Changing Cultures

I have not posted for quite some time because we have been very busy! Last week was preparation for our traveling and then we flew out to Hawaii to visit our friends who are church planting on the big island. The picture to the left is road near our friend's house. This particular area is very jungle like, very rural and not anything like one might invision Hawaii from travel brochures and postcards. There is a great need out here for strong churches as this area is one of the most unchurched areas in America. Hawaii is really a forgotten mission field because it's apart of the united states and often only thought of a tourist attraction and paradise with golden beaches. Anyways, we feel that God is calling us to join our friends in church planting and to minister to the people there.
I will write more soon, but I just wanted to post a quick update about what is going on with us. Also, if the Lord puts it upon your hearts, please pray for us as we prepare to move and all the details that requires. Also, for the people of Puna, that God's spirit would move among the people and that many would come to know the Lord. This area has a lot of people who have actually moved out from the mainland who are into new age kind of thinking. There are a lot of hippie-type of people, and drugs are pretty bad here. I don't know a whole lot , I'm still learning about what it's like there, but it's good because our friend who is the head church planter was born and raised there and we might be living with him and his wife for awhile so we'll be able to learn a lot from them.
Please feel welcome to post any tips on travel, moving, or other words of encouragment.
Thanks for your prayers!

Grouchy Mama

Yesterday was a crummy day, but today was better. I was feeling tired and grouchy for most of the day and was impatient and snappy with my little boy. Are there other mother's who feel this way too sometimes? I know that every mother gets grumpy, but how do you deal with it? I cringe when I see how it negatively affects my boys and I can see it in their faces. Sometimes Moses will look at me like what's wrong with you mommy? I feel bad when I get impatient with my boys and and I find myself getting snappy. I hate being this way. Though there are reasonable excuses, I'm tired because I woke up 3 times the night before, once with Elijah, once with Moses(he couldn't find his blanket), and then Elijah woke up to eat at 5:30am, and I didn't go back to bed either. It's hard not being able to sleep the whole night through without waking up once! But I know that these reasons are not good excuses for a lousy attitude, or the frustration that I feel welling up inside when Moses does something childish. I had several talks with Moses yesterday about mommy's bad attitude and seeking his forgiveness. Children are such a blessing, they're so joyful and quick to forgive! Their love just flows out of them. Moses is always quick to forgive me, it's a powerful testament to me when I am slow to forgive someone. Additionally, the Lord keeps reminding me that I can't love my children on my own, whether I am well rested or not. I need to keep praying throughout the day for love and strength relying on him for what I need, and be quick to repent when I sin against my children.
Praise the Lord for his grace and mercy upon us!

Snow Flakes Falling

These are photos my husband and I took this morning. It is snowing here today and the world outside is blanketed in a gorgeous white. We don't get snow here too often, so when we do it's a sweet treat. My oldest son absolutely loved playing in the snow and he was too cute all bundled up in his snow gear helping mom and dad build a snowman! I called him "rocky" the snowman because we don't have any grass out front only gravel, so when we rolled the snow it was filled with rocks!
My husband is great at seeing illustrations among everyday little things and he often shares them with me. I think it's wonderful to look beyond the surface of things and to try and see how something reflects the Lord or illustrates some biblical truth.
So, I've been pondering snow today and there is just something glorious about it! It's beautiful, white and majestic. As the flakes float down and cover the earth it makes things bright and new. It is a beautiful illustration of what happens when our sins are washed away by the blood of Christ. We become new creatures and we become white as snow. Psalm 51:7 says, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." Jesus often spoke in parables in the bible and it's no wonder that he gives us pictures on earth to illusrate things about himself.

Baby Block Cake

This weekend I made the cake below for my friend's baby shower. It turned out pretty well it, but was alot harder to make than I had originally thought it would be! I doubt I will ever do it again, but if I do I at least know how I will do it differently.
Here is how I made it:
I started off with two sheet cakes and then cut a square out of both sheet cakes that were 8x8 in. Then I cut a 4x4 square out of the corner to be the corner block stacked on top. Then I just layered it up. So the bottom of the cake was 2 layers and the top block was another 2 layers. From the bottom to the top of the orange block measured about 8 inches high! I had to take a shelf out of my fridge and rearrange everything for a few days. I made the cake from box mixes but the frosting was homemade buttercream frosting. So yeah, I had alot of fun making this cake, but it took a long time, about a day and half but it was well worth it when the mother-to-be squealed with delight and it was obvious that she really was pleased. For that I was so very glad and it made it well worth it!

I'm finally sitting down to write for a little bit while my babies nap. Things have been busy here and I have just not found the time to write anything. Well, we had a nice little Christmas with our boys and my husband's side of the family here in town. Then for new year's weekend we ventured up to Washington to visit my family and some old friends. It really takes a lot of time and energy traveling with two little ones under the age of 2. But by the Lord's grace I've gotten really good at it since we have been traveling quite a bit in the past month. The boys have done wonderfully with our long car rides and we really don't have any trouble with them at all. But with being away from home it's hard to keep to what's "normal" for Elijah. His nights have been terrible because we were at other people's homes and not wanting to wake up everyone else I would just bring him to bed with me. But then that started the old ways again and he's now waking up every 3-4 hours again at night. It's really hard. I'm pretty tired and I am probably going to work at him crying it out again soon. We are going to Hawaii in a couple of weeks and I really would like him to be sleeping through the night by then.
--Whoa--Hawaii?? I imagine that's what a lot of you are probably saying!!! Where did that come from? Well, that is something that we've been praying about most recently. We have been sensing that the Lord might be calling us to join our friends who are church planting in Hawaii. So we're flying out to spend some time with the them, and among other things we plan on spending a lot of time talking and praying with them about whether this is where the Lord is calling us. I hope that the Lord will really confirm in our hearts his will for us through this trip. Anyways, If you feel led, please pray for us as we seek the Lord's leading and direction about this.

Well, today I am making a cake for my friend's baby shower tomorrow. I hope it turns out! I will post pictures of it hopefully tomorrow.

Merry Christmas!

" 'For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,'Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!' ”

Bless the Lord; praise be God on high for sending his son to be our savior! May the Lord draw you nearer to himself this Christmas. He is a beautiful God and we are so very blessed! Merry Christmas to you all!

If it's not one, it's the other!

Elijah has now slept through the night 3 nights in a row! Yea! But early this morning Moses awoke at 4am as bright and cheerie as a little bird! He has been sleeping in our room lately as we were working on Elijah sleeping through the night. Well when he woke up he started "chirping" and wanted to get out and play. We brought him into bed for a few minutes of snuggles, but it was hard getting him to go back to sleep. He just wanted to play and as far as he knew it was time for everyone to get up! I recall my dad telling me that when my sister and I were little, like 3 and 4, we woke up at 4am, got dressed and went into mom and dad's room and woke them up ready to play! I don't remember that at all, but I know what it's like! He did eventually go back to sleep but then Elijah woke a couple hours later ready to eat:) I know these days will soon pass and these moments are precious. My heart is filled with joy(most of the time) at the wonder of the Lord's goodness in giving me such sweet boys. When they smile up at me, it makes me feel like I'm the best thing in the world and it makes all the hard parts of motherhood worth it.