New Nephew!

Introducing my new beautiful nephew

Marc Charles Puffenbarger. Momma and baby are doing great. The distance is really hard at a time like this. But we are praying that God will comfort them and fulfill their every need. I can't wait to get my turn with snuggles and kisses. We love you Marc! Click here to read more about their amazing testimoney and their story as new parents or to leave them some encouragement.

"From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you." Psalm 71:6

Nephew on the way!

Please pray for my sister-in-law Stephanie and Jarrod as they are about to have their first child. Her water broke today and she is in the hospital at 35 weeks pregnant. Just imagine going through all this in a different country! Click over to their blog to leave them some encouragement!

This is a picture of them this summer when Aaron was born. My heart just breaks not to be able to be there them during this time! The only thing that comforts me is knowing that God is taking care their family and knows their every need. I'm praying that God will care for their family in big ways and somehow some way let them know that they are not alone....even all the way across the world!

"Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made."

Psalm 145:13

Brotherly Love

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."
Romans 12:10

Kingdom Kids

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."

Eph 6:10-11

Praying that God in his mercy will use us to train our kids to rise up to be mighty warriors and great Godly leaders for their generation. And that they will train others to do the same. We pray that they're hearts will be sensitive to things that are eternal.

I Must be Ancient

Things that my kids have said recently to make me feel old!

Alisia brought home an encyclopedia for the letter C. She said her teacher was giving them out. They have several sets in the class room and they haven't used them in years! She thought it was cool that she could look up anything that starts with the letter C actually in a book (opposed to online). I wonder if Aaron will ever have to use a hard copy dictionary or thesaurus or encyclopedia.

In honor of Black History Month, Caleb is learning a little about it. He asked me last night: "is it true that when you were little, black kids couldn't go to school?"
He was amazed that this used to be the case and couldn't understand why. But I had to explain to him that was before Mommy was born.

I was cleaning out some boxes (from our move last summer!) and Alisia saw this on the wall and asked "What is that for?"

We haven't had a house phone for more than 5 years so I guess she doesn't remember. And with cell phones and wireless internet she may never have to use one of these in her lifetime!

I guess my generation is so used to change and new gadgets. I love that grandma thinks it's incredible that we can Skype with my brother's family in Korea. When we show her something new, she always exclaims in disbelief "how do they do that!?"

Now and Then

It's hard to believe that this.....


....used to look like this!


aahh...just look at that green grass!

Crawling

Today Aaron is 7 months old. And he's been doing this for a little over a week now.

All in one night:


The motivation:

He Was Right

This morning I was trying to explain this day to Angel, but I really didn't do a good job because he didn't believe me.


6 More Weeks of Winter! Yikes!

But then it snowed today, so I just said ..."See...that's what the groundhog said." Even though I don't really get it either.

Faith Challenge

Our days aren't overly structured, but sometimes the thought of adding another routine, is just overwhelming. I try to have quiet time with God, but somedays if it doesn't happen, I think I usually have a pretty good reason. How sad.

Alisia came home from school with an activity for me to do. She said they did it in Bible class and it really impacted her. So she made two worksheets for us to do together.


After we completed them, we both admitted that we were overly genrous on colomn A and not quite as truthful on colomn B. Alisia said her teacher challenged them to try to increase the time you spend with God. The time we spend for ourselves shows we do have time to spend with God, we just choose to spend it otherwise.

She was so kind and gentle sharing what she had learned and just wanted to share it with me. But I felt like a tow truck just ran over me. Again, I fall short.

The time I spend with God is not only important for my own relationship with Him, but also important to other eyes watching and being an example for my children. In my shortcoming, I'm thankful to God in his mercy that He is the one who does the work in their heart.