Christmas!

I didn't do a very good job finishing the 25 things I was thankful for and didn't even get close to mentioning everything that was on my head and heart when it came to the thankfulness I felt over Thanksgiving. BUT I do think I did an alright job making sure the people in my life know how thankful I am for them, so I feel okay about that :)

Now it is Christmas morning! (Well, it was when I started this) Drew and I just opened a few gifts from each other and now I am sitting here writing while he makes crepes and bacon! I told him I wanted to start some of our own traditions this year and that is what he wanted to do :) My husband making me crepes and bacon on Christmas morning sounds like a great tradition to me!

We wanted to share the many ways we were blessed over this past year and the things we are so thankful for. As we reflect that Jesus is the best gift we have ever been given we become even more aware of the amazing gifts that God gives us each day.

So here is our top 10 of 2010 (I stole that idea from my friend, Laura's Christmas card :)

1. We got to travel to Guatemala twice!

Once in March with family, and again in October with an amazing team of friends! We climbed a volcano, did VBS and construction at Kairos , spent time with local friends and got to visit Astrid, the sweet girl we sponsor through Compassion!

2. We traveled with Drew's family

to visit his grandparents in Oregon and I got to see where he spent the first year of his life :)

3. Drew got promoted

to a Builder at Oakwood Homes and at his Christmas party his boss told me he is their, "Superstar Builder" :)

4. We both turned 25 this year!

We were surrounded by amazing friends and family who made us feel so celebrated!

(celebrating with friends:)

(at Drew's kickball birthday bash!)

5. I started working with our Family Pastor

at Church, helping her with the k-5 program!

(after our Pumpkin Bash:)

6.We got to welcome 2 very special very sweet babies into our lives!

Julia Lorah Marie McGraw, The Beautiful!

Ryan Everett Graves, The Magnificent!

7. We celebrated 2 years of marriage!

8. I took a road trip to Chicago

with one of my best friends to celebrate her graduation from grad school!

I couldn't get this one to rotate??

We stopped in Iowa and got to see some special people too!

9. We celebrated Thanksgiving/my birthday with Family!

10. We celebrated Christmas with Family & Friends!

Early Christmas with Drew's Mom, brother and his wife

Christmas Eve at the Graves

Christmas Dinner at the Pearce's

Christmas extended! Breakfast and a movie in pj's on the 26th with Kristen and Chad

Catching Up

I have done a terrible job at my 25 days of thankfulness!

Today is day 16 and I have done 3!

So, here is me catching up on 13 things I am thankful for

#4. Stars. I think stars are one of God's coolest creations and I love being surprised by the wonder of them. I grew up in a place where it was easy to see them, living in Denver makes it harder, so when I am somewhere less populated sometimes they catch me off guard and I have to stare at them.

#5. My car. It's safe and takes me all the places I need to go... and want to go :)

#6. My job at Red Rocks Church. Who else gets to buy 40 cans of spray cheese, wear pantyhose with tennis balls in them on their head and dress up as obscure Bible characters? I get to work, play and learn from people I love.

#7. A wall in my bedroom being painted, "surfer".

#8. My garage=no ice on my car in the morning!

#9. Music. Sara Groves topping my most listened to tab right now.

#10. My apartment being a million times warmer than the sweet place we lived last winter!

#11. Sunshine, lots and lots of sunshine, even when it's snowing.

#12. Compassion International for giving me the gift of being a part of sweet Astrid and Jumanne's lives all the way in Guatemala and Tanzania.

#13. Skype. Getting to see and talk to my niece and nephew almost anytime I want is the best!

#14. Pumpkin bread, pie, whoopies, muffins... The food of this season is the best, it almost takes the sting away from the devastating fact that winter is coming.

#15. Photographs and that my big sister rocks at documenting everything her gorgeous kids do!

#16. Time. I have been trying to slow down lately, turn off the ringer on my phone, shut off the TV, say 'no', turn the radio down in the car and just be. I have had time to read by Bible everyday, organize my closet, cook yummy things, lay in bed and think, meet a friend last minute, write, drive under the speed limit, go to bed earlier, dream and more...it is so wonderful.

Day 3 & 4

Okay, so I missed yesterday and I almost missed today!

I just got home from an event to raise money for the Adoption Exchange. It is a wonderful organization. So, in theme of the beauty of adoption, tonight I am thankful for him...

Jacob Anthony Jorge Julianelle, my sweet nephew.

This sweet boy turns 4 on Monday. I flew to Guatemala to meet him for his first birthday, so it's kinda our 3 year anniversary of being best buddies :) I can't imagine life with out him!

Day 3&4- I am thankful for adoption and the amazing gift that Jacob is to our family.

Thankful day 2

It's only day two and I am already cutting it close blogging so late in the day! Today I am thankful for where we live. In a small scale and a larger one. I am thankful for our apartment that is warm and safe. I am thankful that we are close enough to church and friends that have become like family. I am thankful for the state we live in, the beautiful reminders of God's creation and BIGNESS that I can see out my window. The sunsets that light up the mountains in awesome ways.

On an even bigger scale, I am thankful that we live in a country where we have freedom. We can worship God wherever and whenever we want, we can vote for our government and laws. We also live in a place where we have clean water, plenty of food to eat and locks on our doors.

There is a lot about life in this country that we mess up, don't get me wrong, but there is a lot we have to be thankful for as well.

Day 2- I am thankful for my home, my city, my state and my country.

25 days of Thankfulness

November 1st.

There are 25 days until Thanksgiving, and my birthday. Every 7 years they collide. Last time this happened I was 17 and annoyed that I had to share my birthday with this holiday. This time, I think it's pretty cool.

For the next 25 days I will blog about something I am thankful for, a new thing each day.

1. Right now I am extremely thankful for this team of people:

I believe that God put this team of near strangers together for such an amazing week, and I am so thankful that I got to be a part of it. Each person, gifted in their own way got to use one of their specific gifts this week. I saw it as each day unfolded, I watched tears, laughter, silence, discovery...

Roark, 11.

Started off as an observer, like any little boy would during his first days in a foreign place...

He didn't stand back for long, he played like a big brother with Pablo, the little boy his family sponsors through Compassion International

He made friends with the boys at the school, language barrier wasn't an issue

His big brother heart came out again with sweet Javier who lived next to the school

If you ask me and Drew, that little boy, left Guatemala a young man...with a changed heart and lot of new friends

Jared and Amber

Jared owns his own remodeling business, and even though laying tile in Guatemala was vastly different from laying it at home, I'm not sure what we would have done with out his skills and tile wisdom :)

His tattoo's were also a hit, one boy actually started buying the gum with little tattoos in them and put as many as he could on his arm, just like Jared

Amber is a hair stylist and generously shared her gift with some teachers, students and neighbors of the school. As Amber was cutting hair and Jared was mixing cement just a few feet away he told her that he never thought they would get to do their jobs in the same place at the same time :)

Jared and Amber are hard workers and have such beautiful hearts. They were a huge blessing to me and Drew as friends and teammates on this trip. We loved getting to watch them use their gifts and fall in love with a new place and new people.

This post is getting long... so I will only share one more

Laura

brought along, Roark, her oldest of 4. She left the littlest 3 at home, but her huge mom heart was with us...

I watched her see Mom's who had nothing but gave of themselves everything, with eyes full of respect and a knowing. She wanted to encourage them and even though they spoke different languages, she did. I watched as these women were seen by her, not just looked at or photographed, she saw them, they felt seen.

This mom lived in a house the size of my bedroom. She has 7 children. Laura is looking at their homework :)

Laura meeting Pablo's Mom (the family her family supports through Compassion International) Our translators hadn't arrived yet...this is them seeing each other with no words.

5 of the 7 beautiful kids who lived next to the school. Laura would have taken them all home, plus their sweet mom if she could have

Laura was the only mom on our trip. God knew how He would touch her heart differently than the rest of us, and He also knew only she could see, do and feel certain things, people, situations that we couldn't.

He not only used the beauty that she is as a mom to the 4 kids she has here, He used a 5th piece of her story as well. Laura and her husband Josh have a baby girl in heaven. Her name is Pearl and she would have been 5 in June.

This is Laura and Beatriz. Mayra is translating because earlier this week using the little spanish Laura know's and the little english that Beatriz does, they each shared that they had a baby in heaven.

Now that Mayra was there to translate the conversation got to move past their shared heartache to sharing hope. Laura told her that she was brave, that she was praying for her...

She told her she didn't have to be afraid, and that she was a beautiful Mom

Beatriz melted into Laura's knowing embrace, there in the middle of construction, kids playing and staff coming and going they held onto each other

Minutes later they exchanged contact information and said goodbye.

I hugged Laura and she said, " We are all the same."

These are just a few reasons I loved this team. These are only a couple stories that I could tell. There were 5 other people on this team who I could write about as well, I am just so proud of our team and thankful that God truly gave me eyes to see as He used each of them in His way. Our trip didn't go exactly as planned, but it went exactly how it was supposed to.

Day 1- I am thankful for Drew, Jared, Amber, Audrey, Carolyn, Laura, Roark, Dan and the amazing week we shared in Guatemala

Guatemala

Our internet stopped working a few days in so I wasn't able to write. Now as I sit here wanting to share each moment, remember every face and tell each person's story, I don't know where to start.

We got to see Astrid again! She has grown up since March, and has gotten even more beautiful. We had a great day together! Laura and her son, Roark got to meet their Compassion Child too! His name is Pablo and he is sweet, fun and very handsome! They told us that Astrid and Pablo are friends and play together a lot at the student center.

I joked that maybe they will get married someday :) Aren't they adorable!

Laura meeting Pablo and his sweet Mom

My sweet girl!

That's all I have for now. If you don't sponsor a child through Compassion, you probably should. I don't even have the words to explain what it feels like to see her, to know she is being educated, cared for and filled with The Word of God. She told me her favorite person in the Bible is Jesus and that she really likes the stories where He does miracles.

Later, her mom and the Compassion Rep. told us that our trip to come see them was a miracle for them. She told us that after my visit in March her mom had the courage and hope to make some big changes in their family. I don't say that to suggest that I did this for them, God used that time with them, He spoke to her heart. He used us to listen, smile, laugh, sing, dance, hug and hold hands with these beautiful people. He gave us both the miracle of knowing each other. To be completely honest, I am pretty sure I am getting the better end of this deal. Knowing Astrid and her mom, is a gift to my heart that I can't explain. All we had to do was say we'd help, all we had to do was go.

http://www.compassion.com/

Our first day

Today was amazing.

Drew and I are just so happy to be here :) We feel so comfortable and just truly love being here! Our team is so great, they didn't all know each other before this week, ages range from 11-37 and we are all getting along so wonderfully. We have gotten to have some great conversations and spend good time praying together along with lots of laughs.

Half of us helped demolish a wall at the school today while the other half went grocery shopping! Tonight we made our own attempt at some Guatemalan food and it was pretty yummy!

Tomorrow we get to take Laura's and Roark's and Drew's and my Compassion kids to the zoo! We can't wait to hug them and spend the morning with them! I am having trouble getting tired enough to sleep, the whole house is quiet, everyone in bed and I can't stop thinking about singing and dancing with sweet Astrid again!

Everything has gone so smoothly. Please keep praying for safety, health, and that God would give us His eyes and heart for everyone we meet, as well as teaching, changing and shaping our hearts in new ways.

I will post some pictures tomorrow night if our internet is working.

Sending love...

Heading back to Guatemala!

On Saturday Drew and I are taking a team to go work with Kairos Christian School again!

We are so excited to be going back and taking this great team with us :)

We will be doing a VBS with the kids and helping them finish constructing their new offices. We will also get to visit some of their homes.

Laura is a wonderful friend with a beautiful heart and she is coming with her 11 year old son, Roark. Laura and I both sponsor kids through Compassion in the same area so we are going to get to take them both to the zoo in Guatemala City on Monday. I have met my little girl, Astrid before but Drew hasn't and Laura and Roark will be meeting little Pablo for the first time!

I can't wait to see Astrid and her mom, Eva again!

I will try and post each day we are there. Please be praying for our team's travel, safety and that we are able to be a blessing to the people we meet.

Half as hard, twice as good...

In the end what everyone discovers is that what matters is other people.

Human beings who give themselves to relational greatness- who have friends they laugh with, cry with, learn with, fight with, dance with, live and love and grow old and die with.

They are the people who lead magnificent lives.

J. Ortberg

I have been listening to Sara Groves song, Twice as Good that she wrote for her friends. She said that while she was in Uganda ( I think ) someone told her a saying they have is that you need to have 4 good friends. It takes 4 people to carry you on a stretcher if you are sick or hurt, if you don't have 4 good friends you don't have an ambulance! That inspired her to write this song about and for her 4 good friends.

That song and her story behind it inspired me to truly look at the kind of friend I am. I know my last post was about relationships too, and as I was writing this I realized something. I used to love hearing friendship stories, watching movies about friends and listening to songs about best friends. I used to love that stuff so much because I longed for those relationships so deeply. Now, as I write about them, hear about them, see them, I do not wish I had those sort of people in my life. Instead, I call one, send a text or write in a card, thanking them for their friendship and telling them how wonderful they are. God has blessed me greatly in this area of my life.

I used to love this stuff because I wanted it so badly, now I love this sort of stuff because I am so thankful that I do. "Raise a glass to friendship and knowing you don't have to go alone..." S.G.

So, that's what's on my heart right now, friends who become family, relationships that are more important than life itself. Having people to "laugh with, cry with, learn with, fight with, dance with, live and love and grow old and die with."

Snapshots, behind the scenes...

I went to a leader training at our church recently and one thing he talked about was how we all have these pictures up around our house of happy memories but what we don't have pictures of is the life in between, the people who come over at 2am, the ones that sit with you while you are sad, mad, silent, confused, lost. The people who make up the behind the scenes of your life. I got to thinking of our life in snapshots and what you see in them is not exactly what Drew or I see...

Let me give you an example and take you behind the scenes of our snapshots for a minute...

Disclaimer: I'm going to be pretty honest here, just so ya know.

You see-Adrienne and I after we got pedicures!!!

We see- Adrienne and I after we got pedicures because she needed to find some space to relax after her friend had just tragically and suddenly passed away.

You see- Me with Drew and our friend during a recent game night!

We see- A friend we love at a recent game night... but among the laughter and remember whens, we also got to hear a little about his search for a job right now.

You see- Drew and I on our anniversary this year :)

We see- Us on our anniversary this year, but we see people in this picture that you don't. We see my sister who I wasn't sure was going to be at my wedding, walking down the isle with newly grown hair on her head. We see our nephew Jacob walking down the isle in Colorado and not in Guatemala where at times it felt like he would never get to come home from. We see our friends and mentors up late at night talking on the phone, sitting in parking lots through tears, praying with us, challenging us and walking with us through our first two years of marriage. I said to him that night that I was so happy to be married to him, but I am so glad that those two years are behind us. I don't mean that there weren't wonderful times, and I wouldn't want to be married to anyone else, but those were hard years for us, I'm not going to sugar coat that.

You see- me and two incredibly cute boys :)

We see- me with Jack and Rocko. They are sweet, kind, hilarious and wonderful kids, we love spending time with them and I hope to be the kind of mom one day that Julie is to these boys.

You see- Adrienne helping me unpack our new kitchen when we moved out of their house.

We see-Adrienne helping me unpack our kitchen, but what's not in the picture are the words said after she left about how thankful we were for the past year together where we became more like family than friends, or the tears that surprised me when she walked out the door and my 'home' was officially not her home. You also can't see her beautiful pregnant belly that we spent half of our year asking God for and the 2nd half praising and thanking Him for. You can't see the anticipation in my heart this very moment of the giant party that will be taking place in their hospital room any day now as this little man graces us with his adorable, beautiful and perfect little self.

You see- Jess and I with my boyfriend (her baby) on his first birthday!

I see- A promise made 6 years ago to walk beside each other no matter what life threw our way, and there have been some curve balls and some that have hit us square in the gut, and even some that knocked us down but in this picture I see that promise kept.

You see- Rachel, Jill and I with adorable baby Janie, yes, all wearing the same color @ church one Sunday

We see- Two women who were new friends last summer and teach me about faith, truth and being mommies and wives. I believe with out a doubt God blessed me with them at just the perfect time.

As I put this together I realized I couldn't really be as raw and honest as I wanted to because a lot of the 'behind the scenes' in our snapshots aren't our stories to tell. But here is the best example I could give.

We are incredibly blessed with the people who walk behind the scenes with us day to day. I don't think we'd be where we are or who we are today with out them. These are a few of people who we walk through life with, sometimes we mess up and let each other down, but most of the time it is a pretty cool way to get through the rough spots and bask in the wonderful ones.

I think what Drew and I have is rare. I heard a random celebrity say the other day that she thinks we have ruined intimacy but that we are all running around looking for it everywhere. She said everyone is talking (Facebook, blogs texting, Twitter) but no one is really saying anything or being heard. We all want to know others and be known but letting people into the corners of our heart and life is not easy and not always fun. I think it is how we were made to live, with each other, learning from and with each other, challenging each other, sitting next to each other when there are no words and celebrating together every chance we get! Sometimes I have to remind myself this, but believe me... it's worth the risk.

Thanks to those of you reading this who are our behind the scenes friends, our A Team :) some of you are pictured here and some not...you know who you are. We very well might be lost with out you.

A friend is always loyal, and a brother born to help in the time of need.
Proverbs 17:17