Emme turns 8!

Our darling Emmersen turned 8 this month. She truly has one of the sweetest hearts. She is the first to help out a sibling, volunteer for a chore, or play with her little cousins. It has been so fun watching her grow up over the years. She has slowly been able to control her emotions better and ride out the roller coaster of her ups and downs. She still likes to know what to expect and gets thrown for a bit of a loop when plans change unexpectedly, but as long as she isn't over tired or too overwhelmed she is able to cope with the changes so much better then when she was younger. She is also beginning to turn into a little lady. She is so great with younger kids. She just wants to help out in anyway that she can, and loves to be in charge of playing with and watching them. She is so good at it too! She will patiently follow them from activity to activity and redirect them when they are doing something they shouldn't. I love watching her while she plays with the little ones. Emmersen is also one of the first to tell you thank you, I love you, or that you look nice. She is always quick to give a hug when you need it or just sit beside you and snuggle. I also love watching how empathetic she is. She is quick to tear up in a movie (almost as quickly as I do) or to cry when someone else is hurting. Her precious heart makes me so proud of her. I am so excited to see how God uses her in people's lives.

Emmersen has had a great year! She has done amazing in school and reads exceptionally well. She is also great at math, but thinks very differently then I do, so we have had some struggles when it comes to homeschooling, but we seem to have found what works. She also overcame some fears this year in 4H. At the beginning of the training period if her calf even shook its head too aggressively she would be in tears and drop the lead, by the time we were showing she was digging in her heals and holding fast to that rope to keep her calf under control in the show. I was so proud of how much she improved over the year. It was pretty neat to watch the growth. This coming year I am excited to see how 4H will help her have more confidence and be less shy when talking with new people and public speaking.

Emmersen has done well in her music this year too. She has really improved in her piano this past year. She participated in her first festival and did an amazing job practicing. She has also preformed in church and at her studio recitals. Emmersen has also sang a few solos in church and enjoys standing up front and using a microphone.  

It was a busy year for athletic activities this year. Some were better loved then others, but Emmersen participates fairly enthusiastically in them all. She did a great job in cross country skiing and participated in her first few loppets at the beginning of the year. Her first was the Reino Keski Salmai race, she skied the two Km loop and did well. The second was the school district pirate loppet and she skied the 5KM and had a blast doing it! Gymnastics was another sport that she did early in the year. She enjoyed it and did awesome in the strength type exercises, but some of the coordination skills were a little trickier, she hasn't quite mastered the cart-wheel yet. :) She also had fun in the Wild Soles runs that we do as a family. They are a series of fun trail runs for families to come out and enjoy. In the spring Emmersen played ball and played up in Cheyanne's age group. She did okay with the older kids, but it was hard to hold her attention so she was always entertaining to watch! She also tried water skiing again this year but hasn't managed to overcome the fear enough to make it up again. The first year she had a good wipeout in the deep water and hasn't really decided that she wants to do it enough to get up. Maybe next summer! This fall instead of taking on gymnastics again the girls decided to do swim club. It's been a lot of fun and they are really improving in their swimming and loving the chance to do it every week. 

Birthday Meal Requests:
Breakfast: Swedish Pancakes
Lunch: Gourmet Nachos
Supper: Hot Dogs (Lucky for us, they were serving that at the light up!)


  Our birthday interview:

Favourite Colour:? Pink
Favourite Food? Spaghetti
Favourite Show? Frozen
Favourite Book? The Mermaid Tales
Favourite Toy? Taryn
Favourite Song? The First Time in Forever
Favourite Animal? dog
What's your favourite family activity? Lego Contests
What do you want to be when you grow up? A Vet
What are you good at? Playing the piano
What are you excited about? Easter
What are your favourite memories from being seven? Getting my ears pierced, going into grade 3, 4H and showing my calf at the IPE, cuddling daisy, playing with Jasmine, swimming, camping, and trip to Abbotsford and Vancouver for a week (aquarium, science world, sky train).
What is something you want to learn to do this year? Learn to play the violin
Who is your favourite bible character and why? Jesus, because he came to the cross to die for our sins.
What is your favourite memory verse this year? Isiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."
What is one thing you would like to say to the whole world if you had the chance? Jesus loves you.

This year Emme's birthday landed while we were away at the Dairy Conference, and just about every evening and weekend from that time on was booked and filled with Christmas activities like concerts, parties, Enderby's light up, and a host of other things. After trying to figure out what we could do, how we would have time to plan it, and a date that would work for the majority of her friends we ended up having a two part party of sorts. Her one little friend couldn't make it to her party so we had her over for a play date/slumber party the weekend before. It was filled with a ton of laughter and silliness, these two girls really are two peas in a pod! We took the kids out to the city's light up and enjoyed the parade, hot chocolate, and a hay ride.

For Emmersen's actual party we decided on a "Claire's" birthday. We started the night off enjoying a pizza party at Sutherland's Pizzaria then I loaded 7 girls into my vehicle (craziest, loudest drive to Vernon I have ever experienced!!!) and off we went to the mall. The girls had a ton of fun putting on tattoos, make up, doing their nails and putting on a fashion show.  We ended the evening with cupcakes at the store then headed for home singing Christmas carols and checking out the Christmas lights before dropping the girls off. 

 

 

Be Brave! Be Bold! Speak out!

I recently had the opportunity to prepare a talk for a Women's Worship Night at our church. The theme for the night was Be Brave. It was to encourage us as women to speak boldly for our families, friends, and community. This was what I felt God led me to speak on: 

When Lisa first approached me about speaking at this event I was pretty unsure of where I would go with this topic. Being brave and bold for Christ are not words I would use to describe myself when it comes to sharing my life. I tend to keep things close, I don’t share feelings or experiences openly, I try not to rock the boat or offend people, so I didn’t know what I could offer.

Shortly after I said I would speak I was up one night not able to able to sleep and feeling frustrated. I decided I should read my bible. I had been a bit discouraged in my quiet time, feeling like God wasn’t really speaking to me so I didn’t know where to start, I even considered googling, where to start when you don’t know where to read your bible ~~~Which may have led to some good passages, but was just as likely to have lead me to spending time on pinterest or facebook, so I decided to just pray and as I was turning to one of the passages that I had been reading recently the words “Give thanks to the Lord” caught my eye in Psalm 107, and I decided to read there instead, thinking maybe it would lead me to a good a good thanksgiving activity to do with the kids. Instead it served as my inspiration for tonight. So if you have your bibles with you turn to Psalm 107, if not, you can just listen as I read through the passages and discuss them.

 Psalm 107:1-3

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
    His faithful love endures forever.
² Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
    Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.
³ For he has gathered the exiles from many lands,
    from east and west,
    from north and south.^[a]

It starts out with the command.  Give thanks to the Lord. When we are thankful and recognize what God has done for us, we begin to be in a place where God can use us. With gratitude comes a desire to serve and reciprocate, so I want to encourage you that if you don’t feel like doing things for God or are feeling disgruntled in the hand that you’ve been given, begin giving thanks and see how your heart changes.

The line that really hit me in this Psalm for tonight’s theme was “Have you been redeemed? Then SPEAK OUT!” ~ notice,  he ends that with an exclamation mark, that is a command sentence, not a suggestion, we are to speak out. Every one of us has a story, a place, a life God has redeemed us from. And we are to speak out! Tell others! No excuses! And just in case you read that and think ya but, I am too messed up, too boring, to inexperienced, too young, too old, too insecure….whatever hindrance we claim, he carries on in verses 4-32 removing all excuses. He tells what the Lord gathered the “exiles” from, the different experiences that made them “unworthy” to be used by God ------ but he redeemed them, and they are to praise the Lord – to bring glory to him.

Psalm 107: 4-9

Some wandered in the wilderness,
    lost and homeless.
⁵ Hungry and thirsty,
    they nearly died.
⁶ “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
    and he rescued them from their distress.
⁷ He led them straight to safety,
    to a city where they could live.
⁸ Let them praise the Lord for his great love
    and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
⁹ For he satisfies the thirsty
    and fills the hungry with good things.

Some wandered lost, homeless, hungry, and thirsty….

There are some of you who have experienced this type of wandering. You may have always felt like something was missing, like there was more to life. For you this may have been what drew you to Christ and that longing was filled. Others may have experienced this dryness, this type loneliness after knowing Christ. You wondered what your purpose was, or what it all meant, where God was leading you and as you walked through these dessert times and God fulfilled these longings you know the gift that you have been given, that God has filled your life with good things and that the desires that he placed in you have been satisfied. Now you can use this experience to seek out the hungry, the thirsty, and reach the people in your life that are seeking truth. You have been equipped to boldly praise the Lord and watch what he does with your story for his glory.

Psalm 107: 10-16

¹⁰ Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom,
    imprisoned in iron chains of misery.
¹¹ They rebelled against the words of God,
    scorning the counsel of the Most High.
¹² That is why he broke them with hard labor;
    they fell, and no one was there to help them.
¹³ “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
¹⁴ He led them from the darkness and deepest gloom;
    he snapped their chains.
¹⁵ Let them praise the Lord for his great love
    and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
¹⁶ For he broke down their prison gates of bronze;
    he cut apart their bars of iron

Some have known depression your whole life, some have dealt with anxiety and fear, others have been in a place of circumstantial depression where an experience has rocked everything you thought you knew and God has brought you through it. If you have been in these situations you know how impossible it feels to overcome them. You can use that to come alongside those that are struggling and encourage them , “speak out” into the lives of those who need your help. You may not have all the answers but you have  HOPE and when you allow God to move you to be brave you can be a difference maker in someone’s life who feels they are imprisoned by bars of iron.

Psalm 107: 17-22

¹⁷ Some were fools; they rebelled
    and suffered for their sins.
¹⁸ They couldn’t stand the thought of food,
    and they were knocking on death’s door.
¹⁹ “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
²⁰ He sent out his word and healed them,
    snatching them from the door of death.
²¹ Let them praise the Lord for his great love
    and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
²² Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
    and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.

Pure rebellion, our own wrong choices and selfishness lead us here. Often it is these experiences that make us feel least equipped to serve God.  We tend to want to keep our skeletons buried deep in the closet, afraid of judgment, embarrassed by our past. We know we chose the circumstance that caused our pain and regret. It makes us feel inadequate to serve God, and we buy into the lie that we are damaged goods. We feel that he might forgive us but we can’t use us. However, I think that it is sometimes these ugly stories that can be most effective in sharing Christ with unbelievers and struggling stories. We may believe that if people find out our past they will think Christians are hypocrites and mistrust God, but these experiences actually allow people to see that God’s grace is for everyone---no this isn’t to say that we glorify sin or that we should go make bad choices so that we have a good story to tell, if this isn’t a part of your experience God will use you in different ways, but if this is your story don’t be afraid to use it with God’s leading. I don’t believe that every bad choice needs to be publically posted, but I believe if Christ is leading you to share your story, speak out in boldness and see what he can do. We have so much freedom in our forgiveness and we need to be willing to show people that, as it says “let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts. If you have been redeemed then our life should boldly display the joy we have in that freedom.

Psalm 107: 23-32

23 Some went off to sea in ships,
    plying the trade routes of the world.
²⁴ They, too, observed the Lord’s power in action,
    his impressive works on the deepest seas.
²⁵ He spoke, and the winds rose,
    stirring up the waves.
²⁶ Their ships were tossed to the heavens
    and plunged again to the depths;
    the sailors cringed in terror.
²⁷ They reeled and staggered like drunkards
    and were at their wits’ end.
²⁸ “Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble,
    and he saved them from their distress.
²⁹ He calmed the storm to a whisper
    and stilled the waves.
³⁰ What a blessing was that stillness
    as he brought them safely into harbor!
³¹ Let them praise the Lord for his great love
    and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
³² Let them exalt him publicly before the congregation
    and before the leaders of the nation.

Many can relate to this, we have gone through life knowing God, praising him, taking note of his power and greatness sailing along just fine, and all of a sudden life swells around us. Maybe we loose a loved one, experience financial stress, a relationship falls apart, a child renounces his faith, sickness overwhelms us….all types of things can knock us off our foundation.

I have gone through a season of this. Life was good, we were enjoying many blessings, and one day everything felt like it was knocked upside down. It felt like being thrown overboard on a ship being tossed around by the waves, having a hard time coming up for air. It threw me into a season of questioning all that I had known for sure. Did I really believe God loved me? Did I believe he cared? Did I believe he was in control? Or had he simply chosen to let life happen? Was he indifferent to my suffering? As I wrestled with these doubts and fears I feel God let me struggle for awhile, until my heart was ready to draw near to him and get my answers from him. When my heart was ready he began to calm it, I started to hope and trust again and he has slowly been rebuilding my faith on a stronger foundation.

 As we experience these types of questionings we can feel like bad Christians, but as we are called to speak out publically and share those with the congregation, I believe God wants us to do that so we can encourage others that may be struggling with what we have felt. It is easy to sit in church and feel discouraged, believing that everyone else is right with God and experiencing a life of spiritual ecstasy, when in reality many are struggling with deep hurts and questions themselves. When we share honestly we encourage those around us and give hope to those who feel they are drowning.

The last few verse are what most excites me in this Psalm. They are filled with promises and warnings, not that life will always be perfect or rosy, but in all of that God is powerful. They encourage me to believe that if we are brave, we will see our families strengthened, our friendships deepened, and our community turning to Christ in spite of ourselves.

Psalm 107: 33-43

³³ He changes rivers into deserts,
    and springs of water into dry, thirsty land.
³⁴ He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands,
    because of the wickedness of those who live there.
³⁵ But he also turns deserts into pools of water,
    the dry land into springs of water.
³⁶ He brings the hungry to settle there
    and to build their cities.
³⁷ They sow their fields, plant their vineyards,
    and harvest their bumper crops.
³⁸ How he blesses them!
    They raise large families there,
    and their herds of livestock increase.

³⁹ When they decrease in number and become impoverished
    through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
⁴⁰ the Lord pours contempt on their princes,
    causing them to wander in trackless wastelands.
⁴¹ But he rescues the poor from trouble
    and increases their families like flocks of sheep.
⁴² The godly will see these things and be glad,
    while the wicked are struck silent.
⁴³ Those who are wise will take all this to heart;
    they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.

Lets be the ones God uses to plant seeds in the heart of the people around us, to continue to work to their growth and to allow a bumper harvest for Christ.  Before I conclude I want to share a final analogy I came across that I felt applied well to this topic.

Imagine sitting down at a table with two cups of flour, three eggs, a teaspoon of vanilla, one cup of sugar, a half teaspoon of baking powder, and a few other ingredients. You taste the sugar and it is good, but when you taste the baking powder it is bitter. You continue to taste the ingredients, some tasty and some downright gross. This is like life. Some of the events in your life are sweet like sugar, others dry like the flour, and still others that you don’t like at all. However, using Jesus’ perfect recipe, all the events of your life will be mixed together and put through some intense heat—and then you will rise. Just as a cake would not be the same if you left out some of the ingredients, so Jesus wants to use all of your experiences to make you complete and able to be used for His Glory.  (Lysa TerKeurst, "How God Equips us for Ministry" as found in Leading Women to the Heart of God)

So, in summarizing, people don’t need perfect white washed Christians in their lives. They need honest, broken, raw people used by God. Have you been redeemed? Speak out! Let us hold on to the final verse of this Psalm, believing that if we faithfully and honestly share our lives, our story, then those who are wise will take heart, they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord. 

Locks of Love!

This fall Cheyanne and Emmersen chopped off their hair and donated it to the Cancer society so they can make wigs for people going through cancer treatments. Emmersen had been planning to cut her hair short for a long time and was simply waiting for it to be long enough to make the donation. Cheyanne it was a more difficult decision for. She has always loved having long hair! Once the decision was made though, neither girl looked back! I was so proud of them both as it was a big shock to go from such long locks to quiet short hair. I am pretty sure I have mourned their long hair more then either of them have! 

The girls were able to take their hair donations into the cancer center in Salmon Arm. This was really neat for them. The lady working there brought the girls in and showed them the wig room where people got fitted for hair pieces. Cheyanne and Emmersen were both pretty excited to see what their hair could be turned into.

The before shot!

...and after

Those are some pretty long pony tails!

Visiting the wig room

Trick or Treat!

This year we had a blast trick or treating with our kids again. It's always so fun listening to them decide what they want to be and how they plan to dress up. Most years it's a pretty thrown together costume that comes from our closets and dress up bins. This year was no different, although the costumes turned out pretty good, considering they were thrown together the afternoon of Halloween. There was one exception though, Mason managed to get a store bought costume. The girls have always tried to convince me they should by one of those pretty princess dresses or some other girly costume and they've never succeeded in convincing me. Mason, however, managed to convince me to bring home two this year! Not sure if it's cause he's the baby, or the only boy, or simply because I am a superhero junkie, but for whatever reason we ended up bringing home a costume for this year, and one for next year!

 This year Emme wanted to be Elsa, and so lucky for me, I had come across some fluffy white yarn for hair, and had a few old bridesmaid's dresses hanging in the closet, along with an unfinished sewing project to create the cape. Emmersen was so excited with her costume and couldn't stop grinning all night!

 

Of course, you can't have Elsa without Ana. Lucky for me I had been rather slow in sending our Value Village bag so we still had a pink cape to make the costume work! Her sister's dress, a tank top and a pair of ropers completed the ensamble! 

 

The sisters, ready to conquer Halloween together :)

 

Cheyanne wanted to be a cowgirl. Thanks to Grandma Olund for the lovely pink hat her costume was rather easy to put together! 

 .....and last but not least, our spoiled little son, Mason went as Bumble Bee. It was pretty much the coolest costume I saw all night, lol, couldn't help but get it for him ;)

 Striking a pre-night pose, I believe Emme is freezing the camera, well Bella is ready to take you out with her feisty attitude, Mason is ready for the fight with Megatron, and Cheyanne is just politely tipping her hat to all who go by, haha.

 

 First stop it the barn. Always an exciting place to trick or treat, the kids love to pick out what granola bar they are going to take. I not sure if the cows are too fond of the tradition though.

 Grandma Haak's house is stop two!

 Mrs. Volpatti always gets all dressed up for the evening, the kids love guessing what she's gong to be dressed as every year!

 

Grandma and Grandpa Olund's house is the start to a crazy round of trick or treating and collecting way too much candy! 

 

...it's also a good place to run into the Derksen herd for a few minutes!

 Lexi and Cheyanne had the same idea this year! Loved their matching hats.

When we finish trick or treating and everyone is too tired to knock on anymore doors we head over to great Grandma's and she has everyone over for hot dogs and hot chocolate. It's always a loud crazy time as the kids try and tell each other all about their night and their costumes while shoving food in their mouths, and grandma is making sure everyone has hot chocolate and trick or treat stuff. It's a lot of fun! And happily for us this year, we didn't end our night out with a middle of the night attack of the pukes, so it was a far better Halloween this year then last year!

of course the night wouldn't be complete without sorting the candy! All of this came from 13 houses!