Author: admin

So today… is Reformation Day!! Although much of the world around us celebrates darkness, evil, and worldliness today (or sugar-coats & dumbs it down in some fashion so their children “don’t feel left out” — which is actually just as bad), today we celebrate light, transformation, Scripture, and cry out semper reformanda!!

Reformation Day commemorates Dr. Martin Luther’s posting of his 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31st, 1517. This is the act that triggered the domino-effect movement in Church and world history known as the Reformation. Many churches –whether they celebrate on October 31st or not– incorporate some sort of observance of Reformation Day on the last Sunday in October. Did your church happen to sing “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” last Sunday?? Betcha that’s why! 🙂 That hymn, written by Martin Luther and based on Psalm 46, is known as the Battle Hymn of the Reformation. Read the text. It’s wonderful.

Tonight we are having a small dessert party & time of singing in honor of this wonderful day of remembrance. I have (for the first time in my life) a bowl of candy sitting by the front door. On it is a sign that says “Happy Reformation Day” as well as the Five Solas of the Reformation (see below). These Five Solas are also taped on the mirrors in the bathrooms, as reminders of what we are to look toward.
You can go to this link (below) to find an exposition about the Five Solas, or just read the Scripture texts here below for a summary.
http://logosresourcepages.org/OurTimes/reformation.htm

SOLA FIDE (FAITH ALONE) – People are saved only through trusting Christ, not by good works.

• “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” (Romans 3:28)
• “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” (Romans 4:5)

SOLUS CHRISTUS (CHRIST ALONE) – People are saved only through Christ and do not need to go through a priest or anyone else.

• “ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)
• “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5)

SOLA SCRIPTURA (SCRIPTURE ALONE) – The Bible is God’s written Word, and it alone, not human tradition or the church, is the final, perfect, authority for what we believe and do.

• “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
• “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)

SOLA GRATIA (GRACE ALONE) – People are saved only by God’s grace.  Salvation is a gift that cannot be deserved, bought, or earned. 

• “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
• “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24)

SOLI DEO GLORIA (FOR GOD’S GLORY ALONE) – God alone will receive all glory, including for man’s salvation.  Man cannot boast in God’s sight, but must honor God as supremely important and valuable.

• For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)
• Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

The battle cry of Semper Reformanda is our theme, as it is the Latin phrase meaning “Always Reforming.” The Protestant Reformation had three distinct phases: 1) the return to the Holy Scriptures as the sole authority for life, faith, and doctrine; 2) the Biblical doctrine of Salvation; and 3) the desire to see Scripture shape every aspect of life. These are things that we –even now in 2008– need to reinforce again and again! In our families, our churches, our communities, and our nation. Please Lord, let it be. Cause us to be ever & always reforming! Shape and mold us according to Your Will and Your Scriptures. Our challenge as Christians is to be constantly reformed by the Word of God and His Holy Spirit. And to seek out this reformation. May the Reformation not only be a day commemorated in history, but something which never ceases! So join us in crying out –in the presence of God, His people, and His enemies– semper reformanda!!

Although we invited over fifty people to our home tonight, I think there are less than twenty coming… which will be a much comfier fit in our family room. 🙂 It will be so much fun to share desserts and sing together. There are three small boys that are coming, so I bought some knight’s shields at the dollar store for them to onto. Yay for shields made of color-able foam rubber and washable markers!! 🙂 They are also going to play color their own Coat of ArmsPin The 95 Theses On The Wittenberg Door, which will be fun. I have foam rubber swords for their prizes. 🙂 I just wish Gabriel were old enough to play along. 🙂 I also have coloring pages for the kiddos: the Luther Rose and a sketch of Martin Luther.

For my contribution to the dessert table, I made Maple Crisp Cookies and Pumpkin Sweet Potato Bars. Mmm! And did I mention that I printed out Luther’s 95 Theses, tea-stained the paper, and have it hanging on our front door?? I’m pretty excited about that little detail. 😉

In case you are interested in looking at some of the sources from which I pulled, go here (my 3 top choices):
http://glorygazer.blogspot.com/2007/10/review-of-reformation-resources-some.html
http://www.teacherhelp.org/holidays.htm#reformation
http://www.theholidayzone.com/reformation/links.html

I am so excited about doing Christmas preparations this year!! Does anyone have any ideas for “a homemade holiday”? I have found some great websites which are inspiring and helping me, but if any of you have ideas I’d LOVE to hear about them. So far, my favorite preparation is our Christmas stockings. Hurray!! I like the way they turned out. Next on the list is making a new Advent calendar. Then begins the gift-making! Woo hoo!
 
This time of year is gorgeous around here, and it’s our favorite season. So we went on a little date this weekend (Auntie and Uncle kept the baby for some baby-practice) to a beautiful park and had a lovely dinner together.
   
And just because he’s beautiful… here’s our Little Pumpkin, by the pile of maple leaves in our front yard. 🙂
 

God has blessed us and continues to bless us… in many ways. In particular, we see God’s blessing to us in the many children in our midst. Many of you have several young children, and all the indicators are that this will only continue and increase. But this means that many of you have the challenge of teaching young children how to worship with us, how to join in with us on the Lord’s Day. And this really is a challenge, and I want to suggest several principles for thinking about how we cultivate our families. First, we need to remember our children’s frames. A six month old and a two year old and a five year old will all be at different places, and even among those broad categories it is simply a fact that God has made all of our children differently. There will be amazing two year olds that can sit still for an hour, and there will sometimes be older children that must still work at it. Remember their frame. But this doesn’t mean you just show up every Sunday and just “see what happens.” God does not require of us what he does not also at the same time give to us. When God calls us to obey him, he also always gives us the grace to obey him. This means that if you expect your children to behave in a certain way on Sunday you must give them that grace. You must be blessing them with that training throughout the week. Secondly, remember that God loves your children. Your children belong first of all to Him. He has claimed them in baptism, and he is not embarrassed by them. He is not embarrassed by their cries; He is not annoyed by their childishness and immaturity. He still welcomes them into his arms, snotty noses, crying, and fidgeting. He loves them. He has invited them. He delights in them. And therefore so should you. Of course if your child is being obnoxiously distracting, help them calm down, but we really don’t want to cultivate a community of stuffy pietism. Moms, you in particular need to remember not to worry about what people are thinking about your children. Your job is to love your kids. Love them, delight in them, rejoice over them, serve them, and care for them, but do it all without worry or fear that someone is silently judging your mothering skills. And of course Dads need to be all over this too. Particularly when the kids are very young, Mom is under great demand. Make sure she knows that you appreciate her, you love her, respect her, and admire how she gives and gives and gives. And remember in all of this that we are all the children of God. We may not be tempted to cry out or be distracting, but we are all no less tempted to be distracted. So I call all you to attention now, come and worship, the Lord invites you warmly, and despite your immaturity, despite your fidgeting, despite your wandering minds, he invites you and he says come and welcome.

The above exhortation truly blessed me — Pastor Sumpter (who pastors a sister church of ours) posts his sermons and exhortations so that people like me can be blessed even from a distance.
As I am learning more & more to incorporate Gabriel into the worship service in his tiny ways, I am reminded that I am just like him. I too get distracted, fidgety, etc. And I realize how merciful and patient my Heavenly Father is with my immaturity. I pray that God will bless me and my husband in our parenting efforts, that our son will grow in his love of Christ and in his worship of God. He loves music, and really seems to pay attention to the music in worship. He also is engaged when there is movement involved — sitting, standing, kneeling, raising of hands, etc. He usually sleeps through the sermon, which at five months old is completely appropriate. And I think there have only been two Sundays where we’ve had to utilize the Mother’s Room, even though we frequently sit in the third row! Praise God for His faithfulness. And may He continually teach me, teach Steven, teach Gabriel — and bring us all to a stronger and more complete understanding of His glory and of our worship. May He bless us as we worship Him and bring glory to Himself.

In a matter of weeks we will have a new president and vice-president elect. As we live during these days, we must (as always) live and think and act like followers of Christ. And this means several principles must not be neglected. First of all, because we are Christians, we confess that Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the lord of presidents and vice-presidents. Jesus is Lord of the media, the Lord of opinion polls, the Lord of politics, the Lord of elections, the Lord of ballots, and the Lord of ballot boxes. And this means that all these things must submit to Jesus. They must all bow the knee to him as their rightful Lord. Christ is the King of this world. When he ascended into heaven, he was given all authority in heaven and on earth, and this kingdom is not a pretend kingdom. It is not something that is only true on Sunday mornings. Second, we are called to love our neighbors and honor our rulers. This means that it is most certainly a Christian virtue to be patriotic. At the same time, this must be done with our eyes open, recognizing the great failures of our nation. We have economic sins, we have military sins, we have sexual sins, we have medical sins, and we have not been faithful to defend the helpless, to enact justice and mercy. Godly patriotism isn’t blind to real problems but is able to thank God vigorously while still praying that God would deliver us from evil. Lastly, we need to remember the book of Revelation. Throughout Revelation John is given a vision of heaven where he watches how heaven and earth are connected, how events on earth are related to what is taking place in heaven. The lesson we are invited to learn is that worship runs the world. When the four living creatures cry ‘holy, holy, holy!’ and the 24 elders fall down and worship the lamb on the throne the scroll with the seven seals appears in heaven. When they sing a new song and proclaim the blessing and honor and glory of Him who sits on the throne, the seals are opened by the Lamb on the throne, and wars erupt, peace is shattered, disease and famine are poured out on the earth, the martyrs cry out, and the solar system reverberates with the judgments of God. When the saints worship in the heavenly places, the judgments of the Lamb fall on the earth. When the saints worship, the temple of God is opened and plagues descend on the people of the world. When the saints worship, the kingdoms of this world are brought low, and they become more and more the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ. As we approach the election and the future of our nation, we must do so fully convinced that what we do here far out ways the significance of a few minutes in a ballot box. And we will not be moved by the shrill cries of some insisting that what does or does not happen on November 6th determines the ultimate future of our nation. God is King of all the earth; let the nations tremble.

We are extremely in love with the autumn weather. We love it!!!
My little punkin-boy now has a new favorite hat, too: isn’t it sweet?


This morning, I wore Gabriel on my back for the first time.
It made cooking and cleaning a lot easier!

And yesterday he got new shoes! Yay for Pedipeds and Robeez!

L: me and Gabriel with Carrie and Emma
R: Steven and Gabriel with Jon and Emma — yay, daddies!!


L: Gabriel and Emma liked chilling out together on a blanket
R: this is how Gabriel sleeps now — he is totally in love with his soft blankies

L: Gabriel with his sweet auntie
R: here’s my boy playing on the counter while I was making pumpkin bars — mmm!

L & R: my little Punkin Head — isn’t he ADORABLE?!! I loooooove him. And I love this pumpkin hat too, and so does he! TOO cute. 🙂

L: this morning I wore Gabriel backpack-style for the first time — so I could bake biscuits & scrub bathrooms without worrying about burning or splashing him!
R: yesterday Gabriel went shopping with his mommy and grandmama — and he got the pumpkin hat, some sweaters, and some shoes. And yes, my son is decked out in Gymboree, Gap, and Nordstrom. Woot woot! 😉 lol.

L: Gabriel’s first pair of “Pedipeds” — so super handsome
R: and a new pair of Robeez for when his feet grow a little more — yay, puppy shoes!

So here are pictures from the Mediterranean, except for Venice of course which I already posted. 🙂 I hope you enjoy these! Unfortunately, this computer uploaded them in reverse order… so it’s not exactly the way we saw things — in fact, it’s completely the reverse! 🙂

the sky and some pretty buildings in Dubrovnik, Croatia

the coastline of Croatia where our ship dropped anchor

I love European pizza! and this one from Dubrovnik was no exception.

this is supposedly the third oldest pharmacy in Europe that is still functioning — since the 14th century.

my husband Steven standing in Dubrovnik

me, Gabriel, and Ashley sitting on some gorgeous piece of history in Croatia

this is our waiter Mustafa, from our cruise ship — and a yummy Baked Alaska

there was a White Night on the ship, with a party on deck, everyone wearing white, etc. — beautiful!!

in Athens we had some wonderful Greek food — here I am with my genuine gyros!

hehe, my Greek-geek husband loved seeing things like this at the Acropolis

here we are with the Parthenon, at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece

I love this picture of Fira on the island of Santorini in Greece

a view of the sea from the island of Santorini, Greece

Steven in Pompei

I was astounded by the awesome stuff at Pompei! Colin and Ashley are here in Pompei, with Mt. Visuvius

near Sorrento, Italy, we went to a private farm to taste fresh tomatoes and olives, limoncello, wine, and handmade mozzarella — then a very sweet Italian lady showed us how she made the mozzarella!

aw, it’s us in the Colloseum!

the Colloseum in Rome

Steven in the Vatican Museum, in Rome

family picture with the tower!

my very super strong husband

yup, it’s us in Pisa, Italy — see the tower?

our first port was here, in Villefranche, France

me and my Gabriel David in France, with toes in the Mediterranean Sea

the first formal night on the cruise ship

Gabriel came with me and my mom to High Tea on the ship one day

I love cruising! and I love the gorgeous views from the deck, like this one of Barcelona

this is when we had awesome sangria and traditional tapas for dinner in Barcelona

enjoying some quiet sitting on the edge of the sea in Barcelona — Colin, Ashley, me, Gabriel, Steven

our first stop (after almost three days of flying and layovers) was Barcelona, Spain!

We have had some of the best opportunities for photo op’s this week! 🙂 Take a look! And keep looking forward to more pics from Europe… I promise they’ll come soon. Once we figure out our computer situation and get my computer working again, I’ll be more comfy with posting pics. Steven’s computer feels so foreign and unfamiliar to me! 🙂
and Krista–
Yes, Colin and Ashley are expecting twins. Woo hoo!!! We are completely psyched.
And we were gone for three weeks… pics soon, for sure! 🙂

L: my friend Shelby with her little daughter Elise Marie Grace — she’s at home now, about six pounds, and two months old! She’s doing so well, and we praise God for His awesome kindness.
R: my friend Elizabeth who is 32 weeks pregnant with a little girl, and my sweet Gabriel.

L: playing on the counter with his toys while Mama makes dinner
R: smiling in his swing — I love this outfit!

L: dinner on Sunday — crepes! Ooooh sooooooo goooooood.
R: pretty proud of my mmmmm-yummy crepes.

L: Gabriel and his little pal Emma Grace. Don’t they look related? We think they look like twins in this picture.
R: And here they are holding hands! Watching a movie too. Where’s the popcorn? Hm. Maybe a thermos of milk??

L: shopping at the mall, Gabriel tried on this adorable newsboys hat. No, I didn’t buy it for him but I sure thought he looked cute. Look at those cheeks!
R: and here we are!!! Gabriel and me with our sweet friends Carrie and Emma. We’re so excited to have them with us this week!! They’re traveling from Alaska to their new home in New York. We are very thankful they fit a visit with us into their schedule. And now we’re sad they’re moving so far away.

HAPPY OCTOBER!!!

Well, we’re officially home after trotting the globe. Or at least the Mediterranean portion of it. 🙂 What a fabulous time with my family. We enjoyed being able to see my grandparents, parents, and brother/sis-in-law every day too. That was special. And I haven’t mentioned it on here yet, but I’m an auntie to TWINS now!! We’re expecting them probably in late March. I’m so excited to be a double-auntie in one stroke. 🙂 Anyway… Gabriel did really well traveling around. He is now completely addicted to being worn, and hates when I put him down. I’m trying to break him of the idea now that he must be held 18 hours a day. But I love to use wraps and carriers, and include him in everything and nurture him so closely. So it’s not necessarily a bad thing either. I only have a few pictures on my computer so far; I’ll get the rest next week. But here are a few to show you. I’m glad to be home and hope to be over the jetlag soon. But the trip was definitely a highlight of our lives. And my baby boy has as many stamps in his passport as his mama! 😉

A very cool lion outside a military building in Venice. I just liked it. I don’t know why. 🙂

A real Italian cappuccino, in Murano, Italy.

Gelato (mmm) in Burano, Italy.

I think Burano was cuter, but this is Murano.

Have you ever seen these sleep-cots for babies on planes? So cool. Too bad Gabriel only slept in it for thirty minutes. 😉

And here’s my handsome Gabriel at home, learning that there are fun things to keep him busy when Mama isn’t wearing him. Two days ago he turned FOUR MONTHS old!! And today he ROLLED OVER!! Babyhood is going by too fast for this mama. 🙂