This may be the only time I ever see snow in October in Pennsylvania

    It was supposed to be a cold and cloudy day. I was praying for the past week that it would NOT rain on October 29th, because I was planning on taking pictures of the Nauman family. All was going well, until suddenly the weather channels went crazy with news of this huge winter like storm that was going to hit of all days...October 29th! 


Well that is a predicament isn't it? But I wouldn't believe it till I saw it. Saturday morning, Rochelle came into the room and informed me that I needed to wake up and look out the window and see the snow. That got me out of bed, as I was excited to see snow! 


The first snow of the year is always the best, and I was ready to get pictures as soon as I got dressed. And here are a few of them...

I went sledding and had a snowball fight and built a snowman. My words of wisdom---you are NEVER too old to play in the snow! But wearing jeans isn't the best idea. I was cold when we went inside! :) 

you can't sled without screaming...

Enjoy the weekend and God Bless! 
♥

Raiy Day Thoughts

Here I sit on another rainy day. I know why the level of depression is so high in Seattle! I quite enjoyed the week of sunshine we had. The trees are changing color, and the weather is basically perfect, except that it's raining. 






  
 But I'm not here to talk about the weather.....



I've been reading Francis Chans' book "Crazy Love"  if you haven't read it yet-read it. It's been a super challenge to me. I'd like to share a excerpt from chapter 7(which I am currently reading). The chapter title is "Your best life....later". Basically it's about living our lives on earth focused eternally. The author shared a story about his friend...

"A friend was faithfully giving 20% of his income to God, and suddenly his income dropped drastically. He knew he had to decide whether he should continue to give in a way that proved he trusted God. It wouldn't have been wrong to lower his giving to 10%. But my friend chose instead to increase his giving to 30%, despite the income reduction.

  You can probably guess how the story ends. God blessed his faith and gave him more than enough, more than he needed. My friend got to experience God's provision firsthand." Crazy Love; Francis Chan pg. 122

My jaw dropped when I read this. The idea seemed so outrageous! I thought about what it could imply in my life if I started giving more to God. The part- time job I have now, isn't even part time. It's more like 1 or 2 days a week. I haven't worked in two weeks. I get overwhelmed when I start to think about all the bills I have to pay and everything in life that costs money. Such as gas. Not to mention putting in applications and that horrid waiting period for an interview then not getting the job. I don't even have enough money to my name to pay what I owe on my car. When i get paid, I automatically think though all of the things I want/need to spend my money on. The thought hasn't even crossed my mind to give 20% percent of what I make to God. Am I content to give only 10%? How much do I really trust God to supply my needs? Does my trust in God outweigh my fear of the unknown future? 

As I continued to read, a statement stood out to me. The passage of scripture was Luke 9, in specific verse 3... "He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt."

"This place of trust isn't a comfortable place to be; in fact it flies in the face of everything we've been taught about proper planning. We like finding refuge in what we already have rather than in what we hope God will provide. But when Christ says to count the cost of following him, it means we must surrender everything. It means being willing to go without an extra tunic or place to sleep at night, and sometimes without knowing where we are going. God wants us to trust Him with abandon. He wants to show us how He works and cares for us. He wants to be our refuge." Crazy Love; Francis Chan pg 123

 Trust isn't exactly easy. It goes beyond what our minds can fathom. We are looked at as crazy in some cases, laughed at and who knows what else. But as we continue to trust beyond all doubts, God will come through. This kind of trust sounds and awful lot like faith does it not? Maybe the two are more connected than we give them credit for. 

Where does that leave me? Sitting here, wondering how I'm gonna make it in life, but knowing that my God WILL supply all my needs. :) 

I leave you with this verse and a challenge to take your trust to another level. 

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.                                                         Psalm  28:7

God Bless
♥

Remembering the Warmth of Summer

   October is upon us and my nose is cold. I've spent the morning going through pictures for our family's Christmas card. So many summer memories I've had! And  being the slacker I am, I did not share even one quarter of my adventures with the internet world. Thus I will share with you some of my favorite pictures from my favorite times during the summer of 2011....


Summer Camp at Cove Valley camp started off with a scream and a squeak! There was a mouse in the girls cabin during Staff Orientation week. Some of us spent the first night holding out in the bathroom, where the nest was, in order to catch this mouse. Stephanie Burt named him Walter, but alas we could not catch him. Yes, we are using an Apples to Apples box cover. It brought for tons of laughs though and Walter made it almost the whole summer, until one of the male staff members killed him. RIP. Walter.

Baseball. Baseball.....more Baseball. Yes, baseball is a major part of my summer. This year, I tried to make as many games as I could to support....but  more so...to take pictures of the games. Here are JUST A FEW of my favorite Baseball pictures.....

Mercersburg Colt Team

Britt(18) pitching for St. Thomas Legion

the up and coming baseball star

One of Josiah's teammates at bat

In between when we HAD to do things....there developed a 'club' so to speak. We called it the "no life'' club. This resulted in thrift store shopping one random day in Waynesboro....and purchasing water guns from the Dollar General which ended up in a huge water pistol battle through the streets of the town......

In July, Josiah had a baseball tournament by the beach!!!!! Once I knew about this tournament, I made sure I had the whole weekend blocked out, because I love the beach and it's been 5 years since I've played in the waves. We brought our friend AJ too, since he and I needed to be at Cove Valley Camp Sunday at 2pm. For the record it's about a 3 1/2 hour drive from Rehoboth Beach to my house driving 85mph average with two 10 minute stops. But it was totally worth it. 

 My aunt and uncle have a house by the beach that we got to stay in. It was great playing in the water! Rochelle wouldn't get in for a long time and I asked her why. She said "The last time I was at the beach, I was too little to get in the water." Once she got in, she loved it! I forgot how much sand gets in your swim suit at the beach! Sheesh, I probably had enough to fill a sand box!!

Well, I need to get back to business. I'm designing our family's christmas card and I gotta get this finished so I'm not last minute. 

God Bless! ♥