Through the eyes of a 3 year old

This is my sweet Cambrya. I spend most of my days with her having great adventures and doing life together. A couple weeks ago we had her sleep over at our apartment and had the best time! She really loved playing with my camera so I thought I'd share a few of her "pieces" with you.

Posing to help her find me.

My oh my, there were more pictures of Jason than I think anything else. She has a bit of a crush on him. ;) As you can see, she struggled a bit with keeping her fingers out of the way but for three years old I think she's doing pretty well! 

She caught me between her fingers. 

There were also quite a few of Bailey. The last one isn't half bad, now only if Bailster didn't look like an alien...

This last one is my favorite. She had to get on her tippy toes to catch her reflection in our bathroom mirror. 

I love looking at these pictures and trying to figure out how her little mind works. Who knows, maybe someday she'll end up being a photographer! 

Today my sweet little sister turns 21! I can hardly believe she's old enough! I feel like I just turned 21, although in reality I'll be turning 27 way too soon. Anyways, back to Kristi! She recently moved to Virginia to pursue her college degree at Liberty University. I am so proud of her for taking such a big step in obedience to God. I know that while it may not have been the easiest thing to move so far away, I know that God has blessed her for going. She is having the most amazing time and has met some really great people!

As an older sister I feel like Kristi is one of my greatest accomplishments. ;) Just kidding! She is wise beyond her years, loves to learn and is passionate about things that are important to her. I'm jealous about her ability to articulate her point when discussing issues. 

She also has fabulous taste in music, makes me proud when it comes to talking about sports and she loves to have fun! I always have the best time with her laughing and talking about the most random things! :) 

One of the things that makes Kristi, Kristi is her passion for Truth. Her beliefs are firmly rooted in God's word and it's something you'll know right away when you meet her. I have seen her grow, even in the past year to love God more and seek to obey Him with her life. It makes me so proud to see her make good decision and it encourages me in my own walk with God. 

Kristi, you are a blessing to our family and lives. We are so glad that God gave you to us! We love you. We miss you...can't wait to see you at Thanksgiving!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! 

Things that we've learned the past week..

What a week!! Seriously. I don't think anything went the way we thought it would and I'm pretty sure we experienced a level of stress that was new to both of us. Short story is that last Wednesday on his way to work Jason was rear ended. I was so terrified when he called me, but he was ok. Our Focus (aka Beast) not so much, but my sweet husband is what's irreplacable. We figured things out for the rest of the week; rented a car for a couple days and worked on getting the police report. We had planned on going up to Door County to visit my family amd decided to still go. We had the best time! On the way home though, driving seperately because my brother had borrow us his car to use while we car shop, I was rear ended in our other car. Are you kidding me? What a week! We're starting to figure things out with both car situations and now that things are starting to calm down a little I think I'm ready to talk about it. And to go over...some of the things we've learned this past week:

1. When Jason's in trouble I won't neccessarily just feel it. Apparently I've been watching too many romantic movies or reading sappy books because I had come to the conclusion that if Jason was ever in trouble I would somehow just know! I have the strongest, deepest connection with him...more than anyone on this earth and so I assumed that somehow I would be able to just sense him being in apaprent danger. A sixth sense of some kind maybe. Well, it's not true. And my husband thinks I'm just a bit crazy for even thinking this.

2. If you ever get rear ended, hope and pray that the person who hit you has progressive. Yesterday the insurance agents who represent the people who hit me (did I mention they were some of the nicest Swedes and had moved to Chicago about a year ago? I got to teach them the word "dent." Sweet.) called me to discuss things and set up getting our car fixed, getting a rental, etc. They were so concerned about my health (Just a sore neck, really) and Bailey's health since she was in the car with me. It was so nice to be treated like the victims we really are! ;) They took care of everything for us including offering us a settlement for the "inconvenience of the accident." I didn't know this even existed but now I wouldn't mind being inconvienenced more often! It feels so good to have one car situation totally taken care of. Now, onto the next!

3. God's always at work even when it may not look like it. One car accident was frustrating enough, but two in less than a week? I'll be honest, I'm still figuring out what God could be doing in this situation; it isn't exactly crystal clear. I think though that just learning to trust that God is still working even in a crazy situation has been so challenging to me.

 Hosea 6:3 says "Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; His going out is as sure as the dawn; He will come to us as the showers, as the spring rain waters the earth." I have never once woken up in the morning and even thought or considered the idea that the sun wouldn't rise. Maybe that's because when I get myself out of bed and on with my day, the dawn is already breaking. How true is that with our lives? It may seem like the trial or stressful situation has just begun but truly, God's been working in our lives long before we even faced that difficulty. Just because it's new to us does not mean that God has not gone out long before us.

As I'm writing this the skies have opened up and it has begun to rain. It may not be a spring rain like the verse indicates, but rain is rain and I feel so reminded that God is going out and He IS active in my life and my circumstances!

Thankful for God's protection over my family, His provision and the knowledge that He is at work. Feeling blessed in the midst of everything..

Happy Anniversary tooooo us!! 

Today is the second anniversary of our marriage. :) 

We keep saying to each other, "can you believe it's already been two years??" but at the same time, so much has happened. We've been through good and bad, but thankfully I can say it's been by far good. 

They say that the first year is the hardest and I think that we'd agree. It wasn't overwhelmingly difficult and I think we made it as gracefully as possible. The first year for us was all about figuring out who each other was on a deeper level. What each other really thinks and believes, traditions from how they grew up and negative and positive things from their upbringings. For us, the first year was all about shaking off things that were familiar to us and maybe even what we preferred in order to pursue what was better for us. 

It's scary giving up what you've always known as normal or the way you've always thought. But the idea of creating something new with someone else is so beautiful that you're willing to fight through the fear. 

Because we were able to establish a firm and united foundation in our marriage during our first year, our second year was spent growing and building on that foundation. It's fun to look back and see how much we've grown even in just this short amount of time. I've learned so much more how to love and respect Jason. I recognize that there are so many things that are just not worth fighting over (and that's a big one in the marriage of two very stubborn people! ;) ). Jason has loved me more and deeper then ever before. And we have grown. Our marriage is truly blessed!

To celebrate my sweet husband surprised me with  a surprise overnight getaway, a brand new dress and a delicious dinner! It was perfect and he thought of everything, even down to a snack size bag of flamin' hots for me to munch on because we had a late dinner reservation. My man knows me! :) Tonight we had dinner at home together, got some ice cream and watched the video of our wedding. It still makes me cry and crack up...it was the best day!! 

I want to end with a quote my mom wrote in our anniversary card. I feel like it sums up our view on marriage and just how much of a blessing it is:

"The ultimate thing to see in the Bible about Marriage is that it exists for God's glory. Most foundationally, it is the doing of God, most ultimately, marriage is the display of God. It is designed by God to display His glory like no other event or institution does." 

~John Piper

Memories

Some of you may have noticed that I've taken a bit of a break from writing. Summer started to get busy and my blog slipped down my priority list. And then my grandpa passed away and I just didn't know how to talk about it. I thought about updating on here but how could I have a major event happen in my life and not even mention it? 

So I took some time away. But now I think that I'm ready. Or, getting ready and I think talking about things on here will help.   

My grandpa, Harvey Clark, passed away in May due to complications from Muscular Sclerosis. He dealt with MS for over thirty years and was wheelchair bound by the time I was born. Although he may have been physically handicapped, what he dealt with on a daily basis did not affect his spirit and what he knew was his purpose in life. He was a Baptist preacher for years but it was the way he lived each day that to me, sent the strongest message.

He had every reason to complain, but he didn't.
He had every reason to doubt, but he didn't.
He had every reason to be bitter and angry, but he wasn't.

He was the most joyful and genuinely thankful person I knew. He took advantage of every situation to represent the Christ that he knew so personally. Grandpa was always pulling out his Bible to do a study; always pausing to spend just a few more minutes in prayer. He shared his faith with everyone he came in contact with.

I remember when I was little grabbing a stack of my story books, my picture Bible and notebook to sit at the dining room table with Grandpa as he did devotions. As I got older, I put away the picture books and would bring studies I was really doing or share with him what I had learned at school. One time in specific he asked me about Spiritual Gifts. He told me what he knew and what he didn't understand and then he wanted to hear what I thought. I remember thinking "this is crazy! He's been a preacher for longer then I've been alive, and he wants to know what I think??" 1 Timothy 4:12 says, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." Grandpa made that verse come alive to me when he showed me that my thoughts and opinions mattered greatly to him.

I could go on and on about the things that I've learned from his life or since his passing, so I think I'll just write about the ones that stand out to me the most. I think the biggest lesson I learned is that we cannot judge God's decisions and plans for our lives by our own measuring stick. I can't even count how many times I've heard someone say (concerning my Grandpa or someone else), "if they just had enough faith then maybe they would be healed" OR "if you just prayed a little more or fasted a little more, then maybe he'd be healed." I completely believe in the power of prayer and the importance of having faith but I believe it's more important to trust God and His path for your life. I could have prayed for hours and hours (and believe me, I did) for my Grandpa and he could never be healed or I could have tossed up a quick prayer in passing and he may have been able to walk again. I don't get to decide what God's will for is my life or my loved one's lives. And I don't get to decide if a prayer is answered or not.

We can now say that it was not God's plan for my Grandpa's life to be physically healed. He would always be confined to a wheelchair. But to face such a deteriating and debilitating disease with such joy and purpose....you can't tell me that my Grandpa wasn't healed in his own way! I don't get to pick the ending to the story, but I can trust that it is a good one and that God has had our best interest in mind.

The other thing that stands out to me is just the love that you can have for someone. I've watched my Grandma literally lay down her life for her husband as he physically got worse and worse. I think that when you say your wedding vows and you promise you'll be with someone "for richer and poorer and in sickness and in health" it's easy because odds are you and your partner are in good health with no imposing threat. But what happens when the unexpected arises and your vows are put to the test? My example has been that you don't walk away. And your love doesn't change. I'm not saying it's easy; I can't imagine what my Grandma has been through, but I do know that it's possible.


My grandpa leaves behind a family that loves Jesus. He leaves many lives that were changed for the good because he was in them. I feel so proud to call Harvey Clark my Grandpa and hope to live my life in the same way he lived his.