White Christmas in Texas

When we moved here this summer everyone told us, "It never snows here." We believed them until we had a white Christmas! According to one news article I read, the last time there was snow on Christmas here was 1927! The ironic part was the day before Christmas Eve it was 74 degrees outside. That's Texas weather for you!

The boys bundled up and spent about 15 minutes outside before coming back inside. It was really windy and cold.


Christmas afternoon there wasn't much left. But, I did find this snowball that some kids had rolled.

Sunday Celebrations

We had a very full, but good day today. Sundays start very early for us, so we were out the door by 7:15 and on our way to church. We had a special Celebration Christmas service that combined both services. I think normal Sunday attendance runs around 475-525, but I'm sure there was more than 700 people this morning. It was a full house! The music was great and we enjoyed special songs from the kids, orchestra, choir, etc. After church we had lunch with another family before heading home.
I was able to sneak in a short nap which was really nice. We spent the afternoon relaxing a bit and visiting with some friends. For dinner we went downtown with three other families to celebrate our friend, Maribeth's birthday. We ate at Cantina Laredo, which is where Casey and I went for our anniversary last month. Tonight was all about dessert, so we ordered an appetizer plate to share so we'd have plenty of room. They have a terrific Mexican apple pie, served up on sizzling hot plates. The waiter brought out the hot plates and then put a slice of apple pie on top, followed by cinnamon ice cream. The finishing touch was a brandy butter sauce poured over the top. Oh, it was soooooo good.


After dinner we stopped and took some pictures in the square downtown on Santa's sleigh and visited Barnes and Noble Bookstore. Ethan enjoyed riding up and down the escalator. It was a fun day.


The only down part of the day is that I have a little tickle in my throat...I'm hoping it doesn't turn into anything at all!

Quiet December

Casey and I were talking this morning and realized that we haven't had a December like this in YEARS! Now that classes are done till January (hooray!) everyone's schedule has slowed down...a lot! This week we've enjoyed sleeping in, eating meals together, playing with the boys, and other fun and low key things. It's been really great!
Yesterday we received a Mickey and friends train track that goes around the Christmas tree from Aunt Jeanie (Casey's sister). The boys had fun setting up the track, but we soon realized it wasn't going to fit around our tree. Our tree is small and the track takes up most of our living room. It has been fun to have though! Here's some pictures of it.

Singing...Ethan & Casey

Ethan sang and played in the seminaries kids choir this fall. He really enjoyed it and even learned some new instruments. The kids are invited once a year to sing and play for chapel, so I was there, up front with my little camera to capture a bit of video. Everyone loved this piece where they are playing Indonesian instruments. Enjoy!



Our church had a special dinner on a Sunday evening prior to Thanksgiving. The choir sang a few pieces and then there was a special ensemble of some of the pastors. My video for that didn't turn out well, but here is a photo. From left to right: Stewart (Music Min.), Stephen (Sr. Pastor), Casey (my hunk of a man), and David (Admin. Pastor)

Kid's Night Out

Tonight was Kid's night out at church. The boys had so much fun and Casey and I were able to enjoy a night out together. A special thanks to Heather (our awesome children's minister) and all the folks who came out to watch the kiddos. Casey and I went to dinner at Chef Point Cafe. It is just minutes away from our church and has been featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Basically, it's a gas station that's been converted into a five-star eatery...except you can still get gas and groceries too!Here's the website if you want to see the inside: http://www.chefpointcafe.org/
We ordered whatnots for an appetizer (yummy stuffed mushrooms swimming in butter...mmmm). Casey ordered a monte cristo sandwich and I had the chicken scallopini. And, of course we had dessert...their famous bread pudding...it was amazing. And, yes we both brought home at least half if not more than half of our dinners. I wish I would have taken a picture of our food! It was SO GOOD!

One Semester down...

Casey completed his first semester at Seminary! Phew! He started classes in August and here we are in December. Wow! He sang in three choirs and had more performances than I can remember. The highlight was probably singing in Bass Hall in downtown Fort Worth. I couldn't afford to go to those concerts...but it is one of the best places to sing in the nation (so we've been told).
So, for five glorious weeks there are no books, no classes, no concerts, no recitals, no tests, no papers...only work. I think we can manage that!

I am getting into my holiday baking and loving it! Still trying to find the best temperature for cooking in my small oven. It's kind of a guessing game too because most of the numbers are rubbed off the knob until you get to 425 degrees. So far we've made our first batch of pumpkin bread and a new brownie biscotti recipe that is super yum!

Fearless by Max Lucado

Very few people are fearless. Almost everyone has fear and many live life crippled by their fears. In Fearless, Max Lucado identifies many of the fears that plague us today. Do you fear death, disappointing God, not protecting your children? Lucado attempts to address these and many other common fears in this easy to read book. He uses vivid word pictures and stories to communicate and engage the reader. A favorite line from this book is, “Worry is the darkroom where negatives become glossy prints.”

I don’t often read Lucado’s books because I find them often to be only surface deep. The same holds true for this book, however, I really enjoyed reading this book. I will recommend it for anyone who struggles with fear. I have to admit that I identified with many of the chapters. Do I worry about my children’s future? Do I want to lock myself at home to avoid the H1N1 and all other forms of disease and sickness? Not always, but often I get so wrapped up into the latest news of doom and gloom that I have to remind myself that I have a God who is bigger than all those circumstances. Will all your fears be vanquished by reading his book? No, but half the battle is identifying the fears and aligning them with the truth of Scripture. He doesn’t promise miracles but I think he treats the issue of dealing with fears very honestly. One great feature of the book is the study guide at the end. I would actually enjoy reading the book again with a small group.

Light at the end of the tunnel

The semester is just about finished! If you read this, please pray for Casey that he would finish well (and finish all his assignments). It has been a LONG semester and I think we are all ready for a break! He doesn't have classes today, but is working in the afternoon and has a performance of Handel's Messiah that he's singing in tonight. Next week is finals and everything needs to be turned in by Wednesday.

Thanksgiving Blessing

It was really unexpected, for us anyway, that we might be with family over Thanksgiving this year...but the Lord is good, giving us blessing even in the midst of sorrow. Casey's sister Jeanie lives in Spokane, WA. Her husband (Bob) parents live only about 40 minutes from us here in Texas. Bob's dad has not been well and passed away this past weekend. Bob, Jeanie and two of their girls (both in their 20's) flew in to be with his family this week. However, the blessing for us is that we get to see them too. We saw them briefly last night at the funeral home and then will get to see them again on Thanksgiving evening.
Speaking of the funeral home visit, not only did we get to see the family, but Casey saw a friend of his parent's from his childhood. I think they live in Yakima, WA and happened to be visiting family down in TX this week too. We also met a pastor from First Baptist Dallas who used to be in McMinnville, OR and knows some really good friend of ours that we know from Ronald, WA.
Cue music: It's a small world after all...

10th Anniversary

We celebrated our 10th Anniversary on Friday!!! Can't believe how fast time goes sometimes. We had a nice evening out, kid-free thanks to some friends. We had our first downtown experience and enjoyed it! We didn't find the restaurant that we were looking for, but the one we ate at was sooooo good. We ended up eating at Cantina Laredo and it was so yummy. I ordered a chicken breast that came topped with poblano peppers, artichoke hearts, spinach and a cream sauce. Mmmmmmm...Casey ordered some plate that came with a HUGE chile relleno, burrito, etc., etc. After dinner we walked just down about a block to the Circle theatre. We saw the Lonestar Christmas Carol (musical). It was a lot of fun. Think Texas version of the Christmas carol. We enjoyed that a lot too.
Can't wait for the next "special" occasion to go back down town for a date!

"help mom not to crash"

OK, today was a busy one, but good. I stayed up way to late last night finishing a book I started yesterday(biography of Laura Bush - it was good). So, I was a little slow on the get go, but finally found my groove after coffee and quiet time. Well, quiet it wasn't, but any bit of Scripture reading is better than none for me. At 10:30 the boys and I walked over to the campus to attend chapel. I can't believe I haven't attended before this! Anyway, Casey played guitar for a special music ensemble. The guest speaker at chapel was Dr. Charles Ryrie! What a privilege to sit under his teaching! Looking forward to picking up another of his excellent books to study.
We came home with Casey and had a quick lunch before sending him off to work. The boys had lunch and then did some reading and school work. Before long neighbor boys were knocking on the door to see if the boys could come out and play.
At 3:45, the boys and I walked back to campus to drop Ethan off at his choir practice. Josiah and I walked back home. I worked on getting some pictures edited and ordered. (Snapfish was offering 100 free prints with a $5 purchase - Cool!) At 4:45, Josiah and I walked back to pick up Ethan from choir and then once again walked home.
We ate at our neighbors house and enjoyed a little visiting. Casey got back from the church in time to eat a couple of hotdogs and go to class. After a little more visiting I loaded the boys up in the van to drive them to the church. We have signed them up for Upward Basketball and they had an evaluation for team placements. I don't normally drive at night...and I don't like to drive the freeway...however, I had to do both tonight. As we were leaving our parking lot Ethan offered to pray for us. Among other things he said, "and please help mom not to crash or run into any people." I laughed a little. Josiah just kept saying it over and over, "help mom not to crash, help mom not to crash." Thankfully, I didn't crash!
So the basketball evaluation was good. Some kids do a poor job and know it. Others do a good job and think they did poorly. Ethan's comment after was, "wow, I'm better than I thought I was." I will refrain from commenting. Josiah left singing, "I'm a basketball star, oh yeah!" Again, I will refrain from commenting on his performance. Well, at least they don't have low self esteem, right?

Odie

Last Sunday we had a little visitor to our apartment area. Many of the kids immediately fell in love with this small, stray, black dog. He was very sweet too. He was around again on Monday and my boys (and about 15 others) chased him around all day. They named him Odie. Odie would come to the kids and let them pick him up and pack him around like a baby. He never got too close to any adults though. We knew he wouldn't be around for long, but the boys sure enjoyed playing with him through Thursday night. I think Odie was quite fond of Ethan. Ethan would run and Odie would chase after him, perfectly content that Ethan wasn't always picking him up. On Friday he never showed up even though the boys called and looked for him. I'm positive that if we were allowed to have pets we would have kept this little dog.

A new November

I am having a hard time with November in Fort Worth. I'm not complaining about the wonderful weather, just trying to get used to it! Usually by this time of year I've started my pumpkin bread baking. It's my gift thing for the holidays. However, I'm running into problems. 1. It's too warm to have the oven going all day. 2. I don't have room in my small freezer. 3. We are still wearing shorts and tees. Okay, I know that last one probably doesn't make much sense, but I think it's more of a mental block than anything else. I even tried the pumpkin spice latte from starbucks yesterday and it didn't even seem right!

In other news, Casey only has a few short weeks left and then the semester is over! We are all looking forward to the end of this semester. If finances permit we are thinking of spending a couple of days in San Antonio either before or after Christmas.

Our new church has been great. We are slowly meeting people and making connections. I think Casey is already connecting well with the praise team. I've found the last two weeks that 80% of the people I introduce myself to are first time visitors or have only been coming for a few weeks. Exciting to see what God is doing. There were four baptisms on Sunday and God's presence was really evident in some other decisions that were made too. The message from the Word was powerful and convicting. After church we had lunch with a bunch from the college/career class. It was a good time...I'd love to join their class if I didn't feel so old! Man, when did that happen?!

What a weekend (Part 2) - Sun/Mon

Sunday morning we were up bright and early...well, early but not necessarily bright! 5:00 am came quickly! Casey had to be at North Fort Worth Baptist Church (that's a mouthful) by 7:20 am and it is about a 20 minute drive and we only have one vehicle...so we all had to be up and ready early. Thankfully we made it out the door without any problems and the freeway traffic was pretty light that early on a Sunday morning. We dropped Casey off and then me and the boys drove around a bit waiting to catch the sunrise. There was a Denny's near by so I took the boys there for breakfast, which really made their day!
NFWBC has two services, one at 9:30 and the other at 10:45. The first is a traditional service and the second is the contemporary service. I took the boys to their Bible study class for the 9:30 hour and then went to the traditional service with Casey. I really enjoyed it. It has been a LONG time since I've sang that many hymns and listened to the piano and organ. All the music was really well done (the pianist and violinist are both professionals). After the service I went to get the boys so the could attend the next service with me because that was the one that Casey was leading. The church is big, so by the time I got both the boys, with potty breaks we had already missed the first song and greeting time.
Casey and the praise team did a great job! The music minister played piano, then there were 4 female vocalist, drums, electric and bass guitars and Casey sang and played his acoustic. It sounded great. I think there is also a sax player, but I can't remember if he was there on Sunday. Anyway, the worship went really well and the music minister said they would get back with Casey on Tuesday.
We had some lunch out and then came home and rested for awhile. For dinner we cooked out with our friends/neighbors (3 other couples) and then had a neat time of sharing prayer requests with one another. We came in about 9:30 and Casey had missed a call from the Music Minister. The short of it was that the pastor wanted to meet with Casey Monday (today) during lunch since he (Pastor) was going to be on campus. The meeting went well and Casey was hired! I don't know all the details yet, but he will be working 20 hours a week. His primary responsibility will be leading the contemporary worship service Sunday mornings. So, once again, God is good and His timing is PERFECT!
The pictures above are the sunrise on Sunday morning and a picture of the South end of the church where the worship center is.

What a weekend! - Friday/Saturday

"Wow!" followed by "Phew!" summarizes the weekend nicely! It was fabulous and exhausting, but so worth every moment. Here's the recap:
Friday afternoon I went with three friends to the taping of Beth Moore's "Wednesdays with Beth," at Life Today studios. We had a yummy dinner before hand with another friend and some of her family who was also going to the event. The sessions were great! She taped two series on Friday night and three on Saturday. We got home around 11:00 pm and were up again Saturday morning and on the road by 7 am! Beth's Saturday sessions were amazing. God was so good to reveal Himself through His word as Beth taught. We had a short break between the two morning sessions for bathroom breaks...and to warm up...the studio was COLD! As I was coming back into the studio to return to my seat, Beth was right there in front of me. I had to walk right by her to go to my seat and as I got to her she hugged me and said something that I don't remember. My friend Lisa was right behind me and received a hug as well and then Beth went behind the stage for a few moments. That totally made up for having great seats on Saturday morning when we got there and then having to move up to the top to fill in a few empty seats.
Still, I can't complain too much about the seating because it is all still really close. I'm guessing there were about 150-200 ladies there and about 3 men.
We came home Saturday, very tired, but totally in awe of God's word through Beth. I am so overwhelmed by God's goodness towards me to allow me to go. I joked that when we moved down here that we were going to have to drive to Houston so I could go to the church she attends. God brought her to me...so sweet of Him to do that! And, I enjoyed some sweet fellowship with my friends and neighbors...God has been good to me!

River runs through it...

We've had several Flash Flood and other flood type warnings since we've been here. It can sure rain. Here are a few pictures from yesterday's downpour. I hope you can get a feel for how much water pours down here sometimes. The picture on the bottom was just getting their feet wet...it escalated to full out splashing and all out fun getting drenched in the rain.

BIG weekend ahead!

So excited for the weekend! Casey will be singing on Friday night for a recital (another student's conducting recital). It's been fun for him, but has taken a chunk of many Saturdays in preparation. On Saturday he gets to hang with the boys...I'm looking forward to being OUT!
On Sunday Casey will be leading worship at a church here in Fort Worth. He is being considered for leading worship for their contemporary service. The rehearsal last night went really well and the Music minister thinks very much of Casey already...so it might be a great fit. Praying for Sunday. The church is about 20-25 minutes away and they rehearse again at 7:30 am on Sunday. We only have one vehicle so that is an EARLY morning for me and the boys! I think I will take them to breakfast. We will attend both services, so it will be a long day for the kiddos.
I'm most looking forward to BETH MOORE on Friday and Saturday! She records Wednesdays with Beth here in Fort Worth (under Life Today ministries with James Robison). So excited I can hardly contain myself. I was able to get four tickets, so I'm taking three of my new seminary friends whom the Lord has blessed me with knowing. We will do dinner on Friday before and just receive the special blessing of being under Beth's teaching from the Word!

Mid-terms

We reached mid-terms for the Fall Semester last week (or was it the week before)...it is all but a distant memory now! Casey did well and even tied for the highest score in his Music History class! He continues to work hard in his classes and study and practice as much as possible. Yesterday he made a comment along the lines of that he would have plenty of time to do all his studying if he didn't have to sleep at all. Needless to say, this has been a very busy semester adjusting to life here and then working too. I think we are beginning to see that it is almost impossible for a man (with a family) to be a full-time student. There just isn't enough time to study and complete assignments and then work enough to provide to your family and also be able to see your family! God is good though and has given us a good support and we've received lots of encouragement. And, knowing that it ends in December is really nice too!

Interview and follow up

Casey's interview Tuesday went really well (see previous post for details). He met with the Senior Pastor and Music Minister. The church building is very large...from one end to the other is 1/4 mile. That's big right? They run around 500 though so there is lots of room to grow. The pastors told Casey that they would be meeting Thursday and would probably get back to him after that or after the weekend. Well, Casey got a call back on Wednesday (the next day) from the music minister asking him to come back and play for him like he would for a worship service. Casey did that today and it went really well. The church leadership hasn't decided on a total job description, hours or salary yet, so we don't have any of those details...still just praying. However, Casey has been invited to lead worship there in two weeks (Oct. 25th), so that is exciting. Casey got a follow up email from the music minister this afternoon encouraging him to wear jeans when he leads worship...that's a change! I got a kick out of that.... Casey said both the pastor and music minister are very laid back. Please continue to pray with us about this opportunity. I'm excited, yet a little sad that we may be leaving Wedgwood already as I've really grown to love that church already.

so cool!

Here is a true story. I don't know the whole ending yet, but regardless, it's a cool story. Casey has been hired on to work on campus doing staging/hall monitor??? (I don't know exactly what) and whatever else in the music building. It is VERY part time...so it will maybe fill up our gas tank once or twice a month...but not enough to live on. He's started to get a little, we'll say "anxious," about employment in the last week or so. This week and next he is able to work extra hours in the music building for some reason that I don't really understand so I can't tell you about it.
So today, he came home a little early to make some phone calls and talk with me about a few part-time positions that are available. Some of them are really far away for $50 a week...so, that's not really helpful! He was thinking about the part-time worship leader position he turned down and re-thinking that. I told him to stop it...and a few other things.... Mostly, I just tried to encourage him and remind him that we are here for a reason and God will provide for us just like He always has. (There are days when he tells me the same thing because I'm in a funk about something...so today was my turn.) I also reminded him that God has always brought opportunities to us and we haven't ever had to seek them out or apply for them. Anyway, he made his calls and followed a few leads he had and then sat down to read with the boys for a bit. A little later the phone rings and we assume it is someone returning his call. I answered and they asked for Casey so I gave him the phone.
I realized after a few minutes that it wasn't a return call, but a music minister calling Casey to see if he is interested in a job. Casey got off the phone and smiled at me and said, well, I guess you were right about that. Anyway, he is going in for an interview on Tuesday, so please pray with us as we see if this is God's provision for us. It is a church in Fort Worth that runs about 500 and Casey would be leading the contemporary worship service. Oh, the cool part too is that it was one of Casey's professors who recommended him for the job!

Handling Criticism and Difficult People

That was the topic of my class last night presented by Susie Hawkins. It was so good and really something I needed to hear...and wish I had years ago.

Part of becoming a wise person (see Proverbs) is learning to hear rebuke correctly and not flying off the handle when it comes (and it will come).

Here are some things to consider, according to Mrs. Hawkins when you've received criticism or rebuke.
1. Consider the source - Who said it?

• Is it someone who has your best interest at heart or a chronic complainer

2. Check your motives - why did you do or say what you did?

• were your motives pure? why did you do/say it that way? were you promoting self/selfish ambitions
  
• can we be truly objective about ourselves
• remember that there is no end in our ability to justify ourselves (not a good thing)

3. Evaluate the Criticism - if possible say it back and be sure you heard it right!

• don't read more into it than was said!
• Is there ANY truth in the criticism?
• Can I learn anything from it? maybe something can be done differently next time
• Is it a moral/theological issue? Are your words/actions hurting others?
• Does it really matter (to God)?

Some conflicts have no resolution - confess when you are wrong - be thankful (not prideful) when you know you are right.
Lastly, what do you do about people who will never give you the approval you want so badly? Minimize contact and don't give them that power over you!

Walgreens...grrrrr...

Well, the title sums it up. I've never liked Walgreens, but I thought I'd give them a try, just one more time. This weekend I looked over the flier, saw that they had some good deals, matched them up with my coupons, etc. Today I went with my list and my two helpers (who are not really great helpers when I'm feeling frustrated). I had fourteen items on my list. It was going to cost about $57, but then I had coupons that would have taken about $10 off and then the real incentive was the rebates at the register ($ you can use at your next purchase). The rebates added up to about $26 dollars. Sounds like a GREAT deal! OK, I arrive and start looking at my list...and then the store flier...and then my list...I wander the aisles...check my list...etc. The problem? They didn't have most of the items listed in the flier! They only had 6 of the 14 items on my list! And, the signs weren't very clear, so I had to price check several items before I found the one on sale.... At the register I pay about $33...well, we also needed some bug spray, so that brought the total up a bit, but I didn't have most of the rebate items I wanted to get. Then I get my rebates and there is one missing...the $5 one! I had moved out of the way to figure out what was missing and then had to go wait in line at customer service. They couldn't get it to print out a rebate, so I just returned the item. I did leave with $6 in rebates and I'll be sure to use them...but then I'm done with Walgreen's. I put in way too much effort to get a great deal and it turned out just okay. So, my total spent ended up being about $25 and I have $6 in rebates to use sometime in the future.

New church home

Well, it's official...we've found a new church home and have asked for membership at Wedgwood Baptist Church. The one thing I was most worried/concerned about moving down here was finding another church to call "home." I am so thankful that God had a place for us...I shouldn't be surprised, but sometimes His ways just amaze me!

Life and Death

Ten years ago a man walked into Wedgwood Baptist church with the intention of killing as many people as possible. He had over 200 rounds of ammunition and a couple of pipe bombs. He came in looking for the adult prayer meeting, but found a room full of teenagers celebrating and worshipping at a See You at the Pole concert. He opened fire, killing 7 and himself and wounding many others. I remember hearing about that event 10 years ago and honestly, it totally shook me to my core. One young college girl who died was my age at the time.
Now, ten years later, the Lord has brought us to that very church. It was on my "list" of churches to visit, but honestly, the shooting hadn't even crossed my mind...I had forgotten about it. Our neighbors told us about it the week we were first going to attend. I could feel my anxiety start to rise and thought...I don't think I will feel comfortable going to a place where something like that happened. We went though and as soon as I walked through the doors, that thought was a distant memory. Worship was so real, so heartfelt, it was like the whole place really had one heart to worship the Lord. We've been to churches with good music, good preaching, etc., but to be where people are really engaged in worship with one heart is something that can't be manufactured, even by the best of programs or performances.
We've gone back on three different Sundays now, and tried different service times, but the attitude of worship and the Lord's presence is there like nothing I've ever experienced before. Last night we attended the service of remembrance for the 10th anniversary of the shooting. The place was packed with officers, city officials, church members and other churches who helped out in the time of need...most importantly though, the Lord was there. He is the one who brings healing and victory. Pastor Al has said that Wedgwood has become a healing church, where the wounded and brokenhearted have come for healing and ministry. It is not the church that heals necessarily, but the work of the Lord through the church. When life and death is set before you everything else becomes trivial.

Thunder, lightening and trains, oh my!

I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but we live really close to the train tracks. Really close. I'm thankful that we don't live quite as close as others in student housing, but lets just say that if I'm outside when the train goes by I can read most of the signage (or graffiti) on the side. Everyone says, oh, you won't hear them after a while. Well, that's partly true...unless you are having problems getting to sleep! They come by frequently, and it's not the noise of the engine that's the problem, it's the whistle/horn! So, at every road crossing (which we are of course also very close to) the trains will blow the whistle. Some whistles are nice and short, but others just lay on the horn through the whole way through Fort Worth, I think!
Anyway, last night I was up much later than usual and had problems going to sleep. I was just drifting off, when the train came by...a few minutes later, another. Who knew so many trains went through after midnight? I think a may have drifted off a little bit around 2 am.
Then, the bombs started going off, well, it was thunder really, but it sounded like buildings were being destroyed right outside my window. It was so loud...and of course, thunder like that is accompanied by strobe lights...I mean lightening. This went on for about an hour. It was totally crazy, and did I mention the buckets of water hitting our roof too??? The storms here are just amazing...and frequent. I think we've had thunder storms every Thursday and Friday since we've moved here...
I think I finally drifted off to sleep sometime after 3 am...but 8:30 (when I woke up!) still seemed way to early! The boys are so tired today they are like zombies. Josiah is playing with legos and every once in a while it gets really quiet so I look over and he's just staring off into space. Ethan said he was too tired to hold his pencil (for school) so he has headed back to bed to read and rest already this morning. Hopefully tonight's storm won't be nearly as spectacular.
The video is from last weeks storm...it was pretty mild compared to last night...

Campus Picnic and Church Fair

Last night Southwestern hosted a campus picnic and church fair for all students, faculty and families. Chick-fil-A brought in yummy chicken sandwiches for everyone and there was plenty of water and sweet tea provided too. We walked over to the event, only about 1/4 to 1/2 of a mile probably, but it was so hot and muggy it felt like it was much further. We enjoyed our picnic with another couple, Adam and Danielle. Adam is Casey's accountability partner for his spiritual formation class and he is also in a couple of other classes too.
After dinner we wandered through all the tents set up by various churches in the area (all Southern Baptist). It is amazing to me how diverse some of them were and yet still fundamentally align themselves under the same SBC name. We now have water bottles, t-shirts, pens, popcorn, cotton candy and a variety of other goodies, not too mention all the cd's and fliers to look through. It was fun though and really great to make some more connections.
The boys waited patiently while we talked with everyone we wanted too (of course being bribed with cookies and candy along the way helped) and then we took them to the bouncy area. They had brought in about a dozen inflatables for the kids to play on or in, the boys enjoyed that. I was happy to stay and visit and let the boys play, but Casey had lots of homework hanging over his head, so we headed home.

Church visit

Well, we tried another church today called First Baptist Euless. It is about a 30 minute drive from the seminary (north), but we've heard a lot about it so we thought we'd try it out. Moving down here I did not think we would find a church that we (I) liked, but I can see that the harder decision might be deciding from the many good churches here which one we should attend. We decided to visit First Euless because they have a great reputation from the students here. They have a heart for seminary students...free give aways (like good cars, furniture, etc.) and will do whatever they can to help students find work, connections, etc. So, we got their early (good thing) and found a parking spot in the guest parking. Right away a man welcomed us and pointed us to the right door. We were welcomed at the door again and introduced to a lady (I can't remember her name...) who escorted us to both the boys' classrooms, helped us register them and then helped us find our own class. The older preschool wing had a cinema type theme...I can't remember the phrase they used for it, but the Bible stories are acted out and then they have some singing time and then go through rotations (sort of like a VBS set up). Josiah loved it and went on and on about it. Ethan's age group met together for kid's worship first and then they broke into grade level courses. That's all I could get out of Ethan...he's not much into details sometimes. After Bible study, Casey and I found the worship center and it looked like a small stadium or arena. There was one song and then 10 baptisms! It was pretty amazing. Those being baptized made this confession, "my name is.... Jesus is my Savior and I am not ashamed," and then were baptized. More singing and then the pastor gave the message. After the message guests were invited to a guest reception area to meet some staff and the senior pastor. We went there and met a few more of the staff and the pastor went through the plan of salvation and shared a bit more with us about the church. After that we found our way back to find our kids and were invited to join one of the pastors (in charge of seminary connection) for lunch. We had a great lunch with him. Casey is hoping to connect with the music pastor (he is well-known in the worship music world) sometime soon. All in all a great visit at a church of 2500+ people.

Solo drive

Yesterday we were out of milk (among other things) so I really needed to get to the store. Casey was in class all day so I went out on my own (with the boys). And...I survived! I thought I'd try a "new" store...one that I hadn't been to before. It was called "Save A Lot"...sounded like a good choice. It is a smaller version of a grocery store, prices were good, but there isn't variety. If you need ketchup, there is one type of ketchup, milk, bread, etc. I was able to find most of what I needed so that was good. Check out started normal, I put my items on the conveyor and the checker added them up...but then she put them back into a cart (no bags). It wasn't a big deal, but it would have been good to know before hand. There was another station that had bags, so you could self bag your items. Again, not a big deal if you don't have two kids practicing karate on each other while you are trying to get it all done.
In other news, Casey has a lot of classes, lessons, ensembles, etc. One drawback to being a music student is that many classes are only 1 or 2 credits (some even .5). So, for Casey to be a full time music student (10 credits), he has to take a lot of classes. Casey received some good encouragement from his voice professor who said Casey could be singing professionally! There is an opera here in Fort Worth that does productions every spring, something for us to think about anyway....
After much prayer, Casey turned down the worship leader position I mentioned in the last post. It is hard to turn down a "job" when you need one, but we knew this wasn't the right fit for us. It was a smaller church and almost 45 minutes away. We will keep praying about a job and the church (Wedgwood Baptist Church) we are now attending (which I really like!).

I have a lot of trouble coming up with a title for the blog. I have come several times to write something and get too caught up in coming up with a title that I can't write anything!
The past few days have gone well. Casey has had all of his testing and auditions and will start classes Thursday of this week. He only has to take a music history leveling course and a piano proficiency course...so that's not too bad considering all of his undergrad courses were about 10 years ago. His auditions went really well...and I am so proud of him. He was accepted to sing with the Chamber Chorale, which is limited to only 12 students. It comes along with a scholarship too and opportunities for travel and touring during the summer. He auditioned with 3 pieces, one was English, one French and one in German...and boy, can he sing! He is taking a full load of courses and lessons and has a pretty full schedule.
Last Sunday we visited a church that we really liked. We are planning on going back this Sunday too and will try a Bible study class as well. The church runs about 1200 in attendance each Sunday...it's pretty big. The worship was amazing...not just the worship team and choirs, but the congregation singing...you could tell they truly had a heart for the Lord. Before we moved down here I read an article about how to find a good/healthy church. The author gave two things to look for...1) are the people singing - reflects their desire to worship and their spiritual growth...2) what happens at the end of the service, do people stick around and visit (especially with the pastor) or do people vacate as soon as possible - this reflects their relationships with one another and with the pastor. Using these two criteria I would say that Wedgewood Baptist is a healthy church. We were even impressed that that sr. pastor called us on Sunday afternoon and then came to visit us on Monday night.
The boys are making good friends. They have played outside (in 98+ degree weather!) everyday this week. Yesterday there were some boys dressed up as Spiderman and Batman. Josiah got so excited and opened the door and yelled, "Just a minute guys." He closed the door and started sputtering words to me and I just said told him to go get his costume. He came barreling down the stairs and out the door looking so proud and excited to show off his Bibleman costume. They played most of the rest of the afternoon together.
And, as promised, today we took the boys to Chuck E Cheese for a belated birthday celebration for Josiah. It was our first time to one of those, and I was pleasantly surprised by how courteous the staff was and how clean everything was. I was not looking forward to it, but we all had a really good time and it wasn't even too expensive with our coupons.
And, lastly, tonight we will be going for an interview at a church. Last week Casey was talking with one of the security guards (who is also a pastor/seminary student) and was encouraged to send in a resume for their worship leader position. They want to meet us as a family, so we will all be going to that tonight. They are really excited about Casey, but I'm not sure that it will be the right place for us...we will see though. After sending his resume and setting up an interview time the pastor sent the job description...it is part time (good), worship (all good) and youth (not so good) and occasional preaching (bad, real bad). I guess we will just see how it turns out tonight.
Well, I guess that should get everyone up to date with the week. I'll try to post more often and ignore the whole "title" thing so the posting aren't so long!

Settling In

We are doing our best to get settled into our apartment and life in Fort Worth. We started moving in Monday afternoon...and here we are Friday already! We've unpacked lots of boxes...but there are still lots more sitting around. Our apartment is 900 square feet on two floors. On the main floor is the kitchen/dining, living area, 1/2 bath and utility closet for the washer and dryer. One entire wall of the dining area is cupboards/shelving, so that makes for a nice big pantry and extra space to store things. Our stove is mini size (apt. size). I haven't used it yet though! The fridge is about 1/2 the size of the one we had too, so that is taking some getting used to. Upstairs we have two bedrooms and a full bathroom and a nice deep linen closet. The boys room has a nice big closet and is pretty spacious so far...but we haven't unpacked much of their stuff yet either. Our room is good size too with a sort of walk in closet.
In other news...Casey will take his written exams today to see if he needs to take any extra courses (not for credit) for the music program. We are hoping he does well. Monday he will have auditions for the various ensembles he is interested in performing in this semester.
It is a fantastic 77 degrees here in Fort Worth this morning!

We made it!

Well, we made it to Fort Worth yesterday. It is hot and humid...just like what we expected, however there has been a bit of a breeze both days. We are staying at the guest center (nice hotel-like accommodations) until Monday morning when we will sign the lease to our student housing.
Today (Sunday) we decided to visit a church. I'll call it SC. It is a big church with lots of people, big budget, a coffee stand, orchestra, choir and worship team. We arrived 15 minutes early to find parking and get seated. We walked in made our way to the auditorium where we were handed a bulletin and the lady said hello to us. She was the only one to say anything to us the whole time we were there...except at the end when we were looking for the restrooms and I finally had to ask someone and they gave us directions. So, back to the beginning, the orchestra and everyone on stage came out and the music started...wow, it was loud...but really good. The first song was Happy Day...so the boys were excited..."hey, we know this one..." (And Rhonda, even big churches with really slick presentations can have trouble with the words on the screen...as we saw today...so don't get too worried about it.) So, the next song is also one we know and it starts, "we stand and lift up our hands..." but they changed the words to "we stand and lift up our VOICE" anyway, small grievance that I could have overlooked had they not also changed other parts and added other stuff...anyway, still really not that big of deal. All the rest of the music was fantastic. Two ladies trios sang at different times and they were both really good. The second of the trios sang at the end of the service and also had fog and light effects. So, then the message, which was good, but left us thinking..."that's it?" Anyway, I was thinking at some point someone, somewhere might say something to us, but that didn't happen. Oh well. We know that SC is not the church for us. One down, 999 to go. :>)

Arches National Park!

We didn't update our blog last night due to tiredness and lack of motivation. But we are back today with some beautiful pictures of what we experienced at Arches. It was beautiful! Yesterday was the hottest day of our trip so far and was the first time we experienced any real heat since leaving Wenatchee. What a blessing. We hiked to see the "Double Arch" and then had to stay the rest of the trip in the truck to cool off and recover! Actually the boys all went to see the "Delicate Arch" from a distance while Cathy stayed in the truck to rest. Very hot, but very beautiful. After spending a couple hours at the park we decided to continue on South into Monticello, UT then southeast to end our day at a KOA in Cortez, CO. Very small towns all along the way, lots of farmland/ranchland.

This morning after breakfast at Denny's and stocking up on supplies at Wal-mart we turned due east and blazed past Mesa Verde National Park. We would have loved to stop and look, but I think we have grown weary of being "tourists" and are now getting more and more excited about arriving in Ft. Worth. So, we continued on through Durango, CO into Pagona Springs, CO where we turned south and crossed into New Mexico on our way to Santa Fe, where we are stopped for the night at a hotel here. We had some excellent Southwest Mexican food for dinner and vegged in our room afterwards. Everyone is resting/sleeping now as I type. In the morning, depending on how we're feeling we may see downtown Santa Fe, before continuing on or we may just "hit the road." Pray for Cathy as she seemed to experience some sort of sickness today. A little nausea and lightheadedness. She seems to be doing well now, though exhausted. Pray she rests well tonight. Thank you for coming along on this journey with us. We love sharing the sights we see with you, but are looking forward to getting to share with you as the Lord moves in our lives. -Casey
PS if you'd like to see more pictures checkout our facebook albums here, here, here, and here.

Another day on the road

Last night we camped overnight at a KOA in Manila, Utah, just near the Flaming Gorge area. This morning we packed up and hit the road again for a supposed 3 hour drive. We left the KOA around 11 am and began our drive down near the south end of the Gorge. We bypassed some of the more popular places for sake of time. Most of today was spent on Hwy 191. I think we travelled over 3 rather steep mountain passes. The pass leading out of the Flaming Gorge area was quite spectacular. It was of course, a slow go the whole way up.
We reached Vernal, Utah also known as Dinosaurland and found another neat dinosaur museum to take the boys to. Josiah can now spot a museum a mile away. He can't read yet, but somehow everytime we drive by one he notices and asks to stop. This museum had lots and lots of dinosaur bones. According to local signs, Vernal area is the graveyard of the dinosaurs. Anyway, we got back on the road in the afternoon to continue on our way to Price, UT. We travelled over yet another mountain pass (translate-very slow driving) to reach Price and found the RV site we were going to stay at to be less than desirable. So, after a quick bite at Taco Bell we did some looking and found a place just a few miles away in the next town. It is always nice when the sites have swimming pools. We spent the rest of the evening swimming and having fun in the pool - all to ourselves even. Tomorrow we head towards Moab and Arches National Park. We will try to stay there two nights if we find something good.

Yellowstone and more!

We've had a few full days in a row so today we drove a short distance and are staying in Jackson, WY (Bestwestern style!). I really need a full night sleep that is not in a crowded trailer. Every time we stop for the night we have to move boxes and other stuff around so that we can get to the beds. It still beats U-haul, but this will be a nice break.
Yesterday we spent most of the day in West Yellowstone and the South west part of the park. It is FABULOUSLY Beautiful!!! My pictures barely do it any justice at all. We started the day with a stop at the Grizzly bear and wolf habitat. Ethan was #30 of 30 kids that got to go in and hide food for the bears...a special treat for him. After that we headed into Yellowstone and saw all kids of spectacular creations. Old Faithful was a special treat, but my favorite spot was one of the Geyser basins; they are just amazing.
On our way Friday we stopped in at Bozeman to visit the Museum of the Rockies and Dinosaur exhibit. The boys loved the dinosaur part.
I would update more, but in some of these remote areas there is no service for phones or anything. So, we do what we can. Tomorrow will be another long travel day. We are planning to drive to Flaming Gorge in Wyoming/Utah area. Google says 5 hours, so we might make it in 7...

We are having a great time. Wednesday afternoon we arrived at Thompson Lake Baptist Camp outside of Libby, MT where our good friends Kelly and Erika Mitchell serve. We had a great time visiting with them and enjoyed their beautiful home. The boys loved "hunting" with Micaiah and Lilia and it was so sweet to hear little Benjamin yelling out "ETHAN" is his little toddler voice. The boys enjoyed swimming and we even went in a canoe.
Thursday afternoon we said goodbye and headed out for Butte, MT. I really loved the northwestern Montana views. We drove around Flathead Lake up and down all the hills. It is pretty amazing to see the Rockies so close. At one point Casey said, "What's the speed limit again? By the time I get up to speed I've forgotten what speed I'm supposed to be going?" So, the going is slow, especially in the hilly and construction areas. We stopped at a place to eat in St. Ignatious, a little burger joint drive in. If you come near it, just keep going, it's so not worth it! Just before 10 pm we pulled into a little rv park called Fairmont or Fairview or something like that in Anaconda, MT. We slept well enough and everything is going well this morning. The boys are enjoying playing at the playground and Casey is getting the trailer ready to pull out. Today we will head to Yellowstone.

Day 1 of our big move/vacation!

Well, today was the first day of our moving/vacation to Texas. We planned on leaving at 9am--we left at 3pm. We planned on making it to Libby, Montana-- we made it to Spokane, WA. So far the trip has been great! No, seriously, it has! We didn't get out of town on the schedule we would have liked, but at the same time, it's not like we could come back later if we forgot anything. So we are just taking our time. Casey is enjoying driving the truck and trailer combo down the freeway, "I almost feel like a big rig trucker!--almost," he says. The Lord is good to us. We got to stay the night and visit with Casey's sister, Jeanie and her family tonight, which we would not have been able to do if we had gone through to Montana. We are planning on taking our time and enjoying whatever the Lord has for us on this trip. We are excited to be able to be together as a family for an extended while before Casey starts school. We'll try to keep everyone posted while we go. As you probably have guessed, this is Casey signing off for the McCarthy fam. Until next time...

Saying Goodbye

Today was our last Sunday at our church, WVBC. We came to WVBC in September of 2001, so we have been here almost 8 years. Wow! I can't even believe how fast the time has gone. Some seasons have been difficult, but I can say in all honesty that there isn't really any other place I would have rather been these past years. I can hardly put into words the love I have for our church family. There is something so sweet about true fellowship in a church that loves the Lord and loves one another.
Today we were so blessed by our "send off." I am more overwhelmed at God's goodness and the love His people have shown us than the sadness of leaving such dear ones. It is hard to leave, but to depart with their blessing, prayers and well wishes brings us much joy. So, today I am just thankful, and a little overwhelmed at God's grace towards our family. Thank you dear saints who have walked with us, served along side us, loved, encouraged and supported us these past years. You have greatly blessed us!

Papers are signed

We had an appointment today with the Title company to sign all those papers! Yay!!! We will close tomorrow. I am so thankful to be done with this part of the process (almost anyway). Tonight Casey will mow the lawn and we will leave our keys and be all done!!!

Almost ready

Well, here we are, exactly one week from the date we are heading out of town (hopefully). We had hoped to be signing this week on our house and closing, but the new date or deadline is the 27th. We will know more in a couple of days.
The house is totally empty (except for phone) and everything has been cleaned. So, it is nice to have all that done. We are still enjoying our "home" and the boys are especially enjoying playing with the dog. Josiah has really taken to her and will call Zoey and she almost always comes right away. If she doesn't come right away Josiah will yell, Zo-WAY, and that usually does the trick. Josiah always has a funny way of saying things like "horsey", would be "Horse-SAY". It will be fun to hear him pick up the accent when we get to Texas!

Yard Sale

The goal of today was to get rid of as much furniture as possible! Making money was secondary, but we were happy with our end total. We marked the remaining few things with a big free sign and left it by the curb...so maybe it will ALL be gone by the end of the weekend. Since we are traveling in a truck and travel (camping) trailer, we have limited space for big and bulky items. Today we were able to sell our washer/dryer, beds, tv, extra tables and all kinds of outdoor tools. And, to top it off we sold our Ford Taurus. Good riddance to that car...ahhh... I won't dwell on that, but thank you Lord for blessing us with a terrific turn out. We love that we can bless people too by practically giving away needed and useful items to those who need them. And, whenever someone asked where we were moving to it opened up an opportunity to share about God's leading in our lives...very cool.
So, we are tired today and a little sunburned, but thankful to have all of that extra stuff completely (almost) gone.
Tomorrow we are spending the day with my family and extended family in Ellensburg. It will be a last visit with the grandma's and grandpa's and aunts and uncles for awhile.

A home away from home

We have "moved" into our new home for the next 3+ weeks. Thankfully, it is fully furnished, clean and a wonderful break from the chaos at the house we are packing and cleaning. The boys are enjoying playing with "new" toys and dog and both Casey and the boys have enjoyed playing the Wii too...we like it so much, we might not leave...just kidding. I didn't realize how draining it was on me to be living among the chaos of a 1/2 packed house the last couple of weeks and still trying to maintain regular care for my family. It is a blessing to have some place to retreat to when we are done packing for the day.
No new news on the house except that the lenders are working diligently to get the underwriting done as soon as possible. It is nice to have great communication from them to our realtor.

It's July!

Well, here we are in July already. On July 1st we signed with our back-up buyer. Our first buyer did not seem able to get a loan, at least not in the time frame we were waiting for. The back up buyer looks much stronger and is working with a local lender/bank which should speed things up quite a bit. It looks like we are on track to close before our "departure" date of July 28th.

On July 4th we will be moving into a friends house to take care of it and their dog while they are on a month long mission trip to Haiti. It will be nice to have another place to live and stuff to use so that we can finish up our packing and get everything loaded up. We will be making our move to Texas in a truck and travel trailer, so if it doesn't fit...it's not going! The hardest part is deciding what we can fit (and want to take) and what needs to find a new home. It was so nice to have a friend come over the other day to help me pack and tell me what to do! All the decisions that need to be made, regardless of the significance, tend to get overwhelming at times. But, we are moving forward and every day I find myself more eager to go.

Selling our house - update

Well, after a full month it looks like our buyer will not be able to get financing to buy our house after all. This is one of those times where I am reminded that His ways are not my ways. We do have enough time to get another buyer in place before we leave, but every day that goes by is making the closing date and our move date closer and closer. Even so, we will continue with our plans to move out of our house at the end of June and trust that God is in control.