Happy New Years!

My New Year's List for 2011

I accomplished a lot in 2010, but have so much more I want to do in 2011.  This year is a big one in the Freemire House.  I will turn 50 (Scott will turn 50 the beginning of 2012), we will be married for 20 years, Bailey will turn 18, graduate and leave for college and we will have yet another senior in the house!

Here is a short list of what I look forward to accomplishing in the coming exciting year!

Personal Goals

• losing 20 - 30 pounds more to meet my goal
• run in 9 more 5K's to meet my goal of a 5K a month for a year
• do at least one 10K
• start to think about the possibility of doing a Half Marathon
• Bike more
• do core strength training
• take at least one college class
• read through the Bible
• read more books in general
• be more patient and kind
• strengthen the important relationships in my life
• get organized!!!!

House Goals

• Paint and redo Master Bedroom into a romantic getaway
• Paint Girls Bathroom
• Paint Bailey's room
• Paint basement/Ministry office
• Throw out junk and get ORGANIZED
• Paint the trim
• New carpet
• more outdoor landscaping
• Build with Scott and Outdoor entertainment buffet

Family Goals

• Save more money and plan better financially
• Go on a cruise over Christmas to celebrate our 50th B'days and 20th Wedding Anniversary
• spend more time together
• be more patient and show more grace
• Prepare for Bailey to go to College

Ministry Goals

• Get Non For Profit status
• Establish our Board of Directors
• get Scholarship Fund established
• begin fundraising
• Make our organizational plan/vision/core values
• more training!

I'm pretty sure that I will need to add to these and evaluate some other ones.  I just want to do what God has in store for me and let Him use me in the lives of others...I'll do a quarterly check in and let you know how its going...

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Happy Anniversary

 Since I was a young girl I dreamed of finding my Prince Charming and having a Christmas wedding. 

I dreamed of a wedding with Christmas Carols being sung, with Christmas Trees decorating the Church, an evening wedding with lots of candles.

19 years ago, my dream came true....
Scott gave me the wedding of my dreams!  He knows I love snow, I love winter, I love Christmas...


He knows I love him.  I know he loves me!  We have weathered some difficult times (in plenty and want, sickness and health) and still its his arms I fall into when I am scared, sad, weak, vunerable, happy and excited (in joy and sorrow).  It's his voice I love to hear.  It's him who has captured my heart.

We celebrated with friends and family.  There were about 600 people at the wedding.  Since I was a youth director who had served two chuches, both those church families and the youth groups were present.  
We even had my current youth group sing at our wedding!



            

I take thee, Scott, to be my wedded husband.
And I do promise and covenant; Before God and these witnesses;
to be they loving and faithful wife;
In plenty and in want;
In joy and in sorrow;
In sickness and in health;
As long as we both shall life.

Next year...our 20th.  Scott and I will also turn 50. 

Yes, we were older when we got married.  But we were wiser, more patient, more settled and more sure of what we wanted.

He was so worth the wait!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BABY!

The Meaning of Christmas

 O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;

It is the night of the dear Savior�s birth!

Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.

A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,

For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

 

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,

With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.

So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,

Here came the wise men from Orient land.

The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,

In all our trials born to be our friend!

 

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His Gospel is peace.

Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother

And in His Name all oppression shall cease.

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,

Let all within us praise His holy Name!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!

O night divine, O night when Christ was born!

O night, O holy night, O night divine!

The Birth of Jesus Christ In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.  This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.  And all went to be registered, each to his own town.  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,  who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear.  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”  And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.  But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. 

 Luke 2:1-20

Being Real

I am so blessed....I am blessed with wonderful friends and family.  Last month I met up with Kathy and got caught up.  This month, in one trip, I was able to meet up with two precious friends that I haven't seen in while, Jeff and then Angie!  I was looking forward to one more visit in Atlanta on my way home, but it didn't work out.

Angie and I were in youth ministry together at a time when women in youth ministry was a rare thing....yes, there was a time I was cutting edge!

We each drove about 90 minutes to meet up.  The next 4+ hours were spent catching up and sharing what God had done in our lives over the last 11 years.  It was a wonderful time of sharing joys and hardships.  But the common thread through it all was God's goodness and Grace.  Thanks, Angie for a wonderful time! 

I am blessed to be in contact with some of the most incredible people through the ministry I am in.  Each of them made in the image of God, each one marred by a fallen world, each one with their own story of amazing grace, and each one has made a beautiful imprint on my life!

Only God...

I can't come up with this kind of stuff! 

I am in ministry with a past camper and youth from my ministry days.  She is now a grown woman, wonderful wife an incredible mother.  We are embarking on a new exciting twist in our ministry.... we are making it our own by going the Non-for-profit route.  That means we are getting a Board of Directors, lawyers, funding and looking to grow not only the camp ministry, but the youth ministry we are involved in....

This week I am attending the CCCA National Conference at Ridgecrest Conference Center for training in these areas.  I am in lovely Asheville, NC.

While here, I made arrangements to meet up with several old friends.  One of them, Jeff, drove down to see me on Sunday.  We spent some time over lunch talking about how we became Christians. 

This is the cool part!

 

Jeff became a Christian Youth Summer Camp - the one that Heather and I are now directing!!  I was excited to hear his story and he thought it equally exciting that the camp ministry is still providing a place for teens to hear the Gospel and grow as believers.  The camp has a long history of being a place where teens can come together and develop friendships that last a life time. 

  

!



Here we were 35 years later, still connected by the passion and vision for reaching teens that John H. Eastwood of Covenant Church had.  I am thankful for faithful men like Pastor Eastwood, who reflected the love of Christ and served his Savior! 

 

Childhood Memories....

Childhood Memories.....

Somethings trigger memories for us all...it might be a smell, a fabric, a sound, a season, a food...whatever it is, it usually makes us smile....

I remember watching these two videos on our black and white three legged T.V. in Hessville when they played on Ray Raynor and Friends or on Garfield Goose.  If you grew up in the Chicagoland area you would see these played on WGN and know it was nearly Chirstmas!!