In All Things

Incase you haven't resubscribed...

2012-01-24T21:53:00.003-05:00

http://inallthings1peter411.blogspot.com/

a new post! And some fabulous talent.

A New Address

2012-01-19T15:41:00.000-05:00

Though we don't know what our new mailing address will be just yet... I do have a new BLOG address for you.

I have wanted to change the .com for this blog for a long time. Something about having our first and last names on it made me a little uneasy. So from now on, I will be posting at my new .com....

http://inallthings1peter411.blogspot.com/

everything is the same, just a different location. Please sign up over there to receive my updates! Thanks faithful followers!

(I promise more info soon on the move! So far we have had a showing every day but one since friday!! Crazy!)

Would Jesus listen to Jay-Z?

2012-01-19T09:03:00.000-05:00

My hubby officially has his own blog (mostly because this one was too "frou-frou"). :) So I'm claiming this one and may make some edits accordingly :)

His first post is one that has been brewing for a while. He has great insight to some cultural blind spots in the area of entertainment. Hop on over and take a look. (He's awesome)

www.clintdarst.blogspot.com

Happy New Year! (a tad late)

2012-01-09T13:53:00.000-05:00

We spent this last week in Chattanooga TN with 5,000 Campus Outreach students and staff! Some of the best preachers in the country were there. It. was. amazing. It was time well spent for us, ministering to college students (with no babies!) and enjoying the city. We are really tired(physically), but refreshed (spiritually) as well. And SO VERY glad to be home!

2011 was a year of refining for us. The Lord's commitment was evident. Many life circumstances were difficult and unexpected, but the Lord used them to make us more like Him. And so, it was very very good. 2012 will have its' difficulty for sure, but we are excited for a fresh start. This year will be different than any other. In ways we know and in ways we don't know just yet. The Lord has been up to a lot in and among us.

If you are on Facebook you may have noticed some chatter about some "news" for us. Though I still can't share ALL the details, I can let you in on a major part of it. As of tonight around midnight, our house goes live online, for sale! This is long in the making for us. We have known it was going to happen since last summer, but the reality is setting in. We are excited and anxious and hopeful for all this means!

The full news about whats up will be posted later this week. ;)

May the Lord be made great in 2012. In transition, in moving, in parenting, and in a new normal. Happy New Year!

Oh, December

2011-12-21T14:54:00.000-05:00

December has been a little chaotic for us. With the end of Clint's first seminary semester, crunch time for our ministry schedule, sickness running through the house, and preparing for Christmas, its been a little nuts. We have been trying to usher in the baby Christ by doing daily (ha) devotions and crafts from Truth in the Tinsel (which I highly recommend!). Though it hasn't been as "Christmasy" as I'd hoped, we are still making memories. I feel like Christmas is never as ideal as I hope...I keep hanging on to the hope of next year being less crazy. Hopefully this time, that will be true.

I was encouraged by my friend Carrie's blog recently. She says it so well, and I think our ideals can be unfair because of what others holidays look like. Hello, Pottery Barn December catalog! You know why its unfair to look at those pictures and think "I wish my house could be like that during Christmas"? NO ONE LIVES IN THOSE HOUSES! It's an epiphany I had this week as I attempted to wash dishes, make a Mary popsicle craft, read scripture to a 3 year old and balance a cranky 14 month old on my hip. This is what Christmas looks like here. All day Veggie Tales Little Drummer Boy marathons because the whole family is too sick to do anything else, half done advent devotions because I have a 3 year old and a 1 year old, no lights up anywhere in the house (except the tree) because I can't find a drop cord, and no. Christmas. cards.

But you know what? My baby knows which Little People is Jesus, my 3 year old knows about an angel named Gabriel visiting 2 women with news of babies to come, and believe me, we know the story of the little drummer boy. Baby steps. And though I may not be living up to the mom bloggers I read, I know this. We are being faithful in the chaotic, sick, clingy, imperfect reality that is our life.

So, here are a few pics of the (few documented) December happenings around here.....

We love shatterproof ornaments...

Decorating the tree.

playing together. One of my most favorite things in life right now.

Nias learns to watercolor. What a big boy.

Just Because

2011-12-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

Chelsea {Senior}

2011-12-01T16:27:00.000-05:00

Whats more fun than taking pictures? Taking Senior pictures of your little sister in the town you guys grew up spending holidays and summers in! Chels asked me to do this a long time ago, but we couldn't get our schedules together until Thanksgiving weekend. We were blessed with a perfect (not too cold) wednesday and headed out to find some rustic fun alleys and buildings in the T.O.B.

Here are some of my favorites

Blue door...blue eyes...wow

Biggest smile in the world.

Nothing like bubbles to get the facial expressions going!

My elementary school. Heart.

Love this...just love it.

Chels and her love, the basketball court. I love how this turned out!

Lauren + Jesse

2011-11-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I am planning a wedding :) But in addition to planning a very fun June wedding, I had the privilege of doing a little engagement photo shoot with the happy couple! This is the 3rd shoot I have had in the last 2 months which is VERY exciting. I feel like the Lord just dropped this in my lap...and I. LOVE. IT. I had so much fun with these two...and honestly, could the pictures have turned out bad with such beauty represented??? Meet my sister in law, Lauren. She's the most photogenic human alive! And here are a few of my favorites!

Happy Birthday E!

2011-11-18T15:56:00.000-05:00

This little beauty just turned 3. THREE...that's like, almost 10! Or...thats what it seems to me some days! Eden has been such a joy for us. She is funny and sweet and my oh my B-R-I-G-H-T! Clint anticipates coming home to the "Eden quote of the day". And she keeps me laughing and shaking my head in amazement daily.

I am renewed in my loved for the Lord consistently when I see how good and perfect His gifts are. (James 1:17) Eden is such a picture of that. Her strong will has made me more patient, her silliness has made me more joyful, her intellect has made me more diligent, her compassion has made me more compassionate. I am sure that she has taught me as much as I have taught her!

Happy birthday Eden...you are such a good and perfect gift from the Father!!!

Pinterest: A Public Display of Affection

2011-11-06T21:11:00.000-05:00

This is a blog long in the making. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Pinterest, but I have noticed in my own "pinning" and in others, that we must be careful with our flesh. If you haven't been introduced to the wonderful world of pinning, let me explain. Pinterest is like a virtual pin board where you put all the magazine clippings, ideas, and articles that you don't want to forget about. It is an amazing way to plan events and get ideas for just about anything. It is a bride-to-be's dream (hence my and my sister in law's current obsession with it)! And get this...its public. Every. Single. Pin.

So whats not to love? The Lord has been gracious to reveal a lot to me about idols. An idol is anything you worship over God himself. I used to think idols were literal "carved images" (think Buddah). But they are much more than that. An idol is anything you love more than you love the Lord. Anything you think of more than Him. Anything you think will give you life outside of Him. It is a (usually unaware) belief that something will make you happy, complete.

What does Pinterest have to do with this? It gives us access to everything we could ever want in one place. Of course, it is all still in wish form, but still yet. We can browse and pin and covet and have it all cataloged in one place neatly sorted into areas that will make our marriage, home, parenting perfect. This has been eating away at me for months. As I sit back and watch single girls with no promise of marriage plan their future wedding, my soul groans. What if the Lord calls them to singleness for life? What if they never have enough money for that perfect kitchen? Or what if infertility doesn't allow them to have that rosy cheeked newborn? Hear me out, none of those things are wrong. They are all precious gifts that I praise God for. But there is no hope or happiness in and of themselves. My fear is that as we pin and wish and assume, we make demands on the Lord. And we believe deep down that those things are promised, and they will be all we ever hoped for. And they will not.

I think there are biblical principles to apply even as we browse Pinterest. Are we guarding our hearts (Proverbs 4:23) against things that will makes us discontent, envious or bitter? Are we believing that something outside of Christ will make us happy, whole or content? Psalm 37:4 says "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart".

My love for Pinterest is unwavering. I have gotten hundreds of great ideas for photo shoots, Lauren's wedding, birthdays, decor, and homeschool stuff. But my guard is officially up. I realize more now than ever what I am quick to idolize. And even if it is a precious, white, open kitchen where I can serve my family while my kids play and memorize scripture, it is still an idol.

But there hope. As we become aware of what we are quick to idolize, grace peeks out from behind the dead stone. The desires we have are good ones, God-given even. But when they take control and leave Jesus in the dust of their magical false fairytale, that's when things get ugly. Our God is jealous, and He wants your WHOLE heart. And He will do whatever it takes to get it. "He knows what is best and He will not let there be peace until He alone controls our hearts" (Paul Tripp). So count it all grace as He reveals to you (and sometimes strips from you) the things you love more than Him. He loves you far too much to let you settle for pig slop when He offers you the Kings feast.

My Stud is 1!

2011-10-19T16:13:00.000-04:00

There's been a lot going on in the past month, hence the lack of blogs! But mainly, a very handsome, sweet, cuddly little boy had his first birthday!

I found this idea on Pinterest and LOVED it! I hope to make one for every birthday my kids have! What a fun way to remember what they liked!

Happy Birthday sweet baby boy! You have been a constant reminder that the Lord is indeed full of grace!!

Let the Planning Begin!

2011-09-26T10:24:00.000-04:00

This past weekend Clint's sister Lauren got engaged!! I have been told since I planned our wedding 5 years ago, that I would be resident wedding planner when Lauren got married. And thus it begins! We are so so so excited for her and her hubby-to-be Jesse (I am also excited that this means my kids will have an uncle Jesse! HA!). I have until June to plan a frugal, beautiful, natural, simple, elegant wedding. And I am SO excited! So be expecting posts in the next few months on how where to save, spend, DIY and forget in the whole wedding planning process! Congrats Lauren and Jesse! May this wedding be a picture of the two becoming one!!!

Musical Monday

2011-09-19T12:11:00.000-04:00

This is a song we listen to literally every day! Sometimes multiple times a day! Our prayer is that our little ones, as they dance and sing "and if our God is for us, then what can stand against?" develop a theology of the Lord being on our side!

Musical Monday

2011-09-12T16:03:00.000-04:00

I hope that Musical Monday would be more consistent than it has. But when life happens, often blogging doesn't. Here are two guys we LOVE. Shane and Shane have led us into worship via their cd's and concerts for years. Theirs is the first Christian CD Clint ever gave me. They sing the scriptures and that is why we love them. Here is a song from their new album The One You Need. GO GET IT. And if you have a daughter, you might want to grab some tissues as well...

a Little R&R

2011-09-05T10:16:00.000-04:00

This past weekend hubby and I took a little retreat. Upon the request and funded by some great (generous) friends of ours, we were ordered to go to a Bed and Breakfast to sleep and recover from our ~~insane~~ interesting summer. I did quite a bit of research and decided this was exactly what we needed. So, we dropped the babies off with some very happy grandparents and went on our way the farm! We spent the weekend eating VERY well thanks to Terry the chef, resting in the beautiful rooms, studying God's word, reading and watching college football. It was exactly what we needed. We feel rested. We feel renewed. We feel ready to jump into a crazy semester of ministry, school, parenting and life. Here are few pictures to show you just how restful this place was!

Miniature cows...

not so miniature bunny

Donkey... I. Love. Donkeys.

MomLife

2011-08-30T20:25:00.000-04:00

We have been car searching since the sweet Passat got totaled. We loved that car and what it stood for, overwhelming generosity from friends and from the Lord. But, alas, there is a new season unfolding.

We have been working with an amazing man from our church to get a car from his lot. Clint was very vague about what we wanted. Good gas mileage, good car, great deal. The next day he called Clint to tell him he had an amazing deal on this...

Oh yeah...that's right. As of this weekend we will be chillin in this sweet ride. We are officially minivan parents. Oh how I never thought this day would come....

Healing

2011-08-30T20:18:00.000-04:00

We are healing well from the accident, emotionally as well as physically. My black eye is quickly fading, which makes Clint really happy (hes been getting lots of hateful looks when we are together...). I've had to explain a few times "He didn't hit me...we were in a car accident". Prayers have been felt, and we are in the process of getting a new car...more on that another day ;)

A few days after the accident, we were in Walmart buying new car seats. Clint looked up and froze. "I think that's the guy that hit us." There are over 250,000 people in Greensboro, and lo and behold...it was him. We walked up to him. He hugged me and told me he was sorry. It was surreal. Clint had lunch with him yesterday. Surreal.

The Lord has been so gracious through all of this. We have felt loved on and cared for like family from our homegroup at church. Meals came every other day. They took care of our kids the day of the accident. They came to the hospital to pick us up. The Church has rallied around us. They have been such a picture of the Lord's provision and compassion. Our families have (as always) been amazing. We've received cards, calls, texts and tweets. Friends came to visit that night.

The Lord works in very powerful ways through His people, and especially through a body of believers. I have never been more convinced of the power and influence of the Church. We really are intended to work together as parts of the body. Some fingers, some toes, some eyes, some a tongue. And when you get to see it working together it is as marvelous as the human body. Breathtaking if you will allow yourself to see it for what it is.

What happened

2011-08-23T15:16:00.003-04:00

This has been one of the strangest weeks of my life. Any tragic event is unexpected and scary, and all the more so if it happens to you and you don't remember it. My sweet hubby shared what happened last Sunday from his point of view. Mine is a little different....

We were on our way to church that morning. I was particularly nervous because I was supposed to share my testimony to the near 200 people that attend Christ Church Greensboro. I remember my Clint praying for me. I remember Eden requesting Lecrae's "High". I remember the babies dancing to it, laughing at each other. They were in sync... it was so cute. And then...I remember a man standing at my window asking if I was ok. He was yelling, he cursed. I was sure I was dreaming, but the dream wouldn't stop. I felt like I couldn't breathe. Someone handed me a gray shirt to put on my head. I spat glass out of my mouth. I looked down and saw Clint's journal, it had blood on it. I wanted to ask Clint if it was real, but I never got it out. All I could say was "we were just talking...". A fireman asked if I could move. I told him I could get out. I couldn't. I started to cry, realizing it was all real. I looked out the window to see two friends of ours whose faces told me all I needed to know. It looked really bad. Clint told me the babies were ok. He told me he loved me. I shook my head, "I love you too". A homeless man got Nias out of his car seat. Another rubbed Eden's face to calm her. The firefighters cut me out of the car and paramedics put me in a neck brace and then onto a stretcher. Everything was still very cloudy. I looked up to see a sign that said Friendly Ave.

I knew I was bleeding, but I was unaware of how bad it was. I stayed in a dream-like state until I was in the ambulance. I started to weep, thanking the Lord for protecting my husband and babies. Thoughts ran through my mind at warp speed. "We just moved Nias, we never ride in the Passat, what happened?" The paramedic began the questions. Name, age, date, where we were headed. I told the paramedic I was supposed to share my testimony at church, he responded that I was going to have a little more to tell now. Amen.

I had CT scans on almost my entire body. All were negative. Grace. A specialist came to stitch my eye up. He was a believer. Grace. I look in the mirror to see that the cut missed my eye by 1/4 of an inch. Grace.

I got to go home that night and hold my babies. I walked out of the ER that afternoon with minor injuries. The Lord is full of grace. We believe that, more now than ever. I believe the Lord led dear friends of ours 50 weeks before the accident to give us that Passat so that it might save my life. I believe He made Nias fussy in the car so that we would move him to the middle one week before. I believe He led us to drive the Passat that morning so that when that Explorer hit us, my head and neck would be cushioned by the airbags. And I believe He was in control of the whole thing. He spared us much in the accident. As we laid in bed that night we thanked God for His grace to us. I don't know how this will work to our good (Romans 8:28). Maybe it already has. :)

Our Wreck, God's Will

2011-08-15T12:29:00.000-04:00

Her eyes were open unusually wide. Blood quickly filled her entire right eye and flowed down her face, glass was everywhere. “Rachel, are you okay, what hurts baby?” She couldn’t respond but just stared at me and moved in slow motion with this look of terror and confusion. Eden was screaming and Nias was crying. I placed my hand on her bleeding face, “Rachel are you okay, baby are you okay?” The door was crushed in just over her lap so she couldn’t move. I took off my shirt and told her to put it on the side of her face, she nodded in response. My hand was shaking violently and my phone was covered in her blood. I looked up at a young man outside of Rachel’s door who began, “I’m so sorry, I just looked at my gps, I’m so sorry are you okay?” I yelled, “its okay just call 911!” I kissed my wife told her I loved her and that I needed to check on the kids. To my relief they were both still strapped in their car seats. I got Eden out as she had a mouth full of blood but thank God it was just from biting her tongue. A man off the street was rubbing E’s face as I held her and another asked me if he could get Nias out of his seat. Nias didn’t have a scratch. “Rachel baby are you okay?” “We were just talking...we were just talking...” she replied --Finally she was talking and beginning to cry, she was going to be okay. “Baby its okay, you are going to be okay, you can cry its okay, the kids are fine, its okay baby.” Grayson’s car turns left to avoid the intersection and I see him touch his breaks as I imagine he realizes it is us. I turn to see some friends, Tayler, Phil, and Bolick on the sidewalk. “Eden go to Tay Tay baby.” I race back over to the car with Nias as the medics are cutting my wife out. “Are you okay baby?” They told me I had to back up but they think she is okay. I fill out some paper work answer some questions and then me and the kids load up in a separate ambulance. At this point I feel hopeful because she wasn’t in much pain and her body wasn’t mangled up, seemed like just a cut. I called our parents and finally got to the hospital.
    The kids checked out fine and Rachel suffered only a gash between and just below her temple and right eye. All 4 CT Scans came back negative. No broken bones, no internal injuries, only a bad cut that an expert face-doctor stitched up. I loaded up the kids with a friend from our home group at church and Eden said, “That man hurt us. He threw rocks at us.” She always keeps things fun. I explained to her that we had a wreck and that those rocks were glass from the windows. We are now home and recovering.

What happened?

We were on our way to church. Rachel was sharing her testimony, so it was a big day. We took Market St into downtown and turned left on Edgeworth. The kids were jamming out to Lecrae and we glanced back to see them both bobbing their heads (it was hilarious). Then a second or two later we passed through the intersection of Edgeworth and Friendly which are both One-way streets. There is a large house on the corner so there was no ability to see any traffic coming down Friendly, nor could they see us. A young man from out of town, Temitope, was looking at his GPS as he didn’t know where he was going, and never saw that he had a red light. He said he was going 45-50 mph and I don’t think he ever hit the breaks. He ‘T-Boned’ us perfectly pushing us through the intersection.

Where was God?

My wife is a soldier. Last night as we lay in bed crying and praying she concluded her prayers with, “God we are just so thankful for the great blessings of this day.” The number one emotion we felt last night was sober, authentic, thankful worship. And that is my main reason for writing this blog. I want you to know of the Providential Protection of our King in 3 very specific tangible and now miraculous ways.

A Week Ago
Nias hasn’t liked riding in the car recently and we have driven non-stop over the last month. So last week we decided that instead of having Nias’ behind the passenger, we would try to squeeze him beside Eden’s car-seat which was behind the driver, so that she could entertain him. So for 9 months and 3 weeks of his life, Nias was directly behind the passenger seat where the Ford Explorer T-Boned us. For a little over the last week he has been in the middle of the car instead. Our son is named after Ananias in Acts Chapter 9 whose name means: ‘The Lord is Full of Grace’. On the day Nias turned 10 months old, God displayed that He indeed is full of grace and specifically full of grace towards our little man. God orchestrated and ordained our lil man to not like the car over the last month, so that we would move him to the middle of the car, possibly sparing his little life.

Two Days Before the Wreck
    I love music. I am almost 30 years old but I have an amp and sub that was given to me years ago. It has sat in my office for a while unused. Friday I had to go do some yard work at the house that we lease to our staff in Wingate (that we bought, in part, with a $10,000 gift that was given to us from a couple whom we had never met. Specific answer to prayer.) So I decided I’d hook up the speaker     in the CRV for my 4 hours on the road. Therefore, I moved the kids car-seats to the Passat (that was given to us as an answer to prayer almost exactly 1 year ago.) Why is this significant? Both the CRV and the Passat have high side-impact crash ratings but only the Passat has side airbags. I really believe that God providentially moved me to move the car-seats on Friday to protect Rachel from worse injury.

For the Last 6 Months
    I don’t know if it has been exactly six months but somewhere near that long, I have had this intense caution that I was going to be in a wreck in an intersection. I have never been in a wreck before yesterday, but this suspicion was so intense that I told Rachel about it a month ago. On the way back from Myrtle Beach I was at an intersection and my light turned green. One car passed through just after it did and I waited for another 2 or 3 seconds and a second car sped through the same light. I called Rachel and told her that about the feeling I had and that I though maybe it was God keeping me from getting in that wreck on Highway 52 (the car was probably going 65 mph and would have hit my side). Well, maybe God did give me that suspicion for that moment, but He surely did for yesterday. Yesterday as I saw the Ford Explorer out of my periphery it was exactly what I had envisioned. Now while I had pictured this in my head, I was always alone. Thats where God’s providence comes in. Through the Grace He gave via adrenaline and through what felt like 6 months of preparation, I was able to keep my head, think clearly and help my family in this moment of need. I am deeply thankful that He gave power in my weakness. Today I let it out and really cried on the way too and from Chick-fil-A. God gave such grace for me to keep it together until then.

So what is the answer to the question, “Where was God?” He was near and active with us 6 months ago when the visions started. He was near and active with us a week ago when we moved Nias to the middle. He was near and active with us Friday when I moved the car-seats. And He was near and with us as we left our house, turned left on Edgeworth, and entered the intersection. He was near and active lining up the Explorer to perfectly T-Bone our car going 45mph. He was near and active protecting Rachel in the impact, and keeping me calm. He was near and active in keeping me and the kids from having so much as a scratch. He was near and active as our church looked for Rachel to come up on stage to give her testimony and couldn’t find her, causing a man to calmly say, “I saw a wreck, maybe we should pray.” He was near and active as one stranger gently stroked my daughters cheek and another got my son out of the car. He was near and active as firemen cut my wife out of the car and at the hospital where she was treated. He was near and active as our Home Group from Church took our children home, cleaned the house, got us some chocolate cake and organized meals for us this week. He was near and active through our parents presence at our home. He was near and active as we cried and prayed together last night. He was near and active through text messages, emails and phone calls. He was near and active as I rocked my lil man to sleep this morning and as Rachel read a book to Eden. He was near and active as He ministered to me as I let it go in the car to and from Chick-fil-A. He is near and active as your read these words because this is the kind of God we serve, Immanuel, God with us. He is Sovereign and He is good. I find much comfort in knowing it was His will for us to have the wreck and I have hope that any other “wrecks” me and my family will go through in this life, He will be near and active.

Please pray for Temitope. I text him yesterday assuring him that we were okay and not angry at him. He thanked me and apologized over and over. I assured Him that God had forgiven us in Christ for more sins against Him, that Temitope could ever commit against us. I asked Him if we could get together for lunch so that I could share more about this God with him. He said he would love to. Pray it happens and that Jesus would spare his eternal life the way he has spared our eternal and temporal life.

“Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” James 4:14-15.

Today I am reminded why I exist. Life is but a precious vapor. Don’t waste it. By God’s grace live for the Glory of Christ and others joy in Him. Protect and foster your relationships, first with God then with your family, your church and the lost and dying world. His Grace is sufficient. I Corinthians 12:9-10.

Generations

2011-08-10T07:07:00.000-04:00

The Lord has been gracious to constantly remind me lately of a song I loved in college. As I walk through long and exhausting days of mommyhood, I have needed a reminder that my labor is not in vain and that every decision that I make has consequences, good or bad. How I respond may affect not only my own children and home, but their children (and their children's children) years from now. Some mornings I have woken up to this song in my head, even though I haven't heard it in years. Praise God for His faithfulness to remind us of the Truth using music. "Remind me of this with every decision, generations will reap what I sow."

Saturday Morning

2011-07-31T13:53:00.000-04:00

Just for pure entertainment....

2011-07-25T19:36:00.000-04:00

Same outfit.... How cute is this?

Introducing...

2011-07-17T08:58:00.000-04:00

Notice anything different? :) A few days ago, hubby informed me that I need a new blog title. Something a little more interesting and focused. See, this blog started out as a way to update our ministry supporters and share pictures of the kids with family and friends. "Darst on the Daily" fit. Somehow between then and now "our" blog has turned into my blog and has, well, evolved. It has become a place for me to (still) share pictures of the kids and update supporters. But it has also become a place for me to process, to share my heart and to tell anyone who will read about what God has done in me.

In college a good friend and I started making cards and were looking for a name to call our little "business". Though it never really went anywhere (other than some great gifts for friends), we decided on "In All Things". As I thought and prayed over it, this seemed like the perfect title for this blog. Its not catchy or cute, but that is my vision for what I write here. That whether in pictures of my kids, DIY crafts, recipes, or posts about what God is doing in my heart, that HE would be glorified...In All Things.

So, welcome! I pray as you read these posts that Christ would become more real, more loved and more glorified in your heart and life!!

"If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 4:11

More Travels...

2011-07-15T09:06:00.000-04:00

This week has been a really fun one for us. We have been in dire need of a few restful days for a while now, and this week fit the bill! First, we spent 3 days close to Charleston, SC with the CO Charlotte directors and families. For the guys this meant working 9-5 and enjoying dinner and evenings together with the families. For the rest of us, it meant we got to enjoy a super cozy house and hang out with some great friends all day! Here's a few highlights....

Nothing more restful than looking out over this

Shadows on the deck

My Favorite boys

A fish like her momma...my girl loves the pool!

Bike ride that all the babies LOVED!

On Saturday we headed north from Johns Island to Topsail Island NC to spend a few days with my family. A quiet beach and lots of help with the kids made for a restful time!

Sweet baby D..the newest member of the family!

Kisses for D!

playing on the beach

I love this picture! D is "scaring" Nias...

the boys catching some fish

family time

SBP in pictures

2011-06-27T07:52:00.000-04:00

Sibling Love

First trip to the beach

Loved the pool!

Family date to the Aquarium

Buried in the sand!

My favorite...what a precious moment!!

SBP

2011-06-24T15:52:00.000-04:00

If you're wondering why it's been a while since we last updated, there are two reasons. 1) we have been living in a hotel since the end of May. 2) we have been living in a hotel since the end of May.

Let me explain....
Every summer, we pack up our family (which grows significantly every other summer) and make the 4 hour drive to Myrtle Beach, SC. Now, before you gush "ohh...tough life" or "wow, must be nice."... Give me a second. Yes, we live at the beach for a month, and yes there are perks. Namely having a pool outside your door and a beach across the street.

The SBP is an amazing thing, and as a student I wanted to live there all year. But the SBP hasn't been so sweet to us since having kids. I think I made a record "never been done" by leaving a week early...for the second time in 3 years. So what happened? My toddler freaked out about staying with babysitters she dosen't know well. My infant ran a fever for almost a week, contracted strep throat, and woke up 4 times almost every night. That same week, I got what we will call "virus of the century". Only to give it to the toddler 2 days later. Overwhelmed yet? Me too. So, we packed up 3 of the 4 of us (hubby couldn't leave because he was singlehandedly managing the chaos of 147 college students) and headed to my in laws.

The SBP chewed us up and spat us out. But you know what? It was worth it. It was worth it to have one conversation with a young believer and watch her hear truth and be changed. It was worth it for students who have no idea how a healthy family functions, to watch us love eachother and our kids. It was worth it to be with my husband for 3 weeks as he worked insane hours so that he could find a little rest and normalcy in our family.

Everyone is relatively healthy now. After lots(!) of doctors visits and long nights, we are more than happy to be home! Thank you all for your prayers for us, the SBP and the 147 college students who will never be the same when these 8 weeks are over!

We dont believe in cloning Part 2

2011-05-18T10:45:00.003-04:00

Eden

Rachel

Eden

Rachel

Weirded out yet? Strong genes....to say the least!

We dont believe in cloning, but...

2011-05-11T14:40:00.000-04:00

Nias

Clint

Like Father, like son!

Pretty creepy, huh?

Mission Statement

2011-05-04T13:03:00.000-04:00

This is my 31 Days to Clean mission statement. There are two challenges to every day. A Martha Challenge (practical cleaning things) and a Mary Challenge (heart or "why" oriented).

So here's my application to Day 1's Mary Challenge:

I want to create a haven from the world.
A place of intimacy and joy.
A place that doesn’t take the place of,
but makes us think of Heaven.
A place to meet with the Lord,
play with my kids,
and snuggle with my man.
A place to invite weary souls into
and have them leave refreshed.
I want to make a home away from Home.

31 Days to Clean

2011-05-03T20:34:00.000-04:00

I'm in. I saw this E book on some blogs I follow recently and was intrigued. But not enough to make a move on purchasing it. Yesterday, I saw it again and did a little more snooping. After reading the reviews, and the example day, I decided to download the Kindle app and do it.

Cleaning doesn't come naturally to me, like...at all. I LOVE to cook. I do NOT love to clean. The Lord has grown me a ton in this area over the past 5 years, but still...I don't wake up Monday morning and think "Yay, I get to do laundry today!" But I want to. I want to be as excited to do that part of my job as I am about cooking a new meal or playing pretend with E.

So, even though we leave for the Beach Project very soon, I am starting the 31 day challenge today. And I am praying that the Lord would change my heart, perspective and habits in this area of my life.

So what do you say...join me?

Musical Monday

2011-05-02T19:00:00.000-04:00

We like music around here. There have been some specific artists that have uniquely ministered to us over the past few years.

Christian hip-hop is a passion for us. We both loved hip-hop and R&B in high school, but quickly became convicted of enjoying much of the content as we grew closer to the Lord. Let me be clear, we do not think secular music in general is evil. But the images most current hip-hop songs illicit, are most certainly dishonoring to the Lord.

Insert this guy (among many others). Flame has been a huge part in a movement to reach out to my generation with GOOD music that glorifies the Lord. Skeptical..? Try this out and see if you don't find yourself singing it all day!!

Modesty

2011-05-01T08:49:00.002-04:00

I saw this video a few weeks ago, but I'm just now getting around to posting it. It is an issue dear to my heart, one that the Lord has radically altered my life in.
What we tell our students on our Beach Projects (where the Lord first convicted me of my immodesty) is very similar to this.

PS: the music at the beginning is Tedashii.....LOVE. Look him up!

Life Lessons

2011-04-20T16:03:00.001-04:00

When I discovered I was pregnant for the 2nd time around this time last year, I started praying. Praying for a healthy baby, for a larger capacity, for preparation to mother 2...but mostly I prayed for a baby who sleeps. See, Miss E wasn't a huge fan of sleep. I'm talking very little sleeping went on for us for a good 8 months. It was brutal. The Lord used a really hard season of suffering through it to teach us a TON, but it was still very very (very very very) hard.

About a month before I went into labor with little man, I got really anxious. Not the normal mommy anxiousness about labor and the general scariness that comes with having a newborn, but anxious that it would happen again. And that I would have little memory, and little patience, and post-partum depression, and have to put life and ministry on hold until rest was possible.

Things were looking good with our little man. We started off with normal 3 hour cycles and got an occasional 6 hours straight. I felt amazing and concluded the 0-1 child transition was MUCH more difficult than the 1-2. But then ear infections happened, and antibiotics happened, and teething and belly aches happened. As it turns out, 6 months in, he doesn't sleep any better than Miss E did.

It's different this time for sure. By God's grace I haven't had signs of depression, I've had the capacity to chase around a 2 year old, and I have a husband who has fought the boy until he will take a bottle. But I am still utterly exhausted. Right now my 2 hour long college quiet times have dwindled to a few minutes reading a ready-made devotional (on a good day). I'm so thankful for the time I spent in the Word to store up my knowledge and understanding before these days hit.

A few days ago I was reading from Beth Moore's "To Live is Christ Day by Day" and the last line of Day 4 caught me. "He has gone ahead of you, too, to prepare you for the plans He's established for your life." Oh, foolish heart! My perspective can get so lost in the muck and mire of sin and circumstances that I cant see clearly. These are the plans He's established for me. Sometimes God's plans involve really great things, like marrying an amazing man and working for a super awesome college ministry. And sometimes His plans involve months of little sleep and much sickness.

My body may not be able to, but my heart can rest and rejoice. The God I serve is GOOD and He is sovereign. He knew my babies wouldn't sleep well long before I had them, and He still gave them to me. They are gifts, not just because they are my flesh and blood, but because they are the instruments of my sanctification. The Lord is so gracious to use them to teach me so much, so quickly.

"...we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame..."

Lord Jesus, may these long, exhausting days be producing great character in me. May it bring hope to my heart that will spill over into the lives of my husband and children. Thank you for your faithfulness in choosing to sanctify us, and in how you sanctify us. But most of all, may it bring you much glory for your gracious dealing with me and for your Fatherly wisdom in how to discipline my selfishness and lack of endurance.

Things We Love...

2011-04-20T07:51:00.000-04:00

Lately we have a new obsession in this house. It all started with my hubby going to CrossFit, which is a different post all together. As it turns out, when you are doing exercises made to make your heart all but explode, you need to drink more water. hmm.

I have been an avid water drinker since college, carrying around my trusty water bottle to class, gym, meetings etc. My husband, not so much. So since getting married I have been trying to get him to drink more water. Ive tried just about everything, with the only mildly successful things being 24 packs of disposable water bottles. And since I'm a little too "green" for that (and not willing to give up my fridge space to 2 dozen water bottles) I kept trying. Aluminum bottles, fail. Wide mouth bottles, fail.

So one day we went to Target and spent some ample time in the water bottle isle. And lo and behold, i Find this...

Stuck to the side is a little sticker that says people who drink out of a Camelbak Bite Valve drink 24% more water. So I bite the bullet and purchase 2. And believe it or not...IT WORKS! Clint and I have both been guzzling water since I bought them about a month back! The little bite valve is a bit addictive. Its easy to open, easy to drink out of (even in the car or while exercising), and no spill. Which especially comes in handy since our 2 year old all but claimed mine for herself. That is, until our sweet friends bought her her own kiddie Camelbak! So now we all have little matching hydration systems. Sweet.

We are avid Camelbak users now, and I have since convinced my aunt to buy one. Day one of using it she downed 2 whole bottles, which she never even gets close to! I'm a believer! Thanks for solving my 5 year dilemma, Camelbak!

a little photo update

2011-04-13T16:38:00.001-04:00

Here are a few favorites from a recent photo shoot with Lauren Kelley!

Makin' it more homey

2011-02-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

I have this internal game I play with myself. I hate spending money, but I have rather expensive taste. I LOVE Pottery Barn (and where I'm from, that's expensive) but refuse to pay $45 dollars for pillows. I like to call it "frugal," my husband likes to call it "cheap". Whatever you call it, its workin for me right now.

So when we moved in to this dream house of ours, I set my frugality on high and frequently visited my two favorite places to find little treasures. Ross and TJ Maxx. And boy did I hit the jackpot. The first wonderful find were these fabulous baskets! If you need baskets of any kind, go to Ross. They have some amazing ones! These were $8, $10, and $12! (please ignore the mass of toys coming out of them...).

I got home and found these in my Pottery Barn catalog. These cost $69-199. A PIECE! My Pottery Barn radar clearly went off :)

And then there was the floor. We had this little cheap rug we bought pre-babies. What you don't know about rugs before you have kids is that it really needs to be thick and large. It is no longer something to break up floor space. It is a play area, fall catching, movie watching, horsey-riding, grasshopper hopping area that must be comfortable!

So I went to TJ Maxx (not to buy a rug, but to entertain a cranky 2 year old) and I saw this ah-may-zing rug. A few of them actually. The price hurt my feelings a bit, but as any of you who have had to buy an area rug know, any good one is gonna cost you! So I went home and discussed it with hubby and brought him back to get a second opinion. And then it made its home with us. And we love it.

So, just out of curiosity, I flipped through my Pottery Barn catalog. And what do ya know?

Not bad, huh?

Happy Saturday!

2011-02-27T17:04:00.000-05:00

Lately we haven't had many Saturdays to just be a home. Spring semester is usually pretty crazy for us. (Not to mention the addition of tons of sickness this year). Though the sickness isn't totally out of our house yet, most of us felt good enough to have a little family time last night.

I've had supplies to make Valentines suckers for a month now. But the week of Valentines I was too sick to do laundry..much less make (really messy) candy. So last night we took the opportunity to roll our sleeves up and make a lil sumthin' sumthin'.

Here's what you need: Some sucker sticks, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and sprinkles.

1) Melt some chocolate. Place marshmallows on sticks (hold your breath) and dip.

2) Smack yourself for buying cream colored dining room chairs that the toddler uses to help you cook everyday

3) Gently shake off excess. Smack self again for chair purchase.

4) Place chocolatey marshmallow into cup of sprinkles. We used non-pareils.

5) Be aware that if Daddy is involved, you may have fewer suckers than you planned...

6) Explain to child what "a few" actually means.

7) Let set until hardened. And you will have these cute little guys to give to friends for Valentines day...or eh...February 27th!

8) Use ungodly amount of extra chocolate to make everything in your house a delightful treat. (Daddy made this very pretty graham cracker creation).

9) Enjoy! (and use every cleaner in house to clean off brown chocolate and red non-pareil stain from chair.)

Forgive me...

2011-02-09T22:47:00.000-05:00

I have been on an unintentional blog hiatus. It isn't because nothing is going on with us. Quite the opposite actually. In the past four months I've battled bronchitis 3 times, gave birth, celebrated 3 birthdays and Christmas, traveled to who knows how many cities, counseled girls on relationships, learned that a long hard prayer had been answered, seen way too much brokenness, taught a 2 year old 10 letters, watched WAY TOO MUCH Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, witnessed my little man learn to roll over...both ways, joined a small group, loved a small group, nursed a sick baby...twice, and sat down a couple of times in between all that!

The Lord has been hard at work lately, expanding our capacities and teaching us a ton. I have much to say but little time to say it. Life has happened and I'm trying to keep up. But in the midst of craziness, it has been very very good.

And just to keep you checking in....

Busy Busy!

2011-01-27T14:58:00.000-05:00

Is it really almost February? I swear I think time this year is in fast forward!

This year right after we got home from D.C. (like...yesterday?), I took all the Christmas decorations down. I was glad to have my house and some space back, but it felt really sad and boring. All the lights, color and greenery went to nothing but plain walls and an empty mantle. So, I decided to bask in all the loveliness I could take and began decorating for Valentines Day. Nothing like pink hearts to happy-up your house! I am using two little crafts I've spent some time on lately as the basis.

I'm really into wreaths right now. And I LOVE the thought of using them for things other than Christmas! So I decided to try to make a few that can work for Valentines. My first attempt was a coffee filter wreath I saw on a blog I follow (Nesting Place). LOVE IT.

Start with a cheapo straw wreath and some (note: A LOT) standard coffee filters.

Get your glue gun and get ready to not be able to feel with your finger tips for a few days. Fold filters into fourths or eighths and start gluing. (if you have kids this will be a 3 day project. If you don't, probably a couple hours).

This is where you get tired and want to give up...don't. Its totally worth it. Pick up that phone and tweet about it or send a picture to some friends...accountability for what it looks like in the end, ya know?

And after all your work....viola! A beautiful, puffy, shabby chic wreath that you can use for just about any occasion. I had this one tied with a Christmasy ribbon on my back door for Jesus' birthday. Now it is simply hanging with a ribbon taped (yes, taped) behind it and a cardboard glitter heart sitting inside.

Add some milk glass (weakness) and a few twigs and you've got yourself a whimsical winter mantle.

And now...for the other. Start with another wreath form. I used a straw one but I'd recommend a foam one since it is more uniform. Then I found some yarn left over from some crocheting projects.

Now start wrapping!

Here is a picture of my almost finished wreath. It would have been done by now but my yarn keeps getting tangled up from someone using it as a jump rope.....

Happy Valentines Day!!

Tis the season!

2011-01-06T12:13:00.000-05:00

Wondering where we've been? The answer is a little bit of everywhere. Apologies to all those who have been anticipating an update on life (ie: pictures of the babies)! I have been trying to find time to send a little update but life just hasn't slowed down. I caved when I got a text from a friend pleading for an update. Oops!

So lets see....we left off at Eden's Mickey Mouse birthday....

We spent Thanksgiving with my extended fam in Belle. Love that place. Life just seems slower and more restful there.

I cant hardly handle this. My Papa and Eden looking at fish

Lil family photo complements of my skilled step dad

And then we decorated. I LOVE THIS HOUSE.

It was a family affair

We celebrated a sleeper! Praise the Lord!!

We got a little snow on the most perfect weekend

We ate doughnuts. We. Love. Dunkin.

We got Miss E a little something to bless us with :)

Made some new friends while enjoying Shelby for Christmas:)

We bombarded this little stud with pictures. How cute is that dimple?

Got more snow! Wooo White Christmas!

Went to DC to be a part of the Al!ve conference. It was amazing!

Prayed for the nation. How breathtaking is this pic? Hundreds of college students praying for our country and its leaders! Lord hear our cry!!

And got the flu...or something equally as icky. Sorry....no pics for that.

Meeska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse!

2010-11-15T09:52:00.000-05:00

Our little girl is totally obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Hence the above Mickey shaped food. (I'm just thankful shes obsessed with something easy to shape food into!)

Balloons...could have been the only gift she got and she would have been totally content

I cant believe this little girl is 2 already! And now....

We're a family of 4!! Wow how time flies!

Happy Birthday to our dear sweet Eden! You are a good and perfect gift to us!!

Things We Love

2010-10-28T12:44:00.000-04:00

We love the fall....I think we've mentioned that before. We joke that we do everything in the fall. We met in the fall and started dating the next fall. Clint's birthday is in the fall. We got married in the fall. And now BOTH babies birthday's are in the fall. It is our favorite time of year! The cool air and presence of football make us nostalgic every October.

One of our favorite things to do to celebrate is to enjoy these amazing (and healthy!) muffins with a cup of hot coffee. ENJOY!!

Pumpkin Muffins

1 Cup pumpkin

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1 egg

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup applesauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon (or pumpkin pie spice)

Mix all ingredients together (batter will be very thick!)

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Makes 12 large muffins

Yum!

I Love This Man!

2010-10-26T23:01:00.000-04:00

Today is an all day celebration of the greatest man I know! My hubby! So here are the top 20 reasons I love Clint Darst.

1) He loves Jesus more than anything in the world, including me.
2) He is committed to bringing truth to whatever situation he is in.
3) He is hardly ever in a bad mood. And if he is, its often very short lived
4) He is cheezy...and insists that I laugh at his antics (such as his ever present impersonation of a high school baseball coach)
5) He makes me have A LOT more fun than I would allow myself to have
6) He plays little games he makes up with our little girl
7) He humors me and pretends to care about crafts and cooking
8) He can still tear up a football field.
9) He is SO charming...and still tries to win me with it
10) He frequently reminds me of how we met and how crazy about him I was (true)
11) He refuses to discipline our babies out of anger
12) He leads people in a way that engages their hearts. He has extremely high character
13) He is SUPER good looking :)
14) Hes not afraid to look silly in front of anyone.
15) He can and will make friends with anyone he wishes (celebrities included)
16) He is an evangelist...about everything he loves.
17) He is one of the most faithful people I have ever met (proof is in the 4 years he waited for me to realize I was in love with him)
18) He makes anyone around him feel loved and enjoyed
19) He loves deeply, no matter what the response
20) And finally...He is SUPER good looking :)

Happy Birthday Clint!! Love you forever!

Ananias of Damascus (Acts 9:10-17, 22:6-16):

2010-10-25T17:21:00.000-04:00

9. Ananias most likely died as a Martyr.

According to tradition, he evangelized in Damascus and then died for his faith in Eleutheropolis. Over the last year the that God has placed on my heart is “Dyin’ to Live.” It represents the longing for authentic satisfying life that I find in my heart and in the culture around me, but it also represents the paradox of the Christian faith. Christ calls His followers to, “deny themselves take up their cross and follow Him.” Paul says in Romans 8:13, “if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.” Then in 2 Corinthians 4:10-12, “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.”

Nias,

I pray that you would take the life of Jesus to those who do not have it. Be it here or abroad, take the Light to those in darkness. I pray you value Christ and the lost world more than you value your own life.

Ananias of Damascus (Acts 9:10-17, 22:6-16):

2010-10-22T17:01:00.000-04:00

Nine Meditations on the Man we Named our First Born Son After

8. Ananias was a man of good reputation

Growing up I had a very close relationship with my mother and father. From time to time when dad needed to teach me something we would have what he called a “daddy talk.” One of the life lessons he taught me in those ‘daddy talks’ was how to be a man of good reputation. He told me over and over, “Clint your reputation walks way out in front of you.” Apparently that was true of Ananias as well. When Paul is sharing his testimony he says that Ananias was “a devout man according to the law, well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there…” This reminds me of Peter’s exhortation to “keep your conduct among the gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (2 Peter 2:12)

Nias,

I pray that you would be a man that has a reputation of loving God and loving others ‘walking way out in front of you’, for the Glory of the one who walked in your place, died your death and rose for your life.

Ananias of Damascus (Acts 9:10-17, 22:6-16):

2010-10-21T08:46:00.000-04:00

9 Meditations on the man we named our first born son after

7. Ananias Disappears

Verses 17-19 record Ananias praying for Paul, the scales falling from his eyes, and Paul’s baptism. Then something very interesting happens. The text follows Paul’s ministry from here on out. The only other mention of Ananias of Damascus in the rest of the Bible is in Acts 22 when Paul shares his testimony. We never hear of him again. So we meet Ananias in verse 10 of chapter 9 and he disappears after verse 18. 8 verses of interactions with Ananias is all we have. He shows up as an ordinary disciple, gets called by God to meet a need in the apostle Paul’s life, responds honestly, obeys Him and then disappears. What is the result of his obedience? People like you and me worship Jesus because Paul ministered to the gentiles. Every tribe, tongue and nation will worship King Jesus because God called Paul to Himself. Paul had a need to be met before he could do that. And this ordinary obedient disciple of Jesus met that need. He probably baptized Paul. Praise God for Ananias of Damascus. This reminds me of my most recent favorite song, ‘Background’ off of Lecrae’s new album ‘Rehab.’ My favorite line in the song Lecrae says, “I end up confessing I’m not that impressive matter of fact I’m who I are, a trail of star dust leading to The Super Star.” I love that Ananias of Damascus is a ‘background’ type of leader, who so leads to the Super Star through the Apostle Paul, that most of us don’t even know who he is. Job well done Ananias, you were a trail of stardust!

Nias,

I pray that you bring glory to God by accomplishing that which He has called you to do, nothing more, nothing less (John 17:4). Who knows, he may call you to meet the needs of the next ‘Paul’ in His kingdom. I pray that you would view each person you influence as the next possible key kingdom leader and that you would play the background so to make them fall more and more in love with Jesus, the Super Star.

Ananias of Damascus (Acts 9:10-17, 22:6-16):

2010-10-20T11:36:00.000-04:00

9 Mediations on the man we named our 1^st born son after

6. Ananias is Obedient

After being honest with God about his concerns, hearing God tell him again what he was to do and why he was to do it (15-16), Ananias obeys Him and lays his hands on Paul and watches the scales fall from Paul’s eyes. So he was insecure and afraid, but because of God’s patience and power, Ananias obeyed and was used to minister to the man who would become the most influential redeemed sinner in the Christian faith. In Acts 22, Paul shares his testimony and says this about Ananias (12), “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law…” Ananias was known for his obedience to God. The life of obedience always leads to God's glory and the good for others.

Nias,

I pray that you would be a man who after responding honestly to God, work through your fears and insecurities and are obedient to Him. He is God. He is good and He is in control. As the old hymn says, “Trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” I pray that God would use you to remove spiritual scales from the eyes of servants of God like the apostle Paul.

Ananias of Damascus (Acts 9:10-17, 22:6-16):

2010-10-19T10:27:00.000-04:00

9 Mediations on the man we named our 1^st born son after

5.Ananias is Honest with God

God tells Ananias in verses 11-12 to go lay hands on Saul of Tarsus and pray for him, that he may regain his sight. Verse 13-14 is not Ananias’ most glorious moment. As a matter of fact, he seems to think that he needs to remind God of who Saul of Tarsus is. “’Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.’” So we see here that Ananias is afraid of that which God has called him to do. He responds in what seems to be fear hoping to enlighten God so as to protect him-self. Oh, how I can identify with Ananias. All too often when God calls me to do something, my first response is hesitation, fear and insecurity. But the reason I highlight this is because of verse 15, “But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.’” The advancement of the Kingdom of God is not predicated upon the initial response of the man/woman God calls, but upon the almighty power, love, mercy, wisdom and patience of The Almighty King of the Kingdom.

Nias,

We serve a God who is slow to anger and quick to love. When you feel insecure and afraid, you can tell Him. He will be patient and give you what you need to persevere. His Kingdom will advance.

Ananias of Damascus (Acts 9:10-17, 22:6-16):

2010-10-18T09:02:00.000-04:00

9 Mediations on the man we named our 1^st born son after

4. Ananias Responds to God

Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Isaiah, Samuel and…Ananias? If you are familiar with the Christian faith you are familiar with the first 5 heroes that I mentioned. What do they have in common with Ananias of Damascus? Very simple, God spoke to them and their response was either “Here am I” (Abraham, Jacob, Isaiah) or “Here I am” (Moses, Samuel). Acts 9:10b Ananias responds to God, “Here I am, Lord.” I love this. I love the posture of these men being ready to listen to God when He speaks. It reminds me of standing in the dugout before a little league baseball game…the coach begins to read the lineup card, “leading off playing center field” and then you hear your name called. You sprint out onto the field ready to give your all and represent your team, thankful that the head coach picked you and sent you. God addresses these men as The Coach and immediately they present themselves to the God whom they love and follow. God speaks and out onto the field they go, ready to represent their Coach by playing their position with all they have.

Nias,

I pray that God calls you and that you respond to His voice, ready to do whatever He calls you to do. I pray that He launches you into Kingdom labor that you have no hope to accomplish, save the grace, mercy and power of He who sends you.

Ananias of Damascus (Acts 9:10-17, 22:6-16):

2010-10-17T12:13:00.000-04:00

9 Mediations on the man we named our 1^st born son after

3. God calls Him by name.

Did you know that there are some 200 billion stars in our galaxy? And our galaxy is 1 of 100 Billion galaxies? That is more than my mind can even grasp. And check this out: Psalm 147:4 says, “He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.” God determines the exact number of stars in each galaxy and not only that, he names them! I share this because I am blown away with how big and ultimate God is. The next thing I love about Ananias is that the same Ultimate God that created and named all the stars speaks to Ananias by name (Acts 9:10b), “The Lord said to him in a vision, ‘Ananias.’” There is something powerful to reading Holy Scripture and seeing God call people out by name. We love that Ananias is one of those men! This reminds me of a wonderful phrase that a friend and hero (Matty B) introduced to me, “God is Ultimate and Intimate.” He is Ultimate enough to create and name trillions and trillions of stars, yet intimate enough to knit Nias together in Rachel’s womb and number each of his hairs. Psalm 139:13-14 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Matthew 10:30 "But even the hairs of your head are all numbered." Who knew the stars in the sky and the hairs on your head had something in common, they are numbered by our Creator!

Nias,

I pray that you would know the glories of the Ultimate God that created everything, yet is the Intimate God who we pray calls you by name.

Ananias of Damascus (Acts 9:10-17, 22:6-16)

2010-10-16T08:36:00.000-04:00

9 Mediations on the Man We Named Our 1^st Born Son After

2. Ananias was a disciple.

Most people who know Acts chapter 9 are familiar with it for The Apostle Paul’s conversion. Having already met (and being blinded by) Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul is waiting and fasting for 3 days. In verse 10 we meet Ananias for the first time. It reads, “Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias.” Most scholars believe he was one of the 72 disciples we read about in Luke 10. He spent time with Jesus and was sent on mission for Jesus. I love this. He wasn’t some flashy religious leader, just an ordinary disciple of Jesus. Reminds me of Peter and John in Acts 4:12 before the Council, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Jesus uses common men because common men are blown away by who Jesus is. Impressive men are preoccupied with being impressive.

Nias,

I pray you would be a common man who gets blown away by who Jesus is and that people would see your boldness and conclude, 'you must have been with Jesus.'

Ananias of Damascus (Acts 9:10-17, 22:6-16):

2010-10-15T15:41:00.000-04:00

9 Mediations on the man we named our 1^st born son after

Ananias: (Ἁνανίας) is the Greek form of Hananiah, which is Hebrew word meaning “Yaweh has dealt graciously” or “The Lord is full of grace.”

God’s grace to Rachel and I is overwhelming. From calling us to Himself, giving us wonderful parents, growing us through the ministry of Campus Outreach, to crossing our paths at East Lincoln High School some 8 years ago. Grace by definition is: the free unmerited favor of God. Rachel and I earned the wrath of almighty God by hating Him and loving darkness (John 3:16-21). By sheer grace we have received the favor and love of God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus (I Corinthians 15:3-10). God has given us the free gift of faith to trust in and follow Him (Ephesians 2:8-9). He has surrounded us by people and gifts that keep us clinging to the cross (Hebrews 12:1-2). He gave us a wonderful daughter, Eden two years ago and now he has given us Nias. We are overwhelmed and can fully testify that the meaning of our son’s name is as true and trustworthy as the morning sunrise…Yaweh is full of grace and has dealt with us graciously.

Nias,

I pray that The Father would deal graciously with you, draw you unto Himself through Christ very soon, that The Holy Spirit would dwell in you and that you would know the unending Grace of our Lord. I pray that you would become a man like Ananias of Damascus. I love you son!

Its a.....

2010-10-14T05:34:00.000-04:00

BOY!

Ananias Clinton Darst

We really believe in naming our babies meaningful names. This one was a big surprise for us. One night we were reading Eden the story of Paul's conversion (Acts 9) from the Jesus Storybook Bible. We ran across this character whom neither one of us had ever noticed before. Clint joked as he had with many other crazy names, "This could be our son's name." I laughed it off asking, "what do you call him, An, Ana?" Clint studied up on Acts 9 and this mysterious character. He ended up doing all of his beach project leaders teaching from the example Ananias set for us. Ananias heard from the Lord, questioned his ability to do what God was calling him to (restore the sight of a man who was killing or imprisoning every Christian he came in contact with!), trusted God's promises, and went to fulfill God's call on his life. And then something very interesting happens, he virtually falls off the planet. You never again hear of Ananias. He holds a significant role in the life of the most influential Christian leader, outside of Christ, and then he disappears from the pages of the Bible. We pray this for our son, that he would fulfill the call God has on his life, meet the needs of those whom God has called Him to minister to and then fade into the background as the Lord's will is finished. We pray like Ananias He will be used by God to raise up men like the Apostle Paul...So how DO you abbreviate Ananias, what will we call him?..."NIAS"

Clinton is actually Clint's middle name. It is a family tradition and this one makes at least the 5th straight generation with the first male having Clinton as his middle name.

So with great joy we welcome this child into our home! Please join with us in praying for his salvation!

Ministry Update!!

2010-09-29T23:11:00.000-04:00

Though we use this blog mostly for personal updates, I wanted to update you all on some really exciting happenings on all 3 of our campuses!

Wingate:
* Our campus staff hosted a dodge-ball tournament in the first few weeks of school and 300 students showed up! This is unheard of at Wingate.
* 135 students were at the first weekly meeting! A football player who Clint has had many gospel conversations with came to Christ!

(Though numbers are not our primary goal, there is a reality that the more people involved in these types of events, the more will hear the gospel. Please pray that the momentum, fun and community would translate into genuine conversions and growth into laborers in the kingdom!)

UNCG:
* Many of the leaders in the movement are multiplying their own lives, leading Bible studies and sharing their faith with non-believers on campus!
* 35 girls and 17 guys just returned from our annual fall retreats!

Elon:
* Artie, our newest addition to the team, showed up to Elon today to give his life away for the sake of the gospel!!
* The ministry is becoming very student led! This is a huge answer to prayer as students gain vision to impact their campus and "own" the ministry's convictions and vision!

*Between the 3 schools about 300 students are hearing the gospel weekly at our evangelistic meetings!

Please pray with us that the Lord would use these meetings, retreats, relationships and events to draw unbelievers to Himself!

A special thanks to Mike Sal and Luke for admitting they read my blog :)

Things We Love

2010-09-22T22:19:00.000-04:00

I am a bit of a health nut. Not overly crazy, just a little less...well American in my diet than most. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Chick-Fil-a and various other fast food. I love a good cheeseburger. Sweet tea is a delectable treat and a must for summer. But in our lifestyle we have to eat out a lot. So when I am at home what I cook is more than a few healthy steps above Bojangles.

My husband grew up not eating many veggies and eating a ton of sugar. So when we got married we had some issues agreeing on what was bought at the grocery store. This applies not only to food, but sometimes more so to the beverage category. I didn't want to have super sweet tea in the house all the time and he wanted something besides water. One day I stumbled upon a little green box that brought harmony to our dinner table!

Let me start by saying not all green tea is created equal. This is the ONLY brand we like. Others tend to taste like either grass, mint or citrus. Ick. But this is pure refreshment! Hardly a day goes by when we don't have a pitcher of this in our fridge. And I'm proud to say we are responsible for converting many green tea haters into lovers. :) Green tea has more antioxidants, less caffeine and requires less sugar than black tea. So while the heat of the summer lingers on, I highly suggest you go grab a box of this goodness and do the following:

Microwave 4 bags in 2 cups water for 2 1/2 minutes

Let steep until nice and green

Add 1/4-1/3 cup of sugar and stir until dissolved

add 6 cups cold water and chill

try not to drink the entire thing in one day (good luck)

Rock a bye baby...

2010-09-20T21:56:00.001-04:00

Today marks exactly one month until our due date with baby number 2!! While I am still in shock at the reality of this, I am feeling the pressure more and more. This is especially true when I remember that Eden was 2 weeks early! Yikes!

Currently, the baby's room looks a lot like an attic. Boxes everywhere, a crib in pieces on the floor, no furniture what so ever (we realized about a week ago that we have NO furniture for his/her clothes. This happens when someone is living in the "nursery" pre-move with their own furniture. Oops!).

Anyway, we have gone back and forth about whether or not to keep the baby with us in our bedroom at first. We kept Eden with us because she never slept. And at the time walking across the house every 45 minutes didn't sound very exciting. However, we know moving the baby out of the room means a little more sleep for at least one parent. We don't have a bassinet and so had settled on just putting the baby in his/her room. That is until my mom showed me this... Fisher Price Rock and Play Sleeper.

What a great idea! With the amount of traveling we do, and the lack of flexibility even a small bassinet provides, this is amazing! It holds a baby up to 25 lbs. (which in theory means my toddler could use it! Ha!) and folds up to move from room to room (or city to city- hooray no huge pack-and-play to pack in our car!)! So now, this little one can sleep in our room at night, in the living room during the day and at grandma's for the weekend...eventually.

This is a must have for us. Thanks Fisher Price! I cant wait to get one of these for our new little one!

Face Lift!

2010-09-20T21:33:00.000-04:00

The house is finally done being painted...

Before (a little drab and fading)

And After

a much cozier color!

(Please excuse the dead ferns hanging from the porch. I'm in the process of trying to revive them!!)

Next on the list is the door color. I want something bright that pops! I'm thinking cherry red. Suggestions?

The parade isn't cancelled...

2010-09-11T16:00:00.000-04:00

What we didn't tell you about our moving day is how after gifts were abundantly poured on us, things fell apart, literally. You can always count on Satan trying to rain on your parade when things are going well. He always tries to taint the good gifts the Lord gives us.

So heres how it went....

We leave closing to fill up our U-haul with the first load and have to wait a while for the cleaning ladies to finish up. We end up not getting to the new house until 6 pm. Not great when your plan is to sleep there. While unloading the very first piece of furniture, I watch as my treasured dining room table gets pushed too far and "craaaaack" goes the leg. I had previously joked with Clint that they could break anything they wanted, just not my table. Ouch.

There is a car right across the street from our house whose back window has been smashed. Not exactly a warm welcome.

Two sweet girls from UNCG showed up a few minutes later with cookies, sweet tea and bubbles to keep my toddler happy. It worked amazingly well, but apparently the mass amount of sugar being ingested also led to every mosquito in Greensboro finding my daughter.

We then walk into the now (mostly) empty house to find multiple mouse traps. Yikes.

A random guy stops his car in the middle of the road, walks into our yard, directs not so nice words at my hubby and asks everyone there for a cigarette.

Someone unintentionally warns us that we now live beside THE party spot. Great.

I watch as a truck is moved with our glider on the back. It falls off and breaks. Ugh.

We don't go to sleep until 2 am and both wake up at 6 am to allergy attacks, thanks to the never-been-cleaned blinds left behind. We decide to get up and medicate with coffee. We are overwhelmed and slightly scared that we made the wrong decision. Was this not a gift from the Lord? Was it just our doing? And that's when this happened.

I fix our coffee and sit down in front of our huge window that looks onto the side street. We pray and I look up to see what...? THE SUNRISE! Right there outside the biggest window in the house. I can see the steam of my piping hot coffee in its light. What a way to start the day. And I might add that I have had a particular love for sunrises (and sunsets) for many years. Our engagement morning started with such a grace. We are immediately relieved. This is the icing on the cake, a sign from the Lord that He is with us, and we have indeed sought Him and found Him in this decision.

Since then it has been nothing but affirmation. We love this house. But the Giver is much much better than the gift!

Getting Settled

2010-09-08T22:02:00.001-04:00

Someone is sure enjoying her new room! We decided today, with the help of Clint's parents, to do 2 major things. 1) Put up all the blinds (and trash the ones that were beyond cleaning!) and 2) Get E's room situated. So...up went the "big girl bed" for the first time. AND SHE LOVES IT! Hooray! And how stinkin' cute is it?!


So then I started something I've been itching to do for MONTHS. Putting these precious decals on her walls. I love stuff like this...I love being settled, decorating things and feeling at home. I want Eden to feel like she's got her own room that is special and unique. So here's a little sneak peek into her "woodland wonderland"!

She LOVES it (and so does mommy)! The past few days have been spent climbing in and out of her "new bed" and identifying all the stickers. I can hardly get her the leave it! SUCCESS! Even if there are boxes in every other room, Eden is at home :)

What else have we been up to?

2010-09-05T23:33:00.000-04:00

In the midst of moving, a semester starting, being 8 months pregnant and chasing around a very active toddler...I had the privilege of shooting a few photos of some dear friends of ours! Chris and Nellie just got married this past weekend, but a few weeks ago they drove up to Greensboro to capture the love radiating from them. Clint and I have had the privilege of seeing these two grow in unbelievable ways over the past four years and ultimately fall in love in the past year. How cute are they??

Congrats Grissingers!! We love you both so much!!

More gifts!

2010-09-05T22:28:00.000-04:00

As promised...here are more new house updates! We are getting settled slowly but surely. In the midst of moving we had to go out of town for a wedding we were both in. SO fun! But we couldn't wait to get back to our new abode to finish unpacking.

Closing day proved to bring more unexpected and unbelievable gifts. I'll give you a quick brief on a few.

1) Clint goes for a final walk through and finds the house disgusting. Doesn't sound like much of a gift, huh? A sequence of events led to us having to move in much later than we thought (the first load arrived at 6pm) BUT, the house was professionally cleaned! A HUGE gift to an exhausted, prego mama.

2) In addition to being really really dirty, the former owners left a lot of stuff. Some was the usual dishes, cleaning supplies, etc. But the best leftover? A 2 year old washer and dryer!! Much newer and nicer than ours! Not to mention we didn't have to move ours!!

3) In the midst of signing the closing papers we were informed that the owners paid too much on the closing cost. We left our signing with enough money to cover the cost to paint the outside of our house. Something we decided was necessary to do even if it meant not being able to get some other needed things. Unbelievable.

4) We have been praying for a house and a car for 12 months now. The same day we signed our closing papers on our new house, someone gave us their (very nice) Passat. Overwhelmed.

Needless to say we are still recovering from the amazement that the last week has brought. We are so thankful for the gifts He has given us! Our deepest prayer now is that we would worship the giver and never the gifts! No matter how many or how great they are.

Here are a few pics of the house!

Before the new paint!

cute lil cabinent

Living room

Trading Spaces...

2010-08-25T21:07:00.000-04:00

Well, its official. We're moving....THIS WEEK! Does that sound as crazy as it feels? Because of a few of the contingencies in our contract (getting renters for our current house, structural questions, etc) we didn't really know for sure if it was all going to work out until last Saturday! And we are moving Tuesday! Needless to say this week has proven to be a little crazy. The Lord is sustaining us in all the transition and busyness. We are extremely excited about having a home of our own, especially one so close to campus! Clint and I will be married 4 years in November. This will be our fifth move in those 4 years! We are both longing to be settled and to have a home where we know we will be for the next season of our lives. We are so thankful to the Lord that he has allowed us to find a GREAT house that we can afford in such proximity to the students we will be ministering to. It is truly a good and perfect gift to us. His goodness is unending. We are consistently reminded of that in His graciousness to us!

On top of packing and moving this week, our semester also started Monday! This is the first semester that Clint is in charge of leading the staff at three campuses! Please pray for us as this is yet another transition for us!

As far as the house goes, here are a few specs: It's a 3 Bedroom, 2 bath bungalow that sits up on a hill .2 miles from campus. It has an office that is enclosed (it has been used as a sunroom and a bedroom)! This was a HUGE thing for us. We love to host people and our parents and family often visit so the flexibility of a 4th bedroom was something we wished for but never expected to get. Also, Clint works from home a lot, and lets just say, Eden isn't so concerned about his personal space. The door on the office will close, and even has an outdoor entrance. The living area (which I fell in love with) is very OPEN! The dining room and living room are hardly separated from the kitchen. And OH the kitchen. I have one word for you, Granite. :) Ah!

Pictures of the move, the house, and the lovely UNCG students who have offered their time, labor and trucks to help us will come soon!

Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

Our couch is really big..

2010-08-02T08:18:00.001-04:00

We bought it about a year ago and we LOVE that couch. It's great for company, napping (which I have been wearing it out doing), and for jumping as Eden has discovered. But recently we came to a realization that we may have to get rid of it. I thought this was an investment that we would have for years to come. As our babies grew up they would have memories of snuggling up to watch movies as a family on it. Oh well. So why would we sell such a wonderful thing? Because in place of it we may be getting this...

Surprised? Us too! We didn't even know this little gem existed until one week ago. Hubby went to look at an old farmhouse that needed redone for fun and on his way saw a sign for an open house outside this bungalow. (For the record, I have ALWAYS wanted a bungalow). Upon seeing the inside he called me and told me I had to come see it.

As I stepped in I whispered "Why are you doing this to me?" Its so beautiful. Charming, cozy, not in need of much repair or even paint (ie: good for someone 7 months prego). It has 3 bedrooms and an office. Something we have said we really really want and need for what we do. And a fabulous kitchen. :) It's also .2 miles from campus. A must for the way we most enjoy living and doing ministry. Perfect, right? You see, we were not exactly in the market for a house right now. The plan was to wait out our lease until March and pray the Lord would have something for us then. However, my sweet husband has been itching to get us settled before baby #2 arrives in October. And I would love that.

So here's how it went from there. We went to the bank and applied for a loan that we were not eligible for 3 weeks ago....and got it! Ok Lord...that's strange...

We then made an offer on the house and they countered. I got majorly cold feet and so Tuesday night we sat down and prayed that the Lord would make His will clear to us. We did NOT want to move forward if all of this was our doing and not His. When we sat down we both thought we were about to pull out our offer and as we listed out pros and cons and prayed to the Lord, we both felt like we needed to continue to move forward. So we did...and countered. And they accepted. Whoa.

One of the things we decided we needed to put in the contract was a contingency that we find renters for our current house in Greensboro. We are doing all this a little prematurely and did not feel like it was honoring to the Lord or serving to our landlord to tell her we were potentially going to be out by September when our lease is up in March. So we have until this Thursday to find a family to rent the house we are living in now. WOW.

We really feel that the Lord has done this for us. Please be praying with us that if it is His will, we would find renters quickly and be able to move forward on this house!

As for the couch, don't worry, we have already found it a great home in a place where we can visit it consistently. :)

Things We Love

2010-07-10T22:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a first for our family. All three of us dressed up like cows and went out in public. This is slightly out of character for all of us. But there was a VERY good reason for such antics. Yesterday marked the annual Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a!

If you know us, you know we LOVE Chick-fil-a. And whats not to like? Fresh, delicious food and unmatched customer service! And here are the pictures our our little herd to share!

Nothing like going out to dinner with something that cute! And on top if it...free combos for mommy and daddy and a free kids meal for the calf!! Hooray Chick-fil-a!

Natural

2010-06-10T12:38:00.000-04:00

I am on this new natural kick. Some of my motivation is coming from a persistent skin issue I have, that seems to be getting worse. The other motivation is that I am pregnant for the second time. With Eden I tried to use natural or at least non-smelly cleaners, but my routine as far as what I put on my body didn’t change. The more I think about it, and read labels that seem to be in another language, the more convicted I become about what products I use. This has also been aided by a mother in law who is currently making her own line of natural beauty products (sweet!). I have switched to her soap, deodorant, and lotion, and LOVE all of the above. I have also started using olive oil or coconut oil as a facial moisturizer. I love the feeling of knowing all the ingredients are natural, and the freedom to use them knowing everything that is being absorbed into my body is safe for the little one growing there. Shampoo and conditioner are next. As far as hair products, when they start making natural serum and mousse that isn’t $20 a bottle, let me know.

In the midst of my skin woes, I started looking up mineral makeup. I learned that not all are created equal and many are not natural at all. Thanks to Passionate homemaking, who did the homework for me, I started looking at Bare Minerals and Everyday Minerals. I had recently gone to a store near my house and tried out Bare Minerals. I wasn’t a huge fan, I think the girl used the wrong color on me. So I began to browse Everyday Minerals site. They offer free samples (4 in a pack) of foundation so that you can try them before you buy the big compact of your color. You only pay shipping. So me, my mom, and my mother in law all went in together and got 3 different packs: Medium, Olive and Tan. And I must say, I’m in love. I have never been a fan of makeup. I hate the way foundation feels on my face and have refused to wear it except when made to (proms, etc). But having a baby will make you need foundation. So I took the plunge into the mineral world, and I am sold. It looks and feels as if I don’t have any makeup on at all, which is my desire, and you can sleep in it!!! Thats a big deal for someone who virtually never takes what makeup she does wear, off. I also ordered some concealer and a little eyeshadow/blush pack called “At the Zoo” (appropriate, yes?). I have been telling everyone about it. (Did I mention I love it?) And here's the best part. A full size foundation is only $9.50...NOT $25! Cover Girl can hardly compete with that! So here is my official thank you to Everyday Minerals for easing my skin woes and quickly and comfortably making me look a lil cuter for my man ;)

Calm Before the Storm

2010-06-03T12:44:00.000-04:00

Since the 2 month mark has passed (yikes), let us fill you all in. You may remember a few months back we blogged about winning a vacation from Lifeway magazines to Captiva Island, FL. Well, 2 weeks ago we finally redeemed the gift certificates and made the 13 hour (give or take) drive down to the Gulf coast to enjoy South Seas Resort. The coupon was only good for 2 nights at the hotel. As the vacation approached, we wondered if it was even worth it to spend as much time in the car as we would at the resort. But, with SBP approaching, we needed a little get away and, well, it was free!!

    The Lord poured out His grace on us in so many ways during our stay. The ride down was a great time for Clint and I to catch up, as SBP preparation has dominated his life the past few months. We stayed about an hour outside of Captiva the night before, and drove over to the resort at 7:00 the next morning. The island is quaint. Little restaurants and gift shops are strewn about the main road, while thick vegetation dominates everything else. We didn’t expect to be able to check in since our reservation wasn’t until 4pm. The sweet girl at the front desk told us our room wouldn’t be ready until then but she had two rooms with 2 queens open. Since we sleep in a full bed at home, it was no big deal to us, so we chose a Harbor-side room on the corner of one of the buildings.

    Before we left for Captiva I jokingly told Clint that I was going to start praying to see a Manatee while we were there. We have been to FL twice since being married and both times we have searched for them with no luck. Its on my bucket list. I will see a Manatee before I die. As we arrived there were 2 maintenance men fixing a towel bar in the bathroom. We asked them what were some must do’s and if seeing a Manatee was out of the question. Thus the Lord’s first wonderful gift to us. It was mating season in Captiva, and there are manatees all over the harbor and marina. I then push Clint out the door and nearly ran to the marina. At first, no luck. We looked and waited, me with my Nikon in hand ready to catch a glimpse of the elusive manatee. For those of you who don’t know, there are only 3000 of these things in the world. Its a big deal. And after about 5 minutes we saw something under a boat about 30 feet away. Two manatees drinking the fresh water from a boat. I almost filled up my camera card, and got a little teary-eyed. Mission accomplished. Later that day Clint saw one swimming about 20 feet away from us in the ocean. Icing on the cake. Thank you Lord!

    The second way the Lord smiled upon us was through the weather. The forecast was thunderstorms the whole time we were to be in Captiva. But, it never rained, not even once. It got cloudy and looked as if it were going to storm but all we got was a light mist on a hot bike ride.

    Which brings me to one of the best the parts of the prize we won: bike rentals for 2 days (cruisers of-course!). The resort is about 3 miles long and a little spread out so we used the bikes to go to the beach, to other parts of the resort, and our favorite, out to dinner. There is something quite peaceful and playful about riding bikes to dinner with your spouse. I felt 12 again. We biked to a quirky little place called The Bubble Room and had some delicious (note: pricey) seafood. We biked back and sat on the beach to watch the sunset, one of our favorite things. Again, the Lord is gracious.

    The second day we woke up a little later than planned (too much bike riding and manatee excitement from day one) and headed over to the beach to relax and read, then headed back to the room for lunch. While we were eating we saw something out of our porch door. Lo and behold, there was a dolphin, fishing, 25 feet from our balcony.   Dolphins are Clint’s favorite animal. We have now successfully seen both our favorite animals, in about 28 hours. He and a few friends stayed in the harbor the remainder of the day and into the next morning. Talk about a view!

    We were sad to leave Captiva, but felt so blessed that the 2 night stay felt a lot more like 4 nights! We hope to have the privilege to return to this peaceful place, but if not, the memories will surely not fade anytime soon. Thank you Lifeway magazines for this awesome gift! The Lore surely used it to minister to us!

Baby Love

2010-03-24T20:33:00.000-04:00

The Darst house has been a little crazy lately! Having a toddler is, in general, unpredictable in a very fun way. I feel like Eden learns something new everyday. Today, it was the word "wow". There are few things in life cuter than watching a little girl read a book and hearing "ahhh...WOW!" when the pages turn!

In addition to the everyday silliness of our home, my husband has been working sun-up to sun-down on our Summer Beach Project! We are expecting our biggest summer ever! There are projected to be more students on this project than ever before in Campus Outreach Charlotte history! Praise the Lord! We are getting super excited as the months quickly roll by! It will be here before we know it! Please be praying for these students as it approaches. The SBP has been one of the 2 most influential (the other being one-on-one discipleship) instruments in our lives! Pray that would be so for the 150(ish) students this summer!!

This morning added a little peace and much much joy into our non-stop schedules. Clint and I had the privilege of hearing the heartbeat of baby #2! We were so excited and so so thankful to hear a good report! And on top of that...we left Eden with our very first (yes, it is really late for this..) non-family babysitter. We left while bubbles were being blown in the sun-room and returned 2 hours later to find her playing in the living room. SHE DIDN'T CRY, NOT EVEN ONCE! What? Our child? The child that refuses to stay in the nursery without crying uncontrollably until her whole head is red? She had met these girls ONCE! And she had a blast! Huh...imagine that! So, props to you Rebecca and Shannon, you successfully conquered the impossible!

Needless to say, it was a very very good morning :) No tears and a healthy baby...this 2 baby thing is working out well already!

Things We Love

2010-03-08T20:43:00.000-05:00

I have been wanting to write a lil something about this for a while. In the Darst family, if you like something, it quickly becomes known to everyone you meet. My husband is an evangelist at heart...and anything he loves, he evangelizes. This has rubbed off. And the thing that follows, we LOVE.

So here goes...volume one of Things We Love.

The number one thing we love these days......

The Mentalist!!

If you have not heard of it, have no fear! We are here to spread the wonderful news of great entertainment! The Mentalist stars Patrick Jane (Simon Baker) an ex-psychic who works with the California Bureau of Investigation to help solve crimes. After a serial killer watches his psychic antics on a morning talk show, Jane comes home to his wife and daughter murdered. Jane then declares his psychic abilities nonsense and explains that he only "pays attention to detail". He joins the CBI full-time with implicit motives to catch Red John. The plot weaves Red John in and out of it's weekly shows, but never ever disappoints.

Hasn't pulled you in yet? Here are some reasons we love it.

1. It delivers CSI-type suspense without all the gory (and sexual) ickiness

2. It has the MOST likable cast of any TV show we have ever seen! Patrick Jane is witty, charming, and unpredictable. Cho is another favorite, his blunt dryness is very endearing!

3. The writing is excellent. They somehow keep a light air (via Jane) to the otherwise darkness of crime scenes and death. (ie: its not too scary for me to watch!)

We are on a mission to convert people to the wonderfulness of The Mentalist. If this serves to push you in that direction...please do share! :)

Its been a while!

2010-03-01T21:17:00.000-05:00

Obviously, life has been a little crazy! We have continued to travel a lot and have some really fun times in our own house. So....hes a recap of frenzied February:

With the end of football season, we begin preparing (and praying for the Dolphins) for September!

We get a (very late) Christmas gift...that she LOVES.

Daddy goes to Asheville for our annual Winter Blast, and Yaya comes to visit!

We enjoy the few days of warm weather by helping Daddy pick up sticks from all the ice and snow!

We have a Team Leader retreat to prepare for our Summer Beach Project and host 12 student leaders in our home! Momentum builds as the months roll by! This is our biggest event every year, and one that has changed our lives!

We find out some fun news....

WE'RE Pregnant!

Frenzied February indeed. :)

Do you know what the Bible says about...

2010-02-04T20:51:00.000-05:00

Dating, giving, suffering, sex, money, works, etc?

This is a huge question for those of us who claim Jesus Christ. You answer is most likely no to at least one of these. Hubby and I have been convicted lately about our lack of knowledge about the Old Testament. We have both been highly trained on the New Testament, specifically Paul's epistles, but have spent much less time in the books preceding Matthew.

In January, we decided that we needed to read through the whole Bible. It is pretty convicting to think that after 3 years in full-time vocational ministry, I have yet to read the whole Bible, cover-to-cover. Honestly, it has seemed like a pretty daunting task. We usually study a book of the Bible every semester and one during the Summer Beach Project. Adding on to that, reading through the whole Bible has just seemed overwhelming. The ministry we work for taught both hubby and myself how to study scripture. This is a gift that I am so thankful for. I spent my years in college getting to know Jesus through His word by learning how to use cross-references and studying how passages in Luke related to those in Romans. But this also means I have not spent a large amount of time just reading God's word. I am thankful to say, one month in, we are on track!

It has been so refreshing to just read the stories of God's faithfulness to His people. The Bible is a truly amazing story of how God is redeeming His own. There is more knowledge, wisdom and hope found in its pages than we will ever come close to exhausting!

So here is my encouragement...join with us in reading through the Bible in a year! Go find out what God has to say about...life! May it be a decision that God uses to help you learn more about His faithfulness, love, and gracious will! It only takes about 15-20 minutes a day. I have decided to wake up earlier than the rest of my family (if only 20 minutes, as this morning was!) to meet with God. Thank you GirlTalk for the encouragement! I know that I need this time with Him to be the wife, mother and friend He calls me to be. He promises that His word does not return void (Isaiah 55:11)! Trusting in that!

Where in the world have we been?

2010-01-28T16:23:00.000-05:00

Traveling hasn't slowed down for us! We are in a season of support raising which requires a lot of traveling and flexible scheduling. It can be difficult with a baby, but we have amazing parents who just love for us to go out of town so that they can spoil Eden with merry-go-rounds and ice cream!

In the middle of our last support trip we got an amazing opportunity to spend some time with some of our current supporters. Where you ask?

The Lord gave us a big gift in the midst of some crazy travel! We were so thankful to see the Colts hand it to the Jets (as Dolphin fans we have a bit of hostility toward them). This officially makes us Colts fans. So if you need us on February 7th...we will be cheering so loud that they can hear us in Miami! GO COLTS!!

Hope for Haiti

2010-01-13T22:19:00.000-05:00

I have a dear friend and sister in the Lord that has been a faithful missionary to orphans in Haiti for many years now. Last night Clint and I saw the first few glimpses of the news and my heart sank. "The worst earthquake in 200 years" was all I heard and began to cry. Port au Prince is the city that the workers of the orphanage go into frequently. I expected the worst, and we prayed.

News came this morning that the orphanage was spared, and its inhabitants were shaken up, but safe. My heart was torn with much joy for their lives and home, and great grief as the estimate of lives lost hit 100,000.

Please continue to pray as the relief efforts push forward. Many are still missing and communication is very difficult within the country.

Please pray for those who are searching for loved ones! Pray that the Lord would send relief from outside sources to restore Haiti to health, and ultimately to Himself.

Pray for wisdom and grace as the workers at Hope for Haiti reach out into the devastation as many children have lost parents as a result of the earthquake.

If you feel led to give please see this website. http://www.danitaschildren.org/

W

2010-01-11T22:19:00.001-05:00

My mom recently bought me a subscription to Cookie magazine. It's a sort-of rich mommy magazine. I enjoyed it most of the time, though 90% of the clothes in it were wildly overpriced. It gave me some good ideas to go look for in TJ Maxx. And I like to think it was keeping me trendy (something I have struggled to be since becoming a mom...or college student!).

But recently, I received a notification that Cookie would no longer be in publication. Though a little disappointed, it was nothing like getting the notice that Wondertime would be done! So the nice people at Cookie decided to send me W magazine instead. The note attached to my last issue said that they knew I would love W. It is a magazine for the affluent, cultural fashionistas of the world. Clearly, they know me well.

A few days ago I received my first issue of W. Jennifer Garner posing on the front in a beautiful orange dress. So I opened and began investigating this W. On one of the first few pages there was a blurb about what Miss Garner was wearing. Cartier necklace...450,000 dollars! Why is that even listed? Does anyone see that and say "Oh! Thats EXACTLY what I want for my birthday!" What in the world? And that's where I stopped. Oh well....it was fun while it lasted.

As for that necklace...If anyone is interested in buying it for me: be warned, I will take it to a pawn shop...and buy a few houses with it.

A Workout Partner

2010-01-11T21:49:00.000-05:00

If you have made the New Years resolution (as millions have) to exercise more, listen up. I have ground breaking news that will help you be successful! It is no secret that having a partner, someone who is motivated and not too nice to make you do something you don't want to do, will help you stick to your goals.

But heres the advice you've probably never heard... Just two steps to success!

1. Buy a Wii Fit
2. Let your 14 month old watch you use it ONCE

She will, and I mean WILL, hold you accountable to use it at least once a day...if not multiple times.

Happy exercising!

I hate carrots...

2010-01-07T14:17:00.000-05:00

Not cooked ones, I have grown to like those. But raw carrots taste like dirt to me. I was never one of those girls who snacked on raw carrots and celery (which I also hate) before practice. No matter how mind-over-matter I can get, I just can't eat them.

However, my sweet husband bought me a juicer for Christmas. I have been wanting one for a little over a year, but because of mixed reviews on any under the $200 mark, I refused to buy one. He researched, bought the Jack Lalane Power Juicer Pro, and proudly presented it to me on Christmas morning. Because of our crazy December, this morning was our first attempt at making a little concoction.

We threw some fruits and veggies in and viola! Beautiful, tasty juice! We are hoping that this juicer helps us get up to the 5-9 fruits and veggies a day mark! Call it a New Years resolution, heres to better health!

Our fave (and only) recipe?
2 carrots and one navel orange per person.

Give it to the carrot-hater in your life. Their eyes will thank you!

If you have never heard of Barbara Barker...

2010-01-01T11:52:00.000-05:00

I am happy to introduce you!

Until this past summer, neither had I. On our annual Summer Beach Project this summer, everyone read the biography of Barbara's husband, Frank. Frank is a PCA pastor from Birmingham AL, the PCA pastor that is responsible for starting Campus Outreach. For us, full-time employees and stateside missionaries for this organization, reading about them was very exciting. Clint and I spent time many nights reading aloud the biography of this wild pilot turned pastor. We were enamored with the stories of amazing faith, huge prayers, and abundant grace the Lord seemed to pour out on this man and wife.

A few days ago, Frank and Barbara joined us in DC to speak to our students. They told the story of how Campus Outreach got its start, and pricked the hearts of hundreds of college students who are now asking “Could the Lord use me to do something like that?” We pray that the answer is yes.

It was this place, the New Years Conference (then held in Atlanta), that Clint and I both had intimate interactions with the Lord over what He could do in our lives. It was this conference (and John Piper) that kept Clint from transferring colleges to play football, which eventually led to our meeting (thank you, Mr. Piper!). It was here that I first got a glimpse of what walking with the Lord in community looked like. A glimpse that eventually led me to transfer schools to be discipled. That move changed my life. The Lord really uses this time. He has uniquely blessed it. And we are thankful.

But, back to Barbara. Yesterday, all of the staff wives had a chance to meet with Mrs. Barker to talk about how she has managed life, ministry, children (3 in 2 1/2 years!), and being a man in ministry’s wife. She proceeded to tell us her story. Most of it, I was on the verge of tears. Partly because I felt understood, partly because I found great hope for my life in her words. When Barbara was 25, she had given up a ballet career to marry the man she loved. She was not a Christian at the time. In that season, he became a Christian, and broke up with her. She tried to commit suicide. In her recovery, her sister led her to Christ. She spent 4 years honeymooning with the Lord only to move back to Birmingham and marry that very same man.

But that man, let her down. She put her hope in her marriage, and he loved his church. She became resentful and hopeless. One day while her 3 babies were sleeping she cried out to the Lord. In her distress this verse came to her “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that could hold no water”. She says that that day, her life changed. She repented of her infidelity to the Lord in her heart, and began a new life of looking to Him to satisfy her needs and loving her husband out of the overflow.

Now, why does this give me great hope? I am 25 years old. Jesus has been my Lord now for 7 years. I am very young in my faith, yet, I am in full-time ministry. I live with a perfectionism that whispers the lie that I must have it all together before I take a step of faith, teach anyone, or give of myself. And this woman, through a book, had become a hero to me. And now, I sit listening to the ways the Lord humbled, loved and poured out His grace to her. At my age she tried to take her life and finally gave it up to the Lord. My flesh and satan keep me from hope. I read stories about people like the Barker’s and I think “I will never be that godly, influential, etc.” Oh, but truth drowns out the lies when I hear a 73 year old (extremely godly) woman say “I have been a Christian for almost 50 years, and the same self I battled then, I battle now. But I am better.”

I have no idea what the Lord has in store for us in the next 5, 10....50 years! But I do know one thing. Barbara Barker is a testimony of the Lord’s grace. He is faithful, and He is committed to us no matter the depths of our sin and struggles. Praise the Lord for you Barbara! Thank you for your perseverance, your hope, your submission to your husband and your Lord. You can not imagine the impact you have had on countless lives. You have indeed been a messenger of the Lord’s grace to this ministry wife!

Happy New Year!

2009-12-30T20:56:00.000-05:00

I can hardly believe that 2009 is coming to a close! In many ways it has flown by, in others, it has felt like the longest year of life.

The Lord has taught us a great deal about life, love, sacrifice, marriage and parenting this year. It has been, without a doubt, the most challenging year of our lives. But in the sleepless nights and colic, the Lord's grace has been abundant. He brings challenges to us in order to refine us. Malachi 3:3 talks of the Lord refining His people and them becoming righteous as a result. This is a hard truth of the Christian faith. If I am to become more holy, I will have to walk through the fire of suffering and live in a way that opposes everything the world tells me is right. Things that are natural must become unnatural. He must become greater, I must become less (John 3:30). Sin must be put to death. And death hurts.

Suffering is not fun stuff. Sure, certain ways people suffer may look appealing or "godly". But in the depth of our hearts, we don't want to suffer, ever. A call to Jesus is a call to suffer. 2 Timothy 3:12 tells us that "All who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted." We are called to share in His sufferings (Philippians 3:10) . The Bible is loaded with verses about this issue. But its not one that gets much press in the pulpit. I have to be honest with you, if you have heard that the call to Jesus is a call to be rich, healthy, and happy all your days, you have been very deceived. To submit to Christ is to sign a blank contract. He makes the calls, all the time. And you trust His goodness.

There is a page that my Bible tends to fall open to. I have an index card wedged somewhere around Psalm 119 and it reads "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). This is a verse I have to read over and over. The circumstances of life aren't always fun. I easily become discontent, overwhelmed and resentful (among other things). The truth is this. Jesus left the perfection of Heaven to live in this broken world and die a death I deserved so that I could live in glory with Him one day. That truth, is worth my life.

So as 2010 rolls in my prayer is this: that you and I would love the Lord God with all our hearts, souls, and with all our minds. Where suffering is found, holiness is close at hand. The fire is hot....but the beauty on the other side is more than you could ever imagine.

What is a Paradox?

2009-12-30T19:52:00.000-05:00

Is it a pair of ducks?

This week we are on the road again! This time to the nation's capital! Last night kicked off our annual New Years Conference in DC! This year our theme is Paradox. We would love for you to get a sneak peek at what we do here, so our wonderful Tech guys have set up a live feed on the web! Go to UStream and search "Paradox event"

Hope you enjoy it and are deeply impacted by the life-changing Word of God!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-22T20:13:00.000-05:00

It seems that Christmas has snuck up on us this year! 3 days separate us from the most anticipated day of the year...and I am just now making a Christmas music list, and cookies are nowhere in sight! We just got home Sunday night from a week of staff training, and a very fun Darst Christmas in Shelby. On top of much traveling, I have a toddler (yep..you read that right!) who is teething (that's our guess anyway) and is very very fussy. She is presently in her bed because that is the only place she seems to be able to calm down. Tylenol is our only hope.

In the midst of the elevated stress levels at our house, there is joy. Clint and I are super excited about spending our very first Christmas at home. My parents and sister are coming to join us in creating memories, enjoying our new home, and starting some new traditions. Something that the Lord has convicted me of in the past few years, is making an effort to make Christmas about Christ. It seems pretty obvious that it should be, but the Americanization of Christmas has sadly often left Jesus out of it.
So here are a few things we plan to do to ensure our hearts and minds will be turned to the Prince of Peace this Christmas.

1) Nativity Scenes- Since Thanksgiving, we have had our nativity scenes out. This seems normal, but this year we have two that are solely for Eden. One in her room, one under the tree. It's amazing how sponge-like little ones really are. Within 2 weeks, Eden learned that the pink-cheeked baby in the hay's name was "Jee-us". Mission accomplished.

2) Reading the Story- We have read to Eden Luke's account of Christ's birth a few times. She isn't overly interested. :) Last night we starting reading the delightfully illustrated and captivatingly worded The Jesus Storybook Bible. This is an amazing little book. It not only helps children understand the stories of the Bible, but every single story points back to Jesus and to God's plan to redeem His people. Not only that, it has breathed new life into the way I now read God's word! Somehow, the reminder of the big wonderful story, even as an adult, will bring out the 5 year old in you.

3) Emphasis on Giving- last year Clint and I decided that we wanted one of our family traditions at Christmas to be an emphasis on giving. We are so wired to want to receive, but God tells us that "it is more blessed to give than to receive"(Acts 20:35). I wholeheartedly believe this. Gifts are not bad things, in fact, the Bible talks about gifts a lot! Gifts are good things, and God is the best gift giver there is! It is just that we want our children to grow up knowing first hand that loving and being generous is much more blessed than even getting a much anticipated gift. In light of this, we will be orienting the gifts around who's turn it is to give, not whose turn it is to get.

Hopefully, there will be many more traditions to add to our list! Thankfully, I feel like I have some time to think about more specifics before Miss Eden has a memory (or so I think)! I hope these get your creative juices flowing about how to make Christ the gift this year! Merry Christmas!

Cookie Exchange!

2009-12-08T20:31:00.000-05:00

My friend Carrie is doing a little virtual cookie exchange. Since I cant share with you my famous (with Wingate students, anyway) chocolate chip cookie recipe (top secret), heres the next best thing! These are super rich so pace yourself. But man...are they good!!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Bars
1 cup butter
2 c sugar
2 eggs
2 Tbsp vanilla

2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 c oatmeal

12 ox chocolate chips
15 oz. Sweetened condensed milk
2 T butter
2 tsp vanilla

1. Cream together: butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.

2. Mix in a separate bowl: flour, soda, salt, and oatmeal

3. Melt together: choc. chips condensed milk, 2 T butter and vanilla

4. Mix first two mixtures and spread 2/3 batter into a 9x13 in. pan. Cover with chocolate mixture. Dot with rest of batter. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes. ENJOY!

So much to update!

2009-12-08T20:17:00.002-05:00

Since we have last updated you we have.....

1. Celebrated a first birthday!

2. Went on a marriage retreat

3. Celebrated Thanksgiving

4. Packed up everything we own

5. Moved to a new city

6. Decorated for Christmas

AND

7. Went to our first ever Festival of Lights

(it was cold and bedtime.... note the look on her face)

Boy have we been busy! Thank you for your prayers as we made the big move. The Lord provided us with an amazing house in a great location and we moved within 2 weeks of finding it! We had a ton of help even though it was the day after Thanksgiving, and we are now officially settled in the 'boro! We are LOVING living in a small city and are looking forward to learning more about it as we settle down here!

Confession...

2009-11-19T16:30:00.000-05:00

I love magazines. LOVE them. I currently have at least 5 subscriptions that were given to me as gifts. And I love them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about the many magazines that celebrate the sin of our culture. There are too many to name that wrongfully worship sex, gossip, and materialism, to name a few. No, thank you. But oh, the magazines that celebrate homemaking, entertaining, cooking and decorating (Southern Living, anyone?)! I can devour them. And I do...when I get the chance.

Recently Clint and I were in Richmond, VA for a marriage retreat. After dinner we went to the local Barnes and Noble to browse. We were perusing the Christian living section when something caught my eye. It appeared to be a Martha Stewart Living type of magazine....but at the top, above the title, was written "Faith for your journey." Could it be? A Christian homemaking magazine?? YES! Hooray!! And lo and behold...its as amazing as it sounds.

life:beautiful is indeed a Christian homemaking magazine. I was hesitant at first that it may be just a homemaking magazine with some Bible verses strategically placed in there to market to the Christian world. But I was pleasantly surprised. It delivers in both creativity, and sound biblical teaching. I especially love the secion on how to make your holidays more Christ-centered and God-honoring. I have reaped tons of both creative, fun, ideas, and spiritual nourishment from it...and I'm only halfway through!

It is an up and coming magazine that I hope gains much ground! Consequently, its pricey for a subscription. $18.95 for just 4 issues! Ouch. As I continue to deliberate about getting this for myself, and every other woman I know, I hope you enjoy!

So...we're moving!

2009-11-17T13:23:00.000-05:00

But you know that...

What you don't know is that we will be moving in less than two weeks!! The Lord, again, gave to us in abundance! We went house hunting last week and were set up to see about 10 houses. We saw three on Tuesday and found two that we liked alot. We left very encouraged and excited to see if there were any who would win us over on Wednesday. Tuesday night we were staying with our friends Dave and Carrie who live in Greensboro. They were giving us advice on what were the best neighborhoods close to campus, church, etc. While talking Clint took one last look on Craigs List and found one house we hadn't noticed before. The reason we had not noticed it was because of the rather out of our price range rent. We decided to leave the window open on the computer just in case we were desperate on Wednesday.

The next morning we had an appointment at 8:30 to see a 3 BR house in Lake Daniel. This house seemed perfect to us. Walking distance to campus, overlooking a park, 3 BR/2 Bath. Great! We decided we wanted it, but wanted to see a few more just in case. There was one other house that may be perfect, but it was scheduled for the end of our day. Our realtor called and canceled on us as a result of sickness and so we opened the computer to find the address and phone number to the other house that seemed promising. And then we remembered....the pricey, too good to be true house!
We called about it "just to see" and went to pick up the key. When we walked in the "too good to be trueness" grew. It was big, nice, with tons of living space (living room, dining, breakfast room, sunroom!). We loved it (minus the incredibly small, PINK bathroom)! We left, hopeful but trying to guard our hearts, and went to see the last house.

It was a great house, but was 2 BR (we really feel like we need three for visitors...we love visitors!). So we left and went back to the Realty place and threw out an offer for the amazing house.

And....

They said yes! This offer was a little bit ridiculous. They came down 150 dollars a month for us! The realtor told us that she had showed it to tons of people who loved it, but that the onwer wasnt willing to come down on the price.....until that very day!

And so...the Lord does it again! We are so thankful to receive such a sweet gift from Him in this season of transition and newness! Thank you for your prayers! He indeed answered graciously!

Happy Birthday Miss Eden!

2009-11-12T15:01:00.000-05:00

Sweet Miss Eden, we cant believe it has been a year since the Lord blessed us with your petite little self! The Lord has brought us more grace through you than we ever thought possible. The lessons He has used you to teach us are ones that have changed us forever. He has brought so much redemption to our hearts, our marriage and our family as a result of your arrival. We will be much more patient, long-suffering, loving and hopeful people because of your influence on us. It is amazing that the Lord could use such a tiny life to change those around her. His sovereignty is overwhelming! He truly does make the weak to shame the strong.

	"But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong" 1 Corinthians 1:27

I pray this would be the theme of your life. That you would bring such redemption to everyone you meet, that the sovereignty and grace of the Lord would be undeniable. This year has been one of the most amazing of our lives. We can not fathom life without your silly sounds, great dancing, hide-and-seek, cheese loving self! You are such a good and perfect gift to us from the Lord. Happy Birthday Sugapie! We love you so much!

If it seems too good to be true...

2009-11-03T10:40:00.000-05:00

It probably is... The house I posted about yesterday is indeed amazing. After more researching we found out its is a $500,000 house in one of the most desired neighborhoods in Greensboro. Great! And that it is HUGE! Great! So whats not to love?

The person who posted this house responded to our email this morning. He said he had to move his family to Africa and needed someone to take care of his house as their own. He said he needed an honest person to trust and that he was a man of his word. He closed the email with this. "We are giving you all this base on trust and again i will want you to stick to your words, you know that we do not see yet and only putting every thing into Gods hand, so please do not let us down in this our property and God bless you more as you do this." Broken English...yes. Scam....yep! He has used a Greensboro realtor's name to create an email address in order to scam people into them sending their deposit for these homes. And...on top of it all he is using the Lords name (in response to our email about being in ministry) to aid his scam!

We have contacted the realtor and are hoping that he finds this guy and gets some justice. Thank you for praying! Please continue to do so as we search for the next place we will do ministry and life!

If you are reading this today....

2009-11-02T11:20:00.001-05:00

Please Pray!!!

Our search for homes has been a little more difficult than we anticipated. A few weeks ago we took a trip to Greensboro to look at a few houses. We found one we loved and made an offer to rent it. We found out a few days later that they gave it to someone else...who was ready to move in ASAP.

This morning Clint was randomly looking on Craigslist and found the MOST perfect home! It's a little on the pricey side for what we would like to invest in rent, but otherwise....WOW!!

We have emailed the owner and are now waiting! Please pray that the Lord would allow the owner to have favor on us and lower the price of rent and allow us to live in this great location!!

Thank you!!

Mini Me

2009-10-30T10:47:00.000-04:00

If you ask many people that know us, they would say that Eden gets her fun, silly personality from Clint. It is no secret that he has a TON of personality, and I am known to be the reserved listener. However, as Eden's first year has progressed, and she has learned more and more things...it is apparent that I have indeed reproduced myself.

It all started when I figured out that Eden liked to play hide and seek. I would run into another room and she would come find me, then turn around and crawl faster than I ever imagined possible, and scream. I was so confused by this for weeks. One day I decided to show Clint our new game...and told him I wasn't sure why she screamed when I chased her. He watched, and laughed, and then informed me it was because when I ran from her I screamed. Great thing to teach her! I have since taken this shadowing to a whole new level. I have successfully taught my child how to do a heel stretch, a toe-touch, and the sign for Touchdown. These are 12 month old versions, of course, but quite impressive ones if I do say so myself!

I secretly love this. I love that she wants to be like me. It feels amazing to have someone look up to you and want to mimic your every move. I learned in college, as I started walking with God, that I needed to be an example ALL of the time. I hated it at first, I felt like I could never not care what people thought of me. But eventually I learned that I was representing Christ, not Rachel, ALWAYS. When I walked to class, led Bible studies, ate dinner, watched movies, went to basketball games, I had to be a light to darkness. I never thought people were looking at my life. I found out as years passed that women all around me were indeed watching my every move. I pray that I represented Christ well to everyone who was watching!

I am thankful I learned that lesson in college! I am living it out in a very real way now! As Eden grows by the day, it is becoming more and more obvious that Clint and I are her examples of what to be. I pray we would not only reproduce our love of football, cheerleading, eachother and family. But that we would ooze the love of Christ and that she would see that all the days of our lives. The pressure is on! As my little mini me grows up and learns more it intensifies my need for Christ for multiple reasons. I can not love if I am not first loved by Him (1 John 4:19). I can not have patience to discipline and correct her if I am not meeting with God. The fruits of the Spirit are a necessity more than ever in my life. I can not teach her about the Lord if I do not know His character. My knowledge and love of the Word needs to grow!

I can rest in that the Lord gives more grace (James 4:6), and to know that he will graciously give me what I need when I need it. We have the opportunity to teach her the goodness, loving-kindness, sovereignty and hope of the Lord before her mind is filled with any other lies! What a gift!! I pray that we would take hold of the command to teach her diligently the words of truth! Lord fill our hearts with your love, that we might gracefully teach her your ways!

A Season of Change...

2009-10-06T09:51:00.003-04:00

If you haven't heard yet....
Were Moving! Yep, that's right...moving. Through a sequence of events in our ministry, the Lord has led us to a new city. Our friends Dave and Carrie Russell have been praying about launching a region in Washington DC for years now. As of this summer, the prayers began to take shape! In May, Dave, Carrie, and their 3 little ones will be moving to Washington DC to begin building laborers in our nations capital!

So...what does this have to do with us? Well, we will be taking Dave and Carrie's place as the area directors over Elon University, UNC-Greensboro, and Wingate! Though our excitement to move to the Triad region (Greensboro!) is great...we are beginning to feel the loss of many things the Lord has uniquely blessed us with in this season. We love living in Wingate. Our days are spent walking around campus mingling with students and often, having them over to our house (which is in walking distance). Clint is the chaplain of the Wingate football team, I am helping coach the cheerleaders for the 3rd year. Many of our students have become family to us. This is where we started our life together as a married couple. Our first home is here, our first baby was born here. Memories in this sleepy little town abound for us. We will deeply miss this place. This will be a season that we will look back on our whole lives. I am sure of this.

To ease our pain...there are a few things we WILL NOT miss about Wingate....

1) The Chicken Plant- There are days where the stench of the Tyson plant (which is actually in MONROE) is unbearable. In pregnancy, you have a heightened sense of smell. The summer heat coupled with this reality kept me inside, not even daring to check the mail some days in the summer of 08! This smell is not constant (praise the Lord), or predictable. There are just some days were exercise outside isn't an option if you'd like to not throw up.

2) Highway 74- If you live in Wingate, you are giving me AMEN's. There is one way in and out of Wingate. Highway 74. We hate 74. Though we are thankful to have a road to get in and out of here...we wish there was at least one detour to take. But there isn't. There is always traffic on 74. There is the morning commute traffic, lunch rush traffic, 3-6 o'clock traffic.... If you want to miss the traffic, you must travel at 3 am. We've done it. We will NOT miss 74.

3) Random power outages- A few weeks ago, we had a play-date with our friends Kelly and Luke. For such an occasion, I splurged and bought pork ribs to cook in our crockpot. At 3:30, I put them in to simmer for hours...at 4:00, the power went out. It stayed out until 9:30 that night. The ribs were ruined and so we walked to McDonalds...where the power was also out. This is not unusual. Within the past week we have had more than 10 outages! Most of them in the same day. It is a mystery why this happens. But we certainly will not miss it.

4) Water Quality- On more than one occasion, people have defined our water's smell as "like dirt". Nice. This is especially true after it rains. We get an annual water quality report which, in a nice way, states that our water is not entirely safe to drink. We have a water filter and apologize to guests that have to brush their teeth with water that smells like mud.

5) Fire Ants- Union County is known to have especially bad fire ants. When they bite, they HURT, a lot! We have found them in Eden's bed this week...and it makes me want to set fire to every ant hill I see. We have to be very careful when we play in the yard...only on blankets. They frequently take over the entire town...and get worse when it rains. We will NOT miss them.

Though these few things drive us crazy from time to time, we will still deeply miss the people, the campus and the memories we have made here! We love you dear, tiny, sleepy little Wingate!

Every good and perfect gift!

2009-09-30T09:46:00.005-04:00

"If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"
Matthew 7:11

The good gifts of the heavenly Father are more numerable than we could ever imagine. Just yesterday I was taking Eden and Rudy for a walk and was struck with how good He is to give us beautiful weather. The Fall could have easily ruined weather totally for us. But in the Lord's grace He chose to give us perfect autumn days where we can sit on a blanket in the grass perfectly comfortable for hours.

Our lives have been a testimony to the many gifts He gives. There are so many stories we could tell you about how the Lord provided in some amazing ways and gave us unexpected, over the top gifts. Our entire honeymoon was paid for, mostly by people we had never met. Just before we were married we desperately needed a car. Mine had just died for good and Clint's Honda with 250,000 miles was less than reliable! Two months before the wedding, another person we had never met gave us a CAR! An Audi at that! When we began praying that the Lord would allow us to start a family, we also began praying for a home. We had nowhere close to the finances needed to purchase one. A few months later the Lord blessed us with a very unexpected generous gift from again, people we had never met, that allowed us to put a down payment on a house! "...how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" Amen.

And so the Lord, again, adds another chapter to His gracious gift-giving. Last night I went to Clint's flag football game. Almost as soon as I arrived at the field my phone rang. It was 8pm and a number that I didn't recognize popped up on my screen. Usually, I don't answer calls from numbers that aren't programmed in, but for whatever reason...I answered. Rhonda was the very polite, excited voice on the other end of the line. "May I speak with Rachel?". I was right, I didn't know the number. Rhonda works for Lifeway Christian Magazines. She proceeded to inform me that in August I signed up for a vacation sweepstakes from their ParentLife magazine. This is the first time I have ever attempted this. And on a whim, in August I thought, "what the heck...never know...the Lord always does things like this for us!" Lo and behold...WE WON!! At this point I am giddy and somewhat confused. I remembered signing up for it, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember where the vacation was! And then the best part...."The vacation you won is to Captiva Island, Florida."

This place is BEAUTIFUL. Now I remembered why I signed up...the picture and description of the South Seas Resort was AMAZING! And we won! The best part of this whole thing is that in about a month, on November 4th, Clint and I will be celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary! What a better way to do it than on the gulf coast, where we celebrated our honeymoon!

We are overwhelmed by this timely, gracious, exciting gift. Another reminder of the goodness, loving kindness, and grace of our Lord. He is truly the perfect Daddy!

Almost a Month!

2009-09-24T11:27:00.005-04:00

I know we promised reconnected Internet meant more frequent blogs. And then..life happened. Teething happened, 2 week fevers (Clint) happened, ligament damage (also, Clint) happened, drunk driving...happened.

Two weeks ago we received a call from my (Rachel) mom at midnight. As soon as the phone rang dread ran through both of us. No call at this hour is a good one. Mom proceeded to tell us that Calvin, my step-dad had been in a car accident. Dread turned to disbelief. I wanted to hope for the best but as details came...hope faded. The hospital had called...he had been hit on Highway 321, TWO HOURS before. They had to cut him out of the car. "We may have to transport him to CMC." The last detail made my heart sink. Unfortunately, we have had many calls like this. Any ending in "transport to CMC" has ended in death. My stomach turned, and Clint sat on the bed suddenly awake and terrified of the look on my face. And then...we waited. For 35 minutes we waited on another call. We sat and prayed and waited. Thoughts stormed my mind. The day before, Calvin had taken Eden on her first merry-go-round ride. We were not ready for this. I took a shower while we talked about what to do with Eden. Clint called his parents and set up a worst case scenario drive to Wingate from Shelby. Finally, the phone rang again. Calvin was alive, conscious and talking to the nurses. He had been hit, nearly head-on by a drunk driver. Suddenly, pain and disbelief were joined with anger in my heart. This was not an accident. Someone chose to get behind the wheel of a car very very impaired. The car jumped a 3-4 inch median, Calvin swerved at the last minute, literally saving his life. He made it out with seven broken ribs and a broken shoulder blade. A few inches different and he would have lost his life.

We have lived these last few weeks torn. Anger and grief pulled one way, hope and deep thankfulness the other. Calvin is going to be fine. His recovery will be slow and painful, but he will recover. The Lord's grace to us, my mom and sister, and many others is overwhelming. The Lord spared Calvin his life! This is the essence of grace. The Lord chose to grant Calvin life. Once, and now again. We, Calvin and the drunk driver who hit him do not deserve grace like that. But that is how God works. We deserve hell and he gives us abundant, overwhelming new life. Now, and in eternity. May this grace lead us to a deep thankfulness and worship of the Creator and giver of life. Please Lord, don't let us waste our lives!

2009-09-01T22:03:00.003-04:00

Daddy's little Dolfan!

It is currently 66 degrees in Wingate, NC....this is unheard of on September first. Living in the Piedmont region of North Carolina you just miss the beautiful mountains to the west, and sandy beaches to the east, and are left with mostly heat and fire ants. So, with this very early visit from fall comes a Darst celebration.

We LOVE fall. We anticipate in all other seasons the start of this glorious and most beautiful time of year. We talk about it, a lot. For us, life is just better in the fall. There are many reasons for this preoccupation with autumn. Primarily, we (yes WE) loooove football. Clint has lived and breathed football since day one. He used to tell his dad that "yourami" was playing on TV when then Miami Dolphins were on. Rachel grew up in Belle, WV...where the only thing to do on friday night was go to a high school football game. It is ingrained in us...fall means football. And we LOVE football!

Another, more legitimate reason is that we met, and fell in love, in the fall. Appropriately, on a football field. It was August of 2001...picture day for the football team and cheerleaders at East Lincoln High School. And we certainly noticed each other. One year later we started dating...in August and proceeded to fall in love over the next few months. Thus, we love the fall. In addition, the two most wonderful gifts God has given us have been in November. On November 4th 2006, the Lord gave us each other, in marriage, on a chilly, vibrant fall day. Two years later, He gave us our sweet Eden.

Fall also means an end to the blistering Southern North Carolina heat. And with that, the need to wear Rachel's favorite article of clothing...the hoodie. And lastly, fall brings a new semester and start to a new school year at Wingate. This is the most exciting time of year for us in college ministry. The campus is bustling as freshmen get acquainted with classes and new friends. And with much planning and prayer we set out to glorify God by building new laborers on the campus. There is nothing like the first 6 weeks of the school year.

This weekend kicks off college football season, flag football season, Wingate's first weekly meeting, and the end to preseason NFL football. This, is a good week. So with this week...we celebrate. Pumpkin spice Wallflowers are installed, soup is being made, and decorations are being dusted off and hung up. Praise the Lord for this season. May it be one unforgettable fall!

Summer Lovin'

2009-08-31T14:59:00.004-04:00

Family Photo

You wont forget that name!

Moon over the water in Myrtle!

Little Beach Bunny

If you are a follower of our blog...you've probably noticed there hasn't been much to follow lately. There are two reasons for this.

1) I (Rachel) am the resident blogger...and with the addition of our sweet Miss Eden...blogging has taken a major back seat to sleep, sanity and surviving daily life.

2) We chose to disconnect the internet this summer for a season to focus on family health, intimacy and again...surviving daily life.

I am very thankful to inform you though, that from here on out will be more consistent posts on our little space here.

2009-03-01T09:43:00.002-05:00

Our newest entertainment. Eden's sweet little ooohs and coos have turned into this...an all out yell!

The Things You Do!

2009-02-17T20:03:00.003-05:00

Our little baby girl is growing up (literally considering she is taller than 75% of most 3 month olds...but average weight) right before our eyes. Sometimes I feel like she gets bigger over night. As she grows and becomes more of a baby than a newborn, she gets more and more fun. We have laughed from day one at the hilarious things she does. For example, we have multiple videos we filmed in the wee hours of the morning her first week at home. This was to document her unbelievable cuteness, but more so her hilarious facial expressions. She will love this one day.

In addition to funny faces, miss Eden has made herself rather famous for her very unladylike flatulence. She has literally woken us from sleep with the volume! She will hate this one day.

Most recently, Eden has gone from a sweet little babble to us and her favorite bunny, to an all out yell! My ability to talk on the phone has almost completely diminished. I dont mind this. I couldn't talk to anyone as a result of my hysterical laughter anyway.

2009-02-11T16:51:00.006-05:00

Celebrating more than 45 minutes of sleep...and her first New Years Eve

The mere time lapse since the last blog is a window into the last 3 months for us. Since the arrival of our little pumpkin, it seems that life has been busier and harder than ever. When I was prenant, people (sometimes random people in Walmart) told me all the time: "Girl, your life is about to change." I would smile politely and say "Yeah, I know, we're excited!" I had no idea how right they were....

The first month of Eden's life was one of the hardest I have ever had. She was suffering from a horrible case of colic and was around the clock gassy and uncomfortable. I altered my diet over and over to see what I was eating that resulted in these sleepless nights...and days (milk...go figure). Clint and I lived in shifts. He, up til 4 am playing video games to stay awake. Then me, up from 4 am on trying to soothe our very sad baby. An excercise ball my sister gave me while I was pregnant literally saved our sanity. I lived on that ball for weeks...into months. I cried and bounced...and sometimes slept.

And then...we drove to Washington DC for our New Years Conerence. I had dreaded this trip since she was born...8 hours in the car with a screaming baby on I95, great. However, this was a turning point for our little bundle of gas...she slept the ENTIRE way there. Only waking to eat. At the same time I was both rejoicing over the easy trip and dreading what 8 hours of daytime sleep meant for the night..and consequently for the rest of the conference. Maybe she just likes a fast paced lifesyle...but our little girl was a totally different baby that week. No belly aches, no screaming so hard the neighbors could hear...and on top of it all...a 7 hour night of sleep! I could function again! That was at 6 weeks. Last friday Eden turned 3 months old.

Though these has been the hardest and most self-denying 3 months of my life, they have also been some of the most joyful. There are no words to explain what your heart feels for your own child. I could write pages and never come close to doing my heart any justice. It just cant be explained.

Being patient with Mommy as she plays with her new camera.

Showing her new trick (responding to someone sticking out their tongue by doing the same) to Tayler at the New Years Conference

Its a GIRL!

2008-11-25T12:33:00.005-05:00

Our sweet little surprise decided to give us an even bigger surprise as she arrived 13 days early! Eden Bradlee was born on November 13th at 4:45 pm. She weighed 7lbs. 4 oz and was 19 3/4 in. long. Here are some pics of the family on the day she was born!

Prego Pictures!

2008-11-05T13:31:00.005-05:00

These fun pictures were taken by our good friend Jenelle on campus at Wingate! We are officially 3 weeks from our due date as of today!!

Breakthrough

2008-10-08T21:17:00.006-04:00

John 3:19-21 “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and the people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. 20. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lets his deeds should be exposed. 21. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God.”

I know that all of you have experienced a late conference night ending with the joy of coming into a nice, clean hotel room for much needed sleep. You close the curtains making sure the room will be utterly dark hoping that will make up for the fact that you only have 5 hours before you get up. But the next morning you wake up to what feels like a laser pointer of light, that has somehow penetrated your placement of the curtains and landed directly in your eyes. You cover up with a pillow and flip over in frustration as you HAD one more hour of sleep before you had to get up. Instead of getting up you toss and turn for the next hour not really getting good sleep but refuse to get out of bed.

As I have studied I John this semester I have been rocked off of two themes. God sending the Light, Jesus, into darkness and our bent to love darkness instead of The Light. All too often I think we experience this hotel room scenario in our spiritual lives. There is a breakthrough of light in the curtains of our hearts that wakes us up. And we try to cover up our eyes so as to not see it and toss and turn uncomfortably for hours trying to remain asleep and in darkness. God is so committed to us that He sends light into our darkness and as uncomfortable and disturbing as it may be we should run over to the curtains and throw them as wide open as fast as possible.

Repentance is so counter-intuitive. Why would we want to see sin, why would we want to see failure, why would we want to see disobedience? Because if we can see sin, failure, and disobedience that means the glorious light of our Lord Jesus is shining into our lives. So I believe that John would tell us to “walk in the light” and live a lifestyle of repentance. I have really been convicted at how often I run from repentance instead of running right at it. I pray that the Lord would make us people who consistently experience the passionate breakthrough of light into our own personal darkness. May we be a people who responds to this breakthrough by flinging open the curtains “confessing our sin” and believing our God is “faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness!” I John 1:9 And may believers and nonbelievers alike look at our lives and conclude Jesus is a God that is committed to SAVE and BEAUTIFY HIS BRIDE!

Love You All! Praying for personal and TEAM breakthroughs!

Clint

Fall Showers

2008-10-08T21:01:00.006-04:00

Rachel with the grandmas-to-be!

Rachel with Clint's very first teddy bear. His grandma gave it to him at his birth!

Rachel loves the duck! :)

Things have been non-stop in Wingate! The past 3 out of 4 weekends have been spent away from home for support and baby showers. Though it has been taxing to travel so much, it has been SO fun! We have received so many generous and unique gifts! As the calendar closes in on November 26th, we are becoming more and more excited to meet our new little baby! The nursery is under construction and we officially have the crib ready for safe sleeping! Pics of our sweet little Pooh nursery will be up as soon as we get it finished!

2008-08-27T20:27:00.000-04:00

The Aldan 4th of July parade....they threw candy...and people were dressed like this...it was awesome!

Philly at night!

Epiphany Fellowship Church

Sunrise at sea!

Chillin' at our new favorite place in the world...Cococay!

Clint and the Wingate boys at the Summer Beach Project in Myrtle Beach, SC

Our summer was VERY busy but so amazing! We started the summer as we usually do, serving at our Summer Beach Project. This is one of our favorite times of the year as we get to watch the Lord changes the lives of the students we have grown to love by using the non-stop schedule, unique fellowship, and intense focus on God's word that the SBP is known for. Our lives were so radically transformed as students on the SBP, and so each summer brings new anticipation to see just what God will do.

Shortly after leaving the SBP, we took a "Babymoon" to the Bahamas! We loved the cruise and scenery, but there was a new sense of enjoyment as we embarked on hours of snorkeling in Cococay! We have agreed that we could snorkel every day and never get tired of it! Now we are wishing all the more that Myrtle Beach's waters weren't so....brown.

After returning to our home for a short 4 days we set out to visit some friends in Philadelphia PA. We had so much fun enjoying the 4th of July festivities (see above parade pic), meeting new friends, and enjoying old ones. The Lord really did a lot in our hearts while we were there and set us up for a few months of prayer and seeking His will for our future!

Though we love adventure and travel, Wingate starting looking pretty appealing after our late summer return to the SBP. We are happily home and enjoying the very slow, quiet life that this little college town offers!