Spring is finally here!

Spring is here and the Crocuses are up!

For lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of singing has come,
And the voice of the turtledove
Is heard in our land.
Song of Solomon 2:11-12

A Day of Blessings!

These next few weeks are going to be very busy with house hunting, cleaning and packing so I might not be able to post very often but I just wanted to quickly tell of the blessings we received from the Lord yesterday! (Sorry no pictures)

Charity had a check-up Doctors appointment in the morning and even though the bill for such a small visit was ridiculous, thank the Lord she is noticeably improving and regaining her strength!

In the early afternoon us ladies enjoyed some great fellowship with a dear friend and her daughter (and other relatives) in a lovely "Tea party" atmosphere as we shared with each other the different handcrafts we are working on.

At 4:00 I (Grace) had my final wisdom tooth removed and much to my relief it was able to be pulled instead of extracted surgically and the result is a much less painful jaw then the previous times and Praise God! it has not swelled very much and eating is permissible! Also, the biggest blessing of all is that because I don't have insurance the surgeon gave us a discount and charged us quite a bit less than the original 'Tooth Extraction' cost!!


So even though these things may seem small, we are greatly thankful to God for these blessings He bestowed upon us yesterday and praise His glorious name for His mercies and grace!

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Faith and I saw this interesting sight the other day and I just had to get a picture of it! It reminded us of this likewise interesting (and strange) poem that was in a book we used to have. - Grace

Where the Sidewalk Ends

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Shel Silverstein

Blessed be the Name of the Lord!

Blessed be the name of the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore!
Psalm 113:2

Yes folks, our house has finally sold!


After 3 long years of waiting and praying for the Lord's will to be done, He has finally granted our prayers and lead some people to offer to buy our house. Most likely by mid-late April we will be moving up to the Lapeer area and to where God has lead us to minister and start a church.
Though we feel the Lord guiding us up North, we are sure going to miss a lot of people down here - all our dear friends who have blessed our lives, encouraged our hearts and been praying for us as we travel this road God has planned for us. May our Lord and King bless you all greatly!

Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

The Beautiful Spring Day at Elizabeth Park

On that gorgeous day last week when the weather was high 60s and we just couldn't stay inside any more, the majority of our family headed over to one of our most favorite spots - Elizabeth Park. Though the condition of the earth was not conducive to walking the enjoyed trails, we still had a wonderful time walking, jogging and of course taking pictures around the peninsula overlooking the Detroit river!

Cool dude Babe ready for a ride to the park!


Brothers checking out the river.

He[God] sends the springs into the valleys;
They flow among the hills.
They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild donkeys quench their thirst.
By them the birds of the heavens have their home;
They sing among the branches.
He waters the hills from His upper chambers;
The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.

He causes the grass to grow for the cattle,
And vegetation for the service of man,
That he may bring forth food from the earth,
O LORD, how manifold are Your works!
In wisdom You have made them all.
The earth is full of Your possessions—
Psalm 104:10-14 and 24
















Sing to the LORD with the harp,
With the harp and the sound of a psalm,
With trumpets and the sound of a horn;
Shout joyfully before the LORD, the King.

Let the sea roar, and all its fullness,
The world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands;
Let the hills be joyful together
before the LORD,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
With righteousness He shall judge the world,
And the peoples with equity.

Psalm 98:5-9

A Visit to Simple Times Farm

Our dear friends, the Klatys have recently purchased a milk goat business and have also started selling other things including our homemade bread under their home business title of Simple Times Farm. A few Sundays ago because they could not make it to church we decided to pay them a visit, to deliver the bread and see the newest arrivals to their herd as almost all the does they had purchased were expecting this time of year. Check our their family Blog for more pictures and information about their farm.

Mrs. Klaty holding one of the largest kids, just born that morning!





Josiah greatly enjoyed holding the kids and received many kisses.






John and Spence chatting with the cat.


Chicken fun!

Lovable!

Sorry!.... Charity Update

I apologize for not getting this on sooner! The days seem to have passed by so quickly and with the so long neglected "other happenings of family life" needing to be posted, I kind of forgot to let everyone know about the latest results to Charity's doctor visits and outcome of the past month's trial.
With hearts full of thanksgiving and praise to our Lord, we rejoice to tell you that Charity is doing so much better as a week ago today she was taken off the antibiotics and released from those continuous fevers, sleepless nights and the swelling in her legs has completely gone down! With slow but noticeable improvement, everyday she is regaining her strength and as we pray, will continue to improve and once again be able to be a part of our family and church on Sundays.

Again, we cannot thank you all enough for your support of encouragement and prayers for us from the beginning of this journey on February 10th to now.

Our God is great and worthy to be praised and our ultimate prayer is that His glory was declared through this trial in our lives and that if in His will, some would be opened to the truth and turn to their Maker!

“ Blessed are You, LORD God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever.

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness,
The power and the glory,
The victory and the majesty;
For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours;
Yours is the kingdom, O LORD,
And You are exalted as head over all.

Both riches and honor come from You,
And You reign over all.
In Your hand is power and might;
In Your hand it is to make great
And to give strength to all.

Now therefore, our God,
We thank You
And praise Your glorious name."

1 Chronicles 29:10-14

Corum Deo

During Dad's message yesterday, he spoke briefly about living Corum Deo, before the face of God. The reality is that we do indeed live before the face of God, always! He is everywhere, seeing everything, knowing every thought and intention of our heart. So the question is, do we live, and think and talk, with the conscience knowledge that we are living Corum Deo?

Corum Deo

Corum Deo- Before the face of GOD
I live this earthly life.
Throughout the day, and in the night
I strive to do His will,
And must needs choose the right,
If with clear conscience I wilt live
Before the face of GOD.

Corum Deo- Before the face of GOD
In everything I act upon
Be it work, or rest, or play,
To keep always first in thought
That what I do is on display.
All things done in secret, are no longer such
Before the face of GOD.

Corum Deo- Before the face of GOD
I must ever mindful be
Of this grand truth, and tell the world
Of His love and grace to sinful man,
The chief of whom I am, but can now to them unfurl
The joy of living, sins forgiv’n
Before the face of GOD.

Corum Deo- Before the face of GOD
The sufferings of this life,
Shall pass and fade and slip away,
They are nothing in compare
To the glories that will be mine some day
When fore’er I’ll live, and humbly bow
Before the face of GOD.

~FAS

Happy 21st Birthday Grace!

March 8th, marked the Birthday of yet another member of the Sauve family. Grace Elizabeth was born this day, 21 years ago. What a blessing she has been to our family over the years! From her recent interest in photography, and thrilling us with all the unique and beautiful pictures she takes, and her creativity with sewing and crafting, to her organizing and cleaning skills, (which can at times be an annoyance to the 'flightier' members of the family:-) and her love of praising her Savior through song and with her guitar.

This year, Grace chose to have "Dirt Cake." A rich tasty desert that consisted of layering a pudding/whipped cream mixture with crushed Oreo Cookies. Yummy!!

Grace's good friend, Heidi joined us for the party. She also plays the guitar very well, and she and Grace always have fun playing and singing when ever they get together. They have even written a few songs. Part of the day was spent trying out the new recording program that Grace found of the computer. (they sure do sound funny when you speed up the voices!!:-)

This is one of the gifts Grace received, Libera, her new favorite Music group. They are a boys choir based in England, and they have the most ethereal voices! Simply gorgeous! (almost as good as my Monks;-) inside joke=)

May God bless you, Little Sis, as you strive each day to be more conformed to the image of your Savior, and to become that beautiful woman the He plans for you to be. Keep using your talents for Him, that people may see Christ in you, the hope of Glory!

Love,
FaithAnn

The Large Icicle

One Sunday, not so long ago, while at the Lapeer Twp Hall for our worship service, some of the young people happened out side and found this gigantic icicle hanging from the gutters!
They finally decided to take it down and have their pictures taken with this unique specimen of our Maker's creative design!


Tim, Josh and Shawn...

...and Theresa with the nearly six foot tall icicle.

Whole Food Visits

The week that Charity was in Ann Arbor our family was very spoiled as we were able to visit our most favorite store - Whole Foods, whenever we wanted! With it being less than 10 minutes from the hospital I think we found ourselves frequenting that wonderful store maybe a few to many times and though having to drive 45 min. again isn't that bad, I think that more than a few of us are rather missing that luxury.
These following pictures are only a glimpse of the greatness of this huge place and if you have never set foot in one of these stores you have certainly missed a lot!

From a beautifully and artistically arranged produce section...


APPLES!






ORANGES!




PEARS!




AVOCADOS!







CARROTS!





GREENS!







... and Flowers...

...to isle after isle of neatly (and mostly Organic) arrayed teas, juices, crackers, chips and candies (and all sorts of 'healthy' stuff)

but most of all our favorite - the bulk isle!

There is so much more to be seen and had in this spectacular store (including the very tempting taste testers place throughout for the shoppers enjoyment!) but I could never tell about or photography it all, so you will just have to go check it out for yourself- oh and remember to take a full wallet cause thing can be a little pricey at times - just check out the exquisite dishes offered in this lunch display and you might just decide to eat before you go!

Anyways...I hope you have enjoyed this little taste of one of our family's most favorite places - the Whole Foods Market!


Oh! Did I mention that they make the best ever peppermint brownies?! =)

Snow Day - Shoveling - Annual Snow Fort

In the early morning hours of February 13 we were dumped with close to 8 inches of snow, a busy morning of shoveling jobs for our neighbors, helping people get their cars out of the snow ruts and carefully heading over to the hospital to see Charity.


Drifts were everywhere...

even hanging off of our gutters...

- ranging from 28 inches to 1/2 inch.


The crew headed out to cover our annual jobs of shoveling out our neighbors.


After all the hard work was done, the now tired and rosy cheeked gang came back in for breakfast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remember the past posts of our wintry season when we told and showed of our annual snow slide and forts? Well this year it all happened again, though it was short lived because of warm weather, and our slide was erected off the back deck (sorry I didn't get any pictures of it this year!) and though a little different from past years, our front yard quickly acquired a VERY LARGE mound right in the middle of it for all the passerby and interested house shopper to see! =)
This years goal was for bigger and better than ever! John really wanted to get it high enough to stand straight in but that never happened and so a huge cave came into existence with a support beam in the middle, front and back entrances and an additional room off the side. Though the shape was anything but attractive (at first I thought they were going to go for an igloo affect, but it turned out more like a volcano!) the creativeness it encouraged and pleasure it brought were all the worth while and though again short lived, it was at least yet another founded memory to keep for years to come!

Baby wasn't to sure about hanging out in the snow cave.

The creators and their master piece!
(l-r Faith, Josiah, John, Joshua, Christianna and Baby)