God Is

"And the God of grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen."

1 Peter 5:10-11

Life has gone on amidst us waiting for the birth of our son and this week, some hard news from various sources in our inner circle. My heart aches for the loss experienced by close friends, as well as one of my youth. It is difficult to think of the joy that awaits Blane and I shortly when those whom we care about are suffering so. I'm sorry that I can't go into more detail, but would you take a moment anyway and pray for these who are hurting? God knows and He will hear your prayer.

God, You are sovereign in all things. I trust in that promise today.

Aim

*Photo from here

Family Friends

 A couple of weeks ago our dear family friends from Seattle were in town and we got together for dinner and some good family fellowship time. I love it when friends become so close that they are more like family. This family is like that to ours and we love them dearly.

 We went up for Carrie's (on the far right) wedding a few years ago and they all came down for Blane and my wedding last fall. Next summer we will trek up to Seattle again for Jayna's wedding (to my left). It's important to be there for significant events and Blane and I are looking forward to it!

It was so nice to spend time with all of them. Thanks for coming down John, Celia, Carrie, Jeff, Jayna, Jonathan, Lori and Matthew!

We love you!

Aim

Honey Boo Boo

 On Sunday, Pat was on fire as the High School Sunday School teacher. He even referenced Honey Boo Boo from the reality show Toddlers and Tiaras! The guy was unstoppable! Hahaha

Here are Pat and Blane encouraging one group to recite their memory verse-2 Timothy 3:16-17. Pat talked about the importance of knowing God's word and really hiding it in your heart-and your mind! It was a fun hour and at the end of it all, most of us had at least some portion of the verse engrained in our minds :)

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training. So that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

I <3 my High Schoolers!

Aim

Baby Watch Week

J's in town!

She drove in from her Mammoth vacation Sunday night and early yesterday morning she took me to my doctor's appointment. She heard the baby's heartbeat, the doctor told me that I am only 1 cm. dilated and we were on our way. Don't know if this little guy will be making his debut this week-he seems to be quite cozy in there.

Afterwards we went to grab breakfast and then we stopped in to say hi to Mom at her school and Meliss at her work. By 11am we were both exhausted and in need of a nap haha.

I love having my sister here :)

40 weeks! And counting...

Aim

A Crepe and A Blessing

Sometimes blessings come from the most unexpected places at the most unexpected times.

Last week, Quid and I went to brunch at a crepe place close by. I had seen La Petite Creperie on Yelp and was curious to try it out. 

The place itself is really cute-very French, on the smallish side, but quaint in a good way. The menu is actually quite large, but since we were at a creperie, we decided to go with crepes! Duh haha.

We decided on one savory crepe (chicken and mushrooms with some kind of cream sauce on a whole wheat crepe) and one sweet crepe (a lemon citron). They were both really yummy!

As we sat and ate and chatted, one of the workers walked up to our table and told us that "the lady who just left took care of your bill." WHAT?!? We were shocked. The crazy thing is that this "lady" that he was referring to was this woman whom both of us had noticed because she had a huge colorful tattoo on her leg and she was kind of gruff-looking. Definitely not someone whom we would've thought would have been so kind and gracious like that.

It was a reminder to us not to judge a book-or a person-by their cover. This gruff-looking, tattooed up woman certainly blessed our socks off, and for no reason either-she doesn't even know us!

I'm totally wanting to pay it forward now~simply because to be the recipient of something like this is so special. And besides, it's something Jesus would do-treat others as you would want to be treated :)

Merci!

Aimee

Five Simple Words

I've been reading Ephesians lately because that's the book we are going to be taking the youth through this school year. My oh my is there such goodness in this book! Today I was struck again by the simple conviction of the Holy Spirit. Read on with me~

"But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

Ephesians 4:7-16

These verses are so powerful and so rich. There is so much about unity in the body of Christ and how important it is. "So that the body of Christ may be built up...until we all reach unity in the faith...from Him the whole body, joined and held together..."

I've been in the church my entire life and sadly, I have seen many times where this unity in the body of Christ has not been the case. It doesn't just happen in church, but also at camps, in retreat planning, etc. etc. especially when you are in a leadership role.

This is why it is so important for us to be in God's word daily, to leave our messes-our ideas, thoughts on how things should be or shouldn't be, etc.-and to pick up God's cross and carry it with humility and grace into whatever situation.

"Speaking the truth in love"

And what happens when we are hurt or feel like something needs to be exposed or just that someone is acting foolishly or selfishly?!? Here it is, in all God's wisdom-simply, to "speak the truth in love." Are you shocked that it doesn't say, "go talk to your friend about how annoyed you are about it?" or "laugh about it behind that person's back or be secretly disgusted at that person for some reason?" I think this is one of the most difficult things to do...and it's only five words long! Hah. 

I'm trying. To keep the unity, to put aside my own feelings for the sake of Christ's gospel and peace, to speak the truth in love on a daily basis so that things aren't fake but are real and growing in every relationship that I have.

Let's not be infants people! It's just so not worth it ;D

Aim

Fore!

This is a photo Blane took while on the golf course at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach Monday. His two bosses from work took him on a little half-day "babymoon" and the three of them played a round at this  "best of" course in Orange County. The ate lunch, golfed, then ate dinner and Blane had a blast.

I am glad that he got to have this experience before the chaos of parenthood begins. Blane loves golf and the opportunity to play Pelican Hill was like the icing on the cake for him.

Thanks bosses for blessing my husband!

Aim