Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 ESV Thanksgiving is a sweet holiday. It’s a time to pause in reflective thankfulness to God our Father. It’s a time to enjoy family and friends… Read More Thankfulness
Stephen and I were excited to see one of our favorite bands play live in Lake Oswego this October. The Gray Havens are a husband/wife duo, Dave and Licia Radford, who write and perform narrative pop folk music, drawing heavily on themes from C.S. Lewis and Tolkien. In fact, their band name is taken from… Read More The Gray Havens
Wait. What? I haven’t had this much homework in years. My brain is just a little bit fried. This September was an avalanche of things/programs starting all at once. Not only did we have Silas’s start to school and soccer, but Stephen and I have begun volunteering in children’s ministry at church after a year… Read More Homework, Homework
Summer vacation began with a bang as we hosted our housewarming party during a triple digit heat wave in late June. We enjoyed time with neighbors and friends from both church and school. Swim lessons were a staple nearly every weekday until mid-August. Silas finally advanced to Level 2. Hooray! Stephen attended weekly classes for… Read More Summer Recap
One year ago on July 1st we moved into our home here in Oregon. We were warmly welcomed by our neighbors and were immediately incorporated into the community’s Fourth of July bike parade/party in the park. Can’t wait for this year’s Independence Day celebration! On our one year Oregonniversary we drove to Cannon Beach with our… Read More Oregonniversary
Christ’s death and resurrection are the crux of our faith. So, for the past couple of years I’ve been thinking about how we can celebrate a Christ-focused Easter. I wrote about the beginnings of our Easter traditions last year. Stephen has reminded me many, many times that he doesn’t want us to force traditions into… Read More In Search of Easter Traditions
There is more More than all this pain More than all the falling down And the getting up again There is more More than we can see From our tiny vantage point In this vast eternity There is more Our hearts were awakened to music and emotion through the art of Andrew Peterson. We began… Read More The Stories Are True
That’s what we do each Sunday. When we gather, when we sing our faith, when we listen to the Word, when we share the bread and cup. We strengthen one another. That’s what we do each day of the week. When we pray for each other, when we confess our sins to one another, when… Read More Building Each Other Up
Any day feels like Christmas when you treat it like Christmas! We celebrated our family Christmas in Oregon on December 10th since we were planning a two week trip back east. We invited our new-found friends, Steve and Debbie over for breakfast and opening presents. I’m loving sharing Christmas with friends! Because of the early… Read More Our First Christmas in Oregon
Between two birthdays and Thanksgiving all in the same month, Novembers are busy with celebrations around here. Because we’ve settled into life here in Oregon, our family calendar was a lot fuller this past month. I volunteered in Silas’s classroom twice and hope to do it more. His teacher’s love for her students and love… Read More Around Here