The Carpenter Family

Christmas 2007

Merry Christmas!!!

Chloe- 4 yrs.Logan- 9 mos

I tried to get a pic in the "1st Christmas" hat but he doesn't like hats!

Chances are I won't get around to blogging until after Christmas. This is a pretty busy time of year for us and for the church. I still might attempt to send out Christmas cards. I will post the Christmas pics we had done but probably won't write anything. I just want everyone to know how much we love you and are so grateful to have you in our lives. Our friends and family mean the world to us- we are truly blessed.

After all the trees have been decorated,

the lights have been put up,

the parties have been had,

the food has been eaten,

the presents have been opened,

the songs have been sung,

the greatest moment at the end of this year

is always being able to share God's love with others

Merry Christmas!!

~The Carpenters

Getting Festive!

Even Logan got into it!

Dropping off the kids before going Downtown for lunch

Shopping- Logan's first "ride"

My sister, Sammi came out for a few weeks. We had lots of fun and lots of shopping!!! We finally put our tree up- still not as late as last year, though. I am really excited about Christmas this year. Especially the shopping! I had 90% of our shopping done before Thanksgiving. We have 15 people in our immediate family, 7 sets of grandparents, 6 interns, 4 office staff, 10 kids and 6 Christmas parties to buy gifts for. So to have it almost completed by Thanksgiving was a huge relief! Now, I just need to get some of it shipped in time :)
Logan now has 4 teeth and thinks he can walk. I say he thinks he can because he will stand up and then turn as if he is about to walk. But instead he just falls on his face.
Chloe is getting into the Christmas spirit and enjoys buying gifts for people. She still doesn't like Santa but she loves the idea of giving gifts.
Later this week I pick up our Christmas pictures and will post them at the end of the week.

Latest News

Time has flown by so fast for us! Jeremy and I have been on an emotional rollercoaster lately. It is has been exciting, anxious, terrifying, adventurous, nervous, faith-building, and yet peaceful. The past few months Jeremy has really had some big things in his heart and they are quickly coming to pass!!!! I feel like I have been on the verge of bursting for about 4 weeks because I couldn't tell anyone- but now I can!!!!!! For 4 years, Jeremy has been the Jr. High Youth Pastor at our church. And now we are moving to the next place in ministry. Jeremy will be taking over the North location! Our church has a north and south location- one church, two locations. We are really excited about the new places that God is taking us. In addition to Jeremy taking over the North location, we will also be moving. We have always lived south of Seattle and I know this area so well. I only know a few places north of Seattle (and all of them are shopping locations) so it will be an adventure learning our way around and finding a new house. We are not completely sure of the timeline for moving. It will either be in January- only a month away, YIKES- or in March after our Vision Conference. While I hate moving, at least I will be able to go through our storage and hopefully get rid of some things. It is amazing how much you accumulate over the years!

My sister, Sammi, is in town visiting for the first time!!!! So of course Mom and I have taken her to do the touristy things :)

I'll post more pictures in the next blog. :)

Random Pictures

Halloween pics

Chloe as Princess Jasmine

Logan as a Skunk

Logan enjoying a little candy

"Look, Mom!"

Korea

Jeremy won't blog, so I at least wanted to post some pics of his trip

Random sculpture

City pic One portion of the sanctuary

One of the organs

One other portion of the sanctuary

A Pagoda

In a car on the way

Random

A billboard advertising the CGI Conference

My Heart

It's been a while since I've written out some of my thoughts, so I think it's time.

Lately, I have really been focusing on my character and getting deeper into becoming the kind of woman God has called me to be. Over the years I have heard quite a bit about the Proverbs 31 Woman but there was a lot that didn't make sense to me or didn't seem relevant to today's life. Still, many people interpret the passage too literal and all they get out of it is that she isn't lazy. As I've been really studying this passage, I have gained several great insights about her, but there is really one I wanted to write about.

13 She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands.
15 She also rises while it is yet night, And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
17 She girds herself with strength, And strengthens her arms.
19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff, And her hand holds the spindle.
25 Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.
27 She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.

She is full of vitality and strength!!! She works hard; she's not lazy. But she is so much more! I love verse 27 "She watches over the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness." It's easy to say she's not lazy and then move on. But she is so busy with fullfilling her calling that she doesn't have the time to be lazy! She concerns herself with her household, not someone else's. I think today, many Christians, particularly women, have stepped out of God's will and gotten so far off track because they have failed at this verse. She doesn't care about what someone else is doing or not doing. She doesn't have time to be a gossip or critic of someone else's life. When you are doing what God has called you to do, and doing ALL that He has called you to do, there is a lack of comparison & competition. Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." She runs her race, she is not wishing she was running a different race. There's no jealousy or competition or envy or discontentment when you are doing God's will for your life.

Verse 13 says she works willingly. There is a lot of debate if the Bible is for or against women working out of the home. This passage isn't about that. This verse says alot about the condition of her heart. Many people go to work begrudgingly. Their hearts are full of resentment, anger, bitterness, etc. When you do something willingly, your motives are right, your heart's attitude is right and in turn, the way you respond and treat people will be godly.

Many people take verse 15 TOO literal! She rises while it is still dark- who wants to be up that early? I have a hard enough time getting up at 5:30 or 6:00! But she probably doesn't sleep until noon. "Dark" can mean more than just the lack of light outside. It can also represent times in our lives. It takes strength to rise up in tough circumstances. She also gives substance to her household and her staff. This was a HUGE release in my life! I have a tendency to try to be SuperWoman and do everything myself. But our Proverbs 31 Woman had a staff! Get help!!! It's OK to have a housekeeper, nanny, whomever you need in your life to free you to do the things God has called you to do. They are not a substitute you, they are your helpers. Successful people can't do everything by themselves. Prioritize & Delegate! What can only be handled by you? What can someone else do? Imagine how much more time you would have for the things of God if you didn't have to do all the little things that others could handle!

She has strength (vs 17). She may have physical strength, which is beneficial, but spiritually, emotionally, relationally she is strong. Great friends strengthen each other. She has strength in her arms- she can pull you up when you are down. She can push you when you need it. She can hold you, carry you, be a strength to lean on when you need it. She has the strength to stand for what is right, stand and walk with you when everything and everyone is against you. She is strong.

She is full of vitality and strength!!!

I have 10 "thoughts" on the Prov. 31 Woman and this is just one! I'll probably share more as the months go on.

No Pics Yet

Jeremy just got back from Korea. He had a great time at Dr. Cho's leadership conference. He said it was amazing to see the magnitude of Dr. Cho's church. There are almost 1 million members, 14000 lay pastors and 7000 board members/elders. Even with our huge new building, he would barely be able to hold a board meeting in our new sanctuary! It has definately broadened Jeremy's idea of what "Church growth" really means! Maybe I'll be able to convince Jeremy to jump on here and write a little about his trip. I don't have any pictures because Jeremy left our camera, his brand new Tumi bag and a new blazer in one of the vehicles IN KOREA!!!! We are praying the CGI's people will send it back :)

Logan is crawling like crazy and is now pulling himself up on things. Still no teeth, but we can see about 6 just under the skin just screaming to break free! Hopefully they will com s through soon. Even though he has no teeth he wants to eat big people food so we've started letting him have a few things. He loves mac n cheese and can gum a graham cracker like you wouldn't believe. But his all-time favorite is still the rib bones.

Chloe is still our little lady. For some reason, she still only wants to wear dresses. And now that it's rainy, dresses and rainboots. We have our Fall Fun Party on Friday so I'll probably have to get a temporary camera for that. I am so excited to dress the whole family up. Jeremy and I still haven't decided what we are dressing as. On Halloween, Chloe and I might skip church so we can put on our costumes and hand out candy!

I guess that's it for now. I'll try to get Jeremy to write the next one.

2 Weeks in Missouri

Bath Time

At Grandma Cubby's House
Grandma Lear's 50th Anniversary Party- Sammi, Grandma, Me, Logan

Chloe in Uncle Mark's Truck

Logan's First Rib Bone

Cake

Grandma & Grandpa With the Great Grandkids

Logan's Halloween Costume

Chloe's Halloween Costume

Dad & Chloe

News

I didn't realize that so much time had gone by since the last post. Logan isn't crawling on his hands and knees but he does do the army crawl. And he's quick! He has grown so much- it's hard to believe he is already 7 months! And the best news... HE IS KEEPING HIS BLUE EYES! If his eyes were going to turn they would have done so already. I'm so excited that he gets the blue eyes. More answered prayer :) Right now is such a fun stage because he loves to play. His face just lights up when Chloe comes in to play with him. Each day he gets individual playtime (confined to his playpen) so I can get some work done and he has a great time playing with his toys. Even though I knew boys were wired to be boys and girls were wired to be girls, I am still in awe at the instinct they have. When put in front of a selection of toys, Logan will naturally go toward the truck.
Chloe loves preschool and even wants to do homework. She loves doing the writing exercises in her workbook. She informed us the other day that she is ready to learn to read. Just when I thought I had overcome patience in one area, a new one springs up and tests me all over again. Over the past few weeks we have had a pretty rough go with Chloe, dealing with issues we thought would never go away. But last week we started getting some great results. Praise God! I had reached my breaking point with her and really thought I might lock her in a tower until someone decided to go rescue her! But things are getting better and our time together is SO much more enjoyable.
Jeremy and I are great. Everything at NXL is going well. Even though the new youth center is not completed and we are temporarily using the chapel, our teens are still so excited and more are coming every week. I love it! It just proves that teens really will go to church to experience God, not just to play the newest video game or hang out in a cool lounge. I am still doing Mary Kay, and loving it, and making cakes. I have been doing on average one cake each weekend. I did one for a baby shower last weekend and I just finished one for a bridal shower tonight. Fun, fun, fun!

The kids and I leave on Tuesday to go to Missouri again!!!! We are so excited and ready!!!!

Kids

This morning we woke to the sounds of Chloe puking. Mmmm. About 2 weeks ago, Logan and I had a stomach bug but we were the only ones that got it. I guess now Chloe has a mild version of it. After a few rounds in the bathroom, she asked why she couldn't stop throwing up. I tried to explain to her that it was just a bug. "I swallowed a beetle?" She was quite upset that she had unknowingly eaten a bug and now it was making her stomach icky. On a side note- one discovery that we have made is our children's preferences. Chloe is normally a Daddy's girl, except when she is sick and then she only wants me. Logan is Mommy's boy but only wants Jeremy when he doesn't feel well.

Logan is getting closer to crawling. He is starting to pull his legs up under him. But that seems to be too much work for him so he just rolls anywhere he wants to go. He is extremely laid back and in no hurry to crawl. His I teeth look like they may be the first to pop through. We've also begun baby signing with him. Right now we are just working on a few basics- please, thank you, hungry, finished, milk, bath, mom, dad. He trys "finished" or "all done."

Chloe and Logan have an amazing relationship. He lights up when she is around. All she has to do is look at him to get him laughing. She enjoys reading to him and showing how to play with toys. It makes my heart so happy to watch them. I want them to stay this way :)

Lately

Sissy's first trip to the ocean
Day at the Science Center

Logan- he's so close to crawling