a big move...

Well, we've made our decision. Lord willing, we'll be moving to the Philippines this summer! If you've been reading my blog at all in the past months, you know that we've been struggling over whether or not to make the move and we just can't ignore God's calling any longer! We've been counting the costs and weighing our options. We've prayed and prayed, we've talked and talked, and we've thought and thought till our brains have hurt! Everywhere we look, everything we read, every thought we have leads us to the fact that God wants us to pursue moving to the Philippines and so we have said, "Ok, we'll go!"

2009 holds many new adventures and challenges for sure, but we are hopeful and filled with faith in our God who always provides where He leads! We've seen miracles in the past and eagerly await new miracles in 2009! I'll be posting more about the process of making the move in the next few weeks and we're in the process of finishing a website that will explain it all. I'll post the link to that in the coming days!

Happy New Year!!!!

Rain drops on roses...

Whiskers on kittens. Something and something and warm woolen mittens. These are a few of my favorite things. As we hit the New Year tonight, I thought I'd wrap up the old year with a look at a few of my favorite things from 2008. It's been a wild ride, but I'll see if I can fit it into one readable blog post!

In no particular order, here are my favorite things from 2008:

1. Next Level Church - We started going to our new church this summer and have loved every minute! They are such a warm, real, and open group of people who are willing to do all they can to help. The church is also dedicated to serving and helping the poor which is something we value very highly.

2. Avery's condition - Our youngest daughter has had a horrible bout with eczema which has created a nightmare for us over the last 1.5 years since we moved to Charlotte. The good news is that ever since we started a treatment called NAET with an acupuncturist, her eczema has been improving and her demeanor has improved drastically and I realized a few months ago that I was finally able to truly enjoy getting to know my daughter. We still have our rough days, but they are fewer than last year!

3. A FREE Car!!! - Some friends gave us an awesome Volvo station wagon last spring and it has been a lifesaver! We made it through last school year (barely) with one car, but we are so blessed to have two cars now so that Sarah can take Kyla to preschool this year and she is able to take Avery to the park and run errands during the day.
4. My wife - Sarah has embarked on some new roles this year and I am super proud of her! She taught her first two series of Bradley Childbirth classes this year and did a superb job. Her students loved the classes and she got some rave reviews! She also became a doula and has been picking up business over the past few weeks. She's started a "Babies and Coffee" get-together for the new moms she works with and she's making a real difference in families' lives. She does this all while handling the stay-at-home-mom duties! Way to go Sarah!
5. Photography business - I've been so blessed this year to have been able to shoot 4 weddings and a boat load of portraits. It's been so much fun to do what I love and get paid for it. I've learned and grown so much and I look forward to what the new year holds!
6. Woodworking - I've had a chance to get out in our garage and build quite a few things this year. I've built a double bed for Kyla, some floating shelves for the living room, night stands for our bedroom, and various other projects like putting up a storm door and crown molding with my dad.
7. The kids - Sarah spent 2.5 weeks in the Philippines this summer and I had the chance to hang with the kiddos on my own for that time! It was challenging and tiring, but I feel like it just exploded my relationship with them! They continue to amaze me with their imaginations and how much they love being with each other. They are best friends and it is a blast watching them grow up although I can't believe I'll have a 5 year old soon and our youngest is now 2 1/2!
8. My Job - Teachers are complainers by nature, and I can join in with the best of them on my weaker days. The pay stinks, the kids stink after activity time, and the responsibilities get piled on higher and higher with little to no opportunity for promotion. But having said that, I love my job. I love teaching middle school. My coworkers are outstanding and my kids are well behaved (for the most part). My school has nearly every bit of technology I could think of using. And when it comes down to it, I don't have to fear losing my job in this difficult economy.

I'm sure there are many other things that I have missed here, but my coffee cup is empty and I need a refill. Plus, if I keep writing, you'll probably quit reading! Happy New Year!!!!

movie buff...

So it's midnight and I'm not too tired...I guess that's what afternoon naps are supposed to accomplish. I'm off to bed soon, but I wanted to post this crazy story from my day at school. I've got this great kid named J in one of my sixth grade classes. He has the best personality and a hilarious sense of humor. I've realized before that he knows quite a bit about movies, but today he shocked me beyond words.

It all started when the 6'2" sixth grader (you read that correctly) put on my jacket because he was cold. Well, the jacket that is quite large on me barely fits this kid so J starts singing "fat guy in a little coat" from Tommy Boy...one of my favorite movies. Of course, being the fair teacher that I am, I cautioned him that it probably wasn't the nicest thing to say. But I did have to chuckle and congratulate him on referencing a movie not many kids his age had seen.

So I decided to quiz him a little more in his movie knowledge. I asked him what movie "FRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEDDDDOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM" comes from. He quickly replied, "Braveheart!" So I asked him a follow up question. "When was Braveheart made? "1995" he replied. A quick google search confirmed his answer!

So I quoted the famous line from "Cool Hand Luke." He didn't get it! I had him! So I told him what movie it was from and he said, "Oh yeah, that was made in 1967!" Google confirmed. You have to be kidding me!

"When was Ferris Beuller's Day Off made?" 1986. Correct.

The bell rang and I dragged him in my disbelief to his next class and grabbed two other teachers. I said, "Name a movie." One teacher replied, "Pretty in Pink." I hadn't seen that and I don't know anything about it. He said, "I'm not sure when it was made, but I know Molly Ringwold is in it." Correct.

The other teacher smiled and said, "Risky Business." He said, "Tom Cruise." Correct.

So throughout the rest of the day, I kept on finding J and quizzing him. "There's a boy on a tricycle saying I want my two dollars (a suggestion from another teacher)." "Better Off Dead with John Cusack." Correct. "Who played the woman in Top Gun?" "Kelly McGillis." Correct. "Who played in The Breakfast Club?" "Emelio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson." Correct. "Who were the women in Thelma and Louise?" "Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon." Correct.

Sheesh! It was unreal. Some of these movies were even before my time! I was able to stump him on Short Circuit and Princess Bride, though. I'm gonna have to pull out my A Game tomorrow. But I guess more importantly, I'm going to have to somehow leave it alone for 90 minutes so that I can try to teach him some math. Maybe I should show "Stand and Deliver" and he could learn some calculus.

retiring a giant...

I read the other day that Polaroid was no longer manufacturing film for its line of instant-film cameras. My first reaction was "Wow, they still make Polaroid film?" I remember having lots of fun with Polaroids many years ago. They've been around for 60 years and were really an amazing breakthrough in photography. I was also shocked to read that 8 years ago, the same amount of instant film cameras were sold as digital cameras! We've come a LONG way in just 8 years!

Anyway, here is a great 1981 commercial for a Polaroid camera. I found it quite funny to go back and watch. I wonder what we'll be saying in 25 years about the commercials for our super-awesome digital cameras we have now! Oh, and be sure to watch through to the teaser for the upcoming "Father Murphy" episode where there is a wild horse that "only a young retarded girl can race." We certainly have come a long way!



Here's another video of a recent news story about the end of Polaroid film. Some people are very upset (savepolaroid.com)!

a little mid-week encouragement...

I read a passage from Galations 5 this morning out of the Message translation that I thought I'd share. I sometimes find all of the bickering, back-biting, pain, and suffering around me kind of depressing at times. It's also easy for me to fall into the same kind of behavior that I see around me. This passage reminds me of the change that can and shout take place in me when I allow the Spirit to change me.

It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time; repetetive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional baggage, frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper;an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addicitons; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inheret God's kingdom.

But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in lfe, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. The passage goes on to tell us that we need to not just hold onto a Spirit-filled life as an idea, but work out it's implication in every aspect of our lives.

What a great summation of the Gospel of Christ. Is believing in Jesus about getting into Heaven? Well, yes that's part of it. But it's so much more. It's so much about change in your life and making the brief time we have here on Earth count.

funny kid sayings...

On Saturday we went with the Baslers to a local church for a Walk Through Bethlehem where they had set up a replica of Bethlehem complete with animals, guards, and a live nativity scene. It was a pretty cool time (quite literally...I think it was about 40 degrees).

Two of the Roman guards approached Kyla and her best bud Ella and demanded, "Pay your taxes to Cesar." My daughter responded with, "We're both four. We go to preschool." The ensuing conversation was complete with references to Old Lady (the way she says Old Navy).

Earlier in the day, Avery made me proud by walking around saying, "Touchdown Hokies" over and over.

This morning, Avery was very quiet in the kitchen for a few minutes while I checked my email. When I asked her what she was doing, she walked over to me and said, "I got a boogie" and had her finger up in the air with a prize on the end. I walked her over to the bathroom so she could wipe it on some toilet paper. When we got close to the bathroom, she said, "Oops. I dropped it." I said, "Oh, no. We need to find it!" She replied very calmly, "It's okay, I can get another one." Too funny!


As I type, Avery is walking around singing "Diarrhea" over and over. I'm tempted to teach her to sing "Cha cha cha" after she says diarrhea like we used to do in elementary school, but I think I'll leave that one alone for now...a rare moment of parenting dicernment.

Advent Conspiracy...

I just finished watching this quick video about the Christmas season. Please take the 2 minutes to watch it if you haven't seen it! It reminds me of some great Christmas experiences we had in Los Angeles helping with the toy drive our church sponsored and one Christmas Eve that Sarah, Kyla and I wandered around the city giving out some gifts we had bought to homeless people. Those are honestly some of my favorite Christmas memories! Anyway, check it out!