Today, I'm Thankful For . . .

. . . the commonality of Christ!

Yesterday's post about friends got me thinking about all of the wonderful people we have come into contact with over the past year. We have been in 15 countries since January 7, 2010, and in each of those countries we worked with different missionaries or ministry organizations. No matter where we went or who we were helping, we were welcomed with open arms and we left with friendships that will last into eternity!

How is that possible? We weren't just two random people be-bopping around hither and yon helping other random people. Before we ever met, we loved each other with the supernatural love of the family of God.

If you've never experienced the feeling of instant camaraderie with brothers and sisters in Christ, it sounds kind of hokie, I'll admit it, but it is truly one of the most precious gifts God has given me this year.

The most poignant instance that comes to mind is the time that we spent in Peru. We were working with Wycliffe Bible Translators to help build a translation center. We stayed in the existing center where the translation work happens during the day, and every morning we participated in the daily devotions with all of the staff who are working on the translation of the Bible into East Appurimac Quechua. We were working with two other missionary couples who spoke English, but apart from that, the translation staff spoke little or no English. Devotions were held in Spanish and/or Quechua and one of the missionaries would whisper translations to us. In spite of the strong language barrier, everyone on the translation center staff truly loved us and welcomed us warmly in every setting. At the end of our time there they gathered around us and prayed for us, and many of us shed tears at our parting. Even though this side of eternity our communication was stilted at best, these dear people are part of our family!

God is so good!


Happy Monday!


The 2010 "I'm Thankful For . . ." Challenge

Today, I'm Thankful For . . .

. . . our friends!

In addition to our amazing families (see yesterdays "I'm Thankful For . . ." post), God has also seen fit to bless us with some incredible friends as well!

We have friends that we have known our entire lives, the friends we literally grew up with. And friends that we have had the privilege of meeting within the past year!

This weekend we're especially thankful for our friends in Oklahoma City and Pasadena, Texas who have opened their homes to us during our (Lord-willing) final pre-field deputation/fundraising trip! Thank you all sooooooo much for your hospitality and support during this trip!

(We're also super thankful for our Texas family in Dallas who let us stay with them and gathered all of the nearby extended family for a wonderful meal on Wednesday night :))

One of the most fun by-products of this past year is the amazing friendships we have built with people all around the world! We are so excited to be moving to Europe in less than a month and start doing life with the fabulous friends we have made in the MCYM family!


Praying your Thanksgiving week is blessed,


The 2010 "I'm Thankful For . . ." Challenge

Today, I'm Thankful For . . .

. . . my family!

Austin and I have been blessed with the most incredible families! That's something I've always known about our lives, but it has never been more apparent in my mind than now as we're preparing to move out of the country. Both sets of parents have been so incredibly supportive and helpful as we have been going through our fundraising and moving process.

We also have some pretty incredible siblings :) Austin's sister Ashley and her husband Tom have had a crazy, amazing year and we are so thrilled for them with all of the wonderful things that have been going on! Especially today on adoption day! We love you guys, and think you make great parents! My two sisters Kindra and Kelli are beautiful, talented girls who have everything going for them!

And that doesn't even touch on our extended families! We are so blessed to have a heritage of faith-filled, godly men and women who love us and who are always behind us!


our families at Thanksgiving last year

Happy Adoption Day!


The 2010 "I'm Thankful For . . ." Challenge

Today, I'm Thankful For . . .

. . . my wonderful hubby :)

I know I say that a lot on here, but it's the honest to goodness truth!

It has been one crazy year, and I would have probably gone stark, raving mad if it weren't for Austin. He continually amazes me with his awesomeness ;) He so totally rocks!


literally the most recent picture we have, lol

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!


The 2010 "I'm Thankful For . . ." Challenge

The 2010 "I'm thankful for . . ." Challenge!

I got the sweetest e-mail the other day from Cheryl over at The Bz's House that Love Built encouraging us to blog daily during the month of November with specific things that we are thankful for.

Now, as I'm sure you're well aware by now, my internet/blogging/facebook usage being as sporadic as it has been for the past few months, I just saw this e-mail today. But I figured, better late than never, so for the rest of the month I will be blogging about all of the things that I'm thankful for :)

Join us if you'd like! Check out this post to read Cheryl's explanation of the challenge!

<3,

Book Review: Zion Covenant Series by Bodie Thoene

I am steaming through the rest of this series, and I am LOVING it! I don't have quotes from these three since they had to be returned to the library, but I am constantly impressed by how well-researched and well-written they have all been!

Munich Signature (Zion Covenant)

You know how with some series the first and maybe even the second books are really good, and then it seems like the author is just dragging the story lines along to keep making money from a popular series? That is soooooooo not the case with the Zion Covenant Series! Each installment in this series that I have read thus far has been incredible enough to stand on its own besides the fact that it is a piece of this captivating sextet that Bodie and Brock Thoene have created!

The other amazing facet of this series is the mastery with which Thoene weaves together many separate, but similar story-lines together without them becoming convaluted or overly simplified! I have also found that often books with several characters involved in multiple escapades, I am very interested in one or two of the characters while I find myself bored by the others. With these books, the unfolding of each of the dramas swept me along so spellbindingly that "I'm just going to read one chapter," turned into, "I can't believe it's already two o'clock in the morning!"

Jerusalem Interlude

I have read many books about the history of this time period, but there is something about reading the accurate historic portrayals of important events intertwined with the emotional personal stories of the specific characters that gives such amazing perspective to the gravity of the situations.

I also love the way that Thoene envelops each thread of the story with the main characters love of Christ that compels them to act on behalf of the downtrodden and disenfranchised, those deemed unworthy, untouchable and subhuman by the powers of the day. That same love that empowers them to take a stand when the majority of the world was choosing to turn a blind eye to the atrocities being committed against God's chosen people.

Danzig Passage

This is an inspiring and challenging series that makes you think about what is truly important in this life, and in eternity. I hope you get a chance to read them, and that you enjoy them as much as I have! If you've already read this series, I'd love to hear your thoughts! Leave me a comment and let me know, but please don't tell me how the last book, Warsaw Requiem, ends - I haven't finished that one yet!

Have a great Monday everyone!

~ my husband rocks! ~ What's the point?

It has been a crazy year, and as such my posting has been a little erratic. I thought it would be a good idea at this point to go back to the basics of MHRF, and lay out the real reasons we do this on a mostly weekly basis.

If you've read any of my MHR posts from the past two years (I know, can you believe it?), you'll have to admit that my husband is a pretty incredible guy :) - but you know what doesn't go into those posts? Every time we have an argument, or when he does something that really ticks me off, or when he's in a bad mood, or when he's just plain frustrating.

I know what you're thinking, "Wait a second, you mean you post the good things about Austin, but you just leave out the bad things? That seems a little dishonest!"

That is where you would be wrong. Sorry :)

There are several reasons that I don't write long ranting posts about the less-than-great parts of my marriage. First of all, it isn't really anyone's business, and it would ultimately do way more harm than good to me, Austin, our emotional health and the overall health of our marriage. But mostly because that would be far too easy.

Now, that's not to say that the negative aspects of marriage far outweigh the positive (although that is definitely what the world would like us to believe). It would be easier to rant about the negative while overlooking the positive than to choose to focus on the positive because I am a selfish, fallen, broken human being married to an equally fallen and broken human being. There's no getting around that this side of heaven.

So what's the point of My Husband Rocks! Fridays? Simply that choosing to focus on all of the wonderful things our husbands do and say and are helps us remember on the not-so-wonderful days why we got married in the first place. And not only that, but showing enough respect for our husbands to not air all of our dirty laundry, but to brag on them and build them up will do far more for the betterment of our marriages than if they "fixed" everything "broken" about them.

Because when it comes right down to it, we wives do a lot of things to frustrate, annoy, anger, and yes, even antagonize our husbands, and I don't think I'm going too far out onto a limb to say that we would much rather they tell their friends and co-workers about the amazing cake we made for dessert last night than how much we nagged them to fix the leaky faucet.

Just some food for thought!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!

To whom it may concern . . .

. . . this blog has not been abandoned! New posting shall begin shortly! Thanks for sticking with me :)

<3,

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ Man of God :)

Hello blog world!

Lots of things have been changing around here, and you will begin to notice some of those changes as soon as I get around to finalizing them on the blog itself, lol! You know how you think to yourself, "Man, I really need to do ________!" Not just once, but like 50 or 100 times before you actually get around to doing it? That's where I'm at on this, but it will happen!

Be sure to check out the new deal from Union 28! (In green at the bottom.)


Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

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A lot of times, I blog about what I see in my husband, or the ways I've seen him grow, but sometimes it's gratifying to have someone from "the outside" of a marriage notice what a great guy your hubby is, you know?

That happened to me this week! We are in the process of raising support to be able to work overseas on a military base with Youth For Christ's Military Youth Ministry (more info on this to come), so that brings us to the town where Austin grew up! (Living with his parents for the time being, actually) As such, I was at a ladies' Bible study this week, and one of the women (who has known Austin all of his life) commented that she has been very encouraged by the growth she has seen in Austin since he's been home. She said, "He is becoming such a man of God!"

This is so awesome for me, most likely because for the past year Austin and I have been the only constant person in each other's lives. We have bounced from place to place to place with BBI, staying in any given location for no more than three weeks at a time. So I have seen his changing and growing through the midst of it, but the people we have met along the way have only gotten a short snapshot of what a great guy he really is :)

He rocks my socks off!

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I am the only person who has the ability to add blogs to the MHR blogroll. If you are a MHR blogger, and have not been added to the blogroll, plase comment or e-mail me at katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com and I will gladly add you to our little group!!!

(if you would like to add the MHR Fridays button to your sidebar, use this code ).

<a href="http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-husband-rocks-friday.html"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/katylinvw/mosaicmhrf.jpg"/></a>

If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

Our good friends over at Union 28 have sweetened the deal for us! They will give you 10% off any order of two or more items (on any day of the week) if you enter the following code at check-out: U28mhrFriday10 Thank you Union 28!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!

Completing Him Summer Challenge - Week #10

August 9 - Kiss Him Like You Mean It (and be sure the door is locked!)

Need I say more? ;)

<3,

Completing Him Summer Challenge - Week #9

August 2 - R-E-S-P-E-C-T! No complaining, criticizing, rolling your eyes, nagging, or giving him any friction this week. Enjoy a week of peace in your home!

This is so crucial for the health of our marriages! Respect is so important to our husbands, and it empowers them in ways you could never imagine. This is not something that I'm naturally very good at, and I have often failed at making Austin feel respected - in fact, in far too many instances the exact opposite has been true. As much as I hate to admit it, I have at times caused some pretty serious problems in our relationship by failing to show Austin the respect he so needs (and deserves) from me.

A great read on the topic is Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs.

This week's challenge is a good reminder for me to continually work on this! It's too important not to do! I am learning that this is something that I cannot do on my own. Only by daily giving it back to God am I ever going to be the wife that Austin needs me to be!

<3,

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ the climbing Pikes Peak edition

Be sure to check out the new deal from Union 28! (In green at the bottom.)


Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

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Hello and happy Friday everyone!

Well we did it . . . while Austin and I were in Colorado a few of weeks ago, we decided to attempt to climb Pikes Peak - summit altitude 14,110 ft! It was one of our goals when we left in January to be in good enough shape when we came back to climb Pikes Peak, and we did it!

And it was HARD!!!

It was the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life!

But Austin wouldn't let me quit . . . no matter how much I whined or complained, he wouldn't believe that I "couldn't" do it!

And I love that about him!


Austin purifying our water . . .

. . . and cooking our supper

Okay, there were a few moments on the side of the mountain that I wanted to chuck him off said mountain, but I really do love that he loves me enough to help me grow and to stretch me beyond what is comfortable and easy!

our home for the night

He so totally rocks!

We made it!

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I am the only person who has the ability to add blogs to the MHR blogroll. If you are a MHR blogger, and have not been added to the blogroll, plase comment or e-mail me at katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com and I will gladly add you to our little group!!!

(if you would like to add the MHR Fridays button to your sidebar, use this code ).

<a href="http://honestandlasting.blogspot.com/2008/06/my-husband-rocks-friday.html"><img src="http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn135/katylinvw/mosaicmhrf.jpg"/></a>

If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

Our good friends over at Union 28 have sweetened the deal for us! They will give you 10% off any order of two or more items (on any day of the week) if you enter the following code at check-out: U28mhrFriday10 Thank you Union 28!

Hope you all have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful weekend!

Completing Him Summer Challenge - Week #7

July 19 - Make him a priority. Ask him what his favorite dinner, dessert and drink are. Be sure to serve him all three one night this week. Bonus: cook his favorite dishes all week long!

Completing Him Summer Challenge - Week #6

July 12 - Make a list of 5 things you currently do and ask him to prioritize them for you of what is important to him. For example - a clean home, home cooked dinner, coupon clipping, service at church, having friends over for dinner, watching/doing sports with him, etc.

Completing Him Summer Challenge - Week #4

June 28 - Ask your husband every morning how you can pray for him that day. Bonus: Fast and pray for him one day this week.

Completing Him - Summer Challenge Week #3

June 21 - Remember Your Vows - post pictures of your wedding day. We will review the sacredness of this day.

ahhh the memories . . . :) To hear/see more about our wedding day, click here!

Have a fabulous Monday!

Book Review: Prague Counterpoint by Bodie Thoene

Okay, so I am LOVING this series, and I'm bummed that I had to leave it back in Iowa :S I think the fact that I read both Prague Counterpoint (Zion Covenant, Book 2) and Vienna Prelude (Zion Covenant, Book 1) in less than a week should indicate how great these books are! (And it was a busy week at that, lol!)

This installment in the Zion Covenant series covers the period of history right after the Anschluss of Germany and Austria and before the invasion of Czechoslovakia. Although this is a dramatic and compelling time of history in and of itself, Prague Counterpoint (Zion Covenant, Book 2) kept me turning pages into the wee hours of the morning! Again, Thoene weaves an intricate and engrossing plot in the midst of fascinating and accurate historic, political drama!

The book itself belonged to the church library, so it had to be left in Iowa, so I do not have any "favorite quotes" for this review, but there were many!

I am so excited to keep going with this series, and I'm thrilled that the third book in the series, Munich Signature (Zion Covenant), is available for the Kindle, so I'll be able to read it on the road! :)

What's on your summer reading list?