Happy Birthday Ivy

Busy Busy Busy

We have been so busy lately I just can't find the time to blog. I'm updated Facebook regularly with info and pictures so if I know you in real life, please make sure we are "friends" on Facebook.
The super quick update before the girls wake up.
Yesterday was Ivy's birthday!!! I can't believe she's already one!! And she's WALKING all over the place and getting into anything and everything.
Her party is this weekend and I can't wait!!!
We are loving Gainesville. I am so happy to be so close to family and we're making new friends super fast. Things are going really really well.
I've been catching up on my reading and there will soon be a review of Misplacing God authored by Joanne Heim. This great book and some amazing revelations by the Holy Spirit have finally gotten me into the habit of a semi-regular (working on regular) quiet time.
I can't wait to share more but I must get back to life. Please keep checking in!!!

Memory Monday

I'm finally back and am starting from scratch!

I started reading Donna Partow's Walking in Total God-Confidence and I'm going to be doing the memory verses from there. So for this week:

O Lord, we love to do your will! Our hearts' desire is to glorify your name.
Isaiah 26:8

Settling In

It's been a good week. This was our first week just the girls, me and my dad. Vance started his job on Monday and he keeps telling me that he likes it. He's riding the bus daily so he's gone longer than I'm used to but we're making it work. Since he works for Shands he gets to ride the bus for free, saving us the gas money, wear and tear on the van and the cost of a parking permit which is over $200 a year!
We dug a small garden patch and are headed to the farmer's market tomorrow morning to buy a couple small veggie plants to get us started.
The girls and I have fallen into a nice routine, something we had trouble with on our own. They are also having loads of fun with Grandma and Grandpa.
It has been difficult not being alone all day. I remember reading in Blue Like Jazz about how going from living alone into a community was so hard. I understand that now. I get up and fix my dad breakfast every day so this morning when I got a phone call from Jen first thing I talked to her rather than making breakfast and poor dad went hungry. I'm going to have to remember to have some easy stuff on hand for times like those. Luckily we had some yogurt in the fridge so he didn't starve and I made lunch a little earlier than usual.
Yesterday some pest control guys came to look at two stumps in my parents front yard and said both had termites!!! They are coming back this afternoon to climb into the attack and look around. I'm scared to death.
Plus, shortly after we arrived my mom informed me that the roof needs to be replaced. They had estimates done a while back and it can cost between $10,000 and $12,000, just for the roof. It could be more if they find damage in the process.
We need MAJOR prayer for the roof issue. The way things are looking it would take us YEARS to save that kind of money.
We also continue to pray that dad's disability would come through. They are working with a lawyer, filling out tons of paperwork, visiting doctors and waiting waiting waiting to hear something.
On a positive note, something I was stressed about before we moved in was cooking dinners, but this week went wonderfully, and I already have the plan made for next week.
Anyhow, there's another quick update for you. Our room in 80% done and should be totally finished by Sunday night. It's going to be a busy weekend but we'll survive! I'll post pictures ASAP!

A Very Quick Update

Ugh... so sorry it's taken me so long to update. We moved the computer into our room and we don't spend much time there so it's been hard for me to do much more than a quick scan of emails. I've got 115 new blog post to read on Reader this morning!!!!

Anyhow, we made it to Gainesville. Two days before we were scheduled to move Elise got the stomach flu. We weren't able to visit with Jen or Rachel. The next day I got it. I was totally unable to help move so Vance's dad and brother came down and loaded our stuff into the truck. The girls and I rested in bed while they worked. We drove up that afternoon while I prayed the whole way I wouldn't be sick in the van.

It was SUCH a blessing to have Vance with us that first week. He had to take a week off between jobs to go to some appointments. He was here with us the majority of the week and we got a lot done but the process has still been slow. Our room is very very slowly coming together and I'll post pictures when we are done. We've taken boatloads of stuff to goodwill. I've managed to get our clothing into a pretty small space so it's not taking up much room within our room. And all our books and the indoor toys are in our room.

Things are going well. Today is toddler time at the library so we are headed there shortly. Please continue to pray that everything goes well.

New Friends and Old Ones

Melissa came over today. She brought her brand new baby Ethan for us to meet. He's such a cutie!!! Melissa and I met at Grace House a couple years ago. We always have fun getting together and talking because we have a lot of similar ideas about childbirth and parenting. And Elise loves playing with Melissa's oldest, Elijah, so everyone was happy about their visit! Another thing I love about Melissa, she takes GREAT pictures of us. She's got this super fancy camera and every picture she's taken of me I LOVE. Check it out at her blog.

After nap we headed down the Casselberry to visit with some friends from college. Christa and Jared are my oldest friends in Central Florida. Christa and I met in my first class at UCF. We had to pair up with someone sitting near us, then tell the rest of the class about them. Christa and I paired up and became fast friends. I can't remember how exactly I met Jared, but she's a great Christian woman, we found each other and have stayed friends since. Jared do you remember??

Tonight Christa's new husband, Daniel, treated us to chili, brownies and ice cream. We had a great time. The girls ran around with Jared's little boy and everyone laughed a lot.

Tomorrow Jen is coming over. I think she would have come today and stayed the night if I would have let her. She's so excited about spending the day with us and I'm excited too!!!

A Sauer Goodbye

Today was such a great day!!! Kim, Renee and I got together to hang out and make sauerkraut. Sauerkraut, like anything that takes a lot of time in the kitchen, is much more fun when you make it with friends. We spent four hours shredding, pounding, salting and talking dirty to 11 heads of cabbage. It probably should have taken us 15 minutes, but we had to stop every 35 seconds to hold a baby, fix a kid food or make sure no one had drowned in Renee water feature (aka retention pond). But, I will say that without Brittany, Renee's oldest daughter, watching the kids (all EIGHT of them) Kim and I would probably still be at Renee's house and we might be half way through one head of cabbage.

Not only did I have boatloads of fun, but I walked out with two huge jars of kraut, two exhaused kids and two bags filled with cloth diaper fluff. Covers, wipes, prefolds and even some Fuzzi Bunz are now spread on the bed just waiting to be used. Thanks Renee!!! Kim even got some wool covers and I can't wait to hear how they work!!!

I met both of these great ladies through our raw milk co-op. We love to talk pregnancy, childbirth and healthy eating together. I'm going to miss you both soooo much. And as soon as Renee gets a fold out couch and another 40lbs of cabbage we've got another kraut date. Deal?

Another Goodbye

It's funny how you meet people. How they come into your life and you either hit it off or you don't. Denise and I met at church and we hit it off. She's beautiful, funny, spiritual, strong and just an all around great friend. We talk on the phone a lot and try to get together to do fun things like pick oranges and chat about health food and chickens. Today we talked about parenting, God, church, our marriages and our futures. She even brough me some BEAUTIFUL free range eggs with bright orange yolks. Within five minutes of her walking in the door I had three cracked and frying on the stove for breakfast. And within five mintues of her leaving I had more frying for lunch. I love you and I'll miss you Denise!!!!

We sold a couple more pieces of furniture today. Then Vance went around filling in nail holes and fixing spots in the drywall. I've got the pantry half way packed. And tomorrow we're making a trip to the dump first thing in the moring to drop on chemicals then we're headed to the post office to fill out the change of address paperwork.

Tomorrow Kim and I are driving over to Renee's to process 49lbs of cabbage!! Stay tuned!!

Discipleship

Some quotes I found about discipleship at Christianity Today:

The form that discipleship takes is conditioned by the historic times in which one lives, as well as by the context of an individual's life, but the underlying principle remains the same: each of us is called by love to love; called out of our narrow individualism and our small private world, to allow ourselves to be "turned around" by the allurement of God, and to live for him, as Jesus did. Thelma Hall, Too Deep for Words

To become a disciple means a decisive and irrevocable turning to both God and neighbor. What follows from there is a journey which … never ends in this life, a journey of continually discovering new dimensions of loving God and neighbor. David J. Bosch, Transforming Mission

The first and last word for a disciple of Jesus is "Obey!" I mean to say that today the word "believe" is not as important as, "You who believe, obey him whom you believe!" Of what use is believing if you cannot obey? Johann Christoph Blumhardt in Thy Kingdom Come: A Blumhardt Reader, Vernard Eller, ed.

All true knowledge of God is born out of obedience. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion

It's hard to remember that Jesus did not come to make us safe, but rather to make us disciples, citizens of God's new age, a kingdom of surprise. Stanley Hauerwas, quoted at PreachingToday.com what does it profit you to give God one thing if he asks of you another? Consider what it is God wants, and then do it. You will as a result better satisfy your heart than with that toward which you yourself are inclined. St. John of the Cross, The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross

It is not our responsibility "to make people 'Christians'" and get them baptized into a particular denomination, but rather to help people decide to follow Jesus and his radical message. Maybe this is why the New Testament writers only use "Christian" three times but "disciple" on 269 occasions! Tom Getman, World Vision International, personal correspondence

Evangelism is not selling Jesus, but showing Jesus; evangelism is not mere telling about Christ, but about being Christ. Lee C. Camp, Mere Discipleship

It has become popular to preach a painless Christianity and automatic saintliness. It has become part of our "instant" culture. "Just pour a little water on it, stir mildly, pick up a gospel tract, and you are on your Christian way." A. W. Tozer, Jesus, Author of Our Faith

Suffering is the true badge of discipleship. The disciple is not above his master. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Feeling the Love

This morning was our last Sunday at SonRise. Our first Sunday there was a Spirit led service and our last Sunday was a Spirit led service. We sang songs, we shared stories and encouraged each other. It was great! At the end we went up front and our church family prayed for us, for our move and for our family's future. Then we hung out with goodbye cupcakes. This is such a great group of people. I'm going to miss them so very much!!!!

After church I got to visit with three girls who mean a lot to me. I met these girls at First Baptist when I agreed to lead Acteens. I honestly wasn't thrilled about the job and got roped in because I couldn't say no, but it turned out to be a blessing. I forgot how much I loved these girls until they showed up on my doorstep. We had a great afternoon of pizza, cookies and catching up.

Taylor, Alyssa and Nicole, I love you girls and if you're ever up in Gainesville you better let me know so we can get together!!!!

My goal for the week is to post my goodbyes each day, since I've got a goodbye scheduled for each day this week. I can't wait to share with you my dearest friends!