Fall Phenomenons

Okay, so none of these pictures are really "phenomenons" but I was trying really hard to come up with a title a little more catchy than "More Photographs of My Adorable Offspring". (I'm also procrastinating from studying for my last final tomorrow.) Anywhoo, here are some more really cute pictures of our kiddos from the last few months.

Splish Splash!

Spending the night with Yaya and Pubs.

Josie took this.

My mom rocks!


My little baker. When she is at my parents' house she asks to watch cooking shows on the Food Network.

Caleb at the zoo.

So, I don't want to get any smart remarks about the picture below being one of my kids. I just thought it was fun that we got so close. :)

Happy Birthday, Caleb Paul!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Caleb Paul! You truly are our bundle of joy! I am so thankful to be your mommy! I praise God for you, your loving nature, your joy, and your fun loving spirit. May you, like Caleb of old, be faithful and courageous to our Lord! I love you!

“Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: ‘The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion...." The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them...But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it."

--Numbers 14:17, 18, 20, 24

Happy Birthday, Jo!

Happy 5th birthday, Josie Faith! We love you, darling! You are becoming more beautiful every day--especially in your heart! May God allow you to continue growing in faith, compassion, wisdom, joy, and love.

Sighting in Your Scope

Deer hunting season is right around the corner, so last weekend Wesley went with a friend to "sight in his scope" on his gun. While he was there he was told by one of the employees to shoot at a particular target while he watched to see if he hit the center.

Wesley took aim and fired a few shots. The man watching told him he was off and so he suggested that Wesley readjust his scope. The process of readjusting his scope wasn't going to be easy since the gun was pretty old and had been correct for years. He was really kind of confused because he felt like his scope was lined up correctly, but he went with what the guy told him since he was the "expert".

Again Wesley took aim and fired. Off again. What was the deal? The best guess that Wesley has is that his scope was correct the whole time but he misunderstood which target he was supposed to be shooting at. Even though there was some miscommunication between them, ultimately the problem was resolved and Wesley was once again hitting the center of the correct target.

I think it's really easy to do this in our spiritual lives as well. We can often have the best of intentions and even believe we are taking aim at what we think is God's will, but still ultimately be aiming at the wrong target. That might be getting distracted by work, school, or even serving in a particular area at church. None of those things are inherently evil, just as that target Wesley was aiming at wasn't evil...it just wasn't the one he was supposed to be focused on at that time.

Like the employee who helped him, sometimes we need others around us who have the correct target in mind, but who happen to have a different perspective from which to view that target. It might not be easy to work with someone else--in fact it will probably get messy, be difficult, uncomfortable, and might even take a while, but we can't let that keep us from asking for other's perspectives--especially when they have more wisdom than we do.

So what is the correct target? All I can tell you is that it boils down to God's glory: Loving Him and Loving others. When our scope is "sighted in" at this target (our hearts are sincerely pursuing Christ) and we are surrounding ourselves with Wisdom of Scripture and others, all the other things like work, school, friends, and service will move into place.

This has been a lesson I'm learning the last few months. I hope it encourages you today!

Autumn in the Brooks' Home

Hi Friends! It's been a while since I posted last, but I hope this finds you well and experiencing blessings from our Father in Heaven!

Life in the Brooks household has definitely been more interesting in the last month and a half. Josie and Caleb now go to MDO two days a week and are LOVING it. I love hearing them talk about their friends and what they are learning at "school". They are growing up so much.

Josie has started reading a little. We enjoy the "Bob" books and get a kick out of Josie's attempts at writing. She likes to do "homework" or decorate the house with written instructions for the rest of us. For example, the other day she wrote a note that said, "no ppl ulald thwd ist al pimshin fum the femle brooks." (Translation: "No people allowed outside without permission from the Brooks family.") She then taped it on the back door. She cracks us up and amazes us at the same time!

Caleb is all boy. He loves his blue bear, toy cars and his Toy Story characters, wants to play outside all the time and enjoys aggravating his sister. He is a joy and brings so much laughter to our home.

Wesley is my hero. He is an amazing dad and a wonderful husband. He has been so supportive and encouraging during this season of transition and change. He is such a blessing and I'm so thankful that he is my husband.

And me? Well, I spend most of my time studying, and studying, and studying. I love that everything I'm learning is really practical and will really make a difference to people someday. I have fabulous teachers and I get a kick out of my classmates everyday.

There are 24 of us in our class and I was informed by the former director that we would end up being like a family in no time. To be perfectly honest, I didn't want anything to do with that. I had my family and I had my friends, but I wasn't interested in "becoming a family" with anyone else at this season in my life. Well, as usual, God has other plans. Within 2 weeks our class did become a family.

God has definitely done a work in my heart and opened my eyes to things I haven't been exposed to in years (if ever). I think I had gotten so consumed in my little bubble that I had forgotten that there are people right around the corner who don't know about the love of Jesus, and if they do, they might have completely misunderstood the invitation He has given them. They don't understand the peace or joy that does come with abiding in Him. I am so thankful for my new "family". I love how "real" they are and God has truly blessed me in knowing them.

The program is wonderful and I am enjoying the challenge, but it we definitely look forward to a time when things will slow down and our little family can spend more time together. My encouragement is seeing God's hand upon every bit of this adventure. Despite the difficult schedule and stress of juggling everything, He is allowing all of us to thrive. The kids have been incredible and have flourished during their time at school and with the help of my mom. Wesley and I are much more intentional about the little time we have together--even if it's sitting down to fold clothes together without any other distractions--no TV, radio, etc. Our conversations are meaningful and far less superficial.

I know God has led us into this season and He will be faithful to see us through.

Until the next update...blessings!

A Song We Can't Stop Singing

The last few weeks our Discipleship Pastor has been preaching a series called "The Gospel According to Jonah". So we've been following the "misadventure" of the rebellious prophet who ran from God and was swallowed by the whale. But it has not been your typical version that our kids hear in the nursery. It has been challenging and life changing.

From the preparation of the series, our Worship Pastor wrote a song called "I Will Follow You". We sang it the first week of the series and at the end of service the Youth Pastor announced that Drew wrote it himself. We sang it again last week and they got it on video. Please take a moment to listen and worship.

I Will Follow You from Drew Greenway on Vimeo.

Wesley and I seriously can't stop singing this song. We sing it all the time around the house and in the car.

God has abundantly gifted Drew (the guy playing the guitar on the right). This is not the only song he has written that we sing. All of the songs we sing are wonderful, but this has been the only one we've "captured". I hope it blesses you today!

Our New Favorite Videos

I don't have much time to make a long post (aren't you lucky!) but I just had to share something our family is super excited about. We found this new series a couple of months ago and we absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it.



There will be 13 videos in all and it will cover everything from Genesis to Revelation. They are hilarious and not only do the kids love them, I love them. I learn something too (and I laugh a lot). If you're looking for a gift for your kids or kids that you know, this would be money VERY well spent.

I'll try to post an update on our little family soon, but for now I hope you enjoy this!

(Sidenote: If you have questions about if the Bible is reliable but prefer a more "grown up" explanation click here to listen to Ben Stuart take on the tough questions about the Bible.)