Mommy's Helpers

Life has been a bit of a challenge for this pregnant lady lately.  I've been battling several colds, viruses, fatigue, and just pregnancy sickness in general.  I had a couple of break downs last week when I thought I was never going to get better!!  Luckily, I have two of the most wonderful helpers in the world that won't let me get too down.  Jonathan made it his mission to have the house clean and all the laundry done on the last 2 Sundays while I've been recovering.  I think yesterday was the first time I've set foot in a grocery store in 2 months!!  I'm happy to report that I did wake up yesterday with a newfound sense of hope and energy thanks to rest and prayer.  I knew 2nd pregnancies were tougher, but wow!  Thankfully, Jackson takes long naps during the day....and so do I.  God has truly blessed me with a beautiful family.  Check out the precious video of the boys working hard to make my life a little easier :).  You may want to turn the volume down first, though.

Prayer for Friends

We would like to share a prayer request tonight.  As many of you already know, some friends of ours, the Bakers, have been walking a very hard road these past few months.  Early into their second pregnancy, Benji and Rebekah received sad news that their newest little girl, Gracie, had some severe health problems that would prove to be fatal.  We have been praying along with them and their friends and family for healing and/or strength to deal with God's will, whatever it may be.  This past weekend, Gracie went to be with Jesus during Rebekah's labor.  We wanted to give you the opportunity to meet this sweet family via their blog and ask you to continue to pray for them as they trust their Savior through this loss.  Their faith and transparency through all of this has been such a testimony to the greatness of our God.  We encourage you to draw strength from them as we have and to interceed for them as well.  Our God is faithful.  We believe this and so does this precious precious family.  www.thebenjamites.blogspot.com

Hi everyone, 

We finally finished moving out of our old apartment including the cleaning (thanks Holly for being my superwoman), painting, and turning in the keys. While I was there at three am on Saturday morning finishing up the painting, I looked around at the empty apartment and expressed my thanks to God for providing a great place for us to live and for keeping us safe while we were there. Still, I am so glad to have some closure there and only have one place to be concerned about. I still have a lot to do at the new place as I have yet to hang a single picture on the wall (sorry hunny). But, we are getting a little more settled every day and it's just gonna be a slower process with school in full swing. 

School is going well so far and I am really enjoying all of my classes, especially personality theory and preaching. I wasn't expecting to enjoy preaching class all that much, but I have a great teacher in Abe Kuruvilla www.homelitix.blogspot.com Read his latest entry on JIF Peanut Butter for a taste of what I mean. I am learning a lot about the exegetical/theological/hermeneutical process that applies to preaching and truly all other forms of communicating to others about God and his Son in a thoughtful and meaningful way. I am also getting to teach again these days for the first time since we've been here. Every other week I am leading the final leg of our church's eschatology study through Revelation 21 and 22. I love that section of scripture and it has been a window of understanding and challenge over the past year as I continue to work through my grief over the loss of my Dad. It had been a long teaching break and I was ready to get back into it. 

I find it harder though... I have all of these threads of stuff that run through my head (and seminary has added a lot of new threads to the mix) and I often find that I don't know what to say because I can't weave them together in a coherent way. As I read scripture and think through all of the facets of the text itself and how its historical, theological, and homiletical message applies to me and all the facets of my cultural world, my mind often raises way more questions than it can adequately answer. Even so, I still have to learn to weave some form of meaningful communication. Dr. Kuruvilla says that our weaving of the threads together into a tapestry for others to see is a lifelong ongoing process and it is how we present Christ to others through God's grand story and our own story. I think his class is helping me to learn some skill in how to begin to weave it together. 

While I try to soak up as much as I can at school, I am SO EXCITED about our new little one in the oven! I was talking to Jake the other day and in the course of our conversation he pointed out that we were going to be a family of four, but I realized that we already are. Holly is doing such a good job taking care of the baby and keeping her cool during a stressful time of transition. I can't say enough about what a good mom she is to both Jackson and our new little one. She has definitely been more sick this time around and it hasn't been easy for her to find time or ways to care for herself in the middle of the moving process. If Jackson (or Daddy) doesn't need her time, settling the house does. So, we are both looking forward to getting even more settled and a routine going so that we can focus on taking care of Mommy the best we can. By the way, many of you know this already but, I truly have an amazing wife! I am blessed that she chose me and I get the privilege of sharing life with her in the most intimate way. 

Finally, I can't blog without talking about our boy. He is getting over his cold (finally) and we went to the park to play today (thus the pics in this blog). He has been on a Daddy kick lately and I have to say that while I don't want him to give me more affection at the cost of not giving it to Holly, I am truly relishing this time as he seeks out me out. I know that this time will pass quickly and he'll be all grown up way too soon, so I am constantly aware of being thankful for the time that I have with him by fully engaging him in all the aspects of his life (except cutting toenails and fingernails... that is a special Mommy/Jackson thing, he holds so still and just lets her do it!). I truly am a blessed man. I guess that's all for now. We have sonogram pics from a couple of weeks ago of the new little one that I hope to get scanned and put up this week. I think that they're pretty special! Until then, -Jonathan