Melody got to play an Indian in her school Thanksgiving program. Her big line was "I brought cheries and goosberries." They were very cute, of course, singing and dancing...and served up a great meal too. It was a fun way to start our holiday celebrating.

Melody rode in the bike-a-thon to raise money for her school. She amazed me...I had no idea how far she could ride. They rode out at the city park and she did 14 laps which adds up to 7 miles. We are very proud of her.

Thoughts...

I’ve been struggling with some personal things and I reminded myself of some verses that I put on note cards a few years ago about fear and trusting God and wanted to share these with you. I realized that if I am having trouble trusting and feeling close to God it is not because He has gone anywhere…it is because I have neglected to meet with Him and talk with Him and allow Him to give me what I am seeking. I need to seek first the Kingdom…

“I will extol the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the LORD ; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together. I sought the LORD , and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.”
Ps 34:1-4

“The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?”
Ps 27:1

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose…
If God is for us, who can be against us? …

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Rom 8:28, 31, 38-39

This is a familiar passage. But I was reminded of how I like to look at other versions to get a new take on a passage and I really like the way The Message deals with these verses…
“Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you're on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.” (Phil 4:4-8)

Time Flys....

Wow!
We've been here two years, that's a record for us. Those of you who know us, know that we have moved around a lot due to schooling and job choices. And now that we have kids we wanted to not move as often ... well, here we are, and it's hard to believe we have been in this house two years. If we stay in the same town past April of next year that will be another record for us.
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We have learned a lot in our moving around. Some easy lessons and some hard ones. We are good packers and have learned what size boxes to ues for what items, etc... We have friends in many places, but also have found it hard to make friends at times, when we have a sense that we will not be in a place for a long time. That is when trusting God comes in and believing that He has a bigger plan in mind than we can understand.

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As we look back we can see a few reasons why we were at certain places at certain times. And we would not have wanted to miss out on meeting some of the great people we have had a change to share live with.

So when I start wondering what the plan is and feeling unsettled – I have to trust God and believe that even when we don’t understand what is going on that He has a plan. He has been faithful to guide us and provide for us in the past and I’m sure He will in the future.

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I have learned that God’s timing and my timing are usually not the same and He knows best and wants the best for us. So we will press on and see what is in store for us over the next year. I’m sure it will be a challenge, but hopefully we will be stronger for it.

New Friends

Polly and the girls are getting along so well. They love having and older sister and she is sweet to play with them whenever she doesn't have too much homework. School is hard for her ... she is very smart, but of course, has to translate everything so it takes longer to do the work.

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Melody doesn't understand because the first two weeks Polly was here she had lots of time to play and now "all she thinks about is homework." I told Melody she will understand when she gets older.

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There is never a dull moment at our house and we are having a fun time learning to be a family. There is much we can learn from each other and I am excited to see what God has in store for us over the next months.

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Tony is a bit outnumbered, but he is used to that. And we do have another Thai studend that comes to visit us often and help balance out the house. His name is Champ.

A buding artist

Is this cute, or what?
I asked Melody to tell me about her picture…

“It is a picture of God watching over us.”
“See, there is Daddy, you, Polly, me and Selah”

“What is this?” I ask, pointing to the floating person

“That’s God laying on a cloud with a pillow.”

“Oh...and God is wearing a dress?”

“Well yes, in all the pictures in the Bible, they are wearing dresses.”

Of course, I should have known.

Family Addition

We have a new princess at our house. Her name is Polly and she is an exchange student from Thailand who will be staying with us for the school year. It is fun to have a teen-ager in our home again. She is very sweet and the girls have adopted her as "big sister" already. We look forward to teaching her things about America and getting to learn about Thailand. Tony has already began to teach her things like "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it", "we are just picking on you", etc... We didn't realize how often we say things that cannot be translated literally - they just don't make sense unless you know the cultural context. So it a great learning experience for all of us.

Happy Anniversary!

Wow! Look how young we were!

That was 18 years ago.

And we really had no idea what we were getting into.

We have learned a lot over the years, and as I think back about all the places we have lived and the weird things we have gone thru... I am thankful to have such an adoring husband.

And it blesses me to remember how we have grown in our relationship to each other and to God. Our commitment to Him has helped us stay true to our commitment to each other.

Wow! Daddy's strong!

They sure do love their Daddy and often argue over whose turn it is for him to carry them... well this day he got them both. And they thought it was great! Us girls sure are blessed to have such a wonderful, caring, playful Daddy & Hubby.

Blessings

God answered our prayers about what to do in the girls room and provided us a free bed. They are very excited about it and it gives them more space in their room to play. Thank You, God!

Amazing

Selah is learning so many new words and suprises us often with things we didn't know that she knew. This is her "that's amazing" face.

Of course we also have to be careful what we say because she repeats everything too. Melody keeps asking me to make Selah stop copying her ... and I say "get used to it, that's what little sisters do"

Splish, Splash, but not in the bath

The girls are taking swim lessons and creating quite a splash. Melody is proud to be the bravest in her class ... (of course, she is also the oldest in her class)

Playtime!

Here are some photos of fun times playing with friends in the last few weeks...

Aren't they cute!?....

Well, most of the time... they have their moments of grumpiness and rebellion just like we all do. And I am learning how to be a good Mom and help them "choose wisely" when they are feeling that way.

I don't always dress them alike, but it is fun when we do...they look so sweet. Sometimes Melody likes it and sometimes she says she wishes it was just her again. I guess that is normal for siblings.

I am still working on this blog stuff and getting my thoughts together ... will post more later.

Graduation

Last Thursday was a BIG day for us. They had the end of year program at Melody's pre-school. They did a great job singing and entertaining us.
And, of course, they looked soooo cute!

Then Melody got to go home with Grandma and Grandpa for a couple of days by herself. They had a great time and she is ready to go again.

Gardens

We recently visited a beautiful garden a were reminded of the variety and splendor of God's creation that can be seen in flowers and trees... and am reminded of the verse "since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)