Got Books?

This week Lars and I started a journey of reading through the Bible together in 2015. We are praying together and then I read aloud as we drink our coffee. It is been a wonderful experience so far. I am excited to watch what God does with this time we are investing in the Word seeking Him as a couple. Before we begin our reading together I have been reading through my hymnal, reflecting on the stories, lyrics, and praising God for the beauty of the music composed to bring Him glory. I have been keeping my prayer journal in which I begin by summarizing the lyrics, message, and/or ideas of the hymn I meditate upon. The whole process has been even better than exercise! Just as the verse of the month for my children at church says, "For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:8. During our Bible reading in the morning, I read from a hard copy of the NLT version. It is actually Lars's first Bible which was given to him by a good friend who lead him to the Lord during a difficult time in his life in the summer of 2000. It is special to be reading from this Bible and refreshing to read from a "real" (non-electronic) book. I continue to do my nightly devotions using the YouVersion Bible app on my phone. I am currently reading four devotionals (all lasting 1 year) two of which I started on my birthday and two others I started on my sons' birthdays respectively. The nightly devotionals I am reading include: Rick Warren's Daily Devotional, Praise in the Presence of God by Jack Hayford, Face to Faith by Bob Botsford, and Celebrate also by Jack Hayford. I plan to start one more on Lars's birthday. Any ideas/suggestions?

I love to read non-fiction and I simply cannot get enough of reading in each day. Many times I am asked what I am reading which usually provokes a vacuous stare because I read A LOT. So I decided I would actually list out some of the books I have recently completed or am in the process of reading which have been particularly powerful, healing, inspiring, enlightening, entertaining, or just plain amazing. These books deal with subjects such as JESUS, faith, grief, addiction, mental illness, prayer, spiritual discipline, parenting, and teaching (among other things). I also have enjoyed reading biographies of several professional athletes and musicians. I have read several books by many of the authors listed below, but the ones listed are my favorite titles. Here they are in no particular order: On Grief and Grieving by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Where Do Broken Hearts Go by Jane Abbate, The Power of a Praying Wife and Parent by Stormie Omartian, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney, Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, The Spirit of Disciplines by Dallas Willard, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero, Humility by Andrew Murray, Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection by Edward T. Welch, Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp, Desiring God by John Piper, Love Does by Bob Goff, Real Marriage by Mark Driscoll, Death by Love by Gerry Breshears and Mark Driscoll, Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian, Vintage Jesus by mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears, Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray, Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray, Building Below the Waterline by Gordon MacDonald, The Freedom of Self Forgetfulness by Timothy Keller, What's So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey, The Grace of God by Andy Stanley, Running with Joy by Ryan Hall, Radical by David Platt, Uncensored Truth: A No-Spin Guide to the Christian Faith by Jud Wilhite, Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working by Graig Groeschel, How People Change by Timothy Lane and Paul David Tripp, Speaking Truth in Love by David Powlison, Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul by Erwin McManus, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan, Altar Ego: Becoming Who God Says You Are by Craig Groeschel, Every Body Matters by Gary Thomas, Making Good Habits, Breaking Bad Habits by Joyce Meyer, Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life by Henry Cloud and John Townsend (which I was fortunate enough to co-lead a small group and church study on), The Attrbutes of God by Arthur Pink, Wrecked: When a Broken World Slams into Your Comfortable Life by Jeff Goins, Thorns in the Heart by Steven Stiles, The Sacred Romance by John Eldredge, Made to Crave and Unglued by Lysa TerKeurst, The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers (Christian Fiction), Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov, and Engaging Students with Poverty in Mind by Eric Jensen. 

I am thankful I have an ADHD affliction because one of the "symptoms" or "manifestations" of ADHD is hyper-focus. This hyper-focus has allowed me to run myriad races in my life with great tenacity and has allowed me to be disciplined in pursuits despite my natural flightiness. I am thankful God has redeemed what could be a debilitating condition and used it to allow me to draw close to Him through reading. I read the most when I am hurting, searching, confused, or overwhelmed. It is a beautiful paradoxical ironic mess! God has provided me encouragement, wisdom, direction, discernment, knowledge, and peace through Himself and has used these authors to reveal more of Himself to me. God has taken something that is difficult in my life and used it to allow me to consume the written word with great fervor. It's hard for me to believe I hated reading as a child . . . I guess I just didn't find anything I was as interested in. When I began to read about my Savior and the Creator of the universe I simply could not and can not get enough. Praise God for the gift of books and writers to bring us beautiful word pictures. 

The Lord Bless You and Keep You

My mom and dad gave me a special book for Christmas with 300 of the world's greatest hymn stories which include the corresponding hymn music and lyrics. It is entitled, "Then Sings My Soul." Hymns are my very favorite thing to nerd out on, so it was a perfect gift! I have decided to use this book as a devotional tool this year to interact with scripture, play for enjoyment again, and start a collection of my own compositions as "new songs" to God. 

The first hymn is, "The Lord Bless You and Keep You" based on Numbers 6:24-26: "The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace." 

I love what D. L. Moody notes:

"Here is a benediction that can give all the time without being impoverished. Every heart may utter it, every letter may conclude with it, every day may begin with it, every night may be sanctified by it. Here is blessing--keeping--shining--the uplifting upon our poor life of all heaven's glad morning. It is the Lord Himself who gives us this bar of music from heaven's infinite anthem."

Here's to a year filled with more of Him. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxn6tmVSljU

Goodbye 2014. Hello 2015!

Frozen themed Christmas Eve PJ's.

Christmas Day Dessert.

 Family time.

 
 

The Armor of God: 

Ephesians 6:10-17

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God,so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Mason's favorite gift (Frank the Combine). 

Max's favorite gift (chalkboard/whiteboard combination on an easel)

10th Anniversary cocktails.

10th Anniversary selfie.

10th Anniversary dinner at Benihana.

 

Wearing Daddy's Donald sweatshirt. 

Cheers to 2015!

Our Amazing 2014

http://flipagram.com/f/OS6GI7iuPH

Kicking off Christmas Vacation!

Our final week before vacation was exhausting! Lars had two away games, the boys had Awana, I had my staff party, and of course all of the festivities to prepare for at school and at home. Fortunately, we had a restful and fun weekend in anticipation Christmas week! Including a trip up to Portland with our good friends to watch a play at Portland Center Stage entitled, "Twist Your Dickens". It was super fun and brought lots of laughs! http://www.pcs.org/dickens/

Max poses with Mrs. Claus.

Mason draws the Grinch.

Christmas sweater/PJ day at school. 

Max receives a letter from Santa Claus.

Max gets a"dummy" phone when Lars gets a new smart phone.

Max and Mason pose at our favorite restaurant, Red Robin! 

Lars and I went to visit his parents while the boys were in La Pine with my parents. I got to look through old pictures I hadn't seen before. These were two of my favorites. Lars and his mom in 1974 and Lars with his grandma Ella in 1981.

A special Christmas lunch with one of my besties! It is rare I get to spend time with her and I treasure these precious moments! 

One of Max's gifts from Auntie Kaycie! He's drawing our elf Rudy.

We are looking forward to fun times with Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, Uncle Danny and Jeff, Uncle Russel, Aunt Jill, Aunt Toni, Uncle David, and our cousins Derek, Thomas, and Baili over the next few days. Also, we are loving our facetime with Auntie Kaycie during each round of Christmas festivities! 

The Nutcracker

On Sunday, Max and I had a "date" and went to his first viewing of "The Nutcracker" at the Historic Elsinore Theatre in Salem. We saw our good friend and one of my former students dance. She was a mouse in Act I and a Chinese dancer in Act II. Max was enthralled with her performance and the entire experience. We were lucky enough to have some yummy Mexican food after the performance with our dancer and her family who are also our good friends, at La Margarita! I had Tacos de Cochinita Pibil, a traditional dish served in Mexico at Christmastime and a pear margarita. Max had fries and a bite of chicken strip. On our drive, Max even got to sit in the front seat on our date. It was super special from start to finish! I love my boy so much! He is already learning to be chivalrous. He wanted to have his hair gelled, he put on cologne, and he made sure to open the door for me whenever he could. I am thankful to be his mama and be his first date! :-) 

Mason turns 5 and Christmas festivities continue!

Last weekend our Mason got very sick with a super high fever, up to 105.2 which brought us into urgent care instead of having a birthday party. Fortunately, we made the best of the long wait in the pediatrician's office by playing Spider-Man!

    

Mason gets a birthday hot chocolate at Dutch Bros. and Rudy wishes him a Happy Birthday!

Mason's Sunday School teacher came over on his birthday and brought him a "get well" Spider-man themed gift including a Lego's set and paint set! What a nice surprise! He is a lucky boy to be loved by so many special people!

We baked his cake and he helped frost it. 

Our chocolate lover chose a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting!

Mason's other request was to have a race track with Lightening McQueen racing on it. 

This was our attempt at his request and he was quite pleased! 

Grandma and Grandpa dropped by Mason's gift on their way through town. He got a special Mickey Mouse hat called a "Flipper" and the ears flip up when the end of the tie is pumped. He loves it!

When Mason was feeling a bit better we went to Pietro's, AKA "Pizza Planet", ate pizza, played games, and ate the cake we made! 

Our week was SUPER busy and we are thankful Mason got to feeling better quick! Every Wednesday is AWANA for the boys and sometimes Lars and I go have a "mini-date" while they are there. This Wednesday we went to one of our favorite places and I had a Jalapeno Peach Lemon Drop. It was so pretty, I had to take a picture. Cheers! 

We had a special morning today because we were invited by Max's first grade teacher to have breakfast with Santa and listen to her choir sing. Max has always been fearful of visiting Santa Claus and this morning, he conquered his fear! I named this Santa the "Santa Whisperer" since Max really took to him. Max even requested my phone to take a "selfie" with Santa. 

After a Christmas gift and grocery shopping stop  . . . 

. . . we are finally home together! Max and I baked some banana bread. Mason and I played with some Lego's. Now . . . we are resting! Max likes to unwind by reading his Sparks book and listening to stories from the Bible. Max loves to learn about God, think about God, sing about God, and talk about God. For this, I am eternally grateful! 

Rudy is ready for Papa to come home and was letting us know by playing with his puzzle last night . . .

Stay turned for more Christmas fun! Tomorrow Max and I will be going to his first ever viewing of "The Nutcracker" and we will get to see some of his friends and my former students dance!