Thanksgiving Reflections

Thanksgiving... one of my favorite American holidays. I love that we set aside time to think about what we are thankful for and what we thank God for! I think if we did that more often, we would have such better perspective on life.

Here are some of my "top thankful items":

• My husband - I'm thankful that Matthew is deeply in love with Jesus, His Word, and His character. I love that he champions the Truth and is bold in proclaiming it! His thoughtfulness and service to others exemplifies to us in how to love sacrificially, with the Christ's attitude of viewing others as more important than ourselves. I'm thankful that he leads our home on the basis of God's Truth and that he not only shepherds us spiritually, he also has a clear perspective in leading our family in action, thought, service... and of course in all sorts of fun :)
• My children - I'm thankful that I have 3 very distinctly different kids :) I love my Isaac's "fight" and determination in excelling in life. I am warmed by Seth's desire to seek God in service and "hugs are what keeps you alive" mentality. I am thrilled to see God develop in Abby a spirit of thoughtfulness and generosity.
• My family - I'm thankful for my parents and brothers (and family) in giving me my "background" :) I'm grateful for the characters that my parents instilled in me to work hard and to look for bargains!!! I'm thankful for for the family that God allowed me to marry into... for the spiritual heritage that came with becoming a Holbrook. I'm especially spoiled to have some family near by and for planned and impromptu cousin-times.
• My church family - I love our family at Grace! I love that we are like-minded and like-hearted and have a common goal. While we may not all take the same route to get there, I love that God has allowed unity in the midst of our diversity!
• My school family - Well, my children's school family... I love that we have the opportunity to send our children to FCS, a school that is committed to teach and train the students to love God and to work hard at shaping each child to have a Biblical world view! I love that my children are not having to constantly decipher truth from error at school and that we can build on and enforce Biblical principals that have been introduced at school on the home front.
• My God, and Lord, Jesus Christ - Who was and Is and Is to come!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I pray that you will spend some time thinking upon the many many blessings that you've been given and be so very thankful for each one!

Burden - Dependence

People say all the time with good intentions, "God will never place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot carry it."

Really?

My experience is that God will place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot possibly carry it alone. He will break your back and you will. He will buckle your legs until you fall flat beneath the crushing weight of your load. All the while He will walk beside you waiting for you to come to the point where you must depend on Him.

"My power is made perfect in your weakness," He says, as we strain under our burden.

-- Greg Lucas (Wrestling with an Angel)

When you are not looking

Abby and I went to one of our friend's baby shower this past Saturday. (Just one day after our Pastor Brian welcomed their new baby boy into the family!)

During our 15 minute drive to church, Abby had baby on the brain :). She asked lots of questions about how the baby grows, what it feel like for the baby to kick, how do the doctors know if the baby is a boy or a girl (when they are all born with short hair!), and other random questions. After we talked about how babies grow in the mama's womb, how they are protected by the amniotic fluid, and the function of the umbilical cord in supplying the babies with all that they need... she wanted to know how they get in:

Abby: So... how do the babies get in the mama's tummy?

Me: God puts the babies in, Sweet Girl. God is all powerful and can do everything, right?

Abby: Yup, He can do everything.

Abby: (After a LONG PAUSE) Uuh... does He do it when you're not looking???

Me: Um.... Sometimes...

The Valley of Vision

LORD, HIGH AND HOLY, MEEK AND LOWLY,

Thou hast brought me to the valley of vision,

where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;

hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.

Let me learn by paradox

that the way down is the way up,

that to be low is to be high,

that the broken heart is the healed heart,

that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,

that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,

that to have nothing is to possess all,

that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,

that to give is to receive,

that the valley is the place of vision.

Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells,

and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;

Let me find thy light in my darkness,

thy life in my death,

thy joy in my sorrow,

thy grace in my sin,

thy riches in my poverty,

thy glory in my valley.

A few "catch up" posts

With a rare "non-running around" Saturday, I was able to upload some more picture :) Take a look at the posts in July and August.

More to come...

High Efficiency Model

Have you ever been so "efficient" that you are running laundry, scrubbing the bathrooms, making dinner all at the same time? Well, I thought I was doing a great job maximizing my minutes... until I ran to put the load of laundry into the dryer and discovered that it was EMPTY!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA... so much for getting laundry done before picking up the kids.

Just to whet your appetite...

I'm so sorry for not been more on top of updating this blog (for the 2 of you that check this site). Well, you probably won't see this because you have already given up on me :(.

Life has been busy and uploading pictures is sooo time consuming (especially when you so behind...). Here just a few pictures of our summer to keep you interested as I work on getting caught up:

Isaac's Stanley Cup from FCS Street Hockey team:

Cousins!!!

Hume Lake:

Flying to Taiwan:

Lake Almanor:

New Cousin - Elijah Holbrook Plumb!!!

More Cousins!

Laguan Beach Outing

Friends from the past...

I will be back posting many of these "events" as I am able. Baby steps :) Keep looking... lots more pictures to share!!!

Lake Almanor with "Imported Cousins"

Ahhh... beautiful Lake Almanor!

Due to different scheduling issues, our family went to Lake Almanor a little later this year. We left on 8/2 and got home 8/10. Seven full & beautiful days of camping! What bliss... waterskiing, skipping rocks, building traps, catching frogs, playing baseball, reading books, napping in hammacks, biking to the boat lauch, sipping Pine Shack shakes, haunting for homemade fudge, breakfasting at Carole's... is there a better life? I submit not!!!

Also due to scheduling issues (and Elijah's birth and the health of Grandpa & Grandma), we thought we were going to be "alone" this year. Just our little family... no cousins or siblings :( With that anticipation, we worked on "importing" some family. LOL. We invited the Wu side of the family to join us! My brothers, William (and Vanessa) and Frank were not able to come. Only my brave sister-in-law, Kari (thank you for being a trooper!), took on the challenge and came out with her 3 kids, Annalise, Ethan and Jared. We are so thankful! What a sweet few weeks for us to live and play together!!! I will always look back at this time and treasure the remembrances in my heart!

As it turns out, Aaron & Annette and family were able to make their schedule line up to be at Almanor around the same time as us. We even got to see Andrew & Melissa and family for a little bit. On top of all this extra fun, Rebekah made an appearance with A GUY!!! The GUY by the end of the week became future UNCLE JAMES :).

Why did you park so far away, Dad?

"Ummm... what are you doing, Seth? You WILL get wet!"

Abby's funky hair... no wires, really! I think the dirt was holding her hair in place?!?!?

Very cool pink sunset

Seth is playing "outfield".... not looking too excited :)

Isaac, Seth, Ethan & Jared... goofy cousins :o

Good job, Annalise!

Kari & Jared, cuddling on the boat :)

Sweet and innocent Ethan

Awww... my knight in shining armor

Abby double skied this year... on her skis, not on her face!

I love this action shot... Morgan and Abby flying!!!

For what was suppose to be a quiet ho hum abnormal year at Almanor, we had all sorts of extra bonuses!!! I know that this will go down in history as one of the most memorable Almanor years :). Until next year...

Flying out to see Mom and Dad

On the heels of Hume (about 11 hours to be exact), I was called away to go back to Taiwan to visit my parents. My Mom and Dad have been living somewhat permenantly in Taiwan since 2001. With some of my mother's recent health developments, my heart was pulled to go back for a visit. Poor Matthew, abandoned by his wife again to hold down the fort for another 10 days :(.

Taiwan's "new" high speed subway system

Typical Taiwanese "fast food" - little stands on the side of the streets...

Fancy hotel in Chai Yi - my parents' hometown

Interesting way of using the playground structures...

no children, just adults stretching or "massaging" their arms and legs

Some cool functional decorative water pumps

in one of the parks that we went to for our morning walk...

Glorious rainbow... we had torrential thunderstorm downpours each aftenoon!

Farmer's markets! I love it :)

Happy birthday, Mommy!

Taking a 4 hour red eye bus to the airport... coming home!!!

God, thank you for allowing me the opportunity to see Mom and Dad for a brief time. Thank you for giving a supportive husband that is willing to sacrifice his comfort and time to allow me to be a daughter. I'm so grateful for the family and friends that stepped in during this time to help me with my kids & husband, my flights, my church responsiblities, and most of all, for lifting me up in prayer to You! You are an awesome God and is definitely in control of all things, even flights. Thank you for getting me home in time to welcome Kari and the kids, and to prep for Speechless. Continue to work out all circumstances and continue to channel hearts. You are amazing!