An Amazing Start To Our Week

Sunday was the beginning of the West Florida District Council. We were so excited to be a part of it. We met some amazing people and caught up with some old friends. Because the boys had school, we only brought Gabriel with us. He sure did love putting on a show for everyone!

 I want to thank all of you for takinig the time to hear our hearts.  Paris is a very dark place and we are so passionate about reavealing Christ's love for them. We want to show them how amazing a relationship with Jesus is. We have a substantial budget due to a large family and the location we will be going. We only have 10% of our budget raised, which means we need to raise 90% by Christmas...that's only 7 months away!

Thank you all for the prayers that have gone out for  us and for those of you who have sacrificed with your giving. Our spring newsletter is underway. Stay tuned!

*Please pray with us that we will raise our funds quickly, so we can go and be of help to this hurting nation of France!

EXHAUSTED!!!

The title of the post this morning is all that I could muster. As I am sitting here typing this post, I am constantly interrupted by the sound of my 4-year-old, Judah, throwing up. Poor thing. He has been at it all night. I woke up to him getting sick in my bed, and a little on Matt. Ewww!!! I was cleaning it up while Matt took care of Judah. Judah came in and said, "Mom, don't forget to clean Chris' bed." Apparently he was playing musical beds last night. So, Matt cleaned one bed while I cleaned the other. I just pray that he doesn't "share" this with the rest of us. I remember when I was younger; we had a large family, too. Never failed, when one got sick it made its way around to almost everyone...not just once!

On a different note...we celebrated yet another birthday. Yesterday was Christopher's 7th birthday. I say this every birthday with every child. I seriously have no idea where the time is going. I met him for the first time 7 years ago and my life has never been the same since. He, like my other children, have made my life better in so many ways. Christopher is very animated. He cannot hide his emotions; they are written all over his face. He is one of those that when he feels...he feels deeply. He's not just mad, he's VERY mad.

He's not just excited, he is EXTREMELY excited.

His cake of choice...spy cake. Wasn't quite sure what he was thinking, but this was my interpretation.

He seems to have had a great birthday. We do something as a family, have the dinner of their choice, and later, cake, ice cream, and presents. Chris decided to go see The Lorax in the theaters. They loved it, although Judah said, "I love the movie feeter, but I didn't love the movie." They all had a great time. Afterwards, we came home for his birthday dinner and for cake and presents.

 LEGOs were the toys of choice this year. As you can tell, He was quite excited about them. Happy Birthday, Christopher. Mommy loves you so much. ( Even if you do wipe off kisses!)

How Our Lives Have Changed

HAPPY MARCH!!!

Well, obviously I'm not the greatest at updating this page, but I'm going to try to do better from now on.

I want to give everyone an update on how our lives have changed in the past year...
Since my last post, we traveled to Missouri this summer to attend Pre-Field Orientation for our venture to Paris. It was so much fun. We learned so much, not only about how to deal with other cultures, but how to connect more as a family. This is very important for every day life, but especially for being missionaries. When we embark on our journey, the only constant we have (other than Christ) is each other.

We welcomed Gabriel Zion into the world on September 9, 2011. Just 3 days before Judah's 4th birthday. He is an amazing suprise additon to our family. I tell him, just like I tell my others, "You were such a good idea." God does have amazing ideas, doesn't He? I can't recall a time where my plans were the same as His, and yet I can't imagine my life any other way once He puts His hand into it.

I have a new nephew Samuel Isaac (sister, Michele's baby on right) born just 7 weeks before Gabe (on the left, who made grandson # 9 for my parents, # 8 for Matt's). Also, my baby sis, Kim, is having a girl (granddaughter # 4 for my parents) this spring. I'm so excited for all of these blessings we are receiving. One right after the other!

Nathan just had his 9th birthday and Matt just had his 32nd birthday. And the kids are doing great in school. More updates to come!

*Pray for our funds for Paris. They are very slow in coming. Pray that God will put us on the hearts of churches and pastors, as well as our friends and family, to support us in our journey of obedience.

*Pray for my grandmother who is very ill. She is in the hospital having tests and procedures done. She has scleroderma, so pray that she will be healed in Jesus name! Lord, guide the doctors in treating her condition.

Friend Raising 2

Thank you to those who have decided to partner with us on this journey.  We are always in need of prayer as we raise our budget.  But, should you feel the Lord direct you, we are also in need of monetary funds. We have added a link for your convenience.  Just click on the Monthly Support link.  Since we are Missionary Associates, we can only contact churches we have a connection with, so please consider contacting your Pastor about us coming to your church and sharing the vision God has given us for France.  Thank you and be blessed!! 

Friend Raising

So the friend raising has begun!!

We have ordered our prayer cards and when they arrive we will be in full swing.  We have had two churches that have decided to partner with us in supporting us as we take this amazing journey towards Paris. Praise the Lord! Every person and church that plants a seed into our ministry, gets us that much closer to fulfilling the call Christ has placed into our lives.  It is an amazing experience, as we are watching in the midst of economic uncertainty, people and churches investing in God's heart for the people of Paris.

Lets go friends!!!
Matt

Pregnancy...9 weeks.

Matthew and I went to the doctor today to have our first ultrasound done on our newest addition to our family. We took Judah along with us. He couldn't quite make out the images. I said, "See, Judah, that's the baby." He said, "No, that's not a baby. That's an alligator!"







This is the picture from the ultrasound. For those of you who have a hard time making US images out, the head is on the right side and the baby is facing up. The little bump sticking up in the middle is the arm and the curve on the left side is the leg.

Our due date is September 16, 2011. Just one day after the memorial of our precious unborn we lost 4 1/2 years ago. But that will have to be another blog post.

Although this is my sixth pregnancy, I never tire of hearing the amazing whooshing sound of the unborn's heartbeat. It amazes me how there is so much going on inside of me in so little time. I know you will be reading some conflicting messages about how this pregnancy feels like it's taking FOREVER, but when everything is put into perspective, it's really not that long-considering a precious life has been formed.

Celebrating...Life!

Yesterday was my son, Nathan's, birthday. I still cannot believe he is now eight! I keep telling myself that I just brought him home from the hospital yesterday.

I sent him to school yesterday with some ice cream cone cup cakes to share with his class and his teacher. I asked him how many kids were in his class. Nate said, "18, 19 counting Mrs. Jarrett." I guess it was so funny to me because he included his teacher in with the "kid" count.

*If you want to make these, Make regular size cupcakes and mini-cupcakes.

Fill the ice cream cones half way with candy.

Ice the top of a reg. cupcake-turn upside down on cone.

Ice the top of a mini-cupcake-turn upside down on reg. cupcake.

Ice the "tower" and take a spreader or knife and make the swirls to look like soft serve.

Shake sprinkles all over and top with a "cherry". I used Pretzle M&M's.

Nathan received a birthday card in the mail from his great-grandma and great-papops. He said, "Look, Mom, I got ten dollars locked!" (He saw the lock on the check under the amount). He proceeded to say, "That means that I can't get to it until you cash the check." It's so funny how kids can be so smart and so clueless at the same time.


He wanted a "pool cake" for his birthday. As most of you know, I try and do a special cake for my kids. I let them pick whatever they want and google ideas from there. This one was done in my Pampered Chef torte pans. Vanilla ice cream between the layers and blue jello in the middle. Cool Whip for the icing and gummie candies to decorate with.

Not only do I let them pick their special cake, I also let them pick what they want for dinner. It can be take-out, home cooked, or in a resteraunt. Nate chose home cooked. -kinda makes me feel good :-)

He said," I want steak, and ribs, and chicken..." I had to stop him. I told him to choose one meat and sides to go with it. That sweet thing never had a problem with it. "Okay, I want ribs with mashed potatoes, asparagus, and corn on the cob." So that's what he got. Last year the only side he asked for was...cucumbers!

He asked for a skateboard and the Raving Rabbids game for Wii. He was so excited to get them. {I think he was expecting them, since he didn't ask for much.}

Nate was thrilled with his new skateboard. He was riding it and said,"This skateboard is better than X Box!" I never thought I would hear those words come out of his mouth!

As sad as I am to see my boys grow up, it's also exciting to see them become such unique individuals with different likes and dislikes, personalities, and yes, even their own opinions.

Tonight we will celebrate my wonderful husband's birthday. He is 31 and even more handsome than the day I married him. Yes, he gets his dinner birthday request. Adobo with rice. And he's getting a cookie cake, just like every other year! Happy birthday to my best friend!