Better Late Than Never

(It has taken me way too long to edit these photos! I am an amazing procrastinator ;)

I took the Hills' family pictures last August. We went to Millennium Park; an environment where the kids could be kids. After about an hour the girls became disinterested in posing so Marcus took out the fishing poles. It was a creative idea! The fishing pictures are some of my favorites.

The Hills are a blessing in my life. I came to know them over the four months that I lived with them. Each of the kids, Kella, Kasey, Kaya, and Keane, are infused with personality! I enjoy spending time with them, although they quickly wear me out. Sarah and Marcus are wonderful as well. I spent many many hours talking to Sarah after the kids went to bed. She is full of insight and wisdom! I learned much from her about motherhood and marriage. I'm amazed by her ability to raise all four of these kiddos with seemingly never ending amounts of grace and love.

Winter Wonderland

A few weeks ago everything outside froze over...and then it snowed! It was beautiful! 

Never have I enjoyed the beauty of winter as much as this year~

A few days before Christmas Grandma, Grandpa, Kristi, Kayla, Kourtney, and Kolton came to our house. The power went out while they were here, but we had a great time together despite the inconvenience.

We went sledding down the driveway, played games, watched football, built gingerbread houses and went shopping!

Christmas Eve was spent with my mom's side of the family and Christmas day with the five of us.

The past two years I was in Haiti for Christmas, celebrating with friends and family there. 

It was nice to be here this year with my family and friends. I couldn't have asked for a better holiday season!  

Being Intentional

Among my New Year's resolutions of blogging more and reading more books, I wrote down 'spend less time on my phone and more time with God.' 

This resolution came from becoming more connected to friends, facebook, emails, and Pinterest over the past few months than God. It is easy for me to see my relationship with God backsliding...but very hard for me to make a conscious choice to fix it. It takes much less effort to check facebook for the umpteenth time, browse the new pins on Pinterest and text friends about plans for the coming days than it does to sit down, be still, and open up my Bible or spend quiet time listening to God speak.

It's easy to waste time on menial tasks. It takes discipline to develop a daily routine of spending time with my Father. It's hard. So very hard. God warns us that it will be no easy task.

"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:11-12

Discipline is painful. Did you catch that? Painful. It's not supposed to be easy. It's not effortless.

Isaiah 32:17 goes on to say, "The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever."

The fruits of discipline are peace, quietness and confidence. 

I've had two different conversations recently about the fruits of spending time with God. The remarks went something like this, "On the days when I make time for God my days just go so much better. My life is better when I'm closer to God. Then the world sucks me in and I get caught up in it. I let my quiet time with God slip away. I worry more and stress about the little things... I need to get back to that place of closeness with Him." I hear it often. I'm guilty of it. 

Jamie, the Very Worst Missionary, recently blogged about using the excuse "things will get better when..." She reflected on all the reasons we come up with to put off doing what we want to be doing, choosing to let time slip away. She writes, "If I can blame all of my problems on things that will happily fix themselves over time, then I never have to actually DO anything. I am a lazy genius." Her conclusion is nothing will get better unless we put the work into it now. (Read her complete article here)

I'm resolving to change; to make time for my heavenly Father now. John Piper spoke on resolutions, stating that the most important thing to remember is resolutions are sustained through Christ. Resolve to do what you should be doing; resolve to not continue doing what you shouldn't be doing. 

What are you waiting for? What's your excuse? Let's stop living in the "it'll be better when..." and get to it, because NOW IS WORK. Whatever your resolutions may be this year above all "set your mind and heart to seek the Lord." 1 Chronicles 22:19

Codi & Collin -Class of 2014-

Maia, Levi & Judah

While visiting Haiti a few weeks ago, I once again had the opportunity to photograph these adorable kids:

Facebook

A few weeks ago my friend and I were studying for exams. Neither one of us has been known to be exceptionally good at focusing. And our ability to stay on task is decreased when we are studying together. I'll admit, I usually ended up talking most of the time when we were supposed to be studying or writing papers.

On this particular day, I was focused and my friend, whom we'll call Tori, was distracted. The culprit- facebook. She was using documents on her computer to study for a test, which meant that the internet was about two clicks away. Tori admitted that while studying for exams in the past few days, facebook had become a "study break" for her.... More so, it had become a way to avoid studying altogether. She was fed up with her not studying.

This exam in particular was an important one for her to pass. In desperation she said to me, "Why don't you just change the password on my facebook so that I can't get into it." She quickly followed up with, "But when I'm done studying for this exam you can change the password back!"

I agreed to help her out! It takes a strong person to admit they have a problem; it takes an even stronger person to make a change. She told me her facebook password, then I logged into her account and quickly changed the password. She logged out of facebook on her computer and diligently began to study.

The next day already Tori had taken this exam. She texted me, asking for access to her facebook account again. I was busy all day and didn't have time to change the password back right away. I told her I would change it when I had time. I then proceeded to tell her that five people "liked" her status.

Of course, having the run of her facebook, I wrote a status for her. Tori freaked out on me! She texted me back saying, "I will never ever let this happen again!" She thought I was abusing my powers. However, I told her that I would not have posted a status that she did not approve of. I assured her that she was my friend and I wouldn't do anything to hurt or embarrass her. She had trouble trusting me though!

Later that day she regained access to her facebook and all was well again.

I think this is a reflection of our Christian life. Tori hastily made a decision to give me her facebook password. I then had control of her facebook and all that that entailed. Is this not often the way it is when we become followers of Christ? We quickly make a decision to follow Christ, not realizing the implications of our decision. When we say yes to God we are signing off on our life and giving the control over to God.

2 Corinthians 5: 17-18 "Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. All this is done by God, who through Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also."

We have a new purpose when we accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

"All people have been set in the world to display the glory of the true and living God, the great King of the universe, by establishing his will on Earth. In Reformed theology, this role for human beings is often called the "cultural mandate," referring to our blessing and our responsibility to develop culture under the Lordship of Christ (Gen 1:28-30). This finds ultimate fulfillment in Jesus, who commanded the redeemed image of God (his faithful people) to fulfill the cultural mandate through the "gospel mandate" by proclaiming Christ's name throughout the world (Mt 28: 18-20)."

-excerpt taken from NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible

God also calls us to trust Him as we carry out this task set before us. Just as I love my friend and would never intentionally hurt or embarrass her, God loves us more than we will ever know and His aim is not to hurt or embarrass us. As we relinquish control of our lives and let God fulfill His plan though us we must trust him. He knows us best and instructs us to delight ourselves in Him (Psalm 37:4). God will not disappoint us.

Psalm 40: 4-5 "Happy are those who trust the Lord, who do not turn to idols or join those who worship false gods. You have done many things for us, O Lord our God; there is no one like you! You have many wonderful plans for us. I could never speak of them all- their number is so great!"

Another Adventure

My life seems to be one adventure after another. "One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure." ~William Feather  While some adventures are more enjoyable than others, I've learned to trust God through it all.

Yesterday I got all four of my wisdom teeth out. The dentist had been telling me for years that I needed to have these teeth removed so I knew the day was coming. My mom said, "It's not so bad. Just think, you only have to have this done once in your life." ...I should add this to my bucket list!? I think not!

I had my appointment in the afternoon and I tried the whole morning, perhaps in vain, not to worry about this routine procedure. Thankfully I was distracted by a busy morning at work. Because of the medication they were going to give me to put me "out," I could not eat or drink anything for six hours prior to the surgery. This was rather difficult for me as I like food and I never go anywhere with out a water bottle. Yes, I thought of all the starving kids around the world and imagined what it must be like for them to go without food for days on end, not just six measly hours like in my case. That helped.

One thirty rolled around- the nurse called out to me from my spot in the waiting room. I followed her down the hall into a quaint room. (I'm also very thankful for the adequate medical care that is accessible to me.) She asked me a few questions and then hooked me up to heart rate and blood pressure monitors. Then she left the room and I decided to get my resting heart rate down as low as I could. I imagined myself relaxing on a beach in Haiti, with the waves crashing in front of me and the warm sun shining down! I also imagined the laughter of Maia, Chloe and Levi as they played in the sand next to me. I got my heart rate down to 60; then the nurse and doctor came in and my heart rate spiked back up. The doctor pricked the needle into my arm and the nurse handed him four little syringes of medication. The last thing I remember is the nurse coming alongside of me and saying, "Why don't you try imagining yourself on the beach or somewhere else relaxing." I replied, "Oh, I've already been at the beach!"

Next thing I know, I woke up, my mouth stuffed with gauze. The nurse led me to the "recovery room" where I laid down on another bed. I was surprised that the whole procedure took only an hour. They've sure mastered ripping those teeth out of your mouth! When my mom came in the nurse gave her some final instructions, asked me how I was doing (um, "ok?"), and then sent us on our way. I don't remember much from the car ride, except that I couldn't feel my tongue and lower lip because of the local anesthesia. I feel asleep immediately after being positioned on the couch at home. My mom came later with my pain prescription, waking me up so I could take it. The pain in my mouth was almost unbearable. I quickly swallowed down the pills, which was quite a feat because my mouth was still numb. I slept on an off the rest of the day, changing the gauze in my mouth every hour (yuck!) and icing my jaw.

I have minimal chipmunk cheeks and, as long as I'm on the pain killers, the pain isn't so bad. I am rather hungry though. It's hard to fill up on soft foods. I've eaten yogurt, pudding, mashed potatoes, a banana peanut butter smoothie, pureed soup and ice cream! Today I'm feeling quite a bit better already. My jaw is just very very sore. Hopefully I won't be as sore again in the morning after a good nights rest.

Thanks for your prayers! And thanks to my mom for taking care of me. I really appreciate having her around!

Exodus 15:26 "For I am the LORD, who heals you."

There's No Place Like Home For the Holidays

There's no place like home for the holidays. Or is there? Experiencing holidays in Haiti was quite different than experiencing them in America. The holiday season in Haiti was simple; that's the easiest way to describe it. What I liked about it was that there was no consumerism (ads, magazines, commercials, ect) and it wasn't very busy. The holidays in America are the exact opposite- consumerized to the max and quite busy. Being away for one holiday season has given me a different perspective on celebrating the holidays here and a new appreciation for this wonderful time of year! Yes, it truly is wonderful.

There are many luxuries:

• McDonald's holiday McFlurry's
• Peppermint mochas
• outdoor Christmas lights strung on houses, over trees, and on lamp posts
• numerous indoor Christmas decorations
• stores galore, for finding that perfect gift for those special people in your life

Wherever you are this holiday season be thankful! Whether you live in a country with plenty or a scarcity of luxuries blessings abound!