"Grow in Faith, Grow in Grace: Be Humble & Alert"

We recently returned to Maryland for the annual Sovereign Grace pastor's conference. It was an absolutely WONDERFUL time reuniting with our PC class after 5 months! I didn't expect to be so overtaken by emotion upon reuniting with these dear brothers and sisters. Just reminded again, of God's lavish goodness, and humbled beyond words that He chose us to partake in such a rich year of growth, friendship and grace.

One of the highlights of the conference was a message that Rick Gamache from Sovereign Grace Fellowship located right here in Bloomington, MN preached, a message on anxiety & suffering. His text was:

1 Peter 5:6-11, "6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

If you have the opportunity, I would encourage you to take time to listen to it. (This is actually the original message he preached to his congregation, so it is geared towards everyone, not just pastors. I found the link on another blog I follow, http://www.girltalkhome.com/). All of us at some point walk through suffering and I know that most everyone struggles with anxiety and with trusting & having faith in the Lord. Even if you find yourself in a place of contentment & peace right now, it is never too early to combat these temptations that may come to your heart.

http://audio.sovgracemn.org/2010/06/13/grow-in-faith-grow-in-grace-be-humble-be-alert/

1st snow of the winter

Nov 13th marked the 1st snowfall for us here in MN. We got a good dumping of about 8 inches that day. The kids had a blast, Nate had thought ahead and bought a sled to fit them all on so that we could get out and have fun in the snow (rather than stare out our window cursing the fact that it would be here for the next 5 months possibly). I was surprised that Chason lasted for as long as he did - usually he doesn't do well in the elements, lol. Cal on the other hand did not like it one bit - as you can see from the pics. Sophie is definitely our snow baby by far! I love that she savors every season, I pray that I can learn to be more like her someday :).

Pumpkins & Halloween

Birthday Video's

Here are a couple videos - Singing Happy Birthday to Cal and attempting to get him to eat the cake. Chason is hilarious in the 2nd video :).

Happy 1st Birthday Cal!!

Yes, on Oct 16th, Calvin, aka Cal, Cali-Boy, Chancho, Chancho Biggins, Bigs, Sumo Baby, turned 1 year old! Hard to believe that just 1 year ago I was giving birth to this giant 9lb 13oz baby!

We celebrated with a small get together at our place for pizza & cake, and even my dad got to be here (which was fitting being that he was in MD with us when Cal was born - he's the one who kept the kids for 2 days while we were in the hospital, he rocks!). Poor Cali was teething pretty bad, so he wasn't much into his cake. I'm thinking that he will have to make up for it with a nice big frosty piece for Nate's bday coming up.

For Cal's 1 year check up he was 30 inches tall & weighed 25lbs. He already has 8 teeth (the other 2 kids only had their bottom 2 on their 1st bdays) and he is walking ALL over the place! His cheesy grin is contagious and he loves chasing after his bro & sis - and occasionally pinning Chason down on the ground (I really think he is stronger than his "big" bro, he's practically the same size, they share many of their clothes already!).

Peculiarly WONDERFUL Fall in MN!

This could quite possibly have been THE best fall we've ever experienced in MN!

It was unseasonably warm - on Oct 9th I pulled the kids pool out from the rafters and set it up again on a 90 degree day! We had a whole week after that with temps in the 80's where we enjoyed the lake, the leaves, our backyard and a trip to Stillwater. I feel like it was extra kind of the Lord to give us this prolonged fall - giving us something to reminisce on in the middle of our 5 month winter tom come in the tundra :). As always, some random pics to go with the post - remember, even the ones of Sophie, dad & Nate IN the lake and the kids IN the pool were the 2nd week in Oct!