Happy Valentimes!

My Daddy brought me flowers for Valentines Day. Aren't they beautiful? He is so sweet!

My brother Isaiah could not say ''Valentines'' when he was a toddler, but instead said ''Valentimes''. It was so cute! To this day that is what we sometimes say in our family - ''Happy Valentimes!''

I started experimenting . . . I love roses!

Thought this was pretty!

Daddy will usually bring home something for ''his girls'' (Mom and I) for Valentines - flowers, or  chocolate, and once even a little teddy bear.

It always serves to remind me - first, that my Daddy loves me. He has always loved me, and tells me so, but it is a precious expression of that love when he buys me something so special.

It also reminds me that my Heavenly Father loves me, because He is the one who chose to place me in this family, and gave me to my earthly father.

He has chosen to place me in this family, and for this season of my life, He has called me to live and serve here, in the sphere of my home and my family. Now personally, I am feeling quite content right now with just living here - I love, love, LOVE our new home in the country, and hope I get the priveledge of living here for at least five more years, Lord willing!

There are days, however, when I get wistful - waiting for the day when I can get married, have my own home, and a tall, dark and handsome Valentine to bring home flowers for me. ; D

I know, especially for you girls who are 20, 25, 30 . . .really of all ages, who are still single, it is hard to wait on God's timing, but He is faithful - and in Him is all the love and protection you could ask for.

And if He is asking you to walk this road right now, just trust Him - He will give you the grace to carry on, and He will give you joy that never goes away and peace you can't understand.

"Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." - Matt. 11:28-29

Love is here.

But beyond just waiting - take advantage of the opportunities you have now. This special and unique season of your life will only come once - the chance to serve in your home, with your family; the chance to build strong relationships with your siblings - to encourage them towards Godly manhood or womanhood, and to gain the most knowledge and wisdom from your parents.

Remember, they have been traveling through life a lot longer than we have, and they have had to fight the same battles and face the same struggles as we have.

Enjoy, savor, the family times - read a book to your little brother, take a walk with your Mom, work on a project with your Dad- it makes awesome memories, and will teach you things you will need to take into your future life.

Rest in your Heavenly Father's love - get to know Him, by spending time in His Word, and talking to Him on a regular basis.

I do not really consider myself "single", because I am part of a family. Nor am I lonely - I am surrounded by an abundance of wonderful friends of all ages.

Nor am I hurting for chocolate (yes, I splurged just a little for Valentines Day, but I had planned on it, and I'm back on the diet now. ; D)

Besides, girls, let's be honest - we love chocolate, but it doesn't always love us back! ; D

Hope you can sort through my thoughts - this is just what has been on my heart lately, and I hope it was encouraging to you!

Feeling Close to God

Rich Mullins was a pretty amazing person.
Awesome musician, incredible songwriter, and a very humble person.
He really makes you think.
Here is a clip of one of his concerts I found on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQnFU5JvuWY

Here are some things he said in that concert that really stuck out to me:
"We were given the Scriptures to humble us into realizing that God is right in everything and the rest of us are just guessing."

"I am all the time being asked by people, 'How do you feel closer to God?'. I kinda always want to say, 'I don't know.'. When I read the lives of the great saints, I think they didn't necessarily feel very close to God. When I read the Psalms, I get the feeling like David and the other psalmists felt quite far away from God for most of the time. Closeness to God is not about feelings. Closeness to God is about obedience. It's just as simple as that. And here's a little Bible verse that I've come to love more over the years - Jesus said 'Whatever you've done unto the least of these, my brethren, you've done it unto Me.'
Jesus seemed to have a particular place in His heart for the oppressed . . . . I don't know how you feel close to God, and no one I know that seems to be close to God knows anything about those feelings either.
I know if we obey, occasionally, the feeling follows, but not always. Occasionally. Jesus said 'Whatever you do to the least of these, you've done to Me.' - and this is what I've come to think -
that if I want to identify fully with Jesus Christ, who I claim to be my Saviour and Lord, the best way that I can do that is to identify with the poor. This, I know, will go against the teachings of all the popular Evangelical preachers, but they're just wrong. They're not bad, they're just wrong. Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure, little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in a beautiful little house, where you have no minority groups anywhere near you. Christianity is about learning to love as Jesus loved, and Jesus loved the poor. And Jesus loved the broken."

Wow. That is so true, and powerfully convicting.

Not that there is anything wrong with having a "perfect little wife, perfect little kids, and a beautiful little house",  - there isn't.
I think it is more of a challenge to live a more selfless life, not to be satisfied with just a quiet little life, but to be willing to step outside our comfort zone to reach out to the poor, the broken, and the oppressed, as Jesus did.
This has rung so true with the things the Lord has been repeatedly challenging me with - investing my life and everything I have in the work of His kingdom, ready and willing to do hard things.

I am adding a blog called "The Rebelution" to my blogroll. Please - I encourage you to read it, and be prepared to be challenged! The Harris twins, Alex and Brett, are the founders of the blog and the authors of the book Do Hard Things, a challenge to young adults to a 'rebellion against low expectations'.
This book was a tool God used to begin convicting me to rethink the teenage years, and to go against the culture's mentality towards young adulthood.

There have been many times in my life, in the past and recently, when I have not ''felt" really close to God, but I desire with all my heart to do His will, and in that He gives me peace.

Snow!

I guess I'm just really in a posting mood.

Our weather forecast says we are due for snow, up to 6+ inches!

We are really excited! We love snow, and if it's going to be cold and cloudy anyway, it may as well snow. It is so beautiful- it makes ordinarily plain things look pretty, and reflects so much light into the house. I hope it snows deep!

Here are some pictures from our last snow, when we went sledding at our cousins' house.

This is the sledding hill - the track was long and fast, but that uphill climb was quite the exercise!

Dad had an idea - everyone who tried going down facing forward had turned about halfway down and started going backwards. Theoretically, he supposed that beginning facing backwards would cause you to face forward, once you turned. Only problem was, he didn't get turned, so he went backwards all the way down! = )

Then a snowball fight began. The younger kids had built forts out of snow bricks, and had already laid in a supply of snowballs, so everyone else  (namely me, my dad, and cousin Isabel) got bombarded.

We defended ourselves well enough, until my younger brother got the idea to start throwing snow bricks at people - things got interesting - and a lot wetter!

My cousin Isaac had snow on the inside and the outside of his glasses! I've always thought that glasses should have a built in de-fog. ; D

After we were all thoroughly coated with snow, we decided to make height-order snow angels.

Some of them were kind of wobbly, but they were cute.

Mom and Dad

We had so much fun - it was wonderful to enjoy playing in the snow, and fellowshipping with family.

How the Body of Christ has come together in Haiti

A more recent video from Doug Phillips
on the united efforts of Christians to minister
to the people of Haiti-

http://vimeo.com/9207323

Rescue Haiti's Children

Haiti has been very much on the hearts of myself and my family since the earthquake, and we rejoice to hear that many Christian people have assembled teams and gone down to help.
 While we are not able to be physically present there at this time, they are certainly in our constant prayers, especially the orphans, whom we know are near to the heart of God, and should be to the hearts of all true Christians.
There are several ministries we know of that are in Haiti right now, or are going down soon, and
I will post the links to them.

First, Vision Forum - Doug Phillips is heading a team which includes medics and cameras -
They are posting videos on the situation and their progress on Doug's Blog.
They are amazing - the living conditions there right now
are horrific, and they are doing all they can to help those wounded and sick, as well as the many,
many orphans who need basic care and protection, and love.

Here is an excerpt from his blog:

In less than 24 hours, I will be boarding a plane on an important mission bound for Haiti. I am writing because I need your help.
Here is the story.


My mission to Haiti is four-fold: First, I will be establishing one of the only distinctively Christian reporting operations to tell stories of both the present crisis and the work of Christians on behalf of the sick and the widows and the orphans in the midst of Haiti’s present horror.


Second, I will be working to facilitate the rescue and delivery of orphans to Christian families in America.


Third, I will be identifying specific families that need direct support from the people of God in America.


Fourth, my team will be providing specific relief to people in distress.


My starting team is seven individuals, including an experienced medical doctor, a logistics crew, and a film production team for news reportage. I should be joined by additional team members in Haiti including a driver, translator, and possibly more physicians in the days to come.


I believe that I can play a special role in getting important stories out to the people of God in a timely and meaningful way. I also believe that I can be effective in helping some of the most important Christian ministries to get the attention they need. I believe that we can be successful, by God’s grace, in meeting urgent medical needs of the sick and wounded in the wake of the recent disaster, documenting the needs of orphans in crisis, and helping to facilitate a plan to connect orphans with the very best families who can care for them.


Our camera team will document the story, and I will be posting regular video updates and written commentary on our outreach to Haiti as it unfolds. You can follow these updates on my blog, as well as on Facebook and Twitter. My staff will also be making them available through YouTube to the general public. WorldNetDaily has agreed to publish articles I write on Haiti as exclusive commentary on their website to help maximize the reach of our message. Our goal is to reach a broad audience with the details of our ministry in Haiti, and the outlet through WND will help in accomplishing this.


As I’m sure you know, the devastation in Haiti has been overwhelming. More people have died as a result of this earthquake than died in either the Nagasaki or Hiroshima bombings at the close of WWII. Already, the death toll from the earthquake ranks it among the top five most deadly natural disasters in the last century and the top twenty in recorded history. And the death count only continues to climb.


Our goal is to be ministers of Christ in the wake of this enormous disaster — to help rescue Haiti’s children — and we would solicit your prayers and support for this enterprise.


Here’s where things stand: Our transportation to Haiti has been secured. A private jet has been made available for our use to the country. We have transportation and an interpreter who will be guiding us through the disaster zones. We have a clear plan in place to make the most of our mission.
But we need help with the expenses including our technical needs, satellite broadcast feeds (which are expensive), equipment, supplies, and air transportation back through the Dominican Republic to  America, in the likely circumstance that we are unable to get out through Port-au-Prince.
 I have had to move quickly: I have made the decision to go even before all the funds have been   provided; but I would sincerely ask for your consideration in supporting us on this important project. I   would appreciate your support, be it prayer or financial assistance, for our mission. Donations to help  our effort can be made online.  click HERE to donate.
Please stay tuned for our broadcasts and articles. May the Lord be pleased to use our humble efforts at  this time of intense crisis.


 Your friend in Christ, Doug Phillips




More Organizations Working In Haiti:
 USFCH - United States Foundation for the Children of Haiti,
has medical teams working in Haiti, and need donations to help get supplies to them.

Cross International:http://crossinternational.org/

James 2:14-16 says "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is destitiute of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Depart in peace; be warmed and filled', but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?"

As the Body of Christ, we need to be ready and willing to take action for the cause of the orphans and the hurting people of Haiti. We need to show them what true Christianity looks like - to be the Face of Love. (I love that song, by Sanctus Real, of course ; D . It's on my playlist.)

If you can donate to these or other Christian organizations, please do so.
And pray - pray for the people who are working to help, pray for those orphans to be able
to be adopted, pray for families to be willing to open their homes for these children, precious in the sight of God.