Merry Christmas 2011

Our family wanted to say "Merry Christmas" to our friends and family and we thought what better way to do it, then with a story. A true story told by our family, whose lives are changed forever. Why?

Because

A

Baby

Changes

Everything

!!!

We all know it, that a baby changes everything. There isn't a person who will read this that hasn't experienced the birth of a child in some way. And no matter how you experience a new baby, no matter what role you play in a new baby's life, the one common ground is that a baby changes everything. For our family, this hits very close to our hearts. This year we were blessed beyond our biggest dreams to welcome our new son and little brother, Isaiah Michael. And what a miracle he is. And although we cherish every moment we have had him, the one thing that the four of us know is that this little boy changed our lives forever.

For Christmas, we want to share with you a Baby. This Baby is for everyone. Born into humble beginnings, this Baby is for all people. And like our little Isaiah who changed our lives forever, this Baby changed everything for all people forever. He is the most amazing gift and the blessed hope of all who will just believe.

 This is the greatest truth ever told.

The call came to a young couple about 2000 years ago.

What did God call for?

He called for obedience.

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

Matthew 1:24

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered, ""may it be to me as you have said."

Luke 1:38

In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world... And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 

Luke 2:1-5

 ... there was no room for them in the inn.

Luke 2:7b

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger...

Luke 2:6-7a

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.

Luke 2:8-16

²² All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ²³ “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Matthew 1:22-23

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

:

May your season of celebrating the birth of Christ be feeled with wonder and awe as we think back on the baby who truly changed everything.

Merry Christmas from:

Joshua David, playing Joseph.

Abigail Grace, playing Mary.

Isaiah Michael, playing Baby Jesus

and of course Merry Christmas from the parents

of these future stars and precious cargo,

 Brent and Kari.

May God bless you and keep you.

May God shine His face upon you.

May God give you His favor and His peace.

1000 Gifts #90 - 107

I have alot to do today, but I didn't want to miss out on counting the graces I have been given. I love this part of my week where I can share them with everyone.

90. My daughter accepting Jesus into her heart this past week.
91. Being a stay at home Mom and being there in that moment.
92. Getting to pray with my daughter to ask Jesus into her heart.
93. A husband who serves his family well so I can stay at home.
94. Decisons being made!!!
95. Our future, I don't know what it is, but our God does.
96. Finally raking up the leaves with the kids this weekend and watching them play in them. So much joy.
97. Joshua smiling his "all gums" smiles. We get these on the weekends. When he is not so exhausted from school. We get those joyful, full of life smiles, again. We treasure every one of them, we really do.
98. A sweet friend giving me a Walk Through the Bible Keyword Learning System. They are a set of flashcards that have 1-3 word descriptions of each book of the Bible. It will be such a huge learning tool. I am so excited to teach them to Joshua and Abigail as well as learn them myself. 
99. Saturdays and Sundays and just being together, the five of us... no matter where we go or if we just stay home.
100. Looking forward to lots of family time over the holidays with extended family.
101. The public library.
102. Walmart's cookie club. Abigail loves her free cookie (so does Momma). It makes shopping so much more of a pleasant experience.
103. 2 full nights of sleep. Isaiah slept through the night the past two nights. He is such a easy baby.
104. Isaiah's "trooper" attitude. He got his first tooth this past weekend and we didn't even know our boy was teething. And by the way, what baby gets a tooth at 12 weeks. Joshua and Abigail were 8-9 months before getting their first tooth.
105. Abigail's excitement over gettting to go to Ms Christine's house tomorrow. Ms Christine is her bible class teacher from last year and Abigail LOVES her. She has been counting the days until tomorrow.
106. Getting to go with Brent (and of course Isaiah... never leave home without him) last Friday night to get Christmas presents for our kiddos.
107. God's provision for gifts for our kiddos.

Abigail Grace makes "her" decision

So, here I am at the end of a long week. One that to be honest, I didn't expect to end well. As you have been reading on my blog, many things are going on here at our household. There are lots of decisions being prayed about and made by Brent and me. But that is not what this post is about. This post is about a little 3 yr old girl named Abigail Grace. She made a decision today that will change the rest of her life, it changes her eternity!!

Here's what happened.

Abigail and I were sitting at the table eating lunch. Well, she was eating and I was feeding Isaiah. But, we were all at the table together. Abigail and I were talking about our morning so far and she says this out of the blue.

"God and Jesus sure are getting messy."

"What Abigail?"

"God and Jesus sure are getting messy, Momma."

"What do you mean?"

"God and Jesus, they are in my belly and they are getting messy."

"They are?"

She starts laughing and says, "No, not really, silly Momma. They are in my heart."

I say, "They are? How do you know?"

She shrugs her shoulders.

I say, "Have you ever asked them into your heart?"

She shakes her head no.

"Do you want to ask them into your heart?"

She shakes her head up and down as fast as she possibly could with the biggest grin on her face.

I say, "Well, if you want we can pray and do that, but I want to ask you a few questions first."

She looks at me with the most wierdest face and says, "Okay, why?"

"Well," I say, "Mommy wants to know that you understand what Jesus did for you first."

Her response without hesistation, "He died on the cross for me."

"Yes, He did. Do you know why He died on the cross for you?"

She says, "So I can be with Him forever in heaven."

My heart immediately says to myself that she's got it, she knows, stop asking questions. But my mind, wanted to make sure that she really knew what she was saying. All the while, I am asking more and more questions, the look on her face is saying to me, why are you asking me these silly questions Momma. They are no brainers. Why wouldn't I know the answers to these questions. Doesn't everybody?

I continued to ask a couple of more questions and finally I stopped. What started as me making sure she knew what faith in Jesus was, ended with her showing her Momma's heart all over again what faith in Jesus really is.

It is belief in Him. No doubts, no questions... just genuine heart belief in Jesus Christ.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

So we prayed together. Afterwards, I look up and she is beside herself with excitement. She is beaming and she says to me, "Can we do it again, Momma? Can we pray again."

"Yes, Abigail, we can."

So we prayed again. Then she asks me, "Momma, people who don't believe in Jesus, they don't go to heaven?"

"No, baby girl, they don't."

"I do, I want to go to heaven now Momma. Can I go. Can I go to heaven and be with Jesus?"

I said, "Abigail, you know those people we just talked about. Those people who don't know Jesus."

"Yes, " she said.

"You can't go to heaven yet. Jesus wants you to tell all the people who don't know about Him that He loves them and died for them too, so they can believe and go to heaven too."

"Oh, okay Momma. I will."

And there is no doubt in this blessed, proud Mommy's heart that she will.

She will go.

She will tell.

Thank you Jesus, thank you for her sweet gift of salvation and thank you for the sweet, sweet gift that you have given Brent and me in being her parents. I know this is the beginning of a long, amazing journey that you have for our little girl. May she always look to You and to Your Word for truth and guidance. 

Help her go.

Help her tell the world that you love them too.

In the name of Jesus. The only name that saves.

Amen.

Luke 18:17

"Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Matthew 18:1-4

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Isaiah Michael - 12 weeks

Our boy is 12 weeks today!! He is growing by leaps and bounds and this, people, is no lie!! Just look at this picture I took of him last night. Those cheeks are more then this Mommy can take. I have to eat on them all the time. Those eyes are about as pure as I have ever seen. A teacher at my BSF class said it to me in the most profound way. She said, "Aww, babies. So fresh from God." So true. This little boy is definately fresh from our God and I see it in his eyes and in his sweet, oh so sweet, smile everyday. Even the way he sounds, he is just so special and so unique.

I am so in love with this boy of mine.

Here is the pic from last night.

And this was taken yesterday. I caught him with his thumb in his mouth and he was going at it. 

Isaiah is smiling all the time now. He absolutely loves to talk and be talked to. He is awake and aware of his surroundings most of the time and wants to be right in the middle of whatever is going on. He is still waking up in the middle of the night, but that's okay. I mean he is already 3 months. I am cherishing this time with him. It goes by TOO fast! He still loves to eat. I would say what he likes to do the most is just to be laid down in the floor on a blanket. He seems to feel so big and right in the middle of everything. He talks and giggles the whole time he is there and watches us all go around the house doing whatever it is we are doing. If you look at him when you pass by, his excitement is undeniable. He'll start smiling and talking and those chubby legs start going. Isaiah is such a happy baby and it is hard to not be happy when you are around him. He is contagious.

.

Happy 12 weeks Lil Man!!

We love you!

1000 Gifts #74-89

HARD times are "those" times when I must give thanks.

I must remember.

I must call on Him, the only one.

He is all I have.

Alot of people in my life, people I love dearly, people I love the most in this temporary world... they, don't understand that, they simply don't get it.

And that, my dear friends, breaks me.  Right now, when what in reality it seems like I should be thinking and writing about is the fact that things just really aren't going my way or the way I thought things should go. I get on here to ask for prayer, prayer for the 5 of us. For guidance and direction. That isn't where God is taking this, because it is right now that God is taking my heart to those in my life that don't have God to turn to in hard times. Everyday is a reminder to me that there are people everywhere that don't know the grace that I walk in everyday. And what breaks me, what brings me to my knees,draws tears to my eyes and gives me that feeling in my stomach that makes me what to vomit, is those who know, but simply don't want it.

So yes, while my family needs your prayers for God to guide us at this fork in the road, I humbly ask you to fall to your knees in prayer for those in our lives (yours and mine) who don't have God to guide them. Pray for their eternity, because yes, we all need guidance in this world. But it is temporary. This world, that is. This world is temporary.

But eternity, that isn't.

IT ISN'T TEMPORARY.

Today, I am counting my graces and giving thanks to Him, the author and perfector of my salvation, Jesus Christ.

74. It is in His name (the name of Jesus), that I am cleansed and forgiven.
75. It is in His name (the name of Jesus), that my eternity that awaits me is not uncertain, but is forever with Him.
76. That whoever calls on the name of Jesus and believes in his heart and confesses with his mouth that Jesus died and rose again, SHALL BE SAVED. There are no buts here, there are no stimpulations. Everyday is a new day and today can be the day, anyone right where they are (no perfection is needed, Jesus did that for you already) can forever be changed.
77. The law has been fulfilled and we are under grace, you and me, we can walk in it, this beautiful grace... everyday, we can count the graces all around us, even when we face trials of all kinds (just like me, right now.)
78.That one day with Jesus changes everything.
79.For prayer, where would I be without it.
80. For the Word, it is here, God confirms.
81. going to Tulsa this past weekend to see my side of the family. Oh, the joy it brings my kids.
82. my niece Lyla, FINALLY, coming to her Aunt Kari, without hesistating.
83. a van that takes us all to Tulsa in comfort and the amazing technology of a DVD player in the car that allows it to somewhat be a pleasant experience.
84. a no church Sunday, just the 5 of us in our pjs all day. No agenda, just being here, together.
85. walking into the kitchen this morning to my two oldest kids singing, "the wise man builds his house upon the rock, the wise man builds his house upon a rock..." What truth, these two lil souls have in their hearts.
86. Joshua this morning saying to me as He is gettting out of the van to go into school and he is kissing his lil brother, "Oh, Mom, he is serious. He doesn't want me to go, he wants me home with him." I say, "Yes, Joshua, he does and so do I." and him, "I know, Mom, I am special." How do they get it and we don't. We are all that special. God wants us with Him all the time. I pray He never lets that go, that my boy always knows just how special he is.
87. Singing No Matter What with Abigail, her favorite song. She belts it out, I tell you.
"No matter what, I'm gonna love you. No matter what, I'm gonna trust you" --these kids, they continue to teach me at every moment. I thought I was suppose to be the one teaching them.
88. My husband turning around one last time before he turns the corner to get in his car this morning, just to look at me, just to say, "I love you".
89. the Little People Nativity under our tree and the amazing play we have had with it this past week, telling the story of Christmas over and over.


As far as what I started writing this post about, in time, I will be catching you up on all these decisions that are needing to be made in our family. There are many of them and while I want to share them, I know I am not suppose to right now. So if you could and God brings it to your mind, please send a prayer to the only One who is leading us. It is Him, we are seeking. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

1000 Gifts #53-73

This dare is changing me. More often then not, I see things differently. It is transforming my heart. I know that is saying alot, but it is true. I only stumbled across Ann Voskamp and her website by accident (or was it?) just a little over a month ago. I haven't read her book, One Thousand Gifts, yet. But still, reading her words as she speaks of the Word has only encouraged me to relax, take deep breaths, and look around. The life God has graced me with is nothing less the beautiful. I am a blessed woman. And even in the darkest times, the hard times, if I open my eyes... I can see that. And really those times, make the graced things of life all the more beautiful, don't they?

53. Slowing down
54. www.aholyexperience.com
55. hard decisions and the night after night talks with Brent.. together, seeking the Lord, on HIS will and way for our family
56. Daddy unexpectedly taking the two oldest kiddos on Sat morning for 2 hours and baby sleeping the entire time -- alone time with God
57. Isaiah sleeping the entire night (yes, 8pm - 5am)
58. Isaiah's smiles and contentment. He is such a happy, sweet, baby. He is all joy to us.
59. Abigail and her cat bandaid on her head (pic is to follow).
60. A family night and the Journey to Bethlehem.
61. Brent and I - our values, our way of life and learning that being different is okay.
62. God's ways and not mine
63. Taking Joshua to school late this morning and having time with him.
64. Watching the relationship between my kids and how much they love each other.
65. A late night football game with a friend.
66. Staying up late with my hubs and watching a funny movie.
67. the kids excitement as they learn to climb trees
68. the countdown to cousin Lyla's bday and spending another day with our family in Tulsa
69.my husband's belief in me
70. Abigail learning to zip her jacket all by herself and the joy that flows from her lil heart.
71. Abigail's excitement to go to BSF.
72. Seeing Isaiah all bundled up in his coat and hat.
73.The joy that comes from Joshua's heart as he watches his sister zip her jacket for the 1st time. Sweetness that one would have to see to know.

I get that, that sweetness.
I get to see these things.
I get to know and live the graced things I am given.
I get only because HE gave.

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

 Abigail getting ready to go to BSF (Bible class).

Need I say more? I think this picture does itself justice. 

Climbing higher and higher everyday.

Abigail is right behind him. 

Mommy and my lil Man

He may have been late to school this morning, but I don't care.. this is what we all got instead.

Want to join the dare?

http://www.aholyexperience.com" target="_blank">http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff162/annvoskamp/multitudesonmondaysbutton2-1.jpg" >

Answers to Slowing Down

I love HIS faithfulness.

He knows me.

Everything in me, He sees.

He knows where He has brought me and He knows where He is taking me.

Yesterday, I wrote a post on slowing down. Today, I read this...
http://www.aholyexperience.com/2011/12/the-most-important-place-to-be/

I love how He answers my prayers.

Be all here: and be holy. Because the Presence of I AM always fills the present moment.
-Ann Voskamp

“Wherever you are, be all there.”

-Jim Elliot

I am learning to do these very things and what encouragement my God is to me to give me these truths.

I love how my God knows me.

I love how He sees me.

 I love where my God has brought me and I love where my God is taking me.

Sloooowing down

Don't you just LOVE decisions?

Hear the sarcasm?!?

No, really. Brent and I are at a place right now where decisions needing to be made are flying at us from the left and right. We thought after finding a house, moving, Joshua starting school, and Isaiah being born, things might slow down a little. Boy, were we wrong. We have had tons on our minds lately and with the lack of sleep any parents with little ones have, our minds aren't so clear. Or at least we aren't trusting them to be.

I am not writing this post to lay all of our decisions that need to be made out, but simply to just say, life is fast and having kiddos makes it even faster. Time seems to disappear and as you know, it doesn't come back. I hate that feeling. I want to make my moments last. I want to savor in these times of having little ones. I want to cherish the time of being a parent alongside Brent and having him as my partner in life. I want to make each day count.

How do you do that?
How do you slow down?

And how, oh how, do you do it now... the busiest time of the year for almost every family in America?

Lately, I have be reading alot about Advent and I am loving want I am learning. I don't know to much about it and until this year didn't really even know about it all. What I am learning though is fascinating and is definately got me wondering if our family should be celebrating it. (Again, yet, another decision)  For Christians, the season of Advent serves as a reminder both of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians for Christ's return. In simple words, it is about slowing down. Remembering the anticaption of the Christ child, born to save the world, you and me. For 25 days, families all over take time together to focus on the events up to the birth of Christ. Families read scripture, most from the old testament, that tell of what is to come.  Their is an anticipation from children as they learn that all scripture points to Jesus and to that day in the manger when our Savior, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, was born.

How aweseome is that?

When the world is screaming all around us, screaming to our kids...

-Christmas trees
-Lights
-Santa Claus (oh, don't get me started on this one... it ain't purty)
-presents
-busy schedules

That families are taking time out, slowing down, and anticipating what the birth of Christ really means.

Isn't this what Christmas is all about?

Celebrating and remembering the beautiful baby boy, a King, born into humble beginnings, who came so He could die.

Die for you and die for me.

I want to learn more about Advent and more about other ways to slow down and take in the things that really matter. I want my life to count for eternity. I want to live my life storing up treasures that cannot be destroyed.

¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; ²¹ for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

Matthew 6:19-21