Sitting outside the trailer

It's almost 10:00 on a Saturday night. Normally on a Saturday night I am trying to get to sleep thinking that I'm going to need all the energy I can get for the next day! Sundays are so crazy with traveling and presenting and meeting new people and acting cordial. :) Judah has added a new dimension of craziness to our Sunday meeting routine. He makes it interesting as I try to take care of his needs and also set up our display board and do my part of the presentation. It helps when there is a nursery for me to put him in, but not every church has a nursery. I always feel a little strange leaving him in the hands of complete strangers, but God usually puts some sweet ladies in the nursery to take care of Judah and I feel better about it.

Last Sunday was just awful, I have to say! Judah did not get his normal naps. He usually takes a morning nap, which usually gets missed on Sundays. But last Sunday he also missed his afternoon nap because we were busy packing up and eating and talking and traveling to our next meeting (we had two meetings last Sunday. One in the morning and afternoon at one church, and one in the evening at a different church). Needless to say, after spending the day with a VERY cranky 4.5 month old, we have decided never to try that kind of schedule again!

This week has been so strange for Judah. I don't know if he's teething, or maybe he's still reeling from our awful Sunday schedule, but he has not been napping well at all, which makes for an unhappy baby and a stressed out Mommy! As the week has gone on, it has gotten little bits of better, but not totally. I'm just hoping that this does not keep up, or else, Lord give me strength. I miss my happy and very contented little boy!

This is Labor Day weekend. Paige is spending it in Israel. I am so interested in the emails she has been sending us telling us of her activities! I just can't imagine being where she is right now! I hope to go there someday...and Disneyworld too. It's a toss up where I would go first if I had the chance. :)

Cleaning house

Andy and I have been working to organize some of our things in preparation for this June when we are going to turn over the parsonage to the Thorsens for two months. Our basement is absolutely a catastrophe right now. It's unlivable down there right now, so the past days since I've been up from bedrest, we've spent a lot of time down there going through boxes and throwing away stuff. I took some pictures of things I found that I thought some of you would get a kick out of seeing these items again.


My first and only Cabbage Patch doll from Jerry and Barb Gazaway. I named her "Bottom" because I like to lay my head on her soft bottom as a pillow!

A pair of my favorite pajamas. I got these for my birthday one year!

My "Girls Rule" shirt that Mom gave to each of us girls. I remember that we each wore ours quite often, so Greg said that every time he came to our house, someone was wearing that shirt!

My 'Amanda the Panda' shirt from the camp we went to as siblings after Dad passed away.

One of my favorite books! Somehow I would always find it in Paige's room though, I guess she liked it too!

A favorite nightgown of mine growing up.

My favorite summer outfit that I wanted to wear every day of the summer!


And lastly, my favorite find of the day, my blanket! Doesn't it look ratty? It was well used! I couldn't believe what condition it was in, but I still love it!

I'm going to SCREAM!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! That's it! I'm done! I've had it! No more laying down!!!!!!!! MORE SSSSSSCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm BACK!

Okay Deb, I lied. I am still going to post on this blog.

I've been inspired to start posting on this blog again. This morning I was reading some of my past entries and just started cracking up at the honest stories that I was able to relate. I also could not contain my chuckles as I read your comments. I just can't be this open and personal on our ministry blog. For instance, does the average supporter/Pastor in New York care what I did for New Years Eve this year? (Which was nothing by the way because of baby). But you guys care, right? Nonetheless, I fear I've lost my audience since it has been a long time since I posted anything new on the blog. I'll see how long it takes someone to read this. If you are out there reading this, leave a comment! Then I'll know my readership. :)

Well, What's going on that I can talk about? Right now I'm listening to 4Him's greatest Hits cd. My favorite oldie of theirs is "For Future Generations" followed by "Sacred Hideaway". Anyone else have a favorite oldie to offer up? Doesn't have to be 4Him...Petra, Audio A, Newsboys, Point of Grace and (my personal favorite) dcTalk are also welcome...as well as SCC--almost forgot that one! Oops!

It's Sunday and I am watching the CSBC congregation come out of church from my window across the room. Only one more Sunday and then I get to go to church again. The last time I was at church was on January 11th in Norwalk, IA. The last time I was at CSBC for a service was...January 4th, I think. But I'm not entirely sure about that because wasn't church canceled one of those weeks around the holidays because of awful winter weather? Anyone remember which week that was? If it was canceled on the 4th, then the last time I was at CSBC was LAST YEAR!! What in the world? That is crazy!

Speaking of other things I haven't done in awhile...I saw Samuel yesterday. I am pretty sure that is the first time I've seen him since Christmas, or at least early January. He looks so grown up! I asked him how he liked Spring Break last week, and he said he got to go to McDonalds to eat with the Walls. That would be my favorite thing too! McDonalds sounds good to me right now, but after watching "Super Size Me" yesterday, I'm not sure I want to touch the stuff again! Don't worry, I will.

I remember how I used to spend my Spring Breaks way back when. I remember riding my bike down to Fisher EVERY DAY and meeting friends there to play: Shauna Smith, Ashley Wills, Erin Johnson, Eric Hineman (sometimes) and Ashlee Duimstra would sometimes make an appearance too. Although, I don't remember Ashlee having a bike, but I do remember her making fun of mine! (She didn't know it was my bike at the time that she was mercilessly dissing it). I still give her a hard time about that even though she has apologized a million times! :)

Anyway, I hope Sam and Mom enjoyed their spring breaks this week. It was a wonderful week for spring break! The weather was fabulous! Spring is here! Thunderstorms are coming this next week, I hear. Those excite me too. I'm not as excited about tornadoes since last year's catastrophes. I do have one funny story from tornado season last year, however. Jeremy and Jodi were staying in their trailor in the church parking lot. The sirens went off and J&J came into our house and went to our basement. Andy and I didn't hear the sirens, so Jodi called us from our basement. We both got up really quick and Andy says I took off for the basement! He says it was so funny because I have never acted so scared! I laugh thinking about that. Mind you, this was after Parkersburg, so my nerves were a little on edge! Anyway, we four had a fun time waiting out the storm in the basement of the parsonage.

Today Andy is in Montevideo, MN doing a presentation. Mom is helping me with everything that I can't do while I am in bed--which is most everything except use the restroom and take a shower. It's 12:30 and Mom just walked in to make me lunch. Porkchops are on the menu! Gotta go and talk to her now!

More to come later!

Thinking about last year...

I've been thinking a lot about last year...what I was doing last year at this time. Tonight as I write this I think that last year on this night we were spending the night in the hospital. At this exact time, we would have just found out the bleak news regarding our family, and holding out hope for the morning. There is so much emotion as I think about our son's birthday tomorrow.

A missionary friend from CBM wrote me and helped me to imagine Collin celebrating his first birthday in heaven. Most kids don't remember their first birthday, will Collin remember his, or does he get to "grow up" in heaven? I think about him being up there with Jesus and his family who has gone before (and come after him in the past year). Are his cousin Grace and Grandpa Brant celebrating with him? I wonder what they do in heaven on earthly birthdays, or for that matter on anniversaries of joining the heavenly host. In Collin's case, it is the same day.

I miss our son. He would be one.

What I like about fall

Cooler weather
Turning leaves
School starting
Marching band practice
Fall decorating
Cross Country
Candy corn

God's grace

This week has been so productive. I'm so thankful to the Lord for that because I was praying that the Lord would allow me to establish a good schedule now that I am at home all the time. Last week at our ladies Bible study, Molly asked each of us to say something for which we needed God's grace. It was my turn and I asked for God's grace over my new schedule. That was something that was weighing on me. Ever since I have stopped working at McFarland Clinic, I haven't really had any time at home until last week (because of camps and weddings). So, I was struggling to establish regular daily habits while also trying to work around Andy's habits since he's also at home. I need to do my school work. The sooner I can get that done, the sooner we can have regular income to add to our support level. I also need to help Andy with the website. We have been working on that for around 8 months, so it's important for us to get that done. We also need to make a missions video update for a church in Dover, DE. There are also letters that need to be sent, letters that need to be written, items that need to be ordered, etc. So, I was just having a hard time organizing all of that, and I needed God's grace.
Well, this week I could definitely see the Lord helping me--in spite of the draw of the Olympics! On Monday we signed up for life insurance--something that needed to be done since I'm not working at McFarland anymore. On Tuesday the nurse lady came over to the house and did the mini physical required for that, so now I officially have life insurance. That's one thing done. I also applied for a job at MMSC (the hospital here in town) for a part-time medical transcription job. I made sure to tell them on the application that I'm not finished with my schooling yet, but that I have lots of experience in the medical field, so I'm familiar with how some things work. They called me on Tuesday morning and want me to come in for an interview next Wednesday morning (the 20th). It would be great if I could get this job and then work from home or from a different state! That's what is so great about transcription. Plus it would be nice to work for someone from Marshalltown so I can have some sort of connection to the people for whom I am working.
I was also able to complete almost 2 chapters of my school work this week--that is amazing!! Each chapter takes FOREVER! Andy and I finished the missions video! So now we can start showing it for our meetings that we have right now--including our update to our home church on August 31st! That will be cool. We have the "August Rush" soundtrack as our background music--love that movie (P.S. that's also Shawn Johnson's floor routine music--did you notice?)
We also got most of our website published to the web, thanks in LARGE part to Luke Demarest! That was such a blessing to get something published after working on it for so long.
So, I am praising the Lord for allowing such a productive week for Andy and I both. Andy was able to schedule some meetings for our next trip out East. It is hard for me to listen to him make phone calls because he just puts himself out there--so vulnerable to pastors who can sometimes be so warm and receiving, but can also be so insensitive and rude. You never know who you're going to get. I usually have my devotions while he does most of his calling so that I can just pray for him. I can see that sometimes it's very hard for him to make phone calls because not everyone is as considerate as he is.
Thank you God for teaching me about your grace. I've been learning how your grace extends so much farther beyond saving grace. It is also grace that works in us to will and to do good. It is your grace that makes me want to come to you, to please you, to honor you. It is your grace that I need each day to obey and to remember your love for me. Your grace keeps me on track--I don't keep myself on track. Thank you for your grace this week to allow me to honor you in how I spend my time and energy, and for letting me get so much accomplished. Please multiply your grace toward me this month, this is such an important lesson for me to learn right now.