California Holidays - Part One

Last night we opened our gifts...


But the best part of our entire holiday was seeing our little niece Ainsley! She is wonderfully cute.



Ainsley matching with aunt Shari!

Christmas

We spent Christmas at my parent's house in New Jersey. On Christmas eve we opened our gifts.
After this we headed for New York to a party with some old time friends from Costa Rica. The party started at 9 pm and ended at 5 am! Yeah, we are party animals...

The next morning we went over to my cousin's house and had dinner with a couple of my family members.

We then headed to California to continue our holiday celebration.

Oh Christmas Trees!

Back in Michigan we had bought a very dinky artificial Christmas tree. To inaugurate our first holiday season in our house, Trevan decided that we should get a real tree. It seemed a waste to just let our other tree sit in the storage shed all season, so we decided to use both trees.

We put the artificial tree is our bedroom.Yeah, it is dinky indeed, but we appreciate having some season cheer when we go to bed at night

The other tree we put in our living room. I took a couple pictures of it and Trevan liked this first picture because it came out so weird.

But here is what it really looks like...
I can honestly say that this is the most excited I have been about Christmas in a long time.

I think it's the trees!

Gingerbread Houses

Saturday afternoon we went over to one of our church members' house where a lot of our kids had assembled to create their personal gingerbread houses. There were close to 20 kids, tons of candy, and lots of laughs. Our kids are very cute and creative. Yes, I am bragging, again!

Tragedy

Some sad news.

On Tuesday morning Trevan's grandmother Osborn suffered a massive stroke and passed away that afternoon.

Trevan is in Maryland now with his family. Please keep us in your prayers as this has been a very rough couple months since the passing of his grandfather in August.

Thanksgiving

Ok, so I am really late with this post. Let me make it short.

Trevan and I decided to spend a nice Thanksgiving just the two of us. I made a wonderful meal, including my first, ever, chicken!

It was a wonderful day full of food and football! Happy Thanksgiving season to all!

What Direction? - Part I

In the movie The Devil's Advocate, Kevin Lomax, a hotshot attorney, finds that one bad decision spirals his life so completely out of control that he ends up employed by Lucifer himself. While Nike says "Just do it", and encourages us to make bold decisions like Lomax did, our better judgment tells us that caution is a more trustworthy guide.

We live in constant fear of making the wrong choice; taking the wrong job, marrying the wrong person, choosing the unfulfilling career. So as the major intersections in our lives arrive and we find ourselves needing to take action, we are paralyzed with this fear. We agonize, pray, stress, but mostly make no decision at all hoping that some magical sign in the sky will tell us what to do.

When I was single I lived in constant fear of marrying a guy one day, and then meeting the "perfect guy" the next day. This fear kept me from dating through most of my high-school and college years. Trevan was my first real relationship.

As I look back on those years I now wonder if God put that fear in my heart to stop me from dating the wrong guys. What if fear is not keeping us from true happiness, but preventing us from making that wrong decision that will spiral our lives out of control.

Belize

There are two things that made this year's trip to Belize better than last year's.

1. Trevan was there and got to meet my granny for the first time.

2. The family reunion was much bigger this year. It had been over 10 years since my dad had gone back. My granny was really happy to see him again.

It was a very festive trip because my granny was celebrating her 95th birthday. We had these bright yellow T-shirts made for all the family members to wear to the party.

I enjoyed seeing all the little people again! They grow up so fast and are so cute...
(Yasir wearing my glasses, Trevan and Leah (lives in LA), and Leah, Samane and I - the girls had just finished eating chocolate)

The most thrilling adventure was snorkeling parts of the second largest barrier reef in the world. Trevan even got to touch a sting ray as our guide held it for him.

As I reflect back on the trip I realize that having Trevan meet my granny and my family in Belize was more important to me than I realized. Many of my childhood summers were spent there, and a big part of who I am was formed during those years. It was wonderful sharing some of that with him.

My Niece!

Last Monday I became an aunt! It is one of the happiest things that has ever happened in my life. Little Ainsley Rebecca Ng is the cutest baby ever...I know, everyone says that, but this baby is really the cutest ever!!! I have pictures to prove it.

I told you she was cute!

Happy Birthday to ME!

As I look back on my 25th year of life, I realize that I had no expectations for that year at all. Yet, that year brought me to a new city, a new job, and a fabulous house.

Looking to my 26th year I can foresee no major changes. No big moves, no new jobs, no big purchases. Yet my anticipation for the adventures ahead are not dampened.

To be honest, this birthday totally snuck up on me. With all the trips and work, I did not realize it was almost my birthday till Friday. Usually I look forward to this day from the beginning of October! Yeah, birthdays are big in my book.

Still, my joy was not lessened by the belated realization that October 15 was closer than I imagined. I guess the great thing about birthdays - my birthdays anyways - is that there is always hope that this year will bring me closer to my goals. The anticipation that maybe this year I will accomplish something that was not accomplished last year.

Or maybe it is just a positive way of saying that I am getting old!

Great Sermon, Great Body!

In the front of the church a table filled with bread and oil beckoned me. I noticed that the bread was arranged in the shape of a body.

People took their seats and the service began. The scripture reading was taken from I Corinthians 12. This chapter talks about the body of Christ, and how God has chosen each one of us and given us a specific function as members of His body.

Trevan started his sermon by talking about our diverse gifts, then about how we are all part of a puzzle, and of our responsibility to each other as part of one body. "God", he said, "has destined each one of you to be here. When He created you, he had October, 2007 in mind, and gave you the gifts you would need to serve humanity today."

My favorite part of the service came when he uttered the words: "If you want to continue being a professional church attender (benchwarmer), and have no intention of using your gifts for God, then you should stop coming. Get out of here!".

Service ended with Trevan calling those who where committed to action to partake of the bread on the table. We were to dip the bread in the oil, symbolizing our desire for the infusion of the Holy Spirit. That through the Spirit's power, we would truly be made one, and we would find God's plan for our lives as part of a grander puzzle.

It was a powerful experience, and definitely the kick in the pants I needed!

If you want to hear the sermon check out the Far West End SDA Church website. It probably won't be up for a couple weeks, but it is an important message.

Snapshot

Ok, so my life has been one big trip after another for the past couple weeks. I just wanted to give you a snapshot of what happened since September 26, then I will try to write a bit more about each trip, journey, whatever.

September 26 - October 1: Trevan and I went to Belize to celebrate my granny's 95th birthday, which turned out to be a huge family reunion.

October 7 - Morning of October 9: Was at a conference in Williamsburg for pastor's and their families.

October 8: my niece, Ainsley Rebecca Ng, was born.

The afternoon of October 9 - October 11: Went out to Sandy Point for a retreat with my job.

Yesterday: Trevan preached an amazing sermon at church.

Tomorrow: My 26th birthday.

Yes, I have been busy. More to come later!