Celebrating Grandma Opal's, Grandma Keith's, & Noah's Lives ~ February 2017

*I recently switched up my blogging gameplay.  For now, I am simplifying my posts with the hope that I can return to my more detailed posts in the future.  Since I am still catching up, I am writing as if it was during that month.  Hopefully, I will be able to blog in the present again soon!

Giving God Glory

God is Our Protector

     
One of our friends' mom personally experienced the Lord's sovereign protection.  In her words ~ "A tree fell on the house.  Luckily it split on the fall and only this piece came through the bedroom wall. Not sure about the roof yet.  It grazed the deck."  The verse on the decor plaque is:

Matthew 28:20 ~ ...Behold, I am with you always...

Marriage Memories

We thank the Lord for giving us unity and direction for where He may be leading us to serve at our church.  I had been very excited about a children's outreach ministry ~ weekly Bible club that our church does at a public elementary school.  Wes and I had planned on not taking on any additional commitments for a year after we moved in order to get settled and to get a feel for Wes' schedule at Heartland, so I hadn't mentioned anything to him about it.  When it came up in our conversation of where each of us would like to serve "down the road after it has been a year," Wes went first and said that the Bible club stood out to him, which I excitedly shared, "Me too!"  The Lord ended up orchestrating and opening up the opportunity to begin serving as a family in Bible club this month, so sometimes - often ;) - our timing is not always the Lord's timing.  We're very thankful for the privilege to be involved as a family in sharing the gospel with children who have not heard much, if at all, about Jesus and the good news of the gospel.  

Family Fun

     
Fam all loaded up at the Columbus Zoo * Enjoying the variety of animals & exhibits

Wes teaching our boys Heartland's "Nibbledy Bibbles" game (similar to "Simon Says") 

Valentine's gift bags with "5 Love Languages" gifts

     
Celebrating friendship too on Valentine's Day with a cheesecake from family friends of ours... Yum!

Wes' Grandma Opal passed away unexpectedly, and we are grateful to live closer to Wisconsin so our whole family could go to her memorial service.

We enjoyed getting to see Grandma Keith near her 90th birthday while we were there.

     
Noah & cousins (Joey & Abby) excited for Noah's requested birthday breakfast of donuts & bacon * Samuel diggin' his donut

Noah's birthday party with friends got postponed since we were in Wisconsin the weekend of Noah's birthday.  We were grateful for family (thank you, especially Kim!) making Noah's birthday special in all kinds of ways. :) 

     
Making slime with the cousins

Birthday boy!

Noah News

8 years old!!!

Continued prayer that the Lord would graciously save Noah at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.
We thank the Lord for blessing us with 8 years of life with our spunky, energetic, observant, hardworking, and adventurous son!

Josiah Joys

4 years old

Continued prayer that the Lord would graciously save Josiah at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.

Praise for Josiah's spiritually tender heart continuing. - ex.

One of Josiah's favorite things to say lately is "I hate Satan!" since we had a conversation about how "hate" is a very strong word that we don't say to our brothers or friends and only use in reference to certain things such as hating sin, Satan, etc.  I respond to Josiah with agreement - "I hate Satan too!" and with asking him, "Who do we love?" which we both agree - "We love Jesus!"  Please continue to pray that Josiah's spiritually tender heart would continue and that we would help him have an age-appropriate understanding of the spiritual battle that exists (Ephesians 6:10-20).

Samuel Sentiments

22 months

Continued prayer that the Lord would graciously save Samuel at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.  

Praise for Samuel overall responding well when those teachable moments come ~ where we are seeking to help him learn how to honor and obey the Lord by honoring and obeying us.  Please pray that Samuel would continue to respond well as we teach him about obedience to the Lord and us (Ephesians 6:1-3).

Bro Bonding

Bros having fun with balloons & a fan... plus "underwear hats" for Josiah & Samuel ;)

     

Noah & Josiah wrestling * Samuel wanting to be just like big bro Noah at the library

    

Josiah & Samuel having fun in Samuel's closet with finger lights * Bros at the library with their bags of books

"Different..." ~ January 2017

*I recently switched up my blogging gameplan.  For now, I am simplifying my posts with the hope that I can return to my more detailed posts in the future.  Since I am still catching up, I am writing as if it was during that month.  Hopefully I will be able to blog in the present again soon! 

Giving God Glory

God of New & "Different" ;)

Isaiah 43 has been a very special passage to me during this new season for many reasons!  Recently with the new year, Wes and I have been reflecting on the various differences and some similarities of our past season in suburban CO Springs and our new season in rural Ohio.  There was a time where we joked that the word "different" had almost become like a swear word to us because we kept saying it so often of how various aspects in our new season were not necessarily good... or bad... just... "different."  The Lord is very gracious to not allow His children to get set in their ways and keeps seasons of life new and "different" ;)  because it keeps us dependent upon Him and growing.  There are times I have been resistant to "different" aspects of our season, and the Lord has been encouraging me to embrace the new and "different" ways He is at work because it is better (though I may not always see how at first) and is what is best for me because He knows what is best for me (even though I often think I know what is best).

Marriage Memories

     

Enjoying the "same" of intentionally seeking to spend together just the 2 of us in the midst of the season of "different" ;) * Wes expressed appreciation of who I am & all I do in a tangible way with these flowers

Family Fun

     
Our fam felt like we were on an all-expenses-paid-vacation when we got to stay in the Davidson Cabin while hosting at Heartland 
FYI ~ photo of Davidson Cabin is from in the summertime

A Heartland family friend Noah's age had a birthday party at Heartland while we were there hosting which worked out great! ~ playing "Gaga" game

Dodge Ball

Wes has been having fun with all kinds of projects to make our property "ours" ~ ex. railroad-ties steps (to help with going up the hill of rocks) and path to our barn (to help with the "swampiness" that occurs at times in this lower spot on our property)

Noah News

7 years old 

Being silly with a stickers beard ;)

Continued prayer that the Lord would graciously save Noah at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.

Praise for Noah continuing to grow in being kind to Josiah.  

I asked Noah what he would like loved ones to pray for him, and he said, "For more brothers and sisters."  Noah shared with me how he wants more brothers and sisters because that means he would have more friends to play with since he is continuing to grow in realizing how his brothers are his main source of playmates, especially with us living in the country and homeschooling. ;) 

Josiah Joys

4 years old
Having fun with some silly glasses

Continued prayer that the Lord would graciously save Josiah at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.
Praise for the Lord continuing to grow Josiah in having a tender heart spiritually. - ex. One time when Josiah and I were talking about how the Lord wants us to love others and specifically discussing a situation where Josiah was not being kind to Noah, Josiah started to break down crying.  I asked him what was wrong, and he said, "I hate my sin!  I feel so bad that I was mean to Noah.  So bad..."  I told him that I wish I hated my sin like he did and encouraged him with 1 John 1:9 that when we ask Jesus for forgiveness that He is faithful to forgive us so we don't need to feel bad anymore about our sin but can have joy that our sin is forgiven.  That brought a smile to his face, and he gave me a big hug.  Lately Josiah has been randomly proclaiming, "I hate my sin!"  Please pray that he continues to have a tender heart to the Holy Spirit's work (Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Samuel Sentiments

22 months

Continued prayer that the Lord would graciously save Samuel at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.
Praise for Samuel starting to interact and play more with his brothers and for Noah and Josiah overall responding kindly to him and including him.  Please pray for the Lord to give Wes and me faithfulness in parenting and to help Samuel to honor and obey Him by honoring and obeying us as Samuel is starting to manifest his spunky personality in disobedience more often (Ephesians 6:1-3).

Bro Bonding

Let the many wrestling matches begin! ;)

     
Waving goodbye to Daddy as he leaves for work in the morning from our front bay window * Bros in their favorite eating spot - "on the brown" -  in our family room 

     
Storm Trooper "Noahnator" vs. Darth Vader "Jobeezie" * Noah sharing his hot wheel cars with Samuel



Samuel wanting to color with markers just like his big bro, Josiah

Jesus is the Forever King ~ December 2016

*I just recently switched up my blogging gameplan since it has not worked out for me to blog for a long time.  I am simplifying my posts for now with the hope that I can return to my more detailed posts, since I really enjoy reflecting on and remembering the details.  So, I started back up where I left off and am writing as if it was during that month.  Hopefully I will catch up fairly quickly and be able to blog in the present again soon! 

Giving God Glory

Jesus is Forever King & Forever Constant ~ 
Especially in Our Season of Transition & Change!

Forever King! ~ Philippians 2:8-11 ~ Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Forever Constant! ~ Hebrews 13:8 ~ Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Josiah made the crown above in Cubbies, and I was grateful for the reminder of how Jesus is the forever King as we celebrate His birth.  It also came to my mind how He is forever constant in the midst of our season of transition and change since He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  I had anticipated that our family would be feeling settled and in a groove by this time after moving cross-country in August.  However, the Lord continues to keep me feeling a little unsettled and daily dependent upon Him, which the dependence part is good, but the unsettled feeling is not fun.  I have asked others who have moved how long it took to feel settled, and many of them have said around a year.  So, the Lord is adjusting my expectations and growing my patience for feeling settled and established, plus helping me appreciate His constancy more.

Marriage Memories

With all the Christmas fun festivities & also opportunities to serve, Wes and I enjoyed multiple dates together this month!

Having fun Christmas shopping for our boys & just being plain silly with trying on various hunting apparel ;)

     

Ready to serve :) * Enjoying dinner together with Heartland staff before serving underprivileged youth with food, fun, and gifts

Heartland Staff Christmas Party

Human Farkle Game :)

Family Fun

Fam fun hanging out and game night on New Year's Eve :)

J & Mom came to visit, and we took them to Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo.  We all had a great time!

     
Our fam * We also met up with Buzbees ~ good times! :)

          
Let the renovations begin! ~ Our boys got antsy on a cold winter day and asked if they could start taking off the wall paper that had been peeling.  They turned work into some stair-sliding fun! ;)

     
More renovations ~ I tackled taking off the mirror tiles on the bedroom hallway wall

Several 1sts in Ohio ~ 1st good snow, 1st snowman built, 1st time sledding

     
Also 1st time celebrating Jesus' birth in Ohio! ~ Singing Christmas songs together * Christmas Eve pjs from More Papa & Great Tache

     
"Happy birthday Jesus!" banana bread "birthday cake" * Opening gifts

Celebrating Christmas with fam in Wisconsin ~ cousins photo :)
Abby - 7, Joey - 5, Caleb - 3, Josiah - 4, Brayden 6, Noah - 7, Samuel - 1, Camren - 10
I think I'm pretty close on all their ages ;)

Fam game night fun on New Year's Eve :)

Noah News

7 years old

Continued prayer that the Lord would graciously save Noah at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.

Praise for Noah growing in loving and being grateful for Josiah, since Noah has the typical older brother provoking going on at times. - ex.
During our Bible time together one morning, we were memorizing John 1:1-3 for AWANA and thanking God for one thing He created.  Noah - "Thank You, Jesus, for creating Josiah and that he is my brother."
I asked Noah what he would like loved ones to pray for him, and he said to continue to pray, "That I would be kind to Josiah." 

Josiah Joys

4 years old

Continued prayer that the Lord would graciously save Josiah at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.  
Praise for God's grace in helping Josiah hide His Word really well in Josiah's heart and spontaneously making connections of verses to daily life situations.  Even leaders and helpers at Cubbies have commented on Josiah's love for the Lord and His Word and how he is a blessing and encouragement to them.  Others that have spent time with Josiah at church have said how they think the Lord has an extra special plan for him because of his tender heart to things of the Lord.  We completely agree!  Please pray that Josiah's spiritually tender heart would continue, that he would understand all the verses he is hiding in his heart, and that he would bear much spiritual fruit for God's glory and kingdom (Matthew 13:23).

Samuel Sentiments

21 months

Continued prayer that the Lord would graciously save Samuel at a young age and lead him to walk with the Lord all of his days, if that be the Lord's will.  

Praise for the joy of starting to see Samuel's personality starting to shine, and he definitely has one spunky personality!  - ex.
Noah and Josiah had a class together throughout the semester in which they learned a song - "Jesus is My Superhero."  They practiced at homeschool co-op, sang it at home, and seemed excited to perform at our homeschool co-op's 1st semester celebration night.  However, they both got stagefright and emotionally lost it right before it was time to go on stage.  Guess who asked to put on the superhero costume and join the group?...Samuel!  So, I took Samuel on stage.  He stayed in my arms during the song, but they had a "freestyle time" at the end, and Samuel asked to get down.  He quickly stole the show with all his superhero moves and antics and had the audience laughing along with him.  The kids started to exit the stage, and Samuel kept right on going with his superhero entertainment.  It was something else!  I eventually picked him up in order not to create too much of a scene.  That boy has always had the nickname of "Super Samuel" to us, but I think he just took it up to a whole new level and is now "Super Spunky Samuel." ;)

     
Superhero Samuel in my arms during the song * Samuel continues showing off his superhero moves (right) as the kids exit the stage (left)

Bro Bonding

     

Snuggling bros (Noah tried to hide from the camera) * Superhero bros

     

Noah & Josiah building * Noah & Samuel sledding

Josiah & Samuel sledding