I am sitting here looking back at 2008 and I am awe struck at what the Lord has done in my and my families lives, my friends lives. I have to start back in fall of 2007. At that time we were attending a huge church in Clackamas. The Lord made it clear to me that I need stop all leadership positions that I was in. My husband and I were small group leaders, I was table leader for the women's bible study, and the hospitality coordinator for our churches MOPS group. I was pretty good at what I was doing and when I prayed about it and was complaining to God ( I don't recommend doing that) that I didn't want to quit, He in His gracious ways showed me where I was overly stressed, how I wasn't up to par on being a mother and a wife, and most importantly how I was not spending as much time as I could nurturing my relationship with Him. So I quit everything he told me too. It was like pulling teeth, but I obeyed. In November of 2007 I started volunteering 1 day a week in the kitchen of CCS. I am beginning to see why he chose that path for me. I enjoy life a lot more then I ever have. Now jump into 2008. Joe and I celebrated our 8 year anniversary in January. In February we celebrated Joe's 29th birthday by going to the Ft. Stevens on the coast and staying in a Yurt for the very first time.
We had a blast! Amazingly the weather was nice. It rained at night and was clear during the day! We will continue to Yurt in the future. In March we celebrated Curtis' 8th birthday. He is just an amazing child and I love watching him grow. He is incredibly smart, and loves to study about people in history. He also has a heart for people and I excited to see how the Lord works through him.
April came with another birthday. Shayla turned 3 years old. She was so looking forward to being three. She grown a lot this year. She is an amazing little girl. Very creative and loving. She loves Jesus with all her heart. 
The month of May bring Memorial day. We have made it a tradition to go up to Willamette National Cemetery and lay flowers on the graves of two fallen soldiers. One of the graves we lay flowers on in remembrance all those who lost their life defending our freedom. We are extremely grateful for what they have done. The other grave we lay flowers on because who the person was and what a sad loss it is to have lost them. We wish we could skip over the month of May because it brings up a lot of emotions. I think it is good to revisit those emotions and try and continue to heal from losses we have had in our lives. It just is tough.
June, so sweet June. I told the Lord that I would not want to attend The Country Church because I didn't want to go to church at the same place where Curtis goes to school. Too much drama in my mind. Well I learned that you never tell God what to do. I should know this, but I guess I had to try again and see if I could win. I didn't and we started attending TCC on Wednesday nights, then it lead to Sunday mornings. I am soooooooooooooooooooooo glad and grateful that the Lord knows what he is doing. We have never ever felt so loved and spiritually fed as we do at TCC. We left our church in Clackamas. We are now attending TCC only. Amazing church.
Oh the fun we had in Newport! Curtis and Joe were able to go behind the scenes at the aquarium and got to feed the seals then they got their pictures taken while they were being kissed on the cheek by a seal.
Then our next stop was the water park in Antioch. Then it was to our next camping destination, Mt Diablo. It was horrible horrible horrible. Did I mention HORRIBLE. We were at a 3,000 foot elevation and the park shut off all the water to the showers so we had to be very creative with water bottles. It was dry and our camp site was elevated downhill so it felt like we gonna roll down the mountain. Then at 2am the stinkin raccoons came out and somehow got a corner of our garbage out of the bear box and Joe got in a fight with them. He was beating them with water bottles and throwing water on them. Finally they went away long enough for Joe to throw the trash in the cab of the truck. Then an hour later they came back and stole the water bottle caps that Joe left on the ground. They also tried to take off with Joe's pills and Shayla's shoe. Crazy animals I tell you. It was a riot to listen to Joe yelling at them. Luckily we only had to stay there two nights. Then we went to Vallejo California to go to Six flags, a big highlight for my boys. Shayla was able to feed, dance, and kiss a dolphin. The boys were able to go on the scary roller coasters. Joe has been waiting for his son to be taller then 52"
Then we headed down to Modesto to see friends, then headed to my sisters up at Hume Lake. My sister works at Hume Lake Christian Camp outside of Fresno California. We had lots of fun on all our adventures. The Lord knew how hard this fall/winter were going to so be blessed us with a family bonding road trip. We grew together as a family. We also listened to a lot of Adventures in Odyssey tapes.
September was a door opener for our family. I was given the opportunity to run the kitchen at CCS all by myself for a week in while MaMa B went on a much needed vacation. The Lord really opened up my eyes. Being in the kitchen brings me more joy then any of those other leadership position ever did. I am now volunteering three days a week in the kitchen. I LOVE BEING IN THERE. That is where the Lord has chosen for me to be. I can take Shayla with me and that is a blessing! Also, Curtis started 3rd grade this year and Joe started school September 29th. The Veterans Administration (VA) is paying for him to go to school. Joe is getting into the career field of Computer Aided Drafting. That was the field that Lord picked for Joe. Joe was obedient and signed up for those courses not too sure he would like them. Well he fell in love Computer Aided Drafting. He received a 4.0 GPA this term. He did that while going to school full time, working part time and raising a family. I am so proud of him and his hard work.
Christmas was awesome. I was with family, the best way to celebrate the day. I am thankful the Lord gave us his son as a gift to us. Thank you Lord. We also found out after Christmas that teh owner of the house we are renting is not willing to lower our rent so we will be looking for a new place to live. God is in control. I am not worried. He already has ironed out the details, I just need trist and faith and the Spirt will lead us in the right direction!
That is the year in a wrap. With today being December 31st 2008, I would like to say Thank you Lord for an amazing ride. I couldn't blog all of what He has done for us in a year. I am glad I follwed the Lord and chose to give up the things I thought I loved. I love what I am doing now, and where I am headed! Oh, one of my favorite things this year came to me by phone. My favorite and bestest friend in the whole wide world called me and told me her 9 year old son rode his bike around the block for the first time. Why is this important you say, Leif, her son has Aspergers. (a form of Autism) The doctors told her and her family that because of Leif's lack of coordination that he would never ride a bike. Well guess what he did, and I am positive that Jesus made that happen. I look forward to seeing him ride for myself. One day when we are Kansas maybe! So in 2009 I choose love more deeply, laugh even harder, and live for Jesus even more! Happy New year friends!
April came with another birthday. Shayla turned 3 years old. She was so looking forward to being three. She grown a lot this year. She is an amazing little girl. Very creative and loving. She loves Jesus with all her heart. The month of May bring Memorial day. We have made it a tradition to go up to Willamette National Cemetery and lay flowers on the graves of two fallen soldiers. One of the graves we lay flowers on in remembrance all those who lost their life defending our freedom. We are extremely grateful for what they have done. The other grave we lay flowers on because who the person was and what a sad loss it is to have lost them. We wish we could skip over the month of May because it brings up a lot of emotions. I think it is good to revisit those emotions and try and continue to heal from losses we have had in our lives. It just is tough.June, so sweet June. I told the Lord that I would not want to attend The Country Church because I didn't want to go to church at the same place where Curtis goes to school. Too much drama in my mind. Well I learned that you never tell God what to do. I should know this, but I guess I had to try again and see if I could win. I didn't and we started attending TCC on Wednesday nights, then it lead to Sunday mornings. I am soooooooooooooooooooooo glad and grateful that the Lord knows what he is doing. We have never ever felt so loved and spiritually fed as we do at TCC. We left our church in Clackamas. We are now attending TCC only. Amazing church.July, we Yurted again in Newport, Oregon. We went whale watching and saw two whales. It was a neat experience. We also went to the aquarium and toured the Rogue Beer factory. We also visited a couple light houses and just played around!
Oh the fun we had in Newport! Curtis and Joe were able to go behind the scenes at the aquarium and got to feed the seals then they got their pictures taken while they were being kissed on the cheek by a seal.August is by far my most favorite month of the year! We went on our BIGGEST and best vacation yet. We road tripped down to California. Our first stop was the redwood forest. We camped in a park off the Avenue of the Giants. It was awesome to pitch a tent among those HUGE trees.
Then our next stop was the water park in Antioch. Then it was to our next camping destination, Mt Diablo. It was horrible horrible horrible. Did I mention HORRIBLE. We were at a 3,000 foot elevation and the park shut off all the water to the showers so we had to be very creative with water bottles. It was dry and our camp site was elevated downhill so it felt like we gonna roll down the mountain. Then at 2am the stinkin raccoons came out and somehow got a corner of our garbage out of the bear box and Joe got in a fight with them. He was beating them with water bottles and throwing water on them. Finally they went away long enough for Joe to throw the trash in the cab of the truck. Then an hour later they came back and stole the water bottle caps that Joe left on the ground. They also tried to take off with Joe's pills and Shayla's shoe. Crazy animals I tell you. It was a riot to listen to Joe yelling at them. Luckily we only had to stay there two nights. Then we went to Vallejo California to go to Six flags, a big highlight for my boys. Shayla was able to feed, dance, and kiss a dolphin. The boys were able to go on the scary roller coasters. Joe has been waiting for his son to be taller then 52"Then we headed down to Modesto to see friends, then headed to my sisters up at Hume Lake. My sister works at Hume Lake Christian Camp outside of Fresno California. We had lots of fun on all our adventures. The Lord knew how hard this fall/winter were going to so be blessed us with a family bonding road trip. We grew together as a family. We also listened to a lot of Adventures in Odyssey tapes.September was a door opener for our family. I was given the opportunity to run the kitchen at CCS all by myself for a week in while MaMa B went on a much needed vacation. The Lord really opened up my eyes. Being in the kitchen brings me more joy then any of those other leadership position ever did. I am now volunteering three days a week in the kitchen. I LOVE BEING IN THERE. That is where the Lord has chosen for me to be. I can take Shayla with me and that is a blessing! Also, Curtis started 3rd grade this year and Joe started school September 29th. The Veterans Administration (VA) is paying for him to go to school. Joe is getting into the career field of Computer Aided Drafting. That was the field that Lord picked for Joe. Joe was obedient and signed up for those courses not too sure he would like them. Well he fell in love Computer Aided Drafting. He received a 4.0 GPA this term. He did that while going to school full time, working part time and raising a family. I am so proud of him and his hard work.October was when we realized how much the people at TCC really love us. We were blessed abundantly with their generosity and support. We hit a rough patch and the Lord put people in our path and helped us get caught up! God is so good. Also in October Curtis got baptized. We asked him why he wanted to be baptized, he told me that God told me to.
I turned 30 in November. It was a good day. My mommy made me dinner and we had Apple Pie for dessert. Then Thanksgiving came and it was a wonderful day. First I quit my team in the family Turkey Bowl indefinitely because of unfair play. My grandparents were able to come down from Wenatchee. It was good to see them. I am thankful for the Lord for healing my Grandpa of the numerous things he had to endure this year! The food was amazing as always.
I turned 30 in November. It was a good day. My mommy made me dinner and we had Apple Pie for dessert. Then Thanksgiving came and it was a wonderful day. First I quit my team in the family Turkey Bowl indefinitely because of unfair play. My grandparents were able to come down from Wenatchee. It was good to see them. I am thankful for the Lord for healing my Grandpa of the numerous things he had to endure this year! The food was amazing as always. Christmas is here! December was interesting month for everyone here in the Portland area. We had the most wicked storm the area has seen in 30 years. We had a total of 8 inches, my parents got up to 14 inches. It was a mess for a while. It has been a blessing for us as well. Because of the weather and the hours the company lost during the storm, mean lots of hours forJoe so they can all catch up on the work they missed.
Christmas was awesome. I was with family, the best way to celebrate the day. I am thankful the Lord gave us his son as a gift to us. Thank you Lord. We also found out after Christmas that teh owner of the house we are renting is not willing to lower our rent so we will be looking for a new place to live. God is in control. I am not worried. He already has ironed out the details, I just need trist and faith and the Spirt will lead us in the right direction!That is the year in a wrap. With today being December 31st 2008, I would like to say Thank you Lord for an amazing ride. I couldn't blog all of what He has done for us in a year. I am glad I follwed the Lord and chose to give up the things I thought I loved. I love what I am doing now, and where I am headed! Oh, one of my favorite things this year came to me by phone. My favorite and bestest friend in the whole wide world called me and told me her 9 year old son rode his bike around the block for the first time. Why is this important you say, Leif, her son has Aspergers. (a form of Autism) The doctors told her and her family that because of Leif's lack of coordination that he would never ride a bike. Well guess what he did, and I am positive that Jesus made that happen. I look forward to seeing him ride for myself. One day when we are Kansas maybe! So in 2009 I choose love more deeply, laugh even harder, and live for Jesus even more! Happy New year friends!
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