One is Silver and the Other's Gold

We call it 'doing life together'.
Like minded families are hard to come by.
I remember an old Girl Scout song we used to sing. 'Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other's gold.' I love the amazing blessing of finding new friends. And then discovering we've shared some of the same friends all along.







And then we discover our kids love eachother and even our husbands 'click'.

This to me is really beyond a blessing. When both spouses like both spouses. My parents told me years ago how unique this is. What a treasure. Our men don't often have the time or energy or even the inclination to put into 'relationships'. I know, surprising! If they are relational at all, they gave at the office all day and save some for the family when they get home. If they aren't relational, then 'giving' at the office completely drained them and even the relational bit at home can be too much. They used up their 500 words compared to our 5000 words we women use a day.

I'm beyond grateful for new friends who build us up, challenge us, are so generous and when I think of them, I smile. When I think of them, I want to be with them, be like them, be more like Christ. Isn't that the best kind of friend?

DO HARD THINGS

DO HARD THINGS conference at our church Scottsdale Bible this Saturday. We read this book after we got it from my sister in law 2 summers ago. Funny thing is we had seen it all over our home school convention that same summer. They really got something going, these twin home school brothers from Portland Oregon. Their older brother Josh Harris is the one who had written "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" too.

So we are taking our 3 'bigs' to the conference and our whole family is reading it together before we go. It really is a thought-provoking book. Our society meant well in getting children out of the factories 100 years ago, but it started a whole generation of time wasted after puberty. Our 'young adults' are capable of so much more than shopping, hanging out, playing video games and IMing!

This book invites you to explore some radical questions:

• Is it possible that even though teens today have more freedom than any other generation in history, we're actually missing out on some of the best years of our lives?
• Is it possible that what our culture says about the purpose and potential of the teen years is a lie, and that we are its victims?
• Is it possible that our teen years give us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for huge accomplishments--as individuals and as a generation?
• And finally, what would our lives look like if we set out on a different path entirely--a path that required more effort but promised a lot more reward?

Baby is 9

two fingers, I'm two

emma is so proud to hold her baby brother

sister karen and i, expecting our boys jackson and jefferson 3 weeks apart. they came 8 days apart! and no, we didn't plan to wear these matching dresses to my baby shower. and there was no time to change!