Tom & Laura

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Birthday Whitney!

Today we celebrate Whitney...a life that started out uncertain and with many trials. We are so thankful for the six years that she has blessed our lives. Several pictures of Whitney's beginning are posted on A Snap Shot of Motherhood.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

A Song from the Heart

Love the song MaryElise created during bath time!

Friday, August 13, 2010

The Art of Marriage - FamilyLife.com

During our FamilyLife Staff Conference we had the opportunity to preview a new resource called The Art of Marriage. Check out this new DVD based conference. The Art of Marriage - FamilyLife.com The world premiere for this event is February 11, 2011. The hope is to get 1000 churches sponsoring an event on 2-11-11.

This new tool is very different than the Weekend to Remember conference. It is a Friday evening, Saturday event that can be hosted almost anywhere. On the website you can find out more information about hosting an event and also see segments from The Art of Marriage. You can also register online to host an event for the World Premiere. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Josiah's Birthday Surprise

Check out what we did to surprise Josiah for his 10th birthday at Laura's other blog

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Guatemala Here We Come!

I've found myself praying more today. Perhaps it is because Tom and Courtney are on a mission trip and I have no contact with them. My prayers for them have not been out of fear, but out of a desire for God to use this trip to impact their lives for His glory. I haven't been pleading, "Oh God, keep them safe" but my prayers have been more like, "Lord, use this trip to give Courtney and Tom a passion for you. May Courtney and Tom be completely sold out for you!"

Is it just because they are out reach that my focus has been different, or is it the fact that going on a trip like this will require them to rely more on God and less on themselves?

I had wanted to go on this trip, but due to some health issues it wasn't to be...but that doesn't mean that God isn't working on me. He has caused me to look at prayer in a new way. He is challenging me to pray purposefully (and more than once a day).

While Whitney was watching a children's video on Daniel it mentioned, "Daniel faced toward Jerusalem and prayed three times a day." It made me wonder...how passionate am I about prayer and trusting God in all circumstances? How would my life be different if I diligently set aside time each day (and more than once a day) to pray to God? Maybe a little more love for God would shine through in my life too.

Here are a couple of pictures from Sunday when the Guatemala team was being commissioned at church...

Prayer Requests:

Pray as they minister to the people in Guatemala. This trip was supposed to be a ministry to the children at Palencia School and also a medical mission/vbs to 3 locations in Guatemala. However, because of the volcano eruption and the tropical storm the team wasn't sure where they would actually be able to go. Many lives have been lost due to the eruption and the storms. (Did you see the big sinkhole in Guatemala City?
Pray for wisdom and guidance as they decide where they can go
Pray for the team to have wisdom as to which families should receive the 206 water filters
Pray for people to respond to the gospel
Pray for the hearts of those on this team...to be forever impacted by God while they are on this trip
Pray for Courtney to have supernatural ability to be able to understand and communicate in Spanish (she has ha d 3 years of Spanish in High School and is the one on the team with the most knowledge of the language).

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Redmond Weekend to Remember

April 30th-May 2nd, 2010
Decisions for Christ 6
Pray to be filled by the Holy Spirit 144
Recommit family to Christ 111
Attendance 361

"We have been married 25 years and came in wounded. I feel like we have been 'transplanted' from the improper location to a place we will grow and thrive."

"The night of day 1, we fought, I slept on the floor. Day 2 changed my entire outlook on our marriage and our oneness. Thank you." Bank manager, married 2 years

"Feeling like I just got my best friend back." husband, general contractor, married 2 years

..."he walks with me instead of way off ahead of me and holds my hand." Homemaker, married 4 years

"We reconnected so big. We have never had so many calm intense deep conversations. It was amazing." Stay at home mom, married 2 years

"We are not getting a divorce now-we feel hope and have tools. We are calling everything after (this conference) 'our second marriage'. A new beginning. Wife, medical assistant, married 2 years

"I arrived at the conference feeling pretty hopeless about the future of our marriage, but now I have hope, and tools." Wife, physician, married 5 years

"We were okay coming here. We are great leaving. We cannot wait to share this with our friends through group leadership and Homebuilders." Wife, married 5 years

"The highlight of the conference was...the way she smiled at me, before we kissed, after the men to men and women to women meetings." Painter, married 13 years

"This conference has given us some tools that we are excited to use in strengthening our family. Many barriers were rubble by the end of the weekend." Husband, industrial painter, married 6 years

Thursday, March 11, 2010

FamilyLife Weekend to Remember

I love stories about life change. Enjoy the video!
This spring there are three opportunities to attend a FamilyLife Weekend to Remember in Washington State:

Seattle, Redmond Marriott Town Center, April 30th-May 2nd
Seattle, Bellevue Hilton, May 14th-16th
Yakima, Holiday Inn Downtown Convention Center, June 11th-13th

Register at www.familylife.com If you would like to save $80 off the price of registration you can register under our group name (TheCliftons). You can also create your own group and after 5 couples register under your group you earn a free registration.

Our Heart for Marriages and Families...

Early in our marriage God put a burden on our hearts for marriages and families.
We were elementary teachers and we saw first hand the effect of divorce on the children in our classrooms. Our hearts were broken.
We also had several close friends that were getting divorced and we wanted to help but we felt powerless.
In 1995 we attended our first FamilyLife Weekend to Remember Conference. As we sat there and listened to God's purpose and plan for marriage we thought, "This is it!"
On Sunday afternoon we had the chance to find out what it meant to join staff with FamilyLife. When Laura heard, "Raise your own support and move..." she immediately thought, "no way." Tom however knew this was God's call. Laura listed all the reasons why there was no way we could do this. God used her Bible study the next two weeks to show her this was His plan and He was calling...so we went.
It has been an incredible adventure to see lives transformed and marriages saved when people hear and apply the truth. You can see many quotes from the conferences we serve in our blog list.
As missionaries with FamilyLife, we are responsible to raise and maintain 100% of our support. If you would like to join us to make a difference in lives and families for eternity click on the link below. Thank you!

How So Many Families Today are Like a Sand Castle...

Have you ever built a sand castle on the beach?

The beach is one of our favorite places to go as a family. So for our daughter's fourth birthday, it was only natural to have a beach party theme.

Laura decided the perfect cake for the party was a sand castle cake. She found a similar cake in a cookbook and decided it would be easy. All was well until it was time to put the cake together. The cake acted just like a sand castle - it fell apart during the building process. Laura finally got the cake to hold together by using toothpicks and freezing it until the party. The cake lasted throughout the party and no one knew that it was literally crumbling from the inside out.

Unfortunatley, so many homes today are in the same condition as the sand castle birthday cake in this story. They are crumbling from the inside out. Families today need the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word! It is only by His strength and power that families can be changed, challenged and strengthened.

Here is an example of a marriage that was crumbling until it was transformed by the power of God...

"This conference has helped to open my eyes in many areas. I not only realized how much I was doing wrong, but I also realized how blind I've been. I opened my eyes and prayed for the first time. I accepted the Lord into my heart and into my life. We went from talking about divorce
already to actually sitting and talking for hours on end!! I strongly believe that we are going to thrive!"

This marriage had already ended in divorce. The couple came anyway and God worked a miracle...

"For every reason on God's earth we should not have come to this conference. We are divorced, our children have been shattered and our home
destroyed. Satan had complete and total victory in our family. His destruction was thourough...or so he though. This conference has restored
our relationship, our faith in God, and in His power to heal. We have given back to each other our heart, we have forgiven each other, we have set aside all the pain and the tumultuous history between us and we are moving ahead. We look forward to the joy of our family together, our hearts joined and to being married again. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!"