This past week/weekend we moved into the manse next door to the church which I've been serving at for the past year or so. It's a 4 bedroom (we've actually made it 5) place, which means a lot more room than we had at the apartment. We'll miss the pool at the apartment complex, but the kids love the extra space both inside and out. We still have a lot of boxes to unpack and there is still a few odds and ends we need to bring over from the apartment, but we're pretty much set at this point. Several families from our church have been and will be providing us meals for a few days and that has been a big help. My in-laws have been here for a couple weeks and have really made this move easy for us and have been a tremendous help. We're looking forward to spending the next two years (at least) here with room for our growing family.
Yes, I said growing family. We found out a little while ago that we are expecting another little Vagabond in December. This came as a bit of a surprise to say the least, but after two days of pure shock, my bride and I are really excited for this new addition to our family. Children a such a blessing and we can't wait to meet our newest member! People keep asking us if we know what causes this, and my reply is always that I know it has something to do with a stork!
This pregnancy has caused us some concern however. Routine (or not so routine - we're not sure) blood work revealed that my bride has a hypo-thyroid condition that is likely Hashimoto's disease. This explains a lot of the otherwise benign symptoms she has been experiencing, and the condition is usually treated successfully with medication. If it weren't for the pregnancy, this condition would have likely gone undiagnosed for some time. We'll keep an eye on this, but hopefully the medication will do the job.
On the academic front, I am halfway through summer Hebrew. Last year, my brain nearly exploded during summer Greek. My first thought was that Hebrew would be much harder than Greek, but it seems so far that the opposite is true. I don't whether the language is actually easier to learn, or if already having been through Greek makes learning another language easier through similar knowledge transfer. Either way, its still a lot of work, but it does seem to be manageable for now.
In a month we'll be heading back east to spend some time with friends and family and have our (then) 10 month old little girl baptized. We are looking forward to the trip immensely! It will be so good to catch up with folks in person rather than through e-mail/Facebook/phone calls. There is something to be said for a real handshake/hug that technology can't duplicate. We so appreciate our friends and family that have been praying and supporting over this past year plus. We only wish that we could spend more time there, but unfortunately we'll have to cram as much as we can into the few days that are available for us to visit. It's going to be an extremely busy week, but I know it will be rejuvenating at the same time.
Needless to say, the Lord has been teaching me a valuable lesson over the past few weeks. And that lesson is this: my concept of God and His control over His plan for our lives is simply not big enough. A year ago, I thought that having a third child while trying to make it through seminary would just be too much. Too much strain on time and finances. But the Lord has faithfully provided exceedingly more than I could have thought possible. Who would have believed that a family like mine could have survived for over a year with me working part-time for a church and my bride working part-time for a retail store? I didn't believe it, but yet somehow in the Lord's providence we're making it. The journey is not over, but the Lord has proven his faithfulness again and again. This entire Venture is beyond logic and rational thinking. But God is bigger than logic and rational thinking. God chooses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27) ... consider me exhibit A that proves that statement true. To make the point, this past week, I was notified that I will be receiving a very nice grant/scholarship that is renewable each year while I'm a student. This grant combined with the financial aid I'm already receiving means that I will NOT have to pay anything toward my tuition out of my own pocket - Praise the Lord! My brain keeps telling me that this Venture is crazy; it's nuts; it doesn't make any sense. But my Lord keeps telling me that I'm right where he wants me to be, and that is enough.
Are you where the Lord wants you to be? Have you asked Him lately?
