The Redelsperger Family

Hello Everyone and thanks for visiting our blog! T his has been a great year for us and as you can see from our page here, the addition of Samuel to our family is the most noteworthy. He was born September 5th 2008 and since we didn't findout gender ahead of time was quite the surprise! What a joy to have a son. W e have all been keeping pretty busy this year. Here is the year in capsule from each of us. Aaron : He continues to amaze me every year. This year he has been working very hard keeping up with the youth ministry at Cordova as well as launching a new ministry that will begin in January. Under his guidance we will be starting a new small group ministry we call mgroups in 2009. It's exciting to see him teach the training for the leaders and members for these small groups, and it makes me so proud. He has not only been busy with work at Church, but also here at home. Our front yard had weeds taller than me before Sammy came to us this fall. Aaron (and some teens from Chu...

This morning my four year old reminded me of a great lesson. She reminded me of Grace. In the Bible children were named for their attributes or a vision of what the parents had for their child. Little did we know that when we named our daughter Grace that we were naming her appropriately. Noraa (our two year old) got a puzzle out before breakfast. The pieces were in the walk way and her father and I asked her to pick them up a number of times. I gave her a time out and still she stood there beside the puzzle sucking her thumb looking at me. She did not want to clean up the puzzle. I was fed up with her blatant disobedience so I told her I was going to the other room and when I came out if the puzzle was not cleaned up I would spank her. I came out to the kitchen and the puzzle was cleaned up. I praised Noraa for cleaning it up and obeying Mama; however as I did so I saw a twinkle in my four year olds' eyes. I asked her if she cleaned up the puzzle for sister and she said she did. G...

Sometimes I am pondering the things of God and I come up with what I think would make a great communion thought. Until now I've never really had a way to voice those thoughts where others might benefit from them. Not that my thoughts are in any way profound or deep, but they are my tiny insights into God, and I think they are pretty neat! This morning I was wondering what my son's love language will be as he grows up. Aaron and I had been discussing the day before what our older children's love languages were and it lead me to think about Sammy's. As I was thinking through the five love languages I realized that God himself not only speaks all five fluently, but receives love by all five as well. Extended Time- When Christ walked the earth, he not only took time to be with his disciples for some quality time together, He also made sure to carve out time for the Father. The fact that God gives us His full attention whenever we need Him is pretty amazing. Giving quality t...

Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am. My kids are so sweet! A few years ago when Grace started talking and she would say a word wrong, or mispronounce it in her little baby way I thought she couldn't get much cuter. However I'm finding that as she grows and can articulate what she's thinking and feeling, but doesn't have quite the vocabulary she's even funnier than before. For example, a few months ago I was very upset with something she had done. I put her in a time out on the guest bed and told her I was too angry to deal with her at the moment. She was in tears and looked at me with a very angry face and said "I'm nervous!". I left the room very confused by what she had just done. It wasn't until she used it a number of times in place of the word "angry" that I realized what she meant. Tonight as I was getting dinner and the house ready for company she made a BIG mess in her room, mixing both clean and dirty laundry. Again, v...

Today I heard some news that truly saddened me. The college I attended will be closing at the end of this accademic year. For me the journey began back in 1986... my oldest sister Shawna started attending a small Christian college in Portland, Oregon. Our family would go visit her from time to time and I would get to stay in her dorm room occasionally. I played pool in the "lower JC" and ran around the campus as a young child loving the attention of all the really cool college students. I knew that someday I would attend this same school. The doors closing of Columbia Christian College was devastating to me, but as it re-opened a year later as Cascade College I was not truly affected by the transition. My turn came in 1997 when I finally stepped foot on the campus as a full fledged college student. This was MY school now! I will not be able to recount for you the knowledge, the memories, the friends and the spiritual growth attained in my four years there. If I were to try, t...

Okay, so I know that I tend to be a bit cluttered, but when I see pictures like this I am reminded of the fact that at least I am CLEAN!!!! I need to print off pictures like this of every room in a house and post them by my mirror. Maybe this is the motivation I need to clean my ho use every day!

I'm overwhelmed with love for my family. My two year old is sitting at the kitchen table doing her puzzle sweetly and quietly. My four year old is laying on the floor playing footsie with me and laughing with her fake laugh, and my son lay sleeping in his room. I've had a lazy afternoon and it's given me some time to reflect on my amazing family. You know what's great about being a Christian? My family doesn't just stop with my adorable children and incredible husband, it extends well beyond that. My kids call our friends Aunt & Uncle, and I love that we share in those relationships that are truly beautiful because of our relationship through Christ. We have brothers and sister, moms and dads, aunts and uncles, all bonded by the blood of Christ! Blood really does run thicker, because the blood that Jesus shed is the strongest common denominator.

I feel this compelling need to blog, so I sit down at the computer to write and my mind goes blank. There are a number of things that I would love to blog about; however none of them seem to be of any substance that others may want to read about. Then again, isn't that what a blog is for? It doesn't matter really what you write as long as you are writing about your thoughts and your life. Today our family also started a "video blog". We each took a turn sitting in front of the camera telling what is going on in our lives. It was a kick to see Grace cheese it up for the camera and tell her version of what's happening in life. 20 years from now when we are showing her future husband these blogs she's going to be so embarrassed and Aaron and I will have tears in our eyes as we see our baby girls grow up to be lovely ladies. We plan on "video blogging" every six months. Wow, how fast we change in six months! I can't wait to have the girls thoughts on...

Samuel is finally here. He was born on September 5 at 3:18am. Amy labored for 3 hours and had one good push, and there he was. Both Amy and Sam are doing great! Grace is very happy to be a big sister and Noraa has kind of noticed he's here. We've had lots of visitors and everyone is so excited that he's a boy. It seems like a lot of friends had been hoping that he would be a boy. I would have been glad either way, but I am definitely looking forward to the Father/Son experience. The other thing that people comment on the most is his name. He has 4 names including 35 letters! Samuel is one of our favorite Bible characters. He responded when the Lord called his name, and he also anointed King David. Harrison is a family name. My cousin Brooke had a son named Harrison who was born with Spina Bifida , and spent his life in a wheelchair. He was a major blessing and inspiration to our family and everyone who knew him. He was extremely smart and I can't really say enough he...

Well, I was wrong! It's Thursday night the 4 th and I'm still pregnant. It may not seem like much to everyone else, but to me it seems like an eternity! My poor sister in law who was seven days and 23 hours past her due date... my respect for her has grown beyond measure. So because this morning I was so emotionally and physically exhausted and borderline "depressed" I decided to GET OVER IT! We picked up Grandad from the airport and I decided that I would be content and plan out my weekend. Tomorrow we will go to Funderland with the kids, this will of course take all morning, then we can either picnic or come home for lunch. The kids will take naps at which time I may be able to talk Aaron into taking me to the cheap movie at the mall. Aunt Mary will arrive in the afternoon, so our evening will be spent catching up with her. Saturday we will go wine tasting at the winery we are members at in Shenendoa . Aunt Mary LOVES wine and I can't wait to take he...

So my Dr.'s appointment was this morning at 10:30. I love Dr. Kholer , she is so sweet and as she is due with a baby in October she empathizes with me! She checked me to see how things were going and though the baby's heartbeat was steady & strong, the head was not fully down in the way she wanted it to be. The baby was laying almost side ways! She called over to the hospital and scheduled me for a version as well as possible induction. Needless to say, I was a little nervous. Having someone turn your baby from the outside just doesn't seem comfortable to me. Thankfully when we arrived and they hooked me up to the monitors, the Dr. checked me and said that the baby's head was down where it needed to be. Praise be to God! (and thank you to everyone who sent up prayers for me!) They have to monitor you for a minimum of 20 minutes before you can leave the hospital, so after that they released me and I went on my merry way. Since then my contractions have been anywhere ...

So, here I sit. I should be out walking laps in the Church parking lot trying to get this baby out... but here I am sitting at the computer blogging my thoughts for the world to see. I'm tired. I feel huge. My feet hurt. My back hurts. I've tried spicy foods, I've tried walking, I've tried bouncing on the big exercise ball. Here I sit. Again the lyrics to Jon Foreman's song come to my mind... I'll share them with you this time! Here, my dear This is where We'll shake the nightmares free I dream to hold you in my arms I dream to hold you in my arms To hold you in my arms Wide awake in my arms I think I figured it out We need to be together Like the shore and the sea We are not one thing We're drawn here together My ocean and me I dream to hold you in my arms I dream to hold you in my arms To hold you in my arms Wide awake in my arms Love we sleep apart For the last time For the last time I dream to hold you in my arms I dream to hold you in m...

Aren't they angelic when they are sleeping...? Yesterday was a long day for the girls and I. Each day that ebbs closer to my due date seems longer and longer to all of us. I'm sure they feel some of the same anxiety that I do anticipating this baby. I know for a fact they sense my moodiness; it is more than obvious to pretty much everyone. There are times when I sure don't act loving, sweet, and kind toward my children, but then they take a nap; and my heart swells with love. I love it when they are sleeping! These sweet creatures are God's greatest blessings. "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them." Psalm 127:3-5

Whoever said that "nesting" is something only pregnant women do has it all wrong. As you see from our previous posts, we are expecting this child to make an appearance any day now. Aaron is just as anxious as I am and hence has started "nesting". Last week, he took three days off work to landscape the front yard that has been the eyesore of the neighborhood since we moved in a year ago February. My computer which has been prehistorically slow for over a year now has recently been re-formatted, and suddenly there's a need to move the desk from the spare room to the kitchen. Not that I am opposed to any of these changes in our household; it just makes me smile knowing I'm not alone in wanting our house to be a home for the new little one growing inside of me. In fact, his "nesting" serves as a great reminder to me of the altruistic heart that dwells within the man I married. Well, I sign off with toilets & showers to scrub, floors to be ...

If you've ever been 39 weeks pregnant you know what I'm feeling right now... tick, tick, tick, tick, tick... When will this baby arrive? Will my water break? Will it be at night, or after a well rested sleep? Will I deliver on the side of the road like Jenni? Is it a boy or a girl? After Friday when I thought I was headed to the hospital, I'm so done anticipating! Friday the contractions were 15 minutes apart all day long and in the evening they were even about 10 minutes apart. Of course around 12:30am-1:00 ish they tapered off and totally stopped. Grrrrr . Now, I just don't care! This baby could stay in until his 18 th birthday for all I care! (okay not really, but can you tell that I'm moody and a bit apathetic?) Well, seeing as though this is my very first blog entry on our happy family page, I'll end on a much sweeter note. Every morning as I'm laying in bed I use Aaron's iphone and play our baby the song by Jon Foreman "In My Arms". I...

We're just playing the waiting game. We've pretty much got everything ready...Diapers are bought, bags are packed, babysitters for the girls are on call, work notified of impending time off. Let's have this baby! The one thing we're not quite sure about yet is a name. Details details.