I have started to write this post several times, but haven't been able to convince myself to finish it until today.
My original plan was to wait until the day that I find out I am pregnant to publish this, but God has other plans and has been working in my heart to write this now. Over the last year my perspective has been changed, my entire outlook on life has changed actually and that is what I am hoping to share with this blog. I finally feel like I have a story to tell. A story that seems to currently lack an ending, but a story with an ending that was written from the beginning of time.
For those of you who don't know, Shaun and I have been trying to get pregnant for a little over a year now. It was a big decision for us, but we knew in our hearts that God had given us a desire to be parents so that we could raise our children to glorify our Lord...so with a little bit of fear and a whole lot of faith, (or maybe it was the other way around) we committed to each other and to the Lord that starting a family was the path we were going to take. That is the beginning of our story.
Looking back on that time in our lives just a little over a year ago, had I known the events we would face walking down this path I would have probably ran away. Far, far away. But God had different plans. For us, the journey to getting pregnant and starting a family consisted of a lot more than carrying a baby for nine months. That part of the journey in our lives has yet to come, but we anxiously await that day!
At the present, we are still pursuing God's will for our lives. We still believe 110% that this is His plan for us. He has just taken us down a different path to lead us to our final destination. It is on that path that we have learned and grown more than I ever thought possible. It is on this journey that I have learned to hold fast to the faith I have in my Savior because He is faithful.
Looking back over the last year, here are the basic facts.
Problem #1 is that I have a thyroid problem. It took my family doctor, as well as one specialist almost 3 months to discover this problem and then another 3 months to get the medicine straightened out.
Problem #2 is that I have "unofficially" officially been diagnosed with a condition called PCOS (poly-cystic ovary syndrome) which means that without a certain prescription and blood work procedure there is a very small chance that I will become pregnant. It took two doctors an additional 2 months to figure this out. The good news is that this is a very common problem and is very easily treated.
Problem #3 is that I need to be assigned to a specialist in Reproductive Medicine. There are none in Lake County, the closest one we have found is an hour and a half away from our home. With that said, after 3 months of my family doctor sending paperwork they have yet to schedule me an appointment. Just last week they re-faxed everything over and promised me I would have an appointment within two weeks (here's to hoping)!
The weeks and months accounted for in these "problems" have been extremely difficult. For one, we never expected to have any trouble getting pregnant. For two, well, we just really never expected anything like this.
But God did.
He knew from the beginning of time every trial and hardship we would face in life. He knew every smile we would smile and every tear we would cry. Not only did He know it, He is in control of it, too! He knew every step Shaun and I would have to take along this journey AND He promised He would equip us and NEVER leave us or forsake us. That's a pretty awesome God and a pretty awesome promise!
But...
When it came down to living with this knowledge and this fear of wondering when and if ever we would finally conceive, this promise (seriously for the first time in my life) wasn't looking so promising. I was confused. Hurt. Hopeless. Angry. Restless. Fearful. Lost. For a while the only thing I could focus on in life was why God wasn't answering my prayers. We knew this is His will (and still believe that) but I could not get it through my mind that He would call us to take a leap of faith only to have us wait.
And wait.
And wait.
I can honestly say I have never felt more afraid, hurt, fearful, etc in my life than I have felt over these last months. If it wasn't for the love of my husband and my incredible family and friends encouraging me and loving me enough to not bring up the subject constantly, I don't know how I would have survived these last few months with a smile on my face.
Hence, lesson number one. God is still in control. He is still working. He loves me enough to bring the right people into my life at the right moments just to remind me of His presence and His sovereignty in my life. One of the women of God I get to see at school from time to time mentioned this statement to me once and it has stuck with me over the last few months. She said that if I didn't get pregnant at the exact moment that God ordained then I wouldn't have the exact children He wanted me to have. To think that God has this all planned out from the smallest details was just incredible to me and such a great reminder of His presence! That is just one of the examples of God opening my eyes to see the evidence of His work in my life. I seriously can't wait to meet the little blessing or blessings He has in store for Shaun and I and I can't imagine that there will be many greater feelings in the world than the feeling of loving the children that God is going to bless us with!
...which brings me to lesson two! Faith! I have to admit, over my 16 years of following Christ, I haven't experienced many opportunities for which my faith has wavered. I was blessed beyond belief to be raised by Godly parents and to be part of a youth group, church, circle of friends, etc. where I was constantly challenged to live for the Lord. Looking back now I see that my upbringing was preparation for the "real world" and that I needed every ounce of faith I learned to have in my sweet Savior! However, up to this point in life I have lived with faith that God was in control and never had given much thought to the idea of doubt. The longer we tried to get pregnant and the longer we waited, the more I learned about this little thing called doubt and the destruction it can cause in your life! After many sleepless nights, many pleading sessions with God, crying myself to sleep, listening to my husband plead with God and some more tears I have finally grasped the concept (in part) of faith. Shaun and I know in our hearts because of confirmation from the Lord that He has called us to serve Him as parents. We believe in our hearts that He is going to open that door in His timing. Faith is what happens in between those last two statements. It is what keeps us going and trusting while we wait. It is our hope and our strength on days where we see no light at the end of the tunnel. My faith, along with (and inspired by) the faith of my husband is what brings me to this point. It is what has given me the courage and the ability to write this blog, praising my Savior WHILE I wait, and not having to wait to see my prayers answered to acknowledge the work of God in my life.
I am learning to thrive on faith. I can confidently praise Jesus now for the prayers He has not answered and for the journey that seems to never end. I can sing praises to His name because of His faithfulness even though we haven't received the news we are hoping and praying for. Shaun and I know, above all else, that we serve a God who is alive and active, working in our lives to bring about His purpose. I have claimed many verses as "life verses" over the last few months and here is the first of a few I would like to share.
Matthew 6:33
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well."
Talk about a great perspective reminder! How selfish I have been in praying for God to expedite His plan for MY life. Instead, I have realized that it is HIS plan I should be praying for and that His will would be accomplished in my life. I just want Him to use me to make a difference, whatever the cost. If that means that I have to suffer for a year and a half without being able to get pregnant so I can share a story of hope with someone else, so be it. I have learned to trust that wherever my Jesus is, that is right where I want to be, no matter the cost! It is because I have faith in His promise, in the calling He has placed in my life, that I can live in reckless abandonment to Him and not have to consider those things that weigh me down. In His time, He will be faithful and will grant us the desires of our hearts that have been ordained in His will, all so that we can give the glory back to Him! How cool is that?!
Here are a few other verses that have meant a lot to me lately:
Psalm 27:14
"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
I think the value and implication of that one is pretty self-explanatory! :)
Matthew 5:3 MSG
"You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and His rule."
Just another reminder of the selflessness we are called to portray in our lives. My prayer from this verse is that there would be so little of "me" in me, that others could look at me and see the evidence of Christ at work in my life.
Another Beatitude that I love:
Matthew 5:5 MSG
"You're blessed when you're content with just who you are --no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought."
This verse spoke to me about contentment. True contentment comes only from Jesus and if I am truly seeking His will then I will find contentment. I don't have to constantly be longing for the desires of my heart to be filled because, in the end, He is all I will ever need!
In attempt to wrap this up before I get any more long-winded, I would like to leave you with these final thoughts of encouragement.
No matter what you are going through in life, no matter how difficult things may seem, Jesus is there. He is alive and working in your life. He is waiting to help equip you to be everything He has called you to be! Perhaps the best news of all is that His love is all that you will ever need. He knows that none of us are ever going to be "good enough." He knows that we are all going to fail. He knows that we are never going to "get it right" all the time, BUT He loves us anyway. He loved us enough to die for us before we breathed our first breath on this earth.
He loves us as we are, but He loves us enough to not leave us that way.
My encouragement to whoever is reading this is to find your identity in Christ. Seek His perspective. Whether your problem is infertility, illness or any other thing in life that has made you unhappy or feeling unloved, turn to Jesus. He is waiting with open arms to fill your heart with gladness and give you a reason to sing again!
I'm not sure why I felt so compelled to share my story or who's eyes will even read it, but I am praying that God will use this to encourage you in some way!
May Jesus be the center of our existence and may He be glorified in our everyday experiences! He truly deserves all the praise!
From my heart to yours...
Kristy
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Summer Update
Wow! It's been over two months since I have posted an update, what a testament that is to the crazy, hectic, super-speed pace our lives have been taking since the beginning of May. So May is where we will begin...
I am happy to say that my student's and I finished the school year with a BANG! I was blessed beyond belief to have a group of students who constantly were a blessing to me this year! We worked hard, worked ever harder, and just when we thought we had worked hard enough we pushed a little harder and worked harder still. All that to say this...along with the blessings that accompanied my students this year, I have never seen a group of kids who worked SO hard and boy, did their hard work pay off! I was amazed at the FCAT results my class earned both in writing and in reading and math as well. They really are a remarkable group of kids and they so deserved the honor of receiving such excellent scores!
With all this excitement in the air we spent the last 3 "early" days of school celebrating and just spending time together before we had to say our goodbyes. Here's where the next blessing of the school year comes in...somewhere during that last crazy busy month of school my principal asked me to move up and teach 5th grade next year! Now I won't have my class again, but with our PAWS reading groups and other rotations I know I will get to spend more time with these kiddos next year and that made the "goodbyes" A LOT easier! I am also looking forward to teaching with a wonderful group of ladies and revisiting that 5th grade curriculum that I love to teach! I have a feeling it's going to be a great year!
I will finish my school rant with this: I know I have used the word "blessings" a lot in this explanation but there really isn't any other way to describe how I feel about my job, my school and my students. I feel incredibly blessed to work for a wonderful principal and administrative staff who care just as much about my students and their well-being as I do. I feel blessed to work with a supportive and fun staff, many of which I am now able to call "friend" :) and, finally, I am blessed to get to teach a group of fun-loving, eager-to-learn students each year.
When I first started teaching (with the vision and heart of a missionary, NOT a teacher) I wondered how God could ever use me in a classroom, how my students and my school could be my ministry. Well, this is what I have learned over the last 5 years about teaching and ministry. I may not be able to openly teach my students about God or read Bible stories to them; however, I can love them. Invest in their lives. Teach them that are valuable. That in itself is a ministry because God is love, He wants them to know that they are valuable and if I can help each of my students to believe in themselves and realize how much they are loved then I have accomplished a little of His work and my heavenly Father has been able to use me right here at home, in my classroom.
When I graduated from college I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would be living in America, teaching. Over the last 5 years I have realized that THIS life is what God has been preparing me for all those years and I couldn't be more thankful or feel any more blessed!
End school rant. :)
After school let out, I took off my teacher "hat" and excitingly embraced the hats of "wife-hood" (if that's even a word), "bridesmaid" and "youth pastor wife!" I couldn't be more excited to have that extra time on my hands to invest in my husband, my family and our teenagers! Here's how those "hats" are working out...
I am absolutely loving getting to be home more so I can keep up with laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc. It is so much nicer to do all these chores with hours to spare instead of cramming them into a matter of minutes after I get home from work and before I have to leave again. Having the time and patience to actually cook "real" meals when I'm not completely exhausted from a long day or fold laundry while I watch re-runs of my favorite show...man, I could get used to this!
Being home more is nice in more ways than one...it is also a HUGE help in the wedding festivities that our family are putting on for David and Amber! (I still can't believe my baby brother is getting MARRIED in what...39 days or so??!?!) We had a successful night at the "His and Her's" Shower last week and David and Amber were extremely blessed by their friends and family! Next on the agenda is the "big" shower, AKA the Bridal Shower coming up THIS Sunday! (I really should be off making butter mints and counting my table cloths right now....eek!) Then, after a week in TN, I'm coming home to a series of bachelor/bachelorette parties (Shaun is the best man so we know who will actually be planning the bachelor party *cough* Kristy *cough* lol) and a lingerie shower and then the BIG day...it will be here before we know it!! In all seriousness though, I am extremely blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family. Taking part in planning showers and parties is tons of fun and I am loving every minute of it, but the best part of all is knowing that our family is growing a little bigger and we are adding in people that we have known and loved for years and officially calling them "family." Stay tuned on here for THE speech that the best man traditionally gives at the wedding...and the uh, sister of the groom may have put her two sense in as well...'tis my next project this week (after the butter mints, of course!)
ANYHOW, I can tell that I haven't been on here in a while because I am rambling...again. One more "hat-of-summer" to discuss, plus some super good news and then I'm off, I promise!
The last, awesome part of summer is the time I am able to use to spend with our youth! I love these kids and enjoy spending time with them and in the summer I actually get to do that! We kicked off our summer with an up-all-night lockin and had 27 or so youth! God is really showing up! Since then we have continued to have Wednesday night Bible study and traditional Sunday morning services throwing in a fun event when Shaun is able to have time off from work. This past Sunday we went putt putt-ing also known as miniature golf or mini putt golf?! Don't ask. The youth had a blast and we all lost about 10 lbs of sweat since the temperature was well over 100. I'm not sure who's idea it was to go putt putting in the Florida induced heat-stroke we call summer...yikes! All in all, we had a blast and we are looking forward to a much cooler outing next time--ice skating! That's right! Nothing but ICE and COLD!
Well, that's a brief update on all the best parts of not working during the summer. :) Now for the exciting news...
I think I may have mentioned this in a previous blog, but incase you haven't heard Shaun made the big decision to start seminary. He has applied to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and his acceptance is pending a reference letter that got sent in a little late, so hopefully we will be hearing that he has OFFICIALLY been accepted very soon! He will be taking courses in Orlando, mostly on the weekends, as well as doing some online work. The difficult part is that he may have to make a few trips to the main campus in New Orleans, but we aren't sure when or for how long. We are just trusting that God has it ALL under control! We have a few prayer requests that go along with this journey that we would like to share with you all, as well as a few praise's! Here they are..
Praise's
1. The application process has been smooth and relatively painless.
2. Shaun, because of his undergraduate degree from BCF has been given permission to test-out of quite a few seminary hours meaning it would take him less time to finish his degree. This will also save us quite a bit of money as they tests are only about $300 instead of $1,000 plus.
3. Initially they told Shaun he would have to drive to New Orleans to take these tests. They have since given him permission to take all tests at the Orlando campus! Praise God!
Prayer Requests
1. First and foremost, for that official acceptance letter to come in!
2. We are praying hard that whoever Shaun gets as an academic advisor would be willing and able to help us keep his schedule organized and get as much done in Orlando as possible.
3. Apparently, getting financial aid for seminary graduate degrees is not an easy task. Shaun has applied for everything his school suggests as well as all other options we could find through FAFSA, online searches, etc. and we have yet to hear back from anyone. So, as it stands, we will have to pay for his degree as well as books, gas, hotel rooms in New Orleans, etc. Please pray that God would open up doors for us for some financial aid. We don't want to take out any student loans and are anxiously awaiting any options from the school as we try to save every penny! We know that God is faithful and that He would not have called Shaun here if He wasn't going to provide us a way through this!
That's about all the seminary information I have at the moment. I'm sure there will be more later! On to our second piece of good news!
This past Sunday, July 1st Shaun was ordained by our home church! We are blessed and excited and are still sorting through all the emotion that comes with this honor. First let me say that we seriously have the greatest church family anyone could ask for! The people in our church (our families included) have blessed us, supported us, and have prayed for us and I know that is the only reason we have made it this far. God has used them in our lives in more ways than they will ever know! If you are part of the LCC family and are reading this...thank you for taking the time to invest in our lives! We appreciate you!
Next, the process of ordination for Shaun as well as myself was one of the most humbling, yet uplifting experiences we have endured in the ministry. Knowing that God has called us to fulfill His mission here on earth, that the church is supporting and affirming that call and just taking in the fact that God, Himself is going to equip us for the journey...wow. It's been a few days and I still don't have words to describe this feeling. I will try my best, from my point of view, to describe the emotion of my heart at this experience.
First of all, I am a sinner. I'm not perfect, never have been, never will be. I don't always make God proud. I screw up, all the time. I speak before I think. There have been many, many, many experiences of my life that I know did NOT make my Jesus proud. In my opinion I am the last person that God should chose to use. Yet, here He is, calling me as a wife, to be Shaun's partner in ministry. He is choosing my heart to mend, my broken places to fix and He is calling me. He is going to equip me. He is reminding me that I am His and that He loves me. This is absolutely the most humbled I have ever felt. Humbled, yet treasured. I still find myself thinking about this and am still in awe that He would chose someone as unworthy as me.
Nevertheless, He has called me. Now it's time for me to embrace that calling. To continue to seek His will and to support my husband wherever He is led. Such. A. Big. Responsibility. Wow. Yet, never in my life have I managed to feel so valuable in the midst of such a humbling experience. My God is alive and active, He is working in my life. He cares about me. As I think these things over and over in my head I finally came to a realization. This is what God wants me to share with the world. He is real. He is alive. He is changing hearts. He cares about you. It is my job, as the wife of a pastor, to live out these words. To make them real to people who don't know Christ. To make sure, when other's see me, they only see Jesus. I know I have a long way to come, but I know that if He has called me to it, He will see me through it! Thus my life prayer will remain...Jesus, please make me more like you.
That is my prayer, my plea. I know other's have seen me fail. I know other's are waiting for a chance to watch me stumble so they can ridicule me and point fingers at me, but nevertheless, at YOUR word Jesus, I will continue to strive to live for you. That is my promise to God, as well as my promise to my husband and our future family. Our driving force in life is to be more like Jesus. To let other's see Jesus in our lives and when we fail, because we will, we will stand tall and once again look to Jesus for direction knowing that anything negative someone might have to say to or about us doesn't change the fact that we are sold out to Jesus Christ. Forever.
Whew. That was my very feeble attempt at expressing the feelings of my heart. God is good. He is alive. He is waiting for all of us to answer the call He has placed on our lives. I could keep going on about this, but hopefully by now you've understood what I'm getting at. In attempt to keep this *ahem* short *ahem* and sweet...I will end by saying this:
It doesn't matter where you are in life. It doesn't matter what you've done. God is still waiting to hear from you. He wants your heart. He wants to show you all the love He has for you and the perfect plan He has for your life. God is perfect, so we don't have to be. He uses all kinds of people. Let Him have you heart, let Him start using you today!
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God!"
1 Corinthians 10:31 (emphasis mine)
-Kristy
I am happy to say that my student's and I finished the school year with a BANG! I was blessed beyond belief to have a group of students who constantly were a blessing to me this year! We worked hard, worked ever harder, and just when we thought we had worked hard enough we pushed a little harder and worked harder still. All that to say this...along with the blessings that accompanied my students this year, I have never seen a group of kids who worked SO hard and boy, did their hard work pay off! I was amazed at the FCAT results my class earned both in writing and in reading and math as well. They really are a remarkable group of kids and they so deserved the honor of receiving such excellent scores!
With all this excitement in the air we spent the last 3 "early" days of school celebrating and just spending time together before we had to say our goodbyes. Here's where the next blessing of the school year comes in...somewhere during that last crazy busy month of school my principal asked me to move up and teach 5th grade next year! Now I won't have my class again, but with our PAWS reading groups and other rotations I know I will get to spend more time with these kiddos next year and that made the "goodbyes" A LOT easier! I am also looking forward to teaching with a wonderful group of ladies and revisiting that 5th grade curriculum that I love to teach! I have a feeling it's going to be a great year!
I will finish my school rant with this: I know I have used the word "blessings" a lot in this explanation but there really isn't any other way to describe how I feel about my job, my school and my students. I feel incredibly blessed to work for a wonderful principal and administrative staff who care just as much about my students and their well-being as I do. I feel blessed to work with a supportive and fun staff, many of which I am now able to call "friend" :) and, finally, I am blessed to get to teach a group of fun-loving, eager-to-learn students each year.
When I first started teaching (with the vision and heart of a missionary, NOT a teacher) I wondered how God could ever use me in a classroom, how my students and my school could be my ministry. Well, this is what I have learned over the last 5 years about teaching and ministry. I may not be able to openly teach my students about God or read Bible stories to them; however, I can love them. Invest in their lives. Teach them that are valuable. That in itself is a ministry because God is love, He wants them to know that they are valuable and if I can help each of my students to believe in themselves and realize how much they are loved then I have accomplished a little of His work and my heavenly Father has been able to use me right here at home, in my classroom.
When I graduated from college I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would be living in America, teaching. Over the last 5 years I have realized that THIS life is what God has been preparing me for all those years and I couldn't be more thankful or feel any more blessed!
End school rant. :)
After school let out, I took off my teacher "hat" and excitingly embraced the hats of "wife-hood" (if that's even a word), "bridesmaid" and "youth pastor wife!" I couldn't be more excited to have that extra time on my hands to invest in my husband, my family and our teenagers! Here's how those "hats" are working out...
I am absolutely loving getting to be home more so I can keep up with laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc. It is so much nicer to do all these chores with hours to spare instead of cramming them into a matter of minutes after I get home from work and before I have to leave again. Having the time and patience to actually cook "real" meals when I'm not completely exhausted from a long day or fold laundry while I watch re-runs of my favorite show...man, I could get used to this!
Being home more is nice in more ways than one...it is also a HUGE help in the wedding festivities that our family are putting on for David and Amber! (I still can't believe my baby brother is getting MARRIED in what...39 days or so??!?!) We had a successful night at the "His and Her's" Shower last week and David and Amber were extremely blessed by their friends and family! Next on the agenda is the "big" shower, AKA the Bridal Shower coming up THIS Sunday! (I really should be off making butter mints and counting my table cloths right now....eek!) Then, after a week in TN, I'm coming home to a series of bachelor/bachelorette parties (Shaun is the best man so we know who will actually be planning the bachelor party *cough* Kristy *cough* lol) and a lingerie shower and then the BIG day...it will be here before we know it!! In all seriousness though, I am extremely blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family. Taking part in planning showers and parties is tons of fun and I am loving every minute of it, but the best part of all is knowing that our family is growing a little bigger and we are adding in people that we have known and loved for years and officially calling them "family." Stay tuned on here for THE speech that the best man traditionally gives at the wedding...and the uh, sister of the groom may have put her two sense in as well...'tis my next project this week (after the butter mints, of course!)
ANYHOW, I can tell that I haven't been on here in a while because I am rambling...again. One more "hat-of-summer" to discuss, plus some super good news and then I'm off, I promise!
The last, awesome part of summer is the time I am able to use to spend with our youth! I love these kids and enjoy spending time with them and in the summer I actually get to do that! We kicked off our summer with an up-all-night lockin and had 27 or so youth! God is really showing up! Since then we have continued to have Wednesday night Bible study and traditional Sunday morning services throwing in a fun event when Shaun is able to have time off from work. This past Sunday we went putt putt-ing also known as miniature golf or mini putt golf?! Don't ask. The youth had a blast and we all lost about 10 lbs of sweat since the temperature was well over 100. I'm not sure who's idea it was to go putt putting in the Florida induced heat-stroke we call summer...yikes! All in all, we had a blast and we are looking forward to a much cooler outing next time--ice skating! That's right! Nothing but ICE and COLD!
Well, that's a brief update on all the best parts of not working during the summer. :) Now for the exciting news...
I think I may have mentioned this in a previous blog, but incase you haven't heard Shaun made the big decision to start seminary. He has applied to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and his acceptance is pending a reference letter that got sent in a little late, so hopefully we will be hearing that he has OFFICIALLY been accepted very soon! He will be taking courses in Orlando, mostly on the weekends, as well as doing some online work. The difficult part is that he may have to make a few trips to the main campus in New Orleans, but we aren't sure when or for how long. We are just trusting that God has it ALL under control! We have a few prayer requests that go along with this journey that we would like to share with you all, as well as a few praise's! Here they are..
Praise's
1. The application process has been smooth and relatively painless.
2. Shaun, because of his undergraduate degree from BCF has been given permission to test-out of quite a few seminary hours meaning it would take him less time to finish his degree. This will also save us quite a bit of money as they tests are only about $300 instead of $1,000 plus.
3. Initially they told Shaun he would have to drive to New Orleans to take these tests. They have since given him permission to take all tests at the Orlando campus! Praise God!
Prayer Requests
1. First and foremost, for that official acceptance letter to come in!
2. We are praying hard that whoever Shaun gets as an academic advisor would be willing and able to help us keep his schedule organized and get as much done in Orlando as possible.
3. Apparently, getting financial aid for seminary graduate degrees is not an easy task. Shaun has applied for everything his school suggests as well as all other options we could find through FAFSA, online searches, etc. and we have yet to hear back from anyone. So, as it stands, we will have to pay for his degree as well as books, gas, hotel rooms in New Orleans, etc. Please pray that God would open up doors for us for some financial aid. We don't want to take out any student loans and are anxiously awaiting any options from the school as we try to save every penny! We know that God is faithful and that He would not have called Shaun here if He wasn't going to provide us a way through this!
That's about all the seminary information I have at the moment. I'm sure there will be more later! On to our second piece of good news!
This past Sunday, July 1st Shaun was ordained by our home church! We are blessed and excited and are still sorting through all the emotion that comes with this honor. First let me say that we seriously have the greatest church family anyone could ask for! The people in our church (our families included) have blessed us, supported us, and have prayed for us and I know that is the only reason we have made it this far. God has used them in our lives in more ways than they will ever know! If you are part of the LCC family and are reading this...thank you for taking the time to invest in our lives! We appreciate you!
Next, the process of ordination for Shaun as well as myself was one of the most humbling, yet uplifting experiences we have endured in the ministry. Knowing that God has called us to fulfill His mission here on earth, that the church is supporting and affirming that call and just taking in the fact that God, Himself is going to equip us for the journey...wow. It's been a few days and I still don't have words to describe this feeling. I will try my best, from my point of view, to describe the emotion of my heart at this experience.
First of all, I am a sinner. I'm not perfect, never have been, never will be. I don't always make God proud. I screw up, all the time. I speak before I think. There have been many, many, many experiences of my life that I know did NOT make my Jesus proud. In my opinion I am the last person that God should chose to use. Yet, here He is, calling me as a wife, to be Shaun's partner in ministry. He is choosing my heart to mend, my broken places to fix and He is calling me. He is going to equip me. He is reminding me that I am His and that He loves me. This is absolutely the most humbled I have ever felt. Humbled, yet treasured. I still find myself thinking about this and am still in awe that He would chose someone as unworthy as me.
Nevertheless, He has called me. Now it's time for me to embrace that calling. To continue to seek His will and to support my husband wherever He is led. Such. A. Big. Responsibility. Wow. Yet, never in my life have I managed to feel so valuable in the midst of such a humbling experience. My God is alive and active, He is working in my life. He cares about me. As I think these things over and over in my head I finally came to a realization. This is what God wants me to share with the world. He is real. He is alive. He is changing hearts. He cares about you. It is my job, as the wife of a pastor, to live out these words. To make them real to people who don't know Christ. To make sure, when other's see me, they only see Jesus. I know I have a long way to come, but I know that if He has called me to it, He will see me through it! Thus my life prayer will remain...Jesus, please make me more like you.
That is my prayer, my plea. I know other's have seen me fail. I know other's are waiting for a chance to watch me stumble so they can ridicule me and point fingers at me, but nevertheless, at YOUR word Jesus, I will continue to strive to live for you. That is my promise to God, as well as my promise to my husband and our future family. Our driving force in life is to be more like Jesus. To let other's see Jesus in our lives and when we fail, because we will, we will stand tall and once again look to Jesus for direction knowing that anything negative someone might have to say to or about us doesn't change the fact that we are sold out to Jesus Christ. Forever.
Whew. That was my very feeble attempt at expressing the feelings of my heart. God is good. He is alive. He is waiting for all of us to answer the call He has placed on our lives. I could keep going on about this, but hopefully by now you've understood what I'm getting at. In attempt to keep this *ahem* short *ahem* and sweet...I will end by saying this:
It doesn't matter where you are in life. It doesn't matter what you've done. God is still waiting to hear from you. He wants your heart. He wants to show you all the love He has for you and the perfect plan He has for your life. God is perfect, so we don't have to be. He uses all kinds of people. Let Him have you heart, let Him start using you today!
"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God!"
1 Corinthians 10:31 (emphasis mine)
-Kristy
Friday, May 4, 2012
April...a month in review!
April was a VERY busy month at the Beach house! We struggled through a week of FCAT testing, spent a weekend in Tampa with our youth at Acquire the Fire, celebrated our first anniversary and much, MUCH more!
I have been slacking on the blog posts, but am promising to try and get better as I have more free time! Once summer is here I will have no excuse, lol!
As far as our family goals go, we have continued working towards all of our monthly goals and are VERY close to marking off one huge goal for our family and that is getting Shaun enrolled to start his masters degree! He is going down to Orlando to check out the NOBTS campus there and hopefully get the ball rolling for his fall admission! God has proven Himself faithful again and is opening doors for our little family! We couldn't be more thankful!
The 2nd/3rd week of April we tackled the 4th grade FCAT and I am happy to say all of our shoulders (my student's included) are a little bit lighter! We are looking forward to closing out this school year on a positive note and I can't believe i'm sending my babies on to 5th grade! It seems like just yesterday they were walking through our classroom door for their first day of 4th grade! Time has really flown this year and I have been blessed with an incredible group of students!
The weekend after FCAT Shaun and I, along with our partners in crime Amber, David and Jon had the privilege of taking our youth down to a youth conference in Tampa called Acquire the Fire. We were so excited to see God working in the lives of our teenagers, transforming them and preparing them for the awesome future God has in store for each of their lives! You can check out the pictures on our Youth Group page R.U.S.H Youth Ministry!
Finally, after all that excitement was over Shaun and I were able to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary! We spent Sunday afternoon playing on my new iPad and went to go see the Hunger Games and spent most of the day Monday at Islands of Adventure, visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! We ended our celebrating with an anniversary dinner at Lampu! It's incredible to look back over the last year and see the evidence of God at work in our lives! He has blessed us more than we could ever imagine and is continuing to show evidence of His work in our lives! We were reminded once again, that living for Christ, although not easy, is always more than worth it! I thank God every day for the blessing He gave me in Shaun!
April ended with plans for celebrating Shaun's birthday in sight, the last few weeks of school on our shoulders and the first sun of summer shining bright! We have several full weeks ahead, finishing up the school year, planning wedding festivities for David and Amber and enjoying summer vacation!
Happy May, everyone!
-Kristy
I have been slacking on the blog posts, but am promising to try and get better as I have more free time! Once summer is here I will have no excuse, lol!
As far as our family goals go, we have continued working towards all of our monthly goals and are VERY close to marking off one huge goal for our family and that is getting Shaun enrolled to start his masters degree! He is going down to Orlando to check out the NOBTS campus there and hopefully get the ball rolling for his fall admission! God has proven Himself faithful again and is opening doors for our little family! We couldn't be more thankful!
The 2nd/3rd week of April we tackled the 4th grade FCAT and I am happy to say all of our shoulders (my student's included) are a little bit lighter! We are looking forward to closing out this school year on a positive note and I can't believe i'm sending my babies on to 5th grade! It seems like just yesterday they were walking through our classroom door for their first day of 4th grade! Time has really flown this year and I have been blessed with an incredible group of students!
The weekend after FCAT Shaun and I, along with our partners in crime Amber, David and Jon had the privilege of taking our youth down to a youth conference in Tampa called Acquire the Fire. We were so excited to see God working in the lives of our teenagers, transforming them and preparing them for the awesome future God has in store for each of their lives! You can check out the pictures on our Youth Group page R.U.S.H Youth Ministry!
Finally, after all that excitement was over Shaun and I were able to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary! We spent Sunday afternoon playing on my new iPad and went to go see the Hunger Games and spent most of the day Monday at Islands of Adventure, visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! We ended our celebrating with an anniversary dinner at Lampu! It's incredible to look back over the last year and see the evidence of God at work in our lives! He has blessed us more than we could ever imagine and is continuing to show evidence of His work in our lives! We were reminded once again, that living for Christ, although not easy, is always more than worth it! I thank God every day for the blessing He gave me in Shaun!
April ended with plans for celebrating Shaun's birthday in sight, the last few weeks of school on our shoulders and the first sun of summer shining bright! We have several full weeks ahead, finishing up the school year, planning wedding festivities for David and Amber and enjoying summer vacation!
Happy May, everyone!
-Kristy
Saturday, April 7, 2012
An update on the GARDEN!
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| The watermelon's have grown lots of leaves! |
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| The peas are struggling...we bought some more today to add to this bunch. |
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| The cucumbers have gotten twice the original size! |
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| The onions have grown about an inch. |
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| The most impressive, in my opinion, the corn growing a foot and then some! (one of them, at least) |
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| Jalapeno peppers...growing some. |
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| Honeydew is growing more leaves... |
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| The planted strawberries, as opposed to the hanging ones! |
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| Bell peppers growing big! |
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| The blueberries finally got planted! |
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| The new raspberry plant...VERY thorny! |
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| A mostly dead pineapple plant we are trying to revive! |
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| We found a catnip plant...and had to get it! Shaun has already shown the cats and they LOVE it! |
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| Three of the 4 new plants...snow peas, stevia, and chocolate mint! |
Two quick side notes here...
1. Because of the wind last night the garden is covered in leaves...no, we don't leave it that way! I was just so excited to take pictures I waited to pick up the leaves until after I had all the pictures taken.
2. I tried to add a picture of our first strawberry, but for some reason it won't load! Possibly the best picture yet! We finally have something growing AND producing! So excited for it to grow a little bigger so I can see if it actually tastes good too!
I'll post again in about a month and hopefully there will be more to our garden! David (my wonderful brother) was able to get me some pallets to use for planting, so we are hoping to plant our new plants in them very soon!
-Kristy
Paula Deen's Banana Pudding
A week or so ago I had some of the girls from youth over for a sleepover. I have been trying to try out new recipes as often as possible and with their help we picked out a few from pinterest that we wanted to try. One of them was our dessert recipe, Paula Deen's very own banana pudding recipe! Boy, was it wonderful! So wonderful in fact, that I had to share it with all of you!
Here are the ingredients you need:
4 banana, sliced
3 cups milk
1 box vanilla wafers
2 small boxes instant french vanilla pudding mix
1 8oz pkg cream cheese
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 12 oz container cool whip
**In attempt to make it slightly healthier I used fat free cream cheese and light cool whip and the recipe still turned out great!
Here's the directions:
Step One: Line the bottom of a casserole dish with vanilla wafers.
Step Two: Slice bananas and spread on top of wafers.
Step Three: Combine milk and pudding mix with a blender.
Step Four: In a separate bowl mix together cream cheese and condensed milk until smooth. Gradually fold in whip cream.
Step Five: Add the cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended.
Step Six: Spread over wafers and bananas in dish.
Step Seven: Add a layer of wafers to the top.
Sadly, my phone has this new "trick" where it randomly deletes pictures. My final product was one of those lucky pictures :( but believe me, this pudding looked and tasted AMAZING! It was so good that it was gone before I could take another picture!
Enjoy!
Rookie Teacher of the Year Celebration
This school year I was chosen as Rookie Teacher of the Year for the 2012-2013 school year for Eustis Elementary School. I was so honored to attend the Rookie Teacher of the Year Ceremony on March 27th and be honored among all the other Rookie Teachers from around the county. It was a fun evening out! I was so blessed to be surrounded by my co-workers, friends and family!
Youth Car Wash
On March 31st our youth and their fearless leaders gathered at Long John Silver's for a car wash to raise money for our upcoming Acquire the Fire trip! Here are some of the pictures we took while having so much fun that day!
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