Redefining the "Mountaintop Experience"

I just returned from my bi-weekly Beth Moore Ladies Bible study. Tonight was so good as is every video session, but I came away with some distinctly new pearls of truth from God's word.

Beth spoke from Luke 9:28-36...the story of Jesus' transfiguration on the mountain before Peter, John and James. Peter's reponse mirrors what we often do. He wanted to build tabernacles...he wanted to stay there forever. He considered the top of the mountain with Jesus, Moses and Elijah to be better the returning to the valley below, where he would be considered crazy. Among the many lessons we learned tonight, the strongest in my heart is this.

"Our meeting places with Christ are not places that we build tabernacles and stay."

"Any place we see Christ tansfigured can turn out to be the greatest mountaintop experience of our lives."

Jesus says to us: "I take you (Kelly) onto this mountain because of what I will do with you in the valley."

Lord, You are the fullness of all security and mystery. Readjust my vision of you. Make me willing to receive all that you want to reveal of yourself to me. Make me a direct product of knowing you!

Playing with cousins...

Glendon is pictured here trying to keep up with this older 2nd cousins. Caleb is 3.5 and Nathan is 19mos.GP and Nathan were having so much fun pounding away on this bench.
Beautiful baby roses that our guest left for us...Thank You Bayne Family!
All three boys...GP was not in a photogenic mood.
Caleb and Nathan with their early morning juice.

Fort Pics cont....

My girls - Michelle and Sarah!
Steve with some of his guys...
Cheerleaders - showing us how it's done!
Zonkered Out...5.3 miles of cross country skiing left us a little dazed in the canteen. This is myself with two of my "Katelyns" (I had 3 in my cabin)....Kate and Katie
Gretchen - at about 4 feet - is the smallest of us all, but she still found a way to sign everyone's encouragement paper.

Waiting in the stables for the horses to be ready...
Katie and Carly...getting in the saddle.
My other Katelyn - who goes by Katelyn....isn't she cute??!!
My girl, Christa. I love her so much!
Waiting...

Signing back in...

Hey, we've returned from the cold, wintery, snow covered woods of Fort Wilderness. Words can't express how well the trip went.
The speaker was challenging and great. Several kids got up this morning (some twice) to say what God had taught them. It was awesome!!!
Steve and I were both able to individually connect with our kids on a deeper level, and we saw some hard kids let their walls down, some quiet kids open up for the first time. It was great!!!

Highlights:
My girls got to see a whole new side of Kelly....it's kind of on the down low, but does have to do with dancing in men's long john pants.....
My Team made it through the Broomball tournament to the "Super Bowl", and even though we did lose that final game, it was great to go that far!!! =)
Steve and I both enjoyed cross country skiing for the first time....the trails meander through the snow covered woods, and really couldn't give a more beautiful touch of God's creation. I couldn't help but praise Him with nothing around me but Him!!!

God gave us strength and joy to be leaders this weekend!!! All of this a huge answer to prayer...thanks to those of you who joined in. We are still cold, extremely tired and dying for bed, so pictures from the weekend will follow later.
Most of all, we were so thankful to be reunited with our little son after these three nights. He looked good, but was happy to see us too. I treasured rocking him to sleep tonight!!! He's such a blessing and so cute too!!!

Other news is that we have my Aunt Carolyn (She's only 7 years older then I) with her husband and two boys coming in tomorrow for three nights. As our computer is in their guest room, I may not get much time to type...
After Friday comes and goes, I want to get back in touch with each of you!
~K

And We're Off Again...

Hey All - The Schulz family will be out of touch this weekend. Steve and I are heading back up to Fort Wilderness for our Youth's Winter Retreat, and Glendon is going to Grandma's again! This should be a wild and crazy time!!! Even just the last minute planning has been insane. I'm learning that when you work with youth - INSANE is really what it's all about!! =)

We're all really excited about some quality time with "our kids". I have about 9 girls in my cabin ( no co-leader), and Danielle has the other 9 in her's. We know that each kid coming has an appointment with God this weekend - something to learn/change/grow upon etc. Pray that we leaders would be faithful and walking in the Holy Spirit as we mentor them!!!
We'll see you on the flip side!!!

Bath Tub Baby

Glendon loves to go in "Mommy's tub" every once a while.

With One Headlight....

The true characters of this story will remain anonymous. All names have been changed.

Once upon a time - about eight weeks ago - one of the headlights on our old truck went out. I thought we should replace it - he said we should hold out (our new truck has been ordered). I understood he didn't want to put more $ into something we're getting rid of, and well, I'm submissive (laughter here), so on we drove with one headlight.

One chilly and windy evening - Wednesday evening - a certain truck was pulled over by a very thorough officer. Luckily I was in the back seat. It's easier to disguise laughter there. HE was only given a written warning, though I'm not sure that was as bad as having to admit defeat to his submissive wife (more laughter)! The conclusion to this story? Has the headlight been replaced you may ask......hmmmm. The lyrics to a certain Wallflower's song come to mind:

Hey, come on try a little
Nothing is forever
There's got to be something better than
spending money
But me & Kellerella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With one headlight

Our New Cheff Extrordinaire...

Play Time w/Glendon - So Precious

Beautiful Sunset

For The Record

Since Steve had to have his "lounging picture" posted for public viewing, he insisted that you people also see how I spent my evening.... Sweats, afghan, tv remote...yup it was good!!!

Blinding Claws...

Tonight, Steve jumped another FATHER hurdle....that of being injured by his son. He and GP were wrestling when Glendon poked Steve in the eye accidentally. I, being the gracious and compassionate person that I am, responded by laughing and high-fiving Glendon for his tactic. When 5 minutes had passed and Steve was still wincing in pain, I began to think something might be out of the ordinary. His pain is severe and nonsubsiding. We contacted our eye Dr. who advised Steve try to make it through the night and call first thing in the morning. It seems that it is most likely a Corneal Abrasion, which will heal but does need antibiotics to resist infection and scaring.
So here is my hubby, in his cozy pjs - sipping hot cocoa and wearing his shades. We're glad to already be able to laugh about the situation, but do pray for God's healing in this. His timing is perfect....we praise Him that this didn't take place last Thursday or next Thursday, as both precede ministry commitments.

Glendon's Thursday

GP enjoyed some special fun today. We met Ruby and her kids for Story Time at Barnes&Nobles. The favorite was by far the Thomas Train Table. Due to the warm weather today, we headed to the park to take in some rays - and wet sand. Then it was off to Arby's for french fries, Wal*mart for groceries, and home for nap.

People, WE HAVE SUN!!!

This is the view outside our back window this morning, and after 19 days of grayness, we can once again see the sun making her journey up and over the house.
It's amazing how much energy and motivation can be felt just from enjoying the sunshine in the morning! Speaking of energy, I hear one little boy who is awake and wanting to get up.

The Milk Quandry...

Glendon just shocked me by consuming rather rapidly at least 6 oz. of whole milk...something he's refused to drink up until now. Upon realizing that he disliked the foamy white stuff, I panicked, wondering how my baby was going to survive without it. Didn't they always say that you have to drink milk to have strong bones?? Even yesterday, I had someone tell me that I should be concerned for his brains developement w/o milk's source of fat.

My Pediatrician, on the other hand, assured me that while cow's milk is perfect for a baby cow, she didn't feel I had given birth to a baby cow (I'd agree), and that as long as I focused on other calcium and fat providing dairy products, Glendon would be just fine. ~So~ on came the yogurt, cheese sticks, and cottage cheese, all of which, Glendon gobbles right down.

Then today, for the sake of curiosity, I offered GP milk when he woke from his nap. He drank right down. We'll see if his new liquid flexibility lasts, but either way...I find it funny how much mental and emotional energy I put into these issues, and they really just take care of themselves. Our milky experience supports the paragraph below, which I found while googling, "Does my baby really need cow's milk?"

Does your baby really need actual cow's milk? No. The main thing that is in milk that is important for babies is calcium and fat. If your baby will eat yogurt, cheese, or calcium-fortified orange juice (when he is a bit older, of course), then your baby may not actually need milk. Many cereals are also calcium-enriched. The calcium requirement for infants is two or three servings of a calcium-rich food or beverage each day. One cup of milk, juice, or yogurt, or one piece of cheese, each counts as a serving. Breastfeeding at least four times each day also gives your infant plenty of calcium. Calcium-fortified soy milk is a good substitute for regular milk. If your infant doesn't like something the first time, try it again every few weeks. His tastes may change.

Karri ~maybe give L a week's break - time for her to forget she doesn't like it, and then try again.

A new little pi_knapple

Whoo Hoo - Little Emerson Knapp is finally here!!

Congrats Brian and Lindsay and Jackson!!!

Let the good times begin...

Karri ~ I hope you don't mind me "borrowing" your pic.=)

Walking down Memory Lane...

OK - so I've been enjoying looking through photo albums from about a year ago. I can't believe how much Glendon has grown in just 1 year, and yet I'm so thankful for his strong health and budding personality. I just couldn't help but post some pics of the little guy. These were taken January of 2005 in our home back in AR.

Friends,

You may have noticed a previous post - which I have now deleted - that shared the exciting news that our friends, Jeff and Crystal Rohde, were expecting their first baby.

Sadly, they have learned that the baby is not alive and that Crystal is quickly moving towards a miscarriage. We ask that you keep them in your prayers as they say goodbye to this little baby.

Having lost our first, little Leeanne, we know every crack and crevice of the mountain they are now facing, and it's a hard one to climb. I say in a humble/factual way that it is truly something you cannot understand unless you have gone through it yourself.

The wonderful news is that their faith is strong!!! I have had two very precious conversations with Crystal since she received the news, precious because we just wept together on the phone and talked through her pain, and yet there is great peace and hope in their hearts because they know the Lord. They know that He has a plan - that He is strengthening their marriage and their testimony through this loss. They know that He is giving them a greater reason to look forward to heaven one day!!!

It has been amazing to me as I have spent much of this weekend reliving the emotions I went through 2 years ago and have seen God's amazing healing and work. I have such joy now - knowing that I have a little daughter in heaven waiting to meet me someday. I am humbled that God would use my experience to equip me to relate to others.

Anyway, please pray for the days and weeks ahead of Jeff and Crystal.

First of all, praise God for this little life that they carried even for so short a time.

Pray that this process would come about quickly and naturally physically for Crys.

Pray that they would feel closure and healing afterwards.

Pray for Steve and I as we seek to be there for them - that God would show us how best to do that.

Thank You!!!

We're back...

Hey all...

Thanks for your prayers. We had a wonderful time up at FORT. I had no clue I could personally do so much physical labor in 48 hours, but we both had a blast and are home now. We're sore, tired, cranky, messy etc, but we're home!!!

Highlights were:

Hours of Cribage in the van... certainly gave us opportunities to see each other's true colors... in a good way, of course.

Kelly and Danielle loading, moving and unloading 3 truck loads of chopped wood. How we girls got assigned that job is still unknown, but we impressed many with our strength and speed. I guess lifting a 23 lb baby every two minutes does pay off !!

Steve and the guys did allot of outdoor work....maintianing broomball courts, shoveling off the ice rink, patching tubes for the sledding hills etc. They also ran a tight ship in the dish pit...oh yeah!!! Serving five meals to 200+ people was exciting. You can't imagine how much food kids can eat after playing in the snow all day.

The greatest moment was when Danielle and I had tubing hill duty. You're supposed to sit at the top of the hill and keep an eye on the kids as they go down the runs. Well, we were dead tired, and there weren't any kids on the hill at that moment, so we grabbed our sleeping bags and layered on all of the warm clothes we had. After trudging to the top of the hill, we spread a bed of sorts with innertubes and zipped ourselves into our sleeping bags and just chilled out - literally. Funny thing was, we actually fell asleep, and guess how I we woke up. Our beloved Youth Pastor happened to find us - slacking on the job - and gave us both a hard shove, so yes, we were flying down the hill. Tubes were spreading everywhere, and we had no control due to being zipped into the bags. After letting us panic for a moment at the bottom, Andrew did come down with our boots, and we all made it home fine. Good bonding, I'd say - embarrassing as well.

My bed is calling my name loudly.... Must run!

Yummy Lunch...

I hope you're not hungry while reading this...



Glendon and I enjoyed a yummy lunch at Chipotle Mexican Grill today. The food was dee-licious as was the company of Karri, Lina (one of GP's little girlfriends) and Jen. Jen is Karri's sister visiting from out of town. Thanks, Hemmigs and Co. for suggesting such a fun outing!!!

Gone for the Weekend...

Hey - we ask for your prayers for the RBC Youth Leadership Team this weekend as we head up north to Fort Wilderness.
The purpose of this trip is team building with one another as we staff the camp going on right now. We'll also be working in some massive planning meetings for the upcoming winter retreat we're taking our youth on. Glendon will be staying with my parents and sibs - Thanks Haumers for helping us out this way!!!

Pray for:
Unity and growth for the group.
Strength as we'll be working some long hours for the camp.
Steve's health - he's been battling a sore throat today.
Glendon's health and safety as we're away from him.
Kelly's mommy heart hurting to leave her baby overnight for the first time. =(

Thanks -

Poor Poor Baby....

On Tuesday, Glendon had his 1 year check up....He had to have blood drawn for lead testing, and was quite facinated with his first bandaid. You will also note how tired he was when we finally got home. Too much poking and prodding, I guess.

Mommy's Little Helper...

Glendon has a passion for our clothes dryer. He loves to help me load wet laudry in, though he does reach a point where he believes it must all come out again - and as fast as possible. Today, I caught him trying with all of his might to climb into the dryer, so I gave him a little help. As you can see, he was very pleased and immediately started planning his escape...