Photo shoot preview

Here are some of my favorites. Meet baby Julia and big brother Jordan. I can already tell he is a great big brother. Hope you like the pics :)

silly face

happy face

Piper to Obama

I pray along with Pastor Piper

Yes, I am cheesy.

Here is some cheese for your crackers. :)

10 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Missionary

This was to good to pass up.

10 Ways to Avoid Becoming a Missionary (Adapted from a list which originally appeared in How are you doing? by missionary statesman Stewart Dinnen; Bromley: STL Books, 1984.)

1. Ignore Jesus' request in John 4:35 that we take a long hard look at the fields. Seeing the needs can be depressing and very unsettling. It could lead to genuine missionary concern. (John 4:35 "Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.")

2. Focus your energy on a socially legitimate target. This could be a bigger salary, better qualifications, a job promotion, bigger home, better car, or providing for the future.

3. Get married as soon as possible, preferably to somebody who thinks the "Great Commission" is what your employer gives you after you make a big sale. After marriage, plunge right into the socially accepted norm of settling down, establishing a career and raising a family.

4. Stay away from missionaries. Their testimonies can be disturbing. The situations they describe will distract you from settling in comfortably with the materialistic living style of your home country.

5. If you happen to think about unreached peoples, immediately focus on those countries where it's impossible to openly do missionary work. Think only about North Korea, Saudi Arabia, China and other closed countries. Forget the vast areas of our globe open to missionaries. Never, never listen to talk about "creative access" countries.

6. Dwell on your own past failures. It is unreasonable to expect you will ever be any better. Don't study the lives of Abraham, Moses, David, Jonah, Peter or Mark (who were all drop-outs at one stage, but didn't stay that way).

7. Always think of missionaries as talented, super-spiritual people up on lofty pedestals. Maintaining this image of a missionary will heighten your own sense of inadequacy. Knowing that God does not use ordinary people as missionaries will smother any guilt you may feel about refusing to even listen for a call from God.

8. Agree with the people who tell you that you are indispensable where you are. Listen when they tell you that your local church can't do without you.

9. Worry incessantly about money.

10. If you still feel you must go, go out right away without any preparation or training. You'll soon be home again and no one can blame you for not trying!

Seth's Big Idea

I love to hear Seth thinking things through, especially in regard to the Bible. The other day Seth was thinking about the flood. He came to me with a question something like this...

"Mami, did the animals who did not get in the ark die?"

I answered, "Well, Seth maybe some of the water animals didn't die, but the animals who were not in the ark probably died."

Seth quickly said, "But why? Why didn't Noah put them in there... oh yeah because they came in two by two. But why, did God tell Noah to only put two of each kind."

"I guess because he probably couldn't fit all the animals in the ark, only a few."

"Well, I have an idea, why didn't Noah build three boats so all the animals could fit?"

"Well, first of all because God told him to just build one. But Seth I think it was a lot of work for Noah and his family to build one ark. It took him a long time to build just one ark."

"I have an idea...Noah could build one boat and then rest for a minute, then build another boat and rest for a minute, then build another boat and rest for a minute."

I don't remember exactly what I said after that... What would you have said? ;)

Our Messy Queen

last layout from my class at JessicaSprague.com. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Great Song Lyrics

The Blessing by John Waller

Chorus:
Let it be said of us
While we walked among the living.
Let it be said of us
By the ones we leave behind.
Let it be said of us
That we lived to be a blessing for life.

Let it be said of us
That we gave to reach the dying.
Let it be said of us
By the fruit we leave behind.
Let it be said of us
That our legacy is blessing for life.

This day
You set life, you set death right before us,
This day
Every blessing and curse is a choice now,
And we will choose to be a blessing for life.

Let it be said of us
That our hearts belonged to Jesus. Let it be said of us
That we spoke the words of life.
Let it be said of us
That our heritage is blessing for life.

This day
You set life, you set death right before us,
This day
Every blessing and curse is a choice now,
And we will choose to be a blessing for life.
we will choose to be a blessing for life.

*Because blessings and curses are choices
Will we build up, tear down moment of truth is now*
This day
You set life, you set death right before us,
This day
Every blessing and curse is a choice now,
And we will choose to be a blessing for life.
we will choose to be a blessing for life.


For your Kingdom, for our Children
For the sake of every nation
For your Kingdom, for our Children
For the sake of every nation

We will choose to be a blessing for life.
For life.
Blessing for life.

Happy Valentine's Day

God Is Love

My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn't know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can't know him if you don't love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.

1 John 4:7-10 (The Message)

Fun Times

my latest work. I am kinda proud of this :)

Another funny by my chiquita banana

The other day while I was in the bathroom I told Selah I needed some privacy and needed her to leave the bathroom.
She said, "Mami, you don't have any privacy. Maybe we can go to the store to buy some."

Sooo, if you see any privacy for sale, please let me know.

What Seth learned in Sunday School

Last Sunday after church while sharing lunch I asked Seth, "So what did you learn in Sunday School?"
He began to tell me the following story:
"Today I learned about a man who couldn't walk. So his friends took him on a magic carpet. They were taking him to Jesus but the house was too full. So they made a hole on the roof to let him down on the magic carpet. Then Jesus helped him to walk."
I don't know if I need to have a talk with his teachers. It really is funny what children remember and how they interpret things.