Boys will be...

What happened at the WyldLife Boy's Night you ask? I'll show you what I know... 

Lots of TV's for lots of video games

More TV's

A 5 pound bag of candy...GONE.

It looks like they put candy in the blender...

They fought over who had to go to the bathroom the most?

NOPE. Someone threw up the candy concoction... (and this is their idea of "fun"?!)

Looks like someone got the spare bed... there had to have been a battle for that....

            

Perhaps it was a 'NERDS' battle, cause these things are everywhere...

"Don't ask me what happened..."

"I dont know anything and I swear I didn't get ANY candy...none at all...not one piece..."

I don't think I'll ever know what happened...

Boys will be....

I'll let you finish that one.

God, what is your plan for us?

I have been struggling lately, thinking about how I thought we would be out of Northern Virginia by now, and living in an orphanage in Arkansas, showing children the love of God.  Since that hasn’t happened, we have been asking “God, what is your plan for us?” 

Last night, while reading John 1, God really spoke a truth that I needed to hear at that specific moment.  After Mike and I had been talking about what the future held and what would be the right direction for us to take, I opened the Bible and decided that I would read the book of John over the next few days. 

I started reading and came to John 1:22-23

Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord’”

I paused here for a moment and read the study part of my Bible that explains things a little more and it says… “The leaders kept pressing John to say who he was because people were expecting the Messiah to come. The Pharisees missed the point. They wanted to know who John was, but John wanted to prepare them to recognize who Jesus was. 

After reading, God was saying to me, “Stephanie, you are on this earth to make a way for me, to show others me”. 

Simple as that. 

I am here, to show people Jesus, to make a way for Him. It does not matter where I am or what I am doing. 

He also reminded me how important the WyldLife kids are to Him. He reminded me that the kids here in northern Virginia, that do not know their heavenly Father, are orphans.

I still hope that someday we will be working in an orphanage or something along those lines, but I trust the Lord and know that He has the plan for our lives.

He is in control. 

Daybook

Outside my window... is the sun…somewhere. There are no windows in the back of the office where my desk is.

I am thinking... Summer. Please.

I am thankful for... family & the love of Christ that never ends.

From the kitchen... Lots of chicken and vegetables.

I am wearing... Gray dress pants, a black top and a hideous, way too big for me, MBH black cardigan…It is freezing in here!

I am still creating... a healthy lifestyle. Let’s just say it’s a work in progress.

In my mailbox this week... Nothing exciting, a few bills and JUNK. I finally went online and took my name off of some list so that credit card companies cannot send you stuff saying “you have been pre selected!”  I would get like 4 a day and that was annoying.

I am reading… “Kisses from Katie” Mike got me this book for Christmas and I love it. It is about a 19 year old girl who went on a trip to Uganda and fell in love with the place and its people. She started an organization called Amazima, which helps fund children to go to school and receive school supplies. She now lives in Uganda and has adopted 11 children…so far (I am not finished the book)!!! It is crazy to read her stories and hear of the poverty that she see’s every day. Here is a link to her blog...
http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/

I am hoping... for a new place to live by June 1st! Our lease will be up.

I am hearing... the ‘click-click’ of keyboards

Around the house... not too much is going on in the Hamme home. And who knows that those crazy animals are doing right at this second…I still think we should get a camera to see what they do while we are gone during the day… 

One of my favorite things... last week was…Eating lunch at Gainesville Middle with my WyldLife friends!

A few plans for the rest of the week… We have dinner with Ryan & Lindsay (our WyldLife area director and his wife) and Club on Saturday!

"Seek and you will find. Don't be willing to accept an ordinary life."  Vimala Thaker

Hello March!

Hello March!

I hope you will move along just as quickly as January & February so that summer can make it’s way here!

Not too much has gone on in the Hamme household over the past month or so...

Utley making sure the food in the Crockpot is safe

They watch us, confused, while we do P90X

When Marley started squeezing himself into Utley's bed, we thought maybe we should get him his own

So we did :)

WyldLife is going strong, we had over 70 middle school friends at our last Club and it was SO much fun! Mike, Kaitie & I are the skit characters for the semester and we are having a lot of fun with that. I will have to post some pictures soon.

“I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring you back from captivity.”

                                                                                        Jeremiah 29:14

Daybook

Outside my window... is SNOW!

I am thinking... I hope I get to play in the snow tomorrow with Mike & Marley

I am thankful for... SNOW.

From the learning rooms... I am learning that each morning we have a choice on whether or not that day will be a good one or a bad one. It’s all about our attitude.

From the kitchen... nothing tonight! Mike & I were blessed with a gift certificate to McCormick’s & Schmick’s so we went out on a date tonight. (Thank you Marissa)

I am wearing... PJ’s!

I am creating... a healthy lifestyle.

In my mailbox this week... was a letter from Chelsea! And a package from Mike’s mom with the book Mike got me (Kisses for Katie) for Christmas that I accidentally forgot. I love getting mail.

I am reading… "Self Talk, Soul Talk" by Jennifer Rothschild. It’s a book about speaking truth to your self instead of lies. What do you tell yourself?

I am hoping... God will bless Olga (our waitress tonight) She was the sweetest. She told us how she has a degree in dental hygiene and no one will hire her because of her strong Russian accent.

I am hearing... Mike’s iPhone game noises…what is Temple Run?

Around the house... is a lot of relaxing. Oh and working out.

One of my favorite things... PINTEREST. Yikes! A new way to waste my time, just what I needed.

A few plans for the rest of the week… continuing P90X, getting together with fellow Wyldlife leaders, and our first campaigners on Sunday the 29^th!

“Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re right.”

       Henry Ford

What do you say?

I have started to read “ Self Talk, Soul Talk” by Jennifer Rothschild.  It’s a book about how we talk to ourselves each day and the things that we are saying. Jennifer says that “some psychologists and neuroscientists have concluded that everybody maintains  a continuous, ongoing silent dialogue, or stream of self talk, of between 150 and 300 words a minute.” I immediately thought, “there is no way I talk to myself that much”. She goes on to say that most of these thoughts are usually harmless or neutral like “where did I put my keys” or “I need to go to the cleaners today”. And then I thought for a second, okay I do that. I need to do laundry today because if I wait any longer it is going to get out of control! Did I tell Mike I loved him before I left for work this morning?

So I do talk to myself…a lot, all day long. But these aren’t things that we need to be concerned about. The things we need to realize that we are saying to ourselves are the things that build us up or break ourselves down.

I then realize all of the doubt that I have placed in my soul about my self-image recently. And now that I have a job that requires me to go up to people that I have never met before and introduce myself, it has caused me to really analyze myself in front of the mirror everyday before work. Ugh, your hair is so frizzy today, ew. Or Yikes! I didn’t put enough make-up on, I can’t talk to people today.

Then there are mornings where I am standing strong in front of the mirror and decide to go to work without any make up on. God thinks I am beautiful just the way I am, and so should I. I jump in the car and I am off to work singing Bruno Mars…

“When I see your face, 
There's not a thing that I would change,

Cause you're amazing, 

Just the way you are”  

Then I look in my rear view mirror and scream, What was I thinking?! Bruno Mars is NOT talking about a girl with no make-up on. I reach into my purse and begin to put on my make-up. Well that was a noble attempt.

My point is that we sometimes tear ourselves down, thinking that we need to be something better than what we are. That we need to have the right “look” or the right clothes.  I don’t know about you, but that is a lie that I tell myself almost every day.

So here is my prayer lately,

God, please help me to see myself the way you see me, to know that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. To help me to remember that beauty is not what this world says it is. God help me to speak truth to myself everyday and not fill my mind with lies. To know that I am beautiful just the way I am.

What do you tell yourself everyday?

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139:13-14)

December Happenings

I cannot believe December is half-way over with!

From December 9th-11th, we took 41 of our middle school friends to Goshen, VA for WyldLife Winter Weekend at Rockbridge YoungLife Camp! We had a large number of our friends stand up and proclaim that they wanted to live their life for Christ.

God is Good.

I am so thankful to be apart of this ministry.

When we returned home on the 11th Mike & I celebrated our 6 month anniversary, time is flying by. We celebrated by going to see the Festival of Lights, which I wanted to do last year but we never got a chance. And we picked up KFC for dinner on the way home. 

It's the simple things in life.

I love this man. And all of that hair and mustache.