Ministry

Dustin and I have been together for almost 14 years. We dated a year, were engaged for a year and we will celebrate 12 years of marriage this June! Crazy to think it has been that long, but I can't remember him not being a part of my life, which I love!!

Literally, 2 seconds after we were married, someone in our church "volunteered" (HA!) us to start leading the youth group! I'm pretty sure we found this out (randomly) the first Sunday we were back from our honeymoon! So, Dustin and I became "youth leaders."

Some years later, Dustin was offerred a paid position as youth pastor for a little church. We thought (to ourselves) that we would give it 3 months, reevaluate and go from there. Within a month (probably not quite!) the pastor that was part of the group of elders that hired him, QUIT! Yes, QUIT! We got a call, late one Saturday night from one of the elders and he told us that the pastor was resigning the next day! WHAT??!! We weren't sure what was going to happen at that point, but we stayed at the church and ministered there for the next 5 years and were very blessed to be apart of that church!

After those 5 years, the church went in a different direction that no longer suited our family. At this point we had a sweet, little baby boy....LOGAN! Thus began the LONG, and I mean LONG, journey of finding a new church to suit our family.

We visited numerous churches and even revisited churches but we didn't feel a peace about any of them. A couple of years later and another sweet, little baby boy...LUKE, I am happy to say that we have found a church and low and behold Dustin is once again a volunteer youth pastor!

Our new church is VERY family oriented, which I love! There are many different bible studies and ministry opportunities. It is very exciting!

Yesterday, we had our first youth meeting. There were about 10 teens along with Dustin, our boys and I. Dustin wanted Logan and Luke to be there so the teens could meet them and see us as a family! Let me just say that I am not prepared for Jr. High youth! HA! They are good kids, don't get me wrong, but we have been out of the "youth" stage for almost 5 years, so it's going to take a little time to get back into the swing of things!

We are very excited to be in the ministry again and are excited to see where God leads the youth group and our family. If you think of it, please pray for our family and our new ministry and also pray for your church and the ministries there! Who doesn't need prayer, right??!!

Have a blessed week!

Hallelujah!!

HALLELUJAH!!

We've been without our computer for a couple of weeks because of virus' and come to find out a BAD hard drive! UGH! However, NOW WE HAVE IT BACK!!

I have a lot to blog about and will do so when I get more than 3 minutes to do it!

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!!

What Have I Gotten Myself InTo?

When I married my husband almost 12 years ago I was fully aware that his family are "gamers." They LOVE games...cards, board games, etc. Growing up, my family was not really into games of any kind. If two families could be complete opposites in a particular aspect...our's were.


In the beginning, I used to be very timid about playing games. You see, the family really doesn't "take it easy" on the newcomers. For instance, one time while playing cards, I cried! Yes, CRIED! I recall that I thought I had a bad hand and so I tossed my cards in when come to find out, I had a GREAT hand but didn't realize it because I was confused. Well, needless-to-say, I was the butt of the jokes that night and there was such an uproar that I left the table quietly, sat out the next game and cried! HA! I have, however, learned over the years to jab back! I now join in on the teasing of others and can take all of the teasing they dish out at me...without crying...most of the time!


The newest ADDICTION of the family is....Wii Bowling! Dustin's parents purchased a wii system for his sister's family, his brother's family and our family for CHRISTmas. Then the day after CHRISTmas his parents went out and purchased their own wii system so now we ALL have a wii system. Now, since we all have a system we decided to have a family "wii bowling league." When I say league, that is exactly what I mean...hard core!! There are written rules and regulations, team names, jackpots, etc. Dustin and I joined in on the fun of it and even have "team jerseys!"


I will NEVER forget the first night of the "league." We all went to his parent's house (after taking the boys to his brother's house where their parents paid for a babysitter to watch all of the boys!) to play and it was quite tense! The rules were in written form for us all to read. Let me say that they were VERY SPECIFIC! At this point, me, not being quite the "gamer" that they are, wanted to LEAVE! HA! However, after we got past all of the dos and don'ts and all of the tension, we enjoyed a few games of wii bowling!


This league will continue for the next few months and I am sure I will have many a story to tell about my in-laws...the GAMERS!! Seriously, I do love them and are so thankful for them. Let's just say, I hope our boys aren't quite the GAMERS that they are! HA!



**I just had Dustin read this post before I published it and he, of course, wants the boys to be like his family...GAMERS!! Oh my!!**

Give It Another Try

Happy 2010 Everyone!

I have decided to forge ahead and give my old blog another try! I can't make any promises (sound familiar...I'm sure that I've said it before!) but I am going to try and be a better blogger!

Here are a few pictures our my family from the past couple of months! We are looking foward to great things this year and pray the same for you!

One Crazy Summer!

I can't believe that Summer is almost over! Is it really the middle of August already?? Usually the end of Summer isn't such a big deal to me because I am a "Fall girl." However, at the end of this Summer my Logan is starting preschool! Oh, I don't know if I am ready for it, but I have no choice! I just keep telling myself that he will be fine and it's going to be good for him! In all reality, I KNOW that HE will be fine, but I KNOW that I won't! HA!

Another added bonus to this Summer is that Dustin has been home since the end of June. He had surgery in late July and will be home, rehabbing for another couple of weeks! While I didn't want Dustin to have have surgery, I am glad that we were able to spend the Summer together! Especially since this is our last Summer before school starts!! We have obviously stayed around home and haven't gone on a real vacation but we all have enjoyed being with one another!!

My Luke turned 2 a couple of a couple of weeks ago. We decided to have his party at the park. My boy loves sports, especially baseball. Dustin thought it would be fun to have an outdoor party at a park with a baseball diamond for the kids to play on! Sounds great and like a lot of fun...right??!! Well, it would have been great to have the party outdoors but wouldn't you know it...it POURED RAIN ALL DAY THE DAY OF HIS PARTY!!!!!!!!! We made a last minute change in location and had the big birthday party (with lots of people!) at my parent's house! We were a bit crammed but a good time was had by all! Thanks Mom and Dad for "hosting"the party!!

A few short days after Luke turned 2, I celebrated my 33rd birthday! WOW!! I was talking to Dustin and while my age keeps climbing, birthdays aren't like they used to be and I am fine with that. Once you become a mom, it's all about the kids! My main focus is making sure my boys have the time of their lives on their birthdays. My only wish or request for my birthday is to spend it with Dustin and my boys!!

Dustin always does something nice for my birthday and this year was no exception! Friday night, we went to a baseball game and had a great time! Great seats...right there in the action!! I love going to games and being a part of it!! Saturday, I, along with my parents, went and cheered on my 2 cousins who participated in the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk! What an amazing task they took on and completed!! I am so proud of them!!! Then Saturday night, I hung out with some of my friends and ended up talking for 7 hours!! Can you believe that...just talked and snacked!! We had a great time!! Sunday, I got up and relaxed a bit, cleaned the house and then Dustin and I went to some of the closing ceremonies for the Breast Cancer Walk. Then back home to an evening of family and dinner!! I had a great birthday weekend!!

That's about it for now!! We are taking it easy for the next few weeks and then Dustin goes back to work and Logan starts school! I am going to enjoy these next couple of weeks with my guys! I am so truly blessed!!

Hope you enjoyed more pictures from our Summer in this post!! The park pictures were taken by one of our friends! She did an amazing job and I love them!!