A Murder Is Announced

I read A Murder is Announced by Agatha Christie for my 6th book in the Back to the Classics Challenge this year. This one is for the category, a classic by a woman author.

Like Murder on the Orient Express, this book was an excellent read! I loved this book and did not want to put it down. I loved the writing style that was easy to read but still stretched  me in learning new words. The story line was so intricate and involved but was still easy to follow in the end and so interesting. At the end I had myself thinking wow, did I even see that coming? The answer was just a little, but I still wouldn't have guessed that it was that involved. I was shocked when it all came out, and I love mysteries like that! I also appreciated that it wasn't too creepy even though there was good suspense.

I highly recommend this book, just like the other I read. I am very much looking forward to reading more of Agatha Christie's books.

5 Star for this great classic!

September Blessings

September was a full and busy month with many blessing even in the chaos. Here is a glimpse of the blessings for our family this month.

1. Feeling more normal
2. Enjoying time with the kids
3. Sholtes bringing dinner
4. Reading
5. Making a plan for getting Malachi's weight back up
6. Lunch date with Jim
7. Having a pump
8. Fun girls night painting with Becca, Dee Dee and Angie
9. Roger fixing several of our electrical issues
10. Creative side coming out
11. Working fans and lights
12. "American Bible Challenge"
13. Lots of hugs and kisses
14. Ifeoma bringing snacks
15. Making a big to-do list
16. Great sermon on ministry and prayer
17. Taking family pictures
18. Pizza from Kate
19. Enjoying family time
20. Getting more milk out
21. Singing with the kids
22. Kids wanting to learn more about the Bible
23. Extra sleep
24. Time to read and pray
25. Malachi gaining weight
26. Parents getting here safely
27. Yummy lunch date with Jim
28. Good cg discussion
29. Writing blog posts
30. Reuben turning 5!
31. Blueberry pound cake with blueberry drizzle
32. Reuben enjoying his light sword
33. IHOP with the family
34. Kids playing well together
35. Getting new contacts
36. Meeting Riley
37. Girls afternoon
38. Panera
39. Manicure and Pedicure
40. Getting my hair done
41. Seeing Courtney
42. Seeing family
43. Fun rehearsal and rehearsal dinner
44. Older boys helping my parents
45. Malachi sleeping 7 hours!
46. Celebrating Ryan and Becca's marriage
47. Kids doing well in the ceremony
48. Good family pictures
49. Sara helping us at the wedding
50. Dancing
51. Good food 
52. Cookies
53. Berry Twist Banana Split
54. Snuggling with Malachi
55. Starting the school year with the kids
56. Mom working with Nehemiah and Sam
57. Getting almost everything done with housework by myself
58. Courtney bringing food
59. Kids singing and working hard
60. Family treat at Comfy Cow
61. 2 days without TV!
62. Kids excited about CG
63. Chick-fil-A
64. Making it through a VERY HARD DAY
65. Nehemiah standing up on his own
66. Member meeting
67. Alison and Althea helping with the kids
68. How God is growing Sojourn and our neighborhood
69. Nehemiah and Malachi growing a lot
70. Good OT and nutrition visits
71. Bakes Ziti
72. 3 days without TV!
73. First day of co-op going well and Jim able to go with us
74. Free dinner
75. Nehemiah helping Malachi with his pacifier
76. Making organization plans
77. Ordering announcements
78. Ordering baby calendar
79. Great sermon on reconciliation
80. Hearing from Daniel and Jamaal
81. Playing the dance game
82. Connecting with Jim
83. Costco
84. Jim meeting with Nathan
85. Encouragement
86. Tackling the online world after 3 weeks away
87. Errands as a family
88. Gifted a weekend in Chicago in March!
89. Reevaluating life
90. Sam saying Bible verses
91. Feeling more peace
92. Grace with deal with a bad situation
93. Ryan and Becca watching the kids
94. Plans for including kids in CG
95. Catching up with Shannon
96. Errands with Gabriel
97. Seeing Ryan and Becca's wedding pictures!
98. Surviving
99. Uploading pictures
100. Stealing moments with Malachi
101. Malachi turning 1 month!
102. Posting birth story
103. Eating lunch with Tara
104. Meeting new people
105. Lots of free food
106. Getting upstairs rearranged and beginning to clean
107. Kids helping
108. A week with almost no TV!
109. Good sermon on the miraculous
110. Book Club continuing
111. Getting announcements
112. Fellowship
113. Jim meeting with Paul
114. Curry on the stove
115. Getting a prescription with out an appointment!
116. Doing well with school time
117. Dinner at CG
118. Sam feeding Malachi
119. Catching up with friends
120. Washing my hair
121. Gyros
122. Working on plans for next 2 months
123. Cleaning out email
124. Talking to Britney
125. Lunchables
126. Getting to know people
127. Arby's
128. Really talking and working through something with Jim
129. Seeing God moving and working
130. Salvation

September Evaluation

Spiritual

• Spend at least 10 minutes praying daily- Definitely a lot of praying this month!
• Spend at least 10 minutes reading and reflecting on the Bible daily- working on getting back into this
• Memorize verses with the kids - working on this during school time
• Have extended prayer times 4 times during the year- Jim has had 3 and I have had 3
• Read Christian books (Jim- 1 (not school related), Emmie- 3)- 1 for me so far and started "Mission of Motherhood" 

Marriage

• Pray together daily- YES! 
• Go out for a date once a week- Due to a LOT of family activity this did not happen, but we did get 2 and some good time at home
• Go on a night away once this year- Yes! We were able to get away for 2 whole days for our Anniversary! Big thanks to Becca, Shannon, Julianne, Victor and Ariana who made this possible for us! It was wonderful
• Read 3 books together this year (read one day a week)- Crossing this off because it's not going to happen. Maybe next year when we're forced to for School of Missions
• Discuss plan weekly on Saturday afternoon- Did not happen 

Kids

• Spend 15 minutes of one on one time with each child every week- Got closer to that at the end of the month, still working on good time management with kids
• Special Outing Alone twice during the year with each child- Reuben got a date with Daddy!
• Family fun activity once a month- Playing the Dance Game as a family.We had a lot of fun!
• Write in individual journals at least 3 times this year- No writing this month, but I am mostly caught up
• Finish Jamey's 1st year Scrapbook- Got things moved around and organized a little better so I might actually get some work done on this before the end of the year!

Homemaking

• Keep up with cleaning schedule- Honestly we need to make a NEW schedule
• Keep up with my calendar- A little better this month, but have a long way to go
• Being fully present when with my family- Still struggling, but getting better as we get more normalized
• Try 12 new recipes this year- (9) Jim made a delicious blueberry pound cake with blueberry drizzle for Reuben's birthday! So GOOD! I have a great cook and baker for a hubby!
• No TV 2 days a week (watching)- We actually accomplished this a couple times this month! With school work to do we're getting back into a good reading and activity routine. Still have work to do in this area but it's getting easier.
• Begin gardening in the spring- Another that just did not happen and isn't going to, but that's OK!

Ministry

• Continue sending out Prayer List- Yes

Personal

• Read a book a month for myself- I finished "The Purloined Letter" this month and made a significant dint in "Don Quixote"
• Jim read one fiction book- Yes! He finished "Eragon", Eldest", and "Brisingr"
• Journal 5 days a week- Not this month, but slowly getting there again
• Jim Journal 3 days a week- Yes
• Edit novel to prepare for publishing- No work on this
• Book Club once a month- Yes! Thankful I was able to attend the last at Bre's house
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- I fell down on  meeting this month again! Sad that it happened, but hopefully in October
• Blog 1-2 days a week- Yes! 

Health

• Mild Exercise twice a week- Nope, hope to get back into this this month
• Maintain weight until birth- This did not happen, so I have extra work to do now
• Lose weight after giving birth- Have lost a little, but stagnated right now. Hopefully with getting to 6 weeks postpartum I can start to exercise and it will help

September was a blur! Adjusting to a new baby, celebrating Reuben's birthday, Becca getting married and moving out, Jim starting back to work, starting school with the kids and trying to find the new normal for our family has kept us busy. It's been nice finding time to read more and watching TV less as well as learning to talk more with Jim and the kids. I feel like we have grown a lot this month as a family. There is still a lot to figure out and we'll never stop learning, but in the last couple of days it seems like there might be a light for this season. The next couple of months are going to be very busy as well, but hopefully we'll find peace in Jesus and a hint of stability as we seek to do those things God has called us to at this time.

How was your September?

August Blessings

So obviously I'm a little late on sharing these blessings since our big one came at the end of the month, but I still want to share what God did for us in August.

1. Kids playing well together
   
2. Growing in imagination
3. Sam singing praise songs
4. Reuben singing praise songs very clearly
5. Getting through the day with little pain
6. Time to read
7. Snuggling with my kids
8. Hearing from people at cg
9. Getting a lot of business set up
10. Working on Box Tops
11. Curry
12. Someone to help Jim quickly change his tire
13. Friends coming to play
14. Playing a game and watching a movie with Jim
15. Neo doing well with OT
16. Finishing "Murder on the Orient Express"
17. Watching Olympic Opening Ceremonies
18. Snuggling with Lillian
19. Watching the Olympics
20. Teaching kids about new sports
21. Becca being home
22. DQ breakfast
23. Great sermon on being the Body
24. Seeing CJ & Shelly and hearing from them
25. Hearing from Brienne
26. Surprise Norwex order!
27. Doing logic problems
28. Ice cream sandwich cake
29. Lots of new people at cg
30. Honesty from my doctor
31. Being at peace
32. Jamey organizing the Tupperware cabinet
    
33. God reaching out to me
34. Jamey helping and being creative
35. Reuben growing in creativity
36. Fraps
37. Talking with the kids about church
38. Jamey asking questions
39. Creativity in building
40. Going to the last book club at Bre's house
41. Wonderful Fellowship
42. Sam singing "Made Alive"
43. Finishing "A Murder is Announced"
44. Jim cleaning the kitchen
45. Daddy and Mom getting here safely
46. Good discussion and encouragement at cg
47. Reading "The Old Man and the Sea"
48. A day out of the house
49. Kids playing for a long time
50. Shoes
51. Getting 2017 calendar
52. Ryan coming to hang out with the family
53. Celebrating Daddy's birthday
54. Ice Cream cake
55. Wrestling with God
56. People praying for us
57. Good news from a friend
58. Helping and talking with Mom and Becca
59. Frosties
60. Malachi Edwin joining our family
    
61. God's provision throughout labor
62. Jim helping me through labor
63. Emily being there
64. Perfect doctor for this labor
65. Kids meeting and loving on Malachi
66. Julianne coming by
67. James coming by
68. Jim letting me sleep
69. Malachi passing his hearing test
70. Getting home from the hospital
71. Nehemiah loving on Malachi
72. Everyone asking to hold Malachi
73. Making it through our first day at home as a family of 9!
74. Seeing Tara
75. Becca being available to help
76. Robinette's bringing dinner
77. Kisses from Nehemiah
78. Samuel being helpful and asking to hold Malachi
79. God's grace to persevere
80. Norwex Body Cloth!
81. Krispy Kreme Donuts
82. Malachi's first day at church
83. Starting a series in Acts
84. New Worship songs
85. Snuggling with Malachi
86. Jamey and Lillian helping to organize school material
87. Kids excited about starting school
88. Sara bringing dinner
89. Browns bringing dinner
90. Seeing Julianne

August Evaluation

Spiritual

• Spend at least 10 minutes praying daily- Definitely a lot of praying this month!
• Spend at least 10 minutes reading and reflecting on the Bible daily- Yes until Malachi was born
• Memorize verses with the kids - working on this during school time
• Have extended prayer times 4 times during the year- Jim has had 3 and I have had 3
• Read Christian books (Jim- 1 (not school related), Emmie- 3)- 1 for me so far and started "Mission of Motherhood" this month

Marriage

• Pray together daily- YES! 
• Go out for a date once a week- We did until Malachi was born
• Go on a night away once this year- Yes! We were able to get away for 2 whole days for our Anniversary! Big thanks to Becca, Shannon, Julianne, Victor and Ariana who made this possible for us! It was wonderful
• Read 3 books together this year (read one day a week)- No and is not likely to happen at this point
• Discuss plan weekly on Saturday afternoon- Um, no

Kids

• Spend 15 minutes of one on one time with each child every week- Not sure about this
• Special Outing Alone twice during the year with each child- No individual dates this month
• Family fun activity once a month- With Malachi being late, what we planned ended up not happening
• Write in individual journals at least 3 times this year- No writing this month, but I am mostly caught up
• Finish Jamey's 1st year Scrapbook- No work was done on this, likely will not happen at this point

Homemaking

• Keep up with cleaning schedule- Honestly we need to make a schedule
• Keep up with my calendar- Did not do this well
• Being fully present when with my family- Definitely a struggle this month, but did have a few good moments
• Try 12 new recipes this year- (8) Still at 8 for the year
• No TV 2 days a week (watching)- Nope It's gotten hard with being really pregnant and heat
• Begin gardening in the spring- This is not likely to happen and obviously not in spring since we are well past spring

Ministry

• Continue sending out Prayer List- Yes

Personal

• Read a book a month for myself- I finished "Murder on the Orient Express", "A Murder is Announced" and "The Old Man and The Sea"
• Jim read one fiction book- Yes! He finished "Eragon", Eldest", and "Brisingr"
• Journal 5 days a week- Until Malachi was born I did
• Jim Journal 3 days a week- Yes
• Edit novel to prepare for publishing- No work on this
• Book Club once a month- Yes! Thankful I was able to attend the last at Bre's house
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- I fell down on this meeting this month! Sad that it happened
• Blog 1-2 days a week- Yes! Thank you book reviews

Health

• Mild Exercise twice a week- Um not at all
• Maintain weight until birth- This did not happen, so I have extra work to do now
• Lose weight after giving birth- 

Obviously this update is late! August was a blur. It was spent praying for baby to come, for labor to start, while still trying to live. We had some time with family, and enjoyed having Becca home a little more as she prepared for her wedding. August 22 we welcomed our 7th baby, Malachi Edwin! The rest of the month was spent with adjustments, so many of our goals were put to the side or minimized. Hoping we will get normalized out in the next month!

How was August for you?

Malachi Edwin

It has taken me far too long to get Malachi's birth story shared. With him being 1 month today, I thought it was finally time.

I don't even know where to begin with this story. This one is just different. We thought we were taking a break, but for Christmas we got a surprise gift: finding out our family would be growing again. Our children had been asking for another sibling since we brought Nehemiah home and God answered their prayers, just like He did for Britney and me 23+ years ago. And as always God knows best and He has a plan.

On the whole the pregnancy was not bad. In fact in many ways it was the easiest. But in other ways it was very difficult. As it got closer to the end it got increasingly difficult to do many things and in the last 4 weeks I couldn't drive our van. The baby was big and I had a LOT of fluid which added to the overall discomfort. And I was HOT ALL THE TIME!

During the pregnancy we were helping my sister plan her wedding, which was a month after the due date, so with that going on I really wanted the baby to come early so we had time to adjust before that.

Enter all of the emotional hormonal mess that is increased with pregnancy. Dealing with the unexpected, dealing with the hearts of the kids expressing their desires and opinions, dealing with marriage, dealing with sin, dealing with my own expectations of the pregnancy and seeking control instead of relinquishing to God. I wrestled day and night with God and trusting Him and His plans for us.

The due date drew closer with no increase in contractions. I was anxious. I was fearful. I did NOT want to be induced again. But my due date came and went. A week later still no baby. Induction was scheduled for Monday if no labor over the weekend. Not at all what I wanted and I had everyone I knew praying. But I knew it was inevitable. I knew my body and like with Sam, this baby was going to need some coaxing to make its appearance.

I woke at 5 am Monday August 22 to call and make sure they had a bed for me. I tried to go back to sleep for an hour but to no avail. After 10 minutes of praying to go to sleep and my mind going a mile a minute I decided to get up and spend some time reading Psalms and praying. I was already so anxious, I needed as much prayer time as I could get. God calmed my spirit. I ate a sausage biscuit so I would at least have a little energy and got ready to go. I kissed the kids who were up and Jim and I headed to the hospital.

We got to the hospital and checked in. Due to a miscommunication I had no nurse for over an hour so Jim and I hung out in the room and I walked as much as I could to try and get something going, but still the same. The nurse came in to tell me what the plan was. An IV was started after 2 sticks (MY WORST NIGHTMARE IN LABOR!) The plan was to then break my water, but the baby was still way to high for it to be safe for her to manually break it. Dr. Girard couldn't even feel the head so they got an ultrasound and the baby was slightly transverse. They ordered a maternal fetal ultrasound and I walked while I waited because the baby moved according to how I was positioned.

I prayed the baby would move so that I would not need to be sectioned and walked. By the time the next ultrasound was done (maybe 10 minutes) the baby was in the right position! God came through!

So pitocin was started, I was hooked up to a mobile monitor and continued walking. Our friend and Jim's coworker Emily Ewing was working that day so we talked to her for a bit while she waited for the next delivery. There were a few more contractions and they got a touch stronger, but after 3 hours they were still not in a good labor pattern.

Dr. Girard decided to check to see if she could break my water. The baby was in place but still a bit high. Jim and our nurse, Jennifer, held him in place and she began trying to break my water. The membrane was tough and it took about 10 attempts for her to break the bag. When she finally got it the flood gates poured! My fluid had been VERY high. Dr, G said it was the most water she had ever seen!

Once the flood stopped Dr. G checked to make sure everything was good and the baby was in an odd position again. She said she could feel fingers so she attempted to move it back. The baby also felt like it had moved back to a transverse position. We prayed again for the baby to get in the right place. I turned on my left side to see if it would help. Fairly quickly God moved the baby back into the correct vertex position and she could no longer feel fingers! God answered positively again!

It took about 30 minutes to really get contractions going. By 1 pm they were excruciating! I have never had labor pains like that before. The baby was probably still not in the best position for birth because it had never felt like that. Most likely he was side ways or even backwards. I attempted to turn to my right side, but the first contraction I had there the heart rate dropped and I had to go back to the left. I stayed in a semi left position for the rest of the time.

Around 2 I started to lose it. I was only 7-8 cm and the pain was worse than any labor I had ever had before. In fact, for me, it was really the first time I'd experienced true pain. It was weird and I was struggling to hold on. I told Jim I couldn't do it and he was right there telling me I could. I prayed for strength.

Finally the baby started to turn and get into the right position. About 2:30 the urge to push was irresistible and I was allowed to push! I could tell the baby was big and tall. Dr. G told me to look down and at 2:35 our newest babe was born. I asked Jim what it was. He laughed and said, "It's a boy!" "Really!?" "Yes!"

We have another son! I couldn't believe it but I was happy. They quickly put him on my chest. My first thought when I saw him was, "He looks exactly like Nehemiah only bigger, but I can't name him Nehemiah too." (We hadn't settled on a boys name yet.) Emily was right there checking him out. Everything looked good. As I looked at him my gut said, Malachi, but I wanted to get a better look at him after they were done cleaning me up.

Emily took him and measured him. 9 lbs 13 oz and 21 1/2 inches! He was a BIG BOY!

They got me situated and gave him back to me. Jim and I looked at him and agreed that his name is Malachi Edwin. Malachi means My Messenger. Edwin is my dad's name and means prosperous friend.

As I was looking at Malachi later I heard that still small voice say to me, "He is my messenger to you that I will not leave you or forsake you." I really wrestled with trusting God during this pregnancy, especially at the beginning and the last 6 weeks of it. God has reminded with this little boy that He is always there and looking out for my best even when it's not happening the way I want. My biggest request was please not a c-section and every time we thought it could be heading that way, God came through and kept it from happening and got me through without an epidural when I didn't think I could make it. He still gave me the birth that is the basic of my desire and never left my side.

Thank You, Father, for Malachi and for getting me through labor one more time. Thank You for never leaving me and never forsaking me even in the midst of my doubts and fears. Thank You for having mercy on such a weak and lowly vessel. Continue to grow my faith as I seek to follow You where ever You lead.

Please save Malachi by Your great grace and make him a mighty messenger for Your Gospel, Your Truth. I pray he will be a prosperous friend to all he meets because he knows You. Let him be Your beloved son and friend. Let Your riches pour out of him and over to those he meets. Use this precious boy for Your Kingdom!

Becca Getting Married

My baby sister got married today! 

When Britney and I were kids we both prayed for another brother or sister and got the great surprise of twin sisters 23 years ago, Rachel and Rebecca. Such a blessing.


Just over 4 years ago, our family welcomed Becca into our home to help with the kids and for her to go to school here in Louisville. It has been a crazy 4 years as we have grown together through many laughs and tears, fights and hugs. Our family has also grown and Becca has been such a great part of this time in our lives. God has used her to bless our family in so many ways, from early morning breakfasts to nights away. It has been such a pleasure to watch Becca grow these last four years into the woman she is today.



Now Becca is a wife, starting her family with Ryan. This too has been a pleasure to watch as they have grown both in the Lord and with each other. It was such a blessing for our entire family to be a part of this happy occasion of Ryan and Becca joining in matrimony. We are so thankful to have Ryan as a part of our family now and look forward to seeing Becca and Ryan grow together in the years to come.

As with all changes, even good ones, there are mixed emotions. As happy as we are for Ryan and Becca, It's hard to say good-bye. Yes, she is still near by, but she has been an intricate part of our daily lives for 4 years. We will all miss having Becca here to talk to, send for errands, play with kids and enjoy regular company. We love her so much!

So here we all go with the next phase of life. It's happy. It's good. It's God's best for all of us. But it's still change and a challenge.

Father, thank You so much for the joy of Ryan and Becca's marriage. Please bless them as they follow You and Your ways. Thank You for a new family member. Thank You for Your goodness, grace and faithfulness. Please build their house in You and the power of Your Spirit.

Congratulations Ryan and Becca! We love you!