Singing

We've been singing songs together, and Anna has started to join in, usually while dancing (or in this case, jumping).

This particular tune is from VeggieTales' King George and the Ducky, which tells the story of King David and Bathsheba. King George, as you might guess, covets someone else's rubber ducky. In this song, Pa Grape tells the story about the rich man taking a poor man's sheep.

We put our tv in the closet, so without the ability to see the "ducky," Anna's been enjoying the song all the more.

She sings the word "lamb" quite nicely at times:).

We've tried to inspire spiritual song-singing too, and though Anna has an aversion to "Jesus Loves Me" (she connects it with bedtime) she loves the B-I-B-L-E:).

Playing in the snow

This week Anna donned all of her winter gear and braved the snow and ice!

Slides are much more slippery when snowy and while wearing snowpants.

Swinging with snow getting in your eyes, however, seemed fun!

Walking in the snow...

Sledding is Anna's favorite outside winter activity!

Visit with the Sanderlings

Last weekend we spent some time with Steve's brother Dave, his wife Sarah, and Anna's cousin Lily.

Anna and Lily played together,

were read to together,

and Lily taught Anna about what foods are healthy for you! Here she proudly shows her yellow egg yolk.

Cousins!!!

Christmas Cookies and a Gingerbread House

Ahh Christmas has come!

How thankful we are for a SAVIOR GOD who humbled himself and became a man so that we would be drawn near to God - free from the deadly consequences of sin and given the gift of eternal LIFE!

And while we are thankful for those things, we celebrate with some family traditions to draw us closer to each other as well.

We think we have missed our calling as artists. We created this amazing gingerbread house. INCREDIBLE!:)

This side Anna did all by herself.

This is the first smile Anna has ever given "on command" for a picture, with her side of the gingerbread house.

We worked hard on it...

...while Bethy played (looked at) with Jacque the Peacock.

We decorated some cookies with the aunts...

Anna's cookie had quite a bit of sugar on it.

I Exist for God Alone

Come into my heart

and focus it on You

Throw off its entaglements

whether attitudes or longings

and free it to be after You alone.

For you are the great King

the Great Ruler of the Nations

and Truth lies with You alone.

All I see is superficial

Much of what I do is superficial.

But deep inside, Your Spirit dwells

Powerful and alive

Sometimes chippping away

sometimes blasting away anything not true or of You.

And I am a bystander.

I can watch and celebrate or lie prostrate

but I am a bystander.

HOWEVER, not just a bystander, because in Christ

I am victorious, more than a Conqueror

Nothing is without solution or hopeless

Nothing is impossible.

My God lights up the world, and thus, so do I!

Nothing can hold me back -

not what people think

not tiredness

not desires for other things

not insecurity

for I exist for the God of the universe and Him alone.

Reading

The other day, I walked into our room and saw this:

I thought to myself, "What kind of mom lets her one year old want to operate the computer so badly?"

Answer: me. We may have to instill some new values...loving Jesus and obeying Mom and Dad = important. Watching yourself on the blog = not as important!

My fears quieted as the next day we found Anna wanting to read to her sister. Ahhh the joy of noble, non-media pursuits:).

They like to be together! What would Bethy do all day long if she couldn't watch Anna bounce around...

...other than watch Daddy play the piano?

Bethy's laugh

Bethy can get laughing pretty good:)

Family

How thankful we are for our family!  We saw lots of both the Willies and Vaters this past week!  And the Willies made our busy week with the concerts possible!  Big thanks to them!

There were many photo shoots:

We had a good time.

The other excitement of the week is that Anna ceased sleeping vertically because of an ear infection.  Therefore, she slept in the living room each night - Steve camped out on the floor.  

I found myself facing fears like "what if I only get 3 hours of sleep a night and am so tired I can barely function?" I found that yes, indeed, life does go on.  After this crazy week of very intense work and very little sleep I am ready to take on the WORLD!!!  (And I am, through prayer.  One country a day.)

Anyway, a couple other things: 

Anna has ceased to be interested in her toys and moved on to bigger and better entertainment: kitchen stools, pens and pencils, and post-its.  

In Anna's sick state I have allowed her more tv watching.  Hopefully it hasn't gotten out of hand...

Oh, and Elizabeth is now dedicated to the Lord.  Officially.  Not that she wasn't the Lord's before.  She smiled happily on that day!

And Anna has learned to say "Oh no!"  The toddler adventures continue:).

Let It Shine

The week OneWay Ministries waited for all year ended in complete victory.

December 8, 2008 I sat in Wentz Concert Hall at North Central College with Michael Thompson and Jim Johanik and took notes on all the vision ideas for the "next" concert.  Michael was talking about "let our lights shine" from the song "This Little Light of Mine".  The hall seemed huge - after all, we had just put on a concert in a hall that seated 225, and now we were looking at 605.  I wrote things down like "representative from every country of the world" "50 piece orchestra, 50 piece choir" and was excited, yet a little nervous.  After all, who was going to do all this? (I am, after all, the project manager and the only non-visionary among the 3 of us.)

So a year later, it's done!  

May God be gracious to us and bless us and make His face shine on us...

that your ways may be known on earth and your salvation among all nations. Ps 67:1-2

These ancient words have been sung and played so much by people on our team that God is already answering our prayers...God indeed has poured out His grace upon us.

On December 3, people from all over the world, new friends, and members of the OneWay family filled the 605 seats of Wentz Concert Hall for "Let It Shine" a worship and prayer gathering for the nations.  God's presence was palpable as we worshiped with over 70 musicians.  Believers and unbelievers alike were powerfully challenged to live "all in" for Christ.  17 organizations had booths in the atrium to enable and activate people to pray, give, and go for teh gospel.  We know God is mightily at work in people's hearts, including our own!

The same day we re-released our evangelistic Christmas cd Driftings with a new gospel presentation by Lon Allison, director of the Billy Graham Center (and Steve taught his son in his ping-pong class at Wheaton Academy!).  Concert attenders took 2000 copies to distribute.

The same day we released OneWay's 2009 worship album: Shine, which combined the gifts of over 120 musicians to encourage and strengthen the body around the world.  This used the most people we've ever used on an album before, and is truly a work of God from start to finish.  Someday maybe I'll write about some of the cool stories that are behind it.  Hear samples of both albums here. 

The same day the brand new prayercast.com site became active, with 19 country pages full of prayer videos, pictures, and ready for content to be brought in from around the world.  Click here to check it out and pray for the world: prayercast.com.

The day after the concert I got an email directing me to the next prayercast video out.  I went to the site, and was overwhelmed by God's grace to this ministry.  We are a very small group of workers, pray-ers, and givers, and yet God has poured out His grace on us to bring about such a powerful site.  I find myself renewed and inspired by the vision of prayercast - to make a wikipedia of prayer information for the nations so that God's people may intercede and stand in the way of the enemy.

And yet my favorite part of the week, personally, was that I was the least frazzled and anxious that I have ever been, with a bigger event and more details.  I am seeing God at work in my life, developing fruits of the Spirit and a passion for God's message of hope to be known throughout the world.  

And this is why I know God is making His face shine on us - may His ways be known on earth and His salvation among the nations.  Come Lord Jesus!

Worship and Blessing...

This week we went to the "Family Dedication" class at Wheaton Bible Church.  Every time we walk out of there I turn to Steve and say, "I'm so glad we go here!".  It is truly a blessing to be in a place where we are taught, challenged, and have oppotunities to reach the world both locally and globally.  Even though this year we didn't do Puente del Pueblo, an after-school ministry to struggling public school kids in West Chicago, we hope to do more like this when we don't have trouble driving a half hour without screaming in the car!:)

Anyway, Aunt Bo and Uncle Jonathan came to watch the kids...

Anna likes the Wi that we share with among 4 family households.  She wakes up in the morning and says "EEE, EEE".  It has now left our house so her affections are returning to normal.:)

Anna is like her Daddy in that she takes a long time to wake up.  This is what she looks like each afternoon after her nap.  Usually the hair is worse:).

Anna blesses Elizabeth.

Anna now likes to eat in a "big girl" chair.

A normal day:

She is getting to be quite the cute little girl!

Anna didn't get her way...life is hard being 1.

The OneWay album is now complete, to be released in 2 weeks!  One of the songs on there is in some African language.  Anna was holding here hands up in the air while we listened, and we got a little on video.

Grandparents and Great-Grandma

It's been a whirl of activity around here!  

Elizabeth met her Great-Grandma for the first time, and Great-Grandma said she was "such a baby":).  Anna entertained us all with her new blankie to which she is quite attached.  

Elizabeth can now turn 270 degrees all on her own while keeping her head in one place.  She must get bored of one view and want to see what else is going on.  This is exciting as it shows she is not only more in control of her motor functions but also more interested in what is around her.  THIS is exciting because it enabled her to sit in her carseat for a whole shopping trip this morning, without me having to "wear" her in the carrier.  I am free to kneel down and get the raisins off the bottom shelf at Aldi without Elizabeth turning upside down!

Sisters...

Elizabeth now drools ALL the time ALL over EVERYTHING.  This stage will likely last at least 3-4 more months (if similar to Anna).  Many, many wet bibs hanging to dry!

 

Steve's parents came down this weekend, and Anna was quite happy to have more people to interact with.

The Willies brought the Wii Fit PLUS, which incorporates many new games for the Wii Fit board.  We had much fun with the obstacle course, and tired Elizabeth who doesn't like to fall asleep all that much, watched with great intensity.  Steve is a master at many of these games due to the afternoon.  I took a nap while he strove to get 4 stars on each game.  The rest of the Vater family (with whom we share the Wii - it travels between 4 households) will have to work awfully hard to compete with Steve.

And when I went to go record oboe for the OneWay album, Steve was on kid duty - Elizabeth and the dolly hung and swung.

And Steve and Anna did many self-portraits, this being the best one!  (If anyone has a way to get a toddler to sit still while cutting bangs, let me know, I am in great need!)