With a Friend

Practicing is always more fun...

...with a friend!

Special Date

Dinner at IHOP

+ Grandparent's Night at school

+ Sleepover at Grandma's house

One Special Date!

2009: A Year in Review

Things we learned/are learning:

• To ride a bike (Avery and Ella)
• To sail a Thistle sailboat (Eric)
• To play the piano (Ella)
• To play the violin (Avery)


• The meaning and life application of Sabbath rest (Maria). I highly recommend the books "Breathe" by Keri Wyatt Kent and "Shopping for Time" by Carolyn Mahaney, Nicole Whitacre, Kristin Chesemore and Janelle Bradshaw

God is working around us:

• General Motors declared bankruptcy and Energy Secretary Chu eliminated federal funding for automotive fuel cell research. These happenings have caused much instability in Eric's workplace. These events led to the need for an updated resume, although no formal job search, as of yet. God has used this career unrest to cause Eric to depend more daily on Him and to be prepared & willing for whatever may come.
• Ella completed her last year at North Baptist Christian School and began attending 2nd grade in public school this fall. She has adjusted amazingly well and loves her new teacher, friends, and school. She is learning to distinguish between God's ways and the world's ways and has been bold in telling her new friends that Jesus is the reason for the hope that she has.


• Maria had the privilege to baptize her friend, Meg, in September. My passions continue to include counseling and mentoring women, studying God's Word and sharing it with others, serving at school and church and (most of all) being a wife to Eric and mom to Avery & Ella.


• Avery entered 4th grade this year and is now in middle school! She has experienced sweet new friendships, a kind teacher, and many fun opportunities for clubs and activities. Avery is learning that it is hard to be different -- to be a Christ-follower that lives in the world. She has also experienced the joy that comes from depending on God to be her strength.


• Our church is building a new worship center that will be done within the next couple of months! Our family financially contributed to the capital campaign, and Eric has spent many hours of physical work on the new building this fall/winter. We are so very excited to see how God will use this building, and the small part that we had in it, to accomplish His great purposes in our community!

Life goes on:

• Eric & Maria celebrated 11 years of marriage
  
• Maria turned 40!
• We didn't renew our membership to the Children's Museum :(
• Ella's room got a big-girl re-do!


• Avery got her ears pierced (3 times -- it's a long story)
• Eric has recovered wonderfully from his 2008 back surgery and feels like a new man! We praise God for his awesome healing and ability to do most things without pain

Special events & trips:

• A "surprise trip" to Great Wolf Lodge in February
• Seabreeze membership -- a special gift from our friends


• Boston & New Hampshire in July
• Avery's performances in Aristocats, 101 Dalmatians & Madeline's Christmas
• Camping in the backyard and 1000 Islands
• Family Camp at Circle C Ranch
• State Fair with Aunt Lori, Greg & Amanda
• Many visits with cousins, grandparents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, moms and dads. We are so grateful for a loving family!

God is working in us:

• Avery and Ella continue grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They are a joy to our family and others that they know
• Eric's focus in reading this year have included books on godly manhood, being an effective (Christlike) father to his precious daughters, and growing in Christlike speech and conversation. He is committed to following Jesus and he leads our family well. We are so thankful for him!
• I (Maria) am convicted daily of my need for Jesus -- His forgiveness, grace, power, and leadership in my life. I am currently studying the fruit of the Spirit "with" one of my favorite teachers, Beth Moore. I want to pour out love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in all that I do and to all with whom I come in contact. I am overwhelmed by God's goodness and faithfulness.

Some of our favorite verses:

ERIC: "Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?" Isaiah 40:12

MARIA: "And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

AVERY: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

ELLA: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

Happy New Year, from our family to yours!

Madeline's Christmas

This weekend, Avery had the privilege to do one of her favorite activities -- acting! In September, she was cast as a supporting character, Gigi, in the musical, "Madeline's Christmas". She performed two shows on Saturday, after rehearsing for the past few months.

Avery was thrilled to have Dad, Mom, Ella & Grandma attend her morning performance, and some of her good friends, Maria, Faithann, Mandi, Sam and their parents attend her evening show. She was overwhelmed (in a good way!) by the support and praise she received from her "fans" :)

I wasn't able to get her picture in full costume (adorable red "Madeline-style" coat), but I captured a couple of shots in her French beret. Acting is one of the things that Avery loves to do, and God has gifted her to shine on the stage. We are so glad to see her developing into the beautiful young lady that God has made her to be!

Pandora Radio

As I understand it, I am late to the game on this, so maybe you already know all about it?! Eric's friend told him about this great online (FREE) Internet radio called Pandora. It is very easy to use and so cool!

1) Go to Pandora Radio and set up a free account
2) Create a "new station" by choosing an artist or song that you particularly like

Pandora will play a song similar to the artist/song you've chosen, then go on to tailor a "radio station" that has songs/artists similar to the one you specified. They use something called The Music Genome Project to identify which songs you will like. It's really amazing how right-on they are in selecting songs that fit what I want to hear!

A really cool feature is that you can create multiple radio stations and choose which one you would like to hear at any given time. For example, I have 4 stations: 1) Fee Radio, 2) Selah Holiday Radio (had to have this for the Christmas season!), 3) Third Day Radio, and (my newest and favorite) 4) Sovereign Grace Radio. The names of my stations are named after the artists that I entered when I first created the radio station.

If you are so inclined, you can learn more about the artist, album, song and lyrics of the song you are hearing. You can also bookmark a certain artist or song. The one thing you can't do is request a specific song -- you get what you get! But so far I've liked 99% of what I hear, and you can skip any songs that you don't like.

One of the reasons why I like this so much is that I am hearing songs and artists that I've never heard before. I am getting so many ideas of CD's that I want (dangerous)! But if you're willing to just wait, and listen to what you get, you can hear it all for free. It's very cool!

Keys to Christmas Joy

It is really easy for me to get caught up in my to-do list around this time of year. Shopping, wrapping, writing cards, & decorating -- it's all fun, but it's not what I want Christmas to be all about. So to combat my hustle & bustle tendencies, I seek out resources to help me stay focused on Jesus. I'm guessing that many of you probably struggle with this same issue, so I thought I would share with you a few of my favorite finds of the season.

Come Thou Long-Expected Jesus, by Nancy Guthrie, is a collection of 22 short readings drawn from the works of classic and contemporary theologians and Bible teachers that help readers to focus on and enter into the wonder of the incarnation of Jesus and the story of his birth. I love reading one each morning throughout advent!


Another place where I always find wisdom, Biblical advice, encouragement (and often a good laugh!) is at Girltalk, the website and blog of Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters. This year, I found a great resource there called Keys to Christmas Joy. This is a downloadable article (actually a series of articles) that will challenge you to keep your mind and heart on "the most important thing" this Christmas season. A few quotes that I have been pondering include:

"So let's pray for ourselves and our loved ones: that God would 'help us in our blessings.' That He would give us 'much grace to keep us humble in the midst of riches' this Christmas."

"The actual 'Grinch Who Stole Christmas' is often the sin of worldliness. It's at the root of much of the anxiety, unhappiness, bickering, discontent and strife that permeate what should be a joyous time."

"But if we give priority to our time in God's Word and to prayer, we will find renewed joy each morning. Joy that sticks in the midst of Christmas craziness."

Check out the whole article here. You will be blessed and challenged!


Last but not least, I read a new (to me) book this year called In Search of the Real Spirit of Christmas, by Dan Schaeffer. This book is amazing in that it takes away some of the familiarity of the Christmas story by challenging me to think about God's amazing plan, Christ's sacrifice in taking on human form, and the wonder and glory behind the story that I know so well.

I pray that you will all have a blessed Christmas season, filled with Sabbath rest and a fresh joy that comes with daily surrender to Jesus and His Holy Spirit within you.

Christmas Cute-stuff, by Ella

This is an angel.




This is a wise man. He is from Paris. [Mom: "Why is he from Paris?] Because he's wearing a beret. [Mom: Why is he wearing a beret?] Because his bald head didn't look good!

Thanksgiving: a Mary sort of day

I was so busy yesterday that I hardly took any pictures. But I like to believe that I was more busy in a "Mary" sort of way than a "Martha" sort of way. Last Friday I gave a talk to my MOPS group about hospitality. The basis of my talk was Luke 10:38-42, the story of Martha & Mary:

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!"
"Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

So in preparation for Thanksgiving, I really tried to practice the truths that I taught at MOPS:

1) Prepare to spend time with your guests

2) Relationships are more important than tasks

3) Focus on Jesus, and make it first priority to do the "one thing that is needed" (spend time with Him)

I started my Thanksgiving Day by having some quiet time in God's word and prayer. My time with Jesus gave me a peaceful heart, even with all of the preparations that needed to be done.

We were blessed to have 27 friends and family members join us throughout the day! I was so glad that my mom, dad, and two of my sisters (Lori & Kristy) and their families could join us, as well as Eric's mom, the Rochester Connor brothers and some good friends. It was a fun and joy-filled day. We have so much to be thankful for!

Of the few pictures that I did take, I have two favorites:

Above is a picture of Avery eating fruit loops for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. Of all of the good (and I mean really delicious!) food that we had for our Thanksgiving feast, she told me that the fruit loops were her favorite :) I never buy sugar cereal, but since cousins were sleeping over we got it for a special treat. She was so excited!

This is Ella (age 7) sitting on the shoulders of her biggest cousin, Jake (age 17). Ella told me that she LOVED playing with her big boy cousins. The girls are fun too, but the boy cousins are really special to Ella :)

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever." Psalm 136:1

Mix 'n' Match Day

One crazy kid...

... in a tye dye tee and striped sweater...

... with two different socks. And she wore it to school!

Isn't she cute?!

I Love Grandma (and I like her stuff)

This weekend we headed to my hometown (or "homestead", a word that Avery learned in school just this week!). We spent two nights with Mom & Dad Tillis and got to visit with my sister, Coleen, and her family, as well as my cousin, Mary, and her baby. One of the purposes of our trip was to spend some time with my Grandma. Grandma has been in assisted living for two years now, and, in spite of some major health concerns, she continues to enjoy life (or complain, depending on the day!). I told her that God must have some purposes for her life that haven't yet been carried out. Not sure if she believes that, but I'm certain it's the truth.

Mom and Dad have been really busy, cleaning out Grandma's house -- clothes, dishes, jewelry, valuables and keepsakes. I spent some time with Mom, looking through boxes and choosing some items that I can use, as well as things that bring back memories. One of the favorite things that I brought home is Grandma's recipe box. I can't wait to go through it! I love to experiment with new recipes, and I'm sure that many of the cards in this box will be familiar dishes that I've enjoyed since childhood.

I also got to keep several shawls and knitted/crocheted items that Grandma made. It will be fun to wear them and remember where they came from.

I love Grandma and pray that she will know the true, everlasting love of Jesus. Psalm 139 says that God "created her inmost being" and "knit her together in her mother's womb", 97 years ago. He knows the number of hairs on her head (Matthew 10:30) -- a number that is decreasing daily :) Grandma is "fearfully and wonderfully made" and all of her days have been ordained by God -- "they were written in His book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:14, 16). Thoughts about Grandma are precious to God -- He thinks about her all the time! (Ps. 139:16)

Thank You, O LORD, that even in the final years of her life, You continue to search Grandma's heart and You know her. You know when she sits and when she rises; you perceive her thoughts from afar. You discern her going out and her lying down; you are familiar with all her ways. Thank you, Jesus that she can't hide from your Spirit, and she can't flee from your presence. I pray today, that she would know you personally, and that You would lead her in the way everlasting. Amen

The Naughty Kids' Club

On Sunday, our pastor, David, gave a message about serving. To illustrate the importance of servants (volunteers) at church, all three services were carried out without volunteers. There were no greeters to tell new people where to go, the bulletins were done messily and with errors, no ushers to seat people, no multimedia or audio volunteers, no worship team, etc.

There were people serving in children's ministry (otherwise it just might have been too chaotic), but David wanted to demonstrate what might happen if there were no children's workers. Ella and three of her friends were chosen to help illustrate this message -- we called it "The Naughty Kids' Club". At a certain time during the message, Ella and her friends ran out of the hall, screaming at the top of their lungs, and ran down the aisle in the worship center, totally disrupting the pastor and the service. They practiced on Saturday and were so excited to do it on Sunday! Here is a picture of them practicing -- way too much fun!!

Unfortunately, Tyler was sick and couldn't participate. To Avery's delight, she was asked to fill in for Tyler, and she became an "honorary member" of The Naughty Kids' Club. It was so fun for them, and a great picture of just one of the ways that God asks us to use our gifts in serving His church

Here is The [original] Naughty Kids club, plus Ruby (Caleb's little sister). From left to right: Caleb, Ella, Taylor & Tyler

.

Trees

All of this beauty can be seen from our front door!

"Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." 1 Chronicles 16:33-34

"Snow" by Go Fish

I just found a GREAT Christmas CD! I purchased "Snow" by Go Fish for the girls, but I love it for me and have already listened to some of the songs repeatedly. There are a variety of familiar Christmas songs (done in the Go Fish guys acapella style), but my two favorites are "It's About the Cross" and "My Jesus I Love Thee" (not even really a Christmas song). "It's About the Cross" is amazing -- the gospel is very clearly laid out in a way that kids can understand. You can watch/listen to it here

The bridge and final chorus goes like this:

The beginning of the story is wonderful and great
But it's the ending that can save you and that's why we celebrate

It's about the cross
It's about my sin
It's about how Jesus came to be born once
So that we could be born again

It's about God's love
Nailed to a tree
It's about every drop of blood that flowed from Him when it should have been me

It's about the stone
That was rolled away
So that you and I could have real life someday
So that you and I could have real life someday

It's about the cross

It's about the cross

I HIGHLY recommend this CD. And I got it for Just $5 at Alpha & Omega. Merry Christmas my friends, a couple of months early :)

Punkin' Patch

What a beautiful fall day to head to the "punkin' patch"! We went to a pumpkin farm that we haven't visited before and had a great time with our good friends, Sheri & Maria.

The kids enjoyed many fun activities, including a "sandbox" filled with corn kernals. It was so cool!

They also had races in giant "hamster wheels".

We saw a lot of animals. Our favorites were the pigs -- a 400 lb. mama and her 1 month old babies. They were a riot trying to get some milk!

There were several big slides, as well as a zip line, corn maze and much more.

The three girls were so cute and really had fun together!

It was sunny and cool, the perfect fall day! Thank you, God, for the special family times you bring us!

For more photos from our fun day at the punkin' farm, visit our Kodak Gallery album here.

Such a Big Girl Now...

Avery was thrilled to get her very first iPod shuffle yesterday! It is new-to-her (just $25 on Craigslist!) and purchased with her saved allowance money. She was so excited (understatement) and it was really fun to go with her to get it and watch her enjoy it these last couple of days.

We have been on the reluctant end of the spectrum (another understatement) when it comes to purchasing electronics for Avery & Ella. They have such great imaginations -- we would much rather see them playing school, house, or with their dolls than sitting with a hand-held game or with earphones on. So after a lot of thinking and talking, it was a fun surprise to give Avery the "okay" to make this first big purchase.

Last night I helped her download all of her favorite songs from HighPoint, as well as Pure NrG and her other favorite CD's. She has been singing all day, and is being so sweet about letting Ella listen in and share.

I can't even tell you how many times I've heard this phrase in the past 24 hours: "Mom, I feel like such a big girl now!" Note to self: She will always be my precious little girl!

Endings and Beginnings

When Avery was about 18 months old (or thereabouts) we got our first annual membership to the children's museum in our town. In those preschool years we went there 2-3 times a week, especially in the winter. As the girls got older and started school, it was still a favorite place to head after morning Kindergarten or on the weekends with Daddy. At just the right time (for us), the museum added some huge new areas and "grew" along with my girls. This museum has been a memory-maker and marker in our family's life -- the beginning years of motherhood, parenting, and family outings.

Here are some pictures from earlier years at the children's museum:

Annual Halloween party with Mother Goose (Avery is 5 and Ella is 3):

Ella has always been into the craft areas!

One History Place...

Sadly (to me!), September 2009 marks the ending of that phase of life. Last Friday, we visited the museum as a family -- most likely the last time we will use our membership before it expires this month. I cried off and on throughout our afternoon. The rest of my family just acted like it was no big deal (imagine that!).

Pictures from our "final" visit to the museum:

Eric said, "It's not like you're never going to come here again". To which I responded, "Yeah, but we won't be members. It's not the same!"

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven" Ecclesiastes 3:1