Another neat way that God is continuing to show us that He's throwing open floodgates and bringing in more blessing than we can hold:
I heard today that I will be getting a check tomorrow... Money that I was NOT expecting or counting on. Surprise!! :) Thanks, God!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
310 Living...
Just a simple story from the Poage house that I thought was worth sharing...
Yesterday at church, our pastor did a special service that he called a "shareholders' meeting," in which we got to hear testimonies from people whose lives have been significantly touched in one way or another through the ministry of our church. In essence, it was his way of showing the church members our return on investment, and it was incredibly moving and fantastically done. He introduced a new campaign called "310 Living" that references the scripture, Malachi 3:10, which says, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
At the end of the service, the church was asked to think about the coming year and decide (privately and individually) how much we each wanted to commit to give on a monthly basis. Now, this gets pretty personal so I'm going to be somewhat vague so that I don't cause any readers to become uncomfortable... but in the same breath, I want to be clear that this post is to bring glory to GOD-- not Collin & Stephanie-- and hopefully you'll see why if you read on...
Collin & I are consistent "tithers." We give monthly to the church, and also actively support some friends in missions. In tough economical times like these, I'll admit it's tempting to hoard every penny as a protective measure. But in truly understanding that EVERYTHING is God's anyhow, and any penny in our pocket is there because God placed it there, it's miraculously easier to loosen the grip... SO-- When presented with the question of what our investment would be for the coming year, Collin and I chose to do what some might have seen as a fiscally irresponsible act on our part: We committed to give a number that is significantly more than our usual monthly tithe. Surprisingly, there was no anxiousness... no sweat... no reservation... LOTS of peace. After all-- it's God's money anyway, so He'll find the "extra" in the budget to cover our obedience to Him. (He said, "Test me in this" and so... we did!)
OK--- so that's the long and drawn-out lead-up to the part that's meant to come off as a somewhat-cool story... Here's what happened, back-story first: Our 2.5 year-old double oven that we had installed when we re-did the kitchen had recently shown signs of a defective LED display panel that was going to cost us several-hundred dollars to repair, with no guarantee for success. (After researching it, we found it's a fairly common problem with this particular oven.) It had been slowly dimming over time, but had just reached the point of not being readable. The oven still heated and cooked-- We just couldn't tell what the temperature was set on, or anything about the "brain" of the oven, which severely crippled the usefulness of the appliance. This morning, (Monday 2/23) after yesterday's commitment to give more than we think we can afford, I woke up to a perfectly-lit LED panel on our oven. Can't explain it-- but I choose to believe it was a simple, small way in which God said to me, "It's ALL mine... even seemingly insignificant LED lights... and I can do with any of it what I please. What was broken can be fixed in an instant... Just trust ME with it. I've gotcha covered."
And, who knows... the LED panel could go back to zilch tomorrow, but the truth remains: That God is God and money is paper. It's just the tool God uses to move us around to where He wants us to be. And not just money, but our houses, our cars, our jobs, our children, our parents, our siblings, our lives... it's ALL His. And He can do with any of it what He pleases in order to move us around to where He wants us to be. To shape and mold us to be more like Christ. THAT'S the only thing that matters to God. That we be transformed in our minds to become more like Christ.
...You're thinking, "You got all that from a dumb double oven???" Yep! Sure did! :) And I can't WAIT to report other ways that God helps us save our pennies to be able to give them back to Him. (Next time, I'll just post the "mini-miracle"-- like the oven healing itself-- and will leave the preaching to the professionals!) ;) But thanks for reading through it all anyway.
Yesterday at church, our pastor did a special service that he called a "shareholders' meeting," in which we got to hear testimonies from people whose lives have been significantly touched in one way or another through the ministry of our church. In essence, it was his way of showing the church members our return on investment, and it was incredibly moving and fantastically done. He introduced a new campaign called "310 Living" that references the scripture, Malachi 3:10, which says, "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."
At the end of the service, the church was asked to think about the coming year and decide (privately and individually) how much we each wanted to commit to give on a monthly basis. Now, this gets pretty personal so I'm going to be somewhat vague so that I don't cause any readers to become uncomfortable... but in the same breath, I want to be clear that this post is to bring glory to GOD-- not Collin & Stephanie-- and hopefully you'll see why if you read on...
Collin & I are consistent "tithers." We give monthly to the church, and also actively support some friends in missions. In tough economical times like these, I'll admit it's tempting to hoard every penny as a protective measure. But in truly understanding that EVERYTHING is God's anyhow, and any penny in our pocket is there because God placed it there, it's miraculously easier to loosen the grip... SO-- When presented with the question of what our investment would be for the coming year, Collin and I chose to do what some might have seen as a fiscally irresponsible act on our part: We committed to give a number that is significantly more than our usual monthly tithe. Surprisingly, there was no anxiousness... no sweat... no reservation... LOTS of peace. After all-- it's God's money anyway, so He'll find the "extra" in the budget to cover our obedience to Him. (He said, "Test me in this" and so... we did!)
OK--- so that's the long and drawn-out lead-up to the part that's meant to come off as a somewhat-cool story... Here's what happened, back-story first: Our 2.5 year-old double oven that we had installed when we re-did the kitchen had recently shown signs of a defective LED display panel that was going to cost us several-hundred dollars to repair, with no guarantee for success. (After researching it, we found it's a fairly common problem with this particular oven.) It had been slowly dimming over time, but had just reached the point of not being readable. The oven still heated and cooked-- We just couldn't tell what the temperature was set on, or anything about the "brain" of the oven, which severely crippled the usefulness of the appliance. This morning, (Monday 2/23) after yesterday's commitment to give more than we think we can afford, I woke up to a perfectly-lit LED panel on our oven. Can't explain it-- but I choose to believe it was a simple, small way in which God said to me, "It's ALL mine... even seemingly insignificant LED lights... and I can do with any of it what I please. What was broken can be fixed in an instant... Just trust ME with it. I've gotcha covered."
And, who knows... the LED panel could go back to zilch tomorrow, but the truth remains: That God is God and money is paper. It's just the tool God uses to move us around to where He wants us to be. And not just money, but our houses, our cars, our jobs, our children, our parents, our siblings, our lives... it's ALL His. And He can do with any of it what He pleases in order to move us around to where He wants us to be. To shape and mold us to be more like Christ. THAT'S the only thing that matters to God. That we be transformed in our minds to become more like Christ.
...You're thinking, "You got all that from a dumb double oven???" Yep! Sure did! :) And I can't WAIT to report other ways that God helps us save our pennies to be able to give them back to Him. (Next time, I'll just post the "mini-miracle"-- like the oven healing itself-- and will leave the preaching to the professionals!) ;) But thanks for reading through it all anyway.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
A Blessed Birthday
What an AMAZING 29th Birthday I had!...
We headed South to Austin the weekend before my Birthday, where we started the festivities! Mom & Dad helped us celebrate and gave me money to go SHOE SHOPPING with, which I desperately needed. Mom made my traditional Birthday dessert and we were having a BLAST until the tummy bug passed to Gram and we were knocked on our backs. Boo. :( We sure had a good time until then! ...Guess we'll just have to come back!) :)
Nana let us hitch a ride back to Dallas with her, and it was a fun girls' road trip complete with a spontaneous rest-stop diaper change in the rain! (Ha! ...Life is eventful on road trips with diapers!) Nevertheless, we made it back safely the day before my Birthday and arrived to a beautifully-cleaned house (Thanks, honey!) that was just the first of a few gifts my sweet hubby had in store for me. As an added gift, Collin gave me the "night off" for the 17th AND 18th and got the girls in bed and did all the late-night wake-up calls (if there were any... I can't remember...) THAT was awesome.
Then came the Birthday day! Collin came home with lunch and dessert in hand: My favorite sandwich... The Cow Poke from PD Johnson's. LOVE it. AND a brownie for dessert! AND a super-fun, trendy new necklace that I can't wait to wear somewhere special. He spoiled me, and it was a rare treat for the girls to have Dad home for lunch.
Then, that evening, Collin did Daddy-duty again and I got to go have girls' night in Fort Worth with some of my sweet College friends. Kristin (one of my college roommates who married a Minnesota native and we've since lost her to the North) was visiting her family with her precious newborn baby girl, Nora Ann. Nora is just 5 weeks old and flew with her Mama to get to meet her Texas "fan club." :) SO-- what better night to get to spend with my sweet friends than my birthday?! It was SO special... I loved every minute of it. (Especially the ones spent snuggling sweet Nora.)
The celebration continued this morning with an incredible lunch at Sweet Temptations Cafe with Marian Ashwill, who is SO much more than a Sunday School teacher to me. And then we got to have Nana, Aunt Kendra and Uncle Erroll over this afternoon for presents and Birthday cake!! (Kendra's birthday is 2 days after mine so it was definitely a good time for cake and candles!) We've just spent the whole week partying and have loved every second of it!!
I may say this every year, but this Birthday was the best yet! Since my 28th B-day, we now have TWO precious baby girls, and are still blessed with amazing family, friends and community. God is good! And I thank Him for another year... One more precious year of my TWENTIES!!!! :) I plan to enjoy it.
Thank you to everyone who made my Birthday SO special!! ...And might I add a special "thanks" to my sweet Mother... because, honestly, this is the anniversary of a big event in HER life more than my own. (After laboring twice, I see Birthdays a little differently...) Thank you for everything, Mom! To list it all would make a very long post ....just plain too long. :) Love you tons.
We headed South to Austin the weekend before my Birthday, where we started the festivities! Mom & Dad helped us celebrate and gave me money to go SHOE SHOPPING with, which I desperately needed. Mom made my traditional Birthday dessert and we were having a BLAST until the tummy bug passed to Gram and we were knocked on our backs. Boo. :( We sure had a good time until then! ...Guess we'll just have to come back!) :)
Nana let us hitch a ride back to Dallas with her, and it was a fun girls' road trip complete with a spontaneous rest-stop diaper change in the rain! (Ha! ...Life is eventful on road trips with diapers!) Nevertheless, we made it back safely the day before my Birthday and arrived to a beautifully-cleaned house (Thanks, honey!) that was just the first of a few gifts my sweet hubby had in store for me. As an added gift, Collin gave me the "night off" for the 17th AND 18th and got the girls in bed and did all the late-night wake-up calls (if there were any... I can't remember...) THAT was awesome.
Then came the Birthday day! Collin came home with lunch and dessert in hand: My favorite sandwich... The Cow Poke from PD Johnson's. LOVE it. AND a brownie for dessert! AND a super-fun, trendy new necklace that I can't wait to wear somewhere special. He spoiled me, and it was a rare treat for the girls to have Dad home for lunch.
Then, that evening, Collin did Daddy-duty again and I got to go have girls' night in Fort Worth with some of my sweet College friends. Kristin (one of my college roommates who married a Minnesota native and we've since lost her to the North) was visiting her family with her precious newborn baby girl, Nora Ann. Nora is just 5 weeks old and flew with her Mama to get to meet her Texas "fan club." :) SO-- what better night to get to spend with my sweet friends than my birthday?! It was SO special... I loved every minute of it. (Especially the ones spent snuggling sweet Nora.)
The celebration continued this morning with an incredible lunch at Sweet Temptations Cafe with Marian Ashwill, who is SO much more than a Sunday School teacher to me. And then we got to have Nana, Aunt Kendra and Uncle Erroll over this afternoon for presents and Birthday cake!! (Kendra's birthday is 2 days after mine so it was definitely a good time for cake and candles!) We've just spent the whole week partying and have loved every second of it!!
I may say this every year, but this Birthday was the best yet! Since my 28th B-day, we now have TWO precious baby girls, and are still blessed with amazing family, friends and community. God is good! And I thank Him for another year... One more precious year of my TWENTIES!!!! :) I plan to enjoy it.
Thank you to everyone who made my Birthday SO special!! ...And might I add a special "thanks" to my sweet Mother... because, honestly, this is the anniversary of a big event in HER life more than my own. (After laboring twice, I see Birthdays a little differently...) Thank you for everything, Mom! To list it all would make a very long post ....just plain too long. :) Love you tons.
Singing "Snowman"
Avery cracks us up...
While she refuses (usually refuses) to perform live, she has mastered a few key songs: "Jesus Loves Me," "Praise Him, Praise Him," "Twinkle, Twinkle" and the "ABC's" (which if you didn't know are the same melody) and "Happy Birthday" are among her most commonly-sung songs. (I don't think she understands that "Happy Birthday" is a special song only to be sung on certain days, but since we've had at least one birthday party to go to every weekend for 7 straight weeks, you can see how she might think this is an everyday song that people sing!) :)
So, as a challenge, we've recently introduced the "Matthew, Mark" song, which lists the New Testament books of the bible in sequential order. Hilarious. We've only tried through Ephesians so far, but she's actually catching on!! Sounds a little more like she's saying, "Luke and Matt, Luke and John" at this point, and "Galatians and Ephesians" just sound like gibberish, but she'll get it. Poor kid... she has no idea what these names are or what they mean, but it's our prayer that someday she'll be VERY familiar with all of this. (Gotta start somewhere, right?)
Thought this video was worth sharing...
"Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Acts and the Letters to the Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians..."
While she refuses (usually refuses) to perform live, she has mastered a few key songs: "Jesus Loves Me," "Praise Him, Praise Him," "Twinkle, Twinkle" and the "ABC's" (which if you didn't know are the same melody) and "Happy Birthday" are among her most commonly-sung songs. (I don't think she understands that "Happy Birthday" is a special song only to be sung on certain days, but since we've had at least one birthday party to go to every weekend for 7 straight weeks, you can see how she might think this is an everyday song that people sing!) :)
So, as a challenge, we've recently introduced the "Matthew, Mark" song, which lists the New Testament books of the bible in sequential order. Hilarious. We've only tried through Ephesians so far, but she's actually catching on!! Sounds a little more like she's saying, "Luke and Matt, Luke and John" at this point, and "Galatians and Ephesians" just sound like gibberish, but she'll get it. Poor kid... she has no idea what these names are or what they mean, but it's our prayer that someday she'll be VERY familiar with all of this. (Gotta start somewhere, right?)
Thought this video was worth sharing...
"Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Acts and the Letters to the Romans, 1st and 2nd Corinthians, Galatians and Ephesians..."
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
It happened again...
But this time with Bubbles... :( My poor child. (If you don't know what I'm referencing, check out this post from a while back.)
Sweet Avery... Collin had come home with an AMAZING lunch for me-- complete with dessert AND a present-- to celebrate my Birthday. (To write how incredible my husband is would take FAR too long, so I'll leave it at chocolate and jewelry, and I'll add that he cleaned the house for me yesterday... and that's probably enough said.) So with the fun lunch, I was a little late getting the girls down for their naps. I was working on trying to get Julia to go to sleep and she was fighting it. I had left Avery playing and had promised to come back and read books with her. At some point in Julia's fussing, Avery walked into the room with bubbles and asked to "Boh Bubbles, Mommeeee!" I sent the poor kiddo away with a, "Not right now, Aves..." and didn't hear from her again.
After getting Julia settled and walking back into the playroom, this is what I found. You know... sometimes the 1st kid suffers from 2nd child syndrome just as much. I moved her to her bed and she's still napping... she was ZONKED. We'll blow bubbles when she wakes up.
Funny Story...
Collin was holding Julia the other day and she got a hold of his phone. (Not surprising... Collin always has his phone on him, and Julia is very into gadgets right now and will go after anything within arms-reach that has buttons and/or lights up.) Being in the "monkey see, monkey do" phase of life right now, she held it and immediately started pressing buttons.
Minutes later, Collin came in and said, "Steph! Julia just texted Kendra!" We laughed out loud... but it was true! Our technologically-advanced 9-month-old had not only unlocked the keypad on the phone and drafted a message to her Aunt Kendra, but had actually hit "send" and it went through.
The secret message?.. "ttk"
Talk To Kendra? Tiny Texting Kiddo? ...nobody but Julia knows the true meaning of this message, but I'm sure Kendra was like, "What the heck does that mean, Collin?"
Who knew her first form of communication would be through a text?! Guess she's a true member of a new generation...
Minutes later, Collin came in and said, "Steph! Julia just texted Kendra!" We laughed out loud... but it was true! Our technologically-advanced 9-month-old had not only unlocked the keypad on the phone and drafted a message to her Aunt Kendra, but had actually hit "send" and it went through.
The secret message?.. "ttk"
Talk To Kendra? Tiny Texting Kiddo? ...nobody but Julia knows the true meaning of this message, but I'm sure Kendra was like, "What the heck does that mean, Collin?"
Who knew her first form of communication would be through a text?! Guess she's a true member of a new generation...
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Lots of Love at Northpark!
Wednesday was SUCH a FUN day!!
We had Gram in town all week because Collin was in New Jersey for work. We decided to invite Jen and Drew to come down and meet us at Northpark for a special Valentine's program they had planned, presented by the Dallas Public Library.
We met there and had fun dancing to the music and watching the puppets, and then we strolled down to the Library in the mall! (Did anyone else have no clue there was a public library in Northpark, or am I the only one who was totally out of the loop?! It's really cool, and I got a library card and everything!.. Don't act shocked-- you already knew that I'm a nerd!) We hung out at the library playing with puzzles and letters until it was lunchtime. Grabbed a bite to eat at the foodcourt and then shopped until we dropped, which wasn't very long with 3 kiddos in our bunch!
Thanks for coming to visit us, Jen & Drew! Can't wait to do it again soon!
Jen & Drew beat us getting there... Surprise, surprise!
Gram & Avery watching the show...
And off to the library!...
Sweet cousins...
Julia making a fashion statement at Gymboree...
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Home is where the "hearth" is...
Julia has found her favorite spot in the house... the fireplace hearth.
Avery went through this phase too, and I totally forgot about it until Julia started doing the exact same thing! I guess they like it because it's a little bit of a challenge to climb up there, and it's a different texture... who knows? But Julia can usually be found perched on the brick hearth, happy as can be. ...sweet baby...
Julia's "Big Pimpin" outfit...
Avery went through this phase too, and I totally forgot about it until Julia started doing the exact same thing! I guess they like it because it's a little bit of a challenge to climb up there, and it's a different texture... who knows? But Julia can usually be found perched on the brick hearth, happy as can be. ...sweet baby...
Julia's "Big Pimpin" outfit...
Brunch at "Aunt" Lindsay's!
Lindsay... My precious friend with the biggest "kid-friendly" heart... hosted a brunch on Saturday morning for her girlfriends AND our kiddos! Linds had planned activities for the kids and had even bought princess dress-up things for the girls to play with! It was SUCH a fun morning!...
...Well...
It would have been MORE fun if my sweet, CAUTIOUS kiddo had decided to come out of her shell sooner than the last 10 minutes we were there. Sigh... Avery. I knew we were in for it when she had a terrible night of sleep, waking up a few times and calling out for Daddy. (I've since read a wonderful book about toddlers and sleep and things are much more under control, but this particular weekend was crazy and the brunch suffered the consequences of a sleepless night for a 2-year-old.) Avery marched to the beat of her own drummer the next morning, but I know she had a blast when all was said and done! Thanks for hosting us, Linds!! And if you're ever up for a repeat, let us know! We'd LOVE to come back and play anytime.
Julia & Jack... Jack sure was the stud-muffin of the group!
Avery went off by herself and hopped up on the couch to take a nap while the party was going on... HA!... Her look says it all:
Drew's 1st Birthday!
Happy Birthday to DREW! :)
My sweet nephew turned 1 on January 29th. Jen & Andrew threw a wonderful party that was a "ball" theme, Drew's favorite toy. I am constantly amazed at my sister's hosting abilities and decorating talent. We walked into a birthday wonderland, and the whole event went off without a hitch! She makes it all look SO easy, and I know from experience that it is NOT. But what a fun afternoon! We played with beach balls, plastic balls, a ball pit and a ball popper! We stuffed ourselves with dips and snacks and had yummy, yummy birthday cake while we watched Drew open all kinds of fun gifts with a little help from Mom & some older guests.
I just can't believe he's ONE. Where did the year go?! Happy Birthday, big boy! We love you and wish you MANY more!
Julia dreaming of her turn for a Birthday... and then giving Drew his Birthday Spankings!...
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