Okay, anyways...I wanted to update ya'll on what is going on in our lives. First, an adorable picture of Vera. Just to keep you interested in the rest of this post :)
Okay, so here is a quick update on our family and what the Lord is doing in our life:
1. Vera is 15 months old :) She is a little peanut (she can still wear 6-9 month clothes), but she is full of life. She loves reading books. She'll grab a book, walk over to you, turn around, walk backwards, and plop her little bottom in your lap to make you read to her. It melts me every time; She loves other kids. She squeals and giggles when she sees certain kids that are her "friends"; She babbles all day, but if you ask her to say a word she simply moves her mouth up and down. Like this:
2. I have taken up running :/ I was hesitant to put this up here, but I wanted to share it simply because 1.) It really is something neat the Lord is doing in my heart. He is slowly teaching me what it means to take care of your body and how giving God all of you means your heart as well as your body. It's not two separate things. I' have a LONG way to go on this, but I've been praying that the Lord will teach me what He desires for me and to grow in the areas of self control and discipline. I don't want Vera to be a fatty :) So, I want to be able to be an example to her in this area. Last Saturday I ran three miles. For some, that's not much. For me, it was a miracle. Running has really caused me to learn more about dependence on God and taught me that it's not about me. It's for HIs glory. 2.) I wanted to share this with ya'll to keep me accountable. Hopefully someone will ask me how running is going. I don't want to be embarrassed and say I quit :)
3. Our jobs: As of May, Stephen and I both lost our jobs. Long story short- Northland is going through a tough time financially (who isn't, right?). Due to finances, a lot of departments had to do some major cuts.We are so thankful for how the Lord has used Northland in our lives, and we understand that they have to balance being both a ministry and a buisness. It's been scary and overwhelming at times. However, we have been amazed over and over again at God's gracious hand and provision. One example: Stephen got let go on Friday. On Monday we got a card in the mail from someone who simply said the Lord had laid us on their hearts. In the card was a check for $500. One month's rent right there. Amazing right?
Please be praying with us as we seek God's will for our future. Our options (in a nutshell) are slim (humanly speaking) due to Stephen being Canadian. For him to finish grad school (which is our priority right now), he has to work on a college campus because he has a student visa. For us to stay in the states, He has to change his visa to a religious visa and work in a church or Christian school or become a citizen (which is what we are pursuing. Unfortunately, it take time and money). We are going in the direction of him finishing grad school and then going from there. We are now praying for open doors, wisdom, and direction. We would love your prayers as well. The Lord is doing some amazing things in our hearts ,and we know this is perfect for us. It's been a very exciting time. But, we definitely need wisdom.
4. Our summer: Because of our lack of jobs, the summer looked quite ominous. But, I have another awesome story of God's provision : ) Another long story short( sorry, there is a lot to update), Camp approached Stephen and I about working up at Pioneer Village (the jr camp) for the summer. Stephen would be a program guy (runs games, heads up things at PV, preaches some, etc etc) ,and I would be a waitress. We prayed over the offer for awhile. Camp is an amazing ministry ,but it is not necessarily the most lucrative opportunity. Not that it's all about the money, but we just wanted to be good stewards and make sure we were doing the best thing for our family. Let alone it's a busy ministry of early mornings and late nights. But, the Lord really gave us clear direction and brought us both to the same decision to take the camp job.
It's been awesome.
I have not been this tired since the last time I worked camp (07), I eat semi good dining hall food three meals a day, I stink, my body aches because I can't keep up with 9 year olds in a game of boulder bash, and my laundry pile has never been so big. But, it is awesome.
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| Our little family in our spiffy staff shirts |
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| I'm still learning this whole blog thing- I couldn't figure out how to delete the pic I didn't want- so here's another on e :) |
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| Our PV Leadership team. We're working alongside Jeremy Frazor's family and two college kids |
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| Vera's favorite camp hobby: playing in rocks |
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| A group of staff ladies sent us out on a date....it was lovely |
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| Daddy reading Vera a new book he just bought her |
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| She's just awesome... |
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| Playing with one of her favorite friends- one of the Frazor boys |
Once again, we are seeing how gracious the Lord is to us and how absolutely perfect His will is. For me personally, I have seen a lot of who I am this summer. And boy is it ugly. I find myself being amazingly selfish, deceitful, lazy, and self consumed. It's not pretty!...Yet, I am seeing God's love and forgiveness in abundance. In short, He is teaching me about endurance in the Christian life, connecting my sins to the cross, trusting in His perfect way, and being honest with myself. My prayer is that HE would break me and teach me how to be vigilant yet sober in my walk. I would love your prayer in these areas as well.
It's been a hard summer, yes. I miss time with my family and friends. I miss just being at home (we are pretty much gone all day). I miss my husband . Yet, I know this is just for a season and once again- it's perfect for us. Please pray that I will find my strength in the Lord and that He will give our little family a special time this summer to grow and change for Him together.
Sorry it was such a long post. Like I said, there was a lot of stuff to update ya'll on :) I hope this was an encouragement to you to see how awesome our God has been to us as well as give you some things to pray with us about. Hopefully I'll update this blog more often. And btw- I'm still learning how to make this thing pretty. I'll get it eventually :)
To end on- Here's a another cute pic of Vera...for the grandparents sake :).....
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| We went to her friend Eliana's house to do some sparklers on July 4th. Here she is sweating up a storm (she's like her father in that way) and sporting the pig tails :) |
