DAY 7 & 8

 

 

Alright....we are on day seven and eight today -- I missed yesterday--oops! So, let's checkout what's on for today!!

 

PUMPKIN ROLLS!!

 

classic fall desert....and SUPER DELICIOUS!!

 

Buy one to help minister to veterans here, if you are local...

if not, make one. Here is a recipe for one off of a blog.

It looks delicious!! You will be so glad that you did!!


AND FOR DAY 8...

TEA!
 

 

Tea Kettles, Pots, Pitchers...I have become increasingly fascinated by tea kettles and pots.

Buy one and drink some tea today.

AHHH. It will feel like fall!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Countdown through November- Day 6

If you are just joining us,
we are on DAY 6 of Countdown through November.
Each day through November we are going to find something
cute, crafty, fall-ish or fun for the kids to highlight during my FAVORITE season!

Lets see what we've found for DAY 6!!

 

 

This is one of my most favorite things I have stumbled upon to do with the kids for Thanksgiving! We haven't done it YET, but we are...as soon as I can buy some aprons. These would make great early thanksgiving gifts for grandmas from the grandkids to use for thanksgiving cooking...

Check out the cuteness!!!

 

 

 

Here is a link to the plain aprons .

You can order from hobby lobby for only 4.99!!

 

Just for more fun, throw together that little turkey kitchen towel...

for those who don't sew, I am sure hot glue or fabric glue

can accomplish the same thing!

 

Love you guys much...enjoy this fall day with your families and kiddos...

and GO VOTE!

 

Come back tomorrow for some

FREE stuff

and DAY 7!!

 

 

 

Countdown Through November

 

Been brainstorming a way to help myself to blog on a more regular basis...

life seems to take over...

I'm sure you know all about that!!

Today I'm gonna start countdown through November!!

I know I'll have 5 days in one today, but then we'll be caught up.

Get your coffee, lunch or midnight snack and let's do 5 days worth now!!!

We'll find some fun fall crafts, food, clothes and house stuff...lets go!

 

 

 

Buy a SWEATER

I LOVE sweater weather. Will definitely miss it in Hawaii!! 

You don't have to spend a lot of money on one...YAY...

take a trip to Goodwill or Salvation Army 

and buy a sweater!!

 

Make a card and Mail it to a friend!

I love getting cards or mail in general.

Take some time to send snail mail! And... MAKE A CARD!!

 

Get some free thanksgiving printables

 here at Kind over Matter

 

Make your house pretty with these FREE printables!!

 

 

 

 

Eat some fun veggies!! A TURKEY TRAY!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mommies...do something for yourself today. Get this:

LIP STAIN

 

 

 

 

You will be glad you did!

 

I Needed This Today

My devotion this morning has wrecked my life again. Wanted to share it with you.
May Jesus keep wrecking it over and over again until He comes.

“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal. 6:14).
They were living to themselves; self with its hopes, and promises and dreams, still had hold of them; but the Lord began to fulfil their prayers.
They had asked for contrition, and had surrendered for it to be given them at any cost,
and He sent them sorrow;
they had asked for purity, and He sent them thrilling anguish;
 they had asked to be meek, and He had broken their hearts;
they had asked to be dead to the world, and He slew all their living hopes;
they had asked to be made like unto Him, and He placed them in the furnace,
sitting by “as a refiner and purifier of silver,” until they should reflect His image;
they had asked to lay hold of His cross, and when He had reached it to them it lacerated their hands.
They had asked they knew not what, nor how, but He had taken them at their word, and granted them all their petitions. They were hardly willing to follow Him so far, or to draw so nigh to Him. They had upon them an awe and fear, as Jacob at Bethel, or Eliphaz in the night visions, or as the apostles when they thought that they had seen a spirit, and knew not that it was Jesus. They could almost pray Him to depart from them, or to hide His awfulness. They found it easier to obey than to suffer, to do than to give up, to bear the cross than to hang upon it. But they cannot go back, for they have come too near the unseen cross, and its virtues have pierced too deeply within them. He is fulfilling to them His promise, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).
But now at last their turn has come. Before, they had only heard of the mystery, but now they feel it. He has fastened on them His look of love, as He did on Mary and Peter, and they can but choose to follow.
Little by little, from time to time, by flitting gleams, the mystery of His cross shines out upon them. They behold Him lifted up, they gaze on the glory which rays from the wounds of His holy passion; and as they gaze they advance, and are changed into His likeness, and His name shines out through them, for He dwells in them. They live alone with Him above, in unspeakable fellowship; willing to give up what others own (and what they might have had), and to be unlike all, so that they are only like Him.
Such, are they in all ages, “who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.".”
Had they chosen for themselves, or their friends chosen for them, they would have chosen otherwise. They would have been brighter here, but less glorious in His Kingdom. They would have had Lot’s portion, not Abraham’s. If they had halted anywhere–if God had taken off His hand and let them stray back–what would they not have lost? What forfeits in the resurrection?
But He stayed them up, even against themselves. Many a time their foot had well nigh slipped; but He in mercy held them up. Now, even in this life, they know that all He did was done well. It was good to suffer here, that they might reign hereafter; to bear the cross below, for they shall wear the crown above; and that not their will but His was done on them and in them.
–Anonymous.

Moving on...5,500 miles on.

"Here am I, send me; send me to the ends of the earth;
      send me to the rough, the savage pagans of the wilderness;
      send me from all that is called comfort on earth;
      send me even to death itself, if it be but in Thy service,
      and to promote Thy kingdom."
                                                     - David Brainerd

We have waited a few months to share what the Lord has been stirrng in us.
The necessary waiting has brought on lot's of questions from those around us,
as we appear to be selling all we own,  moving in with Erics parents and
seemingly missing at our local church.

For those of you who have been waiting and wondering, or have been concerned
about us, hopefully this blog post will clear up any confusion and answer your
questions:)

Around the spring of this year Holy Spirit began stirring our hearts about moving.
If you know me, I LOATHE moving. What a pain! So we kind of pushed the prompting
to the side -- I mean, we have lived back in Virginia for only about 2 years.
We just bought a house. Our families are here. Our kids were born here. All of our
ministries have been here. Moving didn't sound like such a great idea.

After multiple meetings with Pastor Kevin at Crossroads between January and May,
Eric and I stepped down from all leadership positions to more adequately seek the Lord
and hear Him clearly. We felt that this next decision in our lives would be a major one--
likened to the seriousness of choosing a spouse. We adjusted our lives accordingly. From
the outside looking in, it probably seemed that we dissappeared, but the time away was
necessary and fruitful.

Following a lot of seeking and heart searching -- some major cutting away of what is
comfortable and easy for us, we have heard his voice clearly and will obey.

As many of you know, we are expecting out third baby in March of 2013. Following
our new additions arrival, in late May/early June, we will be moving over 5,500 miles away
to Kailua on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. We will be a part of  LifeChurch Kailua.
(click for church website)

We have been called to be missionaries to Hawaii and to the Philipinnes. If you are like
the majority of people your response probably is, "wow...tough job. Really suffering for Jesus."
If that is your opinion or feeling, you have greatly misinterpreted the main purpose of the gospel--

                                        Go forth an make disciples of all nations --That all may know Jesus. 
                                        Whether that be to the richest or poorest of all people. Whether on a beach
                                         orin a desert.

              "I care not where I go, or how I live, or what I endure so that I may save souls.
              When I sleep I dream of them; when I awake they are first in my thoughts…
               no amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition of brilliant
               and stirring eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic
               love for human souls."
                           -David Brainerd

With that directive, from Jesus Himself, we are selling everything we own.
We will leave behind our families and what is comfortable for the sake of the gospel.
"Sell all you have...and follow me," has become a reality for our little family.
There have been tears and fear of the unknown, but we know at the end of the day,
His way is always good. It's always right. It's always perfect and has our best interest in mind.

We will be helping to direct an internship, helping oversee a K-12 private school,
helping with the youth in that district and connected to issions in the Phillipines.
We are so excited to see what the Lord has in store.

Eric was able to visit in September for about a week, but the rest of us probably won't get
to visit before our move next year. God has also graciously provided us with a 3 bedroom house
on the church property for an incredibly small amount, in comparison to the rental rates in Hawaii.

We will be traveling to churches each Sunday from November throug April,
sharing in a little more detail about what we will be doing and where we will be.
Please pray for as we learn to walk in a completely new level of faith -- trusting God for all
we willl need, As we are going as missionaries, none of this comes with a paycheck:)

Please call or email us if you still have questions or want more info about whats going on.
Love you all and glad to be serving King Jesus alongside of you.

Shades and magic.

I have gone back and forth over whether or not to post this.
It is an obvious controversial topic even within Christian circles.

After some praying and heart seeking, I feel like I need to share.
This is not out of judgment, but out of a desire to expose truth!

Unless you live under a rock, I am sure you have heard ALL about magic mike and shades of gray--good and bad. I was very confused though when some of my christian friends were raving over the 2 and calling anyone who spoke out against them "Judgemental".

The friends reading this book and seeing this movie are in great marriages or are single young women who are a part of the body. They are walking out loving others, serving wherever they are needed, defending 50 million babies who have bee murdered, standing up for the ending of sex trafficing and raising families. These same women are reading and praomoting this movie and book series. And yes, I am still confused over it.

I want to adress the thinking that I have heard that says, "We all sin and if you don't feel convicted of it the it doesn't matter." OR "Its just  a book." or..."Its just a movie."

If all of our christian walks were based on SOLEY our convictions (the things we "feel" are right or wrong), then wouldn't "truth" look different to all of us?
Some dont feel convicted that abortion is wrong, but the church still stands against it, and voices Jesus' opinion concerning life.
And that is only one example.

While there are things we encounter in this world thatare not directly addressed in the Word, and we have to be led by holy spirit in descerning how we are to live, related to those things (like smoking, for example).
Sexual immorality is not one of those things left unaddressed.
It is one topic that is addressed over and over and over in the new testament.

I am unsure how women are taking the scripture into account and yet justifying these books,
 that the secular reviewers have called "mommy porn".
I guess my thinking is this--the word says in eph. 5:3:
 "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people."
Is there a "hint" of sexual immorality being portrayed in these books/movie??
 Becasue even if it is only a hint (A slight indication ,A barely perceptible amount)...then according to the word, whether i FEEL convicted or not, it is wrong.

And that is only using one verse. As christians we are supposed to live careful lives-- keeping a close watch over our lives that we dont stumble. Does that mean we dont sin? Of course not. But niether does it mean we blatently go against Gods word with the excuse that we all sin.

I hope this hasn't been offensive, but that encourages you to seek out what the word has to say concerning 50 shades and magic mike.

The devil isn't stupid. He's gonna seep into our lives any way that we allow him to.
Stand firm in truth my friends, for it is only the truth that brings true freedom.

Mini Vacation .... gone bad.

It all started with a great idea: Let's get away for a few days--
away from laundry, phone calls and work.
We really wanted some time to just seek the Lord!

We planned to go and visit our friend Molly in South Carolina from Saturday to Tuesday.
 A little lakehouse in the woods, in a tiny town. Sounds great!.
 Eric would have wednesday off for the fourth as well and could recouperate.
Unfortunately the dates couldn't work...

That plan fell through. Strike 1.

We then made plans to go stay in the mountains at a church conference and retreat center.
The mountains were calling our name.
Saturday comes.
We find out that power is out from the storms and could take a week
to be restored at the retreat center.

Great. That plan fell through. Strike 2.

So we decide to go to Lynchburg...we can see the mountains, go fishing, visit the dollar theater.
It'll be great.
We reserve our cheap hotel room and start the drive with the two littles.
We get to to hotel...the kids are dying to get out. We all have to pee. And then we see it.
A sign on the door that says NO POWER.
*Deep breath*

We pile back into the car and rethink this whole thing.
Should we go home? Look for another hotel?
We end up at Arbys with an orange creme milkshake searching for another hotel.

We find one. In Roanoke--another hour away.
We make the reservation and start going to roanoke.
Nice Howard Johnson with an awesome view of the mountains. Breakfast. Good deal.

To make a long, frustrating story short, we spent the WHOLE next day searching for a place to fish and trying to find worms.
One place had no power.
One river was full of people swimming.
And the "stocked"duck "pond"--- that was a joke.

Our A/C in our car wasn't working through all of this and
we found out our insurance won't cover our windshield that got cracked in the storm.
We came home tuesday and were glad to be back.

I feel like I need a vacation to get myself back togther. lol.
At least we got to be together.

Karis still loved it--despite all the setbacks:)
In it all, Jesus is always faithful!!
Looking forward to hearing His voice.