A Lot of Fun for $2.50

On the way home from church today, Kristen and Allyson spotted an offer they could not pass up. A couple of kids had an old kitchen playset in their driveway with a "For Sale" sign on it.

They wanted $2.50 for the whole set! Being the generous person that she is, Kristen felt we needed to have this play set in our home, and she paid double for it!!!! Yes, folks, $5 for a whole kitchen play set.

Needless to say....Allyson is extremely excited about this new purchase. Hey, if it only costs a few bucks to keep her happy, I'm all for it! We are quite aware that the day is coming when she will not be thrilled about somebody else's used toys.

Here are a few pictures of Ally with her new "kitchen".

Watoto...

We had the privilege of hosting the Watoto Children's Choir in concert on Saturday and in our morning worship services this morning.

This group of 18 Ugandan children who ranged in age from 7 -12 truly blessed our hearts. The Holy Spirit was definitely evident in their authentic praise! Their stories were touching and challenging. All of them have been orphaned due to AIDs, civil war, or some other calamity.

Take a moment if you have time this week and read about the ministry of Watoto at www.watoto.com. This ministry is doing an incredible work to provide orphans with a healthy home environment and the opportunities that they need to become tomorrow's leaders of Africa.

For those of you who read this and live in Minnesota, you may want to try to catch them in concert this week. They are going to be several places in Mankato and the Twin Cities in the coming week. Check out their website for the schedule.

Have a great weekend and thank God for the blessings he has given you!

Noisy Pants....What a Problem!

Just thought I would make a quick post about a problem that we had in getting Allyson dressed today.

With the change of seasons upon us, it has been necessary to start making the adjustment back to pants and long sleeves. Unfortunately, Allyson is not enjoying either!

This morning, Kristen put on a new outfit that had nylon pants. You know, the kind of pants that are kind of noisy when you move in them. Well, Allyson said that she could not wear noisy pants and begged to take them off.

Kristen and I found it quite humorous.

However, we have been asking ourselves, did we cause her to become this anal? or....are some people just born that way? Let us know your thoughts on this issue.

Some New Videos

We finally pulled the video camera out when Allyson was in a performing kind of mood. We moved the furniture around in our living room to accomodate for the church small group we are hosting on Sunday evenings. Now, Ally thinks that the area right in front of the couch, which leads into the dining room, is a "stage".

Sorry that she is singing the same song you have heard 10 times before, but for some reason "ABC" and "Twinkle Twinkle" are her go to performance pieces. She does know a ton of other songs, but we are unsuccessful in capturing those to video!

Hope you are having a great week.


This is Allyson singing, re-singing, and taking a bow!


Here is Allyson telling us about a song that she does at Pre-School.

The Growing Belly!

You asked for it, you've got it. Did you know we take requests here on the Fox family blog? Someone asked to see Baby #2's growth and here you go!

Dave says this is not an accurate display of my tummy. Apparently, it is much larger, but the picture is lying. ? Nice.

Needless to say, the baby is there, and hyperactive. Almost any time of the day, I can feel her gymnastic moves. Seriously, if they hadn't promised there was just one, I'd swear there were two in there...

Any other requests? :)

Why Are So Many Christians Inconsistent?

Below, I have pasted the content of my latest post at my church blog, worship.emmanuelfmc.org. I won't do this often, but thought it may provoke some thoughts here also. Feel free to ignore it if you would rather just have pictures of Allyson here. :)

Here is the post:

Last night, I spoke to the youth group here at Emmanuel about this issue.

I thought that I would share some of my thoughts on this issue here on my blog. I hope that some of you will be challenged by it, and I also hope that you will leave some comments with your thoughts on this topic.
One of my greatest frustrations is the fact that it seems that so many Christians struggle with consistency in their spiritual walk with Christ. It would seem that once we find Christ, it would be easy to stay close to Him and walk in relationship with Him.

Unfortunately, many of us struggle with consistency because we are unwilling to lay aside the old habits and vices of our life before Christ. We are living life with a "hybridized" worldview. Rather than completely giving ourselves over to Christ, we try to hold onto some of those habits and thought patterns that were part of our lives prior to giving our lives to Christ.
This type of worldview is ineffective and will lead to spiritual frustration and inconsistency.

Matthew 19:16-26 tells of the "Rich Young Ruler" who asked Jesus how he could attain eternal life. Jesus tells him to keep the commandments. The young man promptly replies saying that he already does that. When the young man asks what else he must do, Jesus challenges him by telling him that he should go and sell all he has and give it to the poor. Jesus follows this up by asking him to come and follow Him. At this, we see a sad young man walking away from Jesus.

This passage of Scripture paints a picture of why so many of us struggle with consistency in our relationship with Christ. There are areas of our life, like this young man's wealth, that we are unwilling to let go of in order to increase in our relationship with Christ. This man's money was not bad in and of itself, but it was a source of satisfaction that He was unwilling to give up for Christ.

Therefore, it would seem that the answer to inconsistency is to begin to recognize those things in our life that we look to instead of Christ for satisfaction. Think about the last time you were feeling depressed/down. What/Who did you turn to in that time? If you are like me, your natural inclination would be to go and spend money on something. Some of you may reach for the ice cream container or turn on some soothing music. While these are not bad things, they are not the "Best Thing" for us in those times. Jesus wants to be our source of comfort and encouragement at all times. Perhaps we need to begin to retrain ourselves to reach out to Him first. It is as we begin to find full satisfaction in Him that we find Him filling our lives up to the point that we can do nothing but walk consistently and closely with Him as our source of life!

Many have heard the illustration of the God-Shaped hole in all of our lives. I believe that is a great analogy for this idea of God being our ultimate source of satisfaction. We can cram new purchases, ice cream, relationships, music, etc. into a space that is reserved for God as we search for fulfillment in life. Only Christ can fill that void so completely that the effects are lasting.

I hope that you will make a conscious effort to begin to reach for God first when you need comforted or encouraged. God can definitely use great friends, music, or other avenues to comfort and encourage you, but we need to seek Him first!

Have a blessed week.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Matthew 22:37 (NIV)

Happy Birthday Mommy!!!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish my mom (Sheila) a Happy Birthday! I won't reveal how old she is, but it is pretty OLD!!

Love you mom and miss you. Hope you are enjoying lots of cake and ice cream today!

Love,
The Foxes

SQL, Website Design, and VB.NET, Oh My!!!

Many of you know that I have started to take some classes in computer/web programming at our local college this fall. If you didn't, now you do.

It seems that a Bachelor's of Music Education Degree doesn't get you very far professionally (Dad, I know, I know....Please don't say, "I told you so!), so I have decided to try to increase my skill base in hopes of either being able to supplement my ministry "income" (is there such a thing?) or to change professions eventually.

Computer programming seems to be a great fit for me, but at this point, I feel like I am barely able to keep up with what I am learning. I am learning three languages at once. Outside of a little HTML knowledge, I am completely illiterate in the area of programming.

I am certain that once I begin to understand the general forms of the languages the classes will be easier. Unfortunately, it looks like I will be sleep deprived until that point.

Please keep us in your prayers as we adjust to the challenges of balancing family, work, and studies.

StoryTime with Allyson

Here is a short video of Allyson "reading" some books. Enjoy.

Singing In Church

Today, Allyson's Children's Church class "sang" (I use the term "sang" loosely) in the worship service. While they didn't sing too loudly, they sure are cute!

Here is a video for your enjoyment.

Party at the Foxes!!!

We hosted 33 people from the Emmanuel Worship Ministry at our home for a cookout tonight. We served hot dogs, bratwurst, hamburgers, pasta salad, multiple types of chips, cookies, watermelon, grapes (green and black varieties), and assorted beverages!

It was a nice time of fellowship and fun. Thanks to all of the rain last month, we had an abundance of mosquitoes feasting on us, but people still stuck around and endured them. I am sure we will all be itching in church tomorrow!

We were glad to have the park behind the house. The kids enjoyed the playground, a group played croquet, and another played "Monster" Volleyball.

I don't believe that we have ever had 33 guests at our home before. It seemed to go well and was minimal stress for us.

As I See It....A Cure for Stomach Aches

Allyson has come up with a new cure for stomach aches! For the last several days she has told us multiple times that her stomach hurts. She then proceeds to say, "I think I need to wrestle with Daddy to make it feel better."

Today, she thought that wrestling with me would help her shoulder to feel better too!

So, the next time your stomach or shoulder hurts, find a good wrestling partner and see if a little wrestling doesn't help!

The First Day of School

Today was a monumental day in Allyson's life. She successfully attended her first day of school. The only tears that were shed were those of Mommy! We were so impressed with her. She went right into the class and didn't even hesitate. It sounds like she had a great day, and she wants to go back!

We were quite proud of our little schoolgirl. She said she played with play-doh, read books, and sang songs. Sounds like a pretty good day, right?

This afternoon, Ally started with her new sitter, Ms. Betty (aka Grandma Betty). This was met with a bit less enthusiasm - how could anything compare with preschool? Ms. Betty has two cats that Ally has quickly bonded with. She told Betty that she really wanted one of her own, but Betty remembered that David is allergic, so she quickly told Ally that she'd have to enjoy the cats at Betty's house. Ally's response? Here goes..."When Daddy goes to work, I'll ask Mommy and she'll say yes, we'll get a cat." Hmmm.

I have attached a slideshow that includes pictures of Ally's first day for your enjoyment.

Have a great day.

Rock Climbing in Thongs, Paddleboats, and Friends

We just arrived home from what turned out to be a great weekend at Lake Geneva Christian Camp in Alexandria, MN. We visited with several friends from Hillside Assembly, played in the lake, climbed the rock wall, enjoyed lots and lots of food, and celebrated a wedding. It was an incredible priviledge to spend extra time with Roxie and Jeanne.....:)

One of the highlights of the weekend was a last minute opportunity to play a concert fro the worship service at Crystal Hills Assembly of God in Paynesville. While that was not originally in our plans, it proved to be a great blessing to us. The pastor actually gave Kristen and I 45 minutes of the Sunday morning service. We really had a great time with them. I didn't sleep at all on Saturday night, but it was worth the worry. God's faithfulness continues to amaze me.

Traffic on the highway was crazy today, but we made it home safely. It seems that half of the state of Illinois was headed home from the Wisconsin Dells today!!

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Click Here to View All of Our Lake Geneva Pictures

Saxophone Concert Clip

We are having a great weekend in Alexandria, MN. I played a concert here on Friday night that went well. The people were extremely responsive and complimentary. It was fun to be playing again. There will be a few more posts with pictures and more details soon. I just wanted to get on tonight and post a quick video clip of me playing the saxophone. How vain am I??? :)

Guess What We're Having...

Below you will see two photos from the ultrasound yesterday. Can you tell whether it is a boy or girl? We'll give you a hint....it is a boy or a girl! :)