Life Abundant

With Thanksgiving approaching, I can't help but document just how thankful I am at this moment in time. The thing about being thankful is that it gets your mind off of discontentment. If you're thankful, you can't be discontent. Colossians 3:15 says, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts...and be thankful." It's quite clear that God's peace comes when we're thankful. Paul talks in Philippians 4:11 of being content whatever the circumstances. He had learned the art of pure thankfulness - no matter what.

There are moments in life that are easier than others to find things for which to be thankful. I'm in one of those moments. Our heat was broken for a few days. Oh my, was it COLD!! I'm convinced God just wanted to stir me up a bit and remind me that nothing in the world is guaranteed - not even my warmth. It got fixed right before the freezing cold moved into the Willamette Valley. Thank you, Lord!!!

My family is healthy, my husband is still enamored with me after 10 1/2 years, my daughters' friendship is blossoming, and we're surrounded by family and friends who love us. These are just a few reasons why life is good. However, there are so many more things to be thankful for.

I'm saved! I did nothing to deserve the peace I have in knowing my Savior. I have recently had the amazing opportunity to see a friend come to a saving knowledge of Christ. This is a friend I've prayed for for over 3 years and have worked so hard to maintain a relationship with, though we often saw things very differently. Of course we did! I had a Biblical perspective on life; she had a worldly one. But over the last year or so, she began to change. Before my eyes, I saw her soften and begin to listen to the Spirit calling her to Himself. Then, one day out of the blue, she told me she and her kids would like to come to church with me. Then we began to study the book of John together, just the two of us. During the second lesson, she began to realize that she was still part of "the world" and didn't want to be anymore. She had been striving so hard for the approval of people (and we all know how successful that can be) and admitted that happiness had eluded her. So, while we held hands and I listened, she spoke to the Lord and gave her life to the One who had given His life for her. I was shaking out of shock and joy! And in the last 3 weeks since her rebirth in Christ, we have had conversations that we never could have before. We are truly sisters in Christ and it is apparent to me that her faith is real.

As a result of this amazing experience with my friend, I have seen God's Word in a whole new way. As I study, I look through her eyes and am blown away with the beauty of His truth and the power of a transformed life. I can't believe the awesome privilege of getting to be a part of her experience with the Lord. Not only did I get to plant seeds, but I got to be a part of the harvest and now the discipleship.

So at this moment in time, I just can't help being thankful for the simple things. I'm saved, Jesus loves me - flaws and all, my children are learning of Him, my husband is walking with the Lord, and our house is HEATED! Thank you, Lord, for giving me abundantly more than I could ask or think.

Platforms

This morning I found Avery trying to tie some Duplo blocks below her shoes to add some height. She was getting pretty upset that it wasn't working. I told her that even if she could get it to work, I wouldn't let her wear them to school. Avery continued to be upset and said she wanted to be taller at school. We continued to discuss the fact that there is only one other kid in her class that's small like her.

I'm sorry, Avery. There is no avoiding your genes. I was the smallest in my class, too. I had a friend from Laos named Vilavonne. I'll never forget her! She and I were smaller than all the rest. Everyone wanted to show that they could pick us up and carry us around.

Avery, just embrace it. There is absolutely nothing you can do about your height, except perhaps putting on some platforms. Preferably not made of Duplos. Although, we might be looking at a new fashion statement...

Things that make you go GGGRRRRRR!!!!

I have a laptop. I haven't figured out what button it is that I randomly push yet, but it's my enemy. I had a very long, boring, informative post almost complete on how much I love not drinking caffeine and somehow I pushed "the button" and BAM - it's gone!!! The whole post. I went to edit my post hoping that it hadn't auto-saved the deleted post, but it had. Now you, my loyal reader, will have to wait for another day. I know you'll be waiting on pins and needles, but I just can't subject myself to another 45 minutes of rewriting it. Where the heck is that button???

The perspective of a six year-old

As I was working with Avery on her lesson for our Tuesday night kids' church program (Club Rocksalt, very similar to Awana), she made a pretty profound statement in my mind.

"All the things we have on earth are just to keep us from being bored while we're waiting for heaven."

Memory Lane

We've settled into a great school year routine. Avery's doing really well in first grade and Allie and I are loving our time together. I have plenty to do with home, family, and church, but I'm not overwhelmed like I have been in the past. So I just decided to look back and enjoy a short stroll down memory lane.

I always loved this picture of the girls. Allie ADORES her big sister :) That was back when those happy moments were few and far between. They still fight, but have realized how much fun it is to have a sister around as your best friend.

I don't know why, but I just love this picture of Avery and her Crispix! Kids are so funny :)

Making Cider and Memories

My Dad has an old apple press that he got from my grandpa. He makes delicious apple cider every fall and we all love it! He promised the kids this year that they could help him make some cider, so we went over for the afternoon to help and got to see the whole process.

Allie, Papa, Roderick, Makinley, and Josh picking apples in the backyard.

Tons of apples being washed.


Papa feeding the apples into the grinder.


Look at that cider coming out!

Avery got to press the apple grinds down first.

Avery and her Papa.

Roderick and his Papa pressing the apples.

Allie gets her turn to press the apples.

Allie gets the first taste!

So first they pick the apples. Then, the apples get washed and fed into the grinder. Next, the apple grounds get pressed and every bit of juice gets squeezed out. Finally, the juice gets strained and poured into jugs. It takes a lot of work!

The kids each got to fill up a jug to take home.

This is just about my favorite picture ever! These are four of my favorite people in the whole world! There's a lot of love in this pic! :)

Tonight, as I sip on my mug of warmed cider that I regularly enjoy, I'll be even more thankful for it, knowing all the hard work that my Dad goes through to make it. I'm so glad my kids got to share this fun memory with their cousin and Papa.

Cheering for the Bolts

Ok, so I can't avoid it. I'm a Chargers fan by marriage. Rich is die-hard and I love that about him. It's fun to care about something your spouse cares about! The Chargers finally came to Seattle during the regular season and it was on the perfect weekend - two days after Rich's birthday. We asked our good friends, Tracy and Deanna Jones to join us. Of course they are Seahawks fans, but we haven't let that hurt our friendship :)

As we had parked and were walking to the game, Rich saw a Chargers foam finger propped up against a light pole. He said something about wishing he could have it. The homeless lady sitting nearby said someone left it there hours ago and she was sure we could just have it! So we took it!

This just made me laugh. This is the line to get into the building next to the game (they had games and promotional give-aways for fans). They searched each person, so they had separate lines for men and women. This was the one time the men's line was MUCH longer!


These are the women waiting for their men in the other line :)
Deanna and I waiting for the boys. What a good friend!!


These were not our seats, but we walked down and enjoyed the view for a while.

Beautiful Seattle! The Space Needle is in the left side of the picture.


Chargers taking the field.

Seahawks taking the field. It was fun when they called out the starting lineup and each player came out alone. The crowd was crazy!!! My ears were ringing the whole time. I've got to give credit to the Seahawks fans - they love their team!

It didn't take long for the guys sitting next to me to move over! Maybe there weren't willing to sit next to Chargers fans.

Tracy and Deanna cheering for their team.

Look at those pretty blue eyes on my handsome guy!

Qwest Field is just really pretty. I love that we still had a view of the city.

Sooo.... sadly the Chargers lost. We were quite surprised since they were expected by most to win. It was a close game, though, and we were on the edge of our seats. I was reminded that I really enjoy watching football. Sunday afternoons are good for so many other things and I seldom make the time to sit down and watch a game with Rich. It was just a blast to watch in person, though. This is the last Bolts touchdown that didn't actually count, since Rivers unfortunately didn't get the play off in time.

Exciting for Seahawks/Annoying for Chargers: 2 kick-off returns in one game - both by Leon Washington for the Seahawks. This is what the crowd looked like after the second one. Crazy!

I would have loved to have seen the Chargers win in person. However, the loss had very little affect on my enjoyment of the whole experience. I got away with my husband and some really good friends. We had great conversation, lots of laughs, and made some wonderful memories. Rich and I got up early Sunday morning and had coffee at Starbucks while Tracy and Deanna slept in a bit. This weekend was really about getting a bit of a break and remembering that we're a couple. Children are blessing - time away from them is a blessing, too! :) And what's this? I'm holding my husband's hand? Oh yeah, baby!