March 16th marked our 12th Anniversary!  Lee is a great photographer, don’t you think?  We haven’t always “gotten away” for our Anniversary, but we have for the last few years and it has been a great investment in our family.  Last year we enjoyed Fort Rock so much, we decided to go back.  This year we were joined by our friends the Mashburns.

Fort Rock is an awesome Christian camp!  We can’t say enough about the awesome time we always have there.  We went last year for Family Camp and had a blast then too.  This year we enjoyed sermons from S. M. Davis.  We always enjoy his messages and we came back home with many more dvd’s to watch.  You can check him out at Solve Family Problems’ website www.solvefamilyproblems.org .  On the first night he preached “12 Reasons Why I Am For The Permanence of Marriage”.  It was very good!  Its so sad how so many in our culture today start out their marriage with the thoughts that they are going to “try it out” and when they encounter their first problem they are already gone.  Another great sermon was “Are You a Giver or a Taker”.  It was really eye opening and caused me to evaluate everything I do!  I have always considered myself a giver, but I thought of many more ways I can be a giver, and ways that I can take less.  He also preached on the demonic nature of anger.  When you think of how yelling and anger destroys our families and children, and gives place to the devil, it is much easier to keep your cool!  It is much easier to raise children with tenderness and compassion than it is to repair broken adults.

His last sermon was about the two paths a person takes when they go through a trial.  He called them the garbage trail and the golden trail.  God allows and sends trials in a Christians life to refine us like gold.  It is up to us to choose the right path.  So many will take the garbage trail and pick up garbage along the way.  They will pick up a why me attitude, anger, doubt, fear, jealousy and come out defeated carrying all their burdens with them on the other side.  Then God looks down and sees that they have learned nothing and sends another test to see if they can get it right.  Most people will habitually take the garbage trail.  Most will try to walk through life alone and never will experience the blessings that are found on the golden trail.  On the golden trail you pick up things as well like…patience, peace, compassion, understanding, love and joy.  When you take this trail through your trial you learn and grow in the Lord and come out a better person, ready and able to help others when they go through a similar place.  Let us pray now that when the next trial approaches we will choose the right path!  Let us pray that people will remember us for our smile not our frown!  Let us be a giver instead of a taker!

We enjoyed the trail ride!  It brought back memories of our honeymoon in the Smokey’s 12 years ago!

Baby Stella enjoyed “hanging” out with her Mom and Dad

Target shooting with friends

Jake and Jess were kind to babysit Stella while we were shooting

What’s a few tomahawks between friends?

Tomahawk throwing is much harder than it looks!  It is a lot of fun though! I actually got 2 out of 6 this time! Last year I scored a 0.

Bow and Arrow fun!  Between our shooting, tomahawks and bows, Don said he knows why the Indians lost!

Saturday evening we were  also joined by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar.  They are great speakers and are very encouraging.  Michelle is such a kind hearted lady and has a special heart for young mothers.  It was sweet to watch her taking time with so many women at the retreat, encouraging, offering wisdom from God’s word and praying with them.  She is very petite and has a sweet voice like a whisper, but man can she WHISTLE!  I guess you would need that with 19 children!

The view from our door

Well that’s it!  We missed our babies and were ready to come home, but it was an awesome time of much needed fellowship and re-commitment!  We look forward to Marriage Retreat 2015!