Birthday Celebration!

My oldest is turning 12 today and I cannot believe how time has flown!  I feel like I had him just a few years ago!  It is bittersweet to think about this being his last year of "official childhood" since next year he will become a teenager....yikes!  I won't apologize for gloating about him for a few lines either...lol!  He has become such a great young man and Cliff and I are so proud of him!  He is a very energetic boy with lots of hobbies......soccer, BMX racing, playing trombone, drawing, and building with lego's...i truly believe he may become an architect....i have never seen someone put together an 800 piece lego set in just under 2 hours...he amazes me!  Most importantly though, he is a child of God and he is already beginning to truly see the difference between the worldly and those who live for Christ!  It has required some tough conversations that I thought wouldn't come until many years later, but unfortunately that is what our world has come to.  It breaks my heart to think of the struggles that he is facing in middle school that I never encountered until high school or college.  He is a strong young man with a good head on his shoulders and I know that God has great things planned for his life....i can't wait to see what they are and where God will lead him (insert my goofy smile from ear to ear)....just a few pics from the last year of my little boy turning into a young man.....

 

 

5th grade graduation present

Hunter and his buddy Caleb at camp

at the beach over the summer

at a BMX race in Maryland...he's in 1st!

his 1st place trophy from Maryland

Hunter gets his trombone.....

Hunter's first day of Middle School

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday to Jesus, the one who came to save us from the evil of the world!  May your Christmas be Bright and your New Year grand too!

heather

today is.....World AIDS Day

these are the most precious and beautiful faces that you will ever see....look into their eyes and you will sometimes see sadness, but also you will see hope!  these are the future leaders of south africa...the sadness is due in part to the HIV/AIDS rate in their country...many of these children are sold for sex at a very young age....these pictures are from True Love Waits presentations that a mission team that I was so blessed to be a part of did in and around Durban...which has the highest HIV/AIDS (@ 40%) rate in the country...some of the pics show children signing a purity card...it states that they will remain abstinent from having sex until they are married...we saw so many young people sign these cards, but that just opened up the door for a conversation into how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ...

today is WORLD AIDS DAY, it is not a celebration, but a day to come together and stand up and fight for the prevention of HIV/AIDS...and in today's world, the only answer to HIV and AIDS is GOD!!!  teaching those around the world about who Jesus is and also how to remain pure prior to becoming married is the only way for the disease to be stopped!
i ask that you take a moment today to stop and pray for all those that are suffering with this disease, as well as those who are living in countries where HIV/AIDS isn't even acknowledged as being real...