What's up?

Just a quick and brief update on life

Last weekend Carl and I had the privilege of traveling to Columbus OH to visit his family for my brother-in-laws 50th birthday. We have been blessed to have Jim and Jacquie as part of our family and we are looking forward to spending more time with them in the future. I still can't believe it sometimes that Jim is as old as my own father (yes my dad is really that young) and I have a hard time not seeing him as such when we go and visit. It's a very strange thing for me.

This past week Carl and I celebrated our 4yr marriage anniversary. There are days where I am like "I can't believe it's been 4yrs" and other days where I"m like "We've ONLY been married for 4yrs?" Both are very good thoughts to have. I am greatly looking forward to celebrating many more years with him. Carl surprised me with a Romantic adventure, he made a lot of planning and sent me on a scavenger hunt of sorts. We had dinner at an extremely nice restaurant and was the most expensive meal I think I've ever had in my life. But thanks to my husbands planning we were able to afford it all guilt free :) God is so very loving and kind for having blessed me with a husband like mine.

As far as weight news goes, I haven't lost any new weight yet this month, between traveling, and our anniversary I have gained a few pounds back :( but it comes with the territory and not every week is a 'good one.' The important thing is that I'm back on track counting away my points, exercising, and being thankful for what the Lord has given to me!I am expecting to lose what I gained back this week and I'm expecting that some of you will begin to set aside some non perishable food goods again next week. 

Other exciting news... It seems like God has opened a possibility for Carl and I to earn some extra income to help pay off some doctor bills and save for school. We are praying and ask that you would pray for us too as we are probably not the only ones interested in the specific opportunity. I know this would be of great help to us in paying off some medical bills as well as in saving so we are hoping that this is what the Lord would have for us. We'll know something by the end of the month.

The community Bible study that I am doing is going very well. We've only had 2 women come but these 2 ladies have been a sweet blessing to my life. I told Carl when I first started the study that I felt like God wanted me to do this because I thought that someone else within the community was praying for Christian fellowship and it turns out that one of these ladies had indeed been praying. I see our relationship and friendships growing and Carl is hoping that he will be able to start something for the men come this spring. The office has limited hours but we are hoping that maybe they would be willing to open the community room for us during an evening time this spring so that more people can benefit. Please be in prayer for Carl and I as we take on this endeavor. During the days that we had to ourselves we took a lot of walks and talked about the LOVE that God is giving us for our community and what we feel HE is calling us to do. Pray that we have boldness, wisdom and strength.

A thought that I have been challenged with this week.

Mathew 9:37-38   says "
³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; ³⁸therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."  I have often heard this quoted as an argument for becoming full time missionaries, and pastors, ect but I am wondering if we are quoting this for the wrong end. Of course we need pastors, and missionaries, but we also need Christians to be harvesters in every day living. It seems like for so long I have thought that if my husband wasn't a pastor, me a pastor's wife, and or we weren't missionaries (full time) then somehow we wouldn't be harvesting. But really we are to be harvesting wherever we are at in our lives and I shouldn't just leave it up to full time pastors, and full time missionaries, to do what God has called me to do. As a result of the Holy Spirit working in my families life my husband and I have decided to volunteer at a soup kitchen once a month as a "date night" for us. We have also been researching on how to volunteer at a local food bank in distributing and organizing food donations.  I am excited to get a chance to share God's love to others. Why shouldn't I? I may not be a pastors wife, I am currently not even a seminarians wife,  and I am not a full time missionary (as most would see it) but God has called me to do more than just sit on my hands and I am compelled to move.