Story Telling

This past Sunday the sermon at church was on John 20:24-31, the story where Jesus appears to Thomas. The sermon was titled "A Life Changing Relationship." The pastor talked about family stories and how it's those stories that have been told over and over again that help to shape who we are and who are families are.

In John 20:29, Jesus said, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Often times we hear stories that we think are tall tales because they simply can't be true. But maybe they are true. Jesus said blessed are those who believe even without seeing. I've heard many stories from my family over the years, but I have no proof to know if they are true, I simply believe. One of my favorite stories is about my grandparents when they were dating. My grandma lived on a farm and my grandpa lived in the city. Grandma didn't have a phone on the farm, so my grandpa would fly in a little airplane over her farm and drop her messages. I love that story.

The pastor talked about looking at our lives and telling the stories of God's work in us. The more we share our story the more it becomes a reality to those who hear it. I felt like this sermon was important for me to hear this week because I've been struggling with writing my CPE Residency application. I have struggled with the idea of putting Malia in daycare and going into a full time chaplain residency. I know God has called me to serve Him in ministry, and that I have also been called to be a mother. How do I reconcile the two? One thing I realized, with the help of Chris, is that this is not an either or decision. The journey that I am on is not one that I'm taking alone, but that Chris and Malia are on with me. Of course I'm still struggling with the thought of daycare because I love being with my daughter in the day, but my call to ministry and desire to follow Jesus is also a love and passion of mine.

Following Jesus is not an easy path and the decisions we make are not always easy. But one beautiful thing I see in the midst of this is that someday I will be able to tell Malia of God's call on my life. The call to be a mother and the call to be a minister. Malia was with me when I completed my MDiv, she was with me during my first CPE, and she was with me when I became "certified ready for a call." She is a part of my story and call to ministry and will be a part of my story forever.

I pray that God will continue to guide me through this process, and guide me to make the best decisions for our family. I look forward to the day when I tell Malia the story of God's work in my life and that she will understand and maybe even repeat some of the stories she's heard. The stories I share and the stories our family shares are the stories that help to shape who she is and who she belongs to. God is working in all our lives and His story is our story.

Malia Crawling

This year we received a little gift the day after Christmas... Malia started crawling! At first she was a bit wobbly and moved slowly, but now she's crawling all over the place. We've moved our coffee table to the side of the living room to block her from crawling over to Tiki's cage and the dining room and kitchen. She zips all around the room and spreads her toys everywhere. It definitely looks like she owns the room. She has also begun to pull herself up to her knees and is working very hard to get to her feet. It's amazing to see how quickly she has coordinated herself in such a short time to enjoy this new freedom to explore.

This is a short video of Malia crawling on December 30, 2009.

Happy New Year!

Well as far as New Year's resolutions go... I never make them. It's not that I don't care about them, but I'm terrible at sticking to them therefore I just don't make them. Although as for the New Year I'm so happy to begin another year. This past year was filled with excitement, joys, sorrows, and it's fair share of scariness. So I'm praying that with this new year comes lots of new beginnings for us. I hope that we can continue to get settled into Colorado Springs and eventually be involved in a church community that we can call home. We have found a wonderful church that we are currently worshipping at, but hope to become more involved throughout the year. I'm excited to see what God has in store for our family! Here's to the New Year!

Visiting the Grandparents in New Mexico

This past weekend we drove to my parents house in New Mexico. It was a wonderful weekend of rest for us! Malia enjoyed hanging out with grandma and grandpa and meeting quite a few of the neighborhood dogs! It was a nice time to get away, especially since our apartment is still filled with boxes and things put in "temporary" places. It will be nice when we get totally unpacked and settled.

On another note... Malia is now 4 months old! She's getting stronger and bigger everyday. While in New Mexico her grandparents bought her a little doorway jumper since she's now big enough to use one! We put her in the jumper, but she hasn't quite figured out how to jump! But she enjoys standing up in it! I'm sure she'll figure it out soon!

Colorado

Beautiful blue skies and gigantic mountains! I love Colorado! The past few weeks have been wonderful as we have settled into our new apartment. But with all moves there are always some challenges (finding your way around, finding a new church, making new friends), but thankfully Chris, Malia, and I are in it together. We love our new apartment and are getting use to the residents that live above us... yes they walk loudly but we get a good laugh from it. We discovered that they actually have two young boys which is probably where most the noise comes from. Best of all with this recent move is the peace and quietness that we find living in our new place (even with the loud walkers... it's much quieter than living next to a freeway). Every time I walk outside I am reminded of God's beauty. Nature has always helped me to feel closer to God, and I am excited to draw close to Him as I explore this new place. In the two weeks that we have been here I already find myself so much more at peace than I was before. Praise God for His beautiful creation that I so thankfully get to enjoy!

Honoring My Grandfather

This past week we did our first road trip with Malia to Oregon. It was a fun trip but also bittersweet given the circumstances. We gathered with my family to put my grandfather, Merritt Daniel Middaugh, in his resting place at the Willamette National Cemetery. The service was beautiful and it was so good to see all the people who gathered to honor him. My grandfather was an amazing man who I loved dearly, and it pains my heart that he is gone.

While at the funeral, I had the opportunity to meet the military chaplain who visited on a regular basis with my grandpa. My grandpa was of the generation where you didn't really talk about your faith, so we had very few conversations regarding our faith. After talking with the chaplain I felt more comforted knowing that my grandfather and him had many conversations about Jesus and his faith. I know he is with the rest of his family in heaven now, and I am at peace with his passing even though it hurts.

Yesterday at church we sang the song Your Beautiful by Phil Wickham. The lyrics moved me to tears as I thought about my grandpa.

I see Your face in every sunrise

The colors of the morning are inside Your eyes

The world awakens in the light of day

I look up to the sky and say

You're beautiful

I see Your power in the moonlit night

Where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright

We are amazed in the light of the stars

It's all proclaiming who you are

You're beautiful

I see you there hanging on a tree

You bled and then you died and then you rose again for me

Now you are sitting in Your heavenly throne

Soon we will be coming home

You're beautiful

When we arrive at eternity's shore

Where death is just a memory and tears are no more

We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring

Your bride will come together and we'll sing

You're beautiful

I see Your face, I see Your face, I see Your face

You're beautiful, You're beautiful, You're beautiful

I pray that someday we will all arrive at eternity's shore, and there we will no longer feel the pain of death that we experience when we lose someone we love. I am thankful that the God I follow loves us so much that He sent His son to die for us so that we could have eternal life. Someday I will see my grandfather again, along with the many others I loved who have died.

Gathering with my family was a special time. It was especially important for me that my daughter Malia could meet her great-grandma. One of my favorite things was getting a picture of the women in our family, four generations gathered together. My grandma, her three daughters, my cousin, my niece, myself, and my daughter.

Left to Right: Aunt Patty, Me (Lisa), Malia, Mom (Debbie), Grandma (Dorothy), Aunt Marilyn, Stephanie, Alyssa.

Malia Merri Grace Nelson

Malia Merri Grace Nelson finally made her appearance in the world on Sunday May 24, 2009 at 2:53 a.m. Chris and I were so happy to see her bright eyes looking back at us after she was born. She was so alert as she was taking in her new surroundings! What an amazing nine months it has been and now finally we get to welcome our daughter! 

Malia's middle name Merri is in honor of my (Lisa) grandfather Merritt Middaugh who passed away on Friday May 22, 2009. She also shares a very special birthday with her great-grandma Ruth Nelson. 

We'll continue to post pictures and updates as we are able to. Right now sleep has been a big priority, so when Malia sleeps we sleep! But I promise to keep writing and sharing the fun stories of our family! 

Thanks everyone for your prayers and support over the past nine months! We are so happy to share our lives with you! God Bless!

Malia with mom and dad. 
Malia Merri Grace Nelson: born May 24, 2009 at 2:53 a.m.
Weighing 6 lbs. 12 oz. and standing at 19 inches long!