More pictures

My new thing!

Just a quick blog. Natalie's new idea is to wear this backpack EVERYWHERE. She greatly protests anytime we need to remove it. She is exerting much more independence these days. I'm not quite sure I was ready for this yet. For those of you who know us, you are obviously as baffled as we are that we would have a stubborn child. :-) I keep trying to be consistent, but I am always wondering which battles are worth fighting. She looks cute holding our cell phones to her ear and saying "ello." But, when she starts dialing China, I have to say no. Then, she screams, arches her back, and dramatically falls down. Amazingly enough, she quickly regains her composure and is off again, to the cabinets, the bathroom, the dog bowl, the list is endless. I'm thankful we have good dogs. This morning, I watched Natalie push our older dog Lexi away from the food dish. Natalie then got a handful of food, walked it to our other dog, Mocha, and gave it to her. Everyone was fine and happy. Lexi ate as Natalie walked away, Natalie got to touch the food and our fat dog Mocha got to eat without getting up. All is well at Natalie's house. I hope all is well at yours. If your reading this in Iowa, we can't wait to see you next week!!! Only one more week, Nate and Leah, till your married. YEAH!!!

Natalie versus the tornado...

Yesterday, Natalie and I went to join Tara, Sarah, and Nancy at St. Augustine Beach. It was cloudy, but warm as we stepped onto the beach. Natalie loved the water and thought the ocean waves were so fun as they knocked her down again and again. Tara and I kept holding her close as we noted the waves were rough. After a few minutes we started to hear thunder. So we made our way back to the towels. We looked over and saw the storm coming. It looked pretty and way off in the distance. A minute later the lifeguard packed up his stuff and walked off the beach. We should have followed immediately, but he said we had "ten minutes till it starts raining." So we started gathering up our stuff, while we chatted away. All of the sudden it was pouring. Lightening flashed everywhere around us and the wind was blowing sand so hard that it hurt. We grabbed anything we could and we all started running. I wrapped two towels around Natalie and held her close. The wind was so fierce and the rain so hard, that I couldn't open my eyes. I knew there were steps coming so I kept trying to force them open. We ran with all our might. We made it to a shelter as the lifeguard laughed at us. It wasn't much with the downpour so we made it to the car. We drove back to the condo in awe. The stop lights were out. Trees were laying across roof tops and car. One huge tree in front of the condo was uprooted, along with the sidewalk. We couldn't believe we ran through this. Later that afternoon one of the maintenance guys told us a tornado hit the beach. After living in Iowa, I wasn't convinced. But, later that night, as Chris and I watched the news the man said, one confirmed tornado on Crescent beach. Chris just stared at me. He said, "I moved you from tornado alley so you could find the one tornado today in the state?" "Yeah," I said, "you did, and your baby was wrapped in two blankets." Natalie laughed the entire time we ran to the car. She giggled right in my ear in sheer delight. She didn't realize she was in any danger. She was in Mommy's arms with fun stuff falling from the sky. To be honest, we all laughed as we ran. It was fun to run through the rain. It was fun to hear her laugh and to feel soaking wet to the bone. It felt refreshing. We didn't realize we were any danger either. It was just fun stuff falling from the sky. And besides, we were all wrapped up too, in God's arms.

Here we are

Just a quick blog to let everyone know we survived the move. We don't have Internet at our house yet, so I'm at the church blogging. Our move was an adventure. The movers arrived three days after they were supposed to and it just got better from there. However, eventually Chris, his dad and mom, Sarah, Natalie, the two dogs, all of our staff, and me ended up here. We are getting settled, and when I'm not alone in Chris' office with Natalie I'll blog more details. Just a few quick pics of Natalie for everyone. We got to meet Chris' Uncle Raymond last week, he wasn't much interested in me, but thought Natalie was great. He loved us calling him Uncle Raymond...we knew he liked Natalie when he offered to share his new hat. The other pics are of Natalie in her frog pool. Have a great week. Hopefully, more soon.

Last Sunday in Villisca

This morning was one I've been dreading for months. It was our last Sunday here in Villisca. It's so hard to leave a group of people that we love dearly and who love us too. They know me pretty well by now. As you can see in the picture, one of the couples in the church gave me an Oreo Cookie Jar for a going away present. It couldn't be more perfect. Last night was our going away party. All these pictures where there. Natalie really wanted to be "big girl" and play with the other kids. She isn't shy at all. I know people will love her in her new town, but it is sure hard to leave so many Grandma's and Grandpa's here. God is good, and we keep saying we are glad that people aren't running us out of town. As we drove into town last night, I looked to my right and saw all the sheep. I am confident I will not see sheep 1/2 mile from our new house. We are bracing ourselves for extreme culture shock. We are also bracing ourselves for God sightings all around us. He is calling us to move. That means He is calling someone else here. When God says go, I have to listen. He has plans far beyond my imagination. I'm looking forward to seeing them unfold. For the people here, for the people there, for us, and for the little one sleeping in the next room.

The next blog...sometime when the dust has settled.

Recent pictures

Hey everyone,
We are moving a week from tomorrow. The time is flying by. We are trying to get ready. Natalie is walking really well now which is keeping it interesting. She was unpacking boxes today as fast as I was packing them. Thankfully, the movers will be packing most everything for us. We've had lots of horrible storms and flooding here this weekend. There were two tornadoes within twenty miles of us Saturday night. Several farmers lost barns and livestock. The rivers are still rising, and we are supposed to get rain the next couple of days. Anyways, I say all of that to ask for your prayers for the farms. Most planted corn last week and are obviously concerned. That's about all of our news for now. Have a great week.

Natalie with her dolls.





Giving Mommy a kiss. :-)




















Walking...walking...walking...






















Walking away from Mommy....














One of her favorite toys, this car is awesome!

Our life

Sorry it has been a while, we've been running around like crazy. Natalie is walking better and better each day. Today, she traveled all the way across the living room. She is so proud of herself too. Candy is here for the week, which is wonderful. She is watching Natalie while we attempt to get ready to move. Today, we tackled our basement, and got a lot accomplished. We have a huge trash pile. Anyways, I was packing and feeling a bit sad when I came across something I wrote when I first moved to cornland. God definitely put it back into my hands this afternoon. So I thought I would share it with you. Here it is:

We have been told this is what life is all about. Some of us hate it, while other thrive on it. No matter our feelings, if we live, it will happen. But, whoever told us life is all about change, lied.

I discovered this lie in recent months as my life changed dramatically. I was a single youth pastor focused on those lives God was bringing into my path. Now I live half way across the country from those teens and have been handed an entirely new ministry. I am engaged to a pastor. Yep, I'm going to be a pastor's wife. I packed my life into a moving truck, got lost in thought about my fiance' and moved far away from home.

I was at peace about this transition and adjusting fairly well to the small town until I looked around the church and discovered I had no place. My heart tells me to invest in the kids; however, God is placing far more then children in my path these days. I came home and sobbed. I told God I missed my family, my friends, and the disciples He had given me. Quite simply, I told God I missed my life.

Somewhere in the middle of my chaotic night, God spoke. He explained to me, I did not pack my life into a moving truck, nor did I leave it. My life was not even new. Just when I thought I was hallucinating, I was brilliant enough to open God's word. "For you have died and your life has been hidden with Christ in God." Years before I was a youth pastor my life became Christ's. He hid it for me with God. "When Christ, who is our life..." becomes a reality for us, we suddenly realize our life never changes. Our circumstances and surrounding do, but we are safe, we are loved, and we are still His.

Those boxes cannot hold my life. Jesus breaks the tape every time I try to put Him into one. He will not be confined or closed up. He will not be put in a corner or on a shelf. And He certainly will never allow us to cry out to Him that we miss our lives without running to meet us in our tears and reminding us He has never left. We may face hundreds of things on earth that shake us up and test our faith. Our life though is not shaken or tested. He who looses his life here on earth will find life in Christ. Life in Christ gives us love, hope, grace, and mercy. Life hidden with God is good and it is constant. "Jesus Christ IS the same yesterday, today, and forever." Our life was secure yesterday, it is secure today, and it will be secure for forever. The forever part happens to be my favorite.

Thanks for all your prayers. If you know Christ, treasure the fact that your life is hidden today with God. I cannot think of a safer place to hide something so precious. If you don't know Christ, I encourage you to talk with Him today. He loves you more then you can imagine.

Andrea's wedding

Here are a few pictures from Andrea's wedding. The bride and groom were beautiful and we are hoping they are having a fun honeymoon! I'll e-mail the rest of the pictures to the family soon. I'm leaving for Women of Faith tomorrow. I think we'll have a fun girls weekend. A lot of the girls from Bible Study and Church are going. I'm going to keep this short, I have a friend walking through the door as I'm typing. Have a great weekend!

Our prayer...

Dear Father,
We know so many people are hurting. We know there is nothing we can say or do to make the hurt stop. But God, You can comfort in ways unimaginable to us. Please do that right now. You know the name of every victim. Hold their families so close it is obvious to them that you have enveloped them in your arms. We are angry with the shooter, but we know, somewhere, someone loves him. Be with that mom tonight. Help her racing mind to quiet and allow her to sit curled in your lap. Remind us God that we are never satisfied with answers to a question of why? Remind us our questions should be centered on who? Who is coming again to rescue us? Who will abolish death and the grave forever? Who wipes away tears? Who holds hands? Who comforts? Who knows us? You do God. All we ask is that you be God in the lives of all who are touched by such a tragedy. You call death the enemy in your word Lord. Today we all agree with such a description. We trust you and thank you for the promise of your return; for the promise of eternal life for your children. Please show all of us how to help you comfort those who are hurt.
In Jesus' name,
Amen

Natalie's Easter Dress

This is Natalie in her Easter Dress. All day today we kept looking at her because she looks more and more like a toddler each day. She took one step yesterday. She was attempting to get a toy from her cousin Xander. She took another step towards Mollie later last night. It was so fun to have them to visit. I'll keep this one short and upload more pictures of them from the weekend later.

Standing alone

Here are pictures of Natalie today. She is "cruising" now around all the furniture, down the side of the bathtub, around the beds, and anywhere else she can reach. She appeared to be genuinely surprised earlier this week when she discovered she could stand up without holding on to anything. The picture on the right is of her standing all by herself. This is first picture she has let me take of her standing. She refuses to be still these days. I can't remember the last church service that I sat through. Tonight at the Good Friday service, she dropped her little toy ball. Since we were sitting near the back so I could make an escape, the ball bounced on the wood floor of the sanctuary and rolled all the way to the front. Of course Chris and the Methodist Pastor, Gordon, were both laughing up front while everyone else tried to pay attention. So Natalie and I made an exit. These are the good ol' days. Her shirt in these pictures says, "do you think I was born yesterday?" She is exerting so much independence these days that I think this shirt is appropriate. As Chris' family can tell, she is looking more and more like him. I'm quite sure she gets her stubbornness and inability to be still in church from his as well. :-)

For your amusement...

Today I had an epiphany. Okay, I'm back, I had to look up how to spell epiphany. A major realization of how much I have changed the last few years. Now in order to understand the epiphany, you must understand my day. It was a normal day for me. I left the house to meet with my first client. We discussed his daughter's health, she is 20 and they've found a lesion on her brain. I did a lot of listening. Then, my next client. She wanted to sell her TV at the pawn shop. I carried her TV out to the work van. I double check the tire that was flat yesterday. (A whole other story). We venture to the pawn shop and sell the TV. I've gotten to know the pawn shop guy recently through other clients. He is nice enough and quite talkative. My third client makes my life more interesting with each visit. I wrap up with her and start driving to group. I'm leading a group today on the benefits of laughter. My co-worker and I are eating lunch and doing final prep for group when our conversation is interrupted by a large chocolate lab in the office. He is followed by one of our most ill clients. Today he is in a motorized chair. I asked if he was there to the psychiatrist. He wasn't. We spent the next half hour chasing a dog and trying to figure out where this client's appointment is. Finally I tell him he can't have his dog at group so he leaves. About a minute went by and the phone rings. It's another co-worker saying that this client was supposed to be at an intake for drug treatment. He needs to be there in five minutes. These things are impossible to reschedule. So I step out the door to find him and tell him where he needs to be. He is two blocks down. Surely I can catch him, he's on a motorized chair. I start walking. Faster. Now I'm jogging. He's gone another block. Now I'm running. My flip flops are getting caught on the sidewalk. I'm running faster. Now I'm yelling for him and running. How fast can those stupid chairs go anyway? Still running. It's really hot. I have a million things to do. Now, I'm sprinting. Around a stop sign. Through the street. Down three blocks. And then, the epiphany. I used to be afraid of psychotic people chasing me. Now, I'm the one chasing them. What has happened to my life? I am chasing a high schizophrenic in a motorized chair down the street. His dog hears me first. The dog turns and starts running towards me. Finally the man hears me. I catch my breath and tell him where to go for his appointment. I walk back to the office. I put on my clown nose, grab a worksheet on the physiological effects of laughter and walk into the room full of mentally ill people. They are dressed in "normal" clothing, sitting appropriately and waiting for group. I'm out of breath, red cheeks, sore feet, wearing a clown a nose, wiping dog saliva off my shirt. And I thought they were the ones who needed help. :-)

Some ramblings of a tired woman...

Delta...delta...delta...
let me count the ways
Did it ever occur to you
Not to overbook your flight today?

My husband is a pastor
My daughter is eight months old
Because of your liquid restrictions
I must find a store where formula is sold.

And as we drove to Target
The taxi driver was so nice
He didn't run the meter
He just charged us 16.50 twice.

Don't worry your nice agent told us
You'll fly out tomorrow instead
Visions of Natalie in a hotel
We're dancing inside my head.

Back to the airport on Sunday
You have no seats for this plane
Look nice lady at the counter
I'm about to go insane.

Get me to Omaha now
Get me to Omaha today
This is not a fun game anymore
This is not a fun game to play

Dr. Seuss says to make it fun
We just need to say a rhyme
So thanks for the vouchers delta
we'll fly something else next time.

You can obviously tell we had a long trip home. But the real reason I'm blogging is to update you all on our little adventure last week. We think we've found a house. Well, we know we've found a house that we love, but we have to wait for all the paperwork and such. It was a long, but good week. We looked at dozens of houses, met one fabulous real estate agent, and soaked up sunshine in the city we will soon call home. We are starting to realize the level of culture shock we are about to experience. Traffic lights irritate me more then I can explain. I don't go through any on my way to work right now. Starbucks excites me. But, after signing our money away to the mortgage company, I am quite sure that I can only stand outside Starbucks and try to inhale the caffeine. Interestingly enough, for a big city, people were nicer. There is such a difference in the south. The Midwest is not unfriendly, but they don't go out of their way, telling their two boys on a crowded shuttle to stand up because she is a "lady" and that's what you do, friendly. We are nervous and excited. God is so obviously taking care of the church here. Two weeks ago, Pastor Moses, from Africa called our current church secretary, just to let her know that his congregation is praying for the church here as they look for a new pastor. They are praying in Africa. God is so very in control. And as things wrap up here, I must remind myself of that all the time. God is good. God is God. He knows His plans. It's nice to know that as we experience culture shock, we serve a God who is never shocked, by anything. Not even by my own behavior, at a Delta counter, venting to my poor tired husband. What an awesome God we serve.

a few quick pictures

Going on a walk with my Daddy, I loved it so much and worked so hard that I had to take a nap...

I am now pulling myself up on everything. This picture is of my first really good bruise. It scared Dad and Mom, but I hardly cried at all. Why would I cry? I have a million other things to discover...

This is one last pic from our snow storm two weeks ago. This is Mommy and Me beside the driveway after they dug the car out of the driveway.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers for the family I mentioned in my last blog, please continue to pray for them.



On a very different topic, we are leaving tomorrow to go house shopping. Please pray for God's guidance and wisdom as we look. Our goal is to find a nice house and one that we can afford without me working. I would love to stay home with Natalie. So we just ask for your prayers that we will be exactly where God wants us. Thanks, we love you all.

Come.

As I am typing this, I am overcome with sadness. I need to go to bed. I need to pray and read my Bible. I need to journal, so I sit here, with a modern day pen and paper. I feel sad and confused down to my core. I walked into work this morning and heard the words, "horrible accident." He was sixteen months old. His mom ran inside to get his jacket. His nine year old sister couldn't scream loud enough for dad to hear her. He raced to meet his daddy. And as his Daddy backed up into the driveway he felt the bump. He jumped out of his car and lifted his Suburban off of him. Mom came racing back outside and they started CPR. She is a hospice nurse, he is an EMT. They knew. Life flight was called, but they didn't fly. He was gone. They sat in a hospital for several hours waiting on a coroner. Friends and family congregated. Two of our workers were called. When they arrived they saw the family in the room. Mom was still holding the baby, like she would for the next several hours. I can only imagine that for her this weekend has been one long blur of a nightmare. The funeral tomorrow will have one tiny little casket that could never hold all of the hope for this little life and all of the sadness of it gone so quickly. It was a moment. A minute. A second. Sixteen months. Gone. It's so tempting to ask why. I don't even know them personally and I'm asking God why? Why, never ever gets us anywhere. We are never satisfied with any answer from that question. Answers just lead to more whys? I have to cling to Who? Who is in control? God. Who is love? God. Who holds us better then anyone? God. Who conquered death? God, through his Son, Jesus. Who is coming back to wake up the sixteen year old? God. Who gets to be with all of them forever? Those of us who are God's children; who know Him as Savior. God. I held Natalie for a long time tonight. I cried for that family. I cried for myself. I cried at my thankfulness and selfishness that it was not her. I cried at her touch, her smell, her body curled against mine. I finally made myself lay her down. I knelt by her crib and prayed over her. Who did I give her to? God. As hard as it is to imagine, He loves her more then I do. And He loves me. And He loves this hurting family. He will always walk with us, grieve with us. He calls death the enemy because it is. God is bigger. God will crush it. Death was victorious last Friday, but one day, death itself will cease to exist. Tonight I claim that for this family. For us all. God will return. We do not grieve as those who have no hope. He will raise the dead. We will be reunited for eternity. This Mom and Dad, they took their daughter to school today. They helped her explain what a horrible accident means. Who gives grieving parents the strength to do that? God. They trust Him. Please pray that He will make Himself known to them in undeniable ways for the rest of their lives. That is how long they will grieve. Unless of course, He comes back before then. And I have no doubt this Mom will hold her baby , full of life, for forever. Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Reason 742- to stay here...

Yes, for every reason to move, there is a reason to stay. Our friend Gail, came and dug us out with a bobcat. Men were driving these things all over town yesterday digging everyone out. It didn't matter if they knew you or not, they helped. The farmers are struggling to get to their animals, the animals can't find the hay to eat, gates are covered by snow drifts. And yet, more people, helping. Other farmers who can get to hay are driving tractors long distances to help their neighbor. As Gail finished our driveway he told me he met a new family Thursday night. I asked him where? He said, "at my house, Candy (Gail's wife) brought them home from the gas station. Apparently they were stranded and were able to make it to Villisca. They were asking where the hotel is. Most of you know, there isn't one anywhere close to town. And by that point all the roads were closed. So Gail says, they had four more people plus a dog. Amazing. People just open their homes here and take in strangers. I said that to Gail and he says, well it's always fun to meet new people. So there it is, in my moment of wanting to stay here, the very man who is making me want to stay tells me why we are going. God says to, and well, it's always fun to meet new people.




Reason 743- to leave...
This is snow we got last night. The bobcats are out growling again today...

Reason 742

There is a long list of reasons we are moving. The weather is 742. We've literally been in a blizzard warning all day today. Interstates have been closed, winds are 40-50 miles an hour, snow falling constantly, and meteorologists who couldn't be more excited then children unsupervised in a toy store. We've had a great snow day. The beauty of Iowa is that the roads will probably be drivable tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures. (for the record, the one of Natalie is from a snow storm last weekend, I didn't have her out in the wind today.) :)

Jacksonville Bound

Natalie in her high chair enjoying lunch.
Natalie standing up to show off her pretty dress. Take note of her yellow nose, from eating too many carrots. She loves her orange veggies. It's been peas and spinach this week for this girl.
Have I mentioned that she is a true Daddy's girl?
She loves to "zerbert" Daddy's belly.
Standing all by herself, Daddy isn't helping her at all.

Well, most of you know, some of you don't, probably more of you know then we realize, but in case you don't...we are moving to Jacksonville. I am excited, scared, sad, happy, ready and not all wrapped into one. If I could pack up the people here and take them with us, it would be perfect. The Church there seems amazing and we are excited to minister with them. Please pray for us as we transition and prepare to move. We are going house hunting in late March and are very nervous about this. We bought the Home Buying for Dummies book so we could learn something. :) I don't have much time to type more, but I'll keep you updated.

Here are a bunch of recent pictures of Natalie. She started crawling last night and each time gets better and better. She can pull herself up to stand and can stand without help for about 10 seconds. She is growing so very fast. Enjoy the pictures. We love you all!

And Natalie is up...

Just a quick update to let you all know that Natalie can now pull herself up on anything. She learned this new trick today and gets better each time she does it. We are just trying to get her to crawl. I think she believes crawling is for the dogs and has other plans. We started babyproofing the rest of the house today. Pray for us. :) We love you all!

I fought the carrots...

We had a rather messy experience with carrots the other day. Natalie had them all over her hands and decided to wipe her face. We had to get a picture of this one. She is growing fast. She can now get into the crawling position. She even crawled backwards a little this weekend. She mostly assumes the position and just rocks back and forth. We are excited for this, but trying to baby proof the house before the first move. She is also drinking from a sippy cup, which she thinks is loads of fun. We hear lots of da da, ba ba, and bye bye these days too. She is waiving, much to the delight of our golden girls at church. At first, I didn't think she was intending to wave, but after really watching her, she knows exactly what she is doing. Well, I must go, I hear Miss Natalie crying. Nap time and Mommy's quite time is over. We love you all and Padre', we are praying for you!