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| Peekaboo! |
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| Just what I wanted!!! |
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| These will look so good in our new house! |
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| brmmm brmmm |
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| vroomm |
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| SO GOOD! |
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| Presents from Grammy! |
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas!!
Monday, December 23, 2013
The Waiting is the Hardest Part
Our pastor has been preaching about waiting the last couple of weeks and it's really struck me. He has said almost every week, "Most of life is waiting." For a while in my life and our life as a family I've felt like once we get out of our "two year stint" (two years living here, two years living there, two years living everywhere) then I won't feel like I'm waiting for something to happen all the time. But as we settle into a hopefully more lengthy stay here in WI I'm beginning to realize he's right. Whatever stage I am living in, there's always another stage and until Jesus comes back I will always be waiting. Waiting for Heaven! So I've been pondering waiting well, waiting in the moment.
I'm trying to view every moment as a way to bring honor and glory to God. I often fail. In just the past 3 days I can quickly count off more times that I have yelled at my kids, threw up my hands in exasperation, said things I should NOT have said, cared too much about my neighbors hearing what I just said, and every day when the boys are FINALLY down for naps I sink down on the couch and cry out to my maker for more patience, more energy, more compassion, more anything to get me through this day, this week, this time. And I find myself thinking, once we move into our house, it will be better, life will be easier, I'll be a better mom, a better wife, a better child of God. While it is true to some very small extent that living in our house will make life easier than living in this apartment, it is still the same lie that once I get to the next thing I'll be content. If only... So I keep on keeping on, striving to live with my chief end in mind knowing that "these light and momentary troubles are achieving an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."
And on a much lighter note:
Here are some snapshots of time at home in PA and a little bit of life in WI. (I just found my camera, so glad I found it before Christmas! So more pictures to come)
I'm trying to view every moment as a way to bring honor and glory to God. I often fail. In just the past 3 days I can quickly count off more times that I have yelled at my kids, threw up my hands in exasperation, said things I should NOT have said, cared too much about my neighbors hearing what I just said, and every day when the boys are FINALLY down for naps I sink down on the couch and cry out to my maker for more patience, more energy, more compassion, more anything to get me through this day, this week, this time. And I find myself thinking, once we move into our house, it will be better, life will be easier, I'll be a better mom, a better wife, a better child of God. While it is true to some very small extent that living in our house will make life easier than living in this apartment, it is still the same lie that once I get to the next thing I'll be content. If only... So I keep on keeping on, striving to live with my chief end in mind knowing that "these light and momentary troubles are achieving an eternal glory that far outweighs them all."
And on a much lighter note:
Here are some snapshots of time at home in PA and a little bit of life in WI. (I just found my camera, so glad I found it before Christmas! So more pictures to come)
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
The Lord is Gracious
We've had a busy month to say the least. After many delays in Garrett's background clearances due to living in Ukraine, we are now happily living in Appleton, WI! We delayed Garrett's start date and our move a number of weeks because the background clearances were taking so long. Finally the week of November 10th we packed all our belongings and put it in storage. Then we moved with our essentials to a fully furnished temporary apartment where we will be living until we settle on our house.
Our apartment is a blessing - I think it's a little bit like the Crowded House in that when we finally get to move into our house it will feel cavernous! I feel very sorry for our neighbors and I cringe at the thought of meeting them due to the fact that we are on the 3rd floor and our boys are shall we say "a little active". I'm sure the 5:30 pattering of running feet is not so welcome to those living below us! My mom used to refer to us as a herd of elephants and I'm sure that's just what it sounds like to those downstairs. Living on the 3rd floor has other challenges. It takes me a little while to get up the stairs especially with groceries and kids in toe, but a little exercise never hurt anyone - right?!
The weekends before we moved we would drive down to Appleton and look at houses. The week we moved we looked at a few more. Then the day before we left to drive to PA for Thanksgiving we put in an offer which was accepted! Our settlement date is the end of January and we are praying that all will go smoothly and quickly so we can move in as soon as possible. It will be wonderful to have a month to settle in to our new home before the babies come!
Praise the Lord with us - we found a church! The first Sunday after we arrived we attended Emmaus Road Presbyterian Church and loved it! We loved the liturgy, the people, the solid gospel preaching. We even met a couple we had taken on a tour of Kiev, Ukraine! Cue - It's a Small World
We feel incredibly blessed to have found a church where we feel at home and can settle in right away.
You can be praying that the babies stay comfy and cozy in-utero until March 3rd when they will be 38 weeks. You can also be praying for Logan and Noah as they transition from Duluth to Appleton and then to a new house. It's a lot of changes for such little guys, but they are troopers!
This is getting quite wordy, there are lots of stories of the Lord's faithfulness behind all of these broad strokes. If you want more details, feel free to e-mail me!!
Our apartment is a blessing - I think it's a little bit like the Crowded House in that when we finally get to move into our house it will feel cavernous! I feel very sorry for our neighbors and I cringe at the thought of meeting them due to the fact that we are on the 3rd floor and our boys are shall we say "a little active". I'm sure the 5:30 pattering of running feet is not so welcome to those living below us! My mom used to refer to us as a herd of elephants and I'm sure that's just what it sounds like to those downstairs. Living on the 3rd floor has other challenges. It takes me a little while to get up the stairs especially with groceries and kids in toe, but a little exercise never hurt anyone - right?!
The weekends before we moved we would drive down to Appleton and look at houses. The week we moved we looked at a few more. Then the day before we left to drive to PA for Thanksgiving we put in an offer which was accepted! Our settlement date is the end of January and we are praying that all will go smoothly and quickly so we can move in as soon as possible. It will be wonderful to have a month to settle in to our new home before the babies come!
Praise the Lord with us - we found a church! The first Sunday after we arrived we attended Emmaus Road Presbyterian Church and loved it! We loved the liturgy, the people, the solid gospel preaching. We even met a couple we had taken on a tour of Kiev, Ukraine! Cue - It's a Small World
We feel incredibly blessed to have found a church where we feel at home and can settle in right away.
You can be praying that the babies stay comfy and cozy in-utero until March 3rd when they will be 38 weeks. You can also be praying for Logan and Noah as they transition from Duluth to Appleton and then to a new house. It's a lot of changes for such little guys, but they are troopers!
This is getting quite wordy, there are lots of stories of the Lord's faithfulness behind all of these broad strokes. If you want more details, feel free to e-mail me!!
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