A Snow Storm To Remember...

We'll call it the blizzard of '08, for all practical purposes. Friday, March 7 and Saturday March 8th were blustery days full of snow. It was all light and puffy, but in all I think we got about 14 inches. After getting home late on Friday to a worried husband, it was really nice to be in a warm house and let the world swirl outside. Around 11:30pm Friday night we got cabin fever and went out to run around the house and make snow angels. It was truely a winter wonderland! Saturday was more of the same and we actually spent the day working at cleaning our house, and got almost the whole thing done! What fun to work together on much needed projects. Sunday we had a good time worshipping and going over the Sunday school lesson together. We missed being in church though and realized how much we love meeting with our church on Sundays.

Winter Retreat

The Winter Retreat (Feb.21-23) with the youth group was a great time! We went to Marietta, Ohio to the two-house property of a friend of the church. It is almost on the West Virginia border and rarely snows there. However, for our wintery weekend, it had just snowed 2-3 inches. It was fun riding fourwheelers and sledding down the mountain. We spent the weekend on a study of Colossians 3-4. It was the end of a study of the book of Colossians. The title of the weekend was "Set Apart For Life" and the emphasis was about what the Lord has done and given for us to follow Him for a lifetime. We talked about being different from a culture that readily gives up on most everything and anything.

Session 1 - Set Your Hearts - Our first call is to salvation and to the passionate love of God

Session 2 - Set Your Minds - The love of God with our minds is a great gift and key to knowing Him and growing in Him.

Session 3 - Set It Down - Weeds that would choke out our faith. We talked about letting God take out the deepest rooted habits and frequently shallow sins in our hearts daily.

Session 4 - Set It Up - Establishing character and strength, building blocks for ways to live like Jesus

Session 5 - Set For Life - 4 places God has set up for us to live out holiness - Family/At home, Work, Church, Evanglism.

We were really blessed by some of the things that they shared and also by the way the Lord pulled everything together. Matthew and I had never given talked for a whole weekend, much less spent so long on one verse/chapter, but God opened His word to us and it really was a growing time and something that He did!

It was good to have a good mix of people there and we are asking God what all He has for us in the next few years. We love these guys and pray that God will continue to open their hearts and minds for ever deeper love and service to Him.

una cancion - pa que goces

The Reasons We're Alive

So where to from here? Isn't that a question we ask all our lives?

Our hearts have been drawn to the ministry that God has placed on our hearts: working with the youth. These past few weeks God has given us new ideas and a renewed passion for these great guys and gals.

One of the recent fun events that we had was a spa night and pajama party for the Jr.High girls entititled "The Truth About Beauty". In between facials, a back massager, manicures, pedicures, Brio magazine and cheese quesadillas, we talked about life and love and what it really means to be beautiful. It was great to see everyone participate and have fun. The best part was what God spoke to each of us about how He has given us potential for true beauty. What a fun night!

Marriage Retreat and Grieving Baby

Matt and I went this weekend to the Hispanic Marriage Retreat. The speaker was Rey F. Matos who has written several books on marriage and family. His talks were interesting and to the point. We had several long sessions, so our only regret of the weekend was that we didn't get much time to talk alone. We did have a good time talking with our Hispanic friends and they were all so kind to us. Many expressed care and empathy at the loss of our baby. Some even shared their stories, which was a blessing to see how God carried them through. We have learned to communicate to each other better over this time and have held each other with the arms of Jesus it seems. We sang Steven Curtis Chapman's song "I will be here" in Spanish to each other, that was special.

It was uplifting to meet with the Roggio family for lunch on Sunday after the retreat. What a blessing our families have been through this whole time!

I honestly don't know what I would have done that first week without my mom. She gave me such good advice and helped me with some everyday tasks. Dad came and fixed me sweeper when I had clogged it even though he said that he wanted to fix the hurts, but couldn't. We have about 20 cards sitting on our buffet table with 3 bouquets of flowers and have had so many people call or visit. Just today I saw Bonnie Weberling at the store. Her hug and genuine concern for Matt and I was just a special reminder of God's love through His body. The truth is that I can see the difference in the ways that people who know the Lord respond to us and those who don't. It seems that the Holy Spirit reaches out to our hearts in a special way through His people. It's funny how you know in your head that people care about you, but then when something happens that makes you feel broken, there are so many to offer you a hand and say "You're not alone." The song that Vanessa sent us was so touching and special, it talks about Jesus holding our baby. The other day when Aunt Mary Kay prayed that Jesus would hold us and our baby close I had this beautiful picture of Jesus in a rocking chair with our baby. Then He traded with Grandma Sommers. It was a special thought.

You would think with all of these wonderful people and wonderful gestures, a wonderful husband and more wonderful God that I would feel more joyful. I guess I'm discovering that joy is not a feeling, it's a truth. The truth is in my heart I have joy for many things, but there is also still a deep sorrow that I cannot seem to just replace. I think like Amy said, "It will hurt until the day I die." I will always be a mom to this one too.

Memorial To Our Baby

How long, O Lord

Must I wrestle with my thoughts

And every day

Have such sorrow in my heart

Look on me and answer

O God my Father

Bring light to my darkness

Before they see me fall

But I trust in your unfailing love

Yes my heart will rejoice

Still I sing of Your unfailing love

You have been good to me

You will be good to me

Isaiah 43:2-3

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, Your Savior.

Swartzentruber Family Christmas

These are the people that we had such a great Christmas with on December 22. We loved playing games, talking and enjoying photos from the past year. What a great family!

Family Christmas...

Santa Macklem and his reindeer (Jonny and Vanessa)

The Roggio family Christmas was a really fun day. We had a great time celebrating with them. There was the buzz of conversation throughout the whole house the whole day. This Christmas truly brought us great JOY!
Matthew practiced holding Lily Beth until she started crying, then he said, "What do I do now?" Dad Roggio and Eric laughed so hard they cried. We had fun playing with William, who likes to twirl his hair. What a blessing to be with such a great family!

Baby Roggio Announcement

WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BABY!!!

DUE: AUGUST '08

It's almost Christmas

Somehow this Christmas seems more special to me. I'm sure part of it is that I got most of my shopping overwith. I think it must be more than that. I have marvelled at how God's perfect plan for man included the birth of a baby. It's so humbling. Matt and I have enjoyed the snowfall this weekend, mostly becuase it meant that we could spend time with family. We enjoyed playing Settler's with Mom and Dad Sommers on Sunday. The Christmas program was postponed until Wednesday. I look forward to seeing all the kids there and hopefully their parents. I can't believe that it's the end of 2007, it seems like this year has flown by. I pray that 2008 will bring special new surprises.

The First Big Snow...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! Here's what it looked like on Matt's first day of snow-days, well, just a two hour delay, but that counts as something, right! He's so good about shoveling snow from our porch and cleaning off the cars! What a sweetheart. We are thankful to the Lord for a warm house on cold days like these. Here's Matt eating the breakfast of champions: meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green beans...COLD! Fun times...

Last Day of School!

Wow, it seems like this quarter went by really fast for me at Med Central. I had my Critical Care class, which despite my concerns went really well. I had a hard time studying at the end, but I'm beginning to think that's senioritis or some other deadly disease like christmasitis or matthewitis. Scary, I know, but "all's well that end's well". I think my favorite part of this quarter was actually feeling like I really helped someone. Somedays being a student seems more like taking than giving with all that I am learning and practicing, but this quarter I could give. Somehow, it seems worth it, all the technical jargen for one word of true encouragement or one true touch. Favorite things this quarter were: chest tubes, IV-push meds, heart surgery, vents, funny stories, seeing people get better, and offering a shoulder to cry on.

Thanksgiving Weekend

What a weekend! Five events in four days, all with food and the people we love! Thanksgiving day was the Swartzentruber Thanksgiving with 45 people down the table, it made for in Gage's words, "a real feast"!

Then we went to the Roggio Thanksgiving, which was just as fun! With Uncle David, Aunt Jan, Nate, Benji, Uncle Bill, Aunt Carol, Mom and Dad Roggio, and Matt and I, we made for a lively bunch. Dinner was great and dessert was even better!

Friday was the highlight with the Sommers Family Christmas. We had a beautiful time of sharing together and spiritual encouragement and then generous gift-giving. We played and ate, laughed and cried together. It was so good to see everyone! We loved seeing Nate and Becca and Andy and Wendy! Top gift items were SNOWMAN things!, Ipod!, Games!, Snowshoes - boots, Paint stilts, Books, A GPS!, Clothes, and of course, A Partridge In A Pear Tree...good one, Becca! Oh, and how could I forget...Settlers of Catan. My favorite quote from the game was, "All this horsepower and no room to gallop!" - Andy

Saturday was another fun day with the extended Sommers family. It was bitter-sweet without Grandma. It seemed like we were all just waiting for her to come to make the celebration complete. Grandpa's story about a home brought many tears, mingling with his own. We truely do long for that heavenly home where we will see her face again. Somehow the Sommers family has grown closer together through this time though and it's evident that we care for each other.

So...on to Sunday! The Italian Pasta Feast (a.k.a. Spaghetti Dinner) to raise money for the youth missions trip. What a night, let me tell you. We decorated with candles and ivy and white lights, we all wore black and white with chef hats or flowers. We even had a Miss Italy! After 4 pots of spaghetti and fettucini, Vic's Serenading in the background, a gondola ride, impromptu jokes, a speech by chef Giovanni (spoken in Italian, loosely translated), and lots and lots of sauce, we came home. It was a very successful fundraiser and we are so grateful to the church people for their support. Check out our promo video!

Matt's Musings - Entry II

The School of Obedience: Psalm 119:99-100
Psalm 119:99-100
A. I have more understanding that all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my mediation.
B. I understand more than the aged, because I have observed Your precepts.

Wisdom begins with God’s revelation – he initiated an invitation to look into his revelation.
Our place is obedience. This is one of the wonderful ways that spiritual growth takes place!
Should I pursue a seminary degree? I have often wondered this.
I really would love to go in the near future. I think I have not gone yet because I do not believe that a seminary degree would necessarily make me more fruitful in and of itself. There are other factors perhaps more important in the spiritual growth equation.
-obedience
-faithfulness in the small things
-pressing into who God is (Jn. 15)

We must remember that our walks with God began with his grace! Our response of obedience (bringing more grace) then cultivates the process of producing fruit. I have determined that seminary would be a wonderful thing, and I hope to go there! First, however, I want to prove myself faithful in being fruitful with what God has given me. Then I know that learning will explode when it is plugged into a life charged by His Spirit.

Matt's Musings - Entry 1

O.K.
This is the start of my first blog. I must confess that I have been TERRIBLE about keeping a regular journal. I am hoping that this will be good training for me.


Exceedingly Broad
I remember the first time that the Grand Canyon took my breath away. I could hardly believe that what I was seeing was reality. It is difficult to behold something of it’s size and beauty and not be moved.
If you’ve seen the canyon, you know what I mean when I say that it is “exceedingly broad.” Many great athletes have been humbled by it’s desert climate, risking dehydration and even death, attempting to reach the canyon floor and return to the rim in a single day. They discover how far away the next horizon really is, and find their own strength reaching it’s limitation. To come up against such greatness is to be reminded of our own smallness.
Psalm 119:96 says “I have seen a limit to all perfection; [but] Your commandment is exceedingly broad!” Like the grand canyon – the more you look into God’s commands, the more minute details you notice, each profound in beauty and perfection. To gaze and gaze and feel that there is no limit brings humility and awe – HIS commands are EXCEEDINGLY broad.
They hold up in all times, and in all circumstances. They can be tested, and they will always prove to be steadfast. This is the comfort of leaning against something that will not move – in any circumstance. It is though we stand on the edge of the canyon of the INFINITE, and then we begin to realize our own small size. Before gazing into that canyon, perhaps we thought that we were the center of the universe. It often takes that glance to take our breath away, and move us to worship. Oh God, let us catch a greater glimpse! You are our Rock – steadfast, unchanging, big enough for each of today’s trials. Forgive us for losing sight of Your magnitude in the passing fad of multiculturalism. Such claims of moral relativity the death of truth are utter foolishness and lunacy.
The world says that God’s word is outdated; it was temporary, and has now passed.
God says that the earth itself will pass away, but that his Word will endure!
In the end, truth will prove itself to have been true!

This is our cat, Amore

This is our cat, Amore. She is playful to a fault, loves to climb trees, fetch rubber bands and be held. We like her because she has the personality of a dog, with all the maintenance of a cat. She can be very funny sometimes and has a glare that is almost scary. She likes milk and kitty snacks and can't stand being out in the rain. She has several meow's and it's funny to hear her and Matt talking. She likes to play with the ornaments on the tree and drink the water under it. She is usually obedient, but has taken to running and hiding when it's time to for us to leave.

Perhaps I should explain...

Jer 17:5-8
5 This is what the LORD says:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man,who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. 6 He will be like a bush in the wastelands;he will not see prosperity when it comes.He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,in a salt land where no one lives.
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,whose confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.It does not fear when heat comes;its leaves are always green.It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." NIV

This is the verse of promise from our wedding day about our lives together, that's where the title for this blogspot came from and what we try to do with our lives.