Scrapbook- Deputation- 2012- August Highlights!

Some parts of scrapbooking don't always get to be glamorous and fun. Sometime we need to document moments and timelines so that we can remember them in the future. Because of that, I will have a page for each month that we are on deputation... to show extra people/places/events and list the churches we were in.

Journaling: 

Some highlights not scrapped individually were: kids being the higlight of the kids’ lesson at the church we visited. Lots of time with Grandpa Hanna and the Howells. Meeting new friends! 

(Mikayla from Friedens, PA)

Churches visited:

8/1- Brighton BC, Island Pond, VT. 8/5- Metro West BC- Wellesley Hills, MA- V . 8/5- Heritage Park BC- Burlington, MA- V. 8/8- Temple BC, Cherry Valley, MA. 8/12- First BC, Johnstown, NY . 8/12- Tabernacle BC, Pittsfield, MA. 8/15- First BC- North Adams, MA- V. 8/19- Hoosic Valley Community BC- Schaghticoke, NY. 8/19- Lighthouse BC- Schenectady, NY. 8/22- NorthRidge BC- Friedens, PA. 8/26- Faith Community C-Camden, DE. 8/26- Southside BC- Dover, DE- V

Digital Goodies Used:

Template (ready-made page): "festive layered page 1" by SimplyTiffanystudios

2013- Deputation- Missions conference! (Canton, OH)

Missions conferences are always a wonderful time to connect with church families. You have more time than just one meeting, and hopefully the church family can get to know you (the missionary) more also! Pastor Mike and Rachel Frazier were a blessing to us, along with the rest of their church family! We are thankful that they are a part of our ministry supporters! 

Other missionaries in this conference with us: 

Sherwoods- Panama

Hendersons- Tanzania

Georges- limited access nation

Staleys- Ireland

Digital goodies used:

Kit- "that's life" a collaboration by www.the-lilypad.com

Template- "SOOctober blog template" by Scrapping with Liz

2012- Deputation- Flight 93 memorial

Hard to scrapbook. I always like scrapbooking the beautiful, unique, fun, and interesting things. A dark day in our US history with many deaths- not so much. But, we did have the privilege of going to this memorial that was made for those who died on flight 93 on September 11, 2001. We did have to explain it all to our children, and so I scrapbook it... to preserve those memories...

Journaling:

Remember. Remember the brave souls who fought instead of giving up. Remember all those who died on 9/11. What a sobering memorial. We had the sad privilege of explaining this all to our children. 

Digital goodies used:

Kit- "Fandom" by Mommyish

Template- "Winter Woodland Template" by www.scrappingwithliz.com

2012- Deputation- Philadelphia

We the People... Where it all started- Philadelphia- more specifically- Liberty Square.

We learned so much while we were there!

Journaling:
Philadelphia! We HAD to visit. Here’s what did at Liberty Square:
1&2. Saw the Liberty Bell!
 3. Learned about an old American toy: “Jacob’s Ladder”.
4. A seamstress explained turn-of-the-century items.
5. Learning about the Liberty Bell.
6. Learned about the Declaration of Independence, its signers, and Liberty Hall!
7. The pen is mightier than the sword!
8&9. Ate a Philly Cheesesteak right at Liberty Square! (Ben and I did. The kids- not interested)

Digital Goodies used:
kit- "Freedom Aint Free" by Summerdriggs
Template- #2 by elledesigns

2012- Deputation- Washington DC

I'm horrible at this scrapbooking and blogging thing. That makes me horrible at blogging about my scrapbooking! I just realized that the last post I wrote was in February! yikes! (not that anyone is reading this). So, I've only scrapbooked 3 pages in all this time.... and here's the first one! I'm now trying to, chronologically, scrapbook deputation and finish it by the time we leave for Argentina. We'll see if that happens!

Journaling: 

Happy Birthday, Natalie Anne! 

To celebrate we drove and rode a train to Washington DC to site-see at the Smithsonians! Aunt Nora went with us to show us how to get there by train, and to see the art museums. First stop- the butterfly and sculpture garden next to the Museum of Natural History to eat lunch.

Our favorite museum is the Museum of Natural History. And what better way to discover it than to hide in a locker, right? Silly kids. Once we left the locker room we enjoyed seeing the animals on the different continents. The kids like taking silly-faced photos next to exhibits like the animals here. 

It makes for interesting photos!

A custom we started was taking a photo on Daddy’s shoulders in front of the massive whale in the oceans display. It started with Lucas, but now all three kids want to take a photo. What will we do when they outgrow his shoulders? A silly display hey had at the time was the “titanoboa”1 a huge snake which didn’t seem real! (on right)

We stopped in at the Museum of American History before we ran out of time. Of course Alenna was wiped out and Ben has to carry her. I took a photo of the Washington monument from far away and said, “so long ‘till next time!”

Digital Goodies used: 

Template- by elledesigns

Scrapbooking- A Pinterest inspired page- 10 Years! (Anniversary)

I usually get inspiration for scrapbooking from other people's pages, or from a digital template. However, when I used to do "paper" scrapbooking I sometimes copied a whole layout almost identically if I REALLY liked it, which is what happened with this page I found one Pinterest. Here's the Pinterest page:

And here's my scrapbook "scraplift" photo of the page I made. I loved all the buttons, it was so much fun to make!

In honor of our 10th Anniversary. The photos were taken by Malea Lusa Photography (a missionary kid friend of ours) in January 2012. They were part of the same photoshoot that we used for our prayer card also! 

Scrapbooking- Daddy Tickle Fest

There's something so special about wrestling/tickling fun between a Dad and his son. I love any time I hear laughter between Ben and Lucas. It makes my heart happy. 

Journaling: Who gives the best tickle fests ever? Daddy! Who loves it but can’t take it? Lucas! Let the fun begin!

digital goodies used:

I didn't actually make this page. It is another ready-made page. I dropped in my photos, added text and a couple of extras to make it mine. I don't even remember where I got it though! oops!

Scrapbooking- Embke Family Reunion

I actually didn't make this scrapbook page. It was a ready-made page and I just added my photos and journaling. However I did add some extra photos. I always seem to have more photos than spaces provided. Sometimes it's just nice to make a page really quick with pages like this. tada!

Journaling:
June 14-20. 2013
The Embke family reunion was so much fun! We had a great time  playing games, hanging out together, going on a picnic, bowling, and catching up on the last few years since we’ve seen each other. It was neat to have 6 of the 14 cousins together, and to see Mom with her siblings and parents together too, and with Grandpa on Father’s Day!

Scrapbooking- Lucas' Baptism

Journaling:

Lucas was saved almost a year before he was baptized but we waited because we wanted to be sure that he truly understood and believed. He was so thrilled to show everyone that he was choosing to follow Christ! We were so proud of him as he took this step of obedience in His walk with the Lord. Afterward he went around giving “high fives” and saying, “brother in Christ!” It cracked us up.

Digital Template used:
Layout 047 by Marisa Lerin (www.pixelscrapper.com)

Scrapbooking- Whooo's Grandma's Helper?

Journaling: 

Alenna is a great little helper! She loves to be involved with what’s going on, and offers to help whenever she can. During our family reunion Great-Grandma Embke was always busy serving us, and Alenna wanted to help Grandma dry the dishes and re-make the beds. It was so sweet to see her servant’s heart and watch her help the best way she could with her adorable little four-year-old hands.

Digital goodies used:

Kit: Free kit "sunny days" by JustJaimee

Template: "tuesday template 62" by Mturnidge 

Scrapbooking- Bowling- Family Reunion 2013

Bowling Time!

What's more fun than going bowling with your whole family for really, really cheap? Not much! We had so much fun!

Journaling: 

The bowling alley in Neillsville had $1 bowling during our family reunion! We had so much fun for so little money! And Grandpa bowled his first spare! How awesome is that! 

Digital kit used: 

"Shiny Happy People" a free collab kit by the "Heartistic Project"

Scrapbooking- 12 Year Anniversary

This is How Much I Love You

12 Years of marriage. It keeps getting sweeter...

Journaling: 

12 reasons why I love you more after 12 years:

1.  You still hug me every chance you get.

2. You still kiss me every chance you get.

3. You make me draw closer to God.

4.  I love to pray with you

5. You play with our children

6. You always listen to me

7. Your wink...

8. We can complete each others sentences

9. I love to sing with you

10. You try to make me laugh all the time

11. Your smile makes my knees weak

12. You’re my best friend

Digital kit used: "you make me smile" be elle designs

Scrapbooking- 30 Days of Thanksgiving

I really like doing a post per day on Facebook during the month of November detailing what I'm thankful for. So, when I saw this picture on pinterest: 

It gave me the idea to make one from my Facebook posts this year. So, here's my take on it....

Journaling:

Day 1: I am thankful for my eyes

Day 2: I'm thankful that during this crazy life we live right now I was able to take off for a short ladies' retreat with my favorite ladies from Cherry Street!

Day 3: I'm thankful for Gabe and Amy Metzger Fry : for the fun time we had last night together, and their willingness to take us to and from the airport this week! Love you guys!

Day 4: I am thankful for my God, who loves me when I don't deserve it (which is always), and gave Himself for me so that I will be with Him forever! 

Day 5: I am thankful for my daddy and mommy who were and are great examples to me of what a loving marriage, and Godly parents should be. I love you both! 

Day 6: I'm thankful I have the freedom to worship God and read His Word openly!

Day 7: I'm thankful for fellow missionaries! We had a great time encouraging each other this week during the communication workshop! And pretty much every other time we are with other missionaries it's a huge blessing also! I thank God for you all!

Day 8: I thank God for our supporters. God has blessed us with wonderful churches and individuals who are uplifting us in prayer, and I am so very thankful for all you do for us! We couldn't make it without you!

Day 9: I am thankful I am back home with kiddos. I missed them so very much!

Day 10: Today I'm thankful for my sweet oldest child, Natalie Anne! She is one of Gods huge blessings in my life and I'm so thankful for her intelligent, sweet, caring, funny little self. Nat, you brighten my days with your smiles, ideas and hugs!

Day 11: today I'm thankful for my bubby, Lucas. He lights up my life with his smiles, goofy laughter, funny sense of humor, his witty mind, and his sweet (when he wants to be!) heart. I love you, Lucas!

Day 12: today I'm thankful for my sweet Alenna Rachelle who turns 5 today! Happy birthday, sweetheart! You are such a blessing from God. I love your beautiful smile, your hugs, kisses, sweet singing, beautiful art work, and helping hands.

Day 13: today I'm thankful for my brothers and sisters! I love you all! 

Day 14: I saved being thankful for my hubby until his birthday! So, happy birthday, Ben! I'm so thankful to God for you! You're the second biggest blessing besides salvation. I love you! 

Day 15: today I'm thankful for a warm house. It's chilly out there! And I will definitely miss the central heat and air when we go to Argentina!

Day 16: I'm thankful for our mini home away from home- our van! It has been faithfully getting us from point A to points B, C, D and even all the way to X. I hope it continues through deputation!

Day 17 of thankfulness: I'm thankful for my brother and sister in laws! Especially for Katie Metzger and Horacio Brancatelli who have birthdays this month!

Day 18: today (as we travel once again) I am thankful for the small variety we have in fast food while on the road (believe me, it's a big deal). We ate hamburgers, chicken, soup and today tacos all from fast food this weekend. It's the small things, folks!

Day 19: Today I'm thankful for friends! We get to hang out with some this evening, and more later with week! Our friends are blessing no matter where we/they are!

Day 20: Today I'm thankful for our sending church! We get to go there on Wednesdays for the next month, and it's wonderful to take a "break" and be with people we've known for years. Sometimes we need that little break.

Day 21:Today i'm thankful for Thanksgiving Day which gives me the excuse to buy yummy food to make a yummy meal! I know, it's all about my stomach today!

Day 22: I'm thankful for my nieces and nephews. I have three of each (boys: Hunter, caiden, Maddox. Girls: Rosalia, Mikaela, Eliana!), which is cool! today is the birthday of my niece, Mikaela, in Argentina! Happy birthday, Mika! And I hope to have many more nieces and nephews in the future!

Day 23: I'm thankful for being able to laugh. We had a great time enjoying laughter on Saturday night and the Tim Hawkins show.

Day 24: I'm thankful we could be at our home church on Sunday morning with our church family. We miss them when we are gone!

Day 25: I'm thankful for my iPad that I won in a contest. It is a huge multi-tasker me and helps me with thank you notes, setting up times to stay and missions houses, entering email addresses, skyping with my family in Argentina, etc.

Day 26: I'm also thankful for my kindle app on my iPad. It saves me space with all my books and I LOVE to read, so it's awesome to have! Thank you, God, for technology 

Day 27: I'm thankful for being able to homeschool my kiddos. Some days it's pretty rough, but there's nothing like seeing your kids' eyes wide with wonder when they learn how to read, count to 100, or add, subtract, multiply, etc. and I know I helped them learn that! Whoo hoo! My just-turned-5-year-old is reading! 

Day 29: I'm thankful for games. I love playing them with family and friends and we had so much fun playing games this week! 

Day 30: I am thankful for our marriage. Today (dec 1st) is our 12 anniversary (of our first wedding, lol!) and I'm so grateful to be married to the love of my life!

Digital kit used: "thanks for giving" by Summer Driggs

Scrapbooking- Friends and Family- The Workmans!

We always have a blast when we go to the Workmans. Here's some photos from our time there in August of this year.

Journaling:

The Workman family has always been special friends to my family. They were adoptive grandparents and uncle (Doug) and aunt (Beth) since I was little, so I’m so happy that they are that to my kids now that I have a family of my own! We are friends by birth, but family by spiritual birth! We always have fun playing games (Monopoly deal and D-scribe) when we are there! 

Digital kit used: http://www.shabbyprincess.com/index.php/happy-go-lucky/

Scrapbooking- Dream...

Dream

Journaling:

While you sleep.... Before I sleep.... I come in your room to re-tuck you in..... kiss you once more....and pray for you... to dream big dreams... love God will all your heart.. and become who He wants....

Digital kit: "twinkle" by JBillingsley

Template: by Scrapping with Liz @ www.scraporchard.com

Scrapbooking- Thanksgiving- 2013- "Thankful For"

Thankful For...

This year, on the day before Thanksgiving we walked through the "Festival of Lights" with the kiddos, then came back to drink hot chocolate. Over our hot chocolate we listed things we were thankful for with categories like "something beautiful we're thankful for", "something that happened this year that we're thankful for", "something silly we're thankful for", and more. It was so much fun. Of course, I couldn't remember most of it, so I only was able to list a few of the things. 

Journaling:

Thankful around

the table:

Ben: our reliable van

Rachelle

seeing family this year

Rachelle: Ipad for reading

white, puffy clouds

My hubby

Natalie: God

Grandma and Grandpa

books

Lucas: Sandy

saved and baptized

Captain Underpants book

flowers

Alenna: going to the fair

Rainbows

jokes

Digital kit: "capturing fall" collab by the Lilypad

Template: "Tuesday Template 4" by mturnidge

You + Me = Hospitality

Picture with me: you have been invited over to someone's house that you don't really know. When you arrive, your hostess is dressed up, her house is perfectly decorated, the table is set with fine china and table decor, and she puts out a spread fit for a king. However, she's too busy making the meal to talk much, and she's too worried about the table and food looking perfect to sit still for long and talk with you over the food. Uncomfortable,  right? But somehow, in this day and age, that's what we expect from ourselves if we are going to be hospitable. I want to challenge that view. 

Picture with me a group of mugs. They are very different. We have your basic styrofoam, a couple ceramic ones, and even some beautiful fine china. If you were going to pick your favorite to drink a delicious cup of coffee, hot chocolate, or tea, you'd probably pick one that is beautiful on the outside.  But we need to realize that what's on the outside doesn't matter. What matters is that they all serve the same purpose. They hold the delicious drinks that we want to drink. In the same way, what's inside hospitality is what really matters, not necessarily the way it's presented.

Instead of throwing out hospitality all together, as many do, because it's too Complicated and hard, we need to consider some possibilities about hospitality that will show us that we can all be hospitable.

1. The first possibility is that hospitality can be simple!

When you go over to your best friend's house, does it matter whether she fixed herself and her house up before you arrived? No! Because the reason why you are going over there is to talk and have a meaningful conversation. 

 You don't have to prepare an elaborate dinner, fix up the whole house, or be perfect. The acronym KISS that means Keep It Simple, Stupid can apply here! 

Have a new church member over for coffee,

Invite your neighbor to go on a walk with you,

or have a family that you don't know very well over for dessert and games! 

You probably will have more fun than if you worried and slaved over a clean house, and an elaborate meal. 

2. The second possibility is that hospitality can be inexpensive!

Sometimes people don't have others over because they think they can't afford it. I'm here to tell you that you can! Pizza, coffee, and dessert are cheap options. When my husband was in college and we had no money to spare we had many game nights with others, and sometimes people would bring snacks and we'd all share. These times were cheap, but extremely fun and refreshing! We didn't have to spend $100 on food and decorations, but we made many friends this way. 

We also didn't have extra rooms in our home, but we did have a sofa couch in the living room, and anytime someone needed a place to stay they knew it was available.Was it expensive? No! But it helped those in need and was a comfortable, clean, warm place to stay. 

3. The third possibility is that hospitality can be meaningful!

Actually this point isn't just a possibility but should be the goal of hospitality! Throw out what the world calls hospitality (which is really just entertaining people) and seek to find times where you can have meaningful, friendship-building experiences with others.

We see this in the Bible with Jesus, Martha, and Mary in Luke 10:38-42,

  "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

Martha was behaving like the harried woman, whose house we attended earlier. She wanted to do what was right but she missed the whole point! 

Mary saw what was important about being with Jesus. It was developing a relationship.maybe you DO love to go all out when having people over. Just don't let it be a substitute for the real purpose of hospitality, which is to be a blessing to others. 

Open your home and your heart to others, and like Hebrew 13:2 states, "some have entertained angels unawares." might end up applying to you! Isn't that a neat thought?

So, think of hospitality like the cups. Whether they are simple, inexpensive, or even more costly and elaborate, what matters is what it contains. Your hospitality should be full of love, meaningful conversations, and blessings no matter what "cup" it's housed in. That's what you want your hospitality to be all about. I challenge you to try it!

Harmonizing Lives

We all know that one person: She can't get along with anyone. 

If she doesn't like something you said she blasts you for it. 

If you are going through something hard, she blows it off.

If you are happy about something, she has something better. 

She's hard to get along with, and we all begin to avoid her. We definitely don't want to BE her! So, what happens when you meet someone like that, or find you are becoming that person?

We are going to look at Romans 12:14-16 to see what we can do when this happens. 

These verses teach us that we can live in harmony with others by following 3 wise guidelines.

 The first guideline is:     

1. We should Bless others. 

We find it in verse 14, which says, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them." There's a couple of things I'd like to point out about this: 

• Blessing is easy when others bless us. It's natural to want to do and say good to those who do and say good things to us. 
• Blessing is hard when persecuted, but this verse is specifically talking about blessing those who persecute us! Perhaps the author was thinking of Stephen and Jesus Christ as examples for this. Even when they were being murdered, they forgave! Wow. It is hard to forgive small slights against us,  but murder?!? They gave the ultimate blessing. They forgave. 

So, not only should we bless others, but secondly, 

2. We should feel with others. Read verse 15 with me, "Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." This has two sides to it. We should...

• Rejoice with those who are celebrating
• This means we should Be truly happy , even if they have something you don't. Don't be jealous. Green doesn't look good on anyone! 
• Don't try to one-up them. Stop thinking for once about what good things you have done, or have happened to you (in essence, think of others instead of yourself) and truly listen and rejoice that they have good things happening to them!

A second way we can feel with others is to

• Empathize with those who are suffering. People have big hurts, and sometimes hurts that may seem trivial to us. Don't blow off others' hurts. I know someone who, every time someone tells  them about something they are going through says, "that's ok," and starts telling their own story. This not only dismisses the problem, but dismisses the person, and makes the hurt grow bigger. Don't do that. Instead,  Put your arm around them, cry with them, and pray for and with them! 

1 Corinthians 12:26 emphasizes both of these things when it states, "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together." There is such a wonderful feeling of knowing that I can have friends who will be there for me in my happy and sad times, just like I can be there for them! Isn't that great?

Last, we see that when we bless and feel with others, it will help us reach the third guideline which is to:

3. Be like minded with others. 

Verse 16 states, "Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight."

When we live in harmony with others we won't be haughty, which means we won't be lofty or proud.  And we will associate with the lowly. Have you ever been haughty and ignored someone who maybe didn't seem worth your time? Maybe it was the quiet, shy woman sitting by herself in the corner, or the girl who just came in with stringy hair, smelling like she needs a bath.  I know I have, and it shames me to think of it, because we are all equal In God's eyes, and we are not more important than anyone else. 

 Verse 16 also says," never be wise in your own sight ". This means we shouldn't be conceited, or have a too-high opinion of ourselves and all we know. Value others and their opinions. Don't always think of ways you can seem better or you can win an argument. Nobody wins when you do, and it just hurts relationships. Ask God to help you be humble when you find your actions and thoughts are becoming proud and conceited." 

Now, go back with me to that woman I mentioned in the beginning; the one no one wants to hang around. If you find yourself encountering someone like her or becoming her yourself in any way, just remind yourself of these three things. Ask God to help you bless others. Feel with them, and be like-minded with them. This will change you so that you can live in harmony with others. 

Scrapbooking- deputation- Blizzard Nemo

What an adventure it can be to live the nomad life and be in places you never expected to be , experiencing things you've never experienced! This past February was one of those times when we were in Boston during Blizzard Nemo!

Journaling:
 February found us traveling to
the NorthEast. We were nuts, and we knew it, but many churches said, come on up! So, when Blizzard Nemo was predicted, we hunkered down in a hotel for a couple of days and watched the skies dump over 24 inches of snow on us! After it quit Ben had to shovel out the van (snowdrifts 6ft. high and wide), and the children had to play in the snow even though it was freezing and windy. Nat even lost a boot in a snowdrift! A fun, but cold experience

Digital materials used:
Kit: "birds in snow" by Marisa Lerin at Pixel Scrapper
Template: from Sahlin studio

Should Christian Parents Require Obedience?

I just read an article here on the Desiring God website. It suggests something that I know with all my heart, but that is very hard to implement fully. The suggestion/request is this: that Christian parents should require obedience from their children. It's amazing how something so simple can be something extremely hard to follow through with. Please read the article on the website, which gives the great reasons why we SHOULD require obedience from our children.
It is something we always strive for... even though unperfectly... and especially unperfectly while we are on the road, in many churches and homes. Please pray that we will be consistent!

And, any comments on your opinion about the article?