To worry or not to worry... that is the question.

Life for the Aldermans has been pretty great lately. Life is finally settling into a routine;, David's shop is all in neat little shelves and cubbies all organized with cute little numbers(I use these descriptions to get him all fired up "Cute is not how you describe a man's shop!" I can hear him say it now, teeth grinding as he reads this) I am flowing effortlessly into friendships with wonderful Moms in my play groups and have actually met a couple families who may want to join us on the Church journey. Dawson finally got a tooth at 15 months!!! Crazy little monster, he is such a joy to watch grow and develop. Some more good news, David and I found out we will be expecting another little one sometime late May or June. After having lost a baby in May, I am very quick to assume every little thing is going to go wrong, but the Lord is teaching me to trust Him, even with my thoughts, that He will never give me more than I can handle and that He has a plan for our lives. So with happy hearts, we welcome the new life developing in me and pray everyday for the baby's health and blessing in our lives.

My Mom flew in for a quick visit this past weekend, as my younger sister Brooke had a biopsy on a lymph node that had swollen and started to pain her greatly. After the surgery on Friday, she was in poor condition as the surgery was much more complicated than originally thought, but she has recovered well, and having my Mom here was such a blessing. We got news today that the lymph node was filled with scar tissue and was bleeding into it, and it had also attached to her muscle, which is why it started to hurt so bad. They said there was no indication of any cancer and that they don't expect it to come back as they were very thorough to remove it all. God is so good.

We had our first Sunday together as a Church! The kids seemed to really enjoy the activity that Chris Pratt put together for them. How fun to be able to worship together as families. Brooke even stayed for church and our team meeting afterwards.

There is a lot in my life that come and go everyday, and then get forgotten, even if at the time they seemed monumental. God is teaching me not to worry. That He is bigger than my biggest fear or worry and that I can't put Him into a box. He simply won't fit into any that I could imagine. I visited a church with one of the families we have become very fond of and their pastor had a profound quote from a woman who survived the Holocaust:

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow;
it empties today of its strength"
~Corrie Ten Boom

What a great idea and something I have been looking at from a lot of different points of view. Its so true and from a Christian point of view, God needs us to be present in the now, to be able to give Him all of our strength and courage, not melting wastefully into the worries of days to come.

Lord help me to look to you for every doubt, fear, and question. Help me to remember that you are a big God, and also a God that is small enough to know my heart. Thank you Father, for your diversity and grace.

Summer is winding down...here comes, more summer???

Yeah that's right... Its funny that June-August is summer here to people who were born and raised here, yet September-November feel like the summers I remember in NY, and I'm sure this is the same many other implants are feeling as well.. and I love it. 102 is a little to hot for Dawson and I so sunny 70's and 80's is like paradise to me! When Dawson wakes up after his morning nap I run upstairs and smile on the inside and out as I see his one-tooth grin beaming at me, elated to see Mommy appear once again from behind the door. We bop down the stairs and make our way out side and sit on a chair I have placed on our patio over looking the canal. As he lays cuddled on my chest soaking up the last couple minutes of being sleepy and I soak up those last couple minutes of him smelling sleepy (Moms will understand the sleepy smell) and my cup over-flows with love, pride, and joyfulness. And I think to myself, today is going to be a good day.

I wonder if this is what God feels like when we curl up to the bible and soak up His word. Or when we put a little extra in the offering plate, go out of our way to be kind to a stranger, do something something for our spouses wanting nothing in return other than their smile, or asking for nothing but giving everything... or something just as simple as having a quiet moment to say "I love you Lord, I love you for who you are, and I thank you for loving me" I wonder if He thinks "Sarah, today is going to be a good day."


We have ventured to the beach a couple of times so far. It was too hot for a stretch, but we are hoping to get there more now that the weather is cooling off. Get this, they close the pool in October! Just as I was thinking that Dawson and I could enjoy it. I guess they forget how many northern implants they have here!



Dawson playing to cool for the ladies walking by!


Dawson and David enjoy playing Wii together. Must be the boys were playing shirts and skins!


Dawson and I hanging out at a playdate I hosted for my Moms group. I have been involved with a wonderful, supportive group of women who get together daily for playdates and lunches, or adventures around Wilmington. They have been such a blessing to me in helping me transition into a routine here in NC.


The many faces of Dawson. My Father sent Dawson a goody package with a John Deere hat. Surprisingly, he loves sporting it around the house! Chicks dig it!


My silly boy eating whipped cream, one of his many favorite sweet treats!


I can't believe how big he is getting. Walking, talking, throwing tantrums (heheh). I feel so blessed to be a Mother and can't wait to do it all over again!

Sunday in Leland

Today was a great day! The weather was poor and my allergies stink, but it was Sunday. Ahh Sunday! I have always enjoyed Sundays but for different reasons at different times in my life. When I was young it was a time to see friends at church and play in the yard. In high school it was a lazy day, being a day of rest and all. In my college years (OK my 20's) it was a day of recuperation. Then, it was a day to spend with my beautiful family quietly dwelling in Gods presence.Now??? I am glad you asked..sundays are filled with questions, anxiousness, tears, joy, laughter, fear, fellowship, prayer and soul searching. It is awesome. Every Sunday our core-group for Crosswinds Church meets for lunch and a meeting. This meeting is our weekly time to gather and share the great blessings and challenges we are facing together as we try to follow God's call to plant a church here in Wilmington. I cannot begin to describe how honored I feel that God would allow ME to serve Him in this way.

This service we heard this morning was from John 4. Verse 34 Jesus says " My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work" Work is the word that strikes me. I understand work. The work he is speaking of is gathering the harvest because it is ripe and ready to be reaped. And as all of us know, there is a finite time in which to accomplish a harvest. Grain soon falls, and ripe fruit soon rots. We are to set about HIS WORK! Not tomorrow or the next day because some of the harvest WILL BE LOST! Can you live with that? I pray that I cannot, that my food is to do the will of God. Verse 38. " I sent you to to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor" My fervent prayer is that I will labor and not stop until my God says "well done, good and faithful servant."

I will leave you with this quote from the book Wild Goose Chase:

"when we turn Christianity into a noun, it becomes a turnoff. Christianity was always intended to be a verb. And, more specifically, an action verb. Some of us live as if we expect to hear God say, "Well thought, good and faithful servant!" or "Well said, good and faithful servant!" God isn't going to say either of those things. There is only one commendation: "Well done, good and faithful servant."

David's attempt at the blog

I thought I should give this a try and try to help Sarah chronical this adventure. Our journey is really starting to begin in earnest. We are all here and meeting regularly as a core goup. We are really praying(as I hope all of you will) that God really directs us as we try to create the DNA of Crosswinds Church. The task at hand is really impossible without the supernatural power of Christ, and that is exactly the way it should be. I have never felt God so close as when I am specifically praying for this church plant and I know that he is going to do great things in this city we are all coming to love. I am going to sign off for now (since I type 6 words a minute) but I am going to add this quote I found:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.