I am thankful for:
healthy children
a week long break for Thanksgiving(-woohoo, no homework!)
enough food to eat
a warm bed
electricity
new relationships
seeing God at work in people
knowing He is with me all of the time,(esp when I lost my keys)
my husband, who puts up with me and rescued us when I locked us out of the house
the opportunity to bless others in the smallest way
hunting season
not having to fry chicken for the 1st grade feast
my Jesus who knows all about me and loves me anyway
that little secret that HE has for me and reminds me of often
What's on your list of blessings???
Monday, November 16, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Random Pictures
Lauren's first horse ride with her new friend, Taylor.
Does my face look like this?
Stylin' and Profilin'
Ethan and Lily taste-testing the candy before the parade.
Jen and Aubrey
Sunday, October 11, 2009
God's Mission
I haven't ever posted about this because somehow I believed that it was screaming "me, me, me!" I think that is a lie I believed that kept me from sharing about HIM,HIM,HIM!!!So here goes:
Our church began a new vision. Our mission statement is " To give ourselves away for the transformation of our community, the city of Las Vegas, the country of Wales, and a "un-nameable for security reasons" people group.I love mission minded churches so this was right up my alley but how could I transform my community? I live 30 minutes away from our church and have 4 small children! One day, Lauren and I dropped some clothes off at our local mission and they mentioned to me that they could use help hanging up all of the donated clothes. God was showing me how I could begin helping in MY community. From that day, I began working there 2 days every week. I love busy work so I felt that God matched me to the perfect job. As we hung up clothes, I silently observed and realized that that there was a need for interaction with the clients. It was like God spoke to me and said, "Be different, just follow my lead." As I began talking with clients and helping them find what they needed, I saw a change. I saw a change in how many garbage bags they tried to haul off. I was able to listen as a woman described how her husband left her with nothing and then pray for her afterwards. This wasn't a Wendy thing. Wendy is not comfortable making small talk and asking people if they need prayer. This was and is a God thing. Following His lead, I am able to help others and show the love of Christ. There are so many times, when I fail to do as He asks me. Sometimes, I just don't feel like it and I have found out that I truly am the one missing out on the blessings that He is waiting to share. Even worse, I am missing a chance to show someone to Christ. God has truly changed my heart. He has given me a new compassion for people here in my community. He has opened my eyes to needs that I was totally unaware of before.
I realized right from the start of this job that God had placed me here for a reason. Back in May, I was asked to be director of the mission. I know that God has a really big plan for my time here. It is so excited to watch! We are working on healthier food to give and regulating the clothing that is taken out more. We are beginning a trial adult reading program. We attempted to begin a Bible study but have not had a huge turn out so we are redirecting to building relationships with our clients first. We have helped people who have lost their homes to fires, people that have gotten out of prison, new single mothers, abused women and many needy seniors,children and families. I pray that this mission continues to go in the direction of helping people help themselves. I would love to see a job readiness program along with job placement. Before any of this comes about, it is our first priority to help people begin a relationship with Jesus! There are many days when the physical needs take precidence over the spiritual needs. The enemy wants to fool us into thinking that just taking care of one need is enough so we press on. Please pray for all of our volunteers, that it would press upon our hearts to share Jesus with every person that walks through our doors. Pray for those clients that come in that their hearts would be hungry for Jesus and their ears open to hear the truth.
Our church began a new vision. Our mission statement is " To give ourselves away for the transformation of our community, the city of Las Vegas, the country of Wales, and a "un-nameable for security reasons" people group.I love mission minded churches so this was right up my alley but how could I transform my community? I live 30 minutes away from our church and have 4 small children! One day, Lauren and I dropped some clothes off at our local mission and they mentioned to me that they could use help hanging up all of the donated clothes. God was showing me how I could begin helping in MY community. From that day, I began working there 2 days every week. I love busy work so I felt that God matched me to the perfect job. As we hung up clothes, I silently observed and realized that that there was a need for interaction with the clients. It was like God spoke to me and said, "Be different, just follow my lead." As I began talking with clients and helping them find what they needed, I saw a change. I saw a change in how many garbage bags they tried to haul off. I was able to listen as a woman described how her husband left her with nothing and then pray for her afterwards. This wasn't a Wendy thing. Wendy is not comfortable making small talk and asking people if they need prayer. This was and is a God thing. Following His lead, I am able to help others and show the love of Christ. There are so many times, when I fail to do as He asks me. Sometimes, I just don't feel like it and I have found out that I truly am the one missing out on the blessings that He is waiting to share. Even worse, I am missing a chance to show someone to Christ. God has truly changed my heart. He has given me a new compassion for people here in my community. He has opened my eyes to needs that I was totally unaware of before.
I realized right from the start of this job that God had placed me here for a reason. Back in May, I was asked to be director of the mission. I know that God has a really big plan for my time here. It is so excited to watch! We are working on healthier food to give and regulating the clothing that is taken out more. We are beginning a trial adult reading program. We attempted to begin a Bible study but have not had a huge turn out so we are redirecting to building relationships with our clients first. We have helped people who have lost their homes to fires, people that have gotten out of prison, new single mothers, abused women and many needy seniors,children and families. I pray that this mission continues to go in the direction of helping people help themselves. I would love to see a job readiness program along with job placement. Before any of this comes about, it is our first priority to help people begin a relationship with Jesus! There are many days when the physical needs take precidence over the spiritual needs. The enemy wants to fool us into thinking that just taking care of one need is enough so we press on. Please pray for all of our volunteers, that it would press upon our hearts to share Jesus with every person that walks through our doors. Pray for those clients that come in that their hearts would be hungry for Jesus and their ears open to hear the truth.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Been Busy Round Here!!!
Wow! Things just don't seem to slow down much and when they do it throws all of us into shock! Today is one of those perfect days for a Sunday afternoon nap so that's waht we did!! Ahh! So nice to rest and relax. I even got out of my grocery trip today. Thad went to pick up the necessities for tomorrow.
School is going, going, going. We get report cards in two weeks. Also in two weeks, Ethan will be on the Homecoming court as crown bearer. We are so excited but it has taken up alot of time to get things ready and we have the smallest part in the whole deal!!!!
There has been alot going on a the mission. New changes, new ideas, new procedures equals tons of work. It will be so worth it all when these things take place so I'm not griping for sure!
Hopefully, there will be a big and more detailed update soon with pictures and everything! Love you all and let us know how you are!!!!
School is going, going, going. We get report cards in two weeks. Also in two weeks, Ethan will be on the Homecoming court as crown bearer. We are so excited but it has taken up alot of time to get things ready and we have the smallest part in the whole deal!!!!
There has been alot going on a the mission. New changes, new ideas, new procedures equals tons of work. It will be so worth it all when these things take place so I'm not griping for sure!
Hopefully, there will be a big and more detailed update soon with pictures and everything! Love you all and let us know how you are!!!!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Just in Case You're Wondering.....
what that lil square is about on my blog--its Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a way to earn points as you search and use the internet. The points can be redeemed for gift cards or used in the Swagbucks store. Points can be earned when you search through Swagbucks. I recommend downloading the Swagbuck toolbar and using that to do your regular internet searching. Periodically, a screen will show that says you've earned a swagbuck. When you invite friends, you earn a buck everytime they earn a buck. Hey people! We are going to search on the internet so we might as well get paid while we do it! Christmas is coming soon so I can't think of a better time to join. Please leave a comment if you are interested and I'll send you and invitation!
Monday, September 7, 2009
One of "Those" Weeks
Yep, this has been it! First, getting stuck in the woods then...not an hour later...Lauren fell off of the boat into the pond!! We were so thankful that she was wearing her pink tutu. That's how Thad could see her when he jumped in to "save" her! I am so thankful that I don't have that picture in my head of the whole event.
Since then we have had a ripstick wreck, shower fall, and yesterday Lauren was stung on the head by one of those big, red wasp!!! Can you please pray for our family??? We need it!!!!
Since then we have had a ripstick wreck, shower fall, and yesterday Lauren was stung on the head by one of those big, red wasp!!! Can you please pray for our family??? We need it!!!!
Survivor Woman.....
I AM NOT! You know how you watch those Survivorman/Man vs Wild shows and think. OK, what's the big deal or he's nuts. Well, I too watch those shows and I know that when you see him in the rain or filthy dirty or wet and col- we just don't get it. We are in the comfort of our home- not feeling the way he is about those things. With such an eventful week last week, Lauren and I got our survivorwomen experience. We headed out to the back where there are new dirt roads and trails to explore. We do this several times a week but we happened to find a new trail that we hadn't been down before. We were having a great time until we ran over a blue runner. I HATE SNAKES!!
This particular blue runner was about a foot away from me when we ran him out of the grass. I decided to make a hard right and ended up high centering our atv on some very old trenches. So here we are stuck in the woods-no cell phone and Lauren had no shoes. I tried to move our atv but was unsucessful so I began digging the dirt out from underneath while Lauren watched for the snake;) After about 30 minutes we gave up. It really stunk sitting there not knowing what to do which made me think of survivorman. I could walk out but I was thinking more of the snakes that I would surely step on if I went back the way we came. We sat for a while then decided that we should walk anyway. We were walking in the opposite direction when we saw "our boys" coming to "save" us. They had been looking for us for awhile but couldn't find us. Of course, they were able to push the atv out. Thank goodness for our boys!!!
This particular blue runner was about a foot away from me when we ran him out of the grass. I decided to make a hard right and ended up high centering our atv on some very old trenches. So here we are stuck in the woods-no cell phone and Lauren had no shoes. I tried to move our atv but was unsucessful so I began digging the dirt out from underneath while Lauren watched for the snake;) After about 30 minutes we gave up. It really stunk sitting there not knowing what to do which made me think of survivorman. I could walk out but I was thinking more of the snakes that I would surely step on if I went back the way we came. We sat for a while then decided that we should walk anyway. We were walking in the opposite direction when we saw "our boys" coming to "save" us. They had been looking for us for awhile but couldn't find us. Of course, they were able to push the atv out. Thank goodness for our boys!!!
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