The Vine and a Butt Kicking.

In an attempt to make sense of a bunch of scattered thoughts and run on sentences, I decided to give my poor, neglected blog a little lovin' today!

This weekend in a message given by Wilson Creek Winery owner, Mick Wilson, our congregation was given literal illustration of what it means to live a life connected to The Vine. In reference to John chapter 15, we were challenged to take a close look at our own lives in search of the evidence, or the fruit, of a life connected to Christ. I metaphorically had the wind knocked out of me when I realized today, in how many ways, Christ has not been the only source that I've been drawing life from.

GUT CHECK #1:
* Where is the fruit?! Lately, so much of my life is spent just coping, and not enough spent on learning what it means to abide in Christ and making sure I'm always bearing fruit!

* If I'm spending time drawing life from other sources, what are they? And why are they so important to me?


Mick snapped off two branches of the vine he brought from Temecula to help illustrate his message. One of the branches was brown, dry and dead. The other was green, lush with beautiful leaves. He explained that although the appearance of the one on his right looked vibrant and full of life, it was in fact, dead because it was snipped from it source. It would eventually wither and become dry and brown like the branch he held in his left hand.

GUT CHECK #2:
* How much of my happiness, and joy is just a facade?! How much time do I have left to turn things around before my soul is withered and dry?!?!

GUT CHECK #3:
The biggest challenge for me this weekend has been to identify the "sucker branches" or false sources that I've been sucking life from.

There are certain people, I believe, God places in my life to strengthen me, give me hope, and just motivate me to love life. Although they are so important to me, they are NOT meant to be my source, and I HAVE ashamedly taken advantage of them by placing them in a role that God was meant for and wants to fill. It seems like somehow I've tricked myself into believing these people in my life are more tangible and accessible than the God who created me. Ouch! When did THAT happen?! Not only do I now need to reconnect to the True Vine, but I also owe a serious apology to my friends, and my husband especially, for expecting them to fill that crazy complex hole in my heart.

After taking a pretty big beating in the form of a reality check today, I am so encouraged to know reconnecting to The Vine is as simple as asking God to connect to me, and to remain in His word, seeking His truth. And even more encouraged to know that God cares enough about me to continue my pruning and essentially refocus my eyes on Him.

Ugh. I don't deserve that. I have so much work to do. God, you're grace and patience is crazy rad.

John 15:1-10
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love."

Videos of the boys!

My friends and family who don't have Facebook have been asking to see video of the boys! So I decided to post a couple of my favorites from Cameron here on The Other Cause!! I'll post a few of Riley in the next couple of days!

Enjoy!!

Stick with what you know!

My hubby is a "stick with what you know" kind of guy! I'm probably a little more adventurous and daring than he is when it comes to things like ordering food... but what I do admire is his ability to not be phased by the flashy, bright colored new menu items, and order the same ol' thing!!

Right now, we're living with Steve's sister and her family until we can get back on our feet here. We are SOOO humbled by their generosity, and thankful to be able to spend so much time with the people who love our family most!

Recently, after the kiddo's go to bed, Steve and I have started having a time where we lock ourselves in the garage for a few hours and just talk, reflect, encourage, and seek God together about what He wants for us! These times have pretty much turned into intimate times of...WORSHIP (what were YOU thinking, sicko?). I decided that I wanted to start taping some of our favorite songs to sing together. There are many!

In this time of our lives when we're figuring out just what God wants to do with us, we've found that one of the things that makes the waiting, questioning, and wondering a little easier is "sticking with what we know"! For now...that's worshiping Him!

This is a song that a friend in North Carolina introduced me to, called "The More I Seek You" by Kari Jobe.



The more I seek you,
the more I find you
The more I find you, the more I love you

I wanna sit at your feet
drink from the cup in your hand.
Lay back against you and breathe, feel your heart beat.
This love is so deep, it's more than I can stand.
I melt in your peace, it's overwhelming

Spiritual Nuggets of Nothingness.

Been at a loss for words lately, and THAT has actually been a good thing. In the past, I've been pretty good at putting a rhyme or reason to everything God does in my life. And for maybe the first time, in this season, I have nothing. I have no explanation as to why God would call us to leave a good job in San Diego, have us uproot our family to serve at an awesome church plant across the country, only to have us come back to San Diego 9 months later...in a time when finding a job is close to impossible, and when the stakes are so high with 2 growing boys watching and learning from our every move. It just doesn't make much sense to me.

I'm so glad to be home with our family and such awesome friends who love us so much. That alone has pulled us through all the trouble it's been to get settled here again.

I've NEVER been one to ask God "Why?". It just seems like a shallow question to ask an All Knowing God. But a little bit, like even a smidge, of clarity would be nice.

So...I've asked. And, still, nothing.

So, I've kind of just decided to STOP trying to make sense of it all and just do it. Go through it. We're clinging to God's word and the fact that it's true. We're making sure our sweet boys know that we love them more than anything in the whole world. We're hunting for jobs like crazy, and aren't being picky about any line of work. In the midst of cruddy times, we won't compromise our character, core values. We're attending the church we love, as it has a huge piece of our heart. We're not avoiding awkward conversations about "what's going on with the Faiai's". We're not broadcasting our story to the world either. We appreciate the prayers that our friends and family pray on our behalf. We're eagerly looking forward to some crazy breakthroughs in the next few weeks.

So, I'm pretty much at the end of today's post, and haven't made much sense of anything. Maybe that's because I'm not supposed to right now. I remember Ed (our teaching pastor) once say something about "if God isn't giving you words to say on His behalf, then He probably doesn't want you to say anything." So instead of ending this post by sharing one of my GIGANTIC spiritual nuggets of wisdom, I'll instead just keep being at a loss for words for a while longer.

Merry Christmas!

So much to post! Not nearly enough time to post it! Update coming soon. Until then, Merry Christmas from the Faiai boys! Thanks to all of our friends and family for your continued love, support and friendship!

2008 Election Predictions

Who will it be?!

A Halloween Reunion!

The boys and I have been hangin' low at my parents house trying to adjust to the time change, and maintain a somewhat regular routine for the boys. They have never been trick or treating before, so we were excited to be able to roam the neighborhood in search of candy with some close friends and their families! We had a great time, and the sappy cornball that I am couldn't help but get a bit emotional just seeing my kids so happy to be around the people who love them so much!

Here are a few pictures from the evening!


Playing the piano before getting into costume!


My wrestler boy and firefighter!



My babies!!






His best attempt at a mean face!



Lot's of candy for Cameron Lee!


Lot's of candy for Riley James!


Fell asleep on the bed talking to grandma about his day.