Doing Fine!

Hello My Friends and Family,

I thought I would take a little time and let you know how we are doing. These two children pretty much sum it all up.
They remind us to "Count it all Joy" Enjoy!

Dr. Mother!

Well it is Tuesday, May 15, 2007, a few days after what is traditionally celebrated as “Mothers Day”. I know I may seem late in posting this but I had to let my words marinate a little this year. You see, Mothers Day meant something different to me this year, not because my mother passed away in 1996, as many of you know; but because one of the many people who helped my family through that time and a childhood, and adult mentor of mine passed away the Monday before Mothers Day. His name was Dr. Clyde Muse. Brother Muse gave moms eulogy and did a great job along with his family in helping us through the passing of Dr. Mother.
I talk about mama from time to time with people who remember her and with those who didn’t. She was awesome. I can remember her taking me to baseball practice and games. I can remember her being there with me while I got shots or splints. ☺ I can remember her calling to check on me when I was at Oklahoma Christian, which is funny because she would call from DAH. For those of you that don’t know, DAH is one of the buildings on campus for you see, mom was a professor at OC. She taught in the education department. She would bring chocolate chip cookies during finals. Like I said, she was awesome.

When I got older and could drive I became the chauffer, which I did not mind. Mama said she couldn’t wait for me to come home so I could take her places. I can remember when I lived in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho the Dershem’s threw a big party when my parents came out to visit. They honored my parents and mom for getting her PhD. in education.
So you can see now possibly a little better why I loved mom so much and for me Mothers Day means something a little different. Alasha is my hot wife and the mother to my beautiful son, Jonah. She reminds me of other friends of mine who are mothers and their dedication to their children and families.
So in honor of you all – Happy Mothers Day and may God continue to bless you and your families.

PS. Yes, my smile comes from mom. ☺

Steve.

Pepperdine Lectureship 07

Hello My Friends,

I was blessed to be able to attend the Pepperdine Bible Lectures this year and it was a blessing. Without a doubt the highlight was getting to visit with friends from the Northwest and participate in some wonderful praise. I would have to say that my favorite lectures came from Don McLaughlin, Randy Harris, and Lynn Harris. I have a new appreciation for "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High" and continue to love "Awesome God". Thanks to those of you who allowed me simply to be with you again. I needed to be near and hug on you and be hugged on - mission accomplished. God bless you all and I look forward to our paths crossing in the future.

God Bless you all,
Steve

Unusal But Not Impossible!

Hello My Friends,

As mentioned in my last post, the Maxwell family had the wonderful blessing of attending the wedding of Dustin Woods and Amy Kierbow. Well, there were two things that made the wedding that much more of an event I will not soon forget. I would consider these things unusual but not impossible as I personally witnessed.

#1 About a month or two before the wedding Amy called and asked if I would be willing to participate in the wedding and I said of course. She mentioned that she wanted Alasha and I to sing and that she wanted to have, thats right you guessed it, the "crazy one" himself - Mr. Jonah Tobias Maxwell be the ring barer. I replied, "Do you actually want the ring to make it to the front of the church?". I continued on, "I know, you must be looking for a bit of comedy in your wedding!". She simply replied, "I love him and I would love him to be in the wedding". You see Amy got to meet Jonah a few months after he had entered the world and she took a liking to him, and he to her. I told her that I didn't mind him being in the wedding but he loves to "RUN RUN RUN! - PERIOD! And as long as she understood that the ring pillow might not make it to the front of the church in a nice mellow way or at all (like you would expect in a beautiful church wedding setting), that it was fine with me. Well, he donned a tux and when it was time for his part he promptly ran up the isle about three quarters of the way and began to play with some beautiful flowers that were attached to the sides of the pews. He let out very cute squeal and with his mother and I, plus Emily Wallace beckoning him to keep coming he smiled at us all, pivoted and ran back down the isle and out of the auditorium. It was funny, cute, and in the end I think it was just what Amy and Dustin wanted. So if you are getting married soon and you want add the running Jonah to your nuptials, just give us a call. :-)

#2 Now I mentioned, Emily Wallace, (whose nick name is - Moly) because she is part two of the unusual but not impossible. Emily is a beautiful, vibrant, funny, loyal, fellow music lover, and has been adopted by Alasha and I as a younger sister and aunt to Jonah. You may be thinking - so what's the big deal? Well the same Amy Kierbow met Emily at PUMP and they became friends. So it makes perfect sense that Amy would want Emily to stand in her wedding. That of course is not a problem because Emily thinks a lot of Amy. However, EMILY DOES NOT LIKE TO WEAR DRESSES AND HEALS! Not that she doesn't like to look nice. It is just that she is not one of those people looking in the mail for the next invite to the local ball. But for Amy, Emily wore both a dress and shoes with height in the heals :-). She looked very nice and survived and Alasha and I who could not wait to see "Moly" in a dress were as nice as we could be. You did great Moly. Thanks for making the wedding an evening to remember!

The Maxwell's

NO MORE KIERBOW!

Hello My Friends,

I have a few things I need to catch you up on. Let's start with the union of some beautiful people in the world and some dear friends to Alasha, Jonah and I. I can remember one summer in Portland, Or when a young lady came out to the intern with PUMP at our summer program. She was a very nice young lady that came out with her mother, who helped her get settled in. If I am remembering correctly she stayed with some great friends of ours and PUMP - Kerry and Barbara Barnes. She was soon thrust into the inner-workings of PSP (PUMP Summer Program) and did a great job. Her name is Amy Kierbow and Alasha, Jonah and I had the wonderful pleasure of attending her wedding to a young man who is just as dear to us. This young man's father is one of my spiritual mentor's. His father's name is Greg Woods. Greg and Dottie are awesome christian people who work for the Lord in Portland, Oregon. Greg lead me on both of my trips to Uganda, Africa and is one of the director's of an event that has become monumental in my life - Faith Quest - both Oregon and Uganda. Greg's son's name is Dustin. Congratulations Dustin and Amy. The wedding was wonderful and we really enjoyed ourselves. May God bless you both with many years of agape in His service.

PS - I have a bad (or good) habit of giving some people nick names. Amy's was simply her last name, Kierbow. Her last name is now, Woods so I just think I'll try Amy. Woods is an awesome name but I can't see it as a nick name for a beautiful christian young lady named - Amy. :-)

The Maxwell's!