.

We worked through Pray America which has only been around for about 8 years. The man who founded it, Ron Morin, heard God's audible voice about His will for Ron's life. Ron has been obedient to that plan and Pray America is now responsible for bringing so many blessings to this city and the surrounding areas as well as the gospel to this Mayan culture. Pray America has created new ways to purify water (a big problem in this land), has built a home for abused girls in the area to teach them about Christ as well as to rehabilitate them, there is a shoe factory where shoes are produced to give away to children so that they might have a chance to attend school, and there are feeding programs in which hundreds of kids attend a bible lesson and singing/dancing time and afterwards recieve a free meal (which is a BIG DEAL to them). And then there is Manos de Jesus which is the 'branch' of the ministry that we worked out of. We built four homes for widows (each with a bunch of kids) and we installed 4 stoves (another big deal!) for four different families. We had a blast getting to know the people and building as well!

At each of the homes, we distributed clothing, toys, and shoes. We also shared the story of Christ with many children, young adults, and widows. The adults mostly just speak the Qui Che language but the children knew spanish so we were able to translate through them. And the language wasn't even a barrier! We witnessed many people committing their lives to Christ for the first time. And it was evident that the Holy Spirit was with us in those times! We sang around a dying woman and again, we felt God's presence. We were passing out shoes one day and all of a sudden, there were at least 30 people crowded around us and our little duffle bag of shoes. After a quick prayer over the bag, we continued to try them on the people one by one. And the last person who needed shoes got the very last pair. Everyone got the right size and the pair appropriate to their gender. God was in that, too! We just saw Him everywhere and we felt Him working on our hearts. I'm not sure why it was any different over there, really. At home there are also opportunities to witness, opportunities to sing in places we normally wouldn't go, opportunities to give, opportunities to love. Perhaps we're too busy, too self-centered, too embarrassed. I'm not sure but I know it's been tugging at my heart ever since I've returned.

We were so blessed at the feeding programs for the children as well. The kids immediately loved us, knowing that through our financial support they were recieving an extra meal. The program began with great singing and dancing that we joined in with, each of us in our own little crowd of children. One thing that really moved me in this time was how physical the kids wanted to get. They wanted to be held, hugged. They just had to touch. This must have been how Jesus felt, really. And their eyes just glistened with joy when they stared at us. We only knew one song that they sang, 'Jesus Loves Me'. We sang it in English while they sang it in their language. So moving. Next, a lesson follows the worship. The children would then all huddle around what must have been the oldest sibling or friend and that kid would begin to take notes. They would fill their one sheet of paper and begin to write on their hands... and then on their arms! It was so amazing to see this happening. Then the kids were led out one by one to get a bowl of food (rice and a little chicken). And upon recieving that bowl of food, almost every kid took out a plastic bag and began to scoop the food into that bag to bring home to their families. The host missionary of Manos de Jesus later told us that there was a time when he had held up a bowl for a child to lick it clean while his bag was full. I pictured these children as if they were my own. And it was heart-wrenching. Again, is this what Jesus felt? Is it what He feels?

Jordan and I had a tugging on each of our hearts to go on this trip. We blew it off until the night before we had to give the thumbs up. And I am so grateful that we said 'yes' to God's plan. We had a great team, we raised above and beyond what we had to (and actually our team altogether raised over $2500 extra!), we didn't miss our kids AT ALL which was totally a God thing, and we got to be a part of something SO MUCH BIGGER than we are!!!

God is still at work in this world. He is very much alive. Lives are being saved everyday. And we were honored to have been used to advance the Kingdom of God. So if you ever feel even the tiniest bit of a nudge toward any kind of mission work, even if it's right outside your front door - DO IT! OBEY! You will recieve a BLESSING! This trip did so much for my personal relationship with Jesus! Jordan and I continually talk about this place and we anxiously look forward to our return to this place that is so dear to our hearts.

As we rode down the mountainside, out of town, we sang together as a group 'God of this City':

"There is no one like our God

For greater things are yet to come,

Greater things are still to be done

in this city."

monstar dash

Jeremy and Crystal, Jordan and me and the girls went to Chicago on the Saturday before Halloween (which happened to be Ruby's birthday as well) to cheer on the guys as they ran in the Monster Dash. They completed a half marathon- their first! Jordan had been having knee issues beforehand and he was in pain after the first mile already. But he completed the race. (Now, three weeks later, he is still in pain and we're hoping there wasn't permanent damage done). We could tell Jordan was in pain as he crossed the finish line. Both of his legs were locked up. We had brought along his massage therapist for such an event and she was able to temporarily relieve the pain with the help of Natalie and Ruby as well (that's me trying to tell a joke).

We spent the rest of the day downtown shopping. Both of the girls took some of their money from home and each of them bought a necklace. There were many different charms on chains for them to pick from. In the end, Natalie decided on a flip-flop with crystals and Ruby decided on a stilleto high heel with crystals. She calls it her slipper bracelet. It was a gorgeous fall day and the girls had a great time. Ruby took an awesome 2+ hour nap. We had left home at 6am and didn't leave the city until 6pm. The girls cried for about 15 minutes on our walk back to the car but other than that, they were amazing!

rubyshoot

A small photoshoot. She is a hard one to get pictures of because she never wants to do things 'my way' and she has no sit in her. So I've got to just stumble upon photo opportunities and shoot away.