Unspeakable Joy!

Swaddled

Gifts come in many wrappings; ours delivered in a tiny Santa suit! A sweet little girl full of promise...
Presents donned in fancy paper and shiny bows beckon us to unwrap, to discover, to enjoy!
Long ago the world received a gift wrapped in swaddling cloth: God's infant son promised to a lost humanity desperate for redemption.
Have we loosened the linen strips of the Messiah, embracing the indescribable joy of relationship with Him?
The shepherds found the wrapped Babe and encountered a heavenly explosion of praise and adoration!
Our encounter promises glorious riches in Christ, all for the unwrapping!
May your Christmas be clothed with the Christ Child...

"And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."Luke 2:12

Peace at last

Sam's parents report that a pacifier has brought newfound peace to their lives. I couldn't help but think that our Advent season reminds us of a different peace, an everlasting Peace announced to the world after four hundred years of silence. Israel waiting for Yahweh to speak again, hoping for the promised Messiah. And then one night the Word, the Life Maker...the Light Giver, exchanged the majesty of His heavenly home for a manger fit only for a pauper. The Prince of Peace offering hope for the hopeless...rest for the restless...grace for the graceless.

She's Here!

Welcome...

Samantha Ryan

born November 10, 2009
8:11 a.m.
8lb. 6ou. of joy...
21 inches of sweetness...

Every good and perfect gift is from above...James 1:17

Patches of Life



One of my greatest delights is to explore art and this year's International Quilt Festival offered such opportunity. Yes, I firmly believe quilting is an art form and better yet, a feast for the eyes! I was particularly drawn to the crazy quilts this year, intrigued with their intricate embroidery and embellishment. Have you ever thought how our lives are constructed much like those pieces of handiwork? Patches of life randomly placed in a design that defies what we assume to be order...yet when examined as a whole reflects a work of great beauty, brilliantly seamed together with the Creator's signature touch! Why would He place this rough patch next to this smooth one? Why would He add this detail that doesn't seem to fit? Ah, but our Creator is acutely aware of the details, adding them ever so carefully. Just as the novice quilter, we, too, have no idea what the finished product will look like as we live stitch to stitch, but the Master Artist knows all along how our lives will finally display. We may see craziness...disorder...confusion...but He sees...Perfection!

Knitted

For you created my inmost being; you
 knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made...my frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place...Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Ps. 139:13-16


Baby Webdell

August 2009

Happy Anniversary, Rob

                                                                                                               

May I have this dance?
August 20, 1976


Girl in white slips her heart into a grasp poised to have and to hold. Inexperienced partners, blending their souls...beginning their life pas de deux.Pretty? not always...Clumsy? Ah, yes! Girl grabbing the lead...boy forgetting a step...feet failing to follow the One who choreographs.
Years melting into each other; dance card filling with young charges eager to take their spin on the floor. And soon it would empty, two souls embracing their memories...stumbles giving way to a comfortable sway... best friends moving to the rhythm of the One who owns their steps.

 33 years later...August 20, 2009
May I have this dance 'til the notes cease to play?

Circle of Love

Sunday I will say goodbye to something extraordinarily special.
Ten months ago a handful of young ninth grade girls shyly entered my unadorned class. They were as sweet as can be but their dance with each other was as bland as our surroundings. I saw little prospect of a close-knit group, but God would prove me so wrong. Funny how those four walls became our waiting room: a kneeling place for me and a hearth for their hearts to be prepared for a change that only a Holy Father could orchestrate. June's Camp Tallowood provided the stage for His magnificent performance. Actually a little adjoining balcony hosted His opening night; seasoned 9th graders blending their hearts into one community fueled by His Son's own offering of blood. God would bless an act of obedience to gather and charge...to offer them fellowship founded on trust and His love. God touched every one of those hearts late that night! None of our doing ...the script was all His...
Their fellowship would ripen under summer's sun as they watched Christ find new homes and beginners emerge from the waters. Others would join and encourage each other, feasting on Truth... offering up prayers. Our room is now dressed with proof of the journey, walls dotted with memories of roads explored.
Sunday a pink army of warriors will emerge, a class equipped with a mission...girded with love. Father, protect them from snares ...watch over their lives.
Perhaps something special will happen again...but for now I'll just thank Him for this Community of Love.

Brittany...Brooke...Sarah...Sandra...Karly...Carlye...Sarah...Shelby...Valerie...Beth...Emily

Sweetest of Blessings

Sometimes we almost miss the sweetest of blessings... We're so busy trying to capture the extravagant that we often fail to see the beauty in the simplest of gestures. A husband... tired from travel... frustrated from foiled plans... arrives home with a handful of love. Sometimes she fails to receive what he can offer.

Travelers we are...tired from this journey... still searching for grand things that may never be... ignoring the smiles and the hand-picked bouquets... Sometimes we almost miss the sweetest of blessings.

Home Free

Minutes ago, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters held captive by the North Korean government, stepped off a plane into the arms of their family and the American public. After heart-warming embraces, Laura addressed the world with these words: "The past 140 days have been the most difficult, heart-wrenching days of our lives...When we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton. We were shocked but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end, and now we stand here, home and free."

Home and free...

One day we will leave the "nightmare" of our present lives: the difficulty... the loss...the sin... and we will stand before the One who knocks: Jesus... the Lamb who is worthy... the Lion of Judah... the Root of David.... and we will know instantly in our hearts that we are home.

Home and free.

Look who's 55 today

Oh no... cannot be...55...please don't be...the mind shouts of youth...the mirror tells the truth...so what do I do with this day set in stone...panic or grieve or do I just moan...oh, today is too short to go it alone...I'll fill it with memories of life not yet gone...sweet ones of family and times I have loved...a life filled with joy from Him who's above!

A thin veneer

Walt Mueller, one of my online mentors, made a profound statement about a celebrity/author that shook my core! Paraphrased, he writes, 'she is promoting a faith that is nothing more or less than the world with a thin veneer of Jesus-talk.' Like I said, it shook my very core! Do I do that? Coat my "faith" with a shiny covering of empty Jesus-talk or do I live an authentic faith based on a committed relationship that penetrates my whole being? What is left when life chips away at me, solid devotion to Christ or a cheap imitation? It's a question we all need to ask, but especially those who shepherd a young flock.
I earnestly pray that God would search me and reveal any substitutions. Solid and lasting, that's my prayer.

Serving Together

Rob and I had the great joy of serving along side our youngest son at Camp Eagle during Camp Tallowood 09. We give God all glory for the things He accomplished this past week. What a great blessing it is to see your children give their all for their Lord! Alex served tirelessly, loving the students in both his cabin and the tribe of Dan. We had the privilege of seeing several of our students accept Christ as their Savior and I watched my group of girls move from casual friendship to a sisterhood in Christ.I am overcome with gratitude for the opportunity to participate in His amazing work. He is enough!

Be Still

divert daily


withdraw weekly


abandon annually


rick warren

Happy Mother's Day

Life is good! God has healed the grief wounds of losing both mothers and has replaced them with warm memories. The Lord takes away and then gives!!!
This is my precious Mother's Day gift...
Baby Webdell!
Expected Arrival...Nov.09
Pure joy! "G"