Well, I'm having trouble finding my photos for last week, so hopefully I'll have better luck this week!
Marsha, I found the poem. :)
What a great picture of how God moulds a man. And a great reminder of how vital my role as a praying wife and helper is, as God moulds Mark!
Thank you!
When God wants to drill a man, and thrill a man, and skill a man.
When God wants to mould a man, to play the noblest part;
When he yearns with all his heart, to create so great and bold a man,
That all the world shall praise, watch His method, watch His ways!
How He ruthlessly perfects, whom He royaly elects,
How He hammers him and hurts him, and with mighty blow converts him,
Into trial shapes of clay, which only God understands, watch His method, watch His ways.
When God wants to take a man, and shake a man, and wake a man,
When God wants to make a man, to do the future will,
When He tries with all His skill and He yearns with all His soul,
To create Him large and whole, with what cunning He prepares him!
How He never spares him, how He whets him and frets him,
And in poverty begets him, bids him struggle harder,
Though he may not understand, until He poignantly perfects him,
When God wants to name a man, and fame a man and tame a man
Watch His methods, watch His ways.
Lo, the crisis! Lo, the shout, that must call the Leader out,
When people need salvation then doth God show His plan,
When He has found The Man.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Weekly Photos
First off, LOVING the weather! A bit bummed with the lack of snow this winter, but can't complain about beautiful days like this. The boys have enjoyed being able to go outside again, and I love having the windows open and letting the semi-fresh air in...even if it's incredibly loud outside with traffic, ambulances, and jets flying to O'hare every 5 minutes. I try to focus on the few birds chirping instead. :)
This week was Spring Break for Mark, but he hasn't been around much at all. He had a couple required classes this week, and had to wash windows a couple days as well. Plus, he preached at a Covenant church here on Wednesday night. I've been busy packing up our apartment, which I secretly think is actually pretty fun. I guess that's my dorky, super-organized side of me coming out. I enjoy everything having its place.
I took Judah to Walmart this morning to pick out a toy with his birthday money. On the way home, we listened to "Happy Day" by Steve Fee probably 10 times. I love that song, and I love that our church here sings it every Easter. I can't wait.
Samuel is finally feeling better, after probably being the sickest he's ever been. Bad ear infection, high fever, and nasal congestion = yuck. He was soooo quiet and mellow, he barely said a word. AND he asked to go to bed every night, along with nap requests too. He was definitely feeling rough.... so glad he's better.
Well, not much photos to show from the past week, so here's some random photos and a video that show off our ridiculously cute kids. :)
One of my favorite photos of Samuel EVER.
A while back, Mark and Samuel stayed the night in Tyler and Erin's old apartment. They watched a movie, had root beer floats, and set up the ultimate battle with army guys, dinosaurs, rubber bands, and a marshmallow shooter.
Cutie. He has on his Batman cape too, but you can't really see it in the picture. He loves his cape. He wears it almost everyday, all day.
This video is a little old, but Sam's doing such a good job with drums. It's fun to hear how much he's improved from the other drumming video(s) on the blog when he was much younger. :) Mark still really hasn't really started giving Samuel lessons yet. It'll be neat to see how Sam improves once he starts counting beats, etc. Oh, and the keyboard Judah is "playing" on is the one that belonged to Grandma and Grandpa Habluetzel. It's a hit with the boys (and all their little friends). :)
That's it for this week!
This week was Spring Break for Mark, but he hasn't been around much at all. He had a couple required classes this week, and had to wash windows a couple days as well. Plus, he preached at a Covenant church here on Wednesday night. I've been busy packing up our apartment, which I secretly think is actually pretty fun. I guess that's my dorky, super-organized side of me coming out. I enjoy everything having its place.
I took Judah to Walmart this morning to pick out a toy with his birthday money. On the way home, we listened to "Happy Day" by Steve Fee probably 10 times. I love that song, and I love that our church here sings it every Easter. I can't wait.
Samuel is finally feeling better, after probably being the sickest he's ever been. Bad ear infection, high fever, and nasal congestion = yuck. He was soooo quiet and mellow, he barely said a word. AND he asked to go to bed every night, along with nap requests too. He was definitely feeling rough.... so glad he's better.
Well, not much photos to show from the past week, so here's some random photos and a video that show off our ridiculously cute kids. :)
One of my favorite photos of Samuel EVER.
A while back, Mark and Samuel stayed the night in Tyler and Erin's old apartment. They watched a movie, had root beer floats, and set up the ultimate battle with army guys, dinosaurs, rubber bands, and a marshmallow shooter.
Cutie. He has on his Batman cape too, but you can't really see it in the picture. He loves his cape. He wears it almost everyday, all day.
This video is a little old, but Sam's doing such a good job with drums. It's fun to hear how much he's improved from the other drumming video(s) on the blog when he was much younger. :) Mark still really hasn't really started giving Samuel lessons yet. It'll be neat to see how Sam improves once he starts counting beats, etc. Oh, and the keyboard Judah is "playing" on is the one that belonged to Grandma and Grandpa Habluetzel. It's a hit with the boys (and all their little friends). :)
That's it for this week!
Friday, March 9, 2012
Weekly Photos
Here's some new photos from the past week!
Judah is getting sooo big!
Wrestling with Mark happens daily in our home. Samuel is feeling a bit yucky, so he preferred to just snuggle instead.
Brothers! I think this is the first photo I have of them both smiling at the camera together. AND I learned the only way this photo even was a success is because I asked Judah to hold Samuel's hand. Judah LOVES his big brother, so he was happy to hold his hand and take a picture with him. :)
Samuel "playing" his guitar. Right now, he's just learning to strum, and he can tell when the guitar is out of tune. Mark will start teaching him chords eventually.
Judah, our beautiful birthday boy. I'm completely amazed how quickly the past two years have gone.
Love this kid!
Judah is getting sooo big!
Wrestling with Mark happens daily in our home. Samuel is feeling a bit yucky, so he preferred to just snuggle instead.
Brothers! I think this is the first photo I have of them both smiling at the camera together. AND I learned the only way this photo even was a success is because I asked Judah to hold Samuel's hand. Judah LOVES his big brother, so he was happy to hold his hand and take a picture with him. :)
Samuel "playing" his guitar. Right now, he's just learning to strum, and he can tell when the guitar is out of tune. Mark will start teaching him chords eventually.
Judah, our beautiful birthday boy. I'm completely amazed how quickly the past two years have gone.
Love this kid!
Ready..... Blow!
Love this kid! Judah tried so hard to blow out his birthday candles, but couldn't quite do it. :)
Friday, March 2, 2012
Weekly photos
After realizing Samuel and Judah's grandma and grandpa NEVER get to see updated pictures of their grandsons, I figured I'd at least attempt to start posting some weekly pics on here. I'm not making any promises that I'll keep it up, but I'll try my best. :)
Watching a movie.
Pajama Day with Dad
Samuel's 6th Birthday!
With Samuel's birthday money, he saved up and got this Lego pirate ship. It only took Mark 3 hours to complete! Mark's decided he could definitely have a career just building stuff out of Legos all day long. :)
Just like Mark did when he was a kid, Judah LOVES riding his springhorse. And he rides it FAST. Judah especially loves to run over and jump on it when we tell him it's time for bed, nap, or a diaper change. :)
Watching a movie.
Pajama Day with Dad
Samuel's 6th Birthday!
With Samuel's birthday money, he saved up and got this Lego pirate ship. It only took Mark 3 hours to complete! Mark's decided he could definitely have a career just building stuff out of Legos all day long. :)
Just like Mark did when he was a kid, Judah LOVES riding his springhorse. And he rides it FAST. Judah especially loves to run over and jump on it when we tell him it's time for bed, nap, or a diaper change. :)
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Seminary Update
Hello friends,
I have not written an update for a while and it is time. We hope you are all doing well!
First off, we want to thank you for your prayers for us in these last few months. Last time I wrote, I mentioned how we had been looking for jobs since we arrived here and had not had any success. It was a very discouraging time for us. Shortly after I wrote that, within a period of two days, three different jobs became available to us. I began working two part-time jobs and Lisa began watching my friend’s toddler during the day. I am working a few hours a week in the Academic Services Dept. on campus and then I am washing windows for a company one day a week. This has been a great help to us in making ends meet and we thank God for this provision. Both jobs are flexible with my class schedules, which was a huge problem with other jobs I had looked at. So again, thank you for your prayers about that!
This school year is different because I am in what’s called the “Call to Ministry” process, which includes all kinds of extra work and expenses alongside my regular class schedule. So it is kind of exciting, as people are more intentionally walking alongside us to help discern calling and prepare for the future, but it’s also more stuff to take care of. The whole process is good in that it is shaping us in ways we didn’t expect, and God continues to work in us according to what he wants. We are excited as we continue to dream about what’s next and where God might be leading us.
I have been thinking a lot lately about the church, specifically the reputation that it has. Some people will always scoff at the church and find reasons to reject her. Whether it’s the notorious phrase, “It’s full of hypocrites,” to the many scandals that have surfaced over time, people can always find a reason to think they are above participating in the life of the church. And there are so many expressions of the church. I think that is a biblical and beautiful thing. It can also be messy. But just what is the church supposed to look like? Jesus prayed earnestly in John 17:20-23, as a sort of last request before his death, that his church would live in oneness together--even as he is in perfect oneness with his Father. And above all else, this is the thing that will cause the world to believe that Jesus is the real deal.
Stanley Haurwas once said, “The purpose of the church is not to prove that Christianity is true, but to demonstrate what the world is like if it is true.” Do you see the difference? This is why Jesus said in John 13:34-35 that we are to love one another as he has loved us, and that BY THIS people will know that we are his disciples—and this will in turn show that Christianity is, in fact, true. If the church does not live out its claim that it follows Jesus in this way specifically, nothing else we talk about matters because it comes from people who do not practice the most distinguishing mark of Jesus.
We easily grow dull to the command to “love one another” because it becomes too familiar to us. It is easy to reduce it to being nice to each other, even faking it to an extent. But Jesus wants his church to love each other sacrificially, in a way that draws them into “oneness.” Therefore, anything that gets in the way of this and causes unnecessary division is sinful, whether it is selfish preferences, conflicting ideas, prideful arrogance, self-righteousness, or whatever. God hates it (strong language!) when we sow discord among each other (Proverbs 6:19). There are a billion things that can divide God’s church but it is the self-sacrificing love of Christ expressed to each other that unites us. So the Apostle Peter said, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). One of the distinguishing marks of a mature congregation is the ability to live in unity amongst great diversity. This is the picture we are given in Revelation 21:24-26. It is a church that has learned to “bear with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). What could be a more beautiful expression of Christ to the world, and a more joyful community to participate with? It is not the “coolness factor” or how “relevant” it feels or any other side issue that will ultimately produce fruit for God’s kingdom. It is Spirit-driven love for one another that spills out into participation with God’s mission to the world. How awesome would it be if you heard someone describe the church as “those people who really love each other” or “those Christians who are willing to lay down their very lives for each other?” Wouldn’t you want to look into a community that was known for that?
There is a kind of smugness that is popular in the evangelical world these days. It can be incredibly satisfying to prove someone else wrong, or to appear more intelligent and less ignorant by our smug remarks and our superior doctrines. This kind of thing is rampant on social media and is the path the world gives us to make it to the top. It is all an attempt to save our own skin and the very opposite of what the church is called to. It is utterly unloving. May God help us to repent of self-centeredness and playing the one-up game with each other. May we lose that kind of life so that we may gain Christ, who is our very life. Amen!
Love in Christ,
Mark, Lisa, Samuel, & Judah
I have not written an update for a while and it is time. We hope you are all doing well!
First off, we want to thank you for your prayers for us in these last few months. Last time I wrote, I mentioned how we had been looking for jobs since we arrived here and had not had any success. It was a very discouraging time for us. Shortly after I wrote that, within a period of two days, three different jobs became available to us. I began working two part-time jobs and Lisa began watching my friend’s toddler during the day. I am working a few hours a week in the Academic Services Dept. on campus and then I am washing windows for a company one day a week. This has been a great help to us in making ends meet and we thank God for this provision. Both jobs are flexible with my class schedules, which was a huge problem with other jobs I had looked at. So again, thank you for your prayers about that!
This school year is different because I am in what’s called the “Call to Ministry” process, which includes all kinds of extra work and expenses alongside my regular class schedule. So it is kind of exciting, as people are more intentionally walking alongside us to help discern calling and prepare for the future, but it’s also more stuff to take care of. The whole process is good in that it is shaping us in ways we didn’t expect, and God continues to work in us according to what he wants. We are excited as we continue to dream about what’s next and where God might be leading us.
I have been thinking a lot lately about the church, specifically the reputation that it has. Some people will always scoff at the church and find reasons to reject her. Whether it’s the notorious phrase, “It’s full of hypocrites,” to the many scandals that have surfaced over time, people can always find a reason to think they are above participating in the life of the church. And there are so many expressions of the church. I think that is a biblical and beautiful thing. It can also be messy. But just what is the church supposed to look like? Jesus prayed earnestly in John 17:20-23, as a sort of last request before his death, that his church would live in oneness together--even as he is in perfect oneness with his Father. And above all else, this is the thing that will cause the world to believe that Jesus is the real deal.
Stanley Haurwas once said, “The purpose of the church is not to prove that Christianity is true, but to demonstrate what the world is like if it is true.” Do you see the difference? This is why Jesus said in John 13:34-35 that we are to love one another as he has loved us, and that BY THIS people will know that we are his disciples—and this will in turn show that Christianity is, in fact, true. If the church does not live out its claim that it follows Jesus in this way specifically, nothing else we talk about matters because it comes from people who do not practice the most distinguishing mark of Jesus.
We easily grow dull to the command to “love one another” because it becomes too familiar to us. It is easy to reduce it to being nice to each other, even faking it to an extent. But Jesus wants his church to love each other sacrificially, in a way that draws them into “oneness.” Therefore, anything that gets in the way of this and causes unnecessary division is sinful, whether it is selfish preferences, conflicting ideas, prideful arrogance, self-righteousness, or whatever. God hates it (strong language!) when we sow discord among each other (Proverbs 6:19). There are a billion things that can divide God’s church but it is the self-sacrificing love of Christ expressed to each other that unites us. So the Apostle Peter said, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). One of the distinguishing marks of a mature congregation is the ability to live in unity amongst great diversity. This is the picture we are given in Revelation 21:24-26. It is a church that has learned to “bear with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). What could be a more beautiful expression of Christ to the world, and a more joyful community to participate with? It is not the “coolness factor” or how “relevant” it feels or any other side issue that will ultimately produce fruit for God’s kingdom. It is Spirit-driven love for one another that spills out into participation with God’s mission to the world. How awesome would it be if you heard someone describe the church as “those people who really love each other” or “those Christians who are willing to lay down their very lives for each other?” Wouldn’t you want to look into a community that was known for that?
There is a kind of smugness that is popular in the evangelical world these days. It can be incredibly satisfying to prove someone else wrong, or to appear more intelligent and less ignorant by our smug remarks and our superior doctrines. This kind of thing is rampant on social media and is the path the world gives us to make it to the top. It is all an attempt to save our own skin and the very opposite of what the church is called to. It is utterly unloving. May God help us to repent of self-centeredness and playing the one-up game with each other. May we lose that kind of life so that we may gain Christ, who is our very life. Amen!
Love in Christ,
Mark, Lisa, Samuel, & Judah
Friday, October 28, 2011
First Haircut
I finally broke down and cut Judah's hair a couple weeks ago. I kept putting it off (even though he had a mullet/rat tail/ wings going on) because I loved the curls. Fortunately, his hair is growing back some, and there's still curls! I'd love for him to have some awesome curly, rocker hair, so we'll see.
Before the haircut......
After.....
Before the haircut......
After.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)