Just like the man at the pool of Bethesda

I was reading in John 5 about the man at the pool of Betheseda. Here was a man who was unable to walk for 38 years, sitting by a pool waiting for a miracle. Hopeless at this point, and Jesus walks onto the scene. There was a great multitude of people in need of a healing and for whatever reason this man catches Jesus eye. A man, who didn't even know who Jesus was, catches His eye, and Jesus asks, "Do you want to be made well?" The man avoiding the question, answers with an excuse, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me." Jesus is there, able to heal and the man is missing it entirely, he is explaining to Jesus why a healing is just not possible for him. Jesus doesn't care, He doesn't care that the man doesn't know who He is, that the man doesn't know that He can heal him. There is no faith here, just straight mercy being offered to a hopeless soul. Jesus answers, "Rise, take up your bed and walk". And immediately the man was made well. I was so touched by this story as I often find myself as the man at the pool, stricken with sin, guilt searching for a way to redeem myself. Then for no reason, other than His great love and compassion, Jesus turns to me and says "Do you want to be made well?" and of course just like that man, I come up with all of my excuses of why I can't. Then He heals me, out of His great mercy I rise up out of my affliction and walk once again, no longer paralyzed by sin. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

Home Fellowship

Tonight was our first night of Home Fellowship, and I must say we have a pretty cool group of people. It's so neat to hear all the God stories everybody has (even with 9 kiddos running around the house:) ). I always think I've got it made and God does amazing things in my life and it's so crazy to think He is doing those amazing things in everybody's life! I am so blessed by all our new friends and am looking forward to this next year of HF!

Kid Conversations...

In the car while driving...
Cadence: Mommy, you messded my hair when yous was turning.

Next day...
Ryah: Aunt Tara is the greatest girl ever!

Cadence: No she's not.

Ryah: Yes she is, she worships God.

(to aunt Tara's defense Cade thought Ryah was talking about a scary character in a movie and not aunt Tara, she was confused, she is a great girl!)

So cute!

Honduras~ Day 4

Today was our last full day here in Honduras, tomorrow we make the long trek home! It was so cute Ryah made a comment on my blog and told Chris and I to have a safe "drive" home:)! Today is Independence Day here in Honduras so everybody was downtown celebrating with a big parade, it was really neat. We had the chance to visit 2 beautiful villages today. You drive these off- roads for about an hour and a half to these remote villages, it's amazing. We met with the farmers in each village and were able to encourage them in all of their hard work. We visited with the children, one of which Chris accidently asked him "where are you", instead of "how are you" and the boy looked very confused... Also, my poor hubby spent most of the day sick, stomach sick, I feel so bad for him, but he is doing a bit better this evening. As I reflect on this trip I am very thankful God allowed me to come. It is so good to step outside of Orange County and to step into the lives of other people, to hear their stories, to see their life. I have been reminded of the things that matter. It's not about schedules and material items and all my busyness, it's about relationships, most importantly our relationship with God our Creator. He wants us to know Him, to love Him, and to make His love known. That's what it's all about. Our children, it is our responsibility to leave a legacy of Godliness for them to follow, to teach them God's word and to pour into them His grace and love. I am reminded that I need to be God's hands to love the unlovable, his feet to go and share His love, His eyes to see beyond my tunnel vision. I was blessed by all the poor who are rich in Christ that I got to meet and share stories with, or maybe just a hug or a smile. I am excited to see what God will do through our church here in Honduras and through Growers First; which is an amazing ministry that gives people earthly hope through a better quality of life and eternal hope through Jesus Christ. I had a great time with our team, Chris, Mike, Gordon and Dave, along with Eber, Hugo and Suri. It was a blessing to serve in Honduras with them all. I look forward to seeing my kiddos sweet smiling faces wed. morning! Blessed be the name of the Lord...

Honduras~ Day 3

Yet another great day here in Honduras! We missed Kingsfield this morning, but had a great time at the service here at Ebenezer Church. Ebenezer Church is in town, it's a great facility they just purchased in Jan. Pastor Hugo is the lead pastor. Church began at 9am with singing (some oldies but goodies from Calvary), and it was sweet they had the words up in English for us. We obviously couldn't understand the Bible Study but it was neat to see the church and how their Christian culture is. After we headed off to another farming village. The drive is always so beautiful, pine trees (of all things), banana trees, coffee bean plants and just tons of greeness (I know that's not a word but it just describes it best). We were going to visit a church in the village but it turns out that the pastors brother-in-law was killed in an accident yesterday so they canceled church. We ended up at the house of the pastors parents. Had an amazing time visiting with his mom, a women who has an amazing legacy. We sat and listened to her story (via translator), her husband and her have served in ministry since they were young. Starting Bible studies that turned into churches and then would move on, and on top of that she raised 12 children!!!! She was so beautiful and so sweet, and to hear of how the Lord has used her was amazing. Some of the local farmers came by and we visited with them as well. Dave told us to take a look at these faces and remember them when you are sipping your cup of coffee, to pray for them. That really impacted me, I did sit there and take in each one of their faces, worn from many years of hard work and a hard life; and I will remember to pray for them as I am sipping my cup of coffee. Especially now that I have seen all the hard work that goes into each cup and the little profit that they receive from it. It would be so neat to put their pictures on coffee mugs (Carrie catch the vision...!). They took us down to where they are going to build a small plant together across from the church (none of them are believers as of yet, so much to pray for). We hiked to the top of this hill and just took in the beauty of God's creation, and then went to check out the church. The church is a very small fabricated building with wooden benches in it. We sat with the windows open and talked, birds and bugs making singing in the background, it is indescribable. After that we hiked to a waterfall, and then drove back down into the city for a prayer meeting at the church. We prayed with the youth, which was really neat. Almost all of them prayed for their families to get saved, it is very common here for children to go to church without their parents, so sad. After prayer, they had some fun laughing at our driver license pictures, I was trying to explain to one boy that I was pregnant in that picture with my first child and now I have 3, he translated it that I was currently pregnant with 3 babies and seemed very amazed, but I was able to get a translator to help straighten the story out:)! After that we walked for ice-cream and went to the central park, and then when we came back we went to our room and wa-la, they had changed our curtains, bed spread and bed skirt from purple to gold. It's amazing, where do you find that in America??? Anyways, it was a great day and I am so thankful God allowed me to come here and meet these people and try to impact them with love and encouragement the best I can. Kiddos, mommy loves you!!! I will see you soon! Carrie you too (since I know you are reading this faithfully)!:) Till tomorrow...

Honduras~ Day 2

Our first full day here in Honduras. We started the day with a tour of a coffee bean plant. It was very interesting to see all that goes into coffee, and how often the beans are handled in the process. The coffee at the plant tasted great, the best I've had here so far. After that we headed out to a village in the mountains on a dirt road about an hour and a half away, where Suri's farm is. Suri is a local farmer, who is the most successful farmer around, making about $2000 a year. He is a part of the local church. (Suri is on the left in the picture to the right) Please pray for his 12 year old son who has blood cancer, they just found out in June and he is currently getting treatment, but it will be a very long process. The village he lives in is called San Heronimo, a very poor community, you can't even imagine the places these people call home. Cows, horses, dogs and chickens running around everywhere, homes with partial walls and no windows, cement floors, no running water or electricity or appliances. We have so much to be thankful for. We played basketball with some of the kids, which was very fun. I must admit I had a hard time between my competitive side and my sweet side. I mean when the ball gets thrown to you do you just take it and go for the goal or do you pass it on to the little guy you know isn't going to make it because the hoop is 10 times his size? Well, of course I did a little of both.;) The kids were so cute, they wanted to play with you and talk with you, once again I wish I could speak Spanish! We also visited with the people, and had coffee, they were very sweet. It was so beautiful there, green and lush. We headed back into town, and walked around and had dinner. It was a great day. It is amazing to me the joy these people have. Like Suri , who always has a huge smile on his face and is so happy. Here is man, whose son is sick, who works very hard, and according to American standards, has nothing, and yet he has the joy of the Lord. I'm reminded I need to look past my circumstances, and find my joy constantly in the Lord and in Him alone. We have so much to be thankful for. Sometimes God is good when life is good, but I'm reminded here once again that God is good all the time! Eli-Ky, Ry-Ry Scouterpants and Caderbugs I love you and miss you! I'm going to be bringing back some surprises for you!

Honduras ~ Day 1

Well, we took off yesterday from our house at 8:30pm for LAX airport. I sadly left behind our 3 kiddos, one of which was a sicky-poo (and I need to give Kudos to Carrie for taking on the task of caring for sicky-poo Cade all night long as she cried- you’re a true friend girl, thank you!!!), but was also excited about the trip. Our plane took off at 2am, which left us with pretty much a sleepless night. I was really wishing I had one of those neck pillow things, I saw them at Target and thought I should get one of those and then decided not to spend the moo-la on it (next time I’m spending the moo-la on it!), Gordon Henry had one and he looked like he was getting some good rest (or maybe it was the Dramamine the guys took). We had a layover in El Salvador and then headed over to Honduras, arrived about 9:30am. Took a taxi for a 2 hour drive to grab some lunch at a lake where they had a cool 4 story tree house, teeter-totters and cool swings! After that we had another hour drive to our Home Sweet Home. Grabbed a quick nap and went to have dinner with the local Growers First board and off to a musical that the local kids were in, directed by a missionary here in Honduras. Honduras reminds me a lot of Mexico, but a lot greener. The people are very nice. I really wish I spoke Spanish, it’s frustrating not being able to communicate. The food hasn’t made me sick yet, though I did have a some type of miniature crab leg in my soup which made me a bit quesy and there are lizards in the bathroom, but hey this is a mission trip, gotta have some excitement! Looking forward to visiting some farms tomorrow. Keep praying for us! Kiddos if you read this- Mommy and Daddy Love You!!!

The Big Toe Is Free At Last

3 weeks ago Elias was doing stunt tricks while dancing to Jana Alyra and ended up in the ER with a broken BIG toe.  

He ended up having surgery to put a metal rod into the toe while it was healing.  God is so good, it turned out that the anesthesiologist was a friend of ours from church. We prayed for Elias and then Chris and I had a lot of fun picking on him while he was getting loopy from the meds!  The surgery was successful and we took our little man home.  

The rod they in

serted stuck out of the front of his toe and he kept hitting it on everything so the next day

 they decided to cast his foot.  Elias chose a bright yellow  cast(I tried to talk him out of it and into something that would go better with all his clothes).  So crutches and all, he missed the first couple weeks of soccer, couldn't swim and had to start off his first week of school.  

But today we took him in and they said it healed perfectly!  They pulled the metal rod out and gave it to him as a cool souvenir and now o

ur little man is free to swim, play soccer, and whatever else his heart desires.  He handled it all like a champ!

God answers...

Earlier this year I was feeling like I was in a rut in my walk with the Lord. Not that I didn't sense He was there, but that I had become mundane in my passion for Him. It started me thinking about when I was younger and had gone on a mission trip and how it changed my life and shook up my walk with the Lord. So I started praying that God would do that in my life once again. I was desperate for Him to give me passion once again. I knew I was in a different place in my life being married and having kiddos now, so I just asked Him to work around that and to give me an opportunity to be uncomfortable for Him and to be shooken up. Never would I have imagined I would go on a mission trip anytime soon. Well, here I am days aways from going on a mission trip to Honduras, and it just dawned on me this morning while I was blow drying my hair that this was all an answer to a prayer from the beginning of the year. How sad that I am so slow to realize and that I had stopped asking God to move, but how thankful I am that He is not slow in keeping His promises. He heard those prayers and knew how and when he was going to answer them. I have gone back and forth a couple of times wondering if I made the right decision to go, and God confirmed to me this morning that His hand is all over this and now I am more excited than ever to see how God is going to shake the world up through me and shake my world up in me! Remember God hears every prayer and He answers...

Exterminator

I have this thing for spiders, I really do hate them and whenever I see them I just need to kill them.  My most used form of extermination is hairspray and a lighter, I torch them.  I know this might all sound so morbid but they are just so gross.  Well tonight we were at the Porter's house for dinner and we were eating outside, when off in the distance in the bushes I see a huge spider building a web, I tried to ignore it, but I just couldn't.  I stood up, grabbed an outdoor torch they had lit, climbed up on the wall and lit the spider, he fell to the ground.  A little while later Darren notices a huge one above Chris head.  So, I grab the torch again as Chris is yelling don't do it Tatum your gonna drop the torch...  I put the torch under the spider he does a total spiderman move, latches onto his web and comes full swing at me... I yell, jump back and without thinking I throw the torch...  Chris runs over and grabs it trying to keep the bushes from catching on fire, picks it up and now the whole torch is on fire, he drops it to the ground, the kerosene leaks out and we've got ourselves a mini fire in the backyard...  The bushes catch fire, the fence and the next thing we know it's heading for the house, we throw the kids in the pool and Chris grabs the hose, his shirt catches fire and he has to do the stop, drop and roll...  O.K. just kidding about everything catching on fire, the guys were able to put it out.  I'm just thankful for very fun friends who will still let me come over after I almost burn their house with my extermination skills and even share their Disneyland candies with me!:)  Thanks Porters for a night of fun and thanks babe for saving me from the fire!!!

Gotta love the honesty

Elias: Dad your my favorite person in the family because you are so much fun.

Me: Elias, what about me, you are going to hurt my feelings.

Elias: Well you like him more than us too!

Why do dads always get to be the fun ones???

S-C-H-O-O-L

So yesterday was the end of a great and busy summer and the beginning of s-c-h-o-o-l. I think I am more bummed than the kiddos. Elias is in 2nd grade now and is beginning the year with his bright yellow cast (side note, he jumped off the couch onto the coffee table and broke his big toe. They had to put a rod into it to keep it in place while it heals). I must say he is handling it like a champ. His teacher this year is Mr. Henry and according to Elias he is really funny! Elias says he likes school, but is anxious to get his cast off so he can play soccer.








Ryah is in Kindergarten and her teacher is Mrs. Standley (an amazing teacher, the same one Elias had). Today as I was parking the car at her school she informed me that I didn't need to walk her to class she could walk by herself. I told her no that I wanted to go with her and again she told me I could just watch her from the car. Either I am already embarrassing her or she isn't suffering from any kind of separation anxiety. I walked her to class because I have to and because I love to see the huge smile on her face as she waits for Mrs. Standley to walk them in. She loves school and informed me today that everyone wants to be her friend, everyone! I don't blame them. I miss my little buddies... But I've still got CADE!!!

4 am!!!

Well, it all started last August when Chris and I went on a backpacking trip in Idyllwild. I am a huge fan of hiking but not backpacking for the simple fear of wild animals and sleeping in a tent out in the middle of nowhere. Well, the first night I pretty much didn't sleep, I was up all night waiting to be attacked by wild animals. The next day Chris and I went hiking and ran into a couple of ranger ladies whom I asked about the bear situation and they reassured me that there are no bears in the area and that they sleep out at night under the stars with no tent! So the second night rolls around and I am feeling much better about allowing myself to sleep, so I finally at some point drift off into slumberland. Suddenly I am awoken by the sound of a distant crunching leaves and sticks and it is slowly getting closer and closer. Now mind you we are miles away from any other person or civilization. Chris awakens and tells me not to move. We both are unsure if it's some crazy man or wild beast. As it comes upon are camp site we realize it is some type of wild beast and it isn't small either. I laid there in fear for 45 minutes as this beast enjoyed our food and campsite, even at one point enjoying a short nap next to me outside my tent. I have truly never been so afraid in my whole life. I saw the headlines in my head reading "Husband and wife eaten by wild beast while backpacking, leaving behind 3 small children" When it finally left Chris reassured me that it would probably come back, so just go to sleep. No such luck, I laid there petrified for hours waiting for the first sign of light so we could pack up and go. Sure enough hours later, I hear the same crunching sound of leaves and sticks off in the distance as it grows closer once again. The same frightening scene for another 30 min. I was so sick to my stomach. Upon returning home and now even a year later I still have that same fear run through my body when I hear the sound of crunching leaves at night. So as it goes our house backs up to the wilderness and I am often awoken by "the sound". I lay in bed in fear and eventually drift off. Well, the other night I had enough, I was awoken at 4am by "the sound", I lay there in fear wondering is some crazy man in my back yard or is it a wild beast. I decided no more am I going to live in fear, I am conquering this one. Knowing that it would be of no use to wake up Chris (he would tell me to go down and check it out and let him know what it was) I make my way down the stairs to discover what was down in my back yard. I slowly go down the stpes and round the corner, I see a dark shadow and it looks big, but I was determined, I figured I could scream if I needed back up. I slowly approach the back door, flip the light on and this is what I discover...

A RACCOON! A cute raccoon, inside our dog crate eating the food. All that for a raccoon! I am so excited I run and wake up Chris to come see my cute discovery and he says no he would rather sleep. So I go back down and decide to try and trap it in the crate, so I can show the fam in the morning. Needless to say I wasn't successful at raccoon trapping, but I think I was successful in overcoming my fear of "the sound"! And that is good enough for me!