Catching Up

Well, it has been a while since I have posted, and I'm sorry. Things have been very crazy around here. The Lord is definitely trying to teach us both some big lessons. First off, a couple of weeks ago, I was throwing up all day and had horrible abdominal pain. I went to the doctor, and they sent me to the emergency room. There I found out that I had pancreatitis and my pancreas, gallbladder and liver were enflamed. After almost a week in the hospital, I came home with no gallbladder and with far less pain. It has taken me a while to get back on my feet. I tire pretty easily, but I think that I'm finally getting back to normal. It was tough at first for Cassandra with me being the hospital and not being able to nurse her, but I think that we have finally gotten back to where we were before the whole thing started. It is such a relief to know that I didn't have to stop nursing Cassandra way before I wanted to.

Nathaniel is doing well in his classes. We can't believe how quickly the semester is flying by. He got his midterm grades back while I was in the hospital, and he is doing wonderful. We just got done with missions conference, and Nathaniel really enjoyed getting to spend some one-on-one time with a lot of the missionaries. We are becoming more and more open to whatever God has for us, whether it is overseas missions, or a ministry here in the states, or just working a regular job and being involved in our local church. His job is going well, although they are cutting back some of his hours. This is a problem since we were just getting by as is. We know that the Lord will provide something though. If we have learned only one thing while being out here, it is that the Lord wanted us out here, and I know that He is going to take care of us. Nathaniel is working hard with his Bible quiz team at church. It seems that the kids are really good at it. Nathaniel and I are both involved in the choir now at church as well.

The girls seem to be doing very well. I think that the trauma of their mother disappearing for almost a week has gone away. I think in some ways it was an adventure for them. They had so many people coming by the house dropping off meals, cleaning the house, and just playing with them, so that Nathaniel could get things done. Juliana is doing great in Cubbies. She is continuing to learn her verses with amazing accuracy and remembrance. Because of how well Juliana is doing in Cubbies, Nathaniel and I decided to start teaching her academic stuff at home too. We have started really focusing on her letters and learning to write them. She is much more excited about it than she ever was in the past when I tried to teach her. Ariana is doing a great job of learning her letters right along beside her sister. Cassandra is growing every day. A couple of weeks ago, she went to the WIC office and found out that she was in the 90th percentile for her height. That explains why at only four months, she is wearing 6-9 or just 9 months pajamas! She is really starting to scoot around the floor now. She turns herself around in little circles. She is so happy and smiley. One of her favorite toys is her sisters. She enjoys them when they talk to her and give her toys. The bad thing for her sisters though is that Cassandra has now started reaching out and grabbing their hair.

We are all doing fairly well now, and are looking forward to Thanksgiving. We are thinking about asking some single students here who are not going home to come have Thanksgiving dinner with us. Prayer requests for us right now would be that our Medicaid is approved and will cover our hospital bills, that Nathaniel's job would pick up or that he would find something else to supplement with, that my health would continue to improve and that I would continue to gain my strength, that Nathaniel and I would have patience with the girls right now as they have really started acting out. Thank you for your prayers for our whole family. :)

My Wonderful Children

     It is so fun watching my children learn the Bible. Nathaniel has been reading to them out of Genesis, and Juliana has been picking up on so much. When Nathaniel asks her what she has been learning about, Juliana says, "Adam and Even ate the fruit off of the special tree and they disobeyed." Nathaniel then asks what happened to them? Juliana - "They died." How awesome that at such a young age, she's learning some important Biblical truths. We are teaching her that when she disobeys that's called sin. She's also learning about sin in Cubbies. I love that what she is learning at Cubbies is only reinforcing what she is learning at home. Funny story, though. Last night, she put her hands on her head and said that she had bones on her head. I said, "Yes, you have bones on your head." She then asked, "Does God have bones?" Wow. Um, no God doesn't have bones, He is a Spirit. We decided to leave it at that for now and not try to explain the immaterial and material part of man. We'll save that one for another day. It's exciting though to watch her get closer and closer to understanding the salvation process. It reminds me more and more to be praying for the salvation of my children. I want them to understand what God has done for them and to believe in His powerful work.
     I had an awesome class today in Women's Ministries. The teacher was speaking on marriage and the importance of respecting your husband. It was so refreshing to hear her say that respect was a necessity in marriage and that marriage wasn't all about the woman and her needs. I am created to be Nathaniel's helpmeet not the other way around. So often now I hear women say that they have emotional needs that need to be met, but I wonder if with all the time we are complaining about our needs not being met, are we meeting our husband's needs? I found that when I started making my husband's dreams my own, and I started spending time with him, listening to him, our marriage started getting stronger. When I actually praise my husband for a job well done, or tell him that I knows he's working hard, and that I appreciate it, my husband just beams. That is what I was created for; I want to spend the rest of my life building him up, because when my gaze is on my husband, I'm not so worried about me.

Long Weekend

     So, today is Columbus Day Observed, and Frontier doesn't have any classes, which means that Nathaniel is working. It will be nice to have the extra hours. I know that Nathaniel doesn't love his job at a hog farm powerwashing up pig "stuff," but I admire him so for doing whatever he can for his family. Whenever I think of how he loves me because of his sacrifices for me, it makes my part of marriage (submission and helpmeet) seem so much easier.
     I had fun with the girls this weekend. The four of us went to Cheyenne on Friday afternoon while Nathaniel was working, and we did some shopping. I'm glad I had that fun afternoon with them, because Saturday was a trying day of them questioning my authority at every turn. It was very discouraging, and makes one wonder if you can give up child rearing.
     I am realizing lately how much I miss my family in Virginia. I wish that we could all be together again. I want to see all the cousins playing together. I have only seen that once, but I enjoyed it so. I feel a heavy weight of wondering how many times I will see my siblings again. When you see each other every couple of years, it makes life hard. I'm so proud of my brothers and my sister, though. I feel like they are going out and doing what they want to do in life. They're making something of themselves. My brothers have beautiful families. It's sad sometimes hearing about their life over the phone. It's just not the same.
     I feel like I need a lot of prayer lately. I know what the Bible says. I know what society dictates. I know what the word "tact" means, but how do you combine all of these things into the right thing? Or do you focus mostly on what the Bible says, and hope that the other two don't come out too bad? I don't know. Nathaniel and I have been having some great discussions lately. I love it when the discussion ends with both of us holding our Bibles open, a Strong's Concordance on the couch between us, and the Greek Bible on top of that. I hope that our marriage will always lead us back to God's Word.
     Anyway, pray for Nathaniel this week, he has several midterms, and he's worried that he won't be able to keep the 100% grade that he has in most of his classes. (That was dripping with sarcasm.) I'm kidding, it's hard for him to go to classes, work, spend time with his family, and still study as he needs to. He's doing great in school though. I'm so proud to be married to him. Continue praying for us as we will probably need to buy a new car in the near future. I know God will provide. I am convinced more and more as we are living out here, that this is where God wants us right now. I know that He will take care of us.

Blessed Are They That Mourn

     Last night in AWANA, I was teaching on the Beatitutde "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." I was trying so hard to describe what the word "mourn" meant, when I finally realized, that there is no good synonym for it. I was trying to tell them that mourning came from deep within your soul. When discussing sin and things that we know we have done wrong, we were talking about how we should be in mourning for our own inadequacy. How often do I fall on my knees and weep because of my sin? How often do I stop and acknowledge that I can't fix my own problem, only God can. I got so excited last night trying to explain to those boys and girls that God was the only one. We talked about how Jesus had never sinned and that's why He was the only one who could take our sins on the cross. Then we started talking about why Christ's resurrection was so important. I feel like we don't emphasize this enough with children, because we think it's too deep for them to understand, but they need to know why it's important that Christ raised from the dead and ultimately defeated sin and death. The next step in the teaching was to explain to them why Jesus said that people who are mourning their sin are blessed. I love the picture that presented. We come to the end of ourselves, then Jesus can step in and comfort us. It's so beautiful, and I am so thankful for what He did for me!

Learning Never Stops

     Living in LaGrange and going to Frontier has taught me that we can never stop learning. Nathaniel and I came out here not knowing what we wanted to do, but now I think we realize that our "ministry" is to help people. We still don't know how that is going to play out, but I think we are getting more prepared to be ready for anything that the Lord has in store for us.

     The girls are really enjoying it out here. It's so much easier to teach them about God's creation when they can see stars at night, animals by the road, and bugs outside their door. They are loving exploring. Juliana is starting Cubbies now, and she is doing such a great job of learning her verses. There's nothing sweeter than listening to her sweet little voice quoting God's Word. In fact, she comes up to me, and says, "Mom, can I say my verse to you?" What mother is going to deny her that privilege? She walks around saying, "A is for All. All have sinned. 3:23.......(after my continued look)...Romans 3:23." We're working on remembering the "Romans." Ariana is starting to talk so much more now. She is so cute! Whenever Cassandra starts crying, Ariana runs to her yelling, "Don't cry! Don't cry!" She and Juliana have so much fun playing together. I love to just sit and watch them. Cassandra is growing every hour, I think. She just turned 3 months old this week, which I can't believe. She smiles and laughs all the time. Her newest acquired skill is rolling over, which she enjoys doing. She is such a happy baby.

     Nathaniel is taking a pretty full load this semester. He is taking Epistles of John, Bible Study Methods, Theology, Intro to Missions, Personal Evangelism, World Views, Genesis, and Colossians. He is now working at a hog farm 20 minutes down the road. It is not a glamorous job by any means, but it will hopefully pay the bills. Knowing that he is doing a job that disgusting just to provide for his family makes me love him so much more. He is also starting up a Bible quiz team here at the church. He so enjoys this ministry, and I'm glad that he has something that makes him so happy.

     I am currently taking one class here at Frontier: Women's Ministries. It is so interesting, and I'm hoping that it will be a big help to me if Nathaniel and I get involved in the ministry. I am also getting to know a lot of the student wives here. I am currently involved in a prayer group of student wives that is really encouraging to me. It is so refreshing to be around women who are serious about their faith and don't just have an outward shell. I am also really enjoying our new church. I am a leader in the T & T Awana program. I love encouraging these young boys to hide God's Word in their heart. Sometimes, they don't like me very much, because I actually make sure that they know their verses, and don't just look at them and try to say them to me. Oh well, they'll thank me for it later. :)

     Sorry for the really long post, but I was trying to catch you up on everything. Not every post will be this long.