Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Today's the day . . .

Today is day #12 of Matt being gone (he was on an intern recruiting trip for JV).  For two little girls who don't have a great sense of time, it can feel like daddy might never. come. home.  

Something I started this past summer was having the girls make paper chains on the first day that he is gone (camps, Kriz etc.)  On the inside of each ring is a number (how many days left until he comes back) and something we can pray for daddy on that day.  Here is where we started 12 days ago:



Well, today is an exciting day because Daddy is coming home!  Here they are now.  



(One of my favorite things about this photo is Eliana's tiara - she wanted to look extra pretty for daddy.)

Ok, gotta go make an airport run . . . 

Friday, October 19, 2012

We like hats






Little Mamma

Maia is in a "baby phase."  She is usually carrying around a doll (or two), or pushing her little stroller, or telling me that "Babee Awesh cay-in'!" (if I'm not responding quickly enough to Alex's fussing).



Oh how I love this shot.  
Two purses, a stroller, a backpack and a baby in a car seat.  
Feels like my life :-)



Her baby is all wrapped up in the blanket.

People person

Alex is a little people person.  If he feels that he has not been given enough attention in a while he will start to fuss.  Sometimes I can pick him up  . . . and sometimes I can't.  So, I do the next best thing: I plop him in the Bumbo somewhere near where the girls are playing.


Works like a charm!

The heavens declare the glory of God . . .

. . . the skies proclaim the work of His hands.  Psalm 19:1



Taken outside our dining room window.  The picture does not do it justice!

Moments like these . . .

Students who participate in Kriz take part in a two week training time in the summer.  They also go to three weekend retreats throughout the year for more teaching.  This is one of those weekends.  Matt is mentoring a few students there and is also in charge of food for the weekend (yeah - word is out that he loves to cook and is good at feeding large groups.)  He left a few hours ago so it's just the kids and me here at home.

And this is part of my "new normal."  Being at home with three kids, three and under while Matt is at meetings, retreats etc.  I'll be honest - it's often been really hard having to sit out on things that I would love to be a part of.

But now I get to enjoy moments like these.  And I love them!








Thursday, September 20, 2012

And so it begins . . .

Life as a boy . . . with two older sisters.

(note the bracelet on his arm)



Lucky for Alex, he has a daddy who totally understands ;-)

Monday, August 27, 2012

Daddy will you dance with me?

It's been a busy summer.
Matt has been gone a lot with camps.
Earlier today he was in the middle of a project and I overheard Eliana ask,

"Daddy, will you dance with me?" (She had put on her ballerina skirt and waited patiently, expectantly for his reply.)

I could see him hesitate, busy with the project at hand.

"You know," I said, "There is coming a day when you would give anything to have an opportunity like this again."

"You're right," he said . . .


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Trust Fall at Kriz


(I just wrote this for our email update. . . . but I've included more photos here on the blog.)

During Kriz (the two week training time in Bible and theology), Matt led the students in a trust fall.  I just spent some time looking through the photos from Kriz - but it was the photos he took of the trust fall that struck me the most.  He took a photo of about half the students before they fell and another one mid-fall.  I began to notice a pattern:  

Alex trust fall b4
As each person 


prepared to fall,


their faces were filled 


with a mixture of 


nervousness


excitement


anxiousness


& fear;











But . . .

once they made the decision

to fall . . .

and they took a

step of faith

past the point of no return

their countenance

completely changed

every time!

Their faces changed to reflect

assurance,

confidence,

 but mostly

peace!


Here in the blog I can share more before and during photos:



 









 

 

 

 


As I sat and reflected on what I saw in the photos I felt the Lord was asking,
 "Isn't it the same with you?"  
And I had to admit it was true.  

How often do I let myself stand "on the top of the wall," my heart filled with fear and anxiousness, wondering if God really will come through for me. 

 But once I step out in faith, trusting God's power, His goodness and His love, the fear melts away and is replaced with his peace!

Oh that I will trust Him more quickly each time!

Kriz group hug

  

Group hug after the trust fall was done.
Having my parents here to help with our kids during Kriz was . . . incredible . . . at so many different levels.

* It freed me up to really be able to enter in to my times of teaching at mentoring at Kriz.

* It was the first time they have been able to visit us during our 4 years of living in Europe (2 years here and 2 years in Lithuania)

* It was the first time they got to meet their grandson, Alex.

* It gave me many great moments of "downtime" with them.  So often when we visit them in the States we only have 4 or 5 days to spend with them at a time, and we work hard to squeeze a whole lot of special times in.  (They live in Washington, about 2 1/2 hours from where we used to live in Portland.)

Oh, my list could go on, but I think instead I will let these photos tell some of the story of their visit here:







Oh how very thankful I am for their visit here!

Thursday, August 09, 2012

10 Years Together!

10 Years ago today I married my best friend.  


I knew I was marrying a good man, but Matt is so much more than I even knew back then.

More thoughtful.
More giving.
More kind.
More adventurous.
More humble.
More like Jesus than I even knew.

I love you sweetheart!

I look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries with you!

Thursday, June 21, 2012

A Prayer for Anxiety Casting


I came across this prayer recently and have referred back to it often. . . so I thought I would share it with you.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.1 Peter 5:7 
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matt. 6:27
     Gracious Father, I slept well last night but I awoke restless, fitful, and anxious. I know you tell me not to be anxious about anything (Phil. 4:6), but I am. Sunrise has yet to happen, yet I’m already looking forward to moonrise. Thank you for freeing me from the pressure of pretending otherwise. At least I’m not anxious about surprising, embarrassing, or disappointing you. The gospel has taken care of that old bondage and slavery.
     What’s going on inside of me? There’s really nothing enormous looming on the horizon; no one major crisis is staring me down; there’s no boulder I’m assigned to push up a hill like Sisyphus. It’s just one of those Mondays I find myself looking at seventeen little backpacks of needs, issues, and hurting hearts lined up at my front door, waiting to be picked up as I head into the week.
     So what will I do with my restless, anxious feelings? Father, I would surely despair if I didn’t really believe you care for us, your children. That would be the one unbearable burden. But please help me know what anxiety casting actually looks like today and this whole week. Help me live this day at the pace of grace—no faster or slower.
     Of these things I’m certain: you’re not calling me to be the fourth member of the Trinity; I’m not the whole body of Christ; you do promise sufficient grace; you will give wisdom to those who ask; and your strength is made perfect in weakness—in my weakness.
     Show me which of the seventeen little backpacks I’m to pick up first. Which ones don’t really have my name on them at all? Which ones will just have to wait? Today is a good day for me to remember the words of my spiritual father, Jack Miller, “A sign of your maturity in the gospel will be seen in terms of who you’re willing to disappoint.” Free me from the dread of disappointing people, Father.
     As you’ve promised, please send your transcendent peace to guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:7). So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ trustworthy and treasured name.

Father's Day

I keep staring at this photo.


When I married Matt I knew I was marrying an incredible man.  But I had no idea just how amazing he is.  Watching how he fathers these three kids makes me fall in love with him all over again!

This is the "book" Eliana made for Matt for Father's Day.



Matt reading his book.


Matt, you truly are "above and beyond anything I ever hoped or imagined!"  
I am so very thankful that I get to do life with you!

Bible Study

The night before I went into the hospital for my c-section we had our last meeting with our Bible Read-Through group.
What better way to celebrate than with a BBQ?!


From the left: Alex, Me, Ana, Petra, Mana, Judita
(Please ignore my lopsided tummy :-)


After dinner we had them get out their reflection sheets. 
(Each week we all wrote down one thing that stood out to us, that we felt the Lord was putting on our hearts.

After looking over our reflection sheets we each wrote down on another piece of paper 2 - 5 things/themes/verses that impacted us the most.

Then we handed out these plants and gave them a piece of chalk.


We each wrote on the outside of our pot the theme or verse that had impacted us the most of all. . .


 . . . In chalk so that we could change what was written on the pot as the Lord keeps speaking to us through the Word.


And this particular plant for two reasons:

1. Transferable - It is so easy to snip off a stem or two and grow another plant.  If they want they can pass along a plant to anyone they do a read-through with in the future.

2. Hard to Kill - I am pretty picky about plants - they have to be hard to kill. . . . probably because I usually forget to water our plants.  He he.


This night was by far one of our most precious times in Slovenia so far!

(And again - please ignore my lopsided belly :-)