Family Fun Night~Silas style!

We've had fun planning our Family Fun Nights lately.  First, it was mine and Elisabeth's turn to plan the night.  The next week it was Patrick and Brenna's turn, then Joshua's.  I was talking to my Mother-in-Law, Denise, on the phone and she said I should let Silas and Callie plan our next FFN!   What a great idea!  So,  I talked to Silas and Callie and told them they get to plan our Family Fun Night and pick everything they want to do!  Silas was very excited.  Callie?  Well, she looked at me and smiled, then went back to her Memory Game.  So, I guess this was going to be a Silas-planned night!   I took him to the store and he picked out this Coke:

Not sure of the flavor, but it was good!

 

Then, he said he wanted Hamburgers...okay, no problem!  AND Shrimp.  And shrimp?  Does he know how much that stuff cost?  I prayed on the way to the store asking God to let me find some shrimp that would fit into our budget.  I sure did want my boy to have his desires for dinner, but I was doubting.  I figured maybe I could find a bag of frozen salad shrimp.  Silas was so much fun walking through the store picking his stuff.  Then, we arrived at the Shrimp/Fish freezer.  He loves to see the fish!  I think everyone in the store knew what was in that freezer, because he announced it to them!  Then, I saw some shrimp.  It looked sooo delicious with a Tex/Mex seasoning  and it was on Skewers.  12 to a pack..that was good, but the price??? Could I be reading it right?  After checking numbers, and rereading the price three times, I realized that it really was 2.30 Euros for the pack and there was one pack left!  Yippee!  Silas could have his shrimp!

 

 It was so delicous!

 For our activity, he wanted to play Hide and Go Seek outside.  Do you see some feet hiding?

 It started to get dark, but we kept on playing!

 Can you spot my Josh?

 Then, we came in for dessert Silas style!  He said he wanted a Strawberry Cake.  Have I ever made one of those before?  Where did he come up with that?  I added canned strawberries (did you know there was such a thing as canned stawberries?  No, neither did I!) to regular cake batter, then added bananas and pineapple in between the layers.  It was good!

God is so good to give us the desires of our heart.  And it thrills this Momma's heart to have a 3 year old that is so loved by our Heavenly Father.  He truly does care for us and wants to make us happy.  What a great night!

Let's go to Madagascar!

 We have had such a great time during our September Missions Emphasis Month!  Everyone that comes to our Sunday Bible Studies seem to enjoy "meeting" a new missionary family each week, hearing about their ministry and field, and trying the food from that country.  This week we chose the Burdett family to Madagascar.

 We love Bro. Bobby and Mrs. Joanna Burdett.  We were able to get to know them when they came and went to language school in Quebec and attended the same church with us while we were there.  Joanna was such a blessing to me and truly a refreshing friend.  She's the type of person that is so interesting to talk to and is able to do anything!  She's a talented lady, for sure!  She grew up on the mission field, so it was great for me to "pick her brain" on how life is for a missionary kid.  She was also so sweet to offer my girls cake lessons in Quebec.  The Burdetts arrived in Madagascar about a year ago and I've loved seeing their pictures from the ministry.   They truly have a heart for lost souls.

Our meal for Madagascar was delicious Pork Kebobs, Mango Salsa, and a White bean recipe that Joanna sent that is served over rice.  My kids said I have to add this to our monthly menu!  They loved it!

Dear Silas,

You are one imaginative boy, let me tell you!  You keep us all laughing with the things you say and do.  Sometimes I go to bed at night still smiling and giggling at your fun personality. You are so impressionable!  Everything you see, you repeat.  Here's some of your latest:

 

 

 

~The other day I saw you playing with a spring.  I have no idea where it came from...I'm sure there's a toy or gadget that's not working properly now, but that's besides the point :o)  As I watched you, I saw you open up the back of your pants and drop the spring inside.  What in the world is my boy doing?  So, I asked, "Silas, why did you put that spring in your pants?"  You very seriously said, "I want to bounce around like Tigger.  See?"  And then, you bounced all over the house...just like Tigger.

 

~You definitely have a feet fettish.  You've always been "attracted" to them.  While in the car with me we got on the subject of feet (I have no idea how)  I asked you, "Why do you like feet so much?"  You said, "I just like them so much.  Don't you like your feet, too Mommy?  Don't you like to kiss your feet too?"  um, no.

 

 

~Remind me to never let you watch any cartoons with Elmer Fudd in them.  I now have a 3 year old that laughs at EVERYTHING just like Elmer Fudd.  Fun Fun!

My dear Silas, I love you so much and I love the joy that you have in your heart!  You make me smile!

Lots of Goodies

When Patrick's Aunt and Uncle came back fromt their visit to the states, Denise, my Mom and my sister Taylin, stuffed their suitcases and boxes with goodies for us.  (Thanks Mariane and George for carrying all of this for us!)  It was like Christmas!  There were so many goodies that they sent, it was amazing!  So what were some of them?

 

 

 Football oreos!  My sweet hubby loves oreos and loves football.  It's a perfect marriage of the two!  They were gone within minutes.

 Patrick is also a Coffee-Mate creamer kind of guy.  I should have taken a picture of his cup this morning.  It was half full of creamer before the coffee went in!  He loves it, and I think I saw tears in his eyes when this large container showed up for him!

 And more of our favorites!  Red Robin Seasoning (for my Josh), Almond Extract (for my girls cakes and buttercream), Sugar Free drink mixes, and packet seasonings for some quick meals.

But, one of our favorites was....

This jar of Peanut Butter!  I mentioned before that I found out my husband loves Crunchy Peanut Butter.  Who knew?  It has not been the easiest thing to find here.  So, when we saw this jar, we thought, "Hhhmmm, honey roast?"  We tried it, and now we have a new favorite.  IT IS AMAZING! You have to try it!

So, Thank You to my dear Mom, Mother in law, and sister.  You have no idea how much we've enjoyed your goodies!  Love you guys!

Praying for Ukraine

When Patrick was on staff at Central Baptist Church in Hattiesburg, we had a very dear missionary couple come through.  I remember Mrs. Jolene Sloan's testimony very cleary and it spoke to my heart.  As she spoke, you could really tell the love and dedication she has for the Lord. When my children began supporting missionaries themselves on a monthly basis, the Sloans were one of the first that my Joshua chose.  He wrote them, and they wrote back a sweet letter and sent a picture.  It was so sweet and it has a special place in his Album.  A few years after that I found Jolene's blog.  It was great to hear news from the mission field...a place I would soon be! (except on the other side of the world! :o)

 I've loved following Jolene's blog and watching her family grow.  So, when we were picking missionaries to feature for our September missions month, it was natural for us to pick the Sloans.  They sent a link to their presentation that had a clip of the church in Ukraine singing.  What a blessing it was!  We showed this during our Sunday Bible Study and our people loved it! 

 We also made some of the traditional Ukrainian foods that Jolene suggested.  We had Borsch and

 a type of Potato Salad (Olivier).

 This is Eliane.  She is such a sweet lady, I'm so thankful she is coming so faithfully!  She's become a dear part of our Sunday time and is so grateful and appreciative. She's a blessing!  She's been joking with Patrick lately that my french is much better than his.  (Of course, that's a major joke, because he's doing amazing.  Me?  I'm getting by ;o)  She loves to joke with him!)

 Then, we served Napolean Torte.  Wow!  That dessert was a lot of work! But, it was lots of fun "visiting" Ukraine for the day and praying for our dear fellowservants.

Please remember to pray for our missionaries in Ukraine.  The government does not easily give Visas, and it is getting harder for our missionaries to be able to stay.  The Sloans are back in the states now for a furlough while they try to take care of their Visas.  I know how confusing and frustrating that can be!
You can find Jolene's blog here.
Another dear Ukrainian missionary that I've met through blogland is having Visa issues also.  I love to read Jessica's blog and I know you will love looking at pictures of her adorable kiddos.  You can find Jessica's blog here.

Picnic at the Beach for FFN

My Joshua was in charge of planning our Family Fun Night last Friday.  I knew we would do something fun, for sure!

 

And we did!  He planned for us to go to one of our favorite beach spots and have a picnic on the beach.  It had been a pretty hot day, but by the time we arrived to the beach it had cooled off (some) and there was a nice breeze.  Let's just say that it was nice to be outside and not sweat.  I forgot what that was like!

 

 Josh planned for us to have Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Croissants.  He's fallen in love with my simple Chicken Salad recipe.  It's super easy!  You boil some Chicken breasts. Once cooled you cut/shred the chicken.  Then add a finely chopped apple, mayo and salt.  You can also add grapes and walnuts.  So simple, but sooo good!  Especially on real french croissants!  Silas and Callie had juice boxes, which is a real treat for them.  They love the little straws!

But, the rest of us had a nice cold can of Pepsi!  Love it!

 

 

 

 My Silas thought it was a little strange we were eating at the beach. He loved it, but stayed pretty distracted.  Notice the rock in his hand?  He couldn't decide whether to throw rocks,  or eat dinner.  Ha!  Love that kiddo!

 Even though the water was pretty rough, Callie had to put her toes in it! :o) 

 Usually at this beach we don't go swimming.  There are a lot of sea urchins and rocks and the water stays pretty rough.  We love to just get our feet wet, throw rocks, and go exploring.  That's why we were surprised when we saw this...

 Surfers!  The waves were even higher than normal, so I guess word spread!  There were bunches of surfers and it was lots of fun to watch.  It made me want to try.  (sort of)  (if there weren't such a thing as sharks!)

Josh did a great job planning our FFN!  Once we got home he set up a Brownie Bar.  He made brownies and then had many toppings we could put on them (ice cream, cool-whip, chocolate sauce, chocolate-mint sauce)  It was so delicious!

I have been blessed

 

 I have been blessed

God's so good to me

Precious are His thoughts of you and me

No way I can count them, there's not enough time

So I'll just thank Him for being so kind

God has been good....so good

I have been blessed.

 

Heart of the Matter Word for September

We’ve all been there.  You’re driving merrily along your way.  Your favorite Christian music is playing and you’re singing with all of your might.  Your kiddos are playing in the backseat and you can hear their laughter.  You might even have a McDonald’s medium Coke in the cup holder (ahhh… bliss!:o)  Then, you notice him in your rearview mirror.  You have a policeman behind you…your first thought is, “Is he following me?”

I’m sure you would react like me.  You immediately let your foot off of the gas pedal, check your speed, sit up straight, check your seatbelt, and tell your chatty children to sit pretty.   You realize you’ve checked off all the boxes of what a safe driver should be doing.  You’re okay.  He’s not after you and he’s not going to drag you off to jail.  But there is a little fear there, a fear that makes you check to make sure you are obeying the law!  So you keep checking the rearview mirror to see if he’s still there.

 

Patrick has used this illustration in several of his sermons illustrating the Fear of God.  To fear God is not a trembling/cowering fear that keeps us from God.  The fear that is the “beginning of wisdom”, that we all need, is like having a policeman behind you.  You see him, you recognize that he is there, and you begin to make sure that all you are doing is pleasing to him because of his very presence.  You recognize his presence, his authority, and his power. 

As I’ve read my Bible paying attention to verses talking about the heart, I’ve come across ones like Deuteronomy 10:12, “ And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,” and Psalm 86:11, “ Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

 I knew there would be no way I could do this study this year without picking the word fear.  Yet, I’ve hesitated to pick it.  Why?  Maybe because when we use the word fear we tend to use it in a negative way and it can be hard to define.  We think of scary movies with scary things that make us tremble.   This is not the kind of fear God wants us to have of Him.  In fact, the Bible teaches us that He has not given us this kind of “spirit of fear.” But the Fear of the Lord that we must have in our hearts is just like when we see that police officer following us, we know that he has authority to give us a ticket (or worse!).  We don’t want him to find any fault in us so we keep checking to see if that police officer is still following us and we keep making sure that we are obeying the law.  It’s the same way when we’re striving to have a heart that fears the Lord.  We need to acknowledge that God is always watching us and recognize the authority He has in our life.  We won’t want to disappoint our Lord when we have a heart that fears the Lord and we will strive to please Him in all we do.  

So how can a wife and momma have the “fear of the Lord” in her daily life?  Next week I want to take a practical look at having A Heart that Fears the Lord.

Let's visit Kenya!

I have loved getting to "meet" other missionary wives through their blogs.  It is so encouraging to read about ladies that have answered God's call to  serve on the foreign mission field.  One of my favorites to read is the blog by Jessi Cormier called Joy Unspeakable.  When I first started reading Jessi's blog, she was taking language courses, just like us.  I immediately felt a connection.  As we've emailed each other back and forth, I knew I had found a friend.  When we were trying to decide which country and family to feature for our Missions Emphasis this past Sunday (we're picking a new missionary and country every week in September)  Patrick and I decided we had to pick the Cormiers.

 

 

 They have an amazing ministry to the deaf in Kenya.  I love seeing their pictures.  You can see a love for the people on their faces.  Joshua prepared a Power Point presentation on Kenya and the Cormiers.  As he was telling the facts of population, size, and all the ministry particulars, Elisabeth leaned over and whispered to me, "Mom, I can sing Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" in sign language.  I completely forgot!  Patrick was excited to see Beth sing and sign.  It gave a good "Close Up" view of how the Cormiers are communicating in Kenya.  Good job, Beth!

 Josh also created Placemats for our meal.  We had three of the dishes that Jessi features on her blog.  We LOVED them!  All of our family gobbled up this food and asked if I could make it again!  So, this will now be on our weekly rotation, for sure!

Jessi has been such an encouragement to me.  Recently, thieves broke into their house. She posted about it here.  It was a scary time for them, but they've shown how to face trials on the mission field with God's grace.

Happy 5 Months Micah Reuben!

 My little Micah Roo turned 5 months old today.  5 Months!

 What a happy and content baby he is!  He loves his blanket/tummy time.  Although now he can roll both ways, so he rarely stays on his tummy! 

I love it when he gets up on his knees.  Such a cutie!  He's made a few "crawls" and is a pretty active little guy.  This morning he figured out how to get on his knees, put one foot flat on the ground and almost sit up.  He did this once and then fell completely backward and banged his head.  He had little sad tears, poor guy!

He's enjoying his rice cereal at dinner time and loves all of the attention he gets.  When he gets excited he squeals like a Pterodactyl.  Soo cute!  He's still pretty slobbery and spits up often.  Josh thinks he spits up on him everytime he holds him. :o)  He's starting to get little rolls on his legs and wrists and we've noticed he has huge hands like Silas.

 

  We love him bunches, that's for sure!

Welcome to the Festival!

As I told you last week, we drew names to see who would be planning each week's Family Fun Night.  This week it was Patrick and Brenna's turn.  These two are so creative, so I knew we were going to have a great time!

 

 We began our evening by being welcomed to Hot Dog Island.  They were ready with their hot dog deli hats.   They said we were going to be experiencing The Great American Hot Dog Festival.  Yippee!  They looked up recipes of 5 different kinds of hot dogs from around the United States.

 And then we ordered from our cutie-pie waitress.  Of course I wanted to sample them all! :o)

 Elisabeth started with the Slaw Dog from the south.  Joshua had The New York System Dog from Rhode Island.  They both loved them!

 I tried the Sonoma Hot Dog from Arizona,

 And the Chicago Dog from Chicago, of course!

 But our hands down favorite was this delicious dog...The Puka Dog from Hawaii.  It was a amazing with its' guava relish and bacon, Oh la la!!!  We're definitely adding this into our monthly menus!

 Then, they made homemade ice cream cones in the shape of a hot dog bun.  They were absolutely wonderful. 

And for Callie and Silas they made them cup shaped. 
They also had fun Hot Dog trivia.  Do you know that the number one topping for hot dogs is Mustard?  Yum...love that stuff on my hot dogs, too!

It was a great FFN!  We laughed and stuffed ourselves and made lots of memories!  Next week, it's Joshua's turn.

Skype

We live in an awesome age to be  missionaries.  We can easily keep in touch with friends and family,  One of them that we love is Skype!  Sunday night we skyped with one of our supporting churches in Canada.  Unfortunately our connection was slow, so they couldn't hear us.  But, we were able to listen to their services and see such sweet people that sacrifice in order for us to live here and share the gospel in St. Barths.  What a blessing they are to us!

O Canada!

This month we are focusing on Missions for our Sunday Bible Studies.  We want the people to be aware of the need of having a heart for lost souls.  We want them to see other areas of our world that are in need of the gospel, just like here.  Last week we chose to focus on Canada.

 We contacted our dear friends, The Hambys, and asked them for recipe ideas for our meal,  and for a letter to our people introducing themselves and telling their burden for Canada.  We passed out the letter and we all read it together.  What a blessing it was to our people!

 Josh gave a presentation of Canada including lots of fun facts about the country.  He also made Canada placemats.

 For lunch we had Shepherd's Pie,  Poutine, and

Pouding Chomeur.  It was so good and we had lots of fun thinking about and praying for Canada!
We're looking forward to next week.  I wonder what country it will be? :o)