Christmas in Hawaii

I wrote the majority of this on Friday (the 26th) but then our power went out... Which is a different story. Anyway, sorry it took so long to finish. =)

Our Christmas was WONDERFUL! I really wasn't sure what it would be like, I mean, it wasn't snowing, there wasn't snow... it wasn't even cold! And those to me used to be some of the most important aspects of the Christmas "ambiance". It was amazing to me though, watching God quietly tell me all throughout the Christmas season, "It's about ME. Focus on me." Thankfully I listened to his advice and had one of the most memorable Christmas yet.

It really is all about Him, and the fact that he came as a little baby in order to be able to say, "You suffer? I suffered. And I suffered out of love for you." Is mind blowing. He understands it all. There is nothing on this earth that we can tell him that will take Him by surprise or not be comprehendible to Him. What an amazing God. I seriously can't wait to bow down at his feet someday.

What a privilege and honor it will be,
To live in holy eternity,
With the Christ who lived on earth and died on a tree,

Out of his love for a sinner like me.

How empty Christmas would be if it weren't for Him! The very thought of it gives my heart great joy.

As far as that picture, representing my Christmas... It was taken from our new hammock, with my new camera! =D Very exciting... Seriously though, at that moment, it felt like life could hardly get any better.

Haha, minus a husband and kids, but I suppose I need to wait patiently for that for a couple years. =P

The weather really was gorgeous! It couldn't have been prettier actually. Funny too how much i loved it, considering it was the exact opposite of my ideal winter wonderland. Isn't God good to give us variety in life? And even more so, to use that variety to teach and train us? I hope you had as marvelous a Christmas as I did!

Caroline Ann

Bye Bye Puppy!

So, for those of you who don't know.... We had to give our precious little puppy back last Thursday night!

She had some small aggression issues, but they were slowly getting worse, despite all we were doing to prevent them.

My parents were really concerned that she would seriously bite one of us or a neighbor someday and we'd have to put her down.

She had come such a long way, but not quite far enough. Last Wednesday night she bit me. My body language was not threatening her, but she was resource guarding her leash, and when it got stuck under a door and I tried to retrieve it for her, she snapped at me. It broke the skin. Not horribly, but enough that it could really be a problem in the future.

Sorta the last straw.

Our family doesn't quit things when we start them very easily. We don't just give up when things don't work out. So this was a hard decision based on that factor as well. Not just the fact that we love our, used to be, puppy, and she'd really become a part of the family!

My mom even loved her, she doesn't even like dogs!

The above is quite a statement, it may be a once in a lifetime thing people, so feel privilege to have seen it. ; )

We were grateful though, because the lady, Mrs. Abbot, who we bought Indee from REALLY wanted her back...

Like, asked for her back, type of wanted her back.

So she does have a happy home... And she won't attack any little children since she will spend the rest of her days with her parents (Mrs. Abbot's dogs) running around the living room, and being allowed to act almost anyway she pleases.

Haha, our "joke" is that Indee thinks she went to summer camp (It really was more equivalent to boot camp actually) and came back home.

As sad as the ordeal was... We did meet Mrs. Ness! And I have not a clue what we would do without her in our lives! =D Just yesterday I had the privilege to go bake Christmas goodies with her. That woman really amazes me... I will love her forever! And Mrs. Ness, if you read this, never forget that!

Well, you now all know the sad tail (haha) of our dog. Whether it will be our only dog I know not, but I do know that whether it be a dog or a family member, HE gives and takes away, and because of HIM, my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your name!

Caroline Ann

The Race is On!

I feel really bad... My poor blog sorely needs to be updated. I just haven't had the time though! You would think December would be a great month for blogging. Not so this year anyway...

This time in exactly three weeks I will be in Thailand! I can hardly believe it's almost here. I'm REALLY excited, I can hardly stand it. Well, hold on a sec, I can wait, 'cause I do have this one little thing... SCHOOL.

I've been bogged down in school, to say the very least. It's been tough. I am very well organized, so that will help immensely, but still, organization doesn't eliminate the amount of work to be done. I get Christmas day off! Woohoo! But that's really my only school free day. Fun huh?

Never the less, I am choosing to have a good attitude and trying to enjoy the time of year. I mean, it only comes around once, so school or not, you might as well!

H0wever, if you could lift me up in prayer... I really can't think of a time when I've had more school. I know God will use this as a teaching opportunity though!

The race is on though, the countdown has started, I have a lot of school, and I am feeling the pressure! So, here are a couple things that you could pray for:

1) I would be extremely efficent (like more efficent then I have ever been would help!) and choose to concentrate and not let my mind get distracted.

2) That despite the work, I will find time to enjoy Christ and the celebration of His birth!

3) That I would have really good bible times. (Heh, and that I would also have them amidst everything) Please pray that the Lord will draw me into His word... I so desperately need it!

4) That not only would I work really hard, but that I would get good grades. Especially since the majority of my work is for semester finals.

I know you guys are all really busy, but if you've read this. THANK YOU! I will try my best to keep you updated.

Caroline Ann

Made to Worship

Sorry, I'm a little behind on blogging...

I started to write this on Saturday and then never finished...

I had my piano recital last Friday night, and though not perfect, it was lovely. =)

Five weeks or so ago my piano teacher decided it was time to start preparing for my Christmas recital. She gave me two music options... An short easy piece and a long, hard piece. If you know me well, you'll know I didn't even glance and the easy piece. I guess I'm sort of a go-getter, not to mention perfectionist. But that's another post...

So anyway, I took the piece section by section and quickly learned most of it. Except this one little section that had five flats... Somehow I just couldn't play it. I messed with that part of the piece in a couple different keys and finally settled on asking my teacher if I could play it in D, since that was what the rest of my piece was in anyway. She agreed and so the plan was that I would play the whole piece for her, next lesson (which was just a couple days before my recital...). Of course on that very important lesson, my piano books got left at home... Which I think I've only done ONE other time in my whole history of taking piano lessons. Nice timing, huh?

I continued to practice all week and got really nervous since my teacher hadn't even heard the whole thing yet. And one night as I was somewhat tired and stumbling through the piece, God started whispering in my ear. He reminded me that this piece wasn't about me, it was about him. And you think I would have remembered that considering I was playing a version of Away in the Manger (it's the prettiest arrangement I've ever heard, sorta modernised but BEAUTIFUL). After that, when I was playing for Jesus, it sounded completely different.

So the night of the recital came, and I was all ready, or so I thought I was...
We arrived early so that I could play for my teacher at least once before I played, since of course she hadn't heard the whole piece.
I sat down at the piano, way to confident in my self may I add, and I botched up the whole piece. I made mistakes every other note at least.... It sounded terrible. Yeah... sort of a rough start.

After being gently reminded by my mother God helped me put my focus back on Him, and after that, the night was wonderful. =) Including my piano piece.

Though it is so easy to forget, God made us to worship him, and Friday night was definitely a cool reminder for me. Especially with the Christmas season we're in right now, it's so easy to forget what it is all truly about... Even it it's something like buying gifts for others. It seems like such a good thing to do, because people will appreciate what we have done. But Christmas is not about what we have done, but what He has done. May God bless you abundantly as you worship Him this Christmas season!

Caroline Ann

Mommy's little Elves

Hehe, we're revving up to celebrate in Hawaii, how 'bout you?

Caroline Ann




Comment and let me know if you want to see the other ones! (There are different themes)

Ants

Have you ever seen a swarm of ants pour out of your electrical socket? If you haven't... Let me just tell you, it's DISGUSTING. Unbelievably disgusting...
We were eating lunch (Taco Bell! Yummy!) on Sunday at our dining room table when my dad all the sudden says, "Yuck, ants!" And we all look in the direction he is pointing and see hundreds of little black ants all over our wall near the electrical socket. I didn't take a picture, because I really didn't want to make your skin crawl like mine does every time I think about it.

It made me start thinking though... Shouldn't I be just as repulsed (well, more actually) at my sin? I mean, it can't look any different to God then those ants do to me! And just like the ants, sin likes to creep into our hearts where we don't even realize it until it's a huge problem.

So I started examining my own heart on Sunday and God has already shown me several big things! It's sort of humbling that he used ants to get my attention. =\ Nevertheless, I'm still grateful... Despite the bugs in my bed.

Oh yeah... They are all over the house, so if you could pray we can resolve the problem quickly... That would be great!

Caroline Ann