My Three Men

I can't even begin to tell you all the goings on of the last few months.  My deepest apologies to those of you that have been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for an update... I am sure there are many of you ;) I want to devote this post to three of the most important boys in my life.  A few important things have happened in each of their lives since  I last posted, and I thought it fitting to update you with the details and some lovely pictures to go along with it!

Parker: 

My sweet boy who is growing all too fast turned three in November.  He wanted a cowboy birthday party, so I said giddy up!  We decked the house out in bandanas, rope, boots and spurs.  

We had about 50 people at the house. (including kids)  It was a packed place, but it was so fun to see all the love that was poured out on us and Parker.  He got more for his birthday than he needed, of course, but that gives me the opportunity to stow some away and slowly pull them out throughout the year. 

I made chili and hot dogs for everyone, and that seemed to be a big hit.  I also made cupcakes for the roundup... It was quite the day for dressing up, pinning the mustache on the cowboy, and lots of sugar!  

He continues to learn so much.  I am always amazed at the in depth conversations we have and the imagination he has. He has recently begun to memorize Bible verses for church.  He is definitely gifted in this area, and I can't wait to see how God will use that.

Camden: 

My sweet sensitive boy was dedicated this fall!  We had a really nice ceremony for him at church, where we were able to share a letter we wrote to Camden as if he were an 18 year old.   The idea behind that is to raise him with the end in mind.  What are the important things for him to learn and be at that point in life? How can we help him get there? 

It was such a good reminder as parents to step back and look at the bigger picture.  Many times I feel like I get caught up with the wiping of noses,  the late night feedings, and the time outs, and I lose sight of why I do what I do.  I have to remind myself that ultimately, what matters is that my boys love the Lord and seek His will.

Not only did we dedicate Camden, but on Christmas day he turned one year old!  I truly can't believe how fast time flies.  Our Pastor has said, "the days are long, but the years are short" Isn't that the truth?! Unfortunately, the little guy got sick on Christmas eve and was pretty miserable for the next week or so.  However, we were able to have a little celebration for him on New years day, and he even got to try his first piece of cake.  He did enjoy the sugar :)

And now for my Man, Philip:  

We have a special reason to celebrate him too!  In the last couple months Philip got a new position at church.  Up until this point, Philip has been an eGroups director at the Matthews location.  He has now been asked to not only do that, but also take the role as the associate campus pastor at Matthews.   Since he has started this, we have been learning what this role looks like for us a family and how we can be most effective in it.  He has done such an incredible job, learning his new role and jumping in right away.  I am so proud of him and all the hard work he puts in day in and day out.  I believe God will bless him for his commitment to his calling in ministry and at home!

There are so many things going on over here, and we are so grateful to be a part of them.  We hope you are doing well and had a wonderful Christmas and New year.  If you are looking for a good start to the year, and want to be more consistent with some of the things that you know God has called you to, take a listen to Pastor Steven from these last two weeks, in our series, The Power of Same.  He  also challenged us as a church to commit to creating some important habits this year.  If that is something you want to be a part of, go to beginagainchallenge.com and sign up.  It's going to be a great way to get started on the right foot this year!  We hope you are doing well and enjoying 2015 so far.

With Love, From Charlotte.

New York, Gold Mining and Sick Days

What do those three things have in common?  Absolutely nothing.  Except for those are the three things that have happened around here lately.  I'm so creative sometimes, I just can't contain it! ;)

Let me begin by telling you about the trip that Camden and I took to New York to visit our good friends, Luis, Cara, Eli and the soon to be newborn baby.  Cara and I met our Sophomore year of high school and have been the best of friends ever since.  It's one of those friendships that you have, and they just feel like they've been there forever.

Anyways, Cara was pregnant with her second baby and was restricted from most activity towards the end.  Luis was traveling fairly close to due date, so I found it an opportune time to visit, help take care of Eli and Mama, and spend some time with my sweet friend.

So Camden and I hopped on a plane!  Camden was an excellent travel partner and didn't cry at all.   While at Cara's, we really kept it low key since she had to sit as much as possible.  We ate, played, shopped, and stocked for when the baby arrived.

Eli got his first dose of what it might mean to have a baby around.  He did very well sharing with Camden with some coaching from mom.  All that to say, he's going to be a great big brother!

We even snuck out of the house on Sunday morning for a delicious lunch with our boys. 

 Cara and I talked about how we used to talk (in high school) about one day being married, and having kids.  We both always looked forward to and desired those things, but we realized we were living what we had wanted so badly at one point.  We have both been blessed with so much!

 My flight ended up getting delayed for a night, and Cara so graciously took me to the airport in the wee hours of the morning.  This was our one time in the city while we were there.  Next time we will do a little more exploring. :)

 The day after I left, Cara was induced and this little beauty came to be a part of this sweet family.  I am sad that I just missed her, but also glad that daddy got to be there for the moment.

Olivia, 5 lbs. 5 oz, tiny little thing

When I got home it was so nice to be able to spend time with both my boys.  They are so fun to be around, and so sweet to each other.  (usually) 

Speaking of my boys, on Fridays Philip has his day off.  We like to use this day to do things together as a family.  One of our most recent adventures was to a gold mine just out of the city.  We like finding cheap options for these outings, and this totally fit the bill.  There was a free museum with the history of the mine and all that was found there.

Then there was the walk to the mine which was gorgeous. 

 The mine itself was fun to walk through and learn about how they mined for the gold.  

 At the end we bought our three dollar bucket of dirt and Philip and Parker started shifting all the dirt out.  I didn't know mining for gold took so long!  Luckily Parker was incredibly patient and sifted through all the dirt, and got the big rocks out.  Just kidding.  He hardly helped at all! He got bored pretty quickly, but Philip didn't, and his hard work paid off!  He found three largish pieces of gold!  The person that was helping us said it was the best pan he'd seen in a while.

We will definitely visit again soon!

I am sitting here, writing this at the end of a pretty tough week.  I don't know if this happens in your family,  but every now and then we just have a season of lots of sickness in our house.  It seems like one person gets it, and then everyone gets it, and we are all susceptible to anything else going around!

We've all been sick and are hopefully on the up.  After a week like this, I am so grateful that I get to have someone help me in all of this and that my boys are normally healthy.  But I think God used this week to remind me to remain close to him.  I find when I don't feel well, or when one of my boys doesn't feel well I seek the Lord more often than normal.  What if I were to rely on him at this level all the time?  Rather than when I need more strength, because mine ran out.  I want to draw close to God all the time, because when I do I am running on His energy and His strength, which is so much better and longer lasting than mine.  

I am grateful for new health, a new week, and a new perspective on my dependence on Him.  Have a blessed week!

With Love, From Charlotte

The New Casa

As I mentioned in the last post, we moved... again.  Let me just say, I do not enjoy moving.  However, I do love living in a place that feels like home.  The last 2 residences we have inhabited were what we needed for that season.  The price and timing worked out for both places, but neither of the places felt too much like home.  We ended up finding out that the last home we lived in had mold in the kitchen walls/cupboards.  Not something anyone would want in their house, especially with 2 little guys running around like we do.

So despite our greatest efforts, we weren't able to get it fixed the way we had hoped, and we had some trouble with our landlord.  That was when I decided it was time to search for a new house.  I had high hopes for our new place, and had a list of "must haves" along with a list of "would really likes".  I spent many hours days on Zillow, Craigs List, Trulia... you get the picture.  I found a lot of houses that I would've loved to live in, but the price of rent was really making it difficult to find one that fit my list, but that also fit our budget.

One evening, we were at eGroup, and one of the couples suggested that we talk to their friends who had just bought a new house and were wanting to rent the one they were previously living in.  We got in touch, and I went to look at the house.  It had all our "must haves" and most of our "would really likes"!! Oh happy day! Not only that, but this incredibly wonderful couple made it financially possible for us to rent from them.  When I came over to see the house for the first time, the owner told me about how she had been praying for their future renters, and that God had laid it on her heart that it would be a "safe" place for someone to live.  She didn't know exactly what that meant, but she waited.  She got a call from a friend (Suzy from our eGroup) and said "I have a family that is looking for a house to rent, the house they are living in has mold, and they don't feel safe".  She knew right then that this was what God meant.

Unfortunately, we had to figure out how we were going to get out of our contract, and work out all the details of moving. There was a point in all this that I ended up giving up, I didn't know how it would all work out so that we could move into this new house.  I was convinced that my efforts were not enough, and I had to surrender my desires over to God.  I started praying that Philip would feel the same conviction to surrender the whole situation over.

Side note!  Ladies, one thing I am learning (and I don't get it right every time) is when I bring to God the things I want to see change in my husband to Him, then he either works that change out in him, or changes my heart to give grace, and be at peace with where we are.  Let me tell you, this is so much better than nagging!  Nagging, I have learned, does not work. Bringing your concerns to God does.  If our husbands are seeking God, and there is change needed, God is gonna work on him.  Isn't that so freeing?!  I'll have to do a whole other post on that later :)

 Anyways, back to it. A couple days later Philip came to me and said we should let God work it out and he would provide.  This was a particularly difficult one for us to let go, because there was quite a bit of money that we would be losing due to breaking our contract, and we had felt that we deserved something because we had been living and dealing with the mold in the house.  (The boys had an incredibly sick season while living there.  We don't know if this was caused by the mold, but it could have been related)  I think we both felt the need to protect and provide safety for our family, and we realized that was best done by surrendering it over to God.

When we released this, He worked everything out in His timing. Praise Jesus!  We packed up and moved within the next month and have been here since mid August.

It has 3 bedrooms,

2 full baths, a nice big living room,

 a kitchen with a gas stove, (Yeah!)

and a beautiful fenced in backyard.

 Not only does it have all of these perks, but it is 10 minutes away from the location we serve at and attend.  We are currently working on putting in a fire pit with some seating in the back, and finishing up some little projects inside.

We finally feel at home.  We are so grateful for God's provision and consistent reminders to allow him to be God in our lives.  Recently we had a ladies event, and our Pastor's wife Holly spoke.  One thing she said that stuck out was "What's beyond my control is in God's Control".

Is there something in your life that you are trying to control that should be in His?  Maybe something to think about in your next quiet time.  :)

Happy Hump Day!

With Love, From Charlotte

Sand In Our Toes... Mouths, Ears and Everywhere Else!

Since moving to the East Coast we have not yet made it to the beach til just recently.  Having lived in San Diego for a few years during college, I have spent quite a bit of time at the beach.  However, as a family, we have only done a beach trip a few times, and we've never done it on the East Coast.  For those of you West Coasters that don't know, there is a huge difference in water temperature from East to West.  I had no idea that this was the case, but when I put my feet in the water just south of Myrtle Beach, I thought I was stepping into a bath tub.  I was shocked!  I am used to going to the beach and laying in the sun for a good 45 minutes to get good and hot before attempting to take a dip in the ocean.  Not here! Don't get me wrong, San Diego will always have a special place in my heart, but I do have to say the warm water is a plus!

This was a fairly last minute planned trip for us, we had a couple in our eGroup that blessed us by gifting us their time share.  It was minutes from the beach and we spent as much time as our two littles would allow us in the sand and the water.  We tried to go prepared, knowing that Camden would try to eat as much sand as humanly possible, and that Parker would need an eye on him every moment we were in the water.  We got a little tent that Camden was able to play and nap in without being in direct sunlight, or rolling in the sand the whole time.  

We also got plenty of sand toys and a life vest for Parker to use.  Philip got to teach parker how to ride the waves in, dig huge holes, and build castles. 

 I got to catch a few rays, while Camden snoozed in the tent, and went on a search for the best seashells we could find with Parker.  

We headed back to our incredibly comfortable and spacious condo for the afternoon for long afternoon naps and relaxing evenings. 

 They had a perfect for Parker pool area, with a "lazy river" around it that you could ride an inner tube on.  

We had a kitchen in our condo so we got to make our own meals and relax when we wanted.  It was a perfect little getaway and one that was much needed after the busyness of the last few months.  Next time we will stay a little longer :)

As we got back to Charlotte we got to spend time with Grandma Engle.   It was so nice to have her here as she gave me the opportunity to finish up some things around the house. 

 Oh yeah, by the way, we moved again!  Ha!  That's right, 3 moves in one year.  Not my idea of fun, but we love our new place.  It is in a quiet part of Charlotte, much more country than where we were, and it is also much closer to the campus that we serve at. Both boys have their own room and we have a beautiful back yard for lots of playing and running for both Parker and Bella :) I'll try to put up a few pics of the new place soon!

Sorry for the tangent!  Like I was saying, Cindy watched, walked with, played with and took care of the boys so I could finish up the unpacking, cleaning and organizing that comes with moving into a new home.  I was also able to run errands and check some things off my to do list that I didn't think I'd ever get done! She also spent many hours working on our yard, we have a fire pit that Philip wants to put in, but that meant lots of clearing out.  We did get to enjoy many meals, outings at playgrounds, a new mall and some garage sale scavenging as a family while she was here too!  We are so grateful for her willingness to help us in so many ways.  

Things are getting back to normal around here, but I am getting ready to go visit this awesome mama as she is getting ready to have her second little one.

I'm taking Camden with me, and Parker and Daddy will be staying here to fend for themselves.  Don't worry, Philip's a pro at this whole dad thing, and I am completely confident that they will have a blast without us.  Plus, they both really like pizza from all sorts of different places :)

I hope you are enjoying what season of life you are in right now.  We miss and love you!

With Love, From Charlotte.

Love Week at Elevation Church

Hey there!  So I promised a Love Week post, so here it is.  It is much later than I hoped, but hey, that is the story of my life!  At Elevation we have a whole week dedicated to loving on the city of Charlotte.  The initial goal in starting it was to ask each person that attends Elevation to serve at least one hour during the week.  We partner with these organizations year around, and serve our city weekly, this is just a condensed and focused week that we look forward to throughout the year! The reason I think it is so important for me to take you back to what we did in July is because it was such a fun week for my family.  We learned a lot about the joy we find in serving others together.  

The week started off with taking the boys to an assisted living home for alzheimer's patients .  We went with a Mommy's eGroup that I'm in.  Parker and Camden have found their sweet spot for sure!  They call this ministry "Baby Therapy", the goal behind this ministry is to allow babies and toddlers come visit the patients and brighten their day.  Simple as that!  Parker led the group in Jesus Loves Me, You Are My Sunshine, and Daisy, Daisy.  He also sat on one of the walkers as one of the older men pushed him around the room.  Camden let all the ladies hold him (he's quite the ladies man) they tickled him, squeezed his cheeks, and gushed over his smile.

The following day I was involved in two different ministries.  I was able to serve with an organization called Bright Blessings.  This organization provides birthday gifts and parties for displaced children in the city that won't get these things throughout the year.  They partner with the schools in the city to make a difference in these kids' lives.  

In the afternoon I was able to serve at another organization called Second Harvest.  This is an incredible ministry that provides food for the hungry.  They have a huge warehouse in which they sort and prepare all the food and goods that they provide.  We got to sort through hundreds of items, to the point that they ran out of things for us to do for them that day! 

We finished off the week serving as a family with the eGroup that Philip and I have been leading.  We put together several hundred backpacks for the start of school for some underprivileged kids in the city.  That night Parker's official job was to push the filled backpacks in a box to the finished pile.  He was catching so much attention, because let's face it, he's adorable. As a result,  he got photographed and recorded throughout the night.  

He ended up making one of the Elevation collage pictures...

...and he made the official Love Week Video.  Check it out, I promise you won't be disappointed.  It's a great recap of what happened during Love Week and keep an eye out for Parker.  I will cherish this video forever! 

A week like this is such a good reminder of how much fun it is to serve those around us.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to impact someone else's life and teach my boys the importance of the calling on their lives to serve others.

I hope you had a great weekend, and are ready to get in to this next week.  Find an opportunity to bless someone by serving them this week.  I promise, you won't regret it!

With Love, From Charlotte

Family Fun

Before moving to Charlotte, we lived in the same town as our families.  It was so fun to be so close to them, and it made it super easy and convenient in many ways.  One huge change in moving to Charlotte also meant moving away from Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, siblings and parents.  That was really hard on us, and still is.  One thing we have really learned to appreciate and look forward to is having family come visit us.  It is a time when we get to share all of the incredible things we get to be a part of here, but also enjoy the gift of family. 

Recently my parents and brother, Isaac came out for a visit.  We all got to go to church together.  We always love taking people we love to church with us, because we get to share what we do week in and week out with them.  We also get to introduce them to the people that we serve with each week.  

 I think one of my favorite parts about their time was seeing the special bond that Parker has with his Uncle Isaac.  Because we lived so close to them in Arizona, Isaac and Parker got to spend quite a bit of time together.  In fact, Isaac would frequently watch Parker for us.  He is such a good uncle, and truly loves hanging out with these little guys.

 While they were here we hit up a bunch of different parks, to include a splash pad, which I didn't get a picture of for some reason, and of course the train park. (As Parker refers to it)  Not only that, but my mom and I snuck away one afternoon to get treated to a pedicure!  What a wonderful way to spend time with my mom!

We finished off the week by going to a Knights game.  It truly doesn't get better than a summer day ending with a baseball game in the middle of uptown Charlotte. We even got the opportunity to invite the people if front of us to come to church with us that weekend!  

If you know my family at all, you know that my parents are often on the go.  We grew up traveling whole summers.  If you missed my Father's Day Post you'll have to go back and read it to see what I'm talking about ;) But this summer was no exception for them.  They had been traveling and away from home for about 2 months at this point, but I am so grateful we were a part of the places to visit this summer.

Not only did we have my parents and Isaac come see us, but my brother and his lovely wife Makenzie made the trip out to see us too!  They, following in the footsteps of my parents, have been without a house this summer, and decided to travel while in between apartments.  We were their last stop of the summer, but are so grateful to be a part of their travels too! This was also their first time meeting Camden, so that was a fun experience for us all.

We tried to show them a great time here in Queen City. We had such a good time taking them to our favorite coffee shop and library, and then lunch uptown.  We even got some lawn seats at a Rascal Flatts concert.  We are all fans of these guys and had such a good time.  They did not disappoint, and it turned into such a beautiful night.  

To finish off the weekend we went to church on Sunday together, and that kicked off Love Week for our church.  I have a post coming soon dedicated to what Love Week is and how we got to be a part of it, but it was so fun being able to serve alongside Aaron and Makenzie before we sent them on their way.  We packaged meals for the hungry and rocked hair nets in the process.

 Thank you for taking the time to come visit us this summer.  We are so grateful for your investment into us and our boys.  We love you all!

With Love, From Charlotte