Happy Halloween!

Hope Everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!

Families on Mission

As previously posted, Jared and I got to drive to Nashville last Thursday to meet Elli and then had to turn around and drive right back to Kentucky the same night. Some of you may have wondered why the trip was cut so short.

Well, Jared and I had the privilege of taking a group from our church to Eastern KY for the church's first ever "Family Focused" Mission trip. We had 19 people from 6 families who attended.

So, why Eastern KY? Well, several of the nation's poorest counties are located in the mountains of Eastern KY. The coal mining industry used to be booming in a lot of these places, but due to the local mines shutting down and the lack of other gainful employment, many of these areas have no source of consistent income. This creates both a great spiritual and physical need for the people in these ares.

We teamed up with an organization called Club 180 Ministries. This organization has several different things going on including a teen parenting program, a coffee shop caleed "Cafe 180," an after school program called "Excel 180" and a gymnastics program called "Flip 180." You should definitely check out the 180 Ministries Web site by clicking here.

Our group did several different things to help out the 180 Ministries. One group of girls spent their whole day going through bags of donated clothes and organizing them for placement in the 180 teen pregnancy center. Teens who are pregnant have the opportunity to take parenting classes, attend Bible Studies and do various other things to earn points. Once they have enough points, they have the chance to go Shopping.

Another thing some people from our group did was sort through some of the many donations that Club 180 has received. This is an important job, because it is hard to function when things are not in order!

Some of the handy men tackled the construction projects that desperately needed to be done. One of those was the installation of a drop ceiling in the upstairs office. These guys overcame many frustrations and worked so hard to make sure everything was done well. They worked all the way through the fall festival until everything was done.

Our kids and remaining adults spent most of the day cleaning up a local park and getting things ready for 180's community Fall Festival. Our kids did a great job of working hard without complaining! They swept and mopped things inside, picked up garbage outside, raked an old volleyball court to make it suitable for playing and all kinds of things. Even after all that hardwork and exhaustion, they were troopers. They played with lots of kids at the Fall Festival and never once complained about being cold! Me and 2 other ladies spent our night grilling and serving 120 cheeseburgers, brownies, chips and drinks. People just couldn't believe it was actually free!

While we were there we had the opportunity to stay at a place called "United for Jesus." This organization has taken an Old Middle School and turned it into a bunk house. We weren't sure what to expect, but everything turned out wonderful. Besides having no heat, the facility was wonderful!

So, even though we would have loved to spend the weekend with our brand new neice, God had a different plan for our weekend and it was great. We had the chance to spend the weekend teaching future missionaries how to serve the Lord! What greater thing could there be? But, needless to say, after making our trip to and back from Nashville and then spending the weekend working hard, we were pretty tired. I think this picture says it all!

Sweet Baby Girl

Well, I realize that I am partial, but isn't this just the cutest little girl in the world? I can't wait to see her again!

Meeting Ellianna

Well, as many of you know, I was not going to be able to go home yesterday for the birth of my neice. But, at about 3:30 I just couldn't take it anymore! So, Jared and I Jumped in the car at about 5:00 yesterday and drove to Nashville to meet this beautiful little girl!Ellianna Michelle was born at 12:23pm central time on October 23 and was 17 3/4 inches long. She weighed 4 pounds and 15 ounces, which is a correction from my previous blog post.

She was not expected to be so tiny. At Sara's ultrasound 2 weeks ago, the baby measured at 5 1/2 pounds. So, it was quite a suprise that she was so small. But, she is healthy and happy! Right now she is just spending lots of time in the incubator to keep her body temperature up.

Hopefully I will have lots more pictures to post soon. Right now I just have these from my camera phone. We actually remembered to take our camera this time, but we forgot to use it!

It's a Girl!

Well, that's not really a suprise but I couldn't think of a better title. I don't have any pictures to post yet and don't have a whole lot of details for you at this time. But, Ellianna was born this afternoon around 1:00pm central time. She was only 4 pounds and 8 ounces so she was immediately rushed to neonatal ICU as a precaution, but the baby and my sister are doing well for now. So, if you think about it, say a little prayer for Sara and Elli. Hopefully they will both have a restful night.

I will post more info soon!

It's Time to Have a Baby...for my sister, that is.

Well, at this time tomorrow, my big sister will be in pre-op, preparing for her C-section. Hopefully she won't kill me for sharing this snippet of the email she sent me yesterday:

"...The doctor scheduled my c-section for 12:30 on Thursday, so by 12:40 she'll be here, my insides may still be hanging out, but we'll have a baby."

As you can tell, she is in good spirits. Hopefully sometime tomorrow I will be able to post a new pic of my brand new niece Ellianna Michelle.

If you think of Sara today, send up a little prayer for her. I know she is nervous and excited all at the same time! Isn't she gorgeous, though? She glows as a woman truly blessed by God!

C-A-R-dS-C-A-R-dS-Go-Cards-Go!

This is the chant that Jared and I got to hear over and over Saturday as we sat in a sea of Cardinal fans at the MTSU v. Louisville Cardinal football game. We went to the game with some friends of ours from church and, despite the fact that our alma mater MTSU got killed, we had a really good time. Here are some pics from the very cold day! (Of course, we forgot our camera as usual, so these are the best we could do with Jared's phone!)

The Cutest Puppy in the World

Well, I don't really have a whole lot to say today other than, I have the best husband in the world (thanks for the sweet message!) and I have the cutest puppy ever. Since you've already seen proof of the first, let me give you some proof of the latter.

This is our baby boy Asher. Most of you have already had the privilege of meeting him. He just graduated from Obedience School with our next door neighbor Molly (a cute little weiner dog that belongs to our Pastor and his wife). The two of them were the best in their class! At least, I think they were :) Since starting Obedience School, Asher sits for pictures much better than he used to and has been behaving much better over all.

Now, it has turned pretty cold here the past couple of days, so for Asher's graduation present, I decided to buy him a new sweater.

As you can tell from this picture, he was less than thrilled about it. I love this face...I can almost hear him saying, "Seriously...you're taking my picture in this thing?" But, I think it's cute and that's all that matters. The only problem is that the sweater is a little bit small. I bought him an XL and I could barely get it on him. So, Asher can't grow anymore...I don't know if they make doggy sweaters in XXXL!

Anyway, tata for now!

Sometimes I just don't get it...you know?

(evidently this guy doesn't get it either)

I haven't spent quality time with my wife since Monday. It's Heritage Week at Southern Seminary. This may not mean much to you, but it can make things hard for us. I spend 12-14 hour days at the seminary during this week helping out as part of my responsibilities. I meet all kinds of great people who support Southern in many different ways. These people are what God uses to keep the great quality of professors at Southern, and still keep tuition rates lower than most seminaries. In other words, this is what helps keep Southern the best and largest seminary in the world. Also, Preview Conference started today. That means 3 more days that I won't get to see my wife. I get to hang out with prospective students all day hearing amazing stories of what and how God is working. These things are important, and I know they are part of my current calling; however, I know my current calling is not limited to these responsibilities. Obviously, I'm married and must be the spiritual leader of my home as well. I have been trying to figure out how to balance all this stuff for a long time. I have failed miserably in the past.





I told you that to set this up. This is an attempt to publicly balance these things.





To Katie: I miss you so much. I got home tonight to wake you up so I could kiss you good night. I hate that! Lately, you have challenged, encouraged, and strengthened me toward love and good deeds. I'm tired, sick, cranky, and not around this week; however, you have poured out your love on me. Sometimes I just don't get it. I don't get how we could be such great friends. I don't get how we could be such polar opposites, but at the same time be so similar. I don't get how your smile automatically makes me smile. I don't get how come you do so much for me and don't expect anything in return. I don't get how you can calm me down so quickly when I'm mad. I don't get how you can encourage me so faithfully when I'm down. I don't get how we can look at the same passage of scripture, see two different things, and both of them be relevant. I don't get how whatever you like automatically becomes something I like. I don't get why we work so well together. I don't get why for the first time in my life I'd rather sit down and have a conversation rather than watch TV. I don't get why we have so much more than we deserve. I don't get why you care so much. I don't get why your joy is contagious. I don't get why you took me back when we were dating after "the accident." I don't get why you put up with all the baggage I brought into our marriage. I don't get why whatever you cook is a gourmet meal. I don't get why you pick me up after I've fallen into the "miry clay." I just don't get it. I don't understand why. I am perplexed. I am confused. I am dumbfounded. I am silenced. I am humbled. I am awestruck. I just don't get why God would give me you.

Two Years...going on Fifty

On Monday Jared and I celebrated 2 years of blissful marriage. We celebrated the occassion by taking the day off from our busy lives and going up to Cincinnati to start some Christmas shopping and visit the Ikea store. Now, being the forgetful person that I am, we forgot to take the camera, but here are a few cell phone shots of our day.

We ate lunch at a place called Uno's. Their specialty is Chicago Style Pizza. It was so good. This shot is about halfway through our meal. I took a picture of Jared taking a huge bite of pizza, but apparentally I deleted it because it is no longer on my phone :(

This is the Ikea store. There's one in Atlanta and one in Cincinnati. It is basically a Swedish furniture warehouse. It is absolutely unlike any place I've ever been. It is 2 floors of the cutest and cheapest furniture you've ever seen. I would highly recommend visiting an Ikea store even if you're not in the market for new furniture.

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Once we got home, we spent the evening eating dinner and watching a movie in our pj's...the perfect end to a great day!

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On our drive to Cincinnati, we got to talking about how we feel like it was just yesterday that we were walking down the aisle to say our "I Do's." But, at the same time, it's hard to remember life before marriage. It truly feels like we've been together forever. Most days, that's a good thing!

Just an Update

I just wanted to give you a quick update...Norah is a big sister! All of the money was raised, Charlotte Marie was born Sunday and the family of 3 became 4. What a blessing! Check out their story and see pictures here.

$12,000 in 48 Hours

Meet Norah. Norah is the little girl of some very good friends of ours back in Tennessee, Brad and Alison. Norah was adopted a little over a year ago and has been such a blessing to their family. Well, I got an email this morning that Norah's birthmother has contacted Brad and Alison to see if they would be interested in adopting Norah's full biological sybling...who is due any day now. Isn't God awesome?! This is such a great opportunity for Brad and Alison, who endured a lot in their process to adopt their first child before finding Norah. They are very excited and plan to go forward with adopting Norah's sibling. The only catch in the whole things is that, as many of you know, adoption is very expensive. Brad and Alison have 48 hours to come up with $12,000 dollars. So, I encourage you to check out their blog and then, if you feel compelled, there is a link to make a donation to their cause.

By the way, I stole this ADORABLE picture from Brad and Alison's photo blog. Alison is a very talented photographer, and I couldn't resist snagging this pic for my post!

Missing Mammaw

Well, today marks the 1 year anniversary of the sudden passing of Jared's Mammaw Norma. She was a really great lady and a wonderful mammaw to her 5 grandsons. Mammaw was always so much fun...you never really knew what she might say or do, but you always knew she'd put a smile on your face!

It is hard to believe it has been a year since she went on to spend eternity with her Savior. Mammaw, we love and miss you dearly!