Twins? You decide.

Ok, so I just had to post these two adorable pictures.

This is Bella, our neice.

And this is Hudson, our friend's baby.

Do you see the resemblence?

RW '08

So this post is a little late in coming. Randy & I went home to Oklahoma a few weekends ago to help with Revolution Weekend at Marietta FBC. I grew up in MFBC and Randy went there when he moved to Marietta and we were dating. Our friends, Shane & Amy, are the youth ministers and graciously allow us to come back and help each year. This year's theme was Guy Talk - Girl Talk and there were 5 topics specific to guys and 5 specific to girls. For the past 2-3 years, we've been on the behind the scenes crew - helping Shane & Amy visit homes, organize the derby car race, and generally just help anywhere needed. This year, though, Randy & I both were leaders in homes. I had 9th grade girls and Randy had 11th & 12th grade boys.

The weekend was great. It started out a little rough for me - I was fighting a sore throat, but God stepped in and gave me just enough voice to get through each session. Although all the topics were great and the girls really needed to learn about them, I struggled with the first few sessions. It just didn't seem that the girls were getting anything. They weren't really talkative during the lessons and I was struggling to convey what I was feeling in my heart about the different topics. Thankfully, I had a wonderful co-leader, April Dooley, and she kept enouraging me that I was doing better than I thought. I was really having to depend fully on God to get through each lesson. You know, we always say, "God, speak through us. Let the words they hear be your words not ours." This is one time I can attest that they really were. I hardly had a voice for most of the weekend, and yet when it was all said and done, I think some of the girls really did hear God speak. It wasn't anything I said - they just really were listening to God and he was moving through the weekend. It's very humbling to know that it was nothing I did that made an impact. It was all God and he deserves all the praise. In saying all that, there weren't any "life-changing" decisions - that I know of. But God was moving and I pray that the girls respond and not just go away not making a change.

It was also really special to have the girls I did. One of them, Madison, I babysat from the time she was 4 until she turned 8. We had so much fun during those summers - finger painting, play-dough, Barbies, Frogger, more crafts than you could imagine, and lots and lots of fun. I got to kind of reconnect with her and it was amazing to see the young lady God is growing her to be. And she remembered all the stuff we used to do! That was so cool. Makes me glad I didn't just let her watch TV all day while her mom was gone. Lol!

The pictures above are kind of a brief overview of our Revolution Weekend '08 and end with some misc pics of me & Bella (I couldn't resist!). Enjoy and let me know what's going on in your lives. I'd really like to know who is keeping up with us through our blog. God Bless!

Prayer

Lately I've been coming across more and more blogs of people who are on amazing journeys of faith. If you get a chance - check out their blogs and pray for them. Thanks!

• Brian, Janelle, & Alex - personal friends of Randy & I :)
• Nathan, Tricia & Gwyneth Rose
• The Gerwer Babies

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:17

Happy New Year! (a little late!)

2008 is here and a new year has begun. It has been a while since we posted so I thought it might be time for an update. We had a great holiday visiting family and friends and enjoying time off from work and school. We spent Christmas with my family in Oklahoma and New Year's with Randy's sister, brother-in-law, and neice in Tyler, TX. From our pictures below you can probably see we had a wonderful time. We loved getting to spend time with family and friends, but were glad to be back home (and in our own bed again)!

Work began again and the routine slowly fell back into place. Its funny, I love surprise and excitement, but I also love falling back into routine and familiar. I know this is something that I struggle with - my want to stay in the familiar, aka comfortable, and Jesus' call for me to step out into the unknown. Thankfully, I am learning to trust Jesus more and more and that makes it easier to step out into the unknown. And thankfully I serve a patient God who loves me even when I mess up.

Last weekend, Randy & I got to spend lots of time with our friends, Brian & Janelle, and Jacob & Laura. We hung out Friday night and played a mean game of "Killer Uno" (no one was hurt or died during this process...lol). Saturday, we all went to the wedding of our friends, Josh & Gilda. The wedding was beautiful and as much as I would like to share pictures, I forgot my camera. Hopefully, I can get Brian or Jacob to email me theirs sometime, hint, hint.... Afterwards, we headed back to Jacob & Laura's for dinner and to celebrate Jacob's 25th birthday. Sunday, they all were able to attend church with us and Randy & I actually got to be in the worship service with them! It was awesome. We headed back to our apartment, ate lunch and then spent the rest of our time visiting and catching up. Brian & Janelle are in the process of adopting/hoping to adopt a little boy named Alex. Please be in prayer for them during this time. Jacob & Laura are doing well - Laura starts back to school in a few weeks and Jacob is working.

Randy started back to Paramedic classes this week. He is excited that this is the downhill slope for him. He should be finished and a Paramedic by July/August. His clinicals start sometime in March and will keep him busy but we know it is just temporary. God will get us through it all.

And in closing, I wanted to leave you with cute pictures of our neice, Bella Grace. She is just adorable and I love getting to show her pictures off! Hope you all are doing well. We'd love to hear from you!

Christmas Pictures - finally! :)

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas to you and your family! Randy & I pray this letter finds you blessed. We can hardly believe that Christmas is almost here again. This year has just flown by! Of course, we have done our part to keep it busy, but we wouldn’t change a thing. Here are the highlights from our year:

• November 2006 – Randy proposed! On a snowy night, at my apartment Randy asked me to be his princess for always. I said yes and it was official. We were getting married!
  
• January through March 2007 – Wedding planning had begun! From picking flowers, colors, cakes, tuxes, and a wedding gown – our lives were almost completely wedding. We had engagement pictures taken, I found my dress, we picked out flowers, went to 3 wonderful showers given by our wonderful friends, discovered that there is way more that goes into a wedding than we realized, and through it all thoroughly enjoyed every part of our engagement.
  


• April 2007 – This was a very busy month in our lives. I quit my job at Fossil in Richardson, TX. It was going to be too far for me to drive once we were married and living in Arlington. Thankfully, I was blessed with another opportunity in Irving with BancTec, Inc. Our God is faithful to provide just when we need it. Then I moved out of my apartment, and moved in with Paul & Shannon Mints for a few weeks before the wedding. Randy & I have been so blessed with family and friends who helped us in so many ways leading up to the wedding. Thanks! And squeezed in between all of this activity – I had a birthday! I am looking forward to a calmer birthday next year!
  
• April 28th, 2007 – Randy & I were married at Marietta’s First Baptist Church in Marietta, OK. It was a very blessed day. We couldn’t have asked for anything better. Our family and friends were there to share it with us, the weather was wonderful, and we were getting married! Thank you to all of you who shared in that special day with us. We thank God for friends and family like you.

• May 2007 – Randy took me on a wonderful Honeymoon to Lake Tahoe, CA. We settled into married life – how fun! Randy also started EMT classes at the end of May. Our first nephew was born on May 12th – Caleb Matthew. He is a cutie!

• June 2007 – We moved – again! I moved 3 times in 3 months. This time we moved from Randy’s apartment (his lease was up) to the apartment we are in now. It is a 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment and we love it! People say that the most stressful events someone can go through are getting married, moving, starting a new job, losing a loved one and divorce. We did 3 of the 5 in 3 months! Whew!

• July 2007 – Randy had his birthday on the 12th – complete with a double layer chocolate cake. Ask him about that sometime. It is quite the story. Oh, and our friends Jacob & Laura got married. We have been to so many weddings this year. I have to say 2007 was the year to get married!

• August 2007 – Randy finished his EMT classes. Yay! He finished as one of the top in his class. He also started his Paramedic classes. He should be finished by this time next year. Our church, The Community at Lake Ridge, also held a baptism at Lake Joe Pool, baptizing 8 people! If you want to know more about our church, check out the website – www.thecommunityatlakeridge.com. It is growing like crazy and God is working in amazing ways. Randy & I help with our kids’ ministry – KidRidge and we have grown from 40 at Easter to 70+! We are so blessed to have a wonderful church family – please be in prayer for what God is doing at TCaL.




• September 2007 – September was full of visiting family and friends. My cousin Waylon married his sweetheart Nina on Labor Day weekend. We traveled to College Station to visit Brian & Janelle Franklin (one of Randy’s best friends). The month ended with one of my best friends Tiffany visiting for the weekend. We are blessed to have friendships that endure despite the distance and busyness between us.

• October 2007 – Randy took and passed his EMT National Registration test! I am so proud of my smart husband. We also took a road trip to Odessa to visit Randy’s family. It was so good to all be together for the weekend.

• November 2007 – A surprise birthday party, Thanksgiving, a new niece – November was an exciting month. Randy, Daniel – my brother, and I threw a surprise birthday party for my mom. Boy was she surprised! We had so much fun. We spent Thanksgiving in Oklahoma with my family since we had spent last year’s in Odessa with Randy’s family. It actually was cold this year! At the end of the month, we had the privilege of becoming an uncle and aunt again. Bella Grace was born to Kristi & Andrew on November 28th. She is a doll!




• December 2007 – I love this time of the year. Christmas trees, snowmen, the Christmas Story, being with family and friends, celebrating Jesus’ birthday. It has to be one of my favorite times of the year. I love being with family on Christmas and reading the Christmas story. This is our first Christmas as a married couple. We are excited to look forward to what God has in store for us next year.
  

We pray at this special time of the year, that you would be able to spend time with your family and friends remembering the real reason for the season. Jesus was born in a stable 2000 years ago to be our Savior and Lord. He was the Ultimate Gift that first Christmas. May you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We love you!

162 Days until Prince Caspian!

Ok, so you can call me overexcited, but I just had to share. There are 162 days until the new CHRONICLES OF NARNIA movie comes out - Prince Caspian. The first movie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was a great hit. I loved it not only because it was based on C.S. Lewis' children's series, The Chronicles of Narnia, but also because it was a well produced movie. I don't want to ruin the story for any of you out there who haven't read the books, so I will just post the link to the new Prince Caspian trailer and let you enjoy it for yourself.

Prince Caspian trailer