Three Wise Men and a baby! (and our little angel)

Here is the little Angel herself. She was so cute and took her role as one of the angels in the Christmas play very seriously. I think we have a potential actor, singer, or some kind of performer here folks. She knew every word and hand motion that she was taught and was very proud of it.

A group shot of the preschool angel choir. Notice the cute pose!

This is a smile that says "Yeah! I did a great job!"

This is what a smile looks like after hundreds of pictures have been taken of the group in an attempt to get everyone in just the right place!

Christmas Shopping Anyone?

I am so jealous of everyone who is done with all of their christmas shopping. Today I was out for only 3 hours and got the kids presents, then spent the rest of the 2 1/2 hours driving around looking at gift ideas for those harder people on my list. I know that there are some great deals to be had out there and I will venture out in the morning to try to finish. I finally gave up and went home after making several stops and not finding anything that would work. I hope the stores will restock overnight because things were definitely picked over and the selection was less than desirable.

Look back here in the next couple of days for some great pictures from the christmas program. Madeline was the cutest angel you ever saw!! The others were so cute too, but I guess I am partial to my own and can't help but be proud of her performance!

"Big" Goals

It seems like every day Madelilne is discussing with me the topic of growing "bigger". She asks me every day, several times a day, "am I growing bigger?". I say "yes, every day you grow bigger". Then she will proceed to ask me about specific things she will be able to do when she gets bigger. She will ask me, "when I grow bigger will I be able to go to the store by myself?". I usually confirm that she will be able to do those things when she gets bigger. Yesterday morning she asked me, "am I bigger mom?" to which I answered "yes, you get bigger a little more every day" and then she asked "can I drive?" to which I answered "not until you are 16 years old and right now you are only 3 years old". She then said "oh, ok". I am glad that these are such easy questions to answer, but I know that she is going to start coming up with harder questions in the near future. She seems to be thinking constantly about what she will do when she grows bigger.

Fresh Air: Breethe Deeply, Live Fully

Westside MOPS is strating September 18th at 6:30pm. I am very excited about this school year starting even though I don't have school age children. Last year I joined the Mothers of Preschoolers group (MOPS) at my church. I have had a heart for a Moms Ministry for the past few years and was a part of the Coordinating Team at our church in Oak Harbor, Wa. We were a small group so we decided to do our own program rather than be a part of the MOPS International Organization. It was less money for us to spend and we were able to customize it to reach other mothers besides just mothers of preschool age children. I have still always wanted to be a part of a MOPS group and even thought about doing my church moms group and a MOPS group at the same time but never was able to fit it into my schedule. Now that I have had the opportunity of being a part of a MOPS group I just love it!

Our theme this year is "Fresh Air" and "What Every Mom Needs" a book by Elisa Morgan and Carol Kuykendall who run the MOPS Organization. I am reading the book and have liked the little bit of it that I have read so far. I am working on taking time to sit and read a little each day. What I love about MOPS is that it is a group of women who all have something in common. They are all mothers of small children. They may come from different backgrounds, different income levels, different church affiliations, etc... But they can all relate to each other and support each other in a very special and challenging time in their life. This year's theme is going to be incredible. Talking about the basic needs of moms and taking a step back to breath fresh air. Whether you are a mom or not, this sounds great!! Life can get so hectic and stressful. It will be great to have two nights a month that are specifically for me to relax and get a breath of fresh air!

If anyone is in the Portland/Beaverton/ anywhere in driving distance, this is going to be a great group to be involved in. We are meeting in the evenings on the 1st and 3rd Monday night starting on 9/18/06. Our evening program will allow us to include working moms and single moms and others who have not been able to join in the past. We also will have more opeinings for moms to join than in the past because we were limited by childcare openings as well. Most children will stay home with other family members, but if needed we will still offer childcare with advance enrollment.

Check us out at www.westsidemops.org or go to www.mops.org to learn more about the MOPS International Organization.

Missing Friends

It has been so busy in my life that it seems I don't have time for friends. I don't even have time for myself. I definitely don't want this to be a depressing entry so I will not go down that road. I want all my friends to know that I miss you and think of you even though I have not been able to call you or email you lately. I want my blog to start being a place where we can connect more and maybe just keep up with what is going on a little better. That does not mean that I should not be calling you, so I promise to make an effort to do that more. After moving back to Oregon in November I have been even more isolated than before. There are alot of factors that play into that but I have come to the conclusion that it is not going to get any easier. Life is going to continue to be busy, as our kids grow up more we will be busier with their activities, we have jobs at home and outside the home, and life just gets busy! So here is just my way of saying that I miss you and wish I could spend more time talking to you and getting together with you.

Jennifer, you are now the friend that live closest to me. You are also my friend that I have had the longest. I am so excited that you are joining MOPS because now I will have more opportunities to see you.

Tammy, I miss you living close by and wish we could have spent more time together before you moved. I want to call you and email you more and find out how you are doing.

Cheryl, I know you are always a phone call away and you never seem to get frustrated with me when we don't talk for awhile. Thanks for all your support these past few months. I hope you can come to MOPS so we can see each other more.

Jessica, I can't believe it has almost been a year since you moved and since I have seen you. You are such an encouragement to me. You understand more than anything what we went through in leaving Oak Harbor. I want us to stay close friends and hope we get a chance to visit you soon.

I have more friends and love each of you dearly. Even though I may not have time to call or email at this busy time in my life I hope to stay in touch and find opportunities to catch up. I think of my friends often who have blessed my life and contributed to my growth as a wife and mother. Thanks, I love you all!!

Discovering Strengths

After returning to work almost 3 months ago, I have been going through some really good training classes. I am learning alot about myself and alot about my job and I am glad because it is helping me figure out what is expected of me and how I can succeed in my job. I know, it sounds pretty boring right? Today was one of the best classes because it focused on each person individually and showed us each what are strengths are and how we need to use those in life.

At Wells Fargo we are lucky to be able to go through a process to "Discover Your Strengths". That is the title of the book written by the Gallup Organization. We all did an online assesment test and then were given what our top 5 strengths were. I thought it would be fun to share mine. I was kind of skeptical at first but I can really see how these fit me and how they affect what I do. You can get the book and take the quiz too if you want to pay for it, just make sure you buy the book new because the code in the back that you need to do the assesment cannot be used more than once.

Here are my "Top 5"
1. Maximizer- Focuses on strengths as a way to stimulate personal and group excellence. Seeks to transform something strong into something superb.
2. Harmony- Look for consensus. Doesn't enjoy conflict; rather, seeks areas of agreement.
3. Responsibility- Take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. Are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.
4. Arranger- Can organize, but also has flexibility that complements this ability. Likes to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.
5. Belief- Has certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.

These definitions, of course, are the shortest little picture of what each of those strengths are. There is a whole book about discovering your strengths that I am thinking about reading. We went through alot of material in class today that went into more detail about what each strength is and also some things that you should do with each of your strengths. The idea is that you would focus on your strengths and leveraging those rather than focusing on your weaknesses and trying to fix them or get better in those area. You will see the most success when you focus on developing your strengths because those are the themes that are closest to your natural talents and abilities.

It was pretty cool, but I guess that is partly because I am a "maximizer" and enjoy knowing about people's strengths.

It is hot outside!

Have you noticed that people complain about the weather more than anything else? I guess part of that is because it is the easiest topic to bring up with people you don't know that you might see when you are out and about. I think it is silly though, that we are never happy, even with the weather. There is nothing we can do to control it, so we might as well learn to be satisfied with what we are given. I will acknowledge that it is very hot here today. I am getting ready to feed the kids dinner and then go to the store and get a kiddi pool to put on the patio just so we can cool down tonight. It is supposed to last for a few days so it might be nice to have a way to keep cool this week.

I really want to be able to do some fun things this summer with my kids and as a family or with friends. I guess we better come up with some ideas and options of things to do when the weather is not too hot and then another option for when it is too hot to be outside. I hate having the kiddos out in the sun too much and worrying about sun burns. It is going to be a fun, and hot, summer!

It's Birthday Month!!

For the rest of my life June will be a busy month for my family. Both of my children celebrate their birthday this month. Today my firstborn, Madeline, turns three years old. She is so excited that it is her birthday, and you can't help but get excited with her. This year she really understands that her birthday is something special and it is a big event in her life. She has been asking me every day for the past week or two if it was June 1st, her birthday. I am glad that today I can finally say YES! Today is your birthday! It is June 1st today! We are planning a birthday party for her on Saturday, so she will continue to enjoy her birthday for the next couple of days. I brought home a special balloon and a little cake for her tonight to try to make today a little bit special and help her celebrate her actually birthday. It is so fun to see her get excited. Next we will have Jordan's first birthday on June 19th. Boy has this past year gone by fast! He can't already be a year old! We will have fun celebrating his birthday as well, and it will be great to have the extended family together for both of these celebrations!! I am so blessed to have two wonderful children!

Every moment precious

One of the many things that I am learning is that every moment with my family is precious. I felt that I knew that before I started working, but now it is even more true since I have less time to spend with them. I am trying to remind myself that the dishes and vacuuming just won't get done right now after I get home from work because I only have 1 1/2 hours to see my kids before they go to bed. And usually after bedtime I don't feel like doing housework anyway. Luckily the pile of dishes in the sink is not a big one because Mike does a great job of keeping up during the day while I am gone. I am slowly adjusting to the working world again and realize how different it is from staying home. Staying at home is definitely the more physically and mentally exhausting job but also very rewarding. Please be encouraging to all stay at home mothers of preschoolers (and dads that stay home too). I now can relate to both working and stay at home moms and know that both situations have their ups and downs. I will continue to pray for wisdom and God's help in balancing work and family.

I made it through the first week

I just made it through my first week of work. It was much better than I thought it would be and I am so glad. It is very hard adjusting to a long work day away from home and I do miss my kids and husband so much. But, I was pleasantly surprised and blessed by the great people in my office and by very encouraging boss. I know that it was all made possible by God and I also was very blessed by my husband doing such a great job taking care of our children at home and running the house so well. Thanks Mike! I love you! I am glad that he is staying home with them for at least these first few weeks. It feels like a smaller step to take and easier for me than having to take them to day care and worry about that all day. I hope that next week will be even greater!

I'm going to work!!

Well, after a couple of weeks of applying for jobs and praying for the right opportunity God has blessed me and my family with a job for me to do. I was interviewed and offered a job today with Wells Fargo Bank. I used to work for them a few years ago so it will be familiar to me and the branch is fairly close to home so I won't be driving far. I think it will work for me, it will be a very big adjustment to go back to work and balance my family and a job. I have a week to get ready and get organized before I have to start. I really want to feel like I am organized and ready to go. I am excited and also scared so I will be praying for an easy transition.

Job Hunting

It is a little strange looking for a job after not working for over three years now. It is scary and exciting, but right now it is what I need to do. I have an interview today and possibly some other interviews soon. I sometimes forget to be confident in my abilities since it has been awhile since I have been working. I just hope to find a job that is not too stressful and possibly even fun. It may seem a little funny, but one of my biggest worries is that I don't have much in the way of working clothes anymore. I really weeded out my closet over the past couple of years, especially after having two children. I need to work on adding to my professional wardrobe if I am going to be in an office again. My standard every day dress code of jeans and t-shirts (and sometime pajamas) will not work for me if I get a job. God will provide for me and my family even if it is not what I would have as my first choice right now.

Pivot Points

A couple of weeks ago our church hosted a Ladies Retreat and the theme was "Pivot Points" of life and talked about how God is working in our lives. It was a great weekend with great speakers from our congregation and good discussion time with other women. It was quite a fitting theme for where my life is right now. I am in the middle of a major pivot point for me and my family. While my husband is still looking for work we are relying on God more than ever to provide for us. Over the past week I have really seen some glimpses of how God is working in our life and providing opportunities for Mike to work in ministry again. We have to continue to be patient and wait for God to continue to work on these things for us and rely on Him to provide. It is scary and yet exciting to start to see what God might be doing. A few months ago we were not sure if a ministry job was something that we could see doing in the very near future. God has been able to heal our hearts and rekindle the passion for ministry and now it is something that is very desireable if God choses to open up the right doors. God can do so much in such a short amount of time. It is amazing and I pray that I am content with whatever the Lord provides for us.

Waiting for God's plan

Just when you think that you know what God's plan is for your life you get thrown for a loop. I am thankful that God is in control of my life and that I rely on Him to provide and guide me. It gets confusing though when times are tough and you just don't know where you are going or what direction God wants you to take. I know that God uses these times to stretch us and help us learn and grow. I will be thankful when I come out on the other side, but for now I am trying to be patient in waiting for the unveiling of His plan. I guess we always need to remember that we cannot see the whole picture like God can and that we can't start thinking that we have it all figured out and that nothing will ever change. We can take comfort in the fact that God is guiding us through all the good and bad times and that we can use both experiences to praise God.

Planting a seed

For almost a year now Mike and I have been talking about the idea of getting involved in church planting. It is definitely a subject that we have are gradually getting more excited about and are to the point now that we really feel God is leading us to start taking some action. We are now living in the Beaverton, OR area which is near where we have thought about planting a church. Our idea now is to start working on forming our church plant while Mike works a "secular" job at the same time. We will still be in ministry and will be working toward full-time ministry in the future when we can be fully supported by a church or by individuals who feel strongly about helping our church plant succeed. We have lots of logistics to work out to take the next step and we will be praying about how to go about that now. There are different organizations out there that work with church planting and we may be able to join their program. We already have many ideas about what we would do as a church plant and that has been fun and exciting to brainstorm and think about all the great things we could do.

A new start

Well after not posting for 2 months alot has changed in my life. We are basically starting over. We decided to leave the church that my husband was working for and move back to Oregon. We always hoped we would eventually come back here and live closer to family but we were not planning on doing it this soon or through the situation that we found ourselves in. We are still not completely settled in yet. Mike is looking for a job and we are looking to God to get us through all the changes in our lives. I know that this will be a positive thing, it already has been. We are in a place right now where we can start to heal emotionally and spiritually. It will be good to have some time away from ministry to clear our heads and even have some good time to grow spiritually. We have been lacking some things and just been in an environment that has not allowed us to do that for awhile. We are looking for a church to call our home and have been visiting some churches in our area. We are ready to settle down and just enjoy being a part of a church without all the stresses of working there. I do want to be in ministry in the future, but we are open to go where God wants us and will be looking for the right opportunity.

A good day

I just wanted to take a minute to write about the good day I am having. I feel like I have been experiencing a lot of negative things lately and I want to remember that I had a good day today. It was not a particularly special day in any way. I stayed home mostly and went out for an hour at lunch time to go grocery shopping by myself while Mike stayed home with the kids. It is very exhausting to take both kids with me to shop right now. What has made this day good is very simple. I have been able to keep a good attitude and felt good about the things I have done. My 2 year old daughter has been pretty good and obedient overall, that is great in itself! My 4 month old has been on a great schedule and been happy all day! I cleaned up an area of my home that has been neglected for awhile now. It has been a normal day at home, and it has been great! I have been feeling really stressed lately and have been thinking alot about what to do about it and how to reduce the stress in my life. I have decided that for right now I need to cut out some things that I am involved in and responsible for. I have reached a point where I have too much on my plate. I was handling it all just fine before I had Jordan this summer. After that I started having a hard time keeping up and my 2 year old started acting like a 2 year old which meant I had more work on my hands too. I think that I feel better now that I have made some decisions to give up some things. I need to put my family first. I need to focus on my marriage, my children, and my home for awhile until I feel like I have more balance in my life. I hope I can do this without feeling too guilty about the things I have to say no to. I feel like I am already getting over that part though.

Does ministry isolate?

I love working in ministry. I love helping others, and especially love being involved with teens and helping them grow spiritually. One part of being in ministry with teens is that it is hard to balance your own spiritual and social needs. I am feeling very isolated from the rest of the adults in the church right now because we don't have many opportunities to be around them and involved in programs that are designed for the adults. Our adult small groups are one of the main places where people connect with each other and get to know each other better. We have not been in a small group for almost a year now and that is taking its toll. If we are always with the teens because that is the "job" we are here to do, then when do we ever connect with the adults? Life is so hectic and busy right now that it is very hard to find time to get together with people outside of scheduled church activities. Hopefully we will be able to find some balance soon!

Friends are Forever

Remember the song "Friends are Friends Forever" by Michael W. Smith. I remember singing it on the last night of camp and crying when I was a teenager. But the words are so true. I have been so blessed in my 29 years of life to have made a few really good friends that really do last forever. We may not be able to talk every day or do things together all the time, but we remain close in our hearts. I used to think that I could only have one best friend, and I was constantly striving to have that one close friendship that I would be able to talk to about anything and everything. Well, I have learned alot about friendships and am coming to realize that God puts people in my life at the right time for awhile and they may not remain in my day to day life forever, but they remain a close friend forever. There have been times in my recent past when I did not have a close friend that I could talk to and see on a regular basis because I moved away or they moved. Those are hard times, but I have learned from it. I have been blessed so many times with friends that God put in my life and I have grown from their friendships. I thank God for those times especially. I know that even though I am going through a difficult time right now with having a good friend move away, God will continue to bless me with friends in the future and I now have even more friends that will last throughout my life and into eternity.

Buried in laundry!

The addition of a baby to our household seems to have doubled the amount of laundry in the house. Why is it that the smallest person in the home makes the biggest messes? Jordan is almost 4 months old now. He is such a good baby, and he is happy most of the time. One of the things that has been different with him is that he spits up all the time. He probably goes through 3 or 4 sets of clothes every day. I have gotten to the point where if we are just staying home during the day I will wait until he spits up at least 3 times on his clothes before he gets clean ones. On most days I even have to change my clothes at least one time. And the same rule applies to me, I have to have been spit up on more than one time to constitute a clean set of clothes. I remember one day when in a matter of 15 minutes he spit up all over my shirt and then peed on my pants when I was changing him. I can't wait to get my next water bill to see how much all this extra laundry is costing me! I think that things will start to slow down in a couple of months. I hope so! For now I will continue to try to keep up with all the washing, drying, folding, and putting clothes away. It is so tiring when you feel like you never get anything accomplished. As soon as you get a few loads done, there are more piles to wash.

Even with all the extra work involved, I am having a great time with my kids. I am so blessed to have 2 beautiful children and to be able to stay home and take care of them.