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

Settling

Hello friends.  We have been a bit absent for a while now.  Much has changed over the past 2 months.  Christmas was wonderful here in D.  Jonathan, Jackson, and I spent a quiet time together just being a family.  We enjoyed watching and helping Jackson open a few presents from Mommy and Daddy.  I cooked a small meal.  That was about it.  We are always running and visiting when Jonathan is out of class and always a bit separated in our own little worlds when he is in class, so we chose to spend Christmas together, but definitely not alone!!  How can you feel alone with a 16 month old and a 4 week old hanging around.  Yes, you read correctly.  WE ARE EXPECTING AGAIN!! We found out the week of Christmas, so Mommy and Daddy got the best gift and exactly what was on our list.  As you can imagine, the next few weeks were fun for us as a family as we visited over the New Year and got to break the news to our families face to face (a lot of them at least... missed you Dustin, Heather and Jake).   Immediately following was a week of packing up the old place to move into the new.  We finally surrendered to moving on campus at DTS in Swiss Tower.  We have some amazing friends just 10 steps down the hall that drew us in like fish on hooks.  Jonathan, Erin, and Cara have been such a blessing in friendship and fellowship since our first days here in D.  When we got the call to pick which floor we wanted, it was a no brainer!  Erin and I are looking forward to our kids hanging out as they grow and we have already shared several dinners together when one of us cooks a meal designed for 6 instead of 2. :)  Of course, since I've had morning sickness (well, more like all day sickness) for several weeks, Erin has cooked way more than me.  I think my little growing one owes much of his/her nutrition to our friends down the hall. God always seems to provide!  Moving into our small new place was no small task.  We owe much thanks to all of our friends from church and to Momma Z and Pappa Z for all the help.  We are glad to be where we are now.  We know it's where God wants us.  I put a few picts of Jackson below getting to know his surroundings.  He loves his new crib!!  Even though it's smaller than our last, he has more room to move and play.  He actually has his own REAL room.  Not just a closet!  I have more room in the kitchen as well, so what more could a woman ask for, right!!!!??  We'll try to do better on the blogging in the future.  I think life is going to be simpler now.  God Bless.

Jackson rocking in the same chair his Mommy rocked in 28 years ago!

Lovin' bath time again!  He went through a phase where he was petrified of the bathtub.  Not sure why, but glad that's over!!

Here's a few more from today..

The last one is priceless! So, was he REALLY feeding Hope? He gets in trouble for feeding Hope, but in this picture the spoon is on his plate and as a witness I did not see a big glob of potatoes in his hand before he put it down there. He was just letting her lick his fingers. That's different, right? What do you think?

The Semester is Over!

Hi Everyone! The fall semester is finally over and I know that I rejoice with the rest of you who operate in the education environment as a teacher, a student, or a spouse/family member of one. I am trying to take a mental break this morning while Jackson is napping, but I found myself looking at my textbook list for next semester, finding out where I am in the completion of the program, contemplating which degree track to do my electives in, and wishing that more of my spring syllabi were posted so that I could start to piece together an attack plan. Disengaging is sometimes hard- I guess the things of the next semester are not too far off on the horizon and I don't want to be unprepared.

But, Holly says no more school today and I agree. I have a short opportunity to let the stress of the semester melt away and enjoy some of the things that I normally don't get to do, like post fun pictures of Jackson on the blog!! He is growing so much in his little body and mind, doing lots of fun things such as learning and applying his sign language, working on his tackling techniques with Daddy, suctioning his own boogers after bath-time, and expressing his affectionate little self with lots of hugs and kisses. His speech is improving enough to let him say a few words a little more clearly, such as "dog." He is also doing some mischievous things like climbing over the ottoman, turning the TV on and off, and defeating the devices we are using to keep him out of the TV stand cabinet so that he can reach his little hand in and turn his "Signing Time" video on all by himself. So, I hope that you enjoy theses pictures from the past month. For those friends and family home in the Great State of Tennessee, we look forward to being home again over New Year's. Have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the break. - Jonathan

Wow, have I got some catching up to do!!  Blogging just hasn't happened for us lately, sorry everyone.  Jackson is growing up fast.  He gets cuter and cuter everyday and cracks those smiles all along the way.  His personality is really starting to show through. He is your typical 1 year old who thinks it's funny to punch the TV buttons and shakes his finger back at Mommy after getting in trouble for throwing food on the floor.  Mostly we have to hide our smiles because we can't let him know how cute we really think he is when he is getting in trouble!!!  Enjoy the pictures!!

Playing in the toy box instead of with his toys.

"I can do yoga too, Mommy!  See, down dog."

"You're right, Mommy.  NO throwing food on the floor."