Christian Music Summit at Overlake

 This weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Christian Music summit at Overlake church near Seattle. The first day was spent in the Songwriter's Bootcamp where we learned how to craft a song and had one of our songs we had already written critiqued by professionals. The biggest part of the weekend however was Fri and Sat when the church was filled with 100's of musicians, worship leaders and pastors. The days started off with a half-hour of worship and then a sermon. Followed by classes and concerts at the end of the night.

 We met many new friends but best of all was attended with some old friends. Here are some pics of me and Lenore and Sarah Runkle.

Blues Counsel (a pic of the kilt-wearing guitar player for my friend Joel)

 This is Jolene a good friend of Lenore's who travelled over to represent Deer Park Calvary along with their worship leader Darrin White, a new friend!

I found myself  enjoying the spiritual content of the weekend much more than the business content which is exactly as it should be! There were some very moving stories and some very convicting sermons given. I left with the feeling of coming to terms with certain realities but also being greatly encouraged to make Christ the center of EVERYTHING in my life. This seems obvious but its always good to be reminded of where all good gifts come from. :)

Silly Sisters

 The gentleman pictured above is Mr. Phil Keaggy. It was probably a highlight of my life to spend an hour in workshop with him with only about 60 other people and then to see him live in concert. There has never been an artist with the talent of Phil Keaggy in my mind but even more than that, I have never seen the humility or felt the complete delight of the Lord in watching any other person perform than I did watching Mr. Keaggy.

 These are the Wilkinsons, a brother band that offered themselves up as guinea pigs for a workshop by Tom Jackson a man who teaches us how to make the most out of live performance. Very funny and helpful info.

Nor, Jolene, and Darrin

Flying Saucer Pizza

 The best gourmet pizza I've had in a long time. Was just a few blocks down from the church. Anyone in the area should GO! NOW! and EAT PIZZA! NOW!

Mr. Rick Cua, the singer/songwriter who kindly and gently critiqued my song.  Also the bass player for Blues Counsel pictured above

 This is the rockin Z that was parked in the lot with a treble cleff and custom pinstriping on the side. Pretty!

Thus ended my time at the Christian Music Summit. I would have more to say but I am still in a state of much processing and my brain is still a little mush. But if you want to know more just call me! It was a great experience and I'm thankful for the time with family and friend and safe travel.

New Ventures

Hello all! I thought I would let you all in on the fact that Daniel and I are beginning a new venture. This new venture is something he and I will both enjoy very much, be able to do as a family, and hopefully one day use to bring some extra income into the household. Now that you know its not baby #3 I will tell you what it is...home recording!!!!! Okay you know Daniel and I have always been interested in music in its many forms and now the ability to see how good we can get at making that music last forever is something we are very excited about! I will be practicing and learning with my own music but if anyone want to be a guinea pig then we would love to have you bring your talents to us just for fun as we learn the ins and outs of our equipment and our program. This is going to be a slow process and we have yet to even finish the room we will be recording in but I'm sharing this now because we would like to choose a business name and get ourselves liscensed. So....Come one, come all to the name game and help us come up with something great! We have a few ideas but would love more so leave a comment with some suggestions okay?! 

Sandpoint Beach

Sophie

You gotta love the cloudy sky and the hot latte'. That's how we roll!

Sarah and Logan

Love how clear the water is!

Trevor just chillin

A few weeks ago we decided to head out to the Sandpoint City beach. It was a great day that was supposed to be really warm. Soon after we arrived clouds came in and it became overcast and chilly. I had dressed the girls for the 84 degree weather we were supposed to be having. Luckily some friends had a few extra clothes they could borrow to keep them warm. The cold didn't deter the kids from getting in the water but the moms stayed dry and chose to get the little ones out earlier than they though. Not to have our day shortened, we headed over to the playground and then got free lunches at the park from Child Nation. By that time the sun had returned and we stayed another hour just hanging out on the grass in the large center lawn. All in all it was a wonderful time with friends and lots of kiddos!

Sarah, Brodie and Trevor's sis (Nicki I can't believe I am blanking on your daughter's name!)

When Opposites Attract

So we finally watched Blindside last night. It was truly the feel good movie everyone described. One of my favorite parts was the bedroom scene when she told her husband "You knew I was a multi-tasker when you married me right?" So true for myself too! How many things did you know you and your husband were different about before you married? How many did you realize after? :) Besides the glaring differences in simply being male and female, I am constantly surprised at the many ways Daniel and I differ. Many of these differences work very well for us. I talk, he listens, I am extremely emotional and sensitive to others emotions Daniel, well,  not so much :) He makes long term goals I live in the here and now seldom caring to plan beyond the week. Then there are differences that have caused friction. We handle problem matters in very different ways. We view things from different perspectives. We go about fixing things differently. Daniel is adventurous and I am more of a homebody now that the children have arrived. I have found cause more recently as our marriage has matured, to be thankful for even these differences. We are learning work harder at doing things together and to be prepared for the differences we are aware of. These differences are often a strength in one person and a weak place in the other. We are teaching each other about our strengths and being willing to let go of our weaknesses. I guess all of this to say, I am thankful for my husband. Thankful that He loves the Lord, loves his family, and is a hard worker. Thankful that he's different than me and thankful that our opposites attracted! Finally, I'm thankful that the Lord set the example of love in His word, that the more I know Him, the more I want to be like Him. I see His strengths and I find my weakness and He loves me anyway.

The ramblings continue

Well, here I am again. I find myself thinking that is a good and a dangerous outlet for my thoughts to spew forth into the wide world. Good because its easy and works at the touch of a button. Bad because I have no censure until after someone has read what I type. Things placed in "ink" are not easily erased. Which brings me to my question of the day: should we apologize about something to someone we hurt inadvertently? I mean if we did or said something that we stand by and believe to be the truth but the results were not what we planned and someone was hurt? Whether or not it was our problem or the other persons (and I've usually found that very few problems are one sided!) Do we apologize? Here is my conclusion for myself. I think I do. I think I must. Our intents are often very far from what our human minds and bodies can achieve. We intend to speak the truth in love. Love gets left behind. We intend to give a handshake and we crush a finger. (Okay that almost made sense) :) From a quick search of forgiveness in the word this morning I could find nothing on apologizing but much on confession. They appear to be almost synonymous. And if you think about it, what is an apology but a confession? "I did such and such and it was wrong. I'm sorry, please forgive me." The humility evident in such faithful men as David and the Apostles shines through the clearest when they are confessing their shortcomings and when they are requesting forgiveness from God and/or the brethren. This humility has always been a symbol to me of spiritual maturity. I have said in my own life "I was right, its not fair. I shouldn't have to apologize if they took it the wrong way or too personally". But what is the cost of being "right" -if, indeed, I was- ? The cost is someone hurt because of me. A wound that has no chance to heal completely because forgiveness cannot be offered before an apology and here we come to the crux of the matter. If I don't ask forgiveness it cannot be granted. If I don't humble myself before God and any human being that has been wronged by me (intentionally or not) I cannot receive their forgiveness and folks, I want that healing!!!! I want the healing for them and I want it for myself! God's forgiveness is readily available. Time and time again I fail and what do I have to do? Humble myself and ask His forgiveness. Confess! Be forgiven! God gave His son so that He could wipe our sins away. Once we have accepted that gift of  grace the first step is always ours. Confess, repent, humble thyself, He is faithful to forgive. Humans are not always so faithful but if we don't give them a chance by apologizing and we haven't taken the first step how can they take the next step and forgive? These are just my thoughts and they are not perfect and defects may readily occur. In fact, I know they will occur. I am not using this blog to try and "teach" or to "preach". Simply to express myself.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and Just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

The beginnings of my Ramblings

Okay all. here goes. for a time now I have considered actually using my blog for its intended purpose. To stay connected but also to define my deeper thoughts and dreams and hash out some kind of focus in life that is passing me by while I sit on the computer...oh wait. Anyways, Today felt like day to get some randomness off my chest. Here's the first random thought particulate: (can I have a drum roll please?) Why are swings a necessary toy at EVERY park and school ground? Have you ever seen one without swings? Who decided that a swing is automatically included in the equipment of childhood???!!!! Okay I have nothing against swings in case you are wondering (unless they be uncontrollable mood swings).  All right now that the trivial is out of the way on to a particular swing I have been dealing with lately. That is the swing of loving motherhood and every aspect of staying home to raise my children to the "I'm going to pull all of my hair out and not just because its rapidly turning gray" swing! I KNOW you other mothers are with me on this. How can I go one minute from noticing the funny face they are making or the way a chubby hand holds a baby doll to short tempered, mean talking, out of patience "mommy's a monster!"- ness? I do realize my grammar is completely unacceptable so if you are reading this for an English fix please feel free to look elsewhere. Back to point in case, how do I control my temper? How do I dig up the patience to finish dinner without serving up the girls?  (No we are not, in general, cannibals) I am finding that lately I am simply spreading myself too thin. When I am away from home my focus is not  immediate discipline, the kind that stops the girls in their tracks because of my deep and abiding love and authority over them :) It is enough attention to keep them happy and me happy and never the twain shall meet. At home I am dividing myself between housework, yard work, cooking, and face booking while the girls wind up dividing themselves between, Dora, Diego, Wonder pets and Backyardigans. Wait a minute! Was something missing from that list of mine? Oh yes. You can throw 2 minutes of prayer in there before bed and all my time spent reading the Word of GOD, which is zero. I am beginning to see why I have problems. Why is it I can put EVERYTHING else before my time with the Lord and expect to have what I need to raise my girls in the manner I wish including loving them to pieces, always being there for them, and showing them the utmost patience in every circumstance? It's time to WAKE UP! Time to get my priorities right! Even with the girls I see time and again how a small amount of attention can go a very loooooong way. So I am going to try harder to put my small amount of attention where it should be in my prayer life, my scripture life and my family life. Sounds good no? :) :) :)
P.S. I do realize that talk is cheap but every step counts. :)

Girls Day Out!!!

Yesterday I needed a break and mom was (of course) willing to help. So we enlisted the help of Grandma Sandy and away mom and I went! We rode in the little red jeep into spokane and started on the South Hill at the Rockwood Bakery. We then headed across the street to Manito to take pics at the Koi Pond and the Rose Hill. We were lucky enough to catch some musicians playing by the cafe in the park. Five violins, a flute, keyboard and cello make for some fine music! We had a good time and when it got hot we headed back north to get pedis at Wal Mart! What a great summer break day!

a rose in her own right

love these!

my fave

Last but not least a clip of the music "the entertainer".  Not the best song we heard but a classic nonetheless!

Oh! I almost forgot the fishies! This was the best pic. I love how the trees in the bottom left are reflected so clearly. Kind of looks like the fish is floating through the air.

Gandma Miller comes to visit

playing in the tunnel

swing time

Happy Great grandma

My sweetie Nephew Phillip

We had a wonderful time when Grandma Miller came to visit last week. We were over at my moms a lot and great grandma helped watch the girls one day so mom and I could make jam. She loves her grands and great grands so much and we love her too! Morgyn and Phillip came her last day and most of these pics were from that morning out on the back porch. And I was really excited to capture a smile from Phillip!

you saw the chalk now here's the Rock!

hmmm, which one do I want?

Look at this one!

Ev likes the BIG rocks!

Sophie likes the ones she can pick up (and usually stuff in her mouth)