Merry Christmas

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Family Day: Red Bluff Farm

Today was absolutely gorgeous and a little chilly. Our plan was to go to Red Bluff Farm in Folsom, LA which is about an hour away from New Orleans (across the lake towards Covington). The girls woke up extremely excited about going to see pumpkins and animals and pumpkins. Did I mention that they wanted to see pumpkins?

They had a number of baby animals for us to pet. Chicks, goats, noisy piglets, and lambs to name a few. The girls had the opportunity to feed a calf with a milk bottle, but both were a little too shy to do that today. Maybe next year.

We got to see a sheep being sheered.

(Which the sheep did not like very much.)

We saw one of our friends (the Wilkerson's) while we were there and ended up hanging out with them most of the day. The Wilkerson's also adopted their daughter, Bella. Our families have much in common. They are waiting to be approved to go on the mission field, so please keep them in your prayers. They have been waiting a long time due to cut backs.

We all had some kettle corn which everyone enjoyed (maybe a little too much).

The girls then picked out their pumpkins and posed with them. Thia had trouble holding on to hers. It's a wonder it made it home.

Before we left we took a few posed pics. These took the longest to get. Neither one of them wanted to pose longer than a nano second.

The girls tried to pick up the largest pumpkins they could find, but as Thia put it...

"I too wittle."

We had two tired little girls on the way home.

They were both very proud of their pumpkins.

Everyone took good naps today.

Mosaic Family Movie Night - "Boo on the Bayou"

I wanted to share a few shots of the fun night we had tonight. Mosaic decided to love on our community tonight by doing a Family Movie Night next to Bayou St. John. We have been praying for this event for several months and everything seemed to be going well until we tried to start up the generator that would run the popcorn machine, the sound system, the movie....well pretty much everything we needed for tonight. If you read my last post you know that I am very aware that Satan does not want us to be successful in anything we are doing to get to know our neighbors and of course this tonight was no exception. The thing Satan didn't expect was that no one panicked. No one was defeated. We all began praying and acting as though all would be well. The atmosphere was not "if we get this thing to work" but "when we get this thing to work" we will get started.

We called up another friend who we thought might have a generator and, praise the Lord, he did. We had that generator up and going within 10 minutes of the start time. We had a great turn out. The weather was incredible. The popcorn was delicious. The drinks were cold. The company was loving. We got to meet a number of neighbors and love on a ton of kids.

We are so excited about what God did tonight and the wonderful time we had at Boo on the Bayou! I hope this will be an annual event. Here are a few pics of the fun we had tonight.

Cool night, warm popcorn, great capri sun, comfy chair, funny movie...

what more could a girl want!

Friends all snuggled in for the movie.

Thia has her popcorn and she is ready to watch!

At the beginning of the night we had a few chairs open.

By the end of the movie, every chair was pretty much full.

You can't see this part in the picture, but off to the left are about 20 people

sitting in portable chairs, hammocks, and on blankets.

In Need of Prayer...

I am very aware that I have not published on this blog since June and I apologize to you sweet friends and family members that read this blog to keep up with what is going on with us because you love and care about us so much. Again, I am going to try very hard to make a change. I think the reason I have trouble writing is because I am a pretty private person and sometimes I convince myself that writing is not really that important. I am slowly realizing that I am wrong.

I need all of you knowing what is going on with us if for no other reason than to have your prayer support. This week has been a very hard week for me spiritually and emotionally. My understanding of how evil Satan is has grown. I have faced a number of very evil things as a counselor, but this week has taken me to a new understanding of evil. It has reinforced my belief that Satan truly hates Christian families and will go to ANY length to destroy them. I have also come to the realization that the only thing Satan hates more than Christian families is Christian families in effective ministry.

I had a Christian family from New Orleans in my office this week who was seriously wounded both emotionally and physically. My heart went into shock and then completely broke for this family sitting in front of me in shambles. The phrase "all hell broke loose" would be an understatement. The question was asked of me, "I am a Christian and have tried to do everything the right way. Why did this happen to me?" I didn't have an answer. This week the Lord has had me on my knees more than any other time in my life. He made me aware of the fact that my family is being protected because people are praying for our protection. However, I was also made aware of the strength and the pure evilness of our enemy. I realized that we cannot have enough people praying for our protection. We are working in a city that surpassed its 2014 projected crime rate in 2011. These crimes are not just petty crimes. The crimes are assaults, rapes, and murders.

We are living in a city that people easily are able to throw together a party where excessive drinking and immorality are expected, but when a church or community association tries to put together a wholesome family movie night, paper work falls through the cracks and road blocks seem to come from all sides at the last minute.

So, the main reason for this post today is to ask you to begin earnestly praying for our family. God is doing some amazing miracles through Mosaic and Restoration. People are being saved and families/relationships are being restored. Churches are working together in a never before seen way. Light is being shown in this city. Satan is not happy.

This city is full of wonderful aspects. The food is incredible. The music is unmatched. The people are relational and warm. They enjoy relaxing and having a good time with one another. These aspects are not the bad in this city. The problem is that Satan has corrupted these wonderful aspects. He has taken what God intended for good and used it for evil. He has added many other evil aspects into this city such as drugs, sexual immorality, sex trafficking, drunkenness, and the like.

Mosaic has begun to pray that the Lord would Redeem the "good things" and destroy the bad. I have been made aware this week that this prayer means we are opening ourselves up to a spiritual war I never wanted to imagine was there.

Please join with us to pray for the redemption of our mid-city neighborhood and this city of New Orleans. Please pray for the success of the events Mosaic and Restoration attempt to do to minister to this mid-city neighborhood. As you pray for these things, please pray for the protection of my family and the families of Mosaic and Restoration working to minister in a city that Satan thought he had conquered. God has already won the war, but we have a number of very very hard battles to fight.

Thanks! We are very grateful for you!

Our Tent

When I was a kid I remember putting sheets over our dining room table and pulling as many blankets and pillows under the "fort" as we could find. We made it as cozy as possible and then spent hours reading and playing in it.

From that, I got the idea of giving Karis and Thia a "fort" although they do not call it a "fort". They both call the contraption a tent. On this day they both had to have their pillows to lean against and Karis had to be dressed up in her Cinderella dress. They both grabbed a number of books and then piled on Karis bed. I threw the blanket over the top and they laid underneath their tent for a while. It was not as long as I had hoped because Thia realized that when she sat up completely her head brushed against the "tent". She then realized that she could completely aggravate her sister by making the tent go up and down. After a while the tent completely fell a part which caused hysterics on the part of Karis. Needless to say, it sounded like a good idea at the time. Maybe the mixture of a 4yr old and a 2 yr old under the tent is a bad combo. Karis has enjoyed the tent for much longer by herself and during her naps. Maybe Thia will catch on to the "point" as she gets a little older. Oh well....it makes for great stories.

Bye Bye Nassy

Thia said goodbye to her passy at the end of last week. Here is a video of her saying goodbye...

Page and I expected a really big fight at her next bed time. Her first nap was pretty rough, but she has gone to bed every other time with very little trouble. It took about 2 or 3 days and she has completely stopped asking for the "nassy" all together! YAY!!!!!

"I like crusts now, Mom!"

A few days ago I made myself some toast for breakfast. While I was eating the toast, Karis decided that she would like some toast for breakfast as well. It is amazing to me that my girls timing is so exact. It seems that right as I sit down to eat, they have another immediate need that needs to be met. For this reason, I am not sure I remember the last warm breakfast I have had. However, this is a topic for another day. The topic I am writing about today is Karis and her overnight love for crusts.

Each time I make toast or a sandwich for Karis I usually get a very long speech about how she emphatically "DOES NOT" like crusts. I heard the long and the short versions of this speech. It usually goes something like this...."Mom, you know that I don't like the crusts on my sandwich (or toast). I have never liked the crusts on my sandwich (or toast). Even when I was a little baby, I did not like the crusts on my sandwich (or toast). You are not going to leave the crusts on it are you, Mom?"

Well, on this day I told her that I was leaving the crust on the toast because it was still hot. I have always found hot toast easier to eat with the crust on. It is less likely to burn my fingers that way. At least this is the excuse I gave her at the time. I really do find toast easier to eat with the crusts, but the real reason I left the crusts on was because I was hungry and wanted my breakfast. For some reason she decided to actually try the crusts. The next thing I hear is...."MOM!! I LIKE CRUSTS!!!

Just think, another few seconds of doing the "old way" and my daughter would have never experienced the joys of crust eating. :-) Thank goodness I was so hungry that day.

Picture of Karis eating the crusts.

MOM!! I LIKE THE CRUSTS!!

Dressing Up

My girls have wonderful imaginations which I try to encourage as much as I can. They enjoy dressing up at least once a day. Here is some of the latest pictures of dress-up time.

Thia is dressed as a ballerina/bride. This costume was Karis' Halloween costume. They both have gotten a ton a wear out of it.

Karis is dressed up as an African Princess. Nana and PopPop gave her this costume for Christmas this past year.

You can see one of my shoes behind Karis. They also enjoy wearing my shoes. I can never keep them in my closet nor can I find a pair when I need them. I can usually find one but not the other. Oh the fun of having preschoolers! I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Royal Wedding Tea Party

As many Brits and Americans tuned in to watch the Royal Wedding at 4am, I chose to hold off and watch the Youtube recording at 4pm instead. We made a fun time of it. The girls and I went shopping for tea snacks (little cakes, scones, and sandwiches) and then we got out my china for the tea party. Mawmaw (Vickey Tassin) surprised Karis and Thia with their owntea cups which they learned to use and during our tea.

We set up the wedding on the computer and then oohed and ahhed over the new Princess Catherine's wedding dress. We watched her walk down that really long isle and say her vows with Prince William. Then we watched as they rode through London in their "open carriage" as Karis called it.

After the wedding and festivities were over, Karis and Thia decided they wanted to watch

Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement. The movie gave Mawmaw and I time to talk, which was lovely as well!

Painting

Both of my girls are very artistic and enjoy painting, drawing, and coloring. They especially enjoy expressing themselves through the arts. Here is an example of some expressing that happened today on Karis' birthday. Hope you enjoy!!

Conference Success!

We are so excited to announce the success of the marriage enrichment conference we had this past Saturday. We spent six hours talking about a number of different topics. We looked at the truths from Song of Solomon for marriage relationships. We discovered our personality types and discussed how our personalities can impact the way we think, feel both emotionally and physically, communicate with others, and relate with God. We saw how different personality types interact with one another which has direct impact on our marriage relationships. We discussed how each one of us speaks a certain love language and the need for spouses to fill up their significant others love bank by learning their language and speaking it often. We also divided up into small groups and discussed how all this information ties together to help you cultivate a beautiful marriage relationship.

The day went extremely smoothly. Each one of the couples were excited about what they learned and seemed to be motivated and determined to apply the information to their relationships.

I feel so blessed that the Lord gave me a husband whose passion for enriching marriages matches mine. I also am blessed to be able to do a job that is so rewarding. Thank you for your prayers. We definitely knew we were being prayed for. We look forward to the next Enriching Your Marriage conference.

God's in the Details: Even Green Eggs and Ham

I have been praying for this day since I put it on the calendar. I was nervous for Karis. I knew that because of her personality, she warms up to new situations very slowly. In most cases, her more reserved personality is not a problem, but in this situation she would be required to warm up to her environment quickly. Going along with her reserved personality comes a wariness of strangers. She takes a little while to warm up to people and share herself with them.

I also knew how much was riding on this day. We want her to get a good education in a neighborhood school that is rated high in education, high in arts, high in languages, gives her sports opportunities, and that is community oriented. The only way for Karis to be accepted into a school with these opportunities for free at the age of 4 is for her to be assessed as gifted.

This gifted assessment was another issue. We could get the assessment for free at the Recovery School District Child Advocacy Services in the same way that our neighbors would have to do. The likelihood of her being assessed as gifted in this place is VERY low. They screen to keep children out not to allow children in. Our other option was to pay several hundred dollars to a psychologist and have her tested. The environment would be better. The psychologist would take the time to allow her to warm up to her before assessing her. The likelihood of her being assessed gifted is higher and then we would have more school options. However, our neighbors are not given this option. They do not have the money to have a private assessment. How could I begin to minister to them and understand the struggles they go through in everyday life (like putting their children into schools) without going through the same hoops they go through. They do not have the money to see a private psychologist. No, if I wanted to experience life with my neighbors I needed to choose to jump through the hoops and trust that God would take care of my daughters education.

So, I made the appointment for the pre-screening way back in January and I started praying. Yesterday was finally the day and I woke up as nervous as I got taking qualifying exams for my PhD. I began praying early that morning. One of the lessons the Lord has been teaching me of late in my prayer life is to be open to His voice while I am praying. Basically, He wants me to be quiet and listen. Normally that is not a problem for me, but when I am nervous I tend to keep talking. On this day I practiced just being still. He immediately reminded me of 3 truths:

1) He loves my daughter more than I do and wants the best for her. He also has plans to prosper her.

2) I needed to trust Him and lean not on my own understanding.

3) I needed to Be Still and Know that He is God.

As I was getting ready for the morning, a peace that I had not known before swept through me.

Karis woke up in a very extraverted mood for her. She was talkative and excited. She rarely has these moods, but this was the mood I had been praying she would have all these months.

We left the house early because I had not been to the building before, at least that is what I thought. I had read through the directions several times the night before so that I wouldn't get lost. I sent the directions to my phone just in case. When I got in the car I started in the direction that I knew we were supposed to go. I began to pull the directions up on the phone, but for some reason it wasn't working. Anxiety begin to creep in. I looked at the clock and saw that I had about 20 minutes and it was only supposed to take 5 to get there. I calmed down a little, but the phone was still not working for me. I started praying my rapid fire prayer when I was gently reminded to BE STILL. I took a deep breath and began to drive. The directions came clearly to my head from the night before and I finally made it to the office. Low and behold it was the same office of the school we really want Karis to go to. We had been there the week before to put in an application. Karis immediately recognized the school and was so excited that we were back. (Prayer request # 1 answered....it was not a new place it all. She would not require much warm up time.)

We got to the office, checked in, and then went to the waiting room to wait to be called. We sat down in a very kid friendly area. They had books for us to read and toys for her to play with. The area was freshly painted and very inviting. These aspects are very unusual for New Orleans, especially after Katrina. Most of the time the school district works with what they have, which is not much. I was pleasantly surprised. Karis immediately went to the bookshelf and grabbed a few books. She stopped as she began pulling books off and exclaimed, "Mom! They have Green Eggs and Ham!" This book is her favorite right now. As soon as she saw it, all the reservation I saw in her about being in a new place went away. She was at home because they had her favorite book. I stopped myself from crying at that point because I knew God had placed that book on that shelf for her. (Prayer request #2 answered....she was completely at ease about being in this place and talking to new people. They had her favorite book so these people can be trusted.)

We went through a hearing test and the audiologist was extremely friendly, allowing Karis to mash the buttons on the machine and giving her a sticker. We had a little moment with the nurse who wanted to test her eyes, but it worked out ok. We were taken to the social worker for the assessment and as I met her my fears were completely put to rest. She was very loving to Karis and Karis was immediately at home in her office. She explained to me that Karis would have to score in the 99th percentile for her to be considered gifted in the school district. She explained that very few 3 to 4 year olds score this high because they have to score on a 3rd grade level. At this point I was praising the Lord for all the prayer requests He had answered and I knew if she did not score that high everything would be okay. He had taken care of her up to this point (even down to Green Eggs and Ham). Why wouldn't he take care of everything else. I left Karis in her office knowing she would probably not score in the gifted range, but completely at peace.

I immediately sent out a prayer request text to a few people and within seconds got messages back saying they were "On it!" What a blessing to have friends and family members who were immediately praying for me at the drop of a text.

Karis came out of the social workers office about 10 minutes later and ran to me telling me how much fun she had had. (Answered prayer #3.....she had done her best!) Again, I stood in amazement at how the Lord had worked in the details. I walked with her back to the office to wait on the social worker to score her assessment. Karis and I talked for a few minutes and then I noticed that the social worker had stopped writing. I looked up and she said, "Well.....she did it! I am so excited for her. I rarely see children score this high and I am always so excited when they do. Karis scored in the 99th percentile on the pre-screening and she will go on for the actual screening in a few weeks."

I sat back in amazement. Not only had God worked this entire day out for Karis, but He had given her the abilities to score high enough to move on to the next "hoop". I then realized that she said Karis had scored on a 3rd grade level and realized I was in for some trouble later on when Karis realized she could use her "smarts" against me and her dad. We will cross that bridge when we come to it though. :-)

I was so proud of Karis and I was overjoyed at the way the Lord had blessed me on this day. I could not wait to share this experience with Page and with you as my friends and family. God has been teaching me to pray in faith. We have been trusting the Lord that the ministry He has led us to in Mid-city would be His. We have prayed that He would allow us to live life with our neighbors and friends, trusting Him in the process to take care of our family. I was assured once again:

We are right where the Lord wants us.

He is going to take care of our family.

We are going to see the Lord work in mighty ways in Mid-city.

God will bring racial reconciliation in this city.

More than that, God will draw many souls to Him.

Our job is to be faithful.......even in the details.

Thia's Prayer

Here is how the conversation went:

Page: Thia would you like to pray tonight?

Thia: Sure!! (she works really hard to get a bite of eggs in her mouth before she drops the fork to grab Page's hand and begin the prayer)

Thia: Dea Lor, ....Mommy, Daddy.....

Karis: AND ME!

Thia: (looking up at Karis through squinty eyes)....Me?

Karis: Yes, .....Karis!

(Mom and Dad beginning to chuckle)

Thia: Oh!....and Kawis....

Karis: ....and Mommy and Daddy....

(Mom and Dad trying not to bust out laughing)

Thia: ....and Mommy and Daddy.... (mumbling something we did not quite understand)....

Karis: ....Amen?

Thia:....Amen!

(Dad has to get up from the table and Mom is trying hard to control her laughter so that the girls do not feel like they have done anything wrong!)

We love that our girls enjoy praying! We also love that God hears the prayers of children!

Thank you Lord for reminding us (in entertaining ways) that you desire for our hearts to be as simple and pure as our children's hearts! - Amen

Mosaic's Beginnings

Some of you have been asking about the church plant Page and I are doing in mid-city. We wanted to give you some pictures of what a church plant looks like at the very beginning stages. Page and I, and a few other prayer warriors, have been praying for over a year and a half (before Page left for Iraq) about planting a church in the mid-city section of New Orleans. This area was populated with over 40,000 people before Katrina, but is now down to 27,000 people of a number of different nationalities. The top three races are white, black, and hispanic. This area has few evangelical churches and no evangelical multi-ethnic and multi-racial churches. As I have mentioned before, the Lord has placed this area of town on our hearts and has led us to have a heart of seeing worship here on this earth as it will be in heaven (every nation, tribe, and tongue worshiping together as one body).

When I began looking for a home, we strategically looked in the mid-city area. I cannot go into all the details here, but God worked a number of miracles when He brought us to the home we are living in now. We see this house as ministry tool of the Lord that truly blesses us as well. I literally wake up every morning and thank the Lord for my home. We love our home and the area we live in very much.

We have now met as Mosaic church 3 times. Each time we have come together for a meal, worship, and communion. God has blessed us with a very talented black man to lead us in worship. He and his Haitian wife have already been blessing to both Page and I during this process. They have a very sweet spirit and a desire to see lives changed in this area. We are in the process of working out another gifted black man to be on our leadership team. He and his wife are also very precious and have hearts for our community. Our services so far have included people who are Haitian, Nigerian, Cajun, Black, White, Chinese, and of Mixed Race. I mention all the races to let you know what God is doing across racial lines.

We know that because racism is a problem that is all the way down in the roots of this city and a stronghold satan would like to keep this city bound with, this type of work is only going to be done through the power of the Almighty God. We are praying even now that we would be able to stand firm against the attacks that satan will begin to launch. We are posting all this information on our blog so that you will begin to pray for this work that ONLY GOD CAN DO. We cannot do this alone and we need your prayers. Thank you so much in advance for bringing our family before our Father in prayer. Thank you for praying for our friends and neighbors that they would be drawn to what God is doing. Thank you for praying that this precious core group that God is building would be strong and courageous.

Page took pictures from 3 different angles to get everyone in the pictures. I (Ashley) am in the kitchen cleaning up a little before our service began. For those of you who are wondering, our house is a double shotgun house. The living room is up front. The hallway you see leads to the dining room and kitchen. The white doors you see off the living room and hallway are the bedrooms.

Funny Stories

I know I keep apologizing each time I get on here for not posting more often. I do apologize to the friends and family members who want to keep up with us. Granparents and Great Granparents....these stories are for you!

Karis is finally completely diaper free. For over a year she has been wearing diapers just for naps and night time sleep. For about 3 or 4 months now she has been off diapers for naps. About a week ago I just decided to quit putting a diaper on her at night. She had one or two accidents early on, but they were both my fault because I forgot to wake her to go potty before I fell asleep. About 3 or 4 nights ago, she started waking herself up to go to the bathroom. She gets up around 3am every morning, walks to the potty, turns on the light and goes all by herself. She has not had an accident in over a week. Whoo!! Finally!!

We have not started the "for real" potty training with Thia yet because she is afraid of the toilet. She will refuse to bend her legs to sit on the potty unless Page or I is holding her waist and then she just looks and us and says, "No pook!" which is what she calls both of her toiletry jobs.

Our funny story with Karis was that about 4 weeks ago, the entire family were taking naps. I wake up to hear this weird banging noise coming from somewhere in the house. It took me a while to realize that it is coming from the girls room. You need to know that even though the girls share a room at night, we still separate them for their naps otherwise they would never go to sleep. Karis sleeps in her bed in their room. So once I realized the noise was coming from their room, I opened the door to find Karis standing by her bed completely naked. She has poop caked on her hands, kleenex covered in poop all over her bed and the floor, and poop stains on blankets, sheets, and a book or two. My immediate reaction was shock because she had never been the child to want to get dirty. So I said, "Oh Karis!" She looked at me with this helpless look on her face and said, "Mom, I tried to change my diaper for you so you wouldn't have to change my poopy diaper!" Of course, I couldn't be MAD at that explanation. She was trying to "help". So I picked her up and took her to the bathroom. I had her shake her hands off over the toilet to get the clumps off her hands, but she didn't really understand that concept, so she started trying to manually work the poop off like you would dough off your fingers when making biscuit. I immediately stopped that and just put her in the tub. As I was hosing her off, she looked at me and said, "Mom, I thought to myself...'This was not a good idea!'" At that announcement, I busted out laughing. It was amazing how laughing together about the situation actually made the cleanup less tedious. I did make Page clean up the bedroom, however. I figured he had missed a year of such messes, he needed the clean up experience and I wanted him to be able to tell the story first hand rather than tell about how I handled the situation. I was only thinking of him! ;-)

Alethia has completely come out of her shell. Those of you that know her will know that she has never really been in a shell to begin with, but she knows no stranger or insecurity of any form. She has rhythm in her blood and has moves that cannot be taught, nor would I want to teach them to a 2 year old. For example, both my girls love the old song "Rockin Robin" because they enjoy dancing to it. We sometimes have family dance time in the kitchen while I am cooking to keep the girls entertained. Page and I were watching the girls dance to this song for what was probably the 3rd time when Thia just took off with her dancing self. She started shaking her hips, bopping her shoulders, and cocking her head. The funniest part to us was that she placed her hands on the counter and begin to rock her hips back and forth while going all the way down to the floor and back up. Seeing as how we do not watch anything on tv but, Veggie Tales, Dora, Madeline and Diego, and realizing that Page and I could never dance like that even if we wanted to, we wondered where she was learning her moves. We still don't know. I think we need to work on appropriate and inappropriate dancing with our 2 year old. Never thought I would be saying THAT!

Anyway, hope you enjoy the update and that the stories make you laugh a little!