A Servant

On November 23 Wesley was ordained as a Deacon in our church. It was a great honor and yet so humbling. Our pastor gave a history of the position of deacon in the church. The position was established because the Apostles could not continue to teach effectively and care for the everyday needs of the rapidly growing church. Men of faith and character were called to the "front lines" of caring for people. During the plague they were the ones who bravely went in to help those who were sick and dying. There were so many other fascinating things that I had never known about the history of deacons, but the most important part of being a deacon is to have the attitude of a servant. Any of you who know Wesley, know that he definitely has that heart-attitude.



Our families came to support him...


Our dear friend and Wesley's accountability/prayer partner, Jacob said a few words of blessing before our lunch...

Pink Spoons?

When we first moved into our new building at church, our pastor preached a series on prayer. The first week he reminded us about how we all have mountains in our lives that we pray to be moved. He wanted to give everyone a tangible object to help us really focus on consistently praying that God would move that mountain.

Since they were still unpacking from the move, all James could find were little white plastic spoons in the kitchen. So, he went with it. They passed them out to everyone as we entered the worship center. After thinking about it for a while, I thought how neat it was that all James could find were the spoons because sometimes (not always) our prayers are like little shovels that God gives us to eventually move the mountain one "spoonful" at a time. (I understand that God chooses to move/not to move mountains when He wants, but that's not the point of this story...)

That Sunday some friends of ours definitely knew that their mountain was infertility. They took their "spoon" very seriously and devoted themselves to prayer. Well, they still have their lttle white spoon, but this week they gave birth to a precious little girl. Instead of cigars, they chose to pass out pink spoons to remind everyone that God answers prayer.

Praise God!

What's your mountain?

Mothers and Daughters

OK, all you Mommies of little girls, I wanted y'all to know about this book and an online book club that will begin on January 5th (see the link on the right side of this blog). I first heard Vicki Courtney speak at a Bible study called Breakaway when I was a freshman at Texas A&M and have been "reacquainted" with her through her blog and her books in the last few months.

She has a wonderful ministry for young women and their mothers called Virtuous Reality based out of Austin. I have learned so much and had my eyes open to many things which I would simply like to turn a blind eye.

We must be proactive in raising our daughters to be godly, virtuous young women who will live to glorify our King. I have been greatly encouraged and challenged by Vicki's ministry. I hope you will be to.

The Sweetest Sound on Earth

OK, so this happened literally about five minutes ago. Wesley and I just put Josie down for her nap. We've been encountering a lot of resistance lately to naps, so we've had to institute consequences for coming out of her room. (Today's consequence was not being able to go see her friend who lives next door.)

Anyway, we heard the door knob twitching and the door open then shut again. Wesley was ready to go and deal with her when he heard something. He stopped and listened. He called me over to the hallway. We could hear her singing with the CD in her room.

Chris Tomlin's "Arriving" CD has been in her CD player since before she was born. We had just gotten it when I was pregnant and I listened to it while I was getting her room ready. It just happened to still be in there the first night we put her in her crib, and it's still in there to this day. (We often joke that someday she'll be in church and sing some of his songs and immediately fall asleep from "Chris Tomlin" narcolepsy".)

So, today, we're standing in the hallway listening to our almost 3 year old daughter sing in her sweet little voice, "Holy is the LORD, God Almighty, the earth is filled with His glory, Holy is the LORD, God Almighty, the earth is filled with His glory...it's rising up all around, it's the anthem of the Lord's renown...together we sing...everyone sing...Holy is the LORD, God Almighty...."

We held our breath as we stood outside her door listening to her worship in her room all by herself. Our hearts were so full. I am so thankful that those words have been sung over her every night of her life for the last almost 3 years. Someday, when she needs them the most, those words will flood her heart and she will always remember: "HOLY IS THE LORD, GOD ALMIGHTY!"

Praise you, Lord!

Windows, Part 2

Well, here's the finished product. Gabe came over Friday afternoon and put the frames in the windows! It's so wonderful We really love them. The kids love bringing out all of their toys and playing in the sunshine. I think the sun really helps everyone's moods!

Caleb loves the windows too! He learned to crawl up onto the ottoman and sit/stand to look out the window. Isn't he cute!?

Trunk or Treat

Here are some pictures of our fun night at our church's annual neighborhood outreach, "Trunk or Treat." Josie has been talking about being Aurora from Sleeping Beauty for several months (ever since she found out there was a day called Halloween and you got to dress up in a costume.) When she gets an idea, she sticks to it. So, here we go...

The curls have returned...

Posing...

Aurora, Belle, and Cinderella (a.k.a. Josie, Darby, and Addy)

Josie and her Sunday School teacher, Chantelle

Exhausted after collecting candy....

We all had a lot of fun. Just in case you're wondering, I didn't get Caleb a costume, but he had a lot of fun too. Sorry there aren't any pictures of him. Oh well. He's the second child (just kidding). Poor kid.

"The Pumpkin Gospel"

A few weeks ago Auntie Jenna gave Josie and Caleb a book called "The Pumpkin Gospel." It's a parable about how carving a pumpkin is like the process that God goes through when we cleans the "mushy gushies" out of our hearts when we receive Him as our Savior. It's a wonderful book! Ever since, Josie has been wanting to carve a pumpkin. So, we finally went and got one. As we carved it, we talked about "The Pumpkin Gospel."

Daddy cleaning out the "mushy gushies"...

The "mushy gushies" are stinky!

"Carve a tross, please."

The story finishes by telling us that when God cleans out our hearts, he puts His light inside of us to shine for everyone to see. Isn't that a wonderful parable!