little cups of grace.

Skate with Joannie Rochette

chelsey — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 17:58:58 +0000

I was a figure skater as a girl, for about 10 years. I still enjoy watching it and skating when I can, which isn’t very often! I don’t think I’ve put my skates on for a few years now due to either being pregnant or having a young baby to tend to. When the Olympics were in Vancouver in 2010 Eva, who was 4 at the time, loved to watch the figure skaters and put on many kitchen floor performances for us afterward. Joannie Rochette was one skater who captured the hearts of Canadians and people all over the world with this performance, which she skated just two days after her mother passed away:

I still get tears in my eyes when I watch it, knowing how difficult it must’ve been to perform so soon after her mother passed away.

World Vision sent me an e-mail last week thanking us for our support and inviting us to a Family Day Skate with Joannie Rochette. Of course, I had to accept the offer and signed us up right away. Peter had Eva watching YouTube videos of Joannie’s performances each night to get her more and more excited. We got to meet Joannie and Eva was too shy, but she had me ask Joannie if she ever falls down while skating. Joannie was so sweet and said that she falls all the time, even now! Eva had a big smile on her face.

Peter took Eva out onto the ice to skate with Joannie and the many others who participated in this exciting day. Ezra, Isaac and I were cheering them on! In the middle of the one hour skate, Joannie did a performance for everyone. Eva absolutely loved it. It was so sweet to watch her have this experience. I know that if it were me as a young girl, I would have been so excited. It was still very cool to me today to meet Joannie and be able to watch her skate in person!

Thank you World Vision for this special opportunity! I am sure that Eva will remember this for the rest of her life.

A Week in Photos – Week 7 – Project 365

chelsey — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 13:31:54 +0000

I can’t believe a whole week has gone by since I blogged! I have been blogging once or twice a week consistently since Isaac was born. I got a little caught up in editing pictures from our Estonia trip and the rest of my time was for kids and household stuff! I fully intended to write about what we did for Valentine’s Day, the story of how Peter and I met and fell in love, as well as writing for Women in the Word Wednesday, Five Minute Friday and Embracing the Camera. Oh well, there’s always next week!

February 11, 2012 – we had chocolate milk with our supper and halfway through supper Eva noticed a bubble on the chocolate syrup bottle. We had good laughs while talking about it and shrieking over it!

February 12, 2012 – we skipped church because Peter was away for Fire & Ice and I came down with a sore throat and sinus cold. So I sat on my couch and enjoyed baby snuggles instead. Wish I could bottle this feeling up!

February 13, 2012 – the kids were so happy to have Daddy home again! And so was I!

February 14, 2012 – Happy Valentine’s Day! Isaac got festive in his red diaper.

February 15, 2012 – Eva & Ezra played so nicely on the stairs together for a while, jumping off and laughing. Ezra is taking a little break to eat some grapes.

February 16, 2012 – I guess I forgot to take a picture of the kids but I did finish up this Harry Potter inspired onesie for Isaac. I was busy cleaning up and doing laundry this day because Auntie Joy was arriving in the evening!

February 17, 2012 – Beauty and the Beast party with Auntie Joy. Eva requested popcorn and spread the blanket out over both of them.

So there’s a glimpse at our week! Hopefully I will write more this upcoming week. Thanks to everyone who popped by :)

A Week in Photos – Week 6 – Project 365

chelsey — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:39:36 +0000

February 4, 2012 – It was 13 degrees so we went for a family walk and took the kids to the park for a little bit. I was so desperate to be out of the house!

February 5, 2012 – Isaac is freshly bathed and ready for church in his little overalls.

February 6, 2012 – This was actually taken Feb 7, I thought I had some pictures from today on my camera… But there are none! This is Isaac’s 6 week and final check up with Midwife Shannon.

February 7, 2012 – playing in the freezing cold basement after school.

February 8, 2012 – Ezra is growing more and more interested in helping me cook.

February 9, 2012 – Bedtime

February 10, 2012 – Peter is away at the Fire and Ice teen retreat so Eva is having a sleepover with me. Story time usually takes place in her bed but was in mine today.

Bird-Like Faith – Five Minute Friday – Trust

chelsey — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:08:38 +0000

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

2. Link back here and invite others to join in.

3. Please visit the person who linked up before you & encourage them.

TRUST.

GO –

We agreed. We sat on the bed and we agreed that our lives, our whole lives would be “yes”. We had been committed to our faith for 6 months and we decided that we would always say yes to God, no matter where He wanted to take us. It’s pretty glamorous at the time, and exciting to think about where God might take us in our lives. We were young and in love, with each other and with our creator.

Sorrow may last for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Singing, yes Lord, yes Lord, yes, yes Lord.

At times, it has taken great faith to trust in God. To believe that He knows what He’s doing. But so far, He has never failed us.

I think of the verse in Matthew 6 where Jesus talks about the lilies of the field and the birds of the air. He tells us not to worry. I close my eyes and imagine myself as a lily in the field, blown this way and that by the wind, but trusting in my creator. I imagine myself as a bird, gracefully flying through the air. I have no where to store food, but the Lord always feeds me.

– STOP

I’m linking up with The Gypsy Mama

Isaac & Mama — embrace the camera

chelsey — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:15:39 +0000

Ever notice as you go through your family’s photos that you are hardly in any of them? It was bothering me that I had hardly any of myself with Isaac while he is at this tender age so I set up a little photo shoot for us. I plan to do this regularly now and link up at The Anderson Family Crew blog.

Bedtime.

chelsey — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:44:23 +0000

It was one of those moments you want to stay in forever. One of those moments you can’t capture with a camera, no matter how hard you try so you are forced to take a mental picture to store up in your heart forever.

My two eldest laying on the bed and the warm glow of the lamp on the bedside table. The sound of paper rubbing together as I turn the page on the book. Footed pajamas. The girl’s long hair and the way her eyes turn to crescents when she laughs. The way their laughter fills the air so I can breathe it in and take it right into my soul. The way it causes laughter from my own heart. The baby and how his soft little body fits perfectly in the arms of my beloved. The first boy with his hair so white and that little extra tooth that snuck right into the front row of his mouth. All of us together and how each of us was smiling, really smiling.

It was one of those moments that could’ve easily passed us by. Just one of many moments that make up a day. I will forget those times where insanity seemed so close, the children fighting and screaming.

I choose to keep this moment instead.

Grace Made Perfect – Women in the Word Wednesday

chelsey — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:58:06 +0000

She is someone I’ll never forget. Her long black hair, her facial piercings, but most of all her eyes — those big blue eyes. There were times you could be lost if you looked right into them, carried away by the current of pain they displayed. I’ll never forget how she abused her body, how she struggled so hard to measure up. Fighting to be thin, fighting to be drunk, to be numb, to express something, even if it meant razors on the flesh.

She was in the dark, with absolutely no connection, without hope.

But, God.

But, grace.

But now, she who once was far away has been brought near.

She was hopelessly stranded in a fractured world — an outsider — but now, she is in on everything. God whispered his truth into her heart and set her free, abundantly free.

She died on that October day, but rose again with His peace in her heart, his grace made perfect pumping through her veins. I’ll never forget who she was, her grace-full dance boasts of His power.

The Voice New Testament – Review

chelsey — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 02:17:15 +0000

Thomas Nelson Publishers and Ecclesia Bible Society have teamed up to retell the story of scripture through creating a “translation that was faithful and accurate to the original languages while at the same time beautiful and readable”. The result of this collaboration is The Voice New Testament.

There are four main components that make The Voice unique: standard type (resembles what you might read in other translations such as NIV), italic type (additional text to clarify something that the original author or audience may have known, but that modern day folk may not), delineated material (similar to a footnote, but indented within the text instead of at the bottom of the page), and screenplay format (it is written in the style of a play).

I like this translation of the New Testament. The narrative style flows beautifully and it is quite easy to read. The language is modern but doesn’t go as far out as The Message translation. I found that the italicized additional text really helped regular old Christians such as myself to understand parts of the story that would otherwise have been missed or required more in-depth study. The screenplay format clarifies who is speaking and what is happening, and also really gives the text that smooth, narrative feel. I would definitely recommend this bible to both first-time and long-time bible readers.

If you enjoy a new perspective on ancient texts, then you should definitely check out The Voice. More information can be found on the website for The Voice.

New Testament has been provided courtesy of Thomas Nelson and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Thomas Nelson.

A Week in Photos – Week 5 – Project 365

chelsey — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:48:14 +0000

January 28, 2012 – Go Fish (princess style) with Eva.

January 29, 2012 – no words, just cuteness.

January 30, 2012 – Ezra just climbed right up on his own and laid beside Isaac! (of course, once I made a big deal of it and took a picture, Eva had to do it too! :))

January 31, 2012 – Sleep smile.

February 1, 2012 – trying to get Isaac to love his soother.

February 2, 2012 – she just loves him.

February 3, 2012 – Brothers.

Real – Five Minute Friday

chelsey — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 05:29:11 +0000

The Gypsy Mama encourages us to write for five minutes flat, no editing, no over-thinking, no back tracking — to write without worrying. I finally decided to give it a try. This Friday’s topic was: real.

GO —

We were all just trying to be something — to be someone. We walked around in other people’s clothes and tried on their ideals. I kept looking for the rules, the right way to be. I kept trying to figure out how to measure up.

Nothing ever quite felt right.

It wasn’t until that summer, that one summer I spent alone in the french province. I knew there had to be something more. I spent every night spilling words into my journal. Seeking and searching. Tiny little prayers, before I even knew what praying was.

Six months later, I met him. He whispered a secret into my heart and I started to learn, I started to know who I really was.

Forgiven and free, no longer searching for the rules. The rules didn’t apply anymore — only grace, abundant grace. Grace that revealed the real me.

— STOP

“It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living…” – Ephesians 1:11 MSG