ready for rest

tim is leaving for colorado tomorrow. i will miss him but i am thrilled he is able to be with his family for a whole week. and hopefully he can get some rest. tim has been crazy busy with school the past few weeks- this was evidenced the other night when we were having mexican food for dinner.

as tim was serving himself he decides to be very creative - remembering some green leafy herb in the fridge (how could kristi not get out the cilantro he wonders?...). tim puts a generous amount of such herb on his burrito and comes to sit down.

i wasn't paying attention to this process - so when he bites into his burrito and asks - "why does my dinner taste funny?" - i have no idea what he is talking about.

he says, "yeah i put that cilantro on my burrito... was that cilantro?..." knowing full well that we do not have any cilantro in the fridge i ask, "let me see it."

tim pulls out a huge strand of parsley. (i had purchased some fresh parsley for a chili i made a couple weeks ago - thankfully it was still good - surprisingly). i tell tim he put parsley on his burrito and whoa - did tim help himself to the parsley.

the moment becomes all that more funny when he stands up to go to the counter to operate on his burrito by carefully removing all of the parsley and i realize he has a long white sock hanging out the back of his pants.

i laugh even now as i think about it. i kindly ask, "um tim... why do you have a sock tucked into the back of your pants?"

"what?..." he then turns to see the sock - and says, "huh, i wonder how long that has been there."

poor tim. he needs rest. and i am glad he will get some very soon.

other people's children

the last few weeks i have been thinking about my heart for other people's children. one of the first precious ones that comes to mind is averi matthews. i had the great joy of watching averi one day a week for almost her first year of life. moments holding her, feeding her and playing with her i will never forget. averi gave me a small glimpse of what being a mother will look and feel like and her sweet spirit captured my heart. when we left denver one of the hardest good-byes for me was saying goodbye to averi.

the hommes children also come to mind as i think about kids i simply adore. the hommes children are hilarious. i have fond memories of watching connor and dylan run around in circles to the olympics theme song, hearing them sing their favorite praise songs, maci performing 'camp rock' and most recently smiling as sonya told us how dylan and connor told her before we came over to visit that, "tim and kristi are our friends too and we want to play with them!"

i could go on and on but i can't finish without mentioning the moser children. talk about steal your heart. ben, isa and sam are wonderful. hearing ben exclaim "kristi!" with every bit of excitement in his 3 year old body when he sees me for the first time each day, isa running to me with a huge smile on her face just wanting to be picked up and sam - sweet sam - coming upstairs to see sam watching "baby praise" kills me every time. the noise they make above us causes tim and i to smile on a daily basis.

all that to say - the Lord has used and will continue to use these precious ones in profound ways in my life. i trust all of you out there who are parents will agree with me that children truly are one of God's greatest gifts to us. it saddens my heart to hear stories of parents whose perspective is so torn that they see their children as a burden, a distraction, or simply don't stop to pay attention to the treasure before them. so until the Lord blesses tim and i with some little people - thanks to all of you who share your sweet, funny, wonderful children with us. we love them!

remedy

christmas eve last year we found out ken, tim's dad, had cancer. a huge tumor had developed in his abdomen. thankfully we were all together as a family. we realized once again that things change. and we went to christmas eve service as a family.

at the service we sang Remedy - a david crowder band song.
Here we are
Here we are
Bandaged and bruised
Awaiting a cure
Here we are

Here You are
Here You are
Our beautiful King
Bringing relief
Here You are with us

little did i know this song would become a significant part of my processing of ken's cancer journey and bring great hope as tim and i struggled with being so far away.

in the days and months that followed christmas eve the Lord in a myriad of ways revealed His nearness to us as family. and by the Lord's grace we walked (through separated by thousands of miles) together as a family - praying, waiting, hoping.

well there are many things in life i do not understand. as i write this i remember two dear ones to tim and i. one who lost his mother this last week to breast cancer - a beautiful woman - who Jesus used in powerful ways to bring His compassion, wisdom, and love to aurora, colorado and beyond. the other friend who yesterday remembered what would have been her dad's 60th birthday - his body also torn by cancer (guaranteed Jesus had one amazing surprise birthday party for him yesterday). one thing is certain for both of these dear ones - their parents are with Jesus! although they are comforted by the peace of this reality - the pain of these significant loses is still very real to our friends.

and so i come to this place of immense thanksgiving. for on friday ken called to tell us he had his results from his pet scan and there is NO sign of cancer. praise the Lord! and we as a family are grateful. for now more than ever we realize the true gift it will be to spend this holiday season together.

on the way to work this morning Remedy came on the radio. and as tears fell down my face I was reminded that -

He is the one Who has saved us
He is the one Who forgave us
He is the one who has come
And is coming again
He’s the remedy

Oh, I can’t comprehend
I can’t take it all in
Never understand
Such perfect love come
For the broken and beat
For the wounded and weak
Oh, come fall at His feet
He’s the remedy
He’s the remedy

Lord thank you. May we never forget the gift we have in one another - of the blessing of being able to be together. May we never take for granted your nearness and abundance. May you reveal your love and tender mercy to our dear friends who mourn. May we be Jesus to the world - a part of His redemptive work. Amen.

rain in the forecast

for the next 10 days. welcome to the northwest. :)

we are headed to bellingham for the weekend - i think faith is the most excited. personally i am looking forward to my mom's cooking and a chance to sleep in. My aunt and uncle will also be there tonight - so i hope to have my hair cut in the morning! all-and-all we are very excited it is the weekend!

an Obama celebration in Canada...

yes, it's true. this morning on the way to work i heard about a celebration that is planned in downtown Vancouver should Obama become the next president of the United States. Granted Canadians are not allowed to vote in the U.S. election, but that doesn't mean people up here don't care. people are talking about it, tee-shirts are being sold on the streets and signs are posted in windows.

more than anything seeing the election from the perspective of another country has re-affirmed the reality in my mind that America holds much power and influence around the world. and because of our great power we also carry great responsibility. so go out and vote - people up here wish they could - and remember the world is watching. may the Lord grant us wisdom and grace.

(at this point the radio djs didn't know of any McCain celebration planned... which i think points to the general Canadian hope for the election... granted it doesn't speak for everyone)

after a long and patient wait...

our home (we live on the bottom floor)the office/tim's closet/weight room/random storage

our bedroom

the bathroom
the living room
tim and faith by the fire place
all of the books
the kitchen (one big room with the living room)

mom and dad came up yesterday - it was so great!! they brought lunch and snacks and our plants (among many other things). they helped us hang pictures - another huge step in making our place feel more like home. we are incredibly thankful to live so close to them!! they also came to celebrate isa's second birthday. (i am sure there are or will be soon pictures of the party on the moser blog).

hope you all are having a pleasant fall afternoon.

just on the street where we live

here is our street. we are fortunate to have old growth trees along the entire street. and it looks beautiful right now with all of the falling leaves. and for some reason when i think about posting pictures of our street i can't get the my fair lady song "on the street where you live" out of my head. so there you go :)

living life in the northwest

not much has been happening the past few weeks as tim and i settle into life in vancouver. just continuing the process of feeling more at home. our apartment is coming together and i hope to post pictures soon. faith is used to her new surroundings - enjoying early morning fetch and the sounds of little feet running above her. we are simply loving being housemates with the mosers. i love being greeted by ben and isa's sweet excited hellos. also times talking with drew and bekah have been wonderful. and my parents are coming up this weekend to visit!! how cool is that?! i can't wait to see them. i am also feeling more comfortable in my job. tim had his first big tests yesterday and they went fine.

the Lord has been good to us and we are so thankful to be living life in the northwest.

Sari Bari

Word Made Flesh is pretty much amazing and they are doing incredible things around the world - building community and living amongst the poorest of the poor in urban settings. Tim and I had the chance to hang out with the staff in Nepal this summer and they are great! We also had the opportunity to meet the staff from Calcutta. Amazing women who have a huge heart for women who have been involved in sex trafficking. They began a business to empower women who have come out of the dark life of the streets. They call it Sari Bari.

Sari Bari's mission is amazing and the products are awesome. So if you need a gift for someone or a treat for yourself - support this amazing organization and buy stuff!! or at least check out the website and tell other people.

Here is the link: http://www.saribari.com/

ugly tile and the morning with faith

so i just have to laugh as i think about the new tile in our bathroom. we had to get one wall of tile ripped out because the wood behind it was rotten (yuck!). well the nice, but not super design oriented, repairman put in tile that he tried to match but totally doesn't. To make matter's worse the tile pattern doesn't even line up with the other two walls of tile. I also feel bad because it looks like not that long ago the tile was redone - and redone in a really nice way (with an attractive trim and everything). Well the tile job is no longer impressive. I will post a picture when he is done - should be today. (Oh and bekah and drew think the tile is just going to fall off because he didn't put any initial grout in... if anyone visits beware of falling tile). haha.

this morning faith and i had a moment outside. the poor dog has been stuck inside the past few days because tim has been busy with school and i have been at work. So this morning I had some extra time and decided to take faith out in the front yard to play fetch. Well she had the best time running down the grassy yards of all the neighbors chasing her ball with a huge smile on her face. And for me it was very enjoyable to be out in the morning air (it had just finished raining so the smell was incredible). As we were playing I was reflecting on my love for my sweet dog. She is just so precious. So thankful for faith today!

disoriented

we have new carpet!! and it looks really nice. unfortunately it wasn't finished until 9 pm on monday. so we haven't had much time to get settled. and this morning i was feeling a bit anxious and i couldn't figure out why - well after thinking about it a bit i realized i was feeling disoriented because our home is totally unsettled. boxes are still everywhere - random stuff at every turn and now our bathroom is being torn-up by a repair man to fix some rotten wood. (i am thankful it is getting taken care of but just adds one more thing - so thankful for drew and bekah who let me use their shower this morning).

in many ways this feels like the longest transition ever. i am hoping by the end of this weekend life feels a bit more settled - because our home is more put together. when things are more in place i will post pictures. i am happy with the way it is coming together. and i am trying to remember to breathe and stand in the abundant peace of Christ.

one other thing - i don't know if anyone saw the biggest loser last night but i was pretty worked up by the end of it. i was only able to watch the last 45 minutes but... wow. after the show ended bekah and i processed the show for a few minutes(surprisingly tim didn't stay for the debriefing session) and even as i was trying to fall asleep tim asked, "are you still worked up about the biggest loser?" and i had to admit that i was. poor amy p. got kicked off. i wasn't surprised just frustrated by heba's decision. i know she made an alliance with brady and vickie - but this was her chance to eliminate brady - who does she think is going to go eventually... she is! i know, i know - it is just a show. but it gets under my skin how rude and bitter and unkind people can be. and i have to be honest - because of the things brady, vickie and heba say i don't like them very much. oh well. did anyone else get fired up about the biggest loser last night? let me know.

welcome home orphan annie

after a very long day we bought a new car (well a used car but new to us) - and i am calling her annie. we went to a number of different dealerships and tim had researched a number of different private owners and at the end of the day we drove home a new car. because we will be crossing into canada today i felt much better about spending a bit more money and going through a dealership - as well as knowing the car had been looked over and had no immediate problems. all that to say here is a little bit about the car. it is a 2002 subaru forrester - 77,000 miles - immaculate on the inside. a rack on the top. and was previously owned by a couple in their 70's. we saw all of the maintenance records for the car and man-oh-man they had the car in every 3,000 miles for oil changes and every regular check-up you can imagine. they took great care of the car. we feel very fortunate to have found a car so well taken care of and at such a reasonable price. and let me say i will be totally fine if we don't step into a car dealership in the near future. ed - our sales guy - was great. but 8 hours total in dealerships in one day is a long time...

why annie you may wonder? well annie was my absolute favorite movie as a little girl. and the car is red. (i never thought i would own a red car). and annie's dress in the movie (the one i had to match that my grandma made) was red. on the way home from the dealership her name came to me and i think it is appropriate. so annie - welcome home. i hope you treat us better than our last car (who didn't have a name... maybe that was part of the problem).

this afternoon we will pack annie up and head north. we have been spending the weekend in bellingham after a great week in colorado. but i am ready to be home. we are getting new carpet in tomorrow!!! and after that we will finally be able to settle in.

happy birthday gabellujah!

Happy Birthday Gabe! Today is your 27th birthday, just in case you forgot. You are a beautiful man Gabe, and of you it can truly be said...

Woman want him, and men want to be him.

(sorry ladies, he's taken). Gabe, on the other 364 days a year I prefer to hold my older brother rights over your head. No red lentil soup for me my friend. But today Gabe, you are the king! I hand over all honorary older sibling rights for a 24 hr period. Boss away! (don't get too comfy though.)

In honor of Gabe:

A man with the strength of Samson,
the looks of Adonis,
the body of Hercules,
for whom the riddles of this world are like a child's ABCs.
Who else holds together Francis' compassion
and Augustine's mind?
He could chase Odysseus across the ocean,
and wrestle Beowulf to the ground.
Gilgamesh would flee in his boat at your approach.
Could you best Maimonides, Aquinas, and Averroës,
with half you brain tied behind your back?
Certainly,
where's the challenge?
May you ever write with the Shakespeare's pen,
Hemingway's paper,
and the Dostoevsky's ink.
Would that Homer had a man such as this to write of.


Happy Birthday Gabe!

a weekend in indiana

tim's grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this weekend. the whole family traveled to plymouth indiana to celebrate. we had a great weekend full of time as a family. tim and i were able to take a bit of time away to go to taylor's homecoming and see some friends. now we are in colorado springs for the week - enjoying time with tim's family.

our yellow car - very fun to drive.
on a walk with grandpa stockman. the man is a serious walker. i mistakenly wore my new shoes and suffered the blisters from the walk throughout the weekend.
grandpa stockman and tk. tim has many many good memories of adventures with grandpa stockman. bike trips across iowa, harvesting maple syrup, traveling to hawaii, etc... i have no doubt that tim's adventurous spirit is something he inherited from grandpa stockman.
we spent the night with my friend lauren in muncie. la and i have known each other since the summer of 2001 when we were both counselors at honey rock. my relationship with her is one of the greatest treasures that came from that difficult summer.

lauren's sweet boy judah
la and i - she is 3 weeks away from meeting baby number 2 - a girl.
nico! catching precious few moments together. i love, love my dear friend.
sisters hanging out after church in the youth building. the stockman's donated money from the sale of grandpa stockman's father's land for the youth building. so cool. and their desire is for the building to honor him and serve the youth of their church - to the glory of the Lord and the further advancement of his kingdom.
the gray team - being encouraged to smile as big as possible. gabe is awarded first place.
we spent a good deal of time at taylor with tk's good friends - unfortunately i didn't get any pictures of them - so i am hoping to get some from the other ladies who took lots of pictures. i am still using the broken camera. this weekend only increased the motivation to get a new camera.

happy light

well it is 7 in the morning and i am blogging - why? you may ask - well...

tim had to leave at 6:40 this morning for school (poor guy) and as he is the one to make us yummy egg breakfast i got up to eat with him. when i slowly came out of our bedroom i heard all kinds of crashing coming from the kitchen. in typical tim surprising fashion he was in full effect. he had gone to the garage to get our new pan (thanks vickie for the bday gift!) and our happy light (again props to mama knipp who loaned us her light). the happy light is huge and was unpacked and on the kitchen table. tim was bustling around like a busy bee. all i had to do was make the coffee.

when asked what motivated him to go get the happy light, unpack it and plug it in tim simply said, "it sounded nice." another great idea for tim - as the weather here has been gloomy the past few days. everyone can use a little happy (full spectrum of light) now and again in the northwest.

tim is gone now and i am headed to get ready for the day but the happy light is still on. i think after sitting with it for 40 min i am good to go. but i wouldn't be surprised if i wake up on a regular basis to a little happy.

(shout-out to defense - writing happy over and over reminds me of 'happy soap' from the thrill of it all - good times with doris day - i watched it recently - surprisingly tim wasn't interested in watching it with me - some things do never change).