Super Sunday: Part 2

Anna has talked to me for several months about getting baptised.  Since she's pretty much hardly ever missed a Sunday at church, she confidently believes in Jesus and knows He is in her heart.  She understands (as much as any 6 year-old can) that baptism is an act of obedience to God.  It's an outward expression of her faith.  While she's young, we know we'll continue to teach her more and more about God and what the Bible has to say about her life, so we're comfortable baptising her now and letting her follow her heart.  She has been ready to do this for a very long time. 

But, there's just this one little problem.  She's pretty shy.  Like, look down when an adult talks to you and cover your mouth if you actually have to respond. So the idea of going up to the front of the sanctuary for everyone to see is a little bit of a challenge.  She was nervous, but insistent that she wanted to do it.  But, she didn't want any of our family to come.  Sorry Grandparents!   We learned at her t-ball games this summer that the more relatives in attendance - the more nervous she was.  So, we didn't invite anyone to come.  And luckily, Chris was able to baptise her just like he did Sophia.  See here.  Did I mention the water was pretty cold?  There was a little bit of shock on her face when she got in.  

It  was a pretty special Sunday, celebrated with lunch at Applebees and afternoon naps for everyone!  I'm just so proud of her because I know how hard that was for her to do.  Many adults don't have the courage she had!  I love you Anna Faith!

The Great Abilene Campout

Last weekend we attended The Great Abilene Campout.  It was so much fun!  We had 170 people attend the school-wide campout on the playground and adjoining field.  While a few people didn't spend the night, we had 36 tents and a few RVs all lined up. 

These moms are amazing!  Carrying everything, setting it all up and camping with their kids!

Up goes tent city.

I love how my kids are all lined up below just watching the adults set up the tents -- like they're watching a movie!

Some of the dads grilled hot dogs for everyone and as it got darker everyone made their own s'mores.  In the morning donuts and juice were waiting for everyone - despite how early all the kids actually woke up! Seriously, don't they need more sleep than that?

The thing is, I normally supervise our kids like a protective mama bear.  And that night they had freedom they're not accustomed to.  The playground was fenced in and the kids generally just ran around for hours on end.  They all had flashlights and glow sticks and could play soccer, play on the playground equipment, run around in and out of the tents and just be free to be kids.  They had so much fun with their friends.  Many of the adults just sat around the campfire talking and we would catch little glimpses of our kids running by.  That was my favorite part - just talking to the other parents.  It seems rare these days that we take time to just sit and relax together. 

Our kids' side of the tent.  Plenty of room.

I thought we'd have to force our kids to go to bed.  But after the girls had run around for about 4 hours, they kicked all the other kids out of our tent and went to bed.  Awesome!  Sam was another story.  He finally went to bed around 12:30 when Chris and I left the warm campfire.  Then, he wouldn't fall asleep until he snuggled into Chris' mummy sleeping bag with him.  Cozy!  Camping out was COLD at night.  I know the temperature only said about 47, but somehow I was freezing all night long.  Not exagerating in the least.  I'm not sure how I could have been cold.  I had a great sleeping bag along with a blanket in a really nice tent.  But I just laid there and shivered.  I listened to the trains pass through town.  Who knew they came through so many times at night?  I noticed when the power went out for the whole town.  How does that happen without any storms?  And I actually considered heading in to the teacher's lounge where I knew there was a couch.  I didn't, but I really, really wanted to!  Luckily the kids slept better than me!  Though we all napped the next day.  I've really got to toughen up if I'm actually going to camp out at Yellowstone next summer. 

The camp out was SO MUCH FUN!  Little planning, lots of relaxing and watching our kids have a ball.  Can't wait for next year! 

Would you like cash back?

We were talking to the kids today at the lunch table about money.  The girls had mentioned wanting new winter coats because they simply liked another color better than last years' coats.  I explained that we bought new coats if they outgrew the old ones or if they were beginning to fall apart (which happens when you have three girls who pass clothes down to each other).  We don't buy new things just because we want them.  Big bummer!

I was telling them how we are trying really hard to spend less money and save more so we can do fun things like go on summer vacations and REALLY fun things like pay all of our bills.  Anna, my six year-old, just looked at me and asked me "when you're at the store why don't you just say yes when they ask if you want cash back?"  Problem solved in her sweet little mind.   They offer us money, we say yes. 

Wouldn't it be nice if it worked that way? 

It's not my life to live and I have everything to give

For a couple years now I've had the "Year of the Doing" as my general theme.  Instead of sitting back and watching things happen, complaining about them and saying "I wish someone would..." I decided to be that someone.  Lately, I've dealt with a lot of negative aspects in the areas I've been involved with. I actually joked with Chris that from this point on, it might just have to be the "Year of the Done."  We all reach that point where we work really hard at things and are emotionally invested in them and then something happens and we wonder why we even bother. 

I was feeling this way the other day when I came across a quote that made a big impact on me. 

“When you realize it’s not your life to live, you realize you have everything to give.”



I read this quote the other day on a Christian band's facebook page.  It's ridiculously simple and yet incredibly profound.  One of the band’s fans responded and said, “It’s not my life to live! He paid an expensive and extravagant price for me and gave it all for me! The very least I can do in light of such a sacrifice is to offer my all in return. Every last little bit of me.”

Wow! What an attitude! What if we all lived each day according to this?

After being impacted by this short quote I’m going to upgrade my attitude. I’m looking at this quote and trying to remember that it’s not about me. I have God in my heart and have a place reserved in Heaven. It’s time for me to give EVERYTHING for Him, not just a part of me.  Even on the bad days when I want to give up.  When people are mean and thoughtless and seem to enjoy making things more difficult than necessary.  It's not about me.  And I have everything to give.  Pretty cool thought isn't it?  

Adventures at the Doctor's Office...Part 2

Doctors visits are not my favorite part of being a parent.  I've made that pretty clear.  Let me just describe today's wonderful visit. 

Today we showed up for Isabella's 5-year well child appointment scheduled for 10am.  The doctor was on time and we got in right away.  We left at 11:20.  It started with the great news that a med student was visiting today. Perfect.  I know they've got to learn somewhere, but it's not always easy being a part of the learning process. 

First, he did an exam for Isabella.  It started with a couple minutes of silence where he looked at her charts and eventually hummed while thinking of his first line.  After a while he asked a few questions using words she didn't understand.  I interpreted and slowly we proceeded.  Quite a while later when he was done, our regular doctor came in and did a repeat and identical (minus the awkwardness) exam.  Just a thought, but the kid future doctor could have done his exam with our regular doctor in the room.  We could have saved time and maybe she could have taught him a thing or two about being a doctor.  Just an idea.  What do I know?

Then the good news came that there would be shots.  Awesome.  After announcing that, the doctors left and we literally waited 10 more minutes for the nurse to come back in.  "Quick and painless" is not the office philosophy.  Isabella had a long time to think about those 3 shots and spent the entire time crying.  By the time the nurse came in she felt the need to scream a bit.  Sam started crying and saying he needed to help his Izzy.  The little girl I was babysitting at the time was plugging her ears and yelling that she didn't want to hear Sam cry anymore.   So.  Much.  Fun. 

Then we got the even better news that we needed to go do lab work.  Of course, that means a finger prick and taking "a sample."  I'm not really sure what tests they use the sample for, but I hope they were important because when a 5 year-old is asked to potty into a cup, the mom gets the wonderful pleasure of helping with that process.  Awesome.  Oh, and try to manage two more kids in the process.  Easy enough. 

As the kids were buckled into their car seats Isabella announced that the shots didn't hurt at all.  So, apparently, the screaming was just for my benefit!  Good to know.  We raced through a drive thru window, ate in the car, and made it home with exactly 60 seconds to spare before the little girl was picked up by the kindergarten bus.  Good times for sure. 

Happy Birthday to my busy Izzy!

Five years old!  Really?  It's crazy!  Maybe it's because she's so stinkin' little, but it's ridiculously hard to believe that Isabella turned five today.  If her birthday were one week earlier, she could be in kindergarten right now riding to school on the bus with her sisters.  Luckily, she's just as content with moving up to the "big kid" class at preschool.  She's pretty easy to please! 

She has been calling herself the "birthday girl" for a week now and says things like...
"Shouldn't the birthday girl get to pick what we eat today?"  And "Since I'm the birthday girl, I should get to skip my nap today."  There's only so long she can milk it, but she's been able to squeeze every ounce out of this birthday! 

Sunday we celebrated her birthday with all our family.  She was extra excited because this was the first time her Uncle Chris and Aunt Catherine could make it to a birthday party - thanks for making her feel so special!  After we found these cute plates, we knew she needed to have an owl-themed party.

Here's the cake.

And the cake pops we made. 

Just a note, when the directions say "quarter-size balls,"  you should follow those directions.  Mine were bigger and some were a bit too heavy to be true cake pops.  I got a little lazy and let the rest of them be upside down.  Cute anyways and still yummy.

The birthday girl got to go out to Red Robin last night, which just happened to be kids' night with the balloon man there.  Lucky us.  Where the other girls are actually mortified at the idea of the waiters and waitresses singing to them, Isabella loved every minute of it! 

And tonight we're all going swimming as a family and eating a few more cake pops to finish off a week long celebration. 

Here are a few pictures from the past of my cutie pie

We love you so much Isabella!  This is going to be a great year!

Big changes heading our way.

There are times in your lives where things are just running along smoothly.  Your life is in order and everything seems right in it's place.  And then something happens and it's shaken up.  It might be something good and it might be something bad, but things change and sometimes they change forever.  Sunday was one of those forever changes in the life of our family.

Sunday at church our pastor announced that Chris has accepted the position of Associate Pastor.  This is big.  He's been doing graduate school for his masters in Theology for over a year now and in ten months he'll be done.  But this goes back much further than that.  We can look back now and see a long path that God has been leading Chris down.  Frankly, it's a path that would have scared the bejeebers out of us if someone would have mentioned this ten years ago.  Neither one of us would have believed it!

It started with us finding a great church to attend as a newly engaged couple.  We had wonderful friends that quickly became our "other family."  We got married, had our first two children there, got involved in our first small group and Chris started teaching Sunday School for the first time.  Next we moved to Topeka.  We weren't there that long, but we found a wonderful church home and Chris found some strong Christian mentors in a group of men who met weekly to plan Sunday school lessons together. Another small group and another baby added to our family while there.

Finally we moved to Valley Center and God sent us directly to VCCC. The church was a lot different than what we were used to, but from the very first time we visited we knew, without a doubt, God wanted us there for a reason.  We just weren't sure what that reason was at the time. 

Years have passed and we've gotten involved in many different church ministries.  Then last August God called Chris to start praying for one person every day for a year.  Thus the BLOG was born.  As he started doing this he also heard about a new degree program starting up in Theology.  Within a week had had applied, turned in all the paperwork, ordered books and was starting class.  It was one of those rare moments in life where we can say that God said to do something, and we obeyed immediately.  So cool to see. 

Then last February my Grandfather fell and was hospitalized.  He had good days and bad days, but in the end we knew he wasn't going to be coming home.  I had never really asked him if he believed in Jesus and I had a desperate need to know that I would see him again in heaven.  I didn't have the words, but Chris did.  And I'll be forever grateful that he had the courage to ask my Grandpa that day if he believed in Jesus.  It was such a relief to hear that he did and I knew I'd see him again.  During those days in the hospital Chris was able to pray for Grandpa and before he passed away he told my Grandma and others that he wanted Chris to do his funeral because Chris was his pastor.  It was such an humbling and honoring thing for Chris to do.  Grandpa was the first one to ever say out loud that Chris could be a pastor. 

All this time Chris was doing grad school he never really knew what he was going to do with his degree.  At times he thought about different ministry areas, teaching, or just using it for his own benefit and knowledge.  Then this summer, just a few days before heading out of town on vacation our minister stopped and asked Chris if he would be interested in the position they were creating.  It seemed perfect.  To work as a pastor in your own home church where you already know and love the people!  By the next morning he was able to say without a doubt he wanted to do it.  God called, and he was ready to say yes. 

Finally, Sunday it was announced at church and Chris starts in one week.  We couldn't be more excited...and nervous...and excited...and nervous.  Change is never easy even when it's good.  And going from a reporter to a minister is a good definition of change.  But here we are embracing this change in our lives and looking forward to what God has plannned for us!  Can't wait to keep you updated!