Want to take a guess??

I went to the dentist yesterday before the storm hit Tulsa. I knew my teeth were bad b/c I had some dental work done in KC a couple of years ago. Want to guess how many cavities I have?? Well the answer is 7. Ugh. I also found out that I grind my teeth at night, apparently pretty bad too. I had to start wearing a mouth guard at night to protect my teeth. I have grinded(is that a word?) away a filling I had over where I had a root canal done a couple of years ago, and I have cracked one other filling b/c of the grinding. It was kind of weird to sleep with the mouth guard last night- not as bad as I thought it would be but still weird. It just made my top teeth feel weird in the morning. I did learn that this will help the almost chronic headaches I get. Almost everyday I have a constant headache and the dentist said this will help alleviate those. Apparently the clenching of the jaw and grinding are good causes of headaches and jaw problems. And today I didn't have a headache after wearing the mouth guard. Sweet relief! I'll take feeling like a football player at night if it will help with the headaches!

So next month we will continue our dental visits as Sean has a cavity to fill, Ethan is getting sealant put on his teeth, and I go back to finish my cleaning and probably start on my cavities too. We ran out of time with the cleaning b/c I have so many issues and they were trying to squeeze everyone in before the ice came. Good thing the office is 5 minutes from our house!

Here we go!

After 2 weeks, my van is fixed and running again! The alternator went out on it a couple weeks ago after leaving the kids and me stranded twice. Thanks to some great friends, we made it home when it did. I got to drive Jarod's truck while the van was down, and I got to say it is pretty fun to drive! But I kind of missed my clunker of a van :-)! A very generous couple in the church lent us one of their cars so Jarod had a way to get to work. It was such a huge blessing.

The kids and I made a quick run to Walmart last night to get ready for the storm that is coming tomorrow. It's supposed to be a big one! The report last night said 1/2-1"ice with 5-9" of snow on top of that. This morning they were saying most of the ice was supposed to be to our south. Hopefully the worst of the ice goes that way. I can handle snow and being iced in for a few days, but I really don't want to lose power! I know it's kind of wimpy, but it doesn't sound like much fun, especially with 3 kids! So we got some batteries and canned food just in case. We're going to fill up our propane tank tomorrow morning so we can grill some food. Good thing is we have a gas fireplace that will keep us warm if we need. I'll let you know how it goes. :-)

Jarod and I got to go to the Tulsa Oilers hockey game last weekend with some friends, Dave and Charity. I'd never been to a hockey game. It was really interesting to watch and a fun atmosphere. I kept cracking up at the guys who sat down in the front by the glass and would bang on it and yell at the opposing team. I think they had 1 too many beers, but it was funny to watch! There were no fights until the end when a couple of guys went at it. The crowd lit up when they fought. I've never seen a fight in real life, and I don't think I care to again. But it was fun getting to go out kid-free with some friends and have a good time. Dave and Charity are a lot of fun. They came over on Saturday to watch the OSU vs. KSU game (they are OSU fans). Even though we lost, it was fun for me to sit and watch the guys talk smack the whole game. KSU plays KU this weekend! Bring it Chickenhawks :-)!

Amen and Amen!

Today was such a great day at church!! The worship was awesome to start the service off! Jarod stopped the service at one point and had it go dark in the auditorium. Then on the screen different scriptures speaking of God's love for us flashed one after another. Then he lead into the song "Oh how he loves us" by Crowder. Very powerful and so true. First service our friends son came forward to be baptized. It is his Dad's birthday today too so what a great present for him!

Second service our friend Randy came forward to be baptized! I think I've mentioned him before. He is in our connection group and is very genuine and real in where he has been and the mistakes he has made. He has been coming to church and to our group since this fall, and he is doing an amazing job changing his life and living for God. His wife, Barbara, has now started coming to our group and told us this morning that she won't be too far behind in getting baptized! Praise God! We are blessed to be part of their lives and decision to follow Christ. Jarod and I were talking about it, it was nothing that we said that convinced them to make these decisions. But our group, living out a genuine Christian life and just loving them, was what they needed to see. Our group has embraced these two and loved them for who they are, warts and all. It is God's power working in us to make a difference. I am so thrilled for Randy and for his whole family, who by the way came to church this week with him for the first time, and so thankful to be a part of this! This is Randy and Jarod after service this morning(and did I mention he looks like my Dad?):

Such a purdy smile!

That's my hick accent for ya! J/K Today we took the 3 kiddos to the dentist. They were all pretty excited to go- Kaitlyn even wore her pink cowgirl boots there(thanks for the boots Dana!). Ethan went first and did great. The dental hygienist said he had a lot of questions and wanted to know all about what she was doing. That is so like him- he is our little inquisitor! Sean did pretty well. He got a little scared of the water sprayer and the suction. He started crying and wouldn't let her wash off the toothpaste and didn't let her do the fluoride treatment. But he was a big boy the rest of the time. Kaitlyn did awesome. She climbed right up and answered all the questions and sat with her mouth wide open during it all. She was a big girl! They all got a prize for doing so well!

All in all we have 3 cavities- all belonging to Sean. Poor guy! He's going to go back for his first filling in 2 weeks and we will work with him slowly to get him used to the dentist. When his cavities are filled he will get a sealant put on his teeth. Ethan will go for the sealant in 2 weeks. All 3 of them have a flap that runs from their lip to their gum that is so close to their teeth that it is causing their teeth to have a gap. The dentist said they clip those so the teeth will naturally line up, and if we don't they will have a pretty major gap in their front teeth. So yeah us we get to take Ethan first this spring to get it done then Sean this summer. Kaitlyn won't have to get it done till she is 6. They say they do it all the time and it is not painful. I just don't want to see it get done! Poor babies! I am so thankful for their pretty little teeth and the opportunity to get this work done.

Oh and we were only there for 2.5 hours today! A long afternoon, but the kids were great!

Great Weekend

I had a great weekend with Dana. She came Friday and went grocery shopping with me (exciting I know!). Kaitlyn kept calling her "that durl" or "your best friend." It was cute! Saturday we just hung around the house all day. We played Mario Kart with the kids, baked a cake, went for a walk, and watched a movie. It was so nice to be lazy and just talk all day. This is Dana helping the kids bake a cake:



She got to go to church with us on Sunday. It was really nice to get to worship with her and introduce her to some people. Even though we didn't do anything super exciting this weekend, we had a great time just talking and catching up with what's going on in each others lives. I cherish those times, and I cherish my friendship with such a Godly woman. God has put some amazing women in my life and I am so thankful for all those friendships!

There will be a day....

My heart goes out to Haiti! What an awful tragedy and my heart breaks for those people. May God be with them and all those working to rescue and comfort. At times like this, I long for the day when God takes us home and restores what is broken. This is Jeremy Camp's song "There will be a day."


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=le-TG4sRRiQ


Amen, come quickly Lord! We need you.

Woohoo!

Jarod is leading worship this weekend for the Mid-winter retreat that our youth group attends. So he will be gone pretty much the whole weekend and Sunday morning. So I texted a friend in KC to see if she would want to come down south for the weekend since I can't afford to travel north. And she is coming!!! Dana will be here on Friday, and I am so super excited! She is one of my very dear friends, and I can't wait to have 3 days with her! She is one of those friends that just makes me a better person by just being around her- and she makes me laugh. So now I just need to clean my house up and get ready!! Just had to share!

Randomness

-It's January! And it's cold! I'm ready for Spring already....

- January is dental month for us. All of us are going in for cleanings and checkups. It's well over due, and I know it's weird but I'm excited for it. Jarod is up first this week and then the kids go in a couple weeks followed by me in a few weeks. Here is to a healthy smile!

- The kids go back to school tomorrow. I'm kind of sad about it. I've had them all to myself these last couple of weeks, and it's been so nice. They boys are excited to go back and see their friends, and Ethan, our studious one, is excited to get back to school. At least the year is half over!

- I just feel excited for what God is doing and going to do this year. There are some incredible opportunities that we are praying come about, and just the everyday- being a part of God's family and work here. I love God's people and I grateful to be a part of God's plan.

- The Olympics are coming! Jarod and I are big Olympic nerds. We love watching the competition and all the stories of the athletes. Jarod likes the curling that happens in the winter Olympics, and we both love watching the speed skating. I like all the skiing- mostly b/c I think it's got to be just amazing to zoom down the mountains like they do!

- My Dad gave the kids the Wii Sports Resort for Christmas. It is a lot of fun. Jarod and I have stayed up playing the different games on it. The attachment for the remotes really do make them more sensitive to how you move them. My favorite on there is ping pong and speed slice(with the sword). If only I could beat Jarod on ping pong....

- I need some new recipes. I like ones you can throw in the crockpot and let it cook while you do other things. If you have any good recipes, could you send then my way?

I Believe

This was Jarod's article from last month's newsletter at church. Thought I would share it with you. He called it "I Believe:"

"A few weeks ago, on my way home from church, I heard something on the radio that moved me deeply and caused me to worship God in a new way. It wasn’t a worship song or a sermon; it wasn’t even on a Christian radio station. For reasons unknown to myself, on that day, I tuned in to National Public Radio on a Sunday afternoon. I heard an old man, a Catholic scholar as it turned out, speaking about his life’s work: the study of creeds. As a church-goer all my life and a student at a Bible college I was familiar with the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed, but they were little more than academic for me. I agree with most of what each says (though at points I have arguments) and appreciate them for the effect they’ve had on the Church for centuries, but I’ve never been moved by a creed... until now.
Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan was exploring the different creeds, talking about their origins and the roles they’ve played in the Church and in the arts. He talked about how a community tends to focus in on the creeds in their youth, but as they grow in their knowledge and maturity they desire to write their own statements of faith. One community’s creed captured my heart. Tears welled up when I heard the words being read, and as I read the creed to my wife Laura in our kitchen a few minutes later I could barely make it through.
This is the Maasai Creed, written by Kenyan Christians in the 1960’s:

"We believe in one high God, who out of love created the beautiful world. We believe that God made good His promise by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left His home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and [humanity], and showing that the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by His people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He was buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch Him, and on the third day He rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.
We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him. All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins, be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love, and share the bread together in love, to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again. We are wait- ing for him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen."

I love the imagery of Jesus on Safari doing good, of the hyenas never touching His body. I love the eager anticipation of His return.

“We are waiting for Him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe.” Amen."

Jarod Anderson, Worship Minister