my family christmas picture

just in case anyone didn't get a christmas card from me this year, i thought i would share (a little late) our christmas card! :)

i'm proud today

we decided to take our teens on a trip into boston today and give them a little experience on evangelism. i can still remember - oh so clearly - being dropped off in washington d.c. my freshman year of college. me and my roomy carrie, were absolutely terrified, and really had no idea what we were doing! i remember sitting next to one lady, and saying to carrie "you say something" to which she replied "no you" and on and on it went. i don't know if we actually talked to anyone that day! i did not want our teens to feel that way!! we ended up taking 8 teenagers, glen and maria (our AMAZING youth leader partners) and me adam and the boys. before we started, adam had typed out an outline of the gospel for us to hand out. i then made copies and started paper cutting them, with a paper cutter from the 1950's. i admit i was a little frustrated. as i stood there cutting, (and maybe sighing a few times) aj, who was standing next to me said. and i quote. "mom, this is worth people getting saved, you gotta admit" ok. point well taken. he was right, and i so hate when i let myself get stressed like that! well, it was very very cold outside, and we had planned on it being a little bit warmer. that was a little tricky, because everyone was in a rush to get to someplace warm!! but i have to tell you...it was amazing for me to watch these teens, and my husband and boys with so much confidence and boldness!! the boys would just run up to people and hand them the tracts, even after they got turned away a few times. adam was so amazing to watch. he would just walk right up to people, and start talking. i loved seeing these kids, who so many people just brush off on any given day, making a difference for ETERNITY! so this post is specifically for matty, brandon, chelsea, christina, brandy, jess, jesse, and keith. i don't actually think any of them read this :) but if they did, they would see how proud i am of them taking the great comission seriously! i know for a fact that it made a difference. at one point, adam started quoting a verse to a guy who had just said that he thought he was way too bad to get into heaven. he said that inspite of the fact that all of us sin, Jesus said "I am the way the truth and the life, no..." then i heard "man cometh unto the Father but by me" finished by my six year old. can anyone feel the glow around me coming through your computer screen?!? isn't this what it's all about? letting people know that they have hope?? i was amazed at how many people said they did not believe in heaven, or they really hoped that they could go there. we need to do this more!
in spite of the cold weather, i did not hear one person complain...including my 2 little boys. i couldn't help but think back to 2 years ago, when my little boys were sweating profusely in the dominican republic and i didn't hear a complaint then! wow...God is an amazing God, and i am so glad that i have the privilege of serving him!!!

i love yags

ok. so we have our young adults group at our house on wedensday nights. we have a really great time, and people usually stay pretty late. well, the other night, i had said goodbye to ruthie and michelle and i was still upstairs with the rest of the people. i came downstairs 15 minutes later, and saw both of them sitting at my kitchen table eating cheesecake...maybe that's not funny to anyone else, but it just made me laugh so hard! i just love them, i love the friendships that i have made, and i love the fact that they can feel comfortable enough to just sit down at the table and eat!! i love you ruthie and michelle, thanks for making me smile! :)

family weekend

so last weekend was a big family gathering in honor of my grandfather (affectionately called "bik") and his 75th birthday. february is also the month that has his wife's birthday and their anniversary! mel came up for the weekend, and we got to see a lot of my mom's side of the family that we don't see very often. that's to say the least! the last time we saw most of them was over 2 years ago at my great-grandmother's funeral! it was really nice to have everyone together, and i know that bik and grandma cheryl really appreciated everything. we also had a valentine banquet saturday night that our youth group put on. they did such a great job and i was really proud of the way they all stepped up and served. glen and maria did an amazing job with the food - as usual- and then we had a couple give their testimony of how God saved their marriage, and ended the night by watching fireproof. long and tiring, but GREAT night! i also set up my new backdrop and offered pictures for the couples! it was a lot of fun!

Treat for the boys

The boys have been such little sweethearts lately. things have been kind of crazy when it comes to our schedules and ministry things. a lot of nights we are doing different ministries, and we expect the boys to either be in their room playing quietly, or in the church nursery by themselves, and they have such great attitudes about it! i feel really bad sometimes, and i don't want them to ever think that ministry comes before them, because although GOD does, MINISTRY does not! they are so obedient and do such a great job playing together and getting along. well me and adam decided to reward them for being so helpful by taking them to chuck.e.cheese. some friends from church had gotten the boys tokens for christmas, so we took them last week - just the 4 of us. it was a really great time and i am so thankful for how God blesses our family.

My Baby is SIX!!!

so...six years ago from right now, i was at elliot hospital, holding my perfect, beautiful baby boy. i remember very clearly on february 6th wondering why in the world i wasn't already holding him, and how unfair a "due date" really is!! ok, so i was only one day past it, but especially since aj had been 2 weeks early, it seemed a little cruel to me!! so at about 4:30 am february 7th i woke up...let me back up a little bit. about 2 weeks earlier, my sister erika had told me a story about a lady who had gone to the hospital insisting that her water had broken. well, come to find out, she had wet the bed!! soooo i was totally thinking, ok...i have GOT to be sure that this is for real. i would die if the same thing happened to me!! i finally realized that my water really had broken, and we called melissa leclerc (who was super close to our family, and aj loved!) and asked her to come over. i think she said "are you serious?" i don't think she's a morning person! haha!! anyways, it was snowy outside, and our walkway and driveway were almost never shoveled or plowed (i'm not bitter at our old landlord or anything :)) but i did fall on the way to the car! but i got to the hospital at about 5:30am, and my FAVORITE doctor was there! i was so excited, because of all the doctor's i had seen leading up to this, there was one that i loved and the rest were ok, except for one man that i did NOT want to have there! so as i was coming in, she said "i am just going home, but doctor blah blah blah is here? ya, you got it. it was the ONE guy i did not want!!! anyways, it was pretty uneventful compared to aj's delivery story, except that at one point in MID LABOR, i looked over and the doctor was on the phone!! i could hardly believe it. i said, "what do i do now?" the nurse was like, "doctor!! we need you!" ugh. so he arrived, absolutely beautiful and perfect at 12:21pm. He weighed 7 lb 2 oz. My mom and adam were in the room with me and the doctor asked who was going to cut the chord, and i knew that adam didn't want to - he just doesn't do blood :) and my mom didn't want to interfere, so i said I WILL!! so i ended up cutting it!
i am incredibly blessed in so many ways, but that God has given me a godly husband, 2healthy, beautiful boys, and amazing family, church family, a place to live rent free, i could just go on and on and on, but i will stop!! enjoy all the pictures of my baby growing up! i love that he got up this morning, and got ready to go out to breakfast with my parents. (my parents take each grandkid out to breakfast on their birthday) and he asked me if he could take his puppy blanket with him :) i just love that my baby is still my baby in some ways! what i love about my ry is that he is so funny, and always loves to make people laugh. i love his bright smile that totally lights up his whole face, which then totally lights up the face of anyone around him. he is wild and crazy just like his momma. he is also very sensitive and sweet. tonight we were doing a puzzle together, and there was one piece left and he said "you do the last piece mommy". i got a little teary on that one. then he told me that this was the best birthday he ever had, mostly because he got to spend so much time with me :) ok, maybe he's just a sweet-talker, but i'll take it!! i love that he asked Jesus into his heart when he was 4 years old, and now i can know for sure that no matter what, i will always be with him in eternity!! thank you Lord for giving me such an amazing family!