Fall so Far

Well, I haven't posted any pics of the family lately so here's a big update post...This includes pictures of when we went up to Cable, WI to visit Kara and Nate, and a trip to the Zoo, as well as some Halloween dress up costumes...Enjoy!

Natalie the Zebra

Bella the Bumblebee

Naomi the Asian Princess

Jeremiah the puppy (excuse the filthy face :P)

Up in Cable, WI my bro-in-law helping clear leaves out of a friend's yard

My sister Kara

JJ the Jet Plane (that's what my niece Felicity calls him)

Cousin time!

Having fun eating lunch outside...what ???barefoot?????

The guys watching dumb clips on UTube

One of our zoo favorites...penguins

the crew...

prehistoric giant (well that's what he looks like to me)

Ryan wanted to make this picture look like it wasn't at the zoo
I think he was successful!

This peacock (that the girls named Freddy) was in the picnic area.
The girls decided to chase him but he just kept running around the same
table so the girls were chasing him around and around and around this one picnic
table...I laughed so hard I had tears running down my face!

Raising Support

It's a crazy process, one of great excitement as well as great trepidation. I wish we could bypass it and just get to Victory without going through the process of deputation but at the same time, I would miss out on the incredible ways that God uses to raise the funds to support his work and the relationships we are building along the way.
We recently sent out our first email version of our newsletter and if you got it, I'd love to get some feedback on it! Let me know what works, doesn't work, how to get our message across more clearly...etc. Thanks for being on this journey with us. Your support and prayers are more of an encouragement to us than you'll probably ever know!
We enjoyed having the director of Victory Ministries of Alaska, Rick Cornfield, speak during our Sunday School hour at our church a few weeks ago! We were so uplifted by the attendance and participation, interest, questions, etc. of all who were there!
I will try to update this blog more often so that you are kept up to date with the happenings along the way for us!

Fall Newsletter about to Launch

Our first email newsletter is about to be launched...if you want to get an email version instead of or as well as a paper version, let me know! Send an email to rcote@wi.rr.com

One Way

I read this on a blog this morning and was really encouraged by it to be bold and share my faith more openly...Enjoy!

Truth.

The simple utterance of that lone word can sometimes, in this enlightened day and age, cause folks to bristle, as their hairs stand on end. Hearing that word might make you wonder what the speaker of that work will say next. Is there one truth? Are there many truths? Are people who claim that there is only one truth nothing but intolerant, judgmental, clanging cymbals who need to put a cork in it and stop acting like they know it all?

I don't think it's a stretch to say that it can be difficult for someone to state that there is absolute truth that can be found and known without being labeled as "intolerant." Indeed, it is neither politically correct nor socially popular to assert that Jesus is the only way to life everlasting.

However, just because something is unpopular or not viewed as politically correct, doesn't mean I am going to withhold from saying or doing it if I believe in it.

I believe that Jesus is truth.

How intolerant! How judgmental! How exclusive and know it all can you possibly be to assert that!? Don't you know how awful it is to shove your own truth down someone else's throat?

But herein lies the rub with those arguments: I don't think you have to be judgmental or rude or have a know it all attitude or shove anything down anyone's anything to believe that there is absolute truth. Part of the problem is that there are many Christians, myself sometimes definitely included, who sometimes give Christians a bad name!

Do judgmental Christians give you a headache? Yes, me too. But I don't think that because some Christians have defended our faith in a manner that has rubbed some people the wrong way, that it means that Christianity itself out to be discredited. The truth in a faith should not be measured by the goodness in its adherents, for all humans are at some times hypocritical and at all times imperfect, but it should instead be measured by the Person behind the faith.

What do I believe? Well, I'm so glad you asked.

I believe there is truth. Absolute truth that can be found and claimed. Truth that a life of peace can be built upon. I've written about this before and I have no reason to stop sharing it now. I believe that Jesus was real, that He was who He claimed to be, that He died for our sins and that through believing in Him, and not through any religion, we can have eternal life after we die. It is the truth of Jesus that guides my life and I will sing of Him here on earth until the day I join Him in paradise.

Stop the presses! Stop the presses!

Did I just claim to know the truth, the only truth, about getting to Heaven? Now wait just a minute. Isn't that intolerant? I mean, what about other religions, practiced by good people? What about not shoving our beliefs down anyone's throat? What about personal freedom to believe whatever someone wants to? To believe in what works for them? Isn't it awfully rude and condescending to share the truth as if it were the absolute, the only real truth out there?

Well, I'll tell you what I think about that. I do believe very strongly in not shoving beliefs down anyone's throat. I do not value rudeness for any reason, and condescending tones have no place in a mature discussion of faith. After all, no one's cause, not matter what is at stake, is going to be furthered by rude and judgmental behavior. As far as personal beliefs, yes, I do very much think that everyone should be entitled to their own opinion, and allowed to find truth for themselves. Without a doubt!

Please understand that I am not here to tell you how to live your life. I am sharing how I have found truth that has changed my life.

And, quite honestly, what kind of person would I be if I felt so passionately about something so important, but didn't share it because it wasn't politically correct to share or because others might think I was being judgmental or condescending? If I believe something that is amazing and worth living for, I will want to share it!

I have found that having Jesus in my life has brought me a deep joy and a sense of hope. And I want to share what I've found! That's only natural.

Think about it. What if I, along with hundreds of other people, was lost in a forest? For days upon days, we wandered in the woods, disoriented and hungry. Imagine that a group of people happened upon a pile of acorns. Although not delicious, the acorns were eaten by that group and seen as a wonderful source of food, since there was nothing else to eat. And perhaps others found field of small green plants that could be eaten. For days and days, that group feasted on the green plants that, although somewhat bitter, sustained them. But what if I for some reason happened upon a valley that flowed with honey, with lush strawberries growing in expansive fields and sweet nectar that gushed out of springs?

What if I kept that wonderful truth of the existence of that amazing valley to myself? Perhaps the others lost in the forest liked the acorns, I could tell myself. I would hate to impose on someone who truly enjoyed the bitter plants, I might reason. If what they have chosen is working for them, who am I to point out any alternative? But as I feasted on fruit and honey, satisfied to the full, what kind of person would I be if I didn't at least try to share? Indeed, I should long for the others who were settling for what I considered to be second best to come and experience the valley with me.

Granted, some of them might not. They might be perfectly happy with their acorns and plants. And that would be their choice; I would respect that. But if I truly felt that what I had found was worth experiencing, I would at least try to share my findings, leaving it up to the other person what they wanted to do.

Simply sharing what we believe and what has transformed our lives, and opening up a discussion, is not being intolerant, no matter what the world tries to tell us!!

It is like that with my faith. The peace and hope I have in my life because of Jesus is simply too amazing for me to keep to myself! The freedom from guilt and shame, the joy even in struggles and the hope that comes from knowing this world is not the end is so beautiful and life-altering that I can hardly keep from sharing it!

Does that make me intolerant of others, who believe in different religions? I don't think so. In fact, I would hope that others who believed strongly about their faith would also want to share. I personally have friends who are agnostic, some who are Jewish and others who share similar beliefs as I do. And because I believe that Jesus, and Jesus alone, is the way to salvation and everlasting life doesn't mean I don't find value and worth in people who don't believe that.

It's just that, as harsh as this may seem, I have decided to believe Jesus when He says that it is through Him alone, and anyone of any religion can claim His gift, that we are saved. It is not my choice to be exclusive. It is my choice to believe what God says. And I personally do not believe in the idea of a personal truth. I do not mean to be intolerant or a know it all. In fact, it just seems only logical that there cannot be many truths, simply by using the definition of truth.

Indeed, truth is truth.

Truth is not relative. There is no truth for you, and truth for me. Truth is absolute. That is not my opinion, it is the definition of truth.

In our world, yellow mixed with blue makes green. That is just how it works. It's truth. If you were to believe that yellow and blue made red, you would be mistaken, no matter how firmly you held that belief. You might claim yellow and blue make red for you and that is your personal truth, but you would be wrong. Simply believing something cannot make it true. You don't have to like that yellow and blue make green, but they do. You don't even have to believe that yellow and blue make green, but your not believing doesn't make it not true.
And, either Jesus is real, and He died on the cross and rose again as the only way to Heaven, for everyone in the world, or He did not.

And that is what I believe.

To be honest, I do not see how personal truth has any place here. In fact, I definitely go so far as to say there is no such thing. Personal truth is an oxymoron. I do not believe that there are many ways to Heaven. I realize that some people think there are, but the mere thinking that there are many ways to Heaven does not itself create many ways. Either there are many ways, or there are not. I happen to believe that Jesus offers the only path to life after we die. And you do not have to believe that! But simply because some people choose not to believe that, doesn't mean it's not true, just as my believing it does not make it true. The choice to not believe in something has no power in and of itself: disbelief in something can't make it not true.
You might believe, deep in your heart, that Jesus' death on the cross is not the only means of salvation beyond this earth. But the fact of the matter is, Jesus Himself claims to be the only way, and I believe Him. You can believe all you want that He is not, but that won't change the truth. Either He is or He isn't. Either He can save everyone, or He can save no one. I firmly believe there is no room to believe that He is for me, but not for you.

I believe I have found a truth that is more than equal to a valley of honey and strawberries. The sweet truth of Jesus has transformed my life and satiated my soul. To keep silent about that would be pure folly! I certainly don't want to step on toes, but I also don't want to hinder anyone from finding the peace and love that I know because of Jesus.

So, I will try to be bold yet kind as I share, understanding and open yet rooted and unshakable as to what I believe truth is. For me to keep the truth that I have found to myself would be selfish.

Good Times!

We enjoyed a great Sunday! We all attended Ryan's brother's church where he was giving the message about "Waging War on sin" and we experienced a "Family Communion" where the head of the family served the rest of the family members. After that we headed out to the park with Ryan's aunt and uncle and cousin who were out visiting from Minnesota, and the rest of Ryan's immediate family. We had a delicious picnic complete with TONS of bees and wasps! Afterward we played sandpit volleyball (or tried to anyway :)) and lawn croquet. The kids had a great time at the playground with Grama and Granpa and then later one playing Bocce ball with Josh! Only one minor catastrophe when Bella was stung inside of her mouth by a wasp when taking a drink out of her soda can...

we also celebrated Josh's birthday

Back to School

Another school year begins...I have to admit I got a bit teared up dropping each of them off at their schools. Naomi was a little nervous but Natalie was ready to go! Another milestone marking their transition from being my babies to big girls! Have fun you two!!

Things I never thought I'd hear myself say...

I enjoyed those Mom comments so much earlier that I "uncovered" a few more...enjoy!


It's not your fault, it's your germs' fault? Well that's a new one. Fine, then, ask your germs to come over here so I can give them a consequence.

Because you might fall out that's why.

Because not everyone in the Community Center wants to hear about that.

How do you think it made your sister feel when you punched her in the head just now?

Would you like it if I poured water all over your face? Then don't do it to him!

Please hold the frog gently.

I think the bank teller is busy right now, Sweetheart. I know you want to share that with her, but right now she is too busy to guess how to spell your name.

Why is there urine in this?

Quit ringing the blasted doorbell, I told you you need to stay outside!

It is very spicy so I don't think you should. If you want to you can, but it will probably burn your mouth. Okay then. Then I suppose you should go get some milk. No, you can do it by yourself. No, I am pretty sure you won't die, but maybe next time you'll believe me when I tell you something is spicy!

What is my makeup doing here?

Where on earth did your pants and underwear go?

Do your ears work?

Because it's not healthy to eat McDonald's food everyday. I know we did. I know we do. Well, it's still not really healthy. Yes, the next time we go you can get some Chicken McNuggets. I don't know. Maybe in a week. You won't starve by then. Because I will give you other things to eat in the meantime!

That's too bad that your legs are broken, but you still need to go to sleep.

Some fun quotes I read on MckMama's blog this morning....titled "Things I have heard come out of my mouth recently" cracked me up!!! Enjoy!

That is just an excuse. Because there is really no such thing as eating too many vegetables that you get a vegetable ache.


Please do not eat acorns. Because they are not food! Okay, because they are not food for humans. I know he did, but that still doesn't make it okay for you.


You may never try to sneak out of the house during room time. Because I don't want to lose you! I don't care if you bring your map or not, you may not leave without asking me.


I'm sorry to hear that; I hope your nostril feels better soon. No, I will not call the ambulance. Because a nostril ache is not a real illness. Yes, when you are older you can call an ambulance if you want. Not for a long, long time.


Because it isn't polite to answer the door with no clothes on, that's why.


Good heavens don't stick that up your nostril! Well then take it out now! Because I don't want it to get stuck and because it scares me. I know that Jesus is always with me, even when I'm scared, but you still can't stick things up your nostril.

The Zoo with Daddy...

I was working on the weekend before school started so Ryan took the kids to the zoo for the day. I think they have more fun there with him than with me since I'm always terrified of losing someone...haha. Looks like a fun day!