A few of my favorite winter things (part 4) Christmas edition

CHRISTMAS! Celebrating Jesus. Advent. The waiting. The anticipation of His coming now, in our hearts, and soon, for an eternity together with those who love Him.

A few of my favorite winter things (part 3)

Fresh squeezed orange juice and Florida oranges!

A few of my favorite winter things (part 2)

The ladies' Christmas brunch which our fellowship hosts annually. We had a fantastic time!


And the hubby with Diego after a long night of snow (around 6 inches here on top of the 2 we already had). You can see Diego barely. He jumps and kind of "belly-surfs" through the snow. Now he has a place shoveled out specially for him. :)



This has to perhaps be the funniest one. Because Diego is so small (9.5lbs) but has LOTS of energy and still needs to be walked daily even in freezing temps & snow, José trained him to run on the treadmill. Here's a picture & a short video clip. :) We sometimes teach him tricks to entertain ourselves. This turned out to be a great thing and very practical!

What it's all about

So my thoughts this Christmas have been perhaps shocking to some, but there's something in the making. I just keep thinking about why all the stress, the rush, the spending money on things friends and relatives may not even like or want? How can I celebrate in a way that is worthy of the coming of our King, Jesus?

The thoughts will continue forming, and perhaps spill over into this blog from time to time, but for now, this video (below) really says some of what is going on in our heads and hearts this Christmas.







Please don't comment on how good or impacting this video is, but please consider what you will do. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that!

A few of my favorite winter things (part 1)

Snow (especially when the first one is in December - not before)

Christmas Lights

How about you?
What are some of your winter favorites?

Precious Metal Clay

Here's what I've been experimenting with lately. It's precious metal clay which when fired and polished becomes .999 fine silver. Here are the two pieces I made:

I was looking to do something like an antique seal (think wax seal) or a kind of crest for our family and I LOVE the results!

The impression on the back of first piece,

My second piece. It also has the same back as the first piece. A significant word for life for me lately. Embellished with a coin-pearl and a bali silver flower.

Wordless Wednesday

English Camp

It's a great time to be in Spain. The Spanish soccer team won the quarter-finals and will be playing TOMORROW in the semi-finals. Go Spain! And, it's also the time for the annual English Camp. José lead a team from Warren (+ one of our friends from Asheville), and they are teaching English to Spanish children this week. And from the looks of it, having a blast.


Pray for these boys (M, C, & I) and about 100 more like them! Pray that through English, they (and their parents) will see love from strangers who love with God's heart.

Sometimes Pruning is Needed

We had this bush on the side of our house. It was pretty ugly, branches all sticking out every which way. Not much to look at, no flowers just small leaves and branches. But last spring as we were doing light landscaping around our house, hubby decided to prune it. I saw how much he had cut off and thought surely it was destroyed, that it wouldn't make it. But much to our delight, encouragement, and hope, it was not. In fact it was far more beautiful than before. Overflowing with bright, beautiful blossoms. Pruning was needed. In our lives, many times, we submit ourselves to the Father for that same pruning, because we, too, have ugly branches sticking out, poking others and hurting ourselves as they drain necessary water and nutrients for healthy growth. In His mercy and grace, He prunes us. And at times, as I can testify, we feel that with all of the cutting, pain, and death, that we are surely destroyed.
But as 2 Corinthians 4:8-11 tells us, We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

So, some pruning is needed for His life to be revealed in my mortal body. And we live. We are given life.

Beautiful Mercy - Laura Hackett

Beautiful Mercy
Words and Music by Laura Hackett

There is no pit too deep
That Jesus cannot reach
There is no sorrow so strong
That would overtake Your beloved one

And He’s brought me to the wilderness
Where I will learn to sing
And He lets me know my barrenness
So I will learn to lean

Beautiful Mercy,
Do what you have to do
Jealous Lover
Do what you have to do (to bring forth love in me)

So I will sing…
Even in my barrenness
Even in this brokenness
Even in the loneliness

Thanks!

Today was our last TLC Women's Bible Study for the year, we studied hard and learned much from the Bible as we used Methods of Bible Study by Rick Warren as our guide.

My ladies, who are the best, gave me the perfect gift. It's an "Angel of Freedom". Thanks so much! Here's a picture.

Freedom in Suffering

Since several of you have asked, and were unable to attend the Bible Study when I shared, I have written my thoughts here for you. This is a step of faith for us, and we would appreciate your prayers.

Freedom in Suffering

Picture trying to hold all of your pain, suffering and sorrow in your arms, and it's so heavy that you try to throw it upward to God. That's what many of us try to do, myself included, when we suffer. We often forget that what we should do instead, is turn, and embrace our Savior and Friend who is here with us, beside us. When we do this, we let go of the pain and suffering and sorrow and hold tightly to Him--the only one who can help us through.

Suffering can paralyze us, and often does initially, but when we get up and stand, it will make us stronger.

James 1:2-4 (NLT) Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

James 1:12a (NLT) God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation.

As gold is heated, impurities float to the top and can be skimmed off. Steel is tempered, strengthened, by heating it in the fire. Silver is made stronger as it is work-hardened through sanding, pounding, and hammering. All are made more pure, more perfect, and more beautiful by this process. Likewise, our trials, struggles, and persecutions refine and strengthen our faith, making us more like Christ.

We suffer for many reasons: our own sin, circumstances such as illness or tragedy. The suffering God brings into our lives often exposes sun. *I am not saying that each illness or tragedy is the direct result of sin in our lives, but that as God uses suffering to purify us, sin is often exposed. At times we suffer because of a desire that is unfulfilled.

If we value comfort more than character, then trials will upset us.
If we value the material and physical more than the spiritual, then we will not be able to consider trouble 'an opportunity for great joy'.
If we live only for the present and not for the future, then trials will make us bitter, not better.
If we respond well, however, testing works FOR us.

God's testing is His approval. God's approval of our faith is precious because it assures us that our faith is genuine and maturing.

In testing, we are commanded to endure, persevere. In the Bible, endurance is not a passive acceptance of circumstances. It is a courageous perseverance in the face of suffering and difficulty. Endurance is obtained by going through the difficulties of life, trusting God, and obeying Him. The result is character.

Knowing this, we can face trials joyfully. We know what trials will do in us and for us, and we know that the end result will bring glory to God.

Here's our story:
Jose & I were married in April 2007. We decided to start our family a year later in April 2008. It is soon coming up on April 2010 and we continue in this journey. Now the trial of infertility. It has been two years of the testing of our faith. And by God's grace we continue to persevere, to hold on to Him and each other, as we realize that whether God chooses to give us children biologically or not, He loves us deeply. He is giving us His best for us for this time.

I can say this to you now with confidence, though we are still struggling through this trial. There are the hopes each month that maybe this will be it. But after 23 months, it can seem like cruel heartbreak. There are the tests, the medicines, the procedures, and the days waiting. The results come, sometimes bringing hope, sometimes bringing despair. And once again, we pour out our hearts, emotions raw and faith weak, before the Giver of Life. And again and again, He brings comfort. Joy, even, as He lifts the load we bear. This is the thorn in our side that God is using to bring about greater things than just the one thing we desire. He is developing our faith. Exposing sin and pride. Setting us free from bondage and bringing healing. And while the physical healing still has not come, there is healing for our spirits as we are made more in Christ's likeness. And we trust Him, also, for the ability to endure until He does bring about physical healing through the adding of children to our family.

God loves us not in the way we want to be loved, but in the way we need to be loved.

He allows us to go through trials so that the heat is turned up in our lives and the worst in us rises to the top so that He can skim it off. That's freedom.

And we can take joy in knowing that we are not living for this world, but for eternity. Therefore, these trials are temporary.

1 Peter 1:6-7 (NIV) In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.



May God be praised, glorified, and honored in us and in our lives.

Bag Give Away

Check it out here! Love the bag!
http://www.mycharmingkids.net/

Thoughts on 2010.

2010. I remember dreaming of that far off year while in high school. In fact, one of our English teachers had us write a letter to ourselves saying what we would be doing in 2010. Funny thing is, I'm sure none of us would have been able to predict all that has happened from then to now, and for those of us who believe in Jesus, He is the one who writes our letter of what our lives will be like.

We just recently got back from the URBANA '09 missions conference in St. Louis, MO, which was held in the Ram's Dome. It was an incredible experience, worshipping with 24,000 others who are interested in or committed to missions. Wow! We were sent off with practical ways to reach out to those who are our neighbors here and now instead of "waiting" until we begin missions.

As believers, we have a command that is for all who believe, not just those who feel specifically called. We are commanded by Jesus Christ, Himself to go to all nations and make disciples. For some, it's a matter of reaching out to those at work, school, or in the neighborhood. For others it may mean moving where God is leading, whether across town or state or to another country. For my husband and I, it is the later, moving to another country. However, in which ever way we feel God leading us, one thing is clear. We are not exempt from His commission at any point, whether we are in process of going "there" or staying where He has placed us. The body of Christ, His Bride, the Church, has the purpose of lifting up Jesus. SO many times we get caught up in our Christian world, in our own churches and ministries, (which are all good things), but if we are not intentional about reaching out and moving beyond those who know Jesus, we are missing the point.

I know for me, I have a few specific things I will be doing differently this year in order to better be in obedience to Jesus' mandate. If all things are His to begin with, including us as He made us, and then bought us by the blood of Jesus, then who are we to say whether we will go or stay? I'm looking for Him to lead in my life in greater ways than before.

What about you?