Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!

2011-12-26T12:39:00.001-08:00

Sunny here, with a few Gritsko family updates from youngest to oldest.

John (10)~ We just celebrated Gotcha Day on November 6, which marked two years since John first came to us. This is his first year home schooling. He loves it and I love it. Our Tuesday co-op is a highlight for him. He is a natural athlete and excels at soccer. He is such an amazing young man. We are thankful he is in our family. He has so much potential and will certainly do much to help others in the future.

Rachel (13) had a fantastic year as goalie for her soccer team. She is an amazing chef and can take over dinner any time. She is very creative with painting and scrap-booking and plans to begin guitar lessons soon. She and Esther both switched over from skiing to snowboarding last winter so she’s looking forward to hitting the slopes in January. She loves to bless others with notes, poems, and general words of encouragement.

Esther (16) is a junior in high school. She continues to excel at basketball and had a great soccer season, too, which is her last with our Scottsville league. Her learners permit has introduced her to the adventures of driving. She seems to stay busy with friends, sports, home school, and two part-time jobs. She has a real servant's heart and often rescues me from my predicament of being the creative/disorganized type!

Caleb (18) is in his second year at Piedmont Community College and plans to transfer to JMU in the fall. He continues to play drums at any possible moment, including worship at church and with his band. He and Esther had a great trip to Honduras this summer helping with a mobile medical clinic. He keeps us in stitches whenever he is home long enough to just hang out. We all think he could be a stand up comedian.

Hannah (21) is learning a lot as the RN at Revolution Health Center. This is her second year there. She tutors at church once a week, takes lots of photos, including some wedding, engagement, and baby photos. She was in a minor car accident in October. She was fine but her car was totaled. She now has a Toyota 4runner, which she often uses to help tote her little brothers and sisters all over the county. We love having her living at home. She is a constant source of humor. She has grown into a godly young woman and is a joy to be around.

Dan and Cait celebrated one year of marriage in August. We love having Cait as our daughter in law. They are happily settled into life in Richmond and Daniel now works for snagajob.com, just minutes from their apartment. Cait continues to minister to kids in the city of Richmond through her full time job at Youth Life Foundation. They were able to join us for a whole week in Louisiana for Thanksgiving this year, which was just great.

Dan and Sunny~ Well, we finally made it back to

Morgantown for a football game this fall. WVU vs. LSU. The Mountaineers lost but it was a great time. Sunny is still teaching art at our home school co-op. Dan taught a Christian Worldview class this fall.

We had lots of travel adventures this year!: Florida to see WVU in the bowl game in January, family reunion on Lake Barclay in Kentucky in June, a weekend in the Big Apple, two trips to Morgantown, two camping trips, Dan and Sunny to Cancun with Worldstrides, Thanksgiving in Louisiana with family, Dan and Daniel to Buffalo to see the Bills play, Hannah and Sunny to Williamsburg to celebrate her 21st birthday.

Back to today…We just enjoyed some old home movies and several days celebrating the birth of our Savior, hanging out, eating, and playing our new favorite family game, Blokus. It seems like yesterday we had five kids all under the age of eleven. Now we have six kids and a daughter in law and the kids are still growing. I love all the new changes and can’t wait for more in 2012.

As I think about the New Year, what comes to mind is this: During the Christmas season, we strive to keep Christ at the center. In the same way, I want to be intentional about keeping Christ central to every day life....the mundane chores, commitments, relationships, and routine. He brings meaning and purpose to the other 364 days of the year. We have so much to be thankful for.

Our hearts are a bit heavy as we pray for several friends and family, including Dan's father, who are sick and for the many who are hurting these days. We love you all and are so thankful for you in our lives. Happy New Year! Love all the Gritskos

A Year of Landmarks

2010-12-17T05:05:00.000-08:00

2010 has been quite a year for our family! Here are the highlights...

~Lots of fun in the snow in January. Skiing and snowboarding at Wintergreen Resort.
~Dan gets elected to the Scottsville Town Council.
~Caleb graduates from homeschool high school. He is currently at Piedmont Virginia Community College with plans to transfer to a university in a couple of years.
~Hannah graduates from nursing school. She is now a registered nurse working at Revolution Health Center. Check it out! She served on a medical team in Haiti in June.
~Daniel ties the knot with the most wonderful girl in the world, Caitlin Woods Gritsko. If you'd like to see a ton of wedding photos, click here.
~Rachel takes over as the family blogger, showing great talent and interest in photography and writing. (this is Sunny writing this time!)
~Esther continues to excel in basketball and soccer, as well as enjoying her job as a mother's helper.
~Our adoption of John finalized in October, so we now have two new Gritskos!
~Sunny continues to enjoy teaching art and playing around in the kitchen.

We are so thankful for all of you in our lives. Our greatest treasures are those we can't see...our relationships with God and with our family and friends. Have a wonderful celebration of our Savior's birth and a fantastic new year!

We love you!
~Dan, Sunny, Daniel, Cait, Hannah, Caleb, Esther, Rachel, and John Gritsko

Dan giving us a tour of Richmond

Rachel, Esther, and John with Patrick Henry and others

Esther running her first 5K

Sunset on the Potomac

Caleb and Gran'mommie on the Potomac

First Dance

At the Rehearsal Dinner

One of our favorite summer activities

Caitlin Gritsko

John having fun in the leaves

Rachel and Cait

Could Christmas be here already?

2010-12-03T10:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year has been a true spin of fun activities! From getting the tree, to putting up festive decorations and our nice yearly traditions oh and don't forget the YUMMY dinners & desserts! Though it seems like Christmas has come so fast it still does feel like the warm inside the house holiday season! Hot cocoa by the tree, and turning all the lights off and looking at the sparkly white lights of the tree, cookie baking days and dessert days, yes it is Christmas!

Flowers!

2010-07-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

Each year in the summer my
sisters and I love planting
flowers! Not only planting flowers but also picking them and putting them in vases and giving them to people for birthdays or just to give it to them!!! we love going to the store and picking the seeds that are the most wonderful that WE like and having a night outside planting and talking and laughing!

2009 Thoughts from Dan...

2009-12-23T05:12:00.000-08:00

Concerns about the economy created a number of opportunities to talk to the kids about stewardship and to pray about the troubles facing our country. The company that I work for has not been exempt from these challenges. 2009 was a demanding year in the office. We have, like many others, worked harder in these tougher times. I ended up making two trips to the West Coast this fall in this effort.

It has been said that the economic downturn has forced people to re-evaluate their lives. This may end up for the good as people are forced to realize that the material world is not all there is to life. Hard times often turn our focus to God, who is the source of the basic needs in life as Matthew 6 tells us.

On the political front… we have been disappointed with the direction of our country. At the same time I have been surprised and encouraged by the resurgence of conservative activists and thrilled by the results of the election here in Virginia last month.

We had been involved in the 2008 election and I reminded everyone in the family that we were still going to the inauguration no matter who had won. Inauguration day (also Sunny’s birthday) started at about 4am as we dressed and then headed to downtown DC. Sunny and some of the kids joined me for the day while I was guiding for a group. We were on the mall by 6:30am and the swearing in starts at noon, so as Rachel later commented when I asked her to write a report about the day, her main refrain was “it was cold.” (See previous blog entry for more details)

Adoption…My pastor said it this way, "Finally you have a 'regulator'." He is overly aware of my tendency to do 15 things at once. Since early November, life has been quite a bit different. Life can be very unpredictable in a foster-adoption situation with an 8 year old. Some days are fine and dandy like a peaceful spring day with the birds chirping and waves quietly lapping at the lake. Then two minutes later out of nowhere a hurricane arrives on the scene.

What this has done for me is forced me to live much more in the “now.” Welcome to a new world, Dan. It is a simple reminder of another aspect of Matthew 6, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for each day has enough trouble of its own.” Our new “little regulator” has been, so far, a gift from God to me.

Thought for Christmas 2009
I am a big fan of some type of daily-systematic approach to Bible reading and attempt to read through the Bible each year. This past week I have instead spent my time reading the events surrounding the Christmas story.
As I have done this, what strikes me is the miraculous. You can’t get away from it...

- The Angel Gabriel was sent to Mary. (Wow, that’s awesome)
- Three different times while Joseph is asleep – An angel appears to him and instructs him on what to do next. (That’s pretty clear direction)
- Angels announce the birth of Christ to nearby Shepherds. (Wow)
- Wise men understand the King of the Jews is to be born and travel to be there for the event (and) are advised by an angel to not make a return visit to Herod. (This is just way too cool)
- Simeon is in the temple and knows he will not see death before he sees the Lord’s Christ. (Can you imagine how he felt when he saw Jesus?)
- The prophecies in Isaiah and Micah that tell us many things including where and how Jesus would be born. (God sure had an amazing plan)

God intervened in human history. He came. And the world has never been the same. Application... As you face challenges and trials, may you take comfort not only in the miraculous provision of God, but also in the miraculous character of God himself.

Thanksgiving day

2009-12-01T03:16:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with both sets of grandparents this week!
We drove up to Winchester to be with Dan's family and Sunny's parents came too. It was a great time and everyone enjoyed meeting John. He had fun with all the cousins.

2009-11-08T05:40:00.000-08:00

Recent Family Photos
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A day at the park...

at the soccer field...

who's gonna score?

having fun at the playground...

just walkin' around...

Meade's Pyramid...

Smiles!

at the battle of Fredericksburg...

Summer Fun on the James

2009-09-29T22:59:00.000-07:00

We spent a lot of time on the James River this summer, mostly because we bought two awesome kayaks in June at a yard sale. This river has got to be the best in the world for swimming, kayaking, tubing, canoeing, and just having fun. We often went to the James at sunset. Hannah would take pictures. Some of the kids would swim or fool around in the kayaks. We took a full tubing ride from Hatton Ferry to Scottsville two or three times with friends. That is one of my favorite things of all time to do! Well, summer seems to be officially over, now that we have brought up our space heaters and put extra blankets on the beds. I haven't brought out the fall/winter clothes yet, but I may have to this weekend!

Daniel Graduates from JMU

2009-08-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

In keeping with my creative/disorganized (artist's?) personality, and being one who tends to get all excited about a project and then forget about it for a while, I am repenting of not posting for several months and want to update you all on our busy life. First of all, Daniel graduated with honors from JMU in Computer Science on May 9, 2009. About three weeks later, he turned 21. We all went to the graduation ceremony in Harrisonburg. Despite the threat of rain, it turned out to be a beautiful day.

The proud parents

The parents trying to pretend they are sad about the whole thing

The happy siblings of the graduate

Next we ventured over to Natural Chimneys, a local wonder. We fooled around there for awhile until we were all starving and drove through the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley over to Bridgewater for a lovely Italian meal together.

Encouragement from David Wilkerson

2009-03-20T05:48:00.001-07:00

We recently started receiving the daily devotions from David Wilkerson. I highly recommend them. This really ministered to me today...

Jesus died on the cross to purchase peace with God for me—and he’s in heaven now to maintain that peace, for me and in me. The peace we have with God through Christ distinguishes our faith from all other religions.

In every other religion besides Christianity, the sin question is never settled. Sin’s dominion simply hasn’t been broken. Therefore there can be no peace: “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the wicked” (Isaiah 48:22). But we have a God who provides peace by pardoning sin. This is the very reason Jesus came to earth: to bring peace to troubled, fearful humankind.

How does Jesus maintain God’s peace for me? He does it in three ways:

First, Christ’s blood removed the guilt of my sin. In this sense, Paul says, “He is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14). Jesus made peace for me through his blood.
Second, Christ maintains my peace and joy in believing: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost” (Romans15:13).
Third, Jesus causes me to rejoice at the hope of entering glory: “We…rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2).

Simply put, peace is the absence of fear. And a life without fear is a life full of peace.

When Jesus ascended to heaven, he didn’t just bask in the glory that God bestowed on him. No, he went to the Father to maintain the hard-won peace he achieved for us at Calvary.

Our Savior is alive in glory right now. And he’s both fully God and fully human, with hands, feet, eyes, hair. He also has the nail scars on his hands and feet, the wound in his side. He has never discarded his humanity; he is still a man in glory. And right now, our man in eternity is working to make sure we’re never robbed of the peace he gave us when he left. He’s ministering as our high priest, actively involved in keeping his body on earth full of his peace. And when he comes again he wants us to “be found of him in peace” (2 Peter 3:14).

When I sin, my peace is interrupted in two areas. First, my conscience troubles and accuses me, and rightly so. But, second, Satan’s accusations put fear in me. I believe these are the two primary areas where Christ’s intercession applies to us.

First, my high priest won’t permit my conscience to hold me captive. Nor will he allow Satan’s accusations against me to go unchallenged. Christ is my advocate with the Father against every accusation from hell. What is an advocate? It is simply “my friend in court.” For Christians, this friend in court is also the son of the judge. In addition, our advocate is our brother. In fact, we are set to inherit the judge’s fortune along with him.

Inauguration 2009

2009-03-06T05:39:00.000-08:00

January 20,2009, President Barack Obama, Politics and God
by Dan

The day started for me at 4am. I couldn’t sleep any more. I got up and went down to the main desk at the hotel. The front desk clerk and I chatted about our new president as the first morning papers arrived. I wanted to make sure that breakfast would be on track for my group, as we would leave the hotel at 6am. It was 17 degrees outside.

6:27am. Our bus had dropped us off; we had walked a couple blocks and we were now in “place” on the National Mall. This is the spot we would be at until about 1:15pm when the ceremony was over. (We were right in the middle of the Mall between the Natural History Museum and the Smithsonian Castle)

The special day for our family
This was the seventh Inauguration day I have been in Washington and the third time that Sunny and some of the kids have been there with me. However, our family Inaugural history goes back even further. As a child Sunny and her family had attended Carter’s Inauguration in 1977, and on January 20, 1965, on President Johnson’s Inauguration day, Sunny was born in Washington, D.C. So as you can see, Inauguration days are special for our family.

I had told our children that we were going regardless who won the election. I volunteered to be there in an official capacity for my company (which I ended up doing) or to come simply as a family.

The man and his politics
We were very involved in the campaign and disappointed with the outcome, but I was still excited to be there. President Barack Obama has an interesting life story and his rise to national power has been a phenomenon to watch. He was considered to be the most liberal Senator in the US Senate according to the National Journal. His lack of experience and wrong view on Iraq were of great concern to me. I wrote about them as significant reasons why I believed he was the wrong choice:

For instance, He campaigned in 2007 saying the U.S. should be out of Iraq by March 31, 2008. (his original time table) (fact check this as you can see how catastrophic that would have been) He then changed his timetable numerous times to the 19-month timetable recently announced. If the US would have been out 3/31/08, (A time the surge was beginning to work) it would have seen the death of countless thousands of additional US soldiers and Iraq would have ended up in a civil war emboldening terrorists worldwide. As it is, our president never explained he has been consistently wrong on Iraq policy. This is just one of hundreds of examples of why I had campaigned to see the opposite result.

Our first African American President
I am proud that our nation finally has an African American president. I think that is a good thing. I also think that it is good for the world to see America have an African American President. At other Inaugurations, I saw political operatives who had flown or driven to town to enjoy the special day. This was true whether it was a Democratic or Republican who had come to office. While that was certainly true again this time around, this inauguration was also something I would not have fully grasped had I not been there. I saw African Americans from all walks of life in Washington on that special day, to celebrate. From the Grandma walking down the street with her family at 6:15am, to little ones following Moms and Dads, I noted that it was the most African Americans I had ever seen at an Inauguration.

When I saw television interviews of African Americans around the country, those interviewed weren’t just saying I am happy Senator Obama won, but they were saying things like, “now I have hope” or "now I feel affirmed.” His Inauguration certainly touched a chord that was long overdue in our culture.

How I wish racism was a thing of the past, but it is not. I do think the election of our first African American president is another step in the progression of freedom of in land. And that is something that we can all celebrate.

At the Inauguration, a “revelation”
While at the Inauguration and in the days following, I had time to search my own heart of hearts. Would I support him? Would I oppose this man? If so, how? As a Christian, I had already been praying for him for a long time. I would definitely continue to do that. I came to the conviction that I had to be who God made me to be. To live out my convictions. In a respectful and God honoring way. Simply put I had to be me. I realized that President Barrack Obama wasn’t about to change his convictions, neither am I.

Recent history and God, are we missing something?
Let’s take a quick run through recent history. President Reagan (the greatest President in my lifetime) led America to a “dividend” of freedom around the world. God, working through President Reagan, and behind the scenes through other wise world leaders including Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul, the world saw the demise of the evil empire (The USSR). With that demise brought tremendous political freedoms to the East, and the economic expansion of the 1990’s for the West.

When President Clinton left office in 2000, he left an America in stronger financial footing but one that had failed to pay attention to growing threats around the world. In 2000, we saw a contentious election not resolved until Dec 13th. On Sept 11, 2001 we saw the great tragedy of the attacks of the Al Qaeda network and the death of just under 3,000 people. This attack damaged the headquarters of our military while spreading fear across our land. It had been 60 years since America had experienced such a devastating attack.

We then saw the beginning of the war on terror in Afghanistan (2001) and in Iraq (2003). Hurricane Katrina struck (2005) and caused the death of roughly 2000 people and destroyed large parts of one of America’s cities. The American economy faltered (2008) and took a severe nose dive that ignited a worldwide economic decline. Other significant devastating events also affected our nation.

In ancient times, when terrible events happened people turned to God to beg for his forgiveness. They fasted, they prayed ---They sought to determine where they went wrong and to plead for God’s divine mercy. A thinking mind must wonder, should we not bend our knees before the Almighty God of the Universe seeking his aid to our land.

Wars and catastrophes happen. World history if full of them. Is there a message we are somehow not heeding?

Where do we go from here?

President Barrack Obama is not the answer – no man is. Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, let me throw some ideas for your consideration:

(1) We need God. We need to look to Him, we need to rely on Him. We need to heed the ancient words of 2 Chronicles 7: 14, “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

(2) We should look to God’s answers for our current national crisis. This is both individually and nationally. Things like getting out of debt, helping those in need, and looking for God’s guidance in the scriptures, through answers to prayer, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

(3) We should pray for our president. We should pray for God to direct him and guide him. We should pray for Michelle and Sasha and Malia. And we should also pray for all who lead our land—senators, congressmen, governors, local leaders, etc.

(4) We should seek opportunities to be politically active. Let us look for opportunities to offer conservative answers to new and pressing needs. The ideas of limited government, personal responsibility, protecting human life, the legitimate use of force, etc will likely be overlooked by our president. We need to make a case for them to a new generation that is confused by the rhetoric and disappointed with real failures that happened on the watch of some Republican leaders.

2009-02-16T05:14:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day is over, January 1st resolutions have been almost forgotten, and Spring Break seems far away... Now is the time to practice contentment.

We want contentment, right? But how to we practice it? I stumbled upon these words from Elisabeth Elliot years ago. I keep coming back to them. They have been a repeated reminder in my life of how to be happy!

Steps to Contentment
Elisabeth Elliot

1. Allow thyself to complain of nothing, not even the weather. .. Phil.2:14
(Remember to be faithful in little things that He may trust us with more.)

2. Never picture thyself under any circumstances in which thou art not.

3. Never compare thine own lot with that of another.

4. Never allow thyself to dwell on the wish that this or that had been, or were, or otherwise than it was or is. God Almighty loves thee better and more wisely than thou dost thyself.

5. Never dwell on the morrow. Remember that it is God’s, not thine. The heaviest part of sorrow often is to look forward to it. The Lord will provide.

LET'S GO MOUNTAINEERS!

2009-01-18T12:39:00.001-08:00

Hey, everyone.

It's Hannah :) A few weeks have passed since THE game, but I thought I would take a second to pull an Erin Andrews and give you a little report on our journey to the Meineke Car Care Bowl. Say that three times fast. We are big West Virginia University football fans--due to my parents alumni status--so, thanks to my amazing begging skills, we convinced Dad to take us to see the Mountaineers play against the University of North Carolina Tarheels at Panther Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

It was an epic day. Considering our relative distance from Morgantown, it's easy to feel like the only WVU fans within a 90 mile radius. It was utterly refeshing to be in a stadium with thousands of other Big Easters who wear that beautiful blue & gold with pride...especially since, um, we won. Also, seeing the legend that is Pat White play his last game in a Mountaineer jersey was especially fulfilling ;)

Anyway...if you don't like football, this post is probably getting fairly mind-numbing. But, everyone likes pictures, right?! Without further ado, here are some snaps from our venture on December 27, 2008.

Considering our 4 a.m. departure, Starbucks was a necessity. Call me an addict.

You can't really see it in this picture, but we had JUST spotted the first car that was decked out in WVU paraphernalia. Yeah...we kind of freaked out at the sight; we're such repressed Mountaineer fans. (Time check: 7 a.m. We're gettin' close!)

Panther Stadium. ANTICIPATION!!! Am I the only one who thinks that football stadiums are breathtakingly beautiful?? (Time check: 10 a.m. Only three hourse until kick-off!)
First glimpse of the field! (Time check: 11 a.m. Just two hours until the game commences...)
And that is...PATRICK WHITE!!!!!!! Yeah! (Time check: 11:30 a.m. Game time is getting close...woo!)Noel Devine + Patrick White. Dynamite. (On a side note...how great of a name is Noel Devine?!)
1 p.m...and the game begins!
All of us after the game. HAPPINESS! Final score: 31, 30...WVU :)
#5! Pat White, we're going to miss you.
Headed home. Me and the kid brother.

Thanks for reading! Happy basketball season to all of you sports comrades out there.
And...of course...Let's Go Mountaineers!

Christmas Joys

2009-01-08T20:50:00.000-08:00

A cute and funny thing happened on Christmas day. Rachel gave Dan a book of homemade coupons. This is a popular gift in our family. One of the coupons sent us all laughing hysterically as Dan read it aloud. It said, "Good for one outing with you...You pay."

Here is an excerpt from something sweet Esther wrote..."When toys and the once-new gifts get broken, memories never get broken."

We had a wonderful time with Daniel being home from JMU for several weeks. He returned to school today, stocked up with food, and we miss him already.

Currently we are adjusting to life back in the normal routine! It seems to take a while. Hope you have a happy 2009! Love, Sunny and Dan

2008-12-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

What was 2008 for us?
I asked the kids what the highlights of the past year were for each of them and this is what they said…
Daniel remembered the medical mission trip to Honduras with Caleb and a team from our church, and another trip to Florida this month for the wedding of a friend.
Hannah has really pushed herself during this first year of nursing school. She and her brothers saw Coldplay in concert and she will be heading down to North Carolina with Dan and Caleb to see the WVU Mountaineers play in a bowl game this Saturday.
Caleb enjoyed the trip to Honduras, and joining the worship team at church.
Esther’s favorites from this year were: All of our hoedowns, quarry jumping, swimming in the James River, and playing soccer.
Rachel loved skiing in the winter, swimming, camping in the summer, soccer in the fall.
For Sunny and Dan, probably the most significant thing was finding Children’s Home Society of Virginia. We had been thinking and praying about adopting for a few years. We took and eight week course and began our home study this summer. We will be adopting through the Virginia foster care system. All the kids are excited. There will be big changes and challenges we know, but we feel God has prepared all of our hearts to welcome a new little one. We’ll keep you posted on how things proceed.
The year has been so wonderful and full. We feel so blessed with our kids and all of you in our lives!!

Advent Conspiracy

2008-12-04T11:14:00.000-08:00

Our family is trying to keep Christmas simple this year. Well, OK, it's true we say that every year, but we recently saw the promo video from Advent Conspiracy that is helping us to actually live in light of the needs of the world.

Have you heard of it? Here is an excerpt from the website:

The story of Christ's birth is a story of promise, hope, and a revolutionary love.

So, what happened? What was once a time to celebrate the birth of a savior has somehow turned into a season of stress, traffic jams, and shopping lists.

And when it's all over, many of us are left with presents to return, looming debt that will take months to pay off, and this empty feeling of missed purpose. Is this what we really want out of Christmas?

What if Christmas became a world-changing event again?

Welcome to Advent Conspiracy.
Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All

I love that! We have always struggled to focus on the "real meaning of Christmas" as I am sure you have too. We feel this has helped us to have a concrete reason to spend less money and spend more time together. Americans spend 450 billion dollars on Christmas presents every year! The estimated cost to make clean water available to everyone in the world is 10 billion. This is significant, because lack of clean water kills more people than anything. Our church is focusing on helping a community in Kenya drill for water. I am excited to see how "cutting back" on Christmas can be more than just frugal living...it can literally give life to someone! Check out the website. You can also see the videos at the bottom of our blog!

Operation Christmas Child

2008-11-24T16:04:00.000-08:00

Friday evening, our home group had the fun of helping load up boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We worked for a couple of hours, packing the boxes into bigger boxes, labeling and numbering them, and then wheeling them out to the 18-wheeler, bound for a bigger distribution center. Each box will be delivered to a child in a developing country who has probably never received a gift, ever. Each box is filled with toys, candy, and toiletries, and most importantly, a gospel booklet in the child's own language. This is our third year making boxes and our first year helping load them up. We will pray for the children who receive our boxes; mostly that they will know that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and that they will come to know Him personally!

Healthy Chocolate Chip Oat Cookies

2008-11-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

Ever since Dan's health conversion (inspired by the discovery that his cholesterol was high...) I have been tweaking the good ol' Crisco-laden chocolate chip cookie recipe. I think I finally got it where I want it. They really do taste good!! Here it is:

1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups oats I grind them a half cup at a time in the coffee grinder. You don't have to grind them, but it makes the cookies less oaty.
2 1/2 cups fresh ground wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
dark chocolate chips - as many as you want! (nuts-optional)

Blend the oil and sugars. Add the eggs and vanilla.
Mix the dry ingredients together and add to wet along with chips.
Shape with hands into medium sized patties. Bake on un-greased cookie sheet at 350 for about 15 minutes or til golden. Enjoy with a big glass of skim milk!

English Country Dancing

2008-11-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

This has become one of our favorite activities. Our good friends, the Toccis introduced us to it. They invited us to a Civil War re-enactment dance a few years ago. Ever since, we have been hooked. We learned recently that country dancing, or hoe-downs were THE community event in these parts until…the arrival of the television! Makes sense, doesn’t it? Technology can either bring us together or isolate us. Well, we have attempted to discover some of the beauty of this lost art. All ages come together to have some good foot-stompin’ fun! After a pot-luck/cookout dinner, we enjoy live music from our friends Kathi and Scott. Last spring, local artist and friend, Malcolm Hughes painted the dancers in action. Here he is at his easel. The dancers are either doing the Virgina Reel, the Snowball Reel, the Spanish Waltz, or the Broom Dance! ~Sunny

Peace

2008-11-13T08:26:00.000-08:00

Below is a copy of Eugene Peterson's introduction to the books of first and second Thessalonians.
My friend read it to me over the phone a few weeks ago at a time when I had no peace about the election.
God used it to give me tremendous peace and that peace is still there even though I am disappointed.
Hope it is an encouragement to you!
Sunny

The way we conceive the future sculpts the present, gives contour and tone to nearly every action and thought through the day. If our sense of future is weak, we live listlessly. Much emotional and mental illness and most suicides occur among men and women who feel that they “have no future.”
The Christian faith has always been characterized by a strong and focused sense of future, with belief in the Second Coming of Jesus as the most distinctive detail. From the day Jesus ascended into heaven, his followers lived in expectancy of his return. He told them he was coming back. They believed he was coming back. They continue to believe it. For Christians, it is the most important thing to know and believe about the future.
The practical effect of this belief is to charge each moment of the present with hope. For if the future is dominated by the coming again of Jesus, there is little room left on the screen for projecting our anxieties and fantasies. It takes the clutter out of our lives. We’re far more free to respond spontaneously to the freedom of God.
All the same, the belief can be misconceived so that it results in paralyzing fear for some, shiftless indolence in others. Paul’s two letters to the Christians in Thessalonica, among much else, correct such debilitating misconceptions, prodding us to continue to live forward in taut and joyful expectancy for what God will do next in Jesus.