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. :)
