Gifts 281-298

Happy Saturday morning! It's been rainy here and was trying to snow just a bit ago...hope you all have a great weekend. I'm looking forward to a baby shower today and having some friends of ours from CA coming in...

281 - AC in the summer (H)

282 - Ashleigh and Abbie (H)

283 - Nerf guns (J)
284 - Mommy's soft coat (J)

285 - sweet card in the mail

286 - coffee with a friend

287 - having enough confectioner's sugar

288 - calls from a neighbor

289 - rain

290 - seeing friendly faces

291 - seeing Evans fit in so well

292 - spring break

293 - kids reading together

294 - messy hands making mud pies

295 - yummy food I didn't make

296 - piles of cookies freshly baked 

297 - seeing friends you haven't seen in a while

298 - singing hymns together

here are some pics from our lovely tea which was a while ago now
 

 

 

 

 

Staying Faithful

Just a quote tonight that I came across reading a bit for this past Mon's BSF on Eph 6 (spiritual warfare)...

The easiest circumstances are often the hardest ones in which to be faithful. Many believers whose faith is strengthened by hard times find it is weakened when the battlefield is quiet. Christianity is often impotent when it is acceptable. 

                                                 -----MacArthur, pg 346 Ephesians Commentary

the last day my sis and her girls were here we went to the lovely Lincoln Rock Park
 

 

 

 

 

Delusion vs. Reality

Sometimes I think we are living mostly in a delusion...a delusion cleverly created by Satan...the delusion that this life is all there is...that only the here and now matters. So, let's have the most fun, make the most money, spend the most money, buy the most toys, and have the most "friends." And, when we're grasping at all those things, our time is mostly all used up.

But rather than living in this delusion, Christ calls up to live in a different reality...a spiritual one. We need to look beyond what appears in front of us and see the spiritual dimension...that each person is an eternal soul, that each choice we make will either please God or Satan...that we are either gathering up gold, silver, and precious stones or wood, hay, and stubble.

While listening to Francis Chan (sermon from 4/20/08) the other day, he reminded me again that each day should be lived according to God's mission for our lives. That each day He allows us to live is a day He has a purpose for us to fulfill. But, how often do we think about that? Don't we much more often rush here and there accomplishing all the "important" things when we are maybe neglecting the most important one? Chan challenged us to wake each morning and cognizantly think, what would God have me do today? Maybe it is just take care of the kids, keep the house in order, and get dinner on the table...that's great, necessary, and can produce fruit for the kingdom. Or, maybe He'll place someone on your heart to talk with about the gospel, someone to serve, someone to encourage. The whole point is being willing to be led by the Spirit wherever He would have us go. That's something I'm trying to work on especially as most of my days are filled up with generally mundane things...thankfully even those things can be redeemed for His glory and my growth in godliness.

Sunday night we had the coolest night sky -

the moon was a tiny crescent, then Venus was above it and Jupiter below it

Sunday

Today we visited another church, Grace Covenant Church (GCC). And, unless something we aren't expecting comes up, we will likely settle there. The content of the message was really good and applicable, and somehow Pastor Josh can weave humor in to almost anything. They also do a good job at keeping a clear focus and challenging the congregation to action, to keeping the goal in mind (making disciples), and being diligent towards that end. I also really liked that Josh was willing to preach what the text said, how it said it, rather than brushing over potentially controversial issues or sugar-coating the truth. 

However, I don't think it really hit me that we had left Mid Valley till this morning, and that was kind of sad. It's odd being the one on the outside, being the new person, being the one who really doesn't know what's going on...it's hard starting over again.  

while we were in Seattle, we also went to this vertical wind tunnel/indoor sky diving place
pretty amazing
 

 

 

Gifts 260-280

It seems as though I don't keep up with these very well during the week, but it sure is a delight to think over the last many days and see all the blessings I have been given. When you think of all the little (and big) things as undeserved, the beauty of them is enhanced. James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  

260 - niece-made paper butterflies
261 - hearing my mom give a devotional
262 - hearing my dad teach Sunday School
263 - pistachio dessert
264 - understanding friends
265 - hearing about restored relationships
266 - God's grace for last minute teaching
267 - a husband willing to pick up dinner
268 - enjoying having my sis visit
269 - lovely tea with all the girls
270 - first time sledders
271 - hot cocoa in the snow
272 - discovering a "secret" sledding area
273 - seeing a duck(?) swimming underwater
274 - my dad's spaghetti sauce
275 - getting my house back in order
276 - fresh snow and skiing through trees
277 - good day on Chair 1 with James
278 - skiing with friends
279 - library books in the mail
280 - sleeping in abnormally late (Dave was concerned I was sick!)

some more pics from Great Wolf

 

 

 

I don't know if everyone does these penny presses, but this is my idea
of a perfect souvenir - cheap, interesting, and small ;)
 

Whew, What a Day!

Dave woke up this morning, looked at the weather conditions and said, "What do you think about going skiing this morning!??!?" We had already planned on taking our California, never-been-sledding nieces sledding this afternoon, so why not head up the hill early? We were so glad we did - lovely day, great fresh, light snow. Then off to sledding adventures...the girls did great and had lots of fun sledding (and flipping), eating snow, and exploring the snowy woods. And, to top the day off, we headed to my folks house for dinner and a sports-ball hunt (similar to an egg hunt). Whew, what a day! 

 

love this picture - can you see why we enjoy skiing :)
 

 

 

 

 

We've All Been Called

We had another enjoyable day today. My mom has been looking forward to taking all the girls to tea, and today was the day. As always, Ruth at Huckleberry Haven did a tremendous job...you should give it a try if you live in the Wenatchee area. 

I've been slowly working my way through Radical and came across a great, and challenging, section on how we often relegate missions to "those who've been called." Platt legitimately argues that by thinking/saying that, we have missed the whole point of the command of the great commission. From pages 74-75...

Every saved person this side of heaven owes the gospel to every lost person this side of hell. We owe Christ to the world - to the least person and to the greatest person, to the richest person and to the poorest person, to the best person and to the worst person. We are in debt to the nations. Encompassed with this debt, though, in our contemporary approach to missions, we have subtly taken ourselves out from under the weight of a lost and dying world, wrung our hand in pious concern, and said, "I'm sorry. I'm just not called to that." 

The result is tragic. A majority of individuals supposedly saved from eternal damnation by the gospel are now sitting back and making excuses for not sharing that gospel with the rest of the world.

But what if we don't need to sit back and wait for a call to foreign missions? What if the very reason we have breath is because we have been saved for a global mission? And what if anything less than passionate involvement in global mission is actually selling God short by frustrating the very purpose for which He called us? 

some pics from Chinatown in Seattle

 

 

 

 

Spring Festival

The commercialism of holidays drives me a little crazy sometimes. Each year on Easter particularly (not Christmas so much) I cringe that we focus very little on the resurrection and too much on chocolate, bunnies, and eggs. My desire this year is to spend more time during the Easter season appreciating what Christ has done for us- realizing His great sacrifice, the magnificent triumph of conquering death, and the hope we have because of it. 

Honestly, however, I love coloring eggs and Easter egg hunts so I didn't want to just completely skip those fun aspects of this time of year. So, enter Spring Festival...rather than doing those activities on Easter, we did them today - the first day of spring. :) James had never colored eggs before and so was introduced to that interesting, and rather odd when you think about it, tradition. It was great fun to have the cousins here to participate with us as well. Hannah tried a new technique today of wrapping rubber bands around the egg to keep the dye from hitting those areas; it gave a neat effect. And, just in case you've never thought about this, we mostly always color raw eggs - that allows us to color more without then having to eat two dozen hard boiled eggs. 

We also had a rousing egg hunt...all the more exciting with five hunters rather than two. Last year a friend tipped me on to the greatest idea for egg contents - Legos. So, out with tons of unneeded candy and in with some manageable Legos. In order to keep everything straight, the Legos were placed in color-coded eggs to ensure all the parts stayed with the right set. Then once all the eggs were found, there was a prize (Peeps) for the one who found the most eggs (Josh), and the eggs were sorted and given to the right recipient. There was also a batch of candy filled eggs so don't be concerned that my children were completely deprived in that department. :) 

 

 

 

waiting to begin
 

the hunt
 

the sorting
 

the loot
 

Weekend Recap

Busy, but pleasant, weekend around here. On Sat, my mom did her first public speaking in thirty years or so. Her church had a women's tea and she prepared the devotional. She chose the topic of "Christ, our true husband" and used the section about the woman at the well for her text. Here are two pics of the tea girls, plus dolls, and at the tea. 

 

 

On Sunday, we visited my parents church, Calvary Crossroads. My dad has been teaching Sunday School in the book of Matthew so it was fun to hear him. The sermon was good on 2 Thes 3, and the service was followed by a yummy potluck. Everyone was very pleasant and welcoming, and it was easy to see why it has been a good fit for my parents. 

Since it turned into a sunshiny day, and we were itching to get outside for a while, most of the crew headed up to Saddlerock for a hike. As we parked at Appleatchee, we saw there was some horse-thing going on so we went over to check it out. 

 

Here are some pics from the hike...as you can see it's quite a trek upwards! 

 

view from the top
 

 

Gifts 243-259

As I was writing out my gifts from this last week or so, I once again saw how even though I enjoy the big, exciting things in life (like going to Seattle), it's the small, daily things that are the most delightful to me. 

243 sweetie girl setting up Easter decorations

244 knowing you made a difference to someone

245 having easy-going friends over for dinner

246 sending-off prayers

247 being brought from death to life 

248 sharing a palindrome with my level 4 student - "A man, a plan, a canal - Panama!"

249 a bit of sunshine in Seattle

250 buying Chinese "tea-eggs"

251 eating at a "real" Chinese restaurant

252 swimming in March

253 kids willing to sleep together

254 beautiful (and safe) late night drive home

255 having two happy little munchkins in the house

256 5 year-old cracking eggs on the counter

257 lots of cousin laughter

258 seeing rainbows in the valley

259 working with others