That Nicaragua May Know

So I leave on Saturday to head to Nicaragua for a week long evangelistic mission trip. Leave my girls behind in the capable hands of my in-laws and husband. I'm excited to get to step out of my roll of mommy for a week and yet be able to share how Jesus helps me in that very roll.

As a friend of mine said (thanks Christy)... each of has a story and we should share it. It is either universal enough that someone can relate, or different that it touches someone's life.

So no better way to prepare myself for sharing the testimony laid upon my heart, than to blog about it for all of you to see. So some version of this will be shared, I don't know what day, or how many will be there, but I do know I will get to share. And I pray lives will be touched and changed.

I want to share with you from my life experiences. When I was a little girl, I realized that I did some thigs I shouldn't do, and I realized that it notonly displeased my parents, but it displeased Jesus. And the only way to fix it was to ask Jesus to come make my heart clea and to forgive me. With Jesus help I can now work on living a life pleasing to God.

And now as a mom of 3 girls, I find myself relying on Jesus for strength to make it through each day. You see, one of my daughters, who is 3 years old, has had seizures since she was an infant, and because of that she is not able to sit up on her own, walk, talk or see very well.

And we do not know why she is this way.

But inspite of this tragic disease, I have joy. I have hope. I have peace.

How do I have these things? Because I have Jesus in my life.

Because I believe the Bible is true, I believe that God has made my little girl in a wonderful way. I also believe that He is good and He gives us good and perfect gifts, for it says so in the Bible. And I believe that my child is a gift from God.

I also believe that He loves me and He loves my daughter and He will take care of us, maybe not with money or things, but with spiritual things...love, peace, joy and hope.

You see, I have peace that God is in control and He knows my situation, He knows how my daughter is today and how she will be tomorrow.

I have hope for a better future for her someday because God promises us a future and a hope in Him.

And I have joy because I have a Savior in my heart who answers prayer. Who provides me daily with strength physically to make it through and emotionally to care for my family.

And because without Jesus, I do not think I could find joy or peace or hope in this situation. I hope you ill come to Jesus to find those things too. For He is waiting for you to come to Him.

I hope you will be praying for the 22 of us going. For boldness to share, for rest to carry on through the long days and the lots of walking. For our families we are leaving behind. For the families we will meet over there.
I can't wait to share with you when we return.

Christmas Memories at Home

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......

So this month we have had round 2 of gingerbread houses...with Grandmommy's help.

Choir programs at church.

And tonight...our special family Christmas time....

Of course I have to include pictures of the girls in their pretty Christmas dresses!

Pretty in Christmas red!

All dolled up!

Jesus Birthday Party

So tonight we celebrated Jesus birthday at our house, just the 5 of us. And we had a great time. As you can see, Hope helped read the Christmas story from the Bible (and she did a great job!). We followed the story with a few of our favorite Christmas carols, led by Hope singing "Away in a Manger". Then we had Jesus birthday cake. Had to try out a new recipe this year since Icouldn't find any baby food plums to make our traditional cake. So maybe we are starting a new tradition this year. What a sweet time it was to have our little family gathered around to remember the real reason we celebrate.

But of course the night was not complete without opening some presents (it helps to keep our car from being loaded down as we head out of town.)

The girls really loved their new stuff, and so did Russell Ha!

So we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas!

"Blessed by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope though the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3

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Joyeux Noel

Christmas---what a wonderful time. Time to be filled with joy for the gifts we have been given, both from Christ and from friends and family. Time of rememberance of those who have gone before and are no longer with us to celebrate this blessed time. Time of wonder for the kids as the tree is decorated, the house is lit up, presents are stacked around the tree.

I have always loved Christmas time. I have loved decorating for Christmas, baking Jesus' birthday cake each year (lovely red baby food plum cake--yum!), having our family devotional time on Christmas eve. Watching in wide-eyed wonder as my family opens presents.

Now that I have kids of my own, this time is even more special in so many ways. To see their joy, their wonder, their excitement. To get to share why we do the many traditions we have, to make new ones for our family, to share about the indescribable gift given to us in a manger so long ago.

What joy it is to watch Hope each morning run in and turn on the tree and then go find the new ornament to help us countdown to Christmas. To help the girls go "shopping" for presents for Daddy. To making our yearly gingerbread house (although this year it was more of a disaster for us to eat). To looking at Christmas light displays at the park and have Claire be able to see them! To Molly meeting Santa!

So enjoy some pics of our holiday season so far.