Standing on the sea wall 

Mommy, Ophelia, and Lavinia on the horse at La King's Ice Cream after the beach 

Daddy and the girls hangin' on the beach 

our butterfly kite 

ophelia flying our kite 

ophelia "riding" the waves 

Lavinia playing with sand 

Lavinia is all smiles on the beach 

helena playing with the sand 

Helena walking on the beach 

"Getting-By-Parenting"

I’ve been rather absent from the internet world as of late, for about a month actually. Jeremy and I’ve been enjoying time together (it’s like being on a constant date, well, almost) and he is still my favorite person to be around. We’ve been able to enjoy breakfast at home together, reading together, watching TV (yes folks, this is a treat), walking, running, exercising, dieting and other such fun activities. Ok, the running, exercising and dieting haven’t been that much fun but they are a little more bearable doing them together. We made it to Ophélia’s Field Day at school (HOT!) and Lavinia’s closing ceremony. Final projects were turned in for Ophélia (see picture below) and teacher gifts selected, made and given. It’s really been a wonderful month. Family time has been the most spiritual experiences we’ve had in a long time. This has given me time to wonder about how busy we all like to be. I’m up there with the best, I can’t sit still and I love to always be going. However, God has grabbed our attention this past month and laid it pretty heavy on our hearts that if we’re so busy for Him and his church that we’re neglecting our family (that’s what it is, neglect even if we don’t want to call it that) then we’ve got it all wrong. Neither Jeremy or I feel called to being stay-at-home parents (so not in our gifting) but we feel very convicted that being “getting-by-parents” isn’t good enough either. We will continue to make our family our top priority no matter where He leads us in ministry. Churches often have no qualms asking their staff to work ridiculous numbers of hours at the expense of their families for the sake of the ministry. I’ve even heard it argued that people have to do that outside of the church too so we shouldn’t expect less of church staff. Sadly, I believe American Christians have allowed cooperate America to dictate what our home and family lives should be like instead of holding ourselves accountable to God’s Word. So I’m sharing this with you asking you to hold Jeremy and I accountable, we want to put God above all in our lives, then each other (and working together only counts a little towards working on our relationship- though we love it!), then our children, and then our ministry beyond our family. It’s so easy to get excited about the ministry that yields results much faster, raising children takes several years after all (and if you think it’s only 18, think again… or ask my parents!) and in the end you don’t know what you’re going to get. God has not brought us into the ministry of having a family or any other kind of ministry for that matter for us to feel good about the result we can see. No, He has brought us here to be faithful with what He has entrusted us with. And when it comes to our girls, I couldn’t be more honored. We don’t want to screw this up (yes, I know we will to some extent but still…) we want our kids to always know they came first. They are our first ministry. Gosh, we’re crazy about them!

I know some of you are wondering, how are we doing and do we have a job. The answer is we’re doing pretty well and keeping busy. Enjoying the time to pray. re-focus, write music and attempt our hand at article writing, read, read, read, and read some more, lavish attention on our girls, and have the opportunity to talk with several churches. Some of the churches we’ve talked with have been conversation regarding employment and others have been more in a counseling role encouraging them to explore alternative worship with their congregations. We’re loving this time. Please continue to keep us in your prayers, things are tight but we are waiting in Him.

Ciao!

Ophelia showing mommy her project 

Ophelia and her teacher, Mrs. Johnson 

Two models and a display board 

The Dinosaur Project