Another Year Coming To An End

My, oh, my...another year is coming to an end. I think December is in like 4 days...how many days does November have? Either way...1 more month of 2010 and I have been a horrible blogger! I began printing our blog each year, well, I printed 2 years last year and I will be printing it again at the end of this year...I wish I would have done better blogging. I feel like I missed so many things to share in print with the kids. Am I a bad mom? I feel like a bad mom. I will most likely go through and post a bazillion pictures and they can just ask me about them when they are older. And when I am much older I will tell them all about them and get names mixed up and tell stories over and over, some that are right and some that I probably will make up in my old little mind and again I will think I am a bad mom, I should have blogged more. At 85, do you think I will remember blogging? Oh, I hope so. Maybe I'll be an 85 year old blogger and my children will still be getting "blog-to-print" books...oh, I can't wait!

Some random pics to share with the kids:

Told ya. Random.

a calm Christian?

So I have been pondering what to write for a while. I know I want to write but it doesn't seem to come to me so I wait. Today something deep happened and I think it's time. A big reason I write this blog is for Courtney. I have a fear that something will happen to me before she is old enough to explain things to so I write to her. I keep track of special events for her, I tell her through a blog and a journal just for her about things that are exciting and things I believe and ways she is and things I love about her and our family and about the Bible and God. So, this isn't for you, or anyone really other than her and Ethan some day but maybe it will help someone else out there too.

Now living in the "Bible belt" we are always hearing radical stories from Christians. Drastic life changing things. Amazing life stories I must admit. Salvation stories that will make you cry. It's an awesome thing to be in, to hear, to see yourself with your own eyes. But what about the "calm Christian"? What about the person that wasn't headed down the worst road you could think of before God reached him/her? What about the person who's story doesn't make you cry, who's story isn't dramatic or radical? Well, I have realized first, that ANY salvation story is radical. ANY work of God is absolutely amazing. But I have also realized that it doesn't have to be radical in the eyes of our world to mean something. I was raised "Christian". We were Lutherans, we went to Church growing up (when I lived with my Dad). We prayed "now I lay me" at night when I was a child. I know my parents were believers and the same for my Grandparents. I went to a Lutheran school for a few years in elementary school, and I knew the basics of the Bible. Growing up God wasn't a huge part of my life though, and honestly, I didn't own a Bible until a pastor gave me one when I was 23. I came to Christ at 23. Yes, I always believed but I didn't accept Christ as a my savior until 23 sitting in a marriage counseling after not even a year of marriage in a Baptist church in Southern California.

Ok, so that's the preface...the point? The point is I don't have a radical story. I don't have a story that will make you cry. I wasn't on a path of no return. I don't even remember the date I was saved! But I was generally a good person. Don't get me wrong, I had issues. I had problems. I drank too much. I did things the Bible specifically says not to do. But I was a good person for the most part.  But being a good person doesn't get you to heaven. The point here is there doesn't have to be some huge, big, dramatic, amazing story for you to become a Christian. And honestly, not everyone has that story. I don't get why those are the salvation stories we always hear in church. I'd honestly love to hear some every day Joe stories. I would love to see people get saved because they realize they need it, even though they are generally a good person.

Another example? I just finished doing the Love Dave book. Now, google Love Dare and you will find all sorts of amazing stories how marriages were saved and how the book changed lives in ways you couldn't imagine. And that rocks, and I am thrilled for those people. But I had a much calmer experience. Yes, it changed me. It changed my marriage. Did it save it? No, God probably did that. But it helped and it helped me see things in a different light and that is amazing and radical. But not the worldly way. A year or two ago I probably would have read all the other comments on how it changed their world and been disappointed. But now that I have realized there are calmer Christians, I am just excited that it helped my marriage at all. Because God is at work in me in His way. Maybe one day he will work worldly radical in me, but for today, I'm happy just being a "calm Christian".

Courtney in all her cuteness and my great mission

I'm on a mission...by the first of the year I will have all my pictures printed that I want printed and in books. I will be caught up to start a new year full of photos that I will once again forget to print. I was editing pictures the other day and I realized I have not printed pictures in months. When you take 12928129 pictures a day that is a lot to catch up on! I also started thinking...when my kids are all grown up, what am I going to give them, a disk to show their kids??? When I go to my parents house I love going through our albums, it brings me back to the moment, makes me remember things I would otherwise never think of...I want that for my kids. I so want that for my kids! As I was editing, I of course found some I have to post!

Last week for church Courtney was dressed down right A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E. And on top of that, she was acting adorable. Made for some adorable pictures I might say.

This is the first time she wrote her name all by herseIlf. Mind you I have NEVER sat down to teach her. I know, bad mom, right? You'd think so but before she was three she was writing C O U R T and I had never taught her, so I figured she would pick up on the rest...and as you see, she did. By the way, we LOVE these 'tub crayons'. They are at Wal-Mart for like $3.00 and are awesome. We have so much fun drawing all over the tub. Even leaving it up for a couple of days and it washes right off. 

Stolen from Perry Noble...you know it will be good.

Seven Verses To Look At Regarding Your Marriage! October 20, 2010

Earlier this week I asked our church to read through Philippians 2:1-11 every morning and pray two things…

• Jesus, let me see the areas I fall short in serving my spouse…and
• Jesus, let me see my spouse through your eyes.

I hope you are doing that and that God is showing you some amazing things.  AND…if you want to do a little more reading and studying in the book of Philippians on this subject then I would like to submit seven to you today…(by the way…for those who are unaware of this, if you will just click on the verses listed below they will automatically appear on your screen in another window.)

#1 – Philippians 1:27 – The first word is the one that gets me the most – “whatever!”  AND…please keep in mind that the Apostle Paul was in prison when he penned that verse.  If Paul can instruct us to keep a good attitude when he was in prison they surely we must strive to do the same…even if we are in a difficult marriage.

#2 – Philippians 2:14 – DANG…notice the word “everything” in this verse!  If we would simply submit to this instruction how much better would our marriages be?

#3 – Philippians 3:12-14 – Paul refused to allow the fact that he had fallen short of who he felt God was calling him to be…he was willing to continue the fight!  (Everyone is tempted to give up on their marriage at some point…but if we are followers of Jesus we should be willing to fight FOR it and not just in it!)

#4 – Philippians 3:16 – AHHH!  Most of the time we already know what we need to do and how we need to do it….we know it but struggle to apply it!

#5 – Philippians 4:5-7 – We should be gentle to all (including our spouse) and not be anxious…but rather present our requests to God, knowing that He wants for us to have a great marriage even more than we would actually like to have one.

#6 – Philippians 4:8 – How we think about our marriage (or future marriage) will definitely impact it…this verse is essential in reminding us to think the right thoughts.  (Also see II Corinthians 10:5)  We must fight the temptation to constantly think negative thoughts about our spouse and our marriage.

#7 – Philippians 4:13 – “Everything” means “Everything!”  Trust me…your messed up marriage situation CAN BE HEALED by Jesus.  He specializes in bringing dead things back to life!  In Christ our marriage CAN (and SHOULD) work out in order thatEphesians 3:20 should be true about them.

This coming Sunday we will be continuing the “Man Versus Wife” series by taking a look at what the Bible demands of the husband (or husband to be!)  Can’t wait…hope you will join us and bring someone with you.

Precious memories.

So there are some things that are just down right precious to me, and my daughter is one of them. The other day it was gorgeous outside so we headed out to play. She hasn't ridden her bike in so long so I was excited when she wanted to. I grabbed the camera and off we went. I don't know if it was the lighting that day, a mommy moment, or what but these pictures to me are just precious. I always think Courtney is adorable and beautiful but I think these pictures will always stick out for some reason. The pure innocence maybe? 

Ethan is TEN!

I can NOT believe Ethan is TEN, but, well, he is. He had a pretty special birthday this year. Chris, Dennis and Westen drove out in the motor home (also for Grandparent's Day at Shiloh) then we headed to Little Sahara in Oklahoma to the dunes for the weekend. We have some awesome friends that let us borrow a couple of 4-wheelers and we had a blast. Ethan did amazing, we were quite proud of him. If you have never been to the dunes, take a look at the pics below...this is what we were riding on. I didn't take these, I am a horrible mom and didn't take the camera out while we were riding. It was tough riding with no camera. :-)