twins: nineteen years separated.

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giveaway time // The Case for Christ

Happy new year to each one of you!!!

To kick off the new year, 2018, I am doing a giveaway!

{Based on the true story of Lee Strobel: an award-winning investigative journalist - and avowed atheist - who applies his well-honed journalistic and legal skills to disprove the newfound Christian faith of his wife...with unexpected, life-altering results.}

Our family really enjoyed this video and I'm sure you will as well!

To enter please comment below with:

*your favorite way to spend family night

*your most recent favorite Bible verse

*your name

*your email address

The giveaway will end and the winner will be drawn on the night of the 24th!

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"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

-Psalm 27:14

Trask Family Update//2017

Trask Family Update

>>2017<<

Dad: Still working at Springfield Freightliner. Got his shop finished this year and loves working in it! He is currently working on a Model A Roadster, as well as adding on a bedroom/moving the laundry room out on our house for more space. Always staying busy!

Mom: Working hard at her Plexus business: it is the perfect thing for her considering her love of health and nutrition. Her and I got to see the ocean (Oregon coast) for the first time this year and it was beautiful. She remodeled her kitchen with help from Dylan and we all love how it turned out.

Ashley {22}: I began working at McDonalds in January, it has been an interesting year. I enjoyed my trip out west with Mom, so many adventures. Seven new states were checked off of my list.

Dylan {18}: Bought a blazer that needed work, flipped it, and sold it. Continuously does cool stuff to his truck to make it more and more awesome. He helps Dad out a lot with his side jobs at home, although recently he has needed to recover from a major chest surgery and he is healing well from that.

Paige {13}: Is taller than me now even though she is nine years younger than me! She has grown so much this year. She is 31% fluent in French, crochets anything you could possibly imagine, faithfully practices her violin; therefore plays it beautifully, and still desires to become a midwife/missionary in Africa when she gets older.

Joshua {12}: This guy knows all there is to know about dinosaurs. He still wants to be a paleontologist and plans on opening up his own museum when he grows up. He had a blast helping Dad and his brothers build a treehouse in our front yard this year.

Levi {10}: 24/7 he has one thing on his mind: hunting. He is very knowledgeable on the subject and cannot wait to hunt himself. He loves to go hiking in our woods, go on bike rides, and help out at our neighbor's place-all with his brothers (they're best buds and do everything together)!

Elias {8}: Is a cowboy-wanna-be except for he doesn't like cows! He loves white horses, is interested in taxidermy, and has quite the pocket knife collection. He has really taken off with his reading this year and enjoys it more now.

Caden {7}: Always keeps us entertained with his funny expressions and the things he says! He loves to play with his baby brother, but also keeps up with his big brothers. He stood up in front of our whole church and told a long story he had made up into the microphone at "Talent Night" - brave boy…I can really see him being a preacher someday!

Rylan {5}: Him and Lilliana are best friends. They take turns playing with dolls, trucks, and everything in between. He loves to try and make up jokes and then will laugh hysterically at himself. He is always trying to be a helper. He also loves the pet hamster he got this year named Ranger and takes such good care of him.

Lilliana {3}: Lilli is all girl - pink, princesses, pink, frills, pink, bows, pink, dresses, pink, anything sparkly, and anything…pink! She is growing her bangs out, can count up to thirteen, sings the alphabet, loves watching "Strawberry Shortcake", and likes eating PINK frosted donuts.

Micah {1}: This little guy is walking all over the place, as well as trying to climb everything in sight. His red hair has lightened and is becoming more blonde. He likes to give hugs and kisses, clap, and wave bye-bye. He already has high levels of sass and is quite the handful, but he is super fun and has the most adorable cheesin' smiley face.

Happy New Year to everyone! We hope that 2018 is a blessed year for you all!

With love,

The Trasks

fall

sweet moments.

{Our wonderful neighbor took our whole family out for dinner! <3}

{Fun times at Jolly Mill}

{My friend's adorable baby, David Michael. *heart eyes emoji*}

{Lilliana posing for me in front of a beautifully painted wall of horses}

{When the whole family gathers together outside to watch the amazing sunset}

{Our adopted Grandpa Jesse adores his adopted grandchildren <3}

{Matching hair-dos}

{So thankful this little/big brother of mine is able to get out and do more stuff with me again!}

{Dates with the siblings at Dunkin' Donuts}

{Finding selfies Dad took of himself on my phone :)}

{Adorable Theo}

{Dylan's friend brought his Border Collie puppy over!}

busyness.

"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." -James 4:8

I made a little butterfly garden - A 24 foot rectangle, it was quite small. I planted Bachelor's Buttons, Sweet William, Phlox, Morning Glories, Coneflowers, Snapdragons, and a Gladiola. With it being so small I decided that it was going to be extremely easy to keep it weed-free and pretty. And... A handful of days went by and my, I had a mess of weeds to clear out already. If I let it go longer than a week or two the weeds would get even bigger and harder to pull out.

I thrive on being busy! It makes me feel good to always have something to do and somewhere to go. It keeps away laziness and keeps my mind busy as well as my hands. I feel bad when I am not busy doing something. I think I partly get it from my Dad who is close to being a workaholic. If you rest, you rust. 

While being busy is good, sometimes it gets to be too much. A for sure sign of life being too busy is when I start to let my quiet time with the Lord slip out of each jam packed day. And when that starts to happen the stress sneaks in. Which means I've been spending too much time with the world and the busyness of it all and not enough time with my Lord. 

The weeds come in slowly but surely just like they did in my butterfly garden, wanting to take over. I'm not tending to the spiritual garden of my heart when I'm not making it a priority to spend time with the King of all kings. Christ is our lifeline and we must abide in Him in order to flourish spiritually!

"If Satan can't make you bad, he'll make you busy."

-Adrian Rogers

(This quote was one of those "wow" moments for me and was super convicting!)

I have loved studying John 15 recently! Jesus tells us, "Abide in me..." (John 15:4). 

The meaning of the word abide is to [continue, remain, persist]... We must be:

Persistent in our relationship with God by continuing in His Word each day and remaining in prayer! We need to have open communication with Him by talking to Him and hearing back from Him through reading His Word. 

I saw this used for the word "abide" and love it:

A dore His majesty in prayer 

B less Him through service 

I ncline your heart toward His Word 

D well deeply in His love 

E xalt Him with joy 

Truly the best gift we can give ourselves is time alone with Jesus; blocking out the busyness of this world we live in and seeking Him! I realize I tend to be more of a Martha instead of a Mary often! But when I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness my days are so much better and I have more peace. It also gives me more excitement to keep studying different things and delve even deeper into His Word as well as pray more!

Proverbs 2:1-5

"My son, if thou wilt receive my words and hide my commandments with thee;

so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;

yea if thou criest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding;

if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;

then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God."