Reflections of 2010

Here are some Photos with hilights from year 2010 in the life of Bill and Carolyn, not in any particular order!

My sister from Mexico came home for a visit with two of her three children, of which her youngest Aiden shares the same birthday as Bill! That was a fun celebration with family!



Here we see how Bill is trying to trade presents with Aiden!             
I don't think he wants Uncle Bill's new shirt!

Is this not the BEST nose ring you have EVER seen in your whole life!!!! Yum...Pretzle! Hungry???

Another nice surprise, my brother who lives in California came into town with his daughter at the same time as our sis! Good times!

Bill turned 40!!!! I tried to surprise him....&.... He wasnt' surpriesd...  but we had fun at Texas Road House!

We finally made it over to sister Jami's house to see the new Murphy home and had a super fun time playing with the nephews!

We have enjoyed some overdue quality time with the Johnston Parents!

Oh my goodness! Bill has discovered a hidden love for the birds this year and his absolute favorite is the Oreal!

AND.... his disgust for the DANG evil Squrel!!! The varments have destroyed most of his bird feeders....oh but Bill has outsmarted the lillte bugers.... just wait till spring you littl nut crakcers!!!!

Good time spent with great friends doing free stuff around town in the great out doors!

As you may be able to tell... we are a little worried that crazy Buffallo is going to break throught the fence!

Yummy Cake!!!!!!!!!!! Sooooo delicious!

 Jerin~n~Val celebrate their first home! Too Cute!

Old Friendships made new again, Praise to God!

A good time was had by all!

~PRECIOUS MOMENTS~

PAID OFF THE VAN!!!!!! PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!! Isn't she a BEAUT?!

Spent some summer days enjoying our sweet fishing spot  in Liberty!

Had some hail damage on the house and the van. Not such good times... but this is life!

Made wonderful new friends!

                             Ashley                                                 Chase & Katie
 

Fred & Stacey                                                                Mary & Chris

Tiffany

Fun times with the College and Career Ministry

We are pretty sure the ice cream inside does not match the size on the outside! I think we could sue for false advertising... We have a good case!

                                                                               Michelle shares her testimony with us, Awesome!

Lake Jacomo

And some bowling

And the Zoo

Bill hosted HBF's first Annual Concert

Carolyn went to Peru again! God moved in mighty ways... you will have to read the next blog post for those details...here are some pics.

To find true value we must look beyond the surface of things...and people

God keeps a promise! (above) Nerida, lower left- I promised her I would see her in 12 months last year and I had no idea what villiage she lived in. My prayer was to find her so she would know I did not break my promise! On our first day of VBS in Popa Leon as we were wrapping things up here came little Nerida! She came to VBS again the next day and never left my side. What a kiss from Heaven! Thank you Lord, I know it's ALL because of YOU!

This was Nerida in 2010 - She has really grown in 12 months!

This made my heart leap in a way that hasn't happened in  a LONG LONG time! God is up to something...

Precious moments...

Parachute game... the Peruvian way! We must take time for fun too!

Plumbing! God continues to lead me to look beyond the surface of what I see...

My Peru Roomies ~ who I decided to name the Ya-Ya's!

Christina - Translator and FRIEND from 2010, Awesome surprise to see her and spend our last day in Peru with her!

Friends celebrated birthdays! Sometimes I might have been awnery.... : )

 Surprise for John's 40th turned into a Hail Storm surprise for us while we stood in the hail holding his Birthday sign...as he drove by and siad..."Oh, that so nice" Not realizing it was for him!!! Ha ha ha!

Amber surprised hubby Matt!

Charlie Turned 4!

Celebrated three family Christmases

Martin/Byrd Family

  Love the hat Granny!

My Best Present!

 Gonzales/Carpenter

The best time playing Twister... this is now a MUST for every family gathering!

Johnston/Murphy

Elanor, the newest girl addition to the Murphy clan!

Addorable

                             











Newest addition to the Johnston clan... first great Nephew
                                            Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
                                                                             JAXiN

                                             Bill n Carolyn had some of their own Holiday fun
 

                                        Santa knows we can't leave Jesus out of CHRISTmas, It is after all...    the day we celebrate His birth!














BABY....iT wAs CoLd oUtSiDe!!!!!!! Oh But we had the bEsT fUn!

 

The Blues Brothers! Good times at the Christmas Party!

Bill.... He's famous!

First time being teachers at youth camp!!! LOVED IT!

Bill had a fun time building his boat from popcicle sticks, he says he was the winner...

Just one of several young lives changed that week!

The whole gang! Grade 7-12

Fourth of July... Bhutan in America... the Pierces house! Harrisonvile Mo

Soccer!!! I was SO nervous about coaching these little people but I really LOVED it, and God totally grew me in amazing ways! Aren't they SOOOO cute!

 Completed the  2year journey of Discipleship with the Awesome David and Lee Pierce!

 

 

Raked leaves, leaves and......... MORE leaves!

Hosted Thanksgiving for the 10th year! Had a fire in the fireplace first fire we have made in YEARS!

Set out on the newest adventure of our lives! Through some major events we have been placed on the path of Adoption! More details to come...!

 



To Do Or Not To Do?

This subject has been haunting me for some time. I think maybe I might not be alone in this quest... My thoughts,

Over the last few years God has revealed to me a variety of different areas He has gifted and equipped me in.
Recently I have found my world packed full of DOING… doing good things.
I now realize there will always be NEEDS that await a servant to tend to, BUT…which of these things do I DO?
I can and have the ability to do many of them…BUT… there are only so many hours in a day and God created this flesh to require a healthy amount of rest in order to function efficiently at its fullest capacity.

SO…

WHAT DO I DO?
Over the last 18 years I have regularly ran back to some Bible verses in

Proverbs Chapter 3:5-6
~5~ Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
~6~ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

I think I forgot to use these in what I have viewed as the small things of life and really why would I consider needing to question IF I should do something when I know it’s a good thing? Right???

I know myself and like many others find ourselves having a difficult time saying NO when approached or opportunities to serve arise in areas we are gifted or experienced in. ‘YES’ just automatically comes out of our mouth before we can stop it. We get this adrenalin rush and excitement at the chance to do something or be validated in an area we are good at or gifted in. This produces that cycle of “business.” Before we know it… we are out of fuel and running on empty! John 10:10 sates that “Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly.” abundance does not mean busy… does it?

As reality has struck my family this past year and we strive to reclaim a balanced life in preparation to become parents we must ask ourselves… “WHAT DO WE DO?”

The facts:
We have been blessed with a variety of gifts, talents and abilities and experiences over years.
The need is great, the fields are white unto harvest but the laborers are few.


The enemy of our souls will attempt to destroy us by leading us to indulge in a sin filled sin full life and if that doesn’t work, he will change his tactic and get us so involved DOING good things that we forget as the Children of God our service and life is to be one of WORSHIP to the Lord. This must be why the Word states that “A false balance is abomination to the LORD.” It is a warning to the Christian!

Through my most recent decision making endeavor my eyes have been opened to some new verses and this has brought me much help in making decisions and now I can have peace in saying NO to some things in order to maintain balance!

~Proverbs chapter16:9~
A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps."


~Psalm 119:133~
Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me.

My take away from all of this is that I have desires of my heart, things I just enjoy doing or things that bring me happiness and joy. It is up to me to apply the word of God to my live and allow Him to direct my steps to the path He has for me! It is when I have done this that I KNOW that the path I am on is right and whatever comes to me along that path IS what I and supposed to DO!



The things that are in my heart are most likely what I will find myself using along my path! We are each uniquely, fearfully and wonderfully made by God for a specific purpose...

Even Mordecai said to Esther these words: "and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for
such a time as this?"



One last thing.... We have been given many different gifts; each for our different seasons and roles of life... which ones God uses in each season is a new journey and new adventure to be enjoyed!

Christmas Perspective for 2010

As life takes me down new paths this year it has been brought to my attention that it is not always easy to accept gifts. That revelation brought me to the following inspiration!

What can we say about the 'Receiving' side of Christmas?

We spend a lot of our time focused on the 'Giving' side of Christmas. Especially in the Christian circle we focus on the 'Giving' because the Bible teaches that it is better to give than to 'Receive'

The Bible also teaches us to 'Receive' the GIFT of Eternal Life.

What if we were to take this year to uncover what it means to 'Receive' a gift?!

When receiving gifts what feelings, thoughts and emotions do you have?

Perhaps feelings of happiness and joy that someone would think of you.

Possibly, guilty feelings maybe, because you are not able return a gift or maybe you do realize the cost.

Some instances it is simply an act of humility to 'Receive' a gift.

How many times has our pride prevented us from 'Receiving' gifts?

How does it make the giver feel when their gift is rejected?

Moving along...

Do I realize what had to happen in the givers world so that I could 'Receive' this gift?

Do I realize that the giver thought of ME?

Do I realize what the giver lost so that I could 'Receive' this gift?

Do I realize that they want to 'Give' me a gift because the giver loves me? Maybe I am special to the giver...

Do all of these revelations cause me to appreciate the gift so much more when I understand what the giver 'Paid' for that gift?

Perhaps my gift cost the giver some finances. Maybe my gift cost the giver time, energy and emotion.

When I 'Receive' the gift and I see it, what do I see?

Do I see the cost and relate that to the love of the giver toward me?

Do I see that the gift wasn't what I asked for or wanted?

Do I see the love and care that was carefully put into the creating of the gift?

Do I see the care and detail that was put into even the wrapping in some cases?

Is the gift of much more value to the 'Giver' than the 'Receiver'?

Those thoughts led me to this thought

In light of the Christian, Christmas Celebration:

What did it cost our Creator to 'Purchase' our 'Gift' of Eternal Life? The Bible declares that we are a purchased possession, if we are believers in Jesus Christ!

(Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.)

How much time, energy and love did it take to send that 'Gift' to the world?

(John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

How does it make God feel when we reject His gift that cost Him the life of His own Son?

Let us have a new perspective in what it means to 'Receive' a gift this Christmas.

May we also take more care and thought into the gifts we ‘Give’ this year and in the years to come, knowing that when we give gifts we are reflecting the love of God.

When someone gives us a gift let us 'Receive' it with joy, knowing someone paid for it out of love.

Can we appreciate God's 'Gift' of Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord SO much more. Not only did God separate Himself from His own Son to pay for our Redemption, Jesus Christ His Son was the price, through sacrifice and shedding of his own blood for our atonement. Jesus laid down his life and rose from the dead of his own power on the third day according to the scriptures to fulfill the scriptures so that we might be able to 'Receive' our 'Gift'

Now that is the greatest 'Gift' that we could ever 'Receive'

This Christmas will you un-wrap and 'Receive' your eternal 'Gift'?

Inspirations by Carolyn- Glory to God

12-12-2010

Learning To Dance with my Lord...Focus and Trust

 He teaches me to dance while I stand on His feet like a little girl would with her father. His steps become my steps,

He holds me in a tight embrace and I stay focused on His eyes; I see a cloudy reflection of what is in front of my Lord as He moves us forward.



I focus on His eyes.
The path He is taking me down becomes clearer with each trusting step.
I begin to see the reflection of where He is taking me in His eyes.
I trust my Teacher.


My desire is to remain focused on the eyes of my Lord so my steps are in step with His!

I can't clearly see where I am going yet, but I trust the ONE who is taking me there!

The closer we get to destination the clearer the reflection becomes.


Trusting my Lord to direct our steps to the final destination!


Proverbs 3:5-6


Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.


Jeremiah 29:11


For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end

Peru2009 Day 5&6

Peru2009 Day 5 & 6

Today I worked with Sara, ashton beth & anessa on inventory & lunches. Inventory meant sorting through all the donations the team had collected from our community..... Lots of stuff!!!! Praise God!
One thing God keeps showing me is that we need each other. We can only accomplish God size tasks as a team. Not one of us can do this mission ALONE.

I loved watching Anessa & Sara sorting & Beth with her O-mazing organizational skills! Anessa & Beth were so sensitive to the deeper need. They asked questions that led to some changes in how & where the supplies & donations would be stored. It made me realize I am only seeing what is on the surface. I want to be more like them in this area of my life not just with people but also in serving others.

Today’s highlight for me was VBS! We did the Zacheo skit in a new village. When we did our orange relay at the end I had about 50 kids all around me wanting hugs & kisses. My heart was so full at that moment!!! What went through my mind was the scripture God gave me in Isaiah 54: 2&3. At the moment when I looked up and saw more kids than my arms could reach on either side of me this part of verse 3 is what came to my mind, “For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left.” I was surrounded! Farther than my arms could reach!

God you are SOOOO Awesome! Thank you for your abundant blessings!

Day 6

Our last day…. Started out with our quiet time and then our praise time on the beach! Yesterday Sara used her gift of sign language in song to Praise God! It was so deeply moving I was broken again. I just know God was smiling at that moment & God was blessed by her offering of Praise. Today, Friday, she did it again!!!! I could do this every day!!! It was evident that we were in the presence of God! Mike even commented how he literally watched the Ocean waves calm as we joined Sara in Praised to God. Now that is something to talk about!

As we packed our things and prepared to leave I was shocked at my reaction…. As much as I didn’t want this to be over and desired so much to spend more time with the Orphans I was not sad to be leaving. I felt as though I would be returning next year!

Peru2009 Continued....Day 4b

After returning to Hannah's after the Parade we had our lunch and then back to work!!! I got to work on digging another hole for a water pump. During this service project I had the blessing of getting to know Anessa & Ashton! I had such a great time taking turns digging this hole with them and getting to hear their stories. Up until this day I really hadn't got to spend much time with any one to talk to them so it seemed like this day I was talking, sharing my story and hearing others stories all day long....I have to record one more thing from the afternoon that I know is significant to my whole life story.... I had taken a load of dirt to dump it and when I was returning to the dig site, two teens, Ashton & Caleb were chatting & I over heard them. It sounded like they were discussing how hard the work we were doing has been, one said to the other, " Well, it is for Jesus, so we will just keep working on it!" That moment blessed my heart so much, Once again gives me hope for the future generation!  What a great day so far... and we still have the evening ahead of us....!!!

No VBS today... Wednesday night Church... our day's second adventure as if the Parade was not enough! We attended Wednesday evening church services.... I don't know what City we were in, BUT... I do know that I KNOW, GOD was teaching me the same thing in Peru as He had back home. I thought I might fall out of my chair when the guest speaker who was a woman got up and spoke about 'Retrobution'. What was so incredibly awesome about this was that she used the story of Zacchaeus from Luke chapter 19:8-9. This was the same story God had led me to use for our VBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God continued to pour out His confirmations of His work in my life as the woman continued speaking she moved on to talk about how as aged adults we should be teaching the younger generation how to do good things so they can serve and glorify God. She said that the young ones, Nenos are their future!!! God has also been teaching me this and stirring in my heart to invest in the young women in my life as charged to the aged women in Titus 2:3-5.  WOW... as I recount this day and look at all the events and see in my journal where I note the following statement: "these last two days God has allowed me to get to know the teens on our team & they are EACH so precious!!!!!" God once again confirms this is part of His calling on my life.... INVEST IN THE NEXT GENERATION.........

                        

I am SO thankful God called me to this trip with all of these people! God bless them, may their cup run over, & over & over!!!! Glory to God in the Highest! Amen!

Peru2009 Continued.... Day 4a

Today’s morning quiet time led me to Psalm 94 and verses 1-7 spoke so loud to me it is PACKED with praised to God and encouragement! God allowed me to share this with two others on the team and give back to this team. It was awesome to encourage others! These people have blessed me so much by watching their love for one another. Through the actions of others on the team this week God has brought to my mind a few scriptures:

1Corinthians 8:3 "But if any man love God, the same is known of him."
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
This team is really living out these scriptures and it is so incredibly refreshing! Can we live like this every day of our lives? I pray so.

My service opportunity today was helping inventory all the donations our team brought over and not sooner did we get started it was time to get into our ChildReach Team shirts and head to the City's Flag Day Parade! What an awesome privilege and humbling experience. It was so awesome to see our team carrying the American Flag in a parade on foreign soul. The Mayor was very pleased with our presence in the Parade and stated that the Americans were there to help them and we should all help each other. To end he asked us to give our President Obama his best greetings! I thought that was so cool, I felt like we made history that day! I am sure there was a news article in Peru somewhere about that event!!!!