This Man

  This Man and I are celebrating 29 years of marriage~

We did not start out as “best friends”  like so many couples share about -
           but  after 29 years of marriage he has become the one friend,
                                    that knows me better  than any other.


He knows my quirks and I his-
  He has seen and shared the good,  the ugly and the in-between     
places of my personality –
  and yet he loves me more  today  than he did 29+ years ago,


And the intensity of the way that he looks at me still overwhelms me.


After 29 years -   he’s the one I still want to hold on to,  going through this life’s journey.
     he’s the one that still makes me smile, laugh and stick my tongue out at.

          

After 29 years these posts ring even more true

28 Years of Marriage
  27 Years of Marriage

Happy Anniversary, Babe – You're still the one for me.

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The Power of the Resurrection

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 

They found the stone rolled away from the tomb but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?

He is not here; He has risen.

I have been pondering these words all week…

… “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

How often do we look for the living among the dead…

  Seeking things that do not bring life

     Looking for fulfillment in things that only bring more emptiness…

               as if dead things can bring life…

     when all along the living one… the resurrected one…  is the only one…

  to bring life to those dry places…      those thirsty places…

                          those dying and dead places…  

His resurrection life is the only thing that fills…  He is the only one that fills…

                                         those empty places…

And Yet…

sometimes we live in the in-between place…

    that place between His resurrection and the power of His resurrection…

               that place of knowing  He is alive and the place of living in that truth… 

^{After he had resurrected -}

Jesus said to His disciple, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

His very breath of life…   covered them… 
        He filled them with His presence… Life giving salvation… eternity set in them

But before He send them out…

He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

  Imparting and reminding them of all He had taught them…

                 …head knowledge now becoming heart knowledge

…the living word not only living with them           …but now dwelling in them.

And yet…

He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.  For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

The Disciples were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

Perhaps the same two men who stood in the tomb…  Who asked the simple question 

“Why”

                  “why do you look for the living among the dead?”

“Men of Galilee,” they said…

    “Why”

“why do you stand here looking into the sky? "

“This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

the disciples were living in
                               the in-between place…

that place of knowing the living resurrected Lord… yet waiting…

….waiting for His resurrection power…

So often I stand there… waiting… waiting for my Savior

                … waiting for His power

                           …waiting for His strength

…living in-between the resurrection  …. and the power

50 days after the dead sprung to life….

    50 days after death’s sting was won…

            50 days after the Resurrection and the Life bought victory for all mankind…

the promised power was received…

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Resurrection life received…           Resurrection power given…

    life that gives us the power to manifest Jesus

        life which gives us the ability to live victoriously

Jesus called them  out of that in-between place…

Jesus calls us out of the in-between place…

that place of complacency…

that place of apathy…
   that place of just getting through the day...

         that place of fear

            that place that brings death

He says…  
"I am your resurrection and your life…
believe and receive ME  and LIVE…

live fully… I came and died and rose to give you life...  to the fullness ...    
                           when you live in Me
you have no need to fear…  my perfect love covers it
        you have no need to just get by...  to believe things will remain dead... 
                            the power of my resurrection covers death...

live in my resurrection life…          Live… in the power of the my resurrection…

Living in His resurrection Power~

repost and edited from: http://chellsenclan.blogspot.com/2012/04/in-between-place.html

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Celebrating Easter

  Celebrating Easter 2014

With Easter right around the corner, I wanted to share some of the ways we have celebrated from the past. Some of these are traditions we have kept from year to year, or have found ways to refresh from one year to the next.  Later this week I will share some newer ways we are trying to bring in  to our family celebration ways to celebrate family time and Jesus in this Easter Season.

   Making Pompom Chicks

Aren’t these adorable~

  Making S’more Kits

A fund way give gifts to classroom buddies or just for a fun snack at home~

  Peeps Casserole

We love this fun dessert

 One of Our Easter Menus

  Resurrection Rolls

We make these every year, they are so good.

   Christian Passover

Celebrating with a Passover Meal brings new meaning and depth while reflecting on one of the Biblical Celebrations from the Old Testament.

 Easter Banners and Subway Art

For every holiday I love to decorate our mantle with banners and subway art. This is a small inexpensive way to bring celebrations to life.

  Resurrection Eggs

Tell the story of Jesus through Resurrection Eggs,  each year we find a new version and share this together.

Enjoying  family and celebration~

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Hope–Jonathan Speaks

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. ~ Lamentations 3:25-26

This past year we had to get rid of our VHS player and most of our VHS videos.  Not because it did not work any more, but because this boy, loved to watch the same scenes over and over and over again.  It was not that this was so terrible annoying at times that made us decide to remove these items, but that it was causing some behavior issues in our sweet boy.  He did not want to stop watching those same movies and those same scenes over and over and over…

And when we would try to stop him it would put him into a meltdown.  A good ole’ fashion temper tantrum.  So for our sanity and his - we removed the VHS player and videos.  Now these videos sat on top of our entertainment center in these ugly plastic containers that were once part of an old plastic storage unit.   After we got rid of the videos I put those plastic containers out in the garage and each day I would find those empty containers back on the top of the entertainment center.   This went on for weeks and months - we were finally able to get it down to one empty plastic container that sat there…     read the rest of the article over at:      Jonathan speaks~

May you be blessed~

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Happy Golden 25th Birthday - Nick

 

 

Today we celebrate my oldest son’s birthday…

               my giving son is 25. 

                         25 on the 25th… his golden birthday

                  25 golden years of being this boys mama…

I share about how he changed our life forever here:

             Celebrating our Oldest

As I re-read this post, I am reminded of his consistency as a friend, a brother and a son…

          A man that is steadfast and faithful…       Encouraging and giving…             creative and gentle…

My giving son has started his own blog…   here was his entry on his turning 25…

25 Years Young

Since I started a blog I feel as if I should have some sort of an introduction; an “about the author” if you will. Since I’ll be turning 25 years-young on the 25^th of this month, I figure a list of 25 facts about myself might be a good place to start. Some of these you may know already, others maybe not. I may even use some of these “facts” as topics for my blog in the future. (Hmm…) So here we go!

1) I was born on Saturday, February 25^th 1989; child 1 of 8 to David and Kathey.

My dad and I.

2) I have a stuffed panda bear named “Duh.” When he was given to me I couldn’t pronounce the two syllable word “panda”, I could just say the second half of the word, “Da.” That’s how he got his name. Duh currently resides in my sock drawer with his best friend, Patch the stuffed Dalmatian.

Me, My dog, Prairie Dawn, Duh, and “Fake Duh.”(more on him later.)

3) My favorite book as a child was “Goodnight Moon.” To this day it is still one of my favorites; along with “Where the Wild Things Are”, “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe”, and “The Sneetches.” (Yes, I know those are all kids’ books.)

4) My favorite movie as a child was “Fievel Goes West”, the sequel to “An American Tail.” I also had a Fievel Mousekewitz stuffed toy.

5) The 5 people I look up to the most are Jesus Christ, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., C.S. Lewis, Bono, and my sister Brittaney.

Brittaney and I.

6) As a child my dream job was to be a lawyer. I thought people who wore glasses, and carried around briefcases were cool.

7) Barney the Dinosaur came to my 4th birthday party. Here’s proof!

Barney, Me, Mum, and Brittaney.

8) When I was Middle-School I was really into skateboarding and “rap-core.” (Remember P.O.D., Pax217, and early Linkin Park?)

9) I’ve never had a girlfriend.

10) My favorite genre of fiction is fantasy. My favorite characters are Reepicheep the Mouse (The Chronicles of Narnia), Gandalf the Grey (The Lord of The Rings) and Tyrion Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire).

11) My favorite TV show as a child was “Darkwing Duck.” It was a spin-off of Disney’s “Duck Tales.” One Halloween my mom made me a Darkwing Duck costume.

Brittaney and I… I mean DARKWING DUCK!

12) My favorite comic-book superhero is V. from “V for Vendetta.”

13) I’ve always loved the Beatles.

14) Paul is my favorite Beatle.

15) I share a birthday with George Harrison.

16) Despite popular opinion, I believe it was actually John who broke up The Beatles.

17) I started collecting vinyl when I was 15; before it was cool. (Kidding, it’s always been cool; hipsters just weren’t around yet.)

18) My favorite album is U2’s “Joshua Tree” and I currently have two copies of it on vinyl. (If you submit me a one paragraph explanation on why I should give it to you, I just might.)

19) I didn’t start drinking coffee till I was 19, and I haven’t stopped since. What can I say, I like coffee. (And coffee mugs!)

20) I was homeschooled since 2^nd grade.

21) My youngest brother, Jonathan is autistic. He has inadvertently taught me so much about tolerance, acceptance, and love.

22) My favorite movie of all time is “Monty Python and The Holy Grail.” (And I will quote it if the opportunity arises.)

23) I’m currently on staff as an intern at Antioch Church on the Rock.

24) I am currently carrying a Nerf gun in the trunk of my car. It is to protect myself from the other interns, who also carry Nerf guns in the trunks of their cars.

25) Finally, I love reading. I firmly believe that if you don’t enjoy reading it is because you haven’t found what you like reading yet.

Me, Myself, and I. #Nofilter

You can check out my giving sons blog at:

@nickchellsen

Happy Golden Birthday Nick~

 

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Jonathan Speaks

So often the Lord has spoken to me through this special guy…
It has been on my heart for some time to start a blog that shares these messages. 
So I introduce -  Jonathan speaks~

The eyes are the window to the soul - This saying stems from a passage in the Bible, Matthew 6:22-23. “Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar.” This blog is an attempt to speak through the eyes of Jonathan, an autistic boy, who does not speak with words, but through a life that is lived fully with eyes wide open in wonder.
Check out the introduction page:

 About Jonathan

and our first entry:
     Fullness of Joy
This really is a labor of love and growth as we continue to learn more about autism and our Heavenly Father.
Always humbled by His grace and love~ Pin It

My Funny Valentine

The other day, the hubs and I went into town (now that we live out in a rural area, we have to go “into town” to do our shopping – love that!!!), to have my contacts on my old phone put onto my new one. We decided to make it a Valentines Date.  Over the years we have not gone out “on” valentine's day because of the chaos and because having “many” children did not make it an easy task, we have chosen to celebrate as a family.  But, he does sweet little – and sometimes bigger things to let me know he celebrates our love.  He is a romantic at heart.


We had such a wonderful night, we went to Chipolte to eat, went shopping for a new camera for me – my valentines present from him. It was a wonderful night, spontaneous (like he is) – just spending time together was wonderful, (did I say wonderful enough). What stood out the most to me from the evening, was how much we laughed.  As I pondered this, I thought about how 28 + years ago, this man met and fell in love with this girl, a young girl who took herself way too seriously.
     
Through the years he has taught me the importance of finding the humor in life, with his quick wit and his love to laugh.  As I was reflecting on this, I remember an old song called “My Funny Valentine.”


"My Funny Valentine"

My funny valentine
Sweet comic valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable
Unphotographable
Yet you’re my favorite work of art


Is your figure less than greek
Is your mouth a little weak
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?


But don’t change a hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little valentine stay
Each day is valentines day

so in honor of “my funny valentine” – I dedicate this song (with some changes) to you,

My funny valentine –
      You are my sweet comic relief from life’s harder days,
             Your love makes my heart smile.
                   Your looks and quick wit continue to make me laugh,


You’re more handsome today than the day we met,
      The image of your gaze is etched deeply in my heart,
                You are my favorite work of art…


Even though the years have molded our figures into a different shape,
     and you do not always have the words to speak,
            you are still the most handsome, smartest man I know – you are my Daveipedia.


I love you just the way you are,
     your love and grace, for me, bring me joy,
            You’re always by my side -
and each day is Valentines Day with you


I want you to know “my funny valentine” that my love for you has grown longer, wider, deeper and higher with each passing year and your love for me has strengthened me and made we the person I am today –because of you, this girl has developed a sense of humor, learned to lighten up a little more and learned to laugh at life a whole lot more…  I haven’t totally arrived in that area (still take myself too seriously), but I look forward to many more funny valentine days with you.




When I think of the wisdom and scope of his plan, I fall down on my knees and pray to the Father of all the great family of God—some of them already in heaven and some down here on earth— that out of his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you the mighty inner strengthening of his Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love;  and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.      Ephesians 3:14-19



Happy Valentine’s Day~

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Lean not on your own understanding

   I have talked about how the Lord tends to come through     the back door with us at times…
The Back Door
In November I wrote this in my journal:

So after all this - you once again came in through the back door!!!! You showed me all this in a round about way…. Just showed in my heart that I do fear in these areas and you are really wanting to bring healing there. That you really do delight in me and delight to give me the desires of my heart and you do want to remind me that I need to be wise with not only handling these desires but trusting you with them… That I can trust you with the desires of my heart. I can trust you with meeting them.

and then today this was my latest entry on back doors and trusting:
Proverbs 3:5-12

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;

    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;

    he’s the one who will keep you on track.

Don’t assume that you know it all.

    Run to God! Run from evil!

Your body will glow with health,

    your very bones will vibrate with life!

Honor God with everything you own;

    give him the first and the best.

Your barns will burst,

    your wine vats will brim over.

But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;

    don’t sulk under his loving correction.

It’s the child he loves that God corrects;

    a father’s delight is behind all this.

So we are in another back door journey (Hubby & I) in learning to trust…
I love how the message version says… don't try to figure out everything on your own (lean not on your own understanding).
              I ask my self often why you go through the back door so often…  perhaps this is my answer.
    I like to figure things out on my own and have it all planned out… to map it out.
Did this with our finances. You opened the door to give us some security in that area…
            Then I took it on and made a plan…  mapped it all out…   had it all figured out.
Then you came through the back door…
And…
          shook that security up a bit… so here I am again…
Trying to figure it out on my own… to reajust the plan… to map it all out again.
Yet…
             You are meeting a desire of our hearts…
a desire for redemption for me… a desire for a prayed second chance…
                a desire for release for him… a desire to do something new… a desire for deeper things to be fulfilled.
                                                Sooner than we thought…    Soon than the mapped out plan
But…
       It takes trusting you… with all our hearts
and not trying to figure it all out… how it will work… how it will look… how we will stay on track.
                         A daily walk… a daily running to you-


  To honor you with all I have… with all I am…
    to give you the first… the best…
        Not to resent your hand… your discipline…
                    your back door entrance…
for your love…     your desire…
   your desire to fulfill-      
              our deeper desires are your aim…
behind that back door.
Keeping the back door open~

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Monthly Menu Plan–January 2014

 January Menu Plan

I have talked before about our days of the week menu plans before:

Menu Plan Forms

Menu Planning

I have revamped it a bit to fit our needs for this new year.  I have not made any significant changes as this plan seems to work fairly well for us.

Menu Plan
Meaty Monday

Tortilla Tuesday

Casserole/BFD Wednesday

Pasta/Italian Thursday

Freezer/Pizza Friday

Bar/BBQ Saturday

Soup/Sandwich/Salad Sunday

Having a daily assigned theme helps me complete my monthly meal plan quickly.  During the week we can switch things around if it better suits our needs for that week or we can skip the planned meal and replace it with something else.  Having the monthly plan helps me to prepare and have the necessary ingredients for the meals.

Hubs and I are needing to make some changes in our diet due to some health issues.  But with this plan I can easily make a simple protein, potato or rice, veggie and salad meal for us as an alternative to what is scheduled.

Example:

Pizza or calzone night might be to high in sodium for us so I would make frozen fish, with steamed veggies and potatoes for us. I am also trying to have a lettuce salad available for each meal for us.

Meal planning is a must for our family, and the little effort it takes to plan ahead pays off tremendously.

Enjoy~

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Merry Christmas - 2013

Christmas 2013

This year we have had the privilege and blessing of celebrating Christmas in our new house. 

                     When we moved into our house, the Lord gave me this word… Peaceful Dwelling

My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest.

                                                                                      Isaiah 32:18

The word peaceful comes from the Hebrew word shalam

it means:  completeness, soundness, welfare, peace

1. completeness (in number)

2. safety, soundness (in body)

3. welfare, health, prosperity

4. peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment

5. peace, friendship

   1. of human relationships

   2. with God especially in covenant relationship

God made a covenant relationship with us…

          one of PEACE…  one of completeness…  one of safety…  one that would restore us to Him

one that would make us whole, one the would compensate for our lacking's… 

one that would  make an end to our unrest…       our searching…

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.      Isaiah 9:6-7

He will be called Prince of Peace…   of the greatness of His peace there will be no end…

peace came to us as a child,  a son…   one who would establish and uphold justice and righteousness…

one who would uphold us…   a person full of grace and peace…   so that our peace would be full…

Peace…    Peaceful Dwelling… 

                   My people will live in peaceful dwelling places…

The fruit of that righteousness will be peace; its effect will be quietness and confidence forever.

                        because that peace….   that peaceful dwelling place is JESUS…

May your Christmas be one of PEACE,

Merry Christmas from the Chellsen Clan

David, Kathey, Nick, Brittaney, Alex, Aaron, Jonathan, Audriona, Angelina & Shekinah

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