A Spiderman Birthday

After a 5 day battle with something flu-like, I finally felt better in time to celebrate Elijah's Spiderman birthday on Saturday. My mom was here, as well as my in-laws, and Elijah received the full birthday experience: cake, ice cream, presents, and even a birthday spanking! (this was the first year we could do that and explain it wasn't because he had disobeyed!)
This was the birthday cake he requested - I chose chocolate because we both love it!
I can't resist his smile! Alli enjoyed the cake as well. She was pretty blue by the time the cake was gone!

He got some fun presents, like a combine to play with, a Hot Wheels race track, a Leap Frog alphabet toy, Hungry Hippos (I have great memories of that game as a child), a UPS truck and a scooter for outside play come warmer weather.
Enjoying a game of Hungry Hippos with his Daddy and his Grandpa.

It was a full weekend, but we had a blast. He is already talking about turning 5 and naming all the things he would like to get for that birthday. I'm hoping the birthday buzz wears off soon, though, since he has been pretty hyper since all the company, cake and presents.

Happy Birthday, Buddy

My little bud turned 4 years old today. I can't believe how fast the time has flown by. You are such a wonderful son, loving big brother and all-around fun guy to be around. I can't imagine life without you! We love you tons, Elijah. Happy Birthday!

I Could Live at IKEA

I found this article today, which led me to this website where I watched the videos. Funny, because we are planning another trip to IKEA in a few weeks and it may just be the way to figure out what you really want from the store. Sometimes I think it takes a week to fully see everything they sell.

By the way, I did see some stuff in the videos that are going on my list for our next trek.

When Snooping Fails . . .

I've exhausted the list of people who were in my house over the holidays and have only discovered the deliver-er of the anonomous gift. And since I am too self-conscious to ask everyone I've ever met if they are the mystery giver, I decided to say it like this:





Thank you to whomever gave me the gift I hinted at in another post. I was ecstatic to get it and am still in awe of how quickly you got it to me. The post had been up less than 12 hours! Your generosity was a blessing to me and my hubby is glad that he doesn't have to hear me complain about it anymore! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!!

The Indwelling Rule of Law

Lately I have found myself contemplating why, in movies and TV shows, the characters usually do the right thing. I mean, they may not, and often do make wrong choices, but usually the moral of the story is a good one. The husband is wrong to choose his career over his family, the woman is wrong in lying to and cheating on her husband (unless it is for true love, of course). While rarely in real life do we apply the same standard to ourselves. The man who is involved in an adulterous affair while his wife is at home caring for their 4 kids usually justifies his sins. The mother who constantly screams at her children feels she must to get them to behave.

Which leads me to another contemplation I have had: why does the news media constantly call for those they cover to be above reproach? Two recent stories come to mind: a presidential candidate is publicly reprimanded for not reprimanding a supporter for using a not-so-nice word to describe an opponent; and when an over-the-road truck driver fails to realize that his blown tire has killed a man in an oncoming vehicle and continues to his next destination without stopping, he is branded as an unsafe driver. Two instances when I could clearly see the other side of the issue, but the media portrayed the stories as having one right way to handle each situation, and the ones involved in the story did not measure up to their ideal.

The answer isn't complex, but I found this paragraph in the first chapter of C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity to be the most concise way to explain it:

I am . . . trying to call attention to a fact; the fact that this year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practise ourselves the kind of behaviour we expect from other people. There may be all sorts of excuses for us. That time you were so unfair to the children was when you were very tired. That slightly shady business about the money - the one you have almost forgotten - came when you were very hard-up. And what you promised to do for old So-and-so and have never done - well, you never would have promised if you had known how frightfully busy you were going to be. And as for your behaviour to your wife (or husband) or sister (or brother) if I knew how irritating they could be, I would not wonder at it - and who the dickens am I, anyway? I am just the same. That is to say, I do not succeed in keeping the Law of Nature very well, and the moment anyone tells me I am not keeping it, there starts up in my mind a string of excuses as long as your arm. The question at the moment is not whether they are good excuses. The point is that they are one more proof of how deeply, whether we like it or not, we believe in the Law of Nature. If we do not believe in decent behaviour, why should we be so anxious to make excuses for not having behaved decently? The truth is, we believe in decency so much - we feel the Rule of Law pressing on us so - that we cannot bear to face that fact that we are breaking it, and consequently we try to shift the responsibility. For you notice that it is only for our bad behaviour that we find all these explanations. It is only our bad temper that we put down to being tired or worried or hungry; we put our good temper down to ourselves. (emphasis mine)

I guess Romans 1 is more concise (and inspired) but I appreciated Lewis' take on it. The fact of the matter is, without the gospel in one's life, no amount of "Rule of Law" or "Law of Nature" is enough to cause us to consistently do what is right. And only the cross gives us the ability to rightly perceive our sin and to not only make the right decisions, but to desire to make those decisions for the Glory of God. Another reason to rejoice and weep over the amazing grace we have received.

A New Year's Resolution I Actually Kept!

Last New Year I decided that I would make only one resolution and I was determined to make it sufficiently vague enough that I wouldn't become obsessive-compulsive about completing it. (I tend to be a bit OCD) My resolution was to read more. I realized that I kept buying books and then putting them on a shelf and never touching them again. So I decided that I would be more purposeful in my reading in 2007, which included doing just that (reading) instead of this (blogging) and also to read a chapter of a book before bed every night. I kept a list of the books I read and even posted a review or two. So here is my master list of reading materials for the last year:


1. Humility – True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney
2. The Eaglet by Jim Ellif
3. Knowing God by J.I. Packer
4. The Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney
5. Sex is not the Problem (Lust is) by Joshua Harris
6. The Life and Labors of George Muller by Mrs. Muller
7. Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman
8. Lies my Teacher Told Me by James Loewen
9. Mary by Janis Cooke Newman
10 & 11. The Humanist Manifesto I & II
12. Body Piercing Saved My Life: Inside the Phenomenon of Christian Rock by Andrew Beaujon
13. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
14. New Covenant Theology: Questions Answered by Steve Lehrer
15. Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney
16. The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm
17. The Nine Day Queen of England – Lady Jane Grey by Faith Cook
18. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
19. It Aint’ All About the Cooking by Paula Deen
20. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
21. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
22. Saving Erasmus by Steven Cleaver
23. Learning to See Creatively by Bryan Peterson
24. The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones
25. The Art of Wedding Photography by Bambi Cantrell and Skip Cohen

I am already on par to complete at least another 4-6 books just by finishing up books that I am reading for a Bible Study or with a friend, so 2008 is off to a good start! I have really enjoyed taking the time to read for pleasure again, and I hope to do more of it this year. And for all of you who gave me suggestions -thanks and keep 'em coming!

Random Updates

Hey everyone! I'm still here! It's been a crazy week, and I had hoped to post some pictures of our Christmas celebration, but I don't think it's going to happen any time soon. Just wanted to update you all on our Christmas week:

We had a lovely, restful Christmas Eve day. We played games with the kids, and then attended a nearly local church for their Christmas Eve service, since our pastor was gone and our church didn't have a service. It was nice and I was happy to be at home this year. We returned home from the service, with plans to put the kids to bed and watch my FAVORITE Christmas movie, Irving Berlin's White Christmas. I had DVR'd it from the weekend and we settled in to enjoy the music and the storyline. However, the cable station, in an attempt to squeeze it into a 2 hour time slot and still allow for ample commercials, cut an embarrassingly large amount of the storyline and the musical numbers! I was so disappointed! I guess you know what I will be asking for next year . . . my own DVD copy of the original movie.

Christmas day was nice also, but I felt like I was in the kitchen most of the time. We had a lovely family meal, though, and enjoyed some quiet time that evening also. The kids loved their presents, with Elijah's favorite being his new wooden train set and Alli really enjoying the food for her kitchen and the shopping cart to carry it all in.

The next 2 days were a crazy mix of laundry, packing for another trip, and a sick 3 year old. It made for a stressful stretch for me, and so I relished some quiet time that Dan and I got together in MN on Friday, when we went to IKEA by the Mall of America. I love the store, and it was Dan's first visit, but he was inspired also. Sooner or later we will finish our basement and we have a thousand ideas of how to decorate now!

The rest of Dan's family joined us all at his parent's house that evening and we enjoyed our tradition of soup for supper, opening presents and then appetizers and cookies afterwards.

One highlight was being able to finally meet face-to-face, my fellow blogging friend, Karen. Her husband grew up in the same church as my husband and we both were at the church on Sunday morning. Although our plan to get coffee together didn't work out, it was great to talk to her in person and we have plans to meet again. I didn't have my camera (we were in church, after all) so I don't have any great pics of our smiling faces together. We'll plan for that next time!

We left Sunday night to return home. About an hour and a half into our trip we witnessed a car from the northbound lane flip end over end and land in our lane about a half a mile in front of us. We were the first on the scene and I called 911 while Dan jumped out to help. The car landed on the hood and slid across traffic, but amazingly, no other cars were involved. By my estimation, since the hood of the driver's side was crushed to the steering wheel, he should have been seriously hurt, but both passengers emerged from the car and seemed alright, only a few cuts and the look of utter shock on their faces. After the police arrived, Dan hopped back into the car and we went on our way. Snow started falling an hour or so later, and we saw many more vehicles in the ditch, so it was another reminder to take our time and to drive slowly. It was also another reminder that life is short, and it can be over in an instant.

We made it home safely, obviously, and are working today to get ready for a little New Year's Eve get-together that we are hosting tonight. Hopefully I will be on top of things and be able to post pictures sooner than later!

Hope you all have a great New Year and I'll be back here regularly soon!

Savoring Christ's Death at Christmas

Elijah and I have been leisurely reading through The Jesus Storybook Bible since we received it in the mail. Sometimes we read faithfully every day, at other times weeks go by between the stories. These past few weeks I have been trying to read more consistently, hoping to finish before the New Year, when we can start our other book, The Big Picture Story Bible.

So as I sat down to read a few days ago, I realized that we had come to the stories surrounding Christ's death - the last supper, the prayer in the garden, etc . . . I debated stopping there and backtracking to the advent story, it being the Christmas season and all, but decided that Elijah was getting enough nativity stories from other sources that we would continue on in the correct order of the book.

This afternoon, as I laid on his bed, reading "just one more story" before naptime, I was struck by the simple retelling of the story about Christ's prayer in the garden:

"Papa! Father!" Jesus cried. And he fell to the ground. "is there any other way to get your chldren back? To heal their hearts? To get rid of the poison?"
But Jesus knew - there was no other way. All the poison of sin was going to have to go into his own heart.
God was going to pour into Jesus' heart all the sadness and brokenness in people's hearts. He was going to pour into Jesus' body all the sickness in people's bodies. God was going to have to blame his son for everything that had gone wrong. It would crush Jesus.
But there was something else, something even more horrible. When people ran away from God, they lost God - it was what happened when they ran away. Not being close to God was like a punishment. Jesus was going to take that punishment.
Jesus knew what that meant. He was going to lose his Father - and that, Jesus knew, would break his heart in two.
Violent sobs shook Jesus' whole body.
Then Jesus was quiet. Like a lamb. "I trust you, Papa," he said. "Whatever you say, I will do."

As I read, tears fell down my cheeks. I don't think Elijah noticed. But the power of the story impacted me in a way that my emotions haven't been impacted in a while. What a powerful event to read about that perfectly coincides with the celebration of Christ's birth. Our excitement and awe at the wonder of the incarnation shouldn't end there. He came for a reason, and I thank you, God, for using my children's Bible to remind me of that reason today.

Merry Christmas!

The Christmas pictures and letters are all out in the mail, so now I can share it with you without a family member reading it here first!

Merry Christmas from the Zempel’s!

Another year has flown by, probably the quietest in recent history for our family! That’s not a bad thing, though, and we have had a wonderful year.

We’ll start the updates with the youngest of our bunch, Allison. What a delight she is to our family! By the beginning of the year she had really started to reveal her personality. She is quite social and loves being around other kids. She is a little more “rough and tumble” than her brother was at this age, partly due to his influence, I am sure. They both wrestle with Dan and giggle constantly. She is more independent, also, and will venture upstairs to her room to play without any encouragement. She began walking about a month after her first birthday in June and made up for lost time by taking to it immediately. She babbles constantly (not unlike her mother!) and never fails to make us all smile. We can’t imagine life without her and are universally smitten with her.

Elijah gets bigger and bigger every day. I can’t believe he is almost 4! We started “homeschool” this year, which basically means we make structured time for reading. We occasionally add some worksheets to the mix, which Elijah loves and repeatedly asks to do more. Elijah is getting braver as the year progresses, culminating in his achievement of “surfing” with an instructor at an indoor water park this fall. Dan will have him behind the boat before you know it! He is energetic and talkative, and enjoyed spending a week with each set of his grandparents this summer. He is doing great in Awana Cubbies and looks forward to spring when he can attempt to learn to ride a “tippy” bike. We’ll see how that goes! He is at such a fun age; I think I would keep him here if I could.

Dan immensely enjoyed having another team member at his State Farm office this year, allowing us to enjoy some family time without worrying about the office imploding without him around. Business has been active enough for him to add another employee this past fall and that has been working out well. Dan took over the leadership of a small group at our church this spring and we have immensely enjoyed getting to know some of the newer couples at our church. Believe it or not, we are the oldest in the group! This is a new experience since we have been comfortable being the youngest for sometime now! Even so, we are so grateful for this group and the growth we have seen and experienced ourselves.

As for me, Donette, life isn’t much different since our last letter. I reached a milestone birthday this year, but don’t question me when I say I am 29! Dan graciously watched the kids over Memorial Day weekend so that my friend Laura and I could go to a conference in Louisville, KY. We spent the weekend being blessed by the ministry of Josh Harris, Mark Dever, Al Mohler, CJ Mahaney and John Piper. It was a much-needed retreat and Dan and I hope to go together this coming year.

As quiet as this year has been, there are still ample opportunities to trust in God’s sovereignty and rely on His grace. Sometimes the quiet makes it easier to forget to do this. I pray that will never be your temptation. As I heard in a Christmas carol:

May the warmth of Heaven reach the coldest heart
with the gospel of His grace
For His heel will bruise the serpent’s head,
Rejoice, all the world, Rejoice!

I pray that you have the reason to do just that!

Dan and Donette, Elijah and Alli

Waterpark Retreat

After a grueling 5-day weekend over Thanksgiving, it was decided that we needed another vacation. OK, that's not true. Actually Dan had some meetings in the Dells, the company paid for the room, so we couldn't pass it up. Here are just a few pics of the fun: Elijah had a blast. We told him that we were going the night before we left, and he couldn't stop asking about it. See, there is a reason you wait to inform a 3 year old of your plans . . .

Yep. It happened again.

Even my parents enjoyed the water slides! I was quite impressed with my dad's willingness to try almost every slide. My mom stuck with the easy ones.

I hate to tell you this, sweetheart, but that's not a drinking fountain.

I found out last night that the youngest victim of the Omaha mall shooting, Maggie Webb, was a sister to an acquaintance of mine from my hometown and home church. So when you think to pray for the families of the victims, please remember Trish Abaca and her husband, Mike, by name.

Amazing how knowing someone who knows someone in a tragedy makes it feel so much closer to home . . .

Christmas Edition of "Get to Know your Friends!"

I received this email from my missionary friend, Kim, and decided it would be fun to post here.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. It's the only time of year that I don't use gift bags.
2 . Real tree or Artificial? To my husband's chagrin, we have an artificial tree. I was tired of waiting to decorate until we had time to shop for a tree! And I worried about the kiddos eating pine needles. Maybe in the future we will go back to a real one. But I'm not promising it!
3 . When do you put up the tree? As soon as possible after our annual Thanksgiving traveling schedule.
4. When do you take the tree down? Usually after we returen home from our annual New Year traveling schedule!
5. Do you like egg nog? I never have, until I tasted my friend Amy's homemade recipe. Now that was yummy!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Wow, that's a hard one. My parent's probably remember better than I do!
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Just one. I hope to get more to make a collection someday.
8. Hardest person to buy for? By far, my father-in-law.
9. Easiest person to buy for? My mom or my daughter. Girl stuff is easy!
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Old fashioned snail mail.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I remember desperately wanting a "My Little Pony" and then being bored with it like 5 minutes after it was unwrapped. That's totally my fault, though. No blame to the parents who bought it!
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Without a doubt - White Christmas.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Sometime around September. My goal has been to be completely done BEFORE Thanksgiving, but it hasn't happened yet.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think I have ever recycled a Christmas present, but for the 19 weddings the year after we got married . . . yeah, most of those were re-gifts!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Probably cookies
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear lights on the tree inside the house, colored outside
17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night; Joy, Joy by David Phelps; Here With Us by Joy Williams; Sleep, Jesus, Sleep by Sovereign Grace Music
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Usually we travel to my parent's house, but this year we are visiting them early and we are staying home for Christmas! Yeah!
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? I kinda doubt it.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Ongoing Christmas argument. I grew up opening on Christmas morning, Dan on Christmas eve. I'm still holding out for the AM . . .
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? the crowded stores. Even Walmart on a Monday night during football is crazy!
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Most of my ornaments have special memories attached, but I am particularly fond of the car ornament that the cast of my senior recital gave me - in honor of the play we performed, "Driving Miss Daisy."
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I love the pizza treats that we eat on Christmas Eve.
25 . What do you want for Christmas this year? Well, I already got my camera, so I guess it's the list of home projects that I have! (I think a finished basement is at the top of the list right now)

Ok, now I tag all my readers who have a blog to answer the same questions . . .

Merry Christmas!

Wow. I am still recovering from a week of traveling, so blogging has been last on my "to-do" list. I have about a dozen things I would like to write about, but my brain is fuzzy from a head cold, so I will just give you a pictorial journey of our week away. Enjoy! Dan takes a pause from the annual Thanksgiving football game to pose with Alli. We travel to Dan's parent's house every Thanksgiving and enjoy a 4 day weekend with his brothers and their wives, and the one little cousin that we have so far.

Back into action.

Elijah is enjoying the play structure that his daddy grew up playing on.
Alli equally appreciates it, but shortly after this picture she fell and didn't appreciate it anymore. This was the only time the kids played outside, as the temperatures became much colder in the following days.Farkle was the game of choice this holiday, and we enjoyed many rounds. This is our sister-in-law blowing good luck (if you believe in such nonsense!) onto the dice as they fall.Alli is finally at the age to really enjoy her grandparents and didn't take any time in warming up to them. I love seeing her enjoy her grandpa! And she made their weekend by saying both "grandma" and "grandpa." At least that is what they claim she said . . .

And for my two favorite pictures of the weekend:

Dan took this one, creatively using the blocks the kids were playing with at the time.

I shot this one, of Dan's brother and his little boy, who needed some comforting from his daddy. Too cute!

Well, it was a fun weekend, as it usually is. We came home on Sunday and promptly left again Monday morning for a waterpark adventure with my parents while Dan attended some meetings. I'll post pics from that trip soon.

Early Christmas

Dan and I got our Christmas present early this year. We upgraded our camera. While I still have a long way to go in understanding all the bells and whistles on this piece of technology, I am immensely enjoying the quality of pictures I am getting. So here are a few of my current favorites. Enjoy!Can you tell what I most love taking pictures of? I could follow them around shooting all day!

After hearing some real "gems" from Elijah recently, I realized that I should be writing them down! So that is exactly what I am doing here:

I was reading a book at the breakfast table one morning and Elijah was up earlier than usual. I explained to him that I needed a little quiet so that I could finish the chapter in my Bible Doctrine book. A few minutes passed and then he asked me, "Mommy, are you going to the Doctor's today?" When I replied in the negative and inquired why he asked me that, he answered, "Then why are you reading a doctor book?"

Elijah has discovered the world of bubblegum and asks for a piece quite often. He watches intently if Dan or I blow a bubble and asked if we could show him how to do it. When we tried to explain it, he understood that it would be difficult to learn and decided that his "special trick" with gum would be to "chomp it."

I attended a friend's baby shower last week and brought home some candy. Elijah saw it and asked if it was from the "baby's bath."

And finally, in an effort to get to eat dinner early, before his father had come home, Elijah whined to me and said that "eating together stranges me out." Now explain that!?!?!

Email Forwards

I received this email today and laughed out loud! It is too funny not to share. After all, have you ever sent one of these forwards?

SUMMARY OF MY LAST YEAR ON THE COMPUTER
I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 I dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain gas companies!

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...

Have a wonderful day....

Oh, by the way.....A South American scientist from Argentina, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse. Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.

Weekend to Reflect

This weekend found me attending a wedding, a funeral and a baby shower. All in three day's time. These events, in and of themselves, usually cause a person to reflect, to become sentimental, to cry. I did all. To add to the craziness of the weekend, I found out that my cousin has lung cancer and her father, my uncle, was diagnosed on the same day with Parkinson's Disease. Throw it all together and what do you get? A perfect opportunity to reflect on the brevity of life. I feel like I experienced an entire life's worth of "special moments" this weekend and it propelled me to ponder the meaning of life.

Now, I am a believer in and follower of Jesus Christ. I am fully aware of the meaning of life - to glorify God in all that I eat or drink or whatever I do. But even fully devoted believers have moments of self-introspection and questioning. The greatness of having those moments means that the Holy Spirit has another chance to speak to your soul, to remind you that life isn't only made up of those grand occasions, but that life occurs every day in the mundane moments. It is easy to judge a wedding or funeral to see if God was glorified, but what about the way in which I served lunch to my kids today? Did I honoring the gospel in my interaction with my neighbor as we walked together early this morning?

And the most amazing thing about remembering that we have these moments to show the glory of Christ is that He gives me another chance to do it again tomorrow. It's all about grace . . .

Another Reason . . .

. . . that I enjoy my "once-a-month-cooking" habit is that it frees up my kitchen during the day to bake my own bread or other goodies. I don't feel so overwhelmed at being in the kitchen "all day" because I know that dinner is already made, only needs heating up, and I am free to use my time to experiment with new side dishes or other fun recipes!

*This post is for my facebook friends who have been asking about my oamc fixation.

Eating my Veggies

I was taking a leisurly shopping trip to Sam's Club a few weeks ago (the kids were home with Dan) and happened upon a cookbook for sale that was all about incorporating veggies into your "kid friendly" meals. I was instantly hooked. We really struggle to get Elijah to eat his vegetables, so I decided that anyway we could get some in his body would be worth it. So I bought the cookbook and proceeded over the next 24 hours to absolutely devour it. I read it every chance I could get and started making a list of veggies to buy to try the recipes.

Well, by now the whole world knows about the cookbook, because the next day, the author - Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry's wife) was on Oprah. And within a few weeks the book was surrounded in controversy because apparently there is a similar cookbook already on the market.

My attitude toward the controversy? Who cares! I just love the ideas presented! She starts with vegetable purees and adds them to almost everything. And since I have been trying to eat more healthy (my brother's heart attack affected my diet, too) I love all the ideas.

We have already made hot chocolate with sweet potato puree, sweet potato pancakes, pumpkin oatmeal, scrambled eggs with cauliflower and beet pancakes. As you can see, I especially like the breakfast dishes because it is a way to sneak veggies in a meal where I usually wouldn't even think about it! Besides, because I make most of my dinners ahead of time, I am not able to add veggie purees into them now. But next month I will!

We have enjoyed trying the new dishes and I love knowing that Elijah is getting some vegetables that even I don't like (beets and sweet potato are not on my "must eat" list). I still prepare veggies for dinner, but I know he is getting more than what is required for him to eat on his plate.

My biggest surprise recipe? Adding chickpeas to chocolate chip cookies. If you mix them with a hand or stand mixer, it chops them up enough that they basically disappear when you bake them. You seriously cannot taste them! I made a batch and took them to a chili supper at my church and handed them out to a ton of people and got their reactions. No one could taste it at all. And because she uses trans-fat free tub margarine in most of her baking, all the recipes are low fat, too.

I cannot emphasize how much this has made my cooking more fun. I try to hide some kind of vegetable into almost all my meals, including squash in macaroni and cheese and carrot in cornbread. It has been a blast! What are your secrets for eating healthy?

My Birthday Weekend

Well, it's finally official. I'm 30. As I type this, my stomache drops and tears spring to my eyes. Ok, it's not that bad, I don't feel really very different. The birthday I have been dreading since I turned 26 (which made me officially closer to 30 than 20) has come and I have survived. I'm sure it is because I had such a great birthday weekend, which I will share with you in pictures and commentary.

Although my birthday wasn't officially until Saturday, the celebration started on Thursday evening when Dan brought home a German Chocolate Cake from the store. I love German Chocolate and it was a truly selfless gesture from him because Dan doens't really care for chocolate. He presented me with a wrapped bag containing a beautiful wooden salad bowl and serving utensils, which I had commented in passing that I thought would be nice. The bowl also contained a couple of gift cards, 3 Frappuccinos and a French press for making coffee, and a Newsboys DVD and 2 videos of their concerts. Does this man know me, or what!?!?!?

We finished the evening carving pumpkins, which excited Elijah immensly and which bored Allison quickly.

Friday evening we went on a date - out to dinner at Panera Bread (I love that place!) shopping for some new clothes and then ended the evening with raspberry custard.

Saturday evening we went to our friend's house for dinner and took the kids trick or treating afterward. Elijah is quite competent in asking for candy and Allison was just along for the ride, enjoying walking down the sidewalk on her own and loving the pumpkin outfit she wore. At one house, however, she got an individual sized bag of crackers, and she finished out the evening proudly showing off her treat and screaming in delight. As any mom will say, seeing my kids have so much fun made my birthday even more wonderful!

Sunday morning as we drove to church we saw 2 beautiful hot air balloons floating over the fields that surround our church. One passed right over the roof and the other landed in the grassy area between our church and our parking lot! It was a blast to stand around and watch the balloon deflate and the kids loved it. I only wish that I had my camera to capture the moment!

Sunday night we had a great time with our small group and I came home that evening thanking God for good friends and the blessing of another year of life.

Idol Factories and the Debtor's Ethic

I was at my parent's house for most of last week, enjoying a more quiet visit than is typical when we do a "two day run." Dan had to stay back home and work, so it was just me and the kids. On the way home, after tiring of the music I had been listening to, I remembered that I finally downloaded the sermons from the NA conference back in May and I decided to listen to some again.

This would be the 3rd time I listened to Piper's last message of the conference. I have been meaning to blog about it, but it is too full of truth to summarize here. Besides, it would take as much time for me to try to explain it to you as it would for you to listen to it yourself. He spoke on obedience that pleases the Lord and addressed perfectly the idea of future grace and the faulty logic of the debtor's ethic. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE take the time to listen to it. I will never sing the line, "Oh to grace, how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be!" the same way again.

Then I listened again to CJ Mahaney's first sermon on discerning your heart. He spoke eloquently, but simply on the topic of idols in our life. He quotes Calvin in saying that we are little "idol factories," capable of conquering one idol, only to be replaced by another. It calls on us to constantly scour our hearts to search for idols that threaten to destroy us. I cannot recommend a clearer, or more focused message on the topic.

On Saturday, after I returned home, we started a new Ladie's study on the book by Elyse Fitzpatrick, Idols of the Heart. The sermon was the perfect appetizer for a book full of the meat of the Word. Taking the short hour to listen to this sermon will be time well spent and your heart will be challenged and blessed.

I don't often recommend sermons to listen to. First of all, because I understand how hard it is for all of us "stay-at-home-moms!" But please listen to these two. Download them onto your iPod, or if you don't have one, and live close to me, give me a call and I will gladly watch your kids while you take a long walk and feed your soul. I mean it; I'm that passionate about these messages.

Apple Picking Adventure

Last Saturday we went apple picking at an orchard in Northern IL with our small group from church. It was a blissfully warm day (almost hot!) and the apples were crisp and delicious straight from the tree. We picked about 25 lbs., which I made into 6 pies, 2 batches of applesauce, and there are still enough to eat for the pure pleasure of it!

We intended to come home with a few pumpkins, but after strenuous effort, Elijah decided we didn't have room in the trunk for this one.

You can see pics from others who were with us here, here and here.

Diego

We had a really busy weekend, but it was full of fun outings and great teaching, so I am not complaining! This week looks to be as busy as well, so I will do my best to post about the pictures of all the fun we had.

On Friday evening we went to see the Go, Diego, Go! live stage show. If you don't have toddlers, you may not be familiar with Diego, but he is Dora's cousin, if that helps! It is a fun show that teaches the kids about animals, while incorporating Spanish. It's cute, like I said, if you have toddlers.

Since State Farm sponsered the show, we were able to get 8 free tickets! So we invited another couple, with their 3 year old, and then invited 2 other kids to join us. We figured that 4 adults could handle 4 kids, and luckily, we had no problems.

The show was a blast. Elijah was really involved and growled out loud when the actors asked the kids to act like a baby jaguar. It was fun to watch him enjoying the show, and being a fan of the stage myself, I enjoyed watching all the technical aspects of the show.

So that was the start of the busy weekend. I will post pictures of our apple picking adventure on Saturday, as well as post about the weekend Bible Conference we had with Jerry Bridges.

This picture goes with my last post. He really likes the vest, until 6 o'clock on Monday night when it is time to leave for Cubbies. By the way, those are Dan's toes, and yes, I sewed the patch on all by myself. My mom should be proud.

Why We Choose AWANA

About 2 weeks ago, Elijah started the AWANA program (specifically, Cubbies) at a church nearby. Our church does not offer AWANA, which never really affected me until I had a child old enough to participate. I have read varied opinions on AWANA clubs and others like it and their use of awards and such, and I can honestly admit that I see both sides of the debate. So here is our reasoning in allowing Elijah to attend (in no particular order):

First of all, I kinda like that it is at a different church. The church that holds the club does things a little different than we do, and I am sure that we disagree on some finer points of theology and practice. But I enjoy introducing our children to other believers who are unlike us. I want them to realize that Christians are similar in faith, but we may differ in how we apply our beliefs to our life. I desperately want them to understand that "our way" of doing things does not equal absolute truth and to be patient in trying to discern why other true believers may make decisions contrary to our own. And I like introducing my kids to other teachers and friends besides the ones they see every week at our church!

I like that AWANA Clubs stress the importance of memorizing Scripture. I am fully aware that at this point, Elijah is memorizing verses as an unbeliever. I know that if he continues in his unbelief, he is likely to become a pharisee. That fact alone terrifies me. I think I would rather have a child who openly rejects the grace of Christ than a child who rebels only in his heart and "looks" good on the outside. That is a dangerous place to live. But I also understand that it is Dan and I's responsibility to introduce our children to Christ, and I am obliged to all teachers who aid us in that endeavor.

We discussed this last night at our small group and I was explaining my belief that parents must constantly acknowledge that memorization does not equate to true, saving faith. I made the point that Elijah could win the Timothy Award, yet still reject Christ, and I hope we are always faithful to encourage our kids toward repentance, regardless of their awards in AWANA. One of the guys in our group said, "I won the Timothy Award." to which I replied, "Were you a believer at the time?" And he promptly answered, "Nope." My point exactly.

When, and if, our children come to Christ, which we pray fervently that they do, we hope those verses they memorized will be an aid to greater understanding of God's Word and an encouragement in their faith. After all, I remember verses I memorized before I fully embraced Christ, and they aid my walk today.

As to the charge about frivolity and "entertaining at church," I do concede that a lot of that takes place these days in fundamentalism and evangelicalism. This is a valid concern. I worry our kids will grow up expecting to be constantly entertained with silly song-and-dance shows and will develop the idea that church is not so much about God, but about me and how it can relate to my needs. I understand this argument.

My defense is rather simple. The tide of entertainment in church neither rises nor falls on the shoulders of AWANA. Once again, no program can replace solid teaching at home and, I believe, teaching at home will not be derailed by a once-a-week club that incorporates some fun activities. Balance is the key - and that saying is overused for a reason!

So there you have it, my friends. Those are just a few of the thoughts that jumped around in my head when we decided to utilize the AWANA club at the church nearby. I am convinced in my own mind, but completely open that others may be convinced differently. I think it is vital to our spiritual well-being to think these things through and come to a conclusion, and to fight the urge to just swim in the same direction that other Christian fish are swimming.

Grateful

This has been a crazy week. I got a call on Tuesday that my 37 year old brother had a heart attack. After a few hours of phone calls and arrangements, Dan and I and the kids left for my hometown where my entire family resides. I am grateful our life allows us to pick up and go when necessary.

It is now Thursday afternoon and things are looking ok. I don't want to say things are "fine" or "good" because a heart attack changes everything. It affects his entire life, and affects his family, his wife and 2 daughters, also. The artery that caused the heart attack had a stint placed in it immediately, and a second artery that was 90% blocked was stinted (is that a word?) this afternoon. I am grateful for the wisdom God has granted to doctors.

Kevin has had constant visitors in the hospital, both family and friends. Probably hundreds of people are praying for him, and indeed, my whole family. I am grateful for the prayers of righteous saints.

Health scares have a way of making us stop and think about life. What is important and what doesn't matter in the long run. Our food intake is one of those things. Food is a gift from God, but often becomes an idol in my own life. Obsession with health and lengthening your life easily becomes an idol, too. I'm grateful that God can give us balance, if we ask for it.

I'm grateful for a lot of things, but most of all, I am grateful for a God that is in control. He has numbered my brother's days and I am confident that His grace will accompany any trial that lies ahead.

One of my favorite things about Fall . . .

Cool nights mean . . .FOOTY PAJAMAS!

A Trip to Cabellas

My parents were here for an extended visit last week and we tried to cram in as many activities as possible! We visited the zoo and then decided to take an evening trip to Cabellas. We can spend hours in this store looking at all the sporting goods and the beautiful animals. Here are just a few of the snapshots we took:

Alli really enjoyed looking at all the animals, although she acted a bit reserved when we got too close.

Even Alli found something to buy! We had to strategically divert her attention while we put the hat back on the shelf, she loved it so much.

Elijah is ready for an overnight backpacking trip, even if he won't be able to lift this thing fully-loaded!

We tried to pose with the friendly bear, but you all know how hard it is to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time. Dan is missing because he took the picture!

More on "The Jesus Storybook Bible"

As if I haven't done enough to promote this Bible, here is one more reason to buy it! This article is an interview with Sally Lloyd-Jones and she gives the reader a glimpse into her reasons for writing the book, how she chose each story and how she views teaching children from the Bible. I loved reading it and thought you might like it, too.

Please go and read the entire article, but if you aren't motivated, hopefully this excerpt will drive you to it:


When I first saw that everything in the Old Testament, is pointing to a child—the one who is coming—it blew me away. Suddenly, here was a way to read the Bible without it leaving you condemned (I’ll never keep all the rules all the time) or in despair (how can I ever be as brave as Daniel? or David?).I found it so moving when I started to discover how the Old Testament is basically one long record of failure—the failure of God’s people time and time again to live rightly, to rescue themselves—and that the stories in the Old Testament are all getting us ready for the One who is coming. They are all signposts to the True Hero, the True King, the True Prince, the True Servant, the greater David, the greater Daniel. The Rescuer.

As a child, I thought the Bible was packed with rules you had to keep (or God wouldn’t love you) and heroes setting examples you had to follow (or God wouldn’t love you). I thought, in short, that the Bible was all about me and what I should (or shouldn’t) be doing. Until I read a Story.

It’s the Story running like a golden stream underneath all the other stories in the Bible: the story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them. Suddenly, I realized the Bible wasn’t about me and what I should be doing at all. It was about God and what he had done. And it changed everything.


So, throughout the mapping out of the book and writing the stories, I was resolute in my determination to avoid even a whiff of moralizing in terms of applying the stories. The absolute last thing I ever wanted to ask a child was: “And what can we learn from David about how God wants us to behave?” The story isn’t there to be an example for us to follow. If that were the point, Jesus would never needed to have come. We could have saved ourselves.

The story is there because it’s true and because it’s telling the bigger story—of the greater David who is coming. To do for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves, to fight the battle we could never fight. To be the Hero we all need. To be our Rescuer.

I wanted children to know this Story—and to meet this wonderful Hero in the pages of this book. Because rules don’t change you. But a story can.

Preaching the Cross to Myself

I've had a couple of bad weeks. Nothing major, just a week and a half of constant raining, Dan working tons of late nights, and general snarkiness of my kids. I'm sure most of you can relate. My point of this post is not to complain, but I have to set the stage . . .

Now typically I don't lose my patience a ton with my kids during the day. That just isn't my temptation during most days. But when I don't get that break around 6 o'clock that I have come to expect (and I assume, deserve) then that is another story. And I didn't get that break at all 2 weeks ago. In fact, our Friday, which we usually spend together as family time, was packed full of events, and then Saturday Dan volunteered to help a friend work on their house for the day. I was near my breaking point and I kind of cracked. I hadn't been responding in the right way most of the week, but by Saturday I was fed up. I was cranky and impatient with my family, including my husband. So when he finally came home that evening, I was so upset that I didn't want to spend any time with him. What a way to reward him!

I knew I was sinning. I knew in my "head" that I wasn't responding rightly and I didn't care enough to change it. I prayed, but it was more like, "Oh God, you don't know how bad I have it. Make it all better!" instead of, "Change me, work in me, help me respond the way I know I should." That's when 2 friends entered the picture the exact way the body of Christ should operate. One encouraged me by praying that I would respond the right way, and the other reminded me that when things are tough, it is a perfect time to reflect on God and how He can meet our needs. It all sounded good when Sunday came and I was expecting a better week ahead, but the better week never materialized. I had an equally stinky week this past week.

But do you know what the difference was? Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I preached the cross to myself. I spent time in the Word and prayed for the power to respond the right way to life's struggles. After all, isn't that exactly what the Cross purchased for us? And then, to top it all off, our pastor preached on 2 Peter 1 yesterday and it was the highlight to end my week. I still missed my husband last week, my kids still irritated me, I was not perfect every moment, but preaching the cross to myself gave me a God-oriented focus to my actions and my heart, and that made all the difference.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord, help me not become ineffective or unfruitful. Use your Holy Spirit and your Word to remind me that you have given me the power to not sin. Show me the cross before all my actions and thoughts that I might do the same to my family. Amen.