Moving Adventures

In one week from today our little family will be on the road to Minnesota! We are packing up our life here in Louisville, Ky and moving on to Minneapolis, MN. Now, most of our readers probably already know most of the details of why we are moving to Minnesota, but for those of you who may not be filled in on all the crazy details, I will give you the WHOLE, glorious story!

Right around the time Andrew graduated from Boyce back in May, Andrew was given the name and information of a church in Wisconsin that was looking for a full-time Associate pastor. Andrew went ahead and decided to send in his resume and give it a shot! Well, the church took great interest in Andrew, although they were a little hesitant of his inexperience and young age and as a result, they were not wanting to consider him for the full time assoc. position. However, the pastor had a chance to meet up with Andrew for lunch one afternoon, and through that and other points of contact via phone calls and what not, the church really grew to have great respect for Andrew and saw a great deal of potential. The church then decided to create a whole new position for Andrew, one where he would get some good ministry experience, be over several ministries in the church, and obtain metoring and training from the other elders of the church. He would also get preaching opportunities to help him gain experience in that area as well. And the plan was, over the course of 3 or 4 years, Andrew would then transfer into the associate pastor position. The plan seemed great to us, we were greatly encouraged by their eagerness and enthusiasm to help Andrew get some much needed experience and we were pretty much all on board to move to WI by the time the church sent us the contract and the job description.

Of course there were a few downsides, mainly that this job for the first 3-4 years would only be a part-time position and Andrew would therefore have to get a second job...AGAIN. We were hoping to move away from Andrew having to work two jobs, but it was a sacrifice we were willing to make as the Lord really seemed to be moving in this situation and with little experience and no seminary training as of yet, we did not really expect for Andrew to get full-time work right off the bat. So, you do what you can, especially in this economy and you TRUST GOD! Well, we had been given 48 hours to look over the job description and contract that the church sent us, and then we were to give our verbal yes or no to the church before Andrew flew up to WI to officially sign the contract.

Well.. here's where our story takes a CRAZY turn!

Andrew received a phone call from his uncle in Minnesota about...mmm maybe 12 hours after we received the contract/job desc. from the church. So with 36 hours left to make a decision, this is what Andrew's uncle had to say....

In a nut shell, Andrew's uncle was basically wondering why Andrew was moving up to WI to take on yet again another two job work load,and wondering what Andrew thought would help him actually get a full time ministry position. Andrew told his uncle that his lack of experience, as well as his not having his Masters in Divinity yet was probably his greatest hindrance from finding anything full time that would be sufficient to support his family. His uncle then proceeded to tell Andrew how very impressed he was to see how hard Andrew worked to get through college and work two jobs to support a wife and two children. And through it all, we managed to get out of school debt free and actually, by God's grace, have some money in the bank. His uncle did not want to see Andrew have to continue to work so hard for who knows how many years, so his uncle then made him an offer. An offer which made our jaws drop. The short of it is, his uncle will give us money enough to help with living expenses if Andrew will go to school to get his M.Div. and finish it up asap. Andrew would not have to work, and he could get his M.Div done so much quicker than we had originally planned over a very slow and steady course of 8-10 years or so, and still have time with the family!

Andrew thanked his uncle for his generous offer, and asked him if he could have some time to think about it and talk it over with me. Well after about 36 hours of agonzing over what to do, we decided to go forward and take his uncle's offer. This kind of opportunity comes once in a lifetime, and Andrew knew that in the long run this would be best for our family and our future ministry. It was a hard decision, as we had grown to love this church that we were planning on serving and our answer of no came as quite a shock to them! But, they elders of this church were incredibly encouraging and kind, and expressed their great joy for Andrew to have such an opportunity and even told Andrew they would completely welcome his call in a few years when he is finished with his degree! So, that was that, and now we are Minnesota bound!

Andrew plans to work this next year for his uncle full-time, and in the meantime will be preparing his application for acceptance into Bethlehem Seminary in Minneapolis, MN. Lord willing, upon his acceptance he will then stop working except for one day a week, and Andrew will be able to focus almost completely on his schoolwork (which will be rigorous at the least!) and still have time with our family! Wow! This school is also Andrew's dream school, one he never imagined being able to attend once he had a family. This school is small, and requires the students upon entering to finish the degree in no more or less than 4 years. They are required to finish in 4 years and stay on the same schedule with the rest of their class throughout the entirety of the schooling. It is also a mentoring program that also provides ministering experience along the way. But, they do not recommend that the students work more than 10 hours a week, as the workload is THAT heavy and demanding. Therefore, Andrew has always ruled this path out, as there was no way of going to this school and supporting his family....
Until NOW!

We are still pretty stunned by all this, but we are excited and thankful for God's amazing provision! This is something we never would have imagined in our wildest dreams and yet God has provided this gift to us! Wow! So we rejoice in the goodness of our great God and Savior and thank Him for his blessing us through the generous gift of Andrew's uncle.

Pray for us as we get into gear and get packing and cleaning done. Pray that Andrew finishes strong at his two jobs here in Louisville, and praise God with us for keeping us these last few difficult years of schooling and work and child-rearing! God has been faithful even in difficult circumstances, and we desire for all people to look at our lives and then look to Christ and say, WOW! What an amazing, faithful and gracious God! May God receive all the glory! For HE has sustained us, HE has done this great thing, and HE is worthy!

The end of a season....

Well friends, forgive the lack of consistency in my posts these days. We have been keeping quite busy with the wonderful celebration of Andrew's graduation! Yes, that is right, Andrew is finally done with college! We could not be more relieved or excited as we now consider what is in store for the future!

But, it is bittersweet, the passing of this season of our life. Andrew and I met as students, married as students, had children while still students (I was technically still a student when I had Daniel, graduating when he was about 7 months old!), and now that part of our life is past! Andrew has finished his schooling, Summe Cumme Laude, by the way! I am so proud of him. He has worked so hard to support our family while taking on full time schooling. God has been so gracious and good, and while we will cherish memories from this season of life, we are very eager for what lies ahead, to say the least!

We are hopeful that his days of 3rd shift at UPS are almost over and that a normal schedule will soon prevail. We are hopeful that God will open doors for full time ministry opportunities, and confident that He will continue to guide our family according to His perfect will!

And for a brief update on our two adorable boys.........
Well they are adorable, that is for sure. :) And growing like weeds, to say the least! Daniel is 2 1/2, drawing closer to 3 with each passing day and it just blows my mind! This afternoon while eating lunch, Daniel spent the whole time cheerfully talking our ears off. He never missed a beat and Andrew and I exchanged many smiles as we listened to him jabber on about his best buddy Briggs and something about baseball...? His vocabulary is continually growing, although there still are those times we just have to nod our heads and smile! He is so packed full of energy I hardly know where in the world he gets it from! Although I do hear a rumor that children suck their energy straight from their parents...just a rumor though! :) He ADORES his daddy, and just today made me smile so big as I watched him follow Andrew around the house getting ready for work. Daniel shaved while daddy shaved, got dressed for work while daddy did, and also had me tie a tie for him (one Andrew lets him have) so that he will look just like daddy! He then proceeds to his little bike and says, "bye mommy, I gonna go to work! bye! I love you! Have a good day!" Absolutely precious! And makes everything absolutely worth it!

Micah is our precious little chub! :) Quite the opposite of his brother at this age, Micah currently weighs a whopping 20 lbs! (Daniel was not even 20 lbs at 1 year of age!) He is covered from neck down in adorable fat rolls and is incredibly happy and content! He smiles all the time and loves to babble. His favorite words to babble are mama (of course!) and dada! And, at almost 8 months old now, he can do the most adorable little "trick". I ask him, "Micah, how big is God?? Soooo Big!" And as I say that, he smiles big and raises his chubby little arms above his head. So sweet! He is quite content just sitting up playing and chewing on his toys and has not ventured yet to give crawling a try. I, however, am in no big hurry for him to start crawling, so I am enjoying every minute of his immobility! :) I know all too well how quickly babies grow into mobile babies and then into toddlers, and I am in no rush!

God is beyond good to us. There are no words! We are blessed!

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment!



Daniel, a little grumpy for the camera



Daddy being silly with Daniel at the park



Andrew and I on my 25th Birthday! Yikes! 25! When did that happen?!?



Micah Mu on the swings!



Brothers, already best buds! :)

An old post worth rereading

I wrote this a while back but thought it was a refreshing reminder to myself as well as others.....


I have recently ran across two separate examples of "Christians" who have really crushed my heart and spirit.  These two examples of "Christians" refers to nobody I know personally, but to people I have seen on TV.  One day I saw a commercial for the Tyra Show that was going to feature these 4 young Christian women who were very controversial in their stance against homosexuality.  I thought that it might be interesting to see what these "Christian" women had to say, so I watched the show (I do not make a habit of watching the Tyra Show, nor should anybody else for that matter!).  It only took a few moments of listening to these women speak out against homosexuality before I wanted to cry and call the Tyra Show, or do something, in order to apologize on behalf of all Christians for the attitude and behavior of these women! Oh, they sure knew their Scripture, quoting verses left and right about the holiness of God, and his wratch against sinners, and all the verses relating to the sin of homosexuality.   As I'm watching these women, there's no compassion on their faces, but almost smirks of hatred!  I watched them smile and smirk as they told Tyra that if homosexuals do not repent they will burn in hell.  I'm not against teaching the whole counsel fo God, which includes the penalty for our sins, but shouldn't that penalty move us to compassion?  When do Christians have the right to become so high and mighty, as if they're so far above those who have a homosexual lifestyle?  Not a single word was spoken about their own joy and salvation in Christ in realization of their own sins, and not a single word of hope was given, not a single word of Christ and His saving power.  Don't we remember what it was like without Christ?  Don't we remember that without Him and His amazing hand of mercy on our life we ourselves could be involved in just as gross of a sin?!  
These women reminded me of the Pharisees.  Pharisees were experts on the Law, on interpreting the Law, and almost seemed to take joy when they could catch others not abiding by the Law.  Yet they did not please God, for they had not the love of Christ.  These women, they knew God's Word!  But what of it?  What did Christ himself call the Pharisees?  White washed tombs, a brood of vipers, and several other things that I would not be so proud of to be called.
It's not my place to say whether or not these women truly know Christ, I pray they do.  But I pray that if they do, they would be moved to compassion rather than hatred for those who are without Christ and in their sins.  The only people Christ appears to speak harshly too were the hypocritical pharisees!  To the sinners and tax collectors and prostitutes, he showed love and compassion, eating with them, healing them.  As CHRISTians, Christ is our example!  
Lord keep us humble.  Keep us aware of your holiness, yes, and how you require perfection.  But also keep us ever mindful of Christ, who is our perfection!  Let us not leave that wonderful part of your redemption story out!!
There was another example, but I've gone on too long, so I'll just leave it at this for now.     

Pictures

Here's just a few pictures for your enjoyment!

quick update

Well, I am sitting at the kitchen table with a horrenously slow wireless connection trying to give a quick update on our lives! Daniel is currently sitting in my lap, as he loves to pretend to be typing as I type! It's quite cute! Here's the latest going ons with our family!

Andrew is about half way through his last semester! Woohoo! We are just pushing through, trying to make it to graduation! We are beyond ready for this schooling journey to be over, so this last push is quite difficult,but we are almost there! Andrew is doing well with his classes though, as he's such a hard, dilligent worker!

Daniel is growing more and more, evidenced by his expanding vocabulary! He is learning catechism questions now, and is doing quite well with them! He can answer five questions now: Who made you (God), who is God? (maker of all things), out of what did God make all things (nothing), how were all things made (God spoke, and it was done) and today he learned what did God make on the first day (light). I recently had a day off thanks to my fabulous husband, where I had uninterrupted time to read pray, and put together a rough schedule of what Daniel's day will look like, from daily bible and catechism times, play times, lesson times (learning shapes and colors) and activity times. I'm hoping adding this structure to Daniel's life will help him become less whiney and give him a good sense of consistency in his life!

Micah weighed in at 15 lbs 12 oz. at his 4 months check up (now is 5 mos. and probably 16 lbs plus!) and is currently 50-75% tile in his weight, heighth and head! He's rolling over and laughing and talking up a storm! He loves his big brother, and is often laughing at his crazy antics! He is my sweet snuggle bug and I am loving this fun stage!

I am just plugging away at helping Andrew get through this schedule and taking care of my boys! God is good and faithful and am so blessed with having the awsome responsbility of caring for these two little boys! But I probably should take off as Daniel is whining up a storm wanting a snack and I really shouldn't be on the computer whlie the boys are up! :) Just wanted to get a quick upddate while I actually had some internet connection! Until next time, God bless!!

The Joy of Sanctification

Reader beware as you read this post. Any previous opinions you have formed about me may come crashing to a halt as you discover a weak woman struggling constantly in a battle with sin. Or perhaps your opinion of me will only be confirmed if you are one of the few who knows me all too well. Either way, my hope in this particular post is to reveal how God has been at work in the last several years (and months in particular), painfully pruning this heart of mine so that ultimately I might bear fruit for the glory of His name!

I suppose it starts a bit further back in my teenage years when I was first introduced to the Doctrines of Grace. (for those of you who are not familiar with the Doctrines of Grace, you can check out this website http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TopicIndex/105_The_Doctrines_of_Grace/4235_Rebuilding_Some_Basics_of_Bethlehem_The_Doctrines_of_Grace/ )

Through a string of events following my introduction to calvinism/doctrines of grace over a course of 4 years or so, which I do not have time nor space to go into today, I ultimately ended up at Boyce College, studying Biblical and Theological studies. I was preparing for the ministry, although unsure in what capacity. And, as most of you know, I soon met Andrew at Boyce, got married about a year and a half later, and well....3 years and 2 kids after that, here I am! And God has been doing some incredible work in my life since becoming a wife and mother. A work that has been painful, and yet oddly enough, joyful at the same time. And it is that work that I want to share with you!

Imagine growing up and NEVER, literally NEVER, having to struggle with anger issues. That was me. It took a lot of offenses against me to get me angry. I had many friends over the course of the years who were considered hard to get along with because of certain quirks or mannerisms or whatever it may be, because I was able to bear with them and help and encourage them with a lot more patience than most people were willing to put into a difficult relationship. Please don't misinterpret this....I am in no way boasting. I thought I had things pretty together. But by the incredible grace of God, I soon found out, I didn't (and still don't!)

Enter motherhood. Imagine a young mother feeling anger welling up in her heart that she has NEVER experienced before. Suddenly she finds herself flying off the handle over the most petty and ridiculous things like soiled underwear or incessant whining. Whoa. What just happened? How is this possible? The girl who used to bear with so much patience the offenses and sins of others is now unable to patiently bear the sins of her own children!

Toddlerhood brought to light the incredible amount of selfishness and sinfulness of my heart. And coupled with a lack of sleep with a newborn now on the scene, and it took me quite off guard! At first this realization of my anger only caused me to be incredibly grumpy and dwell in self pity. I don't think I was all that easy to live with, to be honest with you! But then God was so incredibly gracious to help me begin to reach out for help to other mothers. And wouldn't you know it, a fellow young mother in my church was struggling with the exact same thing: anger! Through the prayers and support of several of the women in my church (as well as my incredibly patient and kind husband), I began to realize how little "together" I really had things. Even 17 years into my Christian life, I have a horrendously sinful heart! And with this realization came a fresh, sweet realization of the patience and mercy of God!
Don't get me wrong, it is difficult to have your sins revealed. It is a painful process of seeing the sin, realizing the detriment it is to the gospel, and repenting! Then there is the battle to continually fight the sin, as usually it is not something that will just go away. It's a struggle, and it's hard! But to think that after so many years of having a pretty "easy" walk with the Lord, so to speak, God would love me enough to show me that hidden in my heart are sins offensive to Him, is amazing! That means God is loving me enough to help me rid of those things which are hindering me from becoming more like Christ! By patiently bearing with my sins and helping me to defeat them, God is filling my heart to the brim! That is my greatest desire and joy in life....to give glory to God! And since giving glory to God is reflecting him as glorious in all my thoughts, attitudes and actions, then there is no room for sin! But as I am unable to defeat sin on my own, I only rejoice when God helps me through the ministry of His Word, my husband, and fellow women who have been there, done that! Wow, the cross of Christ is truly amazing, truly precious and truly my ONLY salvation from sin!

God's Word has become more precious to me than it has ever been. I am weak, sinful, and am so much more aware of that now through the trial of motherhood, and I am at the same time, thankful for that! By God's grace I am striving to be patient in training and disciplining my chidren, knowing ultimately it's not about ME and my children disobeying ME. It is about pointing my children to the Gospel, showing them their sins against God, and patiently training them so that they may, Lord willing, someday embrace the truths of the Gospel for themselves. So my anger, my impatience and harshness is absolutely unnecessary and sinful, and in no way aides in the ultimate goal! God's precious Word helps me keep Christ as the center focus and gives me strength to be loving, kind and tender toward my children, even in the midst of their sin!

I'm so thankful for a loving, patient and longsuffering God, aren't you, friends?!

Happy Anniversary

Yesterday Andrew and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary! Andrew bought me beautiful roses and took me out to a fancy restaurant for dinner, and I woke up when Andrew got home from UPS and made him his favorite breakfast....pancakes! :) We had a wonderful day! Although I am daily mindful of how blessed I am to be Andrew's wife, it was a great day for reflection concerning our marriage. We live a pretty wild and crazy life at the moment, juggling a newborn, a busy toddler, church ministry, school and work for Andrew and of course all the little surprises in between that take us off guard! There are several days a week where I literally only see Andrew for a whole 45 minutes (awake time) before he is off to both jobs, and even then, we maybe get a few quick hellos and I love you's before we have to part! It's even less time than that when the semester us in full gear. So I am thankful to have anniversaries to remind us to slow down and just be together! Andrew is a very thoughtful husband, however, and he does try to get several "just because" date nights in without the kids so we can reconnect as often as possible.

I love my husband. :) For so many reasons, the biggest of them being that He truly helps me love and cherish Christ more. He IS a picture of Christ to me in his sacrifice, compassion, patience, selflessness and strength in leading our family in godly ways. As a result, I see Christ and His love better,and cherish Him more! Wow! Ultimately that is what it is all about! We are MOST happy when we cherish Christ! As we love and serve our Maker, Savior and Lord, we bring Him glory....and in that, we are most satisfied and most happy! So, for my husband to lead me and serve me in such a way that helps me grow spiritually and ultimately be happy in Christ, he is loving me beyond just buying me roses and trying to please me with material things and romantic charms. He is loving me as Christ loves me! Not perfectly of course, as Andrew is NOT Christ and not perfect, but with purpose and care and passion!

Did I mention that I love my husband? Well, three years and two beautiful boys later, I love him more than I did when we first confessed our love for eachother, and more than when we said our vows before God and man! Thank you, gracious and merciful Father, for the blessing of my husband! Through his love and leadership, I am learning to love you more! May you, Lord Jesus, be honored and glorified above all else in our union...may we always have a heart to worship you and bring you glory with our lives!