tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13714858725699433802024-03-05T02:52:11.115-08:00All you need is love...Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.comBlogger87125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-10865544891062339602014-12-17T13:01:00.001-08:002014-12-17T13:01:46.434-08:00...is the love of christ<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span class="text Eph-3-17" id="en-NIV-29269" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">And I pray that you, being rooted<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-29269AC" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29269AC" title="See cross-reference AC">AC</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> and established in love,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px;"> </span><span class="text Eph-3-18" id="en-NIV-29270" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 15.5555562973022px; line-height: 23.9999980926514px;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">18 </span>may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-29270AD" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29270AD" title="See cross-reference AD">AD</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> to grasp how wide and long and high and deep<span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-29270AE" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29270AE" title="See cross-reference AE">AE</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span> is the love of Christ. Eph. 3:18</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hdPcXwaKVXyZs7fArO_nbMWijdZEFDJd-yBSbpWE7ZVVIIXNzcKSOmUKYEQhn_D9gR4K_qZ2XYCsbszcYufPd7uoFfMY0WNSC0La3o7Un3deh2AIjXjRip1YAHyoz8cQGCan4jt-4Y0/s1600/IMG_9375.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hdPcXwaKVXyZs7fArO_nbMWijdZEFDJd-yBSbpWE7ZVVIIXNzcKSOmUKYEQhn_D9gR4K_qZ2XYCsbszcYufPd7uoFfMY0WNSC0La3o7Un3deh2AIjXjRip1YAHyoz8cQGCan4jt-4Y0/s1600/IMG_9375.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;"> A church here in San Diego that supports our ministry to SDSU dropped off a truck load of presents to our family today. The pastor told us that God put it on his heart to bless us in this way. It was one of those moments where you are both humbled and confused. Obviously this church is aware that we are raising support and maybe they felt we may be struggling financially to buy presents for our kids this year, but the honest truth is that we are not struggling to buy gifts this year. God has been so faithful to provide for us. Ever since saying yes to Him we have had all our needs taken care of and have been lacking in nothing. It has been humbling to say the least and people have been so generous. If I have learned anything these last few years since becoming a US missionary it is that it is important to be a gracious receiver. We hear a lot about being a generous giver but God has been teaching me in this season of life how to be a gracious receiver, and yes it is humbling at times but always a blessing, and what I have learned is that the blessing often times is more for the giver then it is for the receiver, and we should never stand in the way of a blessing no matter what end of it you are on.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;"> So when this church dropped a truck load of gifts off at our house I knew I had to except the blessing even though it made no sense to me at the time, but I trusted that God laid it on this pastors heart to do this for a reason. As I piled the gifts up in the corner of our living room I imagined the kids faces when they got home and I was struggling with just what I was going to tell them about this generous gesture because I wanted them to get it... even though I wasn't quit sure I knew what "it" was. So I began to ask God to give me wisdom to explain what he was doing to my children. So when the kids got home from school Brandon and I sat them down in front of the pile of gifts and with their jaws almost to the floor we began to explain to them what we had been given.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">We talked about the nature of mommy and daddy's job, and that is to minister to college students at SDSU, but in order to do our job other people, churches, friends and family have to give us money for our food, clothes, house etc. So that is why every Sunday for the past 5 months we have been traveling to different churches so that daddy could tell about our ministry and so that people and pastors would partner with us to make that ministry happen. We told the kids that they have been so good going to all the different churches with their best behavior while meeting new people and attending different children's services with such great attitudes, they really have been amazing through it all. My greatest fear when we first felt called to this life was my children and all they would have to go through, from moving four times in 2 years, to changing schools 3 times and all the while they have gone about it with happy hearts and adjusted so well. We have truly been in awe of our children during these crazy few years, they have become just as much apart of our ministry as we are. We are truly in this as a family and it has been so amazing to unite in this way...and right then it hit me...So with a lump in my throat and tears welling up in my eyes I told my kids that maybe God told this church to give us this pile of presents because he wants you to know how much He loves you. Just as simple as that... He loves you! So what we did next was began to pray and thank God for his continued faithfulness and love for our family, each of the kids wanted to pray and when Peyton the oldest began to pray her eyes weld up with tears and her voice cracked as she thanked God for his love and it was in that moment that I knew... maybe for the first time... that she got just how wide, how long, how high and how deep Christ love was for her.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;"> I am convinced if nothing else God had those presents delivered to our door today so that a couple of kids would understand the depth of Gods love for them, and that my friends, is the best gift of all. </span></span></span><br />
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Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-28871507686879473742014-11-07T13:31:00.001-08:002014-11-07T13:54:36.695-08:00A Christmas devotional<div class="MsoNormal">
Have you ever been shaken to the core? 2 years ago my family
and I were living a very happy comfortable life in beautiful Santa Cruz CA. We
lived in a comfy house a few blocks from the beach, my two oldest kids were
happy in school and their activities, our youngest was only 2 months old. We
had no family that lived near us but we had close friends that felt like
family. My husband was currently working as the interim pastor at our church
that we had been serving in full time ministry at for the past 4 years. The
church was going through a bit of a crossroads so in our hearts we knew the
possibility of God calling us on to a new place was there but we were comfortable
with our lives so we often would push those feelings aside. So imagine our
devastation the day we got word that our church had made the decision to let us
go. It was a shock, a punch in the gut that left me shaking my fist at God. In the moment I was shaken to the core. My head was spinning with doubt and worry... How were we going to support
our family? Where were we going to live? What would we tell the kids? As a mom my heart broke most of all for my children. I knew they would have to leave the only place they had ever known as home and leave their friends and change schools, possibly more than once. All I ever wanted for my kids was stability and I felt that slipping through my fingers. All these
thoughts and more consumed me and I found myself laying awake one
night crying out to God and saying “Don’t you know I have plans? Don’t you know
the desires of my heart? How could you
do this to me?” and in that moment a heard a still small voice say “Yes, I
know….but my plans are better than your plans and my ways are better than your
ways.” I am reminded of Mathew 16:24 that says “For all those who want to find
me they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me” To deny myself
in that moment meant that I had to give all my plans, hopes and dreams over to
God and surrender to him and that was scary, terrifying actually!! but in my brokenness and fear I made the choice to surrender to the God that I knew to be faithful. I can say now, two years since
that night, that my family and I are in the best place we have ever been in our lives. God has proven to be faithful time and time again and has showered us with blessings beyond measure. We feel we are doing the
most authentic ministry of our career and we have peace that passes understanding, our children are happy
and our family is fulfilled in areas we have never been before. Yes, serving God
takes sacrifice but with God there really is no sacrifice because God turns faithfulness into blessings for those he loves. What are you holding onto this holiday season? Would you consider letting go of your plans and trust God to start giving you the best gifts of your life? <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.4444446563721px; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">* Brandon and Kendra are Chi Alpha Campus Pastors at San Diego State University. Their mission is to develop the spiritual life and abilities of the students they work with in relation to God, to each other and to the world at large. Chi Alpha Campus ministries is a movement of 27,000 college students on 300+ campuses across America and many sister organizations around the globe. Chi Alpha's mission is reconciling students to Christ transforming the university, market place, and the world. *</span></span><br />
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Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-41424510200988217192014-09-20T21:53:00.000-07:002014-09-20T21:53:04.452-07:00Dear College Student<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3gloRvovwUO5woU_VRbQv0k5uudRStqzhPeNnHwFeqcA-BaVsM3-ho3llqUFjXBPMWUP_tn9-gyd1Jd9RaaYYWFYZwvuXI3vIvH_Slq8gHOCcXJnx4SRc2sn9i407xhxPPQnBcMEvqY/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3gloRvovwUO5woU_VRbQv0k5uudRStqzhPeNnHwFeqcA-BaVsM3-ho3llqUFjXBPMWUP_tn9-gyd1Jd9RaaYYWFYZwvuXI3vIvH_Slq8gHOCcXJnx4SRc2sn9i407xhxPPQnBcMEvqY/s1600/images.jpg" height="189" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrfLH_WYnzTgVSG4vb4VgSb-0klu-wjtrwVbLaQbQRhGI0wzByXZ_DNKDDYJL-1K5mwbQTY8mhsoCoTS5N6wz2_5d7F3zQ1J6IVSOqEWxY7sI5y_Crn6uoWMGlPWH-L6Ih3lgnPE8tEZc/s1600/student.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /></a>Today was my first day actually being on San Diego State Campus. I had a meeting with a student who is interested in being a part of Chi Alpha. Walking onto the campus I felt like a freshman all over again, not knowing where I was going but not wanting to look at the dreaded campus map for fear of shear embarrassment from the more cultured classmates. I felt old and wondered if I looked it. It was kind of an out of body experience because I was immediately taken back to my college days and the faces of the students walking by reminded me of all the emotions you feel when you are a college student. Some students were walking through the halls with confidence like they owned the campus and gosh I always admired those types. How do they do it? Yet, now in my more mature state of mind I know they are probably just as lost as everyone else, others are more reserved yet I know they feel the weight of the world on their shoulders. There are the groups of silly, giggly girls running past and the groups of athletic guys eyeing the girls. There were students who were actually studying and others who only appeared to be. I caught the eye of one girl who was sobbing on her cell phone... Maybe a break up... who knows....but it all took me back to years passed and I was so inspired that I grabbed my cell phone and jotted down this letter.<br />
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Dear college student,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I see you sitting over there all alone with a Starbucks in one hand and a book bag slouched next to your chair, you occasionally glance down at your cell phone while keeping one eye on the look out for anyone you might know walking by. I see you, I get you, because I used to be you. I know what it feels like to have the world at your finger tips yet it terrifies you all at the same time, you want to be the best you can be yet you find yourself falling short, you believe in dreams but are so aware of the realities, you think you are pretty cool and have a lot to offer yet there is still that voice in your head that makes you question all of that. You think you know yourself but you don't always trust yourself. You wish you were better looking, smarter, and more talented but deep down you know you were made this way for a reason but most days you just wish you knew what that reason was. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If I could share with you for just a moment. If you would allow me to impart my few years of wisdom that I have on you I would tell you this... Don't take yourself so seriously. You don't have it all figured out and that's okay no one expects you to. You are young, vibrant and beautiful so stop telling yourself that you are not, because in the end it is wasted energy that could be spent enjoying your youth because one day you will realize it passes way to quickly. I know your head is swimming with dreams for your future and some may come true and some may not but what is important is that you figure out what you are passionate about and pursue that, because therein lies your fulfillment. You see, I believe you were made in the image of God, you were created by a loving and giving Savior. All your interests, passions and dreams were put there by the God who made you and they are good, in fact they are the secret to your success. If you can figure out what you are made for it is there you will find fulfillment. I pray you will learn to dream forever because when you are following your passions you are following God and when you follow God your dreams only get bigger and more beautiful. If you can do this I can promise that you will wake up one day in the near future and be comfortable in your own skin. My prayer for you is that you will get to a place that you don't care what anyone thinks of you anymore because you know who you are and who you were created to be and that is all that really matters.</blockquote>
Love,<br />
Your Future Self<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
</blockquote>
Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-16032294645299751732014-02-07T13:54:00.001-08:002014-02-13T15:52:27.677-08:00When my heart aches...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I can't tell you what conference I was at or even what the speakers name was but I do remember listening to his words, and as a young teen still so naive and so innocent, I found some fear in them...<br />
<br />
"In your life you are going to experience tragedy...If you haven't experienced it already I promise it is going to happen to you."<br />
<br />
Even though I was young and didn't have much life experience in my back pocket I do remember hearing those words and thinking <b>they had to be true</b>. My life up until that point had been easy...perfect really. My parents were still together, my childhood was happy, I had opportunities that most kids only dreamed of and my future looked bright. When I was in that place it was hard to wrap my mind around what TRAGEDY in my life could look like or even feel like.<br />
<br />
The speaker went on to say:<br />
<br />
"You need to decide today... before that tragedy hits...who is the God that you serve?<br />
<br />
I hid those words in my heart and over the years have thought about them a lot. I have studied the word of God and have come to believe that the God who I serve is one of love and faithfulness. I believe that in all things God works them together for good to those who love Him and, above all else I believe that God knows the plans He has for me and that they are <b>good.</b> <br />
<br />
but the truth is... although I have chosen to believe these things, tragedy still brings up doubt.<br />
<br />
15 years later and I now can say I know what it feels like to be going about your daily business with ache in your heart. Because I have witnessed tragedy.<br />
<br />
Not even a year ago my best friends brother died suddenly from cancer and most recently, just a week ago today, my baby niece was born with some severe complications that caused brain damage. In both these tragedy's I found myself shaking my fist at God, and asking the tough questions like... WHY?<br />
<br />
Why would you allow Mark to die at such a young age? He was one of your finest servants and he had so much potential, so much life ahead of him...and how could you let this happen to not just to any family but THIS family who I often admire because of their bond with one another, a closeness that is unusually refreshing and hard to find. WHY?<br />
<br />
How could you allow this to happen to my beloved sister -in -law, that I know only you could have hand picked for me since she feels as close to me as any blood sister would? We were all so excited! Her pregnancy was text book! They were as ready and prepared as any parents could be, but not for this... WHY?<br />
<br />
But in my rants of confusion and anger...God always meets me right where I ache. Right where it makes no sense to feel peace yet, there is peace. I have come to realize that God can bring life out of the ashes, he can turn sorrow into dancing. He turned Marks funeral into an unbelievably powerful worship service (that I know to this day is still changing the lives of those who witnessed it.) He is using my best friend to now minister to people who have experienced loss in ways she never could have before and it is beautiful to watch...yes <b>beautiful</b>, because only God can turn something so ugly such as cancer into beauty...that's the God I serve.<br />
<br />
I pray and I cry out to God and the outcome is not always what I want it to be and, I will never understand that but, I have come to trust in the God that does.<br />
<br />
So where do I go from here....what do I do with this remaining ache in my heart?<br />
<br />
Just this morning I was crying out to God for a miracle for my baby niece and my mind went to all the people watching this play out that don't know God yet. I cried "God, just heal her...I know you can do it...just do it all ready!! Think of all the people who will come to know you because of it!!!" and I felt God whisper to my heart:<br />
<br />
<b>"But for now...just let them see me in you." </b><br />
<br />
and that's it...that's all we can do<b> </b>friends. Show Jesus, Be Jesus, Live Jesus and in the mean time trust in his promises... It's all we can do. <br />
<br />
<br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">"I've
said these things to you so that you will have peace in me. In the
world you have distress. But be encouraged! I have conquered the
world." John 16:33</span><br />
<br />
<span class="selected">“He found him </span><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/De8.15%3BJr2.6%3BHs13.5/"><span class=""></span></a><span class="">in a desert land,</span>
<br />
<div class="indent line" id="p05032010_08-1">
<span class="">and in the howling waste of the wilderness;</span></div>
<div class="line" id="p05032010_16-1">
<span class="">he </span><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Ps32.10/"><span class=""></span></a><span class="">encircled him, he cared for him,</span></div>
<div class="indent line" id="p05032010_23-1">
<span class="">he </span><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Ps17.8%3BPr7.2%3BZc2.8/"><span class=""></span></a><span class="">kept him as the apple of his eye.</span></div>
<div class="line" id="p05032011_01-1">
<span class="verse-num inline" id="v05032011-1"> </span><a class="cf" href="http://www.esvbible.org/Ex19.4/"><span class=""></span></a><span class="">Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,</span></div>
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<span class="">that flutters over its young,</span></div>
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<span class="">spreading out its wings, catching them,</span></div>
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<span class="">bearing them on its pinions. </span></div>
Dt. 32: 10-11<br />
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<br />Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-13338448818964114022013-12-13T00:19:00.001-08:002013-12-13T00:32:41.835-08:00What I believe about Santa Clause<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Now I am fully aware that this can be a </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">controversial</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> subject so let me begin by saying that what you are about to read are the thoughts and </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">opinions</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> of a young christian mother who is just trying to make sense of it all and I understand that your </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">opinions</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> may differ from mine and that's okay. But can we all just agree that the spirit of St Nick is actually not a bad thing? The more that I have thought about this over the past week the more I have come to realize that Santa sure does have a lot in common with Jesus himself and maybe, just maybe, my kids can further their relationship with God through the spirit of Santa Claus?? But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning of my journey with the good old Saint Nick.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">So I am one of those moms that allows the fantasy of Santa to be alive and well in my home. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> I am under the belief that kids are only kids once and being able to </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">use </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">the imagination that God gave them is one of their best </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">assets (quiet frankly I think adults could learn a lot from children). </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">When our first </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">Christmas</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> as parents rolled around, my husband and I talked about what would we do with the whole </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">Santa</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> thing and we concluded that because we were both raised in Christian homes that believed in </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">Santa</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> Claus and neither of us were </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">traumatized,</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> it was probably an okay </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">tradition</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> to continue on with our own children. In fact I have very fond childhood memories of the magic and </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">excitement</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> of </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">Christmas</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> morning and I just couldn't fathom the thought of taking that away from my children. So yes, we decided that the belief in Santa Claus would be welcomed in our home! We did agree on one thing though...the moment that our kids asked us if Santa was real we would tell them the truth. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">Well that moment came way sooner then I could have ever thought or been </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">prepared</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> for because just last week, with tears streaming down my six year old's face she begged me to tell her the truth about Santa....Now Peyton, our oldest child, is just </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">naturally</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> a very </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">imaginative</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> little girl. She spends her days in a dream-like state that often can be frustrating to try to pull her out from. She is one of those kids that believes her stuffed animals come alive at night, and that fairies exist in the grass outside our apartment, she wants nothing more than to see a unicorn and wishes on the first star she sees every night. She wants so badly for there to be something more than just her eyes can see, she wants to believe in something bigger than herself and well...I can't say that I blame her for that...don't we all? So that night when she told me that she felt like she didn't fit in with her friends at school because they don't believe in Santa Claus and..."Mom I feel like I am believing for nothing"</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">...I knew what I had to do and I knew that it would not be easy...and it </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">wasn't</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> easy. What happened next was a heart wrenching night as I watched my little girl's </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">imaginative</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> world, that she held so dear, crumble around her.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">She grew up that night...before my very eyes she grew up...and I didn't like it</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> ...not one bit! </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">But because of God's grace over me as a parent that night I think that what could have been </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">very </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">traumatizing</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"> has actually turned into something wonderful. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is what Peyton and I have been discussing and processing together this week:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">* We have been reading and learning a lot about the real Saint Nicholas and if you have never done this I highly </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">recommend</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> it. I think this has really helped Peyton to know that a person with the same gentle, kind and giving nature towards children actually did </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">exist</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> and she understands that we still celebrate that Saint Nicholas today in the form of Santa Claus and that we can carry on his giving spirit by being </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666984558105px; line-height: 18px;">Santa</span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> to others. </span><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">* The biggest thing that has come out of all of this for Peyton is the realization that there is someone bigger than Santa who is REAL and that is God! He in fact created Saint Nicholas and if he created a person as cool as that how much cooler is God? I have seen my child grow leaps and bounds in her faith this week. She has channeled the desire to want to believe in something bigger than herself and has put her full faith and trust in God! She goes to bed reading her Bible and I wake up every morning to the sight of her sitting at the breakfast table with her Bible open next to her cereal bowl (this kid has literally read most of the new Testament and even some books in the Old Testament in just one short week). This week she told her non-Christian friends at school about the God she believes in and has done her best to show His love to them through her actions. What I have witnessed in my little girl has been convicting, challenging and heart warming all at the same time, and I have found myself following her lead to love others this week just like Christ loves us. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">* Lastly, the thing we have discussed and decided upon is that it is still okay to pretend. For the first couple nights after the Santa talk she would come to me, still a little tearful and say, "I wish I never asked you to tell me because it was more fun to believe." So I told her God made her the way she is for a reason and if it brings her joy to make believe that Santa is still real then she should go for it (because after all Mommy still does :)) And so what did we do this week? We watched my all time favorite Christmas movie together, "Miracle on 34th Street," and reminisced about the magic and wonder of the movie and how we both wished we could be Susan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So the question I have been asked this week (more times than I can count) is, would I do it differently or will I do it differently with my two younger children and my answer is...no! Again, this is just my opinion and I am fully aware that I could be wrong, but I still believe preserving a child's imagination is so very important. I feel it is a child's right to dream and to dream big and I am not going to be the one to stifle that. I often wonder if kids who grow up in homes that tell them from the get go that Santa isn't real if they secretly believe it anyway? Just because that is what kids do...they believe! I also know that every child is different and that perhaps Peyton is a more sensitive case than my other children will be. (I can totally see Amber being proud of herself for figuring out on her own that Santa isn't real.) They are just different kids and when the time comes I am sure I will need to have the wisdom to handle each child in their own right. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As hard as it was to watch my child's innocent world crumble around her that night, I don't regret being there to walk her through it, because the truth is this is not the last time my kid is going to go through heart ache. The world is full of it! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At least now she knows it's going to be okay. She is going to make it through and she can trust that her mom will be there every step of the way. </span><br />
<br />Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-48772632057334501652013-10-21T23:58:00.000-07:002013-10-21T23:58:52.366-07:00The Adventures of SUPER (tired) MOM!!!Oh boy...do I have a doozy to write about today. One thing is for sure, being a Mom is never boring. My children (one in particular) always seems to find a way to keep me on my toes and today was no different. <br />
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Oh my wonderful, beautiful child Amber...I have come to the conclusion that this child was given to me by God specifically to teach me a lot about myself. Of my three girls she is the one that most reminds me of myself when I was a child. She is constantly dreaming. She sings more then she talks. She knows for a fact that she is a princess and she loves all things that sparkle. She is also easily frightened, yet wants so badly to be courageous. She is the most confident of all my children, yet she cares the most about what she looks like. She is stubborn to no end, yet is extremely compassionate and caring. But, the biggest thing about Amber is that her days and nights are consumed with one thing, DANCING! She dances everywhere and this is not an exaggeration. She dances to the dinner table, she dances to the bath tub, she dances to the car, and she dances in her dreams. Now being a dancer myself I would have no problem with this habit except for the fact that Amber can be extremely clumsy (so unlike me...ha ha). There is not a day that goes by she does not fall, trip, crash or break something because of her dancing habit. So, today when she was dancing down the grocery store aisle I should have known this would not end well...<br />
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I decided to make a stop at the Whole Foods right next to Amber's preschool. I thought I could squeeze in a grocery shopping trip in the hour I had before Peyton got out of school. I very rarely go to Whole Foods but today because of my time limit and the fact that I was on the hunt for some organic cream cheese (don't ask) I decided to stop. Everything was going fine. The kids were behaving; I was making my way through my list and Amber had been stopped a few times by costumers telling her how much they enjoyed her singing and dancing but again this was nothing out of the ordinary. I remember that I had just got done asking Amber what kind of jam she wanted (raspberry was the answer) and I turned to put the jar in my cart when all of the sudden I heard a huge crash beside me and a flood of some kind of liquid substance was splattering everywhere. At first I thought the entire shelf of jam must of suddenly fallen down or something. After I settled in from the shock and I was better able to make an assessment of what had happened, I quickly figured out that Amber must have "danced" into a display tower of white wine boxes at the end of the aisle. Six to eight boxes of wine were spilling out all over the floor, flooding the aisle, glass was everywhere and Amber was laying in the middle of the mess screaming and soaked. (Is it wrong that my first thought was not "oh no...is my child hurt?" but rather "how on earth am I going to pay for all this wine?")<br />
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What happened next seemed to be happening in slow motion as I sat Amber up and looked up to see six workers by our side asking if we were okay. One of the workers spotted that Amber's leg had been cut and was bleeding pretty badly so she rushed off and came back with a towel for me to clean her off a bit and by this time the manager of Whole Foods was by our side. He asked me to go ahead and pick Amber up and follow him to the back to get some band aids. So we began to follow him as he wheeled my cart with Eden in it (who at this particular moment I had never seen so quiet) through the river of wine and glass and passed a cart of two small children whose jaws were to the floor as they stared at us all the way down the aisle. We made our way to the back office and the manager helped me bandage Amber up (who in perfect Amber fashion was crying harder about the fact that her clothes were wet than that her leg was bleeding). I was beginning to formulate a strongly worded speech in my head about how dancing recklessly in the grocery store is never a good idea, but I no sooner opened my mouth to let her have it then workers from every angle began to shower my kids with goodies. First, it was organic whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (about the size of my fist). Then, it was kid sized reusable bags that had cute little dinosaurs eating fruits and vegetables on them. Lastly, a very nice lady came over and handed my kids a stack of stickers about recycling and a coloring book to go with it. The nice lady began comforting Amber, who was still sniffling over her clothes, and telling her how brave she was. Now I am no dummy, I knew what was happening here, they were trying to cover their butts in case I was some crazy, sue-happy mom, so my fears of having to pay for the wine quickly subsided. The nice lady with the stickers and coloring book then led us to the front of a check out line where they did not charge me for my bags and two young gentlemen were eagerly waiting to escort us to our car (which I declined since after all I had only got half way thru my list and had two bags of groceries)<br />
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We finally got to the car safe and sound and thank God I had a change of clothes for Amber because I am sure I would have heard her crying about them all the way home. We begin to drive home when I decide now would be a good time to give Amber my speech I had been working on. I began with, "Amber did you learn something today???" Amber was quiet for a minute while she chewed on her organic cookie and then with a twisted smile she said, "Yes, I learned that it is okay to dance in the grocery store as long as it is not next to the wine!" Good grief...what am I going to do with this kid?Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-37859766338228200882013-08-21T21:22:00.000-07:002013-08-21T21:22:37.220-07:00He is so faithful to...The Kertson household has been talking a lot about hearing the voice of God lately. Probably has something to do with the stage of life we are in at the moment as we are trying to make a very important decision that will set the stage for the rest of our lives. Pretty heavy stuff. You don't make decisions like this without hearing the voice of God, so naturally the topic comes up - around the dinner table, at night before bedtime, in the morning before school and in the middle of doing household chores when your mind slips away to dreaming of what the future holds. Yes, the voice of God is so desperately needed and wanted around here. And of course when you are earnestly seeking God, He always proves faithful to show up and tonight he showed himself to me once again through one of my children.<br />
Around the dinner table after the first day of school I was challenging Peyton (6) and Amber (4) to try to do one nice thing for another person each day of this new school year. I began to give them some ideas like: You could let someone go ahead of you in line, or help someone carry something heavy to class, or play with a kid who looks like they are alone and needs a friend. Peyton stopped me right there and said "I can't really do that mom because my best friend at school doesn't like it when I play with other kids and not her." This information was a bit alarming to Brandon and I and we tried to explain to Peyton that it is good to be friends with everyone and if her friend was not letting her play with other kids then maybe she was not a good friend after all. Peyton nodded with a look of uncertainty and I felt a check in my spirit about the whole thing, I had no idea that Peyton was being controlled by this friend and I prayed that God would help her know what to do. That night before bed Peyton and I prayed that God would give her wisdom to know how to talk to her friend and how to show Gods love to everyone at her school. I don't know why it always amazes me when God answers prayers quickly! I think we often get used to the long wait that God sometimes requires of us, but today I was reminded that prayers can be answered immediately. Peyton came home from school today and told me that her school has this thing called a peace path. It's where one friend stands on one side of the path that says "It makes me feel ___ when you ____" and the other friend stands on the other side that says "I understand how you feel when I _____ I will _____ from now on" and you are suppose to stand there with your friend and repeat the sayings filling in the blanks with issues you may be having with each other. Peyton told me she asked her friend to go to the peace path with her that day and while they were there she told her, "It makes me feel sad when you don't let me play with other people" she went on to say that her and her friend had a really good talk at the peace path and together they decided it would be a good thing to play with other friends this year. I really could not believe what I was hearing. Could my 6 year old really have had the courage to do such a thing??? I was blown away! I told Peyton, "I think God answered our prayer that we prayed last night about giving you the right words to say to your friend." She said, "Yeah, I think he did because the peace path just opened today for the first time and I knew God wanted me to use it".<br />
He is so faithful to answer. I often question our decision as parents to put our kids in public school but Brandon and I feel a conviction to allow our children to be exposed to the world so that they might be able to be a light to it. It is scary because I know the world is tough and will easily tear you down but I cover my children in prayer daily and trust that God is protecting them and giving us the wisdom we need as parents to guide them daily. I was so proud of how Peyton handled this situation and it was a confirmation that we as a family are indeed hearing God's voice. <br />
<br />Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-26413951308690423752013-06-19T00:02:00.001-07:002013-06-19T00:02:33.441-07:00Will you buy me a cookie?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When you have three children as close in age as mine are (6,4 & 1.6) its sometimes nice to get away with just one child at a time.(You moms of multiples know what I mean) Even if its just to go to the grocery store, or a silly errand like return books to the library, for some reason when you get just one child by themselves they all of the sudden put on their best behavior and do and say the cutest things (its probably partially due to the fact that you are focusing your undivided attention on them and partially because they are just excited to be away from their siblings for a moment.) but I always seem to have the best time when I get them one on one.<br />
Last Saturday I took just Peyton on a Costco run. It had been a long time since Peyton and I had some one on one time so I decided to make it extra special and stop by Starbucks to get us both a treat. As we sat down at a table on the patio with a non-fat latte and a chocolate chip frappuccino Peyton began asking me to tell her about all the things we were going to do this summer. (by the way we are super, crazy, busy this summer with tons of traveling in fact we are only home about 4-5 days between each trip all summer) So I began to rattle off all that we had planned San Diego, Tahoe, Oregon, LA, Mexico. "Mexico!" Peyton said. "What are we going to do there?" With excitement in my voice I began to tell her about <a href="https://www.apu.edu/mexout/" target="_blank">APU Mexico Outreach</a> and that we were going on a mission trip. I told her, Mommy was going to be working on staff at the camp praying and encouraging people and I was hoping that maybe she could help me pray while we were there too. I could tell Peyton was trying hard to follow me but I could see in her face a little disappointment. I knew that she was remembering last summer when we took a family vacation to Mexico and stayed at a time share. We rode horses and dirt bikes and played on the beach everyday and I could see in her eyes that she realized this year was going to be a much different trip. I tried my best to tell her she was going to have a blast! The camp we are staying at is so fun and her cousins were going to be there, but I could see Peyton was still thinking about the horses. So I said "look Peyton, we are going to Mexico because God calls us to help people and there are a lot of people and kids that need our help that live in Mexico. They are poor and don't have all the things that we have and so we are going to go there and show them that we love them and God loves them too. At that moment this guy in a wheel chair came up to our table and just kind of sat there staring at us. We both nervously smiled and drank our drink but he just kept staring and inching even closer to our table. My first reaction was to grab Peyton and walk away but it was as if God convicted me in that moment and something inside of me said stay. Suddenly I realized that the man, obviously handicapped, was pointing to the tray table of his wheel chair. When I looked at his tray table I realized that he had a print out of a key pad on his table and was trying to spell something on it for me. "PRETTY" he spelled and then pointed to Peyton. I told Peyton "He thinks you are pretty" Peyton shyly smiled and said "thank you". Then the man began to spell something out again but this time a much longer phrase, I actually had to ask him to repeat it. "WILL YOU BUY ME A COOKIE". I told Peyton what he wrote and her face lit up and she said "Can we mom??!! PLEASE." I decided that maybe this would turn into some kind of teaching moment for my child so I agreed we told the man to wait for us and we went inside. Peyton picked out a cookie for the man and she walked back outside and handed it to him. He spelled on his board "Thank you. GOD BLESS YOU" and shook each of our hands.<br />
As we were walking back to the car I could tell it was if a light bulb went off in Peyton's head and I could feel her excitement and she began to rattle off... "Mom! That was amazing!! I am so glad that we could help that man!! Wait until we tell Dad and Amber about this. I feel so happy right now! Is this what we are going to do in Mexico? Help People? because if it is I can't wait!!!!"<br />
Giving..Serving... Loving...There is nothing that is more fulfilling than those things and my heart was so full witnessing my daughter realize this for maybe the first time. I know it was a simple gesture, who knows how many cookies that man gets bought for him in a week but to my 6 year old daughter it was a lesson of compassion and service that she will never forget and either will I. <br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>"When you give to the least of these, you are giving to me" </i></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: magenta;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Mathew 25:45</i></span></span></span><span></span></span>Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-54243820307922132462012-09-24T11:17:00.000-07:002012-09-24T11:36:40.849-07:00Grand Adventure<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dgs9pBTiv3aH91TXwcol9rdUhc58M3sgYM6Qq2B5jBJhfnJtLoI2ntDb9b8N7G9xUfedsTeHZadz_fLFz2ow6GJBGcG0KsjstsMfLgaVKEzjxY2knhRVGoCOFYZH1d0XZQycUMmTrvs/s1600/IMG_1390.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dgs9pBTiv3aH91TXwcol9rdUhc58M3sgYM6Qq2B5jBJhfnJtLoI2ntDb9b8N7G9xUfedsTeHZadz_fLFz2ow6GJBGcG0KsjstsMfLgaVKEzjxY2knhRVGoCOFYZH1d0XZQycUMmTrvs/s200/IMG_1390.JPG" width="148" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6n0pPnbeAvpLILxk4BqWi9wwuFnPsW5Q1VBCaem6z3CfwBWbcITi-6YahN3SOl13uUhMs6VgibCIjMpZ2Np2cuygVwFKBC842EGVv8_Qd5VZpjDjHUxfKRuxdHc9yTgYU6LMLRHN73Zc/s1600/IMG_1233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6n0pPnbeAvpLILxk4BqWi9wwuFnPsW5Q1VBCaem6z3CfwBWbcITi-6YahN3SOl13uUhMs6VgibCIjMpZ2Np2cuygVwFKBC842EGVv8_Qd5VZpjDjHUxfKRuxdHc9yTgYU6LMLRHN73Zc/s200/IMG_1233.JPG" width="148" /></a>"We are going on a GRAND ADVENTURE" were the words Brandon said as we sat around the kitchen table at our house in Santa Cruz and discussed with our children our upcoming move and what the next few months had in store for the family. I will never forget the look on the kids faces full of excitement followed by an outburst of shouts of glee "Yahoo!!!", "I can't wait!!!" I remember at that moment feeling so scared and sad about the transition that lay before us but I put on my excited and hopeful face for my children. As a parent I believe that one of my jobs is to shield my kids from adult issues, things they have no control over and therefore need not be burdened by. Its only been behind closed doors that Brandon and I have discussed the unknowns and the anxiety that can come with that. So in front of our kids we have been nothing but excited about where God is taking us and our kids have felt the security in that and have been excited too.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cM_5Ou5omZ9_xJ8GcP3btfrqrkSW949XxcJuRC78oImywR1O5BT3TcmgQ-mca2tUy88sm0jOC9iLkSYtH1b7q_2H_lRDSVMbyN7mnXrtrpiA1jUrm3XsAfsk2kEf6hxmmKr5Kt_1PLg/s1600/IMG_1350.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cM_5Ou5omZ9_xJ8GcP3btfrqrkSW949XxcJuRC78oImywR1O5BT3TcmgQ-mca2tUy88sm0jOC9iLkSYtH1b7q_2H_lRDSVMbyN7mnXrtrpiA1jUrm3XsAfsk2kEf6hxmmKr5Kt_1PLg/s200/IMG_1350.JPG" width="148" /></a>Since we left Santa Cruz in August our lives have been nothing less then an adventure! In that short time our family has spent a week in Mexico, two weekends in LA, Peyton started Kindergarten and learned how to ride a horse, Amber started preschool, met her first best friend named Shannon and proudly knows how to write the letter "A". Baby Eden now sleeps through the night (although she still doesn't do it every night), she has cut two teeth and learned how to crawl. We have moved comfortably to San Diego into the home of our friends the Atkinson's who have made us feel humbled and blessed by their hospitality. Who in their right mind would welcome three young children and bunny rabbit into their home with open arms is beyond me, but they have done it with so much love and grace that I often feel over whelmed with gratitude.<br />
Yes, it has been a Grand Adventure, but we know this is only the beginning of the long road that still lay ahead of us. In the midst of all the change God has been so sweet in His comfort, so gracious in His provision and so faithful in His promises. We have enjoyed meaningful moments together as a family praying about our journey and I have seen my kids faith strengthen. 3 year old Amber the other night when we were praying before bed said "When I grow up I want to be a prayer warrior!" Peyton piped in and said "Well I am going to be a mom when I grow up" Amber said "Actually I want to be a mom too" I said "Well you can be a mom and a prayer warrior, that is what mommy is" and I realized as I said it that a few months ago that would have been a lie but in the past few months I have found myself on my knees more times then I can count and I am thankful that I can honestly say that the grand adventure has made my kids mommy into a prayer warrior!<br />
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Last night we got home late from our first long weekend of support raising (blog to come). With our kids in tow we met with 11 different families, drove long hours in the car, went to bed late and got up early, missing meals and surviving the hot sun, I was worried about my kids holding up under the circumstances even though they seemed to be having fun and enjoying meeting with new people (mostly because they got treats and toys every where we went) This morning as I was getting Peyton off to school I was still feeling exhausted from the weekend and wondering is she was feeling the same but she put my mind at ease as I was kissing her good bye she walked out the door saying "Mommy, I love being on this Grand Adventure" I just smiled at her with my heart so full I felt it may burst and I said "I do too, Peyton... I do too."Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-33194031259605663172012-09-02T23:04:00.000-07:002012-09-05T17:24:37.149-07:00The secret is in surrenderI always knew that one day I would be a missionary. It has always been in my heart...my calling. I used to love to read missionary memoirs when I was younger. Some of my favorites include Nate Saint, Elizabeth Elliot, Marilyn Laszlo and my all time favorite "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bruchko-Astonishing-19-Year-Old-Adventures-Christianizing/dp/159185993X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346821755&sr=8-1&keywords=bruchko" target="_blank">Bruchko</a>" about a missionary by the name of Bruce Olson who did some CRAZY stuff (seriously if you are looking for a good read check this book out! ) Call me weird but to me these stories almost seemed glamours. I was one of those crazy, on fire, sold out christian teenagers and I could think of nothing cooler or more fulfilling than putting it all out there for the sake of the cross. I wanted what they had... A CALLING...A MISSION...A DIVINE APPOINTMENT... A DESTINY and I did not care if it meant being poor, dirty, far from home, challenged to the point of breaking or even death... I was ready!<br />
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Now...fast forward 15 years later and guess what? I am officially a missionary! but, things have changed a bit. I have lived some life, seen some stuff, become a wife and a mom, learned the value of family and friends and somewhere along the way I became scared! I used to pride myself on being fearless and care free, spontaneous and tough, living life on the edge seemed attractive to me but something happened one night as I lay in a hospital bed next to my first born child. I remember not being able to sleep as I rest my hand on her tiny chest fighting the raging anxiety in me that feared she may stop breathing and I knew in that moment that my life would never be the same. </div>
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Now that I am a missionary I have some reservations, I am concerned about being able to provide for my family, I worry about being able to guide my children through the multiple transitions that still lay ahead of us, I am afraid about not having health insurance. I have dreams of my kids taking dance lessons, playing sports, mastering a special craft and now I fear we won't be able to afford lessons. I know its silly but I am sad we can't get a dog. </div>
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Tonight I found myself almost laughing at the irony! Why did God not call me into the mission field when I was younger, ready and unafraid? Wouldn't that have made more sense? Wouldn't I have been more effective when I was less afraid? But as I was questioning I felt God gently whisper "yes but now you know you have to rely on me and me alone! Before... you would have tried to do it on your own, but now you know you are nothing without me and that...my child... is the secret to being a successful missionary.... SURRENDER."</div>
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If you have yet to check out our ChiAlpha facebook page please do so and make sure to click "like" to get all our updates in this next exciting chapter of our lives. </div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/BrandonKendrasChiAlphaPage">http://www.facebook.com/BrandonKendrasChiAlphaPage</a>
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Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-74240392256483154912012-07-17T17:41:00.000-07:002012-07-17T17:41:51.262-07:00He sees me in this storm...A whole lot is going on in the lives of the Kertson family, to say the least. We are finding ourselves between jobs, between houses, between cities, between schools....we are in transition. We are not really sure where we are going and what the future holds, so life is a bit scary and confusing at the moment. I had the oportunity a few weeks back to go with the youth group from our church to a place called Gleanings for the Hungry. Gleanings is a ministry founded under Youth with a Mission (YWAM). It is a base that makes dried soup mix and dried fruit and sends it by the truck loads to third world countries. It is an amazing ministry that not only feeds the hungry but feeds the spiritually hungry too. It's hard to explain the feeling you get when you step onto the base but you get a sense that you are surrounded by angels and that something so much bigger then yourself undeniably exists. You go there to work but you leave there blessed and nothing less happened to me this time. I arrived at Gleanings with a heavy heart, my families transition understandably on my mind, as with any move there is always sadness. I was morning the fact that in a few short weeks we would be moving away from a city that we love and have called home for the past four years and we would be leaving behind dear friends who have been like family to us when we had no family close by. The mom side of me was aching for my children knowing that this move was going to be hard on them. Peyton will more then likely be changing kindergardens in the middle of the school year and I know that this will be hard on her sensitive spirit and Amber will be moving from the only place she has ever called home. I felt the burden of wanting to protect them from any heartache but also knowing full well that sometimes heartache builds character and struggling with how to balance the two. So I came to Gleanings with a lot on my mind. I remember not being able to sleep the first night and spending most of the night in prayer crying out to God saying "How could you let this happen,don't you care about my dreams. Don't you see I had plans????" and ever so sweetly I felt the Holy Spirit whisper "yes, but my dreams are bigger then your dreams and my plans are better then your plans" I remember feeling a bit of a break through that night but still wrestling with my feelings as the week went on. As the days passed we shared some wonderful and meaningful moments with the youth from our church and they inspired me as I watched them work long hours with happy hearts. My own young children were even able to help in the process of drying peaches and we were able to have conversations about the poor and the hungry and how we were helping them and I could tell they were understanding and taking their job seriously and that blessed me so much. It was so nice to be able to get away and forget about the fears and unknowns that waited for me at home and for the first time in a long time I was at peace. On Thursday night we were told that in the morning there would be an open mic time of sharing about what went on in our hearts during the week. I immediately felt the holy spirit nudge me "you are going to share your story!" I began to argue "why would I do that... I am still mad, I am still sad... I mean I guess I have a tiny bit more peace but nothing to shout from the roof tops about!"... again a gentle nudge... "trust me, share your story!" so that morning out of sheer obedience I shared with the camp my story, about the transition my family was about to go through and the sadness that I had been dealing with all week. Nothing to profound or extrodanary but It was true it was my heart. When I was finished a lady who works on staff for Gleanings come up to the mic and looked me in the eyes and through tears she said these words that I will never forget: "I saw you on the first day of camp and I felt the Lord spoke to me and said... See her, she is my child and she is in pain... So for the rest of the week I have been praying for you everyday!"<br />
wow! Wow! That moment will probably go down as one of the most life changing moments of my life. My amazement wasn't so much in the fact that the Lord spoke to her about me or that she had been praying for me all week and I didn't even know it, what was so life changing to me was the words that the Lord actually spoke: "SHE IS MY CHILD AND SHE IS IN PAIN" Hearing those words was the first time I really believed that God was seeing me in my pain. Every doubt, every question, every tear, every sleepless night, he saw it, he was there the whole time!!! It's hard to describe what happened the rest of the day but I received an out pouring of encouragement from perfect strangers that found themselves in my shoes and could relate. I heard story after story of the faithfulness of God through trials and the beauty that comes from walking in faith even when you don't understand where it is leading. I left Gleanings feeling like I had just been hugged by God and it was just what I needed to face the trials ahead.<br />
So for a Kertson family update we are scheduled to move out of Santa Cruz the beginning of August. We are in the process of looking at working as College Campus Missionaries for an organization called ChiAlpha. We will be taking 6 months to live with family and friends to raise the support we need to start our ministry. We are excited about where God is taking us and know that he has a plan that is bigger and better then anything we could ever come up with. Brandon and I were called into full time ministry early on in our teen years and perhaps all these years He has been preparing us for this very moment that we will have to step out in faith and trust that God is going to use us for His glory and nothing could be more exciting or fulfilling. Thank you for those of you who are praying for us....we feel your prayers and because of them we are at peace. Thank you to those who are opening their homes and their time to help us out during this transition I trust you will be blessed for your sacrifice and for those who feel sadness about our move (I know our youth group kids are struggling with this transition as well) just know that God sees you and his plans are bigger and better then you even know!Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-80129384734213548452012-05-04T23:23:00.000-07:002012-05-04T23:23:27.570-07:00Goats at the Kertsons<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckxpNwjcWbHbZ1ubgNdv5MlIqFJzJ7R51zlsDYD4e8VoH2tWusI7kfq13pgw__sMrqu7BuFKlxrpkO3D0l8TxURWuomXicpKbW_Xf7OSl78KcZEEzHu6u7iSOGfDQ44m3Jk3wUBztoxg/s1600/IMG_0234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjckxpNwjcWbHbZ1ubgNdv5MlIqFJzJ7R51zlsDYD4e8VoH2tWusI7kfq13pgw__sMrqu7BuFKlxrpkO3D0l8TxURWuomXicpKbW_Xf7OSl78KcZEEzHu6u7iSOGfDQ44m3Jk3wUBztoxg/s320/IMG_0234.JPG" width="239" /></a>When I was younger I had a pet goat. My Dad (who grew up on a farm in Idaho) used to tell me stories of how fun goats were. He would tell me about their large personalities, and how they are smart yet very mischievous, how they are social creatures and much like dogs are loyal to their owners. He would tell me about how when he was a kid he always dreamed of having a goat with a cart that could pull him around and of course I would dream the same thing. So one Christmas when I was about 14 years old, much to my mothers dismay, my Dad got me a goat! We made a bargain that if he got me a goat I wasn't allowed to have a boyfriend, and at that particular time I had no prospects in sight so I happily agreed. To this day one of my favorite childhood memories with my dad was going and picking up that baby goat. I named her prancer and I vividly remember holding her in my lap as we drove her home. I fell in love with her and I think my Dad did too! But... from the moment that Prancer came home with us she was nothing but trouble, we had to rebuild her pin several times because she kept finding away out of it. We soon discovered that she could jump 6 ft straight up and we would often find her walking along our neighbors six ft brick wall. But probably the biggest issue we had with Prancer was that she always wanted to be with me, and every moment that she wasn't with me she would cry! and I am not talking like a cute little goat cry, I am talking like loud, shrieking, every neighbor around could hear her cry! So my Dad and I tried everything to get her to stop, we stuffed some of my clothes with hay and sat it by her cage hoping she would think it was me sitting there, that worked for maybe two days, next we tried a dog shock collar, but goats cries are apparently so different than a dogs bark that it would not register it, so the finale solution was to have the goat sleep in a crate in my bedroom, and that is what she did every night for probably about six months, until my mother who was sick to death of the goat eating her flowers and causing mehem to our everyday life, made me get rid of her. She was sent away to live at a petting zoo. I remember being devastated. I refused to go with my dad to drop off the goat and to this day I don't even know where exactly she went, but I remember crying myself to sleep every night for weeks and from that moment on I vowed that one day I would have another goat.<br />
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Fast forward 15 years later, and you guessed it...Not only did I get one goat I got two! Bet you didn't know you could find goats on craigslist! I didn't either until I started looking and found two of the cutest pygmy goats I ever did see. Someone was giving them away for $50!!! I just could not pass them up. A little convincing to my husband...who I have to admit I caught him in a weak moment, and we were off to pick up our goats. The one thing that I did not anticipate was that we live on a very busy street, in fact we live right in front of a bus stop where every 30-40 minutes a bus pulls up to the side of our house to pick up and unload passengers. Within minutes of getting the goats into our yard I realized that what I thought was a great idea may have been a huge mistake. Tucker and Lila were absolutely terrified of all the cars and buses driving by our house, they would not leave our porch next to our sliding glass door and every time a bus would come by they would ram into the glass trying to get inside. They would not even go near the grassy area that I was so hoping they would enjoy and help us out with yard work. Watching them run into the sliding glass door over and over again I was afraid they were going to break it so I quickly moved them to a smaller gated area on the other side of the house away from the street where they could settle in for the night. I originally wasen't planning on having them stay in that area of the yard so I had put no thought into goat proofing it. I was really scared that I was going to wake up in the morning and find that the goats had managed to exscape (remember they can jump 6ft straight up!) So I hardly slept all night...I could hear them out there crying and jumping on the side of the gate trying to get out but at some point I must have drifted off because I was awakened very early in the morning to my husbands panicked voice saying "Babe...get up! They broke a pipe!" I ran outside in my pajamas and found the whole side of our house flooded and the goats soaking wet as a pipe was gushing water! To make a long story short my husband spent all day fixing the pipe and he eventually got it fixed that evening just in time to wave good bye to the goats. I put them back up on craiglist and within hours a very nice farmer man who lived on an organic blueberry farm a few miles from our house, came and picked them up and gave us $100 for them.<br />
The worse part of this crazy 24 hour mistake was the heart break that is caused my daughter Peyton. Much like her Papa and her Mother she is an animal lover. She loved those goats and when we had to say good bye she cried for hours. I felt horrible, I knew her pain, I felt it when I had to get rid of my goat as a kid. It was like re living it all over again through her eyes. The goats drove away and she ran into the house and buried her head in the couch cushions and sobbed. Her Dad and I tried to talk to her but she made it clear that she did not want to talk about it she just needed to cry and I understood that. We told her when she was ready to talk about it we would be here to listen. Sometime later that night she came to me and said "Mom I think I am ready to talk about them now" I said "ok what should we talk about" she said "Maybe all the good times we had with them...that might make me feel better" So we reminisced on how funny Tucker was, how feisty Lilia was, how she loved it when they would chase after her and how she was a lucky little girl to be able to tell her friends that she had pet goats, even if it was for only 24 hours. Some how that conversation led to her to asking me to tell her stories about Prancer, which led into her asking me about all the pets I had when I was a kid. I told her about my dog Krispen who would sleep in my bed with me every night from the time I was 3 to 16 years old, and my guinne pig Squeaky who would squeak every time someone opened the refrigerator to let us know he wanted a carrot, and my bunny Spring who had baby bunnies and loved to swim in the pool in the summers when it was hot, and my chicken Buffy who got hurt by a raccoon and I nursed her back to health by making her a wheel chair out of Legos...the stories go on and on and she could not get enough of them. It was a special moment for me because I remember listening to my Dad tell me stories of his pets that he had as a kid and I used to love it. Over the years I would ask him to retell his stories to me over and over again. In fact I remember thinking to myself as a kid that I hoped I would be able to tell my children stories of my childhood half as good as my Dad could tell stories of his. Tucking Peyton into bed that night I realized I had succeeded one of my goals as a parent and that was to pass on a legacy of telling stories. I couldn't help but picture Peyton telling her kids about her 24hrs experience with her pet goats. Everynight since the huge goat mistake of 2012 Peyton has asked me to tell her stories of my childhood before she goes to bed at night and that has made the mistake all worth it. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxE8J4dsAC4cUNhbzhwQ7AbcimMx10ywKd93ILjMa01MRyw4lkcpwgg2OY7t8CM2b9xH7QhkbEK8QTp_LfMvg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-86544660897919614482012-03-29T22:47:00.003-07:002012-03-29T22:49:22.297-07:00Super Mom or BUST!Wow that was a long day! One of those days when you leave your house soon after breakfast and you get back sometime after dinner, and with three kids under the age of five in tow that makes for a very very long day! On the agenda was play group, lunch, dentist appointments, grocery shopping, acting class, dinner and home by bed time. Going into it, I knew the day was going to be challenging but I had faith in myself and my children that we could get through it with smiles on our faces. Well....somewhere between dentist appointments and dinner I got a little to sure of myself and my parenting capabilities. The dentist appointments went off without a hitch. My children were well behaved, so brave and even managed to charm the office staff. I left there feeling so proud of my kids and how well adjusted they were to face even scary situations with such grace and ease (yea...see how cocky I am getting) The kids dentist is about a 45 min drive home but all the way down the hill my kids were singing and laughing and I was thanking God for giving me such amazing children. We got through grocery shopping and acting class still smiling and I had the brilliant idea of rewarding my well behaved children by taking them out to dinner. One of our favorite places to go is "Fresh Choice," I think it may be a Northern California thing but think "Soup Plantation" although not nearly as good. My husband actually hates this restaurant and often says "Fresh choice is not that fresh," and I would have to agree with him that the food is not that great, but I get a salad and the kids get mediocre pizza and we are all happy. We usually go there when Brandon is not around and since Brandon was gone at youth group it was the perfect plan. The only problem was that I had never braved "Fresh Choice" by myself with three kids, but in my self righteous state I thought I could handle it....NOT! Peyton and Amber are pretty good at going through the line and filling their plates by themselves and they have these cool rolling high chairs that the babies car seat can fit into and you can push them along the line with you, so I placed sleeping Eden in her car seat on the highchair and began rolling her down the line of the salad bar. We all got about half way through when all the sudden Amber decided to check on the baby and went behind the highchair and pulled it down to try to peek in on Eden and the whole thing, baby and all, fell over on top of her! It was one of those slow motion moments when you can hear the gasp of the crowd and you feel all eyes on you even though you are working at lightening speed to asses the situation. I lift the car seat up and peak in to see Eden is still asleep (how do babies do it) so I sit the car seat back onto the highchair and grab Amber off the floor as she is screaming at the top of her lungs and clutching her leg. I feel her leg and for a split moment I think it might be broken because I felt a huge lump. I look up and see that we are holding up the line, big time, I look over my shoulder and see Peyton way in front of us happily still filling her plate oblivious to what just happened (typical). I remember thinking geez how am I going to get out of this situation and why is no one helping me??? Literally the entire line of 10 people or so were staring at us with their jaws open wondering why this crazy lady was even attempting to take three little kids through a salad bar line! Finally another mom from the line jumped out and offered to help at least get our plates and my kids to a table. I was so grateful. I cradled screaming Amber in one arm and pushed the rolling highchair along with the other all while directing Peyton to stop filling her plate and follow me. She began crying saying "No mom I am not finished yet" But mom voice kicked in and all I had to do was say "NOW" and she tearfully followed. We made it to the end of the line and with a shaky hand I threw some money at the cashier and finally got everyone safely to a booth. Once there I checked out Amber's leg and decided it was not as bad as I had thought, she was going to have a large bruise but she was already calming down and happy about eating her pizza and jello. We continued on with dinner peacefully although I was still shaking, maybe from trauma of seeing my baby upside down in her car seat or maybe from sheer embarrassment, I was not sure. I rushed the kids through dinner because the baby was starting to wake up and was quickly getting fussy, we left the restaurant with Peyton still eating a piece of pizza, I got everyone strapped in the car and realized Amber had taken off her shoes inside the restaurant but at that moment all I wanted to do was be home so I decided to leave them there. The baby was crying for a bottle and I realized it was almost an hour past her feeding time. So I handed Amber her bottle and instructed her to hold it in Edens mouth and we drove off. A few miles down the road I started to giggle at myself and the irony of the fact that just a few hours earlier I felt like super mom and now I was driving home with my tail between my legs, still shaking, embarrassed and having my three year old feed my infant in the back seat. I caught a glimpse of myself in the rear view mirror and realized I didn't know when the last time was that I had showered, I had spit up all over my sweat shirt and I was positive that I did not brush my teeth that morning but all in all I couldn't help but to continue to giggle at my reflection...now that is one blessed lady right there...I thought, and I realize that I had succeeded at ending a very very long day with a smile! The worse part of the day is that I am not sure how long it will be before I can show my face at "Fresh Choice" again.Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-39863564855016570052012-03-13T11:08:00.001-07:002012-03-13T11:08:26.321-07:00Flowers for Mamma!Well it has been a month and three days now since I have been a mother of three!!! For the most part the transition of this little one to our family has been nothing but a blessing. The older girls absolutely love her! So much so that she has already had two colds in her short little life because the girls (who are always sick) will not stop kissing and hugging her. Poor baby...I am hoping that she is building up good immunities, but it is so sad to see a newborn struggle. :( On top of being sick the baby has been very gassy...like high pitched screaming, face turning red, fussy for hours, gassy! I am in the process of trying to figure out what to do about it. (If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.) <br />
This weekend she was really bad. If I was not holding her she was screaming, which does not work very well when you have two other children and a household to run. I am pretty good at doing things one handed but there are just some things you simply can't do while holding a baby...like cleaning up rabbit pee from the kitchen floor...for example. :) Between a demanding newborn and the constant pleas of "Mom can you get me this", "Mom I need that", "Mom help me with this", "Mom where is that" it's enough to make anyone go crazy, not to mention a sleep deprived women running on one cup of decaf coffee. By the end of the day I was so worn out and trying so desperately to keep it together that I did what any other well intentioned worn out mother would do. I Sent the kids outside to play! (Amber could not decide what pants to put on so she ran out in a tank top and her underwear, and at that moment I could care less, as long as they were out of my way.) As I began trying to cook dinner with one hand, while still cradling a sad little baby in the other, I began to question my ability as a parent. Was I spending enough time with Amber? "She is the middle child now, how am I going to parent her so she does not grow up resenting her childhood" and peyton, I am pretty sure I spent most of the day ignoring her ramblings about her imaginary worlds, and all that she is learning about bugs and amphibians, "I really should pay more attention to her, what if she thinks I don't care?" As I turn towards the oven to put in dinner I hear two little girls behind me saying "Mamma, close your eyes!" "Ok, they are closed" I say, still turned towards the oven. I hear the girls opening cabinets while, whispering and giggling to one another and soon they shout "Ok mom turn around!" I turn around and they yell "Surprise!" They had picked "flowers" (weeds) and put them in a vase for me. My heart melted and I said "thank you so much, they are beautiful" Peyton said "We wanted to pick them for you mamma, because we love you so much!" Of course at that moment I was a puddle on the floor, how did they know that is just what I needed that day...reassurance. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX7eB6V3knxOWL8hYfCMglmnc1u2EtGtB4xZC8wWFWF_3AuAznwrGuNPWTvjbyJZMOS9LYxDJsW5nDgVCcddolhFKmBH3TDLnOeHzN7-KoZDJvfCdEB0tRR535MHPcRcrz7BVQjrtKwnI/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX7eB6V3knxOWL8hYfCMglmnc1u2EtGtB4xZC8wWFWF_3AuAznwrGuNPWTvjbyJZMOS9LYxDJsW5nDgVCcddolhFKmBH3TDLnOeHzN7-KoZDJvfCdEB0tRR535MHPcRcrz7BVQjrtKwnI/s320/photo.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-14110975536933911362011-12-10T11:23:00.001-08:002011-12-10T12:03:32.442-08:00Traditions... TRADITIONS!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have no business taking time out of my busy head elf schedule to be writing a blog right now but my heart is so full at the moment that I feel it important to document this feeling, even if only for my kids to one day read and recall the memories. This morning I made Christmas sugar cookies with my girls. A tradition that I remember doing with my Mom for as long as I can remember. We use this recipe that is called Sue's Sugar cookies. Now, I have no idea who Sue is but thank God for her cookies. They are the best sugar cookies I have ever had. I will not even eat any others. I think the secret is there is sour cream and nutmeg in the dough which makes them super soft and smell amazing. Just the aroma of those cookies flooding my kitchen brings back so many warm and fuzzy memories of Christmas' past. This morning my girls helped roll out the dough and cut the shapes and then frost them. Peyton was actually a big help this year and she decorated them really cute (like I can actually give them away to people and not be embarrased) Amber...well she is only two...I think she spent all morning decorating one cookie but managed to put every frosting color and sprinkle that we had on top making a large mond that made it unable to even see what the cookie on the bottom was in the first place. but she was so proud of her cookie it didn't matter. Once the cookies are all baked and decorated we will pass them out to our neighbors, a tradition that I remember doing with my family as a kid and we have now done each year with our own kids. Peyton blessed me so much a few weeks ago when I was getting out some of her old clothes that she grew out of for Amber to start wearing. We came across a pair of princess sneakers that light up when you walk. Peyton's faced lit up and she excitedly explained "Amber! These are the shoes I wore one Christmas when we were passing out christmas cookies to our neighbors." How on earth did she connect those two, I will never know but the important thing is that it stuck with her and we made a memory from an old tradition. In case you haven't guessed it I am a huge advicate for traditions, for several reasons, but the most important one is that I believe they bind a family together in such away that is unique and special to only your family. Not only that, traditions benefit kids in so many ways, making them feel like they belong and are apart of something bigger then themselves. I believe that it imprints a marker on their hearts of a memory that hopefully they will cherish forever, even if it is just a pair of princess light up shoes that carried cookies to the nieghbors. :) What are some of your favorite family traditions???Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-41767428138498011872011-10-20T08:27:00.000-07:002011-10-20T08:27:03.644-07:00I miss NANA!After a long couple weeks of go go go fun fun fun with my mom being here while Brandon is away. I was really looking forward to my bed. I put the girls to bed and fell right to sleep the moment my head met the pillow. Around 3am I was awaken to the sound of a small wimper that quickly continued to get louder until it turned into a full blown cry. I rushed into the girls room and flew open the door to find Peyton sitting up in her bunk bed sobbing. I noticed Amber was awake too. My first few thoughts were... she had a bad dream... she is feeling sick... she is scared...I ran over to her and asked "Peyton, what is wrong?" with a sniff sniff she burst into tears again and cried "I MISS NANA!"<br />
After a trip to the bathroom, a cup of water, a few hugs and reassurance that we would see Nana again soon she went back to bed. As I headed back to my own bed, slightly annoyed at being woken up at 3 am and upset that Amber was now awake, I could not help but smile and send up a quick prayer thanking God for the special relationship Peyton has with my mom and for the fact that she has the ability to love so deeply and completly.Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-59218809199377354902011-09-25T20:27:00.000-07:002011-09-25T20:28:02.991-07:00Baby girl names...Help!Brandon and I finally had a chance to sit down and talk about baby names tonight. I have to say having to name three girls is HARD! We have some wonderful boy names picked out, but alas, here we are once again having to come up with a girl name. We have narrowed our choices down to three and litterally can not choose between them. We asked both Peyton and Amber today which one they liked best and everytime we asked them they had a different answer, so they were not much help. So I decided to go ahead and take a poll here on my blog. Not that the winning name will necessarly be the one we choose but maybe it will give us some perspective. I also like the idea of waiting until we meet her to give her a name so most likely that is what we will do, but in the mean time we would like your input! :) So here are the three choices!<br />
PAIGE<br />
HOLLY<br />
EDEN<br />
What do you think?Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-41054967885497163372011-09-23T14:56:00.000-07:002011-09-23T23:25:59.644-07:00Girl #3 - My poor husbandWe just found out yesterday that baby girl #3 is on her way. We took the kids to the ultra sound appointment which was really fun. Their little faces lit up when they saw the image of the baby on the screen for the first time. They sat there in awe of the whole thing. Amber kept her little hand on my arm and every once in awhile she would whisper "I love you, mommy." Truly a family moment I will never forget. When it came to the part of investigating wither we were looking at a baby girl or a baby boy the nurse finally declared "Its another girl!" and Peyton slapped her forehead and said "Oh No!" We left the appointment, Amber holding the new pictures of our baby girl and shouting down the hall "That's my baby!" to everyone we passed, as we all giggled at her cuteness, I could not help but notice the disappointment written all over my husbands face. We both knew this was our last shot at a boy. There will be no more babies for us and I know he was really hoping for a son. I spent the rest of the day trying to talk about it with him trying to say all the right things like, "God knows what He is doing", "Maybe we wouldn't be good at raising a boy?", "Your girls can still play sports and watch football with you" But he mostly just remained quiet and I could see he just needed some time to process, So I left him alone.<br />
Early this morning, we woke up to the sound of little girls giggling and chatting, much like we do every morning. Neither one of us wanted to get out of bed, so we laid their waiting to see which one would get up first. Finally my husband broke the silence between us by saying:<br />
"I guess I should get up with them before they get into something they shouldn't"<br />
and then the moment came...the one I had been waiting for all day the day before...my husband began to vent:<br />
"Its rough getting up with them because I know the moment I get out there they are going to want a drink, and then they are going to fight over who gets the princess cup, and then they are going to want breakfast and they are going to fight over who gets the pink plate and now we are Going TO Have Another Girl and We are Going to have to Buy more PINK STUFF!!!"<br />
I thought he was finished and I was about to interject my thoughts about maybe this time buying purple or yellow when he continued:<br />
"And they just talk so much....they never stop talking...I noticed that when Micah comes over (a friends son that we watch one day a week) He just makes sounds for everything but he doesn't talk very much, and its not That He Can't Talk Its Just that he Doesn't HAVE TOO!!!! " <br />
I figured he was finished this time because he threw the covers over his head as if to hide from all the progesterone in his home. I couldn't help but smile at his sudden outburst. <br />
We talked for a little while longer and decided that more then likely this new little baby was going to be completely different then the two we've got, and who knows maybe she won't even like pink. If there is anything about parenting that we both have learned in the last five years it's that you never know what you are going to get and we need to be prepared to face a whole new set of enjoyment and challenges with this new child. I think the thought of meeting this new little one got us very excited and so my husband bravely hopped out of bed to get the girls breakfast. <br />
The rest of the morning went on as usual until I heard some strange conversations between Brandon and the girls in their bedroom as they were getting dress. I walked in to see if he needed any help picking out outfits and doing hair, like I do every morning, but to my surprise I walked into the girls dressed in the cutest outfits and Brandon brushing Peyton's hair and Amber's hair was already in two little pig tails with pink bows to match. My husband has never (and I mean never) attempted to do the girls hair and I have to say he did a pretty good job. I can't tell you how much this blessed me. Not unlike my husband, I could tell that he had contemplated his circumstances and decided to go ahead and dive right in and be the best he could be. I just love him so much! <br />
So here's to a house full of happy, giggly, chatty and most of all loved little girls, and my promise that one day we will get a boy dog for my husband to confide in! :) Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-91204851610688428772011-07-06T15:53:00.000-07:002011-07-07T13:02:36.243-07:00Hyperemesis GravidarumHypermesis Gravidarum (HG) is a fancy medical term for "pregnant lady can not stop throwing up!" Apparently it is a pretty rare condition, only 2% of pregnant women experience it so I guess I am one of the lucky ones. Ha Ha. I understand this blog is going to be mostly boring to the outside world but I figured I could at least document my experience for my children to read someday since research shows that HG can be hereditary. So read at your own risk. :)<br /><br /><br />Not much is know about HG in fact most doctors don't understand it and or even dismiss it as common morning sickness but it is anything but common morning sickness. If you have had morning sickness that other people can relate to and give you tips on how to manage than you don't have HG because if you have HG you will know that eating a few crackers or small frequent meals does not help at all and can even make the problem worse. I am at the point now that if one more person tells me to eat a few crackers before I get out of bed in the morning I can no longer give you a smile and thank you for your advice because you obviously don't understand my condition. I can not even take a sip of water without throwing it up so why would a few crackers do the trick? I have been researching this diseases over the last few days and have found a few articles of women who have either taken their own lives or chosen to have an abortion just to stop the torment. I know this sounds extreme but having been there myself understand their pain. Its a horrible, helpless feeling that has left me fearing death myself and of my unborn child and worse part is that nobody understands what you are going through or how to help.<br /><br /><br />I first found out that I had Hypermesis Gravidarum when I got pregnant with my first child (Peyton) I found out I was pregnant because I started throwing up and I thought it was the stomach flu but after a week of no relief I finally took a pregnancy test and found out that I was indeed pregnant. Now this pregnancy was not planned (as you will soon find out that this is the case with all of our pregnancies) So we were not prepared and had no medical insurance. Little did we know what was in store for us in the months ahead. After weeks of throwing up 5 to 6 times a day, loosing about 10 pounds and my pee turning black (sorry to be so graphic) I finally had no choice but to go to the ER for IVs. That trip cost us $1000.00 but they prescribed a nausea medication for me called Compazine that we were hopeful would give me some relief. After a few days on the medication I started experiencing a very strange feeling in my throat. At first I just thought I needed to throw up but as the hours passed I realized that I was having trouble catching my breath and soon after that it got so bad that I could barely talk or breath but I motioned to Brandon that we needed to go to the ER. I was in fact having an allergic reaction to the medication and that was one of the scariest nights of our lives. I have never seen my husband look so scared and helpless and I saw my life flash before my eyes. After a few shots of ben<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKB5wWgc-WAj2ghgUdBmNxLuLIxAHKp4KNZvvKwXaaam7eEnNVJvaFXlPC0rqxwzfw-ggQzgabREGhPN6bt1UBlzglZjkGK_8i19cBLYDk1D4eydz-JrB8ix25JJK_aok1UtPqZr4_Wv0/s1600/Mom_%2526_Peyton_3.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 213px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626441781971317714" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKB5wWgc-WAj2ghgUdBmNxLuLIxAHKp4KNZvvKwXaaam7eEnNVJvaFXlPC0rqxwzfw-ggQzgabREGhPN6bt1UBlzglZjkGK_8i19cBLYDk1D4eydz-JrB8ix25JJK_aok1UtPqZr4_Wv0/s320/Mom_%2526_Peyton_3.jpg" /></a>adryl in the ER I was stable and we left that night with another $1000.00 bill but one that possibly saved my life. After months or tortures paper work we finally qualified for medi-cal that helped with the rest of the pregnancy bills and by 4 months pregnant I was starting to feel human again. And on Feb. 8th 2007 a healthy, beautiful, perfect baby girl was born.<br /><br /><br />Much like woman forget labor pains soon after birth well I forgot what HG was like and a year and half after Peyton was born we began talking about having another baby, which just talking about having a baby between my husband and I apparently means that in a few weeks we are pregnant. We were excited to have another little one on the way and I actually felt good for the first month. I was hopeful maybe HG wouldn't happen to me again but as soon as I got comfortable it hit! One morning I will never forget after spending the night with my girlfriends and planning on spending a nice summer day laying by the pool. A very familiar feeling hit me and I began relentlessly throwing up. This time was different because I had a toddler to take care of that I could not even get out of bed for. I remember having to stay at my moms house so she could take care of us and crying to her that I wished I would have never gotten pregnant again because at that moment I would rather have died than to have gone through HG again. A few trips to the ER later I finally got a do<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsjbfrdPhmrzhyphenhyphenZ5Q-7Lh3ecEePISSTxA_9zQzLmy1o_LhxLN2CheibM55-UaRuIi7s3WnEWu_wI6ehzlEx28OLLe-l9QktYyMB-JlXLIG1CSy84WIMXDvI71Iqspmq6CmueRDcck8wc/s1600/Amber+in+the+hospital+006.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: pointer" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5626444660892097042" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMsjbfrdPhmrzhyphenhyphenZ5Q-7Lh3ecEePISSTxA_9zQzLmy1o_LhxLN2CheibM55-UaRuIi7s3WnEWu_wI6ehzlEx28OLLe-l9QktYyMB-JlXLIG1CSy84WIMXDvI71Iqspmq6CmueRDcck8wc/s320/Amber+in+the+hospital+006.jpg" /></a>ctor who knew what to do with me and prescribed me a medication called Zofran (used primarily for cancer patients going through cemo) The medication helped control the vomiting although I still felt horrible, my amazing family and friends came together and made sure someone was always with me to take care of Peyton and I until I felt better and by the third or fourth month I was able to function again like a normal pregnant person, and on January 13th, 2009 another beautiful healthy baby girl was born (Amber).<br /><br />On Father's Day of this year we happily yet reluctantly told our families that we were expecting again. I say reluctantly because although we really want this child to complete our family we knew what was instore for our family in the months ahead. I have to say, yet again this pregnancy was a surprise. Without getting to specific, lets just say that some form of protection was being used, but God had other plans. It was hard to be overly excited about the news because all I could think of was what my family was about to go through. All our summer plans that we were so looking forward to flashed before my eyes as I realized it was very likely that I would not be able to attend them. I was sad for my young children who wouldn't understand why their mommy was so sick and for my poor husband who I have seen go through this twice before, I know how hard it is on him having to work full time and come home to a sick wife and have to take care of the kids and all the household responsibilities. Sure enough about a week after announcing our pregnancy I began to get very sick. I knew to call in for Zofran first thing and they were able to get it to me quickly and that seemed to help for a few weeks. But, last weekend everything turned from bad to worse. The Zofran stopped working and I went over 36 hours without being able to keep down any food our water. I began feeling numbness in my arms and legs and painful, splitting headaches. After two trips to the ER in two days the hospital decided to admit me to see if they could get my HG under control. I remember saying a quick prayer that God would give the doctors wisdom and somebody would know something new to try. The afternoon of my first day in the hospital I met the doctor on call and loved her immediately. She told me that during her residency in San Fransico she had been put on a case study for Hyperemesis Gravidarum and using steroids to control the nausea. She told me they had great success with the trial and often found that within three days the women were feeling much better. There was never any harm to the babies reported. I know steroids in a pregnant lady sounds scary but when you are as sick as I am you fear for your baby anyway so I felt like I had no other option but to try it and who knows maybe this was the answer to my prayer. I have been home from the hospital now for three days and I have to say I feel much better. I am hopeful that this is working. I still find it hard to do much more then lay around and I have to take everything really slow so not to stir up the nausea but the vomiting seems to be under control. YAY!<br /><br />So that is my Hypermesis Gravidarum story thus far. To my children I want to say you are beyond worth it. I would not take back a second of this sickness if it meant you could not be in this world. I know you were each meant to be here for very specific purposes and I am so proud to be your mom. Always remember during hardships that you might face that you, in Christ, have the strength to overcome! Our God is a God of wisdom and compassion and nothing gives Him greater joy than to overcome. And lastly, take the help! Through all of this I have become ever grateful for my supportive family and friends who have gone out of their way to help. You will find blessings in their love so remember in return to be a blessing.<br />I love you all dearly. Love always. Mom.Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-13540636712125850822011-05-13T14:14:00.000-07:002011-05-13T18:31:57.878-07:00Dandelion Wish<div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGVlKFwY0R9ucoOtCcKdPDKjOQd7LUoa0mT1g-Gsm3WjX53hZYiq63sJ_HsCQ8_KFB955Md6sS0kWnbMyCSdkw2fmUXt4v4iJWSz_BZ8aGXqCboBLgtBkfbpR00KByZb_lIwXdgLz9Fls/s1600/Easter+2011+038.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 240px; height: 320px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5606313276265574066" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGVlKFwY0R9ucoOtCcKdPDKjOQd7LUoa0mT1g-Gsm3WjX53hZYiq63sJ_HsCQ8_KFB955Md6sS0kWnbMyCSdkw2fmUXt4v4iJWSz_BZ8aGXqCboBLgtBkfbpR00KByZb_lIwXdgLz9Fls/s320/Easter+2011+038.JPG" border="0" /></a>Not sure who taught her this...was it me? I don't remember. But, some how my 4 year old daughter knows that when you find a dandelion you are to blow it into the wind and make a wish. Some time in the last year she must have done exactly that because she reminds me of the wish she made every day! I am reminded of it mostly during the mundane activities of life, such as a spur of the moment bike ride around the block, or finding a shiny penny on the sidewalk, getting a Popsicle after dinner and splashing with bubbles in the bathtub. "My dandelion wish came true mommy!!" She often says, "I know baby, You are one lucky little girl," I say, but I know full well that luck has nothing to do with it. She is to young to understand what a powerful thing it is to be able to grasp the scientifically proven fact that happiness comes from savoring the simple things. Her wish.... that every day would be the best day of her life. </div><div>Children can teach us a lot about how to be happy. Sure we can read all the self help books in world on the subject of happiness but for me (since I have little to no time to read anyways) its sometimes easier for me to take a moment and watch my children. A child can find joy in the simple things. A child without even knowing it can savor the mundane. I am learning that my children often remember and enjoy the simple moments more than the ones that were planned out for months and cost the most money. The biggest moments are often the smallest ones and we are to savor them.<br />My dandelion wish for you is that today you will look for joy in the unexpected places, that you would be able to savor the simple moments and that you would not stop until happiness has undeniably consumed you. </div><div>Romans 15:13 - May the God of hope fill you with all JOY and all Peace, so that you may over flow with Hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. </div><div><br /></div></div>Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-78103214293923083612011-03-18T15:37:00.000-07:002011-03-19T14:39:20.273-07:00Darn you Rob Bell!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineHQxMtwwQWe7dKwKwEWiX5NfXMnejT1l3kFUDJR56Jo92nGAk0nE6RM_SOX5pROHQ1JgUK-ypw3HL-FXGCCD-biTi7VGQ6S2YPxNnnLGJjYGwtO8FmqeOTyUWBZt-CTib0QCsld12HY/s1600/heart.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEineHQxMtwwQWe7dKwKwEWiX5NfXMnejT1l3kFUDJR56Jo92nGAk0nE6RM_SOX5pROHQ1JgUK-ypw3HL-FXGCCD-biTi7VGQ6S2YPxNnnLGJjYGwtO8FmqeOTyUWBZt-CTib0QCsld12HY/s320/heart.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585908584352774818" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div>Darn you Rob Bell for stirring up passion in me once again. I am sitting here trying to stop myself from getting involved but passion has taken over and even if it is just on this small platform I call my blog:"All you need is Love", I must speak what is on my heart.</div><div>I understand that I am not a theologian, I don't write with big words, correct grammar and perfect spelling but I write with my heart, and I write what I know for sure, and what I know for sure is Christianity in America is in trouble! The statistics are baffling. While at Catalyst a few weeks ago I attended a lab done by Samuel Rodriguez, the leader of the Hispanic evangelical movement, who shared some of these staggering statistics:</div><div> </div><div>- 85% of churches in the US are in a numeric decline</div><div>- Americans who identify themselves as Christians has declined 10% in the last decade<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjGHu18VNYdXQcuzsWl2pyIDKaFaf1FegFm8poVUlYR2ydCZb5yDw0J0dRJ4A_JbYsuUQaIYgX4LkChDbN0DWWbuymfkheN26T2H1HaLqflZma_g8Qh8de-TDIqxp5aoof_8NRCozaxM/s1600/heart.jpg"><br /></a></div><div>- Christianity has less influence on American Politics and Culture than it did 5 years ago.</div><div>- Newsweek published an article recently entitled "The end of Christian America"</div><div> </div><div>BUT CHRISTIANITY IS NOT DECLINING IN THE REST OF THE WORLD</div><div> </div><div>-In Communist China there are said to be 28,000 new converts a day</div><div>-In Africa Christianity has grown from 5% to 45% in the last decade</div><div>-The only Church that is growing in America is the Hispanic church</div><div> </div><div>Something is very very wrong with Christianity in America. I have heard it said that "the church is producing atheists", and who can argue against that statement? We have to know that something is terribly broken. At this point change is crucial. </div><div> </div><div>Rob Bell's new book "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived" is creating a stir in the christian community. I have not read it yet but I have been keeping up-to-date with the heated debate by reading reviews and blogs on the book and the whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. In a time when change is crucial in the christian community why are we arguing and bickering over the same OLD stuff. I find it ironic that Rob Bell is preaching on LOVE and all we can seem to do is belittle each other over our opinions on theology and doctrine. I am not going to share my thoughts on whither or not I think there is a heaven or a hell or if Rob Bell is a universalist, clearly there is enough being written on that subject and my two cents is not needed, but one thing I know for sure is that Rob Bell believes that Christianity in America can be saved. I think we can all learn a lot about love from Rob Bell and the church that he pastors. Does he have all the answers? I am sure he does not but at least he is asking the right questions: "In a gospel whose overwhelming theme is love, why are we not living that out?" I plan to read the book and try to answer that question for myself and I hope you will do the same...stop being afraid and start answering the questions! In the words of Rob Bell, "God can handle the conversation."</div><div> </div><div>The good news is that many giants in the American christian community believe that a time of young pastors doing bold and visionary ministry is emerging. Samuel Rodriguez said "This generation is eager to infuse the world with beauty and grace and the best of Christianity in America is yet to come" I don't know about you but I want to be a part of that movement!!!! I want to hold to the greatest commandment of all LOVE, and offer ALL who are hungry a radically different but far more beautiful, way of doing life. I don't have the answer to the change that needs to be made but I would bet that it has something to do with Love. We are called to manifest God's UNIQUELY beautiful love and bear witness to the reality of Jesus Christ by how we share our lives and serve others. The judgment needs to stop. The arguing needs to stop. The belittling needs to stop and Love needs to start winning! Lets be the change people!<br />I really like <a href="http://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/03/rob_bells_love_wins_reviewed_b.html">this guys blog</a> about the book and it gives insight into what Rob Bells church is all about. <a href="http://www.mlive.com/living/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/03/rob_bells_love_wins_reviewed_b.html"></a></div><div> </div><br /><div> </div></div></div></div></div></div>Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-81099894409859493312011-02-23T14:04:00.000-08:002011-02-23T15:24:50.859-08:00Dear AmberDear Amber,<br /><br />When you were only a few months old I knew you were something special, you were so observant of the world around you and we would often tease you about your "starring problem", you would stare at everything and everyone, especially people and things that were new to you. People would stop me in the grocery store and say "your baby has been staring at me now for several minutes!" I would just laugh but deep down I knew that a very special personality trait was forming in your tiny body. When you were born we gave you the middle name Hallel which is Hebrew for Praise. Your Dad and I agreed that there was power in that name and with some prophetic notion we believed that you would grow up to be a worshiper. Now of course your Dad would love it if you picked up the guitar one day and lead worship services around the world, but we are both fully aware that worship does not only come from music, and even if you are not musical you will find a way to bring glory to God through your actions. Now I understand that you are only two years old and you have a lot of growing and changing to do but I am amazed by you! You are the most caring, loving, thoughtful, silly, funny little girl that ever walked the earth. How on earth did God think up you I will never know. I am starting to think that the reason why you stare is because you are trying to figure out what that person needs and if you can help. Nothing makes you happier than when you are helping someone else. Every morning you help Daddy unload the dishwasher, and get Laurie up ready for Breakfast. The other day you tried to pour Laurie's cereal into a bowl for her, it didn't go so well but I could not stop smiling over the fact that you would even want to try. Last night as I was leaving the house for a quick trip to the grocery store you ran into the room and brought me out my coat and all I could think at that moment was: how on earth can a two year old be so thoughtful? I am reminded of few verses that suit you well that I hope you will hide in your heart one day.<br /><br />1 Cor 13: 13 "Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly, but remember the best of these three is LOVE."<br />Philippians 1: 9-11 "This is my prayer: That your love will flourish and that you will not only love others much but well. Live a lovers life, a life Jesus would be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul making Jesus attractive to all, greeting everyone with the glory and PRAISE of God!"<br /><br />If you love and serve people the way Jesus did I can't think of a better way to "Hallel" to Praise. I thank God for the things he is going to do through you little one. I am so proud to be your mommy.<br />love always,<br />Mommy<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bE-LoUHB4oBcgT8L3cSTfUJP5fQXVALy-gPDQd7yX9XzaIqVsmaSw0-LxZsrbP7X4_FwJuyVy88mqamgvoRogqm8qr3qzniHm9c7xK5wKtmS5hBQNXYZv2qs6IxFMgOdEhMgqSzQkko/s1600/Family+pics+2010+174.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_bE-LoUHB4oBcgT8L3cSTfUJP5fQXVALy-gPDQd7yX9XzaIqVsmaSw0-LxZsrbP7X4_FwJuyVy88mqamgvoRogqm8qr3qzniHm9c7xK5wKtmS5hBQNXYZv2qs6IxFMgOdEhMgqSzQkko/s320/Family+pics+2010+174.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5577028973753622194" border="0" /></a>Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-47763646999352242442011-01-04T15:41:00.000-08:002011-01-04T16:41:37.305-08:00Thoughtful gifts are the Best!<div>As a gift this Christmas Brandon's Mom presented him with a scrapbook that she put together of his childhood. This was HUGE since up until that point all of her pictures of Brandon were in the bottom of a box somewhere...we can all relate right!? :) At first glance I loved seeing him as a kid and of course comparing his looks to our children, Peyton has his eyes and Amber has his nose...but as I got through to the end I could not help but notice how parallel his childhood was to mine. A lot of the parallels were just little stuff like we had the same color soccer uniforms on the same year, and that our Dad's both liked to take us fishing and that we both attended prom our feshman year. (crazy I know! :) ) but what was even more shocking was how similar our faith journey's were. We were both raised in the church...our parents not Christians when they met but soon found their faith after their children were born. As young kids we were involved in a children's evangelism outreach called King's Kids (a ministry founded by YWAM) I was in the LA branch and he in the San Diego... we both fell in love with performing through Kings Kids and began doing community theater were we both performed in the musical Grease...King's Kids also brought out our love for evangelism so as teenagers we went on several mission trips one was to Atlanta Georgia during the 1996 Olympics. Due to our experiences during our mission trips we made commitments to serve the Lord with our lives and chose Azusa Pacific University to study Bible and ministry...it was there that we met for the first time in a "Marriage and Family Life" class and fell in love while performing in a musical...Hello Dolly!. Now is it just me or is that a product of God's incredible handy work... and sense of humor! :) Now of course I knew all of these things before looking at the scrapbook but for some reason seeing it mapped out like that was very powerful for me (can anyone say visual learner?) Like any marriage we have had our far share of ups and downs...during the lows it was easy to question wither or not we were made for eachother but I was reminded yet again of the divine nature of our relationship all thanks to a little scrapbook. Amen to thoughtful gifts and Amen to a God who knows our beginning and our end. Thank You Jesus for being the author and perfector of our Faith! <div> </div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5558493384801477490" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHLUa_gpB_MNf7XlADQawVO36NcYubvAtt7jU9RY8GcE-gT-Q7FzI0_dGnCsSInRQZDg8XDuedvU7KhPx39P9ZAT1sNB6p7xd7zkMIjlwvXX26pU3Vg7pL44spMCUBNCVPaVjA2kuJz74/s320/IMAG0196.JPG" /></div></div>Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-16243269365508920982010-11-14T13:45:00.000-08:002010-11-14T15:04:36.040-08:00Weaknesses vs. StrengthsDo you focus more on your weaknesses or your strengths?<br />Did you know that when a survey went out asking this very same question to huge organizations all over the world 30% said they focused on their strengths and 70% focused on their weakness. Why do we this?<br />This question was brought to my attention after listening to Marcus Buckingham speak at the Women of Faith conference this weekend. As I sat their listening to Marcus I became increasingly convicted on the fact that I as a parent tend to focus more on my children's weaknesses rather than their strengthens. It was brought to my attention how very backwards this way of thinking truly is.<br />For example: My youngest daughter Amber is not what you would call an "easy" child. From the day she was born I had this sense that she was going to be very different from my first born (who I like to call an angel baby). Amber was born with pixy in her eyes, she is extremely stubborn, short tempered, clingy, overly curious and above all trouble waiting to happen!!! In the last month she has gotten into a bottle of Zicam and thrown it up all over my poor moms blow up mattress, (She has also gotten hold of a baby Tylenol bottle and figured out how to open it regardless of the safety system on it...we luckily got it from her before she took any but not without a fight) She has also learned how to unlock the double bolted front door and numerous times I have caught her just before she made it to the middle of the street, we have had to put one of those baby door knobs on the inside of her bedroom door just to keep her in her room at night but she has recently learned how to tear them apart and get out anyways, not to mention her new found fascination with toilets and the countless times she has backed them up due to flushing inanimate objects down them. I could go on and on about this child and the fun never stops, its all day everyday!!! I have recently become aware that I complain way to much about Ambers behavior and perhaps I need to hold my tongue a bit...So if you hear me ranting PLEASE you have permission to slap my wrist...and I am serious.... I really am working on not talking about her so much in fear that she may hear me and for the rest of her life label herself as TROUBLE, and that is the last thing I want for her.<br />I have struggled to know exactly how to handle her behavior until this strengths vs weaknesses came to my attention...what if instead of focusing on the above written paragraph I were to tell you that Amber is in fact extremely loving and caring. Already, at one years old, we can tell she has a servants heart and looks out for others often before herself....what an amazing quality right!? She loves to be Mommy's little helper...in fact I caught her this morning trying to unload the dishwasher for me<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKoq47r5xJ6P9f2ZdBkdoh_8lfX_ZqkjhQB1PLFQtHLMpisvs0RQJKlZhCTOIqdE_hna6wKnz_CjY5b-7ZiYOTmPDUqR0yyQu7tqpGxqcEg7U5EgVdNv4jb0JFRvfuz62dS4GxgtFupw/s1600/Nov.+2010+080.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5539525483013999954" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGKoq47r5xJ6P9f2ZdBkdoh_8lfX_ZqkjhQB1PLFQtHLMpisvs0RQJKlZhCTOIqdE_hna6wKnz_CjY5b-7ZiYOTmPDUqR0yyQu7tqpGxqcEg7U5EgVdNv4jb0JFRvfuz62dS4GxgtFupw/s320/Nov.+2010+080.JPG" /></a> So I made a commitment to start focusing on my children <em>for what they are rather than what they are not. </em>For Amber I think that means keeping her busy with chores.. LOL...my hope is that by keeping her hands busy it will keep her out of trouble...we will see how it goes. :)Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371485872569943380.post-89280798097327241282010-11-02T12:58:00.000-07:002010-11-03T19:29:23.782-07:00World Changers!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfalaVKvpRdWlmIjRnB1jHUHIyQhgP3U8Az0yrduqy-L8DtEiQq_FYRt0xCMj2JVJIMRlktltrztpurjJNcqGOuzAQ1fRIH4hrX7gXyaXSFjeIml7TNKAzLcWeh9KrG-3XlRZffmW-IQc/s1600/Fall+2010+112.JPG"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535059971175463458" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfalaVKvpRdWlmIjRnB1jHUHIyQhgP3U8Az0yrduqy-L8DtEiQq_FYRt0xCMj2JVJIMRlktltrztpurjJNcqGOuzAQ1fRIH4hrX7gXyaXSFjeIml7TNKAzLcWeh9KrG-3XlRZffmW-IQc/s320/Fall+2010+112.JPG" /></a><br /><div>I attend a women's bible study on Tuesday mornings that has been such a blessing for me. Every Tuesday I walk out of there feeling refreshed and alive and today was no exception. We are towards the end of our study and the lesson today was on "Our Calling" The leader of the study shared that she once was at a conference and the pastor stopped in the middle of his sermon and told the crowd that he felt strongly that in the midst of them there were World Changers and he wanted everyone to go to one of those people and pray for them. Looking around she wasn't sure who she should go pray for until she realized that a group of people were laying hands on her and praying for her... Tears began to pour down my face as I found myself taken back to a similar time in my own life when I was 15 years old and a group of people laid hands on me and encouraged me to commit my life to full time ministry. I remember being overwhelmed with the fact that I felt so ordinary yet these people saw something in me that was world changing. I remember feeling my whole body shake because I had never felt like anything was so right before. After that experience I went to college to study ministry and married and pastor and have been serving God ever since but these last few years I have felt sort of lost in my calling. Since becoming a mom I find it difficult to spend time with God like I used to, I can no longer volunteer my time at church, or lead mission trips, and I so desperately desire to work with my husband and his youth ministry but it is just to hard to do these things with the kids. I have spent many days and nights feeling trapped in my own home yet desiring so desperately to be out there changing the world. After the lesson was over our table leader saw that I was emotional and asked if I would share what was going on inside me...I shared with her my feelings of wanting to do and be so much more for<br />Christ but feeling trapped in this season of raising my young children. She than told me that God gave her a vision as I was sharing...that I was not to worry God has me right were he wants me. She said her vision was of me as a gardener planting seeds and the flowers that grew from those seeds were my children and they were the ones that were world changers! Wow.<br />Its so funny how we often feel this call on our lives and we see it so differently than God sees it. For me I want to be out there on the mission field getting dirty for God but instead God brought my mission field right into my own home with my two little girls. Maybe for you...you might want to be like the seeds still in the pouch never wanting to get dirty never wanting to grow but God has so much more for you outside of your comfort zone. Ask God today what your calling is...Maybe you are a World Changer too!</div>Brandon and Kendra Kertsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04373279941720076453noreply@blogger.com1