I just picked this book up to start reading. I am really liking what I see so far.![]() |
Mark and I are reading this fun book right now.![]() If you haven't read this one pick it up. We have laughed and laughed and we have only just finished the third chapter. |
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I just got home from early morning prayer at church. There were over 60 people at 5:30am prayer this morning and the men well out numbered the ladies. How cool is that! Personal prayer is so vital but there is something incredible about joining other people for corporate prayer! I love the fact that our church places such a high value on prayer. There are at least 6 different times of corporate prayer meetings through out the week on a regular basis. It is so cool. What a great way to start the week! |
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Our pastor has called a 21 day fast, which starts today. We are praying for a fresh vision and a deeper knowledge of God, both for the church and for us personally. I am looking forward to seeing what God does in us during the next three weeks. I am expecting good things. |
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I want to wish you all a Happy New Year. May 2010 be a year of seeing God's promises to you come to pass. May his peace and joy be in your home. May God grant to each of us a deeper awareness of His presence. And May we share the grace that we have received with those we come into contact with. Blessings to you! Shari |
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"God is not concerned about your happiness. He is concerned about having your heart." |
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"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...." The house is decorated! My Christmas cards are sent! And it snowed about 6 inches last night and there is suppose to be more coming! School is done on Friday! We have family coming this weekend! Ten more days until Christmas! May God richly bless you during this season of remembering the birth of Jesus! Merry Christmas Everyone! |
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Today we are finishing up school for the week with one week to go before our Christmas break! Michael is helping at a fund raiser this afternoon with youth group. This weekend he and Paul are in a Christmas choir that is part of the churches Christmas production. They have practice tonight and Saturday morning and then Dessert theater performances Saturday night and Sunday night and they are doing both services Sunday morning. We hope to get the house decorated for Christmas this weekend, too. So it will be a busy weekend. We will have family coming in the following weekend so Christmas is coming quickly! I still have lots on my to do list. We watched Miracle on 34th Street last night. It was not the old version but it was still good and has successfully gotten me in the Christmas mood. |
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Today is my birthday! My family has done a great job of making my day special! My kids have blessed me with homemade cards that they made of their own initiative. Their creativity was amazing and made me laugh and smile. One of the boys made me a paper sapphire ring! My youngest son made sure that I had a birthday cake and made it himself (with lots of help from Grammy). My oldest son bought me a hysterical talking birthday card. We have listened to it lots today and laugh every time. God bless me today with glittery snow. It was really too cold to snow but this cool crystal like stuff was beautiful to watch come down this morning. So we laughed and said that God was giving me glitter to help celebrate my birthday! We also sold Paul's Mustang today so that was a blessing too! It is sure fabulous to be valued and loved by family! I am blessed! |
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Bummer deal. Once again our hard drive on our laptop has crashed. Yep it just died this past Feb., November 2008, and one other time before that. This will be our fourth replacement. It is still under warranty so we should be back within a week or so. Not the end of the world but an inconvience. You would think that we would learn to back it up. Maybe we will this time. |
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The other night we watched the movie Taking Chance. It shows in great detail the process of bringing home a Marine who was killed in action. The honor, respect and reverence is amazing. Tomorrow will be the funeral of another warrior. Not one that ever wore a uniform but one that faithfully served none the less. Marion McChatton was one of my prayer warriors. It is amazing how quickly you can feel a bond with certain people - Marion was one of those people for me. Marion was a grandma who was fighting a battle with cancer when I met her in Lolo. Even in her own pain, she was an amazing warrior for others. She loved people and she loved Jesus more. She prayed for more people, and most will never know. She was an amazing and humble servant. My times spent on my knees next to this dear lady will always be precious to me. My time with this dear lady was short but she taught me tons and I am blessed to have known her. She will be missed. This precious lady will not receive the warriors honor on earth but I know that she will receive a greater honor in heaven. |
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Oh, how I wish I had taken my camera!!!! We went on a family hike up to Silver Falls past Entiat. There was a couple of inches of snow and it was an enchanted winter wonder land. We were the only ones up there and as we hiked we saw the falls which were full of icicles and frozen places and yet there was still water falling. It was so cool. The higher up we went the more snow there was. We were able to go out behind the falls, which was really cool. We never cease to be amazed at God's creativity and the delightful places that he has created for us to enjoy. It was such a fun day and we stopped at a quaint little store/cafe for hot chocolate on the way home. It was a great family day full of lots of fun memories. |
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This morning it is snowing here! It is not sticking at the moment but there is still frost on the ground. And so begins the winter weather... There is something special about the first snow of the season. |
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It seems like I go in spurts when it comes to reading. Either I am reading a lot or I am dragging myself through a single book over a period of time. I am on a spurt and getting lots read so here is what I have been reading besides school books and kid stories. I finally finished up Satisfy My Thirsty Soul by Linda Dillow. Then I took off reading more. ![]() Grace Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel ![]() ![]() ![]() LORD, Heal My Hurts by Kay Arthur ![]() Seizing Your Divine Moment by Erwin Raphael McManus ![]() Mountain Top by Robert Whitlow ![]() The Tail That Wags The Dog by Max Myers ![]() I have also read a bunch of Colleen Coble books which I won't take the time to find pictures for. In my Bible reading I have just finished 2 Samuel and I am starting I Kings. |
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Grandpa Burgess has a friend who owns an orchard here in East Wenatchee. He let us go glean in his orchard. We were able to get lots of apples today! What a great gift. We love apples. It was a gorgeous day to be outside. It was cold enough to need a coat but not freezing. It hasn't gotten cold enough yet to freeze the apples although it might get that cold the next few days. It was fun to be in the orchard with Paul's mom and enjoy the sweetness of nature. Gleaning makes me think of the ladies in bible times, especially Ruth. God is such a faithful provider. |
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Last weekend we went to Concrete. On Saturday, Michael and Mark went fishing with Mr. Corey and they all caught a salmon. I posted pictures on Loeffler family pictures, if you forgot the password e-mail and I will give it to you. This was the boys first time to catch salmon! We had some for dinner Saturday night and brought some home in a cooler to enjoy later. Sunday Paul taught Sunday school and played the piano for worship at CBC. It was a fun weekend visited friends. This weekend we went up past Lake Wenatchee and went bike riding as a family. It was a great day! We found a rock slide and went bouldering on the rocks. When we finished our bike ride we went down to the White River and threw rocks and got our feet wet. The water was freezing. I could only keep my feet in for 20 seconds at a time. It only takes about 5 seconds for them to go numb. I posted pictures of the boys on the rocks. Today we enjoyed church and a luncheon at church. The boys have played all afternoon and I canned 14 qts of pears. I still have another box of pears that is not quit ready to can yet. All in all it has been a great couple of weekends. |
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Benjamin turned 5 years old today. A momentous event for our little guy. Being five means no more baths, he gets to take showers. Being five means he gets to chew gum. Being five means he gets to be in Kindergarten. Being five means no more baby stuff, he is big now. Being five means that he is almost too big for Little Einsteins, but not quite. Being five means that he is a Sparky now. Being 5 means that life is good. Being 5 is cool! If you don't believe it just ask him. We had a family party with dinner, presents, cake and ice cream. Great Grandpa and Lois came over for the night. Grammy made a very cool Scooby Doo cake. We had a fun night! |
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Today is Labor Day! It has been rainy and cold this weekend. It feels like fall. The rain has not slowed us down though. We had company Thursday and Friday night. The Lanahan's came and we spent park of a day up at Lincoln Rock Park letting the kids swim. We played games and enjoyed hanging out with these guys. It is so good to connect with long time friends who really know us. Saturday, we took a family hike up Blewett Pass at the Discovery Center Trail. The leaves are starting to turn colors up there and some are already dropping! We took a picnic lunch up there and then hiked in the rain. It was a fun hike. It became windy towards the end so the boys were happy to see the car. The rest of our time we stuck to the car and expored National Forest roads. Then we came home and had chili dogs. Sunday we went to church and then Paul took Mark and Michael on a bike ride around the Wenatchee Valley Loop Trail. While they did that I took the other two boys and we explored Lincoln Park and another park, both of which we had never been to. Then we headed for home just as it started to dump rain. An hour later we went and rescued Paul and the boys who were wet and cold. They came home and had hot chocolate. Then a bit later Paul and I went out on a date. We went up Mission Ridge and explored trails up that way. It was fabulous. Not sure what we are up to today. We are starting school tomorrow, so I am mentally getting prepared for that. Benjamin's turning 5 on Wednesday! So I need to figure out what we are doing for his birthday. He is so excited and is counting down the days. I am no longer a MOPS mom - all of my boys are now in school and I am enjoying not having any preschoolers! Summer has sure flown by like normal. So now we switch gears and head into fall. |
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While we were living in Concrete, WA, before we even had children, Paul became friends with Greg Wilkinson. Greg, Vernie, and their kids had come to the Concrete area to care for a elderly parent. Greg became a prayer partner with Paul, and over the years Greg has been so faithful to pray for us and our ministry. In the summer of 2006, Greg received the diagnosis of cancer, and this week he past away. We will be headed off to Spokane for his Memorial Service this Sunday. This has been a long battle for Greg. Even in the midst of it all Greg's heart stayed soft toward God and his faith remained strong. And even in the midst of his suffering, he prayed for us. I am humbled by this and know that we will miss this faithful partner in ministry. "To live is Christ, to die is gain." I know that while we feel a loss, Greg has definitely gained. |











