Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.
Ephesians 2:7-10 The Message

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Still here...

As I was sitting here, catching up with old friends on Facebook, I realized it's been a whole month since I posted anything here on our blog. That's way too long. So I'm going to rectify that right now.

I have no excuses, it isn't because nothing has been happening or that we have been too busy. I just haven't done it. Sorry!

So in the last month what have we done? Hmmm...

Butch has spent a lot of time in the woods. It has been hunting season for what seems like FOREVER! First it was bear and deer season. (Grady hunted with him) But the deer were very elusive, at least the ones he could shoot at! And of course the bear we saw was before bear season opened. Then it was Elk season, bear season was still open. (And Grady hunted again) The Elk were more elusive than the deer. Then there was a short reprieve (1 week) and it was Elk season again for Muzzleloading. (Spencer hunted this time) The Elk are not so elusive, today they even showed themselves. BUT...other hunters spooked the herd that Butch and Spencer were watching and they couldn't get a shot at one. (Sigh) They have one last chance Monday.

But that means I get to go grocery shopping alone. It's been a long, long, long time since that has happened. And I must say that I am looking forward to it:) I must get to making my list and make sure I get everyhting I need for the coming whirlwind of holiday baking. (Cookie Exchange Thursday)

We have had some snow but it is mostly gone now. The last 2 days have been absolutely beautiful. The temps were in the low 40's but if you were sitting inside where it is roasty toasty it was easy to convince yourself that it was in the 70's! Today the mountain finally showed itself and it is such a breathtaking sight with all that fresh snow. So breathtaking I didn't even take a picture. I guess you will have to come see it for yourself:)

Things are going very well with church. We have seen some new families coming recently and numbers have been up on Sunday morning and bible studies have had consistent attendance. We have been having Sweet Thursday once a month (which is just a fancy way to say let's get together for dessert) and are seeing new ladies come to that. We are excited about what God is getting ready to do in Glenwood and pray that our church family is ready!

I have been helping out with the band at school and loving it. I still need to dust off my clarinet and actually play it, but helping new students learn to play has been inspiring. I miss giving guitar lessons and hope to start up after the first of the year. Seeing a child's eyes light up when they have mastered a new song gets me fired up!

I'm looking forward to a busy December. This next week will find me making a quick trip to Bonney Lake to hold a Close to My Heart Workshop. I have missed holding workshops and hope that this will get my business going again. It'll be nice to get the creative juices flowing again. I realized recently that I have barely scrapbooked at all this entire year. I must change that!

Well, that is probably enough of my ramblings for one evening. Consider yourself updated on the exciting lives of the Hallenbeck family.