It's Been Too Long!

Okay, so once again, I have neglected posting. Sorry y'all, but, when life gets busy, internet is not exactly my top priority! It's been another crazy month. I keep wondering when life is going to settle down, but it looks like it just keep getting busier!

What I've been doing:
     ~Reading The Christian Counselor's Manual by Jay Adams and gaining invaluable insights about bringing people to hope and change through God's Word,
     ~Continuing to read Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem (hoping to finish it by Christmas),     
     ~Preparing to play the epic song "Fantasie Impromptu" next month in my piano recital,
     ~Visiting my brothers and friends in Kentucky and enjoying Christian fellowship, lots of laughs and good talks, and helping my brother and his fiance prepare for their wedding
     ~Having six girls over for a Bible study/sleepover and doing WAY too much giggling and game playing ;)
     ~TRYING to finish my high school subjects - Spanish 3, History, Literature
     ~Staying busy with about a hundred and one other misc things that come up in life!

What I've been learning:
     ~Our pastor is teaching about Esther on Sundays and I'm learning about Esther's wisdom, courage, and faith in God. She used her winsome ways not to charm and manipulate, but to rescue a nation. Also, seeing the contrast between Mordecai's humble faithfulness and Haman's pride and ungratefulness.
     ~Reading in Joshua in my devotions is encouraging me to fight HARD against the "ites" (sin) in my life - even if it takes a long time and isn't a pretty battle, I must let NONE remain,
     ~God is really convicting me about how I treat my family. I am such a "servant" in public, but I'm not a true servant unless I'm willing to serve EVERYONE. Especially my family, since my duty is first to them.
     ~And another big things God's revealing is my critical spirit. Why is it that when I look at something, the first thing I see is what's wrong? I want to see through hopeful - not skeptical - eyes.

What I am excited about:
     ~My brother's wedding in less than 7 weeks!!
     ~The snowbanks in our yard are finally melted and it's warm enough for short sleeves :)
     ~My last recital ever is in 4 weeks. It will be a sad goodbye, but a wonderful finale.
     ~God is not letting go of me and never will. No matter how many times I fail Him, He continues to love, chasten, and sanctify me. He has plans for my life!

So that's my life. Happy Spring, everybody!

I hear wedding bells!

Yes, you read that right! There is going to be a wedding in the family!! My oldest brother Erik is going to married to Patty, a lovely girl who lives just down the road from him in Kentucky. Over the past two years since Erik moved, they have become very good friends, and Erik has found her family to be a "second family" to him long before he pursued Patty. Her older brother is his best friend, and he has a close relationship with the whole family. For a long time, however, there were a lot of reasons why the two of them being together didn't seem like it could ever be a possibility. God, in his sovereignty, held off the relationship until they were ready, and now it has flourished into something beautiful. They truly have become best friends.

Erik Ryan and Patricia Machell

I knew he was planning on proposing and I've been waiting eagerly to write this post, but the proposal itself caught all of us off guard! He was planning something closer to Christmas, but then changed his mind as Thanksgiving approached, since we were having her whole family in our home for Thanksgiving. Our family likes to go around the table and say what we're thankful for after the dinner, and so he confided only in our mom and they "conspired" to have him sit with Patty in a little bench, last in the line-up giving thanks.

"Beloved, I must know: will you marry me??"

When his turn came, he told us that God has brought a lot of change to his life the past year and that he'd like to read a poem he wrote for this occasion. At this moment her sister and I looked at each other with wide eyes and jaws dropped! As he began the poem, he spoke of God's work in his life and other things, so we lost our suspicion. But then the poem changed direction and spoke of her. At the end he got down on one knee, lifted up the ring, and ended with the final line, "Beloved, I must know: will you marry me?"

These are courtship pictures - they courted for just five weeks before engagement!

Well, she said yes of course. And now we're all talking of weddings and such! Soon I will have a sister (in-law). How amazing! I am so thankful that God has given me such a brother and such a sister-to-be.

They can't seem to get enough of looking at each other!

And here are some pictures of just the bride-to-be.

And some cute faces!

Congratulations Erik and Patty! :)

~Cody~

And now, finally, a post about CODY! With the other two brothers it was hard to find pictures of them, but with Cody it's hard to decide which picture of him to use!

A couple of awesome photos of Cody in the rain, in a cowboy outfit :)

Yes, that's my brother, not a movie star :)

Cody is 19 years old and is right above me in birth order. This past April he moved to Kentucky, to rent a room in my brother Erik's house while he works in the warehouse for the Creation Museum. It started as a seasonal job, but soon a full-time position opened up, so he moved there for good.

Cody and his good friend Verde (whose real name is Daniel but Cody never calls him that!)

Cody is very outgoing and friendly, and has the kind of charismatic personality that really draws people to him. He also has a great sense of humor and keeps people laughing with his anecdotes and witty lines.

Cody has become known as "Cody the turtle farmer" because of his hilarious facebook videos of him with turtles he has found...  he saves them from being run over in the road - haha :)

Another snapshot from one of his turtle videos - do you think that turtle looks real??

Along with his humor, he has a lot of seriousness and a heat that is burdened for reaching the lost and reviving the church. Over the past few years God has really developed his understanding and fervor for the things of God like never before.

Having devotions on the shed roof before he moved away.

 God has given him a real eye for art and an ear for music. He uses both these gifts to glorify God and bless other people, by writing songs for the Lord and giving very artistic, heartfelt gifts. If you'd like to check out his music, visit his facebook page here.

Down by the Ohio river (a couple blocks away from their house) playing music.

He loves kids, and his vision for his future is to become a husband and a father, living a simple, honest life as the hardworking leader of his home.

This past March at our Wednesday night prayer group, with all the kids flocking around him!

I'm so thankful for Cody and the influence he's had on my life, which continues to grow. I miss him a lot but it's exciting to see God directing his life as he grows into a godly man!

Brother-sister date on his last visit home in August.

~Zach~

Yes, you knew it was coming,and here it is - the next post in my brother-post trilogy!

Enjoying the beautiful fall weather last year. And I just love that shirt, don't you?

Zach is my second oldest brother. He's 21 years old and lives at home, and he worked a job at a potato farm this summer. He threw rocks off of a conveyer belt of potatoes for 11 or 12 hours a day - in the burning sun, cold wind, sometimes even in rain or sleet. Coming home every day he was soo tired!I don't know how he managed to do it.

In front of my dad's 350 Z sports car - so cool! :)

Zach is generally introverted and keeps to himself. But he does enjoy getting together with one of his closer friends, or meeting with the men of the church to pray and encourage each other in the Word.

In the plane, headed to Florida this past April

He aspires to be a writer someday, and his written a book (not published) and some blog articles. He has strong beliefs about a lot of topics and enjoys writing about them.

Where you can usually find him - on his laptop in his room.

Science and facts interest him. He loves anything that gives him information about life, the world, how things work, and how things can be improved. In fact, he's often suggesting ways we can be more effective and efficient just in how we manage things at home.

Gigantic rock in front of our church's gymnasium - it's a great place to sit. :)

Since he's not outspoken, many people think Zach doesn't have much to say. But if you get to know him, you'll find out he is witty, passionate, talkative, hardworking, and full of a desire to be godly. So to anyone reading this who knows our family personally, take the time to get to know him! :)

From our family pictures at Christmas 2010

~Erik~

So I was just realizing that my most popular posts are about my brothers, (except Cody's didn't make it on there... weird! I promise it's definitely NOT because he's not interesting! lol. It's because many of the people who read my blog already know him well and wanted to know Erik and Zach) but those posts are very old! Looking back at them, I realize that my brothers have changed a LOT since I wrote those posts, so I decided to write new ones. Hope you enjoy them!

Let's start with Erik.

Headed to church during a visit home to NY in May. And if you're thinking, "He looks like a move character, but I can't figure out who," the answer is Mr. Tumnus from Narnia :)

Erik is my oldest brother, who just turned 23 on September 26. He moved to Kentucky just over two years ago, where he works full time at the Creation Museum as a web editor. He edits the grammar on all sorts of things, as well as writing and designing things. He's even been published in a book - he wrote 2 chapters in a book by Answers in Genesis about supposed Bible contradictions. He also write many of the devotionals that AIG puts online. So if you "like" Answers in Genesis on facebook, keep an eye out for devotionals by him! :) (And if you aren't familiar with Answers in Genesis - GASP! Get familiar right away!! It will seriously help your apologetics and your faith.) It's so neat that he is contributing to such an important ministry.

And the two of us together :)

How would I describe Erik? A lot of words come to mind. Mature. Weird. Country. Smart. Wise. Silly. Deep. Intuitive. Over all, he is a person who has a lot of depth and ideals, but is also very, well, weird. :)

Erik and Cody at a staff meeting at AIG... I can tell they were really paying attention ;)

He is very "guy" and he loves guns, woods, hunting, and all that. He also is somewhat of a cowboy, except that he lives in a small town and doesn't have much interaction with horses. But his dream is to live on a family farm someday.

I LOVE this picture! So handsome :)

He's not shy (as in, afraid to step out and meet people) but he's not a loud, outgoing personality, so it takes a while to get to know him. Once you do, you'll find out he has a lot of love for people and is a great listener, always helping people bear their burdens. He enjoys talking and having quality conversations with people, not just making small talk. You'll also find that he does the weirdest, most random things sometimes! And he's very intelligent. He has a thirst for knowledge and a capability to understand things that definitely surpasses mine.

Celebrating his 23rd birthday with his "second family" in Kentucky. They live down the road. Patty (left) is 17, Autumn (right) is 12, and they also have Gwen who is 16 and Otto (Erik's best friend) who is 19. Candy (center) is their momma and their dad is pastor of Erik's church. They are such a wonderful family!!

The "2" was falling down and his face is PRICELESS! Hahaha love it!

But, you don't have to get to know Him at all to see that he has a love and passion for Jesus Christ. He has a lot of understanding and wisdom about scripture and doctrine, but what's more, he knows the Lord personally and walks with Him. He is an amazing brother and sets an amazing example to me!

I love this guy! :)

The romance of life

It has been a busy and glorious fall! My education this year, as I said previously, has been exceptional because I get to study God's word as a large part of it. I've been busy with a million other things besides school though. And I thought fall would mean the start of life being more quiet and settled - ha! Somehow life has managed to fill itself up with friends, events, appointments, etc. We visited my brothers in Kentucky a couple of weeks ago, and it was delightful. Most of our time was also spent with the Neffs, our friends who live a couple of blocks away from Erik and Cody. They have a son and three daughters and our families have a BLAST together! We only stayed for a weekend but we crammed in lots of talking, laughing, taking walks, playing games, and a variety of other wonderful things, just enjoying each others' company. I miss everyone and can't wait to see them again. :)

As of yesterday, there are 8 weeks until the week of Thanksgiving. That should mean 8 weeks of peacefully spending my days studying and learning, sorting the closets full of clutter that have crept up on us, and attempting to get enough rest and rhythm to life to regain my sanity. I've brainstormed up yet another new schedule for my daily life (yes, I'm quite the planner) and though this is only day 2, it seems to be working very smoothly and hopefully will continue to do so for the next 8 weeks. I love it when life follows the peaceful cadence of happy home life.

The weather here is simply indescribable. New York is definitely at it's best in September, in my opinion. It's getting very cold, but the sunshine is so bright and strong that every afternoon it's perfect for taking a brisk walk. The sky is a deep blue that isn't seen the rest of the year, and the evening sun casts a lovely autumn gold over all of the greens, reds, oranges, yellows, browns, and purples of our country homestead. It's the kind of weather that inspires songs, poems, and prayers.

It's little things like these - weather, home, friendships, family, work, school, and everything we do and have - that make life romantic. And you know what? I think I'll go enjoy the romance of life right now!

Spring in Kentucky!

Well, I suppose it's about time I gave an update on my life! And before I do I might as well confess that I should be doing math right now. But I'd rather bog and listen to music, quite frankly. :)

Over Easter weekend we (Mom, Cody, and I) went to Erik's house in Kentucky. It was wonderful! Cody got a job at Answers in Genesis' warehouse, so he moved into Erik's house. Erik's best friend, Otto, also lives with him, so now Erik's house has become a houseful of guys. I can hardly believe Cody's actually gone for good... it's strange to think that he'll never live here at home again. Also, Erik's girl, Leah, was volunteering at the Creation Museum for a couple of weeks, so I got to see her too. She's such an amazing girl - I really enjoy spending time with her! The weather is absolutely beautiful in Kentucky right now. Where I live, spring is just mud, rain, and snow with a few pathetic flowers. At Erik's house, however, it's green, sunshine, and floods of gorgeous flowers covering the ground! Hearing the birds sing made my heart sing. We got to go on lots of walks in the woods, on beautiful trails, by the Ohio river, and just all over the place.  I love his little town and all of my wonderful friends there. Oh, I miss it so much! And of course, I visited the gardens at the Creation Museum and thoroughly enjoyed it. I got to sit by the waterfalls and flowers and just enjoy reading my Bible for a long time. I just keep praising God for what a fabulous visit it was.

Left to right: Otto, Erik, Leah, Me

Uhhh.. cute couple?? Haha!

I've also been thinking about the future quite a bit lately.  God seems to be leading me to some awesome things, and I am just praying and trying to figure out how they all fit together! It's exciting to know that He has ordered all of my steps, and all of my days. I am hopeful and eager to see all that he has in store!

Well, I had better get back to it. We're headed to Florida in less than a week and there's lot's to be done before that. Enjoy your day, everyone - and just remember, it's almost the weekend! :D

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

Guess what! Today I taught a piano lesson for the first time ever! :) :) It was exciting. I'm teaching an adorable little girl in our church who is very musically talented. After so many years, it was really fun to go back and look at my old primer books.

Cody is leaving for Kentucky tomorrow to spend 3 weeks with Erik, volunteering at the Creation Museum. Without him round, my life is going to be extremely boring! I am sure it will be wonderful for them, though, because they don't get to see each other much anymore. Having my brothers growing up and moving away while I'm just a junior in high school is strange.


I'm going to go bake some chocolate chip cookies to send for the guys tomorrow. Mmm :) Have a great night all!

Our visit to Kentucky :)

Last week I visited my brother Erik, in Kentucky. It was the most wonderful, refreshing week I've had in a long time. The reason we visited him was because he had to get all 4 of his wisdom teeth taken out, and needed some help through that. When he first came out of the surgery he was SO funny! The laughing gas and anesthesia made him totally loopy, and he would not stop talking, and saying the funniest things. The funniest part was that he had gauze in his mouth, and Novocaine making his mouth numb, so it was really hard to understand him. He was so funny! He was in pain for a while afterward, but overall he did very well, and was soon talking and laughing again.

Some of my best friends live in his little town, and I was extremely happy to see them again. I spent every evening at their house. It's so wonderful to be in a place where there are so many people who you love and who love you! We had lots of fun, and I miss them all a lot.

Also, we got to see the Garden of Lights at the Creation Museum. I was excited because, although I've been there many times, I've never been there at Christmas. It was absolutely spectacular. I adore Christmas lights, so it was especially beautiful to me. We even got to see a sneak preview of Christmas Town, and we didn't even plan on it! Another cool thing was seeing Jason Lisle's "Christmas Star" video at the planetarium. I have often wondered about what the Christmas star was, and it answered a lot of questions.

I am so blessed to have such an awesome family, and friends, and opportunities. :)

Unto thee, O God!

Well, last week was a VERY busy week! I had even more things going on than I told about in my last post. I was gone all day every day except Monday! I got a little behind on school because of that, so this week I am working hard at school to catch up. So, this busy November day I am thankful for:

Oatmeal with strawberries
Phone calls from my big brother
Stepping Heavenward (AWESOME book!)
Thunderstorms
Knitting (Yes, I am learning!)
Christmas shopping
Answered prayer
and Long, pretty skirts

Thanksgiving is soon. How are you going to celebrate? :)

"Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for
that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare." Psalm 75:1

Kentucky - Part 2

Okay, and now for the conclusion! :)

We were home for only 1 week before we went back to Erik's house again. This trip was a lot easier, but still had a lot of challenges. We were SO blessed. It's amazing how God has lead Erik all of the way... giving him the perfect job at the Creation Museum, leading him to a house in Petersburg, blessing him with a wonderful church family... everything!

I was with my awesome friends every day -it was SO much fun! When I'm with them, I can be myself. Even in spite of me being a total loser sometimes, they still loved me! It was really refreshing. We had tons of fun, crazy times, good talks, lots of laughs, and fellowship in Jesus Christ. What more could I ask for?!

Above: Lauren, Me, Patty, Otto ~~~ Below: Autumn, Patty, Me, Gwen

Below: Me, Patty, Candy, Otto

And Joseph. :) He wasn't there the day we took the other pictures, so I had to get a different one.


I got home again Monday, the 11th. It's been weird trying to get back into the rhythm of school/life/etc. I've been so blessed being home again though... I've missed my good friends here! God has also been working in me so much... I've been reminded of how important it is to live life 110% surrendered to Jesus Christ - not holding back, not distracted, not looking to anything or anyone but Him. He is enough. He is so much more than enough!

Kentucky - Part 1

Whoa! I haven't posted in a LONG time! The reason is that I have been in Kentucky for most of it! Yes, I know, I was only going to be there for a week... but things didn't go as planned... at all!! I don't know where to begin because so much has happened. I guess I'll have to leave out all of the details and just sum up.

Erik's house was a wreck at first!! We worked for a whole week and got some stuff put together, but not nearly all of it. It just so happened that Erik decided t get a well drilled, and God perfectly worked it out that he was able to get one right away!! You have NO idea how amazing that is! Many people wait months or even years to get their well drilled by the person who drilled his well. God's timing is amazing!!

Since he was getting a well drilled, though, we had to stay until it was finished. That meant that we stayed all the way until September 25 - more than 2 weeks!! It worked out so well, though, because we were able to get a lot more work done.

And, while I was down there, I met an AMAZING family - the Neffs!! They are the Pastor's family of Erik's church. I ended up hanging out with them every single day the second week of our trip! I've become really, really close with them... it was so hard to say goodbye! We had lots of fun, and God taught me SO much on the trip. In spite of how hard some things were, it turned out to be an amazing trip!!

We got home on Saturday night, the 25th. As it turned out, there was so much work left to do on Erik's house that we ended up going back a week later! I'll write about that another time though... I'm worn out from typing! :) Thanks for taking the time to read!

Craziness!!!

Wow, where do I begin?! The past 2 days have absolutely crazy! But yet, they have been so full of God’s mighty hand. Well, lets start at the very beginning... a very good place to start. :)

We left for Kentucky at about 12:30 PM on Friday. After about 45 minutes of driving, our minivan started having serious issues! We weren’t sure what to do... it was looking like we would have to wait at least another day before we left! We prayed about it, and after looking the vehicle over carefully I guess Mom and Erik were able to figure out why it was having a problem, and somehow we were able to be one our way again in less than an hour! Now, from were we live in NY to Erik’s house in KY, it’s about an 8-hour drive. With a couple of stops for restrooms and gasoline, we got there at 10:00 PM.

Erik’s house is kind of a fixer-upper - the whole place is dirty, old, and somewhat run-down. Since it’s not clean yet, we brought out camper to sleep in. But... it doesn’t really fit as many people as its supposed to. I mean, our family has 4 men that are all about 6 feet tall! So, Cody and Dad slept in the camper, Erik and I slept outside, Mom slept in the van and Zach slept inside. None of this situation has been ideal... we have no water (that means none to drink, shower or wash with), no beds, no appliances (no cooking, no laundry, no fridge... yeah.) But you see, that is how God has been shown to be so mighty through it all! We’ve truly had to rely on Him. And, we have been so blessed! The staff at the Creation Museum are such wonderful people! They are like a family. They’re letting us shower at the Museum!!! YAY!

There are so, so many more details I’d love to tell, but it would take too long. This post is getting long already! But PLEASE, PLEASE pray for us!!!! Everything is very difficult, and there’s tons to work to do. Thank you so much!! :)

My brother Erik!

Ah, another beautiful day that the Lord has made! And today, I get to write about Erik!
Erik is my awesome 20-year-old cowboy brother. Throughout my life, he has been a great friend and mentor to me.He is very smart and studious. When it comes to linguistics or grammar, I can always ask him for help, because he is spectacular at them! Since he loves languages so much, he loves to learn them. He knows at least a little bit of many different languages. Incredibly, he has even created languages!During the day, he is usually quite busy working as a web editor for Answers in Genesis. For the most part, he edits website articles, blog posts, and emails, or manages technical things.

Erik is very sweet and sensitive. Understandingly, he can always tell when I'm sad or upset. He's an admirable person. Exceeding my wisdom, his advice is something I really treasure. For me, it is very encouraging to talk to him because he always helps me to hold to a high standard in every area of life.
Theology, history, photography, computers, fantasy, books, and the outdoors are some of his many interests. As I mentioned before, he's kind of a cowboy. He loves horses, country music, and campfires. He looks great in a plaid shirt, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat!


He's crazy about music! Practicing often, he has learned to play guitar, pennywhistle, chord piano, djembe, and even a little bit of violin.

Doesn't he look great in his hand-made chainmail?

He's also carved flutes out of American bamboo, created languages, and written songs. He's so creative!

While he is often serious or calm, Erik can also be really fun! He and I have had a lot of laughs together. :) Sometimes we can be so silly, and just laugh for a long time about things that aren't even all that funny!
Dependability is a quality that Erik has that I really appreciate. I can always rely on him!
It's such a blessing to have a man of God like Erik for my brother! <3

My brother Zach!

Hey again! Today I get to write about... Zach!

My brother Zach is 18 and will be 19 on July 11th. He is a really awesome brother! Finding pictures of him was hard, but I got a few good ones. :)

Zach is imaginative and artistic. I think that is why he's also very good at writing. In his stories, he always writes very interesting things. Dragons are something he's especially interested in. If you were to look at the pictures he has drawn of them, and the clay models he's made, you would have to agree that he's quite skilled!

I'm not sure how he does it, but he can bake really well! Creatively, he bakes delicious food without even using a recipe! Even if he and I both baked something using the same recipe, I know his would turn out better! :)

Zach's not a particularly extroverted person; usually he enjoys being alone or with a few people he knows well, rather than being in a large crowd.

I love laughing, so I really enjoy how remarkably witty and funny he sometimes is!

Because he is extraordinarily smart when it comes to science and history, he understands a lot of concepts that I don't understand at all! He also knows a lot of miscellaneous facts about many other things. Memorizing things comes relatively easily to him, so he's great at memorizing scripture!

He's also very generous. If he gets a gift or something, he often loves to share it. :)


Considering all of the evil in this world, it is a rare and wonderful thing to see him seeking to be a man of God! It is fantastic to see him desiring to do what is right!

It is such a blessing to have a great brother like Zach, and I am so thankful for him!