Frosty the Snowman - Then and Now?

I hope you guys will go ahead and take the poll. Obviously, those who have known us the longest can make a more educated guess as to which one of my children are the snowmen, but go ahead and try. I will publish the results after a few days and let you know who the little snowmen are.


PICTURE #1



PICTURE #2

Little John is here!

For those of you that didn't get the details:

John Boucher Benoit
(Boucher [pronounced boo-shay] is Jim's mom's maiden name - keeping with the French theme, I guess!)
Born on 12-17-2008
8:58 a.m.
9 lbs. 10 ozs.
20 1/2 inches long



Isn't this the cutest little baby!

We discovered that John really likes music. When he was crying, if you brought him into the room where music was playing, he would stop crying and just listen. It is so cute. For our family devotions, we just got done using a book with Christmas hymns on CD that my mom sent to us done by Joni Eareckson Tada. We recently sang "Silent Night" and it was so touching, I just started crying. There was little baby John (I know he is not Jesus!), and we are singing the words, "Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love's pure light, Radiant beams from Thy holy face, wwih the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.". All I could think of was how sorry I was feeling for myself that day, and here God sent down His Son to earth for me! He lowered himself from heaven and came to earth as a little baby. How humbling that was to me that night.



This picture was taken the night we were getting ready to leave the hospital.

A Beautiful Diaper Cake!

I just had to take a picture of this adorable diaper cake that a lady from church made for our new baby! Mrs. Terpstra made it. She is so sweet and she does so much for us in other ways as well. She made an offer to help me with my mending and she has been doing that for probably almost a year now. What a blessing that has been. I almost feel guilty not doing my own mending. Thomas took his blanket to her and she did a wonderful "restoration" job. I say "restoration" because I didn't really think it was fixable! She is also a Celiac, along with Daniel, so she has been a tremendous source of information and has sweetly remembered to make Daniel gluten-free snacks at church, as have other ladies at church. This past Christmas dinner, so many people accommodated Daniel with a GF turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and sweet potatoes (me, his mom!). I have noticed that it's usually other people that have food sensitivities. I guess it's not really something you think about until you develop a problem yourself. God has used so many people in our lives! Thank you Lord!

Mt. Everest has disappeared!

No, not the real Mt. Everest, the one in my bedroom! Jim had affectionately dubbed the pile of clothes and miscellaneous junk in my room, Mt. Everest. After being told that my blood pressure was high on Friday, did I rest on Saturday? Of course not! I was a bad girl and cleaned my room for about 8 hours. Sarah helped me and it took from about 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. at night. Notice the lump in the bed is Jim, who couldn't wait to get into bed until we were done. It looks so nice. I wish I had a before picture. But I can tell you that before we cleaned, the mound was so high that when you opened the door, you could not see the bed and it was almost as tall as me. So, it is an amazing transformation. Even today, Jim was still marvelling at how nice the room looked! Ok, NOW I'm ready to have the baby! I think my blood pressure just went down. :o)

Sunday Musings!

I decided to post something from Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon. I remember how it blessed me years ago when my dad passed away and I was just kind of pondering it today and decided to look it back up and type it out. I hope that it blesses someone else today!

March 22nd

"Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am."
John 17:24

O death! why dost thou touch the tree beneath whose spreading branches weariness hath rest? Why dost thou snatch away the excellent of the earth, in whom is all our delight? If thou must use thine axe, use it upon the trees which yield no fruit; thou mightst be thanked then. But why wilt thou fell the goodly cedars of Lebanon? O stay thine axe, and spare the righteous. But no, it must not be; death smites the goodliest of our friends; the most generous, the most prayerful, the most holy, the most devoted must die. And why? It is though Jesus' prevailing prayer - "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." It is that which bears them on eagle's wings to heaven. Every time a believer mounts from this earth to paradise, it is an answer to Christ's prayer. A good old divine remarks, "Many times Jesus and His people pull against one another in prayer. You bend your knee in prayer and say, 'Father, I will that Thy saints be with me where I am;' Christ says, 'Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.'" Thus the disciple is at crosspurposes with his Lord. The soul cannot be in both places: the beloved one cannot be with Christ and with you too. Now, which pleader shall win the day? If you had your choice; if the King should step from His throne, and say, "Here are two supplicants praying in opposition to one another, which shall be answered?" Oh! I am sure, though it were agony, you would start from your feet, and say, "Jesus, not my will, but Thine be done." You would give up your prayer for your loved one's life, if you could realise the thought that Christ is praying in the opposite direction - "Father I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am." Lord, Thou shalt have them. By faith we let them go.

Enjoying our granddaughter, Eliana!

Well, we watched Eliana for 3 days this week and we enjoyed being with her and getting to know her better. She is so sweet and easygoing! So, here are a few pictures we took of her while she was at our house. She is really becoming mobile too. She will 8 months old on December 19th.

Sunday Musings!

I decided today to remember and write down all the things I'm thankful for! This could take a while! Psalm 92:1-2 "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: to shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night."

I'm thankful for the Lord and His mercy to me when He saved me. His unconditional love, His life that He laid down for me so I could be forgiven and have a home in heaven with Him someday, His forgiveness, all His attributes that allow us to have a peace that passes understanding, how He shows that He cares for us!

I'm thankful for my husband. He's such a hard worker and a human "rock" that we can all lean on. He takes looking for a job seriously, a time of daily family devotions is important to him, he cares for us, he has been mopping the house once a week for me at least 14 years now (if not longer!), he changes diapers, babysits, cooks, fixes stuff - I just couldn't ask for a better husband!

I'm thankful for all my children - what a blessing they are to us! They are such a joy at every age and I pray for the ability to appreciate it ALL the time. My only thought it how unworthy I feel to be blessed with all of them and ask the Lord for help to be a good mother. It is so wonderful to see them grow up, become independent people, and most of all, to see THEM love the Lord. We pray that for all of our children. 3 John 4 "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth." THAT is our prayer for them!

I'm thankful for our new little one being knit together inside of me! Jim told me this morning that he found the meaning of John in his Bible, and it means, "God has been gracious." It couldn't be a more fitting name!

I'm thankful for my son-in-law Travis (married to Rebekah) and my new granddaughter, Eliana. Travis takes good care of Rebekah, and Eliana is a little sweetie pie! I just enjoyed a night out with Rebekah, Eliana, and Hannah for my birthday. What fun to spend time with them as grownups! Times that I only dreamed about long ago!

I'm thankful for the godly heritage of my parents, David and Elaine. I'm thankful for all the love and the lessons I learned growing up in their home. (My dad passed away in 11-99.) I'm thankful for my stepfather, Richard, and for the love that he and my mom have for each other. Thankful for how they have grown in the Lord together, how you watched over them through all of Richard's cancer treatments, for the love they have for our family! God couldn't have given me a better mom. She is so caring, understanding, and enouraging in the Lord, just like my dad was! I won't even go down that road - I'll be crying for sure!

I'm thankful for my husband's parents and the family I inherited when I married Jim. I couldn't ask for better in-laws. They have been supportive and loving to us and we always have a good time when we get together. Gennie taught me how to successfully cook and manage a Thanksgiving Day feast. Jim's father just passed away this past summer and we mourn the loss.

I'm thankful for a good church with a pastor that truly takes his responsibility seriously and shepherds his flock. I'm thankful for the visits to our home, the times he has taken our children out for lunch to talk to them or invited them to his home to keep up with their life, or hosted Bible study get-togethers for groups of teenagers and young college students.

I'm thankful for our church family and Christian friends. As a mother, it is a real blessings when people show a genuine interest in my children and spend time with them. It makes me smile when I think of Mr. Johnson playing ball outside with Elisabeth, Mrs. Johnson teaching Joel to crochet a potholder for me, Mrs. Terpstra teaching Elisabeth to cross stitch or sharing a pear with Thomas, Mrs. Collier spending time teaching Elisabeth how to play the piano, Mrs. Fujii spending time with Daniel and Joel teaching them Origami and how to speak Japanese, Mrs. Levy spending time with Joel in the nursery, and I'm sure I'm forgetting many others. Oh, Mr. Udwary teaching grammar to the children! And Mr. Terpstra trying to teach the children how to have an Australian sense of humor! All the Sunday School teachers/youth group leaders that spend their time teaching my children and us. The list goes on and on!

I'm thankful for their home school educators that care more about our kids' education than they do about money, that forgave our tuition until Jim is able to get a job. Friends that have helped us with rides, helped our computers rid themselves of viruses, given us wonderful farm eggs, helped us with the fence on our property. It is so good to remember how good people have been to us and how God cares for us through human means! It makes me cry and so thankful for all the blessings that I have.

I'm thankful for all the trips and time spent driving in the car, flying in airplanes, helicopters, riding bikes, buses, and how God has kept us safe through it all. Preserved us through sickness, surgeries, C-sections, childbirth, falling out of tree swings, household accidents, lost children, snakes, scorpions (in the yard, wash rags, Bible covers, playpens, falling out of AC vents, on the floor), etc.

I told you this would take a long time! I'm sure I could keep going! When you start thinking about it, it gets overwhelming.

God has provided for everything that we have ever needed! Note - I said "needed". Sometimes we get "needs" and "wants" confused. God has provided WAY BEYOND what we have needed and wanted! Praise the Lord!