A few weeks ago my brother Tim and sister-in-law Emily asked if it would be possible to send some pictures of our new world here in South Carolina. Specifically they requested pictures of our new friends and church life. Fortunately my good friend Rita got a new fancy camera for Christmas and has been taking a number of pictures for a website project we are working on.

Images on Picasa
Images on Flickr.com

In addition to the pictures I will give a quick run down of a Sunday:

6:45 A.M. – Isaac appears at the bed side and inquires “Daddy – you sleepin?” He then crawls across me to the middle of the bed and requires a blanket and a pillow.

7:00 A.M. – Isaac informs me that he will be playing in his room and asks me what path he should take “second path or first path” (a Dora the Explorer reference) Second path is my reply, because First Path is over mommy and Sarah really doesn’t appreciate being a jungle gym in her current state.

By 8:00 A.M. I have seen the entire alphabet at least once and most of the letters lay at my bed side in a pile – I have made most of the sounds all common animals make and had the “How you spell it Daddy?” question at least 10 times.

9:00 A.M. – I have breakfast ready to go. Most Sunday’s include pancakes and Sarah’s favorite Bacon!

Between 10:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M. – I get a shower and make any last minute preparations for video that might be used in the service. 

12:00 P.M. – Lunch

12:30 P.M. – Head over to the church building

Between 1 P.M. and 2:30 P.M. – Setup. Each week we put up black curtains, setup a 12’ x 12’ screen, setup light trees, sound, drum riser, video projections, rearrange about 150 chairs, put up signage (inside and out), redecorate the foyer area, and setup the stage. I work on getting the walls up and then focus most of my attention to the sound board, speakers, video, computers, and lighting. Quite a process. 

Between 2:30 P.M. and 4:00 P.M. – Sound check, band practice, stage lighting setup, and video. Basically we run through everything, make sure media shout is ready, videos are cued and sound checked, the PC is ready to record the sermon, and the band’s sound levels are good. I get to run the lights, sound, and sermon recording for the service and Rita runs the media shout software and the video.

4:00 P.M. – Will’s sound check (always fun to hear what Will is going to say during sound check)

4:15 P.M. – Sarah and Isaac show up and Isaac always has a big hug for his daddy – sometimes he has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for me.

4:30 P.M. – Doors open, pre-service music is blasting, and I’m generally looking to find some water and something to snack on. Last week Kyle (the before mentioned Rita’s Husband and our very talented drummer) had tater tots to share. Yummy!

4:55 P.M. – Places everyone. 

5:00 P.M. to 6:20 P.M. – The Journey Church Gathering - Where I'm stationed behind a big black sound board, Isaac is in the toddler room and Sarah is rotating to her assigned volunteer role (greeter, toddler room or preschool teacher - depending on the Sunday.)

6:30 P.M. – I go get Isaac from childcare so he can run and play in the sanctuary before breakdown begins. He and most of the other kiddos enjoy the open space and freedom to run and scream.

6:45 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. – Breakdown, time to put it all away. Everyone gets into the act including the ladies and children - folding curtains, moving chairs, and rolling up cords. Isaac loves to help daddy put away the cords but he really enjoys collecting the pins (3-1/2 bolts) that hold the curtain structures together in the special bolt box. He does balance his work life and singing career by stopping from time-to-time to sing something that is on his heart. (Favorites include – Take me out to the ballgame, You are my sunshine, and The Pirates who don't do anything.) If he sees a microphone - watch out. All-in-all it takes a mighty effort of about 8 or 9 of us to put it all up and about 15 of us to get it all down.

About 7ish Sarah heads home to make dinner.

8:15 – Isaac’s bedtime. 

8:30 P.M. to 10:00 P.M. – Small Group Materials are created by a team of people based on the message delivered by Will that evening. Will and I record his message to small group leaders for the week and we generally eat something delicious.

10:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. - Sarah types up the questions, insights, and instructions for the week. I take the recorded sermon message and work with the audio to balance the sound and prepare it for the web.

By 11:30 - the Sermon for the week is posted to the website along with the small group audio message Will recorded earlier and the small group questions and instructions.

Just enough time left for a glass of milk, a cookie, and a kiss before drifting off into dream land. Goodnight…

Today officially marks 39 weeks of pregnancy. And for the record it's the longest that I have ever been pregnant - how you girls who go late survive, I don't know, but you have my utmost respect.

As I sit here and try to imagine what life will look like with a little girl in the picture - I am overwhelmed at what God has already blessed me with in my boys. For 11 years now, I have had the awesome pleasure of being Chris' wife. I grow more amazed at how God continues to grow us closer to each other after all of these years. We just celebrated our anniversary at the end of December and I asked Chris if he was surprised that we had 'made it' this long. Of course, his practical response was - 'No, not at all - you?' To which I resonded, 'no, not surprised that we've made it, just that we still like each other so much.' He is truly my best friend. God has used him mightily in helping me grow spiritually, helping me not only to heal from many past hurts but to grow through those experiences, and in short helping me to become a better woman. Now don't get me wrong - he can be as frustrating as the day is long, he is far too level headed, and his innate need to be 'right' all the time, well - you can imagine. :) But how blessed I am that he loves me so dearly - and makes a point to tell me that often. He is an awesome father - whom Isaac adores! And he is a mighty man of God. I love this man so dearly.

Then I sit and look at our Isaac - who just knocks me off my feet a little more everyday. He is most definitely our 'overflow' and is living up to the meaning of his name - 'laughter'. He is constantly making us smile! (Check out a few pictures of him in our photo album) He has become mommy's little helper in a big way - to the point where he gets upset if I do laundry or cook without having first invited him to help. It was just a few weeks ago, when his buddy Eliana was over at the house and got very sick - that he showed Chris just what a helper he could be. Chris went to the laundry room and emptied the laundry basket on the floor so that he could go collect all of the sheets, clothes, towels, etc that had gotten 'hit' by Eliana. To save time, he also went ahead and put the detergent in the machine and got the water started. When he came back to the laundry room to throw his treasures inside - he found that Isaac had already filled the washer with all of the clothes that were on the floor. Isaac just looked up at him and said 'All done' and wiped his hands together pleased with the job he had done. Chris could only smile and say - yes, buddy, good job. When he's not being my helper - he's all about showing his daddy how big and strong he can be. He loves to 'tackle' his daddy. Each night - after dinner he runs upstairs and grabs his football. He flies back down and asks Chris - 'Daddy, you tackle me?' Chris will sit in our family room and Isaac will go to the far side of the dining room and run at break-neck speeds into Chris - get up and say 'I bigger and stronger'. There are a thousand little stories like these - one that I even told on our Journey Church blog last week called 'Behind the Curtain' - that continually remind us of what a gift this litte man is! He is painfully smart and hopelessly adoring. A strong debater like his daddy (sharing from that same 'I'm right' disease) and dramatic actor like his mama - he is more fun than I know how to express.

To say that I love these two boys is clearly an understatment! :) I can't wait to see how Lacie Grace will ultimately steal yet another piece of my heart. Perhaps, that is what I am most nervous about. :) I am certainly in awe of my God who has blessed me beyond measure!

It has been a crazy week! Chris has had strep throat, I’ve had some weirdo version of ‘the crud’ and Isaac has had a runny nose (I think mainly so he doesn’t feel left out). I know that many of you keep looking on-line to see if we have any ‘big’ announcement and here it is – I’m pregnant. J Yeah? Seriously, while the days seem to drag by – we are excited that our little one is taking full advantage of growing more and more from inside of me. (At least that’s what I keep telling myself). I know that some of you are as eager (if not more so) to hear of her arrival, to see her little face and to know how she is doing – all I can say is welcome to the ‘hurry-up and wait’ game! We can’t wait to show her off to you – and prayerfully that will be soon – we’ll see…

Have you ever had one of those nights where no matter how tired you were, how long your day had been, or how very much you wanted to go to sleep - you simply could not!! Tonight officially marks my fourth night of having such a feeling. For the past three nights I haven't been able to fall asleep before 2:30 a.m. and given that it is about 1:00 a.m. currently it's not looking so good for tonight either. Laying down has become a new form of 'cruel and unusal punishment' for me so I thought that kicking my feet up in the Lazy Boy would be the solution. That and putting some distance between myself and Chris - who is thoroughly enjoying a good night's sleep - seems to be a good idea since I want very much for him to suffer along with me. The distance between the chair and him prevents me from 'inadvertently' whacking him with something to which I could then say, 'Oh, you can't sleep either.' But I digress - I have been able to actually get a little relief and comfort - but because of that - now I don't want to move. The problem with this you ask? The remote to the t.v. is now on the floor, just out of reach. (Many of you are now feeling my pain, right?) So I have found myself 'stuck' watching a show - get this - called 'Scott Baio, 46 and Pregnant' (Yes, the same Scott Baio who was on 'Happy Days' and 'Charles in Charge'). It is a reality show that follows after Scott as he refuses to grow-up, is scared to death of commitment and is now freaking out because he's about to become a daddy. Yes, folks - now that is quality television. I would share more with you about tonight's particular episode, but wouldn't want to spoil it for any of you who may still be watching his first reality show - 'Scott Baio, 45 and Single' (Oh, how I wish I were making that up). So my advice to those of you, who like myself, are finding it hard to give into sleep - run as fast as you can into a wall until you knock yourself out or simply take a couple of Tylenol PM - either option would be less painful. Pleasant dreams, my friends.

We are officially over the 37 week mark of our pregnancy! Woohoo! Over the weeks and months we've had many ups-and-downs - a scare over her health and then the possible early arrival due to dialating too early and having too many contractions. It has been amazing to sit back and watch as God has healed her little body and kept her protected by allowing to maintain her current residence. To say that this has been easy - well, I'd just be lying - so I just won't go there.

We had an appointment this morning and secretly hoped that the doctors would take a look at us and say 'my oh my - let's go have this baby today'. We rushed around the house early this morning - making sure that all the garbage was cleared out, the dishes run and the house fairly tidy. You know, 'just in case'. Because we were prepared for it - of course - today was not 'the' day. :) While a small part of me - I use the word 'small' loosely - was disappointed - the rest of me is excited that she gets more time to grow, develop and build up her little immune system. All looks great! All appearances indicate that she is very healthy. We watched her practice her breathing, we heard a steady heartbeat, we watched her fight off the ultrasound probe, and we smiled when the nurse said that she is already over 7 pounds. I, myself, am about 3 centimeters dialated. Chris and I left to go enjoy the 'waiting game.'  After all of this - I think she'll be two weeks late - but your guess is as good as mine. :) We'll keep you posted...

A few years ago I purchased a couple of domains in hopes of putting up a personal website and at that time I had thoughts of maybe a site for a side business of fixing personal PC's. I was being called on from all sides and thought that I should perhaps start charging a little for my time. I instead just continued the free service and was happy to receive the thank yous and occasional gift certificates. Once after a few machines in a row I had over $60 in gift certificates to Graders Ice Cream. That's a lot of Ice Cream, but I digress.

At that time I couldn't find a Free or very cheap solution for putting up a simple website. Then I discovered Google's free Apps service where you can setup a simple website and use your own domain. Great! But not really, the website builder was pretty restrictive and just didn't give you a lot of options. I did set up a personal site (now gone) and a site for my aunt's business - sonrisetechnologies.com. It's not real good. Terrible actually.

I was reading the Time Magazine top 50 websites of 2007 and came across weebly.com. This web 2.0 site pulls the curtain back and exposes the mystery behind creating a website. It really took me only a few hours to get a pretty good site together, but what is even better is the look and feel of this site you are on right now has changed completely three times and it only takes seconds. From a programmer (me) perspective it doesn’t give you total freedom but it gets close. Best of all it's free. Just register you domain name ($10 per year - mine are with GoDaddy.com) and sign-up for an account - two hours later you have a real nice web presence. It is really easy - Will Browning, who is certainly computer literate but not a power user, put his site up in a few hours and it looks good. So if you want a website and all you need is a nice but simple solution. Try Weebly.com - I'm sold - good thing it's Free.  

Last night was a lot of fun as some of my dearest friends celebrated the upcoming arrival of our little girl Lacie Grace. For those of you who know me at all - it is no surprise that I have been very nervous about bringing a little girl into our home. Perhaps it is because I remember - vividily - what I was like as a little girl or perhaps it's because I'm not a very 'girly' girl and the nerves of how I teach her all she needs to know keep looming overhead - but nevertheless I have spent these past nine months with an anxiousness that can't fully be described. Sounds crazy I know - but I'm pregnant - the season for craziness. Having the girls get together last night to celebrate with me, encourage me and remind me that something wonderful is about to enter my life was extremely special to me. (If you'd like to see pictures of the night - check out our photo album - a special thank you to Rita and Nicole for taking the time to help capture the memories.)

January

January 2007 began pretty simply - we had just celebrated 10 years of marriage, we were both working in 'ideal' jobs for our talents and interests and we were enjoying life with a toddler. For the past year we had been praying about a possible move from Kentucky to South Carolina and had been trying to increase our family, but neither request had been answered - so we just kept on - business as usual, having fun and enjoying life.

February

February 2007 - was a pretty quiet month. Here you see Isaac experiencing his first snowfall. Granted there had been snowfalls the year before, but he was too little to remember. Here he is trying to catch it on his tongue - and just loving every minute. To watch him discover new things and so enjoy the world around him was just a blast!

March

March 2007 - We kicked started this month with the boys birthdays. Chris and Isaac having a birthday on the same day made celebrating fun. This birthday marked 31 years for Chris and the big bad #2 for Isaac. It was a fun evening with family at the bowling alley where Isaac actually played better than some family members, though I won't mention any names. :)

A little later that month we headed down to Summerville, SC for a church planting conference. A week where we prayed diligently for the Lord to really show us if this was the path He had for us to take. Chris had been sending out job applications since the previous October and we hadn't heard anything - no no's and no yes' - nothing. At the end of this week with others who were praying about the move or who had already stepped out in faith (see picture below) - Chris received a phone call for a job interview - a new journey for us began. 

April

April 2007 - After several phone interviews, Chris was flown down Easter weekend for a face-to-face interview. About a week later he was offered the job. Many things surrounding these interviews, their timing, all the way down to the final offer we were given - could only be attributed to God's hand manuvering all the pieces. Suddenly what had been a long period of silence seemed to change into quite a symphony. We began to prepare ourselves for the next steps that would be ahead for us. Meanwhile, our little adventurer seemed to be ever increasingly on the go. We began learning from Isaac that there is no obstacle too big or insurmountable.

May

May 2007 - was undoubtedly the wildest month of my life. I celebrated my 31st - woohoo! Then a few days later, our house - which had only been on the market for two weeks - sold. Mother's Day weekend we made the trip back down to South Carolina in search of a new house. It was an exhausting weekend and I have never seen so many houses (nor do I want to again) in one day. After much searching - Chris and I went for a walk and came upon a house - one we loved but were sure wasn't within our price range. Chris went to the sales office and plainly said - here's what we can do - to which they replied - close by the end of the month and it's a done deal. We went home, and in a week and a half packed up our house. On Monday the 21st - we found out we were pregnant (after about a year and a half of trying), on Thursday the 24th we moved out, on Friday the 25th we closed and said our last good-buys to Forest Ridge, on Monday the 28th we drove everything we owned down south, and on Tuesday the 29th we both closed and moved into our new home in South Carolina. God had been silent for so long - but what a lesson that when He speaks you better be ready to go.

June

June 2007 - a new journey begins. Chris started his new job on June 1st. And our friends, Chris and Jenny Mattingly, John Mills, Clay and Erin Jernigan, Will and Tarah Browning all played a part in helping us to get in and settled into our new home. We could not have done it without them and I am constantly reminded by each of them of much our God loves us.

July

July 2007 - was a more relaxing month. In the sense that all the boxes were unpacked, I had begun to figure out where the grocery story and Chic-Fil-a were located (two essentials) and Chris' parents came down to visit. It was fun getting to take them around the city of Charleston, and their getting to spend time with our ever growing little man. Who, by the way, was an absolute hoot the day we went downtown. Grandma and Papa had brought him a sailor hat and he would not take it off. He was the cutest little sailor man!!

August

August 2007 - Things were really beginning to get underway with church preparations and things that would need to be done before 'soft launching' in September. It was nice to be able to take a few minutes and steal away together as a family. This particular weekend (shown in this picture)  - Chris had some wild action on the 'high seas' :)  and on this day we all got to see several families of dolphins. It was a really nice break.

September

September 2007 - was a very emotional month for our family. At my first ultrasound - we were delighted (well, Chris was delighted - I was a nervous wreck) with the news that we would be having a little girl. That sweet news was quickly soured when they told us that much of her little body was filled with fluid - something our doctor had never even seen before. We were referred to the main hospital downtown for both consultation and care. Through the course of this month and I believe because of much prayer - what started out as tragedy has been nothing short of watching an amazing God do amazing things. The following visit they confirmed that their was fluid, but only around the lungs.  The next visit (to a cardiologist) said that the heart looked good. And in the visit following there was no fluid to be found at all. Of course, the doctor's could not explain it. :)

Apart from the ups-and-downs within our little family - much was happening in our little church. We celebrated our final Sunday (seen below) at a small church where we had been meeting in and moved to a bigger facility where we had a most successful first night. It is exciting to watch as God moves the pieces, as He orchestrates and manuvers those who have come into our midst, and as He continually stretches and refines us to go out in His name.

October

October 2007 - Things with the pregnancy continued to improve - though contractions had already begun. :( I was beginning to really build a couple of new relationships, Chris was busy both with work and church technology and our little man was growing more adorable and smart everyday. I mean look at him - isn't he a cutie?

November

November 2007 - We were able to sneak away for a weekend to see some family in Kentucky. It was Chris' first time to go home since we moved to South Carolina. It was great to get to spend time with his parents and to give Isaac his first opportunity to play in the leaves. (Palm trees don't really produce anything to roll around in). Thanksgiving was our first without family, but I still fixed us a big ol' meal, we got to watch the parade and we even got to spend some of the day with our church family - sharing in another big meal together. What made this Thanksgiving particularly odd for us - we were in shorts and flip-flops.  Oh, but it was good eatin'.

December

December 2007 - Christmas decorations give the allusion that it is in fact December - thought the thermostat said it was in the 80's - but it's fun to pretend, right? Again, this month of celebration would be unlike any we've shared before, but what a sweet time it was for the three of us. Christmas day, Isaac - who has become our little musician, serenated us with several songs both on his his 'p-now-no' (piano) and guitar - thanks to grandma and papa.

For as wild, emotional, wonderful, crazy and exciting as this year was - it was a very relaxing and sweet finish. We can only imagine what the Lord has in store for us this up and coming year.