Pray for the Chapman Family

My heart is breaking for the Chapman family tonight and their tragic loss of Maria. Just a few days ago I heard his "Cinderella" song on the radio and got teary-eyed thinking about my own Caroline and how fast she is growing up. Now those lyrics and that song seem so eerie in light of what has happened.

I don't even know how you begin to get over pain like that....

I was blessed to sing at an adoption event many years back which he helped sponsor. He was there with one of his adopted daughters, but I don't think it was Maria... I just remember being really impressed with his dedication to the adoption process.

Makes you want to grab your kids and never let go.... Keep the Chapman family in your prayers.

If you haven't heard the story.... visit www.stevencurtischapman.com

Above all PRAY for them and for God's peace.

Clap or No-clap; Foyer-rama

Got these cartoons in an email today. Made me LAUGH!

Church can sometimes turn into this, can't it?

May Moments

Pepperdine was great this year! We left the kids with my parents for the first time, and Scott came out to join me. It was very relaxing and good "couple time." And, it is always a blessing to sing in Smothers-- we had a wonderful team.

It has always been a ZOE tradition to warm up/rehearse in the stairway in the back of Smothers. We must have gathered there for at least the past 10 years. We sing, share, and pray- these have been such special times together.

Luke is playing soccer for his second season, and he is really starting to figure it out! He got his first goal this past Saturday! It is nice because he is on a team with the kids of all our dear friends-- so we have just as much fun on the sidelines socializing each Saturday as the boys do playing!

Lots happening at Otter Creek lately, too. I am on a committee that is relaunching our ladies' ministry-- O.C.W.F.M. (Otter Creek Women's Fellowship Ministry). On Saturday, we held our kick-off brunch. It was a grand success! We had over 100 women there-- which was great considering it was such a busy weekend with several graduations, games, and other church retreats.

We had table hosts who decorated their tables as creatively as they wished. I came up with a "Paris Bistro" theme and my table turned out really cute!

The absolute BEST part of the morning--- the "male entertainment!" All of our elders came out on stage in black pants, white shirts, and towels on the arms--- our waiters! They sang two songs to us-- in 4-part harmony-- of course. One song to the tune of "We're Marching to Zion"-- new lyrics- "We're serving the Ladies, Beautiful, Beautiful , Ladies!" It was SO precious! Everyone just loved it!

Another fun moment: my friend Laura and I got to be the music entertainment while the women were talking eating. We had a keyboard set up and we sang The Robe by Wes King which fit our "Come As You Are" theme. We also did "He's Always Been Faithful" by Sara Groves. Laura has a beautiful voice and I love harmonizing with her. My piano playing was a tad rusty, but I did fine until I realized I had my pages in the wrong order! I rarely have the privilege of sitting down at the piano to play for myself anymore. Every time I start to play, Caroline and Luke come to "help!"

Next week Luke will wrap up his year in Miss Anna's class. She has been such a blessing! It has been so neat to watch Luke continue to learn academically and to develop socially. He had a best friend this year-- Hunter. He also developed an interest in all things "boy" like Spiderman, Batman, Power Rangers, etc. It is so fun to watch him interact with his friends.

We had a "Muffins for Mom" party for Mother's Day. It was priceless. The kids gave us flowers and sang to us. I think it really hit me how fast these moments go by and how very much I want to treasure each second.

Just when I think Caroline CANNOT get any cuter-- she does! She is really starting to talk! She and Luke continue to build their relationship and have so much fun together. She will begin school in the fall-- which makes me sad to think about her growing up so fast-- but, also excited to think about two days a week with no kids! What can I get myself into then?!

We are headed to Disney at the end of the month. I am really looking forward to taking them back and to see how much differently they will experience it this time around. The new Toy Story 2 ride is supposed to open while we are there and they are so excited. Buzz, Woody, and Jesse are pretty big around here!

So, life goes on-- We are just having SO much fun as a family! I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and to see our children growing up together and developing relationships of their own. I feel so blessed to be at Otter Creek and to have found such a great community of believers.

Life is good. God is great!