Proverbs 3:5-6

Well this a tricky blog to write because it has been an emotional week. Last Thursday I was outside playing with the kids and one of our neighbors drove by and asked if I was coming to the meeting. I didn't know that there was a meeting, he said yeah, it's at 4pm and the wives are invited. This is very unusual and not usually good, so I made it happen. Luckily some of the older neighbor girls were up for last minute babysitting. The meeting started with one of our directors introducing the new chairman of the board of Hume. He proceeded to read the resignation letter of our Executive Director Jeff Lilley. Which included little details of why, but some conflict and struggle with the board for the past year and that he just realized he was not the guy to take Hume to the next stage. This was effective immediatly and Bob Phillips the 68 year old former Director was put in as interum director until they could find someone for the job. They made it very clear that, although this was very fast, that there was no moral or integrity issue, but that it was just time for a change. Jeff came to Hume as a Wagon Train camper, then came on staff almost 30 years ago, met his wife, Eugenie, here, and only left for a few years to attend Multnomah Bible College in Oregon. They had their 4 children here and adopted their 5th. We have absoutely loved working for Jeff and have admired both his leadership, his vision, and his integrity. His wife Eugenie has been an amazing example of a Godly woman, she has been helping in Ellie's ballet class this year, and having us moms over to hang out and play with the kids in her home during the winter months, which has been really special. We will miss them dearly and covet your prayers for the Lilley family, for Hume's staff, leadership, and board of directors. Thanks a ton!

Make Shift

Sorry, this is not going to be a long blog. Hopefully I will fill you all in soon on the latest, but I'm just not up for it yet. But I did want to show you this sweet video of our little chatterbox! Enjoy.

My Little Promised Land!

Okay so I know it's nothing compared to Heaven, but Jaron slept through the night ALL WEEK!!

I know I shared with some of you that when reading Deuteronomy I started comparing my pregnancy with Jaron to the desert/wilderness of the Old Testament, because it was just long and scary and a time that God brought us to our knees to trust Him to provide each day. Then, that the birth of Jaron was like coming to the Promised Land only to find Giants there and have it be really hard to conquer. (Since he was just a little tougher, okay a lot tougher, with the colic and the not sleeping or eating well, with his ecsema etc.) But I knew that God would be faithful to go before me as He would the Israelites and that He created the "giants" and could easily destroy them if He wanted to. Now I feel like I am coming back to the Promised Land and feel like God is providing blessings each day! Giant One: Eating-when I stopped nursing him and he learned to drink from a cup (skipped the bottle completely) and eating solid food, he seems much more satisfied and content as well as growing better. Giant Two: His Skin- Well after trying to cut out milk and wheat and that not working I finally discovered that carrots made his skin act up and got a prescription for trouble spots that works really well. Giant Three: Sleeping- After a year of getting up multible times a night to eat, last week I got really sick and Rich was leaving for Vegas, so I prayed and prayed and begged God to let him sleep just one night so I could get better to take care of them while he was gone. And he slept 8 Hours, it was phenominal! I praised Jesus all day and asked again that night and he slept like 10 hours! God just kept blessing and I kept thanking Him! He has now slept everyday this week since Sunday and I couldn't be happier!

Thank you all for the prayers through these last couple of years from miscarrying to getting pregnant to complications with the pregnancy to having Jaron to having Jaron get mean :-) It has been much appreciated and I am giving all Glory to God for His provision, care, comfort and strength to do it!

I know there will be hard times to come, and who knows this may be only a week of sleep and then back, but I don't think so, but how great to know How Great Our God is! He is So Worthy of our Praise!

One, Solitary, Step

Yeah, Jaron took a step today, yes, just one, and as soon as we try to get him to go again he curls his little legs up and refuses, so stubborn, ha! But he is pro at finding things to push around the house for practice! He's such a cutie, other new tricks of his are: giving an attempt to say "please" in sign language, getting a molar and a front tooth at one time, waving hi on occasion, drinking cow's milk, pointing the remote at the TV and stacking blocks! :-)

Ellie had a great morning, we had fun cleaning and playing, and she randomly told me she loved me, which is always a favorite, then a while later, (while she was in the bathroom) she told me I was her best friend So Sweet, I almost teared up. Of course, apparently she doesn't treat her friends that great because all through lunch she was naughty. But I have to give her the benefit of the doubt, it is super hard to stay with mom at the table or go with mom to the car, when there are all these fun Joshua student around showering her with attention. But...she should still obey. A nap fixed that and she was good the rest of the day.

Rich has been in Texas for the last couple of days and we are looking forward to his return tomorrow night! Unfortunetely, he leaves for Las Vegas on Sunday for a week, so we will be flyin' solo again. Thank goodness I have such a great community up here, that looks out for me.

I, am thinking of giving up laundry and dishes for lent, oh, is that not how that works, hmmm, I'll have to stick it out then. Boo. But really, I am trying to wear my hiking boots regularly to break them in for Israel. We just had Bible study here tonight and it went well. My partner in leading it was there for the first time after having her baby last month so that was fun.

Okay, that's all for now. Enjoy.

Horsey Ride

We just had the best couple days, we went to visit Rich's old college roommate up in Manteca. He is home from Israel where he now lives and goes to school. So you know they had a lot to talk about! Then we headed to Oakdale to our friend Bailey's house, and her family are so sweet, they just welcomed us in, made us home made lasagna and let Ellie ride their horse Lil. She was so excited and she wasn't even nervous to get on her. She had so much fun, Bailey just walked her around the property, and at one point Ellie started singing "Giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up let's go, let's look at the show" She's a doll! Then she got to help brush Lil's hair and get her hay and everything. We slept great, despite a small bed and a cat in the house. I think God was just protecting our little family time away. We had a pancake breakfast, then got on the road to Fresno where I got to get a haircut and then we headed to the last Hume Vision dinner. It was really neat to see Hume's "vision" for the future of this ministry.

Silly Jaron

Oh, Jaron, he's so silly! He still has his moments, for sure, and he still doesn't sleep through the night, even though he will be a year in two days!, but he sure is fun when he is in a good mood. He cracks me up. Today, he was "dancing", and he is getting better at standing and pushing things around, every day. He was even "singing" the other day on the Kareoke microphone, and lovin' it! He also has developed a sweet tooth, immediatly after having his first cupcake, and grunts for the cupboard with the dried blueberries in it. (Those are his new favorite)

I'll leave Ellie out of this blog, because she has been a pill lately, and no one wants to hear about that. It's much nicer to picture her as the obedient, sweet little angel that is inside her, instead of the feistyness that has been shown lately. :-)

Hope you have a happy day!

Almost One!

Sorry it has been so long since a blog. We have had a fairly uneventful couple of weeks. Although, it was fun to have Dan and Kristen, Kaia, and new baby Elijah come to visit, it was great to have the little cousins playing together and meeting each other. And Jaron has been learning a lot. He has been standing for little chunks of time, which is so cute, and last night he finally learned to clap. We’ll see if he remembers today. He has been trying more table food, which is fun and usually kinda messy. We are busy planning Jaron’s 1st Birthday party. Him and his friend Corin, who is 3 weeks older, are going to have a joint party. We put out a ton of invitations, so we will see how big a turn out we have tomorrow. Rich has been in LA all week with the Joshua students, and we have been doing okay here without him, mostly just meal times are tricky. You should check out the joshuawilderness.org site for updates on his trip, they have added some cool features.