Sweet Gatherings

Last week was a busy one at the Richie's house, not only do the fall activities typically start this week, but for us, this week is dotted with birthday celebrations!!

On Sunday night (the 6th), Jaysen had a handful of friends come to spend the night and celebrate his 14th birthday on Monday.

14-17 year old guys aren't hard to please; pizza, soda, Double-Stuff Oreos and M&M's was about all it took to satisfy!!

Wednesday night we kicked off fall with our youth group friends at a black Light party packed with games and Rita's water ice.

Thursday morning was the Ladies Tea at church; it's always so fun to come up with a decorating plan for the ladies!  They love to see what we've come up with!!  This time we celebrated Fall and I knew that my plaid blankets were going to be perfect, coupled with my vintage thermos collection and a few other rustic things, I think it turned out just right!!

Thursday was also my son Jon's 24th birthday!!  We had soccer practice, then it was cancelled and we had to run to the nearest wholesale shop to pick up everything we needed for the biggest celebration of the week coming Sunday.  He and his girlfriend went out to dinner and we all met back up at the house later and celebrated at 10:00!!!!  #livingtherichielife has come into play.  We are a busy family but not too busy to celebrate one another -even if it is at 10 pm!!  lol

Little pockets of time throughout the week were spent preparing for a larger gathering to come on Sunday the 13th.  But before that, Julia had her first soccer game of the season on Saturday, the 12th, which also happened to be Jessica's 19th birthday!!!!  I'm exhausted just typing this!!  It was a busy, busy week - but filled with such wonderful things!!!

Bill and I are the coaches for her team, which actually means Bill is the coach, Joe helps coach at practice and my name is on the roster as assistant coach! lol  I like to think of myself more like the team mom.  My girl killed it in goal for the entire game!!!  The girls played a GREAT game and won 3-2!!  

Jessica came home from college on Saturday night around 10:00 and we were in full party prep for the next day.  Using left over cake mix, Julia made a cake for Jessica in, yes, a metal bowl and presented it to her at MIDNIGHT!!!!!  You thought 10:00 was bad?!?  Remember #livintherichielife?  Yep, it's just how we do!!  

Sunday morning came quickly and there were still lots of things to accomplish before our last celebration of the week!!  There are so many pictures that I'd love to share from Sunday, but I'll spare you!

We had the honor of throwing Jon and Cali a baby shower for Oliver Lee, due to join us in November!! Here are just a few shots.

 

 

They got so many great gifts and Oliver is so very loved already!! The rain held off, the sun came out, friends and family gathered, children ran and laughed, the dogs loved being outside all day and my heart was overflowing with gratitude!! 

To top off an incredible day (and week), after the last gift was opened, Jon took a knee and asked his love if she would marry him!!!!  "Calaine Ann Graham, will you marry me?"  After a few moments and some tears, he stood up and proclaimed, "SHE SAID YES!!!!!"  It was such a sweet moment!!  My momma heart was bursting!!!

It's already Thursday, almost a week has passed by since the celebrations.  There is still residue from all of the celebrating.  It's so easy to get under the mess and feel miserable, but the mess is a reminder of all that is good and celebration worthy!  There is still celebrating to be done in the midst of cleaning up the mess!  Small mundane moments are moments worth celebrating if we choose to do so.

What moments, big or small, are you celebrating this month?  I'd love to hear from you!!

God Bless <3
Lorraine

My Backwards Bucket List - December

Hey friends, remember at the end of last summer I shared my backwards bucket list here and here??  Well I'd thought I'd share my December with you in that same format!!  Like I've said before, I would much rather look at what I have accomplished instead of list that's not been accomplished....this seems to work for me!!

 Ready?  Okay....here we go!!

1.  Rest....yep, among, perhaps the CRAZIEST time of the year, we found plenty of time to rest!!

We watched Christmas movies and enjoyed laid back dinners on the couch!!  We've even continued that into January!

2.  Family Night Out - Thanks to some generous, anonymous gifters, we were able to go the movies and have tickets for the six of us AND refreshments covered by Regal Cinema gift cards!!  We don't go out on the town very often at all, because, well, six people equals a costly evening!!  It was fun getting ready knowing that I was going out for a fun night!  We saw "The Hobbit", which was very good, even though I'm not a fan of the dark side of good vs. evil.  We also had our very first experience with YoGo!!!  It was yummy!!

3.  Putting my word of the year into action!! On December 31st I started a ridiculous project of literally simplifying my home!!  We took down Christmas decor' and I thought it appropriate to tackle the attic before putting Christmas items back up there!  It went on from there and we've tackled everything from cabinets to bedrooms and the detached garage attic!!!  We will be selling our stuff at a yard sale coming very soon....I cannot wait!!!

4.  My first real cookie order!!  My Pastor and his wife asked us to make sugar cookies for their oldest sons' engagement party!!  I was freaking out!! We make these for ourselves or holidays all of time and we've done them for fundraisers, but this time there was a little bit more pressure!!  I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out!

 

5.  Christmas & Programs-Our chidren's choir worked very hard on about 5 songs that they shared at three sunday services and at the Children's Christmas Eve Flashlight Service!  My hubbs and I also participated in the childrens Christmas Eve service; we played a spoof on Hollywood Squares.  My hubbs was a contestant and I was one of the nine squares!!  It was a blast!  Now that my oldest lives elsewhere, him "coming home" for Christmas is always a highlight <3

my girl all the way on the left 

 younget and oldest (8 & 21)

 My five heartbeats playing games together...a gift on so many levels <3

 

6.  Disney Movie Night- as per Jessica and her Senior Class Trip, they have been doing a montly disney movie night....December?  Santa Claus 1 & 2, Christmas cookie snacks and a fun photo shoot!! 

 

7.  Outreach-the month wouldn't have been complete without opportunities to get outside of ourselves!  We had new friends over for dinner, I was invited to have lunch with some sweet girlfriends that I haven't seen in way.too.long, I was asked to decorate for the Ladies Tea that our church staff puts on for some of the women in our congregation and we held our first big student leadership training & service weekend.  We hit the streets of two local cities with hot coffee, donuts and hats/scarves/gloves for those in need that we encountered.  All of these opportunities were a wonderful way to be the hands and feet of Jesus <3 

 

8. Chalkboard Art - I had moved things around enough to pull my chalkboard out of the garage and find a home for her!!  I've had alot fun with this and love the inspiration that I find on-line!

 

9. Christmas Shopping-thanks to friends!  Our wallet is very, very, very tight and we had come to terms with the fact that we just couldn't swing Christmas gifts at all this year!  I can hear some of you gasp!! lol  I know, the horror!!!  Thanks be to God that He moved some friends of ours to give a generous gift to us so that we could buy our children a few gifts.  It really made Christmas so much more special and meaningful and these were small tokens of our thanks and appreciation to these families <3

10. Seeking the Light -something that I always do!!  He is always present and where there is Light, there can't be darkness....that is my focus!!

11. Date Night-an unexpected opportunity to have a small night out with the hubbs <3

12. Face Mask Fun -we decided to try a recipe from Pinterest!!  Boy was that fun!!

13. Teaching Opportunities-teaching Senior High Sunday School has become a highlight!!

14. Family Walks-they started out as family walks but quickly ended up to be just the two of us!!

15. Don't/Did shave december-hubbs wen all through November and most of December before shaving...he had such a blast shaving it off, I'm sad that I can't share the pictures!!

16. The end of soccer season-Our boys had one make-up game that took us to the first weekend of December!!  They ended up in second place for their division!!  It was a great season and we are so proud of our boys and the team - they have grown tremendously in one season!!

17.  Hot Cocoa Station-it was so much fun to see all of the different cocoa stations out there in blog world!!  Each one is so unique to its creator...what a fun thing to have for the winter months!!

19. Advent-for years I have wanted an advent calendar, something to count up to the weeks of Jesus' birth and every year I go without!  This year I made my own unconventional advent candle"wreath" using a wooden box and candles.  I also had the opportunity to make a calendar or countdown, with empty match boxes.  I strung them up in an empty frame and each night that we were home for dinner we would have a reading from that days box and take part in the family activity included on the paper.  We did anything from performing a random act of kindness (leaving gingerbread men in our mailbox for our mail lady) to heading outdoors to play flashlight tag!!  It was a blast and a beautiful way to worship our Creator!!

20.  Baking-another aspect of the holiday season that we didn't plan on participating in was baking Christmas cookies, sad, but true.  We are learning to accept these things and God is blessing us for our willingness to say "yes, okay Lord, take it".  A dear, sweet, precious friend of mine, Denise, wouldn't hear of us having a Christmas without cookies, so she provided a way for us!  We went nuts baking!!  We were in the kitchen for three or four days straight!!  We were all so very thankful for Denise's kindness and gift!!

 

 

So there you have it!!  My backwards bucket list!!  It's amazing to see just how many things we can pack into 30/31 days!!!  God's goodness is everywhere - you just have to slow down enough to see it!!  What were some of the highlights of your December?  I'd love to hear about them!!

 

 

God Bless <3 Lorraine

 

Where You Go, I Go

Last week at youthgroup we sang I Will Follow by Chris Tomlin, if you're not familiar with the song you can find it here. I don't know about you guys, but where I live the song is overused. Which is a shame, it's a great song that is packed full of great things! But last night I really wanted to move past the words and get into the meaning. Now, bear with me here, this sounds really odd. I found myself with a slideshow going through my head while I sang through the chorus and I thought that I would share that with you.

 

Where you go, I'll go

This picture was taken in the San Pedro Sula, Honduras airport.

 

Where you stay, I'll stay

As you guys know, I'm in college, and while it isn't always fun, this is where God is right now. I need to be content living for him in the United States and in Honduras.

 

When you move, I'll move

I will follow you

 

 

Whom you love, I'll love

While in Honduras...

 

How you serve, I'll serve

Feeding the hungry...

 

If this life I lose, I will follow you

 

 

 

~Jessica

 

We are the body & social media

Happy Friday friends!!  This week, like every other week, has had it's share of crazy moments and I sit here on this Friday morning, amazed.  Amazed at how God works in the details of our lives, whether they are good details or tragic details.

My week has been traced with sickness!  Two kids down in one week, and of course as one is on the mend, the next one begins!  Such is life, especially with more than one child in the house!! My mom was willing to come pick up my sick child and take her back to her house for a little R&R while we went on with our busyness.  The next day, I dropped sickie number two off at mom-mom's as well.

My little sickie on Monday night

I see the hands and feet of Jesus, as well as His heart, displayed daily in the way my parents conduct themselves.  They are never unable to help someone in need.  I admit, there are times when it drives me crazy!!  How in the world can  you always say yes, you have to say no once in a while, don't you???  Well, no - you don't.  When you walk in the footsteps of Jesus, not only do those footsteps lead you in the right direction, but they provide the restoration for your soul that you need when you live a life of servanthood.   I appreciate that Godly example in my parents and it's one that I am working on setting for my children as well.  To be flexible and be in God's will is exactly where we need to be at.all.times.!

We talked about God's will at youth group on Wednesday night - it was an awesome lesson to dive into.  We are far too easily captivated with the things of this world and oftentimes we are just clueless to all that God's way has to offer us.  If you think of the most perfect situation that you could find yourself in in this world, God's way trumps that......tenfold!  To the untrained eye, God's way looks ridiculous.....how do your empty yourself and yet find yourself full?  How do you put yourself at the back of the line and yet, find yourself being crowned as first? I admit, it doesn't make sense, until you take that step.

taking that step to follow him....prepping for teaching opportunities

Anyway, I sat here this morning, contemplating my day, *which has put me in the position of having two children at home and two at my parents.  I did my devotionals, got my cuppa joe and hopped on the computer to read my favorite blogs and saw another example of God's hands and feet being displayed in a community.  Sasha, of www.lemonademakinmama.com shared a frightening story of what this week offered her, her family and ultimately her neighborhood.  I want to encourage you to jump over there and read today's post.  It is a heart-wrenching and heart-warming story of how the body comes together to support a hurting member.  It's a story of God's redemption, His love, grace & forgiveness.

It left me feeling so many different things, but the thing that I wanted to share here about this was not just her story, (which, by the way, is more than enough to stand on its own) but the story of social media & technology.  These things, while they can definitely be a time waster and a distraction, also has the ability to join believers across the miles.  It joins my heart with a sister that I've never met and it allows me to feel what she is feeling and join her in prayer and praise!  It takes me to Uganda where I can share with a sister there, whom I have met, and it puts me in her daily happenings while she serves Jesus with her whole heart.  It takes me over to Hungary, where I can join friends in praying for the people there as they pour themselves into the lives others.

the view on a county road, filled with His glory

It also keeps me right here, in my little county, where I can offer encouragement to friends and family, through the posts of others and my own words.  To help support the body through social media is an extraordinary thing.  I know alot of people scoff at the idea of blogging, I know that it crosses the lines of privacy and that it seems silly to talk about people that we've never met, like we know them personally.  I get that and I struggle with that as well, but I have to tell you.  I think it's a beautiful opportunity to catch a tiny glimpse of God's view from up there.  He is Sovereign, He knows all, and sees all, all around the world.  Social Media gives us that same opportunity, in a way, to get inside someone elses life, to share in their fears & hopes.  To pray for people half a world away and feel like we are connected.  Because, after all, we are the body, and the body IS connected, right?

we're all in this together

a little community of gingerbread people <3

So, today, take notice of how social media is being used for His glory and maybe take a step into that crazy world and see where He leads you!!  (the key word being HE......I recognize that social media has some very dangerous paths, we must be alert and choose wisely)

finally found a home for my antique chalkboard <3

God bless you friends <3  Enjoy the season, prepare your heart for the Advent season, deck your halls and I'll see you back here next week!!

sing His praises <3

 

God Bless - Lorraine

 

*before I finalized and published this post, I ended up with one child at home!!!  My how quickly life changes before you!!!

Move!

Hey guys - It's Jess, I haven't written in awhile because I've been trying to get as much sleep as possible. Why, you ask? Well, last week I had the amazing opportunity to go to a MOVE conference put on by CIY. You can read a little bit about it here! The theme this year was Where Heaven & Earth Collide, or more specifically, the sermon on the mount. I have to admit, one of the simplest things I learned this week was that the sermon on the mount doesn't start and end with the beatitudes. The sermon on the mount consists of Matthew 5-7. Read it, you'll get a lot out of it!

The week consisted of sooooo much that it's hard to summarize it all right here. But, I'll try to mention the highlights of my week! On both Monday and Thursday we had the awesome opportunity to visit Lake Michigan. Let me just say, New Jersey's definition of a lake is a large pond. Michigan's definition is a small ocean. See for yourself...

On Monday we also got the opportunity to eat out at a Mongolian grill and finally check into our rooms after a 14 hour drive!! Monday night kicked off the conference with awesome worship by The Matt Bayless Band and hearing from Chad Ragsdale, one of our speakers. I can't go through the entire week night by night, but some of the topics we covered were the beatitudes, forgiveness, anger, lust, being the light of the world, etc. I would encourage you to google CIY Move 2012 and find out a little bit more about it. It's a really awesome experience and one that you won't forget!! One of the main points that I'm taking home is that just because I don't go to public school doesn't mean I don't have an outlet to be a light. I need to encourage my family and my sister, setting an example for her in how to live and act.

Well, tomorrow morning we're leaving for Creation Festival, so I've been resting up and today I had the opportunity to unpack and repack! :D By the time you read this, though, we'll already be there! MOVE friends, comment and tell me the best thing you got out of last week!

~ Jessica

I dare you to MOVE........

So yesterday, Jessica took off with about 16 other youth and leaders from our church to Holland, Michigan for the week!!!  They're up at Hope College for the Christ In Youth MOVE Conference!! 
MOVE is a 5-day high school only event held all over the country, designed to amplify the call of Christ on students lives to become Kingdom workers.


I'm so proud of this group of kids, who selflessly give of their summer time to go and learn more about being an effective Christian. 

They arrived somewhere around 1 am and are spending the moring on Lake Michigan at Saugatuck Dune Rides!!!  18 people packed into a topless jeep!!!!  Sounds incredible!!!  Here are some of the pics that they are sharing!!

Saugatuck Dune Rides

The area is completely breathtaking!!!  What an incredible experience!!!  How I wish that I were there!!!

Lake Michigan

Registration is later this afternoon and the conference will get underway at 6:15 with a pre-session for the students!!!  They will be filled to overflowing with lessons, challenges and personal goals that God will set for them!!  They will be joined in unity as brothers and sisters in Christ and gain a God worldview on serving others.  Five days of intensive learning and loads of fun and worship opportunities!!!!

The youth leaders that didn't go on the trip were assigned a specific youth to pray for each day in very specific ways - what an incredible opportunity!!  We were also supposed to connect with these kids before they left and also check in throughout the week to see how things are going!  Upon their return we are to set up a time to spend with them so that they can fill us in on all that took place while at the conference!!  What a wonderful way to make intentional connections!  There's just something about being connected to someone specifically and praying for them - it's amazing!!!

I just know that God is going to do amazing things in and through these kids this week!!  They will have opportunity to serve at the Holland Resuce Misson on Thursday and will head back home on Saturday!!!  Would you join me in praying for this team?  That God would move in a mighty way in the hearts and minds of these young people, that they would be kept safe, would be challenged "to do hard things" and that their hearts would be softened to serve others!!  Let's not forget to pray for their safe return on Saturday!!!

Thanks so much!!!  Have a blessed week friends <3 Lorraine