Abide in Me

Abide. That's the word I've sensed the Lord laying on my heart for me personally for this coming year. In the past two years it's been Hope (hence Lillian's middle name). There are some things I need to relearn over and over again...abiding is one of them! The past few weeks have been a huge refreshing time of sitting quietly with Jesus and in His Word for long periods of time. Lot's of thinking, lot's of praying, lot's of processing, some tears, mixed with laughter (as Lillian always tries to sit on my lap while I'm journaling!).

It's harder to abide "on the go" though I believe the Lord wants us to learn to abide no matter what the circumstances. So I'm thinking through what the next few months need to look like.  Some things I've

considered as important may need to go. I don't like that. But good things will always need to make room for what is best. I also often find that what is urgent needs to make room for what is most important.  Those are always tough decisions!

This coming week life as usual resumes, with school for the kids, Classical Conversations, staff meetings in preparation for the students returning the following week (along with All Community Worship and Family Group Breakfast), working for Jordan Ministries, construction on our kitchen, Celebrate Recovery (Reid and the CR team are launching the county-wide outreach this month so we're excited to see how the Lord is going to use this!) and leading worship for our Saturday service. Thank you for your prayers for our family in the midst of it! 

Ian returns tomorrow and we are very, very excited to see him!! For those of you on his prayer letter list, we'll send out one more update in the next few weeks with his thoughts and impressions from his trip.  Thank you for your prayers for him as well family he got to spend time with and travel with! We look forward to seeing how the Lord uses this trip in his heart and life in the years to come. 

May the Lord bless you and keep you and your loved ones as you begin 2015 - may it be a year in which you abide more closely with your Savior! 

Impressions Here and Impressions There - The Dales in December

Impressions, Memories and Experiences of December so far:

- Christmas Tree, candles and the Vienna Boys Choir Holiday Pandora Channel

- Tea, tea, and more tea....and Zopfbrot...or  chai, chai and more chai ... and tea cookies for Ian! :)

- Pitter patter of little feet and an 18 month old learning to climb all over our couch and up and down the stairs, who loves to kiss and hug those she loves and could spend all day reading books in your lap! And her precious older sisters who happily read the same books to her over, and over, and over and over...so that Mommy can get other things done.

- A temporary hiatus on renovations until after Christmas which means we are really enjoying our living area right now! (After Christmas the kitchen gets torn out - we hope it can be finished before the baby comes in April!)

- Early morning hours in the quiet, working on booking and preparing concerts for Dawn during her busy Christmas Concert Season.

- Cold mornings driving Julie-Joy to school while Reid is in New York

- Oh yes, Reid is in New York! :) The Timberline students left on their annual urban missions trip
yesterday and have already had a full day of travel and subway evangelism and a trip to Staten Island on the ferry.

- evening Skype conversations with Ian, Omi, Opa as well as Melanie, Eljiah, and Jesse (Ryan is usually at work I believe and Thomas is at school).

- the wonderful hum-drum and routine of school work, house work and laundry

- running to and fro for school pick ups and meetings and Christmas parties and last minute "I forgot I need such-and-such for school tomorrow" errands!

- learning and deciding what to-and-fro runnings to say "no" to - good boundaries provide the gift of rest and quiet, so that we CAN say yes to other things!

- restless/sleepless nights filled with sick little ones that just want to be rocked and held in the dark, they also give lot's of time for prayer for family and friends; early morning hours on the couch watching the sun rise over the continental divide, (unless a big blanket of fog has settled in, which always means it will be a beautiful day after it has burned off!).

- Bibleschool students excited to go home for Christmas, some worried about going home for Christmas ... and our hearts and prayers that go with them

- Fridays filled with trips to the Denver Rescue Mission and Celebrate Recovery, Saturdays filled with worship music preparation, PBS cooking shows while the house gets cleaned, church in the evenings, sweet time with His Body at WPCC, Reid still leading AWANAS and the kids diligently helping him with Cubbies and Sparks.

- quiet times on the couch in the books of Joshua and Judges, my grandmother's old copy of FB Meyer's Our Daily Homily (that is literally falling apart), and Ann Voskamp's advent devotional
(which still smells new!). The reminder that it is not selfish to come to Him for healing - for when He heals, He always gives Himself. And He is Who we want anyway!

Those are some impressions that fill our hearts and minds this December. We're thankful for the
times the Lord gives to slow down, thankful for the friendships in the middle of it all. And always, always, always for the gift of His Grace,.... when we fail, when we judge others more harshly than we judge ourselves, when we're fearful, when we think we've succeeded and are prideful, when we're tired, when we make mistakes, and when all goes well....wave upon wave of grace...no matter what!