A Great Privilege

Philippians 1:21  For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

This week did not go at all as we had planned but that is the beauty of the Sovereignty of God.  It went according to His plan.  Moses had the great privilege of sharing the true Gospel to a large group at a funeral today.  This is the second funeral he has ... what's the word?  Officiated on his own?  (I will get back with you on the proper term because I don't know) but anyhow...  I was so blessed, challenged and encouraged as he reminded us that we all will die,  we deserve death because of our rebellion and sin, but Jesus satisfied God's justice by dying in our place.  Now when we die we can receive eternal life.  His message was a beautiful combination of compassion and confidence in the Truth of God's Word.

We found out late Monday that the younger brother of an old High School buddy had committed suicide.  Not having a church to connect with themselves the family asked Moses to do the funeral.  He spent Wednesday and Thursday off and on with the family, planning the funeral, praying working on his message.  Then today we spent most of the day at the funeral.  Please pray for the Pinion family.

Eden's and Silas' Room

This is Pastor Bryan and Moses installing... hmmm... when it's this high is it still called chair rail?  Anyhow... they are installing it in the room.  Looks great.  Someday I'll get the curtains done.

Our Little Serta Lambs

I found this picture in the camera.  Not sure when Moses took it.  It's funny though when you know what it is.  With the birth of each baby we have bought a Serta sheep because our little lambs were conceived in a Serta bed.  

Malachi in an Apron again?

I friend sent this too me.  I just thought it was funny that Malachi is in an apron once again and for all intent an purposes it looks like he may be naked under there...

Life in CA...

Okay everyone who has been hounding me about updating this... I apologize.  I returned to CA and things just went wild.  BUT... we have been doing fun stuff lately and I plan to post pictures this week while Moses is home spending time with us on vacation from work and school.  We spent a wonderful day at the beach yesterday and will going to Disneyland on Tuesday.  

About the beach.  I learned something new.  If you have boys and they are... hmmm... probably 8 or older (teenagers work best) the best thing to bring to the beach to keep them happy for hours is a shovel.  A good old-fashioned farming, gardening, dig-a-big-hole, long-handled shovel.  We went to the beach with our Church family and several of them brought shovels and the boys dug half-way to China until the hole was so deep they hit water and couldn't keep it bailed out.  They had so much fun and we all had so much fun watching them.

One quick Eden funny... as you might know we had an earthquake last week.  My first ever.  Crazy.  I thought I was walking on a ship tossed by the waves.  Definitely makes you aware of how finite we are and how infinite our Lord is.  Galaxies dripped off His fingers at the sound of a Word.  Mmmmm... anyhow... Eden was outside when it happened and when we were talking about it moments later I asked her if she felt it.  She didn't understand what I meant so I said, "Did you feel the ground move under you?"  She said, "Oh that.  I was running so hard Mommy I made the ground wiggle." 

Colorado Christian University Friends

Yesterday I had the great joy of connecting with several college friends. The first picture is me, Janice H., Amy H. and Tammy B. Between the 4 of us we had 10 kiddos present and 2 kids absnent (Malachi stayed home with Grandma). It was a blessing to share the joys and trials of motherhood together and see how the Lord is leading and using each family. These ladies are each still persevering in their walk with Jesus and I was encouraged by that. Thanks gals for the great time!

Grandpa Jim

A gray head is a crown of glory; It is found in the way of righteousness. Proverbs 16:31

My Grandpa Jim is 87 years old and loves the Lord. Though he would say he has made many mistakes, he has set a wonderful example for his family. He is generous, humble, quick to forgive and funny! He loves his wife, kids, grandkids and great-grandkids immensely. He's doing great and I hope we get to keep him for another decade or more, but if the Lord would decide to promote him to heaven sooner than later, I just wanted to have a brief tribute here to a man I love and admire. I can remember wonderful times with my Grandpa learning to fish, learning about rocks and petrified wood (he's a rockhound), playing Skipbo, camping in his RV, laughing at his funny jokes, and seeing him worship Sunday after Sunday in my home church growing up. I have been very blessed to have a heritage of Faith in my family like Grandpa Jim.

Psalm 19

1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;

8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes;

9 the fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

The sunsets here on the plains of Colorado have been undescribable. The sun drops behind the jagged sillouettes of Longs and Meeker. So far I haven't had a camera with me to try to capture the beauty but will try. As I watched the sunset a couple nights ago I thought of Psalm 19 and knew it to be true. The heavens were telling, declaring, recounting the weightiness of the glory of God. My soul rejoiced in the Lord Who made heaven and earth (see Psalm 121). And then the meditating on Psalm 19 reminded me that I have everything I need for life and godliness in the Bible.

What practical application did this have in my life? I am a mere creature and The Creator is real and in control. Truly believing in His sovereignty, goodness and love as demonstrated not just in the sunset, but in the Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross, gives me purpose for each day. I am a sinner, saved. That changes everything. And I need not grope along wondering how to live because I have His Word that is perfect, revives my soul, makes wise, enlightens, is desireable, etc, etc. Nothing could be more applicable, because that changes the way I live my life, love my husband, serve my kids, face the future, endure hard times, grieve, rejoice... everything! Oh that I would learn to love and know the Word more! Thank you Lord for that sunset.

The heavens do declare God! See and ponder and worship.

Malachi...

This picture was just too good not to share. Malachi loves this apron that I sewed in 4H as a kid and he loves to be naked so this day he combined the two!

Silas Piper is 8 months old

Our precious son, Silas Piper Estrada, named after John Piper of Desiring God ministries, turned 8 month old today. What a blessing he is! He now has 2 teeth (is working on more), can scoot all over the house, is so happy and content and just loves people. He was very slow to take to solid food, but is getting there. That little grin just melts your heart.