The Silence Ends Here!

For the last several months I've avoided looking at my own blog.  Why you ask?  The answer is simple.  Fear!  LOL!  I know it has been nearly a year since I've written anything.  A year of Silence.  And what a year it has been.  My last post recognized the growing I knew would come.  This post represents the faithfulness of my Lord!  It represents His love, comfort and guidance.  I write amazed at what He has done in me, and in my family.  God is Good!

I am happy to say, we are settled and serving.  This is huge if you could understand where I've come from.  My heart has slowly worked through anger, bitterness, selfishness, frustration, acceptance, forgiveness and renewal.  I think over the last year and I can't believe how far we have come.  So many things have changed about who we are and how we do life.  One thing remains the same...we still know WHOSE we are. 

Austin will soon finish his Associates Degree at Ozark Christian College.  The next phase of life for him will be figuring out what he wants to do next.  His current plan is to get a certificate for a sergical technician.  With the plan of moving forward in the medical field.  He is coming home for a time.  I am thankful.  I pray daily for his future.  I pray he will not have struggles, although without them, how will his character be built?  So, I will settle for being the most supportive parent I know how to be and I will lift him before my Lord.

Alex will soon  graduate from highschool.  This is a big one!  He has already worked through so many struggles.  He plans to begin classes at Calhoun Community College.  His intention is to transfer to UAH after a couple years.  Currently, his plan is Engineering.  God has truly blessed us with children who love Him.  We are thankful.  Alex has come through the last year with flying colors.  He is serving again.  He is active in youth group.  And he once again is full of joy.  It's been rough for him, but he has remained faithful.  What more could I possibly ask for.

Aaron has struggled as well through the last year.  He has watched good friends move away.  He's had a shake up in his church family.  I'm happy to say, he is in recovery as well.  He has figured out how to keep in touch with his closest friends.  Plus, he's started getting active!  Baseball, Soccer, Classes at CCA, Youth Group, Serving opportunities!  He once again is all smiles and joy!  I'm so proud of him for not complaining and for hanging tough! 

Adam and I are plugging in.  We've joined a small group within our new family!  We are excited about where the leadership is leading our church family!  They have been so welcoming!  I am already serving in the youth ministry and using my talents there.  I didn't know how much I missed it until I started getting involved again.  In March I was invited to a church in Indiana to speak at and lead the leaders through a girls purity retreat along with providing a teacher training workshop for them.  That process began last November and really woke me up to what I was missing.  It was amazing to see God work through all of the little details in planning it.  It was like He used everything I've ever done (and loved) with youth and youth leaders to put together an event that I believe touched a lot of lives.  Youth and Adults!  I am excited and prepared to take that retreat and workshop wherever God asks me to take it!  Many people prayed for us through that whole process!  What a blessing in a time of darkness! 

Currently I am working with the leaders at Summit Crossing Community Church!  I have a small group of High School girls who I call my own!  What a blast and right up my alley!  I am also writing the small group curriculum.  It's really just discussion questions taking the students through the book of John.  Again, right up my alley!  I feel like God has plucked me up out of a struggling situation and dropped my right into a place where exactly what I have to offer is exactly what is needed!  Only God could do that!

So as you can see, I am back on the grid.  There are still areas that need improvement.  I'm still working on some of the remnants of bitterness and unforgiveness.  However, I feel like that gets better every day.  It is easier to speak certain names and not feel sick.  Mostly, I pray for those that I think about.  I know in my heart that God is with them.  I can say that I love them and will continue to pray for my brothers and sister in Christ! 

On to another year.  You see, this is a turning point.  We - I have grown a ton over the last year!  I'm so thankful for God's faithfulness!  I am thankful to be able to have Him to lean on!  I am thankful for my husband, and my family!  I will continue to serve Him with my life.  I am determined to hear the words "Well done, good and faithful servant"!  So with all my heart I will love Him and His people! 

All of this on the wake of terrible tornadoes that destroyed a good chunk of Alabama.  This has been a wake-up call to all the things in life that we put importance on.  I believe we are missing the mark.  We - I have to do better!  You will hear more from me.  You will hear how these storms have impacted my community.  You will hear stories of those who are reaching out to the hurting.  You will hear stories of thankfulness.  The things that were important to me even 10 days ago, no longer matter, they don't even register.  So, pray for them with me.  Tomorrow our family will be serving them.  Monday, I will be serving them. 

Stay in touch.  I can't wait to share what God does next!

The Bible Really is Relevant!

My last post was the turning point in a small life of a small piece of God's story (Louie Giglio "I Am Not But I Know I AM"). Now it's time to move on and try to figure out how to digest where God is working. We are faced with a new dillema. A church family is something that we've learned to depend on. How exactly do we go about looking for a new one? Where does God want to see us serving? What direction is he leading us in? And, what do we do in the meantime?


I hate the idea of "trying out" churches. I know God is moving and growing us...but how do I know exactly where we are supposed to go? This week I decided to turn to Acts. The disciples were faced with many of the same questions. Jesus had died and rose and according to ch 1:3 spent 40 days with them "speaking about the Kingdom of God". Then he was taken up in a cloud.

In chapter 1:4 Jesus tells the disciples what is to happen next: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about." That gift was the Holy Spirit which would allow them to do miraculous things in the name of Jesus.

The disciples were faced with the realization the everything was changed. Through no control of their own, their leader was gone and they had to decide what they would do with that. I can't imagine what they must have felt before Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus tells them to "wait" for a gift from His Father. I wonder what they thought that gift was! I wonder where God will take us next.

Moral of the story? The disciples went to Jeruselem. They waited where they were told to wait and they joined together with Mary, Jesus' mother and "the women" and they prayed, constantly. (vs. 14) And so, this is what we will do. We will pray constantly, and wait on God to give us the discernment to know what to do next.

Even the disciples would've liked to know what was coming (vs. 6). Jesus response was that it wasn't for them to know. We will continue to follow Christ, even though sometimes we follow not knowing what's next. I am anxious to see how God will work in my life next. I'm even more anxious to continue serving Him!

"It's All Gonna Be OK"!

Did you ever feel like you just couldn't catch your breath? I keep trying to get better at this blogging thing...but not so much, right?

I guess what I'm thinking about right now, is how comforting God can be. The last month has been a growing season for me. I guess you could say it's been a "shrinking" season, too! I've lost about 6 pounds pondering all the "growing" God has issued to me. The best part of God growing me is the understanding that He wants to grow Me! It is a comfort to know that God wants to use me enough to grow me.

I tend to want to look forward past the "hurting" part of that growth and into the "lesson" part. I'd much rather learn my lesson quickly regardless of the pain. Oftentimes, if we don't learn our lessons the first time God gives them to us to learn again. No thanks!

I've been drawing my strength from Paul. It is amazing to me how the Bible can be so relevant to everyday life. I've been reading Phillipians for the past month. Over and over again. It's like a bear hug from a loving parent reminding me that "It's all gonna be OK!".

So, off to a new beginning we go. God has a new ride for us. I feel like I'm waiting in a really long line for it to take off....hmmmm I wonder what this will be like! But, I draw my comfort from my Lord who provides and sustains me every minute of my life here on earth. So, in the Theresa paraphrase from Phillipians... Hang On..."It's all gonna be OK!"

Technology is GREAT ...WHEN IT WORKS!

We've been doing a little computer updating in our house lately. So far we've converted all but one computer from Windows XP to Windows 7 Ultimate N. We'd been putting off the updating on the main computer because of all the file transfering that would need to be done. Unfortunately, somehow I let a virus onto it forcing Adam to have to strip down the old system and go through the arduous process of loading everything on again. It's always such an ordeal but we'd been meaning to update it. My job last night was to move the files I wanted to keep from the computer to an external hard drive...so I did. I thought. Come to find out today...I forgot about my "favorites" list for the internet. The result of this amazing mistake? Having to remember a whole lot of web addresses and passwords. Oops!

Another challenge...Alex is in the middle of Rosetta Stone and today I had to reload that program. So now the question is...how does he get back to where he was (at least I know where he was at)? I'll be making a phone call to Rosetta Stone tomorrow. There has to be a way for me to tell that program where he is ...right? Oh, to understand technology!

I'm looking forward to having all of this "updating" done soon. I still have to load all of my Video and Audio software. Also, I need to move all my files from the external hard drive back to my C: drive. Oh Brother!

Reflections of Christmas Break....

I have so enjoyed having a break! This is the first year that we did not spend the whole Christmas break traveling. I never realized how nice it is to just stay home! I'm a "home-body" anyway...but this break has been so refreshing!


Austin is home and my family is complete once again. It's funny how good it feels to have everyone together. Last night, all the guys in the house put all the TV's and the computer monitor in the living and set up their game systems. Our family now owns 3 PS3's. They were playing capture the flag and other beat-em-up and kill-em games! They had a blast! It is refreshing to watch them play together and enjoy each other! I know I will soon be missing all of this.

All of these feelings make me realize that I've taken the love of my Parents and of Adam's Parents for granted. I'm now beginning to understand what it must feel like for them when we come for visits. I think they must still feel that "pleasure when the family is all together and complete"!  I need to make more of an effort to make the times that we are together more memorable for them.

Where we are now...is back to school! HaHa! It's taken me a while to get back into the swing of things...but I think I'm almost there. The fact that I'm actually blogging proves that. Now, to get the rest of it together. Aaron is back to complaining about math "not being fun". I'm back to getting people up in the morning saying, "There's a ton that needs to be done before you have to go here or there!"

Oh, how I fight the urge to wish for more quiet days. I know they are coming faster than I'll want them. I just haven't figured out how to slow the clock down and enjoy each minute I have with my children...whether in school, or in play.

I pray the Lord will give me a heart of contentedness as I continue to watch my children grow up and that He will remind me to enjoy every second of time I have with them. I also pray that my memory will stay vivid for a looooonnnngggg time to come!
 
Happy New Year!

It's a White Christmas In Springfield, MO!

We are so thankful for family this Christmas!  Our family continues to grow!  This is Austin's very first Christmas break from college.  It has been quite an adjustment for his parents.  We are so excited that he's doing well and that he is enjoying his college experience, but we also miss having him close to us.  We know that these feeling are all part of watching your children grow up, and we have gained so much appreciation for our parents as they watched us grow up and become adults.  I never realized it would be so difficult!  Having our family together for Christmas this year is priceless to us! 

Alex is now 16 and we are looking at him and thinking..."I can't believe we have 1 1/2 years left!" before he will be gone to college as well.  My, how the years pass!  We are anxious to see what direction God will lead him in.  He has not decided exactly which direction he will go in yet-he has many ideas, though!  He has grown up to be an incredible young man and we are so blessed to call him ours! 

Aaron is now, almost 12!  He enjoys playing "Call of Duty-Modern Warfare II" with Alex and on-line with Austin.  I never thought I would be "thankful" for on-line video games, but the "brothers" have definitely been able to keep in touch with each other, even though Austin is so far away from us!  This time spent playing games is a highlight for Aaron!!!  He also enjoys playing soccer and the Miami Dolphins!  For several years now the Aberle extended family have played fantasy football and I must confess...Aaron is my personal advisor when it comes to planning my team!  He seems to know the scoop on all the players!  Thanks to Aaron I've enjoyed several opportunities of Victory!  :-) 

This year for Christmas Austin met us in Springfield, MO where we've spent time with the Aberle Family.  I write this from Springfield, looking out on a mostly snow covered deck and a beautiful snow covered back yard.  We will leave the Sunday after Christmas to head home.  Austin is anxious to get back to Huntsville to spend time with girlfriend, Elizabeth.  We'll share our family Christmas together with her on Monday. 

Andrew got the kids all together and taught them how to play bells this year.  It was a surprise to all the adults and we so Greatly enjoyed it!  Here's an opportunity for you to enjoy it as well!



I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It seems like I lose track of time every December. I've been so busy and daily activities have to get crammed in between the holiday festivities. We've been decorating the house, baking Christmas treats, shopping, cleaning, working for the church and trying to keep up with all the "normal" jobs that need to be done like blogging and school!


I have to admit, I love the joy that I find in thinking about the amazing gift from God. That special, one time only, gift of His Son! How blessed could we be to be called heirs of Christ! Especially during the Christmas Season! I LOVE thinking about what gifts to give to family, I LOVE the praying for them that I do as I think of each of them. This time of year lifts my spirits and draws me in to the amazing promises we get to share only because Christ came and died for us. I can't wait to see Him one day! I can't wait to tell him "Happy Birthday" face to face! What joy my heart gets just thinking about it!

I pray that those who share Christ with me will also be able to think past the "bah-hum-bug" and remember the bottom line of Whose we are long enough to remember that it doesn't have to be as hard as we make it!

Enjoy the shopping...Enjoy the blessings...enjoy the business, enjoy the lights and the love and then...Pass It On!

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

World's Largest X'Mas Cake-In The Guinness World Records - The best bloopers are a click away