November

So thankful for our Brookie Bear.
We praise God for our girls.

October

Our first fall Women's Retreat with our sisters from Fallon.
Brooke, Daisy, Jane, Katie, Marianne & my Mom all came. Such a blessing!

We had a little post office where the women would write notes of encouragement to each other and filed it under their last name. It worked out well.

Jill Rosario, Patty Ardavanis, me and Diane Bucknell. All pastors wives :)

Apple Hill

Apple Hill

Sorenson's in the fall

Brooke in the backyard.

Jane & Candace

The Hoffmans came over and we went to a couple houses together. The girls loved it!

September

Jane playing with her friends
Our church's one year anniversary table of God's faithfulness!

Jane & Mae having tea with us!

Jane & Brooke

First field trip on a train ride in Virginia City, NV.

Jane's first day of pre-school at Small Blessing

August

O Praise Him!

Psalm 150

A Psalm of Praise

Praise the LORD!

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty expanse.

Praise Him for His mighty deeds;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

Praise Him with trumpet sound;

Praise Him with harp and lyre.

Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe.

Praise Him with loud cymbals.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!

Praise the LORD!

Wow, can I put some of that in my coffee? My dear friend, Delores Michaelson, gave me a book that is a MUST READ, it is called, "How to Worship Jesus Christ," by Joseph Carroll. If you have not read it, please do! The one thing my sweet friend, Delores, told me is "Daisy, it's all that matters, that we worship Him, praise Him and that we excel at it still more." We never reach the ceiling in our quiet time with the Lord. This is an area that we need to constantly be growing in! O, it is our source of everything! He is our life! My prayer is that we would use our lips to praise the Lord, to bless His holy name, to worship at His feet and stand in awe of Him. I have enjoyed reading and studying through Psalm 1 for the past week and what incredible treasures there are within this Psalm. One incredible note in Psalm 1:3 is that the word "planted" actually means transplanted, so cool! So if you read the verse again with the true usage of the word it brings so much depth and insight,

(the righteous), "He will be like a tree firmly transplanted by streams of water,"

In this one word is our understanding of God's saving grace. He chose us, grabbed us, and transplanted us for His glory. The water brings life, and so as Christ is our living water, we are in Him. The contrast is very sobering, for the wicked are not so. My wonderful husband taught out of Psalm 1 and there is a startling point here. When you cross reference there is a similar verse in Jeremiah 17:8 and then right after that comes the infamous verse Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; who can understand it?" One of the most deceptive things the heart can do is to believe the lie that they are one of the "transplanted" trees when really they are in a desert, dead and without hope. May we be emboldened to share the gospel without hesitation, may people see through the lie of the enemy and may God open their eyes and transplant them by His living water. For time is short and there is much work to do! All of my love, Dais

Psalms

I am beginning a study through the book of Psalms which may take many years of my life, who knows? And, I am really excited! I am going to use commentaries by J.A. Motyer, C.H. Spurgeon, Stanley L. Jaki, and who knows what else I may find on my husband's book shelves :) I am so blessed to have all of these resources at my fingertips; one of the many privileges of being married to a pastor.

One quote I have to share is from J.A. Motyer, "It is striking that the very first word of the entire book of Psalms should be this one (Blessed). Surely it is far more important (this is the second question) that we should be righteous, or obedient, or loving, than that we should be merely happy? Yes, in the short term; but from his original creating of his people right through to his final redeeming of them, Scripture is clear that God's long-term purpose for them is that they should be blessed. The psalmists celebrate every foretaste of that heavenly promise." pg.20

Incredible notes from the MacArthur Study Bible: "The basic theme of Psalms is living real life in the real world, where two dimensions operate simultaneously 1) a horizontal or temporary reality, 2) vertical transcendent reality. Without denying the pain of the earthly dimension, the people of God are to live joyfully and dependently on the person and promises standing behind the heavenly/eternal dimension. Life often seems out of control, and yet, all events and situations are understood in the light of divine providence as being right on course according to God's timetable."

"Assuring glimpses of a future "God's day" bolsters the call for perseverance to the end. This book of praise manifests very practical theology." -John MacArthur

One of the life long files I shall add to until the Lord calls me home is on the subject of Joy. I pray that every Christian will know the joy of their salvation, that they will rejoice always, that they will joyfully adore their Savior who bought them and that they know the joy of His presence. May our hearts be fixed on heaven as we walk on the narrow road to glory.

"You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand are pleasures forever." Psalm 16:11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhBVKnJhcqU&feature=youtu.be

Love my dear family, Happy Anniversary Bob & Diane Bucknell!

Engaged!

My sweet friend Michelle got engaged to Josh. My heart is rejoicing to see God answer many prayers and bring her a man after His own heart! What a blessing! She was visiting from New Zealand where she attends The Shepherd's Bible College. Miss you Shell! www.tsbc.org.nz/

Resolved Conference 2011

So thankul for our time at the Resolved Conference in Palm Springs. God blessed me to be able to go with the girls I have been discipling and a couple other friends (missing Ange in the photo). Can't believe my sweet Willa, (nearest me) is leaving to go to The Master's College. She has been so precious and such an incredible encouragement! I will miss her dearly! If you haven't watched the trailer, you must. The sermons were as always, life changing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzcu93DYkVY

www.resolved.org/media/

Catching Up

Mommy & the girls at Lake Tahoe for Daddy's 36th birthday!

Baking with my Titus 2 girl

Brookie bear you're too much!

Papa bought us icecream after Jane's recital. Loving Papa.

Blessed...

Happy 36th birthday, my love! Brooke & Daddy at Sugar Pine Point in Lake Tahoe.

Jane performed in a little recital at Lake Tahoe and we had a little photo shoot a couple of days before. So thankful to be involved with a Christian owned ballet studio.

Jane in one of her ballet outfits from Grammy.

Easter Sunday

Our first Easter service at Harvest Bible Chapel Carson-Tahoe. John's sister & brother-n-law came up with the kiddos to share the day with us. God gave John an incredible sermon and I praise him for his mighty hand at work in all of our lives. We love you Lord.

Just the four of us.

All the kiddos together, so adorable!

Chloe & Jane

Outside of church

Brooke walking while we were staying at the lake house.

My Brookie Bear.

Trips to Southern California

Daisy, Brooke and Janey.

Jane and I had our first tea together. There is a Christian owned tea house in Lancaster that we have gone to a couple times. WE had a lot of fun together. I will remember it always. I think we will make it a tradition.

Stephanie Noll and Laura Barstad at Steph's shower.
My sweet friends from LA.

Me and my Janey.

Chloe and Jane having princess tea with tiara shaped scones.

Oh dear!

Cute closet full of hats for the girls to try on.

Decorations as Steph's shower. They chesked out books from the library as decorations.

We had fun desserts, fruit and beverages.

Chloe and Jane at Disneyland in March.

They are dear friends and only 1 year apart. So thankful for our sweethearts.