Joe's Birthday

Kendra wanted to do something special for Joseph's fourth birthday, so we spent a good deal of time on Saturday night blowing up balloons to fill up his whole room.

It didn't take long for us to start feeling pretty winded.

Isaac, that talented guy, blew up two at once.

Puff, puff, puff!! Gulp! Huuuuuuuuuuuuff! Puff, puff, puff!

The whole living room was full of them!

I was pretty high from lack of oxygen by the end of the balloon-blowing ordeal. :P

The theme for Joseph's birthday was Star Wars, so we got him all kinds of Star Wars stuff - including a Star War cake, made out of ewoks... just kidding. When I asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he said, "A remote control." I figured I'd get him something to go with it, so I got him a little tiny remote control car. I admit I felt a bit jealous when a relative gave him a HUGE remote control truck., lol. But I got over it after only a moment, haha.

The Birthday Boy!

Only the girl relatives could make the party... so Joseph kinda looks like a lady's man here. :P

I wonder where Joe got an expression like that!

Maaaaaaaaaaybe he got it from his dad. :P

Star Wars Cake!

"This is the life..."

Gotta love it.

O Texas, how I loveth thee!
Thou hast been as home to me.
Thou taught me of eternity,
Through thy constant constancy.
Tim Keller I have come to know
Guns and fireworks I've blown
"Profane" thoughts here well abound
("Profane" - like past tense of "profound")
Lots of lovely weather
Boundless skies and heather
Some of this I've fabricated
But that is just how dedicated
I feel.
O Texas, thou hast my heart
But soon I must depart.
<tear>

Vancil Sitcom Illustrated

The girls enjoy dressing up

Game time! We play war sometimes...

...and we make the children into the bed others. :)

One recent highlight was our trip to the park.

Hadi loved the swing!

My good friend, Orlando, drove me down to Houston for the weekend. It was great to catch up and hang out!

We went to a 50's diner and had hamburgers and a milkshake. :)

Mine was more like a California chicken sandwich or something. It was delicious!

There is a whole constellation of lone stars in Texas. This is just one of them.

The Diaz Brothers... :D

 Ferny!!!

Stephen drove back to Dallas with Orlando and me. The bunny happened to die shortly after we arrived back at the Vancils. It was a very distressing event, and Tirzah was pretty sad about the whole thing. Stephen dug the grave, I took care of the body, and the kids picked some berries to lay on top. I have to admit that as sad as I was for the kids, the whole thing ended up being pretty comical... especially since Stephen had just met the Vancils for the first time and dug a grave for their bunny to kick off the friendship. :P

It was a very touching funeral.

The Gravesite

Last Respects

Rest in peace, Nibbles.

 So ends this episode of the Vancil family sitcom. Join us again for more soon!

Introduction to the Family... and What's Been Up

Isaac used to work on staff at Ravencrest as the maintenance assistant. I always admired the Vancil family and wished I knew them better. In fact, I only really started spending lots of time with them the last year that they were on staff. One of my clearest memories of Isaac was when (in the middle of a really hard, awful day) he randomly started talking to me about Matthew 10:39 and how we tend to seek salvation in things other than Christ. We get into this self-preservation mode, and we think that by clinging onto things that we are saving ourselves, preserving ourselves. But really, those very things are death. But when we look to Christ to be our salvation, although we have "lost" those things that we thought would save us, we find real, true life in a real, true Savior. We find real Salvation.

My first memories of Kendra... I remember just thinking she was the prettiest young mother that I'd ever seen. She is very wise, honest, and gracious as well. Outwardly, she's one of the prettiest people I know, but that would all be for naught if it weren't for her lovely spirit and genuine heart. I admire her very much - I could learn a lot from her. :) I think I am learning a lot from her.

Tirzah is smart and artsy. She is a fun girl. She is seven years old, and full of spunk. She has a natural knack for piano and spends all sorts of time drawing and making crafts. 
She's pretty and smart (a bonus for having both qualities!), and creative to top it all off.

Joseph is sweet. He's a sensitive boy - in a good way. We play a lot of games together and usually get along. He loves cuddling and being hands-on, so we made up the "cuddle game" where I catch him and he pretends that he's trying to get away. Really, it's just a fun way to spend time with each other. We have made up many games, since Joseph loves them so much. One of them even involves cleaning the room and making the bed! Clever, hey? :)

















The other morning I walked into the kids' bedroom, and lo and behold - there was a huge ladder made out of broken bed parts, piled upon the other bed. (see below). Rather shocking, really.

"Oh. My. Goodness!" I exclaimed. "What happened here?" 

Joseph looked at the pile, then at me, thought for a second... and replied, "Teamwork." 

I love that kid. :)

Hadi (Hadassah) and I have only clashed a couple of times. Mostly because I stand up to her. I told her "no" the first day or so I was here, which set her crying, "Mommmmmy!" 

I continued for her, "Christy won't obey my every command!" :P Kendra said it's good for her to meet some adult opposition. All around, though, Hadi is hilarious and fun. She's a very quirky child and I adore her. I wish I could video-tape everything she says and does, because it is just so funny! She's really articulate for a two-year-old.

The List of Adventures

One of my first nights here, Isaac and Kendra took me out to an El Salvadorian restaurant (where it just so happened that Isaac got checked out [like a triple-take] by a guy). The food was amazing. They started us off with this black-bean-dip, salsa and chips... it was delicious. My plate was also pretty awesome fried bananas, papooses (not native American knapsack babies), tamales (SO good!) beans like four different ways, rice, and some root that is related to potatoes. My camera battery was dead, so no pictures. :(

Isaac and Kendra's Church is really neat. It is a pretty young church as far as the age group goes. But the teaching is solid, and the people are really neat. Kendra and Isaac help out with the junior highers, so I sat in on that. The sermon for the main service was solid! The pastor taught on Jonah - which, by the way, is much more than just the story of a man getting swallowed by a whale. Here's a question to ponder - what is it that you are running from? 

Tirzah did a project for the science fair at school last week. Her experiment tested which celephane (sp?) works the best. Or, in the words of her project title, "Which Plastic is Fantastic?" (If you're wondering, Saran-Wrap is the fantastic one. I'm never using Glad-Anything again.)

Tirzah spent hours hand-writing all of her data, research and conclusions. She also spent a good deal of time drawing the bananas from her experiment.

Tirzah really loved It turned out that all the other kids (or their parents, more likely) had typed their science projects, so I was really proud of Tirzah for doing on all that writing herself. 

Last week Kendra and I and the kids all went and saw Tangled in the theater last week. It was sort of a random idea, but we pulled it off! Hadi sat through the whole thing (first time!), and when it was done, she said, "I wanna do it adain!" 

Note to Future Self Regarding Children and Life

It IS possible to get married, have children, and still have a "life". Kendra and I got talking about this very thing when I mentioned how she and Isaac have always been my inspiration for doing things when I grow up. I've heard from so many people that, "When you're single you can do anything you want; when you're married it's hard to do much of anything; when you have kids you'll never do anything again." (I may have exaggerated a tiny bit for the sake of the illustration. But not much.) Practicality is so very soul-killing at times! But I figured that these people must know, right? Well, all that got blasted out of the water while I was at Ravencrest. There were several families who did a lot of things with their kids. Life isn't over for them! The Vancils, in particular, made many roadtrips down to Dallas, WITH three kids. Proof that it can, indeed, be done.

Kendra says that she believes part of the difference is that she and Isaac truly enjoy their kids. Although they still may have their occasional date night alone, they want to share their experiences and adventures with their kids, rather than build those memories by themselves. Because they really enjoy their kids, they want to share memories with their kids! I'm glad. I have parents who did fun stuff with me and my siblings, and some of it was a bit crazy. I mean, honestly, who in their right mind would take five kids halfway across the country? That trip to Indiana was insane. Tornadoes, trailers that smelled like rotten milk, billions of relatives... wow!

Anyway, it can and SHALL be done as long as I have any say in the matter! And I think I will. :) The fun doesn't end when the kids come!

I've added pictures. More to come soon!

Musings

Although I don't have time to post pictures or a real update at the moment, I will cut and paste something I wrote a few nights ago after listening to a Tim Keller sermon with Isaac, Kendra, Ezra (Isaac's brother) and Hali (Ezra's wife). As a single person, I do think about these things - especially while observing married couples - so please enjoy a little bit of lost-in-thoughtness regarding the whole thing. <grin>

For a while now, I have had debates with myself regarding marriage (specifically regarding myself). I want it, but I'm content and comfortable in my singleness. Not that I don't get distracted or tired of it sometimes... but just in general, that's how I feel. On the other hand, I want to get married, have kids, raise a family, be a mother, wife... you know. But lately I've debated whether it is worth it. There are so many, well... average, marriages. Also, there are so many marriages that end in divorce. And of course, nobody ever thinks it will happen to them, but it does. So is it really worth the risk? I waver in my answer. Sometimes I see a really good marriage, and I think, “Now that is what I want. I just have to work at it hard enough and really make it happen.” And I believe myself. And other times I see bad marriages and think, “That would be so tragic. I don't know if it's worth the risk.”

But the ones that scare me the most are the ones that are just mediocre. There are two people living together, sharing a home, doing things together, but there is no real friendship and camaraderie. There is no spark. It's dead. Now they just live together. Oh sure, their marriage is fine. Their lives are fine. But the fun and beauty and goodness has all disappeared and now there is just a bland sort of existence that is not bad enough to complain about, but not good enough to glory in. Those are the ones that scare me the most. I realize that the “in-love” feelings will pass. I realize that the silly butterflies are just a shadow of real love. But along with those realizations, I know deep inside that marriage is supposed to be beautiful, glorious, good, stretching, growing, rewarding work.

So, it is good to see a marriage that has had rocks and bumps and potholes... but that is GOOD. Isaac and Kendra have such a marriage. It makes me think, “Maybe, even with the work and insanity of it... maybe... just maybe, it won't be so bad after all. Maybe it doesn't have to turn out mediocre.” In light of watching and listening to Isaac and Kendra, here are my recent responses to my own doubts.

Marriage is serving. It is commitment to availability to Christ. It is covenanting with another human being. It is sacrificing my wants every day and placing another before myself. It is tremendously challenging. It is the process of sanctification. It has the potential to be doubly as bad as life can be for a single person. It has the potential to be doubly as good. Marriage is being vulnerable in every way to your spouse. They see you for who you are. You see them for who they are. You deal with each others' problems together. You carry burdens together. It is hard. It is rough. It is glorious. Marriage is the lovely picture of Christ and the Church. Love. Friendship. Affection. Lover-ness. God's love. There is no perfect partner in human marriage. But there is perfection in Christ, and marriage teaches you what it is to belong to Christ.

I know I left a lot out. But it's not as if someone could say everything about marriage in one paragraph.

Tips to my future self for raising children: If you make a promise, keep it. Eg. “Joseph, if you don't stop that right now, you will be grounded from all snacks tomorrow.” Children respect this. The reverse is also true. If you continually make promises and continually break them, children will NOT respect them. Eg. “You are about to be in big trouble.” <-- This child belonged to a lady who visited a few days ago. I heard her make this promise to her son at least five times in ten minutes. Not once was the promise carried out. Only empty threats. The child was not bad, per-say, but he certainly thought nothing of his mother's empty threats. He just kept on doing what he was doing (hence the threat five times in ten minutes). One of the reasons that I respect Isaac and Kendra is because they keep their promises to their kids. Hadassah knows that if she keeps wandering around the house, crying loudly for no reason, that she will go back to bed. Kendra is good on her word that way. But Hadassah also knows that if she behaves, that she will get to stay up and play. Joseph knows that being grounded from treats is not just an empty threat. It is, in fact, a concept that he grasps quite well – due to the fact that it has happened before. Isaac and Kendra are good on their word.

It makes me happy to bring a bit of relief to a family who loves the Lord so very much. They want to pour into people. They have somehow managed to get into as many Bible studies here as they did at Ravencrest. They aren't burnt out, though you'd think they would be. They are growing and struggling, as children of the living God must do. But they are intent on learning to trust Jesus Christ more fully with their lives. They are intent on knowing Him for who He really is and not for who they project or manipulate Him to be. It's encouraging. Specially since I can have such a rebellious attitude at times (more on this later, perhaps). However, I feel open to them speaking into my life, because I can rest fully assured that they speak purely out of love, and not just out of a desire to “straighten me out”. They want me to grow. They want for themselves to grow as well. Isaac said, “I want anything that hinders me from knowing Jesus to be torn down. I want idols in my life to be taken away. And I expect that my brothers and sisters in Christ to feel the same way.” I do feel that way as well. I hope it stays that way.

That's the end of my cut and paste section! Lots of hilarious things have happened since I've arrived in Texas. I will post pictures and comical stories asap! By the way, I am available by phone, and although it has been busy, I can always return calls. :) Feel free to call and catch up. Internet access is limited thus far.

Till next time, my faithful readers! May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing!

Out of Darkness and Into His Marvelous Light

I ought to begin by telling you why I chose the name Captivating Light.

John 1:4 speaks of Jesus, saying, "In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men." Jesus says of Himself later in the book, "I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness." As a Christ-follower, a child of light, I am captivated by Him - by the Light. Throughout my adventures these next months, I shall endeavor to share with you, my dear readers, the many ways I continue to be captivated by Christ. :)

"Awake, thou that sleepest,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ shall shine on thee." (Eph 5:14)

One of the many wonderful parts of being home with my family these last few months is that I have again enjoyed the winter sunshine which comes and rests on my bed each day (unless it rains, obviously). I remember the good old days in high school and the beginning of college, when I would walk into my room, yank up the blinds, and sprawl myself across my bed. There in the sunshine, I basked, read dozens of books, napped, learned, daydreamed, pondered eternity; and it was glorious. Those days, to me, were filled with growth in Jesus Christ. Placing my trust in Jesus when I was seven-years-old brought me to life, awakened me from my slumber. And yet, as I know Him more fully, those old clumsy dreams of slumber fall off as I walk more fully awakened in the newness of His life.

Okay, that was kind of a tangent... but I really love thinking about that, so I went ahead and included it. The other real reason for this first blog is to describe what I am doing these next months and why. :)

If any of you have read my Europe journal (it's available upon request), you may remember a part where I mentioned that I desired to do a sort of ministry of encouragement. This ministry ought to be mutually beneficial, refreshing to all. It ought to encourage and strengthen and build up missionaries and ministry workers. After all, people in ministry need encouragement! (And in more ways than just, "Hey brother, I'll be prayin' for ya," which is typically the kind they get.) I am reminded of Hebrews 3:13, "But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called 'Today,' so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." We need to be reminded daily of the truth! We are to encourage one another daily to enter His rest! Today IS, after all, still called "Today."

Since the initial idea, God has provided me with a laptop, families to visit, and a short term part-time job. Now, almost a year since the idea took root, I'm about to head out to visit and serve my first family - the Vancils - in Dallas, TX. I understand that there are challenges I will face as I serve, and I look forward to them with confidence, knowing that I have been given all I need for life and godliness in Christ Jesus (2 Peter 1:3). Regardless of any trials or hardships or challenges, I pray that my eyes may remain firmly fixed on Jesus Christ.

Regarding the Vancils themselves (and any other family I visit), Romans 1:11-12 pretty much sums up my desire for my visit. "For I am yearning to see you, that I may impart and share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen and establish you; that is, that we may be mutually strengthened and encouraged and comforted by each other's faith, both yours and mine."

Along with spending time with families, I shall also spend lots of time in airports and coffee shops these next months. For the last few years I have bumped into people everywhere who are somehow open to talking about the deeper things of life - morality, world views, religion, Jesus Christ... During the course of the conversation they usually would ask me where I worked and I would answered, "I'm the registrar for a one-year Bible School in Estes Park." There are two ways that someone can take the conversation from there. 1. "Oh really? A Bible School? Tell me more about that," or 2. "Oh, Estes Park? That's a beautiful area! Do you like to hike?" The interesting thing is that I hardly ever ran into people who decided to avoid the Bible School topic. They usually asked me about it, and at some point in the conversation, they'd open a door for me to talk about Jesus... so I'd walk through it. (As a side note, I'm SO glad that they open the door, because I can hardly help myself. So perfectly put in Acts 4:20, "But we ourselves cannot help telling what we have seen and heard." I am fairly bursting to talk about life in Christ!) These were never forceful, in-your-face conversations. Doors simply opened and people invited me to share. My hope and prayer is that while I spend hours upon hours in airports over the next months that the Lord will continue to open doors, and that broken and searching people will see the Light - HIS Light - abiding in me.

When reading through Acts recently, this verse encouraged me with regards to the people I run into so often - "Now when they saw the boldness and unfettered eloquence of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and untrained in the schools [common men with no educational advantages], they marveled; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus." (Acts 4:13 AMP) It is  true that conversations with people in airplanes are often brief, but I pray that they may recognize that I have been with Jesus.

"For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of Light." (Eph 5:8)