"I Am A Princess"

Me: Today we are going to have a princess party. Do you know the definition of a 

princess?

A Girl: A princess is the daughter of a king.

Me: Did you know that I am a princess?

Girls: (Looks of awe and amazement....) Really? Wow!

Me: Because Jesus is my savior, God has adopted me into his family. He is my father

 and he is the King, and that makes me a princess....

-Taken from my friend's FB page. She hosted the toenail party I helped with. 

Because we are all princesses in God's kingdom, we decided to do yet another toenail party for the girls here in White Mountain. This is such a fun and creative way to share the Gospel and to show these girls just how beautiful they are. And obviously, to tell them that if Jesus is our savior, we are princesses in God's kingdom!

We had tea and cookies to start the party:

{Photo courtesy of Mary Hansen}

We then washed the feet:





After, there was toenail painting:

Then on to decorating our flip flops with jewels....Because you know, princesses have jewels!

I think i'm going to have to adopt this tradition when we are in Ketchikan doing kids' ministry! What a fun way for girls to understand that they are princesses in the kingdom of Heaven! 

Happy Sunday!

                                                                       Source: jeniferjernigan.com via Cheri on Pinterest

Happy Sunday!

                                                                              Source: prestostore.com via Cheri on Pinterest

Happy Easter!!

Happy Easter!! 

He has Risen! 

Remember: It's not about the bunnies...

Here's a cute way to put it in perspective! 

                                                                                                   {Source}

Who Am I? {A Freebie!}

We are all defined in our mother's womb. Whether our parents found out if we were a boy/girl or waited, had a named picked out before or after we were born, we had an identity of being their child- that we belonged to them. 


As we get a little older our parents start to let us find out who we are through the exploration of our interests and hobbies. If we like dogs licking our face, if we run from the vacuum, if we know how to sign please instead of screaming, if we like to laugh, or if we like to make people laugh, etc.

Then we get a little bit older and we discover who our friends are all the while trying to figure out our own identity and who we are and how we fit within the school body. Are we a jock? An artist? A loner? Friends with everyone? Friends with no one? Friends with only a select few? Throughout school this may be the hardest things that kids endure. Trying to fit in, trying to find out where in the clicks do they fit in, if at all. Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's hard. For many, it's an ongoing process throughout our educational careers. Of course we have the added stress of the media telling us what beauty is, what popular is, and what you need in order to be happy. A lot of us tend to listen to the media schemes and struggle. Some of us don't.

After we are done with school and left to find our own way in the world we seek out jobs, then we seek a house, then settle down in the routine of working to pay bills and pay bills to live. We are citizens within our society. But still, who are we?

Some of us struggle with the over ridiculous media schemes of beauty. That skinny is beautiful, that money equals happiness, that material things are more important than values. The media has played a huge role in how we should see ourselves, and some of us get discouraged and lose whatever we have gained in trying to find out who we are.

As we get a little older and settle into the routine called life, while still struggling with our identity, we get married and then our identity shifts from just us into them. We are no longer just us, but a wife, a husband, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law. And then kids come along and change the world. Oh but how we love them so. They have changed us into mothers, fathers, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunties, uncles, cousins. They have changed us into a completely different person. So whatever we have gained into finding out who we are is changed all over again. Changed for the better this time!

But the question still remains, Who are we? 

More importantly who are we in Christ? 

This has been an ongoing question on my mind for quite some time now. And I found the answer. I have found out who I am in Christ. 

Do you want to know who YOU are in Christ? It's amazing. It's powerful. You will now have an identity and be proud of that identity. So proud you will want to shout it on the rooftops {or at least tell everyone you know}. No joke. 

**I am fearfully and wonderfully made

 ~Psalms 139:14 

**I am a child of God

~John 1:12

**I am chosen before the creation of the world

~Ephesians 1:4

**I am God's workmanship

~Ephesians 2:10

**I am a new creation

~2 Corinthians 5:17

**I am the light of the world

~Matthew 5:14

While reading the bible I have come across many verses that resonate with me and I would like to share them with you. I plan on hanging these reminders somewhere where I will see them everyday {when we get to our new home} and making sure that I develop a daily affirmation of myself.

Here is a printable I made just for YOU if you would like it. It has been a passion of mine for a while to get more familiar with photoshop and to be able to create pretties for the home...

If you would like it, just click the link below for the download!

Who Am I

Remember:

 You are altogether beautiful, my darling;
   there is no flaw in you.

~Song of Songs 4:7

Happy Sunday

{source}

Springtime = Teatime

Spring time. Blooming flowers, fresh grass, warm blue sun, blue sky, birds whistling... I love Spring. 

However in White Mountain? We are months behind schedule! There is still about 4 feet of snow on the ground. It's getting warmer. Still in the single digits, but much warmer. And the melting is going slowly:

This is the first time we have seen the wood on our deck since November! Oh, how it's lovely. 

It truly is the little things in life.

Anyway, on Tuesday we had a ladies get together for our Bible study group. 

We had tea. 

In pretty tea cups. 

It was delightful.

It was uplifting.

It was needed!

{The Spirit of Teatime allows room in the heart for sharing love}

{classic teatime treats :) }

{My good friend Amy and teacher-mate on the left, me on the right}

Getting together with the ladies over tea was probably the best thing that has happened to me this week. I love my family and love spending time with them. But it's so refreshing being able to be surrounded by spiritual women. Women who share stories and life lessons. Women that inspire me to be a Godly woman. Women who make me laugh until my stomach hurts and eyes are watering. 

While we were sharing childhood stories, and laughing I kept thinking of this verse : 

"And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" ~ Matthew 18:3

So, thank you for teatime. 

Thank you for the laughs.

Thank you for the stories.

Thank you for your friendship. 

Thank you for the memories.

Thank you for a childlike evening full of fun! 

Happy Sunday...

                                                               Source: homegrownhospitality.typepad.com via Tory on Pinterest

Faith...

{source}

With a new season of our lives quickly approaching I have been thinking and praying constantly for guidance. It has been hard thinking about moving back home without a job, a new baby on the way, me staying home and going back to school for my Masters, and a surprise that is being created. A surprise that has been a long-time passion of mine that has been put on the back burner for the last four years.

 All of these changes and we don't know how we are going to survive financially just yet. It can be consuming thinking and obsessing over how we are going to get through it. How are we to manage moving back home not knowing if we are going to be financially stable? This is a conversation that Clint and I have almost every night. What are we going to do if we don't get a job? How long are we going to stay in Ketchikan without a job?

This is where my faith is being tested. We have been tested in our faith before.

"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."

-Hebrews 11: 1-2

In 2010 when I was just finishing up my degree we were wondering if I was even going to get a teaching job here in White Mountain (there are very few teachers: 3 k-8th teachers and 3 7-12th teachers and all have been here 4 or more years) since no one ever seems to retire or move. We started wondering if it was going to be worth it to stay in rural Alaska with all our bills (we own a house in Ketchikan and with that, bills!) We were getting a little worried on what we were supposed to do.

 We started to pray. Heavily we started to pray for guidance. We prayed that a door would be opened to a teaching job if that is what He wanted me to do, or if we should start a family (I had been asking Clint quite frequently if he was ready to start a family and at this point he was starting to!). We prayed about it for weeks and weeks and then one day I was offered the position as the Head Start teacher. It wasn't a district job, but I took it feeling like it was the right thing to do. It was security for the next year. A few weeks later the school district contacted me and asked if I was interested in becoming a teacher for them in the Head Start classroom (they were partnering with Head Start to put certified teachers in all ECE classrooms). I took it and we thanked God over and over for all the doors He opened. A few weeks after  I signed my contract we found out we were pregnant!

At this point, Clint and I were feeling pretty overwhelmed with what was given to us. Here we were worried about the next year and worried about what we were supposed to do. Wondering if I should be teaching or if we should start a family, and here is God saying that He wanted us to have both! To say we were blessed would be an understatement.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;

knock and the door will be open to you.

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds.

and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  

Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?

Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

If you then, though you are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven

give good gifts to those who ask Him!"

-Matthew 7:7-11

It was a faith-builder for me for sure. Not only did we get what we prayed for, but we also got everything we prayed for. How great is our God!

"For we live by faith,

not by sight."

-2 Corinthians 5:7

Now, I'm not saying that if we have enough faith God will give us everything and anything we ask for. His plan is much greater than we can imagine and gives us what we need. Yet, I've realized (in my own heart) that sometimes we need to cast (meaning: fling, toss, or hurl in a sudden motion) all our cares on the Lord and that he will provide what is best for us and sometimes it's the things we pray for and sometimes it's something totally different-something better! I have learned that:

praying is always worth it and faith is always rewarded.

{source}

"Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you"

1 Peter 5:7

With that being said, we are going to live out the rest of our days in White Mountain as best we can. With hope. 

With love. 

With the assurance that God will provide a way. 

With faith...

*********

Have faith!

 It is sweet. It is precious. It is powerful! 

Have faith that He will do what is best for you and yours if you believe.

Cast all your cares on the Lord.

He is our Shepard.

He is our Strength.

He will hold us up with his righteous right hand. 

Has your faith been tested. Has God answered your prayers? Has he done something even greater in your life?

Happy Sunday...

Source: 27.media.tumblr.com via Tory on Pinterest

In Remembrance of Him

**warning: tons and tons of cute pictures to come. It might take a while for them to load**

Yesterday was a good day. We went over to a friends house for breakfast with the ABKA team (more on their visit here in a few days) and then Bria and I took a couple naps. It was heaven. We haven't had much sleep the past week just with all the happenings and visiting, but it's totally worth it! Then we had a church potluck, communion, and listened to the message that was given by Clint How to Draw Closer to God. It was amazing. It was heartfelt. It was from God himself. You could feel the energy and Spirit within the room.

One of the things that was mentioned this week is that church should be a place for celebration and remembrance and fellowship. We were discussing that in church, children should be able to play, run around, be obnoxious. They are His kids. Some of you may not agree, but when a child is laughing those deep belly laughs in the back of the church, it shouldn't be hushed, but it should be embraced.

And Bria? Did just that!

Church should also be a place of smiles and stories and getting to know people. That's exactly what it was yesterday. Eating wonderful food. Talking to wonderful people. I couldn't have asked for a better way to end the weekend.

We had communion.

It was a wonderful time of remembrance and what the Lord has done for us.

He is truly amazing.

Humble Yourself Before God

**Click the "Read More" to read about Clint's message on Sunday**

Happy Sunday!

Source: astepinthejourney.blogspot.com via Tory on Pinterest

Amazing Lights...

We are so blessed. 

All of us. 

In many different ways.

One way? 

The amazing beauty God has created for us to enjoy.

Tuesday Night we had such a blessing.

Here the lights are dancing across the sky over the village:

Amazing show over the Church: 

Purple showed up to dance with Green over Fish River: 

(Note: These pictures were not taken by me. They were taken from a good friend of ours)...

We are blessed!