At Last....

Tonight was the beginning of a very good thing. Tonight I saw a glimpse of what true community can be. Tonight we started a care group. A care group of mostly younger couples with children, but not all younger which makes it exciting. There is wisdom to be imparted and shared. There is trust to be built. There are relationships to be formed, all founded in the love of God. I sensed His pleasure this evening. Because His desire is for us to share His love with each other. We grow in so many ways by loving each other. I believe it's that simple. Love Him and love each other.
We will move past the slightly awkward "where are you from" questions to "how are you really doing" inquiries. We will be a part of each other's lives, in whatever capacity the Lord leads.
It is so easy to become isolated these days. As long as we get an email from someone occasionally or even a phone call, we are all right. Or so we tell ourselves. I believe the Lord wants us to go deeper than that. We are beginning to see deep unrest in the world. There are so many signs pointing to the coming return of Jesus. There is an urgency that is building up in His people, those that are courageous enough to recognize what is happening. As we cry out "Come, Lord Jesus, Come", we must also see the importance of relying on one another in the days ahead. We will need each other like we never have before. To hold each other up, to encourage one another, and to keep each from falling away.
There are exciting and scary days ahead of us. Intimacy with the Lord and true community of believers will be the keys of preparation for walking through whatever is to come....

Preach it, sista!

Gettin' Rid of Junk (Treasure?)

This weekend, my friends and I are holding a garage sale. Probably one of the last of the season. When I first moved to this area, I couldn't believe the amount of garage sales going on. And they do it serious here- most of them begin on Wednesday and end on Saturday. We've decided to be lightweights and just do it on Friday and Saturday.
So I have been busily trying to get things together. I will be very glad when it's over....

Let's go on Vacation

This last weekend, we went on a mini vacation to Table Rock Lake and stayed here . It was a wonderful getaway. The weather was amazing and the lake was gorgeous. The vote was unanimous: we definitely all could have stayed a lot longer. But, alas, the world of audio called us (Seth) back to reality.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

Sailor "Jo"

Captain Elijah

Grammy and Papa trying to stay warm despite the rather chilly wind

Elijah enjoying the indoor pool

Apparently this is the monarch butterfly migrating season. I believe they start from Canada and make their way down to a forest in Mexico where they mate and die. We were just amazed at the wonder of God's creation as we saw hundreds fly over our cabin. I think we were on Monarch Route 101 because there were just so many. I found myself silently cheering them on, these fragile and beautiful creatures. Fragile yet with the strength to fly thousands of miles to get to a destination they have never seen before. Simply amazing!!

S-T-R-E-T-C-H

Seth arrived home safely yesterday after 15 days in Texas. It is so wonderful to have him home again! This is definitely the season of stretching (yet once again) because next week he leaves for another 4 days. I calculated this morning that he will be home only 6 days out of 25 by the end of next week. Thankfully, we all feel God's grace covering this new season of our lives. Without it, you would find me in the fetal position in the middle of the floor saying over and over again, "I can't handle this. I can't handle this." Amazingly enough, I can handle it. At the risk of sounding like a cheeseball, God's strength allows me to do what I need to do.
These boys sure know how to keep me busy!!

Eli's 1st day of School

Since this is Elijah's second year of preschool, his first day was not as exciting as last year's. I signed him up for 3 days a week instead of just 2 and he is going in the mornings this year instead of the blessed afternoon schedule he had last year. The 8:30-11:30 schedule is
definitely more for me than Eli. I figured that I might as well get used to it since he will be doing this every day next year!
It just amazes me how quickly children grow and change. I found a picture from his first day of school last year and compared it to this year's. The difference is incredible. He still looks like Eli (of course) but he looks so much older!

LAST YEAR

THIS YEAR

He really was happier than this picture shows to go to school today. He was a bit nervous about meeting the new children but he has the same teacher this year as he had in summer program. That helps the boy who has a difficult time with change.

Here are some cute pictures of our time with my parents last week. One of Eli's favorite places to visit when we go to South Carolina is Cherry Park. It has a great playground with his special "roller coaster" swing. I think it's made for handicapped children but it's one of the highlights for Elijah.


Josiah had a pretty good time on the swings as well. And what is better than playing hide and seek with Nana??



Elijah had lots of wrestling time with Grandad and Josiah had lots of cuddle time with Nana. Sounds like a good vacation to me!

Up Up and We're Home!

"I just feel so sorry for that Mom!"

This is the comment I heard from the back of the airplane as we were getting ready to leave. Friends, I was THAT Mom. I could already tell that I would be in for it when Josiah woke up around 6am and never really fell back asleep. Our flight left at 12:45, smack in the middle of his naptime. The flight was an express flight so it was a smaller plane with 2 seats on each side. Needless to say, we did not have much room for movement. This didn't stop the little J man because he was filled with that over-tired energy that only people who have been around children know about. Wasn't it Phillip in the New Testament who was miraculously transported from one place to another? You better believe I was asking for this kind of miracle yesterday!
As the flight continued, Josiah became more and more irritable until a full meltdown began. And lasted a good 10-15 minutes. The-longest-minutes-of-my-entire-life. There is a defense mechanism in a human body called shock. I think that's what happened to me...all of a sudden I was in this "zone" where the horrible screaming faded away in my ears and I just sat there holding him tightly in my arms. And then, by the grace of a very good God, Josiah fell asleep. And continued sleeping through the flight's descent. I swear, it was only the crowd's good manners that kept them from cheering when this happened.

On another note, the boys and I just spent ten days in South Carolina with my parents. We had a wonderful time just hanging out with "Nana and Grandad". Elijah is older now so he is so much more aware of his emotions. Last night as we were praying, he interrupted me and said with tears in his eyes, "Mom, don't say Nana and Grandad because when you say their names, it makes me miss them so much." Isn't that the saddest thing you have ever heard? It is very difficult living so far away from them but we are all trying to be more "eternal-minded". There will come a day when none of us will be separated....we will live in all of eternity with our Beloved and with each other. How exciting!!