I'm thankful for... My Sisters & Brothers!

Each of these individuals add their own unique, needed, precious, and special dimension to Charlie's and my own life. Without just one of them we wouldn't be who we are today, they add love, laughter, depth, conviction, spontaneity and spark to our lives! God has bless us with them!!!

Anna:

A woman who know what she thinks!

She's a great one to look to if you're looking for

an honest answer woven with light-heartedness and love and energy.

Cally:

This young lady is tender-hearted,

thought-provoking and is up for adventure and craftiness!

(us "big girls" call them "the little girls"- who are not all that little anymore)

Zach & Bridget:

Zach is strong man with a soft heart; he's a people lover and will give the shirt off his back to help others (us!) out and make them feel comfortable. Bird is full of life (quite literally-little nephew due next spring!) and knows how to make us laugh; she always looks at the bright side and is willing to be vulnerable and open. Together they're dynamic!

(e)Liz(abeth) & Michael:

Liz is strong, creative, and bubbly; she never shrinks back from monumentally difficult things. She is so caring and thoughtful. Michael is an amazingly steady, level-headed man. He is great at giving perspective and always thinks before he talks (and always has a gentle tone!) Together they impact the lives of everyone around them.

Andrew:

This guy always has others needs before his own, and deeply cares for his friends' (and our!) well-being - physically and spiritually! He's a great movie quoter and wilderness camper. He can talk about theology, sport statistics, family, remodeling, love, news, and craziness with ease, enthusiasm, intelligence beyond his years.

WE LOVE YOU ALL!

I'm thankful for... My Parents 2!

Mom & Dad J:

Mom is such a calm, level-headed, humble woman. She is gracious and always shows great respect for her husband, she embraces her role as a Godly wife. Dad is a jovial guy; he always has a smile, a kind word filled with truth, and is witty (if you're fast enough to catch on).

Together they willingly and joyfully serve their family and their church family (often from behind the scenes); what a great example they are to us!

(I'm also REALLY grateful for the fabulous man they raised, who I get to enjoy!)

(this is a picture of them enjoying a spot of tea on one of their recent adventure to London)

We love you both very much!

I'm thankful for... My Parents

My Dad:

My Mom:

My Mom and Dad are amazing. I love them so much! The above pictures are testaments to their servants hearts for those around them. This particular weekend they brought gear all the way up from Iowa to help us with some yard work. My mom always looks for ways to love us through gifts or acts of service, and my dad shows us love by spending time and being patient. (both show love MANY other ways, but this is what stood out to me this trip).

I've learned so much from my God-fearing parents, who are committed to each other (and their family) through thick and thin, who always put others before themselves, who are down-to-earth and always up for anything.

I love each of you!

age

Ten days ago Charlie and I got to go to Waterloo to celebrate my years as a human. (not that I've had years being anything else...) I guess I should say to celebrate my birthday. Let me break it down for you:
(Amanda)You have been living for 29 years, 0 months, and10 days.
Your age in months - 348 months
Your age in weeks - 1514 weeks
Your age in days - 10602 days
Your age in hours - 254448 hours
Your age in minutes - 15266880 minutes
Your age in seconds - 916012800 seconds
You've seen 8 leap years.
We also enjoyed dressing up to go get CANDY CANDY CANDY with our little nieces and nephew!

dehydrate

Main Entry: de·hy·drate
Pronunciation: \(ˌ)dē-ˈhī-ˌdrāt\
Function: verb, transitive verb
1 a : to remove bound water or hydrogen and oxygen from (a chemical compound) in the proportion in which they form water b : to remove water from. (our house!!!)

Soooo, I had a little surprise waiting for me upon my arrival home Thursday afternoon. I tell ya- I wasn't gone for no more than four hours and our house began to turn into a swimming pool! Yes, that's right, the little flexible tube that connects the toilet tank to the wall (pipe) sprang a leak in the valve sprayed about 4 feet constantly for a good long while. Enough to flood that upstairs bathroom, the hallway outside it and just into the rooms connecting to the hallway. Then as it continued to spray it filled the ceiling in the bathroom, hallway, and family room below on the lower level. And didn't stop there- it filled the walls, the floor to standing water and finally down in to the basement level and into the drain in the floor. Completely ruining our new paint work, all our carpeting, vanity(s), sub flooring, trim, doors, and baseboards.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, we've been gutted. We get to do a $50,000.00 + unwanted remodel. :-) BUT we're thankful that 1. it was not sewage water! YAY! 2. it happened BEFORE we went out of town for the weekend (could you imagine what it would've been like if we were gone and found it after 3 whole days!!?!?! YIKES). God was good to us. Our insurance will foot the bill. We'll be staying in a hotel (thank you state farm!) until they at least finish the upstairs portion and get that carpeted.

Here are a few pictures of our fun. If ya think of it, just pray that we could get things repaired really quickly, so this project doesn't drag on for weeks and weeks (like what usually happens with builders). We'd really like to have it wrapped up within a month. (is that crazy?)

wow- prayer

A dear friend ( Pattio :o) ) has been talking with me about what she's been learning about prayer in her personal study. It's been so sweet and refreshing to be reminded of what an AMAZING Father I have. She shared this amazing sermon link with me by Tim Keller. (just 30 minutes) I think it's part of series on the Lords prayer.

About 3/4 of the way through, at the part about the father and daughter in the toy store and he related to the story of Eve and the trees in the garden, really struck home. It's an example I've heard twice in three days. Satan made Eve think/act: "Because you won't give me this one thing you won't give me anything". Sin happened when Eve focused on what she couldn't have (JUST ONE little tree- she'd been given EVERYTHING! but that). It's an adoration problem: "because God won't give me everything, that just proves he doesn't want me to have anything" - LIE- Satan has distorted my thinking. It's a matter of trust that He has my best in mind. I must fill my prayers with adoration and praise!

Adoration- turning my thoughts to Him and what He HAS given me will change my view of my current situation (petition). Adoration will heal my sinful heart. (because it changes my hearts focus to GOD).

Praise must be at the gate of my heart, the first to overflow, saturate and dominate when I talk to my God! I must pray only because I adore my GOD. What I choose to pray about reveals what my heart hallows.

All of this has spoke to my heart in relation to what happened this summer. I must honestly say that I have questioned God's love for me many times; because he took our son, Bennett Torger, away from us. But in reality, (and I hope I can feel this in more and more real ways in the future), He took Bennett to be with Him because He loves me (us). I don't fully understand that kind of love, but I know it's true. I want to be thankful now for the things I do have and the gifts He has bestowed on us! He has saved me from eternal wrath, has has given me PRECIOUS family and friend, and a husband who loves and cares for me dearly. He's provided for my every physical need, and my list could go on.

Thank you Patty. My heart needed this. I'm humbled. I want to PRAISE MORE!!!



...and on that note: (little long- but WORTH IT! I wanna follow Hannah's example! :-) I wanna parent like these guys!

"In Jesus Name, AMEN."

That's all.

fall party

We were so blessed to have a suddenly beautiful fall day (a change from our 30-40 degree, rainy, snowy weather). These are the words that come to mind about that day: sunny, crisply warm, autumn, orange, yellow, friends, family, fun, kids, couples, together, relaxing, creative, silly, trees, gratefulness. We'll definitely have to do this again. We enjoyed carving and paintings and chatting with ya'll!Us and our little Penelopie Pumpkin 2009

If you'd like to see some more photo's of our fall pumpkin party go here.

Two weekends ago we got to go to Des Moines to celebrate our nephew's (Elliott) third birthday. They held the party at a place like Chuckie Cheese's- we ALL had a blast. -those games can be really addicting (the ones where you win tickets...) yeah- are we trying to get our kids addicted to gambling!??! (LOL- it was so fun though!). Silly faces with the birthday boy! (oh by the way, Elliott addresses me (manda) as "Unca-Manda" Not sure if that's because he likes Charlie better and wishes he were with him...or if Aunty-Manda is too tough to get out???)
So happy to spend this season with the love of my life.