Faith is a Free Gift

I was reading in Mark 4 about Jesus calming the storm. The disciples are amazed by this/Him, and Jesus then asks (incredulously/sorrowfully/rhetorically),

"You still have no faith?"

 I remember that faith is a gift.

Surely, Jesus isn't accusing them of not having faith because the gift was never offered. The gift of faith has been more than amply offered to them. Day in, day out Jesus has been with them offering them the gift of faith. Like He's standing there with outstretched arms holding a present, waiting for them to take it. Just reach out and receive this free gift.

So, after the disciples grow afraid of the wind and waves and wildly shake Jesus awake looking for help, He indeed helps and the storm is calmed. And Jesus asks, "After all the daily opportunities to receive this gift of faith, you still haven't taken it?" (my own paraphrase/interpretation). That is sad; I feel for Jesus.

And pray that I daily, boldly reach out to receive this free gift.

Slowing Down by Force

•  Sorry, pictures and videos are pitiful for the month of March :( I hope to do April next week. At one point, I was stretching one week of curriculum into four weeks of time. I just couldn't get much done. The house went under since Mommy was out. I reclined, napped, went to bed early, and barfed. I ate small portions but frequently, couldn't keep dinners down (I had evening sickness). I couldn't meal plan. Some of our normal food repulsed me (yogurt, bread, cheese...), and I craved grits and mango (right now, it's ice cream :). I lost a few pounds and got a cavity from all the vomit. Every time I tried to do any work in the office, I'd vomit ;) It was my roughest first trimester (out of four), and I am so, so, SO thankful it's over! The house is getting back to normal, and schooling is back on a normal schedule. (Although my to-do list is still long.) Baby is growing, and I am growing :) We find out the gender on June 15th, God-willing.
• March: Before I went bad, we went for a prayer walk, held a church missions committee meeting, and had some friends over for dinner and new games. Then, I woke one morning, got ready, ate breakfast, and proceeded to take a two-and-a-half hour nap. The rest of the month included two showers which I brought my misery to, dinner with friends, chiropractic appointment (fell asleep on table), and Ricky put on a chess tournament (which he won and I slept through).
• Aolani asked, "Daddy, why do you eat so much?" and "Are fairy tales real?" (What a great opportunity to talk about the Good News and Jesus!)
• Micaiah is wondering a lot too and keeps repeating Perhaps…

They went in the kitchen one Sunday afternoon and each made their own muffins without recipes; they were so proud! ;)

My mom sent me this pic of my dad and me :)

One of his many Lego creations

• School verses: Micaiah -- Proverbs 12:18, Proverbs 19:11, Proverbs 12:10 ; Aolani -- John 13:34, John 14:6, Joshua 1:9
• Verses I memorized: Matthew 5:6-10  (This will be the baby's chapter, as Aolani's is Philippians 4 and Micaiah's is Romans 8 and Avalynn's is Colossians 3.)

We're Back and...

We're expecting!!!!

Second trimester begins today :)

Kids are super-excited!

Due date is November 4th.

Yes: planned, doctor's appointments, ultrasound, heartbeat ;)

I've been terribly sick and even put myself on bed rest for the first trimester. I'm feeling better and hope to get caught up on everything this month but we'll see (I rest a lot and go to bed earlier) -- hence, my two-month blog sabbatical.

Rejoicing in this new life,
the DiMartinos

False Teachers {video}

I may have posted this music video years ago, but if not here it is again:

Updated Page

Just updated the Persecuted Church/Missions page on this blog to include many more resources :)

Spread the Love

• First week of February: we rented a cabin with two other families (14 total) and had a blast! We also hosted a super bowl party (11 total) ;)

• Second week of February: Ricky worked out of county most of the week; we went on a short prayer walk and hosted small group.
• Third week of February: a friend visited for a couple nights, and then Aolani's seventh birthday! First, Grandpa came down and we had pizza/movie night. On her birthday, we went to her favorite park, got pizza, went to see Lego: Batman Movie, then went home to celebrate with homemade ice cream sandwiches (ginger snaps and mango ice cream) and gifts :) Uncle Robby got to meet up with us there. And then...

• Fourth week of February: Aolani has a friend her age whose birthday is just a week later. So, Aolani got to have two friends for her first sleepover here to celebrate turning seven! She loved it! And we took the next day off school :) Later that week, we had a dear woman from church over for dinner, went to a cookout for a friend's birthday, and went to small group.

• Micaiah thought that we had to go to Hawai'i to "get" Aolani's name and had to fly way over to Israel to "get" his Hebrew name ;)
• Aolani informed us, "Peter Pan was right. Girls do talk a lot... because I talk a lot." Love it ;)
• School verses: Micaiah -- Ephesians 6:1-2, Ephesians 4:32, Proverbs 15:23 ; Aolani -- Psalm 23:4-6, Psalm 119:105
• Verses I memorized: Matthew 5:1-5  (I'm going to work on memorizing this chapter this year.)

I Hold The Power

It's almost been four years, and I still think about "The Immediate Hallelujah" -- rejoicing in suffering -- a lot... like daily.

Here's a little different focus on that same subject.

I had talked about how we should delight in suffering for Christ's sake. How that can mean suffering that is due to faith in Christ, but how it also means all suffering that produces His character in us. Both meanings are accurate when the Bible speaks of suffering for Christ's sake.

In light of that truth, it seems I hold the power. If I can but learn to respond to any suffering with joy and peace, then I can make any suffering be for Christ's sake (and reap all the eternal rewards for suffering for Christ's sake!)

We are all going to suffer at some point; it's impossible to live in our broken world and escape unscathed by pain. So, the question is: If I am going to suffer, how will I respond? In anger and bitterness to make my suffering pointless and in vain? Or, in joy and peace to turn my suffering into being for His sake and thus purposeful and beneficial? My response determines the outcome. It really does depend on me.

I have the reins. I can choose.

Snow, Service, Sleepovers, and Silliness

• 1st week of January: dinner with friends, got my hair chopped off (13 inches, eighth hair donation, gave it to Wigs for Kids), and celebrated our first snow this winter (6-9"). We went sledding on our street one day and at a friends' house the next day.
• 2nd week of January: a friend visited one night, chiropractor appointments, dinner guests, prayer walk (a friend joined us and picked place), and small group.
• 3rd week of January: Ricky worked out-of-county one day; we had a missionary over for lunch; and, I had the honor to plan and organize a surprise "service project" for some international friends of ours on my spiritual birthday (yay!) :)
• 4th week of January: art class started for the kids, visited our friends to hear the surprise story on their end, small group, and... we, as a family, had a sleepover at our friends' home -- the kids partied till late and we partied later -- slept a little, coffee, brunch, played with kids, talked, board games -- lots of leisure and a super memory ;)
• Micaiah wanted my packing tape one day -- to tape closed Daddy's box of LOTR Legos to prevent temptation. Micaiah kept sneaking in the office to open the box and play with them even though he knew they were off-limits (for now). After repeated disobedience, he creatively and voluntarily came up with this idea! I was so impressed with my 5-yo taking preventative measures to resist forthcoming temptation ;)
• Aolani occassionally will still talk Micaiah into playing kangaroo -- they jump around the house with stuffed animals hanging out of their pants ;) [They used to do it often.]

First snow of the year

At a friend's house with their big,white dog (Monty)

The ideal kitchen table arrangement ;)

Watching history, America's Presidential Inauguration

Our living room floor stays covered in Legos

our friends' kids

pretending to be Mommy and Daddy

in Daddy's clothes

always constructing something...

quoting verses, eating dinner, and feeding Sarah

Now watch it again pondering: does God want me to feel this way about Him?

• School verses: Micaiah -- Proverbs 3:12, Matthew 5:8, Proverbs 20:3 ; Aolani -- Psalm 23:1-3
• Verses I memorized: 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24

The Names of Jesus

I don't remember where this is from, but I'm sure it's on the Internet. I just really felt like I should read through this again to inspire remembrance, praise, and adoration :) A banner for the peoples 

A Nazarene  

All  

Alpha and Omega 

Ancient of Days 

Anointed One 

Apostle and high priest 

Author and perfecter of our faith 

Author of life 

Author of their salvation 

Blessed and only Ruler 

Branch of the Lord 

Bread of God 

Bread of life 

Bridegroom 

Chief cornerstone 

Chief Shepherd 

Chosen and precious cornerstone 

Christ Jesus my Lord 

Christ Jesus our hope 

Christ of God 

Consolation of Israel 

Covenant for the people 

Crown of splendor 

Eternal life 

Faithful and True 

Faithful and true witness 

First to rise from the dead 

Firstborn from among the dead 

Firstborn over all creation 

Firstfruits of those that have fallen asleep 

Fragrant offering and sacrifice to God 

Friend of tax collectors and "sinners" 

God of all the earth 

God over all 

God's Son 

Great high priest 

Great light

Great Shepherd of the sheep 

Guarantee of a better covenant 

He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world 

He who searches hearts and minds 

Head of every man 

Head of the body, the church 

Head of the church 

Head over every power and authority 

Heir of all things 

Him who died and came to life again 

Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins 

His one and only son 

Holy and Righteous One 

Holy One of God 

Holy servant Jesus 

Hope of Israel 

Horn of salvation 

Image of the invisible God 

Immanuel (God with us) 

Indescribable gift 

Jesus 

Jesus Christ 

Jesus Christ our Lord 

Jesus Christ our Savior 

Jesus of Nazareth 

Judge of the living and the dead 

KING OF KINGS 

King of the ages 

Lamb of God 

Light for revelation to the Gentiles 

Light of life 

Light of men 

Light of the world 

Living bread that came down from heaven 

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 

Lord (Kurios) 

Lord of glory 

LORD OF LORDS 

Lord of peace 

Lord of the harvest 

Lord of the Sabbath 

Lord (Rabboni) 

Man accredited by God 

Man of sorrows 

Master 

Mediator of a new covenant 

Merciful and faithful high priest

Messenger of the covenant 

Messiah 

Morning star 

My friend 

My intercessor 

One who makes men holy 

One who speaks to the Father in our defense 

One who will arise to rule over the nations 

Our glorious Lord Jesus Christ 

Our God and Savior Jesus Christ 

Our only Sovereign and Lord 

Our Passover lamb 

Our peace 

Our righteousness, holiness, and redemption 

Physician 

Prince and Savior 

Prince of Peace 

Prince of princes 

Prince of the hosts 

Ransom for all men 

Refiner and purifier 

Resurrection and the life 

Righteous judge 

Righteous man 

Righteous One 

Rock eternal (rock of ages) 

Ruler of God's creation 

Ruler of the kings of the earth 

Savior of the world 

Second man 

Shepherd and Overseer of your souls 

Son of Man 

Son of the Blessed One 

Son of the living God 

Son of the Most High God 

Source of eternal salvation 

Sure foundation 

Teacher 

The Amen 

The atoning sacrifice for our sins 

The Beginning and the End 

The bright Morning Star 

The exact representation of his being 

The First and the Last 

The gate (door) 

The good shepherd 

The Head 

The last Adam 

The life 

The Living One 

The living Stone 

The Lord Our Righteousness 

The man from heaven 

The man Jesus Christ 

The most holy 

The One and Only 

The only God our Savior 

The radiance of God's glory 

The rising of the sun (Dayspring) 

The stone the builders rejected 

The testimony given in its proper time 

The true light 

The true vine 

The truth 

The way 

The Word (logos) 

True bread from heaven 

Wisdom from God 

Witness to the peoples

Wonderful Counselor 

Word of God 

Word of life 

Your life 

Your salvation

Finding God and Farm Festivities

• The week before Christmas: We enjoyed our Advent activities, Ricky went to the movies with some friends, and we enjoyed our first holiday at home! On Christmas Eve, we went on a prayer walk and delivered cookies which was a great door-opener! A friend joined us (fun), and he wants to join us each future time :) We also got to attend our church's Christmas Eve service for the first time. On Christmas morning, Ricky got up early to start making a big brunch for seven (we had three Marshallese teenage boys over). We ate, talked, and played with them until late afternoon. Then, we had our own little celebration! After having the birthday dessert (pumpkin-apple pie and coffee ice cream and ginger ale -- kids' picks) and talking about the gifts we got Him and singing carols, we went outside before it grew dark to find 10 gifts from God to give him thanksgiving. Afterwards, we did our first scavenger hunt. This was so much fun; we hope to make this a new tradition! We had six clues, and the theme was Finding God -- washing machine, Ricky's back pocket, inside his Bible, tucked into a star hanging, in their bunk beds, and taped on the mirror. [We can find God in work, Daddy, His Word, nature, dreams/rest, and you! There's more, those are just the ones we did.] We finished the evening off with pizza and a Christmas movie :) It was a great first Christmas-at-home doing what we wanted and look forward to more!
• The week after Christmas: We got to visit a dear friend at her home for the first time in five years! Then, we cleaned and packed and headed down to my parents' new house on their farm -- DaySpring! It's beautiful, and my parents did a lot of work to suit me and my needs :) My brother and his family joined us after a couple days. There's a video below of a lot of the fun we had, so I won't list it here ;) Some additional notes: I finally played Agricola solo for the first time; my parents gifted us with a new Bible (Joni Eraekson Tada's Beyond Suffering Bible, NLT -- love it!) and a globe, etc; I got to start reading Ann Voskamp's The Broken Way, easily one of favorite books!; Ricky got to hit golf balls into the woods (his favorite thing to do there ;); and, we were the only two who stayed up to ring in the new year!

Helping Daddy make the birthday dessert for Jesus -- pumpkin-apple pie :)

Acting out the nativity story (w/ friends)

Ready for delivery!

A Marshallese family we met on our prayer walk gave us some of their bamboo decorations, including some flowers :)

Symptometry Update (after three years)

I'll be brief and to the point.

Year 1 -- Improvements!

Year 2 -- Stagnant

Year 3 -- Decline (Doctor constantly trying new plans to figure out why I stopped responding); I lost half my improvements, kept half. We still did not feel like God had released us from Symptometry, though.

Now -- Last month, Doctor realized my circulation has become so poor that the particulates cannot flow through my veins well enough to be beneficial. So, we began a new treatment plan to focus slowly on improving circulation and increasing blood flow. I began it right before the new year, and... long story short -- it's working! My right ankle that had turned out in May 2013 has finally (drastically) improved! I had three pressure sores on it and could not stand on it as it kept growing worse ever since, eventually leading to a loss of leg muscle. It did point to 2 o'clock (at it's worse) but now it's like half past 12 (not all perfect but wow!) I am now able to stand on my foot! I can practice walking a little now :) My right ankle/foot was my #1 concern, so I'm quite happy and praise God for hearing my cries and alleviating the pain!

This video was taken on 7/6/2014.

This picture is from 10 days ago.

I hope to update my health improvements chart this week.

We're note sure where this is going, but we're going with God!

Bits and Pieces

• I'll catch up on the first two weeks of December now, and I hope to go through New Year's next week. I aim to post a Symptometry update in between them.
• The first full week of December: The kids so enjoyed no school and our Advent days! We had friends over for St. Nicholas Day; Grandma came for four days -- helped Ricky move out of our storage unit one day, made birthday cupcakes...; Grandpa and Uncle Robby came down; and, we all celebrated Micaiah's 5th birthday (more below)!
• The next week: We had the Christmas movie marathon on his actual birthday and let him select our meals and pizza. We, also, got to hold a small birthday celebration for our friend, who turned 30 ;)
• For birthday presents, we usually get our kids a book and a toy and renew their magazine subscription (Highlights/Ranger Rick). 

I just love the way these turned out! Micaiah wrote his name on them all (with Kwik Stix), and both kids stamped (with acrylic paint) the lego border :)

Making and icing 70+ gingerbread cookies

• Micaiah turned five, so we had a big (20+) party for him complete with boy-friends and presents. It was a LEGO-themed party to celebrate his transition from Duplos to Legos. He loved it, and he is now obsessed with legos! For gifts, he received Legos, books, and dress-up costume stuff :)