She Did It Again

Christmas Day

It is a California Christmas today as the weather is 61 degrees and sunny. It makes for a different feel for Christmas compared to Ohio weather.  But we are soaking in the sun and enjoying our blessings.  We have learned to be flexible....I would say that is the lesson for this season.  Christmas Eve day was supposed to be full of an afternoon at the movies with the girls, dinner out and an evening church service in their pretty dresses.  But because of our illnesses we stayed home all day.  So we had two choices....be upset with our circumstances or enjoy what we have.  Thankfully the whole family chose the latter.  I saw a quote on Facebook today that made me think more about this:

"He who has Christ and everything has no more than he who has Christ alone." ~C.S. Lewis

We have Christ in our family and that is what is important.  As the days went on while everyone was sick, I was so grateful to have the ability to pray.  I prayed and I prayed hard.  I felt comfort.  I have never seen Dan so sick and it was so hard for me.  But I had that bit of confidence that I needed in the Lord to get me through that time.  Caring for my sick kids took a lot out of me, but I had that extra energy that came from the Lord.  Life without Him would be so dull and so hopeless.  In spite of an icky situation our family came out bonded and more in love with each other.  I was so grateful to finally get a squishy hug from Dan today that I have wanted for days.  We avoided each other to keep me from getting sick.  But hugging him today and the kids was a wonderful christmas present.

Finding A Church

I don't think I have shared the story of how we found the church that we attend in Porterville.  It is a fun story!  When we first moved here in June, we attended a very large church, but decided we wanted to look around some more.  Dan looked on the internet and found a church called Calvary Baptist.  We drove by it and by the looks of the church structure we could tell it was very small.  Coming from a large church back home, we were actually intimidated by attending a small church.  So we drove by it a couple more times, contemplated going inside one Sunday and backed out. Finally, on Father's Day, we got brave and went inside the church for a Sunday service. The people were wonderful to us.  Unfortunately, the pastor was not there that Sunday. Guess where he was?  Back with his parents throwing them an anniversary party.....in HAYESVILLE, OHIO of all places.  We couldn't believe he was in Ohio while we were in California....and so close to our home.  We did return the next Sunday and have gone there ever since.  It is a good, bible preaching church and we have enjoyed the fellowship so much.  The picture below is of the pastor holding Chloe..she loves him.  And the picture below that is of Mya and Sara's Sunday school class with their teacher Miss Shirley...who they have decided to call Miss Charley instead.  She loves it!

Christmas Eve

We were blessed with getting the stomach virus the week of Christmas. Sara started with it on Tuesday and we thought we were home free with only her getting sick.  But on Friday afternoon, Mya started complaining of a stomach ache.  I knew when she turned down eating a christmas cookie at lunch that something was wrong.  On our way to pick up Dan from work she threw up all over the car.  We had to turn around, go back home quickly and call Dan to tell him to get a ride home from work.  It was not a fun time trying to get the car cleaned with three kids....one of who desperately needed a shower.  But we managed and were very glad to see Dan come home.  We took care of Mya through the evening and things were going well at bedtime.  We put the kids to bed and settled in to watch a movie.  But Dan started talking about having a stomach ache.  About two hours later he got sick.  I felt so helpless and awful for the family.  Needless to say, it was a very long night.  As of Christmas Eve, Chloe and I have managed to bypass the illness.  I continue to pray for health so I can take care of the family.  Hopefully Christmas Day will be fun filled and we will all get to eat whatever we want. 
Aside from the illnesses, we did have a fun evening watching Home Alone and letting the girls open up one gift....their christmas pajamas. Tomorrow I will post more pictures from Christmas morning with all the wonderful presents the kids have from family members back home.

Christmas Cantata

We had the cantata last night at church and it went well!  Joseph/Dan did great!  He said he didn't get very nervous, he read his lines well and we pray that some hearts in the crowd were touched by the words of the readers as the story unfolded through the evening.  The story of Mary and Joseph is so beautiful and it is always powerful to hear it.  Of course the choir sounded great too.....especially the alto section (ha ha). We pray that some lives were changed last night with the ministry that was provided and Dan and I were honored to be a part of it. 

Ha ha ha

I just have to share that my girls found tampons and are playing with them. I just heard Mya tell Sara, with an excited voice, that it (the tampon) is her flashlight. Sara is using them for money at her pretend store. Love it!

Idols

"Those who regard vain idols
Forsake their faithfulness, (Jonah 2:8 NASB)

Random thought before I get to the deep stuff. I was running today and someone I knew honked at me. Such a strange thing! I have been running in the mornings since we moved here but when you are in a new place you get used to doing these things without having someone recognize you. Like going to the grocery store, I have gotten used to NOT seeing anyone I know. So when I knew the person that honked at me today it felt different. Okay, end of random thought.

Now about the bible verse above. How convicting is it to know that when we put our hope or sole focus on an idol we lose our faithfulness. This is a lesson that is being impressed on both of our hearts. When we first ventured out here last June, we were driven by being debt free. That was our sole purpose for traveling. I would say that we made being debt free an idol. We talked about it a lot, it was the focus of our conversation sometimes....too much of the focus. We have since learned that making that an idol is not good. That might be what drove us to do this experience but it is not all why we are here. It is a perk, yes, but we have to be certain that we are not serving the money but we are fully serving the Lord. That means that when we feel discernment to give money away rather than pay on our mortgage, we best be doing that. Wherever God leads we better be paying attention. And then becoming debt free can be an added bonus. I have found that other idols try to creep in too like the this drive to eat healthy. It is all important and good but I need to make sure that it is God driven. I find myself feeling proud because my kids only drink water or eat my healthy snacks. Bt what is important is teaching my kids why they need to eat healthy and guiding them on making good choices. It is not about their behavior changes, it is about their hearts. When we allow idols to creep in....and that is exactly how they do it....we lose our focus and have difficulty discerning the spirit. And we miss out on so many things. Aside from eliminating debt, God has so many other plans for us with traveling.

At MOPS this week we were challenged to think about contentment and blessings as the holidays are approaching. We were given a notebook to write down at least 100 blessings that we have in our life. When I got the notebook, I was so excited because I knew exactly what to do with it. Dan and I are not getting each other Christmas gifts this year, but I am making a home made one for him. In the notebook I am filling each page with 100 reasons why I respect him. Talk about taking your focus off of idols or anything negative. This has been a process to fill the notebook but I am being taught to focus on all the blessings and treasures that I find in our relationship. You become thankful instead of focused on idols or worldly things. I challenge any of you to do something similar, at least the 100 things you are thankful for. It is a very neat process for the soul.