If anyone lacks wisdom let him ask

so- today was such a great day. greg has been preaching through the book of james. he is on his 5th sermon so far and it has totally been our light over the past month. after worship this morning we came home and had lunch together, greg took abby to a free throw competition & the rest of the afternoon we completely bummed out. zoe was ALWAYS "there" today. she always wanted me or greg to be touching her, holding her, playing with her. i snapped the picture of her with her skates on while she was trying to kiss her daddy. the other picture, as you can see, was my attempt at braiding greg's hair. i did ok for the first time. zoe freaked completely out. she was SO excited that her daddy had his hair like this! it made us both feel so good to see her SO happy. it's the little things ;) ...anyway. i have felt such a renewal from the sermons this month. knowing that my greatest need has been met, that God has given me a way to cope with my everyday life and to know that when i doubt He helps me with my unbelief. so much rest.

Zoe

FINALLY after 4 years I am learning how to do black hair. Thanks to the labor of Biola and Veronica I think I am getting it. Last month Biola put a relaxer on Zoe's hair...and OH MY...that changed our life! Today she begged to wear her hair "down and long"...so here she is - The Beauty Queen!!

The Dream.

What I started reading today-

I will never leave you...

"I will not leave you as orphans- I will come to you." -John 14:8


This week has felt impossible. There has been a concentration of difficult news flowing through our front door. I have honestly had to hold back the tears constantly. And as you know, fatigue does not help the situation. From people making choices to walk away from it all to friends who are left in the aftershock of the sin that has been done to them. When news of the earth quake hit Haiti Greg immediately hollered at me to ask about Amos.I, unaware of what had happened, immediately began to cry when I saw the screen. Amos, Aaron and Jamie's son, who is still in Haiti, is the same age as Zoe. This seems to be resting on me a little harder today. As I listen to Zoe play with Wren, argue with Lucy Grace over the DS & and think about how I "wish everyone would be quiet" - I am praying for their boy to come home. I am praying that he will not get sick, not be hurt and not be scared amidst the destruction the surrounds him. I am praying that his 4 year old mind will recover from all that he has lived through. Praise be to God for his parents, Lori & Licia at the rescue center & many who are praying for the people of Haiti.
As I reflect on my week,all that has taken place, the devastation and destruction is not as easy to see...yet. Fruit takes a long time to produce. What begins as a small seed will one day burst into full bloom. It may take an entire generation but it will yield its fruit...good or bad. My fear is that the seeds of destruction that are being planted now, by selfish actions, sinful longings and earthly mindedness will yield their fruit to our children, to their children and to their children.
I pray that we will look at the earthquake and see the unseen reality that it is displaying for us.
I pray that we will see the Lord in the simple, mundane, daily work that we call Life.
I pray that we will leave our children a heritage of fertile soil that will yield good fruit.
I pray that we will see ourselves as part of a greater story.

What I am reading now...

This is really good...

My mom forwarded this to me and i really LOVE it-




For those born before 1980-
First, we survived being born to mothers
Who smoked and/or drank while they were
Pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
Was always a special treat.

We drank water
From the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends,
From one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.
WHY?

Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
As long as we were back when the
Streetlights came on.

No one was able
To reach us all day.. And, we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
And then ride them down the hill, only to find out
We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes
a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,
No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
And the worms did not live in us
Forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
Although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes..

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
Walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to deal
With disappointment.
Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
Was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.

The past 50 years
Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.