Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

Long Time...No Post

So I know...you're thinking...did the Nelson's drop off the face of the earth?  No- we just went on our stateside assignment.  Every few weeks a tinge of guilt creeps up that I haven't posted ANY news on us since we left Peru.  Which is a shame because we've still needed prayer here too.  So I confess and apologize and vow to ramp back up postings as we prepare to go to Spain in January of 2013.  

Here's a re-cap mode...picture style of the past few months...due to some technical issues I can't upload our pictures from the winter...so this is basically Spring/Summer 2012 minus Jenny's wedding which was last November.  Enjoy!  


Prayer Request:
OUR VISA APPLICATIONS FOR SPAIN WERE SUBMITTED IN AUGUST!  PRAY FOR FAVOR AND APPROVAL FROM THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT.  

Freezing

So every few months I get motivated to prepare/cook lots of meals and freeze them for "rainy/insanely busy" days.  So last week I saw a pin on pinterest about freezer crock pot meals and was inspired.  So last weekend I chopped the most vegetables I've ever chopped in my life at one time (a special thanks goes to Jeremy for entertaining Karis with his wood working project and to my mom & step dad for all of those grueling hours I spent helping you prep for caterings during college- no worries I've still upheld to my oath of never doing another melon ball in my life!)  Anyways- in true "pinterest" fashion and also just desiring to capture this achievement-I took a picture:


A mound of carrots, broccoli, sweet potato, two different types of zapallo (gourd), potato, snap peas, bell peppers, green onions, mushrooms, zucchini, 3 mirasols (hot peppers) and a beet. All chopped and ready to go.

After this stage I cut up all of the meat, put everything into freeze bags, added the seasonings and voila! 4 dinners ready to go into the crock pot and a side of vegetables ready to be baked to go to a friends house later.  I also had 2 other meals I was going to prep however those mirasol peppers got to me (I got some of the oil on my fingers).  So spent the next hour trying every suggestion I could find online to stop the insane burning! 

In case you are wondering the following DOES NOT REMOVE mirasol oil from your finger tips:
  • rubbing your finger tips through your hair
  • washing your hands dozens of times
  • soaking them in a water/baking soda solution
  • putting straight baking soda on your finger tips
  • washing your hands with a laundry deotergent
  • soaking them in a four part water/one part bleach solution
What finally stopped the pain was rubbing straight bleach onto my finger tips and then rinsing them!  Needless to say I then lost my motivation and those two meals were saved for another day!

4 Meals- Ready to Go!



  Here is the amazing part of the story.  I usually try to prep dinner while the girls are down for their afternoon naps (it makes my llife so much easier and everyone's happier).  Well the next day, my neighbor, Malu, said that she had ordered 20 Bible studies from a radio program and wanted me to go through them with her.  So we've been meeting during the girls nap times and its been going for 2 or 3 hours.  Isn't God good!  I prepared those meals, not knowing what my week was going to look like!  And now I can do these Bible studies with Malu and try to answer all of her zillions of questions worry free- cause dinner will be ready when it needs to be! 

Just if you're curious here's what I prepped:
  • BBQ chicken & veggies
  • Goulash
  • Curried Chicken & Veggies
  • Italian Chicken & Veggies
  • large dish of veggies to bake for side dish
What didn't get finished was marinaded terriaki beef for stir fry and a shepard's pie.

Be Imitators of God...Ephesians 5:1

God has shown me several things this month, through reading scripture or seeing the girls doing something and recalling scripture that relates to it. Adalyn was covered in bug bites earlier this month and Karis is covered in a heat rush now, yet I watch them choose joy in their circumstances rather than focusing in on their misery. I think Habakkuk 3:18 kind of sums that up: "...yet, I will rejoice in Lord, I will be joyful in God my savor." and I later read an article about choosing joy. It said that happiness is something you feel but joy is something that you do. You can either submit to the misery & bitterness or to the Holy Spirit and cultivate the fruit of the Spirit into your daily life. Other scriptures mentioned action phrases like: "shout for Joy", "sing for Joy", "cry for Joy". It was a fresh reminder of that choice, watching my girls covered in itchy and miserable bug bites or heat rash yet observing them pushing past the discomfort and being honestly joyful. I’ll quickly highlight some other points God drove home with me this month. Watching Karis choose “good over evil”. To be honest, obedience is a daily struggle for Karis and I suppose we can all add ourselves to that boat on some level. But there are moments when I see Karis try to decide whether she will obey or not and it’s so sweet when she looks at me, smiles, nods her head and says "obey". Her mind made up to be obedient and I thought of those moments when I read "Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good" - Romans 12:21. I think the absolute cutest moments though are watching Karis try to imitate Jeremy and me (espically Jeremy...such a daddy's girl). If Jeremy is leaning up against a wall with arms crossed and one foot over the other...Karis is there mimicking the same stance. If I have my sunglasses on in the truck, Karis wants her sunglass and the examples can just keep rolling. During those moments it makes me ask the question "How am I imitating Christ in my life today? How am I imitating God in my actions and reactions?" Anyways- I know that you really can't draw too many parallels to your children and your faith but God has used our girls to really challenge me in my walk with Him this month.

Nana & Paw Paw


Jeremy's parents came down to help us out after Adalyn was born. They were here for 10 days. It was such a blessing. They came when she was about 2 weeks old. It was a prefect break for Jeremy and I because we were pretty exhausted, so the extra set of hands, good fellowshipw and play partners for Karis was such a relief.