I have been tagged?

I just finished reading Melissa's blog and I think I was tagged...but was clueless to that fact until now!

10 years ago I ...
1. Was married and had baby Hanna
2. Graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary
3. Moved from Dallas, TX to Santa Rosa, CA
4. Flew to Germany with my baby and remember waking up the first night and there was this huge black spider on her face...
5. Was house-hunting....and here we are

5 Things on today's "to do" list...
1. Homeschool
2. Take kids to ice skating, ballet...
3. Curl up in bed during naptime now that I have my mongo period
4. Hug and kiss my love, Carl
5. Go to bed early!!!

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire...
1. Give money away to many, many missionaries
2. Invest money for my kids and retirement? I don't know...it sounds good.
3. Hire a helper from Germany so I can speak more German and my kids can too
4. Go to Germany and see my family there (but I can afford to rent a car, go on the train, stay in a hotel)
5. Travel to encourage missionary friends around the globe

5 places I have lived...
1. Ridley Park, PA
2. Media, PA
3. Skillman, NJ
4. New Brunswick, Piscataway, and Highland Park, NJ
5. Dallas, TX

5 jobs I have had...
1. Babysitter
2. Housesitter/Pet watcher/Grass mower

3. Lifeguard and Swim Instructor
4. Graphic Artist and Drafter
5. Teacher

Ok...now I am unsure how to tag people. So if you have read this and you would like to be tagged...you can do this too!

Check out more of my art...

I have more paintings to see at http://artbykasteen.blogspot.com

Some photos

This is my newest painting. It was fun to place the kids into a typical harvest scene from 15 minutes from our house.



Here is what the 4 "Fletchlings" look like now:


The girls love to dress like the olden days. Here they are holding our chickens, Chickety and Peck.

We love trying new things with our camera--like catching us in mid-air! This is near where our church is meeting right now.


We went to the mission at La Purisima in Coloma. It really has been restored to show what the California Missions were like. This trip brought us to Santa Barbara and Ventura, and this mission on the way home.

Latest Learnings

I was blessed with being able to attend a pastor's conference with my husband (wives were allowed to come too!) Anyway, I realized that this was the first thing like this that I had been at for the last 10 years, since Seminary. It was super encouraging.

There were lots of sermons all focusing on "Exalting Christ:"

One godly man spoke about what a privilege it is to be a proclaimer of the loveliness of Christ. The biggest struggle can be a satisfied heart. Isaiah 58:11 tells us that God satisfies. In the midst of the dessert, He makes us "like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail." Jesus waters our soul. He is our contentment (Ps. 84:1-7;Phil. 4:10-13). We need to obey--start in the little things. Once you've seen Him, nothing else matters. The pitfalls here are that there is something better, or having self-pity. But "He came to give abundant life" (John 10:10), "to know Him and power of resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings" (Phil. 3:10), "be imitators of Christ" (1 Pet. 2), and "He empowers us" (Phil. 4) speak to this. The heart satisfied in Him discovers persevering grace. Christ is all we need.

Another spoke about Jesus as the One who can give rest and refreshment--looking at Matt. 11:25-30. In the context of the passage in the Bible, Jesus has demonstrated authority over earth, sickness, sin, and demons. But His disciples are rejected, His prophet (John) is in prison, and no one is listening. This all doesn't change the message or discourage Jesus as He knows the outcome has been determined. His mindset is that things are going as the Father has planned. He recognizes God as the Father and praises Him, recognizes His Father is King of Everything--the sovereignty of God in all, He recognizes the Father has the prerogative to hide/reveal His truth, He recognizes that the way things are going please the Father (aside here: Be faithful in preaching Christ), and He recognizes that He is the key to everything with an exclusive, intimate relationship with the Father (only Jesus can reveal the Father). And Jesus preaches Himself, presenting Himself as the answer to every human burden--"Come to me all," everyday, for every need. Submission to Jesus is like rest.

Another spoke of suffering and how our suffering exalts Christ. He defined human suffering as something hurting us in a way that disrupts life's pleasantness to the point where in some sense and to some degree we want that hurt to cease. Passages of Scripture like Phil. 1:29, "granted not only to suffer," 1 Pet. 1:7, "faith tested in order to prove genuine," and John 16:33, "in this world you will have trouble," point to the inevitability and necessity of Christian suffering. There are so many contrasts in Scripture: peace in Christ//trouble in world. We almost have to switch our thought process (gestalt switch) to understand. We are born and live among a sinful human race. We are supposed to be tired at the end of the day. We are supposed to die. It is the quality of how we live out or sinful, short lives before our holy, eternal God that shows our submission. Christ's servant is not better than his Master--we are in submission to Christ with our bodies. In sin we are tempted by pleasure (try self-denial) or with the avoidance of pain as if Christians are supposed to live their best life now. But suffering is a wonderful gift which stops us from projecting us into a wrong hopeful future, instead placing the future in God's hands. It reminds me of my dependence on my Savior.

How encouraging and timely for me to hear these words! So much to ponder. So many questions to ask:

Do I lack confidence in Christ and His power?
Do I believe that God has done in me what the world claims it can but it never does?
What sin is making me stupid?

In Christ Alone

The words to this song make me cry, especially the last verse:

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

"In Christ Alone"
Words and Music by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend
Copyright © 2001 Kingsway Thankyou Music

I think of my babies with the words "from life's first cry" and my Mom with "final breath." Then I realize how this last year has been one of terrible schemes of man--in which nothing has been able to "pluck me from His hand." What an amazing, wonderful grace in flesh's form Jesus Christ is. How powerful for my daily life and perspective. May I continue to fix my eyes "on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter" of my faith. (Hebrews 12:2)

It's Been A While...

It has definitely been a while. God has been faithful in upholding me in these months of transition, pain, trips, and life. I can elaborate in any one of those areas, but right now I'm pressed for time. I need to get going on house cleaning, summer organizing, canning plums, playing with the kids, packing to go camping again, and prepare for visitors. My knee surgery went well--but they found out that there's nothing they can fix. So I continue to limp through life for now, desperately needing to draw strength from Him who desires to be that strength in spite of me. It is a great place to be. "For when I am weak then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Here is what we look like now-a-days! Maggie, Trey, Me, Carl, Lily, and Hanna

I was "Artist of the Month" at a store in Healdsburg for a couple of months in the Spring. Here are some of my paintings that filled up the walls! There are more at home still.


We enjoyed camping at Stillwater Cove. The kids loved the hermit crabs, climbing, hiking, exploring, and being with friends.




Fort Ross was fun to explore on the way home.


We enjoyed a trip to Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Carlsbad. It was so wonderful to be able to be a part of the wedding celebration of Sara and Whitney--we thank God for such a sweet couple!


Cousins Connor and Elliot came for a visit (along with their parents). My sister and I had many wonderful days. We took the kids lots of places.




One day was spent in San Francisco. We went to the botanical gardens, playground, and carousel in Golden Gate Park first. Then we went to Chinatown and enjoyed lunch at You's Dim Sum. We drove down Lombard Street and on the way home spent a few moments at this overlook.

We also went to the lagoon at Spring Lake and Doran Beach by Bodega Bay. Another day we went to Armstrong Woods to see the redwoods. It is our State Tree after all!

On Solomon: Wisdom Isn't Enough

Solomon is an interesting guy. He lived a LONG time ago (his dad was David, as in David and Goliath) and he became king after his half-brothers killed each other, raped his half-sister, and tried to take the throne from David (see 2 Samuel 13-19). But Solomon was God's guy for the job. And God asks him what he would like: "Make a wish, any wish, Solomon"(1 Kings 3:5). If I had one wish, what would it be? Would it be a bigger house, more obedient kids, less wrinkles, thinner thighs, a chai cream frappachino, no pain, unending joy....what? What does Solomon wish for? Money, a nicer palace, a chariot, a beautiful wife, lots of children....Nope. He says, "You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David,...you have continued this great kindness...making your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties....So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" (1 Kings 3:6-9) With amazing thankfulness and HUMILITY, Solomon asks for wisdom. To discern and distinguish between right and wrong. That's his one wish. Wisdom.

God gives it to him big time (along with riches, honor, and long life). 1 Kings 4:29-34 says:

"God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the men of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than any other man....And his fame spread to all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom."

WOW. Then there are the books of the Bible that Solomon wrote, one of which is Proverbs (which he wrote most of). Today I read Proverbs 19:2--"It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way." What a wise warnings against just having zeal or acting in haste. There are numerous other warnings against acting foolishly, not heeding correction or counsel, loving money, being lazy, and many other things that are not part of wise living. My personal favorite has always been Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths." And there's the kicker. There is a huge difference between the Lord's wisdom and our own. And there's a huge difference between knowing the Lord distantly, and knowing Him obediently.

Solomon knows A LOT. God has given him amazing wisdom. But the sad thing is, it is not enough. "Solomon, however, loved many foreign women....They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, 'You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.' Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been....So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done." (1 Kings 11:1-6) He didn't follow his own advice. Solomon didn't exert self-control, he didn't love God wholeheartedly, "Solomon held fast to [women] in love." So here's the question for me: What am I holding fast to? Am I following Him obediently or when it's convenient? Am I trusting in the Lord with my whole heart or trusting in my own understanding?

These questions are quite convicting. Especially if you follow where they lead. After having lots of head knowledge but no heart application, things don't go so well. We say, "What's wrong? Why is God so silent?" Solomon concludes, "A man’s own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD." (Proverbs 19:3) We may give God lip-service, but still do things our own way. We may be thankful for what He has given us (wisdom, life, love) but don't care to use it His way. And in the midst of our own disobedience and disillusioned attempts to live in the ruins, our heart places the blame on GOD. I'm not sure if Solomon's heart rages against God, but there is no record of his repentance. That is so sad. God spoke His Word through Solomon to us today. "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" and "The fear of the Lord leads to life: then one rests content, untouched by trouble." (Proverbs 19:21, 23)

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not on thine own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the cleansing you provide this wretched sinner from my sin through Jesus Christ dying on the cross. Thank you that I can talk to you right now because of it. Thank you that you promise wisdom when we ask (James 1:5) and promise to lead us through life as we trust you. Help me not make my own plans, or desire my own way so much that I don't follow you COMPLETELY. I don't want to hold back. Please change my heart. I love you! In Jesus' Name, Amen.