Family Fun

We are LOVING being in a neighborhood!

Here's a bit of what we've been up to:

Unpacking boxes.

Playing outside.

When it's too hot outside....

reading books:

 or Playing games....

The boys have especially enjoyed playing soccer in the front yard.
And when it gets too hot Dad sprays them off with the hose:

cookies make it GREAT!

Izzy has had a blast running in the back yard!  

She gets her work out running after birds and squirrels.  Now, whenever she is inside, she is pooped out!

On Friday, Andrew left out of town for a work project.  He'll be gone for a week and a half. 
Since we are on our own for a while, we decide to have a little kid FUN:

 BOX FORTS!

I let the older two kids sleep in the box fort last night.  

They loved it!  

I must confess that I did not.  

The box tape made noise when ever they moved, then one of them lost a stuffed animal in the middle of the night and woke us all up, then nobody could really fall asleep after that...so we were up around 5am.

Let's just say I had a rough morning and was a wee bit tired!  :)

Evening here though and I'm feeling good.

Moved in!

We're in our house 

and it's beginning to feel like home.

I can't tell you how great it is to be in a neighborhood again!  I've dearly missed walking outside on sidewalks, sitting on the front porch, sending kids outside to get dirty! 

 The nice thing about no grass is that the kids are free to dig and play in the dirt!

I'm excited about the neighborhood we live in.  The first impulse most people would have living here would be fear.  The dangers of living in an area plagued with drugs, poverty, prostitution and desperation are all too real.  
Although as a child, I grew up in this kind of environment, God helped me to see more than just the actions.  I saw the frustration of real people trapped in these cycles.  The sadness, the despair, the hopelessness, the imprisonment.  As a child I would leave aluminum cans with verses taped to the top of them for the constant homeless that would camp outside my house to pick up.  I didn't know how I could show God's love, being a child, but my heart ached for them.  Being back in this area my heart still aches for them to know the freeing love of God, His forgiveness and the hope we have in Him.

...things we're thinking on...

What does it mean to love our neighbor as our self?  God places this command next to loving Him.  How can I do this practically?  Do my neighbors (not just hypothetical, but actual neighbors) really see my love for God played out in how I love them?

Moving!

What's going on?

Well, at our house we have a couple things we're excited about.

This week we're dog-sitting a little pug, Rocky.

He's a cute little ball of energy to match Izzy's.

Both dogs have gotten along really well.  It took a couple days for us to figure out the rhythm of who to feed when and when to let outside and for how long and such...but now we're swinging in time.

The kids LOVE Rocky.  

This morning Joshua was crooning to Rocky, "Nothing can ever keep me from loving you, Rocky."

Then later, I couldn't find Jeremy..and the house was quiet: which usually means someone is up to something naughty!...but there he was, siting with Rocky, smiling and Rocky was as content as ever!

We are moving into a new house!

God has literally gifted us with this rental.  

For a while now we've been looking for a house that is near the kid's school.  We know God wants us to be in that neighborhood and to be accessible to the families that we are in contact with.  

We've been praying and waiting. 

We are so thankful to God.

We know both of the families on each side of our house...how cool is that!  And we know a couple others from our church who live around the corner and another who is a couple streets away. 

We had to fix the fence, paint the inside,  remove the carpets, and run a little wire...but other than that it is a GREAT house, ready to move in:

Andrew is such an amazing man.  He knows exactly what to do to make things work!  Joshua has been spending time with him learning.

Check out what was under the carpets:

Beautiful hardwood flooring!

Yes, the tile is pink and blue (in the kitchen and bath).  Oh well!  It really doesn't matter.  We're not looking for perfection.

 

More pictures later...I've got boxes to pack.  It seems never ending!  I have not been looking forward to the packing and unpacking process.   The last week my head has been okay...almost good at times. 

Thank you family and friends for all your offers of help and encouragement.

new song

The first time I heard this song was by a christian band called Down and Away.  It touched my heart so deeply.  Our greatest calling is to follow God with all our heart, mind soul and strength and that our words and thoughts will match our deeds. 



May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart, 
bless Your Name, bless Your Name, Jesus.
And the deeds of the day and the truth in my ways, 
speak of You, speak of You, Jesus.


And this is what I'm glad to do
to live a life of love that pleases You
And I will give my all to You
Surrender everything I have and follow You
I'll follow You.


Lord will You be my vision, Lord, will You be my guide
Be my hope, be my life, the Way.
And I'll look not for riches, nor praises on earth
only You'll be the first of my heart.