Devotion

Found this online today and thought it was really good so I am passing it on:

Mark 1:29-34“As soon as they left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told Jesus about her. So he went to her, took her hand and helped her up. The fever left her and she began to wait on them. That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.”

Jill Briscoe writes,
“When you have a heart for God you have a heart for ministry. The two go hand in hand. When Jesus captured a life, healed a sick body or soul or mind, the recipient of those blessings invariably began to minister. Only on two occasions did Jesus have to tell them to do so. When Jairus’s daughter was brought back from the dead, Jesus told her parents to ‘give her something to eat’ (Mark 5:43), and when the Lord appeared first to Mary Magdalene after his resurrection, he told her to go tell the disciples that she had seen the Lord (John 20:17-18).
When you meet the Master, ministry naturally follows. Jesus forgave a sinful woman ‘her many sins,’ and she began to love him much (Luke 7:47). Having been forgiven much you begin to love much, and ministry is the natural outcome.
Martha and Mary, greatly loved by Jesus, loved him back by serving him, each in her own way. The mother of the disciple James, along with others served the Lord by preparing his body for burial (Luke 24:10), while Joanna supported Jesus out of her own means (Luke 8:3). Even the woman at the well, having met Jesus, began at once to share her discovery with the people in her town (John 4:28-29).
You do not need to twist arms once you have had a personal encounter with the Christ of Galilee. Ministry is not then a maybe – it’s a must.”How many times do I find an excuse not to participate in ministry? How many times am I talked in to helping instead of simply volunteering? Shouldn’t I desire to give everything back to God because of the grace and mercy and love and sacrifice He has given me? Wow – my selfishness revealed. And it isn’t just ministry at the church that I shrink back from… I know that I have failed to be the wife I need to be because I am tired or want some “me” time or something else. I let something else entertain my son so I can take a few moments for me to email or check a blog. I don’t make that phone call to the friend who’s struggling because I think I don’t have the time or the words. I fail to reach out to the friend who’s on bed rest and going a bit stir crazy. And the list goes on… Shouldn’t I desire to give until my body wears out? What evidence of how the world has infiltrated the body of Christ. We are prone to think about ourselves and our needs and wants and schedules before those around us. What does that say about our hearts? I think it says we are not filled with God, but with ourselves. If we were to get real, we would have to admit that our hearts are more for our well-being than for loving and praising our Father and Savior. I know I am guilty.Father, change my heart. I am a selfish creature in my flesh, but I am a new creation in You. Refine my heart and attitude to desire to serve You every moment of every day. Show me how You want me to serve and minister. Change the heart of the church so Your name may be glorified when others wonder why we are so different. May our hearts be so filled with You that ministry becomes a must.

60 Degrees and Radio Flyers

What a nice day today! Despite the dentist appointment and needing to replace an old filling, the day was quite lovely.
I helped Emily set up Quinns old crib for the open house on Sunday, as well as get a few things out of their attic. I haven't been on a ladder that high in awhile, I was glad it was nice out... not too hot up there. After we were done fixing things up the kids played for awhile out in the yard. Quinn finally got the hang of pedaling, Avery has had it down for about 6 months, but for some reason Quinn just couldn't get it until today. Once he figured it out he and Ella were cruising around the cul de sac with little sisters following closely behind.
He had to practice his new skills after dinner as well, so Scott and I took the kids around the block and back to the parking lot behind our house. They weren't really ready for the incline, but we had fun. Thats about it, I hope all of you got to enjoy the nice weather we were sent today.

A Busy Week

Ok, I think I have 5 minutes to sit down and post something. It has been a busy couple of days. Scott was in Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday, and I had to work all day today with a client, then there was the lenten meal, put the kids to bed and here I am.

Scott is quite the frequent flyer these days, in the last week and a half he's been to Iowa, Brazil, Atlanta, and almost had to go to Mississippi tomorrow, but got out of it. The kids think he works at the airport. When he goes on trips I think Quinn thinks all he does is fly around in the sky the whole time. Whenever he sees a plane and Scott is gone, he says... there's my daddy! Scott kind of likes all the travel, but is getting tired of all the back to back stuff. He's scheduled to go to Mexico in a couple of weeks. Thank God for cell phones, keeps him close.

I actually got to work out of the house today for a whole 7 hours, it was really quite nice. Sabrina and I did some accessory shopping with a client and then arranged everything for them once the purchases were made. We also made stops to have some framing done for them and picked out a chair for the living room we're working on. It was a nice break, and the kids got to spend the day with Kristen, the babysitter, they just love her.

After coming home from work, we headed off to the lenten meal. I just love Wednesdays! No cooking-- too bad the kids are too grouchy for church though, I'd like to go once and a while, but the baked potato dinner this evening was very good.

Thats about it, tomorrow I go to the dentist and am helping Emily get ready for the open house on Sunday. Definitely a busy week.

A Visit from Uncle Andy

A visit from Uncle Andy is always a fun thing for the kids and Sunday was no different. I'm sure he got his rug rat fix, if he didn't... he needs help :) just kidding. This picture is one of my favorites of him, Scott took it at Ann and Aarons wedding. That was definitely an adventure with the kids and makes you appreciate going to weddings without them. Ella and Quinn were still very much 2 year olds (I think they were actually 3, but they were acting like 2 anyway) notice the blur in the picture to the left... that's Quinn. I like the picture, very sophisticated I think, Andy not Quinn... not at all how you act when getting a rugrat fix.
P.S. It was nice for us adults to see you too Andy!

Friday Fun

Scott is home! It's nice to have him home, he had a good trip but it was spent mostly trying to do one thing that could have probably been handled here but oh well, he and his boss definitely made some Brazillians nervous I think. Also for those of you with Nextel, and plans to visit Brazil...he found out at the airport in Sao Paulo that his Nextel Direct Connect works from there, go figure! After picking him up from the airport, we headed for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel... yum! I haven't been there in awhile and it was really good, Quinn liked seeing all of the tractor stuff too. From there we dropped off Scott and Kaleigh at home for naps and went to Quinn's friend Dereks house to play. It's nice to have other kids to play with. That's about it, other than a trip to the grocery store. Hope you all have a nice weekend! Sorry this post is a bit boring!

Willing the Warmth

The first flowers are coming up in the yard, even though the weather is cold, I am really looking forward to spring (I guess it is spring technically, although you wouldn't know it around here except for those flowers). Not too much happening today, Quinn had school, they had a birthday party for the teacher and made cookies and party hats. After that we made our first trip to the Dairy Queen of the season, there was absolutely no one there, we probably wouldn't have been there either save for the fact the ice cream machine at the McDonalds drive thru was down. Oh well it was better stuff and I am trying to will it to be warm I guess. That's about it. Scott is back tomorrow Yeah! He was able to arrange for an earlier flight out of Brazil tonight, pray for a safe trip.

The Usual

Not too much going on around here today, just the usual.
Quinn has Space week at school this week, he is pretty excited about learning about rockets, and planets and the like. After we picked him up from school today we took a ride throught the country to Opas to see how he and Duncan were doing. Opa was taking a nap and Duncan was really wanting to jump in the car with us, but don't worry, he stayed. Needless to say my car will need another bath before Scott gets home, I took a dirt road... sorry dear. This picture is from the last time we went through the car wash, well actually come to think of it it's from the last time we took the car to the self serve and Scott washed the car-- while the rest of us stayed inside. What really needs cleaning is the inside of the car... amazing how dirty cars get with 3 kids in the back- yuck.
Well that's about it besides mini corn dogs and broccoli, but that's not at all exciting so I'll wrap it up. Good to see Mike is back on the blogs! Hope you didn't have to work to hard, hope the rest of you are having a great week!

From the City to the Country

From the city with the boys to the country with the sheep. This weekend was one spent in both places. We started out Friday night going to see the hockey team play at Joe Louis. Scott had extra tickets, so Quinn, Tom and I went along. It was a nice time, no waiting for parking on Cobo's roof, not too many people at the Arena-, save for the loss, it was a very enjoyable evening. Quinn sure enjoyed the plethora of treats Daddy bought him from the vendors. The girls stayed with Grammy and Grampy and had a fun time.

Saturday Duncan got his pardon. Not from the governor or the president, but from the colonel. We were set to put Duncan down because of his antics, but at the last minute Opa called and said he wanted to take him and keep him in the garage at the farm. After much warning and making sure Opa wouldn't do too much work, Duncan got his reprieve. We spent the early afternoon making up his new environs... definitely a shock to his system I'm sure. He went from laying around on couches to real farm dog in prison (at least for awhile)status. Oh well, better than dead and a big thanks to Opa. Tom was over this weekend, for the hockey games, I'm sure he didn't think he was going to be building dog pens and corralling sheep. You know you can't go to Opas without a few other jobs to take care of. It was quite fun watching Quinn, Scott and Tom trying to catch a sheep. The kids had a great time out at the farm, riding the Pug and watching the sheep. So far Opa says he likes having Duncan there, hopefully it will stay that way.

Sunday was spent at church and the chili cook off-- then home for Scott to pack, he's in Brazil for the week, hopefully the week will pass quickly without too much screaming :).

Great Expectations & Simple Pleasures

Today was a day of Simple Pleasures and Great Expectations. The girls and I went to Target today while Quinn was at school. We had quite a nice time, we actually got to browse the entire store with no fighting or whining! I haven't had that happen in I don't know how long when I have kids with me. Simple Pleasures.

Great Expectations: While we were there we had the pleasure of looking at Sam and Kristies registry, and some of their Safari stuff! How exciting for them, it is such a fun thing the first go round (not that it's not fun the other times too)! I am really looking forward to the big party coming up soon, so count me in Joyce!

After Target we went to pick Quinn up from school. When we got there the kids were all on a leprachaun hunt on the play ground. It was fun to watch and even more fun when I got out of the car. Quinn came running up to me and said, "WE FOUND GOLD!" and promptly told me he was going to share with all of his friends. When they got back in the classroom the teacher handed out everyones share of the gold (Chocolate Gold Coins and spray painted rocks). After this Quinn proceeds to shout to me and everyone who could hear him, " Now I have money! I have a thousand dollars, I can buy my four wheeler now!!" This is the four wheeler at Cabelas we told him he would REALLY have to save his money for a long time for because it costs $1000+. Great Expectations. When the teacher proceeded to tell the class that the leprachaun had played another trick on them and that they were chocolate, you should have seen his face! But that didn't stop him, he kept right on believing it WAS in fact gold and that he could be on his way to buying something grand.

It wasn't until later in the evening that he actually figured out that the teacher was right, when Avery ate a fifth of his stash. Luckily he seemed just as happy that he'd get to eat some of it for dessert. Simple pleasures!

Poems and Praise

In reference to Andy's post today, I am posting the poem that he wrote on the occasion of Avery's birth. He wrote poems for all of the kids when they were born and are some of the most precious gifts that they received. Thank you Andy, God has given you a great talent!
Everyone else... enjoy!

Born Yesterday
for Avery Saville
by: Andrew Schroeder

you were born just yesterday
everything for you is new and unknown
you're helpless and fragile today
tomorrow you'll be young but daily growin'

someday we'll see where your true talents lie
until then, we'll jsut have to wait and see
and hope, the days in between don't fly by
where the time goes is God's mystery

maybe you'll attract a thousand smiles
with the smallest twinkle of your eye
or you'll be able to run for miles and miles
or design buildings that go halfway to the sky
your greatest gift just might be
to play a harp so soft, so true and so sweet
or to keep the sick and lonely company
or helping angry foes in peace to meet

there was a plan in place long before yesterday
today we wonder what in the world it could be
tomorrow you'll learn what you need to get you on your way
someday will sure be special, but we'll just have to wait and see

every day will keep you on the edge, so today I pray
that you surround yourself with happiness and find
those simple things that makeyou content along the way
or those dreams and hopes that wander in your mind

Being Shy

Shyness is defined as, "a feeling of fear of embarrassment". This is a picture of Sophia being shy at a recent Pampered Chef party at our house. I can remember being shy as a kid on more than a few occaisions, especially at confirmation parties for some odd reason. The taste and look of a can of Rock and Rye Faygo can bring me right back to that feeling. The drink of choice for many a Confirmation Sunday. Very odd, but that isn't surprising when I'm involved. Sophia doesn't strike me as overly shy-- quiet yes-- but shy? Only to my eyes on this particular occaision, but it did make for a great picture... and a lot of good Tonka reading for her.

Cousins

Quinn and Ella are the best of buds these days, actually pretty much since Ella showed up on the scene 6 weeks or so after Quinn. They shared a baby shower, a preschool, Grammy and Grampy, Uncle Andy, and endless amounts of toys... sometimes. It is fun to watch them create imaginary scenes and stories for one another (and their little sisters).

Tonight was get together at Grammy and Grampys for dinner night, and they had a blast as usual. Grammy commented on a plate she has of two blonde angels (I'll have to have her take a picture of it and post it on her blog), one girl, one boy... they resemble our children in looks, but well their actions... anyway...

I hope that they continue to be good buddies as they get older. I don't remember playing with my cousins much except for at holidays, so it is truly a blessing that they have the opportunity to share so many things- and I hope they continue to do so for a long time.

A Taste of Spring

A taste of spring today! It was very refreshing to be able to go outside without being freezing or getting wet. The flowers in the flowerbed are starting to poke through the ground and the kids are itching to get muddy. We took a trip out to the play ground, you just can't pass it up when it's 60 and sunny! Hopefully the taste of spring will turn into a whole meal soon!

Little Brother Gets a Blog

News Bulletin: Andrew now has a blog! Watch out Dylan lovers everywhere!
Here is the link http://talkingibberishblues.blogspot.com. We're expecting great things from the writer of the family :)

Little Missy Girl

Avery has taken to dressing up for the biggest and smallest occaisions lately. She wants to wear her princess dresses every day, no matter what we are doing. This picture is from Scotts birthday lunch at Macs, she was in a hand me down dress from Justine (a little girl from church), gotta love hand me downs! We even curled her hair for the occaision... she says, "I want to do beauty shop" whenever we do her hair. Its kind of fun that she likes to get dressed up and it's a bonus that she tends to stay cleaner when she's dressed like that!!

Little Artists

I'd like to think that my kids would like art projects, and so far I think they do. It is a bit difficult to get them all working on something at once, but one on one, they all seem to like to draw, paint, color etc. The Magna doodle is a wonderful thing, no fuss, no mess... and we have three of them! This mean no fighting!!!This picture is Quinns recent rendition of our family, the only problem with the Magnadoodle is it's not permanent, it was a cute picture. Kaleigh is beginning to experiment with coloring as well, although she mostly trys to eat the crayons, good thing they are non toxic!

What happens when mom is in the shower...

What Quinn and Avery do while I'm in the shower.

They truly have a knack for finding trouble in the 3 minutes I am in the shower for the day. Today it was getting into the cookies, stacking them up on the table and eating as many as they could before I found out about it. You know it's trouble when it's too quiet out there! Quinn was calmly sitting on the couch eating away watching a show, next to this stack. Avery had about 5 in her hands trying to shove them in as fast as she could when she saw me coming. Needless to say they were pretty bummed out when they realized they weren't going to be able to eat the whole stash!

P. S. Quinn saw this post and said "Hey... there's my cookie castle!"

Happy Birthday Scott

Today is Scott's birthday, he says its just another day- but then it's not... you get free dinners! I had jury duty this morning, my first time ever and it was great because we waited only about an hour and the judge came in and said, there are no cases, you can all go home and thanks for your service! Not bad. I met a nice man in his 60's named Stan-- from Ann Arbor, and Scott got the day off for his birthday (really he was off to watch the kids, but since I didn't have to stay all day we got to go to lunch at Macs, they have free birthday dinners!) That will make 2 dinners I didn't have to cook, as we are going to Mom and Dad's tonight. So I guess birthdays at his age really aren't just another day! Happy Birthday!

Wishing Winter Weather would turn Warm

With news of a pending winter storm I am wishing for warmer weather. Being that it is Ash Wednesday and getting closer to Easter and spring time, my mind is already trying to jump to summer. I would be happy with 60 degrees and sunny -- I won't push my luck. I am thankful that it was at least sunny today, even though we did not leave the house to see it until it was getting dark. We had a great meal at church for the first lenten meal. It was lasagna, pizza and salad. Quite good, and bonus that I didn't have to make it! The kids had a good time running around the Family Life Center with their cousins, burning off excess energy. I wish they could give some of it to me some days.
This picture is me looking forward to summer. It's the cabin that Scott's Dad rented last summer at Fife Lake. This year we'll have to stay longer than a day and a half... I'm looking forward to it already!