Christmas Letter 2011

From Nicaragua

to the top of Tumalo mountain a few days ago

we have had an amazing year. Every year seems like a better one then the last, and this one is no exception. It's been such a full year that somehow the news that we sold our home (in 5 days!) in September barely even made the list to be mentioned here!

Cory is working hard to develop and implement the engineering program at Redmond High School, as the department head. He loves the hands on classes he is teaching that inspire kids to come in during their lunch and groan when class ENDS. Julie continues to teach High school Spanish, elementary music, and piano at Central Christian School (and in our private home studio) where Cade and Bekah are 5th and 3rd graders. Both kids have found a love for soccer and are progressing nicely on the piano (and a little guitar!). My big project of the year culminated on Dec. 14th, with our elementary Christmas musical of 2 showings to a crowd of at least 700 folks that watched us sing, dance, and act out the truth that it truly is better to give than receive!

Our summer adventures began on June 20th when we hooked up the trailer and said goodbye to our home for a 10 week life on the road. It started in Zion National Park for 10 days. Then off to Nicaragua for 3 weeks. After Nica, we "convalesced" at Bryce National Park as Nica was quite exhausting. It was nice to get home to safe water, food, dry air, and our own vehicle after giving 110% for 3 weeks.

We then enjoyed a 5 week stay in Eastern California where we backpacked over 150 miles in the Sierras and camped in between trips. Nothing beats the Sierras for the O'Neills!!



Our mission trip in Nicaragua for 3 weeks was life changing, to say the least! It is our sincere prayer that we will get to return in a summer. I loved being able to connect with the locals through Spanish conversation and Bible schools I lead but it was amazing to watch all 4 of us discover our niche there. The kids played with the kids day after day as if they knew Spanish - Love knows no language! Cory and I got to spend a day fitting folks with eye glasses and never grew tired of watching faces of young and old light up when we found the right prescription and they could see for the first time! Cory also spent about 10 days working on an orphanage property installing solar panels - this was not pre planned. We heard about the orphanage, gave them a quick call, showed up and found that they had been praying for an engineer to come and help them with this project (and needed a worship leader too which Cory enjoyed doing in the evenings). Cade helped daddy a lot while Bekah and I played with the kids, led a Bible school, and helped in the kitchen.



Here's the main solar tower completed and ready to be anchored in the ground:The truth about short term mission trips is that it allows us to go to a different part of the planet and see a different face of God in the lives of those that live there. We did get to do some amazing hands on helping type projects, but the real lessons were the ones our hearts learned through the gracious people we met while there.

With all these epic trips, some of the best memories are contained in the simple essence of those moments when we deeply connect with someone -(Bullfrog lake below: another 12,000 foot lunch at an exquisite lake!) holding hands with Cade as we walk across a campground, a killer run that gets the sweat pouring, going out to coffee with a friend, a hug from a student, tea time with Bekah or a quick surprise visit from someone all weave the days together with true joy. We do feel so blessed at our full and bountiful life and for your friendship in our lives. May you have an amazing 2012, where you seize each day with joy and hope.

Love, the O'Neills
Cory, Julie, Cade, and Bekah

Our next adventures

In 2 years, for our 15^th wedding anniversary, how about we take the family on a mission trip to serve others in need as a way to celebrate being a family for 15 years...?”

- Cory, August, 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

It's hard to believe that we are on the precipice of celebrating 15 years of marriage, but we are. As a way to commemorate our 15 years together as a family, Cory dreamed, as we hiked in a high-Sierra trail in 2009, that during the summer of our 15^th year together, we'd take our entire family to Nicaragua on a mission trip. The trip is being planned through our church, Redmond Community Church for the Mustard Seed Missions, which was started by our friends Michael and Lisa Perkins over 5 years ago. http://www.themustardseedmission.org/

It is our heart's desire to give our children experiences that will immerse them in what it truly means to give, selflessly, and to recognize the need for Jesus goes beyond our political country boundaries to all people. Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in Latin America with very little infrastructure or modern conveniences. Families often have little choice but to let their young children scavenge in garbage dumps for food and their daughters to work the streets for money. Unlike in the U.S., there is not a safety net of social services that provides basic needs like food, medical care, and education to people in poverty. By joining efforts with the ongoing ministry that Michael and Lisa have established, we strive to be part of a loving movement that is breaking family cycles and changing legacies. Vocational training for women, feeding and nutritional training programs for the hundreds of people that are living in the Managua city dump, and building projects for homes in major disrepair are just a few of the things we will have the privilege of being part of. Our days there will be jam packed!

The dates of our trip are July 2 – July 10^th, 2011. We are very excited for this amazing opportunity! We hope to bring our own special touch to the team through leading worship as well as Julie's understanding of the Spanish language, that will hopefully allow her to connect with the local people at a deeper level. Our children are natural ice breakers as they easily make friends and will be a vital part of the team as they reach out and connect with Nicaraguan children in a way that only other children can do. And finally, Cory, being the talented work horse that he is, plans to put in long hours, building and repairing infrastructure.

We are humbly writing to you to ask you, first and foremost, to please keep us in your prayers over the next months and during the time we are in the country. Specific prayer requests are:

• Health and safety while in Nicaragua (no malaria or dengue fever please!)

• That this time of ministry would draw our family closer together and closer to God

• That our time in Nicaragua would allow us rich connections with the people in Nicaragua

• That God would open or close doors as He leads to pave the way for us to bring high school students and our family back to Nicaragua in future summers

• That funds for the trip would be provided for

We are also writing to you to ask you to consider partnering with us financially to make this trip possible. The total cost for the trip is $5000. As I type that number, I truly feel all at once overwhelmed by it and confident that since God Has prompted our hearts to want to go that He will clear all obstacles to making that happen. To help keep track of your support, we are asking that you send any donation through our church. Address the checks to RCC and note “O'Neill Nic trip” in the memo line. Your entire donation will be tax deductible. We will send you a tax statement (and a big smiley thank you note/letter of what we did on the trip ) in time for your April 2012 taxes!

Leave a comment with your email address so I can send you a support letter and address of where to send your donations to. Thank you so much for considering joining us in this new adventure into God's Great Plan!

It's all good...

Had another epiphany from God today on my run....probably should credit the epiphany to the 2 hour yoga class I did with over 500 "yogis" on the Deschutes River today instead as that's where a lot of these mini thoughts started coagulating in my mind.

God is so clever in the way he gently teaches me. It's always little lessons, spread over months and months, and the final "aha" doesn't come until the exactly perfect time when it all comes flooding through my mind and finally the dots are connected. I always smile up at Heaven at this point, thanking Him for his unending patience.

At the end of last school year I had all but decided that I had given this full time teaching thing a good, honest try, and "thanks, but no thanks", I best be on my way now. However, God divinely whispered to my heart that that might not be the answer and that He'd like me to speak to a couple of fellow teachers. I obeyed, made some phone calls, did some talking and a ton of listening and knew in my heart that I was to return.

So why then, did I spend such a big chunk of the summer dreading this decision? God, where's the Peace that follows after your will? I wrestled with this all summer.

Then God placed another little angel in my life in the form of a stranger on a bus. We had just finished another major backpacking trip - one in which we needed to take a bus to the trailhead - and were on the return trip back to our vehicle - when I just shared openly with the lady next to me about my internal struggles with taking on full time teaching again. She listened attentively and then turned to me and said, "YOu are going to have the best year of your life."

Woah!! That settled hard and fast in my mind and as I pondered her spoken blessing over my life for a few days, I knew it, FINALLY, in my heart! It's a choice! It always is. God is just waiting to hand us His blessings, but we need to choose to receive them as grumbly, hard little hearts aren't capable of it. I will choose to wake up each day and grab God's hand and say, "with you God, I choose Joy.:

The final person in this string of mini lessons (we are up to 3 people already- I am a slow learner), happened today after an invigorating 2 hour yoga class on the Deschutes River, and this time it came from a sweet older man in his 70s, with gray hair, and a thick Spanish accent....and it came in Spanish. We got to chit chatting about the weather and I laughingly admitted that I am a hot weather gal, I love it hot, and am not looking forward to this next winter which is predicted to be a real snowy, cold, and wet one. I said I'd love to live somewhere hot, where coconuts grow on trees and mangos grow in my backyard.

He stopped. He looked me straight in the eyes and said, "You can't leave us. You belong here. You are supposed to be in this community right now, blessing those that you encounter, HERE. Don't push against what happens - like the winter - learn to embrace it, enjoy it. No, you can't leave us. We need you here." (keep in mind, I met this sweet man 5 minutes before he boldly lectured me)

Es la verdad!!

After all of this, I needed a good trail run on the river. I knew God needed to put this all together. And here's what He told me:

We need each other!! Every one of these conversations spoke life into me. And because these people, along the way, spoke life into me, I am now ready to spend a school year, hopefully, speaking life into my students.

As we seek God daily, He fills us up with His life and then we go out into the world and have thousands of little moments, full of hundreds of interactions with other people, and we have the chance to speak life into each of these moments, into the people all around us.

Chin up everyone

I know it's gray. I know it's STILL January. ( I had to remind my husband of that today - Do you know, I told him, that it is STILL January??!)_

We haven't seen the sun in a long time. THis vitamin D deficient soul is relying on a dwindling backup supply to keep the 'ole smile.

So sometimes, I sort of force a smile - it tricks my body - my body must not be so smart as it says to itself, "Self, the face is smiling...we must be happy...let's get those happy endorphines flowing 'cause the owner is clearly smiling...."


And then, soon enough, the smile that tricked the body now has a happy body, and the happy body tells the face to keep smiling....and this is probably why January takes so long.

To read more about why this actually can and does work: http://runninggalinsights.blogspot.com/2008/11/are-you-down-try-this.html

So, CHin Up everyone. Let the words from Wilbur remind you to choose JOY!!



Chin up, chin up
Everybody love a happy face
Wear it, share it
It’ll brighten up the darkest place
Twinkle, sparkle
Let a little sunshine in
You’ll be on the right side
Looking at the bright side
Up with your chinny chin chin…

Chin up, chin up
Put a little laughter in your eyes
Brave it, save it
Even though you’re feeling otherwise
Rise up, wise up
Make a little smile begin
You’ll be happy hearted
Once you get started
Up with your chinny chin chin!

Chin down, you can't come frowning
Turn around
Start clowning
Think sad
Your troubles double
Think glad
To burst white bubbles

Chin up, chin up
Every little time your spirits wilt
Chin up, chin up
Give your attitude an upward tilt
Twinkle, sparkle
Let a little fun begin
You’ll be on the right side
Looking at the bright side
Up with you chinny chin chin
Chin up!

Climbing a mountain...one move at a time

My friend over at http://www.diaryof1.com/ in pondering about Never giving up hit home. As I take on this monumental task of working full time, teaching 1st through 12th graders, being a mom, a wife, a follower of God, a friend, a sister and still trying to maintain ME I too have wanted to give up, throw the towel in and walk back into my past life of getting to stay home, live on my own schedule, and be free to come and go as I wished. I miss catching planes to locations all over the US to perform with my brother, David. I miss going for a run in the middle of the day along the river banks. I miss just being out and about.

But these times, these super hard times, are really cool too. It's in these times that I find myself learning, growing, and becoming faster then I ever did when life was not so rigorous.

I get to a spot in the climb and it appears at first, impossible. I stare. I ponder options. I stare some more. I ponder more. And finally, I see a possible place to put a left foot that just might allow me to pull myself up and be in a whole new place on the rock...I try it, it's working....I slip...back to the begininning....

Stare....ponder....plan....Try again....

I slip again....

Stare...ponder...plan....Try AGAIN!

It's working! And I get my right leg to a foothold, push up a bit, allowing my left hand to grab a great hold and pull up and suddenly, I am moving into a brand new position, a brand new plateau, a brand new perspective.

The last spot that had me stuck is now figured out, it's now a part of my tricks, adds to my confidence. I get to enjoy the peace that comes when I make it past a sticky spot, but only for a moment.

It's time to take what I learned and think through how to make it past the next spot. And so it goes, one maneuver at a time, all the way to the top.

Gaining perspective one move at a time.

Which won't come if I give up.

And oh view , the sweet view from the top, a little taste of God's perspective on the little planet we wander around on.

I will lift my eyes, to the maker of these Mountains I am climbing!

Locals - go check out the newest coffee house in town! Green plow is here

One of my dearest friends -met her the first week we moved here- has gone for her long time dream with her husband and opened their coffee house. It's heart is ministry - the "living room of our town". It seeks to create a meeting place for good coffee, good conversation, good community connections, and maybe even for seeing who Jesus is through the folks that work there, the events that happen there, and the conversations that spring up there.

It's Christianity in action.

And, it truly is the yummiest coffee on the planet. Pat is perfecting his roasting skills and weekly roasts the coffee making for the freshest cup of coffee I have ever had - no bitter aftertast, just smooth and perfect.

While I work all day loving on the students I get to teach, please take a moment and meet a friend at GreenPlow coffee! Tell them I sent you!

http://www.greenplowcoffee.com/

Open hours:
Monday-Thursday 6am-8pm
Friday 6am-9pm
Saturday 7am-9pm

Girls weekends

I can hardly keep up with the weeds in the garden, the mounting pile of mismatched socks, or the mail so blog posts don't seem to happen in sync with life either...but I just wanted to take a sec and reflect on some recent girl time!

In April, some 3 other girlfriends from my town and I spent the weekend in Florence together. Gorgeous blue sky, warm sunny weekend without a picture to show for it. We were too busy talking, walking, eating out, laughing, and not "doing" anything to pull the camera out.

Last week I got to go to a lunch at one of the members of my bookclub's house with one of my favorite authors: Jane Kirkpatrick. Unbelievable time. She is brilliant in all she says - inspiring!!

And last weekend, some long time friends from my early married years spent the weekend in Portland together. Rose garden, comedy club, IKEA, great restaurants and old friends - what a perfect formula to restore this weary soul!!




Girl time is so key to balance for me!! 2 girls weekends and a brunch with Jane Kirkpatrick all in 6 weeks! I am spoiled, loved, and deeply restored!

We had lunch at the Rose Garden, then went shopping in boutiques in NW Portland, then off to dinner at a yummy downtown restaurant before going to the comedy club that night. The funnest thing too was that they all stayed at my parent's house - my mom is on a trip to Chicago - so I got to have a girls weekend with my dad and husband and kid

dos too!! Perfect fun!!

Friends that you can just let your hair down with and know that who you are is loved unconditionally by are the best kinds of friends ever...I am blessed indeed! These gals are ones that encourage, think about all kinds of things, and ultimately inspire me to keep being better at mommyhood, citizenship in my community, and wife hood.

Ultimately, I love that these gals love to SMILE and laugh. They aren't critical on the things around them - just perceptive.

Happy Birthday Lori!! I couldn't love you any more than I do!

Please help me with my bonus room craze

For as long as we have had kids and have been home owners, I have dreamed of having the home with the illusive Bonus Room. See, I want our home to be the home that my kids friends want to come to and picture this idyllic world where the children quietly slip away to the Bonus Room and leave with smiles.

Is it possible to raise kids in a little 3 bedroom home and have their friends desire to come over to a little house even during those late elementary and older years? It works find now, but our kids are young and we do have this nice feature - our kitchen, office/music studio, and front living room are situated in this perfect way to create an indoor track. So, no matter where adults might be in the home, the happy children will be careening through the area as they circle around the track.

Maybe this is what all the parenting experts define as: Togetherness.

So what's in these bonus rooms? During my run today I asked myself this very question. I pictured behind each of the doors that lead to these Bonus rooms lies a mini-DisneyLand, full of endless gadgets, gizmos, and Ferris Wheels to keep children giggling and occupied for hours.

And I, don't have one of these places and covet all that do. There. Truth is out.

So I ask, do you think it is going to be possible to raise our sprouts without one of these Bonus rooms!!????

I want one. But Rennaissance Man says, "Julie, we are outdoor people!! Do you really want to have to work harder and longer to afford the big home and give up months of vacations together as a family? We'll just take our kids' friends with us on our adventures. What would we do with all that space? We wouldn't ever be in it?"

10 minutues later, after I have zoned out for about 9 minutes, I hear him pause so I meekly ask: "well, would this bigger home have a bonus room?"

"JULIE!!!!"

Summer couldn't come quick enough as I posted earlier, my desires for STUFF, Bonus Rooms, Stuff for the Bonus rooms, and stuff for future Bonus Rooms is starting to consume me!! I feel as if I am collapsing before the finish line. (So I went out, and for the first time in years, I bought myself 3 summer dresses! No friends or mom to help...I did this all by myself! But, sadly it did not take away this incessant desire for a BONUS ROOM!!!)

Powerful Worship time

My Rennaisance man, his good buddies Jason and Wayne, and I had the privilege of leading worship at church last week. We love to do music together!! We have gotten so used to each other's musical styles that even during practice night, we quickly move from having to focus on the music part and just enter into goose-bump raising worship.

Rennaisance Man and I have been co-leading worship for 15 years now and have worked with tons of different people in this capacity. Always, the goal is to play with excellence so that we are not the distracting focus but people can look past us to His throne. Our pastor came up to us after each service and said that worship took his breath away and he could barely pull himself together to get up and speak. Not that we want to render our pastor speechless, but it is such a blessing to be part of team that is using their gifts to lead others into worship so powerfully.

I've been part of worship teams over the years where it's just not clicking musically so as a musician I have to focus so hard on the musicality of what I am doing that there is no way I can just worship. I also remember the beginning years where I was the rookie on a team learning how to play piano with a band versus playing it as a solo instrument and learning how to sing harmonies on key, how to layer my harmonies and piano parts into the mix to help build intensity, etc. Those years, the focus was just making the music happen more then worship because a brain can only deal with so many things at once.

It is such a treat to be part of such a talented worship team at our church where we finally have all those types of elements figured out, where we don't even script out who is doing what, how many times we will sing verses and choruses, or who needs to come in when. We start playing together - it turns into worship - and His spirit directs the song. All of us on stage completely forget that we are rehearsing or that there are people out in the audience because we are caught up in worship. I love when that happens. (The poor powerpoint person directing the words on screen for the congregation has to be on his toes with us as he never knows what we'll do next!).

Here's one of our favorites as harmonies and intensity build throughout this song finally breaking free at the very end with a declaration that His Glory can only cause us to fall face down at his feet.

Too much to handle

A friend is going through more then I can imagine having to deal with all at once. Another new friend has recently been sharing with me her story and again, it's more then I can imagine one person having to bear.

I too, have been at points where the weight of what is happening seems to overwhelm me.

I have been on my knees today praying for these friends, as one of them waits as her mom gets a double mastectomy knowing that her dad just lost his job of 14 years all the while suffering with chronic pain and other conditions herself. Too. Much. To. Bear.

In times like this, I often hear folks say things like, "God doesn't give you more then you can handle." I don't know about you, but that always hits me so raw when I am at the end of me and absolutely know that I can NOT handle what's happening very well at all for one more minute.

In those times, what I know God wants us to know in the depths of our soul is this:

God does not ever give us more then HE can handle.

Now, that brings peace. Bring it to His cross, lay down our burdens, and Know that HE is the one handling this in my heart. I don' then go back to the cross and take it back so that I can handle it... I leave it there.

We are just one phone call away from news that can drive us to our knees - like my friend hearing that her young mom has breast cancer - 2 1/2 weeks ago they didn't live in that world and suddenly their reality is breast cancer. Again, I go back to his truth:

God does not ever give us more then HE can handle.

The trouble with being a girl

My heart is so full as I write this. A weekend has passed that was full of friends, smiles, laughter, and even warm sunshine. Saturday was pretty much perfect. StudHusband got up at 5 am to meet one of his best buddies in Bend to go up to Bachelor together. They, both being teachers, avoid the lift ticket costs by hoofing to the top and boarding down. Lots of exercise, sweat, sunshine and then a thrilling ride down, through awesome powder.

Our wildman sprout had his first soccer game of the spring with his daddy as coach and had a blast. He deserves to be so good - he devotes hours to honing his craft every evening. It's what makes him tick right now. He was scoring so many goals, out maneauvering kids like they weren't there, assisting, and defending so much that he was crushing the other team. Finally, Coach DAD, put him in the goalee box to give the other team a chance. The most awesome thing about this little sprout is that he is such an encourager to his teammates. He is turning into such a leader, right before my eyes. Then off to a b-day party he went with his good buddies from school. So, Sprout's heart was also filled up to overflowing this day.


So StudHusband got some friend time in. Wildman Sprout got some friend and soccer time in. And then I, after the encouragement of my friend Tiffany, decided to go ahead and go to our women's tea at church. I did so, only after I could convince one of my closest friends to go with me. Together we went, and had a ball. Surrounded by so many ladies that I have know for years, without kids, or deadlines, we just enjoyed time together.

But what surprised me was how many gals I met that were hesitant to go. The consistent theme was similar to mine - "Well, I didn't really have a role in the tea so I thought I'd just skip it this year." This was the first year I was not on the planning committee or hosting a table or playing the piano...it was the first time I could just go. But for some reason, that causes such turmoil in us ladies. We somehow think we need to have something to DO, in order to be WANTED.

Even with God, we think we need to DO something and all he calls us to do is to be STILL and KNOW THAT I AM GOD!!

I so loved being with my friends just because of who they are...not because they did a thing but simply because our hearts connect. And I think what filled me up the most is that I could tell that they loved being with me, simply because of me.

An hour after getting home from the tea, our good friends Harry and Sally showed up for the rest of the weekend and took us out to dinner.

All that to say, the trouble with being a girl is we can get caught up in DOING and not just BEING. This weekend I got nothing done, did nothing substantial to make anything happen, but I am filled to overflowing because this whole weekend was full of time with friends, phone calls to other friends in need of encouragement, and tons of laughter with my family.

Uncanniness continues

I finished Chateou of Echos (Awesome read!!) and as I hesitated to close the cover, I realized it was because I couldn't help but think to myself, "Now that the book is over, our visitors will probably leave." (You'll need to read this post to understand this!)

I went to bed.

When I woke up, Mountain Man was gone. He left a note and a sweet plaque that says "God Bless our Home". On the back of the plaque he wrote:

"To one of our favorite family and friends: Thank you for opening your home and your hearts to two wanderers seeking togetherness. Harry & Sally

When Harry met Sally, Live at our house this week

and....

He met a lady, named Sally, through A Christian Dating service. They have been writing letters for a month (yes, through the mail - these are 60+ year olds without computers! I LOVE IT!) and they want to meet.

He spent Friday night here and on Sat. drove the 3 hours to get to her house to pick her up and bring her to our house. He wanted a safe, neutral place to get to know her. If they liked each other they'd stay until they were ready to leave...if it didn't go so well, they'd just go home! he wanted our advice on her. He wanted me to kick him under the table if he said anything weird - "cause you know, it's been a long time since I dated a lady."

And now, Live at Our House for the last 5 days was the 2009 version of When Harry Met Sally and I was so giggly about it all weekend, because you know what? They like each other! :)

Modern 60 year olds, they both love things like eating healthy, essential oils, chiropracters instead of doctors, herbs instead of drugs, hiking/biking/ walking instead of shopping/eating at restaurants/computers...

Who would have thought that Mountain Man Harry would have cabinets full of essential oils, supplements like Primrose Oil and CoQ10, and books on his bookshelf like "Wild at Heart" and "Hearing the Voice of God"....

But it makes sense! Harry sums up what my blog is trying to be about - he is a mover, he is a seeker of God in quiet and in service to others, he treats his body right through alternative treatments vowing that he will NEVER take a prescription drug. And the proof is in the pudding - he has more energy than many 30 year olds.

Each evening we get to hear more stories, listen to him read his profound poetry of seeking and finding God out there in the mountains, and he even sang 4 of his own songs to us one night with Princess sprout planted firmly on his knee. Who needs TV or Facebook to entertain us?! This is how folks used to do it, and it's filling up our hearts to the brim.


He is quite famous in his little town - because of the novelty of what he did for 17 years and also because he is such a servant to so many, helping whenever he can.

So, it was not a surprise that Sally liked Harry. And I was so honored that I had the chance to watch this unfold in front of me and that I got the chance to serve a man that has served so many.

Answers to a few questions

1. Wondering what happened with the budget cuts? We just found out and a few of you asked about this. The state is using it's $51 million rainy day fund to fund the shortfalls to districts that qualify. We qualify.

Kids only will lose 1/2 of a day.
Teachers will lose 3 - they will teach one day for free, not teach the 1/2 day, and not get one of their teacher work days. So for us, this means we suddenly we won't get paid about $800 to $1000 that was part of his salary. But, you know what? We'll be OK!! We have faithfully set up our financial spending plan according to the great teachings of Dave Ramsey (www.daveramsey.com) and we are going to be fine. His financial advice is simple: don't spend what you don't have! No credit allowed, period. No borrowing allowed, period. We do owe on our mortgage...but are faithfully paying extra on this every month too so we aren't a slave to this payment for 30 Years. Without any debt, it sure makes life so much simpler.

Anyway, it is enough of a pay cut to make it tricky to pay nearly $10K for the kids schooling next year, so we are still seeking God in this decision.

2. I do still tour with David Klinkenberg when he has a full concert and promoters pay for my ticket. (FUN!!)

3. One comment from a friend said she blogs in place of scrapbooking. I thought I'd alert you all to an awesome, high quality site where you can create digital photo albums and they send you your book in the mail. This company targets professional photographers and they know how to print professiona level books. I never print out my photos anymore. For about $70, I get a large scrapbook that contains nearly 300 photos in it! No cutting, pasting, and sticker collecting. Simple is good!!

High quality printing (much better than the Costco photo books)...tons of space to journal if you choose...full bleed options on pictures. http://www.blurb.com

That's it for now. Have a blessed day!

Faith

This past week I found myself frustrated as I listened to a Christian Sister lecture me about faith. I do not usually like to engage in controversial conversations and often hear myself "agreeing" just to avoid conflict, but I had to take a stand this last week. I am increasingly becoming tired of Christian rhetoric and bad advice that's often hurtful from fellow Christians. It's been a pattern I have encountered for 4 years now, that started with strange and hurtful advice during the years I was sick. Thankfully, no one that I know that reads my blog or goes to my home church has ever said these types of things so I can safely share my thoughts here.

My husband will know in a few weeks how "bad it really is" in this economy as the final numbers come in and the plan is put in place that will undoubtedly reduce our income to an unprecedented low. They actually told them at their staff meeting last week, "don't panic yet, as you don't know what to panic about. You will know on Feb 25th."

StudHusband and I aren't ones to panic but we are ones to plan. If we experience the kinds of cuts that are predicted, one of the options to navigate that lack of money would be to make cuts in areas that we currently are spending in. Logical. So, when I shared why my heart felt heavy this last week to this friend, she began to lecture me that I need to have a spirit of Faith and not Fear. Somehow, sharing to her that it is possible that with these potential major cutbacks coming our kids might not be able to continue at their tuition based Christian school was being "fearful" and not "faithful".

I took this hurtful conversation with me on my run today and chatted with God about it. He impressed this very clearly on my heart: you are to have Faith in ME, daughter, and not faith that the outcome of this situation will be what you are wishing it will be. I am not Santa Claus, I am GOD.

Will you still have faith in me if the future is hard because you have to work more than you ever have, to have the same amount of money you currently have? Will you still have faith in me if you have to cut back in ways you never dreamed you'd have to? Will you still have faith in me if your tomorrows, for a time, are truly challenging?

Or is your faith one where you tell friends, "I have faith that even though these major financial cutbacks are happening, I believe that God is a God of miracles therefore, we will get to continue on as normal because God will do a miracle..."

I absolutely believe with all my heart that if StudHusband's salary cuts are as bad as predicted that one of the potential futures could include miracles that keep things as they are (we keep our house, our kids get to stay in their Christian school, we get to do things we want to do)...but my faith is not going to be proclaiming that I have faith in that particular outcome...I will proclaim a Faith in God...period. Come what may, we will still Love Him and strive to Give Him Glory even if the future that I want is not what future I am going to get.

This "name it and claim it" stuff is turning God into Santa. Instead, I choose to simply proclaim, that :

Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, a]">[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
-Psalm 23

Come what may, we know that we will be walking this valley with God, and that's the Faith that I will talk about.

Does that make any sense?

Keeping a keen eye out!

I love observing and learning and have so many friends around me that naturally seem to know their way around a kitchen better than me. I had a working mom growing up, so I never cooked with mom in the kitchen and started my marriage with basically no understanding of cooking at all. That's strange to me - I spent so many years going to school but was totally unprepared for what I do day in and day out - manage my home!

So, in my early days of being a mom, I remember wandering over to my friend Mandy's house around lunch time and watch her start boiling noodles...then added in flour, butter, and some cheese....instant, homemade mac n' cheese! No preservatives. No Sugar. Just food. Then she'd chop up some apples and put it on a quick platter in the center of a table and we'd be set for lunch. My sweet friend Mandy is just plain good at creating a lunch out of any kitchen.

On other days, I'd find myself in a longer than expected Bible study with my dear friend Ruth...."wanna stay for lunch?" - "sure!"...She'd start chopping all kinds of veggies in what seemed like seconds and stir fry them in a few more minutes and within 15 minutes, we'd be eating fresh stir fried veggies on rice she had brewing in her rice cooker. After lunch, as I clean up, she quietly starts stuffing dates with almonds and has them on the table for the girls - instant dessert!

Then there's Jen - her cabinets are full of nothing but Ball jars with various organic beans and grains in each jar. Eating a mexican meal together means everything is made from scratch while her hubby sits on top of the counter methodically putting balls of dough in the tortilla maker - flattening each one out to a yummy fresh and most delicious burrito wrap.

And finally, my professional chef friend, Sacha, showed up last weekend to my house with the most delicious chocolate chip cookies - she is experimenting with baking without sugar and you'd never guess it! She used apple sauce and honey to create this incredible treat! I will nab the recipe and post it when I get it!

And someone had the non-hydrogenated Adam's Peanut Butter upside down in their cabinet which, I found out, helps the PB and oil mix better so you don't have all the oil at the top. (Adam's PB is a simple way to reduce sugar and hydrogenated oils as it is simply peanuts and salt!)

I have so much to learn but it's good that we are not alone!! Next week, I will feature What's Cookin'? in our kitchen with recipes, tidbits, and more! We'd all love to see what's cookin' in your kitchen so we can learn from you more ways to eat fresher, healthier, and simpler. Just grab the What's Cookin' logo above and paste it in your post next week on a day that you want to share a recipe you are cooking up. Put a link on the logo back to my blog, if you would! Thanks! I need more healthy lunch ideas. I love creating dinners but don't have it in me to do much for lunch.

I MISS YOU my Yerba Mate!!

Still resolved to break my addiction as it has clearly gotten me good this round. Truly, I am noticing that my whole system is more relaxed without the mate energy coursing through me. I like that. I also feel really awake today, even though I was up a ton last night mulling over a very challenging situation in my life right now.

Heart is not palpating funny anymore either.

BUT....as soon as I am convinced that I am free and clear of this ball and chain, I will again indulge in a mate, latte,or whatever else strikes my fancy if I am out with a dear friend. Nothing quite like sipping a hot energy powered cup of joe in the presence of a girl friend.

Just this next time, I will not indulge in the practice alone, every single day, 'till the end of time.

I will be a social drinker. Yes!!!

Just not a closet, need my fix, getting the shakes, don't talk to me before I down my cup kind of drinker.

This will work!!

A moment to just "be"

God has blessed us with wonderful friends in our home town. But for this post, I am going to share a bit about "old" friends. Old and New bless us alike. Here's a look at some friends that have been in our life for about 10 years.

These are friends that have history together - supporting each other in very hard life struggles and exciting victories as we seek to have our lives point to God's glory in it all. It's amazing all the stories wrapped up in these 5 families (missing a few for sure that couldn't make it) - and it's such a blessing to be apart of these stories, walking through life and praying for each other through it all as we go. In these pictures hides life stories like supporting a husband as he finishes his doctorate, enduring the deep grief of losing one's first born at full-term, dealing with a son that might have Asperger's Syndrom (autism), almost losing a 4 year old daughter to Ecoli, adopting a beautiful little girl from India, just returning from a mission trip in China, working through 2 years of major family health issues, moving home after 10 years of living 1000 miles away, grieving together as we lost one of "our own" in Jeanne Hazelton's 3 year battle with Breast Cancer on her 48th b-day, supporting each other as our pastor of 3 young kids nearly died with a sudden brain aneuryism and having the joy more than 10 years later of his miraculous recovery, and working through and becoming stronger in the Lord because of the difficulties that ultimately closed our church down and so much more. The deep sadnesses of life and the triumphs, all shared together, even now as we are spread out across this Oregon land.

2 families at the last minute weren't able to come, and many more families that make up this rich circle of friendship were also not there but the entire Labor Day campout passed in a fast whir of non-stop talking, catching up, religious and political conversations, and tons of laughter.

All Beavers (except for one couple!) from the land of Corvallis, OR, we have similar world views, God views, and political views making conversations rich in depth and infinitely encouraging.

The Girls. All friends since before kids arrived on the scene. Just as happy doing a Victorian Tea party together as we are mountain biking, backpacking, camping, swapping latest book reads or crafting (quilting and scrapbooking being our favorites!) together. It's possible that I am a bit happier camping then a couple of these hardy gals, but they all do it with smiles! I am continuously amazed at the balance these friends seek in their lives between God, personal fitness, professional careers, creative parenting, continuous collegiate education, gardening, and home cooking!

The Guys (mine is the one on the far left). Guys that can talk about God 'till 2 in the morning around a campfire, give each other a good night hug (to say, "even though we don't totally see eye to eye on everything, I love you bro!") , and then get up the next day and rip out a killer mountain bike ride together.

Guy + Girl = LOTS OF KIDS - and here they all are!!

And this final picture, sums up the sentiments of our Labor Day annual camping trip.

Surrounded by wealth

As far back as I can remember, God has always provided amazing people for me to look up to. In running, there were always those faster and stronger for me to look up to and emmulate. In piano, there's always musicians in my life that have been or are inspiring and amazing. In mommyhood, there's always been mom's who challenge me to be better.

It goes on and on.

It's no different now. We are trying hard to eat and purchase things as local as we can and as organic as we can. We have finally gotten into a good rhythym of eating after years of trying, that is healthy and works for our systems, keeping us chugging along well and vibrant. But...

• I could definitely grow more of our own food
• Make more of our own food
• Find local sources for even more of our food

We just ordered our 1/4 of an organic, free-range, pasture fed (no grain) cow from a local lady that I have loved getting to know. SHe has a small operation, just selling by word of mouth. No Concentrated Feed Lot meat for us. Sustainable practices for our earth, bodies, and the animals are real choices that we can all make. This link is a quick look at CAFOs and sustainable food choices: http://www.sustainabletable.org/issues/factoryfarming/

I have local friends that I buy organic veggies from. It's wonderful. Today the kids and I did our weekly trek to their farm and came home with fingerling potatoes, swiss chard, zucchini, beets, corn, beet greens, mixed greens, and bell peppers. All organic. All local. And all fresh. I chatted with Farmer Rob all morning and got to show the kiddos exactly who grew their food, where it was grown, and a bit of how it was grown. And then I handed my FRIEND money!! Not some conglomerate, where food is shipped thousands of miles, using tons of petroleum just to get it to my store shelf, but instead, I handed money to my FRIEND, for his well being in my own town!!

Then we went off to the little older couple we love to get our raw goat milk. Handed them our money, petted the goats with the kids, and made a date to come back next week with the whole family to help them milk the goats.

It felt good but the 3rd errand of the day included sock purchases at Wal-Mart where we had no choice but to buy "Pakistan" and "Honduras" made socks. Any local sock makers around? I'll happily drive to your house and get them. My money just got sucked into the Wal-Mart Cauldron - not sure who it's going to benefit, but at least my Wildman Sprout's feet will be cozy in his shoes, I sadly reasoned.

I try to improve our purchasing dollar direction but it's one step at a time.

It's nice that in my home town, I am surrounded by lots of great friends that grow amazing gardens of all sizes. I have much to learn, and am surrounded by a wealth if knowledge in the people I know. Check out http://creatinggoodsoil.blogspot.com/ . Featured their is one of those friends God Has blessed me with that knows so much about cultivating the earth. A few streets away from her is our friend, Jen, who shocks and awes me with all she knows about canning, soap making, gardening, quilting...and up the road our friend Ruth cultivates the prettiest garden with winding paths throughout it. All of us nearly giggle when the parsley and oregano of last year reseed and come back to life the next summer.

Then there's my own dad, wildlife and fisheries biologist himself, who has always cultivated large gardens, orchards, and proudly displays something in bloom every day of the year in his yard.

It makes it easier to try to eat right and grow good food and stay active when it's the norm for those around you for sure.

Sigh**** I have so much to learn!!

I am off to boil the milk for our latest pursuit - learning how to make our own cheese!! Can't wait to get rid of the preservatives that come with store cheese and make our own organic cheese, made from goats milked in a nearby farm this morning!