Some holiday pictures.......

We visited a place called Sanibel Island today. We had heard it was a beautiful island with a $6 toll fee to get over the bridge. It really is quite a lovely place but much too rich for our blood. Still made some nice pictures though. Here is the litehouse all spiffied up for Christmas. John thinks they need a Calvary Chapel on that Island but this is the island that gets evacuated when the hurricanes come our way...... I enjoy being safe more inland and visiting the pretty places?























Here are the kiddos on some driftwood!
























Close-up!























Here they are with daddy!

Tried to make sand castles but with playing in the water as well and finding treasures like shells, sea urchins and sea sponges....... too many exciting things to do besides building a castle. A lot of digging and moving sand around though....

It's so bright it makes it hard to look at the camera with your eyes open!

Here is our neighbors dog. The neighbor is a single guy who works a lot of hours during the day in landscaping. Since his dog is very well trained, we asked if he could come over and play with the kids & our dog, instead of him being locked in a crate all day! I think it is a good situation for both of us since he gets to be around people who will give him lots of love and we get to have another dog that goes home at night! His name is picket........ I think the guy gave him that name due to the white stripe in between his eyes looks like a fence picket? IDK? He is a sweet doggie!

Merry Christmas all!

Long time no hear.....

I know I haven't been very good about keeping you all updated on what is going on but there really isn't much I can tell. We have been struggling with some things having to do with what our purpose is here, but God is always faithful to continue to encourage us and give us glimpses of the possibilities and purposes of His plan for our church family and this area as a whole. The solution to all of that was to keep our focus on the Lord rather than our limited circumstances. John has started a weekly Men's prayer group on Thursdays evenings at the church. This was rather neat to give the men that desire to reach out, an opportunity to have an accountability group, fellowship and encourage each other.

I hear you Tri-Citians got snow........ apart of me is jelous but apart of me is not so much! The kids saw that New Orleans got snow and got all excited that it might make it down where we are but unfortunately we are too far down in the tropics for that possibility? With the weird weather though I am sure anything is possible even if it isn't likely...... It would definately answer one Christmas wish even if it would be catastophic for native Floridians who know nothing about driving in the stuff. That would be a day to stay home and off the roads!

Thanksgiving was a bit hard being so far away from family but it was really no different than every other year in some ways. John spend the day of Thanksgiving working so we celebrated on Friday instead. Sarah was going to come over but was informed by her employer earlier in the week that she was expected to work on Black Friday. We still had people from church join us though and they were a hoot to visit with and share this holiday with!

Some neat things that have happened lately at church. We have had some new couples come and join us. One couple moved recently from NY and were apart of Bill Galitins church when it was very small and watched it grow. Her health was one of the main reasons they moved to a warmer climate but it is exciting to hear them talk about the fact that God moved them here to US! It is nice to have some Vetran Calvary-ites who really seem to have a mature faith along with a heart to serve.
This last week we had a YOUNG (late 20s I would guess) couple visit us at church. They had 3 children and their oldest was a boy and Ben's age. (We have been praying for little boys Ben's age since our church doesn't have any) They live in the Port Charlotte/Englewood area which is about 30-45 minutes North of us. I guess they are California natives who were also called to the area just North of us to begin a Calvary. He was a Youth pastor at his church in Ca but then, like us began to see the Lord leading them elsewhere. They were visiting us since we were the nearest Calvary to them. It was very neat to hear their story and get the fellowship from folks closer to MY age....... Not sure if they are going to keep coming for a while or continue to try and offer a fellowship for those in their area up north. I, selfishly, pray that they get to stay with us and maybe do a homefellowship thing during the week for those in their area!!!!

John is finding his job a little more challenging than he thought it would be. He was really hoping for a housing unit where he could build relationships and get to know the inmates and therefore get opportunities to witness more often. Instead he is at a post where he shares with another officer. They spend half the shift with the mentally insane and half the post with 'normal but high risk' criminals. The high risk criminals is the 'good' part of the day whereas dealing with those that are not all there is not really very easy. Most of them are either yelling at you or screaming at the top of their lungs because of the fact that they are in jail and might not exactly know why. You can't really get them to stop either through means that get normal inmates to stop their antics since it is really a mental health issue. So all you can really do is hope you can tune it out and WISH your time would go by faster. There have been a couple times John has entertained asking to be transferred out of this assignment but apparently God hasn't given him the go-ahead to do so yet. Although there haven't been many witnessing opportunities at his assignment there, God has put other people in our separate paths to witness to and show them Jesus.

The kids have gotten plugged in to a drama club from the homeschool group we joined. I figured a smaller group might more easily allow them to form connections and make them feel more comfortable if or when we attend bigger events. The kids will be singing at some old folks homes for Christmas and spreading some much needed Christmas cheer! To sum up some other stuff......

Things I miss about home:

~Knowing the difference between really cold verses needing to wear pants if the temperature stays in the high 60s. SO SAD how fast your blood thins out here!

~Snow and my first thought at the first sight of snow is to call Kristy Good and ask her if she is watching it sipping moondust tea!

~Watching the kiddos play in the fresh snow!

~SLOW news days where there is no mention of child abuse or homicide. Here it is pretty common to have both in the news daily.

~Gardening according to seasons.

~Spending time with family during the holidays.

~Sending my leftover food to my neighbors or family.

~Being oblivious to the economic devastation going on in the rest of the country while the Tri-cities was insulated from much of it.

~Living around 'real people' rather than abandon/forclosed homes.

~Having a dozen people I could call and get together with for coffee or a playdate or BOTH.

~Having many excuses to get out of doing school and being a bad example for others not wanting to take a day off until I gave them something more fun to do!

~Not having my mom shop for me when I need something somewhat stylish to wear. SAD I KNOW!

~Smelling Christmas in the chill of the air and the weather getting us in the 'feel' of Christmas coming. It is weird putting up a tree when it feels a little more like spring.....


Things I don't miss about home:

~If we had stayed we would not be in the center of God's will and would be reaping the consequences of that. Don't even want to imagine what that spanking would be like. OUCH!

~The stress that came with the on-going saga of Politics at John's old job...... As The County Turns! Sorry for those of you still dealing with this!

~Being used in the lives of people who have hit rock bottom and due to their economic situation are totally open to the gospel. Hard to see but at least we get to offer the only Hope that only God can give regardless of situation.

~Being in shorts & T-shirts right now, spending time at the beach in and the kids getting to play outside ALL in the middle of winter.

~Watching the kids get to know their sister. Watching she and John interact with that same sense of humor and sarcasm. I am out of my league there so all I can do is watch!!

SO, this is what is going on here in our world! Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and PLEASE remember to pray for all those that are hurting this Holiday season.

Neat Ideas for Christmas trees

These we a couple neat Christmas tree ideas to get kids to understand tie in some neat analogies for Christmas! ENJOY!

The Jesse Tree
Excerpted from 'Advent and Lent Activities for Children' with permission of Twenty-Third Publications. BY: Sheila Kielly and Sheila GeraghtyOrigin: The Jesse tree represents Jesus' family tree. The name is taken from Isaiah 11:1, in which Jesus is referred to as a shoot coming up from the stump of Jesse, the father of David. The ornaments on the Jesse tree tell of Jesus' ancestors, and of the events leading to Jesus' birth.
Symbols:
Adam and Eve ~ Apple (Genesis 2:4-3:24)
Noah ~ Ark or rainbow (Genesis 6:11-22, 7:17-8:12, 20-9:17)
Abraham ~ Knife (Genesis 12:1-7, 15:1-6)
Isaac ~ Ram (Genesis 22:1-19)
Jacob ~ Ladder (Genesis 27:41-28:22)
Joseph ~ Colorful coat (Genesis 37, 39:1-50:21)
Moses ~ Tablets of the law (Exodus 2:1-4:20)
David ~ Harp (1 Samuel 16:17-23)
Isaiah ~ Lion and lamb (Isaiah 1:10-20, 6:1-13, 8:11-9:7)
Mary ~ Lily (Luke 1:26-38)
Elizabeth ~ Small home (Luke 1:39-55)
Joseph ~ Hammer or saw (Matthew 1:18-25)

Connection: Roots are important parts of a tree. As people, we need to know our roots, as well. Often, we run from one thing to another without reflecting on where we've been or where we are going. As we create a Jesse tree during this Advent season, let us pause and look at our lives to see on whose shoulders we stand.
Activity: Make a Jesse tree for your home. First, take a large, bare branch and secure it in a pot of sand or rocks. (You can also use a large potted plant or evergreen.) Create ornaments that trace Jesus' royal line by making symbols for some of the people found in the Hebrew testament. Make the ornaments out of cardboard or construction paper and decorate as you like. Instead of hanging all the ornaments on the tree at one time, you may want to hang one on every other day of Advent. Read the Scripture citation given here as you hang each ornament on the tree.
Here is a link to see one that is done up: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7202/advent.html

Here is another neat idea for those of you with little kids or for those that are looking for neat ideas to get the kiddos thinking; saw this on another blog so I figured I would pass along her neat ideas!:
We decorate our tree with deliberately chosen ornaments, each one is one of the following shapes or images, all symbolizing the Gospel Message. We have a "tree trimming party" with family and friends Thanksgiving Weekend and put up the tree. As we decorate, we read the scriptures for each ornament to help us remember God's love for us!
Our Christmas Tree Ornaments… what they mean to us:
ANGELS: God's messengers were the first to announce the birth of the Christ child.
Luke 1: 26-38,
BELLS: Bells ring to call people to worship. Psalm 100,
CANDLES AND LIGHTS: Our home glows with light during this time of the year to remind us that Jesus came as the Light of the World.Matthew 5:14-16, John 8:12,
CHRISTMAS TREE: Symbolizes that our God is eternal and we have eternal life through His Son when we put our trust in Him. 2 Peter 3:17-18,
CROSS: Reminding us of the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross to pay for our sins, but also our call to take up our cross and follow Him.Matthew 16:24,
GIFTS: God sent His son and that's the greatest gift of all. Gifts also represent the significant gifts of the Magi. If they don't show our love for our family or friend, then they shouldn't be given.Matthew 2:10-11,
HEART: God LOVED us so much that He sacrificed His Son for us!
John 3:16-18
NATIVITY: Reminding us of the story of Christ’s BirtBible: Luke 2
SHEPHERD'S STAFF: We call it a candy cane. But truly it is a shepherd's staff. The colors symbolize the blood and purity of Christ. Psalm 23,
SNOWFLAKES: Reminding us that Jesus’ blood washes our sins white as snow.Isaiah 1:18, STAR: God proclaimed His truth in creation by lighting up the heavens with a star that announced the birth of Christ the King.Matthew 2:1-12

Praise!

Just wanted to update you all on the car business! We ended up having ALL the tires replaced on the little car since Costco has a rebate special..... When one blow you have to buy 2 anyway so why not just get all 4.
The van...... it is so odd how that all worked out. We figured it would be a huge expensive thing because we thought something in the van was draining the battery. Come to find out that the 2 things that wear out more frequently here than anywhere else in the country are tires and batteries. HUH, and for our family both like to go around the same time! :o) Since we changed climates, eventhough we replaced the battery in the van, just over a year ago it was so badly drained it needed a new one! I guess it was even bulging on one side too which I suppose would be a bad thing. Our pastors wife told us to keep our receipt from the battery replacement since most warrenties are still in effect by the time it is needing to be replaced again! Crazy weird but kind of a blessing I guess? I made sure they checked it several times to see if anything was drawing from the battery when the car was off but their little computer machine thing-a-majiggers found NOTHING! Anytime we had the van in before this for repair it always topped over $1000 so when we heard it was only going to be $170, this was quite a nice change! Hope you all have a wonderful Turkey day with your friends and family! HUGS!

Funny how things work out....

Yes, I know...... Two posts in one day? It has been an eventful day and unfortunately this is not a funny haha but funny in an ODD way! We have been having trouble with our van for about a month now. I will spare you the details but we were asking around to find a good mechanic and made an appointment to drop it off tonight so they could look at it tomorrow. So, when John got home from his long day at work, we jumped the battery in the van and caravaned off to drop it off at the repair shop. On the way there, we were not further than a mile away from home and all of the sudden I can't see John in the review mirror anymore. Odd I thought, but since traffic was pretty heavy due to the time of day and the increase in population, I figured he just got behind so I kept going and stopped on the side of the road till he caught up. Well, he never came, so I back-tracked trying to figure out what had happened. The 'good car' that was going to keep us moving while the van was in the shop, blew a tire. By the time I found John he had already changed the tire and had the spare on. After dropping off the van, we tried to get to somewhere in time to buy a new tire but because of all the delays everything was closed! As soon as it happened, John immediately knew it was just an attack, but knowing this still doesn't make things any better..... Please pray for John as he uses this car to get to work tomorrow that he makes it there and back safely........ the county owes him some hours so he is going to try to get some time off to get his tires fixed and pick up the van after they fix it! I guess the praise in all this is at least it wasn't 2 tires or 2 cars in the shop due to mechanical issues!

My retreat

The retreat this weekend was pretty neat. Only 5 women went from our church and this was a nice time to become more acquainted with them! There were quite a few churches within the Miami area and other surrounding churches there and I think ours was the only one from the gulf side of the state. It was weird that this was my first retreat where no body knew who I was...... while sometimes this is a wonderful thing, it was also kind of sad since everone already had their own friends and stuck to them pretty tight. I now have an understanding of how the Pendleton church must have felt at our retreats. Maybe a little isolated and alone in a crowd.

The theme for our retreat was called "The Way of Wisdom" and our guest speaker was Debbi Bryson, from California! She was an excellent speaker and if you want to check out who she is here is her webpage! http://www.abidinginministries.com/
One of the most informative descriptions of how to do a quiet time was really neat so if you are struggling with this check out this resource from her website that helps us to dig deeper into the word and pull out what applies to us: http://www.abidinginministries.com//images/stories/bible%20bus/Developing_Quiet_Time--Bus_Manual%5B1%5D-2.pdf

There were a couple phrases she shared that are in bold print that go with each concept she wanted to nail home......
First one goes like this:
Growing old is inevidable,
growing in wisdom is optional!

Most of the retreat we camped out in the Proverbs 4 as it pertained to where wisdom begins, where it comes from, how to preserve it, guard it, the cost to live it out.

Wisdom defined was: Clear thinking, good judgement, tact, discretion, balance, unshakable foundation regardless of circumstance.

Fear of the Lord defined: Reverence/respect/aww for the Lord

The opposite of wisdom looks a lot like 2 Timothy 3:1-7

Hence the next phrase worth remembering:
Much of life's pain and suffering comes as a result of indulging in what we want NOW while sacrificing what we want/need MOST

Many times Satan wants to rob us from this wisdom.
*he uses our desire to seek out a friend rather than to the Lord.
*he keeps our focus inward ~ causing us to question the Lord and His provision which lead to discontentment
*he gets us alone where we are isolated and out of fellowship with other believers

For many it is a progression that leads to sin/destruction:
Listen with our ears ~ seeds are planted
Listen with our hearts ~ seeds are cultivated and rooted
Acted upon ~ Seeds are now shooting up into plants and fertilized

Unfortunately our sin and destruction not only stop at us but has a snowball effect!
Proverbs 29:12 states this: If a ruler pays attention to lies, All his servants become wicked.

90% of the Christian life is wanting, while only
10% is asking.

When we are seeking God and in a right relationship with Him, many of the desires for wisdom, spiritual gifts or _______ (fill in the blank) are from Him! Hence the verse below:
Luke 11:
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread[d] from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

We have not because we do not seek to ask for it!

Hope you all are well! Love to you all!

This one is for Sharon!

John's old boss asked us to post a picture of John when he gets to wrestle and alligator and since he didn't get the fish and wildlife job, this is the closest he will get! Looks a bit more like he is lovingly laying on the beast but really there are just TONS of fake alligator statues EVERYWHERE you go. Parks, libraries, ect. The real gators are behind the netting! While this one is a pretty nice size replica of a real one......

Here is a pretty big boy! Yes he is a real one and I think they feed him so much that he doesn't move very much! This was at a place in Bonita Springs where they have a natural wild life preserve.

Here he is from another angle!

Here is a sea otter. They do live in the wild here around the canals but we were warned, while they look very fun and playful, thier idea of playing is biting you and running off! SO when we do get to see one we just watch from afar!

Not much going on here. I leave tomorrow for our womens conference in a hotel in Boca Raton. Sounds kinda snobby but I am sure God speaks there too! He He! God Bless and Hugs to all! I will post more about it when I get home!