President Donald Trump: A Biblical Response

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President Donald Trump. Those words fill me with disgust, anger, and incredible disappointment in my country. What do I do now? There is a man whom I believe is utterly evil, unqualified, and exceptionally dangerous leading the nation I love. He has a history of encouraging physical attacks on people of color, bragging about rape, mocking people with disabilities, and showing contempt for the Constitution. He is conman who has swindled countless people. Even the week of his inauguration he paid $25 Million to settle a fraud lawsuit against him. Obviously God is not calling me to submit to this leadership, is He?

Romans 13:1-2 tells me God is demanding that I submit. “Let every person be subject to governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgement.” Frankly, I want to take a black sharpie to those verses right now.

The verse was written in 57 AD to a church in Rome so what does that have to do with us today? I’m sure they did not have a man like Donald Trump as their governing authority. Actually, they had an emperor named Nero who was heavily focused on foreign trade, the economy, and promoting Rome but he was largely viewed as his subjects as corrupt and was a wildly compulsive man. Most people of the day despised him but the neo-patriotic Romans of the East adored him. Sound familiar?

Nero in fact took Christians, dipped them in oil, and set them on fire. He took great joy in murdering the very people Paul was telling to submit to him. Paul was telling the church in Rome that the man killing them was appointed by God. Given that information, I have no choice but to be subject to President Trump. That brings up some challenges though. How do I obey the rest of Scripture?

In Proverbs 31 we read the advice King Lemuel received from his mother, “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.” (Proverbs 31;8-9 ESV) Psalm 82:3 instructs “Give justice to the weak and the fatherless, maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.” (ESV) How is the world do I do this while being subject to man who is the personified opposite of these things?

Titus 3 gives some insight into just how this can be accomplished.

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:1-7 ESV)

Paul again instructs the church through Titus to be submissive to authorities but this time he does so with additional instructions to be ready for every good work and to speak evil of no one. He lays out exactly who we were before Christ. Again, understanding the culture may help. Titus was in Crete and Titus 1:12 tells us that “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” Again, I’m reminded of our new presidential administration. Dishonest, evil, and lazy are all things many of us see in President Trump. Yet under similar circumstances the Bible called for submission. The same verses though command of us to do good work. Maybe the instructions are intrinsically tied together. We are to avoid quarrels as well, to be gentle and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. I picture Crete as a terrible place full of Trump cabinet nominees and a few Christians. The command to the Christians was echoed by First Lady Michelle Obama, “When they go low, we go high”. I want to stoop to the level of Trump and his followers and harshly rebuke them but I’m called to something more.

I am called to, “Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.”  (1 Peter 2:16-17 ESV) Again, both honoring the emperor and using my freedom for good coexist. 1 Peter was also written in Rome under evil rule of Nero.

So what will I do? I will follow the advice Paul gave Timothy from a Roman prison when he was being tortured and ultimately murdered by order of Nero. “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2 ESV) I will pray for President Trump. I will pray he repents of his heinous ways. I will pray he allows all Americans and people everywhere to live peaceful and quiet lives. I will pray he God reaches down and changes his heart.

As I finish writing this I am still dismayed at the thought of such an evil and capricious man leading my nation but I take comfort in knowing that I serve a God who is bigger than any President. I take courage in knowing that rules like Trump have come and gone and yet the world remains. I take responsibility to speak up for the oppressed and any my President tries to mock, ridicule, or harm. Finally, I take seriously my call to be a man of prayer. 

Scripture Should Trump Political Allegiance

I am profoundly troubled by the number of Christians supporting Donald Trump. Before anyone brings up Hillary Clinton, I find her reprehensible as well and her character to be just as deplorable as his. However, between the two of them I see more Christians supporting Trump so that is what I am going to talk about,

Trump is antithetical to everything Christian and most things conservative. He is a bully who calls names, degrades people, they cries foul when anyone says anything about him. Trump has repeatedly attacked Sen. Warren calling her “Pocahontas”, “Goofy Elizabeth Warren”, and “the indian” yet when she called him a, “thin-skinned, racist bully”, he responded by saying that she has a nasty mouth on her. He was shocked that anyone would speak that way. He has a long history of attacking people in terrible ways.

I get that we are not voting for a pastor here but there are some things that Christians simply should not tolerate and hatred and bigotry are chief among those.

“If I were running ‘The View’, I’d fire Rosie O’Donnell. I mean, I’d look at her right in that fat, ugly face of hers, I’d say ‘Rosie, you’re fired.” I don’t care for Rosie O’Donnell either but is attacking her physical appearance necessary? It is a low class bullying and it is antithetical to the gospel, conservative principals and the dignity required for the office of the President. She is a person made in the image of God. (Genesis 1:27)

“Our great African-American President hasn’t exactly had a positive impact on the thugs who are so happily and openly destroying Baltimore.” This is a terribly racist and uncalled for statement that unnecessarily brings President Obama's race into the discussion.

“You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass.” Is this the kind of man you want as the President of the United States?

“Ariana Huffington is unattractive, both inside and out. I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man – he made a good decision.” Again, Mr. Trump stoops to personal attacks and personal attacks about people's appearance. This kind of nasty rhetoric from a President risks starting wars.

"If Hillary Clinton can't satisfy her husband what makes her think she can satisfy America?" Statements like these are below the office of the President.

Christians cannot vote for this man under the guise of "the lesser of two evils". A vote for Trump is not a vote against Clinton. It is an affirmative vote for hatred, bigotry, misogyny, and tyranny. If you are voting for those things, I'd encourage you to prayerfully search Scripture. 

Trump is an arrogant man and Proverbs 16:5 is clear, "Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the LORD; be assured, he will not go unpunished." (ESV) Do you really want to support a man whom God will surely humble?

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another." (Galatians 5:22-26 ESV)

I do not see a way to live in the fruit of the spirit and support and man who is the opposite of each of these and is self-admittedly unrepentant about it.

Here are a few quotes that show he is not a conservative for those who are non-Christians but conservatives:

“He’s [John McCain] not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” This is NOT a man who is pro military. This is a man who has disdain for out military.

"I know Hillary and I think she’d make a great president or vice-president." Just a couple of years ago he was a Clinton supporter (maybe he still is). 

 Hillary Clinton. Hillary’s always surrounded herself with very good people, I think Hillary would do a good job.”  More of his support for Hillary.

He also supports universal healthcare with an individual mandate, eminent domain, and increasing taxes on the wealthy by a higher margin than even Sanders proposed. His position on abortion has been wobbly at best and he continues to praise Planned Parenthood while quoting the erroneous liberal talking points about them. He has been clear about his intent to crack down on the media as well and limit their freedoms. If you are a Trump supporter you are a liberal and there are now two ways about it.  

I Don’t Want to Join Your Community Group

 I’m sure your community group, missional community or whatever clever name you’ve come up with is great. I’m glad you enjoy it so much and I’m glad you think it is the best thing ever. I just don’t want to come. Don’t get me wrong, I believe Christians should get together and hang out. I’m not even opposed to sitting down and talking about a sermon we all just heard.

I’m all for friendship and I’m all for hanging out with people I care about. I’m definitely all about anything that involves food… good food that is, leave your boiled steak mashed cauliflower at home. What I don’t like is that it seems I can’t be a part of your church without joining one of your groups. What I don’t like is that you don’t want to be my friend, you want me to a notch on your spiritual bedpost. You care more about people showing up to your group than you do about the people themselves.

Yes, you’ve come up with very clever names, Community Group, City Group (I’m more of a country boy), Life Group, Fusion Group (what even is that?), Growth Group (I know I’m short and I’m ok with that), Missional Community, and DNA Group (DNA? Is this a needle exchange or something?) I’m not sure how I explain to my normal friends that I’m hanging out with my Fusion Group without them thinking I’m building bombs. Community Group sounds like I’m inviting them to Home Owners Association meeting which no one wants to attend! Maybe just call it hanging out with some friends.

Friends, that is what it’s all about right? Well maybe not. It seems that you only want to be my friend if I join your group. I’m not where you are at right now. I’m going through different things than you are. My church of 14 years just shut down and disappeared from the face of the earth. That still stings for me. It’s ok that it doesn’t for you but that’s what I’m processing right now. I’m healing right now. I’m not trying to do it alone, I have great people around me. I’m ever happy to hang out with you, I just don’t want to join your group. It’s not my thing.

I've lead community groups, I was once completely bought in on the whole concept. I was a vocal champion of Community Groups by any name. I even volunteered as an assistant to the director of Community Groups at a large church because I believed so strongly in the “mission”. In many ways I still do. I still believe Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (ESV)

What people want, what people crave is relationship, real relationship. People don’t want to sit in a circle and talk about a sermon, they don’t want to be your “friend” because they are in your group, and they don’t want to be given a two hours a week where they matter. People want real relationships. People want Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (ESV)

I recently went to a friend’s son’s baseball game. My friend and I chatted a bit, I chatted with some other friends that were there and we all just had fun. There was no agenda, no topic, just friends hanging out. Here’s the thing, I left that feeling loved, cared for, and I got to watch baseball! What’s not to love about baseball? If you asked me what my plans were I could easily say, “I’m going to a baseball game with some buddies.” That’s much easier to explain than, “I’m going to a life group.” A life group? You need a group for that? Please spare me the Christianese explanation of why that’s such a cool name. I get it, you “do life together”. That makes no sense to most people.

I’m not saying what you have is bad, in fact, in most cases it’s probably good! I’m saying, I just showed up at your church, BACK OFF psycho! I’m saying, I don’t need another church function, I need real friends. If you’ll only be my friend if I come to your group, you aren’t my friend. Thanks for inviting me, ONCE. I really appreciate that first invitation, I’m not so thrilled about invitations 10-200. I kind of feel like you are trying to make your quota now. I’m waiting for you to say, “What’s it going to take to close this City Group deal today? I can get my manager on the phone and get it done right now.”

I’m thankful for the people I have around me and I’m thankful that your church has the best cell groups but I really don’t want to join something that sounds like I’m in prison. Especially since I know if I was in prison, none of you would visit me. I’m pretty confident in that fact since my friend is in prison and no one has visited him and some people have even laughed about it.

So this week as you head off to your Family Missional Life Community Small Fusion Group this week, think about what your real purpose is. Are you just there to check something off your spiritual to do list? Did you only invite someone to fulfill your outreach requirements? When you invited someone did they get confused about something called a Redemption City Home Growth Connect Group? Get together with people! Love people! Just don’t force everything into a box with a silly little name stop hounding people! 

Ten Years of Marriage: Celebrating Karina

Today it has been ten years since Karina and I had the tackiest wedding in the history of man. Our wedding day is not one that either of us look back on fondly. Fortunately, we have not stayed where we started and our wedding day does not define our marriage. Sorry people who had exceptionally lavish weddings, your wedding doesn't define your marriage either. It is life after the ceremony that matters.

These last ten years have been the hardest of my life. We've struggled and fought hard for the last ten years because our family matters. President Theodore Roosevelt famously said, "Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty." We have had much pain and difficulty over our decade of marriage and every ounce of it is worthwhile. 

I thought a lot about what to write and how to honor my wife on our anniversary this year. Since we attach such importance to random numbers, ten is a big deal. Ten things I love about her seems both cliche and underwhelming. Ten memories would have been fun but I'm pretty sure it would have gotten me in trouble. 

I decided to highlight my ten favorite blogs by Karina. I'm proud of her writing and I want to honor that. Over the past week, I've gone back a read every single blog she's written and these are my ten favorite in no particular order. Please follow the links and enjoy her writing.

1. Liar - This is a deep and vulnerable look at who Karina is and what she battles. She talks about who she was and who Jesus is making her. She doesn't hold back or try to bake herself look good, she tries to make Jesus look good.

2. Unexpected Grace - Even on days Chaucer leads with his head in the wrong way and jumps headfirst out a window, Karina looks for God's grace and highlights it for all to see.

3. Wait - Karina wrote this blog on one of the hardest and darkest days we've faced. This was the day we learned that Mars Hill would be closing and spinning off all locations as independent churches. God has shown us so much at Mars Hill that it just crushed her and beautifully explained her pain.

4. Thoughts of a Childless Single Karina - There is plenty of humor in this blog and most moms will be able to relate to her thoughts on both sides of motherhood but what I like most of her conclusion, "Really the biggest thing I have learned is that everything is to point me back to Christ".

5. My Psalm - The first time she went through Redemption Groups, Karina wrote this Psalm. It was in this season of small group counseling that Karina's life really began to change and this is what she had to say about it.

6. Aunt & Uncle Day - Jordan and Alicia mean the world to us! They were the first people God sent us as family. My wife, the loving, creative, and thoughtful person she is, decided we needed a special day to honor them. This is the story of the first Aunt and Uncle Day.

7. One Whole Hand - I really like the title of this blog but that's not why I picked it. Karina has a special love for each of our children and I appreciate that about her. Abby is a unique little girl and Karina captures her personality perfectly in this short blog.

8. Sweet Baby Tessie...or Not so Much - Hot Mess Tess is our baby and Karina accurately describes life with Tessa. She is full of beauty, joy, giggles, fun, and trouble... oh so much trouble.

9. My Latest Psalm - This Psalm is now a couple years old but I love how much growth it shows since her first one. You can clearly see Karina's growth in so many areas.

10. Left - This final blog is a painful look at Karina's relationship or lack thereof with her mother and the grace and redemption and has found in Christ. There is so much emotion, loss, grief, hope and joy packed into this little blog. In 677 words she writes an entire book. If you want to understand Karina, read this one.

There are a lot of other ones I wanted to include but it's only been ten years so I'm limited here. I hope you enjoy her writing as much as I do. Please read her blog, follow it and share it with others, She's never admit it but that would really mean a lot to her.   

14 Things I'm Thankful for in 2014

"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!" Psalm 107:1 ESV

There are countless things I could give thanks to but since it’s 2014 I’ll limit myself to 14. Here are the top 14 things I’m thankful for in no particular order.

1. Jesus – I’m thankful that God loved me so much that He adopted me and picked me to be called His child and sacrificed His own Son that I might live, made pure by His righteous blood.  

2. My family – You can read more about my family on my last blog post. They are the greatest earthly gift I’ve ever received. I love these people more than anything. I am so incredibly thankful for the crazy group of people I get to do life with.

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity

3. My Church- You can read more about why I’m thankful for Mars Hill here. In short, my life has been forever changed my Mars Hill and though this is the last Thanksgiving that my church will even exist, I’ll forever be thankful for the ways God changed my life.

4. My pastor – God has used Pastor Mark to change my life over the past two decades. I’m thankful for Pastor Mark’s dedication to Jesus, solid theology and preaching the Bible. I dearly love this man and I look forward to one day sitting under his leadership again. 

5. Disneyland – I love Disneyland! We take a family vacation there about every 18-24 months and it really is the happiest place on earth.

6. My job – I have my dream job. I look forward to going to work every single day. I get to work with a great group of people at a job that is all about exotic cars. Seriously, I’m the luckiest guy alive!

7. My freedom – I live in the greatest nation on earth. My freedom and the freedom of every American is guaranteed in writing by our government and supported by a pretty bad ass military.  

8. Teaching the Bible – I’ve had the honor and privilege of teaching the Bible to teenagers over the past few years and I’m incredibly thankful for that. I learn far more than I ever teach by working with this great group of students and I’ll forever be grateful for this season.

9. My friends – I have a great group of friends. Those closest to me are some of the best people I’ve ever met. I am incredibly undeserving of the people God has put in my life but I sure am thankful.

10. My biological family – We certainly aren’t the closest family in the world but we are also far from the worst. I am thankful that my mother, a single mom, raised me as best she could. I’m thankful for my aunt and uncle who have sacrificed much to try to give me a good life.

Photo courtesy of Renus and ElTora Cabe (Mu aunt and uncle)

11. Sports – This seems trivial but sports matter to me. I enjoy relaxing (or freaking out) over a good athletic competition. Good teams or bad, winning seasons or garbage seasons, it’s a good way to unplug from the real world for a while.

12. My Bible – I have access to the Word of God. Unlimited access, no restrictions, no one will arrest me for it, it’s just there. I love reading my Bible, learning new things from it, teaching from it, sharing the truths it contains, and sometimes just praying through it.

13. Food and clean water – I’m super thankful that I live in a country where I have access to any food I want as well as clean and safe drinking water. There are many in the world without these blessings. I also just enjoy food, I love trying new things, gathering with friends to eat, finding a new restaurant, tacos, bacon, cookie, and well…. I just really like food.

14. The Perrigo family – I wrote about them in my blog on family but they are worth another mention. There is no family on the family that means more to me than them. I’ve never met a family where I have been so incredibly fond of each and every member. My life is truly better for knowing them. 

Photo: Courtesy of Alyssa Perrigo

I'm Thankful for My Family

I’ve been writing blogs all this week on things I’m thankful for. Today, I’m writing about family. I’m very thankful for my family. I hope you enjoy hearing about the people I enjoy most in this world. This blog may not make complete sense to this who do not share my Christian worldview but please read it anyway because I think my family is worth reading about.

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity

Before I talk about the amazing people in my family I need to define who my family is and which family I am talking about. I have a biological family, the one I was born into. My biological is important to me as well but I want to talk in this blog about my blood family, the family I have because of the blood of Christ. This is where I’m asking you who are not Christians to hang with me; I promise it won’t get too weird. Give me one or two paragraphs and I’ll get to the pictures of the cute kids.

As a Christian I am a child of God. John chapter 1 talks about God giving those who believe the right to become children of God. John is specific that these are people who did not chose this but were born of the will of God, He picked me and He picked my family.

The family of God is one of adoption. The apostle Paul talks much about this adoption and our being children of God (Ephesians 1:5, Eph. 2:19, Eph. 5:1, Galatians 4:5) and in 1 Timothy 5 Paul continues the narrative of family when speaking of the church. So as I write today, I'm talking about the people God has given me as family in Him.

The picture up top if from a family photo shoot we did a bit earlier this fall. Sylvia and Sarah are not my daughters but my heart sure doesn't know that. I think of them and treat them just like my biological children. They are a tremendous gift to my life and I love them will all my heart. Sylvia challenges me to think of those less fortunate than me and to love the unloved. Sarah inspires me with her wit, snark, intelligence, and drive. 

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity
Sarah and Sylvia at UW

Saphyre is my 14 year old and she is one of the most enjoyable people I've ever known. People tell me that having a teen daughter is hard work and that I should be scared. They were wrong, dead wrong. I love this girl! We have a ton of fun together. She is smart, funny, silly, teachable, beautiful, addicted to coffee and a pleasure to be around. She even still snuggles her daddy from time to time.

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity
This is one of my favorite pictures. I was teasing her and she was striking her best teen pose.

 Olivia is 9 and will likely rule the world some day. She is a natural leader and a total daddy's girl. She is brave, confident, and strong. I often joke that Olivia will either be the CEO of a major corporation of a despot dictator. She is generous and kind but she also has a mean streak. She brings unspeakable joy to my life.

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity

Abigail faces many challenges in her but does it with smile. She's visited more specialists than I can count and has to try harder than her peers just to keep up in class but she puts in the effort. She is one tough little girl. I love to laugh wit her and hear her silly jokes. She is the idea 7 year old daughter.

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity

Chaucer, my son, my only son. This boy has scared me more than I ever thought possible. He leads with his head but not in the way you are thinking... He leads his falls off bunk beds, out windows and into walls with his head. He runs around and plays Avengers all day, he practices protecting the family and he curls up and snuggles his daddy.

Tessa, my baby! I've spoiled this little girl like crazy, She's my baby and she knows how to wrap her daddy around her little finger. Her giggles and squeals are a delightful noise to my heart, not always my ears, but my heart. She is silly and girly and hopelessly addicted to M&Ms.

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity

Karina, my wife. She is ties all f the above together. She spends her day managing the above listed personalities and putting up with me and my last minute changes of plan and spontaneity. She loves Jesus, mentors women, speaks truth, loves Scar (the Disney villain) and One Direction (the "band"). I married WAY out of my league and I'm thankful that she was willing to marry a single father and immediately take on the role of mommy almost 10 years ago. I love her very much. I'll stop there because I'll soon be writing a blog dedicated to just her.

Photo Credit: Karina Tinsley

Aly, or Allee as Starbucks calls her. I love this girl dearly. This girl is part of my family for sure. I don't know where exactly she falls but she is one of the biggest blessings I've ever known. She is smart, wise, talented beyond comprehension (at everything), a better friend than anyone deserves and amazing with all kids. In the toughest season of my life she's been a great encouragement. She is beautiful inside and out and I am thankful to know her. She's also the best drive I know.

Photo Credit: Karina Tinsley
We were hiking and though she was injured at the time she joined me on the path less traveled.

Aly's entire family is a huge part of my life and a huge blessing to my family. I don't have a photo of all of them but I'll just tell you about them. Paul, the dad can build anything, he is a bold man yet a kind, gentle and generous man. He works hard and loves his family and mine well. Amy is Paul's wife and though she is still quite young she lets my kids call her Grandma Amy. She loves them and does all sorts of fun things with them. She is also an incredible baker. Her cookies will leave you speechlessness because you'll just keep stuffing your face with them. Jacob is the oldest of their kids and he is a loyal and faithful friend. He dropped everything this summer to take a group top high school guys to a summer camp with me. He suffered a 12 hour bus ride and kept a great attitude. Logan is the baby of their family (he's 14) and like the rest of them he is crazy talented. He's a solid athlete, an actor and a musician. My kids adore Logan and hang on his every word. He is basically a rock star in their minds. 

The final member of the Perrigo family isn't a Perrigo at all, she's Amy mom, Mary. Also quite young, Mary allows my kids to call her great-grandma Mary. This sweet woman loves my kids and delights in getting to hang out with them. She is wise and always seeking more knowledge. She is humble and servant minded. She is hospitable and generous. I am so thankful for all of these people.

Jordan and Alicia, these two chose to be my kids aunt and uncle. They, along with their son, Liam, are a constant source of joy to my heart. We don't see each other quite as much as we used to but I really love them. This year since Liam was so young they were unable to join us on vacation and their absence was noticeable. I'm so thankful to call them family.

Ashley is one of my co-leaders in our churches youth group and a dear friend. She's in many ways like a little sister, snotty and snarky, yet loving and loyal all at the same time. I love her and I love getting to do ministry with her. She is great at connecting with teenagers and making the Bible fun for them. She's a talented communicator, athlete and artist.

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity

I have the best people in the world around me. I could go on for hours talking about what all these people mean to me but I'm just going to remind you that these people are a gift from God to my life, shut up, and post a few pictures. In the additional pictures you'll see Reagan and Darbee, who I love dearly, Kadi Dawn who I miss terribly since she moved back to Texas and the man behind the camera, Matt Kennelly who is one of the best men I know.

Sarah and Karina at Disneyland

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity
Reagan and Darbee hugging Aly

The man who is Fort Vanity is also my dear friend, Matt.

Photo Credit: Fort Vanity

At the zoo with Sylvia

Christmas Pajamas 2013

If you know Karina you understand this.

...and this

Kadi Dawn was only in Seattle a short time but she made a huge difference while she was here.

Karina and Aly

Karina, Aly and some guy

We went on a Jungle Cruise

Sylvia and Sarah with their Fairy Godmother. 

Chaucer and Tess have a great relationship

A munch of people I love

This picture is missing Ashley because she had to leave early to educate young minds as a teacher. 

Tess, Aly and Ashley

Chaucer the protector with his sword

Family, I really love my family.