Family Update: Winter has taken over our lives. We have now been officially FROZEN for 2 months. It is crazy!!! It's not funny anymore, it's not like "yeah we got a snow day" anymore. We are feeling like we may never see green grass again. On top of all that, Justin sprained his ankle at Basketball on Sunday, he has a bad skin infection and the doctor can't see him for yet another week. I strained a shoulder/neck muscle on Wednesday (super painful), I have a stomach thing going on, and I am very vitamin D deficient. Kids are alive. Cameron is wrestling at school all the time.(Got his first PIN on Tuesday!!!) He isn't sure if he likes it. Miah has made three dresses in the past few days.(from scratch, no pattern, just cuts out the material and sews it up.) We remodeled her room, and she's trying hard to keep it organized. Jalen is gearing up for soccer season, and he's going to birthday parties left and right. How does that kid have so many friends??? I am home a lot (which I like). I make soup, I work on the computer, I clean, take naps, make more food, do dishes, and do school-work with kids. Miah and I are practicing for the I-READ test and the I-STEP test that she takes next month. We are all anticipating Soccer Season. All three kids are playing, gonna get a little crazy in April, May, June. But, I like it. PS. Please send me to Florida for a few days. I am serious. Peace.

February 10, 2014

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. Confess your sins to one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous person can accomplish much. James chapter 5 - bits and pieces. So good, to know that if we will draw near to God, He will draw near to us. That is what I want. And for healing to happen in our lives, we must confess our sins to each other, meaning out loud to a person. That is what I want. This is going to be a great week, so excited to see what God is going to do. He is so faithful and so kind to us. I am grateful.

Words

James 3 Let not many of you become teachers, knowing that such will inherit a stricter judgement. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put bits into horse's mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body and sets on fire the course of our life! Beasts and Birds can be tamed, but who can tame the tongue? No one can tame the tongue; it is restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and with it we curse each other. From the same mouth we speak blessings and curses, it shouldn't be this way!!! Loving Our Kids on Purpose by Danny Silk pg 84 "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" is now, "Don't empower evil spirits in your environment." And if you don't have something good in your heart, work on your heart. Don't let it out of the cage. Our actions flow from our hearts, and thus contribute equally to the spiritual atmosphere. They can even speak louder than our words, especially when it comes to setting boundaries with our kids. We can never forget that when we open our mouths, we're dealing with life and death. Our job is to create a steady stream of life-giving words into our children's lives. When we learn to look at our children and see their potential and destinies in God, and learn to release the power of life through our words, we become a channel of God to broadcast His heart and His grace into them. Our words have the ability to create things in the hearts of our children. They also reach in and pull things that have always been there to the surface.

Christmas Letter 2013

Merry Christmas! Hello Family! Here’s a little bit of what’s up with us! Miah is the baby of the family, the only girl, and the sweetest child in the world. She is a perfect mix of Tom Boy/Princess. On her Christmas list this year was Bow and Arrow, Gun, Blue Under Armor Sweatshirt and Americal Girl Doll. She turns nine years old on December 26th. She loves to play with friends, loves dogs, loves crafty things, crocheting, sewing, making bracelets. She is in 3rd grade, wants to play volleyball, softball, and golf someday. This year she took horseback riding lessons and she was a cheerleader for Jalen’s football team. She is truly beautiful inside and out and she keeps us laughing everyday. Jalen is our middle child, laid back, and always smiling. He turned 11 years old this year, and saved up money all year to buy is very own I-Pod. He is a big Skylanders fan, loves playing with friends, and watching movies with his dad. Jalen played football and soccer this year. He’s a great goalie! Jalen is in 5th grade, loves art and is making huge snowflakes to sell at the mini-mall at school this year. He is as handsome as can be, and his joy and love for life always bring a smile to my face. Cameron is our oldest, independent, creative and the most sentimental guy in the world. Cameron entered Middle School this year, 6th grade. He played soccer this spring and is playing basketball currently. Cameron loves to read, play video games, and make rainbow loom bracelets. Cameron is in honors classes at school and excelling. He loves to play with friends, nerf, lego’s, lazer-tag. Cameron dreams of having a four-wheeler, a dog and a tree house. He is one of the hardest workers I’ve ever known and his smile can light up the whole room. Justin and I are about to celebrate our 18-year anniversary. We are having so much fun and feeling blessed beyond measure. This year we did a Triathlon together. We had a lot of fun on the long bike rides training together and Justin even taught me how to swim. We will definitely do it again! Justin completed his 7 mile swim to Charity Island in August. (Crazy Boy!) I am still teaching fitness classes and enjoying that. We love our church!!!! We’ve been at Harvest Bible Chapel for about 2 years now, and this year we were small group leaders. We are heading to California for a BIG family vacation over the Christmas holiday. 2013 has been a really great year and we are totally looking forward to 2014! Merry Christmas to you and yours! You are loved by the Maust Family!!!!! Justin, Jenny, Cameron, Jalen and Miah

2013 Family Photo Shoot

Family Photo

We had 2 seconds before heading to a wedding a few weeks ago, so we snapped a family photo. Here we are all spiffy.