Love the Lord our God

January 10, 2011 marked the rebirth of Samantha Jane Reeder as our sister in Christ. That's right folks, our dear Sami asked the Lord to be her Savior and for the Holy Spirit to fill her heart! It was nothing short of amazing and completely inspiring to see the innocence and trust of a child. I don't know that she even fully understood what had happened, it was completely Spirit inspired and led. Sami had actually been in a little bit of trouble that evening. Cory had taken her into her room to talk to her about her behavior. A little while into it I saw him come out and get his Bible. Finally, 30 minutes after that, Cory emerges with tears streaming down his cheeks. I wasn't quite sure what had happened, almost scared to ask. But when he started telling me what had unfolded in that room...I was amazed and full of joy. The two of them had a good conversation and when it was done Cory had told her to go ahead and pray on her own that night. She asked if he would just stay with her while she prayed, so he did. They knelt by the bed and she began praying. Before Cory knew it, she was asking the Holy Spirit to "come into her heart." After hearing what had happened, I went into her room with tears now streaming down my face and gave her a huge hug! She looked a little confused....I told her, "honey, you're my sister in Christ...we'll be together forever in heaven now." She says back, "I wasn't going to heaven before?? I've always loved Jesus Mommy!." Oh...how I love that girl and even more love our Lord who chose Sami to be part of His flock!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

We have had the most wonderful past 2 weeks celebrating the holidays with family and friends! We had four different Christmas celebrations, 2 holiday parties, a trip to Hartland Christian Camp and New Year's with family we hadn't seen in too long! My Grandma Horton (who lives in North Carolina) has been here for the last couple of months and has been able to spend the holidays with all of us, not to mention meet the kids for the first time! We spent the weekend before Christmas celebrating with my brother and his family, Christmas Eve at my parents, Christmas Day at our house and the next day with the Reeder's. The kids were spoiled rotten, we all ate to much and laughed even more. It was wonderful! A couple days later we then went up to Hartland Christian Camp and spent 2 days there before heading home for New Year's. An old friend/family Lars and his mom (from Denmark) were able to spend New Year's Eve with us as they traveled through the area to cap off a month full of celebrating and memories! We are so blessed...and exhausted!

Drama King

Selfless

As Christmas season was approaching, we knew we wanted to do something to help show our kids that there is more than toys and gifts. It was also the first Christmas without my Grandma. So we came up with what turned out to be a wonderful event! We invited over several family friends and all the cousins for a "Cookies, Crafts & Christmas" Celebration that was all about giving back. We had a table set up for decorating cookies, a table for decorating ornaments and my Grandma's Christmas tree that was always set up in her room at Westgate Gardens, where she had lived for the past couple of years. The kids had so much fun decorating the tree and filling a tray with beautiful Christmas cookies. There were a few moments of the "I wants" since we made a point that the kids could not eat any of the cookies decorated or keep any of the ornaments. But they were actually the perfect moments to teach about being selfless and putting others before ourselves. Gotta plant that seed at some point, right?! We all then drove over to Westgate Gardens and presented our gifts to the residents there and many of Grandma's close friends. We all held hands and Cory prayed a blessing over the gifts and people gathered. With tear filled eyes we hugged and celebrated this holiday. It may have been our first Christmas without Grandma, but it was her first Christmas with the Lord - and that is a reason to celebrate! And the kids, whether they liked it or not, began to learn the true meaning of CHRISTmas!