Pancake Brunch

August 12, 2011 at 2:28 pm (Church, cooking, Ministry, Misc.)

Tomorrow morning our church is putting on a free, all you can eat pancake brunch from 10:00 till noon at the YWCA in Wausau. We have invited people, we have advertised, we have passed our many, many fliers. We have no idea how many to expect, but we are praying for a good turnout. We simply want to show  Christ’s love to our community and let them know who Harvest Baptist Church is, where we are, and that we care. This is quite a big undertaking for the small group that we are! So if you live in the area, please, come out and join us for a nice hot stack of pancakes! And then we also ask that you would pray with us as we seek to minister to those in our community.

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Our Chicago Trip

April 26, 2011 at 1:31 pm (Biblical, Church, Family, Ministry, Misc.)

Two weeks ago Adam and I, along with two other couples from our church, went to Chicago for The Gospel Coalition Conference. The conference was Tuesday-Thursday, but Adam and I went down Monday and came home Friday, so we could have a little extra time for some sightseeing around the city. This is also the first time we have gone away together somewhere ALONE since we had kids! 🙂 We really enjoyed getting away together and being with eachother. But of course by the last day we were missing the boys terribly!

We really enjoyed the conference. The theme was “Preaching Christ and the Gospel from the Old Testament”. Each of the main speakers spoke from an Old Testament Passage and showed how we can see Jesus Christ in all things. The two sermons that really blew me away were Tim Keller’s message on the parting of the Red Sea from Exodus 14, and Don Carson’s message on Melchizedek from Psalm 110. Wow, I will never look at those two passages the same again. We learned alot, and were really blessed.

We also enjoyed having Jon and Heather Hunt, and my sister Katie and my brother-in-law Aaron there with us. On Friday after the conference the six of us spent the day together checking out  Millenium Park, Navy Pier, and Gino’s Pizza. It was a long, but fun day. The not so fun part was the nine hour trip home…which is supposed to take about 4 or 5 hours. Yeah, the traffic was pretty horrible due to an accident. But we made it home safe and sound at 1:00 in the morning. And we decided we are not big city people. The hustle and bustle, the paying for parking (or not being able to find parking!), the traffic and time it took to get anywhere, well, we were happy to leave that behind. We are thankful God has put us in a town like Wausau. 🙂

These are a few pictures from our trip:

At the Field Museum

Outside Soldier Field

Outside the McCormick Place where the conference was held

Under “the bean”

All six of us in “the bean”

Taking public transportation

Navy Pier

Navy Pier

Outside Gino’s East Pizzeria

And yes, we added our names to the walls 🙂

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What’s Your World View?

December 1, 2010 at 10:57 pm (Biblical, Food for Thought, Ministry)

“The extent of a newborn’s world is himself/herself. The circle of the infant’s concern is what makes him/her feel good. The infants cry signals the others in his/her life to come change, feed, burp, or hold – now. The sad truth is that for many people their world view circle never gets much larger. Their socialization experiences my help them handle it with a little more sophistication, but basically their world view is “what works for me.” This pitifully shallow approach to life leads to emptiness and despair. The cry of this infant world view is “Come into my world and make me happy”  –  a definite deterrent to healthy relationships. When a person is saved by God’s grace and begins to understand the magnitude of His sovereignty, the “my” world view is replaced by a Biblical world view.  Growth in the grace and knowledge of God pushes the circle out to encompass His sovereign plan for His world. We see ourselves, our circumstances, and our relationships as a part of His divine plan. So our approach changes from “Come into my world and make me happy,” to “Father, show me how to go into Your world and glorify You.” The effect on a relationship is a switch from wanting you to serve me to a desire to serve God through the relationship.”

 – Susan Hunt from Biblical Mothering

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“A Lovely Lady”

February 3, 2010 at 1:57 pm (Family, Ministry)

Yesterday Adam received a call from an inmate at the jail who had suddenly been released. She needed some help getting a few places. She had been faithfully attending the ladies Bible Study that our church does each week in the local jail. Adam said he has seen her grow in  the Lord these past few months.  She has  an upbeat talkative personality and was so happy and thankful to be out. The four of us went and picked her up and took her a few places that she needed to go while she was waiting for a friend from out of state  to arrive to pick her up. Of course my boys turned on the charm and she several times exclaimed how cute and sweet they were. The first place she needed to go was to fill out some paperwork at the courthouse. We stayed in the van while she went in. As soon as she got out of the van and shut the door, Isaac said, “Mom, she is a lovely lady! I like her.”  

How sweet that a child can look upon a woman who has been through so much of what the world has to offer and only see what is in her heart.  As adults we tend to see the outside first. But what a blessing to hear my son, who is so innocent and pure, call this woman, beaten and battered by sin, “a lovely lady.”  That makes me smile.

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In a two horse open sleigh…

December 19, 2009 at 8:17 pm (Church, Ministry, Misc.)

Some of our church family on our sleigh ride today. Yes, it was cold, but it was also lots of fun!

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Fall has Arrived!

September 29, 2009 at 4:01 pm (Family, Ministry, Misc., Parenting)

Last week marked one year in Wisconsin. In some ways it seems like we have been here forever (in a good way!:) and in other ways its hard to believe a whole year has passed already! God has truly blessed our family during this year here in Wisconsin. He has provided for us in miraculous ways, He has cared for us each step of the way. What a joy it is to serve a God who truly is in control of ALL things!

Fall is in full swing here in Wausau. Yesterday we turned on the furnace for the first time, pulled out the sweaters, and are having visions of pumkin pie and apple cider! 🙂 I love the fal! But am already missing the warm days of playing outside and long walks. With winter coming I have to be much more creative in keeping the boys busy and keeping myself sane. 🙂

We do have good news about our house! Our landlord has offered us another one year lease. Our house will still be for sale, but if someone buys it they will have to honor our lease for whatever time we have remaining. We are thankful that God worked this out, and I am breathing a sigh of relief over not having to pack up and move again!!!

I haven’t posted pictures for a while, so I thought I would post a few of my favorites from the past month.

Isaac Adam binoculars

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Isaac Hud track

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Isaac tree - Copy

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Yep, I’m still alive!

September 16, 2009 at 1:43 pm (Church, Family, Ministry, Misc., Parenting)

I think I have finally found a few minutes to post! It’s been pretty busy here lately and I just haven’t been able to find a block of time to devote to blogging.  Right now the boys are napping and I just finished pulling out the last of the cookies from the oven…

We have had some exciting things going on around here! A few weeks ago God sent a new family to our church. A family with seven children! We have been praying for God to increase our church, and especially for children. My boys are the only children at church, except for the occasional visitors, and I had really been praying for someone for my boys to play with. Well, God answered that prayer! This family has children from 2 years old to 18 years old. And Isaac has been having the time of his life with his “friends” as he would say. And not only that, but they are homschooled, which will be a great help when we start homeshooling Isaac. And they fit right into our little church family so well. Wow, God is so good.

We have also had the wife of an inmate who was saved in our jail ministry attending the past few weeks. We have been able to help and minister to her and her children, and it’s been an encouragement to her husband in the jail who now desires to see his family come to Christ.

But of course, along with all the good excitement there always seems to be a curve ball thrown in there. We found out about two weeks ago that our landlord has put our house up for sale! We had been “planning” to rent for a couple more years until we could hopefully afford to purchase a house. So we shall see what happens with this new twist. I am so thankful that I know God has it all planned out and this is not a surprise to Him. We will just have to wait on Him to show us what comes next.

Last week my family came up for a visit. Of course my mom always takes a ton of great pictures, so I will try to share just a couple of my favorites. It was busy as it always is when they come, but a good time together and lots of fun for the boys.

It’s hard to believe the summer came and went so quickly and here we are with fall just around the corner. And then not long after that Christmas will be upon us! The time seems to go by faster and faster with each passing year.

I better get back to my preparations for Bible Study at our house tonight. I have to figure out how to fit our growing congregation into my livingroom! 🙂

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Please pray for the Dack family!

May 31, 2009 at 8:24 pm (Church, In This World, Ministry)

In a previous post I asked you to pray for the Dack family, part of our church family. Since moving here from Australia six years ago, they have been trying to get their green card. They were told this week that they have been denied! This is a very serious situation, and I ask you to please join us in prayer. They have already begun the appeal process, and are searching out what other options and helps they can find.

This family is a vital part of our church, and very dear friends to us. Please pray for them in this difficult time, and for God’s will to be accomplished. Even if you do not know them, I know it would encourage them if they knew others were praying. If you would like to leave a comment, I will certainly pass on the encouragements to them.

Thank you for your prayers!

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Easter Sunday

April 16, 2009 at 8:42 am (Church, Family, Ministry, Parenting)

I trust that you had a great Easter Sunday celebrating our risen Saviour. We certainly did! We had seven visitors in our morning service, followed with a meal, and then an afternoon service. My brother, Andrew, came for our services and to spend some time in the afternoon with us. We always enjoy the times he is able to visit.

The morning was so busy with preparation for the meal at church that I forgot to get pictures of the boys all dressed up before church. 😦 I tried to get a few after we got home, but by then they were totally worn out and I didn’t get any good ones. But I did get pictures of them opening their Easter Baskets that evening. (I know, terrible parents making them wait all day for them! 🙂 But it was too busy in the morning and we wanted to be able to enjoy it!)

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Please Pray!

April 9, 2009 at 12:38 pm (Church, In This World, Ministry)

We have a family in our church from Australia. The Dacks are a wonderful family, and a vital part of our church. For six years they have been working on getting their green cards so that they can become citizens of this country. The government is not always the easiest to work with, and can be quite frustrating at times. They have recently been told they may be deported if their case isn’t resolved in the next few weeks.

I am asking you to please pray for this situation. They are a godly, tax paying, hard working family that desires to be citizens of our great nation. They have done everything they know to possibly do, and are now asking God to intervene and resolve this matter.

Please pray for the Dack family!!!!

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