Panic Stricken!!!

Yes, that's what I was tonight as I was following 3 other vehicles to the Kidz Trek destination for the evening and looked up, from glancing to the side for only a second, to discover that the other vehicles were stopping to turn around after missing the intended driveway.

I was just about to hit the vehicle in front of me, but with slamming of brakes and squealing of tires (including black marks on the road), Jesus mercifully spared us from what could have been horrible.

After not having been in an accident for 10 years, this was VERY traumatic!

Pastor David shared with the kids about grace...receiving a wonderful gift that we don't deserve...before we took communion tonight. An acrostic for grace is God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

I'm so thankful for that undeserved grace tonight and am reminded of the words to that chorus:
"It covers me. It covers me. His grace falls down and covers me."

By His grace,

Chris

Thought for the Week

From the book "Taking on Giants" by Joe Portale, a YWAM missionary : "I began to see a pattern in God's dealings with me. The brick walls He allowed in my life became the steps of a stairway that led me to the heart attitudes necessary for the ministry He was calling me to."

Have you run into any brick walls lately??? We surely have! May more Christlike heart attitudes be the result.

By His grace,

Chris

Still Here!!!

Esmirna, Chris, Esmirna's mom & Rachel

Arni crew lined up against the new foundation

The pyramid of miracles - Arni sibs 2011

Our six priceless blessings at Myrtle Beach

Old foundation gone; ready for new foundation

Dear blog readers (if there are any of you still left after 4 months!),

Please forgive us for lack of posts!!! Life has been very busy over these last few months as you can imagine and blogging just didn't get priority status. For today, we'll try several bullet points and a few pictures to bring you up to date. Is that a deal???

* April 26th - Our first dumpster was delivered to the site of the old house and we began clearing debris. Took us 2 weeks and 2 huge dumpsters to go through everything shovel full by shovel full. Found some very precious treasures including a tiny Precious Moment Christmas ornament, 2 cannonballs that once sat on the frieplace mantel and a steel rod bent in the sign of the fish and given to the little boys at the Ohio State Fair 2 years ago. Never found the smallest sign of the fireproof box or anything that had been in it.

* May 6th - Completed clearing debris and sifting through ashes. Picked Sarah up from Cedarville and happily brought her home for the summer.

* May 8th - Celebrated the most special Mother's Day ever!!! So very grateful to the Lord for preserving ALL six of our precious blessings. :-)

* May 9th - Rickett's Excavating arrived with their huge equipment and began tearing out the old foundation. Took them 2 days to take it all down to the dirt.

* May 21st - 28th - Amazing family vacation in Myrtle Beach. Again, FAMILY vacation has never meant so much to us!

* June 15th - Spent a day in Amish country and returned to the place Mark & I had been when we first got the call about the fire. Very surreal, but Jesus helped me walk through the day in victory.

* June 19th - 25th - Sarah, Faith, Nathan, Rachel and Chris traveled to Juan Dolio, Dominican Republic as part of a Work & Witness team. Quite a wonderful week of ministry and joining Jesus where He was already at work.

* June 20th - Logs for the new house delivered to the site. New foundation completed including underground plumbing.

* July 7th - Our newest little person, Toddler Boy "B" came home. Very cute and interested in everything around him. He is the 41st little person we've had the privilege of caring for via the ministry of Christian foster care/adoption. He will be with us until he is able to be reunited with a member of his birth family.

* July 2nd - 9th - Sarah flew to Atlanta to spend a week with her dear friend, AnnaBeth.

* July 14th - 24th - Sarah served a a counsleor at Sebring Camp and had an amazing 10 days of drawing closer to the Lord and making new memories.

* July 25th - 29th - Mark completed his 4th doctoral class at Asbury Seminary.

* July 30th - Mark & I celebrated 23 years of walking together in marriage. This year will certainly go down in the history of our family as a HUGE milestone!

* August 7th - Mark preached the Homecoming 2011 service at Mt. Carmel Community Church.

* August 10th - Nathan marked almost 4 months of working nearly full-time construction for Pine Valley Construction. What a wonderful opportunity he has had to learn so many practical skills!!!

* August 10th - 13th - Faith and Nathan served as part of Implosion (a work team based right here in our hometown). They had a grand time and built some great relationships!

* August 13th - Moved Sarah back to Sarah and spent 12 HOURS putting her room together and decorating the hall where she will serve as RA (resident assistant) to 11 girls this year.

There...you're now all up to date! This week we should be closing on the loan for the new house and construction will resume. Yayhoo!!!

Know that we love each of you and would enjoy hear your updates!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures. :-)

He is risen!!!

Still sweethearts after almost 23 years of marriage!

Our six blessings ALL together on Resurrection Day

What a wonderful day we have had as a family celebrating the truth of His resurrection! I rejoiced as I sang with the congreagation, "Oh, praise the One Who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!"

I wonder...do YOU know Him??? I challenge you to watch a video of Dr. S.M. Lockeridge's famous message titled "That's My King!" Look for the 6min. 30 sec. version on youtube. He IS Who He says He is and He desires to live in relationship with you...to know and to be known intimately.

This week, we are going to be working on sorting through the rubble of the old house for anything that might be salvageable. I still hold out hope that we may find the "fireproof" box.

Matthew 28:6 "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

We serve the RISEN Savior!!!

By His grace,

Chris

Coming and Going

Faith and I with sweet Michelle Duggar at the homeschool convention 2 weeks ago.

Nathan demonstrating that he can easily hold his older sister.

Sarah after she looked in the garage to see her birthday present...a car! (Daddy got a new to him used car and Sarah got Daddy's old car.)

Sarah and her birthday table first thing in the morning on her birthday.

Psalm 121:8 says "The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore." Isn't that such comforting reassurance, dear ones???

We have surely been coming and going. This past weekend included 2 round trips to Cedarville so that we could have our beloved Sarah home for her 20th birthday. What a wonderful time of celebration we had together as a family. :-)

Today, we were able to get a few more things moved over from the white rental house AND I got my garden planted...just 8 raised beds. Two are for flowers only and six are vegetables:kohlrabi, beets, zucchini, acorn squash, watermelon, cucumbers, peas, beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, wax beans, green beans, carrots, 2 kinds of radishes, eggplant, turnips, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, lima beans and green peppers. We'll see what comes up. I just get such a blessing out of growing things!!!

Later this week, the excavators should be starting their work at the site of the old house. They literally have to take it down to the bare earth. Not even the foundation can be saved.

We were finally cleared to start going through the rubble late last week, Some of the most exciting finds thus far were a few pieces of china that used to belong to my granny. They are intact, but definitely reflect that they have been through a fire.

I'll leave you all with a few happy pictures of our birthday girl. :-) OK...you got to start with them because I don't know how to put them where I want them in the post. :-(

By His grace,

Chris

We're Still Here...But We've Been Busy

Dear beloved readers, I beg your forgiveness for my lack of postings! Thank you for your patience as we continue to navigate these unfamiliar waters that we now find ourselves in. To quickly bring you up to speed on the status of rebuilding: Because the investigation into the fire continues, we are not allowed to disturb the site. Thus, our dear builder is on hold. At this point, we are considering moving the site of the new house 50 feet forward so that the builder can get started on the new house even while the investigation continues at the old site. Meanwhile, we are now staying at the bigger missionary house. What a blessing to be able to spread out in a 5BR, 2.5 BA house again!!! We are still bringing things over from next door, but hope to have that process completed by the end of the week. Last week, we had the privilege and opportunity to speak at a local church on the topic of orphan care/foster care and adoption from a Christian perspective. What a blessed time we had with a body of believers that truly gets it!!! Here is the message that Jesus gave us to share that morning. May it be a blessing to you! "THE MINISTRY OF CHRISTIAN FOSTER CARE AND ADOPTION: PARENTING KIDS FROM HARD PLACES" Ten Lessons Learned by the Arni Family 1) THE CHRISTIAN'S INVOLVEMENT IN ORPHAN CARE IS NOT OPTIONAL. James 1:27 says, " Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." EVERYONE can be involved in some way. 2) PARENTING KIDS FROM HARD PLACES IS NOT ALWAYS THE SAME AS PARENTING CHILDREN BORN TO YOU. You will need to be willing to expand your knowledge base and add to your skill set. II Peter 1:5 - 9 "For this reason, make every effort to add to you faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 3) PRAYER IS ESSENTIAL. James 5:16b, "The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." Phil. 4:6 & 7 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." 4) A GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM WILL ENABLE YOU TO PERSEVERE IN THE TOUGH TIMES. Gal. 6:2, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." Let people help you; don't rob them of the opportunity to come alongside and serve. 5) LEARN ALL YOU CAN ABOUT SPIRITUAL WARFARE. "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Eph. 6 :12 6) REDEMPTION IS COSTLY, HARD WORK. I Cor. 6:19b & 20a, "...You are not your own; you were bought at a price..." That great price meant the Cross for Jesus. As we daily lay down our lives for these little ones, there is a cost involved. 7) DO NOT TAKE ACTING OUT BEHAVIOR PERSONALLY. You just happen to be the nearest target. :-) James 1:19b, "Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,..." Listen for the message coming from the child's hurting heart. 8) YOU WILL BE THIS CHILD'S STRONGEST ADVOCATE. Matt. 7:7 & 8 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the grease (and the services)! 9) THIS CHILD OR CHILDREN, FIRST AND FOREMOST, BELONGS TO JESUS. We must always remember that He loves them so much more than we ever could and that He has a perfect plan even when we don't understand. "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a furture." Jeremiah 29:11 10) JESUS IS IN THE BUSINESS OF RESTORATION AND ALLOWS US TO PARTICIPATE WITH HIM. "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me; because the Lord has annointed me to to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." CONCLUSION: Did you know when you entered into this sacred ministry of foster care and adoption that you would become these things through Him???? Listen to this list again... 1) Good News preacher 2) binder up of the brokenhearted 3) freedom proclaimer to those imprisoned and in darkness 4) proclaimer of the Lord's favor 5) proclaimer of God's vengeance 6) comforter of those in mourning 7) provider for the grieving 8) bestower of crowns of beauty for ashes 9) bestowers of gladness for mourning 10) bestowers of garments of praise for a spirit of despair What is the result of participating with Jesus in the lives of hurting children in this way??? "They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." We challenge you to join Him where He is already working...get involved in some way in this wonderful work of foster care, adoption and orphan care!!! By His grace, Chris

Shopped 'Til I Dropped

Well, I've pretty much been shopping for 2 days straight at the Mid-West Homeschool Convention in Cincinnati. What a job to try to think through what we lost and what needs tobe replaced! The hardest thing has been trying to remember all the shelves full of children's books that we had collected over the years...especially the antique ones that my granny used to read to me when I was little. But the Lord has been my constant help and He has so very graciously shown me what a gift He has given us through this opportunity to start all over in building a curriculum from the ground up with the benefit of 20 years of experience behind us PLUS His leading in some new directions. Our curriculum is going to look very different than it has ever looked before with the primary emphasis being on family discipleship. Saw Tim Hawkins in action and laughed 'til I had tears in my eyes. Very, very funny!!! Nathan really picked up on his joke about it not being unusual to see a homeschool mom talking to herself...she's just having a parent/teacher conference. :-) Ended the evening by talking to Michelle and Anna Duggar. Anna is Joshua's (the oldest Duggar son) wife. Both ladies were so very warm and easy to talk to. I'll try to get pictures up the first of the week. My prayer for each of you this evening comes from Colossians 1 verse 9, "We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives...". By His grace, Chris