blessing of Grandma and Grandpa

Dale and Rita,
I just had to tell you how much you encourage me! Thank you for raising children who are into other people and not just into themselves. That happened because that is what you modeled and continue to model now. Rita, it so inspired me to hear about all your "hospitality struggles"! What a blessing to have too many missionaries and church planters coming in and out of your house!! We just went to a parents' equipping seminar today at CF and a woman from Richland Hills names Jackie ? spoke. Reminded me a lot of you. She has 6 kids, homeschooled them all, and they are an incredible family (a little more spread out - the oldest is 28 and the youngest is 11). Just reminded of what an amazing blessing it is to have such wonderful in-laws who have raised Godly children! Thank you for your legacy!!

Love you both a lot!
Anda

Teaching

Well, it's official. On Monday, I move into a different class. The lead teacher for one of the two year old classes has decided to leave, so I was asked to take the lead of that class. I had some reservations at first, since I just love toddlers, but the good part is that when the kids in my toddler class, turn two, they will move into my two year old class. I'm excited about starting something new. It's not like I haven't worked with two year olds before. I'm already having to do the lesson plan for next week and since Cinco de Mayo is next Thursday, I'm doing a week long lesson over that. At first I thought, "Sure, I can do Cinco de Mayo". Then I sat at the computer an hour and a half ago and thought, "What am I going to do?" I prayed for patience with myself, and just started searching on teacher sites. So, now I have a lot of ideas. We are going to make a mexican flag, play dress-up with panchos and sombreros, do a mexican hat dance, learn spanish words, count in spanish, break a pinata, and make and play maracas. I also have color pages of a mexican boy and girl in traditional mexican garb. I'm really excited about this lesson. I love to teach. The fun thing about two year olds is that they can understand and do more than toddlers. I'm going to have so much fun with this class. I just thought I would share my excitement and my new thing at work. If anyone has any other ideas for Cinco de Mayo, let me know. I'd love to hear them.

April

More backyard.

We don't know yet whether we will keep the pool or not.

Future greatroom.

See what I mean?

Future master bedroom. Not quite sure what they had in mind here. there is more bathroom on the other end of the room.

Here is the future gameroom. It will disappear then rise from the ashes like the Phoenix.

Here it is. We closed on it today. Now comes the fun part. I will post some of the before pictures.

Sunday Bible Class

I just got off the phone with Randy and he told me I needed to blog something, so I have an idea. I am teaching class this Sunday on Joshua 22, so I thought I would get some input from the family. I have already begun preparing my lesson and have quite a few thoughts on the subject, but I would love to hear what you all have to say. Put as much or little effort into it as you want, but give me your thoughts about this text.

The story is about the tribes east of the Jordan returning home, and on the way, they build "a very imposing altar". The tribes west of the Jordan get very upset and send a delegation to straighten everything out.

A few questions for you to consider:

1. What was the motivation of the Eastern tribes in building the altar?
2. Why did the Western tribes get upset?
3. What applications does this story have for you and me today?

Read Joshua 22 and give me your thoughts.

The scoop

Well everyone, here's the scoop. Everything is fine with the "Little Bean" as Anda calls it. And there is only one baby. I thought I had gained weight, but I only gained a pound. The doctor said the reason why my clothes are starting to not fit is not because of all the twix I've been eating but because of water retention. The sonogram lady remembered me and when she did the sonogram, the first thing she said was, "It's in the uterus!" She was really excited for us. Here is the interesting thing that we found out was that I'm farther than we thought. I'm actually 9 weeks instead of 8. The due date is Dec. 1st. Looks like I pulled ahead in the race, Anda. Of course, all this means is that when Thanksgiving comes, I can't travel anywhere. I always wanted to someday have Thanksgiving at our place. Anyways, there's the scoop. I have to go to bed now. I require more sleep now. Love you all.

April

State Champs!

I just had to brag about my Bailey...she is a member of the TAPPS 5A Girls State Championship Golf Team. She is very excited and now thinks she needs a State ring! Fun times. Trying to get ready to move but unable to concentrate on it because of nursing school. Wish I had time to blog more but that day will come and I love lurking!

lee ann

What's the scoop?

Hey April!
We're all ready to hear about your sonogram today!! How did it go? How is the little bean doing? Let us know!

Anda

Stuff

Hello everyone! I'm finally blogging again. I tried to blog the other day, but for some reason it wouldn't post. Oh well, it felt good to get my thoughts out at the time, even if no one could read it. Things are good here. For those of you who are a part of Flylady.net, it is really great. Trisha said I should look at it, and I'm happy to say that I have accomplished the first step: Shining my kitchen sink. For those of you who really know that I hate doing dishes, this was a big step for me. But I feel really good about it. I plan to keep up with what the Flylady says to do.

The pregnancy is going well. I'm not as nauseous as I was last week. As long as I eat often enough, I'm able to manage it. Twix has been my thing for getting rid of nausea (I tried crackers, it didn't help), but I'm doing better about just trying to eat something instead of going to the Twix. I go to the doctor on Wed. the 27th for my sonogram. I'm excited to see my baby, even though it will be tiny. I'll try to remember to blog when I get home Wed. I'm sure I'll be all fresh with excitement. I'm glad James is able to get off work to come with me. He's excited too.

That is all with us for tonight. Love you all and can't wait to see you all.

April

Big Changes

Well, a lot has happened since our last post. We have made a deal on a house that needs a lot of work. It looks like we will close on Wednesday. All of us are really excited about it, but kind of nervous about all that needs to be done. I will try to post some pictures. It's a real life version of extreme makeover home edition.

We had a wonderful LifeGroup last night. Since our weekend with the LifeGroup leaders it seems that God has graced us with some really wonderful times of his presence. I have been wrestling with issues regarding the house and moving into a bigger and nicer one. One question has been, "What does Jesus think about all of this?" Another is, "Does this contribute to or detract from a community of Jesus who cares about the poor?" So I asked our LifeGroup to wrestle with my questions with me. I cannot even describe what happened. It was such a blessing. We talked about the rich young ruler, the demands of stuff and how it will all burn up. I told them how I worried about rationalizing in order to do what I wanted. I felt like God was dealing directly and authentically with us through them. Two people in particular, both of whom live in much greater need than I do, strongly affirmed that we were doing the right thing. One of them was Sandra Torres. She is a new believer and in very difficult financial circumstances. She cried when she told us that she was asking Jesus what to say. She affirmed Lee Ann and me and greatly encouraged us. She told us that if we were having trouble with the idea because of people like her that we should do it and enjoy it. We were blown away. It was an experience of church I won't soon forget. Teaching, prophetic words from God, encouragement, strengthening all happened.

Bailey is at the state golf tournament today and tomorrow. She is playing great at the first turn thanks to her new golf coach--Uncle Alan.

Lee Ann finished up clinicals last Wednesday night. 5 more tests, a move, and a major remodel and she should be able to get back to normal life.

I am really excited about the possibilities for Ben and Trisha in Odessa. Keep us informed.

Got to go. Grace,

Tod

Just saying hello...

Hi everyone! I just thought I'd check to see if anyone is still blogging, and was a bit disappointed that there weren't more posts! Anda, I can't believe you have a puppy! What fun! We had a garage sale this weekend, and had a puppy crate of mom's to sell (as well as many relics of our childhood). Alex and Katy cleaned it up for us, then Alex said, "Mom, no one is going to buy that dog crate." I asked why not and he told me it would be too expensive, so no one would buy it. I suggested maybe we could put a lower price, but he didn't think that would be necessary. Then he began pleading for a puppy--again. Poor kid. I'm not telling him about yours for a little while!

Back to childhood relics... There was nothing terribly sentimental, just a bag full of baseball pants and socks. I think you used to call them sanitaries, right? Strange name. April, I'm sorry to say your babysitter sweater didn't sell. It did start some conversations, though! One of the things that brought back memories was a white plastic colander that drained pounds and pounds of spaghetti in our Hyde Park kitchen! Another was the plastic dancing Santa. The one that brought the most joy to it's new owner was a Barbara Mandrell t-shirt. Alan's??? The new owner is a friend of ours who works at Starbucks--he thought it was just so cool! No--I take that back--the one that brought the most joy was an Anne Murray tape. One of our friends, Jim LaRue, got it for his dad, but he is secretly in love with her. His wife caught him listening to it in the car today! I'm always fascinated by what people consider treasures at garage sales.

Ben is in Chicago for a few days participating in Sonlife's leadership conference for guys who do events like YouthWAVE. We have a calm week ahead, I hope. I'm hoping to get some spring cleaning and planting done. I think Tim and Melinda are planning to come this weekend for a visit, so we're looking forward to that!

I love hearing what's going on with you all, so blog when you get a chance!

Love,
Trisha

What were we thinking?!

Well, time for a brief update. How is everyone? Blogging seems to have slowed down a bit.

In case you haven't heard we have decided to hold off on the move to Como until next summer. After meeting with the Millers, it was blatantly obvious that we're just not ready yet. Some foundational things HAVE to happen with me and the Lord and Randy and I have to be walking as one. We plan on seeing God move big mountains in our hearts and our marriage during the next several months!
Miracles. We were pondering the thought of miracles yesterday a.m. when discussing the name of our new puppy, "Honey from the Rock". Yeah, I've asked myself a million times what in the world I was thinking when I actually initiated this plan!!?? We now have an 8-week-old Golden Retriever sleeping in our bedroom in a crate the size of Nebraska! Honey is a beautiful, sweet puppy and I cannot even begin to describe the enthusiasm of McKenna the last few days. She and Josiah went around to several neighbors on Thursday afternoon asking if they had any jobs for them to do because we told them they needed to help pay for Honey. No one really had any work for them so they opened up a lemonade/popsicle stand and made almost $15! This morning they went over to our widowed neighbor and pulled some weeds, bringing back $4 more and some candy. McKenna has woken up at about 5:30 a.m. the last two mornings and has been working tirelessly to take care of her puppy (we're calling it "our" dog, but it's pretty clear who it belongs to). Anyway, we're becoming pretty famous here on our street - the crazy Browns who have their permanent circus with FIVE kids AND a DOG!! Just happy to provide lots of entertainment for the neighbors. Who needs reality T.V. when you can just watch the Browns? Survivor and The Nanny right there in our front yard. Ha!
Meanwhile, I feel "gaggy" and nauseous most of the day and fall asleep every chance I get (which isn't that often I guess). Randy is gearing up to leave his job and start the new adventure at JPS. He took Dale and Rita over to see the clinic this afternoon. We got to have dinner with them at The Keg here in Ft. Worth. Great to see Grandma and Grandpa!
We love all of you and look forward to seeing you soon. Maybe Memorial Day weekend? Take pictures of the house, Tod and LeeAnn. Rita was telling us about it and it sounds wonderful!

Anda

quote for the day

I strongly recommend John Piper's sermon on today's radio broadcast at www.desiringGod.org . It's about how we are chosen by God. Here's my favorite quote so far. I'm only 17 minutes into it.
". . .and most Americans do hate Christianity as soon as they come to know what it is."

God bless you all.
Randy

Vegas, Baby.

For Christmas, Cary & I gave trips to our older kids. It's actually just a selfish way for Cary & I to travel all in the name of good parenting. Mitch went hunting, and the girls got a trip to Las Vegas (that's where the selfish part comes in, but I would like to go on record to say that Cary did NOT bring his golf clubs - his request was denied).

Since Ashley knew she would be going to Las Vegas, she picked Nevada for her state report and told the entire second grade class that she was going to "Sin City." I think she got confused when Cary jokingly told her the state motto was "sin city." This story was confirmed from several reliable second-grade sources.

We recovered, and were able to go on a great trip this weekend. Our favorite thing was defintely the "O" show. It's too strange to describe, but it's all done over and around a tank of water - very interesting and very beautiful to watch. All the music is live and in Italian & French. For my west Texas Chicks, it's as close to "culture" as they have ever seen - they loved it.

Speaking of culture, there is quite a bit in Vegas. People watching is a prime sport in this town, and can also get you in big trouble! Vegas is fun to visit - the architecture, lights, intersting shows, beautiful gardens, but to live there day in & day out would be tough. My very basic summation: Vegas is man's feeble attempt to create heaven on earth. Sad thing is that many people believe it is. All of man's God-given desires totally misplaced, misdirected, misunderstood, and misused all wrapped up in lights.

I felt sad when I saw all the hurting, broken people around me. A middle aged woman mindlessly spending the day behind a slot machine, a beautiful drunk woman crying outside our hotel lobby, guys looking at girls, girls attracting guys. Lost people, and I'm just like them - one breath of grace away from falling into a lost world. Gratifying myself looks different than the people in Vegas, but it's the same idol.

When I looked at the brokeness around me, my first instinct was to judge - how horrible. Then looked & listened a little deeper - how sad. Jesus loves these people & they don't know Him and what am I doing about it? Very little.

I was reminded of one of God's messages that Mike Cope shared in Midland - be faithful. A lost city is overwhelming. Be faithful. Be salt - a little goes a long way. Be light - like a tiny star in a dark sky. Be faithful.

I enjoyed my family and we thanked God for everything beautiful we saw, ate & experienced. I am still praying to be faithful in little so He can use me more.

Blue Man Groupies 

Viva, Las Vegas! 

Happy Birthday Alan!

Alan turns 35 today. I am so proud of my little brother. It is not unusual for me to hear a comment about what a terrific man he his. He is one of my favorite people to be around. Who would have thought that I would be so glad he wasn't "Mary"?

p.s. Did Holly get all the kinks worked out for your Birthday present?

Happy Birthday Jill

April and I want to say "Happy Birthday!" She's really looking forward to the girls' time this weekend. I think the plan is I drop her off sometime tomorrow. We'll be on the other side of the lake tonight making "the announcement" to parents, brother, and fiance. April has wrapped a toy to break the news with.

Have a happy B'day and we'll see you then.

-James (and April)

New puppies!

I will post some pictures very soon, but I wanted to officially announce the arrival of four very cute little puppies to our home. Lucy gave birth Wednesday morning to three girls and a boy (sound familiar?). Two are black and tan and two are brown. The father is a long hair brown daschund, and they tell us we won't know whether any of them are going to be long hairs for several weeks. Allison and Annie made me promise to come get them out of school when the delivery started, so Holly did a little home schooling with the kids on Wednesday. It made for quite a biology lesson.

Holly said Annie had a puzzled look on her face towards the end of the day, and then she asked "Mom, if puppies come out of the dog's bottom, where do babies come out?" Holly explained that babies come out of a mommies "bottom". Annie was silent for a few seconds and then asked "Did we come out of your bottom?" Like I said, it was quite a biology lesson. The miracle of life is an amazing thing to see.

We have one of the puppies who is a runt and having a hard time getting enough to eat, so we are having to supplement with a little bottle of puppy formula. Holly is putting all of her experience at her dad's vet clinic to good use. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

more thoughts

Trisha your kids are really cute.

I don't know what my family thinks about predestination and stuff, but I have concluded that God's sovereignty is the most wonderful doctrine I know. It has become sweeter to me than any other truth. It makes everything in life make more sense. Charles Spurgeon, who dealt with a lot of hard things and lived a life of remarkable productivity in the Kingdom, said, "It would be a very sharp and trying experience to me to think I have an affliction which God never sent me; that the bitter cup was never filled by His hand, that my trials were never measured out by Him nor sent to me by His arrangement of their weight and quantity."

It is good to know that everything in life comes from God and that He is for us.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Rom 8:28-31

May we see the glory of God in everything today.
Love,
Randy

Hi gang!

She's a rootin', tootin' pink cowgirl! 

Ride 'em, Cowboy! 

Katy milks a cow at the Rodeo Round-Up! 

Our spring "Azalea Trail" picture! The tulips were gorgeous, but the azaleas hadn't quite peaked when we went to take pictures. 

New creation life

Following up on yesterday's blog about having something significant to say about everything, I figured I could come up with something significant to blog today.

Over the last couple of weeks God has been teaching me and Anda about who we are. I'm overwhelmed again by the thought that I am really righteous, perfect, and holy. I really do have the mind of Christ. I really am full of knowledge and wisdom. That's not just a paint job God has done on me. He has transformed the essence of who I am.

We have the Holy Spirit in us. We are new creations. We lack nothing.

I'm enjoying God more as I think more accurately about myself. Every sin I commit is a denial of my true identity. It is absolutely contrary to who I am. That sounds very prideful, but it is that exact opposite of pride. Pride is choosing to deny what Christ has done in me, and instead trying to improve my old self to make it presentable to Him. The old me is dead. Praise God for His truth. May God give us grace to believe what He says about what He has done in us.

John Piper Quote

I was listening to a John Piper biography sermon today and I heard a great quote. He said, "The thing that [an overall understanding of God's greatness and absolute sovereignty] does in my life is enable me to say something significant about everything." I think that's really cool. I should warn you that if we actually do say something about everything we will talk too much, but it's good to know that if we did say something it could be significant.

Anyway, I love you all. Stand on the Truth. God and His world is all that matters.

Bless you all.
Randy

Re: Life Group Weekend

Alan,

It sounds like the Weekend was a good and meaningful event. I'd like to hear more about the experience.

It's always a wonder to me to see how the Spirit leads a conversation and event when we let Him take the lead. I "facilitated" the Introduction and First Chapter of "The Case for Christ" last night. I had 30 minutes of material prepared if need be, but I think it's much more rewarding to see others' reflections and the understanding they gained from the reading and the Spirit. That 30 minutes was a lot more rewarding and full of meaning than the list of bullet points I had ready.

On another topic: the scoop is out. We are adding to the clan. The due date is December 6, but we aren't certain of that until we see a sonogram. The pregnancy is "more normal" this time, with cravings and nausea instead of the pain from before. We are excited, expectant, and a bit nervous given last time. We of course appreciate all prayers and are thankful for the support and prayers leading to this exciting time.

I apologize for the delay and the "late-evening" notice. It was my idea: a desire to wait until we knew the status of the pregnancy, and the other desire was to tell all families at once, which was to be this weekend. My family still does not know. We're going to tell them all in person at the lake Friday night, including Jon's bride-to-be, and the plan was to tell the ladies at the scrapbooking event.

We're planning for Memorial Day Weekend, which is also right around April's BD.

We love you all and look forward to seeing you soon.

-jc

Life Group Weekend

I haven't posted in a while as not much has been going on with me other than work. But I wanted to share with you all about this weekend. We had a Life Group Leader training retreat at Mom and Dad's house this weekend. The experience was unlike anything I have experienced before. We had two men from a house-church network in Denver basically lead us through a house-church experience. I can summarize the experience by saying that it felt like as close as I have ever been to what I think they did in the early church when they met together.

One of the special blessings of the weekend was that Holly was able to be there with me. Originally, she had not planned to attend, but on Wednesday she came to me and said she had made all the arrangements for the kids and she wanted to be there. It turned out that God specifically wanted to use Holly as an important part of the weekend. As a result, God have Holly and I a clear vision for what we are supposed to be doing next in the Life Group Ministry. I am excited to see His work. God is good!

I must also say that Tod was the one who invited the speakers and had the faith to allow them to come with no real agenda. Their premise was that God has gifted the members of the group with different giftings, and the purpose of getting together is to discover what God wants to do in and through the group. There was encouraging, teaching, praying, singing, crying, questioning, and even prophecying. It was church, and it was good. I thank Tod for being willing to take a risk and allow some of our leaders to have this wonderful experience. I hope it is the first of many such experiences for my family.

go knots

In response to dregs, I just want to say that knots have more fun.
cb

Go dregs

Hey family.
I love my family. God is good, and we have been very blessed. I haven't blogged since we found out Anda was pregant. I hate to rub it in too much, but I will just say that the dregs of the gene pool are still going strong. It's a good feeling to not be all tied up in knots.

I do feel very, very thankful for this new baby. I was fine with stopping at four, but I think five is going to be great.

I have been doing a little intruding on Tod's blog, but I want to share briefly something I heard at our men's retreat last weekend. Randy Boyd talked about the blessing. He mentioned that when God called Abraham he was one man, and his father was a pagan idol worshipper. In four generations his great grandson was the most powerful man in the world. Randy mentioned that the blessing increased with each generation, so that the son who was blessed was able to start where his father left off. I have certainly seen God's blessings multiply in our family. It is something I hope to see multiplied through my family in every generation until Christ returns. The humbling, wonderful fact is that the blessing is given by God himself to whomever He chooses to give it. Isaac wanted to bless Esau, but God chose for him to bless Jacob. It wasn't the strongest or the most gifted child who got the blessing, it was God's choice. Isn't it good to be in Christ where we all are freely given the fullness of His blessing. We have a hundred times more than any patriarch ever had. What a wonderful time to be alive.

As you know Anda and I are working through what the next phase of our lives will look like. I feel peace at what God is doing with us. It is hard, but He is with us. His timing, which He has still not made clear to us, is always perfect. Please pray for lots of love and faith as we figure this out together. Sometimes the ideal is easier to see than to achieve. I see and hear about people that are living in true Christian community, and it makes me hungry for it. I want things to look like they did in the early church. But community isn't built by force, and real relationships never happen quickly. So God is teaching me to follow Him even in my nice home among my wealthy neighbors. And if I learn this lesson I suspect He will let me move on to the next.

In the joy and peace of Jesus,
Randy

BOOKS

Hey everyone!
Happy Birthday, Ben, Hutton, and Emily! Sorry so late! Hope you guys had great days!

Couple of great books to recommend. I'm in the middle of both of them, but so far they are really good. Revolution Within: A Fresh Look at Supernatural Living by Dwight Edwards and The Revolutionary Communicator by Jedd Medefind and Erik Lokkesmoe. Good stuff if you're looking for some good reading.

Nothing real exciting to report. Our kids are officially going to Covenant Classical School next year and we're really excited. We keep hearing things about it from several different sources and have not heard one negative thing yet - about the school or its families. We figured out that one of Randy's old med school buddies, Brian Byrd, has his kids there so it will be fun to reconnect with them. He's a family practice doc here in Fort Worth. I may use his father-in-law as my ob/gyn. No big news with the pregnancy - lots of surprised exclamations and looks; I'm already showing at 6 weeks; feeling fine except for a sinus infection! We've even already got names (90% sure): "Piper Joy" if it's a girl and "Isaac William" if it's a boy. Of course, I'm leaning towards letting it be a surprise, but you know me!

We're kind of "stuck" on the whole Como thing. The wheels have temporarily "spun off" for me in regard to this because of a 5th child. We meet with Jamey and Kim next week to talk through some issues, etc. Kim and I talk all the time, but it will be good to have all four of us together to try and figure out where God wants us right now. Pray for us. We desperately want to be running together, side-by-side as ONE in this whole thing. We know we can't move forward or give God any glory if we're not, so we need the wisdom and revelation of the Father to be released (we ARE already ONE in the heavenlies and we have all the wisdom we need available to us by His Spirit that is inside of us - the flesh sure can get mixed up in there, though - you know what I mean?).

As far as I know, the girls are still planning on going to the Lake next weekend for scrapbooking, etc. Love to see any of you who can make it! Miss you all and can't wait until we get to be together again!

Love you,
Anda

Home

We're glad to be home, but sure enjoyed our time in Midland! Alex and Katy had a ball with their cousins--what a blessing! Katy said Tuesday, "Mom, I'm sad when I'm in Tyler, Texas." That was mostly a statement about how much she loves her cousin, Abby Claire, I think! We enjoyed Stream, and I even got to listen to the Leadership Conference tapes on the way to Brownwood. (I highly recommend them!)

Thank you, Midland family, for making us feel so loved and special. Cary and Jill, thank you for your hospitality Saturday night, and Alan and Holly, thanks for the great hamburger hospitality Sunday night. Tod and LeeAnn, thanks for letting me be part of the house hunt! If you end up with the Boyd house, please take a picture of the pool squirrel as part of your "before", although he's pretty well imprinted on my mind! Mom and Dad, thanks for, well, everything...

We celebrated Ben's birthday pretty pitifully. Most of the day we spent traveling home, then went to church and out for ice cream at Marble Slab with some friends. A HUGE group of 7th graders and parents from "Social Dance" arrived and were so loud we couldn't even hear to talk to each other. On the way out I asked a boy about it and he said it was this dumb thing where they learn manners and stuff. Hmmm...

Thanks to Mike Cope, Proverbs 3:5 keeps playing in my mind--"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding." My theme verse for this week!

love you all!
Trisha

Oops!

I just realized that I posted under James' name. That was me talking in that last blog.

April

Interview and other stuff

Well, I had an interview last week at UT, but I didn't get the job. Oh well, at least it's practice at an interview, and it got me to get my typing speed up. Maybe it just means that I'm supposed to be at my current job. We'll find more money somewhere. God will provide. UT is opening a new day care in Aug. so I might check into that then. It would be more money there. We'll see.

I meant to get this in before midnight, but on the 5th, yesterday, was my 1 year anniversary at my job. This means a raise. I was told today that it would only be a 27 cent raise. But every little bit helps.

Everything is going good here. We are all moved into our new apartment, we just don't know where anything is. Tod and Lee Ann, need any boxes? My goal is to have a majority of the place together in a week and a half.

That's all I have for right now. Here's our new address:

11900 Stonehollow Dr. #6112
Austin, TX 78758

Haven't blogged in a while

Well, it has been a while since I posted an update. There are several things I should have written about already but as I said in my other blog, I just kept putting it off one day at a time.

First, Hutton turned 14 last week. 14 isn't a significant milestone. It's not like he is becoming a teenager or getting his license, he's just turning 14. (I guess it's the year he starts High School. That's pretty big.) But he sure is a signficant kid to us. I like everybody to know he is my son. I sure am proud of him. It is fun watching him grow into the man he is going to be. A long time ago, when Bailey and Hutton were small we vowed to each other that we were going to enjoy our kids in every phase of their lives. We had so many parents encouraging us to dread the teen years. We didn't think that was right then and I am more convinced than ever that we can. They, and I am especially thinking about Hutton, have brought more joy to us than I could have imagined.

Hutton finished up his track season last week. Every meet was windy and cold but Hutton was great. He ran the first running event--the 1.5 mile--and the next to last running event--the mile. To watch him we ended up needing to stay for the whole meet which usually started at 3:30 and finished up around 10:30. Hutton's best time in the mile was a 5:42, and his best time in the mile and a half was 8:51. We think he missed the endurance training from soccer but he still finished anwhere from 2nd to 6th in his events. One daywhile Lee Ann and I were working on the treadmills, we cranked up the speed to a 5:41 mile pace. We both lasted about 8 seconds and then flew off the back of the treadmill. I decided not to offer him any advice in that sport. He was great.

Oh, and last week we sold our house. So now we are homeless. We didn't expect to sell it that fast, but the market is really hot right now. We sold it in 10 days. The problem is we are trying to buy in the same hot market. We are looking for someting to fix up and have a place that can be a center for our kids community and ministry. It is dawning on us that we only have 2 years left with Bailey.

By the way, there are 5 minutes left in the game and it is a 1 point game. In one of my brackets I have North Carolina. Go Heels!

Lee Ann is in studying for another test tomorrow. We don't move until May 13, but it looks like we will have to live with Mom and Dad for at least a little while. We sure are wrestling with what to do. We have a house we think we can fix up,. It's in pretty bad shape, but it's close to the school and church and if we can do all we have in mind, we will end up with an ideal floor plan and size. The problem is that the guy who owns it sees the possibilities we see, but he is a bit more optimistic about its current condition. He doesn't appear to want to negotiate very much. There is another house out at Grassland that is a good fit, but we were hoping for something in Alan and Holly's neighborhood. We are gratefull for all the help we are getting from Mom and Dad especially (we wouldn't be considering it without their help.) and also from the rest of the Midland clan (Trisha helped us look at our options this weekend.) It's a family affair. The kids are weighing in too. Reagan seems to think that the most important feature is a seat in the shower. He has suggested several times to our realtor (Lance Brock--another long story of our family ministry, but for another time.) that we make an offer. Today he suggested we offer $135,000 on a cool old Midland house because we needed to update the kitchen and add another bedroom. For an 8 year old, he has a pretty good feel for it.

Oh well. Pray for wisdom. And for the survival of Lee Ann's sanity. So far so good. She has a great attitude and a beautiful spirit about it all. Grace.

All in all

Stream Highlights

I'm not sure that I had any one thing that I wanted coming into "Stream" -- except to enjoy family and friends and just worship. By far, Mike Cope has been the highlight of Stream. I have come away from every one of his sermons feeling encouraged, challenged and blessed. Thank God for mature models of faith!! Wow!

Communion was also incredible. As Trisha & I approched Dale & Joe Coffman (sharing the body and blood of Christ) Mike Cope fell into line behind us, patted me on the back and whispered in my ear--you're the first person I've known to get into line with. I told him how great it was to be with him this weekend. Then we remembered Christ as we embraced Dale--and we were just filled with joy to be able to share in such a feast. Both of these encounters in just 1 minute reminded me of the power of community -- and how glad I am to be known and loved by such incredible people!

Finally, it has been fantastic to be with you guys this weekend! I'm praying for more! bw

Emily turns 10.

We had a big birthday yesterday - Emily's into the double digits! We had a great time with her friends at the Pottery & then eating dinner at her favorite restaurant, Shoguns. The only panic I had was when the lady at the Pottery asked if I, as her mother, would like to decorate her "birthday plate" which she could hang in her room for decortation. Me? Paint? Where is Aunt Trisha when I need her!
After many helpful 10 year old girls tried to encourage & console me about my efforts, I finally resorted to the professionals and asked if they could "fix it." I gave them artistic license to embellish the plate in any way they could. I could just see Emily having to hang a hideous plate on her wall and explaining to people that her mom painted it.
Good thing is that Emily was as happy as could be & loved her 10 year old birthday. She & Allison are really very good little artists - they get that from Trisha & Holly.

Stream, baseball, & soccer are this weekend and then we go straight into the conference - I'll try to breathe next Wednesday.

I also wanted to say happy birthday to Hutton - quite the 14year old! I'm so glad Mitch & Josh have him to look up to - we're all really proud of you & love the fact that you're our nephew!

Anda, I'm going to love keeping up with pregnancy #5 on this blog - drop us a picture or two or a sonogram! :)

Hope everybody has a great week!
Jill

She's cool, she's 10. 

Clowning around at Shoguns. 

Emily's friends at the Pottery.  

Happy Birthday

Emily,
I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday... I hope you had a great day. Wow 10 years old. We are so glad you are part of our family.

Love,
Aunt Lee Ann