*Saturday marked the last day of ski lessons with the annual celebration of Fur Day. We got pretty into it this year, no?

Yet, we love it. We get to enjoy our family enjoying something together. Hands down it wouldn’t be as rich if I or Matt were off experiencing this by ourselves. It’s been so enjoyable, we went up not just Saturday, but Sunday as well. This day marks a turning point. Tallis is now skiing the beginner chairlift, riding up with Matt and Araiya follows them up as she can ride the lift all by herself. So off they go, all three of them. We’re 2/3 of the way to actually, really skiing as a family.

Yesterday our Church showed a special video made less than a week ago by one of our Pastors who spent less than two days on the ground in Haiti. Service lasted two hours, we sat somber, in humility and were blown away. Please pray for these people.

The entire country is in a state of loss- lost lives, lost infrastructure, lost resources. One of the main places people are flocking for safety, protection and hope is to their Churches. Churches where the buildings are utterly demolished, non-existent or on the verge of collapse. Churches where the communities are the only chance of survival amidst and ever-increasing violence over scarce resources like water and food. Churches who have lost so much, yet are still reaching out to help as many people as they can, housing them on their Church property. One Church is feeding nearly 10,000 people every day on food they, by God’s providence, had delivered the day before the earthquake which would have fed impoverished communities near the church and now is sustaining the very survival of those people and more. That is just one story from Pastor Mark’s Sermon I have included below.

If you feel inclined to give, please find a way. The need is great, but so are our resources.

http://churcheshelpingchurches.com

Pastor Mark’s Sermon from Sunday:

“his special sermon by Pastor Mark Driscoll aired at all Mars Hill campuses on January 24, 1010, just days after he and a team for Churches Helping Churches returned from their relief and fact-finding trip to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Pastor Mark shares firsthand stories and images of pastors and churches in Haiti to give a sense of the devastation there. Jesus calls the church to be on mission both locally and globally, and that includes helping our Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Additionally, I believe that as individuals it seems we can do little, yet together, we can do great. From now until the end of the month, I will donate 50% of all booked Spring Portrait Session Fees and 100% of my profits from Prints & Products purchased from those sessions or previous ones, so the monies raised from this special offer will go directly to these aid organizations. If you have or haven’t already given, this is an easy way to do so and purchase great photography in return. All proceeds go to Churches Helping Churches, working to complement humanitarian organizations in the rebuilding of Haitian churches. If you’re interested, contact me (natalie {at} matalie {dot} net ) and check out my Photography work at www.nataliegphotography.com

I know, it could have been a lot worse. We live in an increasingly digital world. Through all of this, the picture of social sites and email that emerges is one of loose internal controls on private data access. Didn’t you hear Facebook thinks we all want our information public? Now it’s no longer trust people for whom you click the ‘friend’ button, but beware of everyone. Public is the new social norm and we should all embrace it. On the Social media sites, not having the option to control certain aspects in some ways is detrimental to the way we interact, it will have a lash-back of behavior. Facebook forges ahead becoming more and more public than ever. There are of course potential upsides (hey I’m a huge Twitter user myself). However, they should continue to keep users accounts in as much control and confidentiality as possible, if not absolutely legally bound to. On the email side, encrypted, password protected accounts should be even more protected. In this case it looks like the original obtaining of the password to begin with was a server-side failure. Far too easy to do, it seems.

Lessons learned. Every. Single. Password- RESET.

One would think, how in the world would people fall for these phishing attempts? But hey, they are based on the human notion that people care for one another, prey on fear and concern and exploit those willing to help. I am both sadly surprised and humored at this. On one hand, our friends could have lost thousands of dollars trying to help us out. On the other hand, we have friends who are willing, at the drop of a hat, give us thousands of dollars to get us out of a pinch. On one hand, there are many people out there right now freaked out by this and hopefully resetting their passwords. On the other hand, I got to talk to a lot of friends I haven’t heard from in a long time. On one hand, I’m overloaded with the number of emails and phone messages I have received letting me know our email account has been hacked to whom I have spent the day explaining the situation to. On the other hand, there is no way to respond to 90% of the people who received the original messages because the perpetrator erased our entire Gmail contact list the last time he had access.

In my mind I have analyzed the fake email over and over. It’s kinda funny to re-read it, knowing myself and not my fake self. There are so many holes. First, anyone who knows us should know that London would not be the first place we would travel internationally if we suddenly had the chance to take a vacation somewhere (gosh, especially this time of year). Second, everyone should know that Matalie is a pseudonym. There is no way that name could be on our Passport or that we could legally receive a money transfer for which we would have to show ID for. Third, IF for any godforsaken reason we would end up in trouble (like getting mugged and not having a way to pay for our hotel), there are about 16 different channels we would go through before emailing people en masse. So if we call you at 3am, then it’s legit. Fourth, we would probably almost never, NEVER have a hotel bill of $1480.00 (we’re the people who spend 85% of our honeymoon CAR CAMPING through Canada in December, remember?). And if we did- geez, it would require a deposit and the hotel would have a credit card on file. And fifth, we actually know people in London and most everywhere we travel, it would be the most logical to contact those people first.

Even better are some of the responses via email and facebook that were received trying to figure out if this request was legit or not. It shows our friends are smart cookies. And because, at the end of the day, we can only laugh at something like this, my list of favorite responses:

“If this is really Natalie, what High School did I go to with you?”

“Have you really been mugged, or have I (almost) been suckered by a Nigerian scam artist?”

“BUMMER! WE WILL PRAY FOR YOU>>>CAN SEND CARD BOARD FOR SIGNS IF YOU LIKE……..”

“This is ridiculous. My husband talked to “you” yesterday. We know “you” are not in London. I am reporting you.”

“I was so worried about you for about 3 seconds but it’s a pretty obvious fake.”

“Apparently you were mugged at gunpoint in a London park and now cannot pay for your hotel. While sick in Seattle.”

“I hate to have a bad event be the reason I am emailing you after so long. After checking with your blog, I confirmed you are not on vacation.”

“OMG! And I was mugged last night at gunpoint TOO!”

“Can’t wait to see the photos from your trip! :)”

Or how does one quantify the past decade? For me, this will be the third instance time has rolled in quantities of tens. The first marked turn of a decade I was in Second grade; the next, I was on the eve of graduating from High School. The year 2000. Y2K- the future was upon us and I was an integral part of the class paving the way into the new Millennium. There was the worldwide fear when the clock struck 12 midnight and we passed into the era of 2000, everything would change. Financial meltdown, computer failure, people stockpiled food and water. Essentially, well… the world as we knew it would never be the same. That was far truer than we could have known. And through all that, what happened? Nothing. Life carried us onward.

Yet for some of us the clock striking twelve and the year changing meant permanent change. It rang in a whole new world begging our participation. I left home. I stepped out into a new realm of experiences and people knowing I could never go back. I met Matt that Fall. I met Jesus the Fall after that. Yes, I could never go back. Nor would I want to.

So now what? How contrarily different the Eve of this bout of time is. I find myself standing in a place 10 years ago I could never, ever imagine. I have three kids. THREE. I have a husband, given to me for him to love me, serve me, protect me; in turn for me to help and love him, all the while being changed through the brokenness prone to all relationships. I have received grace upon grace I can but barely even explain. I have struggles that run so deep and painful I had previously been so oblivious to. I have the utter sustenance, power and solid rock upon which I stand, persistence to be unwavering in the face of whatever time and life can throw, a secure salvation and everything I need for a life in pursuit of more of Jesus Christ. I am utterly content in the knowledge my life is not my own. 10 years ago, that would have been utter crazy talk.

Here I find myself, trying to reflect, But there is too much. Therefore, in no particular order, 10 things from the past year for Twenty-Ten:

1.) I have better learned my limits.

2.) My girls have become incredible friends.

3.) Matt and I are about to celebrate 7 years of marriage.

4.) I said NO to some opportunities for the sake of my family and don’t regret it.

5.) I started a business, the ball is rolling and gradually has been picking up speed. As we enter this new year, is really moving somewhere, which fills me simultaneously with excitement and trepidation.

6.) I live each day in this constantly messy, untidy, never completely pulled together, disorganized, constantly on the brink of change, often loud and prone to chaos, sometimes peaceful home. But it’s our home, and I’ve come to truly love it.

7.) I talked to and spent time with old, current and new friends much less than I have wanted to.

8.) I’ve made some huge changes in how I manage my household yet am all the more aware of the transformation that still needs to happen.

9.) I continue to learn humility.

10.) I have fallen more in love Matt than I ever have been and I have fallen even more infinitely in love with Jesus than I ever have.

10 year ago this week…our lives changed forever. Because of it I am blessed beyond belief.

I love Christmas, don’t you?

Araiya came pitter-pattering around the house this morning into our room, the echoing sound of her feet growing louder as she comes down the hallway, through the kitchen, lastly the dining room, her arrival announced long before she clamored up on my bed. She found me, face still stuffed in my pillow pining for those last, warm moments of being enveloped in sleep and started picking at the residue of iridescent flakes left scattered from my hair. “I had so much fun taking pictures yesterday. I love you.” And the footsteps pitter-patter in recession away, joyously off to find one of her new gifts to play with. What a contrast from last night, when she lay utterly distraught over the notion that when she wakes up in the morning, Christmas will be over. Then we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and tucked all three girls in the same bed.

I love that above the presents, the food, the cards, the relatives, the friends, the very FIRST thing she is remembering from yesterday is our family photo shoot. She reveled in the experience of capturing what makes us US. She was dwelling on the memory of how excited she was to throw around fake snow (6 bags of it!) into high-powered fans (3 of them!) and get to play around in the utter enjoyment of our family. Celebrating the numerous intangible gifts we’ve been given this year, celebrating who each of us are and most of all, celebrating the security of our family identity which is centered around the core of what this Holiday is all about- Christ. Everything else is icing on the cake. Through God’s providence, we were able to have many wonderful and thoughtful gifts under our tree. We have plenty from which to create and give away. We have ample food stocked in our kitchen to keep our bellies satisfied. We are, for the most part, healthy, safe and have ample shelter. The external will waste away, but we are being refined and renewed and THAT is what I hope shines through in these images.

We just wanted to take a moment to wish all of our friends, family, clients, neighbors & amazingly faithful blog readers a wonderful Christmas. From the Grummer family to yours, we hope that your celebration is one that is filled with love, laughter and many snuggles.

Special thanks to our friend, Brian, for the extra help with Camera Operation & Hot Cocoa Preparation.

Until then, we will wait. We will soak it in and enjoy every small detail that makes this season what it is. At this very moment, I have officially finished all gifts- bought, made, wrapped and tucked away. Matt is off with the girls finishing some final shopping (for me, none the less!) so the house is quiet. Chicken soup sits simmering on the stove, awaiting their return and a warm meal before we don our Christmas finery and head off to Christmas Eve Service. This marks a shift, not just from a solar-orbital standpoint, but a shift from preparing everything that makes this Holiday what it is and now into a festive celebration of things, much akin to the tilt of the Earth towards the sun, put into motion far beyond our control and understanding but in utter revealed glorious hope so that we may taste the joy gifted to us on that first Christmas.