My Hope

"My hope lives not because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that in being unholy, He is my righteousness. My faith rests not upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what He has done, and in what He is now doing for me. On the lion of justice the fair maid of hope rides like a queen." - C.H. Spurgeon

Wrestle Time and Chill Time

Our PC Caregroup & Caregroup Retreat ...plus a green thing

Our PC Caregroup consists of 6 couples.
From Picture:
(top row)
Matt & Siobhan Slack (from Corning, NY ...also good friends of ours from Metro back in the day. I used to babysit for their kids!)
Bryon & Jennifer Lockhart (from Cherry Hill, NJ)
(bottom row)
Aaron & I with Caleb & Tyler who got to come with us on our retreat! :)
Jonathan & Lilli Leslie (from Stillwater, MN)
Ben & Erin Wikner (from Gaithersburg, MD)
(missing from the picture are our dear friends, Luan & Teresa Nguyen from St. Petersburg, FL. We were sad they were unable to join us for the retreat!)

We meet once a month for couples caregroup with Gary & Betsy Ricucci (what an incredible blessing and time of growth that is!). We also meet in smaller groups of 3 for "fellowship group" (the guys meet every Wed. and the ladies every other). We also get together one Sunday a month (rotating whose home we meet at) for dinner and fellowship. It has been such a joy to get to know each of these couples and to grow with them in the grace of our Lord.

Ben & Erin Wikner arranged for our caregroup to have an overnight retreat (back in mid November). A family from Covenant Life Church graciously opened up their beautiful home for us to use. It was right on the Chesapeake Bay. (The water view below is right out the back door!)

What sweet times of fellowship we enjoyed! We ate together (beautiful and huge meals prepared by all the men), laughed together, spent time sharing all kinds of stories from our lives, had a time of prayer and worship together and took time to encourage each other with evidences of God's grace that we see in each other's lives.

(Thanks Siobhan, I borrowed some of these pictures from your blog) :)




Yes, we're eating a green shake (composed of kale, pinapple, lime, flax seed oil). Siobhan got us started on these and this was our first taste. We have actually, due to many different skin problems & health issues, started making these kind of shakes every morning. Joshua even drinks them too! :)

I've been tagged!

Okay, so I've been tagged by both Praise and Jennifer so I guess I better respond. :)

Here are the rules for those of you whom I'm about to tag: go to Your Pictures file go to the 5th folder open up the 5th picture and post it then tag 5 people when you are done. (I feel like this is one of those silly forwards that I never respond to so don't feel compelled ... but it is fun to see pictures from everyone.) :)
Drum roll please...I tag Amanda Welton, Megan Roca, Taraleigh Davis, Tracy Lytle and Jacki Guajardo.

This one was of all those who served through the Alpha course a few years ago. What sweet memories!

"Todo, I have a feeling we're not in Florida anymore."

Saturday afternoon we had our first snow! These are my flip flops which were out on the back patio. I haven't been able to wear them in awhile. :) Aaron and I were laughing because when we got out the snow shovel in the morning, we notice that our neighbors were just using their brooms. I guess it's a little obvious that we don't see much of this in Florida!



Right now it's about 26 degrees outside. I'm inside with our boys, eating hot soup! :)

A brief update & a cute picture of Tyler

I need to upload some more recent pictures but here is one of my favorite ones we have of Tyler from about a month ago. (Our neighbor, Stephanie, took it one night when her and Amber were babysitting)

A brief update:

We're loving the cooler weather. Over a week ago we even had a few snow flurries throughout the day. As soon as I'd get Joshua bundled up to go outside, it would stop and then once we were back inside and all warm, it would start up again. So we just enjoyed it through the window. :)

I love just being home with the boys. They're growing and changing so fast. Joshua is such a sweet big brother and loves to make Caleb & Tyler laugh. First thing in the morning, he goes to give them each a kiss on the head.

Aaron continues to lead and serve our family so well and so joyfully even in all the busyness of this season. We definitely look forward with great anticipation to our weekly date nights and our family times.

Amber left on Tuesday to enjoy the holidays with her family. She is planning to return on Jan. 6th. We're also planning to return to Orlando for a visit over Christmas break. We're so looking forward to seeing everyone!!!