Celebration #6: the birth of our Savior (Last of the Celebration series)

As a family, we celebrate Jesus coming to earth to save the world from sin and death. Not being "home" as in with our extended families this Christmas, we can still rejoice. What a celebration it will be when He returns to take us to our true home, to be with Him in the place He has prepared for us. (Jn 14:3)

Merry Christmas friends and family!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas

Christmas last year, 2010

Celebration #5: Our 8th Anniversary

On December 20, 2003 in Fort Worth, Texas, we were married. Has it really been 8 years?! We have a framed photo of our wedding vows above our bed. Lately we've been reminded about how the Bible speaks of marriage as a reflection of Christ's relationship with His children, the Church. God says to us, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." What a beautiful promise and truth to hold to and to live out through our marriage relationship, especially during tough seasons.

Todd Carleton and Katie LeeAnn Bates

Married December 20, 2003

Todd, do you take Katie, whose hand you hold, to be your lofty wedded wife,

 and do you sincerely promise in the presence of this company, and before God,

to love, honor, and protect her through all the seasons of life,

keeping yourself unto her alone

 until death separates you.

  I do.

I, Todd Bates, take you Katie Mills, to be my wife.

I will seek the help of the Lord to be the husband you need,

to love you as Christ loves his Church,

and to serve you as the leader in our home.

With the help of our Lord, I will nourish you and cherish you as my own body.

I will cleave only to you,

bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh,

until death do us part.

Katie, do you take Todd, whose hand you hold, to be your lofty wedded husband,

and do you sincerely promise in the presence of this company, and before God,

to be to him a loving and respectful wife through all the seasons of life,

keeping yourself unto him alone

until death separates you.

I do.

I, Katie Mills, take you Todd Bates, to be my husband.

I will seek the help of the Lord to be the wife you need,

to be subject to you as the Church is subject to Christ,

to love you and to be an expression of Christ’s love.

With the help of the Lord, I will be a complete wife, having a gentle and quiet spirit.

I will cleave only to you

as a loving, faithful, and obedient wife,

until death do us part.

Together we commit our lives to the Lord and one another.

We shall love the Lord our God

will all our heart, with all our soul,

 with all our mind, and will all our strength.

And we will worship and serve only Him.

With these rings, we reverently seal, before God and man,

the covenant of marriage,

until death do us part.

_______________________

We also have the title of this poem by Elisabeth Elliot engraved on our wedding rings to remind us that God must be the center of our individual lives and our relationship. Without Him as our foundation, our relationship would not be able to weather through the tough terrain that life and our own sinfulness brings us through. Our affections are first for our Savior Jesus, and than His overflowing unfailing love gives us the strength to love each other.

Cross Between Us

Hold thou thy cross between us blessed Lord.

Let us love thee Oh God, to us thy power afford.

To remain prostrate at thy pierced feet.

There is no other place where we may meet.

Set thou our faces as a flint of stone.

To do thy good will our goal be this alone.

Our hearts are fixed, let us not turn.

Consume all our affections, let thy love burn.

_________________________

Ok, now get excited for the photos. Believe it or not, our photographer took film photos! So these few are scanned. The next year or two after we were married, digital photos became more common. The few digital photos I have of our wedding are tiny file sizes! Yes, this does make us feel like we've been married a long time, but it hasn't been that long, right? :)

At our reception.

Our first time in SE Asia, Summer 2003.

Dating, 2002, TCU. This is the only photo I have scanned during the time we dated. We had just finished sliding down a muddy hill with roommates and other TCU friends while it poured down rain and hail on campus. Random but fun!

Emma's Almost Christmas Program

Emma's school put on a Christmas program which seemed to be more exciting for the parents than the children. We waited an hour on the second floor of a hot stuffy mall with not enough room or seats for all the parents. Not that it mattered to have a seat. When a certain parent's child performed, all relatives stormed up close to the stage to take pictures. Those in the seats couldn't see a thing. Welcome to Asia. Emma's class planned to just sing one song since they were the youngest, ages 2-3. While waiting, Emma and her friend Vreya enjoyed a little space from the crowd.





Vreya never made it on stage like many of the kids in Emma's class. They got stage fright. The rest that were up on stage cried or just stood there, including Emma. So no singing happened.

 Just before going on stage. I think the guy on the left is really excited about the little cute white kid.

 Not a smile, except for a few parents. :) Emma is in the middle just in case you don't see her.

It was a funny event for the little kids and little kids' parents. Parents acted like it was such a big deal, but the little ones had no clue and frankly had more fun playing at the mall arcade than performing on stage. For Emma's courage in being willing to stand up on stage until the song was over, we gave her a ride on the train.

In the end, kids just want to be kids at this age. Maybe next year it will be more fun for her. :) Although Todd vowed to schedule some out of town trip so we don't have to go.

Celebration #4: Katie's 30th!

Along the theme of Jesus' birth, I (Katie) am celebrating 30 years of life with thankfulness. What a time to be alive!  We have the peace that Christ brings through His life, death, and resurrection. And we have the hope of His coming back to redeem the world. I still can't comprehend very much how I am a child of God, that I matter to God...that He knows every hair on my head (even the few grey ones). I can't belive God is the Creator of the universe yet wants to hang out with me every day. My only prayer is that I would be able to take the time to be with my Savior every day He gives me. My body may be getting older but my spirit is growing closer to Jesus, stronger, more victorious, more beautiful in His eyes, only because of what He has already done for me. What a great truth. And what an amazing message to share with the world. Seeing my 30th birthday in this light definitely helps me overcome any fears of being "old". This is one happy wife of the most patient and loving husband, mother of the two cutest, funniest girls, and daughter of the Most High.

My girls helping me open my present. Yes, it was Tupperware! And I thought it was super cool! Maybe that is another clue that I am 30. :)

Celebration #3: Family

We are incredibly blessed to have a little family here in SE Asia, a big family back in the States, and an even bigger family all across the world who love, support, pray, and bless us often! We are celebrating God's goodness and grace to us for the gift of family.

Below is just a glimpse of the goodness (warning: some of these pictures are old but memorable!) :

 

 

Celebration #2: Jesus is Our King

This Sunday is the second Advent Sunday. We celebrate Jesus as King over all the earth. We celebrate His Lordship over our lives and look foward to His coming again when He will redeem, heal, and reign. We are thankful for the peace He brings to our hearts during this Christmas season.

Celebration #1: Liv's First Steps

This Christmas season we are celebrating so many wonderful things as a family and will be letting you know of our reasons for celebrating in the coming December weeks! Here's our first reason for celebrating:

Olivia took her first steps!

It's workout time!

A semi-regular (wish it were more often) event: starring Mom, Emma, Olivia, and baby Livy Doll, working out to baby Pilates/Yoga, all on the same mat. My abs get the most exercise due to continual laughing. Love my workout partners!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our family thankful tree...todays last thankful leaves say:
Thankful for...
Good food
God loves us
Family and friends
Sister Olivia and my purse.

Can you guess which one was Emma's? :)

Lookin forward to a little bit of this...







And a little bit of that...






 Ok, maybe A LOT of this and that. :)


Later.





P.S. Olivia took her first real steps this week!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Yeah! A "hoo-tell", Mom!

Some times living in a culture that's not our own, we enjoy little breaks away from our context to rest from the stresses of everyday life. Often times that means we go to a hotel that has nice grounds or a swimming pool for Emma. So for Emma, she knows when we go to a "hoo-tell" as she calls it, that means fun!

Enjoy the snapshots of our 48-hour vacation at a "hoo-tell" acually not too far from our house! It's hard to describe, but living in this city, there's not a lot of nature to enjoy. This is our little plot of grass which we are making the most of by planting a few trees. Growing up with a lot more green, this is one of the challenges for us as a family-- not having a big yard to run around in or a park to go to to play with the kids.

But at the hotel 20 minutes away, there's a beautiful campus of lush tropical vegetation. Ahhh, the fresh air, the birds chirping...no bustling city noises and away from all i-technology and texting. We loved every minute!

Yes, there is a mini amusment park in front of the hotel. Random but perfect for our family! This train went a little fast around corners. I was a little concerned I might tip it over! Thankfully, it remained stable.

Pool time!

Enough space to play and roll around!

Thanks Gardenia "hoo-tell"! Until next time.

More photos here.

"It's my happy birthday!"

Emma's 3rd birthday was a blast as she smiled from ear to ear the entire day. Old enough now to understand what the special day was about, Emma twirled, played, swam, danced, sang, played with friends and ate cake. She loved singing the Happy Birthday Song. Her little party with a "sweetheart" theme was too much fun to plan! She said she wanted everything pink and that's what she got!

We can't believe our sweeheart is 3! We wish friends and family in the States could've have celebrated with us!

Check out more birthday PHOTOS and our comments.

Daily Dilemma for Emma

How many of you readers think Emma is having fun in the photo? She's outside, playing in the water, has a smile on her face...what more could one little 3-year old ask?

Have you thought about your answer?

Now, look in the background of the photo...what do you see?

Here's a closer look at a similar photo to help you out.

Can you count how many people are carrying a camera? Wow.

Emma is actually running away from these people and is not happy that they are all staring at her and taking her picture.

Now, we know we are not the only foreign family in the world who has experiences like this on a daily basis, especially little kids. There's nothing special about us! But for some reason, the white skin poses a dilemma. What kid wouldn't like a little attention from some strangers? Well, at times, Emma.

So how do we love the people we live around in Asia and still honor and respect our little one's desire to just play and be a normal kid? We can't shoo away the onlookers...although at times we want to. We can only help Emma understand as much as she can at her age her "dilemma". We often say, "just play and have fun, they just like to watch you be cute and run around." Or "they like to take photos just like you do, Emma." But sometimes we get one or two people who just can't quite get the hint that she just wants to play and not pose for a photo, and we have to say "no." We also tell Emma that she can always say "no" if she wants and if they don't comply with her wishes, Mommy or Daddy step in to help.

Olivia, on the other hand, being so little, is very happy to smile for photos, endure the pinches on her cheeks, and laugh at those who make funny faces at her.

On a positive note, sometimes the attraction to these sweet kids can serve as a bridge to build new relationships or share with them the love of God. Pray we have the discernment and patience through each strange situation to see the opportunities.

Blessings from the B fam.