So it is Sunday afternoon---one of my MOST favorite times of the whole week. And this Sunday afternoon is thankfully no exception. We enjoyed lunch at Fatboys with friends after church, and now Matt and Noah are taking their weekly afternoon daddy-son nap on the couch ... which means I have 2+ hours to myself! So of course I have been catching up on some blogs I like to follow...and making a few phone calls/texts...and just B.R.E.A.T.H.I.N.G. I have been looking forward to THIS particular Sunday afternoon for several weeks now!
So I guess it is finally time that I can add my family news to the blogworld. Only a few of you out there are waiting to hear it, but for those of you who are, this is the official press release:
No, we're not pregnant. (Is that what you thought?)
No, but actually, it is a biggie: in the coming days, Matthew and Noah and I will be moving from our home of 6.5 yrs in Florida to none other than Houston, Texas . Matt has accepted the call to be Youth Pastor at Houston First Church of the Nazarene beginning the first week of January.
Yep, you heard (read) me right. TEXAS. Who would have EVER thought that! So the very short story of it is this: we were asked to come interview about 6 weeks ago, and then even after we interviewed, we have been waiting for several weeks to receive the invitation and accept the call. It has only become finalized this last week. God has been working in the whole situation and ON US the whole time, and we are only doing this because we feel like this is clearly God's leading. We LOVE our current ministry and church folk here in FL and we are broken up about having to say goodbye to people and on this chapter of our lives. This church has been wonderful to us, as well as being the only church Noah has ever known and the only church we'be been at together since we got married. So it is and may always be our HOME church. We are internally excited about the opportunity that is before us and the challenges and blessings it will bring, but more immediately, we are overwhelmed and exhausted from this past week and responsibilities here.
It has been a long, drawn-out week as we've been sharing the news 1st with family, then family-friends, and then friends at church today. Some people who are away for the weekend or had to miss church today still don't know, and news will trickle down to the rest during the next few weeks. We ourselves actually leave tomorrow for Thanksgiving with my family so the timing works out nicely as we feel the need of a brief vacation from the reality of the next month of our lives! When we return, we will be here for 3 full weeks, then spend a week of Christmas with Matt's family, and then the better part of the next week (last week of Dec) will be spent moving. I'm sure it will be a WHIRLWIND soon enough!
We have never questioned whether or not we would "follow God's will" for our lives when we sensed he was revealing a piece of the picture to us, but that doesn't make the realities of a life-relocation much easier to maneuver. For us or for those who will be affected by it. We covet your prayers for our family and for Matt's ministry--current and future--during this time of transition. Pray for us to make wise decisions concerning our future and wisdom and words for conversations that are still taking place on this end. Please pray for friends and church folk here who are taking the news hard.
And in the middle of all this, we are still waiting word on Noah's test results. It has now been 6 weeks. It was supposed to be 4-6 weeks. So my anxiety is trying to creep back in. Good thing I don't have much time for that these days!
Hope every one of you have a wondeful, blessed, GRATITUDE-filled Thanksgiving with family and friends. We are so greatful to our God during this time for His presence and peace in our lives.
November 23, 2008
November 14, 2008
Waiting
This has been a looooonng week for me. Not as long as poor Sherrie from www.franklinavenueco.blogspot.com, as she's been thru her 39th week of pregnancy with BB#3: still to be named. Goodness no, nothing quite like that. But for me, a seemingly unending week.
First, Noah has been sick--and getting sicker--as the days go by. I took him to the Dr. on Tues. after a long night of his little hacking cough, but after a long WAIT in the waiting room, the dr. said everything still "looks fine on the insides...just a cold." Hmmph.. . now 3 days later and I'm about ready to take him in again...The dr. said to bring him back Monday or Tues if he hasn't kicked it yet, so I've tried to stick it out and let it run its course, as they say. But I'm afraid we will now have an ER visit during the weekend since it is still getting worse, and not better. His little friend from church "A"apparently has pneumonia, they were together when they started getting sick--she is a bit smaller than him, but his cough is so constant and deep now, I am worried. Sometimes he sleeps okay, but usually he wakes himself up every hour because he can't breathe. And then Matt and I are up. On a positive note, he has been sleeping in (on) his own bed, in his own room, since we moved him from the nursery (closet of a room) to his big boy room (old office/spare bedrm). I say on his bed, not in his bed, because the mattress has been on the floor, with extra pillows around it. He's what I'd call a "thrasher" sleeper. He literally rolls and rolls and at times, thrashes around in bed at night. Heck, I'm just glad he's staying in his own room now. Our earlier night time routine with book reading and no more bottle is working good, so far. He even insists on having the lamp on and the door completely shut. Last night he stayed in his room while I went to get him a warm bottle of water. He peeked out the door at the end, but he stayed in his room! Yeah for progress. Please keep him in your prayers though. This sick thing is no fun, we're all short on sleep and patience, and N's just all around miserable (grouchy, whiny) during the days. We had to take turns on Sun. so we could both go to church a bit, and it looks like I may be staying home completely with him this Sun a.m.
Second, Matt and I have been patiently waiting for 2 bits of news this whole month (that I will post about sometime in the near future.) As hard as it is to wait on things in my life, I have been around long enough to know that it's thru the waiting periods that God does some of his best work in us. When I opened up my Beth Moore Bible study for the week I saw the focus is on Joseph and the WAIT he had to endure while he went from coat-of-many-colors to day-in-the-pit to being In Charge of Potiphar's house to being in prison. That would have been hopeless enough, but after he interpreted the Cupbearers dream and asked him to remember him, it must have been an even LOOOOONGer two years while he waited, with anticipation, for his release from the dungeon. Any day now! Any day now...Wonder if it will ever even come. This really spoke to me this week: "Sometimes we can be so busy looking for what is missing in our lives that we miss Who is busily present in our lives. We're looking for God to do us future favors when He's trying to open our eyes to present ones. Remember, God purposes to use every second of a divinely-ordained wait to build us into the individuals our future demands we be."--BM. YES. I found some growth in my own faith-life through Joseph's wait this week. How bout you?
So I keep checking Sherries' blog, hoping for news...I'd at least like to be able to rejoice with HER waiting time being over!
First, Noah has been sick--and getting sicker--as the days go by. I took him to the Dr. on Tues. after a long night of his little hacking cough, but after a long WAIT in the waiting room, the dr. said everything still "looks fine on the insides...just a cold." Hmmph.. . now 3 days later and I'm about ready to take him in again...The dr. said to bring him back Monday or Tues if he hasn't kicked it yet, so I've tried to stick it out and let it run its course, as they say. But I'm afraid we will now have an ER visit during the weekend since it is still getting worse, and not better. His little friend from church "A"apparently has pneumonia, they were together when they started getting sick--she is a bit smaller than him, but his cough is so constant and deep now, I am worried. Sometimes he sleeps okay, but usually he wakes himself up every hour because he can't breathe. And then Matt and I are up. On a positive note, he has been sleeping in (on) his own bed, in his own room, since we moved him from the nursery (closet of a room) to his big boy room (old office/spare bedrm). I say on his bed, not in his bed, because the mattress has been on the floor, with extra pillows around it. He's what I'd call a "thrasher" sleeper. He literally rolls and rolls and at times, thrashes around in bed at night. Heck, I'm just glad he's staying in his own room now. Our earlier night time routine with book reading and no more bottle is working good, so far. He even insists on having the lamp on and the door completely shut. Last night he stayed in his room while I went to get him a warm bottle of water. He peeked out the door at the end, but he stayed in his room! Yeah for progress. Please keep him in your prayers though. This sick thing is no fun, we're all short on sleep and patience, and N's just all around miserable (grouchy, whiny) during the days. We had to take turns on Sun. so we could both go to church a bit, and it looks like I may be staying home completely with him this Sun a.m.
Second, Matt and I have been patiently waiting for 2 bits of news this whole month (that I will post about sometime in the near future.) As hard as it is to wait on things in my life, I have been around long enough to know that it's thru the waiting periods that God does some of his best work in us. When I opened up my Beth Moore Bible study for the week I saw the focus is on Joseph and the WAIT he had to endure while he went from coat-of-many-colors to day-in-the-pit to being In Charge of Potiphar's house to being in prison. That would have been hopeless enough, but after he interpreted the Cupbearers dream and asked him to remember him, it must have been an even LOOOOONGer two years while he waited, with anticipation, for his release from the dungeon. Any day now! Any day now...Wonder if it will ever even come. This really spoke to me this week: "Sometimes we can be so busy looking for what is missing in our lives that we miss Who is busily present in our lives. We're looking for God to do us future favors when He's trying to open our eyes to present ones. Remember, God purposes to use every second of a divinely-ordained wait to build us into the individuals our future demands we be."--BM. YES. I found some growth in my own faith-life through Joseph's wait this week. How bout you?
So I keep checking Sherries' blog, hoping for news...I'd at least like to be able to rejoice with HER waiting time being over!
November 07, 2008
Thursday's "Day off":
We decided to FINALLY move Noah over from his "nursery" room into the spare bedroom/office room. He's really outgrown his crib a while ago, but we couldn't decide what step was next...get a big boy bed for him? Make the crib into a twin bed? Plus it seemed like such a big job---relocated all my office and craft stuff. But after just a few short hours, we LOVE the outcome. And wonder WHY IN THE WOLRD didn't we do this a LONG time ago?!?! The little bedroom Noah has had since his birth makes a great, little office. That small space doesn't really take pix well, but here's the bigger of the two rooms, Noah's...
BEFORE...as Noah HELPS Dad put the crib back together as a daybed. . .Noah LOVES to use a screwdriver and hammer! I think he's gonna be a little carpenter or builder or something...
and AFTER...
We still have a few things to put up on the walls, but we like it. And so does Little Man. He jumps up and down on his bed just like he always has, but now he can launch himself out onto the floor. Great. It's also nice to get a few of his toys out of the family room, and give him a space of his own to actually play in. We tried to have N sleep in his new bed last night....and he did, until he woke up with a soaked diaper/bed. And then it was back to the futon/couch for a little while...
BEFORE...as Noah HELPS Dad put the crib back together as a daybed. . .Noah LOVES to use a screwdriver and hammer! I think he's gonna be a little carpenter or builder or something...
and AFTER...
We still have a few things to put up on the walls, but we like it. And so does Little Man. He jumps up and down on his bed just like he always has, but now he can launch himself out onto the floor. Great. It's also nice to get a few of his toys out of the family room, and give him a space of his own to actually play in. We tried to have N sleep in his new bed last night....and he did, until he woke up with a soaked diaper/bed. And then it was back to the futon/couch for a little while... November 01, 2008
Trick or Treat Times Two
Noah really enjoyed the Halloween festivities this year.....a.k.a. the candy part of it;-D
Last year at this time he was only (almost) 8 months old and had to be carried the whole night...this year he was a jumpin and runnin little man. We went with a pretty simple--and cheap--costume that we already had---he was a little "baller" with an old school kind of basketball jersey on...but without the basketball, he kinda looked like an American Gladiator. Whatever. Like he could care.
Here's a few pix from first, our church's Trunk N Treat night,
which we held on WEDNESDAY---great idea by the way---gives kids more than one day to dress up and being BEFORE Halloween you still get all the excitement---we had 250 people show up, which we were not expecting, since we had just done our big block party 3 weeks ago. I ended up helping throw it together the 2 days before the event, and somehow, it turned out great still.
Then, a few pix from last night.
(I couldn't get a good pix of the kids together. Then my batteries died...again. Uggg...)
We were invited along with most of the couples from our small group to the Wilgeroth's. It was a fun night of chili/soup, trick-or-treating with 4 little ones, and then gal talk inside/guy talk on the porch. There was a nice cool crispness to the air. I have to admit that trick-or-treating WORE ME OUT---I don't remember the last time I actually went door to door for candy. 4 kiddos is not easy even for the 8 adults who walked with them! It took a while for Noah to get the hang of it----he wanted to eat the candy at every single house, not put it in his bucket. It was really nice to have Alex and Avary to go with. Maybe one day we'll have cousins to go with. We got back after only being gone an hour and I thought for sure it was like 10:30. Nope, only 8:45.
Oh goodness.
Hope you all had a safe and fun Trickertreating experience also. Post pix!
Last year at this time he was only (almost) 8 months old and had to be carried the whole night...this year he was a jumpin and runnin little man. We went with a pretty simple--and cheap--costume that we already had---he was a little "baller" with an old school kind of basketball jersey on...but without the basketball, he kinda looked like an American Gladiator. Whatever. Like he could care.
Here's a few pix from first, our church's Trunk N Treat night,
which we held on WEDNESDAY---great idea by the way---gives kids more than one day to dress up and being BEFORE Halloween you still get all the excitement---we had 250 people show up, which we were not expecting, since we had just done our big block party 3 weeks ago. I ended up helping throw it together the 2 days before the event, and somehow, it turned out great still.
Then, a few pix from last night.
(I couldn't get a good pix of the kids together. Then my batteries died...again. Uggg...)We were invited along with most of the couples from our small group to the Wilgeroth's. It was a fun night of chili/soup, trick-or-treating with 4 little ones, and then gal talk inside/guy talk on the porch. There was a nice cool crispness to the air. I have to admit that trick-or-treating WORE ME OUT---I don't remember the last time I actually went door to door for candy. 4 kiddos is not easy even for the 8 adults who walked with them! It took a while for Noah to get the hang of it----he wanted to eat the candy at every single house, not put it in his bucket. It was really nice to have Alex and Avary to go with. Maybe one day we'll have cousins to go with. We got back after only being gone an hour and I thought for sure it was like 10:30. Nope, only 8:45.
Oh goodness.
Hope you all had a safe and fun Trickertreating experience also. Post pix!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)