Healing

God intervened again!!! Jonas started unceasing coughing at the end of his nap yesterday, and by evening he sounded as bad as he sounded last month when he spent several days in the hospital! His breathing was labored and barky.

Of course I gave in to fear momentarily, thinking that of COURSE it would be Friday night when we would have to pay a hospital visit as opposed to Dr. visit for a prescription for steroids. It being the week before Christmas, I was panicking about FedEx letting Jason off while we stay in the hospital, since they work this weekend.

HOWEVER unlike his last croup "normal" remedies WORKED! Especially taking him out in the cold air really seemed to soothe his inflamed throat. We had extra "quick fix" breathing treatments that we were able to give him that also helped. He still woke up several times and it was a long night keeping him "under control," but we all slept at home! I am so so so thankful for this provision! Now we pray that we will be completely healthy by Christmas! It was a bizarre flare-up as we didn't even know Jonas was sick at all! Praise our Healer!

Snow Days

FORT-good for several hours of play without Mom! We made way cooler ones when I was a kid though, involving huge sheets and clothspins. Maybe I will broaden my architectural skills. Look what a handsome toy I found in the toybox!

Proof that we did celebrate Santa Lucia Day this year-minus the dressed-up daughter with candles in her hair...Mmm any excuse to make these rolls!

Spinach

I am not in the mood to fight the camera right now, so I'll just write about the new addition to our family: spinach!

Caedmon has always been a wonderful eater, in quality and quantity! He prefers meat and veggies to sweets, but really likes everything.

So like most parents of 1 child, we thought we were experts. Then came Jonas to humble us, who has not up til this past week, eaten a single bite of meat or veggies, unless it was heavily disguised. He has the sweetest tooth for sugar and white carbs. His favorite thing is baked goods like scones and sweet rolls, but at any meal he will ditch the taco to eat just the tortilla, ditch the peanut butter for the bread and jelly. He has mostly survived on breads with some yogurt and cheese for protein.

I am not an overly hovering parent, and many people told me he would grow out of it if I kept offering good choices and not giving in to treats and snacks between meals.

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I made the boys PB&honey sandwiches (honey is another of J's favorites!) and myself a salad of mostly spinach. They asked for one bite, then another, then another! After finishing my salad, they wanted their own. Then for supper Jonas didn't even eat the cheese in his taco, but just PLAIN spinach! Maybe I am speaking too early, but I believe spinach is not a bad word in our family anymore! They prefer it with dressing of some kind, but even for lunch today Jonas left all his "goodies" in his salad and picked out only the spinach! If that weren't enough, the boys loved dipping asparagus in ranch dressing last night! PRAISE THE LORD!

I know that spiritual development and other areas are more or equally important as what my kids eat, but I am thrilled with this new development!

CHRISTmas doings

I think I have always thought it was difficult to keep Christ in Christmas, at least at the center. Jesus' birth was always supplemental, it seemed. This year, we have had a ball keeping our focus on the HOPE we have in Jesus. We have talked a lot about lights, and Jesus being the Light of the world. I am enjoying, too, teaching the boys all the Christmas songs! Advent is fun when you have two toddlers asking every day when Jesus' birthday is coming!
Here are the boys painting ornaments! (Jonas had to taste the paint). Baking, baking, baking. Here are the lickings from the gingerbread stable we made.

So the support beam is not very supportive, but we had so much fun making it! I love hearing the boys play with the characters and act out the story! Many of the decorations disappeared, though. :-)

Cleaning up. Caedmon is in a phase where he LOVES helping with dishes! I try to have the patience to let him, because, afterall, his future wife will thank me!

A tradition we started at dinner is to have a sampler plate of Christmas cookies for dessert. For each cookie that one takes, though, a Bible verse has to be recited! This has been wonderful to watch. Jason goes back to verses he learned through song as a kid. Caedmon will willingly recite whole chapters if it gets him yet another treat! Jonas usually is only good for filling in the last word of a verse, although he has prompted Jason when he forgets what comes next in a verse! So precious! Our new verse(s) this week is Luke 2:10-11 "Do not be afaid. I bring you good news of great joy! It is for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you! He is Christ the Lord!" I hope everyone is enjoying this chaotic season as much as we are, even if it is just watching the peaceful snow drift gently down.

Caedmon

I am totally stealing Joie's tradition of going back in time to celebrate birthdays! Caedmon turned 3 yesterday, and I enjoyed finding his baby pics. Here is at Caedmon's baby shower from our church, 2 weeks before labor. Caedmon Clarence Anderson, 12/3/06, 2 weeks early, 8lbs. 4 oz, 20 1/2 in!!!!!!

He used to have dark hair, and several birthmarks.

One of my favorite pictures of all time...

Here he is 3 years big, birthday waffles and all. Thank you, God, for the most incredible 3 years with our son! Bye bye "terrible twos."

SHEEP

I simply must put in a plug for Nancy Shaw's Sheep children's books! Anyone who hasn't read them must check them out at the library! They are so clever and always make me laugh. I discovered them earlier this year and they are delightful! That's it, happy reading!

Another relaxing weekend away

Here are the boys watching the wild turkeys, squirrels, and birds outside Grandma and Grandpa's window.

Jason's dad's sister Aunt Lill is a big hit with the boys too. She lives across the street on their farm.

We had an early birthday party for Caedmon. He was thrilled to decorate his own cake!

Jonas got to help too. We discussed how a person should wash his hands after EACH lick before decorating some more.

On Thanksgiving we were still at home since Jason had to work on Friday. The boys played football video games.

This was this morning after all the excitement. I often make the boys play in their rooms, to teach them to play by themselves-and to give myself a break! Today after over an hour I let Caedmon out of our room, but Jonas had crashed on the floor in the boys' room. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! We also got to pick out our Christmas tree in Carney, but I left the camera behind so I don't have photos of that. I continue to be thankful for my life! It is fun!

Thanks-giving

This is some of my extended family. It was such a wonderful week in Kansas, spending so much quality time with my folks, my sibs, and my larger family. I am so blessed to be part of this group of people! And my grandpa turned 90! Still following the LORD! I think it is only appropriate to list things I'm thankful for from this year in this post. God has truly "generously given us all things." In no particular order.

1. We got to move closer to family! God provided the house, the job, the scenery, and several churches to choose from! We also live in a safe, quiet neighborhood!

2. My Jonas is alive and well! What a journey that has been but we are all learning daily faith because of it! He had excellent medical care, and I also want to mention I am thankful for the invention of nebulizers!

I REALIZE EVERY SENTENCE HAS AN EXCLAMATION POINT FOLLOWING IT. How else can I express how excited I am about these blessings?! :-)

3. My precious Caedmon is healthy and well. His heart seems to be sensitive to the things of God and he has absorbed so much information about life this year!

4. My loving husband. God gave me a perfect-for-me life partner. We have grown even closer this year through moving across the country!

5. Godly parents on both sides of our family! They are encouraging, helpful, and great role models! We have loved seeing them more!

6. I am thankful for the ability to make memories. As I get older I realize how much I treasure each good memory. From childhood, early marriage, and parenthood!

7. I am thankful for the inexplicable Christian bond that exists between strangers who love Jesus. I have met people in Wausau who I instantly love, not just because I am called to, but because we both love the One who made us! As far as that goes, I have met people even online who have become very dear to me because of this. (SaraH!)

8. Hymns have become very special to me this year. I have found such beauty and peace in singing hymns I have always known but never scrutinzed the lyrics. To add to that, I do appreciate my keyboard!

9. I am thankful I live in a country and time when I am not being persecuted. I have unlimited religious freedom! May I be ever more bold with this gift.

10. Christian authors! A couple I have especially devoured this year are Philip Yancey, Francine Rivers, and whoever wrote Experiencing God. :-)

11. Financial freedom! What a priceless gift-no pun intended. I choose to be poor all my days if my needs are met! Sleep is sweet when you don't owe anybody a penny.

12. Christian music! Some bands I have been obsessed with this year who really spoke to my heart: Fee, Ten Shekel Shirt, Sara Groves.

13. Prayer! I have studied prayer and really practiced a lot more this year. Prayer was such a gift through our transitions, and Jonas' health scares. It is amazing to not just feel helpless, but to be able to contribute to a situation or person, and simultaneously be renewing my mind!

14. I am thankful for my simply darling niece Ruth and nephew John! I am one doting, blessed aunt.

15. I am thankful for American soldiers, who sacrifice their time, their youth, intimacy with their families, and sometimes much more, so that my husband and I do not have to fight, or be apart. I am thankful I don't have to be a single mom too!

16. Thankful that we also ARE soldiers of Jesus Christ. In this ongoing daily battle, we are already assured VICTORY! We are on the right side, we are on the team, we can have confidence! Christ has overcome the world!!!!!

17. Sex. [She just said sex on her blog!! Well, it's her blog, and she is thankful for it!]

18. I am thankful for humor. I can't deSCRIBE how thankful I am for humor! Jonas' lastest trick to get out of going to bed is a series of excuses he learned from Caed. They are pretty basic: "Bwankies! Lamby! Sing-Song! Dwink! Pway!" The latest had me giggling though, as I shut the door to his room he called out, "Potty!" No, Jonas, you are wearing a diaper and are NOT potty-trained. You simply cannot get out of going to bed for that one!

Caedmon cracks me up too on a daily basis. He often tells me all the things God made. Today he said, "God made movies!" I am assuming he was hoping maybe if he put God and movies in the same sentence, I would run to the TV and pop one in for him! Jason and I also can't help laughing when he says things wrong, completely innocently. He said he had to "shit the door." How do you correct that kind of thing without drawing attention to and teaching him the BAD word? :-)

19. Most of all, I am thankful I have access to a personal relationship with God! He becomes dearer to me every year, and the more I know Him, the less I can describe His greatness!

What are YOU thankful for?

Deliverance

I want to post about our strange week 1) to share God's glory with you all and 2) so we always remember what God has done for us.

Saturday-previous Jonas got a barky cough along with a high fever, but was doing ok with just tylenol. By Monday night he was struggling to breathe, and was getting noisier. After conferring with several people, we decided to take Jonas into the ER. Healthy oxygen levels are 95 and higher, and Jonas was measured at 76 initially. We got admitted for the night and my poor baby was subjected to many tests and tubing.

By Tuesday he was much better, so after observing him all day long, they sent us home thinking he was over the hump. Wednesday after taking him out in the cold, then doing the steam shower, I put him down for a nap. Poor sick Caedmon, myself with a sore throat, and sick Jonas desperately needed at least a 3 hour nap.

Jonas woke up 20 minutes later coughing. He couldn't get on top of the cough, so he started crying. I woke up and went in there to see him walking across the room off-balance trying to make sense of what was happening to him. He was trying to whine Mama Mama but it was too much effort. His chest and throat were depressing with each breath. I called my Dr. and dashed out the door, not strapping Caed in the carseat and with both boys sans shoes in very cold weather. It occured to me I should run back inside to grab some library books and a sippy cup for the boys, but I knew that every second counted and truly thought I couldn't afford the time. By now I cannot even describe how Jonas sounded, although it is etched vividly in my memory. It was a barky, sucking, wheezy desperate attempt to get enough air to do it again. It was 3 miles to the hospital and 2 to my Dr. so I headed that way going who knows how fast. I remember Caedmon, very groggy, sensing the urgency of the situation as I called out to God in a shaky voice. He said, "I love you so much, Jonas." It made me cry because it seemed prophetic of his last words to his brother or something. Then Jonas just started fading. In the rear view mirror, it was just as if he gave up. I could see him not care. He slowly closed his eyes with his hands loosening on the tag of his blanket, no longer frustrated, just resigning himself to not working so hard to breathe. I don't know how close to death he was, I only know what I saw I will never forget.

We made it to the Dr.'s office, I just scooped Jonas up and ran into the building with Caedmon trailing in the parking lot. Although they had said on the phone all doctors were busy, within a minute we were in the back with TWO Drs. available to care for him. They stabilized and evaluated him, then sent us back to the hospital. We were in for 3 more nights during which time Jonas had ups and downs with oxygen saturation and fevers, steroids and monitors.

We learned a lot about respiratory therapy this week! The swine flu test, pneumonia, and RSV test all came back negative, so everyone's best guess is that he had a para flu which caused the croup. We will see a specialist Thursday to determine if Jonas has a malformed trachea or inflamed birthmarks or any such abnormality. They say it is possible it is an allergy that caused this. He is most likely going to develop asthma too, and will be prone to more breathing difficulties in the future. He is home now taking 2 steriods a day and breathing treatments as needed. He has also bounced back into fighting with his brother and playing with toys again.

Yet we rejoice! He is alive and well! So many wonderful gifts were given us this week in God's timing.

1) We had the most amazing staff at the hospital we picked out of the phone book-and they doted on Jonas and pampered him with first-rate treatment!

2) We got to the office in time-and capable doctors were available.

3) Friends and family supported us and prayed through it all-THANK YOU!

4) Jason's coworker Jimbo had heard that Jonas had been sick earlier in the week, so he offered to take Jason's pickup route on Wednesday, so Jason could come home earlier. Jason had NEVER gotten a chance to come home early before, and this was before I had told him that we had gone back to the ER. So he was able to come up and rescue Caedmon at least 2 hours earlier than normal. Meanwhile since Caedmon wasn't feeling too hot, he was an angel in the ER preferring to sit in a corner chair with his blanket and just watch all the excitment. I was so proud of him but torn that I couldn't hold him too while they were working on Jonas.

5) Jason's coworker Patti upon coming back from her Florida vacation and hearing about Jonas, cooked dinner for us!

6) FedEx let Jason take off all the days where I was in the hospital with Jonas, to care for Caedmon at home. Of course they kind of had to, but my point is they were very gracious about it. A big blessing!

We learned personally about the fragility of life. That Jonas is a priceless gift entrusted to us for a season only, and he was put into our home to love. I cannot imagine how it is for so many around the world when their kids face health crises like this and they have nowhere to GO, no practical medical help, but are forced to sit and watch their children fade away. We also learned personally that you absolutely CAN put weight on God's promises. There is nothing more precious than being held in the palm of God's hand. I am thankful for this experience! A hymn I sang over and over this week:

Day by day, and with each passing moment, Strength I find to meet my trials here. Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment, I've no cause for worry or for fear.

He whose heart is kind beyond all measure, Gives unto each day what he deems best. Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure, Mingling toil with peace and rest.

And while we are documenting how God has worked in our family, I wanted to list other times God clearly could have taken our children back to their heavenly homes, but chose to spare us that pain.

1) When Caedmon was about 8 months old, he pulled a TV on top of himself. He was fine!

2) Caedmon-also about 8 months-crawled/bounced down 14 stairs at a friend's house.

3) Caedmon-about 6 months-found some coins and was seconds away from eating them.

4) Caedmon-about 1 1/2 was playing in the car unattended for a few minutes and managed to find and open a bottle of ibuprofen and extra strength tylenol. ER visit-he was fine!

5) I had Jonas (11 months) on a counter next to where I was brushing Caed's teeth. He turned himself around and I watched him fall in slow motion backwards onto the tile floor. The thud of his skull hitting the stone was like a gunshot. He didn't even suffer a concussion!

What can I say except God has been gracious and merciful to us! I know this is a long story, but what part of God's immense power and healing could I have left off? To be continued as life goes on. . .

Halloween

Halloween weekend was fun! My folks and Aunt Martie came up just for the weekend. They even drove all night to spend another day with us! I can't describe how nice it is to live close enough to see family so often! We didn't do anything too exciting, but we read a lot of books and I felt like I had the weekend off! Here is my mom doing all my dishes. We also got out of a lot of poopy diapers-even cloth ones! Although they don't look too thrilled, Caed and Jonas quickly got into trick or treating our friendly neighbors. They made out like bandits too! Caedmon is not really dressed up though. His vocation is, afterall, a fireman. The tiger was not too dangerous either. This was the first night he started spiking a fever before our very memorable week in the hospital. But we made him go get us some candy, anyway!

Love my sister, Aunt. The funny story behind her name now being Aunt instead of Aunt Martie comes from Caedmon. This summer in Kansas Martie came in the door and Caedmon got so excited to see her, he said, "It's Aunt...Aunt...Aunt...!!!!" but couldn't remember WHICH aunt. He has a lot of aunts. So she is just Aunt. I love my family! We have gotten to see each other four times since moving even though they're 12 hours away, like 10 times more than we're used to per year! Thank you, God!

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, and I know Christians on both sides of the issue. But an excuse to go door to door and meet the neighbors and celebrate the beautiful fall, is worth it. Plus Grandee Betty sent the most cute costumes so we went all out. Now they have several dress-up outfits! Happy All Saints Day! :-)

Kid Sayings

This post is about my funny boy Caedmon. I thought I would write some of the funny things he has done and said lately. A true baby blog post. :-)

Funny words he says that I love:

"Bible burfes"-Bible verses

"coff."-coffee

"helihoptor"-helicoptor

"baindain"-bandaid

"tomawere"-tomorrow

Funny things he has done recently:

When Caedmon is scared, he says he is "scary." Love it! He nods emphatically while on the phone and calls Jason a "silly boy." When he has to go potty, he brings whatever toys and books he's attached to at the time, and dumps them in the sink, out of Jonas' reach, for safekeeping while he does his business. Quite a shrewd lil lad.

It is hilarious to watch your kids imitate you verbatim, if also quite sobering! Caedmon has taken to playing in the sink for the sole purpose of spitting exactly like Dad does after he brushes his teeth. Mimicking me when we come inside the house, he orders Jonas, "hat, shoes, and jacket, Jonath." He also spanks his monkey and moose for getting out of bed, forgives them, and gives them another chance.

Jonas is also picking up life. I caught him dipping his cornbread into his water, as he's seen me eat my cornbread in milk with a spoon. He also has taken to grunting when he picks something up that he thinks is supposed to be heavy even if it is not. The other day he had a cheese stick in both hands, I asked him to share one with Caedmon. You can guess-he gave Caedmon the slobbery, bite-marks, drooping one and kept the whole one for himself. Way to share, Short Stack!

I am very blessed, though. I love my job of introducing them to Jesus. Caedmon remembers to pray for people I had long since forgotten about. And he is a sponge for Bible verses and stories. Although he is obsessed with the snake in the garden of Eden-hmmm. In talking about what sounds the letters make lately, Caedmon associates the letters with the ABC Bible verses we covered awhile back. YES! It is music to my ears to hear his sing-songy recitation of Psalm 23 or 34 to Jonas and his trucks. To hear him singing "God is so good" loudly at the grocery store. I couldn't be prouder! Here is cuddling with Dad.

Jonas is finally lengthening out and growing about a micro-millimeter taller!

That's it. I can't imagine how badly I will boast when I'm a grandma!

Friends and everyday life

Since we are church shopping, we want to look our best. I pulled out the suitcoats Aunt Sarah made the boys last Christmas, and the fireman's hat completes the look! Jonas refused to even look at the camera so you will have to imagine him. He couldn't even stay awake through the Vikings game he loves so much. We won anyway.

My famous church outfit. We are still on our first round of churches. :-)

Jason has multiple church outfits, but he looks handsome in all of them. He will just have to bear the disgrace when someone at a church the 2nd time around says, "Didn't you wear that outfit last time? Do you only have one outfit? How tacky!" haha

Highlight of the week was definitely Aaron & Michelle Larsen, and Sarah & Sam Snyder visiting! It was wonderful to see their pictures of the Congo and hear their excitment for the Elikia Project in Africa. They are headed back in a few months for 2 years!

We go so far back and it was just refreshing to hang out! Between us we have so many connections! Aaron, Sam, and I of course grew up together and even went to college together. Sam's parents were my dorm parents for a few years. I accompanied Sam and Michelle's voice lessons in college, and was Michelle's roommate for 3 years. (best roomie EVER!) Aaron, Michelle, Jason, and I ran cross country in college. Then Jason whisked Aaron off to Montana for a year of adventure together. Aaron and Michelle stood in our wedding, Sam sang. Then later on Aaron and Michelle hooked up! We of course love Sam's Sarah too and look forward to the next time we can all be together!

I am reminded of the proverb 25:25 "Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." Indeed!

Needs and Wants Met

This post is dedicated to thanking God. Yesterday we got another box in the mail from our dear adopted grandma Betty, full of things we need and never knew we wanted! God has made a pattern of this, making me aware of a need, only to decide that it's not something I should buy right now. Then it comes in the mail with love from Betty!

Betty came into our lives quite unexpectedly. We were in a small group together for a few short weeks, but after that didn't even attend the same church or live in the same town. However, we ended up living above her garage and developing the neatest relationship with her. Our boys adopted her as their Montana grandma.

"Grandee" was able to travel with us when we moved, and was invaluable in that time of transition for us and the boys. She knew their needs and schedules, and loved to spoil them! She still does!

Betty has always been a wise older woman I look up to and have learned from. She taught me cooking tricks, sewing tricks, upholstering, determination, and much more. I have not had to buy a single piece of clothing for either of my boys, due to her most generous contributions and gifts from family and friends. And I might say they look quite dashing in their attire.

This week I noticed Caedmon has grown out of all his 3T pj's and jeans, and was low on long sleeves. I was trying to decide whether to buy him some pj's or wait until they were cheap after Thanksgiving. Guess what arrived? Halloween costumes, 4T warm pj's, 4T jeans, and a couple long-sleeves, among other stuff! God is good!

I have thanked Betty again and again for being so generous with her resources. I really hope someday we can pour into a younger couple the way we have been blessed by her and so many others! Below is a picture of the newest fireman. We wear the gear night and day, rain or shine. Fires can happen anytime, you know. Thank you Betty!

BEAUTY

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. . ." Romans 1:20

I LOVE FALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is "our" hill zooming in from our yard, also the famous site of the trains we watch religiously.

This is Weston Avenue, our street. My running route!

The Wisconsin River at twilight.

My favorite lookout on one of my bike loops.

I love this town and the gorgeous colors! I don't ever remember enjoying fall this much! It is my new favorite season. The predictable changing of seasons always reminds me of God's faithfulness. Never have we missed a fall-they always come! Hope you are worshipping the creative Creator!

Psalm 23

It is obvious Caedmon needs work on his "l's" and "s's", but I love hearing him recite Scripture!

Tour de Wausau

I was reading in John 10 about Jesus being the Good Shepherd, and a familiar verse kind of took me by surprise. "The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." I understand that Jesus was the unblemished Lamb, and willingly lay down His life for us, but is it true that shepherds in those days, good ones, were really expected to lay down their lives for their sheep? Did masters honestly expect that when push came to shove, if it was escape with your life, or protect my dumb herd, a good shepherd was expected to sacrifice his life? And with his dying breath know that a few sheep were unharmed? That is crazy! Are the lives of sheep more important than the life of man? Anyhow not a very useful meditation for the day, probably. :-)

Jason and I love our new chariot that attaches to our bikes! What newfound freedom! This last weekend we took a couple long bike rides with the kids, and felt like we were dating! The boys do well in back with a few snacks, and we don't have to hear them bicker! :-) What a pity that fall is very promptly upon us and getting almost too cold to ride, but come spring we will be out every day! The fall colors are becoming more vibrant daily! And crisp days are so refreshing!

I also made one friend here, Stefanie! She invited me to the farmer's market, then to the mall to let our kids play. How grateful I am for little kindnesses in this foreign land! :-) Have a great week!

I can't imagine being more proud of my kids than when they tuck scripture into their memories!

Churching

This will be a tale of our church hunting, and other thoughts on churches:

When we moved to WI we were excited to start the process of finding a church family, especially to meet people who think like us and develop lifelong friendships. We are definitely still in that process!

We have visited 8 or 9 churches so far and have enjoyed worshipping with each group of people. I would say there are at least 4 that we would joyfully adopt as our home. I am finding that I was very wrong in my assumption that it would be easy to find the one small group of people in Wausau that knows Christ and fellowships together. Turns out there are MANY excellent churches in the area! We find ourselves in the best kind of bind, how to pick "the" church?

Jason and I have been completely in unity so far in our opinions about the churches we have visited. We are so hesitant to criticize any of the churches, because they are accomplishing a purpose for some believers and seekers. They are what they are, whether they are our preferences or not, every church has had its strengths! I am amazed at the diversity of bodies of people, preaching, music, and philosophies on witnessing in this one city! I feel like I have a small glimpse of how heaven will be, only there will be no divided churches! I am so comforted that God showed me that a LOT of people love Jesus around here and we won't just be like Lot and his family among heathens.

Music is obviously very deeply in Jason's and my souls, so it is hard to ignore the musical aspects of each church. We really don't want to only consider churches with our favorite kind of music, though. To make things more complex, the churches where we LOVED the excellent music, we also felt like we weren't necessarily as needed at those churches, and may be led somewhere else where God could allow us to get involved in music again. Other factors we have considered are location, friendliness, theology, kids' programs, places we could see ourselves immediately plugging in.

So what is the role of the church? I have always thought one duty of the church is to effectively minister to the community, especially widows, orphans, the needy, and homeless. I believe if the CHURCH were doing it's job effectively, we would have a MUCH smaller government picking up the slack of the needs the church isn't meeting! Do we pick a church based on where we can best serve according to our perceived gifts? Should we look for a church where we can serve in capacities we're not as familiar with to stretch us and let Christ's power be made perfect in our weaknesses? Does God even care where we worship, or only that our hearts are right WHEN we worship and that we are content in every situation? I welcome anyone's thoughts on this.

In the meantime we will continue on our journey, hoping to find peace as we go, and a new set of friends to play Settlers and pinnocle with!

And what is a blog post without a picture of my boys? :-) Caedmon is protectively holding Jonas' hand when they cross the street, so he won't get hit by cars. He is 16 months older and wiser, you know.

A Weekend in Carney

We went to Carney for Labor Day. We go there often, and always have a wonderful time. When Jason and I would dream about living in the midwest when we were in MT looking for job transfers, this is the kind of life we pictured. We live close enough to visit his parents often, and already are creating priceless memories with our boys. Jason's parents are so gracious to host us and feed us, and we pretty much wander around and play the whole time! God has been gracious, so gracious to us, and I am so thankful to have godly inlaws to fellowship with. Bear with all the pictures. :-) Grandpa and Jonas driving the tractor around.

AND This next one is for my sisters. Doesn't he look like PeeKay? [So you want to be a boxah? I think I am too little.]

Grandpa and Jonas picking the beans and bean leaves.

The bountiful harvest-not including the potatoes, onions, beets, and radishes!

We went to see Green Bay for the first time! The boys loved the beach and they were quite cute.

Mmmm sand. My favorite. Sand in the diaper, sand in the mouth. Caedmon always took care not to get dirty. This one?-not so much.

Jason and his dad enjoying the sunshine.

Grandma and Caedmon contemplating life, love, and other mysteries. It was a great trip!