We are excited to announce that we now have a baby boy. He was born September 26 at 7:35 pm after 21 hours of labor.
He was 7 lbs 12 1/2 oz and 20 inches long.
We had a water birth for the first time and I would definitely do it again!
His sisters are so excited to have a baby brother!
And a proud Papa.
Thank you, Lord, for such a wonderful blessing!
After 3 failed attempts to sell our house in the last 7 years God sold our house in 2 days last week! Wednesday morning our last realtor called to see if we might still be interested in selling our house for the price we had it listed at last December. If so, could he show it that afternoon or Thursday? Well, there was no way we were going to get it ready by that afternoon so I agreed to a Thursday afternoon showing. The engaged couple came at 5:15 pm to look at the house. Shortly after 7 pm that night we had an offer. We countered their offer Friday morning and had a signed contract around 3 pm Friday afternoon!
As long as everything goes through we will close July 16th. We will be moving in with my in-laws until after the baby is born and take the time to save up some money and figure out what we are going to do from there.
I never would have imagined we would be getting ready to move this summer! In fact on Tuesday I was talking with a friend about our house situation and how we still wanted to get out of this house. All that afternoon I was thinking if we are ever going to sell this house God is going to have to sell it for us. And that is exactly what happened!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Just wanted to post a quick note to let you all know that we are expecting blessing #6 to arrive in September. We heard the heartbeat a couple weeks ago and everything seems to be going well.
Hope you are well and maybe I’ll have time to write more often on here. I have posted a few recipes and thoughts on www.investmentcooking.com.
Dh & I have been enjoying the video set we got from Franklin Springs Media. I think our favorite of the ones we’ve watched so far is A Journey Home. It is about a father who takes his family out of suburban life to live among the “plain people.” With 11 kids, they learned to farm without electricity or other modern conveniences in an attempt to prepare their family to serve in Israel. In one of the outtakes the mom comments that the first couple of years God was burning away the dross, refining them as gold. As dh & I have been struggling with what we should be doing with our lives we can not help but wonder how God is refining us and preparing us for his work.
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Php 1:6 ESV)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:10 ESV)
I Will Never Be the Same Again
Geoff Bullock
I will never be the same again,
I can never return, I’ve closed the door.
I will walk apart, I’ll run the race
And I will never be the same again.
I will never be the same again,
I can never return, I’ve closed the door.
I will walk apart, I’ll run the race
And I will never be the same again.
Fall like fire, soak like rain,
Flow like mighty waters, again and again.
Sweep away the darkness, burn away the chaff,
And let a flame burn to glorify Your name.
There are higher heights, there are deeper seas,
Whatever you need to do, Lord do in me.
The Glory of God fills my life,
And I will never be the same again.
Fall like fire, soak like rain,
Flow like mighty waters, again and again.
Sweep aways the darkness, burn away the chaff
And let a flame burn to glorify Your name.
Fall like fire, soak like rain,
Flow like mighty waters, again and again.
Sweep away the darkness, burn away the chaff,
And let a flame burn to glorify Your name.
I will never be the same again,
I can never return, I’ve closed the door.
I will walk the path, I will run the race
And I will never be the same again.
And I will never be the same again.
And I will never be the same again.
Refiner’s Fire
Chorus:
Refiner’s fire
My heart’s one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will
Have you had one of those weeks when each day you think surely the worst of it is over but then something else happens? Last week was one of those weeks for me but reflecting on it I see God working in our lives through all the yuck.
We went camping over the weekend and had a great time but when it was time to leave my in-laws house after dropping off the camper the car battery was dead. Not too big of a deal my fil helped replace the battery since dh needed to get to evening services at church to teach and all in all we just got home a couple hours later than I had hoped.
Then early Monday morning we awoke to 3potato vomiting. She was sick most of the morning but seemed fine after that. We were happy that it seemed to be a small bug and didn’t take over the whole family. (Thank you, Lord!)
Oh and while camping a piece of my molar broke off (I’ve been meaning to get to the dentist but just hadn’t made it there yet). My tooth was hurting quite a bit by this point.
Tuesday, I thought I’d get an early start on the laundry since we had camping laundry on top of sick laundry to get done. I ran the first load and went in the laundry room to move it to the dryer and the floor was flooded! My wonderful fil came over and checked the washer over & found it was the pump! We have been thinking we need to replace the washer & dryer soon (they were 12 years old). The dryer had been acting up some but we thought we had a little more time. So… we got on Craig’s List and started looking up machines. I’ve been really wanting a front loader. I contacted one guy who ended up having his machines at a storage place less than 2 miles from our house! We had cash in the bank to pay for it and were able to help this family out who had their house foreclosed and couldn’t use their machines anymore after having them for only 5 months! We are the proud owners of Whirlpool Duet Sport HT Frontloader washer and dryer. I love them! The cycles are so much shorter. It uses less water and electricity and I can get more laundry done. Another blessing in disguise—we had the new washer & dryer hooked up by the end of the evening.
Wednesday—I was up half the night with the pain in my tooth. I knew I had to deal with it for sure today. The dentist my mil & dh liked was closed on Wednesdays so I decided I better go back to the dentist I went to in June even though I hated it. I prayed that I would get a different dentist and that it would all work out. I called as soon as they opened and was able to get an appointment for 9:50 am. Dh came home from work to watch the girls for me. Turns out the 9:50 appointment was just with the general dentist confirming that yes in fact my tooth needed to be pulled but I would have to come back at 1:30 to see the oral surgeon. So at 1:30 the oral surgeon said he could pull both of the teeth I needed pulled (the molar & a baby tooth that never came out) but he couldn’t do it until 3.
So I came back at 3 and got in at 3:30. I elected to have the laughing gas because I was so worried about this. (I’d never had dental work before.) He started with my baby tooth and it came out without too much trouble. He decided to take a break for a couple minutes after that tooth and while we waited I became really shaking. He turned off the gas but I could seem to break out of the shaky feeling so he decided I better come back next week to get the other tooth out. I called dh & had him come pick me up since I didn’t feel able to drive.
Dh was furious that they didn’t take out the tooth that was hurting me! They didn’t change my bill or anything. So he called up the dental office and talked to the office manager and the dentist himself to communicate his displeasure with their service. All said and done the dentist said if dh brought me back he would remove the other tooth that night. So that’s what we did. I didn’t have any gas the second time and did much better.
Thursday, my inlaws brought me some groceries including soft foods and helped with the girls for a little bit. Then they took 1potato to her piano lesson and 2potato for the ride. I was able to get a good nap in and recover some. Then my mom brought me some yummy tapioca pudding that evening! It defintely helped the ibuprofen go down easier.
Friday, 4potato threw up once but seemed fine after that.
God was there with me through the whole week and I did feel his presence even through all of the yuck. I just pray that this week will be much better and that we can get back on track with our schoolwork!
We’ve been having lots of discussions about church at our house lately. Please go visit my dh’s blog and comment on what you think church is.
I hope you are having a wonderful day celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Here are the words to a song that I love that expresses the gospel so wonderfully:
In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light, my strength, my song
This cornerstone, this solid ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love, what depths of peace
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease
My comforter, my all in all
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
Verse 2:
In Christ alone, who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless Babe
This gift if love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
‘Til on the cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ in I live
Verse 3:
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then, bursting forth in glorious day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost it’s grip on me
For I am His and He us mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ
Verse 4:
No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
‘Til He returns or calls me home
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand
Thank you Lord for your grace!
Here are some pictures of our girls in their Easter dresses
Here are some pictures just for fun:
2potato’s sweet face
3potato enjoying Adventures in Odyessy: Eyewitness Bible stories
4potato looking so big! She’ll be 3 next week!
On Christmas morning after we opened our gifts we counted up the money we saved all year. Plus final donations from everyone including our family that was here visiting.
We were suprised to find that we had over $500! Everyone got to participate in deciding what we would give from the gift catalog and here’s what we decided to get:
We pray that God will multiply our effort and bless the recipients of these humble gifts abundantly.
A new year is just beginning and I have such high hopes for this new year! Here’s my list:
1. Seek the LORD more. Consistently read my Bible every day and take captive each thought for the LORD.
2. Learn to show dh respect in a way that communicates my love for him.
3. Keep a cleaner home. My first step for this is to keep my kitchen counter cleared off. This is a big Hot Spot for me and I am determined to win the war against clutter on this spot.
4. Be a thermostat instead of a thermomentor in our home.
5. Assist dh is acheiving our dream of a small house/big yard. We want to sell our current house and buy a house in “the country” but still close enough to town for dh to easily commute to work.
