Time for the Cookie Bake!

It's always so much fun to have a cookie bake!

First, we gathered some special little friends. We had mixed the dough up earlier that morning and chilled it so it wouldn't be sticky.

If you don't have a good cookie recipe, here is a terrific one from our grandmother.
Cream (in mixer) 1 1/2 C. Butter, 1 1/2 C. sugar, 2 eggs, and 1 T. vanilla till light and fluffy.
Stir in 2 T. milk. In another bowl, mix 4 C. flour, 3 t. baking powder, and 1/2 t. salt.

Stir into wet mixture. Chill. Roll 1/4 inch thick. Cut out. Bake at 375 for 6 minutes.

This dough is easy to work with and tastes great. Of course, we can't have even one bite because it's full of gluten. But at least we can say they look great!

Still Working!

Elizabeth is demonstrating the rolling technique to her little friends.

Lots of fun!

Kind of an organized mess!

Finishing Up!

The plastic tablecloth is a great idea! Actually, I think this one is called an oil cloth.

Kelly's artsy shot!

This was one recipe of dough. We have a whole other one in the fridge.
We'll save it for another day!

Merry Christmas!
Enjoy the family and friends that the Lord has blessed you with.
Don't forget to help your mother all you can. She has a lot of extra work this time of year.
Remember to add joy to everyone's life you meet.
Enjoy every moment celebrating our precious Saviour and tell someone how much He means to you. Spend some extra time in the Word.
Our family sends all our love and we'll see you next week.

Christmas Preparations

Every family probably has special things they do the week before Christmas. We always have a special evening when we make hot chocolate and head out to see some beautiful Christmas lights. This year we piled into our dad's truck and stayed in a neighborhood near us. Ok, we admit it was not actually very cold but we have to wear our winter clothes sometime.

We saw this display in two different yards. There is a sign behind the last camel that says
"Wise men still seek him"

The scroll on the right reads "John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved."

This was a sweet display.

Preparing for Christmas continued

This was very pretty with real straw.

We have to admit this was not real snow. Someone was very creative and they were blowing bubbles into the yard!

These people go all out! They have covered their yard with burlap and topped it with fake snow!
Oh well, that's all the snow we're going to get. (and with this we will be content!)

This was our mom's favorite for peacefulness and tranquil beauty.
This time of year some people may be more open to hearing the gospel.
Let's not overlook a single opportunity to share.
We know a family who does not know the Lord and they don't even know they need Him.
For several years now, we have given them the gospel message with no results.
We continue to pray for them and this year we may just show our love and care for them.
We pray God would draw them to Himself.
Next post: Cookie Baking! We've been doing it and we have pictures to prove it!

Sacagawea or Pocahontas?

Hello again to all of you! We are so sorry to be silent for so long. Sometimes life has so many demands. When it comes to a choice between living and serving or blogging about life, real life just has to come first! "I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see." John Burroughs (1837-1921)
We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving as I hope all of you did also. We were somewhat concerned when we saw a fierce looking Indian standing in the entryway of our home.

She appeared to be about to chop down our Christmas pines!

Upon further investigation though, we realized she was just a sweet little girl who has been reading a good book about Pocahontas. We have so many memories of all our dress up adventures when we were younger, that we always try to make this possible for her also.

I added this picture in also because it shows a picture of our mom's grandmother on her wedding day, which was also her seventeenth birthday. The date was 1922. She went on to have 7 children and the last two were twin boys. We also have a picture we'll show you sometime of her as a little girl with her parents and 5 sisters, before her only brother was born.

This was our new idea this year for kitchen decorating on a budget!
We just found some cute ornaments and hung them from the pot rack.
There is a poinsettia on top that doesn't show. Whenever people come by the
house they always comment on the pot rack!

This same Indian had the honor of placing the angel on the tree. Kelly did this job for many
years but has passed the torch!

We have so much more to tell you about. I (Tara) am planning to fulfill a long term promise of taking over the responsibilities of Christmas dinner and it will be anything but traditional!
Can't wait!
Kelly has had an amazing opportunity to share Christ. God is so good to keep opening the door.
I'm sure she would love to share this soon.
Have a wonderful Sunday tomorrow. We will be singing the Hallelujah Chorus in the morning and plan to attend The Messiah in the evening. Remember our thankfulness to our Saviour and we'll talk again soon.

Our Story

Dear Daughters of Vision,

"This is of the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes." Psalm 118:23

We want to thank all of you for joining us in this time of celebration and great joy! Your encouraging comments and words of love have truly been a blessing to us. What a wonderful gift to have friends and family in full support of such a major life decision.

Well, it all began on Thursday Nov. 12th! After picking Stephen up from the airport, we headed for Galveston Island. (Stephen said he wanted to take me there to celebrate our 5 month anniversary of courtship.) After enjoying a lovely walk by the ocean and a beautiful sunset, Stephen announced that he had dinner reservations for us across the street. Crossing the busy road very carefully, we started up the stairs of the restaurant. However, instead of going in the front entrance, Stephen began to lead me towards a beautiful white gazebo. I noticed rose petals strewn down the steps. "Oh, what does all of this mean?" (I remember thinking to myself excitedly) :-) Stephen seated me at a table for two and poured some juice for us. He raised his glass for a toast and said, "To a wonderful courtship!" Setting his glass back down on the table, he looked at me sweetly for a few more seconds and then rose from his chair. Coming around to my side, he knelt down on one knee and shared Prov. 18:22 "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord." He began to tell me that he already sensed the favor of God on His life. After quoting this beautiful verse, Stephen asked if I would be his wife. I must say in that moment, my whole world seemed to stand still. The fulfillment of all of my desires, dreams and hopes that God put into my heart was being answered and the precious young man God miraculously brought into my life was waiting for an answer. Almost too excited to speak, I opened my mouth and slowly said "Yes!" With that, Stephen took my purity ring off my finger and pulled a beautiful diamond ring out of his pocket.

Slipping it on my finger, he asked "Would you take another walk with me along the beach as an engaged couple?"

With the ocean all around us, we bowed in prayer together and thanked the Lord for this new phase of our relationship and asked for His continued blessing.

That evening we enjoyed celebrating with our families, praising God for the great things He has done!

Rejoicing in Him,
Tara

A Happy Grandpa!

Our grandpa arrived back in town a couple of days after our engagement.


He was just thrilled with our good news.



What a loving, kind man he is. We were ice skating and he
came straight to the rink!



This was his first time to meet Stephen and what a joy it was!
He said he understood what I see in him!



He is a precious, godly saint. We pray he will heal rapidly
and come home in another week.
Psalm 57:1 Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto
me: for my soul trusteth in thee:
yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge,
until these calamities be overpast.

Recovery

We give thanks to the Lord that our grandpa is now out of surgery and in the recovery room.
The doctors say he has done really well. No one will be able to see him for quite a while.
We thank you for all your prayers and messages on our answering machine!

Our precious baby Gabriel Charles is also doing great! More details to come! T, Ke and El

News Flash!

Hello to all of you,

We just wanted to let you know our grandfather is in surgery for 8 hours this very minute.

Also, we have big news of a brand new beautiful baby boy in our family!

Pictures and details to follow. Love to all, Tara, Kelly and Elizabeth

Let Us Give Thanks!

This morning we woke up to a beautiful day in the south. It was cool and crisp, more or less, so I decided to attempt to wear a sweater.

Our relatives can't come till Saturday, so we aren't having Thanksgiving till then. I was inspired to head outdoors and decorate the house for Christmas. I had all kinds of wonderful ideas in my mind.

But first, my sweet kitty came to wish me a good morning.

Enjoying one of my favorite furry creatures. Her brother must have still been asleep or he would be competing for attention.

Tess decided to watch from a distance. When our neighbors big, black lab came for a visit, she decided it was time to go.

I had big ideas about how this house needed to look. I searched through our bonus room and found my supplies. (Our bonus room is over the garage. It is the southern answer to a basement.)

What a delight to be outdoors on such a gorgeous day!

Elizabeth hunted for beautiful fall leaves while I decorated.

Our favorite bush is covered with beautiful red winter berries for the birds.

We coaxed our grandpa out of his chair and into the cool air to admire our work.

Here's how it looks when God's light is off.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us to all of you! ( Tara, where are your shoes?)

Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!

Apparently we filled our blog and that is why our pictures didn't come out. They will come back tomorrow. God bless you and have a wonderful day! T, Ke, and El

Surprise or Shock?

Imagine my surprise (or should I say SHOCK) this afternoon when I decided to glance at our dear, beloved friend (or should I say FORMER) friend's blog (expecting to see new wedding photos!)

Instead, I found this odd entry saying she had posted some of the skits from the Fiesta Party.
"Oh no," I thought "surely not, she wouldn't..." Aww, yes, upon further investigation, she surely would and did! And without permission, I might add! ( We'll be checking on the legal ramifications. )

So since there's nothing we can do about it, we decided to send you on over for a peek at that delightful evening. But first, a word of explanation, please! Katelin's dream was to have a wonderful party the evening before the wedding. This would give many people, including out of town guests an opportunity to meet the groom. ( Most of us wouldn't have run into him previously in Ukraine.)
She planned a fiesta party and we all ate delicious Frito pie ( Because that's what you do in Texas!) One of the highlights of the evening was to be a show, where each family would do something funny or serious to bless the bride and groom. Our sweet parents, of course, looked directly at us and said "Well, what will you be doing to represent our family?" Sly, very sly.

We were absolutely horrified but also thrilled. What an opportunity!
We decided to sing (of course) and did a medley of a song from "White Christmas" and one from"Fiddler on the Roof." Kelly changed the words to make them more meaningful for the occasion.
Yes! Tara was wearing a wig, as we were now Katelin and Katrina.

Since you can now see us in person (not just a picture),
We would like to dedicate this post to a special young lady in Australia who brought us to tears with her beautiful letter for Tara's engagement. Bec, we hope to meet you someday before heaven, but if not, we'll be looking for you! By the way, we aren't always as silly as in the video. :)
Consider the company we were keeping. (We've always warned all of you to be careful who you hang out with, haven't we?)

Oh, and if you suffer through "Sisters", don't miss the Benediction, fourth in the row.
Find it all here at www.livingforjesus85.blogspot.com/ Tara and Kelly

Real Change!

Great is Thy Faithfulness.
As the sun set over the majestic ocean, Stephen placed the most beautiful ring I have ever seen on my finger. His faithfulness is everlasting. I praise His name for bringing me such a godly man, a man after His own heart. We are celebrating now but will discuss more about this later!
God's blessing on a Christ centered evening. ~Tara~

A Joyful Celebration!

We thought you might enjoy seeing a few scenes from the glorious time we enjoyed recently at Nathan and Katelin's wedding celebration. We purposely waited a few days so that you would NOT see it here first. For those of you who are newer to our blog, Katelin is one of the precious young ladies that we were blessed to work with for 2 years in Maiden's Quest Ministries.

God brought the perfect young man into Katelin's life and has fulfilled her hopes and dreams of marrying a missionary with a true heart for the Lord.

Her joyful sister Katrina looks on.

Two young ladies had the privilege and blessing of singing "Testimony".
"May our lives be a testimony to who we are in You, to who You are in us. Lord Jesus, may the ones we touch be touched by You ... May we seek first Your smile, not men's applause and fame.
...Lord Jesus, may men see not us, but Your dear face, may our lives be a mirror of your grace."

We knew you'd want to see the beautiful hairstyle on Nathan's youngest sister!

Tara popped up again at the reception.

A quiet moment for the bride and groom.

All too soon, they were off to start their new life as Mr. and Mrs.

A joyful moment as the sun set.

Joined by other precious friends. (sisters and twins!)

Our faithful friend.

May the Lord bless and keep you.

Children are Such a Blessing!

Every year we have the joy and privilege of blessing our little sister with a special birthday celebration. Since all of her siblings are so OLD :), we always invite some special friends that will enjoy the games and activities that she enjoys.
First, we had some fun times in the kitchen together, whipping up a special giant cupcake!

Here it is, all ready for the party!

We put together a very special birthday breakfast. We don't eat donuts, so she was quite surprised and pleased to see this one on her plate! She was too full to eat the egg, but after all, it was a special birthday morning.

We delivered it all in bed, of course. The look on that sweet face makes us want to do it more often.

She swept the front porch and then started waiting ever so patiently
(or, more accurately, impatiently) for her guests.

Mom clicked a pre-party picture, of course.

The adorable group of girls arrived!
We praise the Lord for friends who are also growing in their love for the Lord.

They each brought a special friend along.

The smaller guests made themselves comfortable and got acquainted. They are obviously well trained and behaved beautifully.

After lunch, it was time for games.

This was the favorite game. Mom created it from her memories of "cake walks" when she was a child. We played beautiful, lively music (from the Nutcracker, a little early, I know) and when the music stopped, everyone stood on a letter. Then a letter was picked and if they were on the right letter, they got to pick a candy from a bowl of very interesting candies. (We found candies that looked like money, legos, fish etc. to make it really enticing!)
Elizabeth said she would like to play this game the entire day!

The dollies enjoyed cupcakes too.

To end the day, they ran off some energy in the backyard.
Children are such a blessing, aren't they?
"O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good because his mercy endureth forever.
This is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:1&24

Never Alone!

One of these two recently turned 10! You probably guessed which one!
The Lord has used her so much in our lives and she has given us so much joy.
We prayed for her for 5 years and in the Lord's timing, he answered our prayers.
How can we ever thank Him enough?

Today, we are sitting in our snug little house, looking through the window at the heavy, driving rainstorm outdoors. Our grandparents continue to marvel in amazement at how we can live in such a damp, dark place! They will never fully comprehend the fact that we didn't have a drop of rain for 3 months or so very recently! They were interested today in watching "My Fair Lady" so we set them up in our rocker recliners to enjoy the show.

So, while they enjoy the show, why don't you pull up a chair, make yourself comfortable and let's discuss a subject that is very important to all of us. We'd like to discuss the idea of standing alone. On first thought, it seems like a very difficult thing. But when the Lord Jesus has shown us a truth, then the truth is :), we must learn to obey Him and do what's right, no matter what. You can't believe how many times recently the Lord has brought to our minds John 10:27 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." (Of course, our friend asked us to learn a song with these words, so now they are really in our minds! :)
Now, one thing about standing "alone" for truth. If we are standing for truth, we are never standing alone! In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ is standing right beside us, holding us up the whole time!
Now, you might as well get to thinking clearly. There is one thing you absolutely can not expect.
What is that thing? It is applause from the world. You won't get any! You might as well be fully aware of this well ahead of time. But remember, you do not look to the world for your approval or affirmation anyway. Expect that they will not understand you. Keep your eyes focused on Christ. Don't get belligerent or argumentative with others. Just bask in the loving approval of your Heavenly Father.
Sometimes we think it is so hard to do what's right. The Bible says "The way of transgressors is hard." (Proverbs 13:15) We can trust God to know which way is the truly difficult one. As believers, we have the strength of the Lord! We are not left to our own strength. (If we were, failure would be certain, wouldn't it?) Just a few verses to think about. Neh. 8:10 "The joy of the Lord is my strength." John 15:5b "Without Me, you can do nothing." Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me."
Well, time to make dinner. (Baked potatoes -happily, already baking, BBQ beef on top, and brussels sprouts on the side! (We actually like them, at least smothered in Ranch dressing!) The lightning and thunder continue.
Enjoy the evening with your loved ones and we'll talk again soon. - T&K

God is ALWAYS in Control!

(This is a picture of us taken in July)
To those of you who read our blog often, we wanted to let you know what's happening with us.
Our precious grandfather from California recently found out that his cancer, which was previously successfully treated (or so we thought) has returned. He was able to get in for treatments at M.D. Anderson which is a leading hospital and cancer treatment center about an hour from us. So he flew in a week ago and we have spent every day since then at the hospital for all of his appointments. Just about the time our grandparents were about to fly to our house, our grandmother's sister who lived near Atlanta went to be with the Lord. So Gramma didn't even leave the airport (here) but just got on the next flight to Atlanta. After the service for her, Gramma and one of our aunts came to join us. Our grandparents may be staying for at least a month. This week we hope to find out what the doctors recommend as far as treatments, surgeries etc.

During this same time, Stephen's grandfather also went to be with the Lord. He was in his 90's and raised a large family for the Lord. They just had his service yesterday and it was a special celebration of his home going.

I don't know if you have read the comments from the last post, but we feel they deserve a lot more discussion and we have lots more to say on the subject! If you haven't read the comments on "The Blessings of Working in the Home", be sure to read them as we will soon be discussing all of this. We've just been a little busy, as you might guess but we'll be back with you soon. It's time to head to the hospital and the rain looks rather treacherous today so we are leaving early.
So much for the drought! That's all history at this point. God bless each of you and we'll talk again soon. What a wonderful time to remember that God is always in control!