A Nice Little Weekend

Even though Tim had a big project due today and had to work on it all weekend, we still managed to have some fun things go on around here!

Friday night we went over to Tim's brother Jeremy's house where his wife Faith cooked us dinner and we got to play with our nephew, Zachary. It was such a fun little visit! They sure are brave to invite our little clan over! Emmy loves being over there and suggested that she would like to have a sleepover with them sometime. I told her to go talk to her Aunt Faith about it. Ha! Ahem...

Tim works on Saturday's, so me and the girls just did our own thing all day. We had a giftcard to Outback, so we met Tim there after he got off of work. It was yummy! He had to go back to Jeremy's that night to finish his project (he had to do it there because Jeremy has a special program on his computer that we don't have), so me and the girls went over to my in-laws house to play with Zachary and visit with my brother-in-laws girlfriend who was in town. We had a great time! I got some of the cutest pictures!

I think this is my favorite picture EVER of them! Addy looks SOO big!

Apparently, Emmy LOVES caterpillars! She wanted to keep it (we didn't) and was very gentle.

Crawling up her shirt!

We let Emmy take her cake out on the back porch. By the time I got out there, look who followed his big cousin to sneak a treat! (Sorry Faith, I had to let her give him another bite so that I could snap a picture! :-} I DID get him to eat most of his dinner before this, though!)

Happy boy!!!

On Sunday we decided to sleep in since Tim didn't get home until around 3AM that morning. It was so nice to have a few hours to do nothing. That night Emmy's little choir sang in church and it was so stinkin' cute! She is a natural.

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend as well! It was so beautiful and warm-just like summer! Thank you, Lord, for the little blessings!

I sure am blessed!

It seems that it is getting harder and harder to have time to post something these days! During the summer I won't be working at Mother's Day Out, so hopefully I will have some more free time!

Where do I even begin?!?!?

First of all, since I posted about our disappointing news a few weeks ago, Tim and I have both felt a lot of peace about the situation. We know that God has a plan for us and that we are in a waiting period. We have had a few more opportunities arise since then, so we are still hoping and praying that God will open some doors! Thank you all who read my blog for your prayers! We knew all along that God had His hand on this even though the outcome wasn't what we wanted. It was just a hard thing to understand.

Our Easter week/weekend was great and very eventful! We had an Easter egg hunt at Mother's Day Out and went to Maryville the Saturday before Easter and had a huge hunt with some of Tim's family their.

The egg hunt at MDO. She didn't realize that the key was to get as many as you could as fast as you can. Every egg she found she would pick up, open it, then throw the egg down if she didn't like the candy in it! lol

Even Addy found an egg!

The Maryville trip was just for the day, so when we got back Emmy and I made some cute little cookies-sugar cookie sandwiches overflowing with white icing rolled in sprinkles. (I felt like we needed to do something special at home since it was almost Easter). They turned out so cute and were delicious! After that, Tim wanted to go door to door around our neighborhood and invite some neighbors to church for Easter Sunday. We have been talking a lot about Jesus dieing on the cross and his resurrection so that Emmy would know that Easter isn't about the Easter bunny and egg hunts. Anyway, I talked Tim into wearing Addy in the Snugly and letting Emmy walk with him while they did that so that I could quick-clean the house. The first door they knocked on a lady answered the door. Emmy said "Happy Easter! Will you come to church with me tomorrow?" The lady replied "Thank you! This has been the biggest blessing all day! I'm new to the area and I just might do that!" They went to several other houses where some similar things happened, but I thought it was so cool to hear about how Emmy is just a little evangelist! We are going to try and make this a habit hoping that as Emmy and Addy get older, they won't have as hard of a time sharing their faith. Why is it so hard to do that?

Making cookies with Mommy

Emmy helping Zachary hunt eggs in Maryville. She noticed during the hunt that he didn't have many, so she started emptying out her basket to share. I was very impressed!

Easter Sunday we of course went to church. I decided to take Emmy in the service with me since it was going to be shorter than usual (They do 4 45 minute services on Easter because of the high attendance). I was so impressed with her! She sat through everything and asked a lot of questions. I don't typically take her into church because she has so much energy, so I am THRILLED that I know now that she can do it! After church we went to my Dad and Vickie's for lunch and did another hunt there! They had some adorable baskets for the girls and really enjoyed seeing them all dolled up. We went home and rested a while that afternoon, then headed to my Grandma's for dinner and fellowship with the some more family.

The girls on Easter Sunday morning

Emmy and her Easter basket

Addy and her basket

The fam on Easter!

My beautiful sister and me on Easter

This past weekend some friends and I had a shower for my best friend Jessica who is getting married in May. Everything was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time! I will definitely be posting about that wedding considering Emmy and I are both in the wedding party! Addy went with me while we set up and just played in her pack-n-play and Emmy went to my Dad and Vickie's house. They took her to the local aquarium, out to eat and to a park that she doesn't get to go to very often! She had a blast, of course and I hear she was a really good girl! Since that day was also my mother-in-law's birthday, we met them for dinner after Tim got off work at a Japanese Steakhouse and then went back to their house to relax. Louise (MIL) and I took Emmy, Addy, and Zachary (my nephew) on a walk in the wagon for the first time all together! It was so cute and so sweet to see how they are getting bigger and are starting to be able to do fun things together! In a way I can't wait until they are all big enough to really play. We have a lot of things to look forward to!

Jess in her toilet paper wedding gown that we made at the shower!

Me and the beautiful bride

Since I've talked a ton about Emmy, let me just tell you about our little Addy. She is crawling on all fours now, pulling up on things to stand, and lets go and holds on with one hand. One of these days she is going to take off! She says "Da Da" to Tim often and says "Ma Ma" when she is whining and really needs me (which is not often at all). Her favorite song it "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". She even puts her little hands together with her fingers touching to try and do the motions. Her thighs have about 3 big rolls which I am so excited about because Emmy was a skinny minny at Addy's age! I am so glad it is getting warm enough to show off those precious legs and tiny toes! She continues to be the sweetest little baby! Her face lights up when people talk to her and she laughs at the drop of a hat. My only complaints are that I wish that she would sleep all through the night and she still doesn't like much baby food except sweet potatoes and green beans, but I guess I have a lot to be thankful for considering those are the only things she does "wrong".

Being a big girl at the mall playground

This was an action shot! They were playing together so sweetly that I just had to snap a photo and they just happened to be matching! Seriously!!! I'm sure this sisterly love won't last long, so I'm going to enjoy it while I can! lol

Ok...I think I've now updated y'all on all the fun things that have gone on in our family the past few weeks! Tomorrow is my birthday, so I think Tim, the girls, and I are going out to eat tonight to Carraba's, one of my favorite restaurants! I sure am blessed, huh? I almost forgot.. could y'all be praying for Tim the next few weeks? The semester is coming to an end so that means he's got of a lot of studying for finals and projects due. Thank you!

Why?

Today, Tim and I got some disappointing news...


Last Thursday, we were so excited to be interviewed by a local church searching for a full-time youth minister. It's a good sized church with a great reputation, so of course, we were thrilled. We knew at the interview that they were looking at 2 other couples. I felt that the interview went great. Tim just has a way of sharing his heart and his love for the Lord is so obvious. I was VERY nervous, but after a few questions, the 5 person search committee and pastor made me feel very comfortable. After the interview, we felt confident. We also felt like the Lord was tugging at our hearts and was going to open some doors and allow us to serve at this church.


Today, Tim got a call from the pastor explaining that they had decided to go with someone else. Tim asked a few questions, got a few answers, and ended genuinely telling him that he was glad that God led them to the person that they were looking for.


I am so disappointed right now.


Tim was called to the ministry several years ago. Within the past 3 years, I also have a strong desire to minister with him. Why would God call us to serve Him and then allow doors to be slammed in our faces? This is the fourth church that we have had a good chance to serve at full-time, but there has always been a reason like "you haven't been to seminary yet" or "you don't have enough experience", etc. He sometimes never hears anything at all from the churches that he has sent his resume to.


Is it wrong for me to ask God why? Is it wrong to be frustrated right now? I strongly believe that God has a plan for us, but it is SO hard to understand Him when things like this keep on happening. Tim and I are so anxious to be serving full-time. Why is it taking so long?


Since I met Tim, he has been one of the most solid Christians I know. Sure, we've all made mistakes, but as far as his walk with the Lord and servants heart, he's always been at the top of my list of spiritual leaders/mentors. I pray that my girls will be like him when they grow up. I want them to seek the Lord like he does and be as humble as he is. I want them to love people and care about people as much as he does. I could go on and on, but basically, I think that churches should be praying that someone like Tim would cross their path.


Why hasn't he gotten the opportunity to serve yet? There are ministers out there serving full-time right now and some of them don't have any of those qualities. Ministry is just their job or their spotlight. That is so disheartening to me, especially in times like this. Why are people like that in such an important and vital position and people like Tim begging to serve and not being given the opportunity?



I just wish that I could understand why.


I've never been this transparent on my blog and this probably won't happen very often. I just wanted to share my heart and be "real" with y'all. Scripture and words of encouragement would be more than appreciated right now!



Also, I know that there are people out there going through stressful, uncertain, and very difficult times. I would never want to whine or complain because I know how blessed I am. I am just trying to understand why we are in this season and why this season is staying so cold. I'm ready for Spring...