pride

I'm learning that pride leads to not only arrogance, but also autonomy, independence, secrets, hiding, idolatry...to name a few things. The opposite is brokenness, dependency, humility, but then also community and love for one another. Sharing our brokenness and sin with one another leads to people's hearts being bound to one another.

Our only equipping comes from Him. When WE are weak, HE is strong.

Comedy Relief in Election Year

funny princesses

We were tickled by this. The little one LOVES princesses. Here they are in true form.

Homeschool Family

We have reached the height of homeschooling as we attended and participated in a "Silverware" Dance (as our 3 year old calls it). One of the children (not ours) said, "Is this the war we lost?"

It is good to be weary and frustrated with the fruitless search for the good, so that one can reach out one's arms instead to the Redeemer. -- Blaise Pascal

saying goodbye

The time is quickly approaching for us to move from Athens. Emotionally, we have the feeling, "been there, done that, don't want to feel that again". Moving is very hard-not the logistics (although that is no trip to the park), but the ripping of our hearts away from those we love. Our whole family has very significant relationships in Athens. This is the 3rd time we have lived here and our history is rich with our dear friends. The pain of leaving is also a reminder of the past pain of leaving other people we love as well.

Sara Groves has written a song called, "Every Minute" which is a sweet, sweet song about friendship. So, to all of you...

And I wish all the people I love the most
Could gather in one place
And know each other and love each other well
And I wish we could all go camping
And lay beneath the stars
And have nothing to do and stories to tell
We'd sit around the campfire
And we'd make each other laugh remembering when

disco

Pre-teens and disco. What a fun combination. Our oldest child is almost a teenager as we celebrated her 12th birthday. Her sweet friends sang, "We are Family" and "Ladies Night". Not to be outdone, her brothers did a rousing rendition of "Macho Man" and "Shake your Groove Thang."

We are praying for specific things for her as she is in this stage of life. Several of them proved to be true as we "danced the night away". Please join us in praying for our children.
1) Bring godly friends into her life.
2) She won't forget how to laugh.
3) God will bring other godly adults into her life.
4) She will develop a loving and caring relationship with her siblings.

We are thankful for the many people from all over the world who have invested in our children . We are blessed.