HAPPPY ANNIVERSARY HONEY!

Today Chris & I celebrate our 15th anniversary!

We will celbrate tonight at a soccer game - but we celebrated last week with an amazing get away to New York & Boston.

We walked across the Brooklyn bridge.

We walked through Central park.

We walked the Freedom Trail in Boston.

We sat and read.

We just enjoyed being together.

We had dinner at a table set for 2!

We laughed.

We talked about hard stuff.

We challenged one another.

We went out for dessert on a whim at 10:00PM!

What an amazing time to get away and just celebrate the last 15 years! I am amazed at how God can take two people who have absolutely NO idea of how to do marriage right, and teach us so much!

I am amazed at how God can take two people who are POLAR opposites and make us ONE!

Before you get 'wowed' with us or for us, you have to know that these 15 years are a testimony of God's grace in our life.

If your marriage stinks, there is hope for you!

You see, by all worldly standards, we should not still be married. By worldly standards and man's logic, we should only have 2 children.

But by God's grace He saved our marriage and continues to grow us closer to Him, and therefore closer to one another every day!

By God's grace we are blessed with 6 beautiful children and 15 amazing years together!

No marriage is beyond God's grasp - we want to shout it from the rooftops!!

Fifteen years ago today began a journey. There have been so many twists & turns, but I would not want to take that trip with anyone else in the world!

I love how you love me without condition!

I love how you serve us.

I love that you are my best friend!

I would pick you all over again (oh wait, you picked me :) )

Happy anniversary Honey - I can't wait to grow old with you!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband!! Yes, you've caught up with me again! I love to ask the kids what is so great about their daddy....

Catalina- "I love him because he keeps me out trouble"

Celeste- "Because I love my Daddy!"

Emma - "He takes me on dates, is loving and kind"

Megan - "That embarrasses me in public! (dancing mostly!)"

Isaac - "Daddy...Daddy...Daddy" (in case you didn't know even I am called "daddy")

Tyler - "He is fun and plays with us."

I am sure that they could come up with thousands more reasons! He really is the best Daddy ever!

I am so excited to be growing old with you! I praise the Lord for all that he has done and is continuing to do in your life! I always see evidence of God's grace in you!

You encourage me!

You love me!

You rebuke me!

You challenge me!

You teach me!

I am so thankful to be married to you! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Christmas 2009 Update!!

A friend brought to our attention the other day, that two years ago our Christmas

card had 3 kids in it...one year ago it had 4 kids in it....and this Christmas 6!

Our family has been hand fashioned by a sovereign God!

We have seen and been part to miracles over the past year. We have watched as the Lord has moved in ways that make no human sense! Our God is Creator, Savior, Immanuel and He is sovereign!!

Although our family has been through a lot of change this past year, as we reflect we are overwhelmed with gratitude of how we are blessed! We have added members to our family, moved churches, met new friends...the Lord is good!!

I of all people do not enjoy change, but when the sovereign God directs those changes, the results are more than you could ask or imagine!

Chris and I celebrated

our 14th wedding

anniversary this past year! That could be

a whole other post. In short, there isn't a day that we don't see evidences of God's grace as he grows us closer to him and closer to one another. Chris has been blessed in his position with a local home health agency, and I am still a stay at home

mommy!

Megan turned 13 this past year! We love her rebellion....her purposeful rebellion to the notion of "teenager". She is growing so much in her understanding of the Lord, and has become such a servant in our home! She gets more beautiful by the day!

Tyler turned 11 this past year. He has really enjoyed his little brother as Isaac gets older. His favorite things to do this year have been to play soccer, learn to play the guitar and read! That boy has a book in his hand every time I see him (Chris & I

aren't sure where he got that from). It is such a blessing to watch him become a servant leader!

Emma is 7 now (where did the time go?). We adore the creativity that she brings to our family. She is continually making things, encouraging all of us to use our

imagination, and teaching us to be a family that recycles! :) She has enjoyed new sisters to dress up with, and has become quite the example "big sister".

Catalina turned 4 in June this past year. Isaac brought dimples into our family, and Catalina has brought curly hair! She is truly a beautiful little girl! She loves to make everyone

laugh when she makes her hair wild & crazy! She and Emma have so much fun playing! We love her giggles and her snuggles!

Celeste is just barely 3. She is so full of energy and smiles! You can always count on Celeste to make you laugh. I should start writing down some of the things she says because seriously, this kid is just funny! We love her cuddles and her huge smile in the morning!

Isaac turned one this past years. He is running all over the house and has become quite crafty at finding his sisters when they try to hide from him. He is starting to talk and is quite the little personality! We can't imagine our family without his joy!

Psalms 127:3,5 "Children are a gift from the Lord;

they are a reward from him...⁵ How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!"

Long Lost Blog!!!

When your kids ask you if their family even has a blog anymore, you know it has been a long time since you updated! Granted, life has been a bit busy. The Lord has done amazing things! I will post all about our FINALIZATION later (yes, you read that right!)!

But for now, our amazing Megan wrote this poem for school, and I think it is beautiful! What a Christmas expression!

HE IS LOVE...

What is love you say?

Love is a man I admire with all my heart

The man I love is

Generous in giving

Loves those who hate him

He is merciful and great

He is LOVE.

The man I love is

Wonderfully great

Blesses those who persecute him

He is peaceful and unimaginable

He is LOVE.

The man I love is

Abba Father, LORD, God

Creator, The Lamb, The Great I Am

Friend, Hosanna, Redeemer

He is LOVE!

God is Sovereign and He Can ROCK Your World!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Where do you even begin, when so much has happened in the past few months, weeks and days?

Catalina(just turned 4) and Celeste(2) have began, and are almost complete with their transition into our family!

What began as a simple letter to request pictures of Isaac's biological sisters, has been orchestrated by a sovereign God to change our family forever!

Back in June, 2008 we felt like the Lord wanted us to try to get pictures of Catalina & Celeste. We had no idea that by mailing a simple letter, God would change our lives forever!

This journey has already been full of ups, downs and so many unknowns! The one thing that we were(and still are) certain of is the goodness, faithfulness and sovereignty of our God who loves us perfectly.

We believe that long before we even knew they existed, God had written these girls into our family! God's sovereignty had chosen them to be our children!

Psalm 139 is a scripture that is often read by or to expectant mothers. It is a passage that is filled with reassurance of God's sovereignty.

Do we really even understand what that means?

Webster's defines sovereignty as "supreme excellence...free from external control".

Psalm 139:16 "You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."

We often say that God is sovereign, yet wake up morning after morning to figure out our day or problems of life in our own knowledge and strength. We live day after day struggling to have "control" over our lives. I am as guilty as anyone! God is teaching me the comfort in resting in HIS sovereignty. God is refining us to HIS truth. Sitting under God's truth, even when life is overwhelming, is such a safe place!

So yes...we are a family of 8! Chris, Shannan, Megan, Tyler, Emma, Catalina, Celeste and Isaac!

We are not great people who have done some supreme act of kindness! We are all part of God's plan to live the gospel and bring Him glory....by HIS grace only!

Psalm 127:3 "Children are a gift from the Lord.."

James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

I Have The T-Shirt...I'm a Runner!

You read that right...I have a race t-shirt and a number to prove that I did it! 

Ok, well I didn't do it in the fashion that some of you might consider success. However, I saw the Lord do things in me that I never dreamed possible!! 

I am the girl who hated running! 

Seriously - I was the most ANTI-RUNNING person that you had ever met! 

And then the LORD shook my world! He reminded me that there was NO part of my life that was 'off limits'! 

"But Lord..."

None of my excuses worked, and I began to run.....very slowly! 

When I first began I could barely run 60 seconds! 

During my training I ran a mile! Without stopping! Now that is some miracle work from an amazing God! 

I didn't make my goal of running a mile without walking in the race. 

I could beat myself up.

I could quit.

I could pout.

OR....

I could just continue to train and be obedient to what the Lord is teaching me! Taking care of my body is a responsibility that I have ignored for too many years! 

I want my kids to see obedience not rebellion. 

I want them to all learn to treat their bodies as the Temples that they are.

So...I run! Yep, I admit it, I am a runner. 

My whole family ran! [My husband more than anyone else in the race because he ran back and finished the race with each one of us! He is Super Man in case you didn't know!]

We are runners!

I pray that we continue to run - both physically & in this thing we are living called 'life'.

There may have been a finish line in the race, but we have not yet crossed it in this life!

I will continue to be obedient. 

I will continue to ask the Lord to teach me to be disciplined. 

I will continue to ask the Lord to teach me about perseverance.

All of this is impossible without my Lord! You see, I confess to being one of the most undisciplined people you could ever meet - especially in this area.

But God is teaching me. 

Obedience is always blessed - and when our God blesses, it is beyond anything you could imagine! 

Eph 3:20 "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."

14 Years....Praise the Lord!

Today, 14 years ago, I married my best friend! 

Wow, that makes us sound old! Actually one of the things we joke about all the time is growing old together and what that will look like! 

For those of you that don't know, Chris and I have a "God-story" kind of marriage! We may have looked ok on the outside but we were a mess!

By all social standards...

By all logic...

We should have been divorced!

But by the grace of God, He saved our marriage! Our pastor recently asked for married couples to stand for others to see, if they were still married only by the grace of God. Our knees could not stay bent. We popped out of our seats.

We know that it was the Lord who saved our marriage, and we give him all the glory!

 Not only did He save our marriage, but he is making it into something more beautiful than I could have ever imagined! 

The Lord is sanctifying us, and continues to teach us daily how to live as a godly husband & wife.

I praise the Lord for today. 

I praise the Lord for his grace! 

If the next 14 years are as amazing as just the last...I can't wait!