Treston sleeps...

We are enjoying our seventh year at Camp Ozark, and the kids are loving every minute of it! I thought this video summed up well how hard they are playing. Who could sleep through this? Just a typical Ozark dinner, and Treston was unmoved.

My Birthday Wish

Am I really turning 35? That's ridiculous, and can't be true. I don't feel that old, but I guess birthday years don't lie. So as I approach the mid-mark of my thirties, it's obvious to me that I have more than I need. (understatement) I don't need a birthday gift, but what I would like more than anything for my birthday is to raise some money for Compassion. When I consider the poverty that children are living in all over the world I must do something. And thankfully, Compassion is already there. They are doing the amazing work to release children from the darkness of poverty, and bring them the Gospel message of Jesus Christ, releasing them from the greatest darkness there is. How can I NOT be apart of this? I determined a few years ago I would not live oblivious to them anymore. I will not ignore them. Because real faith says that's not what believers do. So I want to take this opportunity, as my birthday approaches, to ask for the best birthday gift ever. Will you check this out and donate even just a few dollars to Compassion for my birthday? There has to be some consolation for being 35 in a college town, right?

Moms, we don't really need anything, am I right?
There are things we would like, we would appreciate, but not nearly as much as these people would appreciate clean water and the hope offered them through the Gospel. So why not ask for this for Mother's Day? Or get this for your own Mom. I think this is the perfect gift!

Living Water

Back to School: Uganda from Living Water International on Vimeo.

Chic-Fil-A tonight for Run For Compassion!

Tonight, Monday March 29, we are having a profit share at the Chic-Fil-A in College Station! If you come in between 5-8pm and give us your receipt, Run For Compassion will get a share of the profit. This helps us send the more money to the Child Survival Program! (Insert Whoop! if you are an Aggie.)

Please register for the run if you haven't already, or register as a donor and or volunteer. If you donate $20 or more, you can get a t-shirt too. (You will be responsible for picking it up. I can't deliver or mail them to everyone.)You can do all of this on our site www.runforcompassion.com

I need volunteers desperately, so if you are available, volunteer on race day! It will be fun!

I have high hopes of reaching our goal of $8,000 to the CSPs in Haiti and Ethiopia. It seems impossible, unlikely, far-fetched, but I am still praying for it. I feel so privileged to be a small partner with the work Compassion is doing through the Child Survival Program. You can be too!

Defeating The Big 6 Baby-Killers

Below is an excerpt from the Child Survival Program website www.rescuebabiesnow.org
Do you know the Big 6 Baby-Killers? Would you have guessed that they are all preventable? The right food, hydration, clean water, some medicine. These are all things our children have, but millions of children around the world do not. Subsequently, 25,000 children die EVERYDAY of the Big 6. Read about it.
This is why we are doing Run For Compassion! You can be apart of the solution! Saving the lives of children and helping to free them from poverty, IN JESUS' NAME! Not only do they receive physical life, they hear the gospel and are ministered to by the local church, partnered with Compassion.
Here is more about the Big 6...

In your household, diarrhea probably isn't a life or death situation. Yet in developing countries, diarrhea is one of the Big 6 Baby Killers, causing the death of 1.5 million babies every year.

All of the Big 6 Baby Killers—diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, measles, HIV/AIDS, and malnutrition—are preventable or treatable.

Compassion, working through local churches and Survival Specialists, provides practical solutions like vaccinations, access to doctors, malaria nets, antibiotics, and education.

Be apart of the solution! Register to run or walk, or donate on our website, www.runforcompassion.com and 100% of your registration fee is donated directly to Compassion's Child Survival Programs in Ethiopia and Haiti.

Delight yourself in the Lord...

Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."
Has anyone heard this verse quoted? Or quoted it to yourself? I have. And quoted it poorly. I remember when I was younger I felt like this was a jackpot verse. God was going to give me what I wanted! That's what I heard when I read it. The part that stood out to me was NOT "delight yourself in the Lord"...it was "he will give you the desires of your heart."
Wow.
It's amazing what selfish and self-centered beings we are.
It's so obvious in my own heart and mind.
I was born ALL ABOUT ME.
But, because of God's good grace, He has given me a heart that's for Him.
And while I still battle the sinful, selfish flesh, (and some days I am feeling the intensity of that battle) my heart is for Him.
God has been ripping me away from selfishness and pride, and showing me how to make the Gospel the "obsession of my heart", as Milton Vincent puts it in "A Gospel Primer" (BUY THIS LITTLE BOOK!!!)
Today I read "And He has created me with the intention that I might glorify Him by finding my soul's delight in Him and by living in joyful obedience to Him in all of my ways."
Some wonderful verses that went with this section:
Psalm 16:11 "...in your presence is fullness of joy; In your right hand there are pleasures forever."
Psalm 37:4 (I already quoted above)
Romans 11:36 "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever."
I glorify the Lord when I am delighted in Him alone.
And here's the thing...I can be delighted and filled with the "fullness of joy" Psalm 16 is talking about, even when my life feels topsy-turvy.
Even when I don't know what the next day is going to bring.
Even when I feel on the outside, unimportant, unpopular, or uncool.
God and His gospel is my satisfaction and joy. In HIM is all fullness of joy.
I am so pleased with that Word this morning.
Thank you God for coffee and for reading this before I start my day. How I need it!

Register for Run For Compassion!

I'm so excited to say that registration for Run For Compassion is up! You can register or donate today! 100% of registration fees go to the Child Survival Project of Compassion in Ethiopia and Haiti. In fact, when you register or donate, you will be giving us your race info. on our site, but then you will be taken to the Compassion site where you donate the required registration fee directly to them. ($20 for the 5K and $25 for the 10K.) That's the way I wanted registration to work this year. I didn't even want to touch the registration money. I wanted all of our participants to have the joy of knowing exactly where their money is going. Because I feel so passionate about what the CSP is doing in saving lives of babies and children ages five and under, sharing the gospel with their families, teaching Moms and Dads how to take care of and nurture their children, and providing food, medicine, clean water, job training...there's so much! I've seen some amazing videos where people testify as to what God has done to transform their lives physically and spiritually through the CSP and I cry every time. It's overwhelming.

You can pray in faith with me that we find enough corporate sponsors to cover the costs of the race. But I feel so confident that God will provide that and that Run For Compassion will be so much fun for us and for every participant.

Please, help us reach our goal of $8,000 to send to the CSP in Haiti and Ethiopia! Register or donate today! Early registration really helps us, as we purchase things like bibb numbers, t-shirts, etc. And recruit a friend to do it with you. You can know that $20 is being used in an amazing way!

If you are interested in volunteering for the race, there is a place for that on our registration page as well! We'd love to have you!

Haiti Lament (Robbie Seay song)

You have to see this!

Great Article about Haitian Adoption

This is a great, short article about the surge of interest in international adoption since the Haiti earthquake. So worth your time! I'm copying and pasting it below just in case you don't click on this link.
http://www.togetherforadoption.org/?p=5480

I DID NOT WRITE THIS: THIS IS A COPY AND PASTE ARTICLE!

Adoption agencies all over the country have been inundated with people calling in to inquire about adopting Haitian orphans. As I’ve noted before, the complexities of Haiti’s orphan crisis are enormous, especially when we add the question of adoption to the mix. In light of these complexities, I think it’s safe to say that it will be quite some time before Haiti is even able to open its doors to adoption again. Even before Haiti’s earthquake, the adoption process was anywhere from 2-3 years, and a difficult one at that.

Given the current situation in Haiti, here is my question to those who are interested in adopting a child from Haiti: “How long are you willing to wait to give a Haitian orphan a home?” My concern is that our compassion for Haiti’s orphans, our desire to give them a home, won’t have the necessary patience (endurance) to see it through. What Haiti’s orphans need once adoption opens back up is Christians who have gospel-endurance.

When God predestined us to adoption, there was no such thing as a watch or a second hand. As a matter of fact, God hadn’t even created the world yet! Once God did create the world, though, his work of adoption didn’t actually break into human history until after he sent his Son. When it came to adopting us into his family, God was extremely patient.

The day will come when the adoption process will open back up in Haiti; and when it does, what Haiti’s orphans will need is Christians who imitate the patience of their Father in heaven. How many of us who are now interested in adopting a child from Haiti will still be interested when the adoption process finally opens back up? I don’t know.

What I do know, though, is that if our desire to adopt a child from Haiti is fueled by the gospel, there will be more of us who are willing to wait than there would be if it’s not. How do I know this? Because the gospel produces gospel-patience.

So, here’s my encouragement to everyone who is interested in adopting a child from Haiti. First, continue giving to organizations that are providing immediate relief to Haiti’s orphans. Food, water, safety, and protection are still Haiti’s orphans’ most pressing needs.

Second, keep feeding your compassion for Haiti’s orphans with the gospel. If we are to imitate the adoptive-patience of God, it will be because of the gospel.

Child Survival Program

You may or may not know, we are in the process of planning Run For Compassion 2010! Save the date, April 10, 2010. This run means so much to me. It gives me an outlet to pour into something I'm passionate about. Compassion International is doing so much in so many countries around the world, it's hard to sum up. You may be most familiar with their child sponsorship program. I'd like to also introduce to you the Child Survival program.

My brother Brian works for Compassion and is in Uganda right now. He just posted on Facebook that he held today a little one who has had malaria three times in the last year. The Child Survival Program saved that baby. He posted the link to the CSP- www.rescuebabiesnow.org
Here is a brief excerpt from that site.

3-20-2009

I still cannot believe I am going to have a baby. I am 17 years old. I am not ready for this. I’ve never been so scared. I hope it’s a boy. In my community, boys are praised, but girls are looked down on. At least if it is a boy, he could have a better life than me.

I don’t know if my baby will even survive birth. I’ve known many women who bought baby coffins before their baby was born because so many babies die in their first month. What will I name it? In Haiti, we do not even name babies until they are 5. We just call them all Ti Chape (little survivor). It hurts less that way. Will my little Ti Chape make it? I do not know what to do. That is all I can say for tonight.

Tomorrow will come.

For all of us here, having healthy babies, naming them before they're even born, it's hard to imagine this life. How could this not move us to action? You can read the rest of this woman's journey on the site for yourself.
The CSP partners with local churches to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of women and children. It's named quite appropriately. It's about survival. I hope you'll read more about it and get excited about what we can do alongside Compassion!

Help for Haiti

Our hearts are heavy in this house, as in yours, for what is happening in Haiti. My brother Brian sent our family an e-mail today asking for prayer for his co-worker Dan, who was there as a photographer for Compassion. He has a wife and a two and four-year-old at home, still awaiting word about his survival. We spent time in earnest prayer for them as a family tonight, and for all of the people who are experiencing the unimaginable in Haiti right now.
Here are some ways we can help. You can go to Aaron Ivey's blog (a Christian music artist) and buy a t-shirt that goes 100% to the organizations already there on the ground in Haiti doing relief work.
Also, you can go to the Compassion site or the Living Water site and donate directly to these two trustworthy and already present organizations.

More of the Gospel!

I'm recommending another book, that I just started and love!!! I need to give a big thanks and hug to my friend Ashley for recommending this to me.
I know, I know, you shouldn't recommend books you haven't finished yet. In fact, I've seriously JUST started this book. But I already know I love it! It's called A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent.
The last book I recommended on here was Gospel Powered Parenting. The Lord has really shown me that what I need more of, in parenting, and in EVERY area of my life, is the Gospel. I need to know the Gospel, the message of how Christ came to save us, and know it, and preach it to myself everyday. The more I know and love the Gospel, the more my joy and peace increases!
Just so I'm clear on what I mean by the Gospel, here is a passage of scripture where Paul clearly outlines the Gospel, in Ephesians 2. (Jeanna and I are memorizing this right now.) Here Paul is preaching the Gospel again, to believers, as he so often does in the epistles.
Eph 2:1-10
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
NIV

In the introduction of this book, the author says that we have mistaken the Gospel for the message we accept at our conversion, and then move on to "bigger and better" spiritual things. However, what we really need is a deeper knowledge of, affection for, and understanding of the Gospel, day by day! I read recently that if you think you fully grasp the Gospel, you probably don't. The Gospel message is so deep and rich that there is more to dig into everyday.
This book breaks the Gospel message into pieces and gives you scriptures referenced below each section to go over. I am so looking forward to taking in the Gospel message, piece by piece, and knowing it more deeply. This morning I got a LOT out of what I read and the passages that it sent me to read in the scripture. Isn't this what we all need more of?
Yes! I realize when my children sin, they need to hear the Gospel from us. There is redemption, forgiveness, freedom from trying to be good on our own...there is so much there for us to share with them.
When I am in sin, I need- the Gospel.
When I am condemning myself for my sin- I need more of the Gospel.
When I am relying on myself to do something- I need a dose of the Gospel.
When I might fall into legalistic thinking- yep, the Gospel.
When I am prideful, the Gospel.
When I resist forgiving, even for a millisecond, Gospel.
Are you catching me? It makes me excited just writing about it. God is so good, rich in mercy, full of grace, the Gospel message is truly GOOD NEWS.

We're horse owners!

I think Christmas 2009 may be burned into the memory of my nine-year-old daughter. The year she got a horse for Christmas. That's an unbelievably extravagant gift, I know. And not one we made hastily, I assure you. This has been a decision, years in the making.
We've been riding at our beloved Carousel Acres since Emma's third birthday. I think it's unbelievably rare to find out what a child is passionate about and gifted at when they are that young. It sounds kind of strange to say she started riding when she was three, but we felt we could hardly keep her away from horses. She was born obsessed, literally, before she could talk. She had a way, as a toddler, with these huge animals, and she was this tiny little girl. She had no fear, only affection for them, and they seemed to feel the same for her. She started lessons with Mr. Brad at Carousel Acres where she rides Peruvian horses. (These horses are gaited horses, and have a very smooth movement for the rider.) We've been out there ever since.
Subsequently, we've been riding lesson horses for more than six years. Lesson horses are good for a season, but when she started showing at Peruvian shows a few years ago, I began to realize the difficulty with staying with a lesson horse. A lesson horse is used to being pulled, yanked, and basically abused by numerous little riders, learning to reign, ever NOT so gently. They become immune to proper reigning after a while, and I personally grew weary of my daughter on difficult horses, especially in the show arena, where she didn't have a chance on them.
We began to pray about purchasing our own horse to board at Carousel Acres. This is a big financial commitment, and responsibility. We leased several horses in search of the right one. We prayed for many months about the cost, if this was a wise use of our money. Ultimately, we felt that investing in Emma's gift and talent, as she continues to grow and mature, is a good investment. One Dad put it to us simply. He said "Let me tell you the best part; my daughter is fourteen and she doesn't give a second thought to boys." I think that may have sold Rusty! Girls and horses, they are something! A girl who loves her horse and spends her time on a horse, caring for a horse, being responsible for her animal, is time well-spent.
I am so glad that God has given Emma this gift with horses, and we seek to show her how to use all her gifts and talents for God's glory! We talk about this frequently. He's also given us a little "horse community" which is a sphere of influence within out community. I pray God uses us there! As for me, I'm learning more everyday about being a horse Mom. My friend Shannan is a natural horse Mom, me not so much. Everything I know, I've learned over six years time. I'm getting there! On Christmas day, we went out for Emma to ride her new horse, and she rode around the arena while Rusty and I mucked the arena. (Yes, scooping horse poop.) Rusty looked at me and said "Who ARE you!?" I looked at him very solemnly and said "I'm a horse Mom."
So meet Virrenya, the newest member of the family! She and Emma are precious together.

Taking a holiday from what?

The final lighting of the middle candle on Christmas Eve!

Our kids in their Christmas p.j.'s just before going to Santa's Wonderland.

Oh, how I love the holidays. For so many reasons. I feel like this year has been one of our best Christmases ever! Excluding one trip to Wal-Mart that will go down in history as one of the worst two hours of my life, this holiday has been restful and worshipful. That's a difficult combination to find in a house like ours.
If you're a student, Christmas BREAK is definitely a break! It's the sweetest time of year (unless you're one of those insane in the membrane people who take a mini-mester nightmare in December) where you have NO work hanging over your head. No paper looming, no tests, no reading, nothing. I remember that feeling. It's an unparalleled time of relaxation in your educational career. Enjoy it now, young friends!
When you're a grown-up, and you have a grown-up job, you might get time off. When I was a teacher, I vividly remember my break. It was pre-kids for me. So I recall staying home in my P.J.'s and baking Christmas goodies all day, watching Christmas movies, while Rusty was at work. It was so relaxing, and a blissful break from a fun but very stressful job.
When you're a Mom, there are not the same kind of holidays from our "work." My job as a domestic engineer is managing and cleaning my home while also trying to spend meaningful time with the kids. Does anyone else feel the tension in that challenge? I actually wrote "Do fun stuff with the kids" on my white board to-do list, because it's too easy to get caught up with laundry, cleaning, baking, cooking, and forget those little people who want to play games and do creative things. I want to do that too! As a homeschool Mom, any break we take from school is a time to clean. I don't have time to clean out my refrigerator or wash and scrub the walls on a daily school day basis. So that's what I've been trying to achieve. It's not the same as a Christmas break, you know what I mean? Christmas break can be awesome, or it can be chaos. I personally wither spiritually in the chaos. This year has been so good and here's a few reasons why.

So what do we break from?
This year, this was our question. Even though I have been cleaning, baking, cooking, I have also had restful, worshipful, fun time at home. Rusty and I have been thinking for weeks now about how to "holiday" without taking a holiday from things that matter most.
Our men's group met earlier in December to talk about leading their families spiritually during the Advent season without taking a holiday from spiritual things.(I'm so thankful for these guys!!!) Sometimes, when we get out of our routines, we inadvertently holiday from things like prayer, time in the Word, spiritual disciplines. Not things done out of legalistic rules, but things we do to maintain a close relationship with the Lord. The fuel we need spiritually, that keeps me going, keeps me focused on Him and not me. How quickly the focus can shift back to me when I forget to feed myself spiritually! I don't know about you, but I need His Word, I need to pray, I need to be thankful to Him, I need HIM!
So we're learning, when we vacation or have a holiday of some kind, we have to intentionally take breaks from some things. Some kinds of work. School work, which is kind of hard for me, but honestly, I've enjoyed it. Rusty's work. He needs the break. Of course our home, house work is still here, but it can be a joy to do together! We can take a holiday from BLOGGING which I obviously have. A break from FACEBOOK, which I pretty much have as well. We've tried to break from things that take up our time and energy.

Adding Advent and 40 Days of Prayer
I love that our church is in the middle of our 40 days of prayer and fasting during this season. It may seem like an odd time to do this as a church, especially as more than half of our church just left town to go home for Christmas break! But I think it's helped me focus on what I need the most! I hope it has for our students as well.
We also have done Advent family worship this Advent season. If you're like me, and grew up Baptist, you maybe are not familiar with Advent. But in the past few years, our family has taken advantage of this time of preparation for Christmas. No longer will we walk into a Christmas Eve service, trying to focus for the first time that season on it's meaning and full purpose. But it can also be hard to be diligent during busy December to our Advent worship. I love that Rusty didn't allow us to break from Advent, even during a bad virus we passed around and when we travelled! (We found Advent will travel. Flashlights and nightlights make good makeshift Advent candles!) Rusty kept us focused on the reason for this holiday. This Advent season with the kids was awesome! Even little Treston knew the names of the candles, and could answer questions during our Advent family worship times. It didn't always go perfectly, mind you. Far from it. Rusty and I laughed about some of the "Advents gone wrong" moments. I wish I had clips from our Advent bloopers to show you. If our whole life was video taped and we could go back and watch the highlights and bloopers, the Bacak clips would be very entertaining. Things like "Hark the Herod angels sing"...Justus was slightly confused on that song. But I love singing Christmas songs for worship, and what group of little boys doesn't love family worship with FIRE! That's like the ultimate for them.

Rest and Fun
We've enjoyed some amazing rest time this past week. Rusty got two days off from work, which has been AMAZING! (He's been on call the whole time, but still home with us, which ROCKS!) It's been restful, having both of us home, enjoying the kids, working in the house together, and doing fun stuff as a family! We did some just-for-fun stuff, and stuff that was meaningful. It's my hope we're making snapshots of memories for our kids. This year, we watched the movie "The Nativity Story" together as a family, and I think that's our new Christmas tradition. That was really neat, and brought the story to life for all of us. Again this year, we went to the nursing home on Christmas Eve to visit our beloved Mr. Gruner and some other residents. That makes our Christmas hopefully as much as it makes theirs. On Christmas Eve night, we bathe the kids and then they come out all drippy in their towels, to find new Christmas p.j.'s that have magically appeared in their stockings. (Okay, they know it's me.) They put on their new p.j.'s and we actually make hot chocolate for everyone and brought along the hot drink dispenser for refills, take blankets, and get in the van for a drive-thru of Santa's Wonderlands lights. (This plan was great last year, but this year Emma, who didn't wear shoes, had to find a port-o-potty for an emergency potty break. She had to put on her Dad's size 12 shoes to go in, since the rest of us were barefoot or wearing house shoes. Yuck!) We came home for our Christmas meal, Advent, and sit by the fire time. We also like to go to the movies together on Christmas night. While we watched a painful kids movie for us parents this year, the kids so enjoyed it. We've hit the amazing long awaited stage with our kids where we can all sit in a movie together. That's fun for all of us! I made some yummy Christmas meals, that were pretty darn easy as well. I think I'll post those later this week. Oh, and we made gingerbread men, which were very fun and messy to make with the kids, and fun to decorate, but it was my first time to make them and I will definitely be tweaking the recipe. They were a little too "spicy." We got to visit with Rusty's family, and even Treston's birth family, and the Seay family gathering is coming this week. This is all fun family time for us.

"Fail to plan and we plan to fail"
I think that's become one of my life mottos. It's not the Bible or anything, but it just seems to ring true in my life. We've learned more this year about not "breaking" from spiritual things while we're out of our routine, and planning has definitely contributed to that. Rusty and I took a date night to discuss this early in the month, and I think the preparation for this has made a difference. In some previous years, I think we have done this all wrong, due to lack of preparation and intentionality. We would end up frustrated with the kids, irritated with the chaos, and our time off seemed fruitless. But we are learning, year by year, and this year has been so good, and I'm so amazingly thankful! Around this house, it's still Christmas until New Year's, so Merry Christmas friends!

We're running the rock...

That's right. Tomorrow (Sunday) Rusty and I will be running the White Rock half marathon. This is a race I've always wanted to do. I love to run in the cold, so a race in December is perfect for me. I'm running with Rusty, which I'm very much looking forward to. And thought this is our third half marathon, we are nervous!
We have been sick with a nasty cold for the last two weeks (downside to a December race, I've learned.) And if you are a runner, you know it only takes two weeks of not training to trash all of the endurance you have built up.
BUT- God is good about making sure this running thing keeps me dependent on Him. Because once again, even though this is my third half, I'm just as in need of Him as I was in our first race. Last spring, when I did the Nashville music city half marathon, my knees were about to explode and it was painful to even walk. And God was SO AMAZING to me! He gave me a great race I was able to do with my older brother Brian, and it was an unforgettable experience.
Here I am again, as needy as ever, for the Lord to help us do this. We are still coughing, haven't trained enough lately, and the list goes on. But we are going and I fully expect to make it and have a good time.
Let me remind you...I am not some super runner that has been built to run, former track star, natural athlete. Actually, it made me laugh outloud to type that sentence. Anyone who has known me for a long time would laugh too. This girl didn't run. EVER. In fact, exercise was just one of those things I tried to do, but felt like a big fat failure. After we got married, I definitely put on some pounds and was over weight and wanted to get it off, but felt so overwhelmed by it. I didn't know how to make exercise a real part of my life.
I never, ever thought it would be running. I didn't run. So I started with Jazzercise. Laugh if you must (and I understand, YOU MUST) but that's where I started after I had my first baby. And it was so hard, I would turn purple by the end and thought I would die. Every time. But I stuck with it. And something crazy happened. I was consistent for six to eight weeks, going about three times a week, and the pounds started to come off. And they kept coming. I was learning about how to be consistent and work hard for this, but the Lord had even more work to do in my heart.
And then, my husband was jogging, and I just decided I wanted to go with him. I like him. I wanted to share that with him, so I tried. And I started small, but I worked my way up to jogging with him, and I couldn't believe I was doing it. After a few years of Jazzercise, it was just too easy. I kind of graduated to something else. We also were adding children to our home rapidly and didn't have as much time as I used to. I found that running, while it was hard and not as fun as "shaking it" at Jazzercise, it was the most time efficient way to get a cardio work-out in.
God started doing in me what I thought I could never do. I found I could easily make exercise an idol, or make weight loss an idol. He had to show me how to keep my heart in check there. (How quickly I can go from one extreme to another!?) Finding that sweet spot of caring for my body, fighting against diseases like diabetes and other obesity related issues that were for sure looming in my future, needed to be part of it. But I think what I enjoyed most is seeing God do things in me that I never dreamed I would be doing. His dreams are always so much bigger than mine. What He has done in me or given to me by His grace, totally overshoots what I would have imagined.
I keep that in mind when I do any race. God is good. And He shows me spiritual truths everytime I do a long, hard run. I can't run uphill without thinking about perseverance as talked about in the New Testament. I pray as I struggle to breathe and keep my legs moving, 'show me how to persevere, Lord'. Endurance, discipline, these were all things missing from my physical and spiritual life once upon a time. God is such a good and loving Father to make me more like Him in these ways! He's NOT DONE. There is more work to do, I assure you. But it's all Him, and I am grateful.

Go to Spoons for Run For Compassion!

Our first official fundraiser for Run For Compassion is here! Help us get started on Run for Compassion 2010. We have doubled our goal this year to $8,000 and we have every intention of making this year's run measure up to that goal. Here's the info...

When:
Friday, December 11, 2009
Time:
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Location:
Spoons
Description
This profit share is to help us raise money for Run for Compassion, April 10, 2010. Run for Compassion is a 5K/10K/fun run to raise money for children in Ethiopia through Compassion International's Child Survival Program. The Child Survival Program works with expectant mothers and kids from babies to five year olds to combat the high rate of infant mortality.

Watch this video to learn more:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_xTwOfbq0Q

Students, please take a break from finals and come help us help babies in Ethiopia!

I'm still crying from laughing so hard...

This picture is of my longtime friend Jeremy Jansen, and his beautiful wife. I can't stop laughing, like ab work-out laughing from this photo he put up on facebook. (I put the normal beautiful family pic up, too, so you could see how attractive they are normally.) Evidently, they went to an ugly sweater Christmas party, which I am now dying to have. From now on, that's the only kind of Christmas party I want to have! Seriously! I love this!
I haven't had time to write about real stuff lately. I want to write about Treston's recent "Gotcha' day!" But my little people could set the house on fire if I sit here too long. Maybe later.
Did you see the sweater on the dog?! Seriously, crying!

Child Survival Program

This is a short and powerful video from Compassion about the Child Survival Program. This is what Run For Compassion is ALL ABOUT. I can't watch this video without crying. We are so moved by what Compassion is doing through the CSP. The statistics are staggering. We are enjoying the perfect health of so many of our sweet little ones, but the mortality rate of children under the age of five just across the ocean from us is unbelievable. Please join with us in Run For Compassion, and if you're local here, you can partner in with your time as well! Now, watch...

Happy National Adoption Day!

Today is National Adoption Day. Let me state the obvious. We love adoption. It's a huge part of our lives. It's become a huge part of the lives of families around us. Our sweet friends the Feldmans finalized their adoptions of Catalina and Celeste Feldman today. This day is a day to remember forever for their family! I look around us at church and am in awe of what God has done, moving in the hearts of families we love concerning adoption. He continues to move. The adoption ball keeps rolling around us.
I pray Christian families are asking God what role they play in his ministry to orphans. I pray we are asking God what role we play as professed "Pro-Lifers." I wouldn't presume that adoption is for everyone, but please know that there are crucial roles for all of us. If we did our part, New Life Pregnancy Center and adoption agency would never be low on money. But they are. If we did our part as the church at large, a Christian family would never be deterred from adopting because of finances. But they are. I love my church so much! They are in the process of setting up an adoption fund for church members who want to adopt. That is the body of Christ working for His kingdom! It blesses me to see how much our church cares about adoption and these little ones! I could cry at any given moment thinking about it!
I hope and pray, as people see our family and wonder about us, (because they do wonder about us...of this I'm certain) that they see Christ, and they see that we are no better or nobler than anyone else. But we were called to adopt. We heard that call and we are so blessed because of it! We will continue to listen to the Lord's voice in how He may want to grow this family. It's all up to Him!
Praise God for adoption! Praise Him for these precious children added to our families! Praise Him for the birthparents who are being loved and exposed to the gospel through these families! Praise God for agencies like New Life! I am thankful for all of this that God and God alone has accomplished!
Most of all, praise our God for adopting us as His beloved children through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ. Adoption is the word used in the scripture for those who have put their faith in Him, and it's irrevocable, it's forever, it's permanent.
Let's celebrate adoption today!