Love For His People: Christen Martin

Showing posts with label Christen Martin. Show all posts

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Christen's Birthday on May 4 Every Year!

Our Christen!

Birthday May 4

Christen, Andrew and son Jack 2014

Christen with Mom and son

2009 - at Charlotte Speedway

(Dad took the photo)

2009 at the Billy graham Library with family (Dad took the photo.)

With sister Hannah

Oct. 10, 2012 with Proud Papa

Mom, Andrew, Christen & Dad Oct, 11, 2012 at Heritage/MorningStar

Engagement ring - 2010

Christen, Dad & Mom - 2009

Christen and Laurie

Hannah & Christen

Ben, Hannah, Mom & Christen

Robbie Phillips prophesying over Christen and Andrew - 2011

Father-in-law Michael Blade praying over the engaged couple 2011

Son Jack & Christen

Mother's Day May 2013 with both families - Blades & Martins

(2 sets of Martins with big brother Josh's family))

Michael, Mary Ann, Andrew, Jack, CHristen and Anna Blade

We give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for giving us our 2nd daughter CHRISTEN on May 4, 1987, in East Lansing, MI. It was just four months before we moved to Fort Lauderdale, FL when Christen became the 6th member of our family.

I remember very well when we were going to call her "Kristen", and the Lord Jesus Christ distinctly said her name was to be spelled with "CH" and to be named "Christen", for she would love Him. And so she does!

We love our Christen, and are very proud of her.

Dad and Mom

Steve & Laurie Martin

Love For His People

May 4, 2014

Friday, October 11, 2013

Lorraine Unzicker's 92nd birthday...with her great grandson Jack Blade

Great Grandma Lorraine Unzicker on her 92nd birthday

with great grandson Jack Blade

Mazel Tov!

On Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013, we celebrated Lorraine Unzicker's 92nd birthday. My good wife Laurie, her daughter, hosted the kids, grandkids, great grandkids and her sister Linda Baker-Skaggs (Champaign-Urbana, Illinois) for the celebration at our house.

Lorraine lives in Peru, Illinois, in the same house for the last 54+ years. (Same house Laurie grew up in.) Her husband, Otto Unzicker, our father/father-in-law, is rejoicing in heaven, as she gets closer to that time when she will be there herself.

Lorraine enjoyed the evening very much! Blessings on ye head Lorraine!

With our ahava love,

Steve Martin

Lorraine and Jack Blade
(son of Christen Lorraine Martin Blade and Andrew Blade)

92 and counting...

Laurie cutting the cake.

Our grandson Logan Martin looking on.

Lorraine with great-grandson Jack,

with great-granddaughter Dylan Joy Martin

watching in amazement.

Lorraine's oldest daughter Linda Baker-Skaggs

Lorraine's granddaughter (our daughter) Hannah Martin (on the right) is getting married Saturday, Oct. 12, 2013. Her longtime good friend Tabitha Lafferty, from Minneapolis (by way of Florida) flew down to be in the wedding party.

Friday, May 31, 2013

Ahava Love Letter (#56) - "Your Name"

“Your Name”

“Therefore Adonai Himself will give you people a sign: the young

woman will become pregnant, bear a son and name Him

‘Immanu El [God is with us].” (Isa 7:14 Complete Jewish Bible)

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua,

[which means ‘Adonai saves,’] because He will save His people

from their sins.” (Matt 1:21 Complete Jewish Bible.)

Dear family of friends,

The visit to the maternity ward last night caught me by surprise. The young couple, family friends of ours for over 24 years, hadn’t named their one day old son yet! I couldn’t believe it. (But, I found out this morning that his name is...ABRAHAM! I got to hold Abraham!)

As I held “To Be Named Later” in my arms, I was asking the Lord to myself, “Is this “Isaac”? Could he be “Joel” (after his uncle), “Barney” (not the TV character); Jimmie #48…? Maybe "Little Eddie” or "Joe"?"

Hey, maybe another Steven! (OK, so there are only 70 other Steve Martins in NC alone. Probably just in the greater Charlotte area itself.)

"Whom is this baby boy you have blessed us with, Adonai? What is his given name?" I pondered later.

Do you know your name is probably your most precious possession that you have been given?

Think about it. You can have a special hairdo, and change it every week. You can put all kinds of ink on your body to make you stand out, but will be gone when your grave is all we see. You can even put on the latest fad, to “keep up with the Jones’, or Robertsons’ now a days, to have that edge I guess, and make your name popular. If that is what you consider important.

But your name. That is special, and I believe the Lord Himself gave it to you.

When our four kids (now full grown adults with kids of their own) were about to be birthed, both Laurie and I were involved in choosing their special names. In our attempt to get it right, we used the “Name Your Baby” book, checked relatives names, and even noted what was “popular” at the time. But in the end, I believe we were led by the Lord in naming each of them, for He already knew them.

Josh would be a leader. Firstborn. To be like Joshua, helping Moses (Moshe).

Ben would be the “Son - of the right hand”, as it means in Hebrew, “Ben-jamin”. I know he is.

Hannah would be one who loved children. Both Hannahs in the Old and New Testaments. And she surely does!

Christen almost was named “Kristen”, but the Lord told us her name was to be spelled “Christen” – even as “Christ”, our Messiah and Lord.

If you think you were named by accident, or maybe don’t even like your name, trust that something as important as who you are, especially in the Lord’s eyes and heart, was not a mistake.

The Lord knows you by name. When all is said and done, He calls you by your name, for He was certainly involved when you were in His heart, from the beginning of eternity.

Just let Him know, even now, how grateful you are that He knows you. That He knows your name. You are special to Him. He loves you so much.

Ahava (love in Hebrew) to my family of friends,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

P.S. Our Lord has many names, as written in our Bible, the Scriptures, both in the Old Testament (Tanakh in Hebrew) and in the New Testament (B’rit Hadashah).

The one I like most is “Yeshua – “Adonai saves”. At the end of this letter I have included a few pieces of artwork, for you to print out along with this letter.

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Ahava Love Letter #56 “Your Name” Date: In the year of our Lord 2013 (05/31/13 Friday, 5:00 am. Charlotte, NC)

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Ahava Love Letter - "Going to the chapel..."

Ahava Love Letter

“Going To The Chapel”

“…he gave his daughter in marriage…” (1 Chron. 2:35 CJB)

Dear family of friends,

On 9/10/11 my youngest daughter Christen is going to get married. After 24 years of teaching her all we know, her mother Laurie and I are “giving her hand” to a great prince named Andrew Blade.

And guess what? With two ordination papers in hand (actually on my office wall), I will be the minister marrying them. Laurie, our other three kids, and Andrew’s parents Michael and MaryAnn, along with their daughter Anna, have been in the preparation mode since the announcement last fall. It looks like we are ready.

I even have my message all prepared (which I will share in the next Ahava Love Letter after the wedding.)

Thinking back on these years the good Lord has already given to us with Christen, I sometimes wonder if I could have done better to prepare her for this exciting day, and her new life. I certainly know there must be things that were missed or left undone. With that in mind though, I just have to leave it up to the Lord to take care of it, and trust also in her husband’s lifelong preparation to help fill in parts. Confident of these two realities, I can smile.

The foundation of my wedding message, or sermonette, as short messages were called in church growing up, speaks about the Lord Jesus being the Solid Rock in a marriage couple’s bedrock. As I see the world and current marriage statistics, I am confident that without the Lord’s grace and interaction, as the third cord strand between the two, no marriage can withstand the onslaught of evil forces that continually batter against them.

Our own marriage of 34 years could not have held this long if it not had been the Lord Who was on our side, uplifting, leading, providing, and sustaining through the trials and tribulations that came. “Only by His grace, yet go I” as the saying goes. Keeping that strong relationship with Him is what has kept my relationship strong with my wife, and she with me. He has been the One through these years. For this we give thanks.

As I walk my daughter down the aisle (or staircase, as the steps will actually be), my heart will be confident. He has brought these two young people together for His eternal purposes. My joy will be that in their coming days, as they together seek His face, trust in His provision, and serve in their callings, that they will have opportunity to raise young ones now as unto Him.

“Going to the chapel and she’s going to get married.” Thank you Lord!

Ahava to my family of friends,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

E-mail: ahavaloveletters@gmail.com