My own little world

This is some of what God has put on my heart lately: it's not about me; it's all about Him. The implications are huge. Here's a song that has been on my heart lately:

Pregnancy update

Well we are 22 weeks along. I haven't done a picture in a while, but here is my baby bump:



I think it feels bigger than it is :-). Tomorrow I'm going to a sidewalk $1 sale at a maternity store here to see if I can find some larger shirts. Mine are getting too short and too tight, and I know I will only get bigger. I've been feeling pretty good. My hips bother me at night when I lay down, but it's not as bad as it was with Kaitlyn. With her, I slept sitting up for the last 4 months. Hopefully we won't get to that point. He moves quite a bit, and his kicks are definitely getting stronger. Sean desperately wants to feel him but so far no luck.

We've been working on getting the boys room ready. We have organized their toys and cleaned out tons of junk. We moved our little guy's dresser into their room, and they were pretty excited about that. He will sleep in Kaitlyn's room for the first year and then graduate to the big boys room. Our next goal is to get Kaitlyn's room ready. This involves scraping ceilings, painting trim, and painting her room. We hope to get this done by Thanksgiving.

My sweet friend here gave us a tub full of baby clothes. Most of them are 6-9 month and super cute. It was so sweet of her, and it makes my heart overflow from her thoughtfulness. She is also going to plan a shower for me in a couple of months since we gave all our baby stuff away. So slowly we are getting things ready.

My next doctors appointment is in 2 weeks. I will get to do the lovely glucose test. But so far my weight and growth is right on. He should be about 1 pound now and about 10-11" long crown to rump. I can't wait to meet this little guy!!

Retreat, retreat!!

Last weekend was the minister's and spouse retreat. The staff from NCC went up a day early to have time together. It was such a good time for them to all go (minus one staff member who couldn't go b/c of a loss in his family) and spend time together, discuss many pastoral and secretarial items, and to go relax. A very generous family let the staff go to their cabin at Grand Lake and stay for free. It was a gorgeous cabin! It was right on the lake and had enough bedrooms for all the staff. It was definitely a retreat!

On Friday the wives went up to join them. We got there and went to dinner and came back to play games. We ended up staying up till almost 1 playing games and hanging out. These people are so incredibly fun and amazing to be around! This was Jarod and my view from our bed as we woke up on Saturday:
Yes that is the lake with the sun rising behind it! So incredibly gorgeous and a great place to go do devotions at!

We had breakfast together and then had a time to dream for the church. Rob asked us all to share what we dream for Northside. It was so encouraging and exciting to hear where everyone's heart is at. Northside is going in a direction that is about serving and connecting to the community. It's about reaching out to the poorest in our area, the unlovely, and the people who just need help. It's becoming the first century church to each other and to Broken Arrow. I am really excited to see where this takes us. Hopefully I can write more as things progress and begin to happen. All I know is that God has worked in the hearts of our staff and put dreams in place for Him to really work. It will be quite the adventure!

We enjoyed a nice game of bacce ball too. I played alright but it's hard to throw the ball far when my center of gravity has shifted. :-) We ate lunch and headed home and set the stage for Sunday morning. Next year the retreat is going to be longer and hopefully at the same place. It was such a blessing to be together and dream for Northside. I love this church and its people!

Who is in there??

We had the joy of having an ultrasound today. Kaitlyn went to play at her friends house and the boys were at school, so Jarod and I got to go together to see our sweet baby. I was so anxious to go and didn't sleep very well in anticipation of finding out who is in my belly. The ultrasound tech went to check if it was a boy or girl and right away we both saw that it is a BOY! We are so excited! We do have a name, but we want to talk with someone before we announce it to cyberland. Soon I will let you in on the name and the story behind it. :-)

Our little man was all bunched up in one corner of my stomach and was giving the tech a hard time in getting some measurements. He had his hands up by his face most of the time, and we could see him sucking on his hands. SO sweet! He didn't like her pushing down on my stomach, and he kept kicking her when she did. :-) He is measuring at about 12 oz. and right on for our due date.

We are honored to raise another boy! We are blessed to get to experience raising boys and a sweet girl. We feel it's a big responsibility to raise boys and to train them to be godly men and leaders. This world needs men who will stand up for the truth and be examples for their families, friends, and co-workers. What a privilege to get to be a part of that!

Our kids were excited. Kaitlyn really wanted a sister, but she had a great big grin when we told her she was going to have a baby brother. The boys were full of smiles too, and Sean yelled "Yeah!!" when we told him. I love my family and can't wait to meet this sweet boy!