The Helgrens Got Good News

I woke up this morning to a really cool message. Our dear friends Joy and Kendall Helgren who are serving as missionaries in Africa just found out they are pregnant with their 3 child. I will know more from her when she gets to Lusaka. They think the baby will be here around February.

One CRAZY Week!

Wow, It has been one crazy week. It seems like we have been busy everyday. I kid you not, there were kids at my house everyday last week. Not that I mind, but I was sooo tired. Friday night I did get a little escape. Rhonda, Amy, Ms. Gail and I went to the Lake House to scrapbook. I got a lot of pages completed. And I got to unwind by the water. In February the water was down at the Lake due to the drought. However, the rain has been a huge blessing to us. And the water was up to the wall. This is a huge deal.

I sat by the water and was telling Ms. Gail about how good God has been to us lately. I enjoy sharing the little blessings God sends our way as well as the BIG ones. Our home church Lakewood Baptist has sent us two checks recently that covered some of our bills. And Amy's brother gave us some deer meat, that we were able to share with some other families in need. I love when God blesses us and we get to share the blessing. We have several families that support us every month. And some of them probably think their gift to us is so little, but it is so big to us. I find that it is so hard to say Thank you. It feels so hollow when something means so much. I wish there was a word that meant Thank you but that packed a punch!

My children have been so good lately. It is great to be a mom. And I really love being Chris' wife. We have been really praying about what the Lord would have us do once Chris graduates. We don't know exactly what God has in store for us, but we do know what we feel like He is calling us to do. We think we are suppose to use our home as a ministry for Him. We have looked into Cadence International running a Hospitality House for Military families. We like the idea of having game night and Bible Study in our home, and cooking for families, and I really liked the idea of mentoring moms and starting a Military MOPS group. We don't know if this is exactly the outlet the Lord has for us. But we know that He has clearly shown us that Ministry in our home is a perfect fit for us.

We did have game night this week. It was good to have the Newlyweds Michael and Rachael with us before they leave for their mission trip to France. And we always like having the Baker Bunch. We played our new Favorite group game "Time's Up" and then a game of "Wits & Wagers". After we had homemade pizza we played spades. We hadn't played that in so long, it was great fun!

So this was our CRAZY week!

So this has been our CRAZY week!

CALEB'S BIG NEWS

Caleb prayed tonight asking Jesus in his heart. We know it seems like he is a little young, but he certainly understood what his brother was talking to him about. Chris was at work but we put him on the speaker phone as David prayed with him and walked him through the plan of salvation. Now this was enough to make his mother cry. He asked me if he could go on the porch and tell the whole world that he was a Christian now!

The End of VBS

WOW! What a week. VBS has come to an end and I am pooped. Myself, Rhonda, and Amy were in the office doing registration. Wedgwood had VBS at 6 locations and we were the hub for all the information to come to. We input the children's information cards, assigned them to their classes, and then did attendance. This process took a couple of hours. If Rhonda's husband hadn't created this software program called "ourvbs.com" we would have been there FOREVER! Thankfully Rhonda had bought Starbucks, Chocolate, and munchies to make the time fly. The kids all had a good time and I was really glad they each learned something different. David learned a new song that he just loves to sing now "Amazing Love". I love the words to it and that he is 7 years old and teaching it to his siblings.

I'm forgiven, because you were forsaken.
I"m accepted you were condemned.
And I'm alive and well your spirit is within me.
Because you died and rose again.

Amazing Love how can it be
That your my king who died for me.
Amazing Love I know its true
Its my joy to honor you (in all i do i honor you).

You are my king, you are my king ,Jesus you are my king
Jesus you are my king.

I know that God is working in our family. I feel so thankful that He has given me these precious children. I am so glad my husband makes countless sacrifices for me to be home with them. I wouldn't want to miss a moment of God working in their lives. And when David sings this, I feel so at peace. I wonder how God feels to hear his children sing.

One night Amy, Rhonda and I sat out on my front porch for what we have named "Porch Therapy" where we bring our favorite drink and munchies and just catch up. Well on this particular night we saw what we thought was a shooting star, and then it got brighter so we guessed comet, rocket, & plane, as we watched it fall from the night sky. The next day we learned it was a meteor. That was really cool!! Just another reminder as why I like the open Texas sky, star lit nights, and the God who created them all!

For those of you who read this often, please continue to keep Chris and I in your prayers. We have 11 months until Chris graduates and we are praying for God's direction in the next ministry He calls us to.

Have a BLESSED week.
Eli

SUNDAY

Dad was in the hospital Sunday due to stomach / intestinal problems. We didn't go to church. So while Dad slept, Mom came to the house. She and the girls had church in their room. The girls read their Bibles and talked about Jesus. I know how much it has meant to me to have godly grandparents, I know that it will mean so much to my children. When I think about how they will be able to look back and see the spiritual legacy that has been left for them, I just get all teary. My greatest desire is for our children to walk in the truth and love of Jesus Christ as their Savior. This picture doesn't capture the moment well, but you can just imagine.

Funny things tonight

I just have to let you all know how funny life is here. Right now Julia is rocking a banana. Singing it "Dancing" songs. Abigail is bathing herself in the laundry basket with the clean socks as her bubbles and washcloths. We covered the side of the boys bottom bunk and made a pirate ship. We put the baby bed rail on the top bunk and made a "poop deck" and a cabin filled with pillows. The kids thought this was great. David wore his tricorn hat and played the roll of captain. We all played in there for several hours today. Until Mom fell overboard to cook supper. I feel so blessed to have such wonderful children. Yesterday we had a steady stream of friends stop by and it was a huge blessing to all of us. We know our time at seminary is limited and we are grateful for our good neighbors and friends. God has been abundantly good to us and we feel so fortunate.

David turns 7!

David is going to tell you about his birthday. I had a Lego birthday. I played drop the Lego's in the bucket. And we had a Lego building contest. We gave awards to winners in different Lego areas. Like Tallest structure, Most buildings, Most creative, and more. Mrs. Rhonda came over and decorated my cookie cake. It had "Pepper" the Lego person on it. Mrs. Rhonda did a really good job. I got some nice gifts like the Eye Toy for my PlayStation 2 from Grandma Jan and Daddy Barron, My Mom and Dad gave me a kids video camera, Uncle Nate gave me Shark Attack Lego's, my friends all brought me Lego's. I even got a bionicle. And with all the birthday money I got I bought a skateboard and I bought my brother a marvel hero. Since he didn't have a birthday for a long time. It was a fun day. Here is mom's note...Can you believe that is David on the skateboard???? Caleb rides it too. Oh My!

RA'S

Our David finished his first year as an RA (royal ambassador for Christ). He has really enjoyed this year and his teacher has been great...his DAD. Mr. Phil the director is a big ALABAMA fan. So our kids have had fun cheering WAR EAGLE when they see him. This year David built a RA Race car, went Camping, Had a lock-in and met a missionary from the Philippines.

OUR TENTH ANNIVERSARY!

Chris had some wonderful surprises planned for our tenth anniversary. The first was that he had my parents watch the kids for the weekend. Then Friday evening when he got off work we got dressed up for dinner and went to Saltgrass. Of course Chris had come to pick me up with a dozen roses in his hands. From there, we went to our favorite hang-out...Barnes and Noble, then to Half price books. I could get lost in a book store. Time just seems to stand still when I am surrounded by good books. Then we went to blockbuster and finally home. Where Chris blacked out the windows in our bedroom and turned off our phones so we could sleep late on Saturday. On Saturday, we awoke late and it was raining. So Chris' plan for a picnic in the park got canceled. So we had sandwiches for lunch and went to Mardel's, and grocery shopping at Target. For the evening, Chris took me to downtown Fort Worth where we ate at UNO. This is a Chicago pizza place. And would you believe that we actually ate at the original UNO when we were in Chicago right after we were engaged ten years ago. Then on Sunday we went to our friends wedding. It was a wonderful relaxing anniversary weekend. Did I tell you what my gift was? Chris and I took ballroom dance lessons. How nice...at the next wedding I work I will feel more comfortable on the dance floor. The big picture of me is my surprise to Chris, when he checks the blog, there will be a treat for him! I thought it was good picture of his wife who is older than him.