And the Winner is...

...Sara Huber!

Please send an email (bcstahl01@aol.com) with your mailing address and I will drop the gift certificate in the mail before the week's end.

Congratulations!

May the conference be a reminder of all the ways in which the Lord has blessed your marriage and provide challenges, too, for serving each other & Him more in the coming years.

A Difficult Day...

Our littlest nephew, Carson Ray, was born & died early this morning.

We ask for your prayers. For his parents (Craig & Raelynn) to find strength in their love for one another and most importantly, in the One who joined their hearts and created their family.

For his older brothers and sisters (Anissa, Jonathan, Emily, Zachary, Elijiah and Moriah) who will grieve in their own ways & with different levels of understanding.

For all of us. That we can support one another thru the tears & find comfort in the arms of our God.

Remember...

"You are the Lord's wonderful creation,
fashioned first with His heart and then with His hands.

He rejoices over your talents,
gifts and abilities because He chose them just for you.

He delights in the details of who you are -- the color of your eyes,
the curve of your smile -- because He is the deisgner of each one.

So on this day and always, REMEMBER the Lord loves you,
He celebrates you, and He's so glad you're His!"

Weekend To Remember Giveaway...

We have a couple of friends who are involved in FamilyLife ministries and recently received a gift certificate in the mail for a Weekend to Remember conference. The gift certificate reduces the $129 per person registration fee down to $35 per person and expires 12/31/2009. We will be unable to redeem this gift certificate -- so we're giving it away!

In order to be eligible to win you must be (a) either engaged or married and (b) make a committment to redeem the certificate prior to its expiration date. Check HERE for details regarding locations & dates for upcoming events. NOTE: If you have parents and/or are aware of a specific couple in your church congregation who could take advantage of this giveaway (but are not bloggers), feel free to post a comment to this effect and I will enter their names in the drawing, too.

Please post a comment by 8AM on September 1st and I will draw a winner later that day. If you'd like, share with us a 'date night' idea. I am always open to new ways to spend some time with my man!

Afternoon in the City & Evening at Wrigley...

Yesterday we spent a mid-week afternoon in the city. After wandering about for a little, we had dinner at Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co. Ahhh...fabulous food! Highly recommended.

After dinner we caught the 'L' north and headed towards the Addison stop. When we entered the subway, we were a bit uncertain which track we needed to be on & began looking for a map. Within seconds, upon looking across the track to a view of white/blue/red jerseys & hats we decided we could skip the map, it was obvious the direction of the Cubs game :)

The weather was simply incredible; a great night to spend at the ballpark. We had been given tickets from a friend of Blake's and our box seats were up high behind home plate; a great view of the game. The game itself was a bit boring (only 5 hits and the Cubs lost 2-1) but it was a nice mid-week break from the 'ordinary' and fun just to be together.

Whatever You're Doing (Sanctus Real)...

I've heard this song playing on the local radio station several times throughout the past few weeks. As the radio played in the background of my days, on several occasions I thought, "Wow! This song is good. I wonder what it's called?" and realized it was the same song that caught my attention time & again. I looked up the lyrics and realized WHY. The words (at least many of them) were echoing my heart. I often find listening to music more impactful than reading thru the lyrics so here's a link to listen/view the music video if you'd like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06AgY5Xoavw. AND...if any of you would be willing to offer assistance on how to post the actual video right on my blog (instead of only the address link) I would love help in figuring this out for future posts. Thanks!

"Whatever You're doing inside of me. It feels like chaos...but somehow there's peace. It's hard to surrend to what I can't see; but I'm giving in to something heavenly." Zechariah 13:9 says, "I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, THey are my people and they will say, The Lord is our God." What an illustration of God's grace & love as He allows us to feel the 'chaos of our lives' so we may more confidently declare, "The Lord is OUR God!"

It's Me, I'm Back...Again!

It has been a hectic week or so but I am back...back to my home computer that is. I spent last week at my parent's farm in Metamora. From sun-up to sun-down (or at least it felt like that at times!) I worked alongside my parents: schucking & freezing sweet corn, blanching & slicing peaches, baling hay (actually, I only drove the tractor thru the field instead of working the rack), picking up sticks/branches from a hefty windstorm, mowing the farmyard, setting up a booth at the State Fair, etc. Whew! By the end of the week, I was exhausted! I think God knew what He was doing when He hooked me up with a physical therapist instead of a farmer!

On Saturday, my 'little' sister coordinated a family baby shower for us & Alexander. A good time was had by all! Here's a picture of my sis, Brenda & her husband, Mike along with Blake and I. And I double-pinky swear, we did NOT attempt to coordinate our outfits. Kind of crazy, huh?

This is a picture of a diaper cake made by my cousin (at least, its the top portion of the cake). It was pretty amazing what all she included in this fun & functional creation. If you squeeze the puppy's nose he barks & pants. With all this cutting-edge technology I am hoping perhaps this will 'count' as a real puppy for quite some time before Alexander (along with his Daddy) starts begging for the REAL thing.