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Last March I wrote a post called Making Moments where I listed some of the days we will always remember. Making moments is a good discipline. Most of us are accustomed to marking days like birthdays and anniversaries. But what about other days? What days you mark? As we near the one-year mark of some … Read more
Last Sunday my sermon was based on the book of Galatians where Paul’s main point is that we don’t live by rules anymore. If we rely upon the law then we rob the cross of its power. We rely solely upon God’s grace. But Paul also says that this does not lead to lawlessness, but … Read more
Last year, after we brought Ethan home from Korea (mid-February), winter was already well under way in central PA, but Ethan didn’t seem too interested in snow at the time. This year, Ethan’s first experience with snow was the trucks that come and plow the church parking lot, usually while he’s sleeping. It scared Ethan … Read more
New Year’s happens to be one of my favorite times of the year. I think it has something to do with new beginnings and fresh starts. It’s an opportunity to look back and reflect on where I’ve been, and then move on to new adventures! I’ll admit, though, that I’m a little sad to say … Read more
After we got up this morning, we brought Ethan downstairs to the Christmas tree. It didn’t take him long to start checking things out. We read a Christmas devotional and prayer then Ethan began opening gifts. Opening gifts was a very slow process — about all morning, including a break for breakfast, not because there … Read more
Even though we celebrated Christmas in February earlier this year (a week after bringing Ethan home from Korea), this will be our first Christmas (in December) with Ethan, so it’s a very exciting time for us! It’s also a busy time. I had a Christmas Eve service at Centre Grove tonight at 7:00 pm and … Read more
Last month, we began our Christmas celebration while visiting family in Tennessee (at Thanksgiving). There, Ethan received Christmas gifts from grandparents. Today, we had our annual Christmas gathering with the Flaughs in Roaring Spring, PA. Families exchange names of the children at the Thanksgiving gathering and buy Christmas gifts for them. As you’ll notice in … Read more
What an amazing Christmas this is already! It’s wonderful to experience things through the eyes of Ethan. Everything is new and larger than life! Here’s a little of what we’ve been up to. Weekend before last was the Christmas Parade in Clearfield. Tradition has Santa arriving by train. It was so cold, we looked for … Read more
In the months before we brought Ethan home from Korea, a friend told us about teaching her children sign language even before they were able to communicate with words. One of the first signs we taught Ethan was “more” (to help us know if he was still hungry and wanted more food). And recently, we’ve … Read more
We wondered how Ethan would handle our recent vacation, visiting family in Tennessee. It was the longest Ethan’s been away from home since being with us. As it turns out, he handled it pretty well. Ethan went to sleep each night without too much difficulty, but he didn’t get as much sleep as he needed … Read more