Little Delights!

I had the absolute pleasure of taking Dayne & Maggy's 2 year old pictures :)!
We decided to take them on Christmas Eve when we were celebrating Christmas.
Fortunately there was a bunch of beautiful fresh snow on the ground which made for
an absolutely fun & beautiful photo shoot! Just imagine two almost two year olds bundling
up in all their winter garb: hats, gloves, coats, boats (which they were thrilled to show off! :)).
They were dressed & ready to go play in some snow!!
Dayne was infatuated with catching snow flakes on his tongue like his uncle sethy.
Maggy was captivated by the footprints she could make in fresh snow.
We had a blast and they defintely had some darling poses for the camera!
Here's a few of what I got, enjoy :)

{Jesus speaking}"'Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.' And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them"

 (Mark 10:14-16)

""A child can always teach an adult three things:
to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something,
and to know how to demand with all his might
that which he desires."- Paulo Coelho, The Fifth Mountain

 

Community.

Another “new favorite song” to share with you all! I’ve been listening to this song over & over & over again. This may not surprise some of you…I have a tendency to “wear songs out”. One of my roommates in college told me that I was going to “wear the song out” because I would listen to it over & over again…old habits die hard I guess. You are going to like this one, at least I hope, but either way…I LOVE IT. It’s called “Shelter” by Jars of Clay. I bought the CD for Seth for Christmas, not really expecting my new favorite song to be on this CD.

So one evening we were getting ready to go to the gym and I asked Seth if he would add that new CD to my IPOD. I decided to try it out and sorta skipped through all the songs once, so I could get a “feel” for it. Then I listened to this song and my adrenaline started pumping (aka my heart was “clicking” with it) and for the rest of the workout, on the way home, and when we were home, onto the next day, and so on I played this song…A LOT. Now I know this is just a song and, yes, in a few weeks I’ll probably have a new favorite I’m convincing you to love...

However, this song has been really special to us at this point in our journey. We are three months away from our “predicted” move and we’re (especially me) starting to “mourn” what we’re leaving….I mean we have the MOST AMAZING family & friends here. But we’ve also been hit with an INCREDIBLE thankfulness and amazement at what God has given us. This body of family/friends we are in has been amazing. God has been impressing on our hearts the beauty of each relationship we hold and how astounding it is that we get to be blessed by you. We know we will never walk alone, we know a lot more about the love of Christ because of the love you’ve shown us. We are so unimaginably blessed. And you know what’s so great? God knew that. He delights in the fact we have each other. He knew that we would need a physical shoulder to cry on, an audible voice to speak to, someone we can call by dialing 7 simple #s on a phone, someone to laugh with, someone to hug, someone to encourage us, someone to go on trips with. This was God’s design- to give us a community. To give us these relationships. We know Jesus so much better because of you. We know His love so much greater because of the way we’ve been loved. We get to cry together, we get to mourn together, we get to laugh together, we get to worship together, we get to take each new chapter together. We weather the storms & rejoice in the happiest moments. Sometimes we’re just still together & sometimes we talk for 5 hours straight. And if we think this community is unbelievable & awesome down here…just imagine what our community in heaven will be!!! We will be communing face to face with our Jesus!! We think we know worship & joy now…let’s just let our imaginations go wild at the thought of Heavenly community.

But while we tread this earth & journey onward, “in the shelter of each other, the people live”, let’s celebrate our victories together, inspire each other to real true Jesus love,  give hope to the hopeless, & care for each other.

We love you & we thank you for being our shelter. Your arms have held us & grown us.

Here’s a link to the song: (if you can't click on it, just copy & paste the link)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bcgj-Jbl2RY&feature=related

Here’s the lyrics:

 To all who are looking down
Holding on to hearts still wounding
For those who've yet to find it
The place is near where love is moving
Cast off the robes you're wearing
Set aside the names that you've been given
May this place of rest in the fold of your journey
Bind you to hope
You will never walk alone
(Chorus)
In the shelter of each other
We will live
We will live (Never walk alone)
In the shelter of each other
We will live
We will live (Your arms are all around us)

If our hearts are turned to stone
There is hope we know the rocks will cry out
And the tears aren't ours alone
Let them fall into the hands that hold us
Come away from where you're hiding
Set aside the lies that you've been living
May this place of rest in the fold of your journey
Bind you to hope
We will never walk alone

(Chorus)

If there is any peace
If there is any war
We must all believe
Our lives are not our own
We all belong

God has given us each other
And we will never walk alone

(Chorus)

Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving (Merriam-Webster dictionary):
1. The act of giving thanks
2. a prayer expressing gratitude
3. a public acknowledgement or celebration of divine goodness

How do you define being "thankful"? Isn't it so many things? We went around the room at thanksgiving and shared what we were thankful for and my mind just became so cluttered by my mountains of thankfulness that I struggled with what to share. It can be as "simple" as having food on your plate, warm clothes to wear, a heated car. It can be the pain medications that help that pounding headache to cease for a while. It can be a hug from a dear dear friend. It can be a day off of work. It can be an act of kindness. It can be having hope. It can be having time to read that book you've been aching to get your eyes on. It can be having a job. It can be feeling safe. It can be knowing what it means to love and be loved. It can be having a family, especially one that loves you. It can be having a church where you can worship Jesus freely. It can be having joy in the midst of a lot of pain. Maybe it is just a general, over-all, feeling of just being thankful. It can be incredibaly deep sincere and undeserved thankfulness for Jesus, who died for our bad decisions & sins so that we could live with Him in perfection someday for eternity. It could be prayer- that God hears us and loves us and helps us through the mire. It could be a song that breaths life into our hearts and inspires us to no end. This list has the potential to continue on forever. It's hard to only list a few. But I am so blessed, and I know that all good gifts come from God. I am so so thankful for these things, but most of all I'm so so thankful for Jesus. Because without Him, none of these things would matter.

We shared two wonderful thanksgivings this year. First we had thanksgiving with Seth's family. His Dad read a poem at dinner about how God longs for our hearts and loves us to no end. We had amazing food and always have a blast together. I forgot to take any pictures this night, but you can envision with twin almost-two-year-olds, the scene is never dull! :)

The next day we went to my family for Thanksgiving. Again, amazing food, actually shall I say a feast for lack of better words. Before we ate, we all went around the room to say what we were thankful for. In addition to many other things, we all said how thankful we were for eachother. We've braved some stormy seas together & through it all, God has brought us closer and deeper.We are very blessed. Mom is used to cooking for an army of boys and as a consequence, we always walk away very very satisfied! I had the duty of making the apple pie this year, I love apple pies. We had a great time and it was good to be together as a family (though we missed our Texans).

My attempt at making home-made crust!

The incredible and amazing-tasting feast :) 

Finished product :) 

 Family pictures for the Christmas card!

All in all we had a marvelous time being with our families and dwelling on the fact that God is so good. His love for us is so so deep. It isn't bound by our human boundries of love. It surpases every wrong thing we do and aches to have us in His safe pastures (Heaven). He created us because He wanted to. And then, after we tried living life our own way and making a lot of bad decisions, He sent His perfect Son, Jesus, who already resided in the most magnificent place imaginable- Heaven, to die for us. To save us from eternal seperation  (hell) from Him. Praise be to God who does all things well!! We are all so blessed because we can all have Jesus and that's all we need!

Kylie Jo Lynn Weber

This blog post has been slightly delayed. We got back from Texas last sunday where we visited Ang's brother & sis-in-law, Jake & Jen. We met our neice, Kylie Jo, for the first time and fell deeply in love! We had the best time with Jake, Jen, & Kylie Jo. We always love visiting them and being "Texans" for a week :). We spent most of our days playing with Kylie Jo and doing fun things we don't make the time for when we're home. Jake and Seth worked on a "pottery-barn" style bench that turned out very awesome. We went out to eat at a fun Mexican restaurant- La Playa Maya- and fixed our Mexican craving. We went to their neighborhood chilli cookoff (where the winner got a gold-bowl-of-chili trophy), got hooked to a new TV show called Pawn stars, found a place that gives free rib/brisket samples on saturdays only (Jake's new saturday hangout), took hundreds of pictures, tooks walks, and just enjoyed some wonderful family time. We were so blessed by this week. We were so blessed to be able to meet precious little Kylie Jo. Here's some of the pictures from our week in Texas:

She's got Texas in her blood :) 

Kylie Jo with her Aunt Ang and Uncle Seth 

Chance just loves Kylie Jo!

this is how I know our love

Sorry, i've been behind on keeping up! I've had a lot of thoughts lately but for the sake of understanding i'll try to keep this post to one topic. I feel like I need to take a deep breath before diving into this one. I want to be as transparent as I can with this one. Todays topic: love and the lack of it. the down & filthy, hurt & broken kind. The kind that you don't want to do and know isn't you but you do it and say those things anyway. The kind that usually involves a lot of tears & selfishness. The kind that leads to slamming doors & long bouts of silent anger.

To make a long story short, we love each other more than ever but we have been kinda mean to each other lately. We know the devil is trying to attack us and our marriage, and why not!- we're joining a marriage & family ministry! We've noticed that we have been giving into our emotions instead of clinging to the truth and how God designed us to love perfectly and purely. We desire that- the love of 1 corinthians 13. the love that Jesus shows us each day. the love that is only possible from a God as beautiful and gracious as ours.

We went to a Sara Groves concert a couple weeks ago. We weren't going to go. but at the very last possible minute (so last minute that we were 10 minutes late) we went. It was the hand of God that took us into the doors of that concert. What a needful night it was to our hearts. Below is a song she sang called "Roll to the middle". the song couldn't have come at a more perfect time in our lives. Two things I want to clarify before you read the lyrics:
1. "roll to the middle" in this song alludes to both husband/wife apologizing, not you know what.
2. I bold-ed the part that is so significant to us.

At first I wasn't going to paste the whole song, but as I listened to it again, I decided I wanted to include it all, so sorry for the length. Oh and here is a link for the song: http://new.music.yahoo.com/sara-groves/tracks/roll-to-the-middle--2120115.


"We just had a World War III here in our kitchen
We both thought the meanest things
And then we both said them
We shot at each other till we lost ammunition

This is how I know our love
This is when I feel it’s power
Here in the absence of it
This is my darkest hour

When both of us are hunkered down
And waiting for the truce

All the complicated wars
They end pretty simple
Here when the lights go down
We roll to the middle

No matter how my pride resists
No matter how this wall feels true
No matter how I can’t be sure
That you’re gonna roll in too
No matter what, no matter what
I’m going to reach for you"


We were deeply touched by these lyrics. And the honesty of them. It's so true, the pain is the worst when we are angry and selfish toward each other, not leaving any room for love and understanding. When we let our walls get too high and our pride too deep. But since our God is so loving & merciful, He breaks us down so we can finally see each other, heart to heart.

Why do I write this post and blabber on about these things? Because I know we're not the only ones who have gotten annoyed, frustrated, angry & upset at each other. You want to know one of the most beautiful things we've experienced in this? The feet of Jesus. there is so much mercy & forgivness at His feet. So much hope and so much power to fight off the enemy. We will never be "safe" from him in this world, but take heart, Jesus has overtaken the world! We don't have to be bound down, we don't have to feel angry. We are designed to enjoy & laugh & sing & dance.

We really CAN love like we are designed to love.

music and migraines

All things work together for good, right? That must include the ongoing, never-ending, no-relief-in-sight migraine that woke us up at 330am. (fyi...you'll notice a little dramatic topping). 6:10am came, when I usually get up to get ready for work but there was no convincing my head of that idea. Initially I thought, "I can't miss work, I will be fine"...so I attempt to climb out of bed and head to the bathroom when my head screamed "don't you dare". so I gave in and attempted to sleep away the pain. Why do I tell you all of this grumbling information? because without this migraine, I would not have been able to be a couch potato all day and dwell on God's goodness. In spite of the "don't make sudden movements" and "don't think to hard" restrictions, my "sick day" has been an amazing blessing. I've been sitting here in pretty much the same spot all day and have been listening to song after song. I love it, my soul needed it, my heart is filled by it. Music speaks to me like nothing else. A song, if it clicks with my heart, can send me to a place in my imagination where anything is possible! A song has a way of connecting emotions and feelings to ideas. You can pick how you want to feel based on certain songs. It's sort of like an escape, a vacation, a strength, a ray of light, a possibility, a pick where-you-want-to-be or what-you-want-to-do-someday dream. But then eventually the song ends. If only I could remember the way my heart beats and leaps during the song when it's over, but sometimes I forget. And so I play it again.


Seth recently bought me a CD by Starfield. This song is called "The Saving One".
When I listen to the part below, I'm filled with an energizing strength from God.

Here's a link for the video on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDpud8v-UWw

"No fear can hold me down,
Nor darkness steal my joy,
For blood has been poured out,
the enemy destroyed.
Death could not hold him down,
the cross was not enough
to steal away His throne
For HE IS GOD"


I love these verses of the song specifically. They remind me that i'm freed from anything that could possibly steal my joy or hold me frozen in fear of something. All because HE IS GOD.

Thanks for listening to my grumbling :). Until next time, don't stop singing...

Here Goes

SO Bebo Norman released a new CD this tuesday and like any good fan I had to check it out. I played his song "Here Goes" and told seth he had to listen! It meshes perfectly with how we are feeling lately. Below is the link to the song on youtube and the lyrics. We are challenged to let go of what is/may be holding us back from what could be.

Listen to the song out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGGJ9hs2iMk


Here Goes:

Never got anywhere
By running away
Never learned anything
Without anything
Without a mistake

Never loved anyone
By playing it safe
It's a long way, but
I'm right here now, so

Here goes nothing
Here goes everything
Gotta reach for something
Or you'll fall for anything

Take a breath, take a step
What comes next
God only knows
But here goes

I don't wanna turn around
And wonder what happened
Never lost and never found
Are one and the same

I wanna run across the battle lines
And take my chances
Not the long way 'round
When I'm here right now

Here goes nothing
Here goes everything
Gotta reach for something
Or you'll fall for anything

Take a breath, take a step
What comes next
God only knows
But here goes

What good is chance not taken?
What good is life not living?
What good is love not given?

Here goes nothing
Here goes everything
Gotta reach for something
Or you'll fall for anything

Here goes nothing
Here goes everything
Gotta reach for something
Visit http://www.xtralyrics.com
Or you'll fall for anything

Take a breath, take a step
What comes next
God only knows
But here goes
And God only knows
But here goes

From pieces to a picture

First off, thank you for visiting our blog. We thought this would be a way to keep everyone in touch and updated on the journey God has us on right now. We're amazed at the mountains He has moved and the doors He has opened. We'll try our best to keep this updated and entertaining :). I entitled this post "from pieces to a picture" because in the beginning of this journey we were only given pieces at a time that did not make sense, but as God is leading us down this path we are starting to see the bigger picture and everyday it is becoming more and more beautiful. We are so blessed with amazing family and friends who have prayed us through and loved us so faithfully. We thought it would be fun to just tell you how we even got to where we are right now. Be prepared, the following is sorta lengthy, but there is just no way around it :)!

Our journey:

Ang: My desire for missions started when I was in high school. God put the hurt of the people of the world on my heart and the dream of a high school junior to one day be a missionary nurse. At this point my idea of missions was partly "glamorous". He grew this heart for missions a lot through college and the youth group I was a part of. I also took a class on missions called perspectives which opened my eyes and broke my heart down to what He meant for missions to be about and His incomprehensible love for His children. Over the years God has shown my heart the huge needs and broken lives in so many areas all around the world and here in America, and I knew that God was calling me, I just didn’t know when or what.

Seth: My desire for missions began in my time at college. I was mostly challenged by my friends and my peers to be seeking ways to serve. I was most impacted by the same perspectives class that Ang took. This class helped me understand God’s desire for missions throughout the entire Bible and His calling for everyone to be a part including me.

Us: When we got married we knew that someday we wanted to pursue missions and ministry of some sort, we just did not have any clear direction at this point of what that would look like. After being married a year and half or so we had this growing desire to move somewhere for short term and to “leave and cleave”. We wanted to take the time to set a foundation for our marriage before we started a family. Then one day when we were talking about it, it seemed that God made it clear we should pursue missions at this time instead. At this point there were a few different areas we had a heart for but God was not opening doors for any of those as we looked into them.

We came across FamilyLife’s website and began to read about it’s mission, values, and vision. Our hearts clicked with the heart of the mission and it’s sole foundation on Jesus Christ. We decided to email them and share our hearts, not really sure if we’d hear back. Two days later we get a call from FamilyLife wanting to talk more about our hearts, we were blown away. From this point on, God flung every door wide open. Parts of the journey to where we are now have been difficult and breaking and other parts have been amazing and made us stand in awe of God’s ways. God has proven Himself present and faithful in our journey. To be honest, it was easier at times to try to ignore His voice and say “that’s a nice idea…someday”. Thankfully God gave Seth an unwavering and supernatural peace through this whole journey. Ang, being the emotional one she is, rode the roller coaster of doubt for a while. She wanted major confirmation from God and guess what? He confirmed it! God made the call very clear over time we knew that we would be actively disobeying if we did not surrender and commit to joining Family Life staff. Something that we were encouraged with in this journey is that there are great blessings and joy in obedience. In the waves of doubt and uncertain ground we are about to tread, God has confirmed His peace through a couple verses:

Isaiah 55:12 “For you shall go out in joy and be lead forth in peace” and

Jeremiah 17:8 “He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit."

We have committed a year at this point and will be working in the global department. We have already found great blessings in this journey and have been faced with the darts from the enemy. The battlefield is fierce but we serve the God who has already claimed the victory. We are excited to be vessels used for His glory. This is God’s work and we look forward to following His footsteps hand in hand and step by step.