Auntie Alina and Uncle Matt

This post is a long time overdue!!! We are the proud aunt and uncle of two precious neices! We cannot wait to meet both of the precious daughters of our brothers. Peter, my brother, and his wife Erica have a beautiful three month old daughter named.....Alina Beth. I cannot believe it...there is a third generation Alina in the family. I am so proud and I am chomping at the bit to meet her. Secondly, we are thrilled to be meeting Evelyn Grace next month when we visit Florida. Evie was born two weeks ago today to Matt's bro, Ben, and his wife Megan. When thinking about these precious lives that are entrusted in the care of our beloved siblings, we are longing to be nearer to family. This is the hard part of being trailblazers and adventurous people willing to live on the other side of the country from the rest of our families. My worst fear is that I will be known as "that aunt that lives in California." I want to be a part of their lives and have a personal relationship with Alina Beth and Evie. I believe it is possible, regardless of the miles separating us. I have included some pictures of the precious neices. Congratulations Peter and Erica....please visit us very soon! I am waiting!!!! Ben and Megan and Evie...we'll see you guys in one month...we can't wait!

Alina Beth Hansinger (3rd generation Alina in the family). I mean, come on...can you get any cuter?!?

Mother and daughter...Erica is holding Alina Beth after her ears were pierced. Peter said Alina Beth smiled a huge smile when he took her to a mirror to see her new earrings.

Proud Papa Ben with their 5 week premature Evelyn Grace. She is a beauty, looking very much like Daddy in these early pictures. Sorry, Ben...in a round about way I called you a beauty.

A close up of Evie....such a trooper.

Here is Megan at her baby shower the day before she gave birth. It turns out that Megan was in labor at the baby shower. Doesn't she look radiant and beautiful here, not one bit in labor!?!?

Ordinary glory

I am usually so excited to post when I have pictures to accompany my thoughts and stories, but I had to convince myself it was ok to post without the visual aids to accompany the words.

I had a good day, and I just wanted to share a little bit about it. I enjoyed church this morning. We had our congregational meeting to talk about the vision for the church for the year. I had been dreading this meeting due to some hesitation, and I will admit even bitterness, towards our being in the ministry. I had been dreading the moment when the pastoral staff and families would be asked to leave while the rest of the church discussed our salary, in detail. Lately I have been battling in my heart over the financial struggles that we accepted when we entered the ministry. But, as the pastor preached in the service about the vision of our church to expand the kingdom of God, I felt frost begin to melt around my heart. And when the moment came when we were asked to leave, Matt and I joined the other two pastors and their wives in the lobby where one of the pastors asked us all to pray for a woman who was visiting from a church in Oklahoma that is undergoing a nasty split. So while the rest of the church was discussing our salary, I was a part of the ministry team in the lobby praying for a woman I have never met and her church which I have never visited. I felt a part of something powerful and called by God, not excluded and placed on display for others to pick apart my private life, which I had expected to feel like. God has called us to a life of giving of ourselves, and the truth of the matter is that it is not just Matt and I that are called to selflessness. Everyone is called to die to themselves. Matt and I are just called to a particular kind that is officially labeled "ministry". And by the way, I found out that while we were out in the lobby, the elders announced to the congregation that Matt was brought on full time this month with a full time salary, and the whole church errupted with clapping. That is love, not nosey prodding.

Tonight we had a youth leader meeting, and it was so fun to laugh and think hard with these people who I already love so much! We came up with the phrase "the fun people in the church are youth leaders"! It is so wonderful to be in ministry that flows out of your gifts and personality, and Matt and I feel that way about youth ministry. As soon as we stray from our hearts and personal calling and try to make youth ministry something contrived, it ceases to be genuine and passionate. So in the midst of what has felt like a tough month and a half, I was so blessed by the ordinary glory of today.

Ok, so I couldn't resist giving you some eye candy....being able to post my photography so easily is one of the things I love most about blogger. Here is a picture that I took of myself in the mirror on our road trip/move out to California.


This second picture is one that I took in Brooke's backyard of one of the many amazing California sunsets. This area has the most amazing and clear sunsets!!


One last picture...I also loved the way this flower turned out. It was perfectly facing the sun and so perfectly posed for a shot. I love how flowers don't squint in the sunlight!

The snow-capped Sierra mountains

Matt and I got back yesterday from a youth retreat to Sierra Summit, a 7,000 foot mountain in the Sierra range about 4 hours east of us. Now, I have seen snow before, but never anything like this. We got there and the roads were clear, but there was a 3 foot wall of snow on either side of the road. That was my first clue that I wasn't in Tennessee or Missouri snow country anymore. The next morning we woke up to a georgous view of the snow gently falling on the pine trees and it continued to snow all day. By the time we left, there was probably 5 feet of snow on the ground! Who knew that just four hours from steamy Paso Robles it could snow like I imagine it snows in Canada?!?! We had a great weekend hanging out with the students and growing in our friendships and love for them.

Matt did a fantastic job with his talks, and I myself even benefitted from the the "retreating." It was a good time to sit back and reflect on the goodness and power of God in my life. I read through some Psalms that talk of His power and holiness, and I was reminded of how small I am compared to Him. I must trust and submit to His will for my life...those are hard but beautiful truths for me to meditate on. I thought of this in regards to my job, particularly. Please pray for me because I am feeling very strongly about looking for something more in my field. I really desire to do something more fulfilling, and I am not totally sure what that looks like, but I know that the Lord does and has it all planned out. I am excited to see what the future holds.

Here are some pictures of the weekend.


In this picture if you look closely at the mountains in the background, you will see the snow caps. We were up in those mountains.


So cold and gray...a fun break from the happy and faithful sun in Paso Robles.

Matt is a better man than I am...I would never have agreed to allow pictures of myself like this be posted. He said "I don't care!" His "Deliverance" style appearance was due to a rousing and popular game of sock hockey in the cabin.

If you are ever looking for Matt, check out any place where other guitar-playing fools are gathered and you will most likely find him there!

Pismo Beach with the camera and a 30 ft. leash

Yesterday, a friend from work and I headed to a little cafe in Pismo Beach where they sell world-famous clam chowder. We grabbed our bread bowls and chowder-to-go and we headed down to the boardwalk, she with her baby and me with my dog in tow. It was fantastic. After eating, I headed down to the beach, with Keller on the 30 foot leash, hoping to catch some shots of the setting sun. Although at times it was a challenge to manage Keller, who only had thoughts of investigating all the coastal smells and bounding around on the sand, I was able to steal a few shots with my camera of the Pismo scene at dusk. It was invigorating, and I think these shots capture the beauty of the central coast in all its surfing, crashing waved beauty.

Beloved!

Lately, I have forgotten that I am the beloved of God. I love the phrase beloved because it gives me the feeling of being curled up in a ball riding around in God's pocket--loved and secure. These past few weeks I have been given many reminders that I am indeed the beloved of God--sometimes the reminders have been obvious and wonderful and at other times they have been painful and received with kicking and pouting. While at home I must remind myself I am beloved. While at work I must remind myself I am beloved. No matter what I do, God breaks through and reminds me I am beloved (whether it is throug Matt's constant love and forgiveness or my Mom and sister's phone calls and amazing mailed treats). I love this picture of Keller from a few days ago. She has discovered the warmth of the California sun, and she cannot get enough of it. This picture was taken of her while she was outside basking in the golden rays, and I couldn't help but snap a shot of her in her contentedness. She has recently realized she is beloved by us and can freely bask in our love, and it shows in her expression here. Such a simple reminder to me of how I am beloved. If we love a dog and want her to be free and loved, how much more my Creator wants this for me!

Kelly and Brooke--here it is!

I can't believe it has been two weeks since Christmas. I have had so much going on in my heart and mind not to mention my daily activities. I will catch up at a better time this weekend (when I am not needing to be at work in 20 minutes with very little done to call me prepared to walk out the door!). I wanted to just leave a little something for you, especially Kelly and Brooke who absolutely flattered me by telling me they have missed my posts (I love you!). Yeah for regular readers! I'll leave you for now with a picture from Matt's birthday party last week.