Pumpkin Patch Fun

My good friends Sarah and Joy and myself took our brood of little ones to a local pumpkin patch last week. It was actually pretty cool out (for Texas) and felt very Fall-ish which, if you know me well, you know made me very happy. I also got to dress Shep in his first sweater which also made me very happy. He looked pretty darn handsome as you can see for yourself in the pictures below.

Shep planting a big wet one on mom. Joy was careful not to get my shoulders in this picture due to the fact that they were covered in slober, snot, and who knows what else. Oh, the joys of motherhood:)
Such a big sweet smile!

I love this one of Reid and Shepherd smiling together. I know this sounds a little sappy, but I hope they will grow to treasure this picture as a glimpse of the beginning of a life-long frienship.
(Of course, well before that happens there will be a lot of Shep rolling his eyes at me when I tell him he will treasure this picture when he grows up).

Reid is making his not-so-subtle move on baby Eliza. Well played, Reid.

This is about the best we could do with all of them together. Shep only looks slightly confused in this one, which is better than bewildered and downright angry as in many of the others shots.

Thought I'd leave you all with my favorite shot. Is it possible for this kid to be any cuter? I mean, seriously! I don't think so.

What's New in Shep's World

I figured it was about time for me to post some recent pictures of Shepherd. He is officially 6 months old now, which is crazy to think about! The time has truly flown by. Here is what he's been up to recently...

Eating yummy baby food like a big boy!

Playing with his B.F.F Eliza.

Hanging out with dad and his favorite stuffed doggy.

Showing off his sitting up skills. He is really getting to be a very sturdy little sitter-upper!

In other news, Shep's first tooth starting coming in last week and the second one followed just a few days later. He now has his front two bottom teeth coming up, and he's starting to look like such a big boy!

Job (and other) News

Dave has a job! He will be working as a case manager for an organization called Neighborhood Centers. He'll be working primarily with homeowners who were affected by Hurricane Ike last September, helping to get them the services they need to get back on their feet. He's not totally sure what to expect, but hopefully he'll get some good training when he starts next week! Thank you for joining us in prayer for this need. Your prayers were answered! We are so thankful for the Lord's provision of a job for Dave!

In other news, Shepherd is officially sitting up by himself these days - of course, mom or dad is close by to catch him when he inevitably tumbles over after about a minute or so. He is also eating lots of "real" foods these days, including peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, prunes, carrots, and apples. He doesn't seem too picky yet, but it's apparent he's not a huge fan of squash. It is crazy to think he will be 6 months old in a couple of weeks! The time is seriously flown by.

We're still living with our dear friends the Gangers. With Dave's new job, we are beginning to look at other housing options, but truly aren't in too big a hurry to leave. It has been such a blessing to live with Tim, Sarah and baby Eliza. Every night is like a big family dinner. Shepherd has Eliza as a buddy to learn from and be entertained by. We both have built in babysitters in each other, so we take turns going out regularly. Basically, fun things are more fun and hard things are made easier when you live with your friends. I highly recommend it! It certainly helps when the friends you live with are as hospitable and generous as the Gangers have been to us. The Lord has blessed us immeasurably in this move to Pearland through Tim and Sarah. Who knows...maybe we'll just stay put in their house for the next few years! (That was a joke Sarah - if you're reading this :)

Covenant Community Church is still meeting together weekly and our body is growing. We've already outgrown our first meeting home and are now meeting in a larger one. Although this can be logistically tough, this is good news for a church plant! Dave has been working on updating the church's website, so hopefully I can show off his hard work soon. Until then...

Update

We've been here in Pearland now for 2 weeks, so I guess it's about time I updated the blog. I am just now starting to feel like we actually live here and are not just on vacation. Nothing much has changed since we first arrived. We're still living with our friends Tim and Sarah and Dave is still job hunting. He's had a few good leads on jobs, the most exciting of which is for a librarian position in the local Pearland Library. We are prayerful that this is the job the Lord has for him (since it is pretty much his dream job to be surrounded by books and book lovers), but while we wait to hear back about this job he is continuing to apply to others.

We have loved getting to meet and spend time with the "core group" of people involved in Covenant Community Church. These are the people we have heard about and prayed for over the last couple months, so it has been very sweet to be able to put faces with familiar names. We spent this past weekend on an "Elder's Family Retreat" with the Davis' and Gangers in Campwood, TX. It was such a treat to spend a restful weekend with these friends that we love so much. Shepherd even had his first experience swimming (i.e., splashing his feet) in a river.

Shep also started eating rice cereal since we've been here (as you can see from the post below). He's taken to it quite well, except for the past couple of days since he's had a cold and can't breathe through his nose. Poor guy. A 5 month-old with a cold is about the most pitiful thing in the world.

That's about it for us. I'll try to be more regular about updating but, as you know, my track record is not very promising. We would love your prayers for Dave's job search, and specifically for this librarian position!

Shepherd Laughing

This is a quick guest post by Dave, Maggie's husband. She asked that I post this video of Shep giggling. We had just fed him Rice Cereal for the first time, and I think he was a little tipsy.

The Waiting is Over

Well, it's official. We are moving to Pearland, TX in 2 days. Dave and two other guys pull out with the moving truck on Monday morning, and Shepherd and I hop on a plane a few hours later. It's been a whirlwind of activity since I last posted. Dave does not yet have a job in Pearland, but many circumstances, the wise counsel of others, and the Lord's leading has encouraged us to go ahead and make the move. Some of these above-mentioned circumstances include the giant hole in the ceiling that fell in Shepherd's room, as well as the breaking of the air conditioner (both of which occurred within about 3 hours of each other). The combination of these events caused our apartment to be unlivable, at least until the air was fixed, but more importantly, they caused us to consider going ahead with the inevitable move to Pearland. We are grateful to the Lord for these events because through them, we believe He pushed us out of our apartment and out of Louisville sooner than we would have gone on our own. It was not the most fun way to be pushed along, but sometimes we need things like this to get our attention and move us in the direction the Lord wants us to go.

I'll try to post most regularly in the coming weeks as there will be lots happening and lots of new things to post about. Right now, we are heading out for one last Nord's Bakery and Sunergos Coffee trip in Louisville. I will miss this wonderful city!

Waiting

As most of you readers know, we are planning to move from Louisville to Pearland, TX any day now to help with a church plant there. Or at least that's what we've been saying for about the past 6 weeks. And we are no closer to knowing when we will move now than we were 6 weeks ago. We are just waiting. Specifically, we are waiting for Dave to get a job there.

It's a very strange thing to be in such a waiting period. Everything feels temporary. It's hard not to completely disengage from life in Louisville, even though we may still be here for a bit longer. It's hard to fight against discontentment when we want so badly to be somewhere other than where we are. (I know it will be equally hard to fight against discontentment when we finally do get to Pearland and begin missing Louisville.) Each week that passes with still no news on the job front provides fresh temptation for discouragement and restlessness. This is fresh on my heart today because the church plant, Covenant Community Church, is having a core group meeting tomorrow night with the biggest number yet of people interested in being a part of the church. This is very exciting evidence of the Lord's grace! And yet, Dave and I are sad to not be able to be there and participate in this meeting of this new community. Our hearts are in Pearland but we are still here in Louisville.

Because we trust in a sovereign and good God, we know that He has purposed to keep us here in Louisville for now. We know that we are not ultimately waiting on a job, but we are ultimately waiting on the Lord. We are waiting on Him to provide the means for us to move, and if He desires for us to be in Pearland at Covenant Community Church, He will indeed make a way for us to get there.

Waiting on the Lord does not come easily to me. I want to take matters into my own hands and charge ahead, in effect, communicating to God that I know better than Him and my ways are better than His. How foolish this is! Rather than give full vent to my discontent heart and take matters into my own hands, my prayer is that I would do as the Psalmist says, and "Wait on the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait on the Lord!" (Ps. 27:14) May the Lord give Dave and me mercy and grace to wait on Him today.