But before I get to that, I have a few thoughts I’d like to share. First of all, this year I’ve really enjoyed the idea that God has given us a new year to live and work and praise Him in! I think it’s partly because our 2011 was so crazily busy, but whenever I think of the rest of the year before us, I have this exciting feeling of freedom – and anticipation. Looking over our calendars, there are so many little squares representing our days – 366 of them, to be exact – and I wonder, How will the Lord fill these days? Many of them are already filled up, and more are being filled each day. But there’s still so much time in a whole year – time that we need to be using  for God’s glory!

And yet, on the other hand, there’s really not that much time in a year. Sure, there are about 8,784 hours in 2012 (some 550 of which are already gone forever, leaving us with  closer to 8,200), but compared to eternity, that is only just an infinitely tiny speck. When I think of it that way, I am reminded that I need to be spending every bit of this speck of time to advance the Kingdom of God. Some verses that I’ve thought about a good bit recently are Proverbs 3:5-6. Yes, they seem to be extremely common, and I think we often quote them without really thinking about them, just because we’ve heard them so often. But think about the richness in these words: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” So as we enter (or keep living in) 2012, let’s purpose in our hearts, by God’s grace, to acknowledge Him in every area of our lives, including the seemingly insignificant things, so that He can work in and through us, directing our paths for His own glory!

But back to the start of the new year: we were in New York the week between Christmas and New Years, and had a wonderful time up there, working, playing, and visiting with family. We were planning to leave on Saturday, get a hotel about half-way back to our home, and then finish the drive back on Sunday. But we were surprised and delighted when Dad announced that we would be able to spend that New Years Eve with the Wilkes Team instead of by ourselves: they graciously allowed us to use their home as our hotel!!   We had a fabulous 24 hours together, and one of the highlights was the time that we spent “praying in” the new year. Around 11:30 pm, we gathered together and began praying – praising God, thanking Him for His many blessings, praying for our homes and for our nation. We prayed for over an hour, right over the stroke of midnight. It was such a precious time, and an incredible blessing – we would encourage everyone to do that sometime! There is something strengthening and exciting about knowing that you’ve just spent the last bit of the old year, and the first moments of the new in fellowship and communion with the Giver of time itself.

So, even though it’s a bit late, we still mean it very heartily:
Have a blessed 2012, Everyone!!

We’re back-tracking in time, because we just realized that, due to the craziness of other things going on at the same time, we never wrote anything about a very important event that occurred last fall! But, keep in mind, that the timing of this post has nothing to do with it’s importance in our lives!

This “event” was a much-anticipated Hymn Arranging Seminar, put on by our wonderful violin teacher, Mr. Pinner (with Pinner Studios). Seeing our interest in learning more about writing, composing, and arranging music, Mr. Pinner graciously put together an exciting weekend for us, complete with sessions, master class opportunities to have our pieces critiqued by guest clinicians from Bob Jones University (Dr. David Rasbach, Mr. Duane Ream, Mrs. Joan Pinkston, and Dr. Dwight Gustafson), productive Q & A, a choral concert written and directed by gifted composer/publisher Craig Courtney of Beckenhorst Press, and a whole morning in the BJU computer lab working on Finale software with Dr. David Parker! We were humbled… honored… amazed by all of the opportunities that weekend presented. The things we learned were tremendously helpful and we look forward to doing more in this field of music in the future. We also came away encouraged by the focus of the clinicians. In everything they did, they stressed our purpose in life: to glorify the Lord.

Thank you, Mr. Pinner!!

Rehearsal dinner:

Wedding!!!

After the wedding, the family met at Fuddruckers for dinner and more time together.

Just 2 1/2 weeks ago…

We were on our way to Maryland to witness the glorious union of our dear friends Joshua and Lisa!

Here are a few pictures to give you the story……

They’ll do a better job than words….

The purpose of the Family Encouragement Weekends is to encourage and exhort, and to bring families together in an atmosphere of fellowship. We had the joy of serving along-side the Wilkes and Staddon families last month and hosting the 4th Annual VA FEW Conference. What a blessing we received as we fellowshipped with other like-minded people, sought the Lord through prayer, and were exhorted to pass the baton to coming generations!!

We praise the Lord for repeated evidence of His blessing and power during the entire conference! To Him be the praise and glory!

We recently had a mini reunion with some of Mom’s side of the family. Mini because not everyone was able to come. But a reunion it was, and a great one at that.

“Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

The poultry yard was quite entertaining!

Music, of course, played a part in the week.

There was lots of fun around the various projects…

…and fireworks on Fourth of July were a “blast!”

We can’t forget the mealtimes – delightful for more than one reason!

And some of our favorite times were helping them with their ongoing projects around the barn!

We got some miscellaneous fun shots, too.

Keep in mind that none of us had ever done this before. Thus, as it got down “to the wire” and we had only an hour and a half left before it was time to be lining up at the parade, we saw a very obvious manifestation of the Lord’s blessing and what team work can do when the team is of one heart and mind! Lunch had yet to be finished, signs to be made, people to be dressed, candy to be attached to flyers of encouragement, a plan for how the float would actually look to be arranged (kinda important ), and much more, but all got done in record time as each individual pitched in with their unique giftings and abilities and worked with the joy of the Lord flowing from them! Our goal was to have the float communicate a message of hope and encouragement to families, since they are the indispensible building block of society! As goes the family, so goes the nation…

There is nothing like working together as families to encourage other families! Praise the Lord for holding off the rain for the parade and allowing us the opportunity to reach out to the people of Culpeper! God is good! 

Thank you, Wilkes Team, Uncle Nathan and Aunt Summer, and Grandpa and Grandma Wilkes for including us in your family and letting us be a part of this wonderful occasion!

One of those such opportunities was just a couple weeks ago, when we found ourselves once again on a road trip traveling to see grandparents. It was such a great trip! The hand of the Lord was evident, even when the day before we were supposed to leave, the reverse went on our van. 

We thoroughly enjoyed working together on various projects while we were there. Dad and Mom worked outside in the heat on a project: fixing the barn doors, which were dragging the ground when you swung them open and  falling off their hinges. Most of the rest of us were busy inside doing domestic-type work. We also enjoyed looking at the beautiful day lilies that Uncle Fudge (our step-grandfather) has on the border of the property. There are soooo many different types and colors and variegations…. and did you know that every part of a day lily is edible?

We were also blessed to be able to minister in two churches that Sunday, one in Chattahoochee, FL, and the other in Bainbridge, GA. It was good to be able to spend time with extended family, grandparents, great-aunts and uncles, and friends.

Praise the Lord for each opportunity He gives us to serve others, whether it is by dusting a bookshelf or singing a song!  May God grant us the wisdom to know which opportunities to take, and then the joy and the grace to follow through with the Lord’s guidance!!