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| Ok, here comes a looooong picture post.... Our trip to Kansas City and St. Louis...
...at the candy store in KC  
Shawn Cody, Shawn, Trevor  
We swam at this pool, because the motel pool was under construction. The kids loved it!!  
...back in our room...  
ready to go!!!! This big moose was outside the hotel... 
...as well as this bear. - at the St. Louis Zoo...  
Kari Jo wasn't too impressed with the petting zoo!!
 
The rest of the kids enjoyed the goats - Ashton, Shawn, Trevor, Callie.
 
- watching the sea lion show riding the carousel (which we did quite often  )
I found my namesake at the zoo, haha! What a striking resemblance!! 
 
-watching the planes come in at the airport we stayed close to-
Leons, Matts, and I went camping Labor Day weekend.
 
goin' fishin'
 
I think these are two of my favorite pictures from the last year!!! Cody got mud all over his feet. He looks quite distressed!!!
Kendra fishing.. BABYSITTING  
Kylar loves having her toes painted!!!
 
My little "Callie-co" and her beautiful bright blue eyes!!! 
I had to post this picture; it's just too funny!!!
TEACHING SCHOOL
  
-art projects
 
Callie and Kari Jo Dad and Callie
GALESBURG OUTREACH
-In November, we got to hang out with some kids as well as some of the neighbors. It was a great time. It was good to be able to reach out and spend time with the people there.
 
The guys set up an old door as a windblock because we could hardly keep the fire going.
Here we are with our huge spread of food that we shared with the kids who came.
 
playing ball with the kids
 
Denver, one of the neighborhood kids, and Nathan "playing" the shovel in time to our singing.
Nathan showing Denver how to use sticks and logs as a drum set. Nathan is quite the instrumentalist, lol!!
THANKSGIVING DAY
Dad took the gator over to Matt's place, and the kids spent HOURS taking turns driving it around!!
SCHOOL STUFF
 
The last week of school before vacation, my students and I took a break from work and made candy.
 
Here are my students with all their candy we made. Here we are getting ready to open Christmas presents.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
For some reason, Cody wanted to lie down for this picture. I have no idea why!!
all my nieces and nephews
Shawn, Ashton, Trevor
Callie, Cody, Kari Jo, Kylar
Grandma and Kari Jo
Ashton (yes, he's his father's son, lol!) and Shawn
Shawn, with all his cool cowboy stuff he got for Christmas- hat, handcuffs, and boots.
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| For the beauty of the earth
For the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise. For the beauty of each hour,
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon, and stars of light.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise. For the joy of ear and eye,
For the heart and mind’s delight,
For the mystic harmony
Linking sense to sound and sight.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise. For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise.
For each perfect gift of Thine,
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
Flowers of earth and buds of Heaven.
Lord of all, to Thee we raise,
This our hymn of grateful praise. Folliot Sandford Pierpoint was taking a walk one late Spring day, in the lovely area surrounding his home in Bath, England. Overwhelmed with the beauty he saw, he sat down and wrote "For the Beauty of the Earth." Not only does Pierpoint thank God for His beautiful creation, but also for family, friends and other gifts God has bestowed upon us. This hymn was originally written to be a communion hymn in the Anglican Church. It was first published in Rev. Orvy Shipley’s Lyra Eucharistica, 1864. The chorus was originally "Christ our God, to thee we raise this our sacrifice of praise." This is from the post-communion prayer in the Book of Common Prayer, which begins "O Lord and heavenly father, we thy humble servants entirely desire thy fatherly goodness mercifully to accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving." The compilers of Hymns, Ancient and Modern changed the refrain to "Lord of all, to Thee we raise this our grateful hymn of praise." Most versions now use "… this, our hymn of grateful praise," although the "New Standard" edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern and the Presbyterian Church Hymnary both use the original chorus. Other changes have also been made. Originally this hymn had eight verses, although in modern day the last three verses of the hymn are generally omitted. They were first omitted by Hymns Ancient and Modern as being too Catholic in their language for an Anglican Hymnal. | | |
| You know, the past couple of months, I've been learning a lot that the way I expect things to be usually isn't how things are at all. I don't know if that's because of something that I have or haven't done, or if that's just a result of being human. When we turn from sin and turn to God, He gives us the strength to do what's right. That doesn't mean that it will be easy, though. We still have to continually put our trust in Him and ask for His help, because we can't do it on our own. And sometimes, you just have to hurt, even though it's not fun or enjoyable. I think that's part of God's way of drawing us even closer to Himself. And when I hurt, it seems like that's one of the last places I go- to God. I think that I can ignore it by doing something, or I can take care of it by myself, or I can talk about it and figure it out with somebody else. And then the hurt goes away, till all of the sudden, it will pop up when least expected. Is that Satan trying to get us down? Or is that God trying to pull us closer? Or is God trying to bring good from the bad that Satan is trying to pull us down to? I feel like I'm rambling and not making any sense. Sorry. I'll quit now. If any of you have any answers, please share!!! I'm in a rather melancholy mood, if you hadn't noticed................... | | |
| Running
Going my own way
Anger, rebellion
Tears, destruction, fighting
All alone
Peace? Joy?
Only emptiness
Then....
JESUS
"Come, follow Me"
Submission
Peace, Joy
Fulfilled
This is the way life is meant to be
Forgiven, Loved
HIS way, no other
Forever "How do you explain/How do you describe/A love that goes from east to west/And runs as deep as it is wide..."
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| I know that God is big and powerful and mighty, but sometimes I find myself doubting that He will answer my prayers. I mean, I know that He can do anything, but when it comes to changing people, He doesn't force Himself on them. We have to make the choice to give God control of our lives. THEN He can change us, and when He does it's amazing. I'm so thankful that God gives us second chances. I'm so thankful for answered prayer. I'm so thankful for dear friends who love Jesus and want to do what's right, even when it's HARD!!! We have all done things that we regret, and most of us, at some point in our life, have turned our back on God. I've been reading a lot in the Gospels lately. Jesus did some amazing miracles as far as healing people. It's even more amazing how He draws us to Himself- He WANTS us, even though we've hurt Him, we've denied Him, we've run from Him. Sometimes it's hard for me to accept His forgiveness- it seems too easy. But, it WASN'T easy. He went through SO MUCH, because He LOVES us! We are so unworthy, yet God doesn't see us that way. He sees us as valuable treasures that He loves so much, that He willingly gave His Son to be offered as a sacrifice to take the payment for our sins. Seriously... how can you explain that?! And He not only forgives us, but He REMOVES our sin "as far as the east is from the west." No matter how big, no matter how small, Jesus gave His life as payment for each and every sin. How can I deny Him? How can I turn my back on that? I can't. I hope and pray that each day I live, I will remember what Jesus has done for me, and in return, I will do what I can for Him. As we lift up our hands
Will you meet us here?
As we call on your name
Will you meet us here?
We have come to this place
To worship you
God of mercy and grace
It is you
We adore
It is you
Praises are for
Only you
The heaven's declare
It is you
It is you
Holy, holy is our God Almighty
Holy, holy is his name alone
Holy, holy is our God Almighty
Holy, holy is his name alone
It is you
We adore
It is you
Only you
As we lift up our hands
Will you meet us here?
As we call on your name
Will you meet us here?
We have come to this place
To worship you
God of mercy and grace
It is you
We adore
It is you
Praises are for
Only you
The heaven's declare
It is you
It is you
Holy, holy is our God Almighty
Holy, holy is his name alone
Holy, holy is our God Almighty
Holy, holy is his name alone
As we lift up our hands
As we call on your name
Will you visit this place
By your mercy and grace
As we lift up our hands
As we call on your name
Will you visit this place
By your mercy and grace
It is you
We adore
It is you
It is you
Holy, holy is our God Almighty
Holy, holy is his name alone
Holy, holy is our God Almighty
Holy, holy is his name alone
Holy, holy is our God Almighty
Holy, holy is his name alone
Holy, holy is our God Almighty
Holy, holy is his name alone
It is you
We adore
It is you
Only you | | |
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