A Weekend With the Tindols...

We had such a blast hanging out with these folks again this weekend. I was so blessed that they'd come so far and spend four days with us. It was Jen's birthday, so we celebrated in style with fettucini alfredo and strawberry salad and garlic rolls, topped off with earthquake cake. yum. And the major highlight of the weekend had to be Sarah's water baptism. It was so neat that Bart and Jen and Ethan and Grace could be there to share in the experience. What a precious time we all had.

Undone...

I haven't slowed to blog lately. God is still doing such wonders in my heart and mind, my heart continually overflows with His goodness and it's a shame to not share it with the world.

We returned from vacation and drove right to the church (before home even) to drop the kids at Kids Night Out. The welcome we recieved was wonderful, and the joy we felt, well, it was unmatched when we pulled into our garage later that evening. Our little condo is safe, clean, and comfortable, but it's truly not half the home that CT has been to us already. Leaving and returning to San Antonio just solidified that 'home' feeling I'd been missing. Doesn't God bless you like that sometimes?

We spent Saturday keeping house, doing laundry, and prepping for Sunday. Sunday, as we drove to church, our car began smoking. (maybe the 1800 mile trip had done it in?) Turns out, the air conditioning compressor had given out. It's the second time in just over two years. Further investigation realized that the repair was going to be $1852 plus tax. wow, right? So we'd just go without, it's not that hot... Nope, the thing runs on a serpantine belt, so it's all connected to the engine. The compressor will cease (I almost said freeze, but NO, it would never freeze here in South Texas, ha ha). In the midst of this storm, our sweet babysitter unknowingly threw the 'blind' lock on the front door, and our remote was in the car at the mechanic's, which was locked in a 6 foot barbed wire/chain link fence 10 minutes before we got there. So $200 to the locksmith later, we were in the house.

The beauty of this whole situation is that because of God and Dave Ramsey (not my brilliant financial planning) we had this money set aside in our emergency fund account. I was very not thrilled about spending it, but so thankful that it didn't have to go on a credit card. After tons of prayer and multiple phone calls to the Saturn repair center and the Saturn customer service center, they decided to fix it for the labor charge, and warranty the new compressor. So we squeaked away with a $360 repair, it never even touched our savings. Still an expensive week, but not at $2k week, and I'm in awe of God's hand in my life once again. Plus, we used it as an opportunity to share with our students. They prayed with us about the repair cost, and then rejoiced with us about God's provision. It was a really cool learning experience for all of us.

Also, I started working in the church office last week as a secretary. I can tell already that I'm absolutely going to love working there. We have a truly great staff and I'm so blessed to be a part of it.

On a more difficult note, my grandmother, Ann Marie, is slowly slipping into eternity. She's been diagnosed with brain cancer since April. The radiation treatments she did in May did not appear to fight it at all. My brave and strong mother has spent the last 3 months as her constant care giver. It's been so difficult to watch from a distance and feel so helpless. I've prayed and prayed and prayed some more. Sometimes I feel like I'm all prayed out. I know that God's will will ultimately be done. I just pray that my grandma knows Jesus the way I know Jesus. I feel a lot of regret about my less than relationship with her, and a lot of weak excuses like time and distant seem pretty trivial in the light of eternity. So I continue to pray for her, for my mom, for our family as we walk through this together. My grandma is 85, she's lived a long and happy life. I just pray that she truly knows the Lord, and that He would make her transition into the next life easy and painless. I pray that she knows how much I love her and that I wish we could have done things differently.

I'm continuing to work on my Berean Bible classes. I'm well over half finished with my first course, Synoptic Gospels. It's been so brain-expanding. I'm really in awe of all these areas of my life and the way God is circling them all together. I've experienced one other similar experience to this in my life; while I was in college, all my classes that semester seemed to flow into one another and I could literally feel my brain burgeoning to fit all the new information. I feel like that's once again doing in my life, using all these experiences, even the ebbing of my grandmother's life to teach me more about Him.

I cannot even begin to express to you how grateful I am for His Spirit. I encourage you, if you have not recieved the gift of the Holy Spirit, don't give up. If you haven't asked for it, DO. I feel like my life has been set on fire since April and my initial infilling. I say initial because I exercise this gift on a near daily basis. I can't begin to explain the peace that it brings me, and the power for Christian living and witness I feel when I exercise it. It's not a gimmick, it's not a fake, it's not silly. It's truly the supernatural in me and I am continually grateful for it. I can feel the annointing on my life growing daily and I am in awe... absolutely in AWE of God's inifinite power and wisdom and self-emptying love. Don't wait another day to ask Him to fill you, and then press in and wait for it. Believe for it. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is the best gift ever.

(photo taken September 2007 at the family cabin in Bemidji, MN)

Family Reunions and Family Vacations

(written about 10 days ago on the way back from Kansas)

We are flying south, heading back to Texas and back to life as normal, whatever that may be. And I am wishing that I had taken time to write down all the precious moments that took place this week, so that I could store them up in my heart forever. My memory continually fails me, but I will try. Moments like...

Camping out as a family for the first time. We so loved the pop-up we rented. But were super impressed with Chris's RV set up too.

Watching seven cousins between the ages of 3 and 12 romp and play and laugh; delighted to discover that blood is thicker than water.

Witnessing three of the most fantastic sunsets known to man on Lake Milford, twice with rain sweeping across the lake.

Early morning coffee in camp chairs with my brother, his wife and Rob.

Watching my dad jump off the boat in the middle of the lake to swim with his grandkids.

Late night campfires and smores until we were too full to stuff another one in.

Adult conversations into the night after the kids were safely snuggled in bed, with the awkward realization that now we are the adults and we can stay up as late as we want.

Lots and lots of hugs and exclamations of "I'm so glad we did this" and "this was so worth the drive" and "let's plan another reunion next year".

So you can tell that it was a precious time. I feel like we seized an opportunity to share with our children a bit of the love we enjoyed with our family growing up and it excites me that we'll try again next year. It was so restorative and wonderful for all the relationships involved. It's neat to take the mantle of responsibility of connecting off the shoulders of the older generation in our family and begin to carry it ourselves. This is one responsibility I do not want to fail at.

It was a blessed time. Lots and lots of photos, but many more precious memories. We are heading home with full hearts.

a Week of Rob.

yep, that tells you all you need to know about this week. The kids were with Grammy and Papa, and as a result I got a ton of work done and enjoyed tons of quality time with my favorite youth pastor.

Next, we are enjoying the Independence Day picnic and then we are headed out to pick up our beautiful kids. Monday morning we make the rest of the trek (with a scheduled Taco John's and HyVee stop) to Milford, KS for our family reunion. I am so excited, it's going to be a wonderful week of family, sun, lake, and food. the best.

The Big Catch..

again, my life is jammed on the fast forward button, or so it seems. It's such a wild ride, but I am truly loving almost every minute of it. :)

Things are good. Very good. So good that I haven't paused to catch my breath or blog about it. Shame on me, I know. But here I am today, pushing aside my TWO PAGE to do list (for this week I've abandoned the daily list and am instead resorting to a 'for the week' list because most of the projects are simply too big to be contained in one day!) and pausing to prioritize a few moments with you, our little Thoreson family history blog.

Gosh, I've missed the quiet reflection of blogging lately. And it's really sad, God has been doing so much in our lives these past few months, it's a pity not to have a solid record of it. I'm trying to think where I last left off. Well, we've mostly been throwing ourselves into our work here at CT.

Last week we spent Father's Day at church. We gave Rob a healthy Starbucks gift card, a golfing towel with the CT logo on it, and some money towards golf shoes. (did I mention he's decided to be a golfer?) That evening we spend with a couple at church and we really hit it off. I can tell our families are going to be long term friends and that's pretty cool.

Monday we took 15 students to Six Flags for the entire day. We pretty much rode every rollercoaster in the park and exhausted ourselves completely. It was great, we bonded with a lot more of our students, especially the ones who hadn't made it to camp.

Tuesday I spent medicating my back pain for Monday's adventures. Also doing laundry and prepping for the weekend's insanity. Oh, and I participated in a study on the relationship with glossolalia (speaking in tongues - yeah, that was a new word to me too) believers and personality for a gal who is working on her doctoral thesis. It was a bit of a commitment, an IQ test, a personality test, and a survey about my experiences with the Holy Spirit. Sadly, I won't recieve the results of any of the tests, too bad, I really stressed over that IQ test.

Wednesday I took the kids to library story hour and then hosted a couple of students at our house watching HSM3. We wrapped up the day with an incredible youth service, then went with a few people to McDonald's for a late supper. Got home and pulled together a couple photo orders, while talking to students on FB, stayed up way to late.

The next morning we took the kids to New Braunfels to hang with the Hayes family while Rob and I spent the next 3 days in Rockport, TX at staff retreat. It was awesome and I am pinching myself to be a part of this staff and this church. God is doing some awesome stuff. Saturday we got home, got the kids, unpacked and repacked for their grandma adventure. The usual Sunday routine was great, spent a lot of quality time with a lot of quality people, had a great lesson on 'Posing Spiritually' and heard two great sermons. Monday am the kids and I were up early and headed to to McKinney, TX to make the drop with Grandma. 13 hours in the car yesterday and I rewarded myself today sleeping in till 9.

Now that I'm home I'm focusing this week on my first Berean class, Synoptic Gospels and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's really fun to discuss what I'm learning with Rob. I was hoping to complete this first course this week, but it looks like that may have to be an act of God... I've got a shoot this afternoon and that will put me two sessions behind in editing. I'm also trying to catch up on housekeeping and laundry. Need to get packing for next week's adventures too,. :)

So you can see why it's a big deal that I stopped to write all this down, right? :)

We've spent a good bit of time as a family too, the summer is slipping away far too quickly. Hard to believe that this weekend is July 4th already and summer is half way over. wow. We leave for our family vacation/reunion on Sunday, and I can't believe it's already here, but in another way it feels like we've been planning it forever. I am sad at how many people have had to drop out. I understand they all have valid reasons, but it bums me out that family togetherness has become so unimportant for so many of us. Me included often times. I am really excited to spend some quality time with my dad and brothers and cousins and aunts and uncles. It's going to be really special, we'll definitely create some priceless memories.

And then when we return, I start working at the church as a secretary. That will be an adjustment for all of us, for sure. I'll start 3 days a week, but I'm sure that will be a dramatic change in our household.

I've tried to pause and play with the kids with this in mind, library time, playgrounds, lots of family time at Six Flags. I'm a little in awe of going back to work so close to full-time after so many years mostly home, but Rob and I have really prayed about it and feel like this is the job and the time to do it, so we are trying it. :) Might be interesting fitting it around photography, Berean, and family, but God is my supplier and He hasn't failed me once yet.

A couple photos from our adventures...

Father's Day @ CT.

The youth group at Six Flags. They are such great kids. :)

The staff in front of Crab N, where we ate the first night. Fantastic shrimp, mmmmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking of it.

A photo of Rob and I on the ferry as we crossed over to Port Aransas. It was such a beautiful night, I'll never forget it.

see what I mean? Unforgettable.

Of course, catching this giant flounder didn't hurt the unforgettability factor either! :)

feeling very blessed to be a part of this great team of people. :) And amazed that they feel that way about us, too!

Last but not least, check out these Thoreson cousins!! Gage reminds me so much of Rob's brother Matt, it just breaks my heart. Good to see him doing so well. I'm praying they are having a blast this week together. Praying for Grammy and Papa too, that they aren't too overwhelmed!

A Great Day...

So enjoyed my family today, they are amazing. We went to Landa Library, which is my new favorite SA location to shoot.. Came home for lunch (being wise financially after kicking Chase to the curb) and then after an afternoon of Star Wars and editing, we did a Lowes/Office Max/Target run for my Jesus printer and a desk lamp, and light bulbs and other misc. supplies. Found an amazing green adirondack chair, only it's vinyl, at Lowes. It's going to make a great prop for ATP, I'm sure!

Feeling very blessed to be a part of such a great family this evening.. Now if only Sarah would go to bed...

Jesus Sold Me A Printer Today...

not kidding. The sweetest kid, had such a good time selling Rob and I a printer. Probably his easiest of sale of the day because we knew exactly what we were looking for. :) Rob had the brilliant idea of buying a printer that could print right on my cd's for clients. Isn't this the coolest ever?? Even cooler than that is having a husband that dreams a dream for me. Love him.

30 Days??

I'm in awe that tomorrow morning I will wake up and we will have lived here in San An for 30 days already. I'm pretty sure it's been the fastest 30 days of my life, my goodness. I truly don't even feel like we've hit a stride just yet, life has just been moving so fast with camp and moving and house closings. I've literally done 'real' grocery shopping only twice. (don't worry, it's on tomorrow's list and I've got a meal plan to work off of) Things have just been so insane here, and it doesn't look to be much better in the near future, but we are having a blast, so it's ok. :)

We do have today and tomorrow off, our reward for a week at camp, I guess. But God has already rewarded us greatly for that. :) I think Rob and I are going to head back up to Kerrville for a few hours to see all our San Jac yp's. Then we promised the kids a Six Flags run in the evening, we have yet to see the fireworks at Fiesta Texas. But Friday and Saturday look to be low key and that sounds good.

Had two great photo sessions this week, and I'm so delighted to be able to work again. I miss it so much between shoots.

We are about to curl up and watch a movie with a big bowl of popcorn, but I'm waiting for Rob to finish up on the phone with his dad. Feeling uber blessed.

and a random picture, because I can. :) My kids at the library, after being thuroughly entertained by these awesome story tellers. I'm trying super hard to give my kids a great summer because it looks like I'll be going back to work by about mid July..

The Rest Of the Story from a Stubborn Girl

(written a few days ago, I had to tell my mom the story before I shared it with the world)

So camp. Wow. I know I explained that already. I told you that I went into camp with the right heart and attitude. I prayed for divine appointments and anointed conversations. God sure did all of that, so much so that I barely know where to begin.

Today, I am meeting with Pastor Doug and Janet. Not only because they are my pastors, but because Pastor Doug is our Sectional Presbyter. I'm telling them that God called me into pastoral ministry on Thursday night. Wow, even typing that is scary to me, it's such a commitment.

I had some really cool conversations during camp, and God used some people to speak into my life, about my future and about my role at CT, which, of course, is still evolving as I get my feet wet in this new life. I asked some of the pastor's wives to be praying with me about finding my place. It always upsets the apple cart a bit when Rob takes a new job, I've got to find my place all over again. It's a good thing, gives me opportunities to leave ministries I may be burned out on, and explore new areas of giftings. I'm generally pretty excited about it, except for the uncertainty is always kind of eh.

Anyway, God used these conversations to get my attention. And by Thursday afternoon I was really starting to debate in my brain the possibilities of going back to school, but for what? (photography? ministry? gen ed?) and what about working at the church? and what about photography? One of those conversations was with a woman youth pastor who adamantly believes that ministry is in the blood, if your parents are pastors, you are called to be pastors as well.

Well, by service that night God was really tugging on my heart. During worship I had a vision drop in my brain of a white haired man (our District Superintendent here in South Texas) shaking my hand on the platform during ordination at District Council. At first I mentally fought it, thinking I was getting carried away with the service and it was my thoughts and not Gods. The sermon that night was a pretty typical Thursday @ youth camp 'Go do what God is calling you to do" type of sermon, and I fought it in my head the whole time. By the altar call I had convinced myself that if God really wanted me to pursue pastoral ministry He could send me some sort of confirmation. If I really had recieved a calling I figured it would be like pregnancy, in that it would only continue to grow over time and eventually be unavoidable. When the altar call was given, I only stood because the speaker asked all the leadership to stand, I mumbled it half-heartedly, still turning the vision over in my brain, trying to decide if it was me or God. I convinced myself that someone would approach me and say "God told me He called you into ministry" if that was really what God was trying to tell me. Or at least Rob would come up and say something along those lines. I was praying this really hard when I felt a hand on my back and turned around to find Rob. :) He needed my help with something, so my altar moment was done and I was relieved.

We went on to lead the Prayer Mountain climb together, hand in hand, lighting the way up the mountain with 500 students in our wake. (symbolism, anyone?) The whole time I was on the mountain I wrestled with God; are You sure? Me? Have I heard you wrong?

I guess I'm so careful because I would never want to do ministry for the wrong reason. I don't want to do it because it's a logical next step, I want to do it because I'm called. When I was in college my chaplain encouraged me to go into pastoral ministry and I insisted that God hadn't called me and I wouldn't do it without a calling. Minsitry is too tough to do unless God specifically told you to do it.

So we come down the mountain and I stand at the bottom, ensuring a safe arrival of all of the students. At the very last, one of our youth comes to me and says "Ms. Anna, I've got to tell you, God told me he wants me to be a youth pastor" and it was all that I could do to hold myself in and keep from saying "no way, me too!"and I knew at that moment that it was true. I also couldn't tell my student until I'd shared with Rob and found out how he felt about the entire situation. So I stood there, grinning like an idiot while he told me all about it. He told me how God had given him a vision before the message even began (just like me) and later how God had given him confirmation. It was so cool. And Rob had joined us, and he was so happy for him. Very cool.

But I held my tongue. I needed to find a time to tell Rob in private, to let him process it. Finally, at 2pm the next day, we were finally alone and face to face, having lunch on the way to pick up our kids. I timidly told him, afraid that he may feel jilted or intimidated or like I was trying to steal the show. He was so completely supportive, and loving and excited for me. He totally sees my pursuing pastoral ministry as a compliment to him. He's all for me talking to the district about what classes I need and undergoing the process. I'm so thrilled that he's on board, I had really prayed about it.

So if I had any more questions about what God was calling me to do, this morning we had a guest speaker, a missionary from Poland. He spoke on Excuses and doing what God was calling you to do. His three major points were that we fight God because we think we are too old, too young, or because we are 'just a woman'. You can't imagine the irony of this 70 year old missionary talking to us about the myth of being limited because you are a woman. It was crazy, like God was just using this unlikely source, this missionary, to speak directly to me to confirm the callling He'd placed in my heart 4 days ago. Rob and I just looked at each other and laughed. It was so bizarre, I couldn't help but wonder if the other people in the service were just wondering what this guy was talking about!?! But God really used him, and when he gave the altar call I was already doing the Holy Spirit shake from the inside out, and promising God that I wouldn't ignore Him a second time. I boogied my way down to the altar and got down on my knees and accepted His calling right there. It was one of the most supernatural experiences of my life thus far, and I say thus far because lately God has been doing crazier and crazier things in me and I'm sure not going to limit Him.

I just posted that 'Holy Spirit' dream from last August, where God had given me authority over demons and after witnessing the past few months, that seems more than possible. I prayed this afternoon to not limit God's power in me, that I would be a willing and faithful vessel for all that He has to offer.

So now that I've had a few days to think about it, I'm just getting excited. I'm meeting with Pastor today, I'm calling Berean today to find out about classes. I understand that there is a group already meeting in Houston to work on their certification, I'm wondering if it's too late to join. I can't wait to get some information and start moving forward.

I can't believe that God wants this from me. And yet, I look back at my life and I can plainly see where He's been drawing me towards this since I was tiny. I feel like my whole life had been careening towards this point and I can't believe I was so blind or stubborn before as to not see it. And I laugh, because I thought the whole point of Rob and I being apart was for me to learn to depend fully on God and to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but really, that was just a next stepping stone toward this real goal. I'm overwelmed by God's grace and His goodness and I'm so thankful to finally have my priorities straight. I still adore my husband, but I could live without him. I could never survive with an absense of God's presence in my life. I'm so amazed at His perfect plan and I know that if I'm faithful to walk His ordered steps of righteousness for my life, that I can never walk out of His will for me, and it will be far more exciting than anything I've ever fathomed on my own.

You all probably think it's funny that I am so in shock over all of this. I bet you are thinking, well gosh, Anna, you are already super involved with Rob in ministry, this is a natural next step. And it is. But I never saw myself doing anything more than assisting. I've seen myself as chicken wire for long, holding Rob up, that I didn't even give God a chance to show me that there might be more.

Still figuring out how all this will wind together with the life I'm already living; photography, kids, ministry, possibly working at CT as a secretary. It's all crazy, but I know God will wind it all together in the perfect way that He does. And I'm excited for the future. Very excited.

New Worship Song...

this song has been in my head for the days. "You won't relent until You have it all, my heart is yours" seems to be a theme in my life these past 3 months.

This Changes Everything!

Gosh, camp was amazing. I have to admit, I wasn't initially too thrilled about the idea of another week living away from my husband, after we'd been back together less than 3 weeks, and I went into the week exhausted, but God is so good and I felt better and better every day. And now it's 11pm and I'm still up, crazy girl!

God did so much, and I promise you will be hearing more about it in the relatively near future. I'm still turning over some things in my heart and discussing possibilities and plans with Rob. All I can really tell you is that God is faithful and His ways are higher than our ways. Ironically, I thought that our seperation was all about recieving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and now I'm beginning to see how that was just one facet of a bigger plan.

I had the best time getting to know our students; they are amazing and I'm blessed that God has called us to work here with them. This truly was the best week of camp I've ever experienced (in my probably 14 summers of church camp total) simply because I went in with the right attitude and goals; to passionately love my God and through that, love my students. I committed myself to be emotionally available to them, and I was spiritually prepared. God showed up in a big way and I think that was some of the most effective 96 hours of ministry I've ever experienced.

Kay, I need to go to bed, but wanted to share just a couple photos first. I totally did not regret taking Baby Nikon and Kit Lens with me. :) Plus my girls LOVED my camera. easy in.

Our group getting ready to pile in the van and our car to head out to camp. Gotta love that hour drive, versus SIX! Oh, and the two guys in the front had a sea of girls follow them everywhere they went all week. So hilarious.

Worship on the first night. I love seeing a sea of students going hard after God.. breaks my heart wide open. I never want to be too old to be that enthusiastic for Jesus.

Didn't see enough of this guy all week. I missed him bunches, but had such a great time connecting with our students. He did a phenomenal job as assistant manager for the week. (plus he's really cutie!)

Where we hid for the Great Escape. We were not found and we were the very last group to get in to the Tab. The most amazing part is that these 12-14 year old girls hid for 45 minutes in the dark, without moving, kneeling on the ground, and not talking. Three times the hunters with flashlights came by, and yet they never found us.

Our victory picture! Way to go girls!

Always the highlight of the week, the hike up Prayer Mountain. I totally didn't have the right lens for this, or a tripod, but I gave it my best shot with what I had with me. It was a powerful experience. The coolest part was that Rob and I led the hike up and then again back down.

And here we are fixing to leave. You can see how we all feel about each other. :) Amazing how God can create a family in 4 days. Love these kids. So blessed to be here.

And then the last awesome thing is that our closing papers were finally emailed to us today. We boogied around this afternoon to get them signed and fed-exed back. As of Monday, our house is someone else's house. yay!

Fantastic Time with the Tindols..

So, Sarah graduated. In tears, but she graduated. And I sat there, with the 140 or so kindergartners, and teared up myself remembering how special her LGA graduation was and how this was a cheap imitation in comparison. Made me thankful for LGA all over again. :) What a blessing it was.

Oh, we had a blast. It was hurried, literally a 24 hour trip. We thought we were going to get to close on our house, but yeah, that would have been the easy route and that's just not our style, right? So we got to spend a few hours with Pastor Larry and Linda, which was awesome. (out of my great respect for Pastor and Linda and their dislike of photos, I refrained from taking any, but I would have loved to!) Then we went over to the Tindols and had pizza and stayed up way too late while Jen did my hair, which looks amazing, you can tell from the photos, can't you?

I'm so blessed to have her as my hair gal, but way more blessed to have her as my pal!

So today we all slept in till 8:30 and then sat around their house in pajamas discussing possible plans for the day. By about noon we finally got it together enough to go to Sylvan Beach for Ethan's 5th birthday photo shoot and then to the Bucket Pool (our fond name for it) for the mad price of a $1 a head. We snacked and swam and swam and snacked and it was a perfect day. By 4:30 we were clawing our way through Houstan back towards home, now set with a Tuesday closing date (that will be interesting from camp, but we'll make it work) and home, showered, kids in bed, and laundry humming by 9:30pm. I'm so thankful we went. Sometimes it's just good to remember who loves you and to pause and love em back! ;)

Rob made this incredible face and I happened to catch it. :)

Rob took this amazing portrait on my purse camera and I adore it! I totally see my mom in me though, and I've never seen that before.

the clan at the Bucket Pool, resting and snacking during a 'break'.

cutest kids ever, right??

(at McDonald's on the way home. Sare's '1' is for first grade!)