Livin For Jesus

Homeschool supplies giveaway~

2011-04-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

Enter here for a free homeschool giveaway....a great thing!

http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring-2011-curriculum-clean-out-begins.html

Awesome deal on flowers Just in time for V-Day!!!

2011-02-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

15.00 for 35.00 of flowers!!! Love these deals.

http://dealpulp.com/?r=kristalnehf

Check out this deal!

2011-02-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

Check out this deal for today...

http://dealpulp.com/?r=kristalnehf

Happy 10 Year anniversary!!

2010-02-06T21:51:00.000-08:00

Ok, so my friend Abby encouraged me to start blogging more..so I think I'll take her advice. :) Jeremy and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary yesterday. Wow...crazy how fast time went by yet how much happened in 10 years! For the past month we have looked at every place on the planet to see if we could afford a trip somewhere to celebrate our milestone..but unfortunately it just wasn't it the cards for us this time. So I asked my mom if she would take the kids for a night so we could have a night alone...I was thinking "since we don't have much money even just to be at our house by ourselves with a couple movies would be great". Well apparently my hubby has something more up his sleeve! He has been doing some side jobs and stashing away the money..granted it wasn't enough to plan a big trip on, but enough to treat his lady! :) I didn't know he had the money. So I got this really sweet email on friday morning giving me some instructions to pack a few things..nothing I could put together enough to figure out where we were going. So we left with all 5 of us in tote to go to Medford to drop off the kids. On our way, he hands me an envelope with #1 on it....I open it and it has 60.00 in it with a note to head to the mall and buy a new outfit for our date. Wow!! That is like Gold in a girls' hands!!!! :) I was so excited. So after I got some clothes, I got envelope #2 telling me to go to where books are "noble" and get a coffee there as well with a 20 dollar bill enclosed. So needless to say, there were 7 envelopes in all....ranging from staying at a B&B in Jacksonville, to seeing Avatar in 3D and a REALLY nice dinner amongst other things. I have to say, we may not be rich in our wallets...but I am super richly blessed with a husband who adores and loves me like no other!!! Truly I was praising God today for him. He is such a gift to me! What a wonderful way to celebrate our milestone together!! Couldn't have been any better.

This is what happens when you leave a daddy home with 5 little girls!! :)

2009-06-30T19:41:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HspRL8ZgmCE

They had a blast..I came home from being out on a girls' night out, and Jeremy had kept the slumber party very happy!! :) So creative and dorky all in the same package..hope you all enjoy!!

Encouraging devotional

2009-01-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

Streams in the Desert - Jan. 22

January, 22

God is Looking

"The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him" (2 Chron. 16:9).

God is looking for a man, or woman, whose heart will be always set on Him, and who will trust Him for all He desires to do. God is eager to work more mightily now than He ever has through any soul. The clock of the centuries points to the eleventh hour.

"The world is waiting yet to see what God can do through a consecrated soul." Not the world alone, but God Himself is waiting for one, who will be more fully devoted to Him than any who have ever lived; who will be willing to be nothing that Christ may be all; who will grasp God's own purposes; and taking His humility and His faith, His love and His power, will, without hindering, continue to let God do exploits. --C. H. P.

"There is no limit to what God can do with a man, providing he will not touch the glory."

In an address given to ministers and workers after his ninetieth birthday, George Mueller spoke thus of himself: "I was converted in November, 1825, but I only came into the full surrender of the heart four years later, in July, 1829. The love of money was gone, the love of place was gone, the love of position was gone, the love of worldly pleasures and engagements was gone. God, God alone became my portion. I found my all in Him; I wanted nothing else. And by the grace of God this has remained, and has made me a happy man, an exceedingly happy man, and it led me to care only about the things of God. I ask affectionately, my beloved brethren, have you fully surrendered the heart to God, or is there this thing or that thing with which you are taken up irrespective of God? I read a little of the Scriptures before, but preferred other books; but since that time the revelation He has made of Himself has become unspeakably blessed to me, and I can say from my heart, God is an infinitely lovely Being. Oh, be not satisfied until in your own inmost soul you can say, God is an infinitely lovely Being!' --Selected

I pray to God this day to make me an extraordinary Christian. --Whitefield.

So I share this with you all because I needed to hear it most today. I am really struggling to surrender some things to the Lord and I would ask for your prayers for me. I love the Lord with my whole being and never want to be out of His will, but unfortunately I was given some genetics that include a stubbornness and strong will and those work against me at times. Please have mercy on me Lord, I need a lot of it. Thanks for your prayers...Have a blessed day.

Christmas in the Desert 2008

2009-01-09T16:02:00.000-08:00

We just got back from being on the road for 2 1/2 weeks, and we are glad to be home but we had a wonderful time. We went to Palm Desert to visit my Dad and family. On over to Murrieta to see my dad's side of the family, and then to La Mirada to see my mom's side of the family. The kids did great and had a great time with all their relatives. Acacia learned how to swim this week and did very well. Yes, we were swimming while it was dumping snow here in Oregon!!! It was so nice to see the sun!! We grew closer to our family this trip both relationally and spiritually, it was hard to leave them this time especially. I hope to see them before another 2 years goes by..it was wayyy too long! So often we are bummed out by our family members, but the Lord really showed me this visit that He gave me the family he did for a reason and my heart was renewed with such a thankfulness and love for all of them. I am so glad God places us where he knows is best!! Thanks to all my fam for all of your hospitality!! We enjoyed all of our stops with you all. Looking forward to the next time we are all together again.

Family pics....Finally! :)

2008-11-11T13:06:00.000-08:00

It only took us 6 years..but we finally got family pictures! He-he....we are really bad at this..but hey at least we did it! :)

Hmmm.....

2008-11-11T12:39:00.001-08:00

Today my thoughts are nonstop for some reason. I am really pondering the love of God today. For one I am really thankful that he loves me even in my shortcomings and all, Lord knows there are soooo many! I had a situation happen today where I left feeling very misunderstood and inadequate. So I took my thoughts to the Lord and asked Him to reveal if there was any wrong that I had done and to please show it to me and forgive me. And continued to ask for Him to speak into my life freely about the situation. All he keeps reminding me of is that He loves me sooo much and He is pleased with my decision to follow Him with my WHOLE heart, mind and soul. Sometimes I think others around us can tend to think we are too radical in our stance for the Lord. But I was thinking today.....why is being too radical wrong? I mean, if it is affecting the way you view others in a way that is not Christlike, then of course.....but I am simply talking about being sold out for Jesus Christ...not loving any part of the world...being in it, but not of it. I think because of where I came from....a total world lover!.....I am eternally grateful to be a Christ Lover with everything in me and have abandoned my love for the world gladly. I never want to return to where I was! I pray the Lord continues to ignite my fire in spite of those around me who would have a differing opinion on the "radicalness" of my walk with Jesus. Lord, keep me humble and most of all, let Love shine forth more than anything else!! May my life be a reflection of you...and if it is not, please change me!!!

Request Thanks - HisKids.net: positive. powerful. radio on-demand!

2008-11-07T13:39:00.001-08:00

Request Thanks - HisKids.net: positive. powerful. radio on-demand!

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Dunkin' Donuts Coffee sample!! :)

2008-10-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

This one is a shout out to you Laura ;) love you...xoxo

REALLY good cookies!!!

2008-10-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

So I made some really good cookies tonight!! (yes cheat Day is over..but I really wanted something yummy!) :) So here is the recipe to share with you all, but I did modify it a bit. I added Peanut butter (just a couple scoops), toffee bits, flax seed and wheat germ (to get some good nutrients into my kids ;), and extra choc. chips. They were a hit with the fam! Enjoy everybody!!

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies I

SUBMITTED BY: sal PHOTO BY: kittengirl

"This cookie is practically nutritious with applesauce, raisins and nuts. So chewy! Great with a glass of milk!"

RECIPE RATING:

Read Reviews (36)

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PREP TIME	20 Min
COOK TIME	15 Min
READY IN	35 Min
Original recipe yield 3 dozen

SERVINGS

(Help)

Servings

METRIC

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter, applesauce, brown sugar and white sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, salt, and baking soda, then gradually stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the oats, raisins, nuts and chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Be Careful how we treat our families!!!

2008-10-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

I saw this on Peter-Jon Courson's blog and it really impacted me. I think so often we forget about how we are treating our kids and spouse and treat others so much nicer when in the process we are tearing our homes down. Lord, help me to lift my family up at all times!!

Really cool recipe website!

2008-10-07T17:28:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would share this with y'all! I love this site..you can put in ingredients you want or don't want, can change the recipe to fit the serving size you want, and they have great recipes for just about anything....check it out! I go here when I have a few things and don't know what to make with it....:)

http://allrecipes.com/Default.aspx

Enjoy the sun while it is here!!

2008-09-15T22:25:00.000-07:00

We went to the beach last weekend and had a blast..it was beautiful!! I love the seasons changing...it is such a unique and beautiful time. The kids had a blast!! We brought hundreds of toys..it truly seemed as if we brought our whole backyard ;), they swam in the sand...(they were covered!!), and we basked in the sun! I loved it, and I loved watching my kids be kids!!!!

Turning over a new leaf...just in time for fall! :)

2008-09-11T20:04:00.000-07:00

I have been really blessed lately. I have been praying for a long time for patience to discipline not only with spankings and prayer, but with explanation backed with longsuffering to get the point across effectively. I feel like the Lord is fulfilling that in me...Praise Him! It has been a refreshing season with my kids, not only have I been able to discipline in the way I have wanted to for a long time, but I have been so enjoying them. I thank the Lord for the changing seasons he takes us through! I know the hard ones are rough, but when he takes us out of the valley and up to the mountain top and we can look around and see the beautiful things he is doing in our lives, I am soooo blessed beyond measure!! I am also seeing some fruit in my kids in this process as well. They have been working together as a team cleaning their room, obeying quicker with less resistance....not that there aren't still some rough times! :) But I truly am rejoicing at seeing me grow along with them and it all being a neat picture of Him completing the work he begins!! :) I am far from being completed but I know he is working in us gradually. It is awesome. Have a blessed day everybody! God is good ALL the time!

2 year old art!! Gotta love it!

2008-08-27T22:57:00.000-07:00

Eva got some tub crayons the other day...and so she had the ENTIRE tub colored tonight, and she was having such a great time I had to take some pictures~She is at such a fun age! I am enjoying her a whole bunch...keep creating Eva!! :)

Acacia's 7th birthday....We had a rockin' slumber party!!! :)

2008-08-27T22:34:00.000-07:00

We had such a great time last sunday!! Jeremy took Elijah camping for the night and we filled up the house with a bunch of girls for the night! We painted nails, had a fashion show, played musical chairs, painted their own pillowcases, pinned the ice cream cone on Strawberry shortcake....etc...oh my...we had a blast! Thanks to all of the girls big and small that came

Night out for all the mommy's and daddy's!!

2008-08-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

We had a great time last night. We had a couple's night out with 14 other couples at Sophia's...a great little Italian place in Grants Pass! After we had a nice romantic dinner with our spouse, we went bowling and at both places we got to play our own cd...The Psalms Project....it was truly blessed by the Lord! I hope to be able to do it again..we had a great time. I was glad everyone came.

Immigrant Waterslides!!

2008-08-19T20:47:00.000-07:00

We had soooo much fun last weekend, it started off with a SURPRISE birthday party with most of my close friends and family....Laura got me good!! With the help of some other sneaky peeps!!! :) On Saturday, she threw a surprise party for her sister Danelle at the waterslides..we had a blast! It was the first time for the kids..so they were sprinting to the top to go down again as soon as they got out of the water...ahhh...memories! I can totally remember being their age and loving these slides! It was cool to go there with my kids..they haven't changed a bit! :)

A Little encourager.....

2008-08-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

I was really encouraged by this as I read it this am. Thought I would share it with you all..I know there are others out there who struggle like I do ;)....

Encouragement for Today - Aug. 14, 2008

August 14, 2008

Great Sermons are Not Preached, They’re Lived

Lysa TerKeurst

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." Acts 4:13 (NIV)

Devotion:

What if someone followed me around with a video camera all day documenting my every move? Catching on camera all of my words, facial expressions, actions, and reactions. And then what if someone packaged it all together and played it on some sort of reality TV show for all the world to see. What would be the glaring message of my life?

I am convicted thinking about this.

You see, if someone were to ask me, what are you all about? I would have some nice sounding answers. But what actually happens during the strains of everyday life can sometimes betray my best intentions.

I want to be a loving wife. Yet I can sometimes be found in a grumpy, selfish mood and view my husband as a business partner that better hold up his end of helping out.

I want to be a wise and patient mom. But my kids know the exact buttons to push that send me into a tailspin of emotion and exhaustion.

I want to be a strong witness for Christ. So why is it that I can read my Bible first thing in the morning and then find myself honking at the person that cuts me off in traffic just an hour later?

I realize there is a place for God’s tender mercies for me in all this. But I also know that while no TV cameras are following me around, my life is speaking a message about what I really believe and I want that message to honor Jesus. I once heard, “Great sermons are not preached, they are lived.” Oh how I long to live a message that speaks loud and clear, “Jesus is true and the principles found in His teachings work!”

Let’s just be honest, it’s tough being a sold out soul for Christ stuck in a flesh-filled body. That’s why it is essential that I view my time with God each morning as a preparation and an invitation. Every verse, devotion and prayer is all part of God’s preparation for me that day. Instead of just using it to quiet my soul for the few minutes of devotion time, I must with allow it His teachings to seep into my heart and mind. Then I must ask God to interrupt my natural flesh response throughout the day the truths He taught me that morning. That’s the preparation part.

The next essential view of my quiet time each morning is the invitation part. Spending time with God first thing invites His presence into my life and acknowledges, “Not my will God, but Yours be done.” So if my husband forgets to do something he promised, or my kids push my buttons, or a person cuts me off in traffic, or one of the other one million things happens that causes my flesh to want to rear up and act ugly… I can say, “Not my will God, but yours be done.”

This slight pause and acknowledgement of God redirects my frustration and replaces it with grace. Then and only then will my life speak to the fact that I have spent time with Jesus.

Dear Lord, please teach me how to reveal more and more of You through the way I live my life. I want to tell the whole world about You using words only when necessary. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

A Wake Up Call.....In my dreams.

2008-08-14T08:22:00.000-07:00

So, the last week has been a real struggle around here. The kids have been extra rambuncous and disobiendient to top it off. Not sure if it is in the air or what..I have heard from a few friends it is the same way at their house....School come back to us!! :) Any how....Yesterday was the straw that broke the camel's back for me, It was quite possibly the worst day we have had around here in quite a while. So I sent the 2 older kids off to church with J, and I stayed behind to listen to Jon online and spend some quiet time reflecting on my heart in this whole matter.

I am really struggling more than ever in this, because I so badly want to do it right (i.e. discipline, working out their fighting,have a cheerful heart in the process), but am having a hard time. Hmm..reminds me of a verse.....:) Almost like God knew...;) So, by the time everyone got home at 10:15, I felt refreshed, had put plans for a slumber party for Acacia together and was glad to have my kids home.

During the night the Lord gave me one of those dreams that seems like it lasts ALL night long..ever have one of those??? I had a dream that I had to go into the military.....the dream was filled with the emotions of leaving my kids and husband behind, my life could really be over in a flash;especially when guns were pointed at me then entire time in my dream....it was really intense. I so badly just wanted to be with my family and safe! So when I woke up this morning all I could do was Praise God for my kids and husband! I had prayed last night that he would give me a refreshed heart, and boom...I had it this AM! Truly though, it was neat..the Lord spoke something to me as I was laying just barely awake in bed. He reminded me that even though it is not likely I am going off to war:

Many moms are right now away from their families..I need to pray for them.
Any moment my kids could be taken from me or vice versa...We just don't know when our call to go home is. So I need to make the most of every moment...even the hard ones!

So, I feel very blessed this morning by God's grace and new mercies for today! I know today might be a challenge as yesterday was, but I pray that I grow in my walk with Jesus that I am able to make seize the moments.....even the hard ones and in the end they might be sweet to me! Thankyou Lord for answering my prayers....in an unexpected way!

Jeremiah was a bullfrog...dun nuh nah!!!!

2008-08-12T10:14:00.000-07:00

So Jeremy was coming home from working out this morning and found this thing in the middle of the road...so he brought it home for the kids to play with for a bit....it was such a crack up....I have never seen such a big frog...pretty funny.

2008-08-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

We went to the river on sunday and had a fun time with some friends from church. The kids had a blast swimming and Eva loved throwing rocks into the river and watching them splash. Our friend Paul found a lizard and brought it to Elijah...he loved it...he carried it around for the rest of the time. It was a nice relaxing day...Thankyou Lord for a day of rest....;)

2008-08-12T09:21:00.000-07:00

We had so much fun camping once again..this time at our 2nd annual Indian Mary Campout....we were river rats for 2 days straight, EJ finally decided he would give up training wheels forever and in about 2o minutes was off and riding....forever more on 2 wheels!! :) We didn't really give him a choice..his bike came to the campground with only 2 wheels..and the training wheels mysteriously missing ;0....he did great! Was a total blast..I look forward to next year.

This video was so sweet I just had to put it on here. I am going to put it on you tube as well...every night Carmel makes Laura sing "Yearn" by Shane & Shane with her...she got hooked because that is what they listen to now when they go to sleep. So while we were camping we had the girls sing it....so sweet!!!

2008-07-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

My Eva is getting so big!!! She is driving already..wow! Where did the time go? ;)

Jadon and Elijah are getting to be big boys!!

Those Girls had so much fun on those swings..I had to take a pic of them!

Eva loves it that she can do some things by herself now..especially slides!!

Acacia, momo and EJ were playing underneath this tree that hangs really low...they looked so cute!!

We had a really good time hanging out in Portland a couple weeks ago. The kids got to play a lot...and we enjoyed the nice weather. We missed J bugs...He was down in Medford the whole time....We had fun seeing him while we went camping though!! :) Love hanging with you guys...nothing like it!! Love you..

Camping at Schwartz Park 2008

2008-07-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

So every year we go to Schwartz Park to go camping...this year our trip tripled in size, about 30 people came and we had a great time! It was really hot and muggy, so that part was not so fun..but it was great to sit around and hang out with everyone. On Sat. night, we had a big storm..quite a big light show and thunder with some rain for the first part of the night. Then at about 2 am the wind picked up so much that a couple of people's tents collapsed...Lance and Judy's tent looked like the North Face by morning...LOL...we threw it in the trash...it was trashed! ;) But all in all...had a wonderful time hanging...lots of laughs and good conversation had by all.

Spring is here!!!

2008-06-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Just another spring day! They just looked too cute outside popsicles..I had to take a picture! :)

2008-06-16T13:24:00.000-07:00

This was taken at their awards ceremony for school. They both did extremely well this year. Acacia got one of the big awards, she got the highest pace average out of the whole lower learning center (K-5th). She was very surprised and very excited. They both got certificates with charachter traits that their teachers spent time thinking about which one they were. Elijah got "Fair". Which is so funny, because Jeremy and I are always saying he is the fair police! :) Acacia got "Secure", her teacher explained why she said that and it was because she is very secure in her walk with the Lord and the scripture that she knows is hidden deep in her heart. Jeremy and I were very blessed by that! Might have even had a little tear in our eyes ;)

Eva is too cute almost two! :)

2008-06-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

She was being super cute this morning so we took a video of her and I thought I would share it...she is so fun right now!

2008-06-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

My cutie getting ready to perform!
Acacia's Tambourine Group

They were so cute! This was their first performance. Acacia has been having a blast being a part of this. She goes every mon for 1 hour for practice and looks forward to it every time. She loves music, and loves to dance...and thinks it is awesome that she gets to glorify God by doing it! :) It was so fun watching her....I was very proud of her..she did a great job. Here is a video of a couple of the songs they did....

Please Pray for Laura and her family

2008-06-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

Laura's dad was missing for 5 weeks and they just found his body on sunday. The family is doing ok, but there are a couple people who need a lot of prayer in her family. Please pray for them all...Laura is doing well, she has been taking care of most of the arrangements and such, helping her grandma and spending a lot of time with her sister Danelle. Thankyou for your prayers, I know the Lord is doing good things through such a sad situation...Rom 8:28.

My Friend Rasha :)

2008-05-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

I had written some about my friend Rasha a while back about her 2nd brain tumor....well she had it removed about 2 months ago. But she went back in a couple weeks ago and found out that the mass is back, meanwhile, she is also presently going thru radiation. (Chemo doesn't touch the kind of aggressive cancer she has). I just wanted to do a little tribute to her. She is so amazing to me. She has been through a lot in her life the past 3 years and yet become a giant in the faith through it all. I don't hear her complain....don't get me wrong, she gets down and bummed, but never have I heard "woe is me" through this whole process! She has praised God through the whole process giving Him all the glory to believers and unbelievers alike...I know when she stands before our Lord's throne, she will have many rewards for the endurance she has shown through this process! I love you Rasha ..... You are a treasured friend...I admire your strength and faith in the Lord....I pray I have the will you do in the hard things in my life! May the Lord continue to pour out His blessing on you...keep marching on sista! God has a glorious end for you in all of this! Jer. 29:11

Napoleon Dynamite Party~~

2008-05-28T20:23:00.000-07:00

So as much as I DID NOT think that movie was funny...I had a themed party with some friends last weekend and gave the movie one last shot! They all said if you watch it with people who think it is funny, you will laugh........I laughed at maybe 2 parts that I wouldn't have laughed at otherwise...as for Jeremy....well he didn't laugh once!!! :) He even watched all the extra stuff on the dvd thinking something would make him laugh.....it didn't! Oh well, can't say we didn't try. Had a great time hanging out with everyone anyway...a few people came dressed up....It was hilarious! We had quesadillas, tator tots, salad, iced tea and some watermelon for dinner...a good ole' Napoleon meal! :) It was fun, I am thankful to have good friends to do silly stuff with! Thanks to you all for the memories.

One more Mother's Day blib....

2008-05-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

Maker of the Home

Little maker of the home,
What do you really do?
When all is said and done,
what will be said of you?
You rise each day and like the sun
you give your life away,
and tired, you've run the course again.

You need to hear Him say:
"Well done,
oh, maker of the home.
Well done!
You labor not alone.
And though your eyes many never see,
This home you live to make,
you make for Me.

"Your life a shadow seems,
compared to what others do,
but who would catch the tears,
and point to Me, if not for you?
And when they've grown,
imprinted on their hearts will always be,
how good, how right, to give their lives,
and build a home for me."

By Beverly Bradley

Happy Mother's Day! 2008

2008-05-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's day Y'all!! I am having a bummer day today so the Lord is really causing me to examine what I am thankful for today instead of going the complaining route! My husband has church pretty much all day today, and my kiddos are sick, so we are locked away for mom's day. I listened to Jon's message from last sunday today for my food for the day and it was so good. It was on Psalm 118, and the Lord was really speaking to me about being thankful,and when I do praise the Lord for something he is doing in my life to be specific..not just say the old generic "God is good" prayer. So today I am proclaiming that God is good for these reasons:

He saved me from my wretched former life...whew!
He gave me an amazing husband who loves Jesus first and leads our family to the best of his abilities!
He blessed me with 3 beautiful children that call me" mommy"...sometimes a million times a day! It can be annoying, but as I am being thankful, I realize some people never get blessed with that privilege.
His mercies are new every single day! :)
He actually uses me despite my failures and shortcomings....It is amazing to me...if it were up to me, I would be the last tool he pulled out of the toolbox...He is so good and gracious! :)
Obviously...there a million more reasons but those are just a few that I am chewing on today!

Anyhow...as I was sitting reflecting this Sunday morning, I wanted to share it with you all..hope you are encouraged as I have been!

Ha Ha...as I am in here focusing on being Thankful...I just heard banging around in the bathroom, and Eva (she's 2) got into the Vaseline and had her face COVERED with the entire jar! :) A day in the life of a toddler....:) So anyhow...onto my next piece of mommy stuff for today. Someone from our church gave me this quite a while ago, and I thought I would share it since today is a day to celebrate our mommyhood! She wrote it:

July 17th, 2003 by Sheryl Heynen

There are these children who are stretching us and pulling us, tugging at us constantly; wanting us to be more that we were, wanting us to see what we cannot, wanting us to comprehend a language we don't speak-to understand a way of thought we never think. They want to change us, no ,we want to change them. They only want to be understood for who they are, and we actually want the same thing from them. God made them and He made us-so different, yet with many of the same weaknesses. There is both special love for them and a butting of heads. We've been put in authority over them by God himself. But, why? We are not smart about how to raise them, understand them, encourage them, or express unconditional love to or for them;although we feel it intensely.

Thankyou that we don't give up on them, because they deserve so much more than this 'missing in action' parent who just can't get it right. But we must not give up on...who?....ourselves.

An all out wise God put this very wanted child in our arms. HE KNEW! He knew we wouldn't become what they needed in time to give it to them. Oh, how we grieve this truth. Our all wise Father knew this. O Lord, use this in both of our lives and hold us not accountable, but RESTORE, RESTORE, RESTORE, and please comfort them and us, and pray....don't waste it.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
So if anyone is struggling this day, I thought this was such a neat encouragement filled with truths we all face as moms! Lord bless you on your journey in motherhood!

Go Speedy EJ!!

2008-04-04T18:44:00.000-07:00

So Elijah thought he wanted to try without training wheels last saturday when we went to the park to do some practice time for Acacia. OH MY! Jeremy had his T. wheels off, and was holding onto the bike getting ready to give instructions to EJ when he just took off full speed! And then to top it off, he skidded to a stop! :) We were laughing really hard! He then realized a bit later that he didn't have any security if he stopped and got a little fearful..but now we know his little secret! He can do it, so no more training wheels for him! It was so funny seeing both of them zipping around the parking lot like big kids! One of those "ooohhhh" mommy and daddy moments ;). I put a little video on here so you could enjoy it with us!

Love these pics..captured the moment!

2008-03-31T21:39:00.001-07:00

Laura sent me these pics and I just loved them, so I thought I would share them with all of you. I love the one of EJ, she titled it "Spiderman", if that is not elijah I don't know what is! I love my kiddos. They are so full of life!

Update on Rasha

2008-03-31T21:35:00.000-07:00

So Rasha got home last night. The surgery went ok, they got most of the tumor, but couldn't dig around too much because it is right on the highway of the brain. So she has to radiation. She is having a harder recovery time this time, her eyesight is all messed up and it is really frustrating for her. Keep the prayers coming. She is a strong girl but right now I know that our prayers are really making a difference. Her family is doing well. I hope she is well soon, there is so much she wants to do. Lord bless you all tonight. God is good all the time!

Look Ma`...no training wheels! :)

2008-03-23T21:22:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun day teaching Acacia how to ride a bike. She fell down at the end of it so we had to go get Dairy Queen to make the ouchies feel better. All in all, she did a really good job, we were very proud of her. Great job sweetie!

Bad News today....

2008-03-23T20:48:00.000-07:00

This morning before church I got a phone call from my dear friend Rasha who had a brain tumor that was cancerous removed almost 2 years ago. Last night she found out it is back. She is in the hospital in Medford waiting to have surgery on Tues. If you could pray for her it would be greatly appreciated. She gives God all the glory..I am amazed by her strength..I know it comes from the Lord, but she allows him to use her as a vessel! I am truly in awe by her. She has 2 children, 1 in high school and 1 in jr. high. They are amazing kids as well. So thanks for the prayers, I will update how she is doing after the surgery. Lord bless you all...Thankyou Lord that you are risen! Happy Ressurection Day y'all! :)

Goofy Kids!

2008-03-22T12:15:00.000-07:00

The kids had so much fun being goofy while were at the Kid's Imagination Space in Medford....I love watching them all interact! They are growing up so fast!

Carmel while we were camping last summer!

2008-03-22T11:40:00.001-07:00

She is so full of life....Eva and Carmel are the little spitfire's of our family....she's squeezable! :)

Our first Girls' weekend in a year!!!

2008-03-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

We haven't had a girls weekend in quite a while...life has changed quite a bit for both of our families in the past year. And I had been praying for time away for us, the Lord (of course) answered my prayers! We had a great time, shopping, chatting, eating...oh my eating...!!! So I made a little scrapblog of our time away in Eugene. I love you Laura Gwen! Not just my sista in Christ, but my family...I treasure the bond God has given us!

Thankin the Lord for the peeps he has put in my life!

2008-03-19T22:30:00.001-07:00

I was reminded tonight of how blessed I am with all of the faithful people he has put in my life...don't have pics of them all, but I love you all dearly! :)

Elijah gets a Webkin...finally!

2008-03-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

So Elijah has been wanting a webkin since Christmas when Sissy got one..well today was his lucky day! He was so excited....and you'll never guess what he named it...Spiderman! :) Go figure..my little superhero couldn't be without his puppy superhero friend! Acacia and Elijah were so cute tonight, when they went to bed, they both gave me big hugs, and said "thanks for lettin' Elijah (me) a webkin". I think Acacia was just as happy as Elijah was that he got one...they were very sweet tonight. As I was leaving their room after putting them in bed, I was smiling from ear to ear and had a wonderful realization...how wonderful it must be for our Lord when he blesses us with great gifts and all we can do is rejoice over them. I realized 2 things: 1-that us being thankful is so important...I can see how we can grieve his heart if we are unthankful. (thankfully my kiddos were so excited and thankful :)) 2-that the Father's heart is so full and happy to see us happy...10x more than anything we feel or imagine! What a cool evening...thanks Lord for the blessing of getting to bless my kids! ;) God is so cool!!!!!!

2008-02-17T20:50:00.000-08:00

Jeremy and I got so blessed this last weekend to get away to a couples' retreat with Applegate Christian Fellowship and we are so refreshed! While we were away, the kids got to go to Uncle Taylor and Auntie Laura's house and have a blast, so she made a little scrapblog of the fun they had at the park on sat....So sweet...they had so much fun as usual. :)

Our House is on the Market!...Sell it Jesus. :)

2008-01-26T18:21:00.001-08:00

Well we put our house back on the market today with a great realtor. So it's up to Jesus to do it. As we all know the market is not in the greatest shape so we had to really come down on our price, but I know the Lord has a plan for us in it all. He is good! So please pray for us, we want what the Lord wants. Looking forward to all he has for all of us! Love you all, Kristal

2008 Retreat at the MountainTop Retreat Center

2008-01-21T19:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I just returned from once again an AWESOME retreat!! We had 60 women come and the Lord truly showed up in such a big way..not that I'm surprised..every year He blows us away with his goodness. One lady gave her heart to the Lord and Heaven threw a big party because she was now saved. Her friend expressed to everyone how excited she was because she now gets to be her friend for eternity!:) It was very sweet! One other lady rededicated her life back to the Lord and the light literally returned back into her face and eyes...wow...what a difference Jesus makes in somebody. It is so crazy that the Lord is taking us out now....when I was there with these ladies, I felt more of a connection with them now more than ever...God's timing is certainly not ours that is for sure! I am truly going to miss them so much...every one of them is such a blessing to me. At the retreats, I really get to see sides of them you don't see on Sundays..I love it. I pray the Lord opens the door for me to do retreats again, I have such a passion for putting them together and then watching as the Holy Spirit leads the whole thing. I know he will in his timing..I trust you Lord! I am so grateful for the time I have had with all of them thus far, we have gotten to make some awesome memories! THANKS LORD! I will hopefully have some pics soon to post of the retreat! I am so amazed at where God has brought us all in the past 6 years....amazing.

2008-01-15T21:34:00.000-08:00

Such a precious time, a daddy getting to baptize his little girl! Such a neat moment for the both of them, Acacia truly has a heart for Jesus. She is only 6 years old and shows so much interest and has so much knowledge biblically and about spiritual matters. I truly am blessed by her. What an awesome decision baby girl....follow with your whole heart, mind and soul! We love you.

Found some pics from last summer....

2008-01-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

Wow time is passing quickly..just found some pics of the kiddos from when we had service @ the park...so precious...My strong little guy Elijah. He is going to do big things for Jesus. We have been reading about the prophet Elijah every day and he is learning where his name comes from and why we named him that. It has been a very sweet time with him I must say!

Happy New Year!! 2008

2008-01-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

Well, This year is a year of New Beginnings....especially for our family! We started our church out here in Cave Junction in 2000-now 8 years later we are going to be leaving the Illinois Valley....interesting...8 means "new beginnings" in the Bible. We finally got to tell the church on Sun...such a relief. We have been keeping it a secret since last May for the sake of the body. Now with some details finally in place, we felt the freedom to share the neat things the Lord is doing with our little family. We are headed to Bend Oregon. We are excited yet nervous. The thought of starting over all over again is a little nerve wracking...but I know the Lord has great plans for us...Jer. 29:11. I loved the body at The Fellowship at Bend when we met some of them at family camp, so did Jeremy. We both felt very at home there. I pray the Lord sends us "extended family" as he has done here in CJ.

We will be moving most likely in May or June...so please pray for our home to sell and for us to find where the Lord desires for us to be in Bend. Our kids are excited...lots of changes for them too....I am thankful they are still so young in this move. Acacia is excited to be near Ellie her friend who lives there. She plans to read her lots of books! :) So all in all....we face this with joy and excitement mixed with some sorrow to leave behind the people who have become part of us forever......I am glad it is only 3 1/2 hours away from everybody!!!!:) Lots of house guests!~~~ Love you all...thanks for the prayers....Kristal

Fun in Portland while Daddy was gone in Israel

2007-12-01T16:45:00.001-08:00

Kiddos growing up! So Cute!

2007-12-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

Wow! They are growing so fast. We are truly enjoying this stage of life...the kids are so much fun. Their individual personalities are coming out and it is so awesome to the gifts that they each bring to the table, God made them each so different. I love it. I praise him daily for my children! love you all...enjoy, Kristal

video for fun

2007-11-28T22:59:00.001-08:00

EJ plays Buzz Lightyear!

2007-09-23T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well EJ plays Buzz light year in the window and figures out he cannot fly..check it out!

http://www.smilebox.com/playBlog/4d5449334d6a49774e513d3d0d0a

Camping trip to Cottage Grove

2007-07-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.smilebox.com/playBlog/4f546b324d7a51780a
Hey everybody, check out our camping trip...had a blast!!!! Looking forward to it again in 2 weeks! Love you all!

2007-07-15T13:07:00.001-07:00

So as summer is quickly passing, both of the girls have been growing so much in their "girly-ness". Eva is a little princess coming out of her shell with her schreiks and screams, and will not put any part of her body on the grass! If you set her down her feet instantly go up next to her head and she cries! Pretty hilarious! We are going camping next weekend so should work out good for us to just put her on a blanket...she surely won't want to crawl off of it!! lol. And Acacia is already preparing for her princess party in August. I told her I was going to have a princess tea party for her and her little girl friends...she is esctatic! Always comes out with new outfits and new ideas for her princess party! I tell ya, she is 100% girl! Every day is a challenge to get her to wear anything but a dress! She has a heart of gold! She's been really helpful lately, doing things around the house and man, growing oh so fast! I love her! Well, that is about it for today....Elijah's Pirate Party is in 2 weekends..so we will have a blast sharing that on here! He is so excited~! love to all...Kristal

My oh my...she already turned 1!!

2007-07-05T21:26:00.000-07:00

My oh my...a year has passed so quickly...she loved her cake!! Acacia and I made it for her..it was a blast!

Sweet Acacia

2007-07-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

Wow...she has been blowing my mind the past couple of days..every time I look in the back seat of the car, or in the recliner...there she is with her bible cracked open and reading God's word. We were driving home from our 4th of July celebration last night and she was asking Jeremy all kinds of questions about the dry bones in Ezekiel that were raised from the dead.....Now I didn't even know that happened in the bible!!!! I am so blessed by her maturity in the Lord!

My Elijah Boy!

2007-07-05T20:51:00.000-07:00

What a ball of fun he is...always making us laugh, tell jokes, be completely shocked or wear us out...God gave him to us to show us how vibrant life really can be lived!

First Blog entry...let's give this a whirl!

2007-07-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have a friend who loves to read blogs and convinced me of doing this to keep in contact with all of my friends and family...so I thought, since I love to do that anyway via e-cards, etc.....why not? So, I hope this is a fun thing for all of us!