Turning Over a New Leaf

This picture may seem a little weird to put on the blog, but this represents a milestone in my medical life! Today I went in to get the glucose test to screen for gestational diabetes. They give you a concentrated drink that tasted like a melted freezy-pop and then I had to wait for an hour until they drew blood. Why is this a milestone, you may ask. Because when I went to get my blood drawn, I did not 1. pass out, 2. cry, or 3. throw up. I have never gone without one of these three (or all of them) for the last many many years. AND that was with taking three vile-fulls of my blood, which is more than usual, I think. So perhaps I'm getting over my fear after all and turning over a new leaf!

Nick's First Sermon!!!

Nick preached his first sermon tonight! It was so fun to see him in that role, and he did a great job! This was a little church (not Sovereign Grace affiliated)...very little, as in 15-20 people. The people were very friendly, and it was a great setting for Nick to try his wings at preaching. He has a homiletics (preaching) class this week, and he said it will be very helpful having this experience fresh in his mind as he learns more about preparing a sermon. Thank you again to all of you who are supporting us and praying for us this year. It is truly a joy for Nick to be preparing for ministry...we couldn't do it without you!

Covenant Life Soccer Game

On Thursday we had great fun going to the Covenant Life School Girl's Soccer Game. This was a semi-finals game, and they won! It was fun for us to see Julie Bowers (Jeanie, I put this on here just to make you jealous!) Julie, hopefully you don't mind that I put your picture for the world to see. You played so well! I was quite impressed watching these high school girls, remembering my days of being a goalie way back when. I think they put me as goalie because 1. I couldn't run very fast and 2. I wasn't afraid to get my knees dirty by "pouncing" on the ball. The only problem is that I got so used to being goalie that once I caught the ball when I was playing defense...oops!

Rules of Contentment

Recently I have allowed myself to become anxious when I think about becoming a mother, and I realized this morning that it is really a lack of trust in the Lord. He gives me grace each day. His grace is sufficient, and he is most glorified in my weakness. I'm learning to give up every detail to the Lord, even in the privacy of my thoughts. He doesn't just want me to SAY that I trust him for the future, he wants me to BELIEVE it with my whole being! He has always been faithful, and He will continue to be faithful every day of my life! Here are Elisabeth Elliot's "Rules of Contentment," that I find quite challenging and inspiring... I have reworded them a little bit for clarity.

RULES OF CONTENTMENT

1. Allow yourself to complain of nothing, not even the weather.

2. Never picture yourself under any circumstances which you are not.

3. Never compare your own lot to that of another.

4. Never allow yourself to dwell on the wish that anything be different than it was or is. God almighty loves you better and more wisely than you do yourself.

5. Never dwell on the morrow. Remember that it is God's, not yours. The heaviest part of sorrow often is to look forward to it. "The Lord will provide."

More DC Pictures

Top to Bottom: The White House, Vietnam Memorial, Dennis and Marilyn in front of the Washington Monument, Nick in front of Big Abe.

Fun in DC

Is it possible that such a long time has gone by without a post?!? These weeks keep flying by. But be assured, our lives have not been extremely exciting or different over the last two weeks. At least up until this weekend, when Dennis and Marilyn (Nick's parents) came to visit. We had a wonderful time with them! They arrived Thursday night, and on Friday Marilyn and I went on some errands while Dennis visited a fellow glass manufacturer. On Saturday we headed into DC with three things on our agenda: The Spy Museum, the Holocaust Museum, and the American History Museum. We rode the metro in to the mall area, walked to the Lincoln Memorial (stopping by the WWII memorial and Vietnam Memorial), then walked over to the Spy Museum. Unfortunately, it was not free admission as we had thought (it's $15 a person!). 0 for 1. Then we walked over to the Holocaust Museum, just in time to learn that they had given up all the tickets for the main exhibit already. 0 for 2! But we did see one of their exhibits, "Daniel's Story," a walk-through exhibit of the Holocaust from a Jewish child's perspective. It was geared towards a younger audience, but it was still quite thought-provoking. After that we walked back to the American History Museum, only to learn that they are closed for renovations for 2 years. 0 for 3!! We were a little bummed that we weren't able to fully take advantage of the three things that were on our agenda, but we did get LOTS of walking in and enjoyed the memorials and walking by the White House. Needless to say, when we got on the Metro to go home, we were all exhausted!

Then Yesterday we met up with my aunt Marty, since she had invited us to a Gospel Choir concert at a church in DC. It was quite an experience! Talk about some LOUD music, with electric organ and all. The event was supposed to go from 5-7, but it was more like 5:20-8. I think we were the only white people in the congregation, and I must say I felt very "white" watching all the people around us really get in the groove, dancing around and shouting with arms swaying in the air. We did our share of clapping, but I think we definitely stuck out like a sore thumb! :) After the concert we went back to Marty and Art's house and ate a delicious dinner, since we were all starving after three hours of sitting (and standing) through the concert.

Riding the Metro into the City

In front of the WWII Memorial

A Wonderfully Full Day

Yesterday was a nicely full day. I started the day by going to the Tedesco's house, a couple that has a "food ministry" for the Pastors College families. Every Tuesday they have groceries in their garage that are donated by Trader Joe's, and we can take home what we can use for the week. It's kind of hit or miss, but yesterday I came home with a whole bag full of food (most of the stuff is "sell-by" that day, so it's still good, but Trader Joe's just can't sell it.) Then I headed to Wal-Mart to stock up on some household items. From there I headed over to Butler's Orchard, via a beautiful drive through a bright canopy of leaves on a tiny country road. The orchard is not far from us, but it feels very secluded. I was hoping to get some more apples, but it turns out the apple picking season peaked early this year. So I headed for the raspberry bushes instead. I have only gone raspberry picking one other time, and that was 10 years ago (!). I think now I know why they are so expensive in the grocery store! Granted, they were kind of picked over already, so it was hard to find the ripe ones. I did manage to come home with 2 lbs. of raspberries, with only a few scratches on my arms from the thorns. In the afternoon I had a doctor's appointment (baby is growing right on schedule!), and then I came home to try my hand at making raspberry jam. I was delighted to find that it was much easier and less time-consuming than apple butter. The jam turned out great! I popped some bread in the oven so that we could try it out on fresh bread as a bed-time snack. Needless to say, I was a bit tired at the end of the day last night. But it was a nice kind of tiredness. I am greatful for sleep, for knowing that it is a gift from the Lord, to refresh my body for a new day. I think I fell asleep the minute (literally) that my head hit the pillow. And now I'm looking at a new day, eager to see what the Lord has for me today.

Great Falls National Park

This afternoon Nick and I ventured out to Great Falls National Park with some friends from church. It was a perfect day to wander around the trails and see the Falls. There were a lot of people, but Nick and I ventured down onto some rocks away from the crowds. What a wonderful way to spend our Sunday!

24 weeks- 16 to go!

A Rainy Day

I'm sitting in front of the computer, listening to the rain outside and sipping some homemade hot cocoa. Now, if only we had some firewood! :) There's nothing too profound on my mind just now, but I thought it would be a good day for a post. Actually, this morning I was thinking about some of the things I'm most thankful for, so I'll share them here:

Things that make me smile...

• Salvation. Simply put, the greatest gift I could ever receive.
• A godly husband and a marriage that seems to get better and grow every day.
• A great pregnancy- I love everything about being pregnant: looking pregnant, wearing maternity clothes, feeling our little one move all the time. I just love it!
• Thinking about our little baby that I get to love on in just 3 1/2 short months!
• Deeply knit friendships back in Charlotte
• Growing friendships in Gaithersburg
• Apple butter on homemade bread
• Hot cocoa
• Good books to read on a rainy day
• Lovely autumn leaves

...just to name a few. May the Lord bring joy to your heart today!