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!!!