Playdough

Edmund and I made our first two batches of play dough! It was SO easy :-) He chose Red and Blue.
My old camera is broken and my new one still doesn't have a memory card so no pics for now!
Hope everyone is having a great day of rest!

Cool Damage

Isn't this crazy? This is one of the sites the storm produced. We thought is was cool. It's just before the turn off to Bourden Ranch Road. If you look closely, the dead part of the tree lives while the alive parts of the tree have fallen. And the light is shining down on the dead part. It reminds me of hope and salvation. If we die to ourselves the Lord redeems us. If we only have life on this earth, we will just fall in the end.

Mom Heart Conference

Anyone want to go with me?

Mom Heart

Conference Details

THE MOM HEART CONFERENCE
Irvine/OC, CA ~ February 5-6, 2010

2010 Conference Theme: You...Renewed!
Renewing Your Mom Heart for a New Start

Marriott Irvine
18000 Von Karman Avenue, Irvine, CA 92612

A two-day hotel conference and getaway designed especially for Christian mothers, now in its 12th year of ministering to moms. When the cultural ground is shifting, there's no better time to renew your heart for a new start with God. Sally will strenthen and encourage your heart to rise to the task of raising wholehearted children for Christ at home. Julie Hiramine and Sarah Clarkson will share heart-renewing messages, and a special Panel Discussion will discuss the Mom Heart Ministry vision. The conference includes practical workshops, inspirational worship, a seated banquet luncheon, book tables, and more.

Conference Schedule (subject to change) FRIDAY
1:00-3:00 ~ registration and booktable
3:00-5:15 ~ workshops (3:00, Sarah; 4:15, Julie)
7:00-9:30 ~Session 1 (Message, Sally)

SATURDAY
8:30-11:30 ~ Session 2 (Message, Sally; Message, Julie)
12:15-1:30 ~ Seated banquet lunch
2:00-4:30 ~ Session 3 (Panel discussion; Message, Sally)
5:00 ~ Conference ends

Conference Registration
Regular Registration: After January 8, $99.00

A PERSONAL INVITATION

Did you know that the Greek word for “renew” means to make something new in the midst of other things? It doesn’t mean to start over, but to keep going, only with a newness of purpose. It means to add newness to what is already there. I can’t imagine a better topic for this year than “You…Renewed!” I know it’s right where I am as mom in ministry, and I believe it’s right where most of you are as mothers in a changing culture. I believe we all need to be renewed by the Spirit for the road ahead.

Since 1998, this has been the WholeHearted Mother Conference. But this year, it is something new…it is now a Mom Heart Conference. This year marks the official start of a new ministry to mothers to encourage them to renew their hearts for biblical motherhood. I’m not starting over in my ministry to moms, but I’m keeping going with a renewed purpose and vision. My beliefs and convictions have not changed, but the culture around me is changing by the day. In the midst of that change, Mom Heart Ministry is a renewed vision of my spirit for helping mothers.

Every day, I hear from precious women all around the world who know the Lord, and are committed to serving him in their homes, but they are weary in the work of being a mother. They have no intention of giving up, but they need something more to keep going. I hear in their voices and words the need for a renewed sense of the Lord’s work in the midst of their lives. If that’s you, I want you to know this year that God wants you to be renewed in him…he wants to do “new things” (Isaiah 42:9) in and through you. He wants “You…Renewed!” in your habits, heart, home, and hope. That’s my message to you this year.

As I wrote my new book, Dancing with My Father, God worked in my heart a renewed understanding of his abundant joy. Everything my heavenly Father has done is so I could dance with joy in his presence. What I learned is a perfect complement to this year’s conference theme because it is about being renewed in that joy. What I share in the book is the ground in which the messages I want to share with you this year are grown. I am so looking forward to being with you and to filling your heart and spirit with the life-renewing truths of God’s word. I am praying that this weekend will be a time when you will be refreshed, restored, and above all else, renewed in the power of the Holy Spirit. I hope you will plan to join me and my friends. You are in my heart!

Sally Clarkson


WHAT TO EXPECT

Warm Fellowship with Mothers -- You need to be with other wholehearted mothers like you! You need to be able to laugh and cry and shout and sigh about the same experiences. At this conference, you’ll be refreshed, revived and restored by being around other moms who want the same thing for their children that you want for yours. Come enjoy the pleasure of being away in a lovely hotel for the weekend with friends, and be spiritually encouraged, too. It’s a getaway just for you. Join us!

Spiritually Encouraging Program -- The weekend away for a Mom Heart Conference is also filled with inspirational worship. Friday afternoon seminars will offer practical help and encouragement for mothering and parenting skills. There will also be a Whole Heart booktable filled with carefully selected titles to encourage and equip you as a mother.

Faith-Building Messages by:

Sally Clarkson -- The heart of a Mom Heart Conference is Sally’s ministry of encouragement and inspiration. She is a gifted speaker and teacher who touches the lives of thousands of women and mothers around the world through her heartfelt messages and inspiring books for mothers, and her blogs and newsletters for Christian women. She speaks from her heart to your heart with personal warmth, real-life humor, biblical insight, and inspirational passion. You can expect to have your heart re-charged, challenged, and changed. Sally’s messages are drawn from her own full life as a mother of four wholehearted children for 25 years, and from her walk with God for 35 years in ministry, missions, marriage, and family. She is the author of Seasons of a Mother's Heart, The Mission of Motherhood, The Ministry of Motherhood, and The Mom Walk, and co-author of Educating the WholeHearted Child. Her newest book, Dancing with My Father ~ How God Leads Us into a Life of Grace and Joy, will be available at the conference (January 19 release date). She and Clay live in Monument, CO. Sally will speak on:

--Renewing Your Habits: Learning How to Be at Home with God (Session 1, Friday evening)
--Renewing Your Heart: Loving the Lord with All Your Heart (Session 1, Friday evening)
--Renewing Your Home: Living as a Life-giving Mother (Session 2, Saturday morning)
--Renewing Your Hope: Longing for the Living God (Session 3, Saturday afternoon)

Julie Hiramine -- Julie Hiramine is an international speaker and author, and the founder and executive director of Generations of Virtue, a ministry dedicated since 2003 to equipping parents to empower their children to be pure in today's world. The ministry provides planning and resources for parents to teach children about godly and biblical purity, sexuallity, and character. After graduation from Pepperdine University, her involvement in youth ministry and church planting contributed to her becoming a passionate advocate for raising the next generation to fulfill their God-given destinies. Julie and her husband Kay have ministered together on five continents in their 20 years of marriage. They are based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but also have a home in Conesus, New York. Julie is a homeschooling mother of five children. Julie will speak on:

--Setting a Paradigm for Purity (Session 2, Saturday morning)

Sarah Clarkson -- Sarah brings a wealth of knowledge about life-giving literature, a love for books and reading, and a heart-full of thoughtful insights about the importance of truth, goodness, and beauty to the wholehearted spiritual life. She is known for her blog, Itinerant Idealist (itinerantidealist.com), and is developing Storyformed.com, a new blog to explore the power of story in our lives. She is also a guest blogger for The Rabbit Room blog (rabbitroom.com). Sarah's new book, Read for the Heart: Whole Books for Wholehearted Families, is her reflections on literature and reading, and her recommended books for families. She wrote her first book, Journeys of Faithfulness: Stories for the Heart for Faithful Girls, as a teen, and is working on a revised and updated version. Sarah lives in Monument, CO. Sarah will speak on:

--Read for the Heart: The Lifegiving Power of Stories, Books, and Reading (Workshop 2, Friday workshop

Happy New Year!

I sure am hoping that 2010 is a little less chaotic than 2009 but pretty sure that won't happen! We stared off 2009 with a newborn, got into a pretty good rhythm, decided that we were done looking at houses to buy and were content to live in our apartment....forever!, then when the time came to renew our lease our property manager wasn't there and the next day God plopped a house in our laps and the chaos began!

Edmund at a D-backs game with his daddy!

She ADORES him :-)

She absolutely loves water.

7 or 8 month photo shoot!

They like to play together. I just know she is going to be his guinney pig! She isn't afraid of anything.

He wanted to help paint, and I didn't want any ruined clothes!

She doesn't mind taking his leftovers!

Edmund put plastic bag capes on and the adventure began!

These two are going to be in more trouble that I think we can imagine right now :-)

This is Rhylee, 7 months older than Genevieve.

We love our home. The kids keep us on our toes. I am hoping to keep more up to date than I have lately.

Come and see us!

The Hummer 4.