He's Holding My Hand~

{Happy 2014! I deeply apologize for the lack of posting. :/ But, even if I had posted, I'm not certain if you would've had the time to read it; because, you were most likely just as busy as me and my family have been over Christmas and New Years! ;) I'm back now ... for a little while. So, this is an interruption from the sibling series, because some huge things are happening and I thought I'd try to be a responsible blogger and let y'all know the scoop. ;)}

"I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles."

~Isaiah 42:6

It overwhelms my soul with unutterable peace to know and rest in the truth that my God goes before, behind and alongside of me in every pursuit He leads me. <3

::George: "There she blows. You know what the three most exciting sounds in the world are?

Uncle Billy: "Uh huh. 'Breakfast is served; lunch is served; dinner ...'"

George: "No, no, no, no. 'Anchor chains, plane motors and train whistles.'"::

~It's a Wonderful Life

//"When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen." //

~A.A.Milne~

Friends, my India rubber boots are on, and,

An Adventure is about to take place...

I look forward to telling you all about it next month!

{I realize that's terrible and perfectly unfeeling to make you wait so long - I wish I could tell you now! I really do; but, I'm afraid that's the way things have to be for now. :/ However, I would earnestly desire your prayers for safety and that the Lord Jesus would be greatly glorified in this Adventure He's leading me on!}

For now, I remain incredibly grateful for your friendship and prayers. <3

Cheerio!

Phia

{A rather large Post Script - in the unusual event that you don't already know: JORDAN AND OLIVIA GOT ENGAGED TWO DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS!! Now you know. ;) We are positively exuding with joy and gratefulness for how our sovereign Lord has brought them together and if you want to see some photographs, Evy and Tim got some immensely sweet and beautiful captures!}

[Double Post Script: Photo creds go to my bro, Djoops (aka 'Andrew'). He literally froze in the knee-high white fluffiness, wearing jeans and tennis shoes, to take some pics for me with his camera; because, sadness, Evy wasn't in town to do them. He's the BBBE = Best Big Brother Ever. <3]

::My Sisters and I::

::My Sisters and I::

Part One

An Introduction

It's incredible that I'm actually writing this out ... I've toyed with the idea for the better part of this year; but up to this point, it hadn't gone beyond the Realm of Good Intentions. ;) So, YAY, I'm finally doing it! 

Also, I have no idea how many posts this will end up being; however, for the sake of saving your eyesight, I have decided to break it up. :) It'll come in two different series; the first will be about my sisters and the second regarding my brothers. 

[Okie-doke, here's some introduction to the introduction. ;) 

For those of you who don't know my family, there are eight of us. My parents met while working for a ministry and five years later they were married. Dad continued to work for the ministry, and for the first 11 years of their marriage they lived in a town about five minutes away. For the past 13 1/2 years we've lived on campus as a family and have really loved it! 

I have five siblings; three sisters and two brothers. Evangeline (Evy, 23) is the oldest; Olivia (22) is second; Andrew (20) is third; I'm fourth (Sophia, 19); Erik (17) is fifth; and Heidi (13) is our baby. :)

All of us siblings are very close, and I consider each one of them my best friends. <3]

Now, on to the main introduction. ;)
So, basically I'm typing this out for those of you who have experienced or who are going to experience the beginning-relationship-phase/engagement-phase/marriage-phase and parenthood-phase of a sibling (be it sister or brother.) Because, while, for the most part, these phases are a large majority of smiles, roses, fun and chocolates (Reese's pieces for those of us who are allergic to chocolate ;), there will come points when toes will get {accidentally} stepped on, feelings will be {unintentionally}ignored and our relationships will have the potential to be strengthened or weakened. God has taught me so much through several of my siblings relationships (refer to previously mentioned phases), and He put it on my heart to share some of those lessons. It's my desire and prayer that you will be blessed and edified!

And thus begins the blog series of ...

::My Siblings and I::

I am tremendously excited to share with y'all and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I do {also, we can hope that having stated my goal to have this as a series, my blogging frequency will recover ;}!

Cheerio!

Phia

P.S. As a note, if there is anything you would like to add or share about the topic of the posts, please feel welcome to share in a comment - I feel like it would be good and beneficial for this to be an interactive discussion, instead of just a monologue from yours truly! ;P I would love to hear thoughts from you and things that God has taught you through your family's and friend's relationships. :]

{This post needed a picture ... so here's a Merry Christmas of cuteness!}