Merry Christmas

Our Father, who art in heaven
Hallowed be Your name
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us
lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil
for the kingdom, the power, and glory are Yours
now and forever.
Amen

The opening of the miracle at 2701 E. Bristol Stree

The back story..

Our church, www.gccwired.com,, has been a satellite campus simply called GCC-Elkhart.  We have been a mobile site for about 3 years now since the campus was first started.  We have been blessed and have loved doing God's work through our campus. 

Several months ago, another church approached the leadership of GCC and offered to GIVE us their building.  Let me say that again...they offered to GIVE  us their building!!!   After a short time, we accepted their gracious offer. 

Last Sunday was the 1st time that we met at 2701 E. Bristol Street.  It was an amazing day!! To see the building full and alive was such a humbling site to witness.  I am so excited to have a  permanent location that we can set down roots in.  To be an outpost 24/7 365 days a year to spread and show the love of Jesus.

I took some pictures.  They focus on the children's ministry.  That's the ministry I help in.  That's the ministry that has my heart. 

One of the kids wrote this on the board

Awesome Mr. Joe playing with the 2 year olds

The song and praise time for the K-5th graders 

We are sending cards and these are what the kids wrote

Sing & praise time with the 3-5 year olds

It was an amazing day! I look forward to where God leads us in the coming days!!!

This is GENIUS!

I recently purchased a winter coat for my 2 year old.  I purchased it because she needed it, but I got an extra bonus with it...

This is the coat.  Pretty cute, huh?

This is the pocket that is in the back of the jacket! It's to hold the hat and gloves!  GENIUS, right?!!!!!!

Our family from my 7 year old's perspective

I was going through Reagan's school folder and found this assignment.  These are her own words..

"My name is Reagan Erin Hartzell.  My favrite animal is a pony, horse, cat and dog.  I have 3 sisters   my oldest sister is Shelby.  She is 14,  she is very funny.  She never gets in trouble only sometimes.  Because she is so funny she makes my parents in a good mood.  My Middle sister is named August her birthday is  in August.  She is 12 years old.  She is a swimmer a very very good swimmer.  Her and my dad could talk about swimming all day going blah bal bla blah and she loves to make fun of me and call me Brat, but then she asks me politely to play Just Dance 2 with her.  Because she is afraid of the spiders downstairs.  And last but not least also the cutest Rori She is 2 years old.  She is very,  very, cute! Cute , oh and the cutest thing ever is when she sings Na a Na Na hey hey hey goodbye.  She loves to sing that song.  And I have a half brother Jeremy and there's nothing really to say about him.   I never get to see him that much.  I can' really tell you about him.  All I can tell you is that he is 21.  And my mom loves to go on facebook and twitter.  She will be on there for two hours and phone she loves! And old daddy, my dad loves to play with games and go golfing.  He works very, very hard to keep the outside of the house clean.  Sometimes I ask him to play Mario Kart downstairs.  It is fun.  And that is all of my family!"

If you ever want to know what your 2nd grader thinks of you, just have them write a letter. 

Here is the video of the very, very, very cute Rori singing her song...

Our weekly M.O.M's (Meeting Other Mom's) group full of crafting!!!

We had sooo much fun at our weekly M.O.M's group!  We were crafting away this week. 

Casey & Jami prepping their frames.  Notice Ava hanging on tight to her mama's leg :)

Kris & Christy doing some damage with a staple gun

The frame that was made into a bow holder

The scarf  I made (!!!) from a tshirt

Consider this the start of my crafting "stash"

Rori & Ruby practicing being best friends

We got the ideas from the site Pinterest.  It is an extremely addicting site, but has a TON of ideas on any subject you could ever want to know about.

I love doing simple crafts.  Using a staple gun gives me the feeling of power!!!



What if your husband wants the house to be cleaner?

Darlene and her friends recently addressed a viewers question about what to do if your husband wants the house to be cleaner. I love all of the practical God centered advice these ladies give. LOVE IT! As I was watching this one other thought came to mind.

This is a personal issue for me. My husband LOOOOVES to have the house clean (we have 4 kids). For years it was a matter of contention between us. I felt like he was attacking me and he felt like I wasn't listening and didn't care. It wasn't until I read the book "The Five Love Languages" that I understood where my husband was coming from. Acts of Service is his love language. BIG TIME! I was neglecting his love language not on purpose but just because I didn't know. Once I realized how important it was to him, it became important to me too. Not important to have the house clean, but important to make my husband happy. If me cleaning the house makes him happy, I can do that. Really, it's just a small thing for me to do and it has made a HUGE difference in our marriage. His tank is full (read the book & you'll understand what I mean by this :) and it made a difference. Now he will help with things around the house. Just the other night he offered to do the dishes after dinner for me!!! Now that's a happy man right there!!!

Reagan is on FIRE for her new Kindle Fire

Reagan got an early Christmas present from her daddy.  I captured her response to share with you all.  It's priceless.