Baptized

We're real proud of our little dudes who decided to get baptized today!

Acts 10:47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.”

Acts 22:16 'And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

 
  Galatians 3:27 'For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.'

 

Romans 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

Ephesians 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism



Another Weekend

The weekends are going by way too fast. I think we just have too much to do. Or maybe we need to change our mindsets about what is actually possible and take on a much slower approach to projects related to our house. Ugh! We basically only have Fridays because Saturday is filled with baseball and church. Can't really do anything else. This weekend Rand was sick Friday and was laid up the whole day with a fever. So this week we are starting slightly behind. But Saturday was Saturday as usual. This week the boys both had games at the same time. Wyatt's was at a new field like an hour a way and so we decided to skip his game and just all go to Brendan's. Wyatt was all for it because his girlfriend is Brendan's coach's daughter and he spends the whole game running around and climbing trees with her. Oh my. I think he has his first real crush. He's already made her a Valentine and he thinks she is "beautiful". It really is quite precious. He is such our ladies-man. Girls just sort of flock to him. Am I really talking about this?? He's 5 for goodness sake! After that we came home for a bit and went back (I say went back, because it's a bit of a drive West) to church.

A word on church.

I'll admit it. We go to CCV. Yes, it's a mega-church. Yes, the smoke machines during worship is a little much (but man! the music is awesome). Yes, it looks like a college campus. Yes, the preaching is topical. But, there is lots of things we love. Kids programs, Saturday night service, a great place to be, hang out, meet people and bring people,... to name a few. They are growing and changing and trying to do really good things in the community. Perhaps it's a topic for another post.

For now, some pictures from the weekend!

See why the girls like him?

He's trying real hard not to be scared! He's pretty nervous about being hit by a pitch. And it is a good possibility at this age group. Fortunately they aren't throwing very hard yet!

At church. We go early so we can play.

dizzy!

And Wyatt slid through some mud right before church. Oops. (How is there mud????)

My Husband: Mortician/Pastor

I don't talk much about Rand or his work on this blog. Mostly it's about me and kids, kids and more kids. I know some people have no idea what he's up to. Sure, we moved to Phoenix to plant a church and Rand is a pastor and what-not, but really, this part of the story needs to be told lest we forget this part of our journey when it eventually (hopefully) comes to an end.
Rand passed up a pastor-job offer in New Jersey right before we decided to move back to Phoenix. It was a tough decision for him. One of his main goals in life is to provide for us and to pass up that job, at first, seemed like maybe a not-so smart move. But moving back towards the West and pursuing his dream of church-planting seemed like good timing. And I agreed.
However, church-planting doesn't provide much of an income! And although it would be great to pastor and minister and worship without the care of money, the truth is, pastors need money! Money to live, and money to minister. Fortunately, Rand has a fall-back career. He's a funeral director! Remember that?! Right before we moved here he landed a job with a "transport" company and it enabled us to get into our house before we got here. That was nice since I was 30 weeks pregnant and double moving just didn't sound like that much fun. So Rand's job, for those who aren't in the "know" was working on-call for a company that did pick-ups from homes and hospitals for funeral homes. It was a HORRIBLE job. By far the worst job he's ever had. The work itself wasn't the bad part, but he was on-call 24 hours a day (96 hours a week) and sometimes was working way too much and sometimes he was sitting at home not working at all. The management was extremely poor and the pay was even worse. This company cannot keep drivers....and now we know why. So Rand started pursuing getting his funeral directors licence reinstated. It happened quickly and he got everything he needed done just in time for the April Board meeting to approve it (state test, finger prints, school transcripts ect). An interview, another interview and some more waiting and ta-da! Rand got hired by a big funeral home to be one of their embalmer/funeral directors. His first day was yesterday. His hours are pretty set and although he will be working overtime regularly (his choice) at least we know when he'll be working and what he'll be making. Phew!
All this is great and all, but let's not forget that this mortician/embalmer, if you will, loves Jesus and telling people about Him and Rand's passion is for that (not embalming!). It's a hard job working more than full time and trying to get Liberti off the ground (not to mention being with us as much as possible). It is going much more slowly than he would like, but he is sticking with it and plugging along. He is talking to guys all over town and anxiously looking forward to his first event: Beer and Bible Night (for the fellas) in May. He is talking to a lot of guys that aren't Christians and it's exciting to see their interest and there is hope for them to be the beginning of strong Christian men that will be a part of Liberti.
So there ya have it! That's what my hubby has been doing. He's busy, a tad stressed out (you should see the giant cold sore on his lip. Let's be glad it wasn't in his eyeball again!) but he is making the best of it all...even though it's hard. We are learning a lot about patience, and trusting God, and being content, and giving thanks for everything. It's hard to do sometimes, believe me.
So hats off to Rand....the best mortician/pastor I know!

2010--A New Adventure Begins

Ya know, I'm not really the adventure type. At least I thought not. And yet the past 10 years have been full of "adventure".....perhaps that is just marriage...or maybe just life in general.
I have spent a lot of my life seeking balance, consistency, simplicity. That's kind of how I like it. Predictable, pleasant, simple and easy. Fortunately, God made me extremely flexible and so with each curve ball, bump in the road, u-turn, (after throwing a couple internal fits), I usually bend and adapt and move on fairly easily.....searching again for predictability until I find it....even if just for a short while.

I really thought our move to Pennsylvania was the beginning of "settled-ness". The start of a calmer, easier road. And yet the year has been full of uncertainty and eventually ended in total chaos (from my perspective). I'm going to go ahead and blame it on pregnancy hormones, but I did not handle the news of this new upheaval well at all. Part of the problem was that Rand and I weren't on the same page and so our grief took us in different directions and apart (for a little while, at least). What did this mean? What will we do? Where will we go? Are we really doing this again? We had different answers to those questions and that made things much worse. After several days of irrational behavior, on my part (nothing crazy just a lot of crying and self-pity) we came back together and really started talking, understanding each other a little better.

We have spent countless hours trying to answer those questions. Weighing the pros and cons of our options, what we wanted, what was "wise", what was "safe" and what was "risky". Surprisingly, Rand was searching for "safe" and I was feeling strongly that now was the time for "risk" if ever there was going to be a time.

With full support and confidence in the complex, creative, totally capable fella I married, we have decided to move back to Phoenix and start a church from the ground up. We've done research galore, brainstormed, read articles, "spied" on other church-planters and gotten a clear sense that Rand is gifted for this work and now is the time! It is scary and risky and exciting and we are having to trust God like never before. But we do. And so we keep stepping forward....and we keep getting confirmed and I think we are starting to get over the shock and disappointment and starting to get excited and anxious. The kids are thrilled to move back to Phoenix, to be near family and lots of friends we left behind. And so am I.

So when is all this going to happen? Hang on to your seats. We should be there by the first week of February. We are done here for the most part....and heck, we have a baby coming. I have a friend helping us track down a place to live, an appointment already on the books with a new mid-wife (highly recommended by another friend) and baby gear to pick up in Kansas. If only I had a nickle for every time I've said, "I can't believe we are doing this," "I can't believe we are going back," "I'm never moving again."

Don't get me wrong I am still processing this whole thing. I am still sad about what has happened. I am still grieving the life I thought we were building here. But there comes a point when you really have to move on.....to take a deep breath and see what God has....because for us, for now, it isn't here. And so I keep redirecting my eyes from looking and gazing upon what I cannot have and instead slowly embracing the unknown, the uncertain. Right after we found out we were done here we sang a song in church that I have sung a hundred times before but this time really hit me over the head. It says, "He gives and takes away. He gives and takes away. My heart will choose to say, Blessed be your Name." I have thought of it so many times since. While I grieve what He takes away, I refuse to ignore what He gives. And if I've learned anything in the last three years it's that He takes away for a reason and if we stop asking why and look for what He gives instead, we realize it is better to cling to that rather than continue to grasp at what is not there and not for us.

The road ahead is going to be a challenge, but I am confident in our decision. Rand has spent a lot of time the last couple weeks building a website to be able to share his vision and what he is hoping to do. It's for all of you.
Please click the link and really take a look at what we are about to embark on. We need an army of ralliers behind us on this one!
2010-A New Adventure Begins.....

Liberti Church Vision-Casting Website

Acorns and Chili

Don't those two things just spell FALL?
Last weekend we had another church family gathering. This time....a chili fest! It was a blast. We had 8 different chilies. I tried to just take a tiny bit so I could try them all, but after 4 I was done. They were all so different and all soo delicious. The kids played outside after only eating cookies since they are not lovers of chili and everyone (the kids) got to decorate pumpkins. It was a perfect fall party!



Along with the chili (since I don't want to dedicate a post of it's own) we have a major acorn problem. I have even been hit on the head by the little rocks that are constantly dropping out of our tree. INSANE amounts of acorns. I am wondering where in the world the squirrels are??? They are not in full gathering mode yet and I'm wishing they were! Cleaning them up is almost pointless. It is seriously treacherous. Walking on the driveway is like walking across a floor covered in marbles. Both Rand and Wyatt have bit it because of the little things (well, Rand almost bit it). We clear it off and then they are back. We are trying to just drive over them as much as possible and turn them into powder. Remember how we were gathering them? Well now they are so big that their little caps won't stay on, and let's face it, acorns aren't that cute without their little caps. So in the yard and driveway they stay! And as soon as those are done then we have LEAVES! At least leaves don't hurt when they hit you on the head!

The Busiest Weekend Ever

You know how sometimes being busy makes time go by so fast? You look around and all of a sudden it's 3 days later? Yeah. That didn't happen to me this weekend. This has felt like the absolute longest weekend and boy were we busy!

Let's start with Friday, shall we? Friday evening Rand and I hosted our church's monthly summer Family Night. I've been preparing for a week and at 6:00pm 75 people showed up at our house for food and fun. We really did have a great time and I think our house was almost made for this kind of thing...at least the yard was. We had bike/scooter/tricycle riding, sprinkler running, squirt gun shooting, potlucking, blanket sitting, swing set climbing, sandbox digging, wiffle ball playing, soccer ball kicking, pitch golfing, and badminton. I wish I would of had my camera going from the beginning, but I was pretty busy. After people were done eating I finally had a chance to think 'pictures'. I think everyone had a great time......we definitely did.



By 9:30 most of the party was over except for a few stray firefly catchers and my feet had never hurt so bad. I had been going since about 5am. Totally worth it, but I was tuckered out! On to Saturday. In the morning, Wyatt and I went to a birthday party and Rand and Brendan went to Target. The kids spent the afternoon playing with their new toy.



Then we had some backyard shade time. I was all about the hammock. The kids were all about taking pictures and looking at them (we do this often).



And then....because we just didn't feel like we had been busy enough.....we invited some friends over to use the slip 'n' slide and help us eat a few more burgers and hot dogs. AND we invited our neighbors too since they missed the BBQ the night before because they decided to go to a 13 inning Phillies game instead. Our plans of more outdoor fun were thwarted, just in time for the guests to arrive, by a torrential down pour that lasted all night. So our second-night-in-a-row party was moved inside. It ended up being a blast and we even whipped out a board game and laughed hysterically for at least a solid hour. (no pictures to prove it)

Sunday....church. After church I really thought it was all over. I read a book in the backyard shady oasis all afternoon and even thought about throwing on my PJ's. But no. Why stop now? We decided instead that we should do some more. So we hopped over to a nearby park to check out a church service that a couple churches are putting together for the summer. After that, we hooked up with a couple friends that lived nearby and had some ice cream and strawberries. Wyatt fell in the pool while we were there....fully dressed(he can swim. no worries) (again. no pictures to prove it.) The kids just ran around like wild animals (they were with friends, so the wildness is always bumped up a couple notches) while we chatted until almost dark. More firefly capturing ensued on the walk back to our car and the kids were tucked in bed for the third night in a row more than an hour and a half past their bedtimes! The beginning of summer has offically arrived!

I almost forgot... Here's a video of the kids cracking up at themselves and the video they made with the webcam while I was cleaning the bathroom on Friday. (I'm not sure, but they might have sent like 3 of these messages to my sister Joanna) I managed to catch the 10th time they watched it on my camera. Enjoy! :) The beginning of a busy week starts tomorrow!

Spring Eggstravaganza....

...the other reason we are so tired after our weekend.

Rand has spent the last few months (along with his fabulous team of helpers/planners) planning our church's Spring Eggstravaganza. It was a free event we hosted, on the campus our church meets on, for the whole community to come out and have fun. There was an egg hunt, moon bounces, crafts, snacks, pictures with the Easter bunny, and a strange performing bear. The event started quickly after church and went through the afternoon. The weather couldn't have been better and over 200 kids (+ their parents) turned out from the community.
The boys ran through those moon bounce things over and over and over. I lost them multiple times but always found them, oblivious to the fact that I had been missing.

The egg hunt was hilarious. They split the kids up by ages and the preschoolers went to one end and the older kids to the other. Rand took Wyatt and I don't think Wyatt had a good idea of what was going to happen. They yelled 1-2-3 and the little preschoolers took off running for the eggs. Poor Wyatt ran a few steps. Stopped. Threw down his bag like he was mad and started crying. It was sad and hilarious at the same time. We met up and I found him an egg for his bag. See if you can find the picture. :) It's really funny. :) He told me later he didn't like everyone cheering.