Deputation Trail ~ #1

We officially started deputation one month ago and boy did it fly by! We started off presenting in our home church ~ always a good thing! ~ and continued on to some area churches we've known for some time. We fell into a routine quickly: pack an overnight bag on Saturday, spend a way-too-short-amount-of-time with a church on Sunday and then drive home late Sunday night - just in time to crawl into bed and get ready for Monday morning. :-)

By the end of the month though, I was laughing at my failed attempts to plan. Let me explain. The first Sunday I didn't think to grab snacks for the ride home and so that had us stopping at a Wendy's for a snack. Not wanting to continue that habit, I decided the next week to pack fruits, veggies, and other snacks for the 3-hour ride home. Imagine my surprise when the church graciously gave us a huge basket stuffed with all sorts of snacks, goodies, and drinks! I was determined to get it right the third time, but didn't count on the hotel we were staying at to have a full kitchen! So there we were sitting there on Sunday morning with a fridge, sink, and two-burner stove and we were eating........pizza from the night before. :-) So don't judge our deputation by our food experiences; we'd be seriously lacking in scoring any points!

As this is just the beginning of our deputation trail, I'm sure the stories will stack up - especially when we put a newborn into the mix. :-) We have tremendously enjoyed each and every church we were in. It's like seeing extended family! Nat did fly down to Texas for a conference in the midst of it all and was able to show our presentation dvd while he was there. Imagine our surprise when he received a phone call after the conference from that church's pastor saying they voted to take us on! God is good. :-)

We're taking a break for the next 2.5 weeks from deputation, although we're joining a group of young people from our church to head to a student competition in Illinois all this week. So I don't suppose we can say we're actually taking a break from traveling. ;)

Deputation trail #2 will start on April 12th.... we're looking forward to some new adventures!

A Day Off.

It's a beautiful day! You're probably saying "So?" but it almost always rains on President's Day and the fact that the sun is shining tells me it is a beautiful day indeed.

Nat and I are enjoying our day off (except for the oops moment I had in forgetting to turn off my normal-Monday-morning-alarm before I went to bed last night) and we intend to make the most of it today! We're going on a picnic lunch (yes it is 40* outside... :D), take an invigorating walk at a nearby park, go rollerskating (I'll be careful!) and then have a giant pizza party at my brother's tonight:).

Like I said, it's a beautiful day!

Makin' It Official:).

Confession time: my lack of blogging has (for once!) an excuse. For weeks now I've been wanting to blog but I've been waiting to share a little secret:).

Now I know a lot of LVBC and facebook friends read here so you already know, but I do want to make it "blogger" official too: we have a little peanut on the way!

We found out on Christmas Eve and were pretty excited - making it a pretty easy Christmas gift:). Then we got to hear the heartbeat on Valentine's Day and were pretty excited - making it a pretty easy Valentine's gift:).

It was kinda funny when the doctor first found the heartbeat because it made our baby so real (and not just some extended illness that has been making me feel nauseous all the time:D) and I said, "Oh my!" Well with me talking that made the doctor go searching after that little beat again:). What a precious sound it was to hear.... too bad we didn't think to record it until several hours later.

So, onto the answers for the frequently asked questions!

• My due date is August 24th.
• This is the 13th grandchild for my parents and the first for Nat's parents!
• We plan on finding out what we're having... when the baby arrives:).
• We do have names picked out!
• Plans for deputation have slightly changed! We'll be taking a 7-week trip (April-May) and have some meetings in churches. After that, we plan to stay "local" for the summer and get some meetings with churches that are within 3-4 hours driving distance.
• After the baby is born, we have a meeting scheduled for the last week of September and all of October. We plan on jumping into this whole newborn/travel thing with both feet even though we have no idea what we're doing! (Prayers are appreciated!!!)
• Cravings. Oh cravings. Actually it's been fairly straightforward and nothing weird like nacho cheese and ice cream (eww, that sounds gross!). My #1 craving is chicken salad from the bakery I used to work at. A close second would be Edy's fruit Popsicles. Mmmm!
• Morning sickness (which turned out to be afternoon/evening sickness for me) is really subsiding. Protein helps! My husband has been so sensitive to what might make me sick to the point that he would walk to the end of the kitchen to get the food item (and the smell!) away from me. The crazy thing is that whatever was bothering me smell-wise was something I had made and had for dinner the night before!

Hmm, can't think of anything else:). God's been good!

Setting In Motion

Is it me or do the days just gallop by? When I was a kid, every summer I used to make a calendar to mark off the days until school started. Yes, I was one of those kids! Now? I still mark off the calendar, but that's only because the days literally fly by. Last year at this time, Nat and I were getting ready for our Thailand trip. Actually all last year it felt like we were getting ready for one trip or another. :D

This year? This year we are in the beginning stages of planning for deputation. I say we, but really I mean my husband. Nat's already made our prayer card, booked a ticket to fly to a conference in Texas in March, and has been on the phone with pastors scheduling meetings. We have 3 meetings in March (plus the Texas conference) and then we'll take a break to go to Park Meadows Baptist Church for a student competition for a week. That is always a fun time! We enjoy being with our teens and the bus ride isn't too bad either. :) Of course, remind me of that when I'm actually on the bus!

We're tentatively planning on being in Missouri and Texas in April and May. And that's about as far as we've planned!

The Lord did provide a deputation vehicle for us:

('99 Toyota Camry)

We are very pleased with it, even if it's not your traditional van/trailer/RV that most missionaries get. :) Lord willing, this car will see us through many miles (safely!) and be a sound, reliable car.

We are thrilled to be getting the wheels set in motion for deputation. My husband will be preaching and presenting at our home church towards the end of February, which is our official start. We're looking forward to what the Lord has in store for us this year!

Merry Christmas!

From Christmas lights (Koziars)....

... to more Christmas lights (our little tree)!

We had a wonderful day today! Church this morning (fantastic), a quiet afternoon preparing the turkey, side dishes, unwrapping presents, and taking a walk, and then having some family over tonight.

The fun will continue tomorrow night with more family coming over (we can't help but squeeze in as many people as possible into our apartment:D), and then we'll be heading up to New York later this week for a funeral on Nat's side of the family. Our original plans were to leave tomorrow morning for a 11-day trip to Tennessee and Texas, but our plans changed. Instead, we'll get some extra time in with extended family and postpone our southern trip until April.

I hope you all had a precious day as well as we rejoice in celebrating the birth of our dear Savior!

The Days (Months?) Just Slip By...

According to my blog, apparently November just didn't happen. At all. :)

Thankfully it did... since it was the month of Thanksgiving! Nat and I have a lot to be thankful for; but then again, doesn't everybody? I recently said to Nat, "I am really content with my life." As soon as I said that I thought to myself, "Wonder what storm is coming up in my life." Yes, a storm came but that doesn't change the fact that God is still in control. And I'm thankful for that...

A few changes have been happening in our lives... like a new baby. As in baby nephew:). This little guy is #12, making the count 3 nieces and 9 nephews. Unfortunately I have begun the habit of looking at a kid and calling him/her by a cousin's name. Twelve is a lot to keep in line:).

Because #12 made his debut the other day, I get to watch his two older siblings for the next several days while his mommy recovers from having him. This is going to be fun and will include adventures like Bounce U, hide-n-seek, and PB&J sandwiches. :)

I recently started working in my church's office again... after a three year break. It was kind of a yay:)/sad:( time because I love working in the office, but it meant leaving the bakery. :( If I ever figure out how to be in two places at once, I'll let you know. I greatly enjoyed working at the bakery for the past two years, but that season came to a close.

I know that my time in the office will be short-lived as well but that's for a great reason: deputation is just around the corner! We have been waiting and praying for a long time and we're thrilled to be getting in position. We're hoping to have some local meetings in the early part of 2012, and then head out full-time in April. Just one step closer to Thailand!

Before we start 2012, we need to finish 2011, which includes a fantastic road trip to the Lone Star State! I love my in-laws (good thing, huh?!) and we're fixin' to spend some time down there practicing our "ya'lls" and "howdys":). I have a feeling my accent is going to be a dead give-away!

Whining.

Our next door neighbor has a dog. Actually, she has a few dogs. Currently one of them is whining which is detestable in a child, but downright annoying in a dog! The whining from the dog next door reminds me of when we were in Africa and of the puppy that lived next door to the missionary and yapped all. day. long. (Incidentally, I just found out the other week that the little puppy in Africa died when it was bit by a poisonous snake. Sad ending.)

Whining. If I can't stand it when a child or animal whines, why do I think it's ok to do it to God, my husband, friends, and so on?

My pastor preached an excellent message on Sunday evening about praise. He used Paul and Silas as his reference point and was pretty dramatic in describing all the horrible things about their situation. A dark, dingy dungeon. Whipped back, feet in the stocks, no snuggle blankets or fuzzy socks (ok, I added those last two in there:D). Pure torture.

Yet Paul and Silas decided to praise God. There was plenty of room for a pity party and some whining. "Oh woe is me!" would also fit, but the choice Paul and Silas made is permanently recorded as praise and prayer.

Wow.

Whining. Leave it with the next door neighbor's dog and praise the Lord!

Come On In!

Nat and I have been married for roughly 15 months, and although the promises were many, I never actually showed my blog readers around our humble home... well that needs to change. :)

We've really enjoyed making our cozy apartment into our home, especially because we know it's not going to last forever. In fact, it's not even going to last more than a couple of years! We can't take our stuff with us to Thailand, so we were determined to do the best with what we had and just enjoy today. Lord willing, someday we will own our own home, but for now we get to enjoy this apartment!

Ok, let's start in the kitchen, shall we? The kitchen is my favorite room (like I have a bunch of rooms to choose from!) and I love making things for Nat since he loves to eat! We also enjoy having people over, which becomes a bit of a challenge when our expectations exceed our space. :) The most we've had was 20 people for a New Year's Day party, which was really fun!

People always ask where the garbage can is and usually can't believe it's tucked away in the corner with the apple label disguising its real purpose!

In case you can't tell, we really like the country theme! We've enjoyed picking up things one at a time for our home and pulling the theme together.

Ok, I'll admit it. The buffet is my favorite piece in the whole kitchen! That's my pantry as well as a really cute decorative piece. :) When we got married, my sister-in-law gave us the towel on the oven which says our names and that we were "established" July 10, 2010. Cute idea!

Now we move into the living room. I love the spaciousness of this room and the fact we can extend the kitchen table into the living room when we have company over. Last Thanksgiving Eve we had my family over which made for a sit-down dinner of 14. It worked!

The coffee table, the trash bin, and kitchen buffet were all hand-made locally. We have really enjoyed using them!

Now don't laugh, but yes we have had our snowmen pictures up since last year! We liked them too much and couldn't find seasonal replacement pictures for them (and didn't want the wall to be bare!) so we just left them there... and now they're just about back in season. ;)

Our little entry way:).

Bathroom... any explanation necessary? :)

We love our bedroom! It is huge (as you'll see) and works nicely as a bedroom and office.

God's been good to us! We're grateful for a place to stay and for the opportunity to use our apartment for God's glory. Stop on by anytime... :D

Video Clip:).

Recently several different people in my church have had their testimony recorded and so my turn came on Wednesday. Nat and I went with a friend to a local park to record. I was so grateful it only took one try and it was under the time allotted:).

Monday Blessings...

#1 ~ I went to the laundromat this morning and noticed two dryers had 13 minutes still left on them! Not quite a big deal to most, but that was one less dollar I had to spend on drying our big bath towels and hubby's jeans:).

#2 ~ Bottom Dollar and Weis were running some amazing deals this week! You can't beat a $10 off of $20 coupon, nor a host of other coupons that came in the paper on Saturday. (Yeah, Sunday's paper now comes on Saturday... hmmm:D). I enjoyed seeing at the bottom of one of the receipts 80% total savings. Yay! Coupons really are worth cutting; they save a lot of $$$!

#3 ~ My husband was asked to drive the girls' volleyball team to their game today (1.5 hours away) and so I got to go along and enjoy the game too:). On the way home I had a wonderful chat with one of the ladies in my church which really encouraged me. God is so good!

How are you doing today? Any recent blessings?

:)