Choosing The Better Portion This Christmas Season!

We received a Christmas greetings email from some friends of ours with the following encouragement. It was such a helpful reminder for me that I wanted to share it with you all too!

"But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." Luke 2:19

This is our prayer for you this Christmas. That you would treasure up all these things in your heart. It's so easy to get overwhelmed with so many things this time of year. Our family has been meditating on a little different passage of scripture this Christmas season but it's very relevant for us and probably everyone who reads this email.

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:38-42

Only one thing is needed: to sit at Jesus' feet. May we treasure up all these things and sit at Jesus' feet.

Our little boy is growing up so fast!

Here are some pictures that my sister took of us and Aaron's side of our family. Unfortunately, Aaron's younger brother, Adam, was not able to join us in the pictures as he's away at school.








RECENT MILESTONES: Joshua is now a fast climber on the stairs. We have to keep the gate up at all times. We do, however, allow him to climb up on his own when we can be behind him and it is so much fun to watch! I believe his record time is under a minute. Also, on Friday evening Joshua was standing up holding onto my leg and then he decided like a big boy to just let go and stand on his own for quite some time. He did this several times in a row. Aaron and I were just laughing because it was evident he knew he was doing something new. :) I had a quick picture in my head of our son standing on his wedding day as a man. I'm enjoying every moment but I know he's going to grow up so fast! Our life truly is a vapor!

Happy Birthday Mom!

On my Mom's birthday, I want to take this moment to honor her. I've heard it said that you cannot fully appreciate your mom until you become one yourself. It is true that I am just beginning to see how great a life of love and sacrifice my mom has and continues to live. Even to this day, she would rather be at home or at her children's homes serving. With joy, she tirelessly raised and trained all five of her children. I remember often my mom telling me that she treasured the years we were at home, knowing that the years would be short and that her home was her mission field. Often, I would see my mom on her knees, crying out to our Lord for strength, direction...praying that her children would come to know, love and serve Him as their Lord and Savior. My mom's life is a testimony that our God is faithful. I am reminded of these verses:

"Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him" (Isaiah 30:18).

"From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him" (Isaiah 64:4).

Mom, thank you for serving the Lord faithfully and for giving your life so that He would be glorified through you. I love you and appreciate you! Happy Birthday!

WOW

Well, even though I saw the sonogram at 6 weeks and it was clear that there were two babies in me...it has still been hard to believe. Now I have seen them for a second time...and it still seems hard to believe! :) I guess our state of shock should be ending in about 4-6 months. :) Okay, so are you ready for the real reason I'm posting this evening? I had my first appointment with the specialist today and was able, with joy, to have another peak at our babies...and even though I am only a little over 15 weeks, they were able to tell the gender. So are you ready??? The Lord has given us 2 more sons! Joshua has no idea what's coming but I'm sure he's going to have fun once they're here! I've been daydreaming today of things like big back yards and camping trips by a creek and making at least 3x as many biscuits for dinner... :) We are amazed & excited. We also are feeling very aware of our complete weakness & inadequacy...but even more aware of our great God, His sufficient grace and bountiful supplies of strength.

Please keep us in your prayers as we venture into some very full, busy and rewarding years of raising three young men whom we pray will grow to love the Savior and live their lives for His glory.

"As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things." Ecclesiastes 11:5

He's Crawling ;)

OKAY...the long awaited news is here...yesterday Joshua pulled himself up in his crib and today he started crawling! A big thanks goes out to his sweet cousins, Alyssa, Meredith & Brooklyn as I'm sure they all inspired him this past weekend when he spent the night at their house. :)






(These pictures were taken on our family vacation this past June.)

Relationships - A Mess Worth Making

As a church, we are going to be going through a book by Tim Lane & Paul Tripp. It's called "Relationships - A Mess Worth Making." Here are some quotes that I wanted to share with you all. As you read these, keep in mind that we are able to show such mercy & love towards others only as we ourselves have received mercy through the cross. "We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:19-20).

"Our relationships will never work according to our plan...This means that God will take us where we have not planned to go in order to produce in us what we could not achieve on our own." (p. 109)

"God sends the uncomfortable grace of trial not to crush or discourage us, but to mature and refine us. ...It isn't enough to ask for the character you need to survive the difficulties of life and the weaknesses of the other person. We have been called to minister to the people that God, in his wisdom, has placed in our lives. He wants to use us as instruments of grace in their lives." (p. 110)

"Encouragement is not just about making people feel and think better; it's about stimulating spiritual imagination. Encouragement gives struggling people the eyes to see an unseen Christ. ...We need eyes to see this one amazing reality: that we are Christ's and he is ours." (p. 113)

"A relationship without mercy is a relationship lived outside biblical borders. ...two definitions of mercy: (1) Mercy is the kind, sympathetic, and forgiving treatment of others that works to relieve their distress and cancel their debt. Or (2) mercy is compassion combined with forbearance and action. ...What makes mercy merciful is a heartfelt compassion that results in some kind of action toward the other person." (p. 134-135)

FOR SALE

It's true, our home is up for sale. We are actually planning on moving somewhere smaller and less expensive. Twins on the way and moving somewhere smaller? Yes. :) I was so encouraged today listening to John Piper's message, "Don't waste your life." (You can listen to it from his website: http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/1858_Dont_Waste_Your_Life/) If this world was all there was...if our life merely consisted in the abundance of our possesions...this would not be a happy move. But it is!

"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city" (Hebrews 11:13-16).

For more details on our home you can email us.

Catch Up

We want to catch up up to pace a bit with big brother, Joshua. He was born 6 weeks early on Sept. 6th, 2006. He weighed 5lb, 5oz at birth. The above picture was taken on September 11th. He weighed only 4lb, 14oz at this point. These pictures were all taken by my very gifted sister, Cheryl. (Thanks Cheryl!)

Sept. 27th, 2006

April 19th, 2007

September 9th, 2007
That's cupcake that you see all around his mouth. :) We had a family birthday party for him and that was when we gave the news that we were expecting another. (Little did we know that there were two on their way!)

TWINS!

We thought this blog may be a fun way to keep our family and friends up to pace with us. As you can see, lots of changes are going on in our lives. :) We are filled with faith and joy in our sovereign God. If we did not know that He was the one arranging our steps and apportioning our lot, we would have much to be anxious about. But we serve an awesome God! This is an invitation to follow along with us as we daily experience His grace and goodness through every joy, sorrow, blessing, trial and change!