Meet Evangeline

Meet Evangeline. Evangeline sits next to me in choir. Evangeline is my choir buddy. Evangeline had a birthday. Evangeline loves birthdays. Evangeline also loves pineapple. So, here is the present I got Evangeline for her 16th Birthday. The End. :)

Where Would You Be If You Were:

• 100 Yards from a razor wire fence


• Down-wind from a dumpster


• Sitting in the sun


• Under power lines


• Without picnic tables


• AND surrounded only by the coordinators of this delightful little gathering?

Give up???

No, not prison. You would be at our Church Neighborhood Care Group Picnic!!

Never would have guessed?? Well, sometimes despite A LOT of planning, calling, emailing and mailing you can pick a park you THOUGHT was the the right one, and pick a date that worked when you started, and manage to find the one park in the area without a flat area, picnic tables or shade.

It is really not as bad as it sounds. We had a wonderful time with friends, the weather was PERFECT... 65 and sunny, and eventually a few more people did show up. AND I got to eat some AMAZING potato salad, chocolate cake, apple cider and a few other things I didn't make... does life get any better?

Firsts

I am sorry it has been a few days since I have posted anything. Poor Benjamin has come down with his 1st cold. Not a fun experience. He is such a great baby, and a real trooper, but I would be upset too if I couldn't breathe and snot was draining into my stomach. Today is Day 4 and he is doing much much better.

In other news we got an offer on our house (YAY) but it was so low that there was no way we could make it work (NOT-SO-YAY). So, sadly the people have moved on and we are still here waiting for our house to sell. Please pray that it sells quickly because Andrew's job is probably done the end of this month.

AND, I am planning the Coffeehouse at our church. The youth put on a Coffeehouse each year, we have live music, couches, tables, dessert, fruit and of course Coffee. It is going to be a great time, but we will see how Ben handles it, since he usually is sleeping by 8, and the Coffeehouse goes until 10. AND, Andrew won't be there because he has finals this week and is going down a day early to study. So, pray that Ben will get over his cold and just sleep through the whole thing. :)

If you are in Asheville, you really should come to the Coffeehouse!

Where would I be?

Where would I be without friends who take care of me?

Well, for starters:

• Baby Z's room would not be painted
• The chair rail would not be up
• I would only have 5 baby outfits
• I would not have 100+ outfits to wash and put away
• I wouldn't have had them all put away right now
• Baby's closet would still be a mess
• The changing table would still be in disarray
• The crib sheet would not be on, ready to welcome Baby Z
• I would not have 20 people praying this Baby doesn't come on a Saturday (while Drew is 2 hours away, from 4am-8pm)
• I would not have had money for a car seat
• I would have had cereal for dinner Saturday night
• AND SO MUCH MORE!

The LORD is good, and He give me good things, like amazing friends who pray for us, and generously give, and come over and help when I am overwhelmed.

I wish you could have heard my friend Jen sing in church yesterday, but you will just have to get by with the words:

How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds

In a believer's ear!

It soothes his sorrow, heals his wounds,

And drives away his fear.

Feeling Real, Part II

Ok, I forgot a couple things from my last post that have made this "having a baby thing" seem even more real:

• Sleeping in weird positions (Thanks Jenna for the reminder). I can no longer sleep in my regular side/stomach position, I am now propped up with pillows and flip a lot. And it is only going to get worse.
• Once a month our church walks forward for communion, and often an entire family will got forward and the pastor will pray for the young children who do not yet take communion. Well, a few weeks ago, when we went up our pastor pulled us aside and prayed for Baby Z. It was amazing, and weird and made me cry. :) He is already a child, with a soul, and God already had a plan for his life. Incredible.

COFFEEHOUSE

A word that can sum up what I have been doing with my time for the last few weeks. The youth of our church host a coffeehouse each year, and this year I got to be in charge. :) I love bossing around 40 youth kids. :) It was a great night of coffee (obviously), dessert, live music and conversation. We had 300-400 people and everyone had a great time. If you missed it, you should be here next year. :)

L

Here is a view from the top, the transformation of the sanctuary. :) It was even cooler at night.

The youth kids sign up to decorate their own table. This was one of the high school girl's tables. See below for an example of a boy table. :)

There was a distinct difference between girls tables and boys tables. :)

And the food... which was incredible. As you can tell, there was a St. Patty's Day theme. :)

An example of the amazing music that filled the Coffeehouse. :)

In The News

I have been meaning to post this for a while. It was the cover of time magazine on their 2/16 issue. Two of our pastors and another lady that I sing in choir with are part of the Blue Moon Group.

TIME Magazine Article

My Plate Is So Full - It Feels Like Thanksgiving!

To my dear neglected readers:

Life has been crazy lately. I am not sure where all the times goes, but it is always gone. We still do not have internet access at home, so sadly finding time to blog has become nearly impossible. Here are a few of the things that have filled up my days:

• My Puppy - playing with her, walking her, training her. We took her for her third round of shots Tuesday and she weighed in a a whopping 20.8 lbs at 13 weeks. She is going to be our little monster. She has tripled her weight in the 7 weeks we have had her. But we love her to death... so it is all worth it. :)
• Puppy Class - Monday nights are puppy night, thankfully another lab has joined the class, because before it was Ivy and a miniature dachshund, and a shitzu (both under 8 lbs), they just about fit in her mouth. :)
• Bible Study - I run from puppy class, home, feed Ivy and then head out and am not usually home until 11. Drew goes his separate way too, now that he is a Deacon at church, he usually has a deacon meeting or a missions committee meeting on Mondays.
• Choir - I sing in the church choir and practices are going from 1 1/2 hours to 2 in preparation for Easter... I love every minute.
• Moving - three of our friends have moved in the last week, so we spend Friday night, all day Saturday helping them move, and most of yesterday I spent helping one friend unpack. But now we have friends that live just a few minutes away!
• Coffeehouse - each year the youth in our church put on a coffeehouse as a ministry to the church and to unbelievers in the area. It is a night of live music, we clean out the sanctuary and bring in tables (each decorated by a high school student) couches, lamps, rugs, coffee tables etc. and we have coffee and tons of desserts... and I am organizing the whole thing this year. Fun, but time consuming.
• Not to mention the keeping the house clean, cooking, laundry, ironing, paying bills, filing papers part of it all.
• AND - as Sarah blogged about - Sarah, Dave & Jennifer came down for the weekend, which was an incredible time of doing nothing. :) Meredith is coming next week, and Drew and I are hoping to escape for a weekend in March AND we have a friend getting married in a few weeks in Raleigh and we are going to see Drew's grandma. Not to mention Ryan & Meredith's wedding a few weeks after that!
• And Friendships - forming friendships takes time! It was hard to move away from VA, and the amazing friends we had there, and it has been harder that I ever imagined making friends in a new place, but we are finally getting to the point where we have friends to call when life is hard, or when we have something to celebrate. What a blessing true friendships are!

So, all that to say, life is busy, but good. And again I leave with a promise to post more pictures soon.

L

BBLLLUURRRRRRR

On Day 1241...

I am sorry, my faithful readers, that we have been delinquent in posting. The last two weeks has been filled with fun, and busyness... and I am not shopping for Christmas at all! In an attempt to catch you up, before we leave TOMORROW... here are a few of the highlights...

My birthday! - I celebrated no less than 4 times! I had three birthday dinners, one out with my husband, one with family, and a final one with friends (which was cooked by Ryan, Jonathon & Drew and was great!). I got my traditional carrot cake, picked out a Christmas tree, was given a vita mix!!! and was even woken up by a call from my mother, singing happy birthday... horrible flashbacks to my childhood. :)

India Preparations - I have been shopping, shopping, shopping! Thankfully my mom went ahead of us, so we can bring what is missing... so I have bought shower curtains, bug spray (which is quite a feat in December!), gifts for our Compassion kids that we are going to visit!, cardamom seeds, gifts for relatives,Emergen-C, NyQuil, sandals, travelers checks, passports and visas, luggage tags, ear plugs, sheets and much much more. Thankfully after packing last night we still had an extra bag! Although I think that all our carry-ons are overweight... who allows only 12 lbs???

Christmas Parties - We have also attended 3 Christmas parties, one for work, one for choir and one with friends. At our choir party Ryan & I managed to pick up a nice purse and cookbook from the white elephant party. :)

Driveway - Well, the men who poured our driveway were not satisfied with the result, so they have graciously agreed to pull it up and re-pour it... however they started yesterday, so now I won't be able to park my car in the garage before we leave. I am still very thankful they are doing it, but it is just another thing to remember. (I had watched every morning to make sure they hadn't started, so I could get my car out of the garage... well yesterday morning I didn't check and I went to leave and they had just put the jack-hammer to the pavement, but hadn't turned it on... thank goodness!)

Christmas Concert - Every year our church puts on a Christmas Concert, which happens the first Sunday in December. So, 3 nights, Saturday & Sunday of last week were consumed with practice. The gospel was clearly presented through the lens of Christ's humility, and really understand what is meant when John said "The Word was Made Flesh." It was an amazing time, our choir director always does a finaminal job with the program, and this year was no different.

Christmas Cards - I love sending out Christmas cards. Despite Drew telling me I was crazy, we wrote a letter, and I had addressed 160 cards... they went in the mail this morning!

OK, back to all the other things I need to do!

L

Giving Thanks

I realize this is coming a few days late, but it is never too late to give thanks, right? I thought I would list out a few things that I am thankful for this year. These are in no particular order.

1. My Church
Drew & I have finally found a church that is home. There is something very sweet about being in fellowship with people that you know, and that love you. Our first year in NC was not easy, but finally finding a church home has made this year full of blessings. We have made many new friends, of all ages. I have never been part of a church that is so giving. When we moved, people I had never met, showed up to help... in the rain. And we have been SOO blessed by helping others in the same way, moving, making meals, cleaning, babysitting or just being a friend. I don't know how to even begin to describe the amazing peace I have knowing that I am worshipping with others who's lives are focused on serving Jesus.

2. My Family
I have probably said this before, but I LOVE being part of a large family. They are my most constant friends. On my birthday last Sunday, I was woken up by a call from my mom, Meredith and two brothers calling from Malaysia to sing me happy birthday, then I was able to cut down a Christmas tree with Drew & his family, and they even made me my favorite carrot cake since my mom wasn't here to do it! And then two more phone calls from my dad & my brother Micah. And to finish off the night, my brother Ryan gave me a Birthday Card. I could not have asked for more.

3. My Best Friend
I am constantly amazed by how well Drew knows & loves me. He is my best friend, the one I talk to, vent to, and my constant partner. It is more than I could have imagined, and I am so thankful God brought him into my life. I don't know what else to say...

To Sum Up: I am loved well.

Happy Late Thanksgiving!

L