Here is part of the first song the youth choir sang during their concerts. I took this short video during the homecoming concert at our church. You may have to wait for it to load completely before viewing. Enjoy!
What do you write . . .
. . . when you are spent from a whirlwind of emotionally-intense couple of days?
I know the answer for me, which is “A LOT.” I usually get really chatty when I am drained as such, but I don’t have much food for thought — just an update for those who are interested. So much has happened during the last four years of my life, and the last couple of days are a reflection of how God always leads me by his firm but kind hand. I hope you know the clear, pure, peaceful comfort of the hand of God in your life. It is the most wonderful reality to experience the knowledge of God’s will and the precious treasures of abundant life which are bought by the blood of Jesus Christ for his children. By the way, this joy of abundant life surpasses mere circumstances; it manifests itself through our daily lives, but it is not dependent on them. I have found that the joy of knowing Jesus intimately is even more so magnified as I follow him, not alone, but in humility alongside my husband.
(Back to the update!) . . .
Eric returned this weekend from Choir Tour, and he had such a great time with the group as they traveled up the East 
Coast to share their concert with others along the way. I am not exaggerating: he has over 3,000 pictures downloaded from several students’ cameras on to his laptop right now, and I am going to attempt to share my favorites with you in m
y next post! So I hope you enjoy them. I cannot believe they took that many pictures! I really missed going on the trip, but I know it was good for me to stay behind with the kids. Eric promised Lydia that he would bring her a “treat” from the trip, and as you can see, she was thrilled to see what Daddy brought back for her! He got an adorable apron from “Amish country” in PA, and she already loves it dearly.
The homecoming concert at our church was incredible. It really was. I was easily persuaded that God had blessed their preparation and hard work, which resulted in joy, musical distinction, and worship. God was certainly glorified! I beamed within my heart as I watched my husband lead the choir with such grace, reverence, and excellence. I was truly blessed by listening to the songs and praising God with them . . . and of course I wept during “In Christ Alone” when the girls accompanied the choir through ballet. One of the reasons I cried, besides their devotion to Christ that always comes out in their dancing, was because I knew this would likely be the last time I could watch them dance . . .
. . . After the concert Eric gathered the choir to share with them the news that we will be permanently leaving our church next month to move to another city, as he has accepted a position at a church there. Words cannot paint the picture, and a ruler could not measure the thickness, of the density of emotion during those moments. This was a really hard time. As I looked into the eyes of some of the dearest people we have ever known, I could feel how hurt they were that we were saying “good-bye,” as we, too, felt heavy hearts. Each one of them is incredibly special to us. I was so sad to think of leaving them and not experiencing our life adjacent to theirs anymore, not to mention all the other families within the church. They wept and came up to hug us individually, and I cried as I held them in a solemn embrace. The next morning Eric and I stood before our church family to share again our bittersweet news. Once more the task proved to be extremely difficult, and we spent that day with heavy and prayerful hearts. I do believe, however, that everyone here comprehends our happiness and understands the joy we have in knowing that God is sending us to another place, which will also be closer to our immediate families, and for Eric to have a job leading worship full-time.
We are indeed excited about this change in our family. We are walking with joy and humility as Eric enters a new career within the body of Christ, and we eagerly “smile at the future” (Proverbs 31:25), since we know God prepares work ahead of us to do. Eric is extremely excited about putting all of his energy on a weekly basis of leading corporate worship. God-willing, we will be selling our house here and buying a house there within the next month. There will be a lot of changes happening in this short time. Please pray for our family during this transition, as well as the people we will be saying “good-bye” (or as Eric likes to say, “See ya later!”) and “hello” to in each of these wonderful churches. If the partnership with this church is anywhere near the blessing that we have experienced here in FL, we will be in awe with gratitude. We know that God brings joy in fellowship and service within his church, even with the hardest enigmas and sufferings that come in doing his work. Ultimately we serve God and not man, and that is why we can leave one place and go to another without feeling discouraged or questioning God’s leading (not that we “serve” God – but that we do not live for man’s praise). There is so much mercy and grace for our needs found in our Savior. We are hopeful and thankful!
Since every moment is the beginning of the rest of your life, and every moment is the end of the past, every moment should be governed by the glad affections of gratitude and faith. — John Piper
I will post choir tour pictures soon – there are so many good ones, so I’ll just post one large album. So much for my “short” blog post! 
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- (Psalm 103)
Highlights
No, I didn’t get highlights in my hair . . .
I thought I would share some of the highlights of the last 10 days of being at home with the kids without Eric. We sure have missed him, but it has thankfully been quite a pleasant, uneventful, and fun time. I’m glad there were no catastrophes or sicknesses and that we slept pretty well. The only time I almost lost it was the other day when neither of them would take an afternoon nap for some reason, and I (being so exhausted that day) went into Lydia’s bedroom and yelled in a whisper (have you ever done that?), “GO to SLEEP! UUGGGH!” as I kicked the bottom of her bed with my foot. I think I need to go back and reread those “Mother at Home” quotes to remind me of my helplessness and need for prayer in those moments!!! Later I apologized to Lydia for sinning in my anger and asked her to forgive me and pray with me. We prayed, and she said, “It’s okay, Mommy. You’re fine. God is grace.” Ha! I say to her sometimes, “God gives us grace.” Another lesson learned – simple forgiveness – in childlike faith. Anyway, I will always be thankful that Daddy had a good trip and I got to have a wonderful time at home with Lydia and Steven.
Here are some of the things that made this week special:
Going to my friend Jennifer’s house, eating Lasagna, salad, and strawberry shortcakes outside, and watching the kids play in a big hole of dirt.
Climbing into my bed before bedtime to read books together (the kids don’t get in our bed very often, so Lydia was just ecstatic to be in “Mommy’s Bed!”)
Going to the big candy store one day in the mall and letting Lydia fill a bag with assorted jellybeans of her choice! 
Steven having a “poopy explotion” in his highchair one day at lunch that turned into splashing fun in the kitchen sink!
Going on walks with my neighbor, Carol, and her dogs.
Going to the beach with Lisa and her kids and to her house to swim.
Calling Daddy from the kitchen speakerphone and letting Lydia tell the whole bus of people, “I miss you; where’s the Beast?!”
Working on Lydia’s quilt as she sat at the table and watched me, asking what all the parts were on the sewing machine
Finding Lydia and all her friends sitting on the unfinished quilt pretending like they were riding in the van (she was in the back seat, of course)!
Both of the children actually sitting quietly on my lap and beside me during Sunday’s worship service – wow, that was a huge blessing because sometimes they are pulling at my jewelry and grabbing for the pages of the hymnal; I was so happy that I got to sit there and they were so attentive.
Going to Cindy G.’s (aka “YaYa”) for lunch on Sunday and eating huge taco salads, ice cream sandwiches, and playing with Natalie and Joseph.
Driving through the car wash with the multi-colored “rainbow soap” (Any locals know which one I’m talking about?)
Playing outside with Gabriel, our neighbor’s cat. Steven loves to wrestle (hard!) with him now.
Somehow only having ONE LOAD of laundry to do the entire time. (How did that happen? The only thing I can guess is that there’s a big bag of dirty clothes waiting on that choir bus with my name on it! haha) 
Eating almost an entire bowl of spicy bean dip one night (I made it waaaay too spicy this time!) with Emily and a big bag of chips!
Taking the kids through the TCBY drive-thru and eating our ice cream in the grass under a tree.
Playing “tickle tackle” on the floor (I had to fill in while Daddy was gone, and Lydia insisted on sitting on top of “the baby” – oooooh! I’m just not as good as Daddy.)
Steven starting to say, “HEyyyyyy!” all the time now when he wakes up in his crib
I thank everyone who prayed that this would be a good time at home for us. That prayer was certainly answered affirmatively! Now we’re ready to see Daddy, so God, please bring him home soon!
Reflections on the Second-Greatest Gift
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. — Colossians 1:15 – 17
The best gift I have ever received in my life, second to my adoption into earthly and heavenly families, is my husband. Today was the fourth anniversary the covenant of our marriage, and although I would never fully attempt to express my love through a blog post, I have been pondering many aspects of this gift throughout the day today.
All gifts come from God’s hand. According to the Bible, which I believe to be the perfect, infallible, living word of the one true God, Jesus made the invisible (God) into someOne we can see and know. All of creation points to the truth that Jesus is God’s glory made manifest. Every human being owes him his complete and total allegiance, for we were made to reflect his beauty and are “held together” by him (Colossians 1). This allegiance includes the gift of a Christian marriage. God’s Word speaks of marriage as a mystery which represents the relationship of Jesus to his people, his Bride, his church. It’s truly amazing to think about how the gift of marriage between a man and a woman who love Jesus actually represents how He loves us! So in my marriage to Eric I owe allegiance to the One, Jesus Christ, who authored it and makes it work to make his name glorious to all people.
To celebrate (you may remember that Eric was out of town today), I popped our wedding video into the VCR this afternoon during the kids’ naps. I sat on the carpet in front of the TV with a bag of jellybeans and cried like a baby. I cried when I heard our friends Paul and Mollie singing worship, I cried when I saw Eric walk out into the sanctuary with his sweet, humble grin, I cried when I saw Papa and Nanny on the front row, I cried when I heard my father-in-law reading Scripture and my father praying, I cried when I heard Eric and me singing “Draw me Close,” I cried during the exchange of rings (out of pure sadness), and I cried because I missed Eric and wished he could be there with me to watch it all! That’s a lot of crying, you may be thinking! Well, I am pregnant, you know. But I certainly wasn’t prepared for the wave of emotions that hit me as I watched this first day of the rest of our lives together.
Dr. McWhite, who performed our ceremony, said so many things that day that made me reflect after I heard them again today. He cautioned us to never take each other for granted. How many times, much to my dismay, have I done this? He announced to us the sober truth that we would have hard times, times of sickness and perhaps even danger, and Christ would be our glue and hold our hands as we stayed strong in our commitment to the permancy of our relationship. Already in four years we have experienced this. Boy, have we experienced this! He reminded us that our marriage in action is the good news of new life in Jesus Christ going out to others, and that God would use our faithfulness to make disciples. He finished by saying, “Let no man or no thing separate you…” I thought about some of the “things” that seem to crowd into our lives and try to pull the two of us apart: selfishness, busyness, laziness, materialism, worry, money, legalism, the praise of men, pride . . . and the list goes on. How petty everything else seems when you put it in its proper place! Jesus said, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Do I believe this in my marriage? I smile because every day I am learning to trust and say, “Yes, I do.”
Do I think we have had a great marriage so far? Well, yes, and no. We could improve in so many ways, but most of all, we need more of God and his truth in our lives. If you think about it, a “Christian” marriage without Christ makes no sense. We need him every hour of every day just as much as the first day of our marriage. That means thinking of him, talking to him, reading his words, and letting his thoughts guide our life together. I can’t imagine trying to make a relationship work without the Creator of all relationships being the very foundation! I realized, too, that I would have to bow my head in shame if I spoke with Dr. McWhite today and he asked me, “Do you take each other for granted?” That’s what made me think about all of these things and want to write them. I am truly thankful for my husband, but it is so easy to let “the worries of this world” get in the way of whole-heartedly loving the one God gave to me. There are so many things that I love about him!
- I love his sweet humility
- I love the simplicity that governs his life
- I love how he is big and strong
- I love his smile
- I love how he sways and smiles as he plays guitar and sings
- I love how he pushes up his glasses when they’re falling off his nose
- I love his voice on the phone
- I love how he wants me to stay at home and be a mother to our children
- I love how he never gets tired of playing with the kids on the floor
- I love his servant’s heart: how he helps around the house and with the kids when I don’t even ask for help
- I love how he gets so excited when he has some news or a funny story to tell me
- I love how passionately he eats food
- I love how serious he is when he puts on his ties on Sunday mornings
- I love his warmth – I am never cold when he is near!
- I love how he will get the kids up on a Saturday and shut our bedroom door if he knows I need some rest
- I love how he says, “MMMmm, that was gggooood, baby” after dinner is over as he folds up his napkin
- I love how he smiles out of genuine love when someone on my side of the family calls us on the phone
- I love the fact that church is somewhere he loves to be
- I love his incredible memory (because I seem to be losing mine with each pregnancy)!
- I love his optimism and hope
- I love his zeal and hunger for God
I love him, and I renew my vow to never take him for granted! Happy Anniversary, honey!
Upside Down
I don’t remember if I mentioned that Lydia and I did a little craft activity to help her see how long Daddy would be gone on the choir trip. We made a bus and a church, and we represented each day of the trip with a little dot on the paper. I keep telling her, “Once the bus goes over all the dots, then it will come to the church. We will be waiting at the church, and Daddy will come off the bus to give you, Steven, and Mommy a big hug!” She gets really excited.
I let Lydia stick the bus on the dot this morning. Apparently their time in New York City was too much, though, and they are driving to PA today upside down. Ha! Hope you’re okay, honey!
Cupcakes and Tea
Pray for a girl named Jacqueline on the choir trip. Eric called tonight and said she had to be taken to the hospital because she passed out earlier today. They spent the day at Six Flags, and I think she may have just gotten really tired and dehydrated. They don’t exactly have a laid-back schedule on this trip. I believe she’s doing better now; she is actually out of the hospital I think, but please pray for her and her family because I know that was scary. Pray that everyone keeps drinking lots of water and taking care of themselves the rest of the trip. I know my sweet Eric is exhausted because he sounds so drained when I talk to him on the phone. I miss him!
Lydia has “roomtime” almost every morning in her bedroom, and I’m so thankful for this time! I tried to teach her to play alone as early as 3 months by placing her with some fun toys in the pack’nplay in her room. As she got older, we suggested that she learn to play in her room with all of her toys as long as she cleaned them up when the timer would ring. She usually stays in her room and plays happily for about 45 minutes in the mornings, and that is when I put Steven down for his nap and get a lot of stuff done. It’s so great, and I always enjoy going to open her door whe
n the timer rings. She always has a huge smile on her face and wants to show me what she has done during roomtime. I took this picture this week when I found her one morning. I heard the timer and stood outside of her door because I heard her saying in a sweet, sing-song-y voice, “And yyyooou, And yyyyou, Annnnd YOU!” I opened the door, and she was smiling the biggest smile. She said, “MOMMY! You HAVE to come sit with us!” She had all of her babies lined up in a circle around her nightstand (see picture), drinking “tea” and wearing all of their purses and accessories! She was passing out cake to all of them when I heard her outside of the door. Notice the fine attention to detail: the tablecloth, the way they are all included in the party, and how everyone has their own seat (including one of the “little people,” who is sitting on the lamp)! 
Today we went to the beach with the headmaster’s wife from church and her kids. She has 8 children (she’s the supermodel mommy looking away in the picture – you’d never guess she birthed 7 boys and a girl!), so there are plenty of helping hands! Three of them are on the trip with Eric, and when we got to the beach we saw another mom from church (who also has kids on the trip). It was her youngest’s birthday, so we gathered around and had “sandy” cupcakes for Catherine! All of these kids made me think how great it is to have large families because there is lots of help and never a dull moment!
I plan on working on my quilting projects the rest of the week until Eric gets back from NY. I really wish I could hug him right now, but I am going to try to enjoy these times by myself with the kids for the next several days. I’m really going to miss him Thursday because that’s our anniversary. Pray that I get through that day because I’ll probably cry a lot!
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