Is is really already September????

ok, life has been crazy again....August came and went and I think we forgot to take a breath....Our Church was celebrating 175 years in the Medina community in August, so we were very busy...we had a 3 week celebration...starting with the past, and we had an accapella concert on Friday night, August 15th then we had Church on the Medina Square on Sunday, August 17th, it was a really neat service. We had almost 800 there and we fed them all chicken and JOJO's, which in the part of the country I am from we just call them potato wedges....ok!!! Whatever! Then the next weekend, was the present, we started that weekend off with "SLIME TIME LIVE" on Friday, August 22nd, then our service on Sunday, was kind of like a birthday celebration, we had cake, punch, mints and nuts, and we dressed up a little more than normal, Nate wore a suit, take your breath away, I know!!!! Our last and final celebration was the future, and we joined our service with 2nd Baptist, which is a Church that ours helped to start many years ago, so they came and their choir sang with us and we had a wonderful service. Then after Church we all set up for what we like to call "THE PARTY", it was a community event, we had 8 inflatables, a petting zoo, pony rides, a slip and slide and so much more....but best of all our friends the Bettinger's came down to see us and to attend our event! and another surprise of the day, Nate's mom and dad showed up to see what we were doing for a couple hours. It was such a nice surprise!

In the midst of all of this we reached another milestone in our lives, on August 21st, my baby boy, BRADY, started ALL-DAY Kindergarten, on that Thursday morning, it was a little easier for me to get out of bed for some reason....and I also kept grinning, and singing "Oh, Happy Day", I have waited for this day for 5 1/2 years and it is finally here....don't get me wrong I love my boys, but I love them more when they are in school all day, and learning new things, and ok I will stop you get my point....they are both doing really well, Brady really likes the routine of all day kindergarten and Riley well let me say they hit the ground running, our first week of school we had 3 hours of homework a night, because he was not getting his work done in class, well that has gotten a lot better, I guess he finally got it, that if he does his work in class he won't have to bring it home, DUH!!!! but really, they both are doing well, and are liking their teachers and their school....

on to house news, we have looked at almost 20 houses, and we have narrowed down our top favorites, we have made offers on two, and been rejected, so now we are going to look at one more that we found and see what we think, then we will hopefully make an offer again, who knows maybe the third time is a charm! I would love to get into a bigger place, so we can stop being on top of each other all the time!!! I know God has the perfect house for us, it is just hard to wait at times for His timing and not our own, but we will, and then we will reap the blessing!!!

today we are off to Norwood, to see my brother's ordination service tomorrow night. We are making the cakes for the reception and of course singing, It should be a very special service, and I am hoping I don't cry, so I can make it through my song!

pictures of all our events are posted on nate's facebook and some on our myspace pages too....we are slowly but surely getting them on there!

www.myspace.com/nateandroc
www.myspace.com/live4jesus4
www.firstmedina.org

The Last two weeks....

Well, it has been another busy couple of weeks. Nate and I and the boys went to Kings Island for two days on July 20th. we stayed with my dad on Sunday night and then on Monday we got up and went to King's Island, we met my brother, Sheri, Julianna and Tyler there, and my dad went with us too. It was so much fun being together, Brady and Julianna would ride everything and Tyler was too short to ride and Riley, well he only wanted to ride one helicopter ride, Brady even rode on the Runaway Reptar which is a huge hanging roller coaster, I was so proud of him for trying new things. It was fun and by the time we left we were so hot and tired. We went back on Tuesday and started out at the Water Park section of Kings Island and met my cousin Rachel and her three kids there and my cousin Nicole with her two kids. We spent about 3 hours at the water park, Nate and Nicole rode a huge water slide together, it was amazing, then we changed and went to the dry park side. Brady again rode big rides with Annie, Rachel's oldest. We were way too tired to drive back to Medina, so we decided to spend the night and leave early in the morning. Tuesday night was the Norwood Day Parade, so we decided to attend. What a joy that was. My cousins came so it was again another fun time with family. We went home and rested then we got our things packed and went to bed....lots of fun.

on Wednesday, I got my house clean and then Thursday evening, our friends from Michigan, the Bettingers, came to town for a quick trip. Carrie and I and the four kids spent Friday together. Then Sunday, our Brother-in-Law, Jon was ordained at the Louisville Baptist Temple, so that was a neat ceremony, and Nate sang of course, then they had a little Pot-Luck celebration after. When that was over, I rode to Michigan with Ryan Bettinger to go to Carrie's house with Brady and a ton of luggage. Carrie had surgery on Monday and I came up here to help her around the house and with her kids...it has been a fun week of watching movies, HGTV,the Food Network and napping. Carrie is doing well. Nate will come and get me on Sunday and we will leave sometime Monday. Then I hope to have a yard sale next weekend. so the busy, fun days of summer continue, before we know it we will be school shopping and getting ready for the first day of school....WHAT FUN!!!!!

Summer time.....

Ok, it has been a busy couple of months...let's do a little back tracking. On May 23rd Brady graduated from PreK, we had a little picnic with his class and each received presents and awards from their teachers, it was nice, then later that afternoon, Riley received a Fruit of the Spirit award for "Goodness" in chapel, it was a fun and rewarding day. We have been really busy since then, the last week of school was full of fun activities. I went with Riley to the bowling alley, to glow in the dark miniature golf, and on the last day there was a talent show. What fun!

Now into June...
Nate and I celebrated our 10th anniversary on June 20th and we got to get away for a few days together. We went to Oglebay Resort in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was a lot of fun. We went to the Oglebay Zoo, a Glass Museum, and a History museum, not to mention we did a lot of shopping and driving around exploring the area. It was nice to get away together, we had not had that opportunity in a while. Before we left, I was thinking about our ten years together and I realized this year marked something unique for us....This year marks a point in our lives where we have been married 5 years with my mom still with us and 5 years without her, so from this point on we will have been married more time without her than with her, I don't know if that makes since or not, but it does in my head. It makes me realize the treasure I have in Nate...because I am not the same headstrong girl he married, my world has changed forever, so he was married 5 years to one girl, and now he has been married 5 years to another. I honestly don't know how he does it at times, I guess by the Grace of God, He does often say, "Love is a Choice", maybe he is trying to tell me something....no, I am kidding. He is a good man though, and I am thankful for his presence in my life everyday.

as soon as we got back from our trip, we were right into our first VBS at First Medina, it was a rewarding week, and very busy, on top of it, I asked if we could have our nephew Isak with us for the week, so he could attend with us. so we did fun things like going to the movies, and swimming everyday on top of VBS, those boys were tired by Friday, oh yeah, one more detail, Nate decided to spend the night at the Church on Thursday night with all three boys and roast a pig for the end of VBS luau....oh, yeah, he is crazy...

The Saturday after VBS, we had choir practice all day for our big Fourth of July Celebration on Sunday...The practice went ok, one problem was that Nate and I were singing a duet and had never practiced together......and he forgot to bring the cd home, so we planned on meeting at the Church the next morning at 7:30 to practice, when I got there that morning, Nate was in a frinzy, because when he got to the Church he learned that the soundboard was completely DEAD...would NOT start up at all....what were we to do???? He called our sound tech real quick and they pulled out an old board, and we made the best of it, but one problem, nate and I still didn't get to practice.....so WE did the best we could...and everything turned out ok...not as we had planned, but a good second...

For fourth of July we went to Michigan to our friends, the Bettingers, house so that we could practice with Carrie for Jr. High camp which was the following week. It was a nice time, and we got some good practice time in too. Nate left to head back to Medina, and I stayed with Carrie to ride to Chautauqua with her and her kids.

so, Camp started on July 7th....everything went very well...over all we had 19 salvations during the week, and of course we had a few complaints about our music but overall, I felt like we were well received by the Jr. High students, and I hope they are still singing our songs. To top off the whole week though, on Saturday, I was remembering the words to one of the messages of Kent York while we were there, about being bold in your faith and the way you present your faith to others, and I knew I had a five year old little boy living in my house who I was not being bold with, so I started talking to him, and asking him questions about Jesus and seeing if he knew all the details, well he did, so I asked him if he had ever asked Jesus into his heart, and he said no, so I asked him if he wanted to, and he did, so right there on my bed with Nate's big Bible, I led my little boy to Jesus. What a wonderful feeling, we got on the phone right away to call our family and share the good news.

Well, I think that catches up the blog, we are now just staying up late, and sleeping late, then we head to the library to get books and movies, don't you just love summer time...I will try to keep updates more frequently so that they aren't as long as this one turned out to be...

A Chapter Closed....

Last week was a big week for us, we got Ohio cell phone numbers and on Thursday, May 22nd we sold our house in Kansas. It was a relief, but at the same time it was so sad. We feel like the page is turned on that chapter of our lives now. We had fun times in that house; we experienced grief together in that house. We fed our friends in that house; we marked milestones in that house. We brought our Brady home from the Hospital to that house; we had Riley’s first birthday party at that house. It was a good little house. We will miss that house, but now it is time for someone new to love it and take care of it. The things we did each year, like putting my Christmas tree up in the same corner of my living room, having Thanksgiving dinner in my Sunroom each year, making cookies in my kitchen for Ladies ministry, baking bread for Christmas gifts will forever be embedded in my memory, watching my children play in the yard and ride their bikes in that cul-de-sac will bring a tear to my eye and a smile to my lips. Goodbye little house on Mosley Ct in Wichita, I will forever hold you in my heart. Take care of your new owner as well as you did us…..

Enjoy Medina for Free Night!

On Friday, May 16th our family decided to enjoy Medina for Free….since moving to town in January we have received several welcome packets and certificates and coupons for free things welcoming us to town, so we decided to take advantage of this and go to all of these places and have a fun family night for as cheap as possible…..so our night started out at Boyert’s Greenhouse….we had received a certificate for a free flowering potted plant, so we headed that way, and we all piled out of the car to look for the best possible plant we could get for FREE. We got a beautiful little orange daisy flower with a purple center. It is sitting on my deck right now.
Our next stop was Hungry Howie’s Pizza where we got a free Large Pizza, we took that home and ate it and then piled in the car again, this time we headed to
The Munch Box, where we received a free cheeseburger, which Nate and I split.
Our next place of fun was Borders, where we had coupons for Seattle's Best Coffee, for buy one get one free smoothies, the boys enjoyed their strawberry and Nate and I enjoyed a Coffee Crunch.
We had also been given a coupon for free games of bowling, so we headed to the Medina Bowling alley, and bowled a game.
By this time we were all getting tired of being in and out of the car, so we went to the park by our house and the boys played on the playground while nate and I sat on the picnic tables and talked, we then decided it was time to go home, the boys kept saying this was the best day ever….I think they thoroughly enjoyed our FREE Medina Night….and it truly was the best day ever…being creative and finding ways to spend the evening together as a family....

School News....

Thursday evening May 8th, was our Spring Program and Friday, May 9th was Grandparents Day at our School.
Nate and I went to the program on Thursday night and it was so cute. They started with Brady’s group (PreK 3-Kindergarten) and as he was walking on the stage I said “Hi, grumpy” and he turned and looked at me, so he knew I was talking to him and he made my words true. He didn’t smile once and barely sang or did the motions to the songs. But he was still very cute.
Next up was Riley’s group (1st-8th grade) and Riley had a special part. He was a part of the “Heart Team” and he was very excited about it. He did very well and the program was so good. It was such a nice atmosphere in this Christian School with hundreds of children singing Praise and Worship songs to our Lord.


Grandparents’ day started at 8:45 on Friday morning, with coffee and donuts, since we didn’t have any grandparents that were able to be there Nate and I decided to attend. Riley was the only student in his class without someone there, so I went down to see his pictures of his grandma and grandpa and to look around his room, and look at his art fair project which took 4th place by the way, then I took him with me to see Brady’s class. When I went back to check on Riley I saw that he was borrowing a friends grandparents and doing a puzzle with them, so I went in the auditorium to get a seat for the program.
They did the same program as the night before and Brady didn’t let me down again, never gave a smile and barely opened his mouth to sing….such a joy, that kid…..Riley again did fabulous, they were released early so we borrowed the grandma of our friend Mary Gillentine and went to lunch with them. It was such a neat experience and I am already looking forward to Grandparents Day next year….

One Crazy Kid!!!!!!!!!

Our Brady is one crazy kid, this morning when I asked him if he had underclothes on, he gave me a sheepish grin and said yes, but boy did he look guilty, so I kept questioning him, only to find out he had an entire other outfit on under his outfit I had laid out for him to wear to school, it was a basketball jersey and basketball shorts, he does these sort of things all the time, he is just a very crazy and creative kid....
these pictures were one of those crazy moments in Brady's life, and he just kept modeling and asking me to take his picture, wonder who he takes after??? He might look like me, but he definitely acts like his dad!!!!!!!!
And brings so much joy to our family, don't know what we would do for laughs without this kid around that is for sure....

Ladies' Spring Celebration '08 ~"A Garden Party"

When your life changes in a very big way, you mark things by firsts. Like when someone you love is no longer with you, you say this is our first Christmas without that person, etc….Well it is the same, when you move away from people you love and have ministered with for a VERY LONG time and you begin again in a matter of speaking, you say, that was our first service away, that was our first Easter in a new ministry, etc…Well I had my first ladies meeting in February, and I have one more under my belt after last weekend. I held my very first “Ladies’ Spring Celebration” in our new ministry.


It was different than the last 7 or 8 years, and I was sad and missing my friends a little, but it went very well and now I can say, I have done a Spring Celebration in my new ministry.


Nate and I came up with the menu and he rounded up some guys to help in the kitchen, I planned the service and decorated the auditorium for the day. It turned out beautifully, not quite as big as last years for me, but there is always time for that in the future.

Over all I can say it was a success, there are always a few things that a perfectionist like myself would change if I could rewind, but I can’t so I stand happy with the end result, and I feel God was honored through our efforts, and now we have one more FIRST out of the way.

Ladies' Spring Celebration 2008

Awana Awards 2008

We reached a milestone in our lives. Each of my boys moved to a new phase of Awana. Brady will move from Cubbies to Sparks and Riley will move from Sparks to Truth in Training.

The awards ceremony was held on Wednesday, April 30, 2008. They started with Cubbies and Brady received a Big Blue ribbon for finishing his second book in Cubbies, they then moved to sparks and Riley was one of two that finished his third book in Sparks and received a large plaque and a Red ribbon and a lot of other cool things.


They were both so excited with their awards and their accomplishments, they are glad to have a break for the summer but excited for the new class they will be in when Awana starts back in the fall. We love Awana in our family. There isn't a better way to get children excited about God's word and hiding it in their hearts.

Race For Education~April 16, 2008

Nate and I both attended Christian School while growing up, and it has been really neat to have our boys in a Christian school the last few months. When I was in school every year faithfully we had a walk-a-thon and we would go around and collect sponsors for our walk, funny thing is I never knew what that money was going to, now as a parent that is the first thing I check out. Well my boys were in their first, we now call it, “Race for Education” and the money goes to help provide scholarships to our school, well I thought that was a good enough reason to support it.






I volunteered to help out during the time my boys would be walking, and Brady was up first. That little boy tore it up, and he walked 11 laps, each lap is a fourth of a mile, I was so proud of him. I thought oh, boy when Riley gets here he will probably only walk 5, so I told him that Brady had walked 11 to see if I could rally up some brotherly competition.








I took Brady with me to Riley’s so He walked a few with his brother raising his total up to I think 13 laps, well, my oldest son surprised me and he walked 17 laps, he was so excited and I was very proud of him too. Over all it was a gorgeous spring day and everyone had a wonderful time and everything was a success. I haven’t found out how much they raised yet, but I am sure it did very well.

Missing something today....

Well, it has been a while again....I guess I must be busy, or just don't have anything to say at the moment. Today, I was driving home from work, and it was one of those moments where Brady was actually quiet in the back seat, and my mind was wondering, and I was thinking that it has been such a long time since I have seen Ohio in the Spring....I'm talking many years, and it is actually quite nice here, the temperatures are in the 80's or close to the 80's everyday, and it really doesn't feel like it. I am a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl, and of course with my flip flops and it has been perfect weather for that all week. I think I am going to like North-eastern Ohio living. OK, I said all of that to say, the one thing I miss about Wichita, Kansas today, of course I am talking shallow things here, not people we love and will miss forever is....ARE YOU READY????? QT.....oh, how I would love to find a gas station here with 89 Cent drinks and $1 taquitos or hot dogs....you know we went there a lot if every time I pull into a gas station to get gas Brady hollers from the back, I want a plain hot dog.....and a bug juice....I could have really used a cheap diet coke today after work, but just wasn't willing to pay $1.70 for McDonald's diet coke. So if anyone comes this way, could you please throw some cheap drinks from QT in your suitcase for me???? My taste buds would really appreciate it.... ;)

His Mercies are new every morning...

Where have I been???? Let's back track a little....We went to Cincinnati for Spring Break...yeah, nice and rainy weather....my poor kids, we have promised to make it up to them someday. But oh, well, we left on Sunday, March 30th to head to Cincinnati to my dad's house; we were going to help get ready for the "Escape" Regional Ladies Conference at Camp Chautauqua. So Monday we got up and headed for camp, to set up the stage area. We worked all day, and the boys rode their bikes in the rain.







Let me back track a little. On our way to Cinci on Sunday, I said a few prayers to God about the sell of our house in Kansas. I told God, He knew and I knew that this would be the perfect week to get a contract on our house. Well, Monday afternoon He did just that and we were thrilled, calling people and praising God for His faithfulness. I will finish that story towards the end of this blog. Tuesday was much the same, except for the fact that my roomy from college and very dear friend was coming into town so that we could start practicing for leading worship at Escape. She got there around 8 pm and I was so excited to see her and get some time with her. Carrie and I got up Early on Wednesday to go and see my mother's grave together. We drank diet coke/sweet tea for Carrie and had a wonderful time together.





We came home and picked up Nate and the boys so that we could run to Wal-mart to find matching outfits for our gig. We then went home and got ready for Church. Thursday we went up to camp to get the sound system set up and start doing sound checks. We forgot the mics so Nate turned around to get them, which gave Carrie and me some good girl time, to cry, laugh and minister to each other. As soon as we walked in the building there were things to do and we stayed busy until pretty late in the evening. We turned in knowing Friday, would be a hectic one....Friday was a beautiful day and everything was running smoothly and just as it should. The Escape conference was a success. It was Friday-Saturday, and there were over 600 ladies there and I believe every one of them was able to leave with something. Carrie and I had a blast leading worship together, and hope we get an opportunity to do it again sometime soon. Carrie joined us at our Church on Sunday, so we got to sing together once more. Then she and her family left Sunday early evening, I almost didn't know what to do with myself with her not around. It was crazy. Ok, now back to the house....on Monday, after that glorious weekend, we found out the contract fell through, the lady that was going to buy it did not get the job she thought she was going to.....But we know God knows what He is doing, and Just like in this picture of this beautiful Rainbow, which by the way was resting just over the top of my little rental house in Medina, Ohio....God's mercies are new every morning. He knows our needs and He will meet them. He is ever faithful and constant in our lives. He will not fail us, and He will sell our house in His perfect timing, and then He will help us find the home we are supposed to buy to raise our family in. Thank you God for your protection and guidance and ever constant love.

Brady turned 5 Today!

Today was Brady's birthday....we made a teenage mutant ninja turtle cake last night...Riley got up first this morning and wanted to make B a birthday card, so he and Nate set out on this adventure while I straightened the house for our birthday company that would be coming that evening.

Brady got up and came and saw his cake, he loved it. I took a couple of pictures of him so I could remember that precious face on the morning of his 5th birthday.

I had to work today so I dropped the boys off at school and took treats to Brady's class. When I picked up Brady his face was painted like a tiger....ok, that's good....they had a special day at school today....I was glad, because it made his day special...

We went to see "Horton, Hears a Who"....GREAT movie...nate and I both cried....Jon and Kristy, Isak and Alee joined us for the movie, then we went to our house for pizza, presents and cake. We had our pizza, we sang Happy Birthday and Brady blew out the number 5 candle. Then he opened his presents...he got a game boy advance sp (bought on e-bay :) he was excited, but more interested in playing with his cousins....the kids played and the adults looked at videos on you tube and had a blast.

Then our family left and the boys played game boy in bed until 11 or so....A beautiful day for a beautiful boy...Thanks God for my precious Treasure of Brady....and for the wonderful day of celebration we had today...the end.

Thursday, March 13th

ok, Thursday was one of those days for me, actually this was a crazy week. Nate was busy every night this week, so we were a little off and then my brother and his family came to see us on tuesday so that was a busy but very fun time. We had our first ladies meeting since I have been here on Thursday night so I was gearing up for that, and my to do list kept growing and was adding some stress to my brain, I had a semi-melt down on Thursday afternoon with one of the ladies on staff at our new Church....oops, it is kind of early to be letting anyone see a melt down, I mean we have only been here a few weeks, those should probably wait until we at least reach the six month marker, but oh, well...it happened. Blame it on what you want to blame it on....stress, being too tired, having a busy week, the anticipation of my baby being 5 the next day...who knows but none the less there it was staring me in the face like an ugly zit on your nose on prom night. so I was driving home and kind of still melting as I went...a few tears would trickle down my face every once in a while....and I am listening to Christian Radio, one of my favorite past times I might add, and what does our wonderful God do for me, He lets the DJ play one of the songs that ALWAYS makes me think of my mom..."LEGACY" by Nicole Nordeman...wow, what a loving and faithful God we serve...He once again proved himself to me and his unending Love for me and His protection of me and my oh so tender heart. Thank you God for putting your arms around me on Thursday, letting me cry, and telling me it was all going to be allright, I felt as if He was saying "go ahead and cry a little, and heal a little and then go and do my work...." so I did just that, I sat in my driveway and had a good cry, then I got out of the car and went and got my self ready to go and do the Lord's work and what a wonderful time we had...a very rewarding night with lots to look forward to in the future at First Baptist~Medina...Can't wait to see all God has in store for this ministry....It's gonna be a fun ride.

Things we have never seen before...

OK~ we woke up tuesday morning with about 5 inches of snow, and school was cancelled. It continued to snow all day, then we woke up wednesday morning with another 5-7 inches, and school was cancelled for the second day in a row...Riley said: "WOW, two snow days in a row, that is pretty neat." We had about 2 1/2 foot snow drifts in our drive way and could not get our trailblazer out. We lived in Kansas for almost 10 years and never owned a snow shovel, well we have two now, and we are using it on an almost daily basis...

Last night the boys were mixing some chocolate cookie dough at the table in the kitchen and I looked outside and low and behold there was a family of five deer in our neighbors back yard. They were getting some dinner from our neighbors bird feeder...It was an amazing sight to say the least, I think we all just stood there with our mouths hanging open in awe and amazement. Nate said...well we certainly NEVER would have seen deer in our backyard in Kansas....

What a different place we are living in...SNOW and DEER all in the same week...I have pictures but somehow we lost the cord when we packed to download my pictures to the computer, I am going to go buy one this week and I will post some updated pictures of all the fun we are having.

The Hardest Thing God Ever Asked Me To Do...

Ok, Don't get me wrong, I have had hardships in my life...I guess you can say, I am no stranger to pain. This particular time I felt like I was inflicting the pain on myself. Making a Choice to follow God's plan and forget my own feelings. When the opportunity came up for us to move to Ohio, circumstances in my life were kind of rocky, and I jumped at the opportunity to even think about a move. Then the mood passed and I still felt God pushing us to make a move, things just kept urging us in that direction. We made arrangements to move and made an announcement that we were moving. That made the decision very real, we were excited about this new phase of our life and the possibility of a fresh start was very enticing. I started packing some things we didn't need in November and I felt sick over it. Then as the days progressed to weeks and the overwhelming challenge of packing up your life and loading it onto a truck was staring me in the face I was even more convinced we were wrong, God did not tell us to move. A little over four years ago, I faced the most difficult thing I have ever had to face and that was loosing my mother. Then almost two years ago we as a family faced another situation that was very emotional and overwhelming. I put this move right up there with those two things in my life. I did not know how hard this was going to be. I did not know how sad we would feel. The day we were to leave town, the house was just about all cleaned out, just a few more little items and our suitcases to pack, Riley decided to look around the house one last time and when I glanced at him I saw tears in his eyes. I had to look away, because I knew I needed to be strong for him. Brady, what can I say about my sweet Brady, He was so emotional he could not contain himself. He stood in the doorway of the garage and the kitchen and sobbed, very loudly, I might add. I kept asking him to be quiet, but he just cried louder...I think the emotion of seeing that empty house was more than his little four year old mind could take in. He finally stopped crying only when Nate picked him up, and our big strong daddy decided to have us hudle and pray...only he couldn't get the words out, so I finished his prayer of thanksgiving to our Lord~for the awesome priviledge of working at a Church like Glenville for almost 10 years, and for the opportunity to move on, not because of sin and we had too, but because it was time and God had made clear the path for us and opened the doors he wanted to open, the road we have been traveling has not been easy either, we came here with no home and it took almost a week to find a place to live. Our first sunday at our New Church was a difficult one for me as well, I received text messages from a couple of friends and didn't know if I would make it without crying all through the service, but I did. At the end of that service someone came and asked me to pray, I did and her prayer was wonderful, thanking God for me and Nate and praying that we would continue to let God use us...WOW! We are feeling at home here now, we still don't get very much done at the Church because people are still trying to get to know us and want to talk to us...we have dinners scheduled all the way to March...Time heals, and we are feeling that healing. We are excited about our future in Medina,Ohio, and anxious to see all that God has in store for us. I know that "All things work together for good to them who love God..." and I know that all things are working for our good. Moving across the country is an adjustment to say the least...but when you are seeking God's will for your life and listening to His voice, I have said it before and I'll say it again, there is no better place to be than in God's Will...Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift.

Our Week...

Our week has been good. We had no school on Monday, so Nate filed our taxes, and me and the boys just stayed around the house all day. On Tuesday, we woke up to about 3 inches of snow, and the really pretty kind too. Riley went to school and then we went to our schools last basketball game. Today, we woke up and it was snowing again...very beautiful. I have been at the church all day working on ideas for Ladies ministry and helping Nate get ready for our first Choir practice tomorrow night. It has been a fun day. The boys will have AWANA tonight and I am going to get my hair cut tonight for the first time since we left Wichita...I really miss my Susan, who used to cut my hair.

We still haven't heard anything on our house in Wichita, it concerns us a little. We had so much fun in that little house, We know God is in control, but it would ease some stress if it would sell. Keep us in your prayers regarding that. We are trusting and we know that God's timing is always better than ours.

This weekend Nate and I are leading worship at a youth girls conference called "BLOOM" in Louisville, OH. We are looking forward to it, right now they have over 125 girls signed up. We are excited and can't wait to be a part of it.

I guess that's all for now, I do have more to say but it doesn't go with any of this so I am going to blog again...

UP-Dates!

We are feeling good. It has been a good week. Busy, but good. We are getting into the swing of things and starting to get a schedule down. We keep having snow days though and that does throw a wrench in things at times...but I do love the snow. I love to look out my window in the morning and see it on my deck. We probably won't thaw out til April, but that's ok with me. Brady was sick last week for three days, but he is over the hump now. Riley is doing awesome in school. They tested him and he is reading on almost a 5th grade level. I was so worried coming here that he would be behind on things, but he is doing great...He is loving school and loves being in the same building as his daddy. Brady is doing good too, making the connection between letters and being able to read, he is working on writing his letters and numbers and is really liking his new class. I went to pick up an applicaiton to be a para sub today....very overwhelming to say the least, plus I am going to have to spend over $70 to even get all the stuff in and I have to have everything in by the 29th to be considered for employment in the middle of march...seems like things are a little more indepth than they were in Kansas. Maybe God will just start landing jobs in my lap and I won't even have to apply there. I keep praying...We are doing good though, and we are adjusting, It is hard to follow God's plan for your life sometimes and it's hard to just say yes and do what you feel He is asking you to do, but when You feel that peace of being in His will there is no better place to be. I Chronicles 28:10~"...The Lord has chosen you...be strong; do it!!..."

still trying to get settled

Well we have been in our house for 4 nights...and it is looking ok, I am still trying to figure out where I want things, and which things I can do with out for a while till we get to buy a bigger house. I am very thankful for this house that God gave us for a temporary residing place. If it were not for the garage out back we would have had to have a storage unit too, and now everything I own is all right there where I can see it...God is so good...It is an adjustment time, someone asked me this week what are your evenings like? I thought you know I don't know yet, it will take us a few weeks to figure out when we are going to grocery shop and when we are going to do laundry, but that will all come with time. We have two Sunday's under our belt and this Sunday was easier than last Sunday, so I am anxious to see how next week is..."All things work together for Our good." "God makes everything beautiful IN HIS TIME."

We found a place to live

We are moving into a little rental house today....We are so relieved and excited....Can't wait for a little more space....Hotel living is NOT fun!!!!

Our address is:

810 Oak St.
Medina, OH 44256

will fill in more details and post pictures later....