Thanksgiving 2007

It is Good To Give Thanks

"O GIVE THANKS to the Lord, for HE is GOOD! For His Mercy Endures Forever" Psalm 118:1

What a Wonderful Thanksgiving From The Lord! Courtney was able to come home from school at Maranatha for a few days...of course we had her do a lot of the cooking! Uncle Duane and Aunt Nella came to Mama's House along with our friend, Nathan, from church.

It truly was a blessing because all 3 of the girls came down with an infection of some kind the previous Sunday and were very sick with a high fever for the first few days. Courtney came home Tuesday night, but we were not able to all be with her until Thanksgiving morning. We took comfort in knowing that God's ways are the best ways; for man plans his ways, but God directs His steps.

We began Thanksgiving morning at our house by making blueberry muffins for breakfast. Andrew and the girls then set to work on making a Thanksgiving Craft, a Thankful Tree. Marie surprised us all when Andrew asked her, "Marie, do you want to put Papa on your leaf? Marie matter of factly stated, "No, Jesus." Of course, we had to put Jesus. He is the one we are most thankful for as Marie clearly reminded us. I made up some Sweet Potato Casserole from one of my Aunt's recipes along with Raspberry Jello (Andrew's Mom's recipe) with the toppings, and we headed off to Papa and Mama's House.

Mama had set the table beautifully with our new Thanksgiving dishes we got off of eBay for an amazing price because we found them from a friend of a friend. We did not have to pay for shipping thanks to our dear friend, Kelly, bringing them all the way from Ohio to us.

Russell read Psalm 100 before the meal and after our Thanksgiving Feast, we had family praise time around the piano. Oh, and I cannot forget that dessert was soon to follow...Mercy had her first taste of Pumpkin Pie and she was hooked.

Andrew, myself, and the girls spent the night at Papa and Mama's house so we could spend more time with Courtney. Courtney and I then woke up at 3:20 AM to head off to Kohl's at 4:00 AM for all the Black Friday specials...50% off all the toys...we are toy fanatics along with just plain fanatic for getting up that early to go shopping. We say we will not do it again, BUT, we probably will...it's THE THRILL of it ALL!! We might even convince Emmy to come next year.

TRUSTS AND JUMPS

God's Words declares, "TRUST in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness...Commit your way to the Lord, TRUST also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass."
PSALM 37: 3, 5

What wonderful WORDS from the Lord to take joy and delight in. I especially love reading "Feed on HIS faithfulness." We all know that we need food in order to physically survive, but oh the more to FEED on the spiritual and to take sustenance in HIS everlasting faithfulness. Yes, we must "Dwell in the Land," and sometimes the "Land" isn't always flowing with the Goodness of the Lord, but oh, to look above the evil and hardships of the world and fix our eyes on our blessed Savior. In this, we will find the little things that the Lord gives to us as constant reminders to continually TRUST in Him. When we COMMIT our life and walk to Him, He will lead us and He will NOT fail us.

We've entitled this entry, Trusts and Jumps, because of the bedtime game Andrew invented. To hear the squeals of excitement from the girls is worth more than a thousand words. Just when you think that the fun of the day is over and everyone is to be tucked neatly inside their beds, Andrew flips on the light for one more cherished memory that will last a lifetime. Tonight Andrew surprised the girls with his Scottish hat and red hair wig that our beloved sister, Courtney, gave. She is so thoughtful, you know. She brought it back all the way from Scotland knowing how Handsome it would become Him!!! With his improv Scottish accent, the bedtime Trusts and Jumps began. The hardships of the day were all forgotten when the Lord reminded me of His faithfulness and goodness through the laughter and smiles of the precious ones God has bestowed on me.

Here is a little video clip of the action...some parts are a little dark, but all our friends and family have good imaginations and can come up with "something" to account for the dark.

Oh, and dearest Courtney, we hope this one brings a smile to your face while you are away at school. Continue standing strong for Jesus. We are counting down the days until you come home. "Trust in the Lord and DO GOOD!"

God Gives Us Richly All Things To Enjoy

Well, I Timothy 6:17 is the verse from which our title is taken from, but this passage of Scripture does not really apply to the story that I am posting. The point that I want to make is that the blessings of the Lord are continual and bountiful, and that we ENJOY His blessings. These words were in this verse of Scripture, so hence we are using it :)).

Mercy Rose is our third little one. She is 5 months old and growing at the speed of light. While we would eat a meal, we would sit her in the excersaucer next to us at the table. Well, she would make quite a commotion and made it appear that she didn't appreciate the fact that we were eating, and she was NOT!! I would sit her in my lap and she would grab frantically for my fork or spoon, so we put two and two together and said to ourselves, "Let's start her on the REAL food." Mercy began her venture into the REAL food world with RICE CEREAL...yum, yum. I know everyone's mouths are watering. You can't get enough of that Rice Cereal...well, Mercy could. She decided that was not good enough, so onto the vegetables. Green Beans were a big hit...Peas...not so good....Applesauce and Bananas are an absolute no, no. She says, "I will eat them, only with a sour look on my face every time I take a bite." Carrots? Now we are talking. Squash is so, so, and Peaches...well, I'll give it a go. So here is where she stands on the food chain. I plan to move Mercy onto Sweet Potatoes next and we shall see how she takes it.

Now that Mercy is eating the real food...and we're smelling it too...another reason to delay REAL food as long as possible for the next child...IF there is a next child...created the dilemma of where this Little Mercy Dear would eat her REAL Food. We had been giving it to her in the excersaucer, but that is a big mess and back breaking work leaning down to feed her when you are trying to eat yourself. We then came to the conclusion that we needed a high chair so she could be at the table with us. We had given our previous high chair away, so now we needed a new one. I had seen the one I wanted in a Babies R Us catalog and was determined to think that the Rainforest Safari Healthy Clean Chair was the "coolest and ultimate" baby high chair. Our family is into frogs lately thanks to Natty...animals too, so this high chair was IT. It was not in our price range at the time, but the Lord used Andrew's parents to help us purchase the chair. It was a real blessing to me because Andrew surprised me by taking me to Target the other day to get the chair. Andrew's family sends us money at times to help out with seminary expenses. Andrew puts the money away and I forget all about it. Well, Andrew had not forgotten and when I was really in need of a special blessing, he pulled out the money and whisked us all off to Target. Andrew said it was a GOOD Seminary Expense :))) I was in agreement because I had a 10% off Coupon for Target that I had been saving for a big purchase.

So thanks to the Lord for my sacrificial husband and thanks to MOM and DAD who had a major part in getting us the "DESIRED" high chair. So far, it has been a wonderful addition to the family :)).

And These Stones Shall Be A Memorial to the Children...

Joshua 4 speaks of the Memorial Stones that the Children of Israel set before as a sign to their children and their children's children to remember the Greatness and Goodness of God. In Joshua 3, the Children of Israel crossed over the Great River Jordan and the waters of Jordan were cut off by the Lord and they crossed on dry ground. The Lord commanded saying, set these stones from the river as a sign so that "when your children ask in time to come, 'What do these stones mean to you?' Then you shall answer them...And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever" vs 6-7. As a Family in Jesus Christ, we want to REMEMBER the Greatness of our God. I had not intended to ever write a blog, but after reading God's Word and seeing how important it is to continually teach it to our children, I wanted to record the things that God has done...LEST WE FORGET. This way, when our children ask what "OUR MEMORIAL," our lives for HIM mean, we may "ANSWER THEM."

These are our Children, Memorial Stones For HIM,

Natalia Faith,

Marie Hope,

and Mercy Rose