Happy Birthday, Peter!

My boy turned fifteen today.

That's hard to believe!

Charlotte made him this Wordle which I thought was precious. . .

He had a pretty good day.

We had a yummy breakfast with some presents,

he hung out with Meredith most of the morning

and went shooting with Ian and Meredith in the afternoon.

We had BBQ for dinner and he got lots of brother love, too!

It is such a joy to celebrate Peter -

He is truly growing into a godly young man.

Happy Birthday, son!

They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

Isaiah 61:3

Decking the Halls

What a glorious Thanksgiving  we shared with friends.

The day was beautiful in every way.  

I didn't take ONE picture....so sad!

The highlight was our Texas pecan pies 

made from the pecans we collected a few weeks back, remember?  That's HERE.

Today, Meredith led the charge to deck the halls for Christmas.

Ian and Peter brought down all the boxes from the attic and the kids went to town.

I delighted in Meredith's interest and careful attention.

She did the mantel all by herself with greenery and berries and flowers

It is lovely and she was quite pleased as well!

The Jesse Tree found its place in the family room

My favorite angel sits atop the piano

The creche is assembled

(a youth group fund raiser from many years ago!)

Charlotte is outside working on lights

My kids are taking over this year....and its kinda fun!

Christmas music is playing and we made a Starbucks run for warm drinks...

If only we would have had the dusting of snow that MN received this morning...

nonetheless, it's been a great couple days being all together as a family

sweet, sweet memories of another Thanksgiving

and we look forward to the Advent season as we

prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ!

I pray your Thanksgiving was a blessing, too!

Thankful For...

I AM THANKFUL FOR

Salvation through faith alone in Christ Jesus

God's grace day by day

God's Word

My godly husband Ian

the blessing of five children

my siblings Scott, Sarah, and Andrea

my Parents: Stephen and Sandy

My in-laws: Ron and Mary

Neices and nephews: Kael, Kirra, 

Liam, Nathaniel, Louisa, 

Gwyneth, Neale, 

William, Katherine, and ....

a new nephew Charles Stephen born TODAY!

Grandma and Grandpa on the farm...man I love them!

Our precious church family

Our faithful and dedicated pastors

A new calling this year to children's ministry

Our school family at CCS

 our chidlens' godly educators

our health and well being

friends near in far

extended family

beauty of creation all around us

our home 

our loving home group

adoption
plans for college next year....yikes!

coaches who mentor my kids with excellence
my husband's job
piano lessons and the gift of music in my home

missionary friends in far away places

food...beautiful food

being planted in Texas

freedom

pets, namely: Zoe & Kirby (not Gus so much)

sweet family memories and milestones

Sabbath rest

teachable moments

second chances

simple pleasures

life

abundant life in Christ

and so, so much more!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Thankful Turkey

What is David thankful for?

{poor turkey lost his eyes}

school friends, the trampoline, peanut butter sandwiches, 

mom and dad, brother and sisters, his dogs and toy trains

Give thanks to the Lord for He is good

His love endures forever!!!

Blessings

Saturday morning, the children of the church gathered in the church kitchen

and we made pumpkin bread for some of our homebound members.

We also made Thanksgiving Day cards

It was precious to see the kids 

working together

playing together

helping one another

While the loaves were baking, we helped stuff 2400 bags with

Christmas invitations to our church's

Children's Christmas Party & Parent's Night Out

Our Christmas Musical and Coffee House

and

Our Christmas Eve Worship services.

It was quite a group effort and very fun!

 Once our bread was cool, we wrapped them up and made some very special deliveries

What a blessing it was to spread some joy

for Thanksgiving week!

So grateful for our church family

and a special day to serve the Lord together!

Thanksgiving Lunch

Tomorrow Claire has her Thanksgiving Lunch Exchange.

It is a precious tradition at CCS in the elementary grades.

Students draw the name of a classmate

and bring lunch for them...

They pack their friends most favorite. . .

sandwich

chips

fruit

vegetable

drink

&

dessert

They can pack the lunch however they want.

Claire chose this heart shaped box and a variety of felt and foam stickers. . .

then she went crazy!

It sure turned out cute!

Her sweet friend Tori sure will be blessed by this special lunch -

tuna salad on wheat, Pringles, strawberries, carrots and a mini cheesecake!

The kids are all very excited to have a full week off of school next week.

And we are looking forward to giving Thanks together on Thursday.

Bless the Lord oh my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless His holy name!

New Shoes

The package arrived today.

A box of pointe shoes to get Meredith through the next three weeks of rehearsals,

two school performances and

four public performances

So, it is out with the old

and in with the new

The Nutcracker is only three weeks away.

Meredith is very busy with rehearsals and costume fittings and run throughs and classes.

Now she'll also be busy with sewing on ribbon and elastic on all those shoes!!!

David Day!

Two years ago today our family of six, with my father,

walked into the civil affairs building of Hubei Province

in Wuhan City, China

to meet our son and brother. . .Wu Yue He.

We walked out a few hours later a family of seven!

He was 2 1/2 years old and had been living with foster parents

under the direction of the city's large orphanage since open heart surgery recovery

at six months of age.

Oh how we longed for that moment to see him and hold him and love him

after waiting 11 months from the first time we saw this precious face

on AAC's waiting child list.

I knew this precious child of God was an Achterkirch and the Lord lavished us with

the blessing of calling him our son.

It is hard to believe it has been two years for it is like he has always been ours.

Adoption surely changes the lives of children

abandoned and institutionalized and forgotten
{this month is Adoption Month and I pray many children will find their forever family}

 God has used adoption to deeply change our family. . .

and we are forever thankful for the journey He has set before us and for our own

adoption as Sons of God!

We celebrate Wu Yue He today....how God graciously folded him into our family

from the other side of the world and made our hearts to love him

before we even saw him.

That's what God's love does.

We celebrate the plan God has for David - unknown to us, but known to God.

From Wuhan City to Houston Texas via Phoenix, Arizona through an agency in Colorado.

That's a glimpse of God's sovereignty.

We celebrate all the ways in which David has flourished in our family.

The joy he brings to everyone that knows him.

He is such a happy kid!

That is Christ's peace and joy taking root in him!

We celebrate our family -

authored by God

upheld by His grace day by day.

And we remember with wonderful fondness our journey two years ago to David's homeland

So rich with memories for us....
and a tangible reminder of God's grace and mercy and lavish love for us.

This video was made as a remembrance of God's mighty work in David's life and ours!

Glory be to our great God!

Happy Gotcha Day, David!!!

One More Time!

Coach Spenn added one more JV game so the Warriors were out on the field again

Thursday evening against Fort Bend Christian

The kids ate dinner in the stands and we enjoyed one last JV match

on a beautiful fall evening.

Pete has decided not to play basketball this year.

He wants to work with a trainer and possibly a one on one quarter back coach

When we asked head coach Spenn for his recommendation,

he said he wanted to do it.

What a blessing.  This man's heart for discipleship coupled with his passion for football.

Well, I was disappointed my boy wasn't going to play BB, but absolutely

DELIGHTED

he can be coached, mentored and discipled by Coach Spenn!

The Warriors played hard, but came up short.

I have sure enjoyed getting to know these boys and these families better this season.

They are great friends.

I have seen the philosophy of this program in action and I am so impressed:

Use football to teach principles and values that will result in the building of courageous men who will live sacrificial lives to the glory of God both on and off the field

Purposefully build deep meaningful relationships that will last a lifetime.

Develop each player to be the best football player he can be.

The Varsity team is 3-1 in District Play

They had a BIG win last night and Peter and most of the JV team

got their turn on the field - very exciting!

As season ticket holders, we will attend a special Coach's dinner this weekend

where we will get to hear Coach Spenn talk about the program, the season and how he has seen God at work in the program!

Go Warriors!

For the Glory of God!