What To Pick?

There is so much to show you all! I have pictures I'd love to post on a bunch of fun things over the last few weeks! 2 lovely preggo photo shoots, a gorgeous shower my sister threw me last week and our babymoon get-a-way this week =) I feel soooo blessed!

Thank you seems like the main thing coming out of my mouth these days, both towards others and towards the Lord. It's very easy to come with a spirit of thankfulness before the Lord these days =) I was talking with someone just this week and had a funny moment. It went something like this...

Friend: "Kristi, I got your letter the other day!"
Me: "Awwww....THANK YOU!"(in a very genuine, "touched" kind of voice).

The friend, a bystander listening and myself all burst out laughing! It was totally not the appropriate response but I'm so used to be thankful these days that it just came out =) We all had a really good laugh =)

So, I'll have to be a little more consistent over the next while with some posts to show you pictures of these fun times! Today, I'd like to show you some pictures of the beautiful family friends shower my lovely sister threw me! I felt SOOO loved and honored! It's so neat to gather with women who have known me for 25+ years =) What a beautiful history! My sister put together a gorgeous shower with so many personal and gorgeous touches. She did an incredible job and worked so hard for weeks! Thank you Stephanie! You are the best sister ever!

What a Wonderful Life!

It's been a fun month full of fun things! For example...

1. Prenatal classes with my hubbie!

2. Thanksgiving!

3. My 29th birthday!









4. Two pregnancy photo shoots! (photos to come)

5. Finishing off day shifts at work! (Only evenings to go in November!)

6. Preparing for baby! (shopping, planning, nesting, cleaning, setting up the nursery)









Here's a picture of last Sunday's 34 week picture! This Sunday I'm already 35 weeks! The belly/baby is growing!

Awake and Excited....Again!

It seems I'm in the same place as I was two posts ago and find myself wanting to post an early morning blog. I'm just so excited. About everything baby. That I can't stay in bed because my excitement is keeping me from sleeping =)

I'm so excited to meet my baby. It's crazy that I'm due in 8 weeks and 2 days! Pregnancy goes so fast! I'm sooooo excited to snuggle skin-in-skin and get to know one another. I'm excited for morning snuggles. I'm excited to give of myself to care for the needs of my little one. I'm excited to learn more about the heart of God through parenting. I'm excited to find out who this little one inside of me is. I'm excited to know the gender and the name! I'm excited to see the personality come out and recognize some of those traits from how the baby is in utero.

This morning, all I can think about and daydream about is the nursery and baby furniture =) I want to have a nice place for our baby to live and a room where I want to go to, since I'll be spending a lot of time in there =) I want to sit on a rocking chair and enjoy my baby =) My goodness....I'm excited!

Here are a few pics from our IHOP trip the other week! We had a wonderful time! It was a whirlwind trying to fit so many things into only 3 days but it was worth it!

The 3 pics above are during a stretch break at a rest stop en route!

A reunion with Allison, our friend from our DTS who is from South Korea!

A girlie afternoon with two of my favorite ladies!

Sibling supper at Cinzetti's as we say "see you later" to my bro!

Blogger Review: Thank You, God, For Blessing Me by Max Lucado, Illustrated by Frank Endersby

Thank You, God, For Blessing Me is a cute children's book written by Max Lucado. The story is about a caterpillar named Hermie and the short, 5-paged book is Hermie's prayer all about the things he is thankful for. The purpose of the book is to show pre-school age children to remember to be thankful to God for the blessings around us.

The message of thankfulness is definitely portrayed in a clear manner. The book is interesting and I think would be helpful for its intended audience to provoke thankfulness in the hearts of children. It definitely portrayed a strong spiritual message related to prayer and thankfulness, something I would want my children to learn about. The illustrations were simple and colorful, which I would guess would draw the eyes of little pre-schoolers. I would recommend this book to others with children. I personally liked the message and the physical size of the book and the material it is made of (card board type material). The smaller and thicker pages make it easier for children to turn. My recommendation would be to make the book a little longer and incorporate a little more of a story plus the prayer. 5 pages seemed so short!

What a cute book and I'm glad I own it for my coming baby! When I received it in the mail, I immediately sat down and read it aloud to my unborn baby. Thankfulness is a topic that I feel very strongly about and want to incorporate into my home and parenting.

(Booksneeze provided me with a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions I expressed are my own.)

Awake and Excited!

I just can't sleep. I'm too excited. About what you ask?

Well, there is just so much to be excited about! Life and things related to baby in general =)

I was awake and doing a lot of tossing and turning in bed. Then my excitement got rolling and I knew I was on the way to a very awake state. Then my cute baby got the hiccups. I decided, forget this lying in bed stuff. I'll just rise and shine early and take a nap later since I have the day off =)

I have sooooo much to be thankful for. I am constantly reminded of that lately and spend a bunch of my quiet time simply thanking the Lord for all the blessings.

Today, I'm excited to see the midwife and have girls day. I'm thankful for the way Shane's job works which allows him to accompany me to the appointments and we get to hear baby together =) It's so very special. I'm thankful for my girlfriends. They are so special to me and I value friendships in such a big way.

Tomorrow I'm having another prenatal massage...ahhhhh...right on. Thankfully, my low back/rib pain has been settling down and feels better than it did for the majority of my second trimester. I'm totally pumped to begin Prenatal Bootie Camp tomorrow evening! I found it through the leisure guide and I'm excited to do something active that is specifically for me as a preggo! I hope it's fun and they don't run me ragged =) It will be good to get into shape a little more =) I'm even excited to wear my new exercise pants =)

Wednesday, Shane and I have a date planned and then we are having supper with my "little" bro and his girlfriend for the last time in the next few months as he heads off to IHOP to do an internship until at least mid-December. I'm looking forward to a sibling supper together =) I'm so thankful for my incredible family. My husband is amazing. I'm totally in love. I love spending time with him. Having my sister living with us is sooooo special at this time. I'm so blessed.

Thursday is work. I'm thankful for work. 8 hour shifts are awesome. I like work. I love helping and serving people. I love the honor of being present at births. What a special time for people. I like making people feel cared for and supported. Work has been good. Only 23 shift left before mat leave and I want to enjoy them all I can! I did a bunch of switches related to what is coming on Friday's thankfulness list and so though I don't have holidays, I am working this one shift in a stretch of 11! I'm going to work my butt off for it in October, but I'm excited for this little holiday =)

Friday, we're taking a sibling trip down to IHOP! Shane, Steph, Shaun, me and baby are heading down for a few days to drop Shaun off at his intership. I'm so thankful for this opportunity. I'm so thankful for my siblings and this time together. I'm so thankful for our friends in KC. I'm so thankful for the vision of Call2All and getting to work with them. I'm so thankful for fall in KC. I'm so thankful for my boss who was willing to give me nice switches to make this possible. I'm blessed.

I could go on and on. There is so much to be thankful for. I'm just so excited!

The Last Week of the 20s!

Today I am 29 weeks preggo and it's so crazy to think that there is only 11 weeks left to my due date! Crazy! This wonderful pregnancy has flown by at a rapid speed and I'm aiming to love each moment and take mental pictures to remember them =)

Last week, being the first of the third trimester, was filled with fun things! We registered for our baby registry, had a fun date with Daddy, spent a whole day with my sister, bought some maternity clothes for fall and bought our first little outfit for the baby. By not knowing the gender, it has really prevented us from shopping which has been such a blessing =) There is very little nice gender-neutral clothing out there. So, our little baby doesn't have much to wear yet but it will come in due time =)

Tomorrow we see the midwife, which is always a fun morning and I intentionally plan my midwife appointments on the same day as girls night =) Tomorrow is going to be a fun day!

Blogger Review: The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns

This review is a long time coming! I received this complimentary copy of The Hole in Our Gospel from Booksneeze a while before we left for YWAM last year. I never started it at that time and only since returning from Kona and South Africa this spring, did I start the book. I was a little overwhelmed by its size but it turned out to be a very interesting read, and very timely in my life.

The gist of the book is all about the full gospel of Jesus, focusing on serving and loving the poor of the earth. Richard Stearns is the president of World Vision U.S and takes the reader on an in depth look at what the Bible says about ministering to the poor and the topic of justice.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the way Richard began the book with his own personal testimony in the first few chapters. It was very easy to feel his passion for the poor through his writing and I found my heart drawn and reminded about my own experiences the months before when my husband and I were on the mission field on another continent. I really enjoyed the stories of his travels and the incredible people he has met along the way.

Though I enjoyed the book, was provoked and challenged, I still felt something was missing. The basis of our service coming from a place of a living, intimate relationship with Jesus seemed to be missing, as well as a perspective of the time in history that we are living in in regards to the return of Jesus. There were parts that seemed to be border line with a very strong focus on works and service, without the connection to the Man whom we love as the point of our actions. It had a real social justice feel that didn't always seem to point to the true Answer. Because I tend to be turned off from materials that have a strong social justice feel, I sure didn't like the quotes from Bono =) I would have liked to see more connection at a heart-level to Jesus being the true Answer to poverty and injustice and more focus on the power of prayer. Chapter 12 and 13 were fairly depressing as they described in details the challenges surrounding the poor. I was hoping that Richard would bring the readers some hope in the midst of all the grim reality of Part 3 and 4. He brought some positive perspective, even if it wasn't the turn around that I had hoped for. I enjoyed Part 5 the most and really appreciated the challenge to the reader about what are we going to do to live out the Gospel.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this book and it was special for me to read it after returning from the mission field abroad. The extra special part was that one of the ministries we worked with in South Africa was mentioned over a number of pages, including a church that we visited and a pastor we met! That was the icing on the cake for me =) I would recommend this book as it is challenging and provoking about living out the whole Gospel.

Dreaming and Anticipating...

I am so excited to meet this little one growing inside of me! I'm not ready for this part of the process to be over because pregnancy is just so special to me =) Thankfully I feel this way, because I still have 13+ ish weeks to go! I was 26 weeks this past Sunday and I thought I'd share with you the picture from week 26. I'm growing!

Today I'm dreaming and I'm so excited to birth my baby and meet this little one that I can almost taste it. I'm so excited to find out who this little one is. I'm so curious if this baby is a boy or girl. I'm so curious about the name the Lord has for this baby. I'm so curious what kind of personality and gift mix the Lord has for our baby. I'm so curious if I'll have a bald baby, how much he/she will weigh and when our baby's birthday will be. I'm just so excited for all the unknowns!

God must be giving me special grace because I'm feeling tender about dreaming about preferences on how I hope my labor and delivery will go. It's so easy to be realistic and logical about the process because of working in the area, but I also want to hope and dream like a mom who hasn't seen all that I've seen =) I'm praying for a low risk, term, vaginal delivery with no complications and the least amount of pain as possible to get the job done!

It's so crazy that before I know it this pregnancy will be over and I will be meeting my baby. I am soooo excited for the months ahead. I love fall so I greatly anticipate September and October and what they hold. Then comes November which holds the end of work, beginning of a maternity leave and the potential of our baby's arrival. December is going to be incredible. Our baby will definitely be here before Christmas and then we get to have possibly the most special Christmas yet! The rest of 2011 is going to rock!

I am so blessed and so excited. God is so good to me!

The God of Answered Prayers

I am thankful that I love the Lord who answers prayers. Lately, I've noticed a number of things that I've been praying about or needing a solution to have an answer and a good one at that!

I just want to brag on my Jesus!

I'm in awe over and over how He blesses my heart through answering my prayers for other people. One prayer request that has always been close to my heart is praying for women who want to conceive a baby. It is so dear to my heart to cover these women in prayer. In the past, I've got to be a part of the process of praying for a number of friends and coworkers, who went on to conceive and birth beautiful babies. Over the last few weeks, again I see the Lord at work, answering my prayers! I am overjoyed! Over the last little while, 3 different women that I've been praying for have conceived babies! Some of them are still secrets and others have become public knowledge, but I am just so very excited when I see these answers to prayer! It is so fun when my list of women who I pray for to be able to have the babies they long for, gets shorter! Woo! Hoo! Go God!

23 weeks, a weekend at camp and the joys of life!

It's pretty incredible but I'm 23 weeks already. Wow! Now that the weeks left is a smaller number than the weeks completed, it seems a little crazy! 17 weeks until the due date and that just seems so soon already! The nurse in me is greatly looking forward to the 25+ weeks milestones, but the follower of Jesus in me says it doesn't matter what week I am, just have trust and peace in God's perfect leadership. Sometimes my job isn't the best influence.



I am so thankful and so blessed. What blessings I have in my life!



We spent the weekend at camp and I loved it. Actually, I was sad that I wasn't there all week long. Though, I'm VERY motivated to be at work right now with that big 600 looming ahead of me. I am very much wanting to get those magic 600 hours that make it possible to get a maternity leave!

Camp was awesome. The friends and the family are awesome. The Body of Christ in her many cultures, expressions and ages is awesome. Being out of the city is awesome. It was so refreshing and I could feel the Lord so much easier than lately. I would love to repeat the weekend for a month =)




Some details that I like about pregnancy:
- the movement of baby
- the growing side profile
- a decrease in greasiness
- the love and kindness of friends and family toward my little baby and me
- clearer skin
- being a part of a process that involves something eternal

I am blessed!

Farewell To An Old Friend

Dear Sleep,

You and I used to be such good friends. We were together for many hours every day. We enjoyed one another's company. We rested, relaxed and dreamed together of many things. I said no to late nights from time to time and definitely said no to early mornings so I could spend more quality time with you. Not many things could come between us. When we were together, the rest of the world faded in comparison.

For a beautiful, small and growing reason, I'm finding I don't need you anymore. Our friendship wasn't as strong as I once thought it was. I thought we'd need one another in such a big way forever, but apparently I was wrong. I'm finding I just don't need you as much as I thought I did. Other things are coming between us.

Thankfully, I'm not as devastated as I thought I'd be at the farewell of you, my dear friend. I know that we will not be apart forever. It may be many years, or not, before we are close friends again. I'm hoping my new friends far surpass your greatness and in the light of the joy they bring, I'll hardly remember you. I promise to continue to be close acquaintances with you, seeing you every day, even though our relationship won't be the same. Sorry, but I have found something better...

Your friend,
Kristi

Half Way There!

Wow! It's awesome and amazing to have come to the half way point in my pregnancy with Baby Farrow #1! I'm 20 weeks and 4 days already and feeling great for the most part! I am so blessed and so thankful!

I'm loving the second trimester (minus the round ligament pain in weeks 15-18 and the nighttime back pain lately)! It is such a fun time when my belly is starting to grow and yet I feel great, have a decent amount of energy and am loving the moving baby inside me =) I am looking forward to meeting our baby in a few months but I don't want the time to fly too fast. This is super duper special and I want to enjoy every minute of it!

This week was full of fun things related to baby! We got to see our little one on ultrasound on Monday and God totally answered our prayers and Shane got to come in for the whole thing (totally against policy)! Woo! Hoo! We declined finding out the gender and though I'm super curious, I'm so glad we didn't accidentally find out or something! I'm really wanting the surprise! My favorite parts of the ultrasound were seeing the beating heart and seeing our little one waving at us! The little hand came out and the fingers started moving =) So cute!

We took baby for his/her first experience at the beach after the ultrasound which was a fun way to spend the day! Though made in Hawaii, we never made it to the beach before we flew home so St.Malo in Manitoba is the first beach experience =)

That same day, as we were getting ready for bed, Shane had his hand on my belly and we were hoping he'd feel a first kick. Yay! Baby did it! Kicked daddy twice! We laughed and loved it! So fun!

Other than the Baby's journal, we have been so good at not buying things for Baby =) It sure helps that we don't know the gender and they don't make a lot of nice, gender-neutral clothing! But, after 20 weeks of pregnancy, we finally made two purchases for Baby this week and I am so excited about them! One on sale and the other, my first purchase off Kijiji! I'm getting excited for the arrival of this Baby!

Happy 20 weeks, my Baby!

Flutters, Pops, Flips and Somersaults!

Oh how I love the beginnings of feeling our baby move! It has been so fun to feel little movements each day and sense them getting more frequent and stronger over the past week! I love it!

The first moment I felt something that I felt more certain was baby moving was in a special environment which I'll probably never forget. At 15 weeks and 6 days, I was sitting in the FCF service in Kansas City. Mike Bickle was preaching on the Forerunner Spirit and John the Baptist and I felt this movement inside my lower abdomen. It tickled me and caused me to start chuckling mid-message! Ahhhh...yes, this baby brings me so much joy already! I still have the notes tucked into my Bible and I may have to put them in the baby's journal =)

When we returned from KC, I was listening to the heartbeat at work (the post I wrote about calling Shane and Steph so they could hear over the phone) and it was that day that I realized even more that the little things I was feeling were happening at the same time I was hearing movements from the doptone! Sure enough...those were movements!

Over the past few days, I've been feeling more and more and I love it! This past weekend, we had our annual hotel family weekend (which we normally have at Christmas) and on Saturday, baby was moving more than ever! We were relaxing and Steph had her ear to my tummy and heard a small "boom!" and felt something against her cheek at the same time I reported a little kick! So special!

This baby is a mighty mover that's for sure! Each time I have a listen, this kiddo is moving up a storm! I sometimes feel like he/she is doing flips and somersaults!

Here's some fun pictures of our weekend at the hotel!

I miss Kona and YWAM today...

I'm kinda surprised. I didn't expect the emotions I'm feeling today after 4 months.

We arrived home 4 months ago (as of next week) from our time in Kona and South Africa with YWAM and Call2All. I haven't done a lot of looking back or longing for the past at all. I've been energized to move forward and excited about what the Lord is going to do in and through us as we continue forward.

But today it really hit me. I miss Kona today. I miss the YWAM family today. I miss Monday morning worship times in Ohana Court with the whole campus. I miss hearing YWAMers sing IHOP songs, even if they didn't always seem to sing it right =) I miss Kona weather and scenery. I miss the view of the ocean. I miss palm trees. I miss the buzz of campus life, knowing that so many people are gathering in one location to grow and seek after the Lord. I miss the comradery that the community of YWAM brings. I miss the prayer room on campus today and would love to spend a few hours in there today.

I sure wish I could spend today in Kona.

I've been dreaming about Hawaii the last 2 nights and I think that has set the stage for a day of missing Kona. I'm also listening to Casting Crowns as I read the Word this morning. Their album "Until the Whole World Hears" kind of represents the hardest few weeks of outreach for me and was a very special connecting point between the Lord and myself during the really intense weeks. He has led me so well.

I want to constantly remember the greatness of the Lord and the greatness of my earthly assignment in His Kingdom. It may look tiny or grand, but I want to constantly being doing the "next big thing" that the Lord requires of me! I don't want to be standing still, waiting for time to go by. I want to be going forward at all times. I want to be in the midst of a mighty river, not standing on the banks watching it go by. I want the big things of God that are accessible to me this side of eternity.

Today my heart is remembering. I want the Lord to return. I want Him to set up His Kingdom in Jerusalem and rule and reign over this planet, making all the wrong things right. I want to see the nations transformed and I want to see millions saved, truly saved. I want to see the Great Commission completed in my lifetime. I want to see events talked about in the Bible come to pass before my eyes that I know are pre-requisites for the return of my Jesus.

Come, Lord Jesus, come.

Baby Moment Memories in the Making...

It's late and I'm home from my first evening of reorientation back into the float pool at work. I should be crawling into bed next to my husband right now. But, I'm off facebook right now and re-evaluating it over the past month and just needed an outlet to share my joy =) So, here I am blogger!

On my break tonight, I borrowed a doptone from triage and found an empty room on one of the labor floors. It's been 3 weeks and a long road trip to and from Kansas City since I heard my baby and I was itching to hear the little one today =) Sure enough, the little heartbeat was easy as pie to find and such a delight to hear again! I didn't think it would work at this early in pregnancy to hear the heartbeat while I was standing, but I tried and waddled my way over to the phone and called home. What a delightful surprise for my fantastic husband and darling sister when I put the doptone up to the phone for them to hear! A nice whoosh, whoosh of the blood flow to the placenta, a nice strong heartbeat at 144 beats per minute and audible movement on top of that! What a delight! And as I was listening, those perplexing, I'm-not-sure-what-I'm-feeling moments occurred again at the same time I heard baby Farrow move! I must be feeling the beginnings of movement already! Woo! Hoo!

I'm so in love. I smiled on the way home at midnight just thinking about it. I'm so excited to meet this little person when the time is right =)

Loving Life

What a beautiful June 12th! We began with a sleep-in, then spent 2 hours in the prayer room to start our anniversary off right and then off for a late lunch date at the Cheesecake Factory! We always make that our date place when we're here. We enjoyed good food, wonderful company, great conversation about the last year and the year to come and then a good walk around the Plaza! We had a fantastic ride home in the van, dancing to songs and laughing! I love my best friend!

Now it's time for supper with the Coopers!

7 Wonderful Years

7 years ago on June 12, 2004, I had the delightful pleasure of marrying my best friend and love. Other than saying yes to Jesus, saying yes to Shane has been the next best decision I've made =) My life is far more sweeter than I could have imagined marriage could ever bring and I'm so blessed that I can't even put it into words. I picked the best guy out there =)

Last year at this time, we were here in Kansas City to commit our seventh year of marriage to the Lord. Apparently, in past history, many couples reevaluated their relationship at this time and so the term "7 year itch" was coined. Also, the average year when couples divorced was at the 7 year mark in the past.

We said that was crazy and passionately took a stand for marriage and our marriage and wanted to do something extra special to put that stake in the ground. So, we booked a hotel for a night for the first time since our honeymoon and came to Kansas City to seek the Lord for the next year of our marriage. We received lots of prayer and ministry together at the Awakening Services, in the prophecy rooms and enjoyed time in the prayer room together. It was awesome!

God has been so faithful in our seventh year of marriage. He didn't directly show us the plan while we were here last year but by the end of July, we had a plan! Over the last year the Lord has done amazing things. He has taken us on an incredible faith and risk adventure, pausing regular life, going to Kona to be a part of YWAM, heading to South Africa for 2.5 months on outreach, conceiving our first baby, transitioning home, resting, growing in love, having some direction for the future and reuniting our family again by bringing all the siblings back to the same city! If this coming year is like the last, it's going to be awesome! Shane tells me it's going to be even better!

This anniversary is a special one. We have so much to be thankful for and I am reminded of that very frequently. I feel so blessed by the Lord in the things that really matter right now. Tomorrow is our 7th anniversary and we launch into our 8th year of marriage. Tomorrow also marks being 15 weeks pregnant with our wonderful baby and is the Global Day of Prayer. I do not think that it is an accident or just fluke that our anniversary after a very special, sacred year is on the same day as a global day of prayer! Also, we were in South Africa, where the Global Day of Prayer started!

I am more in love with Shane today than I was the day I married him. This year has only increased my love for him and it has been such a pleasure and delight to spend so much time together, seeking the Lord and running together in ministry. I am so happy to be married to such a wonderful man. I am so blessed that this incredible, anointed, man of God is the one God picked to be the daddy of my babies. He's going to be an incredible father. I am so blessed in so many ways.

Shane, I'm absolutely in love with you and it grows day by day! Happy 7th Anniversary, my love!

Kansas City, here we come!

Packed. Check.
Van and house clean. Check.
Wonderful company. Check.
Anticipation for rest, fun, encounter and direction. Check.
Food for my hungry baby. Check.

Kansas City! Here we come!

The Sweeter Things in Life...

What a lovely week! The weather is beautiful, I'm feeling good, we got to hear our baby's heartbeat and my sister is coming home after 10 months away! It's a great week in my world!

Yesterday was our midwife appointment and we were super delighted that we were able to hear our baby's heartbeat! Not only that....but we heard the munchkin kick too! The midwife pointed out that our baby kicked and it made me giggle and giggle! I actually still giggled about it hours later =) What a joy and delight! Our baby is a mover and a shaker already! Watch out world! This baby is going to be powerful!

And my favorite sister is coming home! I can't wait to hug her, hang out with her, hear her talk and snuggle on the couch! I have all kinds of things that I'm anticipating with Stephanie's return....foot rubs, long walks, long talks, giggles, girly dates, a lunch date at Pine Ridge Hollow (since we missed our birthdays), doing dishes together, back rubs, having her at SHOP and gatherings, and so much more! In a short 37 hours, I will squeeze her and shower love on her!

Good night!

Very Delightful News!

It is with great delight that I get to update my blog after a few weeks of laying low in the blogging world! We have very special news that we found out 2 weeks after arriving home from our time away with Call2All and YWAM!

We have a little baby forming and developing with the expected date of arrival of December 4th! We are having a baby! And I'm 9 and a half weeks preggo!

We are delighted and the timing of the Lord is perfect. I couldn't have planned it better myself. The timing was awesome....a made-on-DTS/made-in-Hawaii baby, finding out when we were home with friends and family and not far away, and in the most up-in-the-air season of our lives, suddenly an eternal being is being created within me. It's pretty crazy and awesome all at once!

It has definitely made me think about faith a lot these last few weeks. Something is happening within me that I have absolutely no control over. It's something that I can't directly see or feel but I believe that there is a little human being being formed by the Lord in my womb. I think the beginning of pregnancy is like faith....you can't see or feel something but you believe it. It reminds me how much more faith I want and how easy it is to rely on sight and the confirmation of things in the natural. I want to live more by the Spirit! I want big faith!

The last few weeks have been a little stressful and I've been battling with some fear and worry about the future. In the past, it was nerve-wracking to think of starting a family on one steady income and one support-raising income. I think it's the humor of the Lord to take us to the point where we risk all that and have no income and then we find out we are having a baby.....and we must have grown in faith in the past season because our response is pure joy =) God is hilarious and delightful and I love His ways! He is in control!

The stressful part of the last few weeks is the unknown of the future. Everything seems up in the air. Yet in the midst of it, we know that a baby is coming before Christmas. The next step is unclear, the job situations are unclear and we're in an awkward waiting period that has lasted longer than I anticipated. It's been frustrating. I just want to know the plan already. And in the midst of this all, I think about the special gift that God is giving us with our growing family. What a gift!

This evening, I was organizing the office, preparing for my sister's arrival. Stephanie will be moving in with us in 2 weeks when she returns from New Zealand! I'm really looking forward to her return! Anyways, I saw a few books in our baby stash that has accumulated over many years, mostly from an excited auntie-to-be =) I sat on the floor, put my hand on my belly and read books out loud to our baby. Though our baby can't hear yet at this gestation, I can pour love and truth into his or her little spirit! I love you baby! You are called and destined by God!

There is much I could say but this will do for now. I am excited to share our wonderful news with you all! Here are a few pictures to enjoy from the day we found out about our little miracle!

We are pregnant!

Delighted and surprised-and-yet-not all in one! First response: laughter!

Delighted and surprised-and-yet-not too! First response: doing a happy dance!

We are new parents of a growing life! Wow!

Call2All Highlights Evening

This past Tuesday, Shane and I had an evening to present the last 6 months to our family, friends and coworkers about our experiences, favorite stories and an overall account of what took place while we were in Kona and South Africa. Thank you to all who came out to support us and hear about our time with YWAM and Call2All! We really appreciate your support!

Shane and I had a really fun evening and it was a great reminder of the amazing things the Lord did in and through us as we spoke it out and shared the stories with others. Again, I am reminded that we are so honored that we got this experience. God is so kind to have given us this adventure of growing in him. I am so grateful.

We shared our stories and pictures and then had some time chatting with people with some drinks and cookies! We had a really fun night!

So thank you to all who came!
Thank you to all who rsvped either way!
Thank you to those who brought juice and cookies!
Thank you to my uncle for graciously hosting us in his church!
Thank you to my husband for spending hours eliminating pictures (6500 down to 300)!

God is so good!

Call2All Highlights Evening - April 12, 2011

Hello all!

Tomorrow night, Shane and I are having an evening to fill you in about the last 6 months away! Many have asked how the trip was and we got an idea from one of my coworkers to put on an evening to chat about our highlights, favorite stories and such! So, tomorrow is the night!

If you live in the area, please come out and join us! It should be a fun evening!

We are meeting at 7pm at Willowlake Baptist Church (45 Willowlake Crescent). Just bring yourself!

Blessings!

Back in Winnipeg...2 weeks later

2 weeks ago today, we landed back in Winnipeg, on the cold, Canadian soil.

What can I say about transition/re-entry? It's a number of things. Awkward, strange and different to start. Some things are familiar, comforting and wonderful. Other things are frustratingly the same, discouraging and not what you want to face. We've had a little of all of the above and yet the Lord has led us really well in the past 2 weeks since arriving home.

We spent week 1 resting, getting to know our home again and seeing some of our immediate family. It was actually a big adjustment to rest. We've been used to being so busy each day and having a full and effective schedule that it felt unproductive and ineffective to rest at the beginning. But, after 2 weeks of 10 hour nights because I can't get my body out of bed in the morning because I'm tired, I realize that perhaps we needed that rest! I've had lots of energy in the day and haven't needed any naps, so the long nights have really helped the transition and combating jet lag!

Week 2 was spent along the same lines...resting, enjoying home life and seeing friends mostly and a little more family. We've been taking it really slow and it's been so wise. It was hard at first, like I mentioned, but it was definitely the Lord's wisdom that we adjusted that way! He knows the best way and I'm thankful we let Him lead us in wisdom.

Here's a list of my thoughts on different day to day things since coming home:

- Our toilet paper is so much softer!
- Our water tastes so much better than South Africa or Hawaii! Our Brita helps =)
- Everything here is super-sized! Even the containers of toiletries like shampoo and face wash.
- Our apartment is so clean and comfortable! I don't feel things biting me anymore and insects aren't crawling over my arms and such anymore! No more geckos, mosquitoes, ants or cockroaches. That part is really nice!
- It's so cold here! I can't warm up even though this is spring weather and we missed the dead of winter. I have to take multiple baths a day!
- We went grocery shopping for the first time. We sure haven't had to do that in a long time! We had a nice "welcome back" from our pharmacy peeps =)
- I'm SO happy to have a tub again!
- I'm SO happy to wear my wedding rings again!
- Our bed is sooooooooooo comfy! After sleeping in 9 other beds in the past 6 months, ours beats all of them and there are no sand fleas in my bed!!! Woo! Hoo!
- It is so quiet here. The windows aren't open 24/7. There aren't birds singing early in the morning. There aren't children waking us up early in the morning. The geckos aren't talking before bed.
- It's so nice to only share a bathroom with 2 men whom I'm either married to or related to! Woo! Hoo!

God is good! He's leading us well and we'll see what this next week holds!

Travel, Debrief and Graduation...and add a Tsunami and Earthquake!

Well, this week has been our last week of our DTS experience. What a growing, stretching, challenging, fun and exciting 6 months it has been!

We left South Africa last Saturday and traveled a LONG time to get back to Kona, Hawaii for debrief and graduation. Thankfully, I had the window seat for 3 out of 4 flights! I was SOOO thankful for that! I was especially desperate for the window seat for the 17.5 hour flight from Johanessberg to Atlanta! God gave me so much grace for that flight and I did so well! I could have been on there longer by the end =)

Except for a some napping on the plane, we were awake for 52 hours in total between getting out of bed and going to bed! We had a wonderful welcome from some of our Call2All family when we landed in Kona on Sunday night and stayed up late catching up with our friends, the Hales.

Debrief week was actually really full and there wasn't much time for jet lag. Monday was a rest day but we filled it with enjoying campus, saying hello to many people, supper with our friends (the Coles from IHOP who are doing a DTS here), enjoying the prayer room (and seeing some IHOP faces in there!) and ending a great day with a message and ministry night in the prayer room by Allan Hood! What a treat! Allan was out here to speak at the Call2All Church Pioneering School this week! What an awesome time!

Our class debriefed Tuesday and Wednesday and we shared our presentations with one another of the different locations we went to (South Africa, Brazil and the Philippines). We got this awesome booklet to process our DTS experience and take home with us. I enjoyed filling it out! I also spontaneously led the class worship on Wednesday which was fun!

Sadly, we missed out on the Spirit being poured out in the prayer room on Tuesday night because jet lag hit me that day =( I was so tired and though I set my alarm for 5:35pm to make it to supper and to hear Allan Hood speak, when I woke at 7:45pm, my alarm was still set but hadn't gone off! Bummer!

We've been enjoying the prayer room, the campus and catching up with friends who were on other teams around the globe! It's been a fun and full week!

We had graduation on Thursday and Mark Anderson (president of Call2All) was our guest speaker. That was really nice that he could come and see our class. What was extra special was that he sat at the same table as Shane and I and I could pick his brain with probing questions for an hour and a half =)

To end graduation day, as we were hanging out with friends in our building, the tsunami sirens we hear on the first Monday of the month at noon went off. It was surreal at 10pm! It was a mad scramble for the first few minutes and we quickly checked CNN to find out about the earthquake in Japan. We grabbed the children from bed and headed over to campus as directly by our school leader. Generally, the students stay on campus, which is a safe spot and out of the evacuation area. Because campus is full and we are in just for debrief for a few days, they put us in housing off campus. Our place, with the other couples and families, is in a safe zone, but we don't have food and such. The singles are in a hotel that is in the evacuation area. So, to make sure everyone is accounted for, everyone had to evacuate to campus.

We all spent the night there and I slept amazingly well for the circumstances. We slept on the floor of the Ohana Court on the cement pad as a class. It was an interesting way to spend our last night together on graduation day =) They had CNN and all the updates playing on a big screen throughout the night. We also found out that we had an earthquake! What a night of natural disaster issues! It was like a scene out of a movie =)

We made it back to our place around 8am, even though the warning was still in effect. The students in the hotel had to stay on campus. The road that we always walk on, do our weekly evangelism down and where the hotel is was full of water and some of the businesses were trashed! Good thing they evacuated! I don't know how high the water got but it's amazing to me that it passed the sea wall and the road! We checked out some of the aftermath this afternoon and can see how high the water got! God is so good and He is our Protector.

Thanks for your prayers, care and concern! We are safe and sound and had an exciting night =)

Tomorrow we leave for Winnipeg and start the next season of our journey! Wow! Crazy!