Orientation Training...Personal Training

I really struggled with coming up with a subject title for this series of classes. The official title was "Living a Life Worthy of the Lord" and it was broken up into three parts. A part on spiritually living, a part on relationally living, and a part on personally living. The guest speakers were a missionary couple who had spent most of their 40 year marriage with their personal ministry which helps to take care of missionaries. You could say they are a little like a missionary version of Dr. Phil who teach people how to take care of themselves spiritually. Their own testimonies of faith are an encouragement!

The part on spiritually living drew on the verse Colossians 1:9-14. This verse talks about how we should pray. We were told that the men are the SOUL providers for the their family. Their duty is to feed their family's soul with love and encouragement as well as Bible time. We never realized how important Bible time as a family could be until they showed us an example of how to have spiritual time together. It was beautiful, heartwarming, and intimate. Afterwards, we were given our own Bible verse and were asked to get together as a couple and study the verse together. Afterwards, we were to pray together. It was very encouraging and definitely made Kevin and me feel closer. I think this was my favorite part of the training!

The part on relationally living talked about how we relate to others. So often in our lives we feel "wronged" or "hurt" by someone else. This leaves a whole in us that can only be filled by forgiveness. But, it is important for us to learn what true forgiveness is, otherwise, we can hurt more than one person. Let's say I were to get in a fight with my best friend. My husband suffers because he is friends with her husband. Their children suffer because they are friends with Adah. Then, I am no longer the only person who feels "wronged" or "hurt" but my family now feels this way towards me. It is a trickle down effect and is can tear people up physically, mentally, and spiritually. So we first learned what true forgiveness is and is not. I think the hardest lesson to understand for people is that forgiveness ultimately comes from God, not man.

The final part was on personally living. Sometimes in our lives we need to seek God and the best way to do that is to focus on a Christ like character in our personal lives. For example, humility, self-control, patience, love, joy, etc. This was a very soul searching process, especially as we did this as a couple. I have to be honest and say that this was a very raw moment for our marriage and I shed quite a few tears. Intentional living is very hard but it helps to bring you closer to God. Don't believe me? Ask God for humility and see what happens!

Overall, the training really helped to build strength in our family as well as how our family relates to others. It also helped us to see how important our prayer partners are in our lives.

First Day on the Road!

Monday morning, we had great plans! Get up bright and early at 7:30 AM, shower, get dressed, finish packing and loading, say our good-byes, and drive away from our old house at 9 AM. They were great plans, weren't they?

Sunday evening, mama had a headache but worked through it with the grand idea she will get plenty of sleep that night to take care of it! Nope, baby had other plans! So, 7:30 AM rolls around and our alarm clock is ignored and the snooze button becomes our best friend. Around 8 or so, we finally get up and get showered. My mom comes to spend time with the baby while I pack. Kevin has to run errands so we can get on the road. 9:30 rolls around and is soon forgotten as Mark (Kevin's dad) comes over with the truck and trailer to finish loading us all up.

At around 11:30, my mom, step-dad and I say our "see you later's" (we plan to be back in October for fall break with family).

Now, we frantically shove everything that will fit into the trailer and hit the road....at 12:24 PM! So, we drive and drive and drive. 3 miles later, we stopped to grab some food. Now we drive and drive and drive, and about 15 miles from home we ran into a traffic jam. That is okay, the baby is ever patient as we pick up speed and drive and drive and drive. We made it about 45 miles (in an hour an a half) and she had just started to nod off when BOOM! The vehicle behind us, a tractor trailer (you know, the big 18-wheeler?), gets rear-ended by a U-Haul (you know, the kind you drive in?)! It was such a powerful collision we felt the concussion in our chests. YIKES! Now, the baby is fussy because her nap has been interrupted and Kevin and I had a sick feeling in our stomachs and we say a quick prayer for the U-Haul driver, whose rear end can be seen above the tractor trailer. We heard that part of the interstate was closed for about 6 hours for clean up.

After driving forever, we make it to Blacksburg, VA where we meet up with the man who helped us start this journey - Brian Behal! Our MAF recruiter!

After eating dinner with him, we head to a hotel nearby. Grand total: 5 hours away from home. Time it took Adah to sleep that night: 5 hours! Poor baby couldn't sleep and when she did, it was fitful! I am just glad we decided not to drive to Washington, D.C. all in one day. Adults can do a 10 hour drive, babies can not!

Second Day on the Road...to be continued.

A Day in the Life of Baby A

Since mommy and daddy are SO busy with me, they haven't found any time to update the blog! So, I thought I would help out by showing you what I do all day while mommy and daddy work, study French, and pack!

I like to sleep in a little when I get the big bed all to myself! Ah! I enjoy pushing everyone else out of my way!

I absolutely hate getting all dressed up for any reason and would prefer to be naked all day!

After eating a big breakfast, I love to play in my Bumbo! It helps me to build up my next muscles!

When morning playtime is all done, I get to take a nap in my swing!

When I wake up, I get to eat lunch and play again!

Then, it is my favorite time - naptime with daddy!

Then I get to eat again and I get to go play! I love my playtime!

Finally, it is time for bed. Daddy gives me a bath and puts me in my jammies!

Mommy feeds me and puts me to bed!

And when mommy and daddy wake up in the middle of the night to take care of me, I am still adorable!

The End!

P.S. Look for info about voting for me in the Gerber baby contest! Voting beings September 4th and you can do so on Facebook! We will post info about it in a few weeks! Get ready to tell all your friends!

On The Road with Baby Girl

Our little family just completed its last road trip for ministry partnership! We traveled west to Murfreesboro, TN to visit some family; we headed north to Paris, TN to visit a congregation; we headed to Lobelville, TN to visit another congregation; we headed east to Waverly, TN to visit more family; and then we headed to Cookeville, TN to visit some friends, all before heading home! To say this is our last road trip would not be the truth! It was a first for baby and only the beginning!

On our trip, we said our temporary good-byes (until our furlough) to our sponsoring congregations and we said our temporary good-byes (until Christmas) to our families out west. For our little girl, they were her first "hello" to some family and hopefully won't be the last!

Sadly, mama didn't take as many pictures as she should have, but I will share the ones I did take with you for your viewing pleasure (of our daughter)!

Baby's luggage

Waiting in traffic is SOOOO boring!

On my way to another meeting!

Meeting my Great Grandmother (Kevin's Grandmother) & Great Aunt for the first time!

My new bed, donated by the Blount family! I love it!

I am SOOOO tired, I don't know if I can make it!

Daddy leading singing while I am zonked out!



My Confession

Have you seen the movie “Courageous”? To sum it up without spoiling the movie, it is about five families who deal with the everyday struggles of life and their personal struggles to incorporate Christ in to every aspect of their life, especially their family life. It is an inspirational movie about the Biblical role of a father to his family. I can’t get enough of this movie!

My father died when I was four and my mother did not remarry until I was eighteen and in college. Don’t get me wrong, my mother did a wonderful job raising me considering the circumstances, but I had never had the opportunity to see a daily example of marriage. Before Kevin and I were married, I was worried. Would I become another divorce statistic just because I didn’t know how to act; would I break Kevin’s heart simply because I didn’t understand how a partnership should work; and would I be able to truly be fulfilled in a relationship I never had the opportunity to see or understand? With God, we’ve made our marriage a beautiful friendship. So what is my confession? Now, as we prepare to face our new roles as parents, new fears are coming to light. I have no idea had a family should act! What does a father look like? How are good parents supposed to interact and work together? What will discipline look like in a parental partnership?

Now, I feel like I am placing “pressure” on Kevin to be the role model father to our child, the father I never had. After watching “Courageous” (twice), he felt that one of my goals should be accountability. Hold him accountable to be the father who raises his children to be Godly; hold him accountable to be the Godly example to his child; and most importantly, hold him accountable to be the man God has asked him to be. That feels like a lot of pressure to me!

So, believing I could solve this answer on my own, I bought books – many books. And I have read these “many books.” Unfortunately, I have ignored the one book that could truly help me. To be honest, until I saw the movie “Courageous,” I did not think of the Bible as a parenting book. To be honest, until marital counseling, I never thought of the Bible as a book about marriage either. It is amazing how those ten different Bibles sitting on the shelf will stare us in the face day after day and we still don’t think of the Bible as an encyclopedia of answers.

With our daughters’ arrival approaching (although not soon enough), I have a new goal – to read The Big Book of Parenting Answers written by the Holy Spirit, with commentary by Jesus of Nazareth, and Paul of Tarsus and an introduction by Moses. I will also leave you with a sneak preview as to what you are missing if you haven’t read said book. (I highly recommend it; it’s been on the best seller list for centuries.)

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6