Thankful Thursday, once again!

Oh, happy, sunshiney, COLD Thursday! Here's this week's top 10:

1) I am thankful for those 4 students who gave their lives to Christ last night at theWELL. So amazing to see God use our youth group this way!!

2)...for my cozy, cozy, bed. I may be a little tooooo thankful for this one...it's hard to motivate myself to get OUT of it on cold mornings like today!

3) For volvo guys. They all seem to talk a lot, and are a definitly a special breed...and now that we have one in Durango, I know Moeisha will be well taken care of :)

4)...Mumbling Marmot Tutoring. It's given me a chance to help provide for our family, do something I love, and not have to go our and hunt down clients for myself. I love seeing kids "get it"!

5) Heating pads. Adam gave me one for my birthday the week before we got engaged...to him, a great gift, since I'm always cold; to me, not so much when I was hoping for a ring! But I use it constantly, and, as Adam likes to remind me...it's a great gift.

6)....fun, responsible girls who love my son and whom he LOVES... and whom we absolutly trust to watch our little guy.

7) Books. I love reading. Adam would say a little too much at times...I just love to lose myself in a great adventure sometimes.

8) Sweet new miracle babies on their way. Can't wait to meet baby Onions and baby Strietzel! Doesn't matter how many babies come at once...each one is exciting!

9) Bargian-hunting mothers....Children's Place fuzzy jammies for $4??? Woohoo!!

10) Music.

10)

Funny!

Overheard tonight as I made dinner....

Pax: yelling and screaming (and fighting, I'm sure) as Adam put him on the changing table.
Adam: Tell ya what. I'll make you a deal: You learn to go potty (on the toilet), and I'll stop changing your diaper.

ooohhh, if only it were that easy!

Thankful Thursday...it's been awhile!

1) Chocolate chip cookies. yummy, still-gooey ones...with milk.
2) Praise Baby. It's such a fun idea...like Baby Einstein but to worship songs. Pax loves it! Seriously, it's the only thing I've ever seen that gets him to sit still for more than 5 seconds at a time.
3) Good French bread.
4) funny babies who make up little sentences they think are perfect..."I go up!" When he wants to get off the bed, for example...
5) Brown Bear Brown Bear, Dr. Seuss's ABCs, Go Dog Go, and the ladybug book.
6) my husband. For so many different reasons...
7) For family who is so supportive of us.
8) for sweet little nieces who snuggle up next to your leg and let you stroke their hair for no particulr reason.
9) That we live in a country where there have been a peaceful transfers of power for over 200 years.
10) For exercise, and the way it makes me feel after words...like I can do almost anything!

Pax's first haircut!

Last night we had dinner with some good friends of ours in Bayfield. At some point, I realized that Pax's beautiful baby curls were the same length as their 2 1/2 year old daughter's...and they are trying to grow her hair out. Now, I know Pax has a lot of hair and it's totally sweet to see his little curls; but a mama can only take so many people asking if her sweet little boy is, in fact, a little girl because of said curls. So. Fast forward to mid-morning..Adam and I decided to just go for it. I got out the scissors and comb, Adam got out a towel and his high chair, we made him some chocolate milk (a bribery trick I learned from my fellow mom-friend, Jill..P had never tried it before, so we thought it might get him to hold still!) and we put on the wonder that is Praise Baby. Like Baby Einstein, but to praise music...it's like a drug to Pax. He actually stops EVERYTHING else and sits (or stands) compleatly still and captivated through about 3/4 of it. We strapped him in the chair and I went to work! It worked perfectly...he was so mesmorized by Praise Baby, I don't think he even noticed I was doing anything until I got to the front and accidentally got in his way. While I was cutting off the beautiful curls (somehow, it was easier to cut them off myself than it would have been to have someone else do it...) Adam was snapping away, so we ended up with about 40 pictures of the momentous occasion. I won't bore you with all of them, but here are a few! and yes, i did keep a few of the curls for his baby book.

Snipping station Bleger...seriously couldn'y care less, if Praise baby was on!

The "big Boy" haircut, enjoying the last of praise baby..he doesn't look like a little baby anymore!

Please Pray and ...?

UPDATE: 1:00 pm...just got a call from Adam. Graham, their teenage son, has appendicitis and is currently waiting to go into surgery.Please pray for low pain, for the surgeons to be able to get to it before it explodes, and for Graham to heal very quickly. This family is just getting overwhelmed right now...so I am doing one of the only things I CAN at the moment asking for you to pray. Adam is at the hospital right now, so I'll know more soon.


For those who don't live in durango: I didn't blog yesterday, as we were busy trying to help in the small (and seeming so inadequate!) ways we could, but our senior pastor's home caught on fire yesterday morning. Our pastor was out of town, his wife at home with 6 of their kids-4 under the age of 5. It has been a stunning, sobering day or so for us...more so for them. The inside of their home is a compleate loss; they are still unsure if the structure can be saved. Please pray for them: for strength for all but especially Dwight as father; for peace for them all, but especially Linn...this has devestated her and shaken her to her core, as i imagine it would any mom who saw one of their worst fears realized. For provision. They need so much- with 6 kiddos at home and nothing salvaged, no clothes, no diapers, no toothbrushes...we have been working to get drop-off locations fixed, so if you are in the Durango area and want to help contact the River Church or drop off at Durango Joe's on College. Emma and Graham, their two teenagers at home (15 and 14, I think) are part of our youth group, so we are trying to help on many levels...thank you, friends, for your prayers.

A great weekend!

This past weekend was fabulous! Not really all that different than other weekends; but blog worthy! Starting Thursday night, we went out to dinner with our friends Ben and Lisa at Gazpachos, a delish Mexican resturant that I love and haven't been to for a loooong time....as we left the resturant, one of them mentioned something about an ice cream cake-we thought they were joking, but about 10 minutes later, they showed up at our house with a Dairy Queen ice cream cake! Yum!! Friday was mellow...just hangin' as a family, making sweet potato fries...it's becoming our 'Sabbath' and is a very sweet time. Saturday we went snowshoeing with a couple of other families. I've only been once, and Adam had never been. It was so fun! The two other couples we went with are both quite a bit older than us (the Gherratys, whom Adam lived with for a short time when we moved back here, and some of their friends), but their kids are around the same age- 5, 5, 3, and about 7 months. Pax was THRILLED because there were "big boys" there and even walked in his snow boots without a second thought because he wanted to keep up (last time we put them on him, he took a step, then procceded to throw himself on the ground and refuse to do any more... ) He also layed on the ground and stuck his face in a snowbank, out of curiosity...that was not such a hit. Funny, though! We were gone from 11:30 till 4:30 in the afternoon...I admit, I had a hard time letting go of the whole nap routine thing and was pretty sure Pax would freak out. But he did great! Loved being outside, slept maybe 45 minutes, played in the snow, and went to bed exhausted but happy at 7:30. And we got to do some of the adventuring we loved to do so much pre-baby...I'm having to learn to be flexible all over again...things change after baby! saturday night, I went to dinner at the Doubletree to celebrate Ashley's 18th birthday...and got to meet Kyle...thanks for saving me a seat, Jinny! Sunday afternoon, we went to Farmington after naptime...quick Sam's club run, plus we had a gift card to Chili's. So Adam and I got a chance to talk and dream a little about moving to Ft. Collins, and Pax got to eat nachos and french fries and drink water out of his own cup from a straw. Good times for all!

Growing pains

I'm hurting inside today...nothing major, just a dull ache. Growing pains. I wonder how things got to this point-and then I remember that just because I'm 25 doesn't mean that friendship gets any easier. I just hope I've learned enough from my past experiences to salvage something this time. A buddy of ours blogged about scars a few weeks ago..how the outside scars we bear can be a metaphor for our inside pain. How, sometimes, we try to cover up the biggest ones because of the way they look to other people...when really, we should perhaps take a page out of a teenage boy's manuel and show them off, talk about them...maybe brag a little..."Man, look at this one! You should have seen me fly off that bike!! It was sweeeet..." We all have the scars. Nothing to be ashamed of-some of mine I'm actually quite proud of, now, because they are the evidence that not only did I go through pain, but God gave me the strength to survive it. Now if I can just remember in the moment to USE what I've learned.
Being real is one of the traits that I value most in people. It wasn't always this way, but I've discovered the gold that realness holds. Sometimes people who are real are misunderstood...seen as abrasive, or rude, or arrogant, or, one of the biggest offenders in "church" world....."not nice". But they are real!! And usually, they are right. Maybe their delivery could use a little polish...but give me someone who is real but a bit crusty any day over someone who is nice but not entirely truthful. If you're both..nice and real, that is..sweet!! However. I have my doubts that if Jesus was walking on earth today, we'd use the term "nice" to describe him. Kind, loving, brutally honest (always), passionate, articulate, wise, compassionate....I don't know about "nice". God, I don't want to be "nice". I want to be like Jesus. Give me the ability to be real with people. To not only show my scars, but to learn from them and use that learning in future situations. Compassion in my speech and actions, wisdom from on high in my head, and the ability to always see people as infinitely precious because you made them. They need no other reason to be loved by me; just as you love me unconditionally because you created me. Thank you, Lord. You are sovereign......

Thankful Thursday!

I took a bit of a break during Christmas...figured I'd spend time with the people I'm thankful for...instead of taking time away from them to blog. But I'm back! so here we go. Today I am thankful for Danny. This awsome 19-year old is taking off tommorow to head out to Life Bible College, and as excited as we are for him we will also miss him a ton. So today is dedicated to Danny!

-I am thankful for his servant's heart. Whatever needs to be done..he's joyfully there!
-I am thankful for his building skills. Without them, theUnderground (our youth room) just wouldn't be as cool!
-I am thankful for his passion:for God, for people, for projects.
-I am thankful for his wisdom. At an age when many are just beginning to goof off, he's listening to God and following what He has put into Danny's heart.
-I am thankful for the relationship he has developed with Adam.
-I am thankful for his easygoing, laid-back attitude...very much appreciated in the land of teenagers and drama!
-I am thankful for the way other students look up to him, and that he takes there eyes on him very seriously.
-I am thankful for his openness to guidence. Rare. Not only does he listen...he truly appreciates it.
-I am thankful for his zeal.
-I am thankful for the time we've had with him here in Durango...you're going far with God as your guide, Danny, and we will always be here praying for and loving you! Go for it!
-

The Next Step

Finally, I've gotten the green light to let all of you who don't already know in on what's happening in our lives! In September, Adam was talking with a good friend/mentor of his who asked him a question that would soon rock our little world: Do you see yourself being a youth pastor forever? It got us both thinking, praying, wondering, fasting about our future and where we were supposed to be heading next...because we've both been feeling for awhile that while there is no doubt that the River Church in Durango, Colorado was where we were supposed to be for a season, we weren't called to be employed full-time at a church forever. We left for Hawaii shortly after the questioning started; a blessing in many ways, but mainly because it gave us unrestricted time to be together, talk, and seek God's direction. Upon coming back to Durango we knew our time as the youth pastors here was coming to an end. But what was next? More praying, talking, asking, seeking...and medical school for Adam came back into the picture. Adam has been interested in medicine since before I met him; the summer we met he was taking the EMT course and couldn't hang out with our group of friends much because he almost always had class at night. It became a running joke...little did I know what significance it would hold in our future! Flash back to about 6 months before we got engaged...May 2005. Adam had applied for a job at United Blood Services, and, seeking God's direction in both our lives we prayed that if God wanted Adam to pursue medicine (at that time, PA school) he would get the job. He got it, and that's where we thought we'd be headed right after I graduated...but, as usual, God had other plans. So we became the youth pastors at the River Church instead! Ok, so it didn't happen quite that easily...but it happened. We were a little confused, since we felt God had clearly said "yes" to medicine. We also knew we were to be at the church working with the kids. So we figured it was for later...jsut didn't know when "later" was. Well, here it is! Later. And so, come May 25th, we will be moving back up to Ft. Collins so Adam can start on his pre-reqs for med school. No, we don't know what field he's going to pursue-or what school he'll go to-or where we'll live-or how we will live-but we DO know that God is calling us to this next step. And when God calls, we must obey. So here we go! Excited, nervous, unsure as to how it will work out but compleatly at peace that it will work out. I'm so thankful for the past 4 1/2 years we've had in Durango. Moving here was a very hard transition for me, but I knew there was a plan for me here...and it's been amazing to see what He has done. I will miss all the kids, the friends, the family. I'll miss singing on a wonderful worship team, and working with a senior pastor who has been so supportive of us both. I am trusting that God knows my dreams and cares just as much about seeing them come true as he does Adam's. A long road is ahead of us. I know. But I also know that without the time we've spent at the River Church, we would have an even harder time getting through med school without sacrificing our family. Adam has had a mentor who has become a true friend and has taught him more about being a husband, father, and man of God than I would have thought possible in a year and a half. I have complete trust in my husband and the man he is and will continue to become; I have complete trust in my God and the joy He takes in us following His path for our lives. We could use your support, though. Transitions like this are never easy! ...will you join us in this next step?

A chocolate story

My wonderful husband spoiled me with a beautiful new camera for Christmas...a Nikon D40, for those of you who know or care...and we've been having lots of fun with it ever since! After dinner tonight I was folding laundry, Adam was doing something (I really don't remember what...sad, because he was standing right next to me :) ) and Pax was playing by himself in one of the cupboards that is "approved" for him in the kitchen, since there is nothing dangerous in it and nothing he can get into...so so we thought. We were just doin' our thing, talking and listening to his happy baby babbling in the kitchen when all of a sudden we heard him go "MMMMmmmm!" and then excitedly babble some more. This caused a little warning light to go on in my mommy-brain....why would he be doing that while playing in the cupboard? He knows what this means and uses it exclusivly when he eats something he likes....so I asked Adam to peek over the counter and see what he was up to. He responded something like, "He's just playing in the--OH! (laughter..) what did you find?" And what had my sweet little son found? Check it out...the remains of a HUMONGOUS Gheridella double chocolate bar my folks brought up at Christmas and we used for making chocolate covered pretzels. At least he knows the good stuff when he finds it! If you look very closely at the first picture, you can see his little teethmarks in the chocolate. Is it bad that my first thought wasn't to take the chocolate away from him but to run for my camera?