Student Takeover 2016

I love to serve.

I love to serve.

I love to serve.

Everyone is different and have been given different gifts but I feel closer to God when I am serving Him by serving others. I am so proud of how our youth ministry at Christ Community Church is focusing on helping kids connect to God through service. This can look different for everyone but certainly our children need to understand that this life is not only about them.

Reagan is completely out of her comfort zone in this picture, shaking hands with a man she doesn't know is frightening for her. So this may not be the place she wants to serve long term but it's a great first step. Side note: most people don't wear suits to our church.

Emma on the other hand is in her happy place, on stage with her cello in hand playing worship music. She has found joy in volunteering at church both with the worship band and toddler room.

This makes my heart overflow!

The girls made fun of me for taking this picture but truly, I love having my girls (plus 2) sitting in church with us. My number one goal as a parent is to I introduce a life with Christ to our girls. Then teach them how to engage with Christ, to know Him personally and put Him in the center of their lives. We encourage the girls to bring friends to church, attend fun activities and ask lots of questions. I grew up in a time when kids went to church because their parents told them to. There was very little dialog about the whys and what ifs of my faith and heaven forbid having fun at church was not even a concept. The result is a generation of people who don't personally know Christ, who attend when it is convenient and live their lives just like everyone else. I do believe whether I am an adult or a child there should be something about me that seems different, and that difference is Christ.

As the Scriptures say, "People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord remains forever.

1Peter 1:24:25 NLT

Rotary Scholar

******Just found this...forgot to post it in May******

LEADERSHIP . CHARACTER . SCHOLARSHIP . PRESENCE

This week, four hundred twenty-seven Omaha area students who embody the traits of leadership, character, scholarship and presence came together to be recognized by the local Rotary Club. These remarkable kiddos represent the top 5% of Omaha eighth graders. I love that many of Reagan's close school friends are all part of this group. Not only does she have awesome parents but her friends are pretty great as well.

The Crew from Reags middle school 

Proud Mom and Dad

Nana and Papa

Two of her besties

Reagan, remember that great things seldom just happen to people. It takes hard work, perseverance and good character to achieve your goals. But also remember, you don't have to be perfect and it's okay if plans change from time to time. Your mom and dad are proud of you and love you dearly.

7300 Days and Counting

This month Chris and I celebrated our 20th Anniversary. 

7304 Days

175,316 Hours

10,518,984 Minutes

...so many moments of love, laughter, trials, hard work, faith and anticipation.

I had so much fun looking back through the years via photographs. One thing I noticed was once our first child was born there are very few pictures of the two of us without a child until they were all old enough to walk, wipe and fully weened.

Wedding day circa 1996

Pre-children

Life seems to take over our calendar and before we know it, we have forgotten what it is like to just be together without an itinerary. Chris took us back to a no plan, fly by the seat of our pants kind of day. We hit the Old Market for food and fun shops. (I love the Old Market) We shared grouper at Plank, sushi at Blue and planned to go one more place but couldn't eat any more. I have wanted to go to Ashley's Underground but always thought it looked a little sketchy. Besides the overwhelming smell of incense it wasn't bad at all and actually had the most eclectic collection of items. (A whole line of bacon everything...must remember for Emma's birthday.)

We accidentally dressed alike

Pitch Pizza...LoveIt!

After a nap we went back out on the town for dinner at my favorite pizza place. Our last stop was Brix for a glass of wine. To our surprise we ran into a good friend so we stayed until they kicked us out at closing time.

Our 20th Anniversary was a perfect day with the man I love. Chris knows my love language is "Quality Time" and he gave me that. Thank you Chris for showing me love.