dirty 30

Three generations…I love this picture

Bing turned 30 this year!!!! A full six months before I do, so I have to give him a hard time about being old. Since his first love was the ocean, I took him back to visit her. We left the kids with his folks(and a few enlisted helpers), and headed to an oceanfront condo in Bella Beach just south of Lincoln City. We had a hot tub overlooking the ocean and it was breathtaking. A storm brewing to the north, one to the south and just pure shimmering sun beams smack dab in the middle to wow us before heading out to a delightful birthday dinner. We took in a movie, did a little beach combing, a little shopping, learned how to lose at Roulette…we did it all. It was perfect, having two days to reconnect and rest our old, weary bodies.


Birthday boy man and his mistress, the sea

I'll keep it G-rated

Birthday dinner, phone pictures aren't the greatest


Oh boy did we have fun!

Resurrected

We kept Easter low key this year. We opted for plastic, candy filled eggs, over the mess that would surely result from our children and cups of dye, Saturday night service(or was it Friday?) and a fun picnic and rock throwing at the lake to celebrate the resurrection of our savior.

Three little Monkeys

Handsome Mad

Still can't believe I caught him smiling

Princess Paudge

Thank goodness their understanding of Christ's sacrifice does not hinge on this one weekend or they would be grossly misguided. We are striving to raise our children to know God, to glorify God and to serve Him and his people. Love God, love people… To know God we must know his Word, the Bible. I am currently in a ravenous learning mode. I remember as a teen wondering how people could passionately read the Bible, what it would be like to hunger for it. To me it was dry, a boring lists of names and inapplicable teaching. I didn't understand that it was a living word, bringing new meaning and life in every stage of my growth. As I develop more faith, and experience more life, relationships, death, pain, sorrow, & joy I see new meaning in the scriptures. Always becoming more relevant to my life, to our current world, bringing me hope, that all is not lost. That God is a god of Miracles, signs and wonders, that nothing…NOTHING is bigger than He. I pray for our families, for dear friends and the lady who stole my parking space at Costco, that they may know fully, the goodness and love of our creator. That they would allow Him the Lordship in their life. No longer trying to be in control or hang on to anger and bitterness, or intense hurt that only act as poison to the soul. He has come that we may know life, and life abundantly but the enemy has come to steal, kill and destroy. How I desire abundant life!

Saturday before Easter, we went to Manito Park in Spokane, played on the play ground and walked the various gardens which were not in bloom. The greenhouse was open however and was a stunning sight.
The kind person taking our photo repeatedly referred to Jetty as a girl, we have since trimmed his hair.


She is seriously a little doll baby

I could just gobble him up! I am so madly in love with my children I am about to burst right now.

taken to pieces

dis·man·tle
/disˈmantl/
Verb
Take to pieces.
Synonyms
strip - disassemble - take apart - dismount

I have had the absolute JOY of meeting with my pastor's wife(we'll call her R.O.) once a month, in a mentoring and relationship building capacity. She mentors me, but mostly we sit and chat about life, important subjects currently working us over, relationships, struggles, how to lead and relate with people, managing a home and children…life! We are reading through a book together but we barely get to that between the other nuggets, it is however, a very good book and I recommend reading it.

Girls with Swords How to Carry Your Cross Like a Hero
~ Lisa Bevere&John Bevere

R.O. is so wise and tempered yet, bubbly and full of joy, she is bright eyed and always encouraging, just a gift to me and someone I desire relationship with. In one of our meetings while talking about the barrage of fiery darts aimed at me, those little stings that come one right after the next, R.O. observed that when one is about to receive a new mantle there is a season of dismantling. We have to be stripped of our "old" to receive the "new". Perhaps the "new" is so radically different that it can't fit over the "old" they are incompatible and we must be restructured to receive the gift and the calling.

She said the word "dismantle" and it cut to my heart and has been an ever-present thought since. I wondered, what is a mantle, and with that, what does it entail to be "dismantled"? It sounds unpleasant, does it not?

The mantle represented a man’s gift, the call of God, and the purpose for which God had called him.~Bible.org


man‧tle
1 take on/assume/wear the mantle of something
formal to accept or have an important duty or job:
It is up to Europe to take on the mantle of leadership in environmental issues. ~http://www.ldoceonline.com

I'm in discovery mode, prayerfully approaching my Creator and Mantle Administrator. Who knows better what I am created for than Him? I am excited for this season, for the ministry that Bing and I enjoy, while seemingly unconventional; who ever said God was conventional? :) More to come on this, as I discover, and as new things are unveiled. I'll say this, I have never had such a focused regard for prayer, but it is constantly in my sphere, in my thoughts, the books I am reading and in everyday conversation and encounters.

Goofy girly

Here is a short(ish) video to hold you over and whet your appetite until I can get my words out. I have been thinking about blogging a lot lately, however finding the time to sit down and put them together is a feat. I am exploring the depths of who I am these days, and a mentor of mine keenly observed that I tend to withhold the things that I really enjoy or that fill up my tank until I have "fulfilled my duties" which are endless, let me tell you. My house is far from tidy or perfect and I spend most every spare moment cleaning up, doing laundry, doing the dishes or trying to shower and put myself together while one baby is sleeping and the other two are distracted by the t.v.. So, while I am in the middle of getting myself figured out, please forgive me for my long absence.