Happy New Year! (11 Days Late!)

How did the Harpers ring in 2011? Well, it was pretty crazy.....but fun! On New Year's Eve morning, Sean and Beckett began to talk about jumping in a lake on New Year's day! What? Were they crazy? Yes. But as the day went on, the whole idea took shape and it turned out to be one of our most memorable New Year's events yet! Jumping (running) into the lake for no other reason than to get wet and cold seemed pretty nuts to me, but as Sean and I talked about the spiritual applications that went along with what we were thinking about doing, it became clear that this would be an awesome way to ring in the new year! So on December 31st, we sent out an email to many friends and family with the following message:

God calls us to join Him in what He is doing. Many times He calls us into deep, cold water and at times it is uncomfortable and out of our “warmth” or comfort zone. As we welcome a new year and the adventure that it holds for each of our families, we thought that this experience could be a great way to embrace and acknowledge that God wants us to join Him and be his hands and feet on earth even if it gets a bit uncomfortable. Matthew 14 tells the story of Peter being given the opportunity to get out of the boat and walk to Jesus on the water. Peter, against all logic and reason, jumped out and started walking. The rest of the disciples stayed in the boat and watched. Our role as believers while we are here on earth is not to sit in the boat and watch, but to get out of the boat even if it makes no sense at all. (running into 40 degree water for no reason!)

So on New Year's Day at about 11 AM, we gathered at a local park's recreation area with four other families and took the plunge! (FYI, the local temp was about 45 degrees.) Sean led us in a prayer before we went in, just asking our Heavenly Father to call us out of our comfort zones and to dive in to all that He has planned for our families this year!

And as soon as he closed the prayer, everyone turned and made a break for it! Thanks to Libby (maybe the only "sane" one of us) who took these pictures! She had five week old baby Ian all bundled up and strapped on to her, so there was no water for her.

After the plunge, we took a few minutes to take some family pictures.

 The Baileys were there. Love this family! So excited to see God working in mighty ways in the life of this family! Can't wait to see what all 2011 has in store for them!

 "Some" of the Parsons were with us. This family has seven children and four of them are under the age of four.....so Janice stayed home with the little ones while Matthew brought two of their crew!

 2011 has one sure blessing in store for this sweet family! The Kuhns are hoping to hear news about baby Christopher very soon. They are waiting on a referral for their baby boy from Ethiopia and we are so happy for their family!

The boys had a blast! Most of them took more than one plunge that morning. They kept running back into the water! This event is what every boy dreams about! (Did I mention that this whole thing was Beckett's initial idea?)

The girls. No crazy "muscle" poses here. They are the smart ones....all wrapped up in towels! And there is Abigail. Her momma is Libby who took many of our pictures. I'm sorry that I didn't get a pic of them together. Stephen stayed home with two of their kiddos while Libby brought Abigail so she could jump in with her friends!

 It was pouring down rain all morning, but right about the time we arrived at the lake, the rain stopped. Will was dressed to stay all warm and dry, but at one point, he waded in about knee deep. He had fun throwing rocks in the lake.

 The rain began again as we headed back to our cars. Loved this shot of Will and Sean walking together in the rain!

 So that was our crazy New Year's Day activity. Believe it or not, we are planning to do it again next year. We are hoping that it will just get bigger and bigger each year and that more people will want to participate with us!

Just wanted to end with a couple of pictures that I've taken in the last few days. The first is one of Beckett reading to Will. I found them all piled up in Will's bed reading his favorite books. I was able to sneak a picture before they saw me.

 This picture was taken the same day as Will returned the favor and "read" a book to Helen's baby Jaden. Actually, Will was "reading" his favorite coloring book about cows! Sweet!

Happy 2011! I hope that you will all "dive in" to what God has in store for you this year! What are you waiting for? What have you got to lose? When you take that first step Into the unknown, you know that He won't let you go!