Kitchen Project? check.

I have been working on our kitchen for the past 2 weeks. It's been my goal to finish it before I left for Iowa. On Monday. :) And I've been almost finished with it for about a week now, but waiting for the new knobs to come, there was an address issue with eBay and it took a bit to get them to the right place. Anyway, you can imagine how thrilled I was to find them in my mailbox today! So Rob and I threw them up real fast after church tonight and doesn't it look amazing? I'm so glad I went ahead and painted them, it looks so fresh and clean and warm.

Anyhoo, long night and I'm exhausted and really not feeling well. Something in the potluck didn't agree with me tonight, so I'm turning in relatively early.

2 more days. :)

As Promised.

Scrapbook pages. Finally! I still have one in progress, so that one isn't up yet. These are mostly from last Saturday's exploits. I spent 5 hours 'cropping for the cure'. yeah, it was a real hardship. :)

This page was completely inspired by another page I had seen, but I loved the stamping in the circle. :) It was fun to get out my giant HKS stamps and put them back to use. Love this color combo too, blue and yellow are a staple favorite of mine. :)This page is near and dear to my heart because the pictures are from our summer games and camp. We had such an extraordinary summer this year and the youth group is really becoming family to us, I love it! Plus you've gotta love the hot air balloons. :)
This page has been bouncing around in my head since I bought this chandalier paper a year ago. Sarah is all glitz and glam, we know that, so this seemed like the perfect paper for her. Especially sporting that ginormous ring!!
Had some fun with this lovely stamp, and an unusual color scheme. :) Love this pic of Bart and Jen and Rob and I. They have become such good friends and such a blessing!
This page is ridiculously simple, but so fun. This yummy paper had my heart and I didn't want to complicate it. Seemed just perfect for our sunny FL beach picture.
Still working on pics from my birthday weekend. I think Lori and I took about 300 that weekend, so it may be a while. And we'll be taking plenty more this coming week, I'm sure!! Don't usually do a lot of dark blue, but it's fun with the turquise and worked well with the beach picture. (note the dramatic difference between the above pictured Cocoa Beach and the below Galveston Beach, wowsers)
Probably my favorite picture from the first day of school. This page sat in progress on my fridge for about a month now. :) Totally worth the wait though, she loves it too!
A little reminder to maintain 'gazelle-like' intensity. I try to scrapbook our family values too, so our books are a complete history of our family. And yes, I've scrapped some of the harder things too. I remember one page about the 'house built too small' quite clearly.

I'm very in the mood to scrap. But we have a busy weekend. I do think I will pack a few things for Iowa though, just in case I can find some time with my mom or Lori. Or both, how amazing would that be?

Tonight was precious.

Our dear little girl was crowned Honor Rainbow. She completed all 18 badges to graduate the Rainbow program. Rainbows are a part of the Missionettes Girls Ministry in the Assemblies of God. I always think of it as the A/G girl scouts. :) Sarah's been involved since Hartford and absolutely loves it. Tonight was no exception. She just ate it up! Especially the walk with Daddy (in the white dress with the updo and the glitter and the sparkles) from the back of the church to the platform. We had technical difficulties (boo) and so the walk took longer than anticipated and she LOVED every second of it!! We are so proud. The very best part was when Pastor prayed for our family. We all laid hands on Sare, Pastor knelt down to her level and it was beautiful. Sometimes I am so in awe of the responsibility of parenting, and amazed that we haven't utterly failed at it just yet. :)



Did a few photos before hand, cause I knew we'd be shooting in the cave (the sanctuary, not one ounce of natural light even at high noon, and all woodwork and red carpet = disastrous lighting). So glad I did, it was just fun!And because I can't fly by my favorite son, I took a few pictures of him as well. He was such a good big brother today. I think I owe him a little special time sometime soon.
A full, and happy heart tonight. God has blessed our little family so abundantly and I am so grateful. He is so good.



Tomorrow is Thursday. :) Have a big ole' scrapbook page blog post coming for you in the near future!

Ready for Catchup.

Things are good. Mondays are a big meeting day for me, and I'm always tuckered out by the time Monday night rolls around. Tonight is no exception, cause I got home from church (2 staff meetings and some projects for Rob) and got ready for an engagement shoot. I was super excited to get the camera back in my hands and clicking again.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to edit and clean house. It's deep. I've got a lot to get finished with before I take off for Iowa, one week from today. (the people rejoice) Man, I'm so ready for a break. Can't wait.

Listening to this church's podcasts a ton lately. Really relevant stuff and I'm getting a lot out of it. Also, focusing on scripture memorization and seeking God. I am praying for a deep personal revival and feel like it's just beginning to unfold. I haven't experienced God at this level since college, so that's pretty incredible. I've been weirdly in tune with Pastor the past 3 or so months. This week he spoke on the Potter and the clay. Ironic? He followed it up with a scripture that I had read that morning. Did it again today in staff, with a different scripture. Pretty cool!

Eli and Sarah are doing awesome. School is going well. We meet the teacher for Eli's 3rd grade class tomorrow night and I am looking forward to putting a face with a name. Sare's gearing up for her big night here on Wednesday with her Rainbows crowning. I'm hoping to have time to do a mini photo shoot for her before we have to be at church. Her gown and clips and shoes are waiting...

Kay, tired now. ready to snuggle with Rob and be thankful for the great husband I've got. night.

tonight was awesome.

I'm still basking in the glow of being totally used by God. Talk about 'clay'. Wow. I'm so excited for how youth service went tonight. Our students were totally tracking and God filled in all the gaps in my outline just so. It was a ton of fun. Worship was really phenomenal too! Rob just addes 3 girls to the team and tonight they really got it. Rob and I just nicknamed them the "Rob-ettes", it really added a lot of dynamic to worship.

I could not locate a potters wheel. sadly. But I did drag a 25 lb brick of potters clay to a table in front, lit from above. Had chunks divided and packaged with the verse as an object lesson. Worked with the clay in my hands as I spoke. It was so fun. I may not be able to sleep tonight from the left over buzz. :) So here it is.



More Than Mud

Isaiah 64:8

But now, O LORD,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand.

We can learn some things from this verse:

1.) God is our Creator. (the Potter is a creator)
a. Our Creator, literally.
i. Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
ii. God formed us from the dust of the ground, but you are more than mud! You are clay.

2.) He is your Daddy. God is more than just our biological father, more than only present at conception.
a. Looking out for your best interests.
b. Correcting you when you are wrong.
c. Teaching you the ways of life.
d. Providing for your physical needs.
e. Loving you (far more perfectly than any earthly father could)

3.) He is the Potter.
a. He has a master plan in mind.
b. He’s creating us for an intended purpose.
c. He has the tools, skills, and knowledge necessary to bring about the desired result.

4.) We are the clay.
a. I did some pottery in high school and recall a few interesting things about clay.
i. It’s very temperamental. Requires a specific moisture level in order to be malleable.
2.) Too wet, and it will fold in the process.
3.) Too dry and it will crumble.
4.) Same with you and me.
a. Too much of the world in us, we crack and fall.
b. Too separated from the world and we lose our effectiveness and fold into ourselves, useless to God’s plan for our lives.
ii. Clay is never unsalvageable.
2.) Too wet, give it some air and let it dry.
3.) Too dry, add water.
4.) Needs to be wedged to avoid air bubbles.
5.) Even when you heat the clay in the oven and bake it, harden it, it’s still capable of being ground down into dust and re-wet. Clay again.
6.) Time, moisture, and the Potter’s touch restore clay to the original intention.
7.) You and I are the same. We are never beyond the Master’s use for us.
iii. Clay is malleable.
2.) Outside forces have great impact on a piece of clay. It is easily conformed by circumstance.
3.) Our lives were meant to be shaped by God, but often times run into other damaging circumstances, making us less effective for God’s purposes.
iv. Clay does not get to determine it’s final purpose.
2.) God determines our purpose. We don’t get an opinion about the final product of our life. When we take our purpose into our own hands, it gets messy and falls apart.
v. The process of being shaped is difficult.
2.) Sometimes even painful. Think about the wedging process. Clay has to be wedged to avoid being shattered in the final process.
3.) Worth the effort. It’s the only way clay will ever be anything more than a lump of wet dirt.










5.) Altar Call
a. Outside forces shaping your life other than God?
i. Give yourself back to Him. Visualize placing your clay in His hands.
b. Selfish pride making you too brittle for God to use you?
i. Spend time talking to Him, soaking up His presence, allow yourself to be softened to Him.
c. Taking your purpose into your own hands rather than consulting the creator?
i. Revisit His purposes for your life. Think about His will, rather than yours. His ways are higher than our ways.
ii. Maybe you are just now realizing that you are clay? You are nothing on your own. You need a saving touch to make your life meaningful.


(I expounded a lot from these points, added some illustrations and some humor, but mostly God just filled in all the cracks)

An Extra Hour

I don't know why, for some reason I thought that my meeting this evening would go longer. I pictured myself home at 9, not at 8. The kids are in bed. mostly. Sarah's been up once already. The lights are dim and I am settling in for the remains of an evening at home.

I have many projects to be working on. I need to prepare powerpoint for tomorrow night's sermon. I'm speaking on "More Than Mud", an expository on God being the potter and we being His clay. Still searching for a potters wheel to use as a visual aid. I also need to divy up my sample bags of clay and attach verses to send home with the students as a take-away.

Sarah's Missionette's Crowning ceremony is a week away and the video is due tomorrow, so Rob and I really need to get cracking on that as well.

And of course, my kitchen cabinets are still torn up and waiting to be finished with 1 and 1/2 more coats of ivory paint. But Lori and I are painting together tomorrow (her in Iowa and me in Texas) so I'm not going to worry about that project till the morning. :)

Instead of starting all those projects, (which I need to and will) I just wanted to blog for a few minutes. It has been forever! At least it feels like it. And I'm so excited about all that God is doing in my life, I hate to keep it to myself.

I'm super psyched about tomorrow's message. God has been tugging on my heart for a few weeks now about this passage of scripture - Isaiah 64:8, and particularily wanting me to expound on the idea of clay never being beyond repair. Clay is such a cool analogy becasuse if it's too wet, it caves in on itself; if it's too dry it cracks under pressure. But the proper moisture level and time heal all circumstances with clay. God never gives up on us either! My mom even reminded me today that once clay has been baked in the kiln, even then it can still be ground up and re-wet and it's still clay! Such a cool concept.

Personally my quiet times have been relatively awesome lately. I'm working hard on scripture memory and really seeking God's peace lately. It's pretty incredible to spend these times with Him. I think that's been the coolest thing about both kids being in elementary school now, a bit more of a routine is established and it's helped my personal time. I miss them so much by the end of the day though! :)

We are ramping up for a lot of cool things at church. Finishing up the cookbook and preparing to sell it, that's pretty cool. I'll be glad to have that project finished. I'm hoping that it will be an awesome keepsake for everyone in the church, as well as a really strong fundraiser for the 90th Anniversary celebration.

Getting ready for Sarah's crowning ceremony in a week, very excited about that. I picked up her gown from the dry cleaners today, and booked the appointment with Jen for her updo. I've got most of the pictures picked out for her slide show and have written the autobiography. I'll have to share it on here. Still debating a song. I love Stephen Curtis Chapman's 'Cinderella' but I break up every time I hear it, that song is so Sarah. And picturing her daddy walking her down the aisle in that white dress, my screen is getting blurry... So excited for this moment for her. Planning on lots of pictures, of course.

A little over a week from now is Missions Convention at Trinity. That is always a really exciting time and I am defintely looking forward to getting to know this year's missionaries. Missions Convention is one of my favorite events at Trinity because we get to spend a lot of time with our speakers and really get to know their stories and their fields. It's pretty incredible.

Missions Convention wraps up on Sunday night and I hop on my Iowa-bound plane on Monday morning. I'm so excited for this trip. I will, of course, miss Rob and the kiddos, but I can't wait to see Mom and Dad and many of my Iowa people. I'm hankering for some sweet sweet corn and a Casey's pizza and some Taco John's. Pretzelmaker will be on the list too. I love Iowa food. :) I can't wait to see the rolling hills (hills, imagine that?? (there are no hills in Baytown, not a one) and the beautiful fall colors and rows and rows and rows of cornstalks lined up like little soldiers in fields. I can't wait to hear that midwestern dialect, I'll feel so normal for a change!! Can you tell I've been a little homesick lately? I love Baytown, I love my church and I love all the ministry, and I'm super invested in every single thing we do here. But I miss my Iowa every day. The reality is though, if we ever leave Texas, I'd miss it just as much I think. We have some phenomenal winters down here and I'm pretty sure I'm going to freeze to death all 5 days up North.

Mom and I are talking about seeing Fame. I remember seeing it in the theater in Chicago with her when I was a little girl. Pretty cool, eh? The remake looks awesome. It will be so good to gal-pal with my Mommy.

Ok. Back to responsibility. I've got some slideshows to work on. So good to jot it all down though. I'll be sharing that sermon soon. Pray that I find my potter's wheel.

Happy 32nd Birthday Rob!!

The love of my youth, (and my old age, turns out) turned 32 yesterday.

My little boy, my first born, got glasses.

and cause things always happen in threes, you can just assume they did.

There was a lot to absorb yesterday.

But God is good and all of my hope is in Him. I see all of this as possibility. Rob is 32! That's cool! I'm excited for his future. It has been so cool to watch him grow and change over the years (14 as of Janury, in fact!). I'm so grateful to God to be on this journey of life with my best friend. I have thought for a long time now that people underestimate Rob, that they don't see him like I do; all his strengths and giftings. Part of it is that there is so much of himself that he only shares with me. I'm blessed to witness the inner workings of his heart. He has so much potential and is starting to really tap into it. God is doing a work in his life and it's very cool to witness and pray for and over as it happens. Rob is a very special guy and God's got a big plan for him. I know that because I know where we've started and how far we've come. God has brought us every step of the way and it only increases my confidence in Him.

So, we celebrated 32 years of Rob yesterday. I did a little photo tribute to him on FB because he worked a 13 hour day yesterday, made it hard to love on him. :) Then my friend Jennifer made him an awesome cake, shaped like an old 80's furniture tv (ours only died 4 years ago) with the StarWars scrolling opening scene on the front. We collaborated on the idea and this is what the scrolling info said:


"Episode 32

THE TRUE HOPE...

It is a period of moral and spiritual decay in the planet Earth. The Lord saw fit to establish a new creation; Rob Thoreson. Dedicated to the calling of full-time youth ministry, this young Jedi has taken on many responsibilities and bears the scars of numerous full-on attacks from the enemy. But, fear not, the force is strong with this one, and he will lead many to victory!"

Pretty cool. I was concerned he might think it was dorky, but he LOVES StarWars (his whole life now) and it was a big hit. Jen did a great job and the cake was fantastic. I had a piece for breakfast!

I took a few shots of Eli with his new glasses too. I have to admit that I'm struggling with this a bit. Eli's eyes have always been his strongest feature and I'm just going to miss them being so prominent. But he needs the glasses, his teacher called me on Tuesday to say he wasn't seeing the board when everyone else was. It's definitely a mental adjustment. Even last night, he walked through the youth room a few times and I kept thinking "who's the new kid?" because he looks so different. I know it's for the best for him, but I can't wait for him to get contacts. I miss his giant blue-grey peepers already. He does look super-smart though. Not that he needed it. :)
So, good day. Today Rob and I are just bumming around the house. We planned on painting trim but have lacked motivation thus far. We haven't even taken showers yet today, literally just laying around the living room talking, facebooking, blogging. I think eventually we'll clean up and go out for a birthday lunch. It's nice to slow the pace a little bit though, sometimes we live like rats in a maze.

Sabbath??

Such a long day.

I always think that on Sundays, though. It's just my life. I get about half way through a Sunday, and if it's not busy enough, I sit down and think "I can't go another step further, how will I push through today?". Ironically, if it's too busy, I don't have a chance to sit down and I generally avoid that question altogether.

Not much of a Sabbath.

I struggle with that. My friends up North have been discussing Sabbath while I covet their Sunday evenings without prayer service/lifegroup. That is so bad. I'm sorry, Jesus.

I love life group. I love prayer. I love Sundays. I just don't like how much we try to cram into them. And they are NEVER a restful day. I need to figure out how to be more prepared on Saturday night so that Sunday afternoons aren't quite so hectic. I'd really like to lay down and put my feet up for an hour or two on a Sunday on a regular basis. That would be amazing. I so understand my mother's Sunday afternoon ritual of the paper till she conked out on the couch. My mother is a full-time pastor and has been since I was 6. She always served multiple churches. but generally speaking, she was done by 1 on Sunday afternoons.

Today was good though. Sunday School was crazy, my jr. high kids were super hyper. We had a good class and I think they retained a bit about 'constant conversation and continual meditation with God'.

I walked into the sanctuary to find all the Missions Project pictures I had taken a few weeks back plastered all over the walls of the sanctuary. That was pretty cool. It was a really fun project, but crammed into too short of a time frame, I think I could have done a better job if I'd had a bit more time with each subject. It was still a very cool concept, but humbling. :)

Service was good this morning. Pastor Carl Hayes shared with us, about seeking God with our problems, he spoke out of Luke 18:35-43 and it was very insightful. We enjoyed briefly talking with them after service and are planning another quick trip to New Braunfels late in the fall.

Got home and got everyone fed. Then started trying to figure out what to serve for lifegroup tonight. Sarah and I ran to Target and Kroger to get groceries and propane. Came home and fixed dinner, baked dessert and cleaned up the house, just in time as students started to trickle in.

Had a great life group. Good food, great conversation. We worked out of the Book of Questions and What's the Deal With. Two really helpful 'fire-starter' books for youth. Some of our questions, I was astounded at our students answers. One in particular was "does God care what music I listen to?" These great Christian kids have bought the lie that you can listen to music with terrible lyrics and it won't affect you. We had a really good discussion and hopefully it sank in a bit. (trust me, God cares! garbage in = garbage out).

Kids started to trickle out at 8 and the last one left at 8:40. Kicked my biological children to bed - they were so tired.... and that brings me to now. An exhausted Anna, but thrilled with a productive day of ministry. I hope God thinks so too.


Tomorrow, we are having another youth pastor and his family over for an early supper and swimming. Other than that though, I plan on being pretty low key. I'd really love to scrapbook. a lot. :) We actually have a super short week this week because of Labor Day and Rob's normal day off, and also he gets an additional day for his birthday. So we are taking Thursday and Friday, hoping to get started painting the trimwork in our house.

I really feel like taking some photos too. Maybe tomorrow I'll play a bit. :)

Ridiculously Tired.

and it's not even 10. I'm seriously ready to turn in for the night. I realized though, that's it's been a while since I've updated. We had an insanely busy (good) weekend hosting the incredible Dr. Rob Starner of SAGU. He did an amazing presentation, from memory, of the book of Galations, in full costume. Awesome. I also had the privilege of photographing him in said costume, which you can see on my sister site. My Rob, Dr Starner and I had several wonderful conversations and it just excited us for ministry all the more again. We followed a terrific Sunday up with a really good staff meeting yesterday and a newcomer's fellowship last night. God is doing so many neat things right now, it's very thrilling to be working on His side of things. :)

Kiddos are doing great. A little tired from the adjustment to full-time school, but excelling. Mom is a lot tired from full-time school simply because I'm back to starting my day at 6am and motivating everyone else from then on! Seems like I just run like a chicken with my head cut off till 10 again, but it's a good crazy, I promise.

I finally got going again with the grocery game today. I'd been promising myself I would with school starting back up, but then Linda spoke to me about doing a presentation at church this fall and that really got me in gear to want to get back with the program. Plus it just seems wasteful to not grocery game when I know how!!

Tomorrow, I am spending a much needed 5 hours with Jennifer. I have no idea what we are going to do or where we are going to go, but I'm definitely looking forward to some down time. And then, before you know it, Thursday will be here and all will be right with the world because me and that fantastic hubby will coexist for an entire day with no priorities but each other. I can't wait!


One last thing... We just started a new system in the Thoreson household. It basically revolves around 'Thoreson Currency'. (I made it on Festisite.com/money). We pay Eli and Sarah for completing tasks, such as morning routines with a good attitude, clearing the table, making their beds, doing homework. They can then spend the currency on items they would enjoy, such as 30 minutes of tv, trampoline time, ice cream on the patio. We've been doing it for 2 days now and it's been a huge hit! I really needed something to help me with the morning attitude and motivation - this appears to be just the ticket!! Plus it's really cute, don't you think??

Florida Pics.... finally.

My Aspiring Photographer (and a bit of my crazy brain)

Eli took these photos of me and Sare this afternoon. Sarah was not in the mood for her picture to be taken, just very tired and worn out. I was giving Eli a few pointers and he really did well after a bit of suggestion.

So, about a week ago I read a message board thread about first day traditions. One lady said she took pictures in the morning (duh) and then printed them while her children were at school and then hung them all over the house when they returned home. Such a cool idea!

I spent all of Monday at church and shot in RAW so I needed to process the images before I could have them printed. I'd like to see the Walgreens people deal with an .NEF file. :) Then again, maybe I wouldn't...

Anyhoo, so my opportunity passed, but then I had the wild hair of doing it at the end of the week. So today, I made a banner with all the pictures from this week (oh, it's so cutie!) and did a big awkward sign on the garage too. The kids were delighted!

I'm going to leave you with this happy guy. One of my students picked an unripe lemon (and got a lecture about being lemon-less in November) and decided it needed a face-lift. I found this little guy on my sink late that night. I love the creativity of students!

A Black Rubber Blessing...

I have been praying for new tires since June.

If you remember, I got in a little fender bender in June. That morning, I had taken our car in to have a patch done on our left front tire. The nice man at the tire store informed me that we had about 5-10 thousand miles left on our tires. (now pause for a moment and consider all the traveling we have done this summer, much of it in our own vehicle) I did not know where the money for new tires - $600 to be exact - was going to come from. We have an emergency account, but Dave Ramsey does not qualify new tires as an emergency. :) I just kept believing that God was going to provide them.

I've taken to noticing the tread on my vehicle when I approach it to get in and go somewhere. Now I can see what the tire man foretold, the front tires are quickly balding. I've felt the car slip in the rain and slowed down and asked Jesus to protect us. Especially when Rob is driving. :) This week I started seriously talking to Rob about the possibility of buying used tires.

This morning, while I was picking up a few things at the grocery store, Rob called me. He was holding a gift certificate for $400 to Discount Tire that had been left in his inbox at work. What a blessing! I've since called Discount and negotiated a price of $470 and the tires will be put on our vehicle Tuesday.

I am reminded, AGAIN, that my God never fails me. I stood in the grocery store, fighting back tears, in awe and humbled that God loves me so much. And Eli, and Sarah, and Rob. But I am undeserving and it's amazing how He can use a little thing like tires to remind us of His awe-abounding grace. I am so grateful, for the tires, but even more importantly, for His continued vested interest in the mundane details of our lives. I am also especially appreciative of the faithful person who listened to God's voice in their heart and made that anonymous gift. What a blessing awaits them.

The irony in the whole matter? (not to God, I'm sure) is that 6 months ago we had a friend that experienced a blow out on the way to a meeting we were both attending. God pressed it on my heart to write him a check to replace the tire. No biggie, just acting in faithfulness. Here it is 6 months later and God has returned the blessing more than 3 fold. I love His economy. Don't you??

Pray about what you need this morning, rather than rushing to a credit card to solve your problems your way. See what God provides...

thursdayLOVE.

(some pictures really do say a thousand words)

THURSDAY!!!

I'm so happy to see you, Thursday! I've been missing you, all summer it seems!

Funny how a day comes to symbolize so much more, isn't it? You know, Sundays = church, Wednesdays = church, Saturdays = rest (unless you are a youth pastor), Monday = beginning of the work day. For me, Thursdays = the day it is all made worthwhile. I should clarify that it's actually Thursdays during the school year. Thursdays are the day that Rob takes off and we set aside to reconnect with each other.

You are probably wondering why, if we are connecting, I am blogging and he is sleeping. Poor guy, he's so wiped out from a giant week (he's already put in 3 fourteen hour days since Sunday). I decided this morning to get the kids off to school and let him rest. But soon and very soon I will wake him up and we will decide what adventure we'll tackle between now and 3:42pm. :) I have several ideas of varying commitment levels. We've talked about seeing "the Time Traveler's Wife" at 11:30. Thought about going through old pictures. Talked about visiting one of the many museums in Houston that we've never seen. I've imagined us investigating the ReStore (Habitat for Humanity). We also have lots of home projects to get started on; painting trim work, repairing grout, reorganizing the kitchen and swapping out our bad fridge.

Honestly, I could care less what we do today. I'm just looking forward to getting his undivided attention for 7-8 hours. I do think I will work on an ongoing list of 'ideas' for our day off, so we can be inspired each week. His organized brain would probably really think that's cool.

Well, I just feel so blessed this morning. The kids are doing really well in school. Sare has had a really good attitude. Eli's only struggle has been staying on task in the am while getting ready. I think I'm going to make him a checklist to help. They both are doing great and we are going to the library tonight as a family for FFN. Then tomorrow Rob will be away (another series of 14 hour days between Friday and Monday - boy that man needs his extra sleep this morning) so we are going to have a special first week of school celebration. I'm going to print the pictures from Monday am and string them across a ribbon. We'll watch a movie and have popcorn and stay up late. It will be special. ;)

Personally, I'm doing really well. I've been delving into my Bible study time and it's so cool how God is speaking to me. I've had another dream, last week, actually, but it was too personal to share on the intraweb. :) Really amazes me that God has been showing up in my subconscious so much, I have been praying that it would continue to happen, if it's not too bold of a request!

So excited about what God is doing in youth group too. Rob spoke about 'reaching your apex' last night. The apex is the highest point (like a mountain) and how we are on a journey in life and with God alone can we reach our apex. Our students really responded, I think 7 of our 18 kids came up for prayer last night, which is HUGE for our group. I was so excited to pray with them!! We have so many jr high kids right now and I look at them and all I see is excitement and potential! I don't think in our 13 years of youth ministry (volunteer and full-time) that I've ever experienced this level of expectation... I know God is gearing up to do something incredible in these students. I'm really praying that they would have faithfulness as they grow into high school, maintaining a high commitment level as they enter into the real world 5 and 6 years from now. So many people today have such a lack of commitment... God requires us to be a faithful people!! And the blessings in store for the faithful, wow.

I guess I've just gone off this morning. Ok, considering it's my blog. :) Ready to go do my morning quiet time. Just wanted to spread a little love on this beautiful Thursday. Blessings, my friends.

I Love These Little People

***warning*** picture heavy post!!

Well, my babies went back to school today. Returning for 3rd grade for Eli and just starting Kindergarten for Sarah. And remember, my tiny little girl just turned 5 last week!! Wow. But we did really good. I didn't get any vibe of being nervous from her, not once in the past few weeks as we've hyped up the whole kindergarten experience. But then this morning, while we were praying as a family in the car on the way to school she popcorned in "and please help me not be anxious" and my heart squeezed hard. She never let on. But she did awesome. No tears, no fuss, just excitement for the day. And brother was so good to her, giving her pointers along the way. None of the 'icky little sister' nonsense you would expect with a 3+ year age gape. Rather, he was ready to pave the way for her, to protect her at any cost... Very cool 3rd grader in my book.

We stopped to take this picture on the way in. Eli looks a little perturbed because he was severely concerned about getting a tardy on his first day back. He is forever my responsible child and I love that about him. So now we'll backtrack a bit and cover the mini-shoot we did at 7:20.

This is my amazing and giant 3rd grader. He was ready to show the ropes this year!! School is old hat now, Mom...I love that these two kids love each other. They certainly have their words from time to time (Sare is a very passionate person and can be vicious when she's agitated, Eli feels deeply and hurts easily, so we definitely have tough moments) but when you scrape off that surface stuff, they love each other fiercely. I have told them oh, so many times that they are all each other have in the way of brothers and sisters and they need to hang on to each other. Friends will come and go, but siblings are forever.
You can see here, that Sare was super ready to get out the door. She didn't even whine once about the dress code or the lack of jewelry. "Jewelry is not encouraged." was the decree from her firm but awesome (and seasoned, thank the Lord) teacher. I think her structured classroom will be exactly the coccoon Sarah will need this first year of public school. That's my initial mommy-instinct anyway.
Eli is forever my fabulous picture taker. He was cooperative, but very aware of the time. "It's 7:31 Mommy, we need to go, we can't be late!"
Had to snap a picture of their fabulous Converse/Airwalk combo. I love that these are cool again and my kids are totally into them. Helps Sarah around that 'tennis shoes only' requirement....
This pose was Eli's idea. He thought the green would make a nice background and told me so. I love how he's developing a strong eye. I'm thinking about starting to teach him some of the beginner camera stuff this year and letting him play on my baby Nikon. With supervision of course.

This girl. Oh, pray for me. With eyes like this, who can say no??


This was such a cool instant inspired idea and I just love how it translated. See my absolute favorite pic from the morning here.
And this picture I nearly missed, didn't really have the shutter speed set for it, but took the shot anyway, it was just too priceless. We were in the middle of these serious shots and all of the sudden she just couldn't contain herself another moment... Love it!!


From here on out it's mostly Sarah, cause I could only follow her into the classroom this one day. And Eli was extremely focused on getting to his classroom and friends and meeting his teacher!
Here's the Sare-bear blowing a kiss goodbye to her daddy, hollering "I love you Daddy, I'll miss you!" All the crossing guards ate it up. She can't do anything without flair, can she? Wonder where she gets that from? (apples don't fall far from trees, right?)
And here she is all ready to start her day, confident and sassy, even in a serious way. She's gonna do fine Mommy.

From there, I slipped out of the classroom, praying as I went through the halls that would house my precious children for 8 hours 5 days a week for the next 9 months. Praying blessing, and safety, and knowledge of the right things. Praying for positive influences and precious witnessing moments for them. Praying for good Christian teachers and praying for the not-there-yet teachers whose lives would be touched by my childrens example (good or bad). Praying that that the investment we've poured into Sarah these past 5 years would be enough of a foundation of faith to anchor her in this sin-ravage world and praying that our influence wouldn't weaken because of our public school choice. Most of all, praying and believing that the God of the Universe would be walking those halls with them, watching them as they work and play. I choked back a few tears, unbelieving that the first 8+ years of my time with them and had already slipped through my fingers, but so incredibly thankful and in awe of the amazing little people they are becoming. I swallowed hard, made it out of the building, and had pulled myself back together before I even made it to the waiting car. Rob and I had a (thankfully) busy day at the office and before I knew it, we were flying home to greet them.

A long and prayer-ful day, they stepped off the bus at 3:45, much later then the appointed time. To be expected on a first day, but hard on a nervous momma's heart. So glad to see this next shot!
My triumphant Kindergartner, ready to tell me all about her day. She did great. She was exhausted, but ready for a good night's sleep and the opportunity to experience it all again tomorrow. And I'm so excited that we captured all those important moments.