Baseball Season

It's time for baseball again! Blake is on the Red Sox this year & so far is really having a great time! Baseball season is always bitter-sweet for Jake. His dad was a huge baseball fan and Jake always has a difficult time not being able to share this with his dad. Blake is really doing well this season and has started to grasp the fundamentals and is beginning to understand the game. Last season Jacob mentioned to Blake that he wished Pops could be here to see him play. Blake looked at him and said "Dad, Pops isn't missing anything. Pops & Pie (my dad) are up in heaven watching every game". It was such a sweet reminder said so matter of factly from our 8 year old son. Sometimes we need one comment from our kids to remind us of the big picture.

On a different note, during Blake's first game, someone passed out some sunflower seeds. BIG mistake! Blake was playing 3rd base, but kept digging in his back pocket and stuffing a handful of sunflower seeds in his mouth. Over & over again we watched him stuff his face! He was barely paying attention to the game! Finally the Ump told all the boys to empty their pockets - sunflower seeds were banned from the game!

Fun with Cousins

My sister, Kris, and niece, Megan, flew down to spend some time with us for Megan's 12th birthday. We had such a great time! We took the kids to Disney for the day. It was a completely different Disney experience, our kids are getting to an age where they can go on a few rides by themselves. We've never let our kids go on any rides w/out us before - but we gave it a try & they had a lot of fun. My sister & I weren't really looking forward to walking around in wet clothes all day - so the kids went on the rapids at CA Adventure w/out us - as you can see from one of the pictures below - we made a wise decision - the kids were soaked! Robby spent the day w/ us as well. He was so great! Not only did he go on a few of the rides with the kids that I chickened out on (yes I know Disney doesn't have any rides big enough to warrant me chickening out on...but I'm a big baby when it comes to rides!) - but he took the kids on rides while my sister & I enjoyed a nice glass of wine! We stayed at the park for 12 hours! We were all worn out by the end of the day... but the kids still had enough energy to go on Splash Mountain at 10:30pm!! The next day we enjoyed walking around the beach & then went to Blake's first baseball game. It was a great weekend!

Blake having a great time w/ Uncle Rob

The kids were soaking wet after the rapids ride!

Blue Wallet StayCATion

We had planned on taking a trip to Arrowhead this year as we have in previous years, but it just didn't work out. So Mark came up with the great idea of a "Staycation" - we started the day of at the LeMonnier's for some Migas, fruit & delicious muffins. Then we headed over to the Stumps for spaghetti & poker night for the boys. We had such a fun time! As you can tell below - the kids also had a great time!

Giving up Control.....

My Bible study has been reading “Ms. Understood” by Jen Hatmaker. I just finished the last chapter yesterday and was inspired by the women’s stories she included. Jen provided information about several of her small group members and their extraordinary stories. One friend she wrote about had climbed the corporate ladder and was already an executive at Fox by her late twenties. She felt that she needed to change her life, so she quit her job & planned on traveling the world for a year. During a trip to India she visited an orphanage. After seeing the deplorable conditions – such as wooden slats for beds and children who were suffering from malnutrition – she decided to take action & do something about it. She set up an organization to renovate the orphanages in India, to not only provide suitable living conditions and food, but these organizations also provide computer skill training and education for the children, so they now are equipped with the skills necessary to survive after they leave the orphanage. There are now (5) children’s homes & (1) unwed mothers home. Here are some stats that I took from her website:
(http://www.miraclefoundation.org/index.php):

“There are 25 million orphaned children in India and the number is growing. It is estimated that one million orphans enter the system each year. All of these children share a similar story. A life of poverty, with no family to care for them, nurture them or nourish them. Many live on the streets and the "lucky" ones live in overcrowded, under-funded orphanages. The state of orphaned children in India is heart-breaking.
· An estimated 31% of the babies surviving past the age of one will die before the age of five
· Approximately 18% of children under five in India are moderately to severely underweight
· The rapid spread of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has resulted in India possessing the largest number of AIDS orphans in the world
· UNICEF reports that 25 million orphans are living in India—a number equivalent to the population of the entire state of Texas “

What a difference this one woman made! It is so amazing how God can work through one person to change the world! We often think that we aren’t capable of accomplishing something that seems so out of our reach, but we forget that we are not alone; if we allow God to work through us anything can be accomplished!

Is there some charity, mission trip or other outreach program that God has laid on your heart? Are you always coming up with excuses as to why you can’t participate? I challenge each of you to really pray about what God’s calling is for you, maybe you’re way ahead of me & are already doing this! I’ve had a desire to participate in some type of outreach for awhile, but as soon as the thought even enters my mind….excuses keep piling up “I don’t have the time” or “I don’t have the money” or “I’m not qualified to do this” etc. The simple answer to this is prayer! I’m going to pray about what type of outreach I would like to volunteer with and then write it down. Then I’m going to write down all of the excuses that pop in my head…and pray specifically asking God if it’s His will for me to serve in this outreach, to please remove the obstacles that I’m facing. I don’t know what will come from this, but I really feel like I need to do something. Honestly it makes me quite nervous to give up control (like I ever really had control :) ) & give it up to God.

A month or so ago, I decided to read a book of the Bible as my morning devotions, I randomly picked the book of James. James 1:14-17 says “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead”. I know this may sound harsh, and I don’t believe that this verse is saying that the way to heaven is through works – not faith. But I do believe that if we have a true and sincere faith in God and believe what the Bible says is true, that we will have a desire to serve each other and help those that are less fortunate than us.

I know that I’ve rambled on and on in this blog, but this is something that has been on my heart – so I thought I would share :)

I’ve read several of Jen Hatmaker’s books and have also attended one of her conferences – I’ve really enjoyed the books & would highly recommend reading them! She has a great sense of humor and is able to relate to her readers through her humor and simple explanations of Biblical principles.

Check out her website at http://www.jenhatmaker.com/. My favorite is “A Modern Girls Guide to Bible Study”

Mackenzie's Designs - Issue 1

Mackenzie has really been getting into fashion lately, so Jake & I thought we would encourage her to design her own clothing line. On Sunday we purchased a cloth form mannequin from a friend and by Monday Mackenzie had already created her first dress. Now...I know this may just seem like a normal pillow case, but we hadn't even had a chance to go the fabric store to purchase material for her creations. I was very impressed that she came up with this on her own! So anyways...this is her first dress from her "Pillowcase Design" line of clothing! Please ignore the mess in the background :) More pictures to come soon - (after we go to the fabric store)!

SUPER BOWL

We spent Super Bowl Sunday at the Stumps...another great event! I would like to draw attention to the HUGE can of chili - it made me nervous just thinking of Jake eating it!

Prayer Needed

I wanted to share a link to a couple of families that have really touched my heart.

First my next door neighbor, Kitty Schmidt, suffered a heart attack on Monday, January 26th. She has been in ICU since she was admitted to the hospital. Please lift Kitty up in prayer. She is an amazing woman and has gone through so much in her life. Please also pray for her daughter Amy and husband Ron. Here is a link to the blog: http://caringbridge.org/visit/kittyschmidt.

Secondly, I heard about this family from my friend Rachel. I don't personally know them, but just from reading their blog, by heart goes out to them. Please remember to lift little baby Cora up and ask for strength and comfort for her family. Here is their blog: http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Thank you for your prayers!