Weekend to Remember Comments

Bellevue (Seattle) Weekend to Remember
April 15-17, 2011
Attendance 375
Indicated a Decision for Christ 25
Asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit 46
Recommitted family to Christ 65

• "This getaway saved our marriage. We were on the brink of divorce! Now we are working hard at saving our new life together!" (Wife, married 6 years, spouse of the following comment)
• "I have failed my charge as a husband according to Eph 5:25. My wife was driven to leave our family Friday afternoon. God got both of our attention and led us to this seminar Saturday morning. We are focusing on God's will and beginning healing/recovery." (Husband, married 6 years, spouse of the preceding comment)
• "Brought us back together with a common goal. Reminded us that God has had a plan all along. I didn't make the wrong choice, my spouse is a specifically chosen GIFT." (Wife, married 3 years)
• "You have provided great insight on the opposite sex for both of us. Before, I felt that my husband thought I was crazy, but during the sessions it was shown that I am just a normal woman and he, normal as a man as well!" (Wife, married 7 years)
• "I came in hoping my husband would hear what 'I' thought he needed to know. Well I came in realizing my changes were what was needed. We were able to let down our guard and talk genuinely. I stayed quiet when he didn't want to go to [the men's talk], and off I went to [the women's talk], came back weeping and saw that he went to his session. He came in positive and told me many things, and I was able to ask him for forgiveness. I committed to letting God take control of my life and our marriage and let Him be in charge. Thank you." (Wife, married 14 years)
• "This has been the absolute most important weekend in my marriage. You/God have blessed our life more than anything. Thank you." (Husband, married 10 years)
• "It was very well worth it. Like digging for buried treasure. I desperately needed this so I can begin to be a better husband/dad." (Husband, married 31 years)
• "Our eyes have been opened up to what is wrong in our marriage. We are separated and we know what we need to work on." (Wife, married 16 years)
• "Communication!! This was the thing missing in our marriage. This of course will always be a work in progress. I thank God for folks who point out the obvious things I seem to miss." (Husband, married 7 years)
• "The words spoken this weekend saved my life and the way I approach my marriage. Thank you!" (Husband, married 6 years)
  

Weekend to Remember Comments

Redmond (Seattle) Weekend to Remember
April 1-3, 2011
Attendance 197
Indicated a Decision for Christ 1
Asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit 14
Recommitted family to Christ 19

• "This was the 1st time we have been away for a weekend-just the two of us-in 7 years! I fell in love again. I also learned some great things on how to love and pray for my husband. And we talked about sex and intimacy for the 1st time in I don't know how long. (married 6 years)
• "Emotional and sharing, focus challenging. This is our 3rd conference in 6 years-it's like changing the oil in our marriage, to keep our spiritual and marital engines from the sludge that builds up slowly! 'Maintenance to last a life time.'"(husband, married 13 years)
• "WOW very eye opening. Information overload, but awesome. It drew us closer on how to be Godly and have a thriving marriage. How to truly be one. (wife, married 10 years)
• "This conference always helps us re-focus our priorities and perspectives for our marriage. It's a great 'tune-up' for us as well as a great reminder of God's bigger picture for our marriage and our family."
  
• "It reminded me of what was important." (husband, married 4 years)
• "This getaway is just what we needed! After weeks and months of building stress and tension, this getaway gave us the opportunity and tools we needed to communicated with each other and really connect." (wife, married 3 years)
  
• "It encourages us to continue to seek the Lord and His guidance in our lives. It reminded us that the two of us come first before our children. We have forgotten that with teenagers in the house." (wife, married 18 years)
• "I should have brought a box of Kleenex!!! It was better than I imagined. Both empowering and humbling. After being a single Mom for 10 years and married to an abusive man the first marriage for three years, I realized how selfish I am and how scared I am. I realized too that I've never had solid examples of a wife or mother. My mom, step mom, and mother-in-law 'wear the pants in the family'. No one understands why I don't want to spend too much time with them, but I honestly don't want to become them or watch how they treat their men. I have choices now." (wife-married 3 years, married to the husband with the following comment)
• "This conference reveals to you not how to solve your marriage issues but rather that you yourself are the issue of your marriage. Poor management leads to a poor marriage. Now I h ave some tools to be a better manager of my marriage." (husband, married 3 years to the woman with the preceding comment)
  

Good Friday

In honor of Good Friday, the children made a Garden Tomb. I got the idea from the blog A Holy Experience. The children planted some herbs in a flower pot we had on the deck and put a large stone in the garden to represent the garden tomb. Another rock was placed in front of the large stone to represent the stone that was rolled in place to seal Jesus' tomb. A candle is in our garden because Jesus is the Light of the World. On Easter the stone will be rolled away and we will celebrate the good news that the tomb is empty!

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said,
'Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here; he has risen!"
Luke 24:1-6

Ingredients Matter

In honor of Courtney's 18th birthday, and because she has gone vegan, I decided to make her favorite German Chocolate Cake " vegan style". I found a great recipe online and baked the cake. It smelled delicious baking! The frosting however, was a different story. I mixed the ingredients and put it on the stovetop to heat. After awhile the frosting doubled in size and was foamy. I transferred the frosting to my biggest pan and was a little amazed when it continued growing in size. Finally it bubbled out of my pan and onto the stove. I was mortified. I so wanted to bless Courtney, but I had made a mess of the frosting and the stove.

When she came home I told her what happened. She said, "Mom, you did use corn syrup or cornstarch?" I looked up in the cabinet and saw the cornstarch on the shelf and realized I had never taken it out of the cupboard. I had used Baking Soda instead! Oh my. No wonder it acted more like the boys' volcano science experiment rather than frosting. By the way, Josiah fondly calls my concoction "frothing" rather than frosting! With a quick trip to the store and all the right ingredients, the cake was completed. But I sure learned a lesson. Putting something in that doesn't belong can spell disaster. Ingredients are important!

What is your recipe for life? Is your life bubbling out of control like my "frothing"? What kind of ingredients are you putting inside of you? Are there things in your life that you are compromising or substituting for the ingredients that really belong? I know that listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit are so vital in life. Sometimes I ignore what God might be trying to tell me thinking, "Oh, this is no big thing" but God knows what is best for me. He designed me (and He designed you too) and He knows what is best to make each of our lives perfect in His sight.

Living Nativity 2010

This was our second year participating in the Living Nativity at our church. MaryElise and Whitney are pictured "waiting in the wings" for their grand entrance.

Living the Nativity | Local news, sports, weather, blogs, opinion, crime, obituaries, business, directory, marketplace, education, high school, family, shopping, arts, entertainment, movies, books, cooking, auto, real estate, jobs, classifieds, photos, videos, comics, contests, and mountain pass webcams from Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, Chelan, Leavenworth, Waterville, Cashmere, Quincy, Entiat, North Central Washington newspaper

Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas traditions and ones to teach my children more about Christ. Over the next several days you can see some of our traditions at A Snap Shot of Motherhood. Merry Christmas!

The Art of Marriage

FamilyLife has produced a video-based conference called The Art of Marriage. It is different than any other video conference I have ever seen. It is also very different than the FamilyLife Weekend to Remember. You can see clips from The Art of Marriage here
View Video Clips from The Art of Marriage - FamilyLife.com.
Check it out and let us know what you think. We'd love to help you get this resource into your church or community. The world premiere for this event is February 11, 2011. If you have questions or would like to register we'd be glad to help you. Remember, check out the videos above!