The Redelsperger Family

Merry Christmas! What a wonderful year it has been for our family!  As you may have read in our Christmas letter this coming year will be full of excitement as well.  In July of 2013 we will be moving to San Jose to begin a church plant called Basilea. For more information you can visit our website: www.basileachurch.com This year our biggest news (besides deciding to be church planters) is the fact that we are now free from the slavery of debt!  We finally paid off the last of our student loans and are experiencing the joy that comes from being debt free. The kids are very excited that we now get to start saving for the promised trip to Disneyland this coming year! Aaron is currently still the youth minister at the Cordova Church of Christ.  This past year he has postponed getting his Masters degree from Fuller while we paid off the last of the debt. It has been a sacrifice, but we hope that he can restart again soon paying for each class in cash in...

Another year has flown by and it's already time for our yearly Christmas update, but first a story about our Christmas card! This year for Thanksgiving , we did something a bit unconventional...we left town and went to stay the night at a hotel near the Calavaras Big Trees.  I thought there might be snow on the ground so I packed the kids snow gear "just in case".  When we arrived at the big trees there was over 12"!!!  This picture was taken on the "dancing stump" (called that because it's as big as a stage) done on the timer amidst two melt downs by the younger two kids.  I'm amazed everyone is looking at the camera and not crying!  What a fun memory, and it made for a perfect Christmas card picture...  and now for the "update"! Aaron has been very busy this year handling the responsibilities of youth ministry, small groups ministry, taking graduate classes, and preaching a 12 week sermon series this fall. (You can listen to them...

Every year. Every child. Every year is different. Every child is different. Every child is different every year! This is why we have decided to make our decisions about school based on those two things. We (like any other parent) want what's best for our children. What's best can sometimes change based on the circumstances. This year we felt it was best to keep Grace home for school. I am so very excited about it! We've had two days of school thus far and I'm loving it already. I know that not every day will be as smooth as these two have been, and that's okay with me. I know that there will be times that I am longing to "have a break", and days that I question my sanity. But above all that the foundational truth of the matter is this: IT'S NOT ABOUT ME! It's about her...

It's summer time! It's HOT... and that means it's time for lazy days outside watching the kids play in the pool or the sprinklers. I realize it's a sacrifice for me to give up valuable time to sit in my lawn chair with a good book and tanning lotion, but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make! So here's to ice water in princess water bottles, sun tea and sprinklers!

This is my daughter.

It's a melancholy day. The rain drizzles from the sky and the slight flecks of them falling on the wet patio give it a cool sheen. Puddles start to form in the low places of the uneven ground, and worms emerge from their earthen homes. The sidewalk chalk is smudged and kindergarten sight words are not so readable now. I love the rain. Even the sound of cars passing by, sounds fresher in the rain. The smell of precipitation makes me happy. Today my children asked me why it's raining. I told them that "The clouds have too much water in them. When they have too much water, it falls from the sky creating rain. The rain waters the ground which makes things grow. Isn't our God great for creating such a perfect balance for our weather?" The words come easily and it's a simple explanation that satisfies the five and three year old curiosity, but I know there is more behind it than that. Their chatter fades in the background as I, myself wonder at the days ...