Well it's been awhile since I have written. We are fast approaching Easter season and I am ready! God has really been moving and working in our life and we so appreciate what Christ did for us on the cross!

I am amazed that He loved us so much that He gave His life for us so we could live. Not because of what we do or how we act but because He loves us. I have been reminded of a song we sang at church growing up, these are the words:

"hey Brenda do you love Jesus? Yes I love Jesus. Do you really love Jesus? Yes I really love Jesus. Tell me why you love Jesus. This is why I love Jesus..because He first loved me!!!!"

I love that song because as much as we try to complicate the world, with all the knowledge and technology out there, it truly is only because God loved us so much that He sent His only Son, Jesus to die on the cross for us, so that we would have life in Him. Our faith in Him!!!

I know we usually think on the things we are most thankful for at Thanksgiving. But in light of Easter coming, I would like to take this time to express my thankfulness for my husband, my boys, our families, our friends and our ministry. God is so good and worthy of all our praise!!!

I pray this Easter season is full of Joy, Peace, Love and Grace, God's Grace!!! Which is what brings us salvation in the first place!

PS. The top picture are my sister, Kimmie, and brother, Reb, in Christ whom when we lived at the Lighthouse we would pray together for our spouses. In the picture are the spouses we were praying for. Travis and Brenda, Eric and Kimmie and Reb and Vanessa. God is faithful!!!

Christmas 08

Christmas 08

Christmas 08!!! I reserve the right to write a Christmas blog since we just took our family Christmas picture today. Mom is taking down her tree so we needed to get r done! Christmas was great! We actually got to extend it over a 3 week period. We took a last minute trip to Ohio to spend Christmas with my family. Which was great, I love that the boys got to see Grandma and Grandpa Jenkins and spend time with their cousins.

We got home and had Christmas at mom and dad (Brints.) Then did not have our own Christmas with the boys till the following weekend. Everything was great. They were so blessed and actually it ain't over yet. We are anxiously waiting for all the stores to restock their shelves with the popular toys from Christmas.

We intended to buy the boys an Lego Agent mobile command center. But missed the boat, so while we were up in Ohio, g and g Jenkins gave money to purchase this gem. Still no sign of it. Travis has found a couple on eBay but people are paying an arm and a leg for it. I am hoping they will put some out soon. Then our Christmas will be complete!

Here are some photos of our Christmas in Ohio, our Christmas at the Brints and our Christmas at home. Enjoy! I pray your Christmas was joyous and your New Year is hopeful!!! We love you all and look forward to next Christmas.

Come on 2009!!!

Welcome to 2009. A year of change for us. We are excited for the new year because we feel a lot of change is coming our way. This all started because of the way we ended 2008.

Nov. 22nd we started going to family coaching, a ministry I would recommend to any married couple who needs some help reconnecting and communicating. God has brought us a long way just since then. We have started a journey of seeking, listening and obeying. A concept we have known about for years but rarely practiced.

I myself have tended to rely on myself in the past. My own knowledge, my own understanding, my own experiences, etc.. you get the gist that I depended on myself for much of my thinking and actions. Even though I believe in God, rarely did I seek or acknowledge Him for things I did or accomplished in my life. Now I am on a different path.

I am learning to daily seek Him to see what God has to say in certain situations, thought processes, and the direction our life is going. A make it happen kind of girl doesn't have time to wait for things to happen, well now if I don't hear anything, it doesn't happen. I am learning to seek and wait on the Lord.

God has revealed so many treasures to me since I have taken the time to listen. I have a new hope for the future, I believe that God is for us and I know the plans He has for us are to prosper us and not to harm us. Sound familiar? Jeremiah 29:11

We pray that over our children ever night before bed and have since they were in my womb. Even thought that verse has been spoken by myself and Travis many times, we did not believe it applied to our life because of the circumstances we have lived in for the past 8 years of our marriage. That was not due to the lack of God's involvement, but due to our focus being on our circumstances other than our creator who controls our circumstances.

Over the last two months we have heard many promises that we are standing on, not because we have been seeking answers or asking questions, but because our focus has been getting to know the One in charge and trusting Him with our lives and hearts and not worrying about the outcome but only desiring to be closer to Him!!!

It has been a great ride already and it is only Jan. 17th. We are believing for change not because we deserve it, but because it is inevitable when you are in the presence of a Holy and Loving God. I am sad it took this long to get to where we are, but I am excited for what is to come. Expect to hear great things from the Brints Family 5 in 2009 and to God be all the glory, honor, power and praise!!!

May God's will be done in our lives and in each of yours. And may you daily draw closer to your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who loves us more than we can even imagine or comprehend!

Picking out our Christmas Tree!!!

Well we just had Thanksgiving out at the orchard with our Australian family! Dad got the Christmas trees in so we also picked out our Christmas tree. The boys love their new tradition of choosing the tree with daddy. This is our second year to have a real tree!

I pray this Christmas season is peaceful and joyous. May all of you be blessed and full of grace. Remember Jesus truly is the reason for this season.

Ollie Christine (Brints) Edwards

We were missing Aimee's husband Brigham and Nic and Pierre's son Vincent and plus one exchange student (Carrie) from Australia.

Well, we just finished up a weekend of family and grief. Travis's Aunt Christine died Thursday and we had family and funeral till Mon. I have to say, I really enjoyed the memorial service. The pastor gave a message about Chris being a classy woman. He gave definitions of classy and all had great depth and insight into who Chris was.

She knew the Lord and we are greatful to know that she is now with her savior, but what a legacy she left behind. As I was listening to the pastors words, I couldn't help to think, wow, I want people to know Christ through me the way they saw Him in Aunt Christine.

I thank God that in a time that could bring great loss to so many families, brought great joy to ours because of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that assured her a place in heaven. Blessed Assurance!

We recently got to attend the ABF. What an amazing sight! Thanks to our friends Justin and Marla who put the idea in our heads. To David and Toni for loaning us their pop-up trailer and to our friend George for putting us up at a friends real estate office, with water and electric hook up!!!

We are very grateful to be able to build memories like these with our boys. Many people have said over and over again how fast they grow up and I am thankful we are choosing to spend as much time with them creating memories as we can.

We got there late Thurs. evening, just in time to set up the trailer and get the boys to bed for our early wake time of 5:45am. They did great, slept well and woke up OK. They were definitely awake by the time we saw the balloons getting blown up and heading off into the sky. WOW!!!

We got to go to a session Fri. am but the Fri. pm session was cancelled, so no balloons, but we did get to see an amazing firework show! Sat am was also cancelled so we decided to make a trip to the zoo. The boys first trip to the zoo....and did they love it. They loved seeing all the cool animals that the see in their picture books. Giraffes, lions, seals, monkeys, snakes, etc, etc. We saw it all.

I hope you enjoy the photos because we sure enjoyed making the memories!

Love to you all!