Family Love

Snuggles with Grandmommy

Mr. Scrunchy Face

Sleepy boy...

Adoniah is our first baby to have reddish tints to his hair!  (This picture shows them pretty well.) He also has strong neck muscles for such a little guy.

Kisses, kisses!

Hanging with the grandparents.  (Don't you love the boxes in the background? It's the new look around here!)

All curled up!

Taking his first walk in the stroller.

Is that a smile I see?

I love this picture!

Mr. Serious

Three grandsons!

So thankful for my parents' help these last many weeks!

And now we are 5!

A Season for Change

It's been three three years since Nathan and I arrived here in Taos, New Mexico.  Three wonderful years full of hard work, friendships built, children born, mountain views, gorgeous weather, strange encounters, challenges, joys, and beautiful memories.  We came to help revitalize a dying church, and God has greatly blessed the work here.  Taos First Baptist is now a healthy, thriving congregation of unified people who care for on another, love the Word of God, and seek ways to minister in the community.

And now, three years later, it is time for us to turn this work over to another capable, caring pastor and move on to a new place of service.  In less than two weeks, we will load up a moving truck and travel across the country to Gallipolis, Ohio where Nathan has accepted the call as the new senior pastor of Faith Baptist Church.

Changes like this are never easy.  The decision to uproot our family, leave our friends and the work we've invested in, and start over serving in a new ministry has not been easy.  But we know without a shadow of a doubt that this is God's will.  He has made it abundantly clear that He is the One directing our steps, and so we joyfully follow, knowing that He is worthy to be trusted and obeyed.

With this transition comes a change in denominations for us, as we leave the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and return to our roots of being independent Baptists.  Due to his growing discomfort with many aspects of the SBC, Nathan knew that for conscience and conviction's sake, he needed to find a church that was not affiliated with the convention.  When the Lord opened the door with Faith Baptist Church in Gallipolis, Ohio, and we began researching their beliefs, we were amazed to have discovered such a like-minded congregation.  This understanding only became more cemented when we visited the church and interacted with the people there.  Faith Baptist is a congregation of roughly 160 people who have proven to be incredibly loving, welcoming, and well-grounded in God's Word.  We are truly excited about being part of their church family!

Another huge blessing involved with this move across the country is the opportunity to be close to biological family.  Four out of Nathan's five siblings and their families live in the Dayton area, two hours away from where we'll be living, and his parents are hoping to move there soon as well.  I, too, have relatives (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) about two hours away in Cincinnati.  After living so far from all our family, it will be nice to be within easy driving distance of many of them!

We are excited about putting down roots long term and raising our family in the peaceful, rural community of Gallipolis.  The Lord has provided a house on five acres for us just at the last minute that looks to be an ideal fit for our growing family.  It will be so nice to have room for our energetic boys to roam and play!  We also hope to raise animals such as chickens and milk goats, to plant a garden come spring, and maybe even raise a crop or two!

Please pray for us as we say goodbye to those we've come to love here in Taos and begin anew in Gallipolis.  I'll admit, there are times when I am tempted to get overwhelmed when I think about all the logistics this big transition includes right on the heels of having a new baby.  However, I keep reminding myself to take things one day at a time and trust the Lord for His grace each step of the way.  Please pray for fully restored energy and strength when the time comes in less than two weeks to hit the road!  Pray for our van to make it to Ohio as it has been having a few mechanical struggles lately.  Pray for wisdom for Nathan as he shoulders the task of pastoring a brand-new congregation of people with their own unique needs.  Pray for me as I juggle life in a new (fixer-upper) home with three very small children.  And please pray for the continued growth of our Taos FBC family as they transition to being under the leadership of a new pastor.

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

As we walk forward into this season of change, we praise the Lord for His leading, for His grace, and for the privilege of serving Him in this life!

Pre-Baby Pics to Post!

 The apricot tree in front of our house/church produced a bountiful harvest this year, thanks to all the rain we've received!

 Nathan and Isaac enjoyed picking the yummy fruit!

 Nathan was able to make three large cobblers from the harvested fruit!

 The perfect combination of sweet and sour.

 Isaac enjoyed covering himself with stickers one day just like Curious George did in one of his library books.

Josiah with his beloved blankie.

 Isaac plays dress-up with Mommy's shoes.

 Gotta love those lime green socks!

 Josiah discovered a new way to play in the ball box!

 Hi, Mom!

 Big brother wanted in on the action too!

 Time for some birthday fun for Daddy!

 Look who's 29!

 So glad to have my mom here to help with Baby's birth and my recovery!

 Singing to Daddy...

Happy Birthday!

VBS Week!

Hello world.  It's good to see you again!  Please pardon the dust on my furniture and the crumbs on my floor and the crayon wrappers in my hair as I climb out from under elephants, cheetahs, jungle vines, and all things African back into civilization again.  

In other words, we had a great VBS this past week!  God really blessed our time with community children at "Camp Kilimanjaro."  We had a fantastic team of volunteers from our own church family as well as First Baptist Church of Childress, Texas that made this whole week possible.  We also had a fantastic curriculum from Answers in Genesis (complete with music from Patch the Pirate) that made the book of Proverbs come alive for the children!  The African theme was a lot of fun to work with too.

I must admit though, I am ready to hang up my hat as VBS director and get back to normal life!  It's been a huge undertaking and all-consuming job for the past many weeks...which would explain the lack of posts on the blog lately.  But don't worry - I really am alive and well and rejoicing in the Lord's work in our midst!  One of these days, I'll get back to sharing about the rest of our Israel trip and life with our little boys...but for now, enjoy pictures from Camp Kilimanjaro!

The sanctuary ready to go for opening and closing assemblies.

 

A close-up of the set where our daily lessons took place as well as the daily drama.  There really is a "Mount Kilimanjaro" in the background; you just can't see it too well in this picture due to the light's reflection.

 Meet Tembo, the elephant. 

 

And Duma, the cheetah.  These were two of our five "animal pals" for the week that helped emphasize each day's main lesson.

Our very cool looking cave entrance, thanks to the creativity and hard work of our friends, Stephanie and Dillon!

 The savannah hallway in the fellowship building.

(Mount Kilimanjaro has five different climate zones/eco-systems, and we tried to re-create three of them for our room decorations.)

 The arctic zone where we had missions and music.

 The rainforest room where crafts took place.

 The waterfall in the rainforest.

 

 And registration begins!

 Children, children everywhere!

 

Opening with our theme song.

 

Nathan and I taught the daily lesson during each opening assembly.

 Puppets greatly enhanced the lesson and made it practical for the children!  

(Now you can see the mountain a little better!)

 

 Our enthusiastic puppeteers!

Games at the park.

 

 Snack time!

Isaac enjoyed getting in on this part! :)

 

 In addition to assemblies, I also led the missions and music segments for each age group rotation.

 The children did so well learning all our songs for the week!

 Crafts were a lot of fun for the kids!

  

 The drama team from Childress did an amazing job each day!

 

 They were such a wonderful addition to our VBS that we've never had before!

 More crafts!

 

 More games!

  

More skits!

 

 Our 5-6 year old group - the "lions" and the "zebras."

 Josiah found a friend!

 It was exciting to see the kids be so generous with their pennies, nickles, and dimes as they contributed to the missions offering of the week.  This little girl brought her entire piggy bank - over 1,000 pennies worth!

 

 My handsome husband teaching about hard-working ants.

  

The drama team finally made it to the summit of the mountain!