...applied in real life. Pastor Greg Laurie, in the wake of his son Christopher's death in a car accident, said, "The Lord is with me. I can't be afraid of suffering. I will continue on with greater commitment. . . . I have a task to do and I am going to do it."
"I can't be afraid of suffering"-that spoke to my heart of hearts-so convicting.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Getting Situated
Hi friends and family! Well, we are in Virginia, we landed last Wed. after traveling from Oki to Osaka (mainland) then Detroit and finally after being redirected for a while...to our final destination. Things are very busy, as you can imagine. I think we have finally gotten over the roughest part of the jet lag. We had to pick up a van which we purchased through the Exchange while overseas...neat program, get all the registration taken care of etc for that..and now we are looking for housing. We found a church that we believe is where the Lord would have us serve while we are here...so thank you so much for your prayers and please continue to keep us in prayer as we transition. There is MUCH to do! I won't be able to visit with you for a while as most of my internet time is spent looking for housing and the rest of the time is spent out and about checking out the area. It just amazes me how drastically the dynamics of a neighborhood changes within as little as 5 mi!!!
I love and miss you-please pray as moving is always difficult for the children (and for me!). Anjolie broke down after church this past Sunday and said, "I knew this day was coming, but *sob* I miss Pastor...I would always go give him a hug and say hi on my way to choir practice..." then she got me going-right there in Olive Garden we had ourselves a little cry over the churches we have had the blessing of being a part of...it is so hard to leave church family, but it is neat how our church family is just growing :) what a reunion it will be in Glory huh?
I love and miss you-please pray as moving is always difficult for the children (and for me!). Anjolie broke down after church this past Sunday and said, "I knew this day was coming, but *sob* I miss Pastor...I would always go give him a hug and say hi on my way to choir practice..." then she got me going-right there in Olive Garden we had ourselves a little cry over the churches we have had the blessing of being a part of...it is so hard to leave church family, but it is neat how our church family is just growing :) what a reunion it will be in Glory huh?
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Perspective
My dad sent this to me today and it put things in perspective...sure I'm going through the stress of moving, but look at this guy...Oh, the things I take for granted-
" this Army soldier in Iraq with his tiny 'plot' of grass in front of his tent. Here is a soldier stationed in Iraq , stationed in a big sand box. He asked his wife to send him dirt (U.S.soil), fertilizer, and some grass seed so that he can have the sweet aroma, and feel the grass grow beneath his feet. When the men of the squadron have a mission the they are going on, they take turns walking through the grass and the American soil..." We have so much to be thankful for-God is so good, all the time.
In FULL Swing
Well, my friends, the time has come...the move is in fulll swing. We packed out our express shipment yesterday and everything else goes tomorrow. We must commence to cleaning which won't be nearly as bad as leaving 29...but I am still having to spend hours power-washing..... the sidewalk and the house hahahaha....yeah, in 29 it was raking the sand, here, it is power-washing everything. Please pray for me thoughout all this, I have a raging headache :( which I think is from allergies-but could also be from chasing Ayden and making sure he doen't climb into a box and get himself packed. Seriously people, these Japanese packers pack EVERYTHING, their own stuff if it is not set aside, small animals and children if they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Wouldn't THAT be something to blog about...I hope NOT. But, please pray for my poor pounding head-these headaches I get can last for days. It started last night before I went to bed...and I woke up with it...ich.
Another prayer request please, there is a typhoon coming which could really put us in a bind for lodging since our reservations are at the beach...and every other place is completely booked-PCS (perm change of station) season. And, oh yeah, did I mention I am terribly afraid of flying? So without further ado, I will go back to packing and cleaning and you know, all that fun stuff involved with moving :) Thank you so very much for your prayers...they mean the world to me.
Another prayer request please, there is a typhoon coming which could really put us in a bind for lodging since our reservations are at the beach...and every other place is completely booked-PCS (perm change of station) season. And, oh yeah, did I mention I am terribly afraid of flying? So without further ado, I will go back to packing and cleaning and you know, all that fun stuff involved with moving :) Thank you so very much for your prayers...they mean the world to me.
Monday, July 14, 2008
We Serve An Amazing God
My husband and I had the great blessing of being able to MIRL a bloggy friend's husband! In a nutshell, Becky and Matt are newlyweds...Matt had served his time in the USMC, and he was honorably discharged only to be recalled just months after wedding his beautiful bride and then deployed to Okinawa! I could not imagine, the whole situation just hurt my heart for them. So, precious Becky (that pic of her just totally choked me up when I saw it...too sweet) has been away from her husband for a good while now. Becky and I have been cooresponding since about April-it has been wonderful to get to know her and how "big" the Lord is in her life and to have the Lord impress upon me how loved she is. We have now had an extra special blessing because her beloved took us up on an offer to catch a ride to church both last Sunday and yesterday-(he has also been deployed to other places during this time) since he was back on Okinawa.
We had a potluck this past Sunday (our yesterday) after church, and Bro. Matt agreed to join us :) Our children were thrilled to meet him - and proceeded to just chat his poor ear off...you know, the whole 20,000 who, what, where, why question thing that kids do to people. I am so glad he brought his camera and took some pictures because last Sunday my battery died and this Sunday, the memory card was left in it's port on my printer *ahem* ...but Matt had prepared by bringing his own...I AM blonde after all and susceptible to lapses in intelligence (hahahahaha), so, when we get his pics, I will post them. ETA- I got them!! Thank you Brother! :)
What a precious couple they are and so loved by the Lord...what a blessing to be able to cross paths with them in such a unique way. God is so good and there is so much more I would like to say about this "encounter" with the Lord's work, but I honestly can't comprehend what all the Lord was *doing* in all this...I am just left in awe of Him. Please pray for them as they will be reunited very VERY soon! I am SO excited for them!! Please stop by her blog and let her know you will pray for safe flights for both of them. Thank you!
We had a potluck this past Sunday (our yesterday) after church, and Bro. Matt agreed to join us :) Our children were thrilled to meet him - and proceeded to just chat his poor ear off...you know, the whole 20,000 who, what, where, why question thing that kids do to people. I am so glad he brought his camera and took some pictures because last Sunday my battery died and this Sunday, the memory card was left in it's port on my printer *ahem* ...but Matt had prepared by bringing his own...I AM blonde after all and susceptible to lapses in intelligence (hahahahaha), so, when we get his pics, I will post them. ETA- I got them!! Thank you Brother! :)
What a precious couple they are and so loved by the Lord...what a blessing to be able to cross paths with them in such a unique way. God is so good and there is so much more I would like to say about this "encounter" with the Lord's work, but I honestly can't comprehend what all the Lord was *doing* in all this...I am just left in awe of Him. Please pray for them as they will be reunited very VERY soon! I am SO excited for them!! Please stop by her blog and let her know you will pray for safe flights for both of them. Thank you!
Friday, July 11, 2008
The MOVE...
...it's goin'. I will share just a glimpse of the fun we are having. :)
We are in the process of selling our van, and I was on the phone this morning with a prospective buyer, when I heard a knock at the door. "Oh, yeah!.." I remembered, "the movers are coming to take a quick inventory of household goods"! It was NOT a good time-I had a friend due to come in an hour so we could finish making baby shower invitations, Brianna was still in the process of getting dressed for a culture class that she was taking (today was the last day) so I shooed her into her room to finish, Lily was in her swim suit and some dress-up shoes since I told the girls we would go to the pool today...so I shooed her to get some clothes on....I have no idea what Anjolie was doing, and Ayden, well, he stood at the door waiting to see who was knocking. I quickly explained to the inquirer on the phone that I would need to call her back, the crazy moment just seemed like toooo much seeing as how it wasn't even 9am yet. So, I opened the front door to let one of the Japanese movers in and let him stand in the entry-way while I got off the phone. Ayden looked up at the man, who was waiting patiently with his clipboard, squatted down to jump and announced "I POOPED!...I pooped!" with each little hop, in the sweetest little 2 year old voice you ever heard, like it was good news or some new thing...I almost dropped the phone I was so mortified. I didn't even try to apologize, it was just one.of.those.moments I swooped up the stinky little guy-not sure what I said to the caller as I hung up with her, and left the poor Japanese man who was rolling over the english in his mind translating it to Japanese, I'm sure, as I mentally pressed *delete delete* in desperation...the rest is a blur...so yeah, the whole movin' thing...it's goin'
We are in the process of selling our van, and I was on the phone this morning with a prospective buyer, when I heard a knock at the door. "Oh, yeah!.." I remembered, "the movers are coming to take a quick inventory of household goods"! It was NOT a good time-I had a friend due to come in an hour so we could finish making baby shower invitations, Brianna was still in the process of getting dressed for a culture class that she was taking (today was the last day) so I shooed her into her room to finish, Lily was in her swim suit and some dress-up shoes since I told the girls we would go to the pool today...so I shooed her to get some clothes on....I have no idea what Anjolie was doing, and Ayden, well, he stood at the door waiting to see who was knocking. I quickly explained to the inquirer on the phone that I would need to call her back, the crazy moment just seemed like toooo much seeing as how it wasn't even 9am yet. So, I opened the front door to let one of the Japanese movers in and let him stand in the entry-way while I got off the phone. Ayden looked up at the man, who was waiting patiently with his clipboard, squatted down to jump and announced "I POOPED!...I pooped!" with each little hop, in the sweetest little 2 year old voice you ever heard, like it was good news or some new thing...I almost dropped the phone I was so mortified. I didn't even try to apologize, it was just one.of.those.moments I swooped up the stinky little guy-not sure what I said to the caller as I hung up with her, and left the poor Japanese man who was rolling over the english in his mind translating it to Japanese, I'm sure, as I mentally pressed *delete delete* in desperation...the rest is a blur...so yeah, the whole movin' thing...it's goin'
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
No More Stitches
We snapped this pic before Ayden went to get his 3 stitches out....it took over 2 hours of *sigh* blood sweat and tears because they were too tight, but the Dr finally numbed it with lidocain and sort of "dug" them out ich...Allll done!
The We/They Thing
"There are two classes of people: the righteous and the unrighteous. The classifying is done by the righteous"*-Ambrose Bierce
- okay that satirical tid-bit about our tendencies in Church made me chuckle. They put their children in school and we home school, they have shorter hair and we have longer hair, they bottle feed and we nurse, they are new Christians and we are mature Christians...you get the idea. Why do we have that tendency to make everything a we/they thing? People are either for us or against us-in our minds-I am most always mistaken when I, in my mind accuse someone of being "against" me. ( I am NOT talking about the approval of sin issues btw). If we are born-again believers....it is always WE -and WE should always be looking to Christ, before whom we will one day stand and give account . It is He who sees ALL and is always on our side when we are living for Him :)
*quote taken from On Being A Servant of God by Warren W. Wiersbe pg 49
- okay that satirical tid-bit about our tendencies in Church made me chuckle. They put their children in school and we home school, they have shorter hair and we have longer hair, they bottle feed and we nurse, they are new Christians and we are mature Christians...you get the idea. Why do we have that tendency to make everything a we/they thing? People are either for us or against us-in our minds-I am most always mistaken when I, in my mind accuse someone of being "against" me. ( I am NOT talking about the approval of sin issues btw). If we are born-again believers....it is always WE -and WE should always be looking to Christ, before whom we will one day stand and give account . It is He who sees ALL and is always on our side when we are living for Him :)
*quote taken from On Being A Servant of God by Warren W. Wiersbe pg 49
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Tammy's Recipes
This site has been linked on my side bar for a long time, but I just thought I'd point it out...Tammy's Recipes I love it...from real do it yourself recipes tried and tested by her readers to homemaking tips, child care and encouragement...her little neck of the internet is a real treasure. Take a moment to explore-especially if you have small children, she is truly an inspiration!
Monday, July 07, 2008
1930's Housewife
 | 100 As a 1930s wife, I am |
ETA
 | 132 As a 1930s husband, I am |
Silly, Stitches and Stuff
I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!
Here are some pics from the past week.
One of our family's favorite places to eat with the kids is the "Globe and Anchor" ....the kids call it the "Golden Ankle" :) I took some pics since this is probably the last time we will eat there before we move.
Daddy gets silly with the kids.
Ayden loooooves his daddy!
He likes to squeeze daddy's face and say "chubbo chubbo dada" :)
Brian had duty on the 4th, so I took the kids to the "Americafest"...Anjolie took this just loooovely pic of me driving..and driving...it took a little bit for me to find it, and when we did, they had a full security area to search bags, walk through metal detectors and check ID cards before entering since it was at the Airforce flight-line. It was quite the adventure getting through that with the 4 little ones. I think I was ready to just call it a day at that point ha!
See that little guy sitting in the pic down there?
If you look closely, you can see his busted little lip. He fell at the playground this past week and had to have 3 stitches under his lip, poor little guy had to have an IV and be put under sedation for it...but ANYWAY...that was a whole other ordeal that I would just rather not revisit...It turned out to be soooooooo sweltering hot at the Americafest that I just got the kids a treat once we got through the whole security ordeal and we left....their faces were flushed with heat within moments of arriving. I was afraid of what would happen if I let them go jumping around the bounce house in that heat! There wasn't too much complaint from the kids
about leaving, I think they were kinda glad-especially when they felt the AC in the van!
After taking some much needed naps, we went to a BBQ which was alot of fun...I love times of fellowsip. We were able to watch fireworks right from this park which was across the street from my friends house. We all really had a good time. Sorry you could not be there honey-we sure missed you :(
Friday, July 04, 2008
This 4th Of July
....as you watch the fireworks, enjoy family and friends, please take a moment to remember the real "fireworks" going on over "there"...remember those left behind missing their loved ones...remember that this is a difficult time for those who have served in Iraq-they are forever changed. Pray for the brave wives left with little ones to care for and who leave their pillows wet with prayer filled tears...I know that you will remember them today as you wave your flags with pride. They so appreciate our prayers and love.
I know you will remember, most of all, our Saviour who paid the ultimate price for us...who bore the sin for us all on the cross of Calvary. We celebrate our freedom, yes, but it was not without the ultimate cost. Let's remember the price that was paid by our Saviour...Praise the Lord, it is a work complete!
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