Please don't die of shock! I haven't posted in FOREVER... then two posts in an hour?!?!?! I KNOW!!!
Since the Christmas letter:
We have SO enjoyed our church services with our new pastor. We love Bro. Lonnie, but there's just some differences in the way a mid-60 year old man does things, and the way a 28 year old man does things! :-) Pastor Dave has made quite a few changes, and we are loving them! Our church feels more alive and vibrant now... though many times I wonder if a lot of it isn't my own heart becoming more alive and vibrant! Last night, we started the Master Clubs for the kids on Wednesday nights. I am really excited about this... even though we don't have kids of our own. I think it will be a great discipleship tool for our children, and will be such a tremendous benefit to our church as a whole!
My job situation has changed, once again, and I no longer have work again. We are praying that I will be able to find something more stable, soon, and closer to home. I miss the little one {I think he was possibly the sweetest baby EVER}, but I sure don't miss the hour one way commute. We'll see what God does!
Thankfully, the dealership business has picked up some, so that is a blessing. There is nothing new as far as we're concerned with the full-time ministry position. We were told this week that our name had been recommended to someone, but we personally have not heard anything from them, so we're just waiting on the Lord.
The situation with the Jeep (that was in the accident) is a huge mess, too. Thankfully we got a lawyer right away to help deal with the situation. Chris was rear-ended, and the other person's insurance agent is only claiming less than 50% liability, which is a joke... and not a very funny one at that! :-( I know that God will take care of all of that, but sometimes things are just downright ridiculous! On the blessing side of things as far as that is concerned... Chris' boss has been kind enough to let him drive a vehicle from the dealership for a while until we get this all settled. We had a rental car until 12/30, and since then Chris has been driving one of their vehicles. Also, Chris was not seriously hurt (as in nothing was broken, etc.,) though his back and neck have been bothering him pretty consistently since then. He is being treated by a chiropractor, and also gets massage therapy there, so he doesn't complain too much! Those massages are AWESOME!
We are still also contemplating the vehicle situation, since my lease is up in April, and the whole thing with the Jeep. We are trying to be good stewards and decrease our outgoing bills in preparation to go back into full-time ministry. The LAST thing we want is to hinder God's will for our lives because a car payment was too much! Please keep us in prayer in that regard!
We have been busy with other things, as well... youth activities {Laser Tag}, stamping parties & a Pampered Chef party for me, football parties {SEC Championship & BCS Championship... ROLLLLLL TIDE!!!}, having friends over for homemade pizza and RAGE, fellowshipping in general {since our Sunday evening service was moved to 6pm from 7pm, it makes it a lot easier to get together with people after church Sunday night}, and this past weekend we babysat Dakota from Friday night through Sunday. It's been busy, but very enjoyable!
We were thrilled last night to have a visitor in church with us. Our massage therapist at our chiropractor's office had told us that she was looking for a church, and lo and behold, we know of an EXCELLENT one! :-) We pray that she felt welcome, and will be integrated in our church soon! :-)
In family news... we are thrilled to be having a new niece or nephew due August 1st, Lord willing. My brother, Steve & his wife, Kathryn, are expecting baby #2! It was funny as I was writing the Christmas letter, I was thinking that this was the 1st year in a while that no one on either side of our family was expecting a baby or had a baby this year. Well, about a week after the letter was written and printed, we found out about Steve's baby! :-) We are also looking forward to a family reunion of my mom's side of the family the 1st weekend of August for my grandparent's 50th Anniversary, Lord willing. My grandma will be 82 the end of March, and my grandpa will be 92 in September. We are also waiting for the news of an engagement of one of Chris' family members... ;-) I hope it will be coming soon!
Well, I think that's about it for us! I know I don't update this often... it's because I am now addicted to Facebook! So if you want to know what's really going on with us... look us up on FB or we both have Twitter accounts now, too!
Since it is now 2:14am, I think I might be able to sleep. Good morning, everyone! :-)
1.28.2010
A little belated Merry Christmas 2009 and Happy New Year from the Mitchells
Dear Family and Friends,
Christmas 2009 (written Dec. 3)
Merry CHRISTmas to you all! We trust this past year has been a good one for you, and that you are enjoying the Christmas season. Our year, as always, has been eventful (like most people’s lives!) We have been able to enjoy many events and also many blessings. Of course, we have had some rough patches as well, but God has proved Himself faithful as always. I’m so thankful for a personal relationship with the God who never changes!
Many things in our lives have stayed mostly the same… same church, same jobs, same address… which is a miracle for us! As a matter of fact, this year made it the longest that we have ever lived in one place and one address in our married life!
We continue to work at the same jobs, but Chris has been given more and more responsibility as a manager at Cross Chrysler/Jeep. These past 3 months have been really slow, but God continues to provide. I still work as a nurse with special needs kids, but had a lot of changes in my cases this year, including almost 2 months of no work. It was nice to be home and have more opportunity for ministry and projects, but not so nice for the checkbook! :-) I know MANY of you know how that is! November 10th I started another case that is M-F, 7a-3p. Not too bad, until I found out it was an HOUR away! It’s been a struggle for me to get up early, but God is teaching me to be dependent on HIM to get through the days! I’m tired! I’ve also been sick off and on for the past 6 weeks… pink eye, two ear infections, and a horrible cough for about 3 weeks! Thankfully, I am FINALLY feeling better!
We continue to serve in the same ministries in our church here as well. This past Wednesday was our beloved pastor’s last service after serving as pastor for 37 years here at Shawnee. We are looking forward to what God will do as our new pastor, Bro. Dave Delaney, takes up the torch. Pastor Dave was our youth pastor for 5 years, so we already know and love him. Chris also has started singing solos in our church, which is an honor for him!
Other than our normal everyday work and church, here are the highlights from our year:
January - we had an ice storm at the end of January. I know for those of you up north, that’s not really a big deal. However, down here, they aren’t really prepared for this kind of weather! Thousands of people were without power for over a week! Thankfully, we were not one of that group, so we opened our home for a few days to some friends who were without power.
February - Chris sister, Tiffany, came for a long weekend the last weekend in February to spend some time with us. We had a blast! Unfortunately, Chris had to work most of the time.
April - I was COMPLETELY surprised on the 14th when Chris came in the door from work carrying a 4 month old little girl… our niece, Raegan! Chris sister, Kim, and her daughter, Korissa then stepped out from behind him! They came to visit us for a week while her husband was overseas on business. We were thrilled to be able to meet Raegan, and SO enjoyed having them here. Korissa LOVED “Uncle Chis” (pronounced kiss) and always wanted to be wherever he was. While they were visiting, we were able to enjoy Thunder over Louisville… the fireworks kick-off to Kentucky Derby Festival. The girls did really well through the fireworks, too! The house seemed a bit more quiet and lonely when they went home! At the end of the month, I was able to attend the Sword of the Lord Ladies’ Jubilee in Murfreesboro, TN. It was a great time of spiritual encouragement and refreshment.
May - The first weekend of May is the Kentucky Derby, so we always try to “get out of Dodge” for the weekend. This year, we took a quick road trip to Atlanta to attend a game at Turner Field. We were able to have lunch with my Uncle Dave, and then meet up with some friends on Sunday for church. The next weekend, we flew to Maryland to see my best friend. That trip was my Valentine’s/Mother’s Day gift from Chris. It was a wonderful long weekend, but went MUCH too quickly!
June - On June 30th, I headed to Cincinnati to meet up with my Gma & Gpa Decker at the Creation Museum. They came down from MN with a group from their church. It was 2 years to the day since I had seen them. Again, the time went WAY too quickly, but it was such a blessing to see them again!
July- We celebrated Independence Day at our camp, Indian Creek. Chris was thrilled with the opportunity to preach the service there that night. On July 24th, we celebrated our 9th anniversary (hard to believe it’s been that long already!) by staying here and visiting sights in Louisville. We went to the Mega Caverns, the Louisville Slugger Museum (we just couldn’t do an anniversary WITHOUT some kind of baseball!) J We walked around downtown enjoying the time together, and then ended the evening at Morton’s Steakhouse, where everyone that served us in any way said “Happy Anniversary” to us! We thought that was pretty cool!
August - We started out the month with the 25th Youth Conference at Shawnee. Having 1,000 teens at your church for the week just to hear preaching is pretty amazing! That Thursday, we had a major flood! They were calling a Flood Emergency (which I had never even heard of), telling everyone to stay wherever they were to avoid getting caught in flood waters. Crazy weather this year! Also, that week, I was able to visit with a dear friend who was in town for her granddaughter’s birth, as well as one of the little boys (and the family) that I worked for in Maryland.
That Saturday, we flew down to West Palm Beach, FL, to visit Chris’ sister, Sandy, & family for vacation. We made a couple visits to the beach, and attended a Marlins’ game and Rays’ baseball game. At the Marlins’ game (which was also Chris’ birthday), we made it onto the BIG SCREEN at the field for the 1st time! We discovered that it helps to have very few fans at the game, great seats close, and an adorable 4 yr old nephew! J It was a wonderful vacation!
October - October was a busy month for us, with something going on every weekend! We attended a University of Louisville football game (my first big-time college football game), one of the biggest high school football rivalry games in the country (St. X vs. Trinity), Youth Retreat (which Chris actually took off work for), and then I was able to meet up with a college friend and visit for the day. It was so fun! The last event of October was Trunk-or-Treat. We participated this year by actually decorating our “trunk” (the back of Chris’ Jeep) with a replica of his car dealership!
November - We started up the month of November by heading up to the Upper Peninsula of MI to visit my brother, Greg & his family. My nephew, Caden, had just turned 13 months, and we hadn’t met him yet! We were able to spend a week with them. It was probably one of the most relaxing vacations we’ve had in a while! Unfortunately, both Aksana & Caden got sick, as did I! We went to Tahquamenon Falls on Saturday, and it was a GORGEOUS day (for the UP). We spent Thanksgiving Day with some friends of ours in Cincinnati, OH. With the nature of Chris’ job, we don’t get to travel far for the holiday season, so it was wonderful to be with friends for the holiday.
The most recent thing that has happened is that Chris was involved in a major car accident on 11/29/09 on the way home from church. I was home sick with a terrible earache. Chris says that he’s never been more thankful for a horrible earache in his life, since it meant that I wasn’t involved in the accident. I already have a lot of problems with my back/neck! The abridged version of the accident: Chris was rear-ended on the freeway by a 24 foot box truck. The truck hit the back passenger side of the Jeep, going up on two wheels, and sending the Jeep spinning into the concrete barriers between the east/west lanes of the freeway. Thank the Lord, Chris is OK… just a stiff and sore neck/back. We are praying that the insurance will total the Jeep, and that there will be no hidden injuries when Chris goes in to get his X-rays read on Wednesday. We are SO thankful for the Lord’s protection in this situation! Please pray with us that his Jeep will be totaled, and wisdom as to what to do as far as a vehicle is concerned… we won’t be able to afford to replace the Jeep, since it would cost about $6,ooo MORE to get the same exact Jeep now! Also, please pray with us about God providing for us to go back into full-time ministry. We have been praying about it for almost a year now, but God hasn’t seen fit to open the door yet. NOT that we really want to move again, but whatever God wills… :-)
Well, I think that’s all the news for our year. At this time of celebration, please don’t forget the REASON that we celebrate. Jesus Christ came to earth and was born in a manger for the sole purpose of becoming the PERFECT sacrifice for our sins. He died on the cross and rose from the dead the third day so that we could have the opportunity to go to Heaven with Him when we die. Jesus gave the Ultimate gift… His life for our sins so that we could have the gift of eternal life. Have you accepted His gift? All you have to do is admit that you are a sinner, believe by faith that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sins (breaking God‘s law), and ask Him to forgive those sins so that you can go to Heaven when you die. Have you done that? If not, you are missing the GREATEST CHRISTMAS GIFT of ALL! (If you have questions or want to know more, give us a call anytime!)
Wishing you the very Merriest Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Chris and Heather Beth Mitchell
Christmas 2009 (written Dec. 3)
Merry CHRISTmas to you all! We trust this past year has been a good one for you, and that you are enjoying the Christmas season. Our year, as always, has been eventful (like most people’s lives!) We have been able to enjoy many events and also many blessings. Of course, we have had some rough patches as well, but God has proved Himself faithful as always. I’m so thankful for a personal relationship with the God who never changes!
Many things in our lives have stayed mostly the same… same church, same jobs, same address… which is a miracle for us! As a matter of fact, this year made it the longest that we have ever lived in one place and one address in our married life!
We continue to work at the same jobs, but Chris has been given more and more responsibility as a manager at Cross Chrysler/Jeep. These past 3 months have been really slow, but God continues to provide. I still work as a nurse with special needs kids, but had a lot of changes in my cases this year, including almost 2 months of no work. It was nice to be home and have more opportunity for ministry and projects, but not so nice for the checkbook! :-) I know MANY of you know how that is! November 10th I started another case that is M-F, 7a-3p. Not too bad, until I found out it was an HOUR away! It’s been a struggle for me to get up early, but God is teaching me to be dependent on HIM to get through the days! I’m tired! I’ve also been sick off and on for the past 6 weeks… pink eye, two ear infections, and a horrible cough for about 3 weeks! Thankfully, I am FINALLY feeling better!
We continue to serve in the same ministries in our church here as well. This past Wednesday was our beloved pastor’s last service after serving as pastor for 37 years here at Shawnee. We are looking forward to what God will do as our new pastor, Bro. Dave Delaney, takes up the torch. Pastor Dave was our youth pastor for 5 years, so we already know and love him. Chris also has started singing solos in our church, which is an honor for him!
Other than our normal everyday work and church, here are the highlights from our year:
January - we had an ice storm at the end of January. I know for those of you up north, that’s not really a big deal. However, down here, they aren’t really prepared for this kind of weather! Thousands of people were without power for over a week! Thankfully, we were not one of that group, so we opened our home for a few days to some friends who were without power.
February - Chris sister, Tiffany, came for a long weekend the last weekend in February to spend some time with us. We had a blast! Unfortunately, Chris had to work most of the time.
April - I was COMPLETELY surprised on the 14th when Chris came in the door from work carrying a 4 month old little girl… our niece, Raegan! Chris sister, Kim, and her daughter, Korissa then stepped out from behind him! They came to visit us for a week while her husband was overseas on business. We were thrilled to be able to meet Raegan, and SO enjoyed having them here. Korissa LOVED “Uncle Chis” (pronounced kiss) and always wanted to be wherever he was. While they were visiting, we were able to enjoy Thunder over Louisville… the fireworks kick-off to Kentucky Derby Festival. The girls did really well through the fireworks, too! The house seemed a bit more quiet and lonely when they went home! At the end of the month, I was able to attend the Sword of the Lord Ladies’ Jubilee in Murfreesboro, TN. It was a great time of spiritual encouragement and refreshment.
May - The first weekend of May is the Kentucky Derby, so we always try to “get out of Dodge” for the weekend. This year, we took a quick road trip to Atlanta to attend a game at Turner Field. We were able to have lunch with my Uncle Dave, and then meet up with some friends on Sunday for church. The next weekend, we flew to Maryland to see my best friend. That trip was my Valentine’s/Mother’s Day gift from Chris. It was a wonderful long weekend, but went MUCH too quickly!
June - On June 30th, I headed to Cincinnati to meet up with my Gma & Gpa Decker at the Creation Museum. They came down from MN with a group from their church. It was 2 years to the day since I had seen them. Again, the time went WAY too quickly, but it was such a blessing to see them again!
July- We celebrated Independence Day at our camp, Indian Creek. Chris was thrilled with the opportunity to preach the service there that night. On July 24th, we celebrated our 9th anniversary (hard to believe it’s been that long already!) by staying here and visiting sights in Louisville. We went to the Mega Caverns, the Louisville Slugger Museum (we just couldn’t do an anniversary WITHOUT some kind of baseball!) J We walked around downtown enjoying the time together, and then ended the evening at Morton’s Steakhouse, where everyone that served us in any way said “Happy Anniversary” to us! We thought that was pretty cool!
August - We started out the month with the 25th Youth Conference at Shawnee. Having 1,000 teens at your church for the week just to hear preaching is pretty amazing! That Thursday, we had a major flood! They were calling a Flood Emergency (which I had never even heard of), telling everyone to stay wherever they were to avoid getting caught in flood waters. Crazy weather this year! Also, that week, I was able to visit with a dear friend who was in town for her granddaughter’s birth, as well as one of the little boys (and the family) that I worked for in Maryland.
That Saturday, we flew down to West Palm Beach, FL, to visit Chris’ sister, Sandy, & family for vacation. We made a couple visits to the beach, and attended a Marlins’ game and Rays’ baseball game. At the Marlins’ game (which was also Chris’ birthday), we made it onto the BIG SCREEN at the field for the 1st time! We discovered that it helps to have very few fans at the game, great seats close, and an adorable 4 yr old nephew! J It was a wonderful vacation!
October - October was a busy month for us, with something going on every weekend! We attended a University of Louisville football game (my first big-time college football game), one of the biggest high school football rivalry games in the country (St. X vs. Trinity), Youth Retreat (which Chris actually took off work for), and then I was able to meet up with a college friend and visit for the day. It was so fun! The last event of October was Trunk-or-Treat. We participated this year by actually decorating our “trunk” (the back of Chris’ Jeep) with a replica of his car dealership!
November - We started up the month of November by heading up to the Upper Peninsula of MI to visit my brother, Greg & his family. My nephew, Caden, had just turned 13 months, and we hadn’t met him yet! We were able to spend a week with them. It was probably one of the most relaxing vacations we’ve had in a while! Unfortunately, both Aksana & Caden got sick, as did I! We went to Tahquamenon Falls on Saturday, and it was a GORGEOUS day (for the UP). We spent Thanksgiving Day with some friends of ours in Cincinnati, OH. With the nature of Chris’ job, we don’t get to travel far for the holiday season, so it was wonderful to be with friends for the holiday.
The most recent thing that has happened is that Chris was involved in a major car accident on 11/29/09 on the way home from church. I was home sick with a terrible earache. Chris says that he’s never been more thankful for a horrible earache in his life, since it meant that I wasn’t involved in the accident. I already have a lot of problems with my back/neck! The abridged version of the accident: Chris was rear-ended on the freeway by a 24 foot box truck. The truck hit the back passenger side of the Jeep, going up on two wheels, and sending the Jeep spinning into the concrete barriers between the east/west lanes of the freeway. Thank the Lord, Chris is OK… just a stiff and sore neck/back. We are praying that the insurance will total the Jeep, and that there will be no hidden injuries when Chris goes in to get his X-rays read on Wednesday. We are SO thankful for the Lord’s protection in this situation! Please pray with us that his Jeep will be totaled, and wisdom as to what to do as far as a vehicle is concerned… we won’t be able to afford to replace the Jeep, since it would cost about $6,ooo MORE to get the same exact Jeep now! Also, please pray with us about God providing for us to go back into full-time ministry. We have been praying about it for almost a year now, but God hasn’t seen fit to open the door yet. NOT that we really want to move again, but whatever God wills… :-)
Well, I think that’s all the news for our year. At this time of celebration, please don’t forget the REASON that we celebrate. Jesus Christ came to earth and was born in a manger for the sole purpose of becoming the PERFECT sacrifice for our sins. He died on the cross and rose from the dead the third day so that we could have the opportunity to go to Heaven with Him when we die. Jesus gave the Ultimate gift… His life for our sins so that we could have the gift of eternal life. Have you accepted His gift? All you have to do is admit that you are a sinner, believe by faith that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for your sins (breaking God‘s law), and ask Him to forgive those sins so that you can go to Heaven when you die. Have you done that? If not, you are missing the GREATEST CHRISTMAS GIFT of ALL! (If you have questions or want to know more, give us a call anytime!)
Wishing you the very Merriest Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Chris and Heather Beth Mitchell
9.28.2009
September
Heather & Chris, South Miami Beach, August 11, 2009
Another month has flown by, and here I am trying to remember what all has happened in the last month.
Let's see... we started the month with a Nerdsville Activity for our teens. It's basically a scavenger hunt that has you doing a bunch of crazy, nerdy stuff. It was SUPER fun. I was surprised (since I had the Jr. High girls... all 4 of them in 7th grade) how they came out of their "shells" so to speak and really enjoyed it.
On the 10th of September, I hosted a baby shower for a friend of mine. Her baby was born in August, and with all the craziness of the month, we hadn't had a baby shower for her. I was so nervous that I would get crazy emotional over the baby shower, but thank the Lord for answered prayers, it really went well. I didn't cry AT ALL! It sure was fun to have the baby there to hold! A friend of a friend made a SUPER cute, delicious cake for it.
That following weekend was the Shawnee Baptist Ladies' Retreat! What a great time of fun and fellowship.
We enjoyed several convicting messages from the pastor's wife and youth pastor's wife from Franklin Road Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, TN. Of course, we had to stay up playing games well into the wee hours of the morning! I got home that Sat. evening, and then Dakota came over to have a sleepover at our house. We love having him... he is such a live wire! He LOVES "Chwis, " too. Dakota came in talking a mile a minute, and I don't think he stopped until it was time to lie down to go to sleep. It was such a joy to have a little one around the house.
That Sunday morning, we had the opportunity to minister in music at the Indiana campus of our church. They have a small Sunday morning service over there. Chris and I sang a duet, I played an offeratory on my flute, and Chris sang a solo. It's been about 5 years since we've done that, but it was a joy to sing again (other than in choir.) Our pastor's wife "turned us in" to the Music pastor at the "big church," and Chris is scheduled to sing a solo in church on Wed., Nov. 11th! I'm excited for him to have this opportunity!
I've also been down to only working 2 days/week, which has opened up some ministry opportunities for me. I was able to "substitute teach" a college class for an hour one week, talking about my job working with special needs kids. I've been able to help out some with cleaning the church, and also have been able to attend a few of our school and college girls' volleyball games.
Because of Chris' new work schedule, we have also enjoyed having more freedom to do things on the weekend... Chris gets off on Fridays and every other Saturday at 4pm now. The other Saturdays he works til close, which could be anywhere from 6pm to not getting home til 9pm. We've had several nights of having company at our house, or being company at someone else's house. We have enjoyed that fellowship as well.
Chris' job is going well. They've had a couple really good months, though September has been pretty slow. We know God will provide, though. As for my job, I'm looking for a new one. I was taken off the other case that I have been working for a year now, and I think God may be trying to get me out of my comfort zone and get a new job. It's just been one thing after another with my current job, and I'm SO over it! We'll see what God does with all of that.
Our October is booked solid... it seems like we have something going on every weekend! It will be crazy, but lots of fun, I'm sure.
Went to a lovely wedding on Saturday and took a few pics, so that was fun. Oh, yeah - I forgot that I have been working on a few photo projects for other people - a calendar and a couple of Christmas gifts. That has been WAY fun to do! I would LOVE to do that for work!
Also, my friend who had her baby at 25 weeks way back in June was able to bring her baby home Sat., Sept 19th! YEAH! They are doing really well, and we are thankful for God's miraculous healing/providing health for this baby boy! I could just hold him ALL day long; he's SO precious!
Other than that, not too much is new in our neck of the woods. Hope you all are doing well!
8.20.2009
Can it possibly be...?!?!?!
That I haven't blogged since MAY FIRST! 3& 1/2 months later... wow, this summer sure has FLOWN by. And, of course, like many of you, I am totally addicted to Facebook, so that has taken my time from blogging.
Well, here's the rundown of the past 3&1/2 months...
May 2-3, down to Atlanta to "get out of Dodge" for Kentucky Derby weekend. Scratched another baseball stadium off the list, saw my Uncle Dave, whom I haven't seen in YEARS, and caught up with some friends there for church. Rachel, my friend, was actually my roommate at Northland Camp the summer that Chris and I met. It was nice to catch up! :-)
The following weekend, Mother's Day weekend, we flew to Maryland for a long weekend. Ever since our in vitro fertilization/miscarriage, Chris has bought me tickets to go see my best friend in Maryland as a Mother's Day gift. This year, he came along. We had a wonderful time with Kevin and Jos, and got to catch up with a lot of friends from our church there. It made Mother's Day a bit easier for me! I'm so thankful for a wonderful, thoughtful husband!
After 3 trips for me in 3 weekends, we settled down to work, work and more work... with our ministry responsibilities at church added in. We were able to have some fun in there, too!
June was a pretty quiet month for us, though I had a fun opportunity to do a "photo shoot" with my friends, JR & Abbi. They got married in December, and didn't really care for their engagement pictures. I went out with them one weekend while Chris was gone for some work training, and took a bunch of pictures of them. I am by no means a photographer, but I was pretty pleased with the way some of them turned out.
June 12 our church had a "Sister's Supper." It was a ladies' banquet for all females ages 4 and up. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, and God used one of the devotionals in particular to really speak to my heart about something I had been struggling with that week especially. I may have to post about that later.
June 23rd, my dear friend, Shanna had her baby, Mason, at 23 weeks, 5 days along... about 3 months early! It was pretty rough on me, but today he is doing FANTASTIC, and is really a tiny miracle!
On June 30th, my grandparents came down to the Creation Museum in Cincinnati (about an hour & 1/2 from us). I had not seen them in 2 years... to the day! (It was my baby brother's wedding anniversary, and the last time I had seen them was at Nathan's wedding!) I was able to take the day off and spend it with them, which was a huge blessing!
We celebrated July 4th at Indian Creek Baptist Camp (the camp run by our church) on Freedom Friday (which happened to be July 3rd.) Chris had the opportunity to preach in the service... only the second time he's actually had that opportunity since we left Maryland 3 years before. He did an awesome job (I know, I'm a little prejudiced!) I was very proud of him. We took Zack and Dakota with us (Dakota is the little boy I took care of for over 2 years). It was a wonderful night, and we enjoyed it!
July 16th, I was able to head up to Indianapolis for the day to visit with 2 college friends that liver there, Jess and Kelly (and their families.) I so enjoyed seeing them and catching up a little better! I don't live that far away, but it seems like there is never a really good time to go more often. :-(
July 22 was our 9th anniversary. We both had to work that day, but ended up having Friday the 24th off together. We slept in, worked out, then headed out for the day... visited Louisville Mega Cavern, ate at J. Gumbos, went to the Louisville Slugger museum, walked around downtown Louisville (and took pictures), then went to Morton's steakhouse for dinner. It was FABULOUS! We so enjoyed having the day together to celebrate our marriage and our life together.
July 31st, we went to a Louisville Bats game with our friends, April & Scott Mohler. We enjoy the fellowship with them, and wish we could get together with them more often, as well.
The first full week of August brings YOUTH CONFERENCE to Shawnee Baptist Church. This year was the 25th Anniversary of Youth Conference. It was AWESOME!!! We had 1,200+ teens here for 4 days to hear the preaching of God's Word for 3 days, then the last day they spend at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. They usually go to a waterpark on that Tuesday morning, but this year the waterpark came to them... We had a HUGE flood; actually a Flood Emergency was declared for Louisville... basically, if you didn't have to go anywhere, DON'T! It sure made it memorable! :-)
That same week was very busy for me... I worked all week, then was trying to visit with a couple people that were just in town for the week, plus get ready for vacation! I was blessed to be able to see a good friend from MN, Dawn, who was down here meeting her newest grandbaby... and her first granddaughter. I also got to spend some time with a little boy that I took care of in Maryland, Nathen, and his family, who were here visiting as well.
August 8th, after work, we left on VACATION! It was AWESOME, and I didn't want to come home! We visited Chris' sister, Sandy, and her family. We hadn't seen her boys (ages almost 8 and almost 5) for almost 3 years, and her husband in 5 years! It was great to visit with them! They live in West Palm Beach, FL... I was lovin' me some Florida (as my BIL would say!) :-) We went to the beach a couple of times, including going to Miami for the day (and saw South Beach).
On Tuesday, Aug. 11th (Chris' 34th Birthday), we attended a Florida Marlins game. For the first time, in ALL the games we've attended, we FINALLY made it on the Jumbotron at the stadium! We've discovered that it helps to have adorable nephews with you! :-) We ate at Shorty's Barbecue in Miami - one of the top 10 places to eat there. Chris and Tyson played golf two mornings, and played softball one night. Sandy and I got manicures/pedicures (a first for me!), and then I framed some cross-stitches for her, and arranged the pictures for a family photo wall in her house. We attended a home decorating class on Thursday night. Friday we went to Tampa... actually St. Petersburg for a Tampa Bay Rays game. We "tailgated" before the game, which was pretty fun. Finished up the vacation on Saturday by having a GORGEOUS day at the beach, in spite of the rain before we went, and after we went. Also had a joint birthday party (homemade pizza and DQ Thin Mints blizzard cake) for Chris', Tron's and my birthdays. Chris' b-day was the 11th, and Tron and I share a b-day on the 18th. Like I said before, it was a wonderful vacation, and we were so thrilled to be able to go.
Now, it's back to life, back to reality. I've had a little "hiccup" in my job situation, so am working a few less hours for now, and am really praying about the possibility of another job. I'm praying that if God wants me somewhere else, that He will drop the opportunity in my lap.
Anyway, that's the summation of our summer! I'm sure I've left out some things, but that's basically it! Hopefully I'll get some pics posted of different events on here soon. If I don't, you can look on my Facebook page... they are ALL on there! :-)
Have a wonderful night, and hope you all had a great summer! :-)
Well, here's the rundown of the past 3&1/2 months...
May 2-3, down to Atlanta to "get out of Dodge" for Kentucky Derby weekend. Scratched another baseball stadium off the list, saw my Uncle Dave, whom I haven't seen in YEARS, and caught up with some friends there for church. Rachel, my friend, was actually my roommate at Northland Camp the summer that Chris and I met. It was nice to catch up! :-)
The following weekend, Mother's Day weekend, we flew to Maryland for a long weekend. Ever since our in vitro fertilization/miscarriage, Chris has bought me tickets to go see my best friend in Maryland as a Mother's Day gift. This year, he came along. We had a wonderful time with Kevin and Jos, and got to catch up with a lot of friends from our church there. It made Mother's Day a bit easier for me! I'm so thankful for a wonderful, thoughtful husband!
After 3 trips for me in 3 weekends, we settled down to work, work and more work... with our ministry responsibilities at church added in. We were able to have some fun in there, too!
June was a pretty quiet month for us, though I had a fun opportunity to do a "photo shoot" with my friends, JR & Abbi. They got married in December, and didn't really care for their engagement pictures. I went out with them one weekend while Chris was gone for some work training, and took a bunch of pictures of them. I am by no means a photographer, but I was pretty pleased with the way some of them turned out.
June 12 our church had a "Sister's Supper." It was a ladies' banquet for all females ages 4 and up. It was a wonderful time of fellowship, and God used one of the devotionals in particular to really speak to my heart about something I had been struggling with that week especially. I may have to post about that later.
June 23rd, my dear friend, Shanna had her baby, Mason, at 23 weeks, 5 days along... about 3 months early! It was pretty rough on me, but today he is doing FANTASTIC, and is really a tiny miracle!
On June 30th, my grandparents came down to the Creation Museum in Cincinnati (about an hour & 1/2 from us). I had not seen them in 2 years... to the day! (It was my baby brother's wedding anniversary, and the last time I had seen them was at Nathan's wedding!) I was able to take the day off and spend it with them, which was a huge blessing!
We celebrated July 4th at Indian Creek Baptist Camp (the camp run by our church) on Freedom Friday (which happened to be July 3rd.) Chris had the opportunity to preach in the service... only the second time he's actually had that opportunity since we left Maryland 3 years before. He did an awesome job (I know, I'm a little prejudiced!) I was very proud of him. We took Zack and Dakota with us (Dakota is the little boy I took care of for over 2 years). It was a wonderful night, and we enjoyed it!
July 16th, I was able to head up to Indianapolis for the day to visit with 2 college friends that liver there, Jess and Kelly (and their families.) I so enjoyed seeing them and catching up a little better! I don't live that far away, but it seems like there is never a really good time to go more often. :-(
July 22 was our 9th anniversary. We both had to work that day, but ended up having Friday the 24th off together. We slept in, worked out, then headed out for the day... visited Louisville Mega Cavern, ate at J. Gumbos, went to the Louisville Slugger museum, walked around downtown Louisville (and took pictures), then went to Morton's steakhouse for dinner. It was FABULOUS! We so enjoyed having the day together to celebrate our marriage and our life together.
July 31st, we went to a Louisville Bats game with our friends, April & Scott Mohler. We enjoy the fellowship with them, and wish we could get together with them more often, as well.
The first full week of August brings YOUTH CONFERENCE to Shawnee Baptist Church. This year was the 25th Anniversary of Youth Conference. It was AWESOME!!! We had 1,200+ teens here for 4 days to hear the preaching of God's Word for 3 days, then the last day they spend at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. They usually go to a waterpark on that Tuesday morning, but this year the waterpark came to them... We had a HUGE flood; actually a Flood Emergency was declared for Louisville... basically, if you didn't have to go anywhere, DON'T! It sure made it memorable! :-)
That same week was very busy for me... I worked all week, then was trying to visit with a couple people that were just in town for the week, plus get ready for vacation! I was blessed to be able to see a good friend from MN, Dawn, who was down here meeting her newest grandbaby... and her first granddaughter. I also got to spend some time with a little boy that I took care of in Maryland, Nathen, and his family, who were here visiting as well.
August 8th, after work, we left on VACATION! It was AWESOME, and I didn't want to come home! We visited Chris' sister, Sandy, and her family. We hadn't seen her boys (ages almost 8 and almost 5) for almost 3 years, and her husband in 5 years! It was great to visit with them! They live in West Palm Beach, FL... I was lovin' me some Florida (as my BIL would say!) :-) We went to the beach a couple of times, including going to Miami for the day (and saw South Beach).
On Tuesday, Aug. 11th (Chris' 34th Birthday), we attended a Florida Marlins game. For the first time, in ALL the games we've attended, we FINALLY made it on the Jumbotron at the stadium! We've discovered that it helps to have adorable nephews with you! :-) We ate at Shorty's Barbecue in Miami - one of the top 10 places to eat there. Chris and Tyson played golf two mornings, and played softball one night. Sandy and I got manicures/pedicures (a first for me!), and then I framed some cross-stitches for her, and arranged the pictures for a family photo wall in her house. We attended a home decorating class on Thursday night. Friday we went to Tampa... actually St. Petersburg for a Tampa Bay Rays game. We "tailgated" before the game, which was pretty fun. Finished up the vacation on Saturday by having a GORGEOUS day at the beach, in spite of the rain before we went, and after we went. Also had a joint birthday party (homemade pizza and DQ Thin Mints blizzard cake) for Chris', Tron's and my birthdays. Chris' b-day was the 11th, and Tron and I share a b-day on the 18th. Like I said before, it was a wonderful vacation, and we were so thrilled to be able to go.
Now, it's back to life, back to reality. I've had a little "hiccup" in my job situation, so am working a few less hours for now, and am really praying about the possibility of another job. I'm praying that if God wants me somewhere else, that He will drop the opportunity in my lap.
Anyway, that's the summation of our summer! I'm sure I've left out some things, but that's basically it! Hopefully I'll get some pics posted of different events on here soon. If I don't, you can look on my Facebook page... they are ALL on there! :-)
Have a wonderful night, and hope you all had a great summer! :-)
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