Fall Fun

We went to the Bluegrass and Molasses Festival at Ellington Ag Center on Saturday. It is literally right behind our house, but we had never gone until now. It was really fun, plus it was the PERFECT fall day. We had just gotten our fall family photo taken, so we decided to stop by and see what was going on-- very glad we did.

Our Masterpieces: Mine is the cool spider!

We had a great time with our small group Sunday night! We carved pumpkins and drank hot cider with the kids. I just can't get enough of the fall fun stuff! :)

By the way-- if you're looking for a moment or two of fun, go carve a cyber-pumpkin! It is very cool! Check it out!

Lots going on this week-- Tuesday night we visited Luke's open house at school-- so cute! Wednesday night we had the Parade of Bible characters. Luke was post-fall Adam. I'm thinking I have to be more creative next year!

I took Luke up to my parents today. He's staying with them while we go to Detroit for the weekend. One of my favorite friends from college is finally getting married! :) This is such a huge answered prayer-- I can't wait! :)

We'll get back on noon Sunday, just in time for trunk or treat at church! I bought Luke an adorable monkey costume months ago only to have him request a dragon costume this week. So, yes-- I got him a dragon costume today! I had seen it earlier in the week and it was on sale. I showed it to him tonight, and he loved it! It is SO cute-- a funky blue with the perfect pointed tail. Guess the monkey's headed to Ebay!

Trick or Treat photos to follow!

A Thousand Words...

Above are some photos of Caroline's 3-month portrait session. I never posted them, and thought I would finally get around to it! :) She's such a sweetie!

I took Caroline for her 2nd panel portrait today. She was a tad grumpy so I hope that we have a few good shots to pick from. She was more interested in chewing on a fake string of pearls he had lying around than mugging for the camera.

I am a little crazy/obsessed about photos-- in case you haven't noticed! I want to make sure that no event goes undocumented in the Westerman household! You never get the chance to go back and get pictures of the kids, and they grew up way to quickly! And, even though I doubt Luke and Caroline will ever beg to see the 10,000 photos I took of him as a child, perhaps their future mate will-- and their great, great grandkids!

One of my little dreams is to start my own photography business one day where I could utilize my computer skills to do cool photo effects as well as to design holiday photo cards, invitations, etc. Who knows-- maybe it will happen someday! I would need to go back and take some classes to hone my skills first though.

This Saturday we are going to get our fall family photo made that we will use in our Christmas newsletter. How fun that we will have a new little face in this year's shot! We always get a big one to hang in our living room, too, so that we can remember all year how fast time is flying by and how blessed we are as a family. I'll post some shots when the proofs come back.

Pumpkins and Praise!

What a weekend-- we started with pumpkins and ended with praise!

On Saturday, we took the kiddos for their first pumpkin patch experience at Gentry Farm out in Franklin. Scott actually had Mr. Gentry as a teacher and coach at Brentwood Academy. He spent many winter breaks working on the farm in high school. We ran into Mr. Gentry and they had a chance to catch up which was nice. The farm is beautiful and we had the perfect fall day!

The kids had a great time-- although Scott and Luke got separated from us and got lost in the corn maze!

Our sweet little pumpkins reluctantly pause from play for a photo op for Mommy! It is SO hard to believe how fast they are both growing! Next year Caroline will be running through the pumpkin patch trying to keep up with Luke!

As the day wound down-- and naptime approached, the photo ops became harder to come by! But, a fun time was had by all!

On Sunday, ZOE was privileged to participate in A Light for the City. We joined the Nashville Chorus, Greater Nashville Community Gospel Choir, and others in a night of worship and praise in the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center. Other featured artists included Marty Goetz, Ashley Cleveland, Buddy Greene, and Mandisa of American Idol fame.

Not only did we sing with the 400 plus choir, but we were also asked to perform "How Great is Our God" as well as to sing the lead part on an arrangement of "As the Deer" with the entire chorus. Words can't describe the experience! The music was so powerful and genuinely beautiful-- Scott said that during the first few opening numbers he thought he was in heaven!

Some of the best highlights:

• The GNCG choir singing "They Didn't Know"-- an incredible piece about Jesus and his sacrifice for us. They received a standing ovation, and I think we were all moved to tears.
• The entire chorus singing "How Great Thou Art"-- it was wonderful to see the sold out house singing along with all of us! It felt like the roof was going to come off!
• Buddy Greene on the harmonica-- accompanied by an accordion. Amazing!
• The prayer before the start of the show led by the director of the GNCG choir, Sam Robinson. He reminded us of what an opportunity we had to "christen" the new symphony hall with God's Spirit. He also remarked how neither "Prima" or "Donna" showed up for the show, but that we were all working together to touch the community.
• Mandisa leading us in "Shackles"! We were all dancing-- as best we could! :)
• The last song-- "Total Praise" and the "amens" at the end-- that was one of the ALL time best singing experiences of my life! The passion of director Sam Robinson was beyond anything I had ever seen! The music went straight through to the core and the entire room was in the Spirit!

ZOE has been so blessed to participate in community activities here in Music City. Next month it is the Ryman! Yeah, God!

You can see more ZOE photos from last night and a post about the conference on the ZOE blog site.

Two Little Pumpkins

Whew! What a weekend! It was such a blessing! Almost too many things to recount! It was so wonderful to see so many of you! Hope you felt encouraged by the weekend as well.

It is always so hard to believe that yet another conference has come and gone. I think I really savored some of the moments this year more than I have in years past. What an awesome experience to be standing in front of a thousand people who are worshipping God with everything they've got! You could feel the Spirit! So powerful!!!

It's late, and I won't even begin to relate my favorite moments and lessons learned-- I will at some point this week. I should have a few photos, too.

The leaves are changing, a chill was in the air, and the moon was gorgeous tonight! Bring on the fall! :) Here are my little pumpkins! :)

From "It" to "He"-- A Journey

Today was a great day at Bible study! Melissa (ZOE) and I are leading worship each week which has been fun. I planned out today's songlist and I even sang lead and let Melissa sing alto! It was fun to switch it around for a change.

The one thing I am finding is that there aren't many songs about the Holy Spirit in the C of C repertoire! This is not surprising considering no one I know ever heard sermons preached about the Spirit, either. I think we were all just too afraid to tackle the subject-- if we couldn't explain it, then we preferred to just leave it alone!

Anyway-- I have been on a quest to have a better comprehension of Him since my mid-20s... I am hoping this study challenges me in ways I have never thought about Him before.

Some points I liked from this week's lesson:

• 1 Corinthians 12:13- "we were all made to drink of one Spirit"; 1 Cor. 12:30- "All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they?": Beth used these two verses to show that having the Spirit dwell in you does not equate to having the ability to speak in tongues, etc. Many often say that having the Holy Spirit requires this gift. Her point is that speaking in tongues may be a gift from the Spirit, but that not all of us will have this gift. "No matter how you feel about the gifts of the Spirit, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues are not the same thing" (Moore, pg. 37). I think this is one of the major reasons we have shied away from teaching on the Spirit; We can't explain tongues, prophecy, and healing so we altogether ignore His gifts of wisdom, knowledge, and faith (vs. 7-9).
• John 16:7-11: 7 "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11 and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. One of the ministries of the Spirit is to convict or reprove. Whenever we have felt the burden of reaching someone who is lost or correcting a believer from sin, we must remember this is not our job-- it is the Spirit's role. We can only be instruments used by Him in the process. No arguments we make or testimony we give is effective apart from the Spirit. The only power we have is intercessory prayer on his/her behalf.
• "The spiritual life will never come 'naturally'" (Moore, pg. 48). We have to make a deliberate choice to yield our spirits to Him each day. Surrender must be a daily choice.

Of course, there were many more challenging ideas this week. The best part is that it has me thinking about the Spirit and His role in my life.

The Spirit is slowly becoming less of an "It" and more of a "He" to me! Thank You, Lord!

Buy My Sister's Book! (shameless plug)

My Two Sisters: Nancy, Me, and baby sister Mary Kate.

Yes! My sister, Nancy has a new book coming out on October 9th. It is called A Red State of Mind: How a Catfish Queen Reject became a Liberty Belle. It is published by Time Warner Books. Visit the site to read an article about the book. Visit Amazon to pre-order now! Mary Matlin wrote a blurb for the cover and actually read and liked the book.

The book tells the adventure Nancy has had over the past several years living as a conservative in a land of liberals. It is a comedic take on her first-hand experience of being a conservative outcast while in New York and Philadelphia:

• Downtown Philadelphia was not the most welcoming place for a conservative during the year of the hotly contested Bush/Kerry 2004 Presidential campaign. As a mother of two, I pushed a double jogging stroller all over the City of Brotherly Love, which frequently put me right in the middle of some serious political tension. When I walked to church, voter registration activists urged pedestrians to "take back our country." When I shopped for groceries, pollsters stood at the doors mocking my stance on the war. When I got my haircut, it was under a gigantic sign that mocked the President. When I walked through parking lots, the bumpers of the Subarus explained that hate is not, evidently, a family value. When I visited my six year old's public school, the walls had signs up that read "America Hates George Bush Because He Lies." And the teachers even wore Kerry buttons.

So-- if you can't get a shameless plug from your sister, who can you?!?!

Seriously, Nancy is extremely talented and always has been. In high school she was loved by all-- well, except maybe her senior English teacher, Linda Montgomery--- that's a LONG story, but suffice it to say, if Nancy becomes a famous author, she'd definitely have the last laugh! (speaking of English, that is a very poorly constructed sentence!)

Visit her blog for many more amazing insights. You can also visit her website www.nancyfrench.com , but please note-- this is only a site that I put up for her several years back before she was famous-- her "official" site is almost ready and will be launched soon at the same address.

There is also some "Church of Christ" humor in the book! In what other Time Warner book are you going to find that!?!

Nancy lives in Columbia, TN, now with her husband David and her precious kids Camille and Austin. David is a Harvard law grad specializing in constitutional law. He works for the Alliance Defense Fund and has defended the rights of Christians on college campuses all over the country-- including several landmark cases like the one at Tufts. He is amazingly talented, too, and is an author in his own right-- four books, including A Season for Justice: Defending the Rights of the Christian Home, Church, and School, and numerous op-eds. Read his latest article on the National Review.

He spent this past week at the White House meeting with Dick Cheney and Karl Rove! Both he and Nancy are politically involved-- with some big name future presidential candidate-- more on that later-- when he actually announces he's running!

Yes-- this is my family! We're a talented bunch?!? Did I tell you that my dad is a wood worker and has made most of the family articles of furniture like beds, desks, bookshelves?!?

Living Beyond Myself

I am so thankful that I have started a Bible study. I have just completed the first week of Beth Moore's new study, Living Beyond Yourself. It is based on the fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians chapter 5. This will be my 5th Beth study.

There is something about being in an organized study that I just LOVE! I need the accountability and the discipline that a group study brings, plus I also thrive on the discussion times. I am fascinated by how others view Scripture, and I love to hear all the different perspectives.

I am always amazed at how Beth comes up with her ideas. She really has a depth to her teaching that resonates with me. Today she talked about how we were created to be filled-- this is from God, and it can be extremely rewarding as long as we allow Him to fill us up with His Spirit. But, if we allow this need to be filled to become driven by the flesh, it can be totally destructive. We begin searching for anyone or anything to cling to in order to fill the void in our souls. Isn't this SO true?!

When I think back to the times in my life when I was most out of control as far as sin and "self", I can now see that it was all just a desperate attempt to be needed or to feel love-- to fill up the empty places in my heart.

She also believes that America has never been more empty and desperate. She alluded to Proverbs 13:12 as a possible explanation:

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

She suggests that we have never been surrounded by more "stuff". We live in such a materialistic society and in a culture that tells us to look to all sorts of things to find happiness and fulfillment. We place our hope on the "next new thing" to come along, praying that we will finally find the answers and peace we have been searching for.... But, it never happens-- at least no longer than a small amount of time.... Then, we're off again, looking for our next fix.

Nothing we grasp onto brings us what we ultimately want and need-- It is simply "hope deferred," and it leaves our hearts sick. Yes, that seems to be an apt description for all of us.

Instead, God calls us to something so much more than that! He offers us His Spirit! He wants us to be filled to overflowing with Him! NOTHING that our flesh desires or tries to offer us can compare to what God has promised us.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9,10

Praise be to Him! I want more than I can "ask or imagine" from this life.

I also LOVED her insight on the "FRUITS" of the Spirit. She adds that of course they are called fruits-- They exist in our lives so that others may get their first "taste" of the Lord, so that they can taste to see that He is good. Being filled with His Spirit places us in a wonderful position of ministry. Our Spirit-filled lives drive us to share this abundant life with all we meet!

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant - not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:6

So-- I am just excited to have a renewed joy for the Word! I have allowed myself to get way too busy and have neglected meaningful study for too many months now.

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to take part in this and to be challenged by His Word.

I'll keep you posted on any cool insights I gain along the way!

OC Consignment Sale 2006

I'm Ba-a-a-a-a-ck! :)

Yes-- I am ashamed to admit that it has been a month since my last post! Every spare moment that I had went toward the Otter Creek Consignment Sale. And, I am proud to say that it was a grand success! In two days we sold over $18,000 and our playground fund kept half of that.

We really had no concept of how much we could make-- I think we were all shocked that we raised so much. Everyone who came to the sale complimented us on how well-organized it was and how neatly the items were displayed. Over 100 volunteers helped to make it such a success-- it could not have happened without their hard work! :)

So-- Luke has started pre-school at Otter Creek. He is in Miss Betsy's class, and he loves it! We are so happy that he is in school there.

Here are some pics of our life over the last month:






Luke with his teacher, Miss Betsy.


Caroline is SIX months-old! :)




She is proving to be a good eater like her brother.


Big Brother and Little Sis! Favorite thing: Luke will put his arms around Caroline and say, "Oh-- she's so sweet!" :)

New ZOE Blog

Just thought some of you out there in Blog land might be interested to know that there is now a ZOE Group Blog . Please add it to your list of blogs that you visit frequently and pass it along! Feel free to link it from your sites as well.

This is a blog I started that will attempt to stay current with all things ZOE-- CD recordings, conferences, trips, thoughts about the ministry, stories we hear along the way, etc....

I have invited all involved in the ZOE ministry to be team members, so ideally they will add their own unique posts as well.

http://zoegroup.blogspot.com

Wrap It Up!

Well-- As of Thursday night, our CD project for 2006 is finished! The title of the CD will be Closer which ties in with the theme of our conference this year. As Larry Bridgesmith put it: "Being Closer to God is the desire of our hearts and the longing of our souls. The intimacy we seek in many inappropriate places can in truth only be found in the God of heaven and earth." Conference registration is now open! You can sign up online. Hope to see you all there!

The CD turned out great! The whole experience was so nice. Randy was such a pro, and did such a wonderful job directing us. Our producer Chris is also so talented. The songs are fantastic! Bottom line-- it was a smooth as a studio production could have gone. God was definitely with us! We pray that lives will be touched by the beautiful words and melodies of these precious hymns to our Father.


Peter and Philip show off those low bass notes! Apparently the "face" helps in reaching them!


Sheryl and Melissa-- our wonderful sopranos. Sheryl is eating Pringles-- no ZOE recording is complete without cans and cans of those!


Philip and David-- A good tenor is hard to find, and we have TWO! :)


The ZOE Girls! What a blessing to have sung with these gals for 10 years.


Randy goes over some final details before we listen to the playback of the final song.

Heart, Head, and Microphones

Tonight ZOE heads into the studio to start work on our 10th project!! It is so hard to believe that we have been together for so long. With a few exceptions, most of us have been singing the entire time. We have been through the good and the bad-- births, deaths, marriage, etc.-- we're truly family.

This CD should be a little different than previous offerings. First of all, Brandon is still on hiatus, so Peter will be taking on the lead. He has a great voice. We do miss Brandon though! :) Second, this CD will have more of a hymn-like quality. If you have been blessed to hear Randy do his talk on "Worship Through the Ages", then you know all about the pendulum shift which is constantly occurring between "heart and head." Well-- the trend in worship music seems to be heading back toward weighty, meaningful (head) lyrics rather than more repetitive praise music (heart). Think "In Christ Alone" instead of "A New Anointing." Hopefully this project will be some type of transitional bridge between the two... some classic hymns with a twist plus some new songs with a classic feel.

So-- we'll be in the studio all week. We covet your prayers! As always, the music is always bigger than any of us because it speaks to the nature of God. We just pray that he continues to work through this ministry in spite of us.

My one worry is that Caroline will HAVE to take a bottle since I will be away longer than 3 or 4 hours. She should do this rather easily, but you never know. I still have flashbacks to when Luke was 3 months-old, we were recording, and my parents were watching him. They called saying that he was crying, wouldn't take a bottle, and they didn't know what to do! As a NEW mom, I was traumatized and so upset! I couldn't leave, Scott was out of town, and I had no idea what to do to remedy the situation! There was nothing I could do. I am in the same position now, except that Caroline has done a better job taking an emergency bottle when necessary. Scott will be in town tonight and Friday, but my parents are watching the kids Tuesday-Thursday. Prayers welcome! :)

What a blessing ZOE has been to me! I have often written on this blog about how special the people and the ministry are to me, so I will spare you now. Thanks to all of you who continue to support us and encourage us. I have had conversations on three different occasions during the last several weeks with people who have been kind enough to share the ways their lives have been touched by ZOE. It is so humbling to come face to face with God at work in something that you have been blessed to participate in... We will all be on our knees tonight as we think about these people and stories before we step in front of those mics.

Happy 4th!

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th with family and friends!

Our Little Beach Bums

Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime!

Well, the summer is flying by! Tons of stuff going on-- always something to do or somewhere to be.... Days are spent in a comfortable routine of going to the Y and then usually some pool time before lunch and the afternoon nap.

I have really been working out harder than ever! I am enjoying it! Kickboxing is the best, and I just ordered some pink gloves which should make class even more fun!

The kids are great! Luke has definitely hit the beginnings of the "terrible twos"-- at least "terrible" compared to his formerly semi-perfect behavior status. Everything now is "My do! My do!" from Mr. Independent. He is also testing his boundaries when it comes to obedience.

I am almost finished with book by Tedd Trip called Shepherding a Child's Heart. I feel like he has some wonderful things to say about Biblical parenting. We are also in a parenting class at church taught by a great Christian women based out of her many years of experience as the principal of David Lipscomb Elementary. Yes, each week the information sometimes contradicts and conflicts, but I assume that parenting is just like everything else... You glean bits of wisdom where you can, decide what works, and then pray a lot! :) For some reason, I doubt my parents analyzed their particular parenting style, and I seemed to turn out ok-- I think!?!

For all you ZOE fans-- we are hitting the recording studios in a week or two. This is our 10th year! Hard to believe. This year's project should be a tad different than the others. We are trying to pull together a type of "hymns" collection-- some old, some new, some old with a twist.
The worship pendulum is starting to swing back toward songs with deeper lyrics-- more hymn-like, less praise-like. So, we are hoping to use this CD as a type of transitional bridge between the two. There are some really solid songs. Pray for us!

Here are the kiddos!

Can you believe-- Caroline is now 4 months-old!?
She is always happy and good as gold!

She's now 14 pounds and 1 ounce.
Just perfect, we're proud to announce!

"A Little Luke" is what everyone keeps saying...
He was so good, so we keep praying!

See the photos of him at her age.
Similar? We'll let you all gauge!

Oh, How the Years Go By....

Scott and I celebrated our 11th anniversary yesterday! We went to our favorite spot to dine in Nashville-- Fleming's. We have commemorated all the major events of our life there for the past several years.... anniversaries, pregnancies, Valentine's Day...

I pulled out our wedding and honeymoon videos and made Luke watch! He wasn't too interested! :) The one thing that made me cringe was when it hit me that I have officially become one of "those people" who remark about how skinny I looked in my dress and how I would never be able to fit into it again! YIKES! We looked SO young and naive! It is hard to accept that we are OLD now!!! :)

Last night was very special... We had a great discussion over dinner about our marriage and our relationship. It has changed so much since the arrival of our kids. That is inevitable, I'm sure. Scott and I were blessed to spend the first nine years of marriage "playing" and traveling around the world. Nobody had more fun than we did! It truly was a perfect life! We were best friends and couldn't have asked for anything more.

I always used to marvel when people would talk about marriage being "work"-- I could never relate, because the relationship Scott and I had was far from work. Well-- I think I have reached a point after 11 years where I am beginning to understand what it means. "Work" might not be the exact word I would use-- maybe "effort" would be better. It takes effort to stay on track now.

I never thought twice before kids about making the time to talk to Scott about my thoughts and dreams and feelings. Now I find myself thinking that I should, but then I get too busy, or I'm too tired to bring things up. He is still my best friend-- no doubt-- but, it is so easy to fall into the trap of two people living under the same roof if you aren't constantly aware of communicating with one another.

We talked about that and many other things. It was nice to reconnect and recommit to one another. We feel very blessed to still be so in love and genuinely happy after 14 years together-- dating and marriage. God has been faithful to us, and we look forward to many years ahead.