. . . a glimpse into my heart.

When we were at the international workers field forum in Thailand there was a man named Sunder from Canada there as the week's speaker. We missed out on all his messages since we were with the high school students but on the last night we got to sit in on the formal dinner where Sunder shared a closing message. He talked about what it means to bless people. He said he started closing his sermons at church with a blessing to the congregation instead of "You are dismissed." He said it changed Sunday mornings in his church. People were affected in amazing ways by his Spirit, Scripture-filled blessings. He commissioned all those listening to start blessing others, our kids, our congregations etc. So, when we got home to our kids I decided to start blessing my kids before bed. It confused them at first because it sounds like a prayer but I'm talking TO them and not ABOUT them as I do when I pray over them. Well, tonight, since I'm not feeling well, I rushed through the...

So, there's been a lot of discussion with Judah about unhealthy obsessions. He is very obsessed with TV, movies and video games. They often cause him to disobey and cry when he has to stop or walk away from them. We're working on this and trying to teach him how that is not a good thing. Today he told me he wanted to be Justin Bieber. I asked why and he said it was because he wants girls to be "Ohh, Justin Bieber!" when they see him. So, I talked to him about how girls are obsessed with JB in a very unhealthy way. That obsessions can become more important to us then the only thing we should be obsessed over, which is God. Liam, having had been listening to my conversation with Judah, asks me "Am I obsessed with anything or just God?" Hmm. . .We talked a bit about it and I finally asked him, "Liam, what would you do if people told you that you aren't allowed to go to church anymore or read your Bible (He got a new Bible for Christmas that we've b...

So, I googled my name yesterday and found my old Live Journal . My last entry was January 1st 2006. I blogged fairly regularly for a whole year. It's so interesting to read about that year of our life. I started the blog right after I had my surgery on my right elbow and was out of work for awhile. I was just getting into watching Season 1 of 24. Dave went to Seattle for his buddy's wedding and Nicki Loomis and Melissa Cramer (now Meyer) kept me company. We blogged about our fun adventures living in Dubuque and what newly wed life was like. I look back with such fondness although when I read some of my entries, I remember some of the very difficult things we went through. We had a wonderful, solid marriage but we went through a lot together. The blog begins in IA with Dave attending Emmaus Bible College. Dave graduated, we moved all our belongings to CO, we moved into my parents basement, we spent the summer at camp on Whidbey Island as Staff Directors for our 2nd summer in a r...

It's hard to believe that I once held Liam in my arms and nursed him and rocked him. I will never forget when we found out I was pregnant with our Little Liam. We were at camp, Lakeside Bible Camp. We had only been "trying" for a couple months. I took the test at like 7am while Dave laid in bed. I sat on the floor next to the bed and showed Dave the positive test. We were ecstatic! We had to go to our staff meeting that morning and decided not to tell the staff yet. We just weren't sure who to tell and when. It was tough to keep it in. I ended up sharing our news with Melissa Cramer (now Meyer) who was serving at the camp that summer. What an exciting time in our lives! We went home to CO where we lived in my parents basement for a couple months until we moved into our first home. Liam's arrival was amazing! I will never forget the emotions and love I felt. Now Liam is a little artist. He lies in bed unable to sleep because he has an idea for a picture. I let him ...

http://youtu.be/XWqk1o6bDxA Watch the video first and then read the definition below to get a better understanding of what a bounded set is vs. a center set. A bounded set would describe a group with clear "in" and "out" definitions of membership. The Christian church has largely organized itself as a bounded set, those who share the same beliefs and values are in the set and those who disagree are outside. The centered set does not limit membership to pre-conceived boundaries. Instead a centered set is conditioned on a centered point. Membership is contingent on those who are moving toward that point. Elements moving toward a particular point are part of the set, but elements moving away from that point are not. As a centered-set Christian membership would be dependent on moving toward the central point of Jesus. A Christian is then defined by their focus and movement toward Christ rather than a limited set of shared beliefs and values Wikipedia definiation Christi...

Hi friends and Family. . . I sit down to blog and find that I tend to only think about negative things to complain about. Although some of these things are connected to being in Yakima they are by no means things that make me sad or unhappy about being here. SO, instead of blogging about my struggles I thought I would simply throw out a list of our prayer needs because prayer will have a much larger affect on these things then just complaining. 1) Liam. He's been struggling since a few weeks before leaving Grand Junction. He was sad about leaving friends, his preschool and our house. Since we got here he has been a roller coaster of emotions, over joyed one second and angry the next and sad the next. Night time is the toughest when he gets angry about stupid things just for the sake of throwing a fit. He gets angry and cries so much more then ever before. 2) My health. I have been so fatigued this past week. I sleep 9 to 10 hours at night and wake exhaustion. I have little energy t...

We've been here two weeks. We're feeling very settled and comfortable in our apartment. We have some chaos in our bed room until we get another dresser but otherwise we feel like the unpacking is done. It feels so good and over the past couple days we've started hanging pictures which makes it feel that much better. It's HOME! I got our third room organized and have a little scrap-booking area now. I can't wait to jump back in! We set up our treadmill in there too so we can get back into running.Our ants are gone now but we're nervous to put food (even though all well sealed) back in the pantry. They come out and don't even touch the ants traps. If they come back we'll have to try something new. We took a few pictures early on in the unpacking so you can get an idea of what it was like. This is the kitchen: This picture of the Living room is a few days in and is nothing compared to what it looked like when we first stepped in the apartment after the truc...

I haven't blogged in awhile and thought it was time for an update. Dave's job: Dave's last day at River of Life is May 31st, 17 days from now. We visited a church in Yakima, WA last weekend and really enjoyed our time and loved the people we met. God's been doing a lot this week and really stretching us on the trust we have in Him. More to come on this topic tomorrow! Gabriel: Our little man is FINALLY potty trained. He's been peeing in the toilet for a long long time now but was very stubborn when it can to pooping.It's probably been a good year since he woke from a nap or in the morning with a wet diaper. He has had great bladder control for so long that I thought we'd have this all said and done a lot sooner. But, now it's over. He's taking himself to the toilet and trying to wipe on his own and everything. Now, we have a ton of size 5 diapers left over. Oh well. Liam: Liam is still mourning the loss of our sweet dog Bailey who died a little over ...

Oh I love my boys. . .such a joy in my life. Judah is so full of life! He has a wonderful imagination and loves learning new things he's a sponge!! He loves looking through his Bible and praying. His heart is very soft. He loves to talk about things but is still learning how to communicate. Liam is such a funny boy. . . a little comedian really. He loves to act silly and make funny faces for the camera. He's very sensitive and cries easily over little things. He cried over me flushing a bug. :-) He likes to sit with me and be close. Gabriel. . .oh boy! He's a riot. Definitely the most challenging of all the boys but makes me laugh all the time! He LOVES to snuggle but it requires a blankie (any size), and his "Deedee" (stuffed elephant). Then there's Dave. He is the most amazing man! He knows how to show his love in so many ways and always makes me feel special. He's a servant and patient. He puts up with so much from me. He helps more around the house the...

We returned from Dave's 4 week sabbatical less then a week ago. It all feels so distant now and like we've been home for months. Judah starts kindergarten in 4 days. Am I ready? No. I need to do his school shopping but besides that it's hard for me to swallow the fact that I have a child old enough for kindergarten. Liam will be starting preschool a couple weeks after Judah starts. I will have 3 days with only two kids at home and two days with just Gabriel for a couple hours. It will be a good thing for me in a lot of ways. I think I will appreciate my boys a lot more and enjoy my time with them. It will also help me bond more with Gabriel and get more done in a day (cleaning, laundry, exercise, scrapbooking, etc.) So, over all I know that having two boys in school will be good for all of us. It's just a big adjustment for me to send the two off to school in someone else's hands. Our time away was good although we had bumps in the road throughout. We got a lot of q...

Dave's been gone and I've been getting pretty lonely. The first couple days I thoroughly enjoyed the moments when the boys were in bed and the house was silent. Now, it just makes me sad. A couple nights ago Liam got out of bed to go to the bathroom and Judah was already asleep. After he finished I asked Liam if he would sit with me for a minute. I held him like a baby and rocked him in my glider in out dark bedroom. We talked about all kinds of things. He told me how he wanted grow up and buy tools off the computer and use knives to build beds and tools to fix broken things. Tonight he got out of bed to poop. Well, he hardly even tried before he said the "poops weren't ready." Then he asked if I would rock him again so we could talk. Aww! How could I say no?! So, I brought him into our room and once again I held my huge 4 year old like he was an infant again but unlike with an infant we talked about the future. Again he talked about having tools when he grows up ...

Today Liam and I went shopping today and to finish it off we went to Starbucks and Liam played with his new toy while I sat and worked on my Bible study homework. At one point Liam asked if i was reading my Bible and why. I told him how it was full of stories about Jesus and that reading it helps us to learn about God and we can grow in our friendship with him. He started asking questions about where Jesus and God were. I thought it was apropriate to talk about the trinity since he had heard that Jesus is in heaven but the "God is with us". He needed an explanation. So when I told him about the Holy Spirit living in us he got excited and said, "God lives in me?!" I told him that He 'can' and that he lives in mommy and daddy. I shared about how we need to believe that Jesus died for our sins and that the Holy Spirit will live in us after we believe and know we need him to save us. He was intrigued. Then the conversation took a funny turn when he asked if God ...

and Liam is sick today. :-( I hd high hopes of walking the boys to the park today since it's getting so nice outside but Liam is sick. Poor kiddo. He woke at 1AM scared after having a dream about giant meatballs attacking people. (He's been watching "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs") He was sweating and super hot to the touch. So, he slept the rest of the night on the floor next to our bed. Now, he's bundled up on the couch saying he's cold although still warm to touch. He doesn't want to eat and won't let himself sleep because he doesn't want to open his eyes after the bad dream last night. As a mother these moments are tough. He says he needs nothing but I want to DO something for him. I am sure he gets irritated with me and just wants to be left alone. I just want to fix this for him but I can't. Anyway, I guess I am a little disappointed that we won't be visiting the park today. Chances are one of the other boys will get this next so ...

So, we're home from Ethiopia with our 3rd and oldest son. It's not quite how I thought it would be although it's amazing to have our family all together. The trip was incredible but tiring and it was so nice to get home. For more details on the trip you can check out my adoption blog becoming5.blogspot.com. It's so strange to see our two bio, super white and blond boys with Judah who's so small for his age, so very dark and speaks a different language. It will take a while for us all to get used to our new normal. It's exciting to think about the future and when Judah knows more English how much easier this will be. It's tough right now since we're all getting to know each other but it's so good to know God's in charge and we're following His plan. The boys interact a little more every day. I know this means they fight more like brothers the better they know each other. :-) But it's good to see Judah try to talk and interact more. He was ...

Liam has become very interested in dinosaurs. So, we thought we'd go with the dino theme for his 3rd Birthday which is less then a month away now. (Oh man, my baby is growing up!)We wanted to do something a little different then the normal sheet cake from the store. We couldn't find a stand up dino cake pan (probably because it wouldn't be sturdy enough to stand up) but we found a patern to make a cake that I think will turn out very cute! Here's the picture of the cake and the pattern.

I have been thinking about Christmas so differently this year. Dave preached the first two Sundays of Advent on the Advent of Christ in the Old Testament. He preached about Christ in the covenants and then Christ in the prophecies. I always have known Christmas was all about the baby Jesus but I have a new view this year. Christ's first coming, although miraculous and awe some, cannot stand without His second coming. I have been thinking a lot about when Christ returns and when that is in the forefront of my mind His birth looks so much more majestic and brings me to tears. What a wonderful Savior we have. He is going to come back for us, Praise HIM! Last night while we were at a friends home for a Thanksgiving/Christmas get together it started snowing. This is our back yard at 10:30 last night: Beautiful! It was snowing this morning when I woke up too. This is our back yard this morning: The brilliant white brings Christ to mind once more. So pure and clean and untainted. That...

So, the other day Liam had his Little People manger scene strewn all over the living room floor. He was looking around with a confused look on his face. I asked, "Liam what are you looking for?" He responded in a very frantic voice, "I'm looking for Baby Jesus!" It was so sweet!! I got to thinking about the inocence of my little boy. He doesn't understand who Jesus really is yet but it's so neat to see in him an understanding that Baby Jesus was the key person in this manger scene of his. Jesus is the star and Liam knows it.

Yeah, this may not be that exciting to you but it has THRILLED us to say the least. Last Wednesday Liam told Dave he needed to go poop in the toilet. He DID it!! I came home from running arrends and Dave shared the news. I asked if he took a picture (joking, of course) because I couldn't believe it. Liam had been in big boy undies for a long time and would consistenly poop in them almost once a day. This was huge!! Well, since then he has only gone poop in the toilet. What a wonderful break through this is. I think I can officially say. . . Liam is 100% done with this toilet training stuff. From day one till now is was under four months.

Here are a few signs that you child has been watching too much Food Network: 1. He makes any toy into a cooking tool. 2. He speaks with words and frases like: "it's so alisious", "yummy", "mix it", "add some salt", "a little pepper", "sheet pan". 3. He is mezmorized while watching Guy's Big Bite, or whatever that show it called

I LOVE cold weather. It has been chilly lately which is a nice change. This morning there was frost on the grass. However, I am struggling a little bit. Our grass is in now and just lovely. :-) It still needs some time to thicken up but it's so green and very exciting. A little part of me wishes I could fast forward to next summer when my boys will be running around together in the grass while I sit under our pergola at our cute little patio table reading and listening to my miniature men laugh and play together. I know I would miss so much if we could skip this upcoming season. I wouldn't skip it if I could. But I am very excited for next summer. 2009 will be a wonderful year and there will be a lot of super exciting things going on and new experiences and the 3rd birthday of my first born and the 1st birthday of my youngest. However, I MUST also live in the moment. Speaking of THE moment. . . Gabriel is still working on the crawling. He's been all over our living room flo...