bonjourelise's Xanga

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Sun, 17 May 2009 20:40:36 GMT

Went on a BEAUTIFUL hiking trip on Saturday. God's Creation is SO AMAZING! On the way back down the mountain I was lagging behind Dad and Ben a bit, just soaking in everything around me. The smells, the sights, the sounds - all of these three together create the fantastic beauty of the mountains. A beauty so wonderful it has become the subject of many a song or poem. I can't imagine drawing all of those details, let alone CREATE them from nothing. God is awesome. :)

Several hours later, I opened my Bible to Psalm 121. The words jumped from the pages as the truth of the Word was made real from the events of the day.

"I will life up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber..." (Psalm 121:1-3)

The Peak: Ben, Dad and Me. The view was BREATHTAKING!

The Making of a Nation

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:44:49 GMT

I received the newsletter for Far Above Rubies today and was got encouraged simply by reading the very first paragraph:

"May God pour out His blessings of love, joy and peace upon your family and your home. Marriage and the home were the first institution that God instigated and they are the most important in the nation. Never forget their importance in the sight of God. Don't let the pressures of life pull you away from your home and family. Make them your first priority. Strengthen your marriage. Strengthen your family. As you do, you will be part of strengthening your nation and making it great."

Strengthen your family and that will be part of strengthening your NATION and making it great. What a wonderful view of the family. When standing together, families make up the world! Kinda makes you think twice before you put down motherhood or spend more time at work than nurturing your children, doesn't it? That's why it's SO important that we defend God's plan for the family. You're not simply a small family unit, insignificant and not effecting the world around you. You are a FAMILY a significant piece of a NATION.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 01:43:14 GMT

Good Times...

It was a WONDERFUL visit!
Having the family all around me was sooo amazing.

I have been blessed. :)

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 22:38:40 GMT

The Story of a most Beautiful Wedding

Erin and Dylan.
They are a beautiful couple! Absolutely smitten with one another. In love with their whole hearts.

It was a perfect day.

My Beautiful Sister! Overjoyed - it was the day of her dreams.

"[She] looked very like a rose herself, for all that was best and
sweetest in heart and soul seemed to bloom into her face that day..." (Little Women)

Dancing to "Johnny B. Goode" crazy times!

"Go Go Johnny! Johnny B. Goode..."

he's got a bit o' crazy coming out :)

My new niece, Aubrey

Hugs for Mimi!

Decorating!

Oh, Henry :)

Croquet on the lawn - oh so refined.

Annabelle

Its almost time!

Stunning!

Catching a glimpse of her man

The wedding was beautiful. God truly put these two together. Check out my blog for their story (from MY view, Erin's view is, of course, 100 times better. I'll have to ask her to write it down for me to post)

"To have and to hold..."

Dylan...you may now kiss your bride. And he SURE DID!

"...the minute she was
fairly married, Meg cried, "The first kiss for Marmee!" and turning,
gave it with her heart on her lips. During the next fifteen minutes
she looked more like a rose than ever..." (Little Women)

The Abele/Belchak side of the family. From Left: Dad holding Henry, Mom, Ethan, Erin, Dylan, Aubrey, Ben, Zackariah, Kimberly, Benjamin and Elisa.

Sisters. <3

The Tuggle/Wood side of the family. From left: Liz holding Annabelle, Rachel, Lance holding Emma, Hayley, Erin, Dylan, Aubrey, Mrs. Tuggle, and Mr. Tuggle (i.e. Grandma and Grandpop).

The men! They are so wonderful! I don't know what I'd do without my galant and loving protectors. :)

Erin + Aubrey

My super-duper-crazy-handsome-wonderful nephews, Zack (4) and Ethan (4 1/2).

Crazy boys! haha, don't you just love Ethan's suave wink here?

"The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him'

...and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh.

Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man.'

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."

P.T.L.

My life

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:56:59 GMT

Catherine commented on my last post and asked me what exciting things were coming my way. And the answer to your question, Catherine, is I have no idea! That's what is so exciting. :) I'm not sure whats coming next.

This past year I've spend a LOT of time in prayer regarding my life after graduation. The normal societal (is that a word?) pattern is for a person to graduate high school, then go right to college. Ever since I was 12 I wanted to go to Liberty (or Bob Jones) and major in the Family and Consumer Sciences major (that's the technical title for Home Economics). I used to pour over the Liberty web site. Dreaming of the dorms I would stay in. The classes I would take. And the new friends I would make.
But, as I prayed about my future, I got the same answer. "Just get yourself graduated. Then I'll show you."
So that's what I'm doing. Graduation is coming up. Then after that...who knows? I'll admit, this waiting thing is getting a little embarrassing. I can't count the number of times people have asked me what I'll do after high school and and then give me incredulous looks once they find out that I have no idea! But God's certainly in control, even when I don't think He knows what he's doing, He does. He is the Creator of the entire universe, after all...

If you could pray for me, that would be great. I could use it. :) Please pray that God will reveal to me His plan, in His time.

Until then, I think this song pretty much sums up my life at this point (it sounds a LOT better with the music):

Unwritten
by Natasha Bedingfield

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned.

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find.

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

The rest is still unwritten...

I'm baaack!

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 02:02:38 GMT

My facebook has been disabled (I'm in the process of finding out why), so to fulfill my internet addiction, I'm back on xanga. Life has been good - incredibly crazy, throwing things my way that I'd never thought would happen. I'm excited (and a bit scared! lol) to see what is going to happen next! I'll be graduating in May. Turning 18 in August. A lot of changes are on their way. It's gonna be good.

Salt Lake City, Utah

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 17:04:17 GMT

On April first I boarded a plan bound for Salt Lake City, the city of my birth and where I spent 9 years of my childhood. I spent a little over two weeks there, enjoying the city and all of its splendors (not to mention, spending all of my money!). I was blessed with an absolutely wonderful time.

SLC's beautiful mountains. Every day I was in awe of how pretty they looked.

Ben and Kimberly treated me to my first taste of sushi!

Zack and I goofing around at the sushi place.

Yum! (NOT!) I was not a fan of these things, though Ben made me try them all. I prefer Californai rolls

These...ehem...are fish eggs, wrapped in seaweed. Yes, I ate them, and yes, I gagged.

Zack and I again.

Zack, coloring in one of Kimberly's notebooks. He's such a cuite.

"Cheese!"

Precious boy

Kimberly, Chris (her mother in law) and I went to a very nice hotel for afternoon tea. It was absolutely lovely! The atmosphere was beautiful. The food was delish. And the company, wonderful.

Left: Kimberly and I, Righ: Me taking a bite of my tea-sandwhich

Henry about to burst into one of his wonderful smiles.

He did a lot of this....

So tired!

Zack with his binky. :)

Cousins, Aunt and Uncle:

From Left: Me, Aunt Donna and Uncle Doug.

My cousin Brandi and her boyfriend, Craig.

Brandi and I.

Cousins! From Left: Lindsey, Me, Maddie and Damon.

More Cousins! Top Left: Brandi, Jen, Me. Bottom: Maddie and Lindsey.

Maddie, Aunt Donna, Lindsey and I.

Me and cutie Damon.

Lindsey and I, trying to take a serious picture. (we never got one, we were laughing to much, lol)

Maddie and I.

Yep, still laughing. :)

Lindsey and I.

There! Finally a serious pic! lol, Lindsey has such a cute, infectious laugh. Whenver she laughs I can't help but laugh with her!

Lindsey and her boyfriend, Joe.

Aunt Donna and Uncle Doug. I went to their house for a cookout on their 42 anniversary!!

Those are all the pics I have for now! The trip to SLC was so much fun! I love seeing all of my family and friends. It was very nice. <3

Read on only if you want to be challenged and encouraged...

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:15:04 GMT

A Challenge to Women
By John Piper

1. That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.

   2. That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.

   3. That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.

   4. That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching. That meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith. And that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.

   5. That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God would open to you; and the power of faith and holiness would descend upon you; and your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world.

   6. That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God undergirding all these spiritual processes, that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers and believers of these things.

   7. That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific role, that you not fritter your time away on soaps or ladies magazines or aimless hobbies, any more than men should fritter theirs away on excessive sports or aimless diddling in the garage. That you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.

   8. That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to Christ and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.

   9. That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.

10. That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children who hope in the triumph of God, sharing with him the teaching and discipline of the children, and giving to the children that special nurturing touch and care that you are uniquely fitted to give.

11. That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world. That you not only pose the question: Career vs. full time mom? But that you ask as seriously: Full time career vs. freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom— to be in the employ of someone telling you what to do to make his business prosper, or to be God's free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God's business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or yuppie lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the family and advance the cause of Christ.

12. That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life's ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment choices, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God's will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else's chapter or whether it has in it what chapter five will have.

13. That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might, and maximizing your joy in ministry to people's needs.

14. That in all your relationships with men you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the Biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women—a leadership which involves elements of protection and care and initiative. That you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.

15. That you see Biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women in relation to each other not as arbitrary constraints on freedom but as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God's ideal of complementarity. That you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld but by the countless roles offered. That you turn off the TV and Radio and think about...

The awesome significance of motherhood

Complementing a man's life as his wife

Ministries to the handicapped

hearing impaired
blind
lame

Ministries to the sick:

nursing
physician
hospice care—cancer, AIDS, etc.
community health

Ministries to the socially estranged:

emotionally impaired
recovering alcoholics
recovering drug users
escaping prostitutes
abused children, women
runaways, problem children
orphans

Prison ministries:

women's prisons!
families of prisoners
rehabilitation to society

Ministries to youth:

teaching
sponsoring
open houses and recreation
outings and trips
counseling
academic assistance

Sports ministries:

neighborhood teams
church teams

Therapeutic counseling:

independent
church based
institutional

Audio visual ministries:

composition
design
production
distribution

Writing ministries:

free lance
curriculum development
fiction
non-fiction
editing
institutional communications
journalistic skills for publications

Teaching ministries:

Sunday school: children, youth, students, women
grade school
high school
college

Music ministries:

composition
training
performance
voice
choir
instrumentalist

Evangelistic ministries:

personal witnessing
Inter Varsity
Campus Crusade
Navigators
Home Bible Studies
outreach to children
Visitation teams
Counseling at meetings
Billy Graham phone bank

Radio and TV ministries:

technical assistance
writing
announcing
producing

Theater and drama ministries:

acting
directing
writing
scheduling

Social ministries:

literacy
pro-life
pro-decency
housing
safety
beautification

Pastoral care assistance:

visitation
newcomer welcoming and assistance
hospitality
food and clothing and transportation

Prayer ministries:

praying!!!
mobilizing for major Concerts of Prayer
helping with small groups of prayer
coordinating prayer chains
promoting prayer days and weeks and vigils

Missions:

all of the above across cultures

Support ministries:

countless jobs that undergird major ministries

So...are you challenged yet?

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/1995/1746_A_Challenge_to_Women/

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 18:29:26 GMT

It's been an absolutely crazy week, and since I haven't posted for a while I thought I'd let you know what I've been up to lately. God has really blessed me with such wonderful family and friends. He is an awesome God.

Friday: I had some girls over for a Valentines Day sleepover. It was so much fun. Fondue - Charades - Apples to Apples - Breakfast at Tiffany's - Two bottles of sparkling cider - boxes of chocolates - Rebekah and Katie shrieking during hide and seek in the dark - Pancake Breakfast - Indiana Jones impersonations - Chocolate dipped everything - laughter - friendships. It was a delightful evening. I love all of you girls so much! Hopefully Angel will be posting pictures soon, but mom has my camera in SLC, so I wasn't able to take any.

Saturday: The girls were still at my house this morning. I made some coffee which seemed to attract all the girls into the kitchen. They all sat on the counters or stood around the kitchen keeping me company while I made the pancakes. Hannah R. turned on some rockin' music and we all chatted away. Hannah, Rebekah and Angel stayed after everyone had left and helped me clean up. Rebekah, with her servants heart, tackled the humongous pile of dishes and we all worked together on the rest of the house. We were finished in no time. Erin came home from work and we all piled into the van and went to the Gibson's house for Joseph's birthday party. We had a lot of fun with the celebrity face recognition. We turned Mitchell into Shirley Temple and Hannah G. into some fat guy. Yeah, good times, good times. Erin had some shopping to do in town, so Angel and I stopped at the gas station and got some large coffees to keep us awake. We went to the mall and to Hobby Lobby, I'm not sure where else. Angel and I spent a good amount of time in Claire's picking out earrings. She bought a cute smiley-face wrist band and three pairs of earrings for herself, and she was super wonderful and bought some earrings for me too! That night we watched a movie and ate some dinner. We were so tired!

Sunday: We had church in the morning. Then after church Angel and I watched Shop Around the Corner, which I didn't really like. After Angel left, I did a little ridding up and then Benj and I went to youth group, which is always fun.

Monday and Tuesday: I watched Ethan on Monday morning, Dad left for SLC on Tuesday and I did school on these days. I don't remember exactly what we did but I vaguely remember going shopping a lot on these two days.

Wednesday: I awakened at 6 am for work and had a pretty good day there if I remember correctly. I really like my job. I just talk with the ladies when they come in and work out, I work out myself and when no one is there (and all of my work is done) I get to play around on the computer. When I got home the Davis' were there, the seven kids and their mom. They live in Georgia but came up here for a visit and to get their sheep. They had just come for breakfast and I was surprised they were still there when I got back. It was a crazy day. We played Apples to Apples for a very long time, and the little kids were running around being silly. Those kids are really great, though, so sweet and friendly. Their ages range from age 1 to age 13. Their mom left to go check on the sheep and so Erin watched the kids. Around 4, she had to go to work, so she left watching the kids to me. The older ones weren't hard to watch, but there were a lot of younger ones who didn't get along to well. Maizie, the 13 year old, watched Hattie the youngest, and I planted the rest of them in front of a movie while I made some speghetti for dinner. That was a very exhausting evening, but I think God really helped me have patience, even when what little I had was wearing thin. They all went to bed when their mom came home around 8 and the house was strangely quiet. :) Erin and Jessica made themselves some dinner and we watched Saving Sarah Cain. After the movie Erin looked and outside and gasped, there were 2 or 3 inches of snow on the ground! The snow looked absolutely beautiful in the night air. I love the sound of snow, the soft pat-pat-pat as it hits the ground. With much begging, I finally got Benj to go outside and have a snowball fight. It was so much fun. I love my brother. Erin and Jessica and I made some tea and chatted as we watched the snow from the window. Finally, my tiredness took over me and I went to bed.

Thursday: The Davis' stayed till about 10 in the morning. We had a hug snowball fight with everyone before they left. I got to see their cute newborn lambs, too. I was not feeling well so I slept a lot of the day. We exchanged Valentines, and they were very lovely. But I really was ill or something so I just slept and slept.

Friday: I worked again till 11. Erin and I had a fun "Junk-food/Video Night". That's the very creative name my family gave to Friday nights that we spend watching movies and eating junk food. We went shopping for pizza and ice cream, Ethan was really happy. We watched Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang first and I must say that is the longest kids movie I've ever seen. Ethan kept asking if it was over yet. It's got some really weird parts too. Then after Ethan went to bed, Erin and I watched The Devil Wears Prada. It was pretty cute.

Saturday: I watched Ethan this morning, and cleaned the house and my room. It's 2:30 and I probably need to go get dressed. hehe...

I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day.

John 3:16, "For God so LOVED the world, that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." What a great God we serve.

My Celebrity Look-alikes

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:27:49 GMT


	MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph