Blog Absence

Friends,
Ashley hasn't been feeling well this week and has been out of commission. I wanted to give you an update so you could pray for her as well as understand why the blog won't be updated as often. She should be back on her feet by the weekend (we hope).

Thanks for praying,
Greg

A Fond Farewell

We had our final official event with our church's college/20's group last Saturday. It was our annual trip to Ocean City NJ for the annual boat parade called Night in Venice. We spent the day getting fried on the beach/boardwalk. (It was a HOT HOT day) That night we had a cookout and watched the boat parade. We did not get home until 2am!

Overall, it was a really nice time to get away with this group that we have come to love in the 2 years Greg has been on staff with the church. It is not really a farewell as much as a see you later to these guys. I am sure there will be many more movie/game nights and coffee houses!

A break in the clouds

Yes, indeed the clouds are merely the dust of the Lord's feet... see this post.

What a beautiful symphony the Lord has put together with the events of our lives! I can look back now and see the thunder and lighting bringing this masterpiece to a crescendo...and then the Lord steps in with the sunshine.

My dear friends yesterday the Lord showed us just how big He is! He has provided for our family above an beyond anything we could have thought or imagined!

Let me give you some background to set up the story. Most of you know that the end of July marks the end of Greg's partnership with a local church as the college/20's director. We are very grateful for our time there, and we agree that the church needs to focus more family and youth ministry. The end of this partnership also means the end of the church's financial support that amounted to about 1/3 of our paycheck (just enough to cover our medical insurance).

There was never a question in our minds about whether or not the Lord wants us here at Arcadia. But there WAS a question about how we were going to make up that part of our income. All spring/summer we have been praying that the Lord would be HUGE in this situation. Greg has been talking to local churches about partnering with us to reach students and there have been many promising conversations, but nothing concrete has been established.

It was getting down to the wire. This is the last month that our medical premiums are going to be paid through our co-op at the church.

THEN the sunshine came!

Yesterday the Lord showed us us once again that HE is in control of HIS economy! He provided a way for us to keep our current $900/mo great insurance coverage for FREE!

YES you read that correctly, FREE! We never saw this coming! I cannot give the details but I am sure you know as well as me that God is in the details.

This provision almost completely makes up for the loss of our co-op position!

Praise the Lord with us today!

From the mouth of babes...

Greg and I have enjoyed being able to spend some one on one time with Abigail while Caed is away at camp this week. The other night at dinner we were talking with Abby about Jesus. Last night as I put her to bed we were talking again about why Jesus died on the cross. I said that Jesus can take away all the yucky stuff (sin) in our hearts and washed them all clean. At the end of our conversation she said:

"Mommy, that is a gross way to make our hearts clean."

That's my sweet little baby girl for you...

1 Peter 1:6-9

Ever feel like the Lord is trying to get a point across to you? If you scroll down to my summer storm post...that was just the beginning.

I read this today in my bible study time...

I have to confessed I am completely faith-challenged (that is my PC term for hard headed). I am so glad that my Lord knows this and is continually replacing my destructive thought patterns with the Truth of His word.

Big Day!

When I tell people about our blog I usually tell them it is a family/ministry/encouragement blog. In my mind it all runs together. There is no way to completely separate any of the categories in our lives. Family IS ministry...Ministry IS sharing with you and others what the Lord doing here in the lives of students at Arcadia as well as what the Lord is teaching me. I hope that my silly family pics and stories encourage you (or at least make you laugh).

Today falls into the family is ministry category. A couple hours ago we dropped Caedmon off at his first sleep away camp. 6 WHOLE DAYS away from his mama.... I am having a harder time with the idea than he was! It is a Christian camp that has come highly recommended by friends. This week Caed will swim, ride horses, shoot rifles and sling shots :\, and learn about God's word. How fun does that sound?

On the packing list for Camp was of course a bible. This combined with Caed's new found LOVE of reading made Greg and I think this would be a perfect time to get Caed his own bible. He was SOOO excited. It is a bible especially for 8-12 year old boys, complete with gross facts you never wanted to know!


I know in the grand scheme of things this day is a minor blip, but in the life of a little boy it was pretty huge step towards independence as the Lord molds Caed's little heart to be more like His.

If you think about it pray for Caed this week, a worried mama would appreciate it. :)

Summer Storms and Life Lessons

As we sat down to dinner tonight a summer storm started brewing. It got ugly fast. There was intense thunder and the RAIN came down hard. It was the kind of storm you feel in your gut. It effects your mood for the rest of the day.

In this dreary haze I got up to do the dishes and realized something odd. It was still raining but I could see sunshine clear as day. HOPE. Gradually the rain stopped. I looked out the window to survey the damage but all I saw was vibrant and refreshed vegetation.

Do you see the spiritual lesson played out in a summer storm?

Thunder out of no where.

Torrential rain.

Clouds break but the rain continues.

Rain slowly ends.

New, more vibrant life.

We are in a bit of a downpour in our lives right now. I cannot tell you how encouraged I felt watching the summer storm run it's course in our back yard. I am looking forward to the vibrant life this storm is going to produce in our lives.

In the clouds...

Don't you love it when you come across a verse you can't believe you have never heard before? In my study time this morning I read Nahum 1:3. (Who reads Nahum, right?) "The clouds are the dust of His feet..." WOW, did that just hit you between the eyes like it hit me?

Then I read this...
"Clouds are not signs of God's absence, within them we most often find His presence."

Did you catch that? Clouds (our sorrows, or sufferings) are a sign that He is there.

Oswald Chambers says that "through every cloud He (God) brings, He wants us to unlearn something. His purpose in the cloud is to simplify our belief until our relationship to Him is exactly that of a child."

Good stuff... I don't think I will ever look at a cloud the same.

The Tooth Fairy

Caedmon has had a loose tooth for a few days. This one baby tooth has been hanging on for so long that the tooth underneath it gave up and started coming up behind it to push it out the front! Last night Caed would not even eat his dinner because he could not bite into anything.

BUT even though it was hurting him, he would NOT let us help him get it out. We tried everything we could think of to help him. In an effort to get him to let Greg help the process along we told him that if he was brave he could write the tooth fairy and let her know how brave he was and she might increase the $1 she usually leaves behind when she collects teeth.

We finally got the tooth out and here is the note Caed left for the tooth fairy.

Dear Tooth Fairy
Since I was so brave and noble to pull my tooth out I was wondering if you could give me a raise in the money like you always give me $1.00 instead give me $2.00, $3.00 or $4.00, $5.00.
Love Caed
THANK YOU!

Priceless!

The tooth fairy granted Caed's request and left him $2.50.

We're BAAAACK!

After 19 days, 2,250 miles and way too many hours in the car we are back home! We had a great vacation. I have to admit it was kind of nice to be "unplugged" for a while. Don't you love it when you can't recall what day of the week it is?! It was nice to just concentrate on family, rest, and recreation.

We had some great family time in NC with all 15 of the Sovereign Family in one place for the first time in 2 years. 7 grandchildren in one house made for plenty of fun, noise, chaos, and laughs. They all giggled to sleep every night. Good times!

Our family time in Daytona was AMAZING. We spent the mornings out in the sun and then the afternoons napping. THAT is my idea of a vacation. Cole enjoyed his first time on the beach. He ate plenty of sand...that counts as fiber right? :)

We also had a friend (Mike Waters) take some family pictures while we were in NC...here are a few of my favorites.






Thanks for checking back in on our little family after my little blog break!