IT'S A....GIRL!!!

We found out on Tuesday afternoon that we'll be having a little girl! Steve and I are so thrilled - it's hard to actually put it into words. Here's a picture of our precious little girl....

Ryleigh means "courageous" - which any little girl is going to need to be to be living in Madagascar!!

Elizabeth means "set apart for God" - it's truly our desire to remember that she is His and not ours! 

Steve is already wrapped around that precious little finger...don't believe me? Here's the first thing he "had" to purchase...

"Our mouths are filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them." The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy." - Psalms 126:2-3

January 15th can't get here soon enough!!

Changes

Change is inevitable - right?  You know - the only thing that ever stays the same is that everything changes - right?  Now that I have you singing the old country song, I'll try to get to the point.

While I am a planner - as in seriously love to have plans, make plans, and be organized in general - the Lord has been showing me that change is never up to me - He makes the plans.  Nothing ever changes for the Lord - He was, He is, and He will always be.  While this used to scare me I have learned to find peace in this.  What a freeing thing to know I'm not in control - couldn't be if I tried my hardest.  I've had several opportunites to share lately about everything that's going on in our lives  - most people's response is - "wow, so a lot of changes huh?"  I just smile because I can't think of a time when I've been SO excited about every single thing that is going on.  Most people have lots of questions about all the details of situations and they expect me to have answers because I usually do - it's like in my DNA or something - but as for the next 10 months of my life - I don't have a lot of answers.  I know what God has shown us but nothing more, and I'm good with that - it's actually quite refreshing to finally realize a little more that it's not up to me.  I don't have to figure out every detail or know every answer.  I can just rest in Him and His "all knowingness".

Two changes that are happening right now?? 

 Well...our peanut is growing to the size of a sweet potato - we're 18 weeks this week!

and I've been blessed with a different type of teaching job until December - 3rd-8th grade - Math and English - it's homeschool materials at a nearby church - although I've taught for 3 years - this set up is a big change for me but after today I'm pretty confident I'm going to love it!

Conclusion??  Change doesn't have to be a bad thing - and actually it should never be considered as such for a follower of Christ - we are promised that He will work things for His glory - what more could we ask for??

A little of this, a little of that

The past few weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind - somewhat of being not in the mood to "write" - which is actually unusual for me...another unusual thing has been the lack of books I've read this summer.  I find myself checking out books at the library only to return them on their due date unread.  While this may be very common for some, this is extremley uncommon for me.  My normal routine would be to check out about 15 books at a time and have them read and turned back in long before the due date.  Last summer I read somewhere in the neighborhood of 75+ books - I love to read - what can I say?  My motivation has been lacking this summer though.  Perhaps, I have yet to find a new author that I enjoy - my favorites, (Karen Kingsbury, Francine Rivers, Mary Higgins Clark,etc) have all been read - as in every book that they've put out that I've found at a library!!

So - what's been going on these past couple of weeks?  Well - summer has been.  Grilling out with friends, spending time with family, and my favorite part - my birthday!!  Steve gave me a spa day for my 25th and it was absolutely fabulous.  That night we went out to AJ's with our friends Anna and Jason - great food and fun people to spend time with! 

I'm in my 15th week already - crazy how time flies - but it still feels like we've waited FOREVER to find out the gender - but it will be soon!!  We have our names picked out but we're waiting until we find out the gender before we reveal our names - we're super super excited though!!

A sidenote that I must add is how ridiculously blessed I am by my husband.  I fall more and more in love with him every single day.  If I had to pick a favorite thing?  Being snuggled up on the couch with my prince charming, talking about life - about God's word, how it's applicable, what He's teaching us...it's just the best thing in the whole world.  Marrying your best friend and getting the opportunity to spend your life with him serving the One you were created to glorify - is just pretty unexplainable.