Mom

Mom is in hospice now. The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of unexpected news, big decisions and trusting God.

It is amazing how fast life goes, that tomorrow is not promised to us. Of course, Gods word tells us this. "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James 4:15

Yesterday I planned the funeral for mom. It was not difficult for she has given us her wishes. She does not want her life to be prolonged, she wants to be cremated. I found in her Bible a note left for me and Cindy that said she did not want a funeral, but a celebration. That she is with Jesus Christ and we will see her again one day.

I will write soon all of the ways God in His mercy has guided us, comforted us and let us have closure. How everything happened. Now we just wait for her final breath.

Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. Psalm 116:7

Happy Birthday Mike

Today is Mike's 42nd birthday. How will we celebrate? Well, first he will wake up with a sore throat. Then Lisa will wake up with a fever. We will decide to keep Lisa home from school. May have to miss BSF tonight.

I will decide to make Mike's favorite dinner: steak. Except that is not steak in our freezer. Surprise: it will be pork chops.

Mike doesn't care, because now he has body aches all over and is happy with leftovers. In fact he loves leftovers. I love that he loves leftovers.



I am so thankful for this man that God has given me. He makes me laugh, makes me cry, is an encourager, is my accountability. He is good at disciplining and loving our children. He loves to make them laugh and be silly with them. But the most important thing is that he knows the reason for his birth--to know and to glorify the One who has given us life.

Questions

My girls talk alot, it almost seems continuous. They ask a million questions.

This evening on the way home from Aunt Cindy's a couple of the questions were:

"What does it mean to fear God?" followed by "What is a musketeer?"

How do you explain fearing God without being afraid of God. What the heck is a musketeer anyway-a candy bar, a character from a story with 2 friends? Mike answered the questions age appropriately-and I now know what a musketeer REALLY is.

My favorite questions begin with "Mom, when you were little did you..."

The scariest questions are "Mom, what does it mean to..."

The hardest questions are about faith and God and the birds and the bees. But I have learned to ask them a question in return to see how much they know... and to buy time.

Summer Blast 2009

This summer has flown by. It has been very hot and the best way to beat the heat is to find some cool, refreshing water.
Here are the girls getting ready to snorkel at Landa Park.



Here is a "duck's eye" view of the water.

Another way to beat the heat is to go ice skating. Here are the summer blasters getting warmed up next to the wall. Will they venture out?

Eventually the ventured away from the wall and ice skated around the rink. Here are Lisa and Sydney.

This was a trip to Austin's Barton Springs. It was FREEZING!! It is 68 degrees all year around, so the locals say. I say it is 45 degrees. The 106 degree heat felt rather refreshing after getting out of the water here.

Holy Flying Bats, Batman!!
We went and watched the bats fly out from under the bridge in Austin that evening. There were millions of them. And also some serious bat watchers. Austin even has a "bat phone." I kid you not, there is someone who actually picks up the "bat line" and will answer any question you may have about the bats--like what time they leave, where they go, when the come back, what happened to the batmobile, where is Robin. Not that I would ask those questions, no, Mike called the "bat line" and asked.

You can't really tell in this picture, but those are a cloud of bats flying around the tree line.

Port Aransas, August 1, 2009

Here is my sweet Lisa girl. I'm sure whatever it was she was holding was interesting.

I just love these close up pictures. Still get to catch a glimpse of a little girl. A little girl deep in thought.

Another one of my favorite pictures. Daddy with his girls walking and talking down the beach at sunset.

OK, I had great intentions for this picture. Imagine the dimensional view of the pier with the waves rolling in and my child in the front all in focus. It has artistic potential-but I should have deleted it.

This was a fun picture. All of those little clams come up to the surface as the waves rolls back to the ocean. They try to get themselves back into the sand as quickly as possible, so it is fun to put your feet in the sand while they tickle them as they frantically dig themselves back to safety.

The girls participated in Summer Blast this year. It was so much fun for them. They went on many field trips and have made a lot of new friends. Except for a couple of bumps in the road, like the biting incident, the nose incident, the hitting incident, it was well worth it. The biting and hitting incident happened between my two girls, but we worked through it.

A quote

Zeal!!

"I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made I'm a disciple of his. I won't look back, let up. Slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving and dwarfed goals."

"I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power."-


Words of a young pastor in Zimbabwe, Africa, later martyred for his faith in Christ

Living for Jesus/ Stepping out of the boat

1 John 2:6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

What does it mean to walk as Jesus did?
How do I do this?
How much time do I spend with Him in order to know Him?
How much do I want to be like Him?

These are the thoughts going through my mind. These are the desires of my heart. Then my day begins, the girls argue, my patience grows thin, I start to feel insecure.
The story of Jesus walking on water came afresh for me. I love how God does that. The story I have heard since childhood seems so deep and relevant.

Matthew 14:22-33
Jesus Walks on the Water
22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat was already a considerable distance[a] from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. (Mark 6:48 says that Jesus saw the the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them--I love that Jesus was watching them)
25During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.
27But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."
28"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."
29"Come," he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"
31Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why do you doubt?"(who did Peter doubt--I think he doubted himself of following Jesus or was it the insecurity that arises when you take your focus off of Christ and put it on the situation or surroundings at hand?)
32And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Peter had the courage to step out of the boat and try the impossible. Do I?

Dear Lord,
Please give me the courage to walk as you walked, to be a devoted disciple, to have faith to step out of the boat. Help us to live for You in our culture.

Lisa's Birthday

The most welcoming and warm host and hostess.

Lisa's birthday is May 28. She turned 9 years old. We asked her where she wanted to go for her birthday, any restaurant she wanted. She said "I really want to go over to Mr. and Mrs. William's house and eat with them and swim." I said "you can go ANYWHERE, remember Katie picked the Magic Time Machine?" She said she really wanted to go over to the William's house-and they were thrilled. Sheila planned this super cute party theme based on what Lisa and Katie LOVE to do at their home. The theme was "The Secret Layer" (it may be lair).


She got to invite two friends, Joseph and Savannah, who are brother and sister.
This is everybody playing in the pool. They all played so good together and laughed so much. It is a joy to hear the kids laughing and having a good time.


Sheila quilted this quilt for her son and she has tea parties on it with her granddaughters.
The kids got to eat their dinner on it and yes, spill stuff on it too, with no worries!


Savannah, Katie, Lisa and Joseph.



Mike and Gary discussing major issues in life. (when to start the grill and why mosquitoes are attracted to Gary)

Sheila made these creatures from SCRATCH. She did a fabulous job of putting together this party for Lisa. She said she had so much fun doing this and we had fun eating them.

This is not a real butterfly, it is part of the game the kids played. They had to find these creatures in their backyard.

They also wore these adorable hats while bug-finding.

This is the "Secret Layer" (or lair, I don't know how to spell it). It is the electrical box thingy in their backyard surrounded by bushes. Whenever we go over to their home, Lisa and Katie LOVE to go and play back there and named it "The Secret Layer." So Sheila themed the party after that and it was SO MUCH FUN!!

God gave us their friendship in such a unique way-a total God thing and we are so blessed by it. Two summers ago we were doing The Truth Project on our own and Pastor Mike called us to see if we would be interested in hosting "a lady of the congregation who is very interested in doing this". Of course we enthusiastically said "Yes, we would love to!" and he said, "great, it is Sheila Williams." Well, I have known her my whole life since I went to grade school with her son at Concordia and then all of these years of going to the Women's Bible Study. We were so honored to do this. So we have fellowshipped and served along side Gary and Sheila every since. They are the real deal and we love them to pieces.

My oldest baby girl turned 9. She is such a joy and we are incredibly honored that God has given us her. We pray that we don't mess her up!!