The Holiness of Home

I try to be the heart of my home (have you heard that saying- the mom is the heart of the home?), while working full time, running kids around to appointments and simply trying hard to keep house. Having an inviting space for my family is important because we all lead such separate lives right now. Yes, I said we ALL, because the boys go to two separate locations everyday except Friday. With that being said, we come home and try to reconnect by sharing a meal, playing and snuggling. Creating space for each other. Intentional.

Having said all that, this is the picture I want, however it is rarely the picture that I see. Except for last week. We intentionally came together every night after dinner to remember what Jesus did for us. As a mom who is trying to raise 2 Godly little men, I so treasure those times. We talked alot about the events surrounding the the crucifixtion. I have been thinking a lot about the discipling of our kids and what it should look like- planned and structured or moment by moment-- maybe a bit of both. I love hearing the boys recite the easter story.

Here is what we did do (aside from the ressurection eggs)~

* we made palms and ate pistachio pudding (for the green) and talked about Jesus entering Jerusalem

* we created a special spot in our house for prayer and worship after we read the cleansing of the temple- it had a special table cloth, our bibles, the palms we made and of course candles. We asked Abe where it should have been and he said- the beach! Once we lit the candles, Jonah got all excited and yelled- Happy Birthday, Jesus!

* we had a pseudo passover meal where we ate lamb, and had communion and talked about the last supper

* we prayed for our neighbors & talked about who our neighbor is.

This is but a moment in our lives and we should treasure every second!

Spring Fever, Anticipation, & Weddings

I love this time of year! It is spring and easter. Yesterday I took the boys to Lions Park in Zionsville and we played and walked around looking for the "signs" of spring. What we found were many "baby" leaves, greener grass and (the most exciting part) 2 flowers- a dandelion and yellow wild flower. The boys were fanatic over the flowers and I thought that in the midst of grayness and winter, we get most excited about color and new life!

I am anticipating Holy week this year. We are not only doing the resurrection eggs but we are also going to try this: http://www.christianitytoday.com/holidays/easter/features/activities.html

from Christianity Today. Obviously there will be a little modification due to our kids only being 3 and 5, but we are going to try it. I have been meditating on this verse from John- "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become Children of God- children not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husbands will but born of God." 1:12-13.

We are also in the midst of wedding season here in our family. Hans' cousin gets married in a few weeks and they came and had dinner with us this weekend to talk about logistics, vows, and marriage. It provided good birth control for them! We will be meeting with them again this weekend so that will be fun.

And, my little brother is marrying an awesome girl at the end of may! All of us are in the wedding- i am a bridesmaid, Hans is officiating, both the boys are ring bearers- so it will be quite busy. The fun part is that I am hosting thier shower from Daniel's side of the family. We are so excited about all this!

The Shack

Ok, so I caught up with the rest of the Christian world and finally caved to read this book. This book is brilliant. And I am going to be like every other christian with a blog and write about it!

The depiction of relationship in this book is phenominal. I guess if you want a good idea of the intimacy that God desires from you then this would be a great glimpse. I would discourage your judgement, however, because we christians often times view books and want to make sure they are completely accurate doctrinally before we like something. I don't know if this is or not. I do know that this is all about relationship and nothing about religion.

I like books that blow away your ideas and so often we come to the table with all these preconceived notions of who God is, what his role is in our pain, why he does things or allows things to be done. This book is good for those things.

I came away feeling like a little girl holding my daddy's hand in a scary world full of adventures waiting to be uncovered. I'd love to hear what you thought if you read it.

Extra.... pictures!

Cousins! Addy- "what do you want me to do?" Koryn-"smile like this- cheese!" Abe-"i will when i am ready!" Jonah- "c'on Ella, lets say cheese!" Ella- "ok, Jonah, as long as you do it with me!"

My little wild animals at the Children's museum

Thumbs up for a good Soccer game!

Arrrgh, matey!

Brothers in undies- now if only jonah would want to be potty trained!

Jonah- "I'm batman!"

Brothers in a tree!

Post 3... Hans & Stacey

Ok, so I lied about about posting everyday! I will do two posts today and this one is going to be an update about Hans and I. A note about the pictures- the one of Hans is one of my favorites of him coaching abe, the one of me is not one of my favorites, but it is the most recent one I could find with just me! It was taken at my Dad's Christmas gathering and I, being betty crocker, made 2 snowmen cheeseballs!

First Hans- He is LOVING his role at Traders Point Christian Academy. I thought that he would not be as busy as he was as a youth minister, but boy was I wrong! He is way busier. He teaches 6-9 grade bible, coordinates & plans 3 chaples a week- Elementary, Middle School & High School. He coaches soccer in the fall and baseball in the spring. He just got back from the 8th grade field trip to Washington DC, Philly, & NYC- where he got to do all sorts of fun stuff.

Before Christmas, we sold the Xbox 360 to get a Wii. So for his birthday this year, he got guitar hero. Abe likes to watch him

play.

Hans has the privilege of marrying 2 family members this spring! In April he is officiating the ceremony for his cousin Megan, and in May is doing the wedding for my (baby) brother Daniel! We are so excited for both of them and were honored that they asked him.

Now me- Stacey. What to say?! Well, I have been working now for over 13 months. I am in the same role, ready to grow professionally here at TriMedx. The company really is a great place to be. I have made some great friends here and really enjoy meeting new people. I was in this "christian" bubble for so long that it has been refreshing to step out and meet different types of people in varying levels of faith/ or lack of, and life stages.

I miss being at home with the boys, and unfortunately motherhood has the ugly companion called guilt attached to it, but as much grace is required being a working mamma as a stay at home mamma-- and it has proven to be sufficient when I allow it! The boys seem to be doing good with it and we have our moments of playing when I get home- which usually consists of first trying to locate them because they always "get lost" when they hear me pull in, and then me getting mauled! One of my favorite parts of the day is seeing thier excitement of us getting home!

I joined weight watchers last year and have lost close to 25 pounds (not as fast as I would like to go!) It has been great to do something for me because so often, moms seem to sacrifice everything for others. I also took up jogging- who would have imagined! I signed up to run my first 5K in april. I am nervous but up for the challenge-- and not really expecting to finish it fast or anything- just finish!

Being at home here in Indy has been healing for our family. We regularly get together with family. We are able to see our nieces grow up! At Christmas time, my siblings decided to not get gifts but try to spend more time together and we have gotten together twice (which is hard because with spouses and "others" it is 10 people!) All in all we have been good.

Post 2...Jonah

Look at the big blue eyes on that kid! Jonah will be 3 in a few weeks and he continues to make us laugh. He make us laugh to not get in trouble and sometimes it works!

Jonah started Kindercare part time in January because Hans' mom is going back to work. In a couple of weeks he will be going full time. You know, I never wanted my kids to be in Daycare, but I have grown to really love it! He likes his teacher and he is learning a lot. I guess, it is turning into a blessing. I worked in a daycare, and was fine with the one I worked in, but I never looked at them in a very positive light. They love him there and he really likes going.

Jonah is Jonah. He can be stubborn at times, and he loves playing with Abe. He has given Abe a run for his money but the two have become good buddies. He is constantly asking good guy or bad guy? And he loves playing with his Batman and Spiderman.

He is a mama's boy through and through. (Which I secretly love!!) He even tells me he is my baby. He brought me a diaper and said mamma- my diaper. I said well soon you need to start going on the potty! He said, no I am baby!

Jonah loves playing with his cousins- his cousin Ella is his favorite buddy! His cousin Koryn is his leader- when they are together, he listens to her like she was his babysitter and lets her be the boss and baby him. When he is at Mimi's house he plays with Koryn's puppy Lucy or Wutee as he calls her. Jonah can spend the afternoon in her cage if we let him.

He brings us a lot of laughter, for sure. He is a big boy in a small boy's body, so he spends most of his life trying to catch up and understand what his bubby (Abe) is up to and doing. Every now and then, he lets me call him a "big boy" and not a baby. :)

Well, we don't have many Jonah-isms yet! He is difficult to understand most of the time! A lot of things are clear though- "I wuv you", "guys", "nope","mamma", "da", "I strong", "I wike..."

Post 1... Abe

What can I say?! Look at his smile. He is growing up so much and we have been excited to watch him! He enjoys legos, playing the wii, playing outside, karate, hanging with his buddies and spending time with his cousins.

This year he went into the 4s+ instead of kindergarten. It has proved to be a wise decision as we have had some difficulty with a few things. He loves his teachers! Abe is excited to be at the "big" school with his cousin and his dad. He has lost 2 teeth since January and it was quite traumatic! The first one, I (stacey) pulled it out and he freaked a bit. He pulled the second one out by himself and loves to look for his "grown-up" teeth.

Star Wars the Clone Wars is his favorite show. He and Hans watch it every Friday night. He is taking after his Dad in that aspect (becoming a Star Wars Freak!) He and Jonah pretend all the time about fighting bad guys and running away from them or getting thier light sabers out in time for battle. Abe deffinitely is the ring leader in the house as he can convince his brother to do anything.

This spring he is looking forward to having a garden and helping me plant the veggies. He will also help Mimi and Papaw plant thier garden and is really excited about that. First they will plant potatoes and that should be this week sometime!

This year, after he started school, he informed Hans and I that he is going to marry Alli in his class. It was a pretty confident statement! I said, well, we will see. We will pray for your wife that God will bring you. He said it will be her because he loves her, he knows already. I said ok, well, maybe we can meet her mommy and daddy. He told me he wants to be like Hans and I and have kids, too. Well, we stopped the conversation there! When I met her mom, she said the feelings were mutual! WOW!

Some other favorite Abe-isms:

1. "Jonah, if you don't trust God, you will die..."

2. "Addy is the cutest baby"; "I could watch her, you know" (his littlest cousin)

3. "Mom is the best cook, I am the best Dancer, Dad is the best lego builder"

4. "There are no pockets left for broccoli, only pockets left for cookies" (at the dinner table, pockets are where the food goes, you know)

5. "I am going to be a Rockstar"

Really.... does it have to take so long for an update?!

After much starts and re-starts to trying to blog again, I thought I would just bite the bullet and do it. We are busy, busy, busy! Lots have happened, and no you did not get snubbed at Christmas- we DID not send out cards this year! WOW, I read my friends' blogs and wish I could post more, so maybe I just have to do it. I am starting to think that maybe no one will read it- people have just plain given up trying to see how it is going with us!

Here is how I will get everyone caught up. This post will include the Christmas letter that turned into a New Year's greeting that never got mailed (in March, I know, pathetic!). Then I will try and post something EVERY day this week about all of us and what is going on! How does that sound?

Wow, we cannot believe that it is 2009! So much happened last year
that it is hard to believe it was only 365 days. The boys are growing,
both Hans and Stacey are working and we moved again this year! We did not
get our Christmas cards out in time & thought that it would be a good
opportunity to send an update and wish your family a happy new year.

Hans~ at the beginning of the year, he was an intern under JK
Stevens at Traders Point Christian Academy teaching Middle School Bible.
He loved doing it and when JK retired, he was hired as Secondary Bible Teacher
and Chaplain. The Academy has been such a great place for him to use his
gifts and regain confidence in ministry as he has grown professionally and built
strong relationships with his students. He creates the Chapels for
Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle School & High School, teaches bible for
6th- 9th grades, while helping with coaching- soccer in the fall and baseball in
the spring. Last spring was his final semester of classes in
Seminary. He now has to write his big thesis in order to graduate.

Stacey~ in February she accepted a position at TriMedx Healthcare
Equipment Services as a Customer Care Representative. It was a tough
transition but everything went smoothly as she started back. The boys are
well taken care by Hans’ mom Sally as she has been their full time care
taker. The company is wonderful and has plenty of opportunity! It is
faith based and does so much for medical missions by donating and installing
medical equipment around the world. She has joined the Parent Teacher
Fellowship at the Academy.

Abe~ turned 5 in July!! We all celebrated with a
Swashbuckling pirate birthday party complete with balloon sword fights, water
balloon cannon wars, face painting and of coarse a pinata full of goodies.
He is in the 4s+ class at Traders Point Christian Academy and loves his
teacher. He played soccer both seasons last year. Towards the end of the
season, we were very proud as he (and the other boys) finally figured out the
way the ball goes! Now he is in Karate and loving it. Anything to
get out his energy is great!

Jonah~ turned 2 in
April!! He is your typical 2 year old- very busy, stubborn and
independent. Anything that Abe does, he wants to do. It is quite
frustrating living a 5 year old life in a 2 year old body! He spends his
days playing with Grammy and waiting for his brother to get home from
school. Ever the comedian, he loves making us laugh and is quick to do
that when getting in trouble. His big blue eyes are hard to
resist.

Overall, this year was spent with many celebrations &
our family has been blessed beyond measure. We continue to be involved in
a House Church at Common Ground Christian Church. They have all become a
part of our family. Our Journey continues as we look to Him this
year. We hope that your Christmas was spent with loving family, good food
and happy memories like ours was and that you rely on the Savior this coming
year.

Peace to You & Yours,
The
Weber’s
Hans, Stacey, Abe & Jonah

June is almost gone?!

It has been a while since my last post, but seriously where has all the time gone. This summer seems to be on high speed as the days fly by. We are trying to get settled and enjoying our location. Now it seems wierd that normalcy is coming back into the picture, it is like we are just scratching our heads and asking what just happened.


We are enjoying Mimi and Papaw's pool! The boys have swim lessons there each week and both love swimming. Jonah is jumping in left and right while abe is working on the head first in water swimming. It is great to see them treat mom's house as thier second home- that is what my grandma's house was. It sure seems like we have our weekends more booked with cookouts and get-togethers! We have always been pretty social so when we moved to IL, it seemed like not a lot ever went on!


Hans is working at Starbucks through the summer, his contract with the school will start in August. The count down is on! He is coming up with all sorts of fun ideas to incorporate in his teaching and chapels. He also gets to see the boys more, he and Abe have been Xbox buddies- they play Star Wars Legos.


Nothing new to report with me. I have been working and I started Weight Watchers last week with some friends. Seems like I am pretty motivated right now. I think getting healthy for me is a huge priority right now. I just want to feel better and have more energy.


If anyone can believe it, Abe will be 5 in 9 days! I am having a hard time grasping that! He is growing up so fast. We are having a pirate party for him on the 5th! He seems pretty excited aobut it. He has only been talking about his birthday since Jonah's birthday in April!


All in all the summer seems pretty good. We are enjoying the blessings and thankful for where the Lord has brought us.

At church, we have been going through a series call Grow. They have been talking about the disciplines which is always a good reminder of the benifits. I am going to committ to reading the proverbs- lectio divina style. God has so many treasures for us in his word. I am looking forward to just enjoying it!

Arriving

Well, I know that the title is a bit confusing. You say arriving to what, or where. I wanted to title it this way because this post will be about the dawn of our new adventure. Hans is going to be the new Bible teacher and Chaplain at Traders Point Christian Academy. He was officially offered the postion this week! Now, I know that our destination is not here on Earth, but in Heaven one day. This is an Arrival to the next leg of our journey.

God went before us on this one. I should not be so surprised, He always does, but we are about to move into a great house- one that is closer to everything we do! I will continue working as my Mother in law has agreed to watch Jonah and Abe! Our hearts are content with what God has given- his gifts are good and perfect, and I realize that now more than ever, He is faithful even when we aren't.

The trials and changes of these last several months have left a lasting impression on our souls. I know that this is a good thing, but the pruning hurt at times. Thank you for your prayers, encouragement and support. We have been surrounded by people and that has helped us heal.

"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."- 1 peter 2:9