Sarah's Birthday : )

Sarah and her Dora cake!

My shy, introverted daughter cried when the whole family sang to her... but when it was just the 6 of us she danced and twirled in circles : )


This would be a picture of Sarah loaded down with her new toys running from Emily... ahh, welcome to the wonderful world of two year olds!


At least by the end of the night,
these two little sisters are best friends again and everything is right in the world of toddlers!

When Scandal hurts the Body of Christ

I hope all of my bloggie friends will bear with me as I unburden my heart concerning a tragedy in the ministry of the Gospel. I have been in shock and absolutely heart broken over circumstances surrounding a ministry I was part of in my college years.

There was a scandal. There was sin. There was immeasurable hurt incurred to the innocent and hurt to even the one to blame.

I have taken this news rather hard. Maybe because of the evils of Satan .....but I've seen the devil's handiwork before. No, I think mostly because this place of ministry was SACRED to me. God used this ministry in the most tender time in my coming to know the Lord. I look at this time in my life with deep gratitude and love for my God in how He spoke so clearly in my life and changed me inside and out. The "guilty" one involved in the scandal, I knew personally. This person was part of what made that glorious "time" in my life so very poweful and effective. I would never and could never have believed any of this scandal to be true had this person not confessed.

I know many of you reading this are shaking your heads. You've been there before. Sadness, disappointment, anger, bitterness, cynicism, hurt.... all waiting to creep into the human heart.

In the midst of my grieving spirit over what has been lost, God has reminded me of what can be gained. We can learn and we can grow through these tragedies.

*We must always remember that we are all susceptable and capable of sin, even outrageous sin... "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." 1 Cor. 10:12

*We must be careful to never hold up a man/woman as God because we are all merely human... "Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry." 1Cor. 10:14

* We must remember God's sovereignty and His goodness. What satan intends for evil, God intends for good. "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, " Gen. 50:20.


Please pray for this unspoken ministry with me.... the ripple effect will be great. God go with my dear brothers and sisters that are picking up the pieces.

"Sorry, God"

Yesterday, as we were leaving a friend's house, I asked the boys to get their shoes on and get in the car. They got their shoes on, went out the door, ran for the grass and started wrestling followed by a fight over the sliding door to our mini-van.

All the way home, my thoughts went from anger at my boys to guilt for being a "terrible" mom. I made them go to their rooms to get control of my emotions and to talk to the Lord and decide on how to handle their behavior.

Thankfully David walked in the door as I was feeling very drained. I vented my frustrations and he decided to "save the day" : )

He told the boys to draw instead of write what their behavior should have looked like and to draw how sorry they were to God for disobeying their mommy. It was WONDERUL!

So, the above drawing is by Zach. The 1st drawing is of him disobeying with the word NO and the second drawing is of him getting in the car with the word YES.... my favorite was the "sorr God". (Caleb's drawing was very good too, Zach's was just far more entertaining : )