Mike's Graduation

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." James 1:12

It was a wonderful day for us. We were ALL so proud of Mike and his achievement. He graduated with honors and was even given a special award for excellence in family law. Mike was relaxed and was beaming with joy. He asked me to take his picture with each of the kids individually. He thanked each of us for supporting him as he completed law school. I know I feel blessed beyond all reason to be married to such an incredible person, wonderful husband, and loving daddy.

Mike and Briana

Mike and Lindsey

Mike and David

Mike and Gabe

Mike and Shelby

George, Mike, and Jan

Mike and Grandma Dubs

Mom, Mike, Mike, Shelby, and Me

Don, Mike, and Joan

Greg and Mike, double attorney trouble!

"Trusting God During Difficult times"-devotional

"For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Psalm 100:5 (NIV)

Horrified, I placed the phone back in its charger. My mind reeled. What could I say to one of my dearest friends after this new tragedy had struck? First, she experienced the loss of a fourteen-year-old son to brain cancer. Now her eldest son, only eighteen, had been discovered mugged and murdered. Incomprehensible.She asked, "Why?" I had no answer other than, "I don't know, but I cling to the factual knowledge that God is good, regardless. Tragedies in this life are beyond our understanding this side of heaven."I believe Jesus is good, and that knowledge sings from the depths of my soul. This nugget of truth is more precious than life itself to me. We have been taught and recognize that faith is not something we can necessarily see, hear, feel, taste, or touch. It is stepping out of our comfort zones and trusting God—regardless of how we feel emotionally.

The Bible explains, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1, NIV).The true story of Horatio G. Spafford demonstrates this type of faith in God's goodness. Spafford wrote the familiar hymn, "It is Well with My Soul" in 1872 after his four daughters drowned, soon after his own financial bankruptcy. He, somehow, held onto the fact that despite the outward circumstances, God was good. He wrote, "And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight." He knew that his faith was not in vain, and that someday he would see the meaning and purpose of all the tragedy surrounding his life at that moment.For myself I think my greatest lesson of faith has been in the acknowledgement that God is good—all the time. Oswald Chambers wrote, "Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God's character must be proven trustworthy in our own minds."There will always be moments of uncertainty. I find comfort in the words written by David Jeremiah in My Heart's Desire:
You may sometimes feel awkward and uncomfortable, and find yourself saying, "Is this really true? I don't see anything in it. I don't hear God's voice. I don't feel His presence." There are days like that for all of us. The pursuit of God has no shortcuts. You simply must keep walking, keep seeking, and keep yearning. Keep at it, and you won't be disappointed. God is good, even as I mourn with my friend. I have witnessed her grief, anger, and doubt. But throughout the passing months, I have watched her cling to Jesus with hands wet with tears. My friend believes God is good all the time even when she can't feel it with her emotions. Her faith rests in the fact, "The Lord is good and his love endures forever."Dear Lord, grant me the faith to know that You are good all the time, even during the most difficult circumstances of this life. When I am weak, lift me up. Enable me to accept the love and comfort from others who love me, but let me rely on Your everlasting love for me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Application Steps: Memorize one of the Power Verses below to repeat and remind yourself of God's goodness during difficult times in your life.

Reflections:What situations in my life do I feel are out of my faith-comfort zone? Do I believe that God is good all the time?

Power Verses:
Psalms 91:2, "I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."(NIV)
Deuteronomy 31:8, "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." (NIV)
Psalms 27:5, "For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock." (NIV)

Devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries and written by Susanne Scheppmann.

RECIPE: Homemade Crackers

Shelby loved our crackers made with honey, cinnamon, & sugar.

I have been making everything I can from scratch these days and asked Mike for a noodle press for Mother's Day. Briana had a sleepover with her friend Renee and we made some homemade crackers by rolling the dough through it and then slicing it with a pizza cutter into squares and triangles. They were awesome and the girls had so much fun. We even let the boys put the dough through the extruder and they were busy for hours.

Homemade Wheat Thins RECIPE:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup milled flax seed

1/4 cup wheat germ

2 tsp. sugar

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp. coconut oil

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. Oregano

Mix the dough until it forms a sticky ball. Split the dough into 4 pieces and press each piece through the lasagna noodle press form. Fold in half and roll through again. Fold in the sides and edges and keep rolling it through the press until you have a shape you like. Sprinkle with garlic salt and gently press the salt into the dough. Taking a pizza cutter or cookie cutters make your shapes, put onto a cookie sheet, and bake for 8-10 minutes at 395 degrees.

For sweet crackers use the same dough, omitting the olive oil and oregano. Add 2 Tbsp. of honey and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar after each pass in the press to keep the dough from becoming to sticky. Cut the same way with a pizza cutter and bake at 395 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Cool all crackers on a cooling rack and store in ziplock bags or canisters.

Mike's last day of Law School...

Today was a celebration for our family. Mike took his "final" final exam this afternoon. He has worked very hard the past 8 semesters and has officially completed Law School. He has cleaned out his locker and all that is left is to walk the stage and receive his diploma May 23rd. If we look back to Aug of 2005 when he began this journey it was a very different picture.

Mike was adjusting to the lay off at American Airlines and was settling in to his job with the law firm. He looked ahead and saw to really get ahead would take a degree in law. He put one foot in front of the other and we focused on one 13 week semester at a time. When we discussed the future of our family and the needs in the present we weighed the pros and cons. Mike asked me for 4 years of firm support and we decided to proceed together. I was worried, about the workload and ability to balance a full time job with higher education. I was 37 weeks pregnant with Gabe when he started his first day of class. I was worried about being able to personally handle and homeschool four children with a very overloaded husband. It wasn't all rosey and sweet. I had my meltdown moments and at times Mike was easily irritated by toys on the floor and dished piled in the sink. We also endured 3 very difficult pregnancies (2 ending in miscarriage) during this season. And don't forget for Shelby's pregnancy I was on bedrest from 16 weeks till I delivered her. Talk about stress.

We have really persevered as a family. Mike's accomplishment swells up pride in my heart for his determination, and it also brings me joy for our family unity. Mike and I have claimed several scriptures from the book of James in the past few years. This is one that is especially dear to me today:
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

It is hard to consider it pure joy when you are going through it, but I promise you when you are on the other side...it is PURE JOY!

Mike's Dad and Brother bought him a new riding lawnmower for a Graduation present!

Good thing too, because our old one blew out the transmission on Sunday!

Mike was excited that he was able to cut the entire 2.3 acres in 1 hour 45 minutes (half the time of our old mower)!

Strong Will vs. Strong Won't

"The diligent hand will rule, but laziness will lead to forced labor." PROVERBS 12:24

"Each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised." Hebrews 6:11-12

We need to make clear the difference between diligence and obstinacy. When asked to clarify the difference between perseverance and obstinance, a student wrote: "One is a strong WILL and the other is a strong WON'T."Diligence is dogged perseverance; obstinacy is dogged inflexibility and self-will.
A man whose life was full of promise as far as the Christian ministry was concerned now spends his days in depression because he did not know the difference between these two things. He set out on a project that he thought was God"s will for him, and when things started to go wrong, instead of checking his guidance, he continued to press on and ended up in failure.
Those who loved him, and were more objective, urged him to give up as what he was doing was clearly not the will of God. However, he did not have the wisdom to realize that what he was doing was not being diligent but obstinate. Now he lives in perpetual disillusionment.
When Jesus came to Calvary, He said, "I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work You gave Me to do" (Jn 17:4). Note the word "You."There were many who would have liked Jesus to do this and that, to go here and go there, but He did only what the Father required Him to do. Saying "yes" to God"s will and pursuing it is diligence.
Saying "yes" to a thing that is not God"s will and pursuing that is obstinacy. We had better learn the difference.
Daily PrayerFather, I see how important it is to be clear about these two issues. Help me differentiate between diligence and obstinacy so that at the end of my time here on earth I, too, will be able to say, "I have finished the work which You have given me to do." Amen.

(from Lifeway.com "Everyday with Jesus" Devotional Series)

Lindsey & Briana hostessed a Mother's Day Tea

They set a gorgeous table, prepared tea sandwiches, fruit salad, and a selection of teas.

Caroline brought yummy brownies and Renee made us her famous apple cheesecake.
Shelby felt like a big girl and loved sipping tea from her own china teacup.
Shelli's girls: Lindsey, Shelby, and Briana

Katie's girls: Caroline, Adeline, and Clementine

Donna's girls: Renee, Ecaterina, and Aunt Geneva

The girls did all the work, clean up, and even made us each a card. Lindsey choose a Bible verse dedicated to mothers and prayed for our meal. They cleaned the house before the event, made place cards for each guest, personal menus, and Briana even made a music playlist for us to listen to while we had tea. Katie, Donna, and I felt very appreciated and are looking forward to next year's tea :)

I did help a little bit....I made scones for the first time ever. After living in England for 3 years I have always been afraid to make them. Most people I have talked to who have tried them say they turn out like frisbees. I did want to try it and I got really luckywith my first recipe! I adapted the recipe by adding yogurt instead of sour cream and half & half instead of milk. They were the best scones EVER!!! So you will be as sucessful as I was the first time, I will share my secrets with you!

The BEST ENGLISH SCONES EVER...Recipe:

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup dried cranberries and raisins
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 cup plain yogurt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Sift the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or rubbing between your fingers until it is in pea sized lumps. Stir in the cranberries and raisins. Mix together 1/2 cup half and half and 1/4 cup yogurt in a measuring cup. Pour all at once into the dry ingredients, and stir gently until well blended. Overworking the dough results in terrible scones!
With floured hands, pat scone dough into balls 2 to 3 inches across, depending on what size you want. Place onto a greased baking sheet, and flatten lightly. Let the scones barely touch each other. Sprinkle the scones with crystal sugar. Let them rest for about 10 minutes.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until the tops are golden brown, not deep brown. Break each scone apart, or slice in half. Serve with butter or clotted cream and a selection of jams - or even plain.

Devotional- "It's no Secret"

"God, save me by Your name... For strangers rise up against me... They have no regard for God." PSALM 54:1, 3
The more disillusioned we are with the world, the more motivated we will be to pursue the Christian way. If we are not willing to face the reality that we live in a fallen world, that the latest invention is not going to bring us Utopia, that possessions fail to give any lasting happiness, then we are not going to move along the rugged road of faith with a steady tread.
My favorite word to summarize the message of this, the first of the Songs of Ascents, is renunciation. The psalmist seems to have made a decision to move away from the lies he has heard, and we too must make a similar decision. We must renounce lies such as that human beings are basically good, we are not responsible for the way we are, we can find happiness independently of God.
The truth of God does not begin to dawn upon us until we realize that what we have assumed was the truth - that we are the masters of our fate - is in fact a lie. It is painful to admit that we have been taken in by the world's lies, but until we accept that we have and confess it, we are not ready to move on into all that God has for us.
If the psalmist were writing today, he might have worded his prayer like this: "Save me, O Lord, from the lies of those who think they know the answer to life but don't."We must discover that before we can say "yes" to God we must first learn to say "no" to the world.

Daily Prayer:
Father, I would make the prayer of the psalmist my prayer also. Rescue me from those who would represent the world to me in terms that are not entirely true. I turn from the untrue to the True. Help me dear Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Devotional- "Speaking Truth"

"Whoever speaks the truth declares what is right, but a false witness, deceit." PROVERBS 12:17

Both we and the universe are made for integrity, and both the universe and we are alien to untruth and dishonesty. The whole thrust of the universe which God designed and created is simple, uncomplicated, and built on truth. There are great mysteries, of course, but no lies. Scientific laws are upheld by truth. Gravity, for example, will not lie; it is as true in one country as it is in another, as reliable in Jerusalem as it is in Japan.
It has often been pointed out that the word "evil" is the word "live" spelled backwards. Satan delights to take what God does and try to reverse it - to move life in the opposite way to that in which it was designed to go. Satan is a liar (Jn 8:44), and lies are always roundabout, complicated, and deceiving.
The fact that the universe is built on truth can be verified by the simple device known as a "lie detector."The lie detector test works on the basis that people who tell lies and know they are telling lies become extremely anxious and uncomfortable, and this anxiety is then picked up by the machine. But why does telling a lie make a person anxious?
Because we are built for truth, and any departure from it registers on the inside in a way that can be picked up on the outside.
A lie detector is not infallible and can sometimes (though not often) be fooled. But what cannot be fooled is the soul of the person who is lying. The worst thing about being a liar is to be the person telling the lie.
Daily Prayer: Father, help me lay hold of the fact that a lie demeans me, but the truth develops me. I cannot live successfully by a lie any more than I can fling myself out of the window and defy gravity. May I be a person of truth. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

(from Lifeway.com "Everyday with Jesus" Devotional Series)

Second Saturday Sisters

Gentleness, me....really? I was asked by our Women's Ministry to speak this Saturday. This month's topic is the fruit of the Spirit: gentleness. I almost said NOOOOO WAY...but Zenice is so sweet and looked so excited I couldn't refuse. Well actually I said, "I'll pray about it and let ya know." The next few days God did a work in me and showed me what gentleness is all about and that this trait can only come from Him when it comes to me! If you are interested in my testimony I will be sharing it this Saturday, May 9th, at Woodstock Assembly of God at 8:30am in the chapel.

RECIPE: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

3 large sliced carrots
3 sliced celery stalks
1 med onion diced
1 tsp. minced garlic

cooked chicken pulled from bone (you can cheat w/a rotisserie chicken from the store)
6-8 cups water
4 cubes of chicken bullion
1 package thin egg noodles
1 tsp. each of garlic salt, pepper, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, parsley, and celery salt
1 large can Chicken broth
Saute the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add the water to fill 3/4 of your pot. Put the cut chicken into the water with the bullion/broth and boil for 1 hour. Add the spices and noodles and cook for 20 more minutes. Enjoy.

Chicken Soup for the Soul

The kids have been sick....and sick...and sick. I am quite tired of the constant sneezing, whining, coughing, and waking up at night. I feel like I can whip up a batch of Chicken Noodle Soup in my sleep! I was complaining the other day while I was on the phone with Bobbi in FL and I noticed that it was eerily quite in the house. I went in the kitchen to check on Shelby and found her quite content IN a bowl of soup. Problem was, there was more on her than in her tummy! It did make a great photo op, though. And I was able to focus on the task at hand...comforting my precious ones!!!

RECIPE: Resurrection Rolls

My mom sent me this recipe and the kids LOVED it!!! They want to do it all year long!

1 package Pillsbury crescent rolls
12 large marshmallows
cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Take the crescent rolls and separate the sections. Let each child roll their marshmallow in the cinnamon and tell them the Crucifixion account. Talk about how Jesus' body was laid in the tomb and the women returned to prepare His body with spices. Wrap the marshmallow in the dough and pinch all the corners closed. Remind them that the entrance was sealed with a stone. Bake the rolls for 10-12 minutes. Let rolls cool for a few minutes and then ask them where Jesus is! The surprise is they are empty....JUST LIKE JESUS' TOMB!!! It is a sweet demonstration of God's perfect gift!

HE IS RISEN!!! Easter 2009

We celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord this year with our church family and then with our loved ones. Grandma Jan and Grandpa Georgie hosted the first egg hunt and brunch.

Shelby was more interested in Eddie the cat than the Easter Egg Hunt!!!

Sweet Cousins:
Lexi, Elizabeth, Briana, Shelby, David, Colum, Gabriel, and Lindsey


Our second stop was to Papa Cake & Grandma Joan's for egg hunt #2 and more fun with cousins! It was a long day, but was so worth it.


We treasure the gift Christ freely gave us and have every reason to praise Him and celebrate. He is RISEN...He is RISEN indeed!