Life in the Big Potato

I've never made many New Year's resolutions.  Fear of commitment I guess.  Or fear of failure.  This year I think I have come up with a good one: one push-up everyday. Before you scoff please consider the following reasons for this resolution. 1.  It is attainable.  I am very good at doing push ups.  I can easily do 2 sets of 20 within 5 minutes, no problem.  So one push up doesn't bother me in the least.  2.  It is flexible.  I can do one push up without sweating.  That way I can do it any time of day without worrying about taking an extra shower or changing clothes.  If I lay down and remember that I haven't done my OPUAD (One Push Up A Day) then I can quickly get it done without threatening my sleep pattern. 3.  It is extensible . If I decide I want to add more to the workout then I can certainly do so.  In fact I know I should do more exercise, so having the opuad in place will lay the foundation for an expanded routine. 4.  It is active.  This is not a resolution w...

With it being our first Christmas outside of Dixie, we were really hoping for a white Christmas like the ones Bing Crosby used to know when he went to Gonzaga University nearby. However, it looks like we may have gotten all the snow we are going to get for 2009. Which, after the last two years, no one seems to be upset about. We haven't posted much about the ministry that's going on in North Idaho recently, so I wanted to give an update. Our pastor is still working on getting settled in, finishing his new house, arranging things for his wife to join him here, etc. We've seen several people visiting the church checking things out. Please pray that the right ones will stick around and commit to being a part of God's work here. I (Bennett) have been meeting with some other pastors in town about how we can work together to impact the college campus. There's three of us (more to come maybe) that plan on simply meeting up at the campus week to week to pray meet stud...

Turning 30 wasn't so bad after all. Bennett did a great job of making sure I felt loved and appreciated ALL day long! And my friend Amy reminded me that it wasn't until Jesus turned 30 that He entered into ministry. Thanks Mike and Mindy for entertaining L Saturday night so we could have an amazing dinner at the Melting Pot!

Last Friday night we were invited to take part in the Silver Lakes Baptist Association Pastors' and Wives' Christmas Party. The party was hosted by FBC Bonners Ferry and held at the pastors home which is about an hour and a half travel from our house. The food was great at this party last year, so we did not want to miss out. Pastor Dugger lives up on a hill (in Mississippi we would call it a mountain) overlooking the town. So driving to his house takes you just out of town. As we passed through and were just leaving town our daughter let out a sigh from the back seat and said, "baby Jesus". Jana and I were very much entertained by this and laughed as I sped up the hill into the darkness. When I turned off the highway I saw what every driver hates to see most. Blue lights. I won't extend this post by telling you everything that went through my mind. Its enough to say that I wasn't sure why I had been pulled over. When the officer walked up the first th...

http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/?p=363 I'm re-posting this link, because I just think a lot of people need to see it.  There is explanation on the website.

We are back from Mississippi, and it was a great trip. L had a blast with her cousins and meeting all kinds of new people. She also experienced some southern traditions like fudge, sweet tea, and cracking pecans on Nana and Grandpa's farm! While we were home Bennett was able to share with FBC Houston, our supporting church, "Life in the Big Potato" from L's perspective. It was such an encouraging and emotional time as we were able to thank them for their amazing support over the past 3 1/2 years. This will be our first Christmas in Idaho, and Bennett's first Christmas away from his family. We decided since baby boy is coming soon it would be wiser to stay close to home. We're praying for a white Christmas centered on our Savior spent with close friends and our NorthStar Family. and some other things we're looking forward to this month: Christmas dinner with other churches in our association turning the big "30" this month seeing th...

I think I forgot to post this sermon I delivered October 4 at NorthStar. Audio Source File

This past weekend Bennett and I had the opportunity to go to the Weekend to Remember Marriage conference. Family Life invites full-time church staff and their wives to attend this conference free of charge, and these conferences take place all over the country. This weekend we along 400 other couples joined together at the Coeur d'alene Resort to invest in our marriages. For us this was a time of refreshment and renewal; however, there were couples attending in which this past weekend was their last resort. Here are some truths that God implanted into my heart: 1. Bennett is my gift from God- the moment I said "I do" he became that gift 2. If our marriage isn't intentionally moving towards ONENESS then we are moving apart Six months after we were married God moved our new family to Idaho. God reminded me this weekend one of the reasons He moved us. Here in Idaho, thousands of miles away from friends and family I have had the privilege of becoming one with my husband....

Audio Source File Our pastor was out of town for a couple of weeks, so I was allowed to preach a couple of the services here at NorthStar.

Audio Source File

Yesterday while I was fixing L's hair God taught me a lesson. She is easily distracted sometimes. While I fix her hair I usually have to give her something to play with (book, doll, pony-tail holders, etc...). I was about to let her know that after we finished her hair then we'd go brush her teeth, but something stopped me. I knew if I told her that we were going to brush her teeth then off she'd go to the bathroom, forgetting the present circumstances she was involved in (ex. pig-tails). By the way if you don't know, she LOVES to brush her teeth, and she really loves sucking off her Dora the Explorer toothpaste. The same thing happens when I say we are going to go outside, she runs for the back door most of the time without her shoes. Then I thought of how I am exactly the same in my relationship with God. I would love to have the plans for the next few years, but God knows I can't handle that. If he gave me a 10 year plan, there I'd be off to the "back do...

In life we tend to want what we want. What I mean is, we really just want life to be exactly the way we want it to be all the time. Its as if we want everything we eat to taste like dessert and satisfy like steak and make us feel good like exercise. For some reason we think that is our right. We don't see how utterly unnatural that is. Even in the pre-fall Creation there was a limit to what Adam and Eve could have. Isn't it interesting that the serpent had to talk Eve into her rebellion? Do you think we would need as much convincing? Or would we immediately yell back in God's face, "What do you mean I can't have it?" I'm afraid many in ministry, especially young'uns like me, get the idea that because we are serving Him and sacrificing ourselves in serving the church that God really owes it to us to have a charmed life. If I'm faithful in serving him shouldn't everything always work out the way I want it to? Shouldn't the money alw...

This weekend we attended Open Arm's Annual Dessert. There were a couple of hundred people there, and it was a great night! We invited friends that were interested in the ministry and heard Ryan Dobson speak (James Dobson's son). The dessert is always such an emotional experience for me. We have clients speak about the impact Open Arms has had on their lives, and I am always so humbled that God would allow me to be a part of this life saving ministry. Ryan spoke about his own experience of being adopted by the Dobsons, and at the end of his talk he thanked his birth mom (who was 16 at the time) for the sacrifice she made choosing life for him and giving him a better family than she could have provided at that time. We're still in the midst of the Experiencing God study at our church . If you've been a part of that, you can probably remember the first reality that "God is always at work around us." The study encourages you to find out where God is working and t...

It seems like August and September have flown by for us at the Sanderson home. In August my sweet friend Sheri came up for her second visit to Idaho. We had a BLAST! She is so much fun, and I miss her lots. In September L and I took a trip to the Florida for my sister's wedding. The weather was amazing, and L was a great traveling buddy. Lately we've been preparing at NorthStar for our big youth event this Saturday. Fall was supposed to meet us yesterday, but it has decided to let summer stay for a while longer. That's ok with us, but we're looking forward to some trips to the apple orchards and watching the leaves change. My pregnancy has been bliss so far, and most of the time I forget I am pregnant until friends ask me how I am feeling. However, in pregnancy news two good friends of mine just had little boys, my other friends are on a flight home tomorrow with their little boy they just adopted overseas, and another friend at church is due any day now (with you guess...

With our new pastor, Gary Brown, my responsibilities have changed at NorthStar. Now my main focus will be our small group ministry we call Life Groups. Original, I know. This Fall all of our groups will be going through the Experiencing God study. If you've been in church for a while you've probably heard of this study written by Henry Blackaby and Claude King. We had our fall kick-off meeting last Sunday. There were about 40 people there. We ordered 60 books and only have 9 left. I'm really excited to see what God will do in our people over the next 13 weeks as they are challenged to change the way they look at serving God. We have a couple of new Life Group leaders and several new people getting involved. In fact there were several first time visitors that showed up for the kick-off meeting; so many that we started a new group on the spot! My hope is that these Life Groups with become more than just a Bible-study or fellowship group. My prayer is that they will ...

We watched Faith Like Potatoes about a week ago. Perhaps you haven't heard of it. It came out 3 years ago. It's based on a true story about a Scottish farmer living in Africa who comes to faith in Christ and eventually leads a major prayer movement in South Africa. Before I watched the movie I had pretty low expectations, I'm sorry to say. Christian movies have been improving over the last few years, but the best reaction I've had to a faith-based film have usually been included the phrase "...for a Christian movie." Exceptions have included and The Passion and The Nativity . But usually, it seems like movies about faith either have a preachy, yet watered-down message or they are just down right cheesy. Faith Like Potatoes was a pleasant surprise. It is a movie that honestly talks about real-life faith in a way that is actually believable. The acting was high caliber for the most part; of course, I might have been fooled by the accents. They we...

she likes the sand- but not so sure about those waves the sand kinda tastes good a little lemon for dinner "i think i'm in heaven"

Sister-in-law reminded me that we haven't updated the blog in a while. So here is a quick update. Jana is doing well. She is officially "showing", and is as cute as ever! She's doing great as a mommy. I think her and Laurel make a great team. Although I feel like sometimes Laurel thinks this is her world and mommy and daddy are just her support team. Its hard not to spoil someone so cute. At 13 months old she is showing lots of personality. She is walking and almost running. She loves to laugh, eat bananas, and point to eyes wherever she sees them. Yes, she points to eyes. We don't know why. But she loves to do it while enunciating the word "eye" over and over. At NorthStar we are gearing up for our Fall Life Group Season Kick Off Extravaganza. I just made that name up. Seriously though we are getting organized to take our small group ministry we call "Life Groups" (creative I know) to the next level. The ministry has been succes...

dancing with her buddy at our friend's wedding reception our first hike up mineral ridge- it was a little tough receiving counsel on how to complete a marriage certificate what's a summer in CDA without huckleberry pickin

Don't stare at that picture too long. It'll mess you up. Its easy for me to not look at myself. My mental video camera goes throughout the day filming those around me. I observe and react, but I can often forget to turn the camera around and look at myself. When I finally do search my own heart and actions I realize I've been pretending. Somehow I have both an inflated and deflated view of myself at the same time. I know. That doesn't make sense, but its true. I have an inflated view that says, "I can handle this. I know what I'm doing. I'm actually pretty smart. I'm doing so much better than so many people. Those around me would really be in trouble if I weren't there to save the day over and over again." And I have a deflated view that says almost the exact opposite: "You are such a joke. You don't even understand what's going on. Man, you are a hypocrite. You don't have the energy, endurance or skill to achieve...

OK, I know we've been lax on updating this summer. I haven't heard a clamor of complaints, but I see your silent glare. I can feel your disappointment each time you check Life in the Big Potato or log in to your feed reader. I know that you have probably typed up dozens of complaint emails and almost sent them to us only to delete them before sending. You don't have to tell me, I know, and I'm sorry. We've tried to satiate our readers with lots of beautiful and cute pictures, but you can only eat frosting so long. At some point your mouth desires the soft buttery goodness of honest to goodness cake. The last real ministry update was in May. Thanks for living off of frosting for so long. So here's the cake. (There's a lot to tell. To keep it brief I'm just going to string a lot of random paragraphs together without contrived segues.) Pastor Gary is living with a family in the church and working on getting a house built. His wife, Cindy, is still...

tail-gating in north idaho checking out bubbles and pockets future clown? tom and bennett have a grill-off before the fireworks show

Well, it has been a long time since we have posted anything here. We have a lot of making up to do. This was our daughter's birthday cake. We had her party at the city park. It was a perfect day for a party at the park. Thanks Joel and Lisa for making this hot air carrot cake (Jana helped too). This is probably the only cake I have ever seen like this. The cream cheese frosting was even color coordinated with the plates and napkins. Happy parents with a 1-year-old and another on the way. Oh yeah, if you haven't heard yet, we're pregnant. You know where this is going. She finished off most of the piece we gave her. The cake didn't stand a chance. She got a pool. So we put her in in with all her gifts. All the kids.

Here are some pics from our first family vacation (excluding our honeymoon) to Glacier National Park. We had an incredible time enjoying the beauty of God's creation and each other! L was quite the trooper on our hikes, but she was being carried most of the way. Thanks Jensen family for letting us tag along and taking us to some of the most beautiful spots we've ever seen. And thanks Barlow family for letting us borrow your pack- hope the cowgirl cocoa is yummy!