BABY J

Christmas Eve our family was together around the table for dinner at Sarah and Joel's home in Colorado. Joel's mom, Rhonda was with us as well. Sarah and Joel's tradition is Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas Eve and it tasted pretty good. At some point in the meal Sarah handed each of the adults a wrapped gift ~ a CD cover with a stamped letter printed in the case. When we put all the letters together they spelled BABY J! What a surprise ~ what a wonderful Christmas gift. Sarah and Joel are expecting a little one in August ~ August 21st to be specific.
We are thrilled for them and excited for ourselves ~ our third grandchild is on the way. For the countdown, a picture and more info check out Sarah's blog.

Happy New Year

SNOW was the order of the day while we were in Colorado over the holidays...and Faith & Avery ate it up!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!
It is mid-December, but we've already had four snowfalls, so it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. The Christmas cards are in the mail, the decorations are up, and gifts are under the tree. Wish you could stop by for a cup of tea in front of the fireplace.

We're looking forward to some time over the holidays at home and some time in Colorado with our kids and granddaughters, to celebrate Jesus' birthday and enjoy winter sports in the mountains.

A few years ago Andy started a journey ~ taking one of the fruits of the Spirit each year ~ asking God to teach him and grow him in that area of his life. During the year of JOY he discovered a little book by Ben Patterson called HE HAS MADE ME GLAD, Enjoying God's Goodness with Reckless Abandon.

Joy is what we experience when we are grateful for the grace given us. The sequence is - grace, gratitude, joy. Grace - the unearned, unmerited favor of God. Frederick Buechner calls grace the "crucial eccentricity" of the Christian faith - God doesn't give sinners the bad things they deserve but the incredibly good things they don't deserve. Patterson goes on to write, "Grace and gratitude belong together like heaven and earth. Grace evokes gratitude like the voice of an echo. Gratitude follows grace like thunder lightning. And as gratitude follows grace, so joy follows gratitude, for joy is what we feel when we're hugely grateful." And, that's what we are - hugely grateful! Spend a little time reading and reflecting on Psalm 95: 1-7 to get an additional perspective on why and how grace, gratitude and joy flow together.

And so, while our deep desire is to live joyfully, gratefully, grace-fully all year, it seems particularly clear and focused at this Christmas season. We hope and pray that you too are fully alive ~ immersed in God's grace, grateful, and joyful. As you can read from our other posts to this blog, we really do enjoy God's goodness! We invite you to revisit this site for on-going news and pictures about our family. Merry Christmas!

Be faithful,

Andy and Nancy

Am I Grateful?

Indeed, I am grateful this Thanksgiving. We just got back from a few days in Virginia with Aimee and Gary, Faith and Avery. What fun...what neat people, each one! If you visit this blog very often, you will see lots of pictures of the grandchildren. Skip over them if you like...I tend to spend a lot of time enjoying them.

Faith had such fun decorating the tree for Christmas, enjoying each and every ornament as she hung it with a smile. She and I also spent a couple of hours one afternoon creating a gingerbread train, decorating it to the max. We visited her preschool for a Thanksgiving Feast and little program, spent a morning at Crump Park and Meadow Farm Museum, and another morning at Maymont Children's Farm. It was warm enough that we ate a picnic at the park. Never a dull moment.


Avery is such a sweetheart. One minute she is quiet and shy, lowering her chin, closing her eyes, saying nothing with a smirk on her lips. The next minute she is answering your question with a definite "NOPE" and twinkle in her eye. But much of the time right now she is attached to her Mommy, holding on for dear life. Alas, clinging!

We are grateful for two happy, healthy little girls. They have great parents who love them dearly and provide a wonderful caring atmosphere for them to thrive and learn and grow. In THE MESSAGE Psalm 127 asks, "Don't you see that children are God's best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?" What more could we want?

Celebrating 60 in Alaska

2007 is the year Andy and Nancy both celebrate 60! In June we took a two week vacation in Alaska to commerate this milestone in our lives. What a wondeful adventure! The beauty, majesty and power of water and mountains have always spoken to our hearts. We had been on an Alaskan cruise 8 years ago for our 30th anniversary and discovered that Alaska had an abundance of water and mountains ~ it restored our souls. So we went back ~ and invited our children to join us this time.

The first week Andy and I spent on our own up in the vast, beautiful Denali National Park and the quaint little town of Talkeetna. We enjoyed exploring in a variety of ways...a plane ride over and around Mt. McKinley, an ATV jaunt up into the hills, hiking thru the forest enjoying the wild life, and an afternoon boat ride on the 3 rivers converging around Talkeetna.

We met up with the Gary, Aimee, Joel and Sarah in Ankorage and headed down to Whittier to begin our cruise. (Sarah has a couple of great posts about the trip on her blog in June 2007 if you would like more details.)

Reading Anytime, Anywhere

Both Andy and Nancy love to read, tho their interests in reading vary a great deal. I (Nancy) read anytime, anywhere ~ on the boat, in the car, waiting in airports, flying in airplanes, late at night when I cannot sleep, down by the lake on a sunny day...you get the idea. I keep a list of the books I read ~ I cannot trust my mind to remember what I have read anymore. I have LOTS of favorite authors: Francine Rivers, John Ortberg, Catherine Palmer, Ruth Haley Barton, John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, Ted Dekker, Bret Lott, Lynn Austin, Nancy Moser, Mary Alice Monroe, Anne Perry, Nicolas Sparks, Kristin Hannah, Rosamunde Pilcher, Penelope J. Stokes...to name a few. Can that many ALL be favorites? I love the way I can go on line, put books on hold and have the library e-mail me when they are available. The Delafield library has a VERY small, crowded space and I don't enjoy going there, so stopping by to pick up books set aside just for me has been great.

One of my all time favorites is WISDOM HUNTER by Randall Arthur. I read it when it first came out in 1991 and have re-read it a couple of times. It's a gripping story about a pastor who faces his own legalistic tendencies after great loss in his personal life ~ his search for who he truly wants to be and who God is takes him on a 18 year journey.

Some years ago, Andy's mother introduced me to Eugenia Price and I've read all of her books a couple of times over the years. I'm partial to historical novels and these are some of the best.

A couple of years ago I came across Liz Curtis Higgs series THORN IN MY HEART, FAIR IS A ROSE, and WHENCE CAME A PRINCE. Two brothers fight to claim one father's blessing. Two sisters seek to claim one man's heart. Sound familiar? The series is set in the late 1700's in the Scottish lowlands. Lies, deception, jealousy, family secrets, broken promises...redemption. This series is fascinating.

This time of the year, I enjoy reading a few heartwarming Christmas stories about family, love, hardship, and overcoming. There seem to be several authors who write a short book each year that fills the bill. Donna Van Liere is one that I enjoy.

Earlier in 2007 I read Paul Hattaway's book about a pastor in China called THE HEAVENLY MAN. Since then I've come across a couple of other books with stories about women married to men in ministry in the persecuted church around the world. It's a challenging and somehow encouraging part of the Christian life I have experienced in very small doses.

ROOM OF MARVELS is a small book by James Bryan Smith that a friend recommended recently. Take a look ~ it's an unusual look at Heaven through the eyes of a man whose faith has been deeply tested.

This fall I took a new look at prayer with Larry Crabb in his book THE PAPA PRAYER. It has been very helpful to me in strengthening my relationship with God through honest conversation with Him as I walk in the morning.

Just today I finished John Ortberg's new book, WHEN THE GAME IS OVER IT ALL GOES BACK IN THE BOX. John is a master storyteller and I have enjoyed several of his other books. He is open and honest ~ and he communicates well to men and women. In this book he speaks to the real object of this game of life ~ being rich toward God ~ by playing for the right prize.

I'm open to suggestions...what are you reading these days?

Upper Room Project

The "Upper Room" in Scripture was a strategic gathering place for Jesus and his disciples. There they shared the intimate fellowship of meals and the deep conversations of eternal truths. It was a refuge from the angry mobs, the demanding crowds, and the sheer busyness of ministry. It was sacred space ~ a place the disciples returned to, even when they didn't know where else to go after the crucifixion. And, it was there that Jesus met them, in their confusion, uncertainty and unbelief.

We're building an Upper Room at Cedarly in the Carriage House for the same reasons and purposes. Over five years ago, people of vision and faith began a project we long to see finished ~ sacred space where pastors, church staffs and leaders meet to spend time with Jesus and hear his voice in a fresh way. We're getting close, but now we need some additional financial resources and some additional volunteer hours. We need help with some of the plumbing work and some trim carpentry. The pictures give you a glimpse of the space. Pictures don't do it full justice, however. The soaring 12-foot vaulted ceilings, and the warmth of the cedar paneling on the second floor of an 1880's era restored barn don't translate well in one-dimensional pictures. Better yet; come see it for yourself!

If you have questions, call or write me. At a minimum, I hope you will pray with us that God would prosper this work and bring it to completion. If you would like to contribute financially, make checks payable to "Pastors Retreat Network" (and include the designation "Upper Room Project"). Mail to Cedarly Pastors Retreat, 2841 Mill Road, Oconomowoc, WI 53066.