"...no greater joy than to know...

...that my children walk in truth." We are humbled and so very thankful that in the last few months both Haley and Logan have given themselves to the Lord. It is an incredible experience to see your children grow, change, and live. Nothing has been more important to Tim and I (I am sure it is the same for you all) than for our children to love and follow the Lord. Haley is going to be baptized next weekend. We are praying that it will be a special and sacred time for her. May we all walk in a worthy manner. ~Blessings~

Glacier National Park

Beauty beyond beauty! Glacier is magnificent! We arrived home late Thursday evening having been gone for 8 days. God was so good to give our family that time of refreshment. I am going to do a few blog posts about our trip, so here is part one. We set up camp about 1 hour inside of Glacier at a place called Bowman Lake. You could probably find a picture of it online. It is a remote lake that is surrounded by mountains. It was like a dream. I kept saying to Tim, " I can't believe we are actually here in this amazing beauty!" I have dreamed of going to Western Montana for at least a decade. We spent Friday enjoying our site and getting all set up for the coming week. We cooked dinner over the fire in cast iron and then went to bed. We were pretty tired as we were all still recovering from a week of a nasty flu cold. Saturday we got up and decided to go on a hike...a 14 mile hike! ;-0 By the time we got dressed and washed hair, cooked breakfast, heated up water for dishes, did the dishes, tidied up camp, and packed all of our backpacks with a picnic and lots of water, it was just after one o'clock. Tim put Silas on his back in the Ergo (I really don't know what we would do without our dear Ergo) while Haley, Logan, and I each strapped on a backpack. The hike was along one side of Bowman Lake. We started walking...and we walked and walked and walked. By the time we were near the end of the trail it was starting to get late. We were wondering if we would get home before it got dark. So we headed back double time. At this point we had already walked about 7 miles. Tim took the lead and had us alternating between walking and running. Haley and I were in the back and we started getting giddy with tiredness. Both of us started laughing at any and every little thing. A few times Haley fell down on the ground she was laughing so hard. We weren't really helping each other as we both kept thinking of funny things. :-) After another 90 minutes of running/walking Haley and I began to make plans of spending the next day sitting in chairs around the campfire with our feet up and wrapped in ice. Of course this was funnier than either of us could handle and we were laughing and gasping for breath. We still had one hour of brisk walking left. About a half mile from our tent my leg muscles started to cramp up and I could barely walk. You see, we had been pushing so hard because the grizzles move at dusk and we were the only ones out there on that trail. Thankfully we made it to our tent just as it became totally dark and the Lord kept us safe from the cougars and grizzles. I do think though that the 14 mile hike is one of our best memories from our week. Thank you Lord for such a fun, crazy experience.

Thank you Jesus!!

Yesterday we took Silas to the surgeon for his umbilical hernia. We had been told by a pediatrition that Silas would have to have surgery soon after age one. Well, the surgeon said to wait until he is four as it could still close up on it's own. Yeah!!! We are so thankful and relieved. We will continue to pray that the Lord will close up the hole. We are in town today for cello and violin lessons. It is very hot here and little Silas is a bit grumpy. I am planning on starting Tim's and my quilt tonight...so exciting!! Also, we will be moving soon. God is so good and life is full of peace and rest when our eyes are on Him. Have a blessed day!

A Few Favorites

Yesterday I was thinking about a few of my favorite books. I love books and would love to know about some of your favorite books. The books in my list are the ones that have impacted and challenged my life the most. They are the ones that I find myself reading again and again or thinking about years after I read it. So other than the Bible, these are my current favorite books.

1. Streams In The Desert by Mrs. Charles Cowman
2. Jeanne Guyon Autobiography by Jeanne or Madame Guyon
3. Never Alone by Violet Miller
4. The Family Meal Table and Hospitality by Nancy Campbell
5. Calvary Road by Roy Hession
6. So Much More by Anna and Sophia Botkin
7. The Naturally Clean Home
8. Rees Howell: Intercessor by Norman Grubb
9. The Power of Motherhood by Nancy Campbell
10. Created To Be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl (one of my most life-changing/inspiring books)

What are your favorites?

Quilts

How I wish I could post a few pictures, but hopefully soon! :-) Now that I have Haley, Logan, and Silas' quilts all finished, I am ready to start ours. We have changed our minds a few times about what colors we want to make our quilt. For the past 8 years or so we have had a comforter on our bed that is tan, burgandy, and navy. We are going to go with something much brighter and cheerful this time. Our new quilt is going to be made out of different patterns and shades of green with white. I made a girl's baby quilt that was green and white and we just loved it. So, last week I bought my first of four fabrics. Fun!! We have the pattern picked out and once I collect the other three fabrics I am ready to start. Can't wait! ;-)

Fake names...

I just wanted you all to know that from here on I will be using our real first names on our blog. Sunshine is Haley, Vision is Logan, and Beloved is Silas. It has just been too confusing for me as I type. :-)

Thoughts...

Yesterday I had something really heavy on my heart. It was the subject of children from godly homes, growing up and turning away. Oh how that breaks my heart and makes me want to despair. Quite honestly, I just about can't think of anything worse than our children rejecting the Lord. But yesterday I think the Lord wanted me to learn something and that is that I can't control any other person, not even our children. Our children have to choose the Lord for themselves. My job (with the Spirit's power) is to show them the Lord on a daily basis, teach them about the Lord, and pray, pray, pray. The Lord loves them and wants them to follow Him even more than we do. So, to a great extent, I must leave it in His hands. After wrestling through this yesterday, with my dear husband encouraging me with truth, I came to a rest and peace in Him. I CAN'T make my children godly so I don't have to be all stressed out trying. Anyhow, I don't know if any of this makes sense to anyone else, but those are my thoughts. :-) God bless you all today as you love the Lord, your husbands, children, and keep your home.