{this moment}

:: makin' our way to the pumpkin patch ::

kaua'i beauty & fall memory work

James 1:1-10

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect

and complete, lacking in nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to
all without reproach, and it will be given him.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one

who doubt is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything

from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation,
because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.

For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass;

its flower falls, and its beauty perishes.
So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits

Our curriculum has us memorizing the book of James this year. We are being VERY
ambitious and taking a go at it. I am continually amazed at how quickly my children can
memorize.... and how difficult it is for me. There truly is something about hiding
God's word in "little hearts". I figure the more I can get stored away in their
little minds, the better-off they are going to be later in life, especially
when tempted to sin or be discouraged. The Holy Spirit often brings verses
I learned, as a child, to my mind to encourage me.

I've been thinking on suffering a lot lately. We've been faced with the deaths of three friends
this past month. Though we were not incredibly close to these individuals,
we have friends and family who were. Our grieving has not so much been one of personal loss,
but one of empathy and the reality of this fallen, sinful world.

Compared to so many, I have not suffered very much thus far in life. God's Word says that
He uses suffering to sanctify us, to make us more like Jesus. My flesh and my heart cries
out against that. Sometimes it just seems so unfair that that is the reality. I want to grow.
I want to be like Jesus. But I don't want to suffer and I don't want to see dear,
godly men and women suffering. The interesting thing is, when I look at some of
these men and women, and hear their testimonies of what the Lord is bringing them through,
they have amazing hope, confidence, and grace from the the Lord.
It humbles me, and it gives me courage.
I know that if and when the Lord brings trials into my life, He is going to be with me.
Right now, I don't have the grace that I would need for those situations,
so there is no use trying to imagine how I would feel or what I would do.
I just know grace will come when I need it.

AND, as far as the little trials I am experiencing simply from being a homeschooling mom of five?
The Lord is using them to sanctify me. To make me more like Jesus.
As far as the spiritual desert that I sometimes feel like I am in?
The Lord is using it to sanctify me. To make me more like Jesus.
I know we cannot, and should not, belittle the "little trials" that we go through.
They are ALL a means, tools, in the hands of our dear Savior
to make us "steadfast.... perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

So Father, make us faithful. 
Give us daily grace to overcome our sin. 
May we bear fruit.
May we rely on You when things are difficult,
and not on our own strength. 
May we not be blind to what You are teaching us
through our little "daily trials." 
May we TRUST in you and Your good, sovereign hand,
that when bigger, "life-changing," trials come our way,
You will be with us, 
giving us the grace we need to endure
and to count it all joy.
Amen

To read the stories of some women who are going through "life-changing" trials,
.... and are glorifying God, and living triumphantly in their suffering and grief....
go here to read about Robin's journey after the loss of her husband,
and go here to read about Erin's journey with breast cancer.
...Two dear women who have become mentors for me as I watch and learn from afar! 

{this moment}

:: maddie's surprise visit from San Diego to see ellie ::

snap-shots of Kaua'i

Last week, the pastor and I had the wonderful opportunity to fly across the Pacific

..... to Kaua'i!! 

Our former church in San Diego, had gifted us this trip, 

and we had every intention of going alone, until we realized that we could

request a two-bedroom condo for no additional cost. 

We decided to ask some long-time friends if they would be

interested in joining us.... and to our delight they accepted our invitation! 

SO, after a pretty stressful week of preparation (this was the first time we had left our five for this long,

and to say the least, I was a bit anxious!!), we left our sweet children in the able

hands of Num Num and Papa, and boarded our plane. 

I will say, it took me a couple of days to relax, but once I did it was wonderful!!  

We had the unit directly behind that "Lika-Lani" sign..... which included three porches.

We could see the ocean from our bedroom window and fell asleep to 

the wind and waves each night. Directly across the street were these sights....

Of course we had to experience a luau.

It was fabulous....especially the entertainment and that salted pig :)

One day we hiked about 5 miles in the Waimea Canyon State Park.

This is considered the "Grand Canyon" of Kaua'i. 

It was breath-taking! 

The next day, we boarded a Catamaran and headed up the west coast of the island. 

We stopped and snorkeled.... which was a highlight.

(In fact, the pastor enjoyed it so much that we decided to snorkel again the next day! 

He rented a camera so he could take pictures of the fish and underwater video too.

He swam with a sea-turtle and wowed the kids with his footage!!)

After snorkeling, we headed on up to see the very beautiful Napali coast.

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it so much as I got sea-sick. 

Don't think I'll be taking any more boat rides for a very long time!! 

Being the coffee lovers that we are, the pastor and I had to visit the

Kaua'i Coffee Plantation.... I will say, it was hard to want to drink coffee

when we were so hot and sticky!! The Northwest sure feeds that love of ours

since we are always so chilly here. Anyway,

it was so cool seeing the coffee plants and bringing home some Kaua'i coffee!! 

A few more stops included:

the Wailua Falls and River

This was a once in a life-time experience....

and we will always cherish these memories!

Thank you NCPC, and specifically Virginia,

 for this WONDERFUL opportunity.

You made our dreams a reality!

We are so grateful. 

{this moment}

:: watching the sunset in Kaua'i with my man :: 

{this moment}

:: look what #1 got this week..... isn't she ADORABLE?! ::

look at her go

Sweet Ellie has had such a wonderful experience this fall playing soccer. 

The "Hammerheads" have currently played 4 games.... won 2 and lost 2.

The pictures below happened to be her first game of the season,

and you can tell by the last picture whether they won or lost that game! 

Her coach has been wonderful, having four of his own girls playing....

How we love watching our children find "their thing".....
and soccer is definitely Ellie's sport!

We have recently discovered that Ellie has grown an entire
inch this summer. To say the least,
we have had to do a bit of shopping as of late
since all her fall/winter clothes are too small now.
She can now wear my shoes.
now, THAT IS CRAZY!!
My first-born is growing up so quickly,
as are all my little ones.
I'm ever reminding myself to cherish each day I have with them,
because before I can blink they will all be grown.

I hope to share a few more things about #1 later this week....
so stay tuned!