A Whole New Year...

Hi friends! I'm sitting here typing this on my new laptop! (Gotta love those Christmas sales!) Hubby & I have talked about it for a while and he tried (unsuccessfully) to get one for me the day after Thanksgiving, but finally found a great deal online - no early morning trips and long lines necessary. : ) But, oh, where do I really start? Last Monday morning, as I was sitting down for breakfast with Lowell, he said he had a secret he needed to tell me before Christmas. He was quite serious. I said, "Okaaayyy..." and braced myself for whatever he was about to say. (Are you worried that I'm about to divulge his secret out here on the world wide web?????) Turned out to be that his sister and family (the ones who live in Thailand!) decided at the last minute to fly home to CA for Christmas and they were arriving in town the next day!!!!! He was the only one that knew. It was SO MUCH FUN to surprise his parents Tuesday night when they all got here. We hid the boys in over-sized duffel bags and Christmas carolled at their house and then told them we had a couple of early Christmas presents for them. : ) They both thought we had dogs hidden in there but were extremely ecstatic to find their grandsons and parents hiding behind the bushes. Like I said - SO. MUCH. FUN! So memorable. We'll be talking about this one for YEARS, I'm sure. : ) (Sherry, I'll try to get some pictures up here soon. : ) The next days were filled with Christmas Eve service preparations and Christmas celebrations with Lowell's family and 2 with my family and lots of (oh my goodness - so much!) delicious food, a trip to the snow (for everyone except Timothy and me) and to top it all off, we - just Lowell, Mik, Toby, Timo & myself -went to the coast for 2 nights. It was beautiful and a nice, quiet change from the full schedule of the weeks before. Honestly, on Friday I was thinking back on the weeks before and could hardly remember what happened in between Dec. 14 & Dec. 21st. I thought Mik's bday (12/13) had just happened the weekend before and then realized it was 2 weeks ago and what in the world happened since then????? I am PRAISING GOD for getting us through this month the way He did. I had so much fun (could be the theme for this month!) leading worship on Dec. 21 and coordinating the Christmas Eve service for our church and in spite of the added load of responsibilities (TIME!) we were more ready for Christmas (in regard to presents being purchased and wrapped) than we've ever been before. I KNOW it was because God knew what was coming and that I would be madly cleaning Monday and Tuesday and everything else. He took care of everything in so many ways that I don't have time to describe. I guess I won't likely be posting again here in 2008. : ) I love starting new years looking ahead and wondering what God is going to teach me about. And I'm looking forward to sharing more with you as the weeks and months come and go faster than I can get a handle on. : ) This life is quite a ride! I'm glad to be sharing it with you. : ) And I'm glad God's holding on to me so I can throw my hands up in the air and scream with the twists and turns knowing I'm secure in His grip. FOREVER. “This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”- Isaiah 43:16, 18-19 Are you ready for the new thing He's going to do in your life in 2009??? Happy New Year everyone!!!!!

Merry Christmas!

(This is a poem I wrote last Saturday morning and sent out with some pictures to friends and family.  Most of you who are reading here probably got one, but in case you didn’t…  here it is!  Merry Christmas!  Things have been fun and crazy around here…  More info to come soon!)

 

08’s almost gone, 09’s drawing near

Much is the same, but Timothy’s here!

Born 7-07-07 (what a birthday!)

God brought him to us and he’s ours, here to stay!

 

In March, just a picture, a name & a promise

With July came a phone call! “Can you come in August?”

Mikaela & Toby would soon meet their brother

Surely we have a God who is like no other!

 

To Bangkok we flew as a family of four

August 24th, watched Kamin come through the door

And then, what adventure!  Elephant rides,

Cousins to play with, a new name to decide

 

Finally home from Thailand, a family of FIVE

A new toddler and jetlag… By God’s grace we survived!

Now Mikaela is 8, thriving in 2nd grade

And Toby is 5, still at home he does play

 

Lowell still works for the Housing Authorities most every day

But when he comes home, he’s ready to play

Melissa is grateful for all of God’s grace

As she serves at home and at church—what a pace!

 

And our youngest son? Mr. Timothy Kamin

Such noise does he make

Such joy does he bring, he fits right in!

Life is often crazy and full to the brim

Of lessons and love straight to us from Heaven

 

As we look to the future only one thing is sure

If we rest in God’s hands we will be secure

So in all of our stress and in every mess

Jesus, help us remember: WE ARE SO VERY BLESSED!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

With Much Love,

Lowell, Melissa, Mikaela, Tobiah & Timothy

 

 

 

 

YIKES!!!!!

Christmas is NEXT WEEK.  You are all probably more aware of it than I am.  It seems that every year I feel like I can’t think too much about Christmas until Mikaela’s birthday          (which was last Saturday) is over.  We had a lot of fun celebrating her birthday (party on Friday with a bunch of screaming happy girls that involved lots of glue and glitter) and ended with a trip down Christmas Tree Lane on Saturday.  Then Timothy was dedicated at church on Sunday morning, which was very special. 

 

I’m also leading worship at church again this week and helping coordinate the Christmas Eve service (for Christmas Eve of course)…  so blogging has once again been bumped off the “to do list”.  Because you do, after all, want to get a Christmas card/letter from us, don’t you?  (If you don’t think I have you address, you can email me and at least I’ll email you an electronic version. J)  I’ll probably post whatever we end up writing (because I can’t stand to send out a picture/card without a letter) here on the blog, whenever it gets written – which had better be soon if I don’t want people to get them after Christmas!

 

OK.  I’ll stop rambling.  Just wanted mostly to say HI and I hope you’re more prepared for Christmas than I am!  But prepare your heart, if nothing else, because that’s what gift Christ wants from you more than anything.  J

 

Blessings,

 

Melissa

 

GLORY!

Hi Everyone!  Long time, no blog…  I know!  I don’t like using the word “busy,” but I have been BUSY!  There’s just no other way to say it!  If you read my last entry, you might recall I said I had some opportunities to share come up (though come “down” from God would be more accurate).  One of those involves leading worship at church (a couple weeks per month) and that by itself is taking up a bunch of time I wasn’t aware that I had.  I have also been occupied cleaning up after Timothy who has learned how to climb onto tables and drag stuff ALL OVER THE HOUSE (oh, and I’m trying to keep him off the tables, too.) especially when I’m trying to get ready for worship practice.  Sooo, thankful as I have been, I haven’t found much time to blog about it.  Or anything else.

 

But at the moment, I’m having an issue I thought you might be able to help me with.  AND I’m hoping to catch 2 birds with one cage (because that sounds nicer than killing 2 birds, don’t ya think?)  Tomorrow morning (in oh, about 12½ hours) our church is having a women’s Christmas Tea and I’m helping coordinate the program part of it (because I’m too lazy to decorate a table and would MUCH rather talk and sing than cook, thankyouverymuch).  I get to introduce the theme of the morning and also introduce the theme of our women’s retreat (coming in February 2009!)  Trouble is, I haven’t written anything out yet.  And I’ve learned that I ramble a lot more and sit down afterward thinking “why in the world did I say THAT?” when I don’t write out my thoughts before I get in front of a microphone.  But I was having trouble figuring out where to start writing…  which is why I’m “talking” to you.  I thought maybe if I tried to explain what I’m talking about to you, I’ll feel less pressure and catch both birds (have the intro’s written and a blog post, too!)  So, after that RIDICULOUSLY LONG intro, here’s what I think I’m going to say about our theme “The Glory of Christmas”.

---

A week or so ago, my son Toby told me he had figured out why the moon was normally in the sky at night instead of during the day.  It had something to do with the moon not shining brighter than the sun.  I let him finish his explanation and then I tried to explain to him that the moon doesn’t really have any light of its own.  The only light the moon has is a reflection of the sun’s much brighter, more brilliant light.  The moon is a reflection of the sun’s glory!  Many times in the Bible, glory is talked about in a way similar to light.  In talking about a new heaven and new earth, Revelation 21:23 says “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.”  I think light is amazing .  You can see a source of light like a light bulb or the sun, but you can also see light reflecting off something else.  Think about it for a second.  Look around and see if you can see any light.  What you will see is either a source of light or light reflecting off of something else. 

 

God’s glory is the same!  We see God’s glory in 2 ways:  By experiencing God (through His word and  Spirit as He reveals Himself to us) and by seeing His glory reflected in the world He created and in the people He has created in His image.  We were created to reflect God’s glory!  When Jesus was born, an angel of the Lord appeared to some shepherds and “The glory of the Lord shone around them”  Then a GREAT host of angels appeared with the first angel praising God and saying (say it with me): “Glory to God in the highest!”  And after the shepherds hurried off to see the baby, they returned “glorifying and praising God.”  God’s glory was shining and being proclaimed like never before that night in a manger and the hills of Bethlehem and today we are celebrating the Glory of God that still shines when we celebrate Christmas today.

 

(And that’s all you get for now…)  J

Me and My Big Mouth : )

Boy. I am amazed at how quickly God answers my prayers sometimes. Remember what I wrote a couple weeks ago time about wanting Him to deal with my ungrateful, whiny attitude? WOW. Did He EVER answer! (It’s always the best when I’m asking for things He’s prompting me to ask for… like He already has something wonderful to give me and He can’t wait for me to think to ask for it on my own – so he helps by making me see I need it, so I’ll want it, so I’ll ask for it, so He can give it to me already!) (Did you get that?) So. The night after I wrote that post I watched the week 6 video session of Believing God by Beth Moore and boy, was she ever fired up!!! She was talking about God's word being alive and active in us and about us needing to USE OUR MOUTHS to speak the truth and tell the mountains in our lives that were in the way of God's will for us to "MOVE IT!" (I wish every one of you would do this study because it is just so powerful and full of truth. God has been speaking to me SO MUCH through it!) As I was listening to her, I just knew God was giving me the answer to my prayers. He was telling me exactly how to break the power of the whining. Not just by praising Him, but by deciding and declaring that with God's strength I WAS GOING TO BE GRATEFUL and telling ungratefulness to get out of the way and out of my heart! I decided I was DONE with complaining and DONE letting it steal so much energy from me. And God agreed. : ) Throughout the next days He showed me verses and truth about how many things were hard for me just because I thought they were hard and about what He really wanted me to be doing with my big mouth. (And in case you don't know me in person, I do have a big mouth. Quite literally!) God also showed me that one of the reasons I was complaining and feeling sorry for myself so much was that I was believing Satan's lies that I was defeated or would never be victorious in certain areas of my life. I had to reject and renounce that lie and start believing and declaring that I was going to be victorious because in 2 Corinthians 2:14, God says so! ("But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.") God and I still have a lot of things to conquer in my life, but I feel like for the first time in a LONG time, I am living in victory over my old bad attitude. I'm continuing to choose to be grateful and refusing to complain and feel sorry for myself. And the most amazing thing has happened. Not only to I feel entirely different, but God is opening doors for me that have been closed for a long time. In the last 2 weeks He has scheduled me for several upcoming opportunities to use my big mouth to share with others at church in worship and teaching. And even though I'm still not sure how exactly I'm going to have time to do it all, God is doing something new in me and I absolutely believe the doors are now open because I have stopped complaining and living in defeat. Here is my new job description. : ) Colossians 3:15-17 says this: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." I could go on and on... but am going to save it for next time and stop before you fall asleep. Or before I do. : ) With a Thankful Heart, Melissa

Awww.....

Our social worker is coming over tonight for our 2nd (out of 4) post-placement visits. He has to see how things are going and write a report that gets sent back to Thailand along with some pictures of Timothy so they can see he really is alive and well.

So this morning I was taking pictures. Because I wanted them to be really current. (right.....) Aren't these kids just too cute?????

And now, if you'll excuse me, I need to work on the questionnaire we're supposed to have filled out to submit tonight... you know... before I can be accused of procrastinating.