Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

A CHRIST mas reminder....

I was blessed to have the opportunity to sing a beautiful, old hymn for our church's Christmas service this last week. It's called "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence." The words of this song incite such a powerful reminder of what this season is truly about; that God come down in Christ Jesus for our salvation. I've posted the Youtube video and the song lyrics below....



Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly minded,
for with blessing in his hand
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
as of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords in human vesture,
in the Body and the Blood
he will give to all the faithful
his own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
spreads its vanguard on the way,
as the Light of Light descendeth
from the realms of endless day,
that the powers of hell may vanish
as the darkness clears away.

At his feet the six-winged seraph;
cherubim with sleepless eye,
veil their faces to the Presence,
as with ceaseless voice they cry,
"Alleluia, alleluia!
Alleluia, Lord Most High!"

Words: Liturgy of Saint James (fifth century); trans. Gerald Moultrie (1829-1885), 1864
Music: Picardy (French carol as in The English Hymnal, 1906)

CHRISTMAS PUPPY!!!

We have a cute new addition to the Schnee family! No....it's not a baby...at least not a human baby! This is our 9 week old puppy, Joonyper (pronounced like Juniper). She is a Yorkie-Pooh (Yorkshire Terrier mixed with Poodle). She is a sweet, spunky little girl. We are having a BLAST with her!

Joonyper's sister went to my parents (Debbie and Bill) and they named her Flicker. Joony and Flicker had fun pouncing on tissue paper and eating bows and cookie crumbs this Christmas.

Joonyper and Flicker... Bath time.

Christmas Puppy!

We are such nerds.....unabashedly!!!

Anderson Family Pic.... We forgot to take one with Mom and Dad Schnee...but we did enjoy a wonderful Christmas eve up in the East Mountains....Look for documentation of the Schnee family trip to Argentina this coming spring!!

Love to all of our family and friends, especially those who are far away....we MISS you!
Merry Christmas and Happy 2009!

Autumn in Albuquerque

Updates from the Summer...

This summer was as full as usual! We kicked things off in June with Parent/Student camp in Mexico where we hear amazing teaching from our friend David Anderson and spent some time serving at the orphanage.

Reading with one of the girls at Casa Esperanza and Sneaking away for a walk on the beach!

Greg leading songs in Spanish

Then is was off to Buffalo, NY for a Schneeberger family reunion. Greg and his cousin Genny, who also lives here in ABQ with us, did the Ride for Roswell, miles! We also spent some time in the beautiful Thousand Islands at uncle Jerry's river-side cottage over the 4th of July.

Greg wakeboarding .....well....almost....

In July/August, I attended my first residency at Ashland University in Ohio to begin my MFA in Creative Writing while Greg continued to work on his PHD in Philosophy and Appologetics at home. Then we both headed off to Guatemala again. This was my second time going. What a joy it was to see familiar faces again and work on my Spanish a bit more! The translation of the New Testament into the language of Achi is almost completed! Keep praying for those working on it!

In our Guatemalan skirts....

Carol Barrera at her translation desk, reading Luke 24 in Achi

Autumn in Albuquerque
As the Fall season has set in, our "season" has shifted as well. Greg is working very hard at continuing his PHD work and working with parents and students at the church. He has implemented some new ideas for getting more in-depth with students. One way is through a monthly meeting at our house (called "Cypher") during which Greg leads the students through a series of video lectures or presentations, and a question/answer time dealing with various issues, for example, proving the existence of God, defending the faith...etc.

He is also preaching through a series on Biblical Ethics such as war and abortion...etc. These are hard issues, but it's so important to think about them and get kids thinking about them. Greg really feels the weight of that and the responsibility to present the Word to these kids and get them asking the hard questions and....if I may affirm him a bit...God has really blessed his teaching. He's doing an amazing job! He's also getting ready to teach in the main congregation in a few weeks so pray for him as he prepares!

Back in August, I started my new job teaching at Oak Grove Classical Academy. I teach music, first grade math and English, and help in the Kindergarten class as well. Needless to say, I have glue under my fingernails and kids voices ringing in my ears by the end of the day! It's great! This job has been a perfect fit for me. I never thought I would teach, but here I am and I absolutely love it!

I still teach a few piano and voice lessons on the side (joyflnoise.blogspot.com), and occasionally work as the wedding facilitator for the church as well as continuing to work on my MFA and serve in ministry with Greg.

We are having such a blast in this second year of marriage! God is so good. We are both continuing to be humbled and growing together in faith, ever more thankful for God's saving grace in our lives and marriage.

Some Snapshots from the last few months....

Out to a fancy dinner....I got to wear my grandma's vintage cocktail dress
and Greg wore his new suit coat!


Hiking up the Sandia Mountains

At the Balloon Glow during the Fiesta

Dad showing Greg the lay of the land up at their property in Northern New Mexico

He loves me..... really...

What's New with the Newlyweds!

Spain...

We kicked off the new year in Spain which was surreal and wonderful. We spent most of our time in Granada, but took a few days to visit Almeria, Malaga, and Madrid as well. We were blessed to meet with some brothers and sisters there who are doing the Lord's work and we were so humbled to see their heart to serve and put faith into action. It stirred our excitement for the ways in which our church might be called to serve there in the future.

What a beautiful country and what a unique culture! Our days rarely started before noon and rarely ended before 2 AM. We ate dinner close to 9 or 10 PM and enjoyed the mid-day siesta when everything and everyone slows down, closes shop and rests. (We need to bring that to the states!)

We even saw a bit of North African influence in the Teterias, or Moroccan Tea Houses, that we visited nearly every day. We often ended our days in those dimly lit, narrow shops, sitting at small round tables on hand-woven cushions with our own personal Moroccan-style tea pot. We sipped sweet tea, pouring a little at a time into tiny glasses, like tiny tea shots. What a departure from the life we live here in the US!

We also managed to find a Dunkin Doughnuts in Malaga so that Greg didn't go into complete withdrawl...

Morocco....

After enjoying Spain, we ventured into Morocco. While Greg's amazing Spanish skills kept us more than afloat in Spain, French and Moroccan Arabic were two very unfamiliar languages to both of us. Thankfully, we stayed with our dear friends Chris and Kenza and Kenza's wonderful family in Rabat. It made all the difference in the world knowing someone who could help us get around!

Staying with friends made our adventures that much more fun! We were treated like guests of honor as Kenza's family filled our bellies with good, rich, flavorful, food every morning, noon, and night. We must have gained a few pounds! We ate Tajine together, drank authentic Moroccan tea, tried our hand at a few French and Arabic words, and explored the city with Kenza and her brother Rachid, who were gracious enough to guide and translate (praise the Lord!).

Again, we were awed by the beautiful country and culture there. To hear the Imam's give a call to worship Allah over giant loudspeakers blasted from the city Mosques several times a day-- even in the middle of the night-- was somewhat daunting to foreign ears. But what an insightful thing to be able to visit this part of the world! We were so blessed by everyone's hospitality there, the amazing food, the beautiful sites, and of course, the company!

Kenza and Rachid dressed us up in traditional Moroccan garb

Home Again...

Since our trip, we've been enjoying being home for a while and keeping busy here. Greg introduced me to the sport of road biking and, although this spring has been windy, we've enjoyed exploring the city that way. Greg, after much prayer, decided to pursue a PHD in Philosophy and Apologetics and has begun his program through Whitefield Theological Seminary. I am also going back to school for a MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in Creative Writing through a school in Ohio called Ashland University. Both of our programs are "low-residency" so that we can still work and serve here while doing school. I have continued to teach music and am growing a small business with that, and Greg is serving faithfully in ministry to youth and families. We are both excited to pursue further education together at this unique time in life that the Lord has allowed us.
We're both preparing for a lot of travel this summer, to Mexico, Guatemala, New York...etc. And will have more updates in August!

Snapshots...

Early morning balloon ride over the city

Sailing over the Rio Grande

Go-Go Girls at the Tate wedding


In rare form...

Lovely Spring Picnic!

Jammin'

Uncle Greg and Lillian