Sam Sutter and Ashley Sutter» ashley ponders

Colette’s Third Week

Sam — Mon, 30 May 2011 00:25:56 +0000

So we all made it three weeks now – here are some new pictures. The weather on Long Island has been amazing this week giving us a change to explore the Village (and almost run into the lead singer from AC/DC) and Caumsett Park (I love that place!), and spend some time Melissa, Jamie, and Noah. It’s been pretty fun.

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Colette’s Second Week

Sam — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:15:33 +0000

Colette and her parents survived a second week and a lot firsts – first road trip, first Bible story, first YANKEES game etc.

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Wake Up Colette….zzz

Sam — Thu, 19 May 2011 11:54:08 +0000

I have long been under the impression that babies were easily woken. As if the sanity of both parents and child were ever threatened by even the smallest auditory invasion. Colette… not so much. Once she falls asleep… it’s actually quite tough to wake her. Here is an edited version of her morning routine… (it actually takes her a bit longer to wake up than I imagined any viewers have patience for)

Colette’s First Week Home :-)

Sam — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:12:29 +0000

We’ve made it one week home with Colette. Thought about having a 1 week graduation party… for Colette’s parents. Ashley is a really wonderful mom, and we’ve been thankful to have Grandma (MeMe?) over for a couple nights to help Colette sleep at night – it’s been a fun adventure so far. Enjoy the pix.

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Day 3 with Colette – Mothers Day/Coming Home/House Tour

Sam — Mon, 09 May 2011 12:24:18 +0000

My twitter status read: “On mothers day normally I pick up a card… maybe flowers… today I’m picking up a mother and a new baby… I’ve really outdone myself this year.”

It was a great day – we were discharged from Huntington Hospital and returned around noon just Church was letting out. Colette was amazing - it was fun to watch her eyes explore the new sights and sounds of her new world. Lots of great stories to be told.

Dear Colette, Welcome to our little world.

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Day Two (Saturday) With Colette

Sam — Sun, 08 May 2011 11:39:31 +0000

Mother, Father, family, and visitors really enjoyed getting to know Colette today (Saturday) – I think she’s a keeper. Tomorrow is a big day (Mother’s Day! – Baby and Mama comes home. The adventure starts…. now.

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Baby Colette Elisse’s First Day

Sam — Sat, 07 May 2011 13:06:00 +0000

Born May 6th at 2:30PM at 7lbs, 9oz and 20 inches. We could not be more thrilled to welcome baby Colette to our Family.

Thirty Seven Weeks

Ashley — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 02:34:41 +0000

Holy cannoli! What happened to January/February/March/April???

With Baby Sutter’s due date 3 weeks away, it’s time to tie up loose ends around here…

Keep the 3 of us in your prayers, that we would “not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope,be patient in tribulation^, be constant in prayer.”

routines and minor wonders.

Ashley — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 05:36:12 +0000

“Soraya and I settled into the routines–and minor wonders–of married life. We shared toothbrushes and socks, passed each other the morning paper. She slept on the right side of the bed, I preferred the left. She liked fluffy pillows, I liked the hard ones. She ate her cereal dry, like a snack, and chased it with milk.” -from The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Reading this brought a little smile to my face. I love the routines of married life, and felt some camaraderie with the author. We both see these small things as wonders.

I love that Sam and I have this somewhat silent agreement on whoever gets out of bed first tends to the dogs, and perhaps even makes coffee. If it’s bitter cold, Sam is dressed first and runs outside to start my car and turn the heat way up so it’s nice and warm by the time I head out the door.

These routine things, done fluidly and effortlessly, are part of just an ordinary day. Yet, they seem to possesses a power of their own–beautiful little stitches that reinforce us together when everything is status quo.

And so I wonder, what are the routines and minor wonders of your life?

for there is no other way.

Ashley — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 04:32:05 +0000

The other night I was made aware of a situation that got me really upset. There seemed to be so much that was obviously wrong and my initial reaction was to act less than ladylike, less than christian. I so desperately wanted to take matters into my hand. To execute “justice” on my terms. I was seeing red. I wanted to defame character, to gossip, to bring someone down. As I kept thinking about what I wanted to do it reminded me of someone- oh, that’s right, The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Lovely.

This incident happened shortly after a conversation with Sam about prayers offered up for “protection against the enemy” that I often hear amongst followers of Christ. The thing is, the ugliness that lurks in my heart, in my soul, seems to be such an imminent threat to my credibility as a follower of Christ, that I don’t spend much time worrying about satan. I can feel myself “prone to wander…prone to leave the God I love” as evidenced by my great willingness to act contrary to the ways of God.

This also happened to be the day I was starting my new read through the bible in a year plan. I had set out to read scriptures daily with Professor Grant Horner’s Bible Reading Plan. You can find out more about that by clicking here, but the gist of it is that your read 1 chapter from 10 different books every day leading you to experience the bible commenting on itself in constantly changing ways. On day 1, I sat down to read Matthew 1, Genesis 1, Romans 1, 1st Thessalonians 1, Job 1, Psalms 1, Proverbs 1, Joshua 1, Isaiah 1 and Acts 1.

The rest of what I’m about to share is something I’m really grateful for. Sometimes I forget that there is more of a spiritual component to my life than what I’m feeling. In this case I was so tempted to act in a vile way, yet I was amazed at how the scriptures commented on what I was going through that night adn how strong I felt the force of the Lord’s calling me to simply trust and obey.

Matthew 1 – On an emotional level, I related to Joseph in this chapter. What was he thinking when he discovered Mary to be pregnant, knowing he wasn’t the father. He planned to divorce her until he heard from the Lord, and when he did hear, he listened and obeyed. How hard it must have been to obey knowing the difficult road ahead.

Romans 1 – Verse 21 in this chapter was a heavy warning to me; “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” My reaction in this incident was a perfect example of futile thinking, for I could taste the temporal satisfaction it would bring, even though I know the road I am called to walk along will ultimately be the best for it would honor God. What if Joseph had been futile in his thinking and not honored God through obedience?

1 Thessalonians – Chapter one of this book is an edifying testimony of an example of people who have turned (from idols, vs. 9) to God. They are imitators of the Lord. You can’t be that without “steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 2). The description of the Thessalonians was a stark difference from where my own heart was at.

Job 1 – Do I even need to comment? The guy loses it all reacts by declaring “blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Psalm 1 – This passage left me with a clear ultimatum. Ashley, act in the manner you want and you will be like the chaff that the wind blows away.

Proverbs 1 – The dramatic conflict between the ways of “the fear of the Lord” and sinners was only impressing more on me: follow the Lord, receive true blessing. Trust your own futile thinking and I would bring more calamity on myself.

Isaiah 1 – A call to return to God’s ways. Isaiah calls Judah out and through reading this, I hear Jesus calling to me…”Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes, cease to do evil” (v.16).

Joshua 1 – Another story of a character simply listening to God. No futile thinking, just obedience in spite of the fact that God was making some crazy promises.

Have you picked up on the common thread?

At my wedding, one of the pastors gave the homily on the story of Jesus performing his miracle of turning the water into the wine. Mary, his mother, had instructed the attendants at the party to “do whateverhe tells you to do.” I’ll always remember this simple sermon, and love being reminded of it when that pastor gives another couple that same charge (as what happened this past weekend) during their wedding ceremony.

Do whatever Jesus tells you to do – in marriage, at work, in play, in petty squabbles, in court room battles…sometimes I am amazed at how much of the Christian life just boils down to “trust and obey.”

Sam Sutter and Ashley Sutter» ashley ponders

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