The Snyders in Germany

    But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.  Beloved, I urge you as pilgrims and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

DIY 

snowflakes 

from 

paper

coffee filters

these are so fun and easy to make

a great activity for adults 

and especially one to include the kids on!

what you'll need:

coffee filters of any size

-i prefer the bigger the better :)

a pair of scissors

for garland: you can use fishing line// hemp string// or another type of your choosing

 the nice thing is that because of their thin, light weight, 

you can string them from very thin thread with no problems

- my paper ones needed thicker string -

1) fold your coffee filter in half
then into half again
and once more

2) next cut out desired shape

3) unfold and hang gladly all around the whole house!

- - - - -  for garland- - - - -
thread your needle with clear thread
then thread it through the snowflakes
and hang, double-sided tape worked great for me
but you can also knot the end, and tack it to the wall

have fun making up your own

snowflake shapes..

just like in real life;

no two are the same

these have made our home feel 

much more cheery since we don't

really get snow in southern california..

ENJOY

-mrs. s  

:) 

oh how we miss germany... reminiscing with pictures..


-all photos taken by us, mr & mrs snyder

Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

wow it's been awhile.. but there's a reason why! we had visitors in town, then, we moved, which included packing moving unpacking (and we're still unpacking :)  ) but oh it feels amazing to be pretty much moved in! it was pretty sad to say goodbye to our apartment though.. i mean it was our first real home, and it's where we brought baby p home to, so that was a little sad to move away from but we are really loving our new home! our great friends (reesie and mr. t) bought a sweet house so we are renting two rooms from them :) good times.

yesterday my mom calls me in the late morning to see what miss peyti and i were up to, we were just hangin out...

then she offers to come over and help clean!

i say:

 YES/ of course!/ why ask?/ please come!/ YOUJUSTMADEMYDAY/ i love life!

so she came over, and we really had such a delightful time, some good ol' mother-daughter time!

while she was over we conquered the dish mountain, the living room, and the bathroom, and she helped herd the baby from wherever i was trying to clean by playing with her and distracting her.

YIPPEE

also, she was able to teach me more about sewing, and cutting out patterns, etc. she's making peyton some cute dresses and wanted me to be able to do it myself too. yay more sewing skills for me :)

anyways, i just wanted to say how truly thankful i am to have such an awesome-thoughtful-hardworking-loving-selfess-caring-wonderful mama!

it was so nice to have her pop over out of the blue and help me out. she also gave me some practical advice for avoiding dish mountain which i've already been putting into practice. to finish off the awesome day, that night she watched peyti so aaron and i could have dinner and hangout alone after he was off work! we had such a fun time! i love my husband, he's a crack-up. we enjoyed a yummy homemade chicken pot pie and some sparkling white grape juice.. even though we only had an hour and a half free, it was a much needed and appreciated lil date!

and another shout out to my awesome mother in law, mama joy, who always rescues me in regards to cooking (at least the recipes she taught me how to do) thanks mama! i love you too!


la la la i love naptime..
 the mrs.

WOW! it's finally happened, D began working at LAX, the job we had prayed for, the work we had prayed to come, and in abundance. quite a transition from spending a lot of time together to about 2 hours a day.. even Baby P has noticed his absence. when he came home from day one (sat) he went in to shower and she crawled after him, and hit the door crying! so sad, yet cute at same, time, anyways i stood in there and he talked to her over shower (cuz he's nice and tall and can look over hehe) but ya it's just crazy and amazing to think, its over. being unemployed is over with. into a new season, a busy one, a fruitful one. and so amazing too because our first instinct has been, how can we be a blessing! it was harder before, yet possible, but harder because of a real lack of financial resources, but now it's like a world of opportunity. woohooo and exhilarating yet! it has been quite nice to have the time around the home though, it was weird while he was out of work, because it kind of felt like i was too. even though, my job (homemaker) was still very needed etc it was like my motivation was gone and i didn't really know how to fulfill my role while he was around, but the moment he works, its like i go into workin mode and the house gets clean, good food gets made. its a good feeling! by the way i feel like i shouldn't have been so unmotivated i wish i would've stayed the same, but for some reason it didn't happen. like an epidemic! even if he had a day of work, it would happen. weird but that was my experience. the provision God provided over those past 6 months was purely glorious! i dont believe it was chance, or coincidence, but God. His word declares He will supply all of our needs, that He feeds the sparrow and clothes the lily and we need not worry for we are of far greater value than they. matthew6:33 declares, "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things (food clothes needs etc) will be added unto you." and i believed it for my life as a single, i believed it for my wedding planning, and we believed it as a family! and the Lord does not lie, we never lacked a single thing! we had everything we needed when we needed it. men may place dead lines or set time for things but Gods timing is perfect. I once heard, "God is rarely early, but never late." it's a beautiful thing to take Gods word at face value and tell Him, Lord your word says_____________ex: you will provide. so Lord, I am going to give you the first fruits (the best and not leftovers) of all i have! my time, talent and treasure. and Lord, I trust you will provide for all my needs.

See that He does not respond when this is done with a pure heart! He loves His children more than we could ever fathom. it is written

"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"

i say amen. it is true. the most valuable precious thing God could have ever given us was His Son Jesus. why would he withhold anything else?

have you had any personal experiences with this! please share your favorite story!


-with a thankful heart,
      mrs. s

staying at home with baby has been positively one of the best things ever! ya know, something i've realized is that somebody needs to raise your children. why not you? i mean, why have children if only to pass off the work to somebody else? I am not talking about every now and then because, obviously it's important to get a break, but full time is something different. How glorious to raise up godly children! What a delight to know all the hard work you put in, will someday hopefully have an eternal payout! I know some people think it's "not possible" these days... but it is. Mr. S and I are living proof. yes, there will be sacrifices, like maybe you won't be able to buy a brand new car, or have every possession you desire, but you will know your children are being raised to know God, they will know they are loved, and isn't that worth the sacrifice of "things"?! but i don't even know if "sacrifice" is the right word, because the blessing is far greater! aaron and i have not lacked a single thing by me staying home, and it's even more beautiful/glorious/amazing because he hasn't had work since february! and yet STILL the Lord provides :) but it's really our responsibility in the end, as in, we have to make good choices now, or else yes both parents do need to work due to financial commitments made. now for example, before making a big purchase, example: a new car, determine, is it going to be possible to carry on such financial burdens when a child comes (without both parents working)? if eating out is something that is regular, consider... eating in. take the time to prepare your breakfast lunch and dinners. it's amazing the amount of money saved, and add onto that the time you have to search out good deals because you aren't at work, tired, and in a rush to just eat anything. you can meal plan, bargain hunt, and add that special ingredient to all that's made... love. it really is a blessing to be able to serve up a warm meal to your husband after he's been gone working all day. though there are definitely challenges. planning out the week's meals ahead of time is such a help to the 'what should i cook' question, and that is both time and cost effective! being a stay-at-home mom doesn't mean you don't do work, not at all! it's just your work is in your home. there is nothing wrong with a wife/mom who does side work/part time even on the side. in fact that's what we see modeled by the proverbs 31 woman. the point is more rather, is your full time job outside the home? the Bible teaches us to be good stewards of all our resources, our time, treasures, and talents. how is the Lord teaching you to be a good steward? are you being faithful with that which has been entrusted to you(money, care of your home, and children)? i hope so! i don't write any of this to condemn anyone or to say there is one right way, but i think it's something important for women and parents to consider... i'll leave y'all with this verse

"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." -colossians 3:2

until next time,
mrs. s

Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a fattened ox and hatred with it.

-proverbs 15:17

how you should interact with a fellow believer?
- love one another, submit to one another, esteem others higher than yourself.

"but they aren't a believer!"

okay, let's be more general, how should you deal with your neighbor?
- love your neighbor as yourself. (mark 12:31)

"but, you don't understand, they are more like an enemy than my neighbor!"

well then, how are we instructed to deal with our enemies?
- love your enemies and do good to them which hate you. (luke 6:27)

end of story. love. i know it can be hard, but it's what's commanded. Jesus spoke about loving those who are easy to love and how basically anybody can do that, even those who don't know God, but true love is loving those who are hard to love, those who may not "deserve" the love. being gracious, giving them what they don't deserve > loving somebody who actually deserves punishment. it is in situations like this we learn to be like Christ; who is gracious, merciful, and unconditionally loving. it's what we all want. we would give everything to obtain it. there's no question, love is better.

with love,
mrs. s

"count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." [james 1:2-4]
i have read this verse so many times, yet when i faced trials, it seemed hard to have joy. i had the revelation the other day though that how Christians respond to trial is something that totally sets us apart from nonbelievers. it is so typical for the enemy to try to steal our joy, because it can be a way to disarm us, or discourage us, but james encourages by saying no! count it joy! even though things may be hard God will use it to do great things! we are encouraged and given a reason to be joyful.

"looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." [Hebrews 12:2 ESV]
even JESUS, the Son of God, had to look to what lie ahead and not dwell on the momentary affliction. He is our perfect example, He did not let the enemy of men's soul steal His joy and lead Him into disobedience, no He pressed on for He knew the joy which lie ahead. and we shall do likewise. like job, we shall bless the name of the Lord no matter what the season. yes He gives and takes away. shall we only bless Him when its in our favor?! no of course not. so i encourage you all, when you face trials, when things seem hard, when life is stressful, call on Jesus, get into Gods word, cause we can do it alone. we must be filled with the Spirit, for JOY is a fruit of the Spirit. we should be able to have joy in every situation, paul is right, because we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us and we know that the suffering we experience now cannot even be compared to the glory that is to be revealed!! don't let your joy be taken from you, no but persevere in prayer, and be filled with joy from our great Father in heaven!

[feel free to share what difficult circumstances God has given you to be joyful through and to strengthen your faith through, that we'll lack in nothing. ]

with much joy thanks to Jesus,
the mrs. :)