We played with this "snow" that even felt damp! I think Abbi would have stayed at that spot forever!











Hailey wanted to "be" a flower...













Here are all 4 girls: Anna is a cat, Amber a butterfly, Hailey a flower, and Abbi was a cherry pie!










Abbi's personality really comes out in this photo!

Our life seems to follow patterns...for us, each year reveals a theme of lessons God wants us to learn. Last year, the theme seemed to be "how far am I willing to go for the relationships God has given me?" It was a pretty hard year and I didn't like what I saw in myself. Ironically, the answer to that questions is another question, "How far did Christ go for me?" The relationships in our lives will reflect what we believe about the Gospel and what Christ did for us on the cross. We learned so much about relationships last year, how different they are and how to care more for each of them. Some of the tests that came, we passed...and some, we didn't. Every time we failed to respond correctly or invest in someone's life, God brought another opportunity to try again. When we first came in contact with Restoration Ministries, we had no idea how much we needed to change. In the past, I always thought you responded to others by speaking truth, no matter how much it hurt them, BECAUSE IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO! I thought it was my duty, something that I HAD to do if I was "truly godly". I wish I had known then, what I know now about truth. Yes, it may be truth, but will it help that person heal? Does it display how much I care for them or does the truth I have to share just make them hurt all the more? When the Bible tells me to "speak the truth in love", what does that mean? If my only responsibility was to "speak the truth", then that is all He would have said and He wouldn't have bothered specifying that I should do it "in love". We have been so privilaged to sit under the teaching of Restoration Ministries and Caring for the Heart Ministries...it is changing the way we are approaching relationships. Notice, I said, "c-h-a-n-g-i-n-g", and I am not implying that we've got it figured out now. Obviously, this isn't something you just change overnight, it is something we will be working at for the rest of our lives. Living in peace with others is beautiful. It brings so much glory to the Lord when two sinners can get along...it is the proof of the power of Christ in us. Our prayer for this year is that God would help us heal from damage caused by our own past...and that he would go before us as we try to repair relationships...and that he would strengthen the relationships that he has already started to heal! Is there a greater witness to the world than the peace we have with others?

Someone recently asked my sister-in-law why people who have good marriages need counseling. She responded so wisely: "Because we want to keep what we've got!"

Do you have relationships in your life that are hurting? Are YOU hurting? Do you want to know how to HEAL? How to FORGIVE? You might like to look into either of the ministries listed above.

Here's a little story you might like to laugh at...I FORGOT that I had a BLOG? Yes, that's exactly what I did...so, maybe I can do this a little more often...shouldn't be too hard since my last post was in 2006!!! I updated the picture and yes, there is another child, who is almost 2 years old, Abbigail Dawn Gurnsey.