Tomorrow's the Day.

We've been counting down for six months. You see, in January, a family in the church contacted us about the possiblility of renting their home when our lease was up. It is a dream house at a dream price and we are so excited to move in and do real ministry in our home again. Our two bedroom condo has been just a season in our life to get us to San Antonio. It's so neat to see it all boxed back up with bare walls again. No remorse in my heart this move, only upward and onward.

There have been a few snags on the other end of this move, so please be praying for the transition for everyone involved. We know God is in this (that has been very apparent from the very beginnning) and He'll work everything out according to His plan.

Meanwhile, we officially started a week's vacation this morning. And ironically, an alarm that our sweet Sarah helpfully packed, started beeping at 5:45am from the deep recesses of a box in our bedroom. Rob's my hero, he dug in the dark till he found it and disabled it. But there was no falling back asleep for me, I had a hard enough time disengaging last night, but now daylight is about to burn and my list is at least a mile long, starting with cleaning the oven (boo) and toilets (double boo). The best part of this day is that Bart and Jen and the kiddos will be here about noon. (double yay!)

Will post pics on the other side. Blessings!

A Power Leak

After over a year of living a Spirit-filled life, I am still amazed by the power made available to me through the Holy Spirit. I can see why the Word refers to it as a gift, because that is the truest expression. Each time I exercise this gift, I am humbled by it again, and I wind up being disappointed in myself for not using it more often!

I had a really rough day yesterday. And this morning I set out determined not to repeat it. So after I dropped Rob and the kids off at work I started my usual ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication) structured prayer. I've been determined not to allow this prayer to become flat or routine, so I just started praising God for all He is and all He's done. I didn't get too far in this process before I realized that mere english wasn't going to satisfy my need to praise Him, so soon my heavenly language soon poured forth. Immediately the car was filled with such peace and I just felt the stress and strain I'd been walking with the past few days melt away.

Why did I wait so long? How come we forget to recharge and let the power just leak out of our lives. I picture a helium balloon with a slow leak. Pretty quick we are hanging at three feet looking sad and wondering how we got there. When we are supposed to be scraping the ceiling, busting with life and purpose - TO PROCLAIM HIS GLORY!

I think so many people have bought into the lie that they can only receive from God at the altar, or in a camp or revival service. They don't realize, that once you've been filled, you can use that gift any time. And you should! Some of my most incredible moments with God have been in the privacy of my own bedroom or in the car while I am driving down the road. (I like to think there is a supernatural hedge of protection around me when I'm driving in that condition) The hangup that snares most people is that you have to set aside time to truly seek Him.

As soon as I felt like I could, I began praying, in English, to confess my lack of dependence on the Lord. I realized that I had drifted from the power source. Sure, I had done my bible readings, and said lots of breath prayers in the past few days. But I hadn't lingered, and I certainly hadn't experienced that vital fresh touch from the Spirit.

You might think, "well, Anna, you are a pentecostal pastor's wife, you have to live a Spirit-filled life in order to be effective." And I couldn't agree more. But ironically, where I needed the touch the most is in the mommy aspect of my life. I realized this morning that I can't possibly hope to raise these children successfully in my own strength. And once again, I am so grateful for supernatural access to the throne of God.

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from your the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 5:18-20

Birthday Lunch

These sweet ladies all took time out of their busy day to come and have lunch with me, it was awesome! We had such a wonderful time!!

Bonus!!

While I was cropping today's pages in iPhoto I noticed these pages from earlier in the year that I hadn't shared. Also, I have a couple more that I haven't photographed yet, so maybe when I get that last page finished, I'll snap photos of them all and get them up on here. :)

Birthday Scrapping

Well, I hit the big 32. And despite gaining two age spots this year (grrrr) and numerous additional moles (double grrr) I've seemingly survived the transition from 31.

Rob made it special, on Monday he blocked off the day for me and took me shopping at San Marcos Outlets, where I found several new (CUTE) t-shirts and a couple pairs of Fossil earrings on clearance. Then we went to Plato's closet and I found a pair of shorts and a light brown summer cardigan (big shock there) as well as a super plaid pair of Rocket Dogs that will be awesome for camp in a few weeks.

On Tuesday, I shuffled everyone off to school and then proceeded to drag out tons of scrapbooking stuff. Lori and I sat on the phone on and off most of the morning and early afternoon, and I produced four finished pages, with a big start into a fifth (hoping to finish it up later today). We had a blast. I really do miss my good friends that live around the country, but I got phone calls from two of them yesterday, and it made the miles melt. As much as I long to hug their neck or go shopping with them or sit down to a meal with their shining faces across the table, I am so grateful that they are in my life, and that God has brought so many new friends across my path here in San Antonio. He has built a beauitiful life for us here, and I have the double blessing of keeping my long distance friends while adding to my local friends. Today I get to go to birthday lunch with a bunch of San Antonio ladies and I'm really looking forward to it!!

So here are the first four pages from yesterday's adventures. :) Hope you enjoy!

new camera documentation! (which I am LOVING it!)

This page takes it for the most work, I stamped all those flowers and cut them out, but I love it! Totally worth the effort.

Remembering our adventures in Hill Country this past fall.

documenting my ridiculous love for my iPad.

Mother's Day gift..

Rob hit it out of the park this year with these two sweet figurines, a boy and a girl. They've already found their place of honor on my shingle shelves in the living room. :)

Will it matter in ten years??

Will it matter in ten years??

So the other day, one of my sweet and mostly innocent children did something exceedingly brainless. Shocking, I know. My reaction was to fret about how Rob would react, mostly because the offense would affect him more than me. I was with a dear friend at the time and she said, so simply, “Will it matter in ten years?” Her comment threw me off kilter, I believe I had to ask her to repeat it. “Will it matter in ten years?”

Well, no, truth be told. It won’t. And honestly, it probably won’t matter in ten days. In six small words she altered my parenting worldview. I spent the rest of the evening turning this thought over in my head. How much time and anxiety and effort have I spent through my lifetime on things that wouldn’t matter in the long haul? Especially when it comes to my children.

Instantly I thought of how this ten year thinking would altar my daily priorities. Dishes and laundry suddenly didn’t seem as important as conversations and laughter, family Bible study and prayer. I was reminded again how my time with my own children (already six and ten) is slipping through my fingers like sand. How much time have I spent on the ten minute plan in lieu of the ten year plan?

Then I began to realize how looking at the big picture would affect parenting a teenager. Little things could slide, if we learned to identify and prioritize the ten year plan. Taking out the trash, cleaning their room? Not so big of a deal as being honest and making God-honoring choices.

You know what I’m talking about. Sometimes we just pick on the little things in our children, especially our teenagers. Take a moment to think about it, are there some things you can let go? Maybe take that time to affirm them instead of reprimand, or better yet – catch them doing something that does matter in the ten year plan.

I find myself often quoting the first part of Ephesians 6 to my children; “Honor your father and mother…so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” As parents we tend to overlook the rest of the context of this scripture. There are directions for mom and dad too, “… do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

So I encourage you to keep the long term goal in mind when it comes to your teenager. Take some time to identify your ten year plan, write it out and post it somewhere you can regularily check in on your progress. Hold yourself accountable to it, and let your teenager in on the plan. The wonder is, as they see you consider the ten year plan, they will learn to consider it for themselves. It may help with longterm decisions like tatoos and girlfriends and indebtedness.

Praying for you friends, as we consider the ten year plan.

Happy Anniversary Baby...

I've been slaving away on this project for hours and hours. But I think the end result is worth it, what do you think??

In case you are wondering, the top stitching a cross-section of a tree. It has 13 rings, one for each year of marriage. The heart of the tree symbolizes our dating/engagement season. The twig sewn below it, well....

Back in Febuary of 1997 Rob and I had one of our most fantastic dates ever. We lay out under the stars (in the cold night air) on a deck at Intervarsity Camp. We held hands and realized that night that we had begun planning our future together. It was an amazing evening.

The next morning, he came to breakfast with something behind his back. He told me that he was so blessed by our conversation the night before that he wanted to bring me a token of his love, a flower. But being February in Kansas City, there were no flowers in bloom. Instead he found this twig and he presented it so proudly.

My heart was melted. Obviously.

14 years later I still have the very twig. And (by the grace of Jesus) our love has grown into a fine and mighty oak tree.

13 things I love about Rob..

(in honor of our 13 years of marriage)

1.) His love for the Lord. This was the very first thing I noticed about Rob, he passionately serves his Savior. I had never met anyone on fire for Jesus to that extent.

2.) His sense of humor. He has such a wonderful sense of humor, and it's so perfectly aligned with my own, we wind up really setting each other off. It keeps us from taking life too seriously. Also, he has the best high pitched laugh when he's really tickled. I'd love to hear it every day!

3.) His astute sense of right and wrong. Rob has a crazy strong sense of justice. It makes him fight for truth and stand up for the weak. It makes him passionate and determined.

4.) His gentle nature. I love watching him play with our children. You can see the tenderness in his heart. I love it when he holds me if I've had a bad day or even a bad moment. You can also see this in his worship. He's so open to the things of God, it melts my heart.

5.) His willingness to grow and change. We've hit some bumps along the way, and neither of us are perfect. He'll take an honest look at himself and strive for better.

6.) His passion for ministry. This guy is ministry minded. He loves people, he loves the church. His mind is always churning; how can we do this better?

7.) He is a tireless worker. For the ministry, for the family, for any project he's put his mind to. He has a very strong work ethic and everyone he works with is blessed by it.

8.) He loves me. That sounds simple, but I see so many lackluster marriages, and I am so thankful to be smack in the middle of such a great one. Rob constantly tells me that he loves me (the end of every phone call, a gagillion times during the day, before we go to sleep at night and first thing when we wake up in the morning) and I know by the way he says it, he really means it. It's incredible to me that we can be married for so long and still be so incredibly in love with one another. We never get sick of each other, or need a break, in fact, even when he's away for a little while, I miss him! Working together in the office this year has probably only made this stronger, which is a miracle in itself!

9.) He challenges me to grow. Rob will never leave me where I'm at. We are always trying to love each other and our kids more. If I'm in error, he's the first to tell me, and lovingly discuss how we can do better. He challenges our children and students to grow, too.

10.) He engages in conversation. We have had so many incredible conversations over the years. Many of them long after midnight laying in bed. He is my favorite person to talk to. We've solved the world's problems many times over by now, I'm pretty sure. Especially this past year, with me taking Berean, he's been an incredible tutor and mentor.

11.) His giftings in areas that I'm not gifted in. God really knew what He was doing when He brought us together all those years ago. Rob and I compliment each other perfectly for ministry and I'm so grateful that he fills in all my gaping shortcomings.

12.) He's in touch with his inner child. Take a walk through his office and see all his Star Wars toys, or browse through his many games on his iPad, find him wrestling our kids on the living room floor. He knows how to relax and have a good time. This is why he's such a great youth pastor, because in some situations, he really hasn't grown up. I mean this as an absolute compliment. He still loves to play, and it makes him a great daddy, too.

13.) He is my favorite. And when I tell him that he always answers "you're mine", it makes me smile every time. He's the one I want to share all my secrets and joys with, the one who makes me laugh, who holds me tight, who whispers sweet nothings in my ear. He'll wink across the room at me, he'll give me that look that still makes my insides jiggly. He shares my highs and my lows. He is my better half and I will always, always thank God for that!!

Favorite Scripture.

"You hem me in -- behind me and before; You have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wins of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast." Psalm 139:5-9

I have loved this verse for years. Over a decade in fact. I came across it today as I was preparing my shiftAM lesson and I want to put it someplace I will never lose it. It speaks to me because I am always a mess, and yet God is constantly hemming me in, pulling together the places I unravel, making a neat edge where I would otherwise be torn. He brings beauty out of rags. I love Him so much.

In Tha Motherhood...

heard this song on the radio and I could just so relate. Love my kids!

You are Entering Your Mission Field...

I've seen a sign like this as we've left churches before. But today I was studying Colossians for Prison Epistles, and reading about how our greatest area of Christian witness is our our own home. And I was suddenly inspired to make this sign and put it on the garage door, leading INTO our home. You see, we've struggled with living lives of love here in our household lately. And I wanted to remind all of my family what the Word says about loving one another. They all got the message right away, and it's a great reminder for me, too!!

PS - Sarah brought home these spring flowers for me not too long ago. Aren't they dear??

Full-Time Mom for the week.

This week has been a rough one in some senses. Eli has been down with a sinus infection. I had given him some prescription cough medicine (given to us by our dr's office) to help him sleep on Monday night. He awoke Tuesday covered in hives. We took the first available appointment of the day (hives had almost disappeared by this point) and got him started on a prescription of Omnicef. Later that afternoon he was busted out in hives again, much worse this time. A call to the office and they said to watch his breathing closely because his airway could get restricted. I woke up with him over and over the next two nights to check his breathing and administer Benadryl. Finally, yesterday his hives cleared and stayed clear. He's slowly recovering from the sinus infection, without any antibiotics because we are trying to clear his systen.

There is good news. I am so grateful that now we know he's allergic to codeine and omnisporens. We learned in non life-threatening dosages, thankfully. I've gotten to spend more time with my favorite son this week than I have in a long, long time. He is such a joy.

And I've gotten some serious time to catch up. All of my photography is edited and sent to clients. My kitchen is clean. I made supper tonight and chocolate chip cookies. And now I even have a moment to blog. I've been working on a top secret anniversary project, too. I can't remember the last time I had an opportunity to craft for the love of crafting!

I feel like I can breathe again. I, of course, miss work and church and my students. But I am grateful to regain some ground here at home. I'm thankful to spend time with my sweet kids (when they aren't torturing each other). We worked on projects for the grandmas today, and we are all so excited about them!! It's just nice to be a normal mom for a week again. It makes me appreciate where I came from, and reminds me how much I love what I do during a normal week. I'm wrapping up this week feeling very content and blessed and only the teeniest tinge guilty. It's all good.

Jesus Manifesto

Delighting in this book, although I have no business reading it while trying to carve my way through Prison Epistles... Found and cherished this quote today:

‎"We ought to read the scriptures with the express design of finding Christ in them. Whoever shall turn aside from this object, though he may weary himself throught his whole life in learning, will never attain the knowledge of the truth: for what wisdom can we have without the wisdom of God?" John Calvin

Life As We Know It..

HATE that I abandoned Photo 365. It was probably too ambitious. Shocking considering my personality, isn't it?

Got convicted this morning, read a message board thread about taking everyday photos of your family. Not just the posed, portraits. I stink at this. Need to work on it.

So in that spirit, I took a few pics of Sarah playing with Legos this morning. She stayed home from church this morning with a foul tummy..

The crazy Lego collection is her and Eli's private world, called Lego City. It's pretty awesome!

Eating Elephant and other Ramblings..

Finally, a moment to record a few thoughts. It's a shame, really, that I've missed so much blogging lately. God has been doing some incredible things in my life and I just haven't had time to write them down.

For starters;

I am working on my Beginning Ministerial Internship. This is a class that I am working through with Pastor Doug, and also starting a mentoring relationship with a woman pastor in our section. I'm halfway through the internship and it's already been impactful on my life. One of the biggest issues we've learned about is the issue of pride, and how this can be such a huge stumbling blocks, especially it seems for pastors. I've been praying about this issue in my own life for several months... It's always exciting to see how God prepares you before He schools you. :)

The biggest highlight thus far in this experience was definitely getting to preach on Women's Ministries Sunday. That was such an honor; terrifying, exhilarating, and addicting all at the same marvelous time!

I'm simultaneously finishing my last certified level course; Prison Epistles. This is proving to be another difficult course. But the challenge is always rewarding. The crazy thing is, as I finish this class I'm applying for credentials and starting the testing/interviewing process. (eeee!) Nothing makes you analyze every past mistake and misstep like applying for ministerial credentials! Just filling out that application was a lesson in humility!!

I honestly can't believe I'm already to this point. It seems like just a couple months ago I received my calling at youth camp and nervously phoning Berean to enroll for classes. The past nine months have been challenging and overwhelming at times.. In fact I reached a breaking point in November where I really had to receive a pep talk to keep going.. But God is faithful and He proves Himself over and over to me!! He sent just the right person to speak into my life and refresh me. I finished that course strong, and even accepted my only sad little B+ on a harder than average class.

I seemingly gain momentum with each course and at the halfway point I could begin to ascertain my progress. It's a bit like eating an elephant, you just have to keep eating elephant, one bite at a time, even if there reach's a point that you begin to wonder why you like elephant in the first place. LOL.

The reality is, as you near the end of the process, (or at least the first level in the process) you realize how very worth it it's been. I'm there. I look back at the last nine months and am floored, amazed, and blessed by the personal spiritual growth that God has done in me through these classess. It makes me so grateful!! I'm excited that I have two levels to go, because I am not ready to say goodbye to this season of my life. I say that, and some days I am ready to pitch a textbook to the wall, but most days I love it!!

Beyond school...

Photography has been really awesome lately. Thus the missing blog posts. All my spare time has been consumed with editing. I had six photo sessions last weekend. I've busted my rear and edited 3 of them, have a good start in the fourth. Last night (after about 9 nights of five or hours of sleep) I hit a wall and laid on the couch at 7:45pm. Rob looks at me and said "what are you doing?" I said "I thought I'd watch some tv." and he replies "You don't do that." He was so surprised to see me set down for a few moments, I guess because I never do. At 9:30 I crawled upstairs and into bed, out within a few minutes. I think it all caught up with me, slept like a baby last night.

I've got another session this weekend, so another week or so of insane editing and I should be caught up. But it's so worth it. You see, a couple weeks ago we paid off Rob's car. That's right, now we own two fully paid for vehicles. :) Again, I sing God's praises, He is so faithful! We started paying extra on his car in October. We had $7000 to go. And God honored it. Six months later it's finished. Now we are working on building our savings back up. This is unbelievable if you know anything about Rob's and my financial history. We got married extremely young and have made just about every insanely stupid financial choice you can make. The year that Ike hit we were taking Financial Peace University classes - one week in and Ike passed right over our home. We evacuated with $200 to our name and a credit card that was too close to credit limit. I vowed that week that we were going to turn things around. And by God's grace we have. I give Him all the praise and glory for that!!

I don't know why I am being so transparent today. I guess it's just reading all this scripture about having our lives point to Jesus. If you look at me and see anything worthwhile, I implore you, it's because of HIM..

I exist because of His mercy. I have talents and giftings because of His creativity. I serve out of love for Him. I work and love and photograph and smile out of thanksgiving and appreciation for all that He has done in and for and through me.

I pray that this is the case for you as well. And if it isn't, it's not too late. Take a moment to understand your sin, your depravity that separates you from His righteousness. Realize His tremendous sacrifice on the cross, that paid the price for sin. Understand that He is reaching out in love and offering you relationship with Him. Repent, turn from your sin, cast it aside, and accept the new, better, life that He offers; both now and with the hope of glory. And let Him flood your life and heart and mind the way He has mine.

A Wild Ride..

Gosh, the past few months have been amazing and it's sad that I haven't been on here, recording it all. Sometimes I just feel the need to stop and pinch myself to make sure it's all real. And it is. God has been so good to us, and either as a result or a precursor, I only find myself longing for more of Him.

Feeding that need right now:

*daily time in His Word. This has been a staple in my life for years now, but never before to the point of intensity that it has been this past year or so. The Bible has come alive to me in such a real way, I'm beginning to better distinguish the scarlett thread that runs through it from Genesis to Revelation, and it's so marvelous to discover that for myself!

*getting my groove back on with Berean and Acts; The Holy Spirit at Work in Believers. I can tell that it's going to be a tough course, the first chapter alone took me over two hours this morning, but that's a good sign that I'll learn a lot!

*LOVED getting to preach last Sunday, it was scary and fun and nervewrecking all in the same breath! Can't help but wonder how God is going to use these next steps in my life. Still not really sure where I am going with credentialing, but being faithful to step forward in the process. Can't begin to describe the thrill when Pastor Doug said '2 classes away from credentialing', eeeee!! On one hand, the past 9 months of classes have crept by, but really, they've flown. It's been a tremendous amount of work, but I've loved the process!!

*discovered the book Jesus Manifesto by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola. It's currently rocking my world, even though I know better than to try to read a textbook and a non-fiction discipleship book simultaneously. It's simply too good to put down and wait for until summer.

*getting psyched for photography season. After this weekend, it really amps up and I have several large projects I'm working on. Yay!

*THRILLED to realize that with our tax return, and a little out of savings, we will be saying forever goodbye to Amegy and our car loan! Thank you, Jesus! God is so faithful, we got intense on this loan in October and have been kicking it to the curb ever since. It is our goal (and prayer) to never have a car loan again.

*Women's Convention is starting on Thursday, and my dear friend Jen is joining us this year. I can't wait to see what God does! The last two women's events I attended were phenomenal, God moved and it was awesome. I fully expect it again this time around!

*We attended Acquire the Fire last weekend, bringing 35 people with us. It was pretty awesome, our students really experienced more of God and were challenged in the area of purity. It was a perfect wrap up to our February purity focus.

Anyway, you can see it's crazy and good and we are just loving how God is using us. I can't believe this is our life and I'm so glad God brought us to CT. It's incredible.

You Will Recieve Power

Had the honor and joy of bringing the Word this past Sunday... If you'd like to listen, here's the linkie to the podcast. (what a rush, God is good!)

linkiepoo

A Quick Post

to let you know I haven't forgotten about you! I think about blogging, it's just trying to find time to actually do it that is the problem. :)

On a high note, I have gotten my tax paperwork sent off to be dealt with (whew) and I'm only one shoot behind editing. This week I'm working on shared speaking with Rob tonight, a Girls Night message for Friday night, and finishing up the message for next week's Women's Day. woohoo, can't wait to preach that one, it's brewing upstairs for a long time and I'm introducing the church to Prezi. Should be interesting!

BTW - this is my favorite photo from our staff retreat last week. We had an amazing time with harrowing adventures. I have a half-written blog post on my iPad I'll need to share eventually. :)

I'm Not Quite Dead!!

sorry, we recently re-watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail (editing out the yucky parts) and now I have quotable lines from that movie traipsing through my head. :)

Autumn was in town for the Light for the Lost banquet, so we had the honor of hosting her in our tiny home. Rob tracked down the movie because she had never seen it. We had a responsibility to show her. We had a lot of fun.

This is the card I gave Rob for Valentine's Day, a few days early. I thought it was so us. We celebrated with our kiddos this evening, it was really nice. Fettucini alfredo, asparagus, crustry french rolls and strawberry shortcake. mmmm... happy tummies.

Got a cute Valentine's story to share. Last week we had dinner with the Morgans, whom we love. Anyhoo, our kids are all friends so they wanted to ride from the church to the restuarant together in the Morgans van. So Rob and I went on our own, got there first and as we got out of the car they were all walking into the restuarant laughing at us. Asking why, Pastor Aaron told us that he and Shannon wondered what we were still doing in the car once we got there. Sarah told them "They're having a moment. They do that a lot."

priceless. I'm glad she notices, and knows that we need moments. I pray all the time that we can be biblical marriage role models for our kiddos. It's important that they know what a healthy Christian marriage looks like, and hopefully they'll pursue that in their own lives one day.