From my perspective...

Setting In Motion

2012-01-19T09:15:00.005-05:00

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!

2011-12-25T22:02:00.002-05:00

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...

2011-12-04T21:38:00.004-05:00

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.

2011-10-24T20:29:00.002-04:00

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!

2011-10-15T14:07:00.006-04:00

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:).

2011-10-06T21:53:00.002-04:00

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...

2011-10-03T19:19:00.003-04:00

#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?

Happy Fall!

2011-10-02T15:27:00.004-04:00

My candles are burning, there's cooler weather outside, yummy pies in the fridge for later with friends... and a delinquent blogger finally blogging. Yeah, that would be me. :)

A friend recently asked me about my blog (with the subtle hint of hey, are you going to blog again in your lifetime?!?) and I realized that my blog has been neglected because of an answer to prayer. Wow, that sounds like I don't like blogging, but I do! About a month ago I began to ask the Lord to fill my time because I was fast slipping into the boredom stage. Working one day a week, no children to take care of, and a small apartment to maintain wasn't quite filling all those hours in a week. :).

The Lord really answered that prayer as opportunities began exploding out of everywhere (so it seemed) and like I told a friend this morning, I feel like I'm on a roller coaster!

So the one thing that did get neglected is this poor blog of mine. Oops.

~~~~~~~~

I'm attempting to stretch myself in a few areas, including learning new things. Nat and I are eventually heading back to Thailand, so I've tried to start learning Thai. My friend Pookie would probably fall over laughing at my pathetic attempts at writing the Thai alphabet, but I needed to start somewhere!

I also started piano lessons, which is a b-i-g stretch for me! I played the cello for four years in middle school, but that was a looong time ago. Thankfully I have a really nice teacher... so now it's practice, practice, practice!

Recently I've been trying lots of new recipes, thanks to Taste of Home! I really missed cooking while in Africa, so now I'm making up for it. :) Last night I made an apple pie from a recent ToH magazine, but tweaked it a bit. One of the ladies at church gave my husband and I a bag of organic apples so into the pie they went! Mmm, mmm.

So that's life in a nutshell. Our days are busy and long, and we're tired at the end of each day, but it's a good tired:).

And now it's time to get ready for the Christmas cantata practice. Nat and I have some lines to memorize. :)

Reflection.

2011-09-08T11:57:00.003-04:00

As I was walking home from church last evening, two of my neighbors were walking just ahead of me, chatting and laughing. I glanced over to the parking lot and saw small clusters of people talking ("dark and dreary night" is an apt description for last night!), parents getting their children into cars, and people driving away to home.

I thought about the message my pastor had just preached on holiness and the priority of having God's desires first. At the end of the service we also watched a quick video from one of our missionaries overseas and then heard a bunch of prayer updates on missionaries, Bible Studies, and those with health problems.

I had a chance to catch up with a friend who had been traveling out west and then came back just in time to start school again. Little snippets of conversation here and there, waving across the foyer to a friend, and hearing about the flooding some friends are having in their basement from all this rain.

As I walked home, I reflected on my church and just how much I love LVBC! My dearest friends are at this church. I really consider my church family as my family. As a church we have weathered storms, and I'm not just talking about all the rain we've been getting:). I love the camaraderie with my church family. I always look around the auditorium during the offering and just see who's there and who's missing. I love to see people I love serving the Lord - what a joy!

God's been so good to me and I am so grateful for Lehigh Valley Baptist Church. :)

Sweet Seasons.

2011-09-01T22:16:00.004-04:00

Summer is coming to a close.

We joined some friends in playing volleyball this evening, but I know summer is just about done because we could only play until 8:10. That included straining our eyes to see the ball fly through the air and counting every ball that went over our heads as out.

Yep, summer is ending.

After church was over last night, I walked home (in the dark of course) and felt the slight chill in the air. We don't run our air conditioners anymore; just open windows and the occasional fan. I have lived in Pennsylvania my entire life so I know that we'll get one more hot spell before summer slips away for good.

I enjoy the fact that here in Pennsylvania, we actually get all four seasons. Just about the time I tire of the current season, the winds of change blow. I'm not tired of summer yet, but the kids are back in school, the fair is going on this week, the weather is changing - it's time to move on.

Besides, autumn brings joys of its own: sweaters, candles, tree leaves changing colors, and hot apple cider. Mmm, mmm!

Ecclesiastes 3:1 ~

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."

Family Gathering.

2011-08-26T15:29:00.003-04:00

We had a great weekend in New York with Nat's family... I'm only a week late in posting:).

(Nat's immediate family)

Our big reason for heading up was to celebrate Nat's grandparents 60th anniversary. Since all my grandparents have been gone for years, I think it's pretty neat Nat still has three grandparents alive, let alone celebrating 60 years of marriage!

We also got to spend time with Nat's immediate family for two days. Swimming in Grandma's pond, playing Dutch Blitz, Spoons (a dangerous game!) and a picnic or two made for two very fun days. The sad part was leaving (of course).

Next weekend is a family reunion on my mom's side (glad it's not this weekend!!) and then I think we have to say good-bye to summer.

*Sniff.*

I actually do like autumn though and in order to get in the spirit of things, Nat and I went on a date to a cute store nearby (Cottage Crafters) in hunt of something to hang on our door. Cottage Crafters is unique in that there are 50+ vendors who bring their stuff in, price it, and then leave. So it's so nice to browse and look around without someone pressuring you to buy something or having to say for the umpteenth time, "I'm just looking." Nat and I spent a delightful hour oohing and ahhing over cutesy items before settling on an item. We also went second-hand shopping and we both found something, so I would say it was a very profitable date:).

It's been a good week:).

Full Steam Ahead!

2011-08-15T20:55:00.004-04:00

We're not ones to sit back and let the grass grow under our feet so in keeping with tradition, Nat and I plunged head long into projects immediately after returning from Africa. We did give ourselves a day to recover... naturally:).

Thankfully jet lag worked in our favor and we really only had it for a day, which was absolutely lovely. My first Sunday back at church was mostly spent with little kids. They really grow up on ya when you leave for two months! I also got to hold Jackie's little guy - finally:). He was born right before we left for Africa so between getting ready for a big trip and the teen girls, there was no chance to say howdy to him:).

Nat started back to work right away too which was a good thing since two of the guys on staff took a group of teens on a missions trip to West Virginia and another man joined staff that day. Of course Nat had a pile of stuff to sort through; two months was a long time for accumulation to take place!

We did break away last Thursday for a quick anniversary trip to Washington, DC. We had a rather short list of things we wanted to see, bu ended up only going through 2.5 museums. Yes, we are those people who read every. little. thing! It was so nice to get away, even though we were just "away" in Africa. The big difference was the lack of seven other people on this little trip:).

Saturday morning we left DC bright and early in order to come home for a very sweet friend's wedding. Traffic had other ideas though:). Thankfully we made it home just in time to change and go over to church. I wish I had a picture of Jen's wedding but they are all on my husband's phone and he's currently on the phone:). It really was a blessing to see though since my friend waited for God to bring the right man into her life. Most girls get discouraged waiting after the age of 25; Jen patiently waited several years past that age and it was well worth it!

Another very dear friend of mine traveled from Tennessee to Pennsylvania for the wedding, so we had her over for lunch on Sunday afternoon. That was priceless. Our friendship has endured over the miles, but it sure is good to have a 5-hour-face-to-face chat every now and then too:).

Today we had yet another couple over for lunch. They too are from Tennessee and were up for a brief visit, so we were quick to jump on having them over. There are too many friends I have said, "see ya later!" to in the past month that it makes me long for Heaven when there will be no more goodbyes.

Tomorrow I'm connecting with two more friends; Wednesday is my normal babysitting day (gives my dear sis-in-law a break!); Thursday I hope to see another sister and her two kids; Friday and Saturday we'll be seeing Tierany (Nat's sister) and the rest of Nat's family up in New York; Sunday it's back to church and then.... Monday. I'll start back to work after three months and I'm looking forward to it!

So in the midst of keeping up with people in real life, you'll have to forgive me for not being as faithful to this blog as I would like:).

Home Sweet Home.

2011-08-08T08:57:00.003-04:00

Nat and I were often asked on Sunday at church, "are you glad you're back home?" and of course the answer was a big yes! As much fun as living out of a suitcase is, there really is no place like home! One of the joys of coming home was finding fresh fruit at the store. Plums, peaches, grapes, strawberries, blueberries, apples, bananas, and mango made our weekend:).

We have been using jet lag to our advantage and we're trying to be more disciplined with our morning routine. Easy for Nat; not as easy for me! One perk is getting more accomplished and still having the whole day ahead of me:).

Yup, it feels good to be home!

From Africa To America.

2011-08-06T09:58:00.003-04:00

Well, we're home! And my rising time of 4:45 AM this morning proves that jet lag is no respecter of persons:). I slept very well on the flight from Jo-burg to Amsterdam and managed to stay awake all day yesterday (yeah!), so going to bed at 9:30 was a welcome treat. Actually, being back in our own home was a welcome treat!

We greatly enjoyed our 7-week trip to Africa. Of course most of our time was spent in Botswana, but the remaining week was spent in South Africa. As my husband and I left Botswana, we were asking the Lord to continue to teach us through the other two missionary families we were going to be staying with and He really answered our prayer!

Tuesday night gave us a great opportunity to listen to some sage deputation advice. We had a 5.5 hour ride home (as in the missionary's home!) so we took the time to ask one question and that got the missionary going:). He talked fast and Nat typed fast. So many practical tips for deputation that we just didn't think of and the Lord knew we wouldn't ~ so He let us hear it from someone who had "been there, done that." Why reinvent the wheel when we don't have to?

All in all, Africa was a great experience for us. Now to go apply it all.... :)

Kindle Reading And Other Sundry News.

2011-07-29T14:11:00.004-04:00

I'm pretty sure I'm leaving my current internet connection tomorrow ~ that is, I know I'm leaving the current house I'm in and I'm pretty sure the next house I go to won't have internet. :)

Nat and I left Botswana on Tuesday and headed for the border with two of our friends kindly driving us there. It's a good thing we were reading "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" from somebody's kindle along the way because the scenery was that boring.

We went from one missionary (in Botswana) to another to another (in South Africa)... all from our home church! It's so nice to be able to visit with these families and they have been very hospitable in opening up their homes to us. We are just finishing up a visit with one of the missionary families and are heading over to the other family tomorrow afternoon. That's the place I'm (pretty sure) will not have internet access, which is fine. :)

Nat and I are returning to America this next week, although we're going about it the long way! Johannesburg to Amsterdam to Detroit to Allentown... yikes, I'm tired just thinking about it.

See some of you soon!

Jumbled Lodging.

2011-07-19T10:47:00.004-04:00

I feel I must give an honorable mention to the place we stayed at in Kasane last week, mainly because the pictures speak volumes!

The facility just opened in May, although it was supposed to be open in October (TIA - this is Africa). Apparently there were chalets on the property but since we were going to be staying in tents, that's where our focus was. The lady was very nice in setting us up and even arranging for the three girls to sleep in one tent, rather than having one of the girls stay in a tent by herself. Besides the dirt everywhere, lack of pathway, and the promise of landscaping sometime in the future, the place was great. Running (hot!) water and electricity have a way of convincing you that yes, this place really is luxurious!

Nat and I had to chuckle when we looked up to the right of our tent and saw this:

And we laughed even harder when we saw all the metal debris conveniently stored across the way from our tent:

This was the only picture I have to accurately show how the tents really looked:

The tents were quite cozy and the woolen blanket was a plus! The days were warm, but the nights were downright cold and I was thankful my husband forked over his blanket one night so I could get my feet warm:). What a great guy I have!

With campfires every night and the wind flapping at our door, we felt like we were kind of camping, but Krista did inform us it wasn't real camping because of the lack of an outhouse. Right.

Nevertheless, Nat and I are now looking forward to our first real camping trip... maybe this fall??? That would be fun:).

Impressed!

2011-07-15T14:35:00.004-04:00

We woke up early Thursday morning with high hopes of catching the sun rise on the Chobe River and we were not disappointed. Chobe National Park was packed full of game, beautiful scenery along the river (looks are deceiving though!), and evidence of the elephants -- both to the eyes and the nose. :) While we didn't see any lions or leopards, I was completely happy just seeing giraffes, zebras, a crocodile, and more. I try to keep my expectations low. :)

One highlight of our safari ride was driving by the same hippo and asking him to yawn for us which he so nicely did - twice:). It was most likely a sign of aggression, but I'll stay in my happy, safe world and just think he was tired;).

The whole day was absolutely amazing and one that was completely worth the money! If I could, I would go on another ride through Chobe in a heartbeat - I would just have to drive the 6 hours north to return to the area:).

We actually did get out of the car to watch the sunset and take pictures. Call me paranoid, but I was definitely looking over my shoulder for lions to come down the hill and at the water for crocodiles to quickly jump out. I figured most accidents involving wild animals and people are never planned and I didn't want our group to be added to a statistic!

Pictures just don't do justice. Taking a safari through Chobe was one of the best, if not the best, experience I have ever had overseas. It was that good!!! At the end of the day, when we were snuggled into our tent (I'll have to share that in another post) I thought again of what a great God I serve. His creativity was on full display in Chobe!

Happiness:).

2011-07-10T12:01:00.003-04:00

~And it has been one very sweet year filled with much happiness~

Grace.

2011-07-01T09:35:00.002-04:00

Every afternoon around 1 PM I meander over to a little orange stand. Waiting for me there is Grace, along with her adorable 5 month old son David. We usually chit chat about the day and in the course of conversation I find some cultural tidbit to tuck away into my ever growing African knowledge. As we start the study, the distractions never totally die down around us since Grace does run an orange stand! But I've been pleased with how attentive Grace has been each and every day.

Please pray for Grace. She understands she needs a relationship with Christ and is very close to taking that step. What a joy it would be to see her come to know my sweet Saviour!

Friends.

2011-06-30T11:22:00.003-04:00

One of the things I love about traveling is meeting new or new-ish people. There are always the native people in the country I'm visiting (obviously!) and then there are Americans to be met too. This trip to Botswana is no different. Of course I knew Rachel already, but there are three more people in this group that fall in the new-ish category. :)

Rebekah, Tobi, and Krista are from Alaska (now we have an excellent reason to visit!) . Their family came to my church a few years ago and it was a classic case of "everyone in the church knows who you are but you don't know who they are." :)

Nat and I have enjoyed getting to know them better (here's a link to their blog). Rebekah and I both have Bible Studies every week day in the market/taxi rank area (compared to everyone else who are a couple of streets over). It's been very encouraging to compare notes about our Bible Studies and see where are ladies are at (or not at!) spiritually.

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We're taking a little break tomorrow with all of our Bible Studies in the afternoon since it is a holiday here in Botswana. We have plans to do a game drive in the morning, so I'm sure we'll be the typical tourists with our eyes glued to the window;).

Experiences.

2011-06-25T07:46:00.003-04:00

Wow, what a week!

I honestly did not expect the week to be as busy as it was, but at the end of the week I was very glad it was busy:). My last post was Sunday, so that should tell you a little bit about the lack of time to post. ;)

Our morning teaching time started at 8, which meant this gal was actually out of bed by 6:50 every morning (but one... Wednesday was 7 AM). That is quite a feat and that also meant an adjusted bedtime to 9:30 at night. There is so much I want to share and now I wished I had blogged every day, but we were pretty exhausted in the evenings. Here's an overview of what our days looked like:

6:50 AM-8 AM: shower, devotions, breakfast, etc.
8 AM - Noon: teaching time (group devotions, phonetics, missions strategy, etc.)
Noon: lunch
1 PM - 4:30 PM: Bible Studies in town
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM: get back from town and unwind
5:30 PM: supper
6:30 PM: debrief from the day
7:00 PM: watch culture videos or a preaching video
7:45 PM: done for the day:)

I tried to use my spare time wisely, since we are writing out the book of Acts while we're here. Acts is my favorite New Testament book and there are a lot of good gems in there!

Last Saturday at the market I met 13 ladies who agreed to study the Bible with me. Out of those 13 I've connected with 4 this week, had 1 tell me a definite no, and passed along 2 to another girl on our team to follow up on. The rest just didn't show up. I did get to start a Bible Study with another lady though, so five ladies are studying the Bible with me... what a blessing!

Nat and I have had a lot of experiences during our short time in Africa. We have learned much and were quite tired at the end of each day. But we are so grateful that our pastor encouraged us to come to Botswana to learn from the missionary and work here. So much of what we learn here will be very useful in our future ministry!

Distracted.

2011-06-19T12:32:00.003-04:00

Since the missionary said all of us girls are going to be taking turns teaching the junior church class during the Sunday morning service, I dutifully followed Rachel and the three African children outside to the classroom (the far end of the porch of the building we were meeting in).

The oldest boy - 14 years old - participated fully: songs, verse, Bible story, songs, verse, Bible story, etc:). The little girl made a valiant attempt at the hand motions for songs like, "Deep and Wide" and "Peter, James, & John."

But the little guy - not older than 8 - was the one who intrigued me. He sat there rather listlessly, and stared at the road as the traffic went by. He actually did perk up with one of the action songs, but that was short-lived:).

As Rachel started in on part 2 of the Bible story, the little guy got up from his seat to go get a drink of water. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched him saunter the 6 or so steps to a nearby tree with a bird cage hanging on a branch... such a convenient distraction! He glanced over at Rachel before he started swinging the cage: back and forth, back and forth.

Soon the sway of the cage brought him to boredom. Not to worry though! Three dogs were in the next yard over, providing the perfect opportunity to tease the dogs into barking. Little guy began to put on a show: stand on one foot, put both hands out, and stick out a very, very pink tongue at the neighbor dogs. Of course no self-respecting dog is going to let antics like those get by and so they kindly reciprocated by barking.

The little guy enjoyed provoking the dogs and continued on for 30 seconds or so until Rachel reminded him our small little group was this way:). Little guy slowly rejoined the group, much to his chagrin I'm sure!

Contacts.

2011-06-18T14:36:00.003-04:00

We went out this morning to do some tract distribution with the primary focus of setting up studies. I'll admit I was a little intimidated but that was mainly because I've never done it here before:). I was really surprised at the response! Even if all the contacts don't pan out, the response was a lot better than what I would usually get in the States:).

Lord willing, I will have a study with these two ladies on Thursday. Please pray they show up!

Nat was able to chat with several men and set studies up too!

What's a trip without ice cream??? Well, this is probably the last ice cream cone we'll have in Botswana - made with vegetable oil and milk solids. I saw Bro. Hammett mixing up some homemade ice cream earlier today, so I think we'll stick to that instead:).

We climbed up (and up... and up) a hill today to look out over the city.

All in all it was a very good day. One blessing we found today was an ionic straightener. The straightener is of good quality and best of all I can take it back to Thailand when we return! So I feel like we fixed a problem (can you imagine bad hair for the next 6 weeks?? DISTRACTING!:D) as well as made a future investment.

Oh, and the bank did return Nat's debit card! We were relieved they did because the lady said they normally shred the card when the ATM "eats" it. God is so good!!!

Blessings And The Baobab Tree.

2011-06-17T14:24:00.005-04:00

I've unintentionally started a trend: yesterday's post was represented by the letter A and today's post is represented by the letter B! Let's see how long this little trend lasts:).

Blessings:

In all reality, at first glance some of these were not instant blessings, but the Lord changes perspective! We've had more interesting experiences happen on this trip than any other trip (well, except that one time a group of 25 people -myself included- had to run 30 minutes through the city of Prague on buses, trams, and subways to catch a train!)

Wow, what a rabbit trail...

So in three days' time we've had:

a hair straightener die
leftover salad dressing spill in my carry-on and drench my mp3 player, slippers, and glasses (but not an iPad 2 or my computer!)
a bank card eaten by an ATM (we have low hopes of getting that back tomorrow)
two nights of no sleep from 1:30-3:30 AM
a shaver that snapped in half -too much pressure in those suitcases, I suppose!

But for each discouragement, we've had a blessing:

the straightener is under warranty
the salad dressing was cleaned up
we called our bank in America and no transaction surfaced on our account, so at least we know the problem is on this end, not stateside
we took something to help us sleep tonight
duct tape easily fixed the shaver (even if it does look funny!)

Before we came to Africa, we were asking the Lord to stretch us and grow us. I know, I know, don't ever ask the Lord for something unless you're ready to receive it! I really feel like the Lord is using all these little things to see how we'll react.

We took a little trip today to see a unique tree: the baobab tree. The tree grows on both the inside and the outside, so even if the inside dies the outside keeps growing. These trees can be several hundred years old and look a little intimidating!

I was thinking about this tree and the thought hit me that I could keep growing on the outside even if I "die" on the inside. No one would necessarily know and yet I want to be growing on the inside, not just look tough and alive on the outside!

All these little issues that have come up on this trip are to test us, to try us. Nat and I are both excited to see what the Lord is going to teach us on this trip. We've had too many obstacles leading up to this trip and so we know God is up to something. We just need to stay open and available to Him. Spilled salad dressing and all!

Airports.

2011-06-16T15:29:00.004-04:00

We arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa Wednesday afternoon and spent the night at a lodge. The lodge was actually very nice, but it is cold here in Africa! Tile floors and concrete walls manage to keep the cool air in quite nicely:).

After a nice warm shower, we slipped into bed and fell asleep for what we thought was the whole night... it was actually just 4 hours:). Waking up at 1:30 AM and falling back to sleep around 4 AM did actually produce a good night's rest because it's almost 10 PM and we're still awake:).

We went back to the airport this morning, met up with the man to give him the box of award ribbons, and cleared customs for our next flight to Botswana. I was a little surprised to see 15 terminals all lined up next to each other with buses outside the corresponding numbers. I thought that was kinda neat to see we were going to be bused out to our plane.

Our plane was one of those teeny, tiny ones with the small overhead compartment to fit the part. We were both surprised to be served a meal on this flight: chicken meatballs and some kind of rice dish resembling the taste of Suddenly Salad:). As we approached Francistown, I kept waiting for the "city" to pop out of the vast, brown land, but it wasn't until we were about two minutes from the airport that we finally saw houses.

Once we deplaned, we were staring at what had to be the world's smallest international airport, although I'm sure there might be some competition for that title from a place like Papua New Guinea or something like that:).

Just inside that door to the right is baggage claim and customs, all within the space of about ten feet. Not to be outdone, the exit to the other side is a mere 6 or 7 steps. :) Definitely an experience!

We were very glad to have all of our luggage come through without any problems or fees, although the guy behind the Air Botswana desk did gasp when we said we were both checking two bags:). No worries though since we were traveling international! And so the adventure continues... !

African Adventures - Here We Come!

2011-06-14T16:20:00.004-04:00

Well, we're off. :)

We're dutifully sitting in Atlanta waiting for our next flight in 3.5 hours. Between now and then, I want to: (1) people watch. Airports are a great place to do this! (2) Eat Mexican food. With a name like "On The Border" it's got a chance at being half good. We'll see. (3) More people watching. Like I said, the airport is a great place to do this.

Our local airport in PA had to be doing some extra security training or something, because I have never seen the security dude spend so much time taking a detailed look at every single person's identification and boarding pass. Thankfully we passed the test, and stood in what felt like one of the longest security lines in the world. There were actually only 20 or so people ahead of us, but it was a s-l-o-w process:).

Also, just an alert for all you gals out there who travel in long skirts: get ready for the pat down. I'm not even kidding you with that statement. Twice now I've been patted down because (and I quote) "extra security measures need to be taken since you're wearing a skirt." At least this lady was nice about it. The last one in the Philly airport was rather abrupt and rude. So next time I travel, I think I'll go with a knee-length skirt or culottes. It's all a part of traveling, I suppose:).

I will say though that my water bottle got through security with more than 3 ounces in it! Too bad the poor lady in front of me didn't have that same bonus. Her eyeliner was confiscated and a bag check was required. Airports are amusing and that's half the fun of flying:).

This next flight is only 15 hours with no more layovers (yay!). We get to spend Wednesday evening at a bed and breakfast in Johannesburg before flying up to Botswana on Thursday afternoon.

We didn't need to take any extra bags with us, although we do know two of our bags are overweight for the Air Botswana flight. We're only allowed to have 44 lbs. for that flight (we can travel 50 lbs. for international flights). Thankfully we are getting rid of an 8 lb. box to a native pastor in Jo-burg (it's full of award ribbons... long story!) and then we plan on shuffling stuff around so that we do NOT have to pay! God has been faithful in answering our prayer of being able to take everything with us and not have to have an extra bag:). We did have to leave behind two bags of Bath & Body Works that was graciously given by a lady in our church, but I'm sure she'll understand it just wasn't going with us:).

Graduation...

2011-06-06T10:59:00.005-04:00

Boy, I'm so grateful for friends who got a good shot of my husband graduating! The picture I got shows Nat's head sticking up above the cross:).

My sweetie completed all the required courses (and more!) to graduate Sunday night from Lehigh Valley Baptist Bible Institute! I am so happy for my husband and all the hard work he put into his classes. We (yes we!) feel like a big load has been lifted from our shoulders and we're greatly looking forward to the future and what the Lord has in store for us.

The next step will be taken next Tuesday ~ we're heading to Botswana and South Africa! The majority of our time will be spent with our former pastor and his family and the remaining couple of weeks will be spent with two other missionary families from our church.

Once we return home from our African adventures, we look forward to seeing when the Lord will work out the timing of being sent by our church as missionaries and hitting the deputation trail. We are both very excited that we are one step closer to where the Lord has called us to minister and are very grateful for the way our church family has let us know they are completely behind us! God has been so good...

25 Cents

2011-05-26T09:21:00.003-04:00

"I have something for you," my husband said as he was getting ready to leave for work this morning.

"Oooh, what is it?" I replied.

He grinned as he handed me a quarter, knowing what my response would be.

I smiled. "Alright! Thanks, honey!!"

Quarters are a high value commodity around here and every time my husband gives me one, he's communicating his love for me. Forget the flowers, exotic vacations, and chocolate. Wait, I take back that last one... chocolate's good too! But quarters tell me "I was thinking of you" or "I appreciate you."

You see, we live in an apartment without a washer or dryer. That means I trek to the laundromat once a week (in fact, I'm going this morning) to get the laundry done. My husband shows me he values me by being aware of my "needs" - in this case having enough quarters to do our laundry!

It's kind of a little game I play... see how far I can stretch the quarters and my tip money without dipping into our family cash. We won't always be without a washer and dryer, so I know this isn't a permanent thing for the rest of my life! I will be doing it for the next few years though, including deputation:).

My husband does a good job speaking love to me every time he hands me a quarter. I'm constantly telling him he speaks my love language:). He also carries his hamper down to my car... and I try to time it with lunch time so he gets to carry it up when I'm done;).

Just another reason why I love that man!!!

Catching My Breath!

2011-05-24T09:27:00.003-04:00

I feel like so much has happened in the past couple of weeks and I'm just now getting a chance to stop and catch my breath:). Two trips = 12 states and 4300 miles and our little Saturn held up to the beating! We saw so much in two weeks, ranging from the flat cornfields of Iowa to the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Nat and I travel a lot, but many of our trips are ministry-related. This trip out West was no exception, although we did turn it into a mini-vacation too:).

We started out the trip with a stop in Cleveland, Ohio to check out the USS Cod, a submarine that was in use during World War II. The cool thing about the submarine is that it is 75% operable. It hasn't been turned into a "user-friendly" museum like most others are, so we actually climbed down into the sub and saw what it was like when it was in use.

We did spend the weekend with my brother and his family, which included helping with a birthday party for my nephew. 3 hour birthday party + 18 active boys = 4 very tired adults. We were exhausted after the party and Nat, my brother, sister-in-law, and I just crashed when we got to my brother's house. I made lots of mental notes about boys and birthday parties:).

We left Monday morning to head out for the great state of South Dakota and chose the flat plains of Iowa as our choice state to drive through. Every now and then a little hill would pop up, but I'm from a state that has actual mountains, so Iowa was pretty flat to us:).

The second we entered South Dakota, we began seeing signs for Wall Drug which made us laugh! Never mind the fact that Wall Drug is 7+ hours from the southeastern tip of South Dakota. You really need to take a moment and go to the website just to, um, take it all in... :).

We spent three days in South Dakota (for my husband's graduation ~ our whole reason for the trip!) and met up with a friend from our church who was also graduating. Nat and I spent Tuesday morning wandering in and out of an old courthouse-turned-museum and found an interesting group of displays: hot air balloons, the history of under garments, and Vietnam. We were scratching our heads over how those three got grouped together:).

In the afternoon, we had a fun time riding go-karts and playing mini-golf. We really wanted to play laser tag, but apparently our group of 3 was not large enough:). The next two days were filled with graduation things and then we started the long drive back to Indiana. This time we chose to go through Minnesota and Wisconsin, but don't ask me what Minnesota was like since I slept the first three hours of our trip:). Waking up at 4 AM will do that to you! We were very motivated to get past Chicago before rush hour traffic hit and our plan worked, which made waking up that early worthwhile:).

I forget to bring my camera with me on our trip out West, but Nat's iPhone takes really nice pictures, so that's what we used:).

Nat and I at the falls in Sioux Falls, SD

The falls... obviously

We made a second trip down to North Carolina for my uncle's funeral. It was a quick 3-day trip, 9 hours each way, but it was good to see family.

Friday afternoon I knocked on my sister's hotel door to ask her something and when she opened the door, I couldn't believe we were matching. Then I saw my brother-in-law and noticed he chose the same colors my husband was wearing:).

I flew down to Florida in January hoping for this little guy to arrive while I was there, but he waited until I was in Thailand to be born... so I finally met my latest nephew ~ 3.5 months later! He's such a chunky monkey and looks exactly like his older brother:).

It's pretty rare to get all my siblings in one place at the same time and we're still missing one sibling here! My older sister is 9 months pregnant and her doctor wouldn't let her make the trip from Philadelphia to Charlotte. 6 out of 7 is still pretty good!

A Time To Weep.

2011-05-16T11:14:00.004-04:00

After fighting a year-long battle with leukemia, my uncle passed away on Sunday morning. On Saturday morning, his daughter-in-law gave birth to a healthy baby boy. It's a time to rejoice and a time to weep.

Nat and I were talking last night about how few family members we have lost. My Grammie died while I was in Thailand and that was one of the hardest things I ever experienced. Within the past few weeks my uncle's condition got worse, so I began to pray that he would pass away before Nat and I left for Africa or after we came home from Africa. It is hard being overseas when a loved one dies, and my merciful Heavenly Father kept me from going through that twice.

I don't know if my uncle ever got saved or not. Last I heard, he did not and that just breaks my heart. Please pray for witnessing opportunities with my extended family as we travel down to North Carolina for the funeral at the end of the week. It's going to be sweet seeing a lot of family members, but so sad because it's happening at a funeral.

God makes no mistakes though, and I'm glad I can rest in that.

"God On The Mountain"

Life is easy when you're up on the mountain

And you've got peace of mind like you've never known.

But then things change and you're down in the valley.

Don't lose faith for you're never alone.

For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.

When things go wrong, He'll make it right.

And the God of the good times

is still God in the bad times.

The God of the day is still God in the night.

You talk of faith when you're up on the mountain.

Oh but the talk comes easy when life's at its best.

But it's down in the valley of trials and temptation

That's when faith is really put to the test.

For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.

When things go wrong, He'll make it right.

And the God of the good times

is still God in the bad times.

The God of the day is still God in the night.

Shocked!

2011-05-04T21:13:00.003-04:00

I am quite pleased with myself this evening........

I am actually packed for a trip Nat and I are taking and we aren't even leaving until tomorrow!

(*insert round of applause here*)

We are leaving early in the morning, so I decided to pack things tonight and stick 'em by the door so they can be easily grabbed in the morning as we stumble about. (Whose idea was it to leave in the AM again??? :D)

My sweetheart is graduating way out in South Dakota, so we're about to put some miles on our car! Of course we're stopping to visit with some family members in Indiana, just in time to participate in my nephew's 9th birthday. I'm hoping this trip also includes a racquetball rematch against my brother:).

So, I'm going on another trip (no surprise) and I may or may not be blogging during this trip (no surprise).

Ready or not, here we go on a 2800 mile trip!!!

Hurrah For Spring!

2011-04-26T17:55:00.003-04:00

Spring has sprung, much to my great joy! The trees are blooming, the smell of freshly cut grass is in the air, a few walks have been taken at a gorgeous park nearby, and the glorious sight of a volleyball in the air has returned (twice this week)!

My darling husband bought two pairs of sandals for me while we were away a few weekends ago, and the timing couldn't have been better! There was enough dew on the grass Sunday morning to make for a wet walk to church, but that's a small price to pay in exchange for this weather:).

We leave in a week for our road trip and will be going all the way to South Dakota.... I just hope the weather is as gorgeous out there as it is here!

Trips, Trips, Trips.

2011-04-21T13:18:00.003-04:00

One of the guys at church is mowing the grass right now and it smells so springish! I looked out my kitchen window earlier today and saw buds on the tree branches so I'm hopeful that spring is going to make a permanent move. I did notice that it's supposed to be raining off and on over the next several days, but April showers bring May flowers, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My husband and I were recently talking about how much we have traveled (and will travel!) within our first year of marriage. No less then two international trips, two bus rides with teens from church, one airplane ride to Texas, and several car rides - most of them out to the mid-west. :) We traveled with our teens (by bus) two weeks ago, went to a couples' retreat in Lancaster last weekend and are getting ready to take yet another trip (by car) in two weeks! This trip (out to the mid-west again:D) will be our last trip before our BIG trip this summer!

The trip we're taking in two weeks is for a very, very special occasion: my husband is graduating!!! The graduation is taking place 24 hours away (helloooooo Sioux Falls, SD!!), so we're stopping over at our favorite town in northwest Indiana to visit my brother and his family. It just so happens they are the perfect half-way point, but that has nothing to do with our decision of stopping there.... absolutely nothing. :D

My sister-in-law and I started planning what we could do while we're there for the weekend, so I think we might train in to Chicago and eat popcorn. Oh yeah, there are a few other things we're going to do, but my brother absolutely loves a certain popcorn shop in Chicago and so we'll go eat popcorn. :D

Yep, we live exciting lives. :)

Packing My Bags!

2011-04-04T19:26:00.004-04:00

Soon!

I'm never one to be too ahead of the game when it comes to packing bags - mainly because I don't have enough stuff to pack into bags and still use while waiting to take off on a trip with little packed bags:).

For the past three months, I've been helping organize a trip for the teens of my church and Christian school and it has been a lot of fun! I did jokingly tell a friend recently that I spent more time planning for this trip than I did for my wedding, but that was (mostly!) tongue in cheek:).

My husband and I, along with several other chaperons, are taking 24 teens to a competition in the middle of nowhere 18 hours away from PA:

The teens are competing in everything from music to photography to one-act plays, and I think they have done a FANTASTIC job letting their talents shine for the Lord!

I'm waiting on one more student to turn in a sketch (nothing like waiting 'til the last minute!), but for the most part the projects are packed, the paperwork filled in, and the candy ready to go! Nat and I are thrilled to be going along on the trip and are looking forward to a great week of preaching, competition, and spending time with the teens.... as long as my bags get packed:).

Achoo

2011-03-22T20:42:00.003-04:00

Hubby has written on his blog again, and has even made it official by putting his blog onto a new site: Williams Witness. Not to be outdone by him (who's supposed to be the blogger around here anyway?), I'm scraping together a poor excuse of a post. :)

Ever trying to live up to the vows we made last July 10th, Nat and I have shared a cold. *achoo* NyQuil, tissues, cough syrup, and lots of water have been my faithful friends between yesterday and today. Cough drops made their appearance too, although they have failed in bringing about the soothing relief the package boldly proclaimed they would. Rather than take up my grievances with the cough drop company, I chose to fight this sickness from the coziness of the recliner. My husband came home for lunch and was sweet enough to go to the bakery to pick up some chicken pastina soup for me. I must be sick if I'm willing to eat soup!

I was feeling decent enough to make dinner and even had some energy after dinner to go do the laundry. Now I'm debating between taking NyQuil or not, since it knocked me out for twelve solid hours last night! I have things to do tomorrow, but I'm weighing that out with the option of getting better. :)

Since I did spend most of my day sniffling, sneezing, coughing, and wheezing, I decided to do some research. I figured I needed to be useful in some way! We have a very exciting trip coming up in May that involves my dear husband graduating (yay!) and so we're turning it into a min-vacation since we'll be in the great state of South Dakota. My research included searching hotel prices, but then I was drawn to national park websites - namely the Badlands and Mount Rushmore. I've been to both of these places before, but I am a lover of history and so I spent some time absorbing as much information as I possibly could. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here's some random news: the weatherman said we were supposed to get snow, but now the weather channel is saying, "no significant snow accumulation" which is a happy thought indeed. I for one would like to think spring is here. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

In other random news, have I mentioned my growing affection for a place called Swagbucks? I recently had enough swag bucks to redeem them for (2) five dollar gift cards to Amazon.com. Using the gift cards, I only paid shipping for a book I've been wanting to give as a gift to a friend. I'm just about ready to redeem my swag bucks for (3) five dollar gift cards to Amazon.com and I already have my eye on what I want to get. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

By the way, I've decided against the NyQuil. Maybe tomorrow night. :)

Timely messages.

2011-03-16T22:08:00.003-04:00

In light of the last post on prayer, I thought I would share the points from a three-week series my pastor just finished preaching (tonight!) on praying for our missionaries. You know that "God bless all the missionaries" prayer? We actually do pray like that, but I've been so encouraged and challenged by these prayer points:

Pray for contacts
(Colossians 4:2-3 ~ "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds:")
Pray for clarity
(Colossians 4:4 ~ "That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.")
Pray for free course
(2 Thessalonians 3:1 ~ "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course,")
Pray for conversion
(2 Thessalonians 3:1 ~ "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified,")
Pray for care
(2 Thessalonians 3:2 ~ "And that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men: for all men have not faith.")
Pray for courage
(Ephesians 6:19 ~ "And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make know the mystery of the gospel,")
Pray for Christ-like character
(Philippians 1:20 ~"According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.")

This list was specifically put together to better pray for our missionaries around the world, but the truth is this list can be used in praying for dear brothers and sisters in Christ too!

The Ministry Of...

2011-03-16T10:08:00.003-04:00

... Prayer. I believe prayer is the most effective tool I have as a believer to be an encouragement to another believer. Can you imagine if every person who ever said those words, "I'll pray for you" actually did? Convicting thought.

I've uttered those words countless times before, but within the last 1.5 years, Nat and I have earnestly tried to pray for someone or something when we've said we'll pray. We've failed, I'll admit. But it's an encouragement to me at the end of each day when my husband says, "do you have any prayer requests from today?" That reminds me of the people and situations I said I would pray about during the day, and then we do so at night before we go to bed.

I heard a missionary years ago who said one of the biggest encouragements he received on the field was when people would respond to an e-mail he sent saying something like, "praying for you, brother" or "prayed." It takes all of 15-30 seconds to write a quick note back and to hit the send button. What a good habit to get into!

Another tool I have found helpful is to pray as soon as I receive an e-mail asking for prayer. The prayer request is fresh in my mind and again only takes a couple of minutes. Of course then I send a quick reply: "prayed for you!"

Last week I sent an e-mail to my church's e-mail list asking for prayer for my uncle ~ the one who has cancer. What a pleasant surprise it was to open my e-mail the next morning and have ten responses! Most of them were a simple "prayed!" while some told me exactly what they were praying for. All of the responses were a huge blessing to me, because these dear friends expressed (1) they read the e-mail :D (2) they took enough time out of their day to stop and pray.

Just this morning I saw a prayer request on facebook. I don't know the situation (other than what was posted on facebook) but I jotted out a quick note in response and prayed for God's will to be done in the situation, for peace to prevail within the family, and for souls to be brought to Christ as a result of this situation.

Oh believers, we can't afford to drop this weapon of prayer! Let's make it a priority to pray today... and to let people know we're praying for them. Too much is at stake to think we'll have time to pray later. Sometimes later doesn't come.

Update #3.

2011-03-14T09:29:00.002-04:00

I'm waiting to hear the ding dong of my doorbell signaling that my nephew and niece are here to play with Auntie Anne, but for now I'm going to take these couple of moments to squeeze in a third update:).

One of the first questions we are usually asked when talking about Thailand is what's the next step? That's a logical question! I think I have a sensible answer:).

The very next step on our agenda is graduation. Nat is going through the same Bible Institute I went through and graduated from in 2007 and he is soooo close to being done! He plans on graduating in June of this year from Lehigh Valley Baptist Bible Institute and also plans on graduating from the same Bible college in South Dakota that I graduate from - and that's supposed to happen in May!

His day pretty much goes like this: 8:30-4:30 (work), 4:30-5:30 (rest and dinner), 5:30-? (Bible Institute). He has been very diligent in getting his courses done and I'm am extremely thrilled (can I say proud in a good way?!?) over how much he is getting accomplished! On top of all of this, he has been experiencing severe neck pain and yet has endured through all the pain. Long story short, a van door was closed on his head while we were in Thailand and it did some hefty damage to his neck, so on top of everything else, he is trying to get his neck adjusted and back to normal. If you think of him, please pray for the pain to be relieved!

So when people ask what's the next step?, we say graduation - rock #1!

There are two more "rocks" that need to be moved into place. Rock #2 is Botswana and rock #3 is being sent as missionaries from our home church - Lehigh Valley Baptist Church.

Let me explain in a little more detail.

Botswana is a country in Africa where my church recently sent our latest missionary family to begin a work there. My good friend Rachel blogs often about her experiences and adventures while living in Botswana:).

Both our current pastor and our missionary to Botswana would like Nat and I to take a trip sometime to Botswana to get some more hands-on experience working with people. We're not sure when the timing of this all is going to work out, but we are "planning" for August or September. As I mentioned above, my husband has been doing a Bible Institute marathon (full-speed!) for the past few months and will continue on that course until he graduates, so I think we're going to need to catch our breath for a little bit before plunging into this new project:). Plus my uncle has severe cancer and we're not sure how long he has, so we really, really want to take some time to visit with him in North Carolina (after Bible Institute is done!). So that's rock #2!

Rock #3 is our church members voting on sending us out as missionaries. From the beginning, we have always wanted to be under our church/pastor's authority and wouldn't even think of putting a baby toe out from under that authority! So we wait for the right timing of that to take place. Our church members and pastor have done a wonderful job communicating to us that that will take place, it's just a matter of when:).

These three rocks will take us through to the end of this year, and that's fine with us:). For now, my husband continues working on staff as an assistant to our pastor and I'm still working at the bakery as well as volunteering at church/school wherever help is needed!

There is plenty keeping us busy!

8 Months!

2011-03-10T09:03:00.003-05:00

Eight wonderful months that have been filled with tons of laughs:).

Update #2.

2011-03-07T21:03:00.003-05:00

I've been doing some research on a website called everyculture.com and have been learning tons of information about various ethnic groups around the world. I read a couple of interesting paragraphs tonight that I thought I would share with you since it give a good summary of what Buddhism teaches. 93% of Thai people are Buddhists, so it's a good to know a little about what Thai people believe!

Buddhism is divided into two schools of thought. The "Northern School," known as Mahayana Buddhism, is found most often in China, Japan, Tibet, Korea, and Vietnam. The "Southern School," called Theravada (or Hinayana) Buddhism, predominates in Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, and Sri Lanka. Theravada Buddhists stress the importance of becoming a monk and achieving Nirvana, a state in which there is no self or rebirth, through one's own efforts. Mahayana Buddhists lay more emphasis on help from Bodhisattvas, enlightened beings who have delayed achieving Nirvana in order to help others become enlightened.
Fundamental to the Buddhist doctrine are the Four Noble Truths: (1) Existence inevitably leads to unhappiness which follows from the impermanence and disintegration of all living elements; (2) Unhappiness is caused by desire inherent in human nature; desire causes man to become attached to the impermanent; (3) Unhappiness can be avoided by the crushing of desire; and (4) Desire can be crushed by strict adherence to a prescribed moral path. In Buddhism all worldly things are considered changing and impermanent. Those who are not aware of the impermanent nature of the world become attached to worldly things, and this leads to suffering. The suffering will continue as the soul goes through a cycle of rebirths, continually drawn back to worldly desires. Meditation and a moral, disciplined life can enable a believer to overcome desires. The soul that successfully overcomes all desires may reach Nirvana.

Update #1.

2011-03-03T19:25:00.002-05:00

Here are some quick facts about our trip to Thailand or just about Thailand as a country:).

We were gone for three weeks (including travel time)
Thailand is 12 hours ahead of EST
We flew from Philadelphia ---> Chicago ---> Seoul, South Korea ---> Bangkok, Thailand = 28.5 hours from doorstep to doorstep
Spent one night in Bangkok at a really nice hotel (Asian standards here!) and then flew 1.5 hours to Chiang Mai, Thailand the next day
Bangkok is in the middle of Thailand while Chiang Mai is in the northwest part of Thailand
Largest city in Thailand: Bangkok
Second largest city: Chiang Mai
Temperature in January/February in Thailand: during the day - high 80s at night - mid 60s (Fahrenheit)
Currency: Thai baht (1 baht = .03 cents; $1.00 = 30.48 baht)
My favorite currency exchange website: XE (threw that in for fun!)
Language spoken: Thai, although many people can speak English in the big cities
Hello in Thai: Sa-wat-dee-ka (female speaker); Sa-wat-dee-kraup (male speaker)

More to come later!

Pre-Update.

2011-03-03T19:06:00.004-05:00

Hubby is diligently working on Bible Institute right now (3.3 classes and a thesis to go!) so it's my turn to be diligent and pay some attention to my blog!

There are so many updates swirling through my head but I suppose they don't really come out (coherently anyway!) if I just do a brain dump:). So my goal over the next few posts is to give a little update to our Thailand trip as well as where we're headed in the future!

Nat was able to give a report at our church on Wednesday night and only wished he had a lot more time to clearly communicate things.... like:

all the stories from our trip (there are plenty!)
the history of Burma
explain why we want to work with people groups that live in Thailand but aren't originally from Thailand
share the many answers to prayer (there were many!)
express how deeply grateful we are to have so many people pray for us and let us know they're praying
key connections that were made
specific prayer points for the future

Our Pastor was very gracious in asking Nat to give an update, but we both could tell ya (and anyone who has ever taken a missions trip could tell ya!) that time is always just a little bit too short when reporting:).

We do have other tools that we can use though, such as one-on-one conversations, phone calls, e-mail, and BLOGS:). So I'm hoping to help fill in some gaps and maybe answer some questions that just might be mentally asked but never verbalized;).

Linkage.

2011-02-20T14:02:00.003-05:00

I just read an excellent post by my friend Rachel ~ Post Valentines Day. If you have a minute, scoot on over and read this gem of a post... a good post to glean from regardless of whether you are single or married!

Recap.

2011-02-19T18:40:00.004-05:00

It's a good thing my husband did such a tremendous job on communicating with the rest of the world about our Thailand trip -- go here to read all 44 entries-- because if all was resting on me, we would have a grand total of two posts.

Two.

My lack of posting is not a good indication of all that took place on this trip either. The days were packed with activities, laughter, and sitting in the presence of some great missionaries who have done things for the Lord and yet have the sweetest spirit of humility. I just never got around to telling ya'll about it:).

Being back in my beloved Thailand with my husband was so incredibly sweet! But the even sweeter thing was watching the Lord work in our hearts and open doors. I walked away (actually flew away!) from Thailand with one thought firmly etched into my mind: God's people prayed and He answered prayer!

Here's a quick recap:

visited two border towns and received an increased understanding of these towns
met with missionaries, printing ministries, and Bible schools who were all very knowledgeable about the region, people, and gave helpful insights into future ministry
spent two solid weeks with a missionary and his wife who are friends, role models, heroes of the faith, and mentors to Nat and I
had two weeks to ask non-stop questions of this missionary who very willingly answered our questions and directed our attention on things we didn't even think to focus on
reconnected with several dear friends, including April, who are all currently working with this missionary and his wife
read through a thesis on an unreached people group that really stirred Nat and I
received great, quality dental care for a fraction of what we would pay in the States
laughed, laughed, and laughed some more with our friends, including the two below:

(Me, Pookie, and April at the zoo in Chiang Mai)

visited the Golden Triangle (the place where Thailand, Laos, and Burma all come together):

and so much more....

We flew home on Wednesday, just in time to make it for services that night. While not at our best, we did manage to stay awake through the message:). It's been a joy to us to see how our church family has expressed interest in what the Lord is doing and will continue to do.

Of course, the question we're being asked the most is what the Lord showed us! We're excited about sharing that with everyone, but I must say our pastor is at the top of that list:). Nat's got a whole slew of things to talk with Pastor Roland about and as we individually talk with people, we'll try to share too.

For now, we're still battling jet lag and looking forward to having that done! It's 7:15 now and we're both about to collapse. The morning started for us at 5:30 which is a wee bit early, especially for a Saturday:).

Come on 9 PM!

Sights And Sounds - Revisited.

2011-02-07T03:16:00.003-05:00

During my year-long stay in Thailand in 2009, I wrote a post about the sights and sounds of the soi. This time around, we are in a new area (think of where you live and then some place eight hours away - you get the picture!) and I'm not as familiar with this area as I was in Bangkok, although I am getting better!

The mubaan (neighborhood) we're staying in still offers the stray dogs lazying about in the middle of the road, the motorcycles zipping around, and the speed bumps that are a true sign of Thailand! This mubaan is seriously lacking in fruit/vegetable stands, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, and little mom & pop grocery stores (as in none), although there is one hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant here in the mubaan we're going to go to for dinner tonight.

Chiang Mai is definitely growing on me, although I suppose my bias to Bangkok will always exist because that city offered me my first Thailand experience. I do love how everything is close in Chiang Mai; as in, you travel 20 minutes tops and you're at the moat (which is center city). We've been going that way often since our dentist is located just inside the moat:). I'm not as partial to the limited public transportation that exists here in CM. No walking to the end of our mubaan and waving down a taxi; no hopping on a songtaw and riding to the mall; no overpass walkways to get from one side of the highway to the other. But all in all, my complaints with Chiang Mai are few and far between:). Plus the missionary we're staying with is allowing us to take his (automatic!) car and drive to wherever we need, which has been extremely helpful!

Nat and I stopped at the market on the way home today and bought some eggs and strawberries - quite the combination:). I've always loved the open-air market where everything is so inexpensive, although I haven't been able to bring myself to buy raw meat from the market yet. We also found some eye drops for the eye problems I've had and paid $6.00 for something that cost $84.00 in the States - nice price difference:).

All in all, we have greatly enjoyed our time here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The Lord has given us a lot of clear direction, for which we're thankful!

We're Here.... A Belated Post:).

2011-01-29T03:51:00.004-05:00

So.... we actually made it to Thailand! And I'm telling you about it four days later:).

My husband is doing a fantastic job of keeping his blog updated (glad one of us is not slacking!), and if you're missing it there, then I'm sure you're seeing it on Facebook or Twitter:).

It's Saturday afternoon now and I have a couple of minutes, so I thought I would update you all on things from my perspective.... hey, that sounds like the name of a blog I know!

Anyway, the flight over was quite uneventful, except for the getting sick part, but that is over with thankfully! We didn't sleep very well Monday night before we left, but it has definitely helped since we've been in Thailand because our jet lag has been kept to a minimum.

It has been absolutely wonderful reconnecting with old friends! The year I spent in Thailand was so influential and these were the very dear people who made up my year here, so needless to say, I'm glad to be back:). Bonus is seeing my friend April who was with me in Thailand back in 2007 and is now here helping the missionaries for a third term. What a great time it's been catching up with her!

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Our purpose for coming (I alluded to briefly) i that this is our prayer trip to see where the Lord would direct our future steps in returning long-term to this country. I suppose one could also apply the term "survey trip" to our time here, but we are more focused on the who rather than the WOW!!!! that comes along with a survey trip. We feel very confident in that God has called us to minister in Thailand; we're now going about looking for the ways of doing so.

We are presently in Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand. This is a change for both of us since we are very accustomed to Bangkok. Chiang Mai quite literally has a different culture from Bangkok, so that part is new to us, but good. Chiang Mai hosts a very good language school that we would like to attend for a year (when we return - not now:D) so we're examining Chiang Mai through the viewpoint of this being our future home.

God has been answering prayer and exceeding our expectations and we are so excited for what He is going to do in the few, short weeks we have here.

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We have also greatly enjoyed having genuine Thai food again... mmm, mmm! Chicken fried rice and garlic chicken with basil have topped my list, although I did steal a bit of my husband's cashew nut chicken today:). Yummy!

Another thing we needed to take care of while "in country" was dental work ~ lots of it. For $75 today we had two cleanings, one x-ray, and two fillings done. Monday we go back for two crowns and a wisdom tooth pulled for about $400. Sooooo much cheaper than the States!

We (translate me) anticipate getting some flip flops while here ~ a girl can't have too many!

Good trip... good times... good friends ~ the Lord's at work!!!

Announcing....

2011-01-24T16:52:00.002-05:00

Just a couple of hours before we leave to start our Thailand trip and we still have some packing to do.

Ok, ok, if you know me at all, then you realize that statement is only partially true! We actually have all of our packing to do, but at least the laundry is clean (got that done this morning!). Anyway, just in case I don't post as much as I want to post in Thailand:), my husband has started a blog and I'm 99% certain that blog will be updated much more frequently than this blog:).

Here's the link: Williams Witness so be sure to check it out! In fact, he's already managed to post two times and we haven't even left yet:).

See ya on the other side!

Of Traveling And Trips ~ The Flying Kind.

2011-01-21T20:59:00.004-05:00

I had every good intention of starting the new year off with more frequent blog posts, but it's a good thing I didn't make that a new year's resolution:).

Umm, where has the month gone? It's been slightly whirlwind-ish on my end with a couple of trips crammed together. My mom-in-law and two brothers-in-law came up for a visit before heading on to grandparents in NY. Meanwhile I squeezed in a short trip to Florida with the anticipation of welcoming a new little nephew:

(My sister Michelle with nephew #7)

Unfortunately, said little nephew did not cooperate.... not something I can really complain about, since the Lord's timing is always perfect. So little guy will most likely be born right when he was supposed to be born:).

Cuteness still abounded though! My little niece is 3 and is a bundle of energy and joy ~ usually I was on the receiving end of energy:). I spent four days in Florida just enjoying the visit, cuddles and hugs from my 6 year old nephew and niece, and the sunshine. Oh, yes, the sunshine was definitely a highlight! What a stark contrast it was flying home Thursday night with a storm on the way. But I am a northern girl after all and too much sunshine and warm weather just doesn't fit for January! We got a nice snow fall of 4 or so inches and all is white in my world:).

After a break from flying -- it's been at least three months! -- we've decided to cram in as much airport time as possible. What with picking up my in laws at the airport, flying to and from Florida, and going to Thailand all within 1.5 weeks, the Philadelphia Airport has become *the* destination point!

Nat and I are quite excited about our Thailand trip, except for one part: snow. We leave Philly early Tuesday morning but fly right to Chicago, a place well known for delays in the wintertime. Hopefully our flight won't be delayed too much.... :). We'll be gone to Thailand for three weeks ~ which is very short in my estimation but my point of reference for missions trips is a standard 3 months:). We're greatly anticipating the Lord doing some things on this prayer trip, so if we cross your mind at all within the next 3.5 weeks, please pray for us!

Who knows? I might even blog while in the land of smiles:).

New Year's Ramblings.

2011-01-01T01:39:00.003-05:00

Well, hello, 2011... it's nice to see you! 2010 went out with a fun bang, although this past week made me forget that we were ending the year. Camp does that though.... miles from civilization (ok, so it's really only a mile!), excited teens crammed into one small space (a coach bus looks soooo much bigger from a distance!), and lack of sleep round out the list for a fabulous experience that happens twice a year.

We returned home from camp Thursday night and promptly tumbled into bed ---> a real, soft bed!!! <----- and woke up this morning at 11:30. We both came home from camp with sore throats (forgot to include that in my list of fabulous experiences) and I could tell Nat was sick because he took two naps today and was so completely out of it, poor guy.

I eventually got motivated enough to grab some groceries for a little get-together we're having at our house tomorrow, actually today, but that's about all that I have to show for the last day of 2010. We did had a great time at a New Year's Eve service at church. I think we're one of the few churches that doesn't have a Christmas Eve service but has a New Year's Eve service.... I personally think it's a great idea:).

We also talked to my mom-in-law for a whole year:) which actually turned out to be only 25 minutes. She lives in Texas and wasn't planning on staying up to see the New Year in central time, so we just had her celebrate with us in eastern time. Such interesting lives we lead, I know.

I do have a particular rant/soap box I would like to address because I honestly think there's laziness and then there's pure laziness. Ok, so here's the deal: do you ever go into a bathroom stall and notice a roll of toilet paper sitting on top of an empty roll? That's a pet peeve of mine and I experienced it several times this week at camp... girls apparently go through the rolls! It's not that hard - taking off a cardboard roll and replacing it with a fresh roll is just a nice thing to do. *SIGH* First rant of the year:).

Well, Happy New Year!

An Oh-So-Pleasant Christmas:).

2010-12-27T12:14:00.003-05:00

The quietness of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was almost overwhelming... almost. To have a whole Friday evening with Nat is almost unthinkable... almost. Saturdays are usually a work day for me, so it almost never happens that I see my husband on the one day he's off... almost never. To say this past weekend was a treat for us is an understatement!

Sleeping in, reading the Christmas story, quietly talking while the candles flickered and the tree lights cheerfully lit up a corner, lots of hot chocolate with biscotti (thanks to a cute Sunday School student!), cutting up tons of fruit for a brunch at church, and then going to the craziness at my mom's house sums it all up!

We both love family time, so after a call down to Texas to say hello to Nat's family, we geared up for a family Christmas with my side! I have never seen so much food in my entire life for a smallish group of 13. I should clarify that I've seen lots of food (case in point was at Nat's grandma's house for Thanksgiving), but there was tons of food at mom's for just a few siblings gathered together:).

I told Nat I haven't had to cook in a week because of my crazy work schedule last week, dinner (and leftovers!) at mom's, the Christmas brunch at church Sunday morning, and now going to camp this week.

Yep, it's winter camp for us! My sensible husband has already packed his stuff up and is now getting a few things at the store for me. I decided to spend my morning cleaning the house since we're having a New Year's Day party with some friends. We don't get home from camp until Thursday night and I work Friday, so that doesn't leave much time to clean and get ready for the party:). Plus we have a New Year's Eve fellowship at church.

Just another loaded week for us ~ like usual!

By the way, I couldn't do a post without a picture.... isn't her grin contagious?!?

Checking Out.

2010-12-20T09:19:00.001-05:00

I got my work schedule for this week and it's insane:), so I'll see you Christmas Eve??? Christmas Day???

Merry Christmas!

'Tis The Season...

2010-12-17T20:40:00.004-05:00

..... for cookies.

Oh yes, working at a bakery means tons of cookies (and pies, and cakes, and brownies.... I'll stop there)! I don't make the cookies at the bakery, but I do box them and I must say that cookies aren't high on my list:). When people come into the bakery and look at all the food and goodies, they usually say something like, "oh, it must be so HARD to work here! I would eat everything all the time!"

Well no, not really. You know, that phrase "familiarity breeds contempt" is very true. I'm not too tempted (usually) to sample every single item at the bakery. That's a good thing!

I know bunches of people get into the holiday spirit by baking cookies.... I won't be joining them though. Too many cookies!

Christmas-y Things:).

2010-12-16T09:21:00.005-05:00

For the first time in a long time, my church is not doing a manger program (outdoors or indoors), a drama, or a cantata. Instead we're doing a Christmas concert this year!

I'm extremely excited yet slightly nervous for my husband as he is doing the dramatic reading but I know he'll do a great job! The kiddos of my church are going to sing as well as the big people and then the hand bells are going to be played by the teenagers. Overall it's going to be a great night!

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Nat and I saw a cute little 3 ft. tree at Home Depot and chose to go the "artificial tree" route for our first Christmas together:).

A few ornaments have since been added, such as our first first Christmas ornament. A sweet family at church had our names and 2010 engraved on a Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus ornament and now it is hanging on our cute little tree:).

When I was younger, my family and I would always sit in the living room with all the lights off except for the Christmas tree lights and enjoy them. I've added candles to that little tradition and now one of my favorite things to do is to curl up on the couch with the tree lights on, candles lit, and quietly chat with my husband!

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I feel like I need a third picture to complete this post... yikes, OCD is kicking in!

Nat and I are going out to Sight and Sound to see "The Miracle of Christmas" and I am quite excited about this for several reasons: (1) I get to spend time with my husband! (2) Nat's grandma just saw it Tuesday and said it was terrific (3) S & S always does a good job (4) I haven't seen this one yet. :)

As bonus, we're going to Yoder's Restaurant for lunch since my parents talk about it constantly:). It's going to be a great day!

Toothpaste Tubes.

2010-12-05T23:06:00.005-05:00

My pastor was preaching on contention tonight and made me chuckle (to my self, of course) at one point. I have unknowingly spared my marriage from one of the classic marital disputes: the dreaded toothpaste tube. Squeeze in the middle or bottom? (Or top I suppose). How did Nat and I manage to skate past this potential land mine that would threaten wedded bliss?

It's quite simple. Really!

When Nat and I first got married, we packed for our honeymoon separately (insert a big "obviously" here!). That meant our toiletries were separate... right down to that little tube of Colgate (or Crest... we're not picky). When we returned to our apartment, we continued the trend we started on the honeymoon: using our own toiletries. Including that little tube of Colgate (or Crest... like I said, we're not picky!).

Never once have we had a dispute over the tube being squeezed in the wrong place because we each have our own. I don't care how he squeezes his toothpaste tube and he doesn't care how I squeeze mine. Rocket science is taking place here at our little apartment:). And thanks to Pastor's message, we're reminded about a little piece of contention that we are missing out on... gladly!

The Party That Wasn't.

2010-12-03T10:00:00.004-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Nat told me he would be going away for a planning retreat with some staff members on Thursday into Friday. Immediately I began to think about my husband being gone for 24ish hours. Now I realize this happens to lots of people all the time, but you must forgive me for being wistful over my husband leaving - we've only been married 5 months. :)

I had been tossing around the idea of having some girls over and realized this would be the perfect time: girls over while hubby's gone without me having to kick hubby out. Sounded good to me! I knew that Thursday night is a strange time to have a girls' night, but I was working with what I had. Of course several girls had to work or couldn't make it, so I was planning for 8 girls and even chatted with several of the girls on Wednesday night.

Now the one thing I hadn't planned on was being sick... all week long. In the back of my mind, I was just going to get better and never actually thought of the alternative. Thursday morning rolled around and I felt like getting up took a huge amount of work. When Nat came home for lunch, I asked him what I should do. Being the great guy that he is, he knew I wanted to have these girls over so he was trying to make it work for me.... but reality settled in and I knew I couldn't do it and so did he.

I sent texts and facebook messages to my friends cancelling the party, slept some, bid a good-bye to my husband (yes there were a few tears), slept some more, read some.... ding dong.

My friend stood on the other side of the door with a cheerful rendition of "we wish you a merry Christmas!" while I felt bad because she didn't get my message. She understood though and we parted ways.

I went back to my place on the couch and within ten minutes.... ding dong. Oh no! That made two friends who didn't get the message about the cancelled party. This friend actually came up and visited for 15 minutes. I had to laugh when she said she didn't get my text. Here I actually sent a text to her mom's home phone number... whoops! She also called a third friend to let her know about the party. By this time I'm realizing the unreliability of facebook messaging. :)

In a way, it worked out not having the party Thursday night. I crashed on the couch trying to feel better and thinking about the irony of not wanting to be alone the first time my husband goes away and yet finding myself in that very position anyway. :) God has a sense of humor!

My husband comes home today (yay!) and the party will be had .... another day!

Thanksgiving At Our House.

2010-11-30T15:37:00.003-05:00

Nat and I hosted my family for Thanksgiving on Wednesday with an Italian menu. Wow, talk about being anti-tradition;o). We didn't want to "turkey" everyone out since my brothers/sister were all going to their in-laws on Thursday, plus we had received as a wedding gift a gift certificate to a local Italian catering place, so we chose to use it on Wednesday. Our apartment is small, but we fit 12 people in just fine and had lots of fun in the process:o).

If you look on the wall to the left, you'll see a bunch of pictures in a wall hanging. My brother laughed when he first came in, because every single picture in that hanging is of Nat's family (minus one of Nat and I). I jokingly told my brother it's because my family is all local and we see them often enough not to need their photos on the wall;). I actually have to just go find a frame that will look just right, but I haven't found one yet.

My husband loves to help and jumped right in to help with the meal... what a guy;).

Chatting and hanging out

These two willingly offered to do the dishes... yay! I think I caught my brother off guard though:).

Within 5 minutes of coming in, my niece managed to get candy juice all over her outfit... hence the onesie!

Ethan playing Apples to Apples - toddler version;o).

My sister-in-law Ann playing Apples to Apples the real way!

Apparently something was funny to Tom...:)

All in all, we had a marvelous time with my family. I'm so glad that we could work out schedules to visit with my family on Wednesday and Nat's extended family on Thursday... yummy times!

Off.

2010-11-20T10:29:00.003-05:00

All week long I was holding my breath just waiting for that question to be asked: could you work Saturday? It came oh-so-close yesterday, but it was never asked!

My sweetie and I are enjoying a quiet Saturday together with no program, major plans, or (and this is the best part) work schedules! It's rare that we're both off on the same day since I work just about every Saturday and he works every Tuesday and Thursday (my days off) so we started this day off by sleeping in... which we actually accomplished! Now at 10:30, we're ready to start the day - IKEA here we come!

Confession.

2010-11-11T00:15:00.002-05:00

Apparently confession is good for the soul, but I think that might have more to do with some church of old being steeped in tradition. Regardless of the origin of that statement, I shall do a little confessing on this blog of mine!

Vacations are horrible, horrible, horrible in one area: weight. I'm so sorry to admit this, but both Nat and I gained weight on our little vacation to the mid-west. We're chalking it up to too much junk food and not enough veggies and exercise. We are very glad to be home now and I have stocked my fridge full of yummy fruits and vegetables. Now if I could just get rid of the chips, pretzels, and chocolate that found their way into our kitchen.
Ironically enough, I did enjoy three little chocolate-covered black licorice bites that were simply delish! For our engagement anniversary, my husband bought two 1-pound bags of chocolate-covered pretzels (in a word: fabulous!) and a pound bag of those licorice bites that are too tasty. I'm going to have to have some family or friends over to finish them off!
When the Kohls envelope comes in the mail, Nat and I play a little game of who has the bigger discount. He won yesterday by scoring 30% off (compared to my measly 15% off), but I think I actually won today by finding some boots on sale at Kohls! Teamed up with his discount coupon, I was very satisfied with my shopping. I also bought him a package of dress socks to celebrate our 4-month wedding anniversary because I'm romantic like that;o).
I promised pictures of our apartment but was waiting on some curtains for our bathroom to be hemmed (yet another confession: I don't sew. GASP!) Amanda finished the curtains (thank you muchly, Amanda!), but I haven't taken pictures yet. I don't remember why now, but it sure was a good excuse this afternoon:o).

I better stop there because the little orange light is blinking so I think that means my battery is going to cease to exist soon. 'Night!

The Story.

2010-11-09T22:13:00.005-05:00

When people asked me where we were going on vacation, I always managed to confuse people with the answer: Indiana, Wisconsin, and Texas. Most people followed the whole Indiana/Wisconsin concept, but Texas normally brought about a "whaaa?" moment. Naturally:o).

My in-laws live in Texas as well as some good friends of ours, so we decided to go now to do our holiday visiting, rather than during the actual holidays. Working at a bakery doesn't allow a lot of wiggle room for trips in the midst of the busiest time of the year!

We chose to make the 11 hour drive to Indiana to spend time with my brother and his family, drove the 3 hours to Wisconsin to spend the day with Nat's brother and his wife and also a college friend of mine, drove back to Indiana, and then flew to Texas. We were going to take our car to the airport, but then decided my brother or his wife could use it while we were gone so we left it at their house. My sweet sister-in-law dutifully drove the hour to Chicago Midway Airport to drop us off and wished us a happy time in Texas. At least I think she did. Since this took place at the crazy hour of 7 AM, I was barely functioning:o).

We did have a happy time in Texas (for those of you who were wondering) and we were finishing out our trip with a missionary friend of ours in Fort Worth when we got a phone call. My brother very nonchalantly asked me when our flight returned to Chicago and then asked me if I wanted to talk to my sister-in-law. When she got on the phone, her voice was raspy and muddled. She proceeded to tell me she just had a surgery because there was an accident, but I must admit the first thing I said was, "No way! You're joking with me... quit it!" She tends to be a prankster:o).

She actually wasn't though (surprise!) and when my brother got back on the phone, I asked him what in the world happened. He replied, "it's complicated... there was a car accident in the driveway. I'll tell you tomorrow." Uh-oh. I got off the phone and told Nat I just had this feeling our car was involved with her accident.

When *the* story finally came out, it was quite *the* story. Now my brother has to be the most laid-back man in the world, because he didn't seem fazed at all. I know that's not really true deep down inside, but there wasn't a frazzled reaction on the outside at all! But back to *the* story. My sister-in-law had used our car Wednesday morning, but left a light on so that drained the battery. That afternoon she was going to take her son out to eat but had to first jump our car with her car (which my niece had to use to get to work). Since the battery in her car is in the back, she told her son to back her car up to our car to jump it. Meanwhile she spotted something in the backseat of our car and went to quick grab it. As she leaned half-way into the car (with the door open), my nephew backed up her car and hit our car door. The car door closed in on her leg, but of course he had no idea. All he was thinking was, "Oh man, I'm in big trouble" so he just sat there. That whole time the car door was on her leg and she was praying for him to pull forward. After 15 seconds he finally did, much to her relief!

Her leg instantly swelled up into what looked like a drumstick around her calf to her ankle. If it had been any higher, it would've severed it off (details I'm sure you're glad I'm sharing!) or even cut off the main artery that would've killed her. As it was, she went through surgery on her leg, hoping to relieve a big chunk of pressure. There was still the possibility of amputation if infection set in, but we are so grateful that was not the case!

The doctor is giving her a 3-month recovery period, which is a long time to not walk. But that's a better option compared to not being able to walk ever again!

Obviously our main concern was making sure she was going to be alright. Once we were fairly certain she was, we looked into fixing our door. While not the biggest deal at the moment, it would've made the 11 hour trip home windy, to say the least! The bottom part was bent at a weird angle (thank you leg), so Nat got on the phone to see if he could find a replacement door. He knew the salvage place here in PA didn't have any parts for our car, but the Lord directed him to the right salvage place out in Indiana who had a matching door! Saturday morning Nat and my nephew spent a couple of hours putting the door on and we left soon after to return to Pennsylvania, minus the wind blowing through:o). Isn't God good???

Soon after my brother told us about the accident, Nat and I had a couple of minutes to ourselves. He instantly said it was no use playing the "what if....?" game ("what if we had taken our car to the airport?"). Instead we started to pray. Pray for those involved and for issues that God was dealing with. Would I choose to have this situation play out again? If God would get the glory, then yes! We serve such a mighty God Who knows all things and I'm excited to see what He is going to do through this situation!!!

HOME!

2010-11-07T15:32:00.003-05:00

Well, hello there!

In case you haven't noticed, *ahem* I've been gone for a little bit... or actually a while. My husband and I were traipsing around the USA, or so my brother thinks! In reality, we were gone for 12 days and visited 4 states. I seriously DOUBT that would be considered a cross-country tour, but I suppose it is to someone who never travels:o).

This trip included lots of family time.... and adventures..... and some "huh?" moments, but all in all we made it safely home! I leave for work in a little bit, but I have quite the story to share - tomorrow!

One Year!

2010-10-19T23:23:00.004-04:00

One year ago tomorrow (which is technically in 37 minutes), my sweetheart asked me to marry him! You all left such sweet comments, and we were overwhelmed with how many friends from all over the world rejoiced with us. (By the way, if you're curious how Nat and I met and got engaged, I have a book for you to read: "The Cliff-Hanger Series!")

As I look over the past year, I see tons of growth in our relationship. But if there is one thing I can pass on to other girls from my year of experience, I would say the best thing ever for our relationship has been ending each and every night in prayer together. That became a challenge at various times when we were on trips, but we always made it work somehow!

I can't imagine life without Nat. Truly we have become one and that's the way God intended it to be. He's my very best friend, a good husband and leader, and is always sensitive to the Lord and His Will. Nat can make me laugh at anything and sends my heart fluttering every single time he reaches for my hand.

♥Happy Anniversary, Sweetie!♥

Making Fall Memories.

2010-10-17T16:42:00.004-04:00

While I don't remember this, my brother assured me that I definitely did go to pumpkin patches when I was younger. I'm taking his word over my memory, and chalking it up to "big brother experiences."

Nat and I went to a pumpkin "patch" nearby - more like 10 acres of pumpkins - but that's besides the point. We went with my brother, sister, and their families and had a blast! It was fun going on a hayride to the pumpkin fields and watching my niece's eyes light up with wonder:). Good times!

~Ann (sis-in-law), Phil (brother), Nat and me~

~Out in the fields trying to find the perfect pumpkin, according to my nephew Ethan~

~We even found our own pumpkin to take home:)~

What A Weekend!

2010-10-11T09:39:00.004-04:00

I may be very biased, but I believe I am a part of the best church in the world! This past weekend was one to be tucked away into the memory box, to be pulled out time and time again in the future.

Friday night I got in on the tail end of the prep work for the appreciation banquet for my pastor, but I'm so glad I did! What a blessing to look around and see ladies I dearly love helping to pull this banquet together. Banquets are a lot of work because that means transforming our auditorium into a banquet hall. I think the results were absolutely beautiful:

While no one person can take the credit for this banquet, it helped to have a very organized lady in charge of the decorations:).

Loved the centerpieces!

Seeing all these pies brought back memories from my wedding three months ago... thankfully all the church ladies pitched in and brought a pie:).

Sunday was just an all-around terrific day. I started a new motivational program in my Sunday School class, the choir sang a song that I just couldn't get out of my head all week ("Hallelujah, 'Tis Done!"), Pastor Roland preached a thought-provoking message on the last statement Jesus made on the cross - "It Is Finished" - and of course there was the "Light the World" sending service at night.

Pastor Roland started with Adam and Eve and how sin plunged the whole world into darkness. Of course our entire auditorium went dark at that point. Pastor then started walking through the patriarchs, the judges, prophets, etc. and lit a match for each one. But the match only burned for a little while before it went out. When Pastor Roland came to Jesus, he light a center candle and from there lit candles for the church at Jerusalem, the church at Antioch, and so on. It's so neat to be able to trace my church's history back to Welsh Christians who came and settled in the Philadelphia region.

Anyway, from there Pastor Roland went through all the missionaries my church supports, including the families sent from my church. Each teen from the youth group had a candle that represented a certain missionary and walked to different parts of the auditorium with their candle burning. I always get the shivers when I look around the room and see so many teens holding candles. But then comes the reminder that there is still much darkness that needs light shed upon it.

The final candle of the evening was lit by Pastor-now-missionary Doug Hammett and his wife. We as a church are so excited for them as the follow the Lord's leading!

Good-byes must always be said though, and my church family did that very thing! I must say one of the many good things about sitting so close to the front is I got to get up there and say my good-byes right away:).

They head out Tuesday for the mission field of Botswana!!!

Up...

2010-10-07T01:00:00.003-04:00

.... and I'm not quite sure why! Hmm, must've been that cheese dip we had for a snack after church tonight.

Since I'm not in the land of sleep being oh-so-productive, and since I just heard the cuckoo clock from my neighbor's house downstairs strike one, I figure some late-night musings and ramblings are well in order! I'm actually procrastinating on a project that needs to get done, but that's what tomorrow is for, right? Umm, right.

In random news, Sunday evening our blissful sleep was interrupted with a 12:51 AM phone call. I must say I was almost patting myself on the back for being strangely alert through my sleepiness when I saw the name on the caller id: *very pregnant friend*. One quick return phone call to her and hubby and I were out the door to pick up her two-year-old son and bring him home with us. One very quick hour later, she welcomed her daughter into the world. Yeah, that's the kind of delivery I want to have: quick and well, not-so-painless, but at least quick!

Since the baby was three weeks early, that meant things were nowhere near as ready as my friend hoped to be in making the transition smooth for her son to come to our house. So we dutifully grabbed a pack-n-play, which turned out to be quite worthless that first night:). Little two-year-old boy was a bit disoriented and strangely enough (ha!) did not take too well to being in a newish place. We were bordering on sleep deprivation and chose to take the sanity route by bringing him to bed with us. Who knew that a two-year-old boy could actually take up the entire queen size bed, leaving us to cling to the edges? I finally got smart in the wee morning hours and moved said little guy to the one side of the bed where he had exactly 6 inches to sprawl:o).

Our plan for night #2 was to wear him out before bed, which my husband did quite well. We thought we had the system beat... until we put him in the pack-n-play and began our prayer time. Let's just say prayer time was sprinkled with lots of "Mommmmmmmmmmy!! Dadddddddy!!!!" With the hope of him crying himself to sleep fading away, I went to the pack-n-play and made sure little guy knew Mommy and Daddy would be seen.... tomorrow. The sniffles and tears subsided and 9.5 hours were passed in peaceful slumber, much to our relief and in answer to prayer!

Although definitely not planned for this week, I'm glad that baby girl is born and little guy has been babysat. I'd rather have everything be completely busy in one week (case in point: this week!) and leave next week wide, wide open:).

Later today Nat and I are going to Philadelphia and Sight and Sound, making for a very full Thursday. In a twist I still don't understand, we're following the school bus from our Christian school to a museum in Philadelphia. Apparently there is no parking available for buses at this museum (what a concept), so Nat is going to drive the bus from the museum to some parking lot half-way across town. Strange. Since we planned weeks ago to go to Sight and Sound, the school principal suggested the idea of bringing our own car so we can take off for Lancaster County once Nat has returned the bus to the museum - where the principal will take back over in driving the bus back to school.

We actually spent the day in Philadelphia two months ago and did the touristy thing, so I'm not exactly sure what we're going to do for the four hours we have to kill while waiting for the students to go through the museum. I'm sure it'll involve food and chocolate though:o).

I get to work Friday and Saturday and in the midst of all of that, I'm helping with preparing for a banquet for Rachel and her family. They head out next week for Botswana, so my church is doing an appreciation banquet on Saturday night, which means prep work on Friday night:o). Sunday will be a busy (and emotional!) day as we hold a sending service called, "Light the World." This type of church service is only held when we send a missionary family to the mission field, but they have been some of the most impacting church services I have ever been in.

Missions has always been the heartbeat of my church, and right now we have missionaries coming and going. One missionary family to Chile has been home for a month and they leave tomorrow to go back to Chile. Of course Rachel's family goes to Botswana next week, just as another missionary family -- the Wilhites -- return from 8 months of furlough travel around the USA. Then they will return to South Africa sometime in November. Another missionary family to Chile is planning to return to the States on furlough sometime within the next 3-4 months. I feel so blessed to be a part of a church that is active in missions and sending families from our own church. Of course we greatly miss these families, but technology has greatly improved over the last ten years that it is so easy to stay in contact with our families... almost too easy sometimes. All these communication tools and methods at my fingertips and I still sometimes fail in keeping in touch with missionaries.

So I said all that to say it's going to be a busy weekend! For now though I think I better go try to get some sleep or I'm not going to be very productive through this busy weekend:o).

Rain, Not Snow.

2010-09-30T19:47:00.003-04:00

It's raining. I'm not complaining, just mentioning a fact. A friend at work and I were talking today about the ratio of rain to snow in inches and realized if all this rain was snow, we could potentially have 30 inches of snow. That thought made me happy, until my manager commented that we would both still have to go to work since we're within walking distance. Oh yeah:).

But it is raining, not snowing. For some reason, that makes me think of lists, but I'm not sure why. So here's a list:

I am happy to be at home with my husband, although he is in the other room diligently working on his Bible Institute course.
I'm grateful for a cozy, little apartment to call home.
We had some friends over after church on Wednesday and we enjoyed the fellowship so much (hopefully not enough to keep Amanda and her family up though!).
I'm terribly excited about going to the Bloomsburg Fair! My family and I have gone for the past 20+ years (give or take a few years!) and I knew it was something I wanted to introduce to Nat:o). We were planning on going today until we saw the weather report that used words like "heavy rains" and "accumulating" and "2-3 inches" all within the same sentence. That was enough to make us change our plans until Saturday when it's supposed to be sunny and 67 degrees. Bring on the funnel cake and sausage sandwich!
Bath and Body Works has come out with some incredible candle scents that have made me happy! This one is my absolute favorite! (And my husband loves it too:o).

In short, it has been a delicious fall evening that's just about to get better... we're going to have ice cream:o).

Purging.

2010-09-24T10:48:00.003-04:00

I was up early (that's code for 8 AM... which is early for me!) anticipating a walk with a friend, but a cancellation phone call changed my plans for the morning. The one challenge I have found since being married is maintaining a balance between home and work. I do work part-time as well as babysit often enough to turn it into a side job (without pay:D), so I try to make sure I stay on top of grocery shopping, laundry, and cleaning. With some unexpected extra time this morning before work, I decided my challenge would be to clean our cute little home.

I always want to run in twenty directions at one time and started 4 or 5 projects before I finally settled on one :o). I tackled the kitchen first, which was extremely easy, since I'm OCD about keeping my kitchen clean! The bedroom was next, which was almost just as easy. Dust manages to get into all sorts of places!

I hit a wall when I entered the living room though. Approximately 11 boxes were in the middle of the room and while that added an interesting flair to the decorating style, I decided they weren't going to become permanent fixtures:o).

I'm doing a yard sale tomorrow morning with my brother and sister-in-law and I chose to be ruthless in purging our house of stuff. I know we just got married and couldn't possibly have accumulated stuff, but in reality we have. Most of it was a carry-over from when I lived at my parents, so I don't feel bad at all at selling stuff I'm just not using anymore. Nat contributed a couple of items too, and yet our goal isn't to make money ~ it's to get rid of the stuff! Goodwill is going to be the last stop if they don't sell at the yard sale.

The amazing thing about our apartment is we have the space for everything, and I have fallen in love with a closet that runs down one wall of the apartment (by the way, pictures are coming of our little home... promise!). But just because we have the space doesn't mean we should fill that space:o). Our future goal is being missionaries to Thailand and last time I checked, we're allowed to each take 2 suitcases (50 pounds each) and a carry-on. There's no use in holding things too tightly.... it's either purge now or purge later!

Friends.

2010-09-11T21:40:00.003-04:00

Because Becky asked if I was going to do this, I'm posting this picture... just for you, Becky!

Nat and I had Becky and her brother, Nina, her sister, and brothers over tonight and we had so much fun!!! Several of these dear friends were kind enough to videotape our wedding and then put together a beautiful DVD too, so we decided it would be fun to have a little get-together... and it only took us 5 weeks to actually all get together;o).

Our evening was filled with food, volleyball, some more food, and then a fun game called, "The New Yorker." Nat and I have played it with both of our families and it's a ton of fun, so we figured this would be a great group to play it with ~ we were right!

We are so thankful for good friends in our lives!

Nat and I both enjoy having people over and being hospitable, so I'm sure this won't be the last party we have at our snug little apartment;o).

Remnants.

2010-09-10T09:13:00.004-04:00

The little patter of footsteps were heard in my house yesterday, along with the happy giggles and cheeky grins that two dearly loved kids bring with them;). After they left, I found some remnants of their visit and it just made me smile!

My visitors for the day were my 3-year-old nephew and 1-year-old niece. Both of them helped me make these brownies... can't you tell with the concentrated crumb dump at the top of the brownies?!? ;)

My nephew was also a big helper with lunch and the dishes. He was very excited to tell Uncle Nat that he spread the mustard on Uncle Nat's sandwich! Then as I washed the dishes, he rinsed off all the bubbles and put the dishes in the drainer. Cute!

Of course we had lots of play time:). Between playing with toys, hide-n-seek in the closet, going down the slide at the playground, and tickle time, we had a blast!

Nat was able to join in on a little bit of the fun when he came home for lunch.... I have yet to see a child refuse the awe and intrigue of Nat's iphone!

I just love these little kiddos to pieces!

Cooking With Betty.

2010-09-09T08:50:00.006-04:00

I was given approximately 12 cookbook/recipe holders for my bridal shower and I must admit my first thought was, "oh boy, here we go!" I like to cook, but it's not like I churn out gourmet meals or anything like that. Plus my dad has always been a basic meat-potatoes kind of man, so I never deviated from that routine (hint: it always helps to keep the man happy with the kinds of food he likes!). I learned that hint the hard way after trying new dishes on my dad, who promptly looked for the old and familiar dish;o).

With the turning of the page into wedded bliss, I knew I had one very big advantage on my side: Nat loves all sorts of food (with the exception of scrapple and liver and onions). So I determined to start putting all those cookbooks to good use!

Of course it helps to have them handy, although I'm not entirely satisfied with their resting place:

It also helps to have cute Longaberger baskets nearby to compliment the look and feel of the kitchen:o).

I must say my favorite cookbook so far is the old tried-and-true one of Betty Crocker. Any recipe I've looked up in that red book I have tweaked, but that's the luxury of being the cook:o). So far I have only burned one meal (go here to read that story!), and overall I'm happy with what I've been able to do.

Gourmet? No.

Happy husband? Most definitely!

Family Time!

2010-09-07T13:56:00.002-04:00

Ever since I can remember, we've done a smallish family reunion on my mom's side every summer. Numbers have always fluctuated because of other obligations, and this past Saturday was no exception. Obligations called others away so we really had a small group, but it's more cozy that way:-).

One thing that is always special to me is having my grandfather's cousin Ruth come to the family gathering. I have such happy memories of living with my grandfather for four years in the early 90's before he passed away and Ruth is one remaining connection I have to my grandfather.

We gathered at my mom's house on Saturday and saw these sweet kiddos:

(Ethan and Adrianne with Uncle Tom!)

(Like I said, really small gathering! One day all the relatives who live in far-off states will actually be able to make it home for a reunion;o)

( Ethan absolutely loves Uncle Nat and playing with him!)

This was the first family function at my mom's house since I've gotten married, so it was a little strange to be one of the people leaving after the event was over! Just another little adjustment that comes with the happy bliss of being so joyfully married!

Visitors.

2010-09-02T14:11:00.004-04:00

When I came out of the shower this morning, I saw this on our bed:

No, Nat hasn't gained a sudden affection for stuffed animals:o). We've been watching my 4-year-old nephew for the past two days, and he decided that Cleo, Rhino, Neville, and Elmo needed a new place to call home after spending two nights on the blow-up air mattress!

By the way, Nat gave Rhino to my nephew as a birthday gift last year and became an instant hit with my nephew! Nat's got such a way about him and knows how to win the hearts of protective nephews :o).

At last check, these four guys are still residing on our bed, along with a certain 4-year-old. They go home tonight, at least that's the plan. I've been informed several times over that some little guy just loves our apartment and is planning on staying until Sunday. Nice try, but you gotta return home, kiddo!

Redeeming The Time.

2010-08-31T13:16:00.003-04:00

My husband and I, along with two friends, made a trip down to Frederick, Maryland on Monday to attend a memorial/funeral service for a pastor we had known for several years. My friends Rachel and Pastor Shorter both wrote about this man - Pastor Purks - who stepped out into eternity suddenly last Monday morning.

There were many tears shed at the funeral, but in stark contrast there was much laughter heard. A saint of the Lord's had gone home to be with his Saviour. After the service was over, my husband and I were quietly talking about the various people we had seen, how we were challenged by the speakers, and obviously about Pastors Purks. One thing that struck both of us was the fact that Pastor Purks was known as a man with a passion for souls. Nat made the comment that this was the most convicting funeral he had ever attended.

Pastor Purks was only 59 - quite young, really. One never knows when it's time to go home, and the reminder from Scripture is so necessary: "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time." (Colossians 4:5)

1,000 Words... Plus A Few More!

2010-08-23T08:58:00.003-04:00

While we were on our honeymoon to Boston and Maine, we decided rather than picking up the obligatory mug or magnet commemorating our trip, we would pick up t-shirts instead, since that was something I never got to do when I was younger. Hey, when you have 5 kids in the family, you're just trying to find food for everyone:o).

Anyway, we did that very thing, although it was easier for Nat to pick up t-shirts because he's not as picky as I am. I don't like having my shirt too long and apparently all the styles today give the option of t-shirt or mini-skirt ~ your choice! ~ and so I only came home with one shirt I really liked.

Last Saturday we had what we called a "honeymoon day" which is an opportunity for us to get away alone and spend time together. We chose to go to the city of Brotherly Love and do the touristy thing of acting like it was our first time in a city that's less than an hour away:o).

We had a lot of fun together and saw things like Independence Hall, walked by the Liberty Bell (the line was waaaay too long!), went to the Powell House (Mr. Powell happened to be the last governor of Philadelphia under British rule and the first governor of Philadelphia in the newly formed country), walked the oldest alley in the United States, and went to Reading Terminal Market where we had the best chocolate-covered pretzel!

Since it was a honeymoon day, we chose to stick with our tradition of buying a t-shirt. My mind raced ahead to the cooler days coming so I picked out a sweatshirt and for the first time ever, we decided to get matching ones:

(In our kitchen)

Green is not usually my first choice; in fact my default is pink, but my husband encouraged me to go with the green and I'm glad I did because it finally adds some variety to my normal blue/pink/pink/blue/blue/blue/pink..... :o).

Now that I've given a peek at our kitchen, I'll have to dig out the camera and take some more pictures of our snug, little apartment!

The Offering.

2010-08-17T20:57:00.002-04:00

So without going into the whens and whys and all such nonsense like that, I've decided confession is good for the soul: I've given to my dear, sweet, kind, doesn't-deserve-this-at-all husband an offering.

Oh yes.

That kind of offering.

I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about. But, oh is it awkward to actually come out and say it. Or spell it. Whichever the case may be (which in this case, it would be spelling it).

I won't even try to offer one of those "in my defense..." statements because it would be totally worthless. But, and this is to brag on the man God has given to me, Nat was gracious and kind and still thanks God every night for a wife who can cook.

Ha! Well, except for that night when I couldn't, you know, cook the main dish.

I think next time I'll just use the grill.... :o).

One Month = Pure Happiness!

2010-08-10T13:19:00.006-04:00

It's not exactly down to the minute, although I suppose I could wait the extra 52 minutes, but it's been one month of wonderful, sweet marriage! God has richly blessed me with a compassionate, considerate, fun-loving, sensitive husband who is simply the best! He is my best friend in the world, and I would rather know every little detail about him than anyone else.

Someone asked me the other day if the wait was worth it.......... ABSOLUTELY!!!!

"Grow old along with me... the best is yet to be."

~Robert Browning~

Hi, I'm Still Here:).

2010-08-08T00:05:00.003-04:00

Hubby is currently sleeping (as are most of the people on the East Coast at this time of the night!), but I kick in with my second wind right about now and thought a blog post just might be in order.

But first, I realized I only posted one wedding picture soooo.... here are a couple more:

After the ceremony was over, Nat and I headed out to a local park and had some pictures taken. Our photographer did an amazing job and we like the fact that this park is close enough for us to visit often.... like we did tonight when we had a little picnic:).

Hmm, methinks that last picture needs a tad bit of explaining. I find it extremely ironic and humorous that the only time I cried on my wedding day was right here (or is it right there since it's not here anymore? Anyway.) This lady is such a dear friend of mine and not only drove the 13 hours from Muddy Pond, Tennessee (yes that's the name!), but also agreed to greet people on our wedding day. As soon as I came up from downstairs and saw her, I just lost it.... as did she. We're both crying while we wonder why we always cry when we see each other. It's hard to explain, but 'tis true!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Life has been wonderfully busy... setting up our new apartment; packing up stuff from my parents house (Goodwill is going to benefit!); working busy hours; having my first visitor over for lunch; spending time with the dearest man on earth; writing thank you notes....

Oh the thank you notes. I feel as if paper and pen fail in verbalizing our thanks. I suppose if I really considered it, it's not the paper or pen expressing our thanks, it's our words. But how do you squeeze into one note the fact that you really do appreciate the gift of ________ and are thankful time was spent in coming to the wedding?

Or to my wonderful co-workers who not only gave me the time off of work (3 weeks), but also provided pies, a large cookie tray, and chafing pans/dishes to hold our reception food. In addition to that, the were so gracious to give four large gifts, including a beautiful red Kitchen Aid mixer.

What about the dear, dear church family we are so blessed with who jumped in with both feet and enthusiastically and cheerfully helped out where needed? I've come to the conclusion that it is impossible to say "thank you" on paper only; it must be lived out and in some cases paid forward, so to speak.

Simply put, we've been blessed.

A few people asked after we returned from our honeymoon if we still needed anything. Need? In a word, no.

We've been blessed.

Honeymoon.

2010-07-29T08:53:00.003-04:00

While I have a few minutes and access to a computer (those two don't coincide too much these days!), I figured I would post just a few pictures from our wonderful, fabulous, relaxing, fun honeymoon:).

My sweet husband surprised me with the honeymoon destination and on our wedding day actually gave me a binder chock full of informational pages. For months we used the code word Antarctica to refer to our honeymoon since that was the answer Nat gave at one point when I asked where we were going. Anyway, on the front of the binder was a cover page with pictures of penguins, ice flows, a cruise ship with a snowy background and an acrostic:

Anne

Nat

Take

Romantic

Car

Trip

Involving

Coastal

America

When I opened it up, I was THRILLED to discover we were heading up to Maine! Out of all the New England states, Maine was the only one I hadn't been to, but I've always wanted to go:).

We actually had a few different parts to our honeymoon which was fine with me. We spent two days in Westborough, Massachusetts and used one of the days to go to Boston - a place I went to two years ago with friends. From there we traveled up to Booth Bay Harbor, Maine and had a lovely view of the harbor from the bed and breakfast we stayed at.

We then went on to Bar Harbor, Maine and spent three days in and around Acadia National Park

and saw some lovely views like this:

Sunset on Cadillac Mountain

Taking a kayak tour of parts of Acadia

Climbing Gorham Mountain - boulder after boulder!

Celebrating one week of marriage on top of the mountain!

Watching the waves crash onto the rocks

The whole trip was absolutely lovely and my only complaint was eating out for 10 straight days... after a while, the choices all start looking the same:).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since coming home, my brother has finished tiling our apartment kitchen floor, so now we just have to move things in and around our place. We're both working and have other "little" things come up to keep us busy, but eventually we'll have this place put together! In the meantime we are rejoicing in the Lord and His goodness to us. What a blessing to be married to such a godly man!!!

Mr. & Mrs.

2010-07-21T22:25:00.003-04:00

Just returned from our wonderful honeymoon trip to Maine and figured my lovely blog readers deserved at least one picture:).

I'll post more when I can!!!

~Mrs. Anne Williams~

Wedding Day.

2010-07-10T08:47:00.002-04:00

Wedding day is HERE!!!!

And I'm excited;).

You're Invited!

2010-07-09T08:19:00.004-04:00

The craziness of the day is about to begin (siblings are in town, you know!), but in case I didn't have a chance to post later, I wanted to make sure I got this up now for anyone who is interested.

My church is going to be streaming our wedding online, so if any of you had absolutely nothing to do around 2 PM (EST) on Saturday, feel free to watch the wedding from the comfort of your home:).

Go to Lehigh Valley Baptist Church.

On the left hand side of the page, you will see this:

Check out our LIVE video stream on Sundays at 10:30 AM and 6:30 PM EST by clicking the link to the right.

Keep refreshing the page until the live/off air box goes from gray to red.

From there it will ask you something like do you want to connect through low band or high band. (This is the part where I wish my techy side would be so much more up-to-date!)

It's pretty easy from there; I figured it out every week when I was in Thailand and would watch my church's service online:).

Of course if you want to come in person to the wedding, that would be terrific! The more the merrier:).

No Wedding Woes - Only A Choice To Rejoice!

2010-07-06T17:04:00.006-04:00

This morning I read this verse, not realizing how much I would need it for today:

"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." ~ Psalm 126:6

Last Thursday I finally decided to take my winter coat to a local dry cleaners and grabbed Nat's wedding suit as well, since it needed to be dry cleaned. I've used this particular cleaner before, so the thought didn't really occur to me to go anywhere else. Actually it did because I had a coupon for another dry cleaners, but that was 20 minutes away and I didn't figure the discount was worth it. So I went to the cleaners, turned in my coat and Nat's suit, and the lady cheerfully gave me my slip with the pick-up day for Wednesday.

Sunday night I had just gotten to bed around midnight when I heard sirens go screaming by for a couple of moments. I genuinely thought maybe someone had gotten hurt shooting off fireworks and was being rushed to the hospital, but that wasn't the case. When I was reading the news on Monday morning, a particular article caught my attention: Fire in Emmaus Strip Mall. My heart jumped into my throat as I read the article and realized the fire started in the very dry cleaner shop I took Nat's suit and my coat to. Trying to be calm and not jump to conclusions, I thought perhaps it wasn't as extensive as the article made it out to be. I called Nat and mentioned the possibility of there being issues with our stuff, but we figured we had to wait to find out for sure because the holiday was still being celebrated.

After trying several times this morning, Nat was finally able to get through to the cleaners and the confirmation was in: everything was completely destroyed. Nat's tailor-made suit from Thailand -- his wedding day suit -- was no longer available.

As the news slowly sank into my disbelieving head, my ever-logical sweetie calmly stated he was going to implement Plan B: go look for a new one and keep his eyes open for divine appointments. It was firmly established in both of our minds that this was no mistake and God was going to use this mishap to get some precious seed out to someone!

Nat returned this evening with the report that no less than three people were those someones!!! As he explained about his adventures to the mall and talking to these three people, my mind drifted back to the verse I read this morning and I realized sometimes the Lord reminds me in a very clear way that there can never be a price tag put on getting some seed to a lost person.

This all might sound very trite and nonspiritual, but the tug of sentimentality can be a bit strong at times. We happened to be very partial to our clothing items, but when I put it all into perspective, I know Nat and I will be married regardless of whether he wore a tailor-made-in-Thailand-just-for-him suit or a JC Penny special.

In addition to growing in grace over suit situations, I've spent the day and now the wee hours of Wednesday morning making pie shells and baking!

I've chosen to have pies and other desserts served at the reception, rather than a huge wedding cake so of course that meant making them all:). In between all the rolling of pie dough, some family members wandered in to stay for several days, so I decided I would rather finish all my baking tonight while it wasn't in the triple digits weather-wise and no little kiddos underfoot:). The last batch is in the oven, 8 apple pies have been delegated to two of my bridesmaids, and that leaves me with 6 more to make on Friday. Overall I feel as if I haven't put too much stress on myself and now I can enjoy time with my family before the big day comes on Saturday!

Only 3 more days:).

Happy 4th!

2010-07-05T10:18:00.004-04:00

Having been out of the country a few times on the 4th of July, it makes me appreciate being in the country on this date so much more! Being an American overseas doesn't automatically mean you don't celebrate Independence Day, but it's just, well, different. In fact, I even blogged about it in Thailand three years ago (which I cannot believe I went to Thailand the first time three years ago!).

On Sunday we had a special dinner on the grounds picnic at church and of course that translates into volleyball in the afternoon:). After the volleyball games were over, some of us spontaneously put together a group to head to Bethlehem and watch the fireworks from the Fey Bridge. The memory circuit came full circle for me because my family used to live in Bethlehem and we could always see some of the fireworks that were shot off from Sand Island. Of course it was so special to sit on the bridge with my sweetie (and other friends too!) and watch the fireworks:).

It's always fun trying to work your way out of a crowd and get back to the van. My sensitive-to-the-Lord man took the opportunity to pass out some tracts and struck up a good conversation with a couple of people. How I praise the Lord for my man!

Only 5 more days 'til our wedding!

Camp Closure.

2010-07-01T09:06:00.004-04:00

"You're going to camp?!?" I can't tell you how many times I heard that in the days (and hours!) leading up to camp:). Most people were slightly baffled that Nat and I would take off for camp with only a few weeks left until our wedding, but it was such a natural fit for us and so off we went!

Bro. Rufus Edmisten was the preacher for the week and did a fabulous job of dropping quick one-liners and giving me some meat to chew on from the Word of God. I've looked for a site to link to Bro. Edmisten, but alas, I've had no success so I'll just direct ya'll to the messages he preached at camp - here. Bro. Edmisten preached revival meetings at my church 6 or 7 years ago, and I remember the Lord using him in a tremendous way. I was thrilled to hear he was going to be our camp speaker and he left me with a lot of things to ponder...

I see a wreck, but God sees a great victory.
I must take sides with God against myself.
God says, "I love you" and means "I'll take care of you."
I'm not on probation with God; I'm in!
In order to walk with God and be in His will, I must abstain from things that displease Him.
We can't call Him Lord and shirk our duty.
God requires that we come into His presence with singing.
Use the Bible as a mirror, not as a telescope or magnifying glass for others.
A true testimony is not what is said, but what is done.
There are no tough cases for Jesus!
Your commitment proves you believe.
When the ground is prepared, the seed will have no problem bringing forth fruit.
Sin should wreck my day until I confess and get it right.
Confession brings caution, helps humility, should lead to victory over sin and brings cleansing.
Sin makes me dirty before God. God looks through my clean clothes and sees the junk of my heart.
God would not tolerate sin in a lost person's life so it's not allowed in a saved person's life.
Sin has a way of silencing my witness.
There is no security in darkness.
Get tough on sin!
Refusing to confess shuts God out. It turns a cold shoulder to the Christ of Calvary.
No one is too bad to get saved, but some are too good to get saved.
The security of an anchor is felt through the storm.
Don't give the devil credit for anything!

What a week! Preaching, canoeing, eating, playing games, encouraging campers, getting eaten alive by mosquitoes, sunburn, spending time with my sweetie on a midnight canoe ride, and finally pulling in to the church parking lot Friday night made up our week at camp.

Saturday morning we quickly switched gears and have officially jumped into wedding mode! Instead of having a big wedding cake, I've opted to make 30 pies to serve at the reception. So that's on the agenda for today: buying all those ingredients! Family starts coming in late Sunday night... and next week will zoom by so fast.

Saturday, July 10th has finally come!

Turning A Page.

2010-06-27T15:30:00.002-04:00

Emotion is a tricky thing. Just when I think I can handle it, emotions sneak through the back door in the form of memories and remind me of life.

What brought this on? Something called approaching wedding day. Or, in reality, marriage. I'm about to turn a new page and am completely thrilled, excited, and absolutely giddy about it:). But when I started taking down the degrees and diplomas, the frames and the decorations from off my bedroom walls, emotion hit me.

Have I really spent the last 14 years in this bedroom? With everything off the wall and piled on my bed, I sat down and just gazed around the room remembering...

~ the day I trusted Christ and floated home and into my bedroom... what a shouting day that was!

~ a sleepover with 4 other friends before two friends headed off with their family as missionaries to South Africa.

~ getting ready for high school graduation day!

~ painting my room with a friend and having such a blast.

~ countless, countless numbers of trips taken over the years. The drill was familiar and simple: always pack just before leaving on a trip! That way the adrenaline runs faster:).

~ leaving my room in anticipation of a year-long adventure in Thailand. I still remember packing the day I was leaving (of course - it's tradition!) and then the day I came home.

~ numerous phone calls took place in this room: sisters, sisters-in-law, friends, and for the last eight months, my sweetheart!

~ running to my room for a place of refuge when my heart was hurting. I cried out to the Lord so many times and He heard me. What a precious Saviour!

~ so many girlish hopes and dreams were made in this room. I moved in when I was 12 - just at the beginning of my teen years. So much has changed since that 12 year old girl first moved in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is much packing to do, and I'm realistic enough to know that the majority of it is going to take place after we come home from our honeymoon ~ yet another trip!

Memories are such a good thing, but I am ready to turn that page and move from the position of single gal to wife, where all sorts of new memories will be made!

Sitting With My Sweetie By The Lake:).

2010-06-26T18:13:00.002-04:00

We had a tremendous time at camp... more to come later!

14 Hours.

2010-06-20T15:36:00.005-04:00

We're leaving for camp at 6 AM (in approximately 14 hours) and the following items still need to be done:

make a cheesecake for my dad (Happy Father's Day!)
dry wet clothes
services tonight at church
finish cleaning out the spare bedroom-that-turned-into-a-handy-spot-for-a-ton-of-bridal-shower-gifts
grab items to give to a few people at church
two phone calls
pack for camp
Father's Day fellowship after church (this one is optional... it depends if Dad comes or not!)
sleep (this one is also optional:D)

But I couldn't just leave you all hanging after I apparently did leave you hanging last time:). I introduce to you the bathroom towels (*insert dramatic pause here*):

And the kitchen towels:

Kohl's is my friend:).

Ok, now it's time to cut and run! See ya all next week... and if you think of it, please pray for the summer camp this week and for the Lord to do a work!

Life In A List.

2010-06-14T22:34:00.004-04:00

In no particular order, here are some (interesting???) recent events in the life of yours truly (um, that would be me!)

I got my engagement ring cleaned yesterday and can't stop looking at it today! It's so shiny:).
25 days until we tie that knot! Ok, I realize this is a future event rather than a recent event, but the countdown is faithfully noticed each and every day:).
Nat and I got together with my brother and his family last Thursday night and had a great time! It's so nice to be able to hang out as "couples."
After a huge decision-making process, I've decided what towels to go with for our new bathroom and kitchen. Riveting, I know! Ya'll just about fell off the chair from fascination, didn't you?
Amanda had a birthday today (technically she still has it since there is another hour left in this day) and I've delighted in reading the various facebook messages that have been left for her, especially ones from Nina and Rachel. My funny bone has been tickled by these two gals!
For the first time in almost six months, I didn't have a lunch table come in to the bakery on Saturday. None. Zippo. Which was rather saddening since I like to interact with the customers so much!
So I'm looking forward to serving at a catering party tomorrow night for 45 ladies - all members of a sewing club. Kudos to them for sewing and getting together! Perhaps their talent will rub off on me???
Sunday night the babies in nursery decided that was the night to do some "whoopsies" which resulted in some "boomsies." Very, very technical terms.
Nanette's little cutie had us in stitches towards the end of the night when she couldn't make up her mind to laugh or cry. Her face would scrunch up in preparation for the cry, but at the last minute would be turned into one of her super-adorable smiles, courtesy of a nursery worker making some faces:).
My sweetie and I are joining a crew from church and heading off to summer camp next week. I'm in unofficial camp mode since we're doing the games for camp and have started planning them all out. I'm having a blast and can't wait for next week!
I just figured out that the sound coming from the kitchen is not the shuffling of papers caused by the air coming from the fan; oh no --- it sounds like a mouse to me. Oh joy!

'Tis The Season...

2010-06-03T21:15:00.005-04:00

... for volleyball!

I mentioned a few months ago how I was lured outside with visions of volleyballs in the air and now it is definitely official:).

We played volleyball on Sunday afternoon for several hours. And on Monday night with a impromptu pick-up game. And we played again tonight! I'm expectantly looking forward to Saturday with the potential of some more volleyball being played afterRachel's graduation:).

After living in Thailand for over a year and only playing volleyball one time during that whole year, I've been so ready to play again! A pesky little detail called winter got in the way of me playing much since I came home from Thailand, but my heart has been so blissfully happy that I've been able to play again now that spring/summer is here!

Well, that and the fact I get to marry my sweetie in only 36 days!

Countdown!

2010-05-28T20:11:00.001-04:00

My sweetie sent me a picture of something the high school boys at our Christian school so kindly put in his office:

The countdown's getting lower every day:).

Some Results.

2010-05-17T14:50:00.003-04:00

I did get to the doctor this morning, but before I go on I just wanted to express how truly blessed I am with the man God has given to me! He not only persevered in finding a doctor for me, but he also pretty much put his whole schedule for the morning on hold while he drove me over to the doctor's office. Trust me, you wouldn't have wanted me driving!

The doctor confirmed my suspicions of having a cornea abrasion. When he first examined my eye the pain was pretty fierce, so then he gave me what the nurse called "happy drops" which basically meant the drops numbed the pain:). He did say that most likely my eye never healed when it was injured in February 2009, and to this day I can't figure out what caused the injury back then or on Sunday. Oh well! I am thankful that I can still see (albeit things are a tad blurry!) and that the doctor did say I can still go on my trip and have a follow-up visit next Monday. Thanks for praying!!!

Would Ya'll Mind...

2010-05-16T21:54:00.003-04:00

... praying for me? In February 2009, I had a week of fun in going back and forth to the hospital in Bangkok for what the doctors told me was a scratched cornea in my right eye. I've experienced occasional pain in my eye off and on over the last 16 months, but nothing like what I experienced today. It was like going through the whole experience in 2009, minus the hurried trip to the ER room late one Tuesday night:).

My wonderful sweetie is so full of compassion and went looking for a solution this afternoon in trying to find a doctor in the Lehigh Valley who could have a little look-see at my eye. I would really like to get an appointment tomorrow with the doctor and would appreciate any and all prayer towards that end!

I'm also supposed to be heading out on a trip on Wednesday to the mid-west to see my niece graduate from high school, but obviously plans are subject to change. I'm reminded again of the verse that says all things work together for good!

Just waitin' to see how things unfold this week.... good thing the Sunday School lesson this morning was on rejoicing!

News, news, news.

2010-05-03T23:02:00.003-04:00

News item #1: I'm back in good, ole' PA. Earth-shattering, I know!
News item #2: My trip out to the mid-west was most amazing and so timely. More to come later.
News item #3: It's amazing how seeing my handsome man smiling in a picture makes me giggle and grin, smile and sigh:).
News item #4: I don't think #3 was as newsworthy as I think it is!

~Only 67 more days!~

Surprise!

2010-04-25T05:15:00.003-04:00

So, I am so NOT on the road right now.... in case you haven't figured it out! But the delay was absolutely well worth it:).

"Officially" my bridesmaids threw me a surprise bridal shower on Saturday morning, but from my rather high vantage point from being on the platform, I saw so many ladies cheerfully and happily pitching in to make things come together. After being so shocked that I quickly closed the door, I was so happy to see dear family, friends, and church family all in the room! Nat and I feel very, very blessed and praise the Lord for His goodness in our lives.

I would love to share more, but there's a very special friend of mine who drove in from Tennessee and we have a 6:30 breakfast date set. Yes, I will get up early for some things! From what I understand, we're taking off on our road trip after services this morning... and if we don't, that's ok! I heard at the shower a devotional on flexibility;). Better put it to practice!

Happy Lord's Day!!!!

Heading Out For The Wild Blue Yonder.

2010-04-22T07:10:00.003-04:00

When it comes to packing, I work well under pressure. I prefer to call it motivated, but the more cynical-minded among us might call it procrastination:). It's now 7:14 AM (yeah, we're not going to talk about my usual disregard for getting up early) and I have exactly 2 hours and 46 minutes to pack up for the next 10 days.

What can I say? I love a challenge! When I left in August 2008 for a year-long stay in Thailand, my flight left at 11 PM and I finished packing a mere 6 hours earlier at 5 PM. Fun stuff:).

A few weeks ago, I alluded to a trip that Nat, I, and two people from my church are making and this highly anticipated trip has arrived... kinda. We're actually leaving on Saturday, but I get to pack up today because my brother is graciously working on my parents' kitchen floor. So that means no Anne walking across the floor. *Sigh* The inconveniences of life:).

7:18. Time's a-ticking by. I can probably delay my departure an extra 15 minutes though since my brother isn't even here yet. But I suppose I better mosey in the direction of the suitcases and travel-sized bottles. I can feel the adrenaline coursing through me already!

A P.S. To The Last Post.

2010-04-14T22:50:00.002-04:00

In case you're interested, here's a link showing a video of the convey that came through my town today bearing the steel from the World Trade Center. Wow.

Standing Still.

2010-04-14T14:43:00.004-04:00

A piece of American history drove by today - right through my small town of Emmaus.

I tend to be a little oblivious when it comes to community events and things, but as I drove through Emmaus today I wondered why people were lined up along the main road and all looking expectantly at the road. I figured it was too early for the various summer parades and car shows that come through our area, but I just shrugged it off and went home.

After doing some things inside my house, I walked outside to our garage to get the lawn mower when I heard a trucker's horn. Now I live on the busiest street in my town (which really isn't saying much although Wikipedia puts the population at over 11,000 people and we all know that Wikipedia tells the truth every single time:D). So when I heard the horn, I figured some trucker was impatient with the traffic. My attention was completely caught when I heard another horn join in, so I glanced over towards the road and saw a big rig driving by with an American flag draped across its cargo. My curiosity intensified when I glanced over at my neighbor's place and saw people coming out of their store so I walked over and joined them.

As we watched the big rigs rolls by - each one having at least one American flag on them - my neighbor said 28 rigs were a part of a mile-long procession carrying steel beams from the World Trade Center to Coatesville, a town about 40 minutes south of Emmaus. The beams originated from a steel plant in Coatesville and were being returned there from JFK Airport for what will eventually be a museum on the history of steel.

As each rig rolled by, the drivers honked their horns - not obnoxiously though. Patriotism stirred in me as I watched the trucks go by. Traffic stopped and for 10 minutes the world stood still... at least, the little world of Emmaus. And I was able to stand still too.

Starving: It's A Good Thing.

2010-04-13T23:08:00.004-04:00

Years ago my pastor's wife did a Bible Study with the single girls using the book Lies Women Believe and I remember walking away from that study thinking how easy it is for me to be duped into believing a lie. Profound I know, but so true!

I still think about that study, especially when I blunder and make a wrong choice. I want to kick myself as I wonder, "Now why did I respond to that situation like that? I know better and I thought I got the victory over it the last time." Giving in to the flesh is temporarily satisfying, but never brings true contentment. I have to make a conscious choice to listen to truth, rather than believing lies.

I'm in a rather contemplative mood as I think about a Bible study Nat and I did for marriage counseling. As a quick aside, I strongly recommend marriage counseling before the wedding bells toll! Nat and I have tremendously enjoyed it and have learned so much from our sessions with Pastor Roland. Ok, commercial over.... back to our study:). This one is on communication and many of the questions have really made us think! Standard Sunday School answers don't cut it and I've been forced out of my comfort zone of logically and methodically working my way through easy-to-answer questions. In truth, I have to think of scenarios and situations in our future that have yet to happen. Tough stuff. My personality is the type to sit there and say, "Well I don't know what's going to happen or how I'm going to respond so how am I supposed to answer this question!"

This is where it's so foundational to know what God's Word says and to combat the lies of the devil with the truth of God's Word. My marriage depends upon it. Obviously communication plays such a huge role in relationships and if I'm not careful, I'm going to feed a lie instead of starving it to death. I choose life - for truth, that is!

Just some late night musings from a girl who is looking forward to becoming the wife of a wonderful, godly man in 87.1 days... of course the .1 represents the rest of this day:).

Flip Flops.

2010-04-06T19:17:00.003-04:00

The craziest things make me think of Thailand and my time spent in that dear country:

A brief glimpse of a man who looked exactly like the missionary I worked with.
Hearing a song sung that I first heard at the church I attended in Bangkok.
A facebook comment from a friend saying she was looking at pictures from a trip we took to the aquarium.

Tonight I had another reminder: flip flops. Because of the beautiful weather we've been having, I figured it was high time I got them out. What I wasn't expecting was the feeling that would come with wearing the flip flops. The last time I wore flip flops was in Thailand. Seven months ago. Having lived in Thailand for 15 months, I developed some strong ties to that country, her people, and the dear missionaries I worked with and (justifiably?) get a smidge sentimental and wistful when reminded of my time there.

Right now the flip flops feel strange on my feet. What used to be standard footwear -- even in the "winter" months when it was still 80 degrees out! -- is now strange and a little uncomfortable. My heart is telling me to go jump on a plane and return to Thailand to help some dearly loved missionaries. My brain, however, is being slightly more logical:).

I'm smiling now as I think of a trip being planned for the not-too-distant future when I will be able to return to Thailand... and that time will be with my husband! The memories of my time in Thailand are still there and the work is still going on. Nat and I try to be faithful each night in praying for our dear friends, but I'm thinking I won't forget tonight.

Flip flops... way too many emotions attached to them.

Bits And Pieces.

2010-04-05T21:05:00.004-04:00

You know, I'm noticing a trend here: every time Nat leaves on a trip, I decide to update the blog! Hmm, I'll have to work on that:).

Nat and a bunch of the preacher boys from my church are out at a preachers' conference in Ohio for the next couple of days. Is it ok to admit that I've experienced twinges of jealousy? Well, 'tis true. I love going to conferences and am really looking forward to a conference that will be held at Rebecca's church in a few weeks. There's something about getting away and hearing several preachers preach and then sitting back and marvelling at how the Lord connects all the messages together! Oh, it's going to be good! But for now, I get to look forward to Nat calling tonight and sharing what the preaching was about today:).

I did have a delightful day of doing little bits and pieces. The bakery was closed today ~ something for which we were all thankful! Friday and Saturday felt like marathon days since people ordered all sorts of food for Easter, so the bakery owners had the good sense to be closed yesterday and today:). I did get roped into teaching a Bible class this morning for the elementary students for one of the preacher boys who went away on the trip, but I had a great time with the students, which is always a plus;).

My original plan for today was to spend a good portion of the day resting (trying to shake being sick!), but the day was too beautiful and I felt too motivated to spend the whole day resting! Instead, I went over to a local greenhouse and after talking to the right person (finally!), I was able to order all the roses I need for the wedding. Nat's sister has graciously agreed to arranging our flowers into bouquets, etc. so I just have to get the stuff:). The neat thing is the florist at the greenhouse was so helpful in passing along tips and the best place to buy things like floral tape, pins, etc. Once again the Lord provided in a great way and all the praise goes to Him!

I must've been on a wedding frenzy or something because I also managed to get the guest list written out, well at least for my side:). A while ago Nat delegated that task to his sister for his side, so he's been done for a while now. I've been getting addresses from all sorts of friends all day and now I'm ready to address the invitations... except it's too early and we haven't printed them yet. Such a minor detail;).

There's still that pesky little detail of getting my dress ~ such a small detail! The florist asked me today if there were any beads or sequins on my dress and I thought her eyes were going to pop out of her head when I said I didn't have it yet:). But that should be ordered soon and then I'll be down to one really big detail: pie shells. Being the non-traditional person that I am, I've decided to have pies at my wedding instead of a humongous wedding cake. My reasoning is two-fold: (1) most wedding cakes I've tasted were pretty but dry (making it pretty dry!) and (2) my dad absolutely loves pies so I figured this would be a good way to make sure my dad was satisfied at the reception:).

Nat and I decided to do a little wedding cake for the two of us, but if we have as many people at our wedding as we think we're going to have, then we better start making those shells! Of course it helps working at a bakery where I can get all sorts of techniques and tips from the bakers:).

No worries though. I still have 95 days to get it all done!

Update, Update, And More Update.

2010-03-28T02:00:00.004-04:00

Well, anonymous, you asked a very good question!

What's the point of having a blog if you don't use it?

At least post an update about your relationship, how your planning the wedding, updates, updates, updates...

The funny thing is *ahem* I've thought of doing that very thing a couple of times over the last few weeks:). It's now 2 AM and since I'm wide, wide awake and I've already finished my marriage counseling homework, I figure I'm going to take anonymous' suggestion and give an update:).

For starters, this past week was a l-o-n-g week. Nat left on Monday night with a group of teens and adults for an independent baptist student competition in Illinois ~ hence the reason the week was l-o-n-g! I'm not quite sure how Jackie managed to have a long-distance relationship for several months before she got married, but I'll be the first to say it's not meant for me! I've been so spoiled by being able to spend so much time with Nat, and this week showed me just how spoiled I (we) have become! Between the schedule out at the competition and my work schedule, Nat and I had an interesting time trying to connect this week. The times we were able to connect (hello midnight hours!), Nat was very tired so we had to keep our conversations pretty short.

It was pure bliss to be able to see him this morning -- excuse me, Saturday morning! -- for a couple of minutes before I left for work and then he came back over after I was done working. The way I figure it, we have three more trips coming up -- he'll be taking one and I'll be taking two -- but that shouldn't be too bad because they are quick 3-day trips and we won't exactly be limited by two constraining schedules.

It's so nice to have Nat home:).

~~~~~~~~~~

Ah, yes, the wedding plans! I haven't really posted much about the wedding, have I? Well, according to Bed Bath & Beyond, we have 104 days until the wedding! I must confess I've not been the blushing bride-to-be that has all the days, hours, and minutes figured out; rather, it has been easier for me to say "__ months to go" and leave it at that:). So in keeping with the tradition I've started, we have 3.5 months to go!!!

There have been a couple of neat things in regards to the wedding that I'm so thrilled about:

Nat and I have been planning it together. I've always wanted to be able to plan my wedding with my future husband and Nat enthusiastically jumped right in with both feet:).
We've not had one problem with people pushing their own way or plan. Our parents haven't put pressure or certain obligations upon us, for which I am grateful!
Planning the wedding hasn't been stressful for us. We've just slowly and methodically gone from one detail to the next without getting all frenzied or hysterical:).

Right now I'm in the midst of securing fabric for the bridesmaid dresses. The Lord has clearly blessed in so many of the wedding plans, and He did so again last Saturday night! A while back Nat and I found some fabric at Joann Fabrics that we liked for the bridesmaid dresses and I was able to go up last week and get half the fabric I needed at a fraction of the price! God blessed with a special sale (end of the bolt) and a 50% off coupon! I bought all the fabric the store had, so I just have to go to another store to get the rest!

I've yet to buy my dress, but I know exactly what I want. I found it online so I didn't even have to enter one bridal store and try on gown after gown ~ that suits me just fine! I had my fill of bridal stores years ago when a friend of mine got married:). Lord willing, I plan on buying my dress within the next couple of weeks and a friend of mine is going to alter it for me.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nat moved into an apartment a month ago and that is going to be my new home! I had thought of going over and decorating/organizing it, but then realized that it wouldn't be any fun to have things just so and then.... return to my parents' house:). So we decided to wait on the whole decorate/organize thing until closer to the wedding when it will be more reality than a dream:).

~~~~~~~~~~

In the meanwhile, I've started the process of going through all my stuff (code word - junk). I'm shaking my head in amazement because I had a huge yard sale before I left for Thailand in August 2008 and now I'm wondering how all this stuff (junk?) crept back in since I came home from Thailand in September 2009. I didn't even go to that many yard sales since coming home:). But it will be fine because I have one more opportunity to have a big yard sale before I move. It's amazing what I thought I needed 10-15 years ago I now realize that I don't really need in order to set up house:).

~~~~~~~~~~

Of course in between everything else I'm still working at the bakery and am having such an enjoyable time! I love interacting with people, so needless to say, I'm having a great time with my job! God's been good in providing opportunities to speak for Christ and I'm so thankful for that. People -- whether they are co-workers or customers -- are always interested in hearing I've been to Thailand and plan to return. I'm often asked what it was like and what I did there... talk about open doors!

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This update has been l-o-n-g (but not as l-o-n-g as this past week was!), but now I'm feeling a little bit tired so I suppose I should retire for the night (morning?). My sweetie is preaching at a church in Jersey in the morning and I get to go along with him:).

*Happy sigh*

From my perspective...

Setting In Motion

Merry Christmas!

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

Whining.

Come On In!

Video Clip:).

Monday Blessings...

Happy Fall!

Reflection.

Sweet Seasons.

Family Gathering.

Full Steam Ahead!

Home Sweet Home.

From Africa To America.

Kindle Reading And Other Sundry News.

Jumbled Lodging.

Impressed!

Happiness:).

Grace.

Friends.

Experiences.

Distracted.

Contacts.

Blessings And The Baobab Tree.

Airports.

African Adventures - Here We Come!

Graduation...

*25 Cents*

Catching My Breath!

A Time To Weep.

Shocked!

Hurrah For Spring!

Trips, Trips, Trips.

Packing My Bags!

*Achoo*

Timely messages.

The Ministry Of...

Update #3.

8 Months!

Update #2.

Update #1.

Pre-Update.

Linkage.

Recap.

Sights And Sounds - Revisited.

We're Here.... A Belated Post:).

Announcing....

Of Traveling And Trips ~ The Flying Kind.

New Year's Ramblings.

An Oh-So-Pleasant Christmas:).

Checking Out.

'Tis The Season...

Christmas-y Things:).

Toothpaste Tubes.

The Party That Wasn't.

Thanksgiving At Our House.

Off.

Confession.

*The* Story.

HOME!

One Year!

Making Fall Memories.

What A Weekend!

Up...

Rain, Not Snow.

Purging.

Friends.

Remnants.

Cooking With Betty.

Family Time!

Visitors.

Redeeming The Time.

1,000 Words... Plus A Few More!

*The* Offering.

One Month = Pure Happiness!

Hi, I'm Still Here:).

Honeymoon.

Mr. & Mrs.

Wedding Day.

25 Cents

Achoo

The Story.

The Offering.