Those Crazy Campbells

New Year, No Debt, But Same Old Problems

2010-02-05T09:38:00.001-08:00

Well it has definitely been a long time since I deemed it necessary to blog. Sometimes I don't feel like I have a whole lot of worth to say. Today's really no different, but whether it is of worth or not, I shall spew forth verbiage.

So the income tax return is in. Which means we get to pay off our credit card and medical bill debt. Definitely a good thing. The down side to that is that we will not have much left over for savings or for play. But at least we are starting out the New Year with a clean slate. If only we can keep it that way.

See, here's the deal. Sarah is no longer babysitting for my co-worker as of this month, which is a loss in income of about $400. The debt paid off amounts to a monthly payment of around $100 to $150. So, still a bit of a shortage there.

Why did she quit? Well...see the whole reason Sarah stays home in the first place is to be there for our home, and our family. When she was sitting, it seemed like she had to push back giving our kids the attention they craved for the little one she was watching. This is not what we had in mind.

You know, I realize that a family has to make sacrifices in order to make ends meet sometimes. But I am not willing to sacrifice my children, their security, and well-being, for a few extra dollars per month.

But! Again, we are free of debt. The only "frivolous" expense we have are the cell phones, and that is our only line of communication. We have no cable, no internet. We need to crack down on the "bubble gum" expenses. Other than that, we try very hard to live within our means.

We do have a house payment. But it's like $750 a month. Even if we weren't buying a house, we'd be paying around that much for rent anyway.

So why am I writing? I don't know. Getting it off my chest. Trying to write to exercise those muscle. You know...same old same old.

The truth is...I am a little nervous. But God is working on me...and I know that He provides. He has never failed us. We have never gone without. It will be interesting to see if we can do this without trusting in credit, but solely trusting in Him.

And I think that's why I am writing. For those of you who pray, pray with me, pray for me. Pray that I will trust God and allow Him to do amazing things. Pray that He brings opportunities our way, that He will make this a fruitful year for my job. (There are other reasons to pray this, but that is the subject of another post.)

Will you pray with us, for us? I hope you do! And I will try to be diligent in posting praise.

Guitar Hero

2009-07-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, so our nephew got a ps3 and gave Josh a lot of his ps2 game stuff. One of the things he shared with us was guitar hero. Never knew what the hype was all about. Then on the 4th of July some friends from our small group were having a get together at their house and we played guitar hero. It was SO fun. We were trying to rock out to Beat It. I was a little nervous cause I had never played before, but it was SO fun. So Sunday night Josh and I got out the guitar hero our nephew gave us and have had so much fun playing. I love watching him rock out like a rockstar! Does anyone know if they make a guitar hero game that has songs that would be okay to let kids play? Ours has songs that are okay, but some don't always have the most kid friendly lyrics. We just let the kids practice where it has the music, but no words.

Summer is going by so fast. Both my babies will be in school next year. (Jack reminds me that he is not a baby anymore, that he is a big boy now.) Jack's starting in Pre-K and Bella is going to kindergarten. Jack's teacher is the one Bella had last year and she is amazing. We love her. Bella is a little nervous cause she's not sure what teacher she will be getting. She loves to learn but is affraid she might get the teacher she would hear yelling last year. Any suggestions? She's our first kid and even though she's not a baby or toddler anymore, she's still our first child. So, we've never been through any of this stuff before.

A couple of weeks ago I started babysitting for one of Josh's co-workers. She has a sweet baby boy who is three months old. She really wants to stay home with him. She is hoping that in a year she will be able to. It's a little different adding a baby to the mix, but it has been fun. Bella and Jack love him and are SO good with him and patient when I have to feed him and they have to wait. I am so proud of them.

Josh has vacation coming up at work that he is very ready for. I'm thankful for him to have some time to rest and sleep in. He works hard and takes good care of us. I am thankful that he wants me to stay home with our kids even though it means him working on Friday and Saturday nights at pizza hut. He gets to bring home stuff sometimes so that is always nice. And he's met some interesting people there too.

Well that's about all for an update. Hopefully I will update again sooner rather than later.

Almost Summer

2009-05-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

So, we survived the swine flu freak out, yeah! Bella's school closed for a week, but they were back at school this week. I can't believe the school year is almost over. I know Bella is looking forward to sleeping in and hanging out in her pj's. Jack already gets to hang out in his pj's. We went outside to play today and when we came back in, he put his pj's right back on.

Josh and I are looking forward to a date night soon. We miss our college girls who came to babysit. Ya'll were amazing and loved! Bella still remembers her sweet babysitters and asks why they can't come over anymore. It is so weird living in a small town, not a college town. We got to have a date night not too long ago. Our church hosted a marriage conference. It was really good. It talked a lot about the different ways that men communicate vs. the different ways women communicate. We had a really good time and learned a lot.

This summer I'm gonna start babysitting. I'm a little nervous, it will be for an infant. He is a cutie! We got to hang out with him a little the other day. Bella and Jack are excited. Bella wants to read to him and Jack wants to play toys with him. I hope it goes well. I'm more nervous about watching him when he is a toddler, that being such a training time. If anyone has any advice it would be welcomed.

Well that's about all for right now. I really need to try and get some updated pictures on here. We just got Bella's school pictures and soccer pictures, too cute. Jack loves to have his picture taken too. Josh, not so much. Me, not so much, but I think we have some recent ones of us too. Take care all!

Time Flies

2009-03-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

Wow! I really haven't blogged in a long time. Things have gone so fast this year! Bella started Pre-K and has loved it! She loves having her little friends and her teacher is amazing. She has learned so much too. She get started soccer and gets to see some of her friends from her class there too. She is a little nervous, but she does a really good job. Bella got her ears pierced about a month ago and was so brave. She didn't even cry. We are so proud of her.

Jack just turned 4 this week. My little baby boy is growing so fast! He loves to play outside and has help me get a garden started. He loves to play with his superheros. He just got a lightsaber for his birthday and has enjoyed playing with that. He loves to sit and read books and is a little cuddle bug.

Josh and I are doing pretty well too. :)

Well, I would write more but the library is about to close.
Sarah

What I am Doing this Sunday

2009-02-14T10:55:00.001-08:00

Blogging At Last!

2008-05-27T16:55:00.001-07:00

I have a little time at the library by myself, so I get to blog, very exciting! Josh told me he posted about June 8. I am very excited! It really has been a long time coming. When I was younger, I "got saved" cause I didn't want to go to hell. Or at least I thought I got saved. Good reason, but my life didn't really change. I wanted to live how I wanted to live and used the Bible when it was convinent for me, like in proving a point. Anyway, when I got to college the Lord put people in my life who were really living for Christ, who had a relationship with him. He also took some people out of my life. And during that time I was really able to meet with the Lord and get in His word. One night some people from small group were going to a concert, (I actually almost didn't go). Anyway, there was some great music there and then they had a speaker. The speaker was sharing about Christ and about sin and about how sin, my sin, put Him on that cross. I think for the first time I really got that, or as much as anyone can comprehend what Christ did. I remember being broken and crying and just asking for forgiveness. I believe in my heart that that is when I asked Christ into my heart. Things in my life that had once been a struggle started to not be. Not that I was perfect, but I was and am forgiven. I had tried to change things and they never did until after that night. I got into the word and enjoyed it so much and just wanted to spend time with the Lord.

So, baptism. I had always thought I was saved when I was younger, but after writing our testimonies in a small group, I really don't think so. But I had been baptized when I was younger and since I thought I had been saved when I was younger I didn't think I needed to.

I struggled with if I was saved and baptized when I was younger, than I didn't need to again. But, after really looking at my life, I didn't come into a relationship with Christ until that night in college. So, on June 8th, I get to show a picture of what happened in my heart those many years ago. I know that baptism doesn't save you. It's a relationship with Christ and faith in Him for salvation. It will be nice to just be obiedient.

I hope that everyone in blog land is well. We miss you guys so much. We are starting to make some friends and meet people, which is nice. We love our home and are thankful for how close we are to Josh's work. It has been a little bit of a culture shock. I grew up in Ft.Worth/Arlington, but never really considered myself to be a city girl. I guess there is more city in my than I thought. We love our small little town though. The schools here are really good. And, it has been so good to be close to our family. We have really enjoyed getting to see more of them.

Well, 'til next time!

Mark Your Calendars

2008-04-21T09:19:00.000-07:00

As of April 06, 2008, the Campbell family has become a part of the Grace Fellowship Church in Paradise, TX family. We took the membership class on that day. After hearing everything the pastor had to say, and realizing how much we agreed with their vision and mission, we knew this was were God has called us to be. When we attended the membership class at Denton Bible, we did not feel the call to be a part of that body.

But let me just tell you...ever since moving up to this area, a little over a year ago, even when I was still staying with Sarah's mom, GFC has been brought to my attention. When I was calling around for lots to put the trailer on, one of the ladies I spoke with mentioned GFC. Two of my co-workers attend there. And the small group pastor came into the branch one day.

I wish I could send you a copy of their class book...just so you all can see how similar they are to LH. It's almost uncanny. And we love it. We are looking forward to finding a place to serve. We already have a small group lined up to attend, in Alvord, no less.

But you know, all this is not why I want you to mark your calendars. On June 8th, in between 6pm and 9pm, Sarah Campbell will be getting baptized at GFC in Paradise. That's right, Sarah's getting dunked!

The course of this has been long in coming. Just know that Sarah has wondered for quite some time when she actually accepted Christ. She was unsure of whether or not she came to Him when she was a kid, or when she was in college. I think she has come to the conclusion that it was in college. So...since that point in time, she has not been obedient to the Lord in baptism, and she's going to rectify that on June 8th. So...I know it's a Sunday. I know summer is a crazy time. But any of you readers out here in blog land would like to come celebrate with us on June 8th...well, we'd love to have you.

You can email me at joshua.david.campbell@citi.com if you want more info.

See ya later!

Monthly Update (heh)

2008-04-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

Howdy gang! Josh here telling how things are going down over here in Campbell-Land.

First of all, I want to apologize for not being able to respond to comments all the time. Again, I can view the blogs and comments from work, but I cannot comment on them. And since our only access to the Net is at the library, obviously time constraints exist.

Anyway...with the church search.We will be taking the membership class at Grace Fellowship this Sunday. They are very similar to LH in many different ways. We'll even have to sign a membership covenant if we decide to join. I met with their small group pastor yesterday during lunch, and I believe our family shares their vision. So...after this weekend, we may know for sure where we will be plugging in. Please continue to pray.

Family updates...

Jack is potty training. As a matter of fact, he went all day Tuesday in undies ('cept for nap time) with NO ACCIDENTS!!! We're excited for him. And I'm excited for us. Once we get him out of diapers...hey, you all know those things aren't cheap. Bella is involved in helping brother go potty. She gets all excited. It's pretty funny...you'd almost think Jack was a puppy the way she carries on. "Do you need to go potty? Do you? Come on, let's go potty!"

Speaking of Bella...she's growing up fast. And she's as funny as ever. She told us the other day that we were "wrecking her brain". I guess we were confusing her or something. But she's doing well. We have our typical four year old moments...and remember, this one is VERY strong willed, but we're making it. Every time she says she hates us and wants a different family, she comes back later and loves on us. Yes...yes...our sweet Bella sounds like a teenager. *sigh*

Sarah is doing well. She'd like it better if the neighbors' animals didn't think our yard and carport wasn't a great place to do their business, but in light of eternity...

We've made some "friends" with the neighbors across the street. One family has a little boy who comes over and jumps with the kiddos. They're nice. And the wife of another couple has asked Sarah to watch their house when they go out of town...so that's cool.

Me? Doing pretty good. Still adjusting to the new role at work, trying to make my quota and all that. But that comes with the territory. It's hard to believe we moved away a year ago this month...well, at least, I did. It's crazy. It seems like forever, and not all that long at the same time.

At any rate, we miss you all. Keep commenting. I love to read them. Sarah says hello and so do the kiddos.

Decisions, Decisions

2008-03-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

We are still hunting for a church home in our area. So far, we've found two that we like. The first one is the church in Decatur called Cornerstone Baptist.

What we like:
-Has AWANA/Cubbies
-Worship is contempary
-People are super friendly

What we are unsure of:
-Teaching. (have yet to attend a morning sermon that was not a guest speaker) However, we have attended a few evening services while Bella was in Cubbies. Last night, in fact, was their Lord's Supper service, which was actually really cool. No message, per se, but spent about 45 minutes in reflective prayer, having stations to go to, including nailing name to the Cross, and prayer candles, before taking the elements.

-No Home Groups. (At least, not like we know it. They do have small groups, but it is currently at the church, and are typically like LH discipleship classes or are sunday school classes.

The other is Grace Fellowship in Paradise.

What We Like:
-Solid Teaching (Sermon series much like LH)
-Home Groups that include children
-Contempary Worship

What We Are Unsure of:
-Worship is almost like a concert. (Or: We miss Aaron's heart for worship)
-30 minute drive
-No AWANA!!!!

Sadly enough, it is the no AWANA that makes it a difficult choice. They don't have an evening service, so technically we could go to Cornerstone for our AWANA needs since we wouldn't be skipping out at Grace.

What we need is prayer, and wisdom. We do not want to be torn between two bodies, you know what I mean?

We would welcome your thoughts.

Thanks, and we love ya'll.

1st Snow

2008-03-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

On Monday of this week, it snowed up here in the Decatur area. Yep. Snowfall in March. And we are forecasted to get more this weekend. How cool is that?

At any rate, it was the kids' first time to see snow, aside from on TV and stuff. They were super excited, Isabella especially. She insisted we take a walk when we bundle up and went outside to check it out. I took some pictures of them catching flakes on their tongues, and standing in some snow that had stuck to the ground. It was very cool...literally!

Unfortunately, it melted the next day and we didn't get enough for the kids to actually play in it, but maybe this weekend we'll be able to do that. However, it still was quite a blessing to watch my daughter gaze out the window at the snow and say repeatedly, "It's so beautiful Daddy."

Jack wasn't as excited. But he still caught some flakes. I don't think the boy likes the cold.

Speaking of the Jackster...we will be having his party the 15th. So...I know it is probably pretty much out of the question, but if any of you Living Hopers want to come, we would love to have you.

You may email me at joshua.david.campbell@citigroup.com if you want/need directions. The time frame is like 5 pm.

Whether or not you can come, we love you. And we hope to see you in June or July. Maybe we can plan a 4th of July get together. We are open to ideas.

New House InCommunicado

2008-02-27T09:31:00.000-08:00

Hey all! Just a quick update to let folks know we have moved in to the new house in Alvord. At this time and point, we have no internet connection at the house. So...if you would like to contact us, you'll have to call our cell phones. If you would like to call us, but don't have our numbers, leave a comment, and we'll call you or email you or something with the number.

At this time and point, we can check email and blog at the library in Decatur. However, since I |(Josh) am the only one with a library card, and since it's sort of hard to surf the web at the library when you have wee ones crawling around, just know Sarah's input and consequently ability to read comments and posts will be limited. In other words, since ya'll love her, call her sometime. She'd like that.

As for how things are going, well...
Any house you buy has kinks to work out. We've had to change the cord on the dryer, saw off the top of a pipe so our washer can drain. We've had to call a plumber once for leaks under sinks, and we've called out a repairman for a leaky/broken garbage disposal, and may be calling one for the dishwasher as well. And we've had one of the closet doors in Jack's room fall off. I think I can fix that, just haven't yet.

Our first week in the house, I was sick with the flu. Isabella has woke up twice now and gotten sick numerous times. She and I are feeling better now.

The dog loves the yard, when he isn't cold. The cat is still adjusting to being cooped up in the laundry room as a opposed to our bathroom.

Jack |LOVES his big boy bed. He has slept in it without trouble since we've moved in, and has done so without a pacifer. I told him weeks before we moved that if he was going to sleep in the car race bed, he'd have to do so with no sucky. He looked up with me with the sparkling blue eyes, and said, |"Okay" So far, the little man has been true to his word.

Isabella, I think, is still not quite used to having a room to herself. She still sneaks out and sleeps in the living room on occassion, but by and large has slept in her room.

The kids love the house. They love running through the house...often times yelling at each other, us, or just to hear themselves scream. Sarah loves the house. She'd love it alot more if the kitchen was working properly, but by and large, she comments every day how much she likes it.

I like the house. I'll like it a lot more when we have energy efficient windows, working kitchen appliances, and various odds and end things I see need to be done. I love only driving a few miles to work, instead of taking almost an hour to get home.

We do not relish the idea of finding a new church...yet again. We'll finish out our Wednesday study group with DBC, but will be finding a new place to worship on Sundays. Thankfully, there is a church in Decatur that has AWANA/Cubbies so that's no sweat. We need to prayerfully consider whether we will just go ahead and be a part of this congregation, since we know we'll be going on Sundays for Bella, or whether God will lead us to a body that has an equally awesome kid program, as well as all of the other things we find agreeable. Or. We just need to be okay with whatever programs the church God leads us to has, and be obedient when He points it out. Pray that He points it out quickly.

And that is that...for the moment. I'm sure I've left something out, but that's what you have for now.

FYI...Jack's birthday is coming up around the bend. We would love for any of you who can to come and join us. More details on the date will be forthcoming. But see if you can set aside the weekend prior to the 17th, or the weekend after. And, I am taking vacation the last week of June and the first week of July. It would be great if we could make plans to come to College Station. So...if one of those two weeks/weekends look good for you to plan with us, please let us know.

Love you all!

More House Pictures

2008-02-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

And now...what you've all...and by "you've all" I mean, you Kathryn... :) have been waiting for...

More Pictures!!!! Yay!!!

This is the front of the house...obviously.

And here is a picture of the back if the house.

And this is our huge backyard.

Here is our living room.

And the kitchen...

Our Dining Room and/or Study Area...

With a cute little breakfast bar attached to the kitchen...

The Hallway!!!

The Kid's and/or Guest Bathroom

Bella's Room...as if you couldn't tell by the color.

Jack's Room, complete with as of yet unassembled big boy Race Car BED!!

Our Room

And our master bathroom!

Hope you've enjoyed the tour. We would love for you to take a live tour. Come visit when you can!

Oh boy, Here we go!

2008-02-07T17:38:00.000-08:00

We have a move date. We will be moving into our new home on Feb. 16th. Yeah! I am getting pretty excited. We have been able to take boxes and other things over there already, but the 16th will be for all our big stuff. I really want to make our new house a home. The Lord is always so good and He has been showing me some stuff about myself and in my life that needs to change. Changing these things will help to make our home a place where the Lord is the boss and then on down. I haven't always been the best wife at not complain about decisions that my sweet husband has made. He is so kind and when making a big decision considers my thoughts and opinions. In that though I sometimes tell him what I think we should do and then, if we don't do it my way, I pout or whatever. Thankfully after reading Heather's blog on submission and with a book that I have been reading, and with verses that have been coming up, the Lord has gotten my attention. When I pout or get all huffy because my husband didn't do things or pick out the things for our home that I would have, that doesn't really help to give him the confidence he needs to lead our home. We have been having to get some things for our new home, like a mattress for Jack's new race car bed, a new fridge, possible newer windows for some of the rooms. Anyway, Josh has been taking such initiative on getting stuff done and picking stuff out. I like to pick things out, I like them to be the things that I have seen and said yes, this is what I want. But, the Lord has been working on my heart and telling me that it's not about me and what I want. I need to be thankful that I have a husband who is stepping out there and making decisions, getting stuff done so we can move in and enjoy our new home. It is awesome to see my husband getting stuff done. He went and ordered the fridge, got the mattresses ordered and is working on the window situation. Why have I wanted to take such control? Why have I wanted it to be my way or no way? I don't know, sin. I want to be the kind of wife whose husband can wake up confident knowing that his wife will stand beside his desicions, big and small. My husband is amazingly caring and loving, and a wonderful daddy to our children. He really tries to be the kind of husband and father that the Lord wants him to be. He is so good to me, may I always be thankful. I want to be the kind of wife and mommy that the Lord wants me to be. Lord, please continue to change and mold my heart to be like Jesus. It's scary to ask, but I know that following Jesus is better than any temporary reward from this earth. Please help me to consider others better than myself, even in traffic and the grocery store.

Okay, that took a little turn. Back to moving. We should have some more pics of the new house up soon. It's a cozy older home in a tiny little town. We have already met our neighbors to our left. People our there are really friendly. Bella and Jack are SOOO excited to get our dog Ace back. He has been living at my sisters house. We aren't aloud to have fences where we are now, and that was hard for him and us. Anyway, we will also get to put our trampoline up outside. I am very excited about that! We can't have those up here where we are now. But we can at our new home.

Well, time to get kids to bed. Hopefully we will get pics up soon.

Woo Hoo!

2008-01-23T13:21:00.000-08:00

Just got a call from the surgeon. The tissue they removed was benign. Yee Haw!!!! All you people, praise the Lord!!!!!

Thought you'd want to know. Thank you for your prayers. More later.

New House

2008-01-22T20:10:00.001-08:00

We closed on the house on Friday, picked up the keys on Monday, and I turned on our utilities today.

Here is the first look for all of you at our new home in Alvord, TX.

Granted, more pictures will be forthcoming. :)

More On Josh

2008-01-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. It's all about me these days. Last you heard, I had a doctor's appointment to reveal the results from the colonoscopy. Well...turns out they got just enough tissue to make them worry. Last Friday, I had some surgery to take out a peace of my colon that had a polyp or nodule that may have been cancerous. We do not know whether or not it was. The whole reason the doctor wanted the surgery done was so they could get more tissue to examine. The good news is that the surgeon felt like after she removed the nodule, the rest of the surrounding tissue looked good, healthy. So that's good. Now, I'm just trying to recover from surgery so I can get myself back to work.

Pray with us as we await the lab results. Know that we aren't worried, that it is in God's hands.

Also, pray for Sarah. She too is beginning a testing process. She'll never admit it, but she's been having pain for a bit to. Hasn't been as bad as mine, or she isn't as big of a baby as I am, but it's gone on long enough. Her doctor thought she had a hernia at first, but a scan ruled that out. She's now being tested for gall bladder related things. So...pray for us. Call us. Check in on us. We miss you guys.

Doctors Doctors and more Doctors

2008-01-04T09:07:00.000-08:00

Wow, I feel like that is all we've been doing lately! Anyway, didn't post to complain but to ask for prayer. Josh went in the day after Christmas and they did a procedure to check out why he has been having so much stomach pain. The doctor did say he found something where they had taken out his appendix like three years ago. Anyway, he goes in Monday afternoon to find out what they found from that. We are a little nervous. We are used to getting calls with the results being they didn't find anything. So having to go in this time is a little scary. I know that no matter what happens here, Josh will be okay. Just a little scary waiting to find out the news of what it might be.
Jack had a dentist appt. today. It went okay. Bella has one on Monday and the cat is going to the vet tomorrow. And then, hopefully we can all not have to go to the doctor for a while.

Also, on a lighter note, we are currently waiting for our loan to go through for our new home. Well, it's not exactly new, but it is new to us and we are excited! We moved our mobile home up here in May and we like our home. We have nice neighbors and a roof over our head. However, we didn't realize how much we would be spending in gas for Josh to drive 45min. to and from work everyday. And his hours here are a little different so there are days when he leaves at 7:45 and then doesn't get home til 7:00. It can make for a long day. So, we started looking for places to live that would be in Decatur and closer to his work. We found a place in a little small town about 10 minutes away. With what we pay here for lot rent and in gas, it will be about the same cost. We are really excited about it! We have a yard, so we will be able to have Ace, (our dog) back. He went to live at my sisters house shortly after we moved here. We aren't allowed fences out here, so it made it kind of hard. Also, the kids will be able to have a trampoline. We have one, but you can't put it up here. So, we are excited.

Well, that's all for now. I have to go get lunch finished. Thank you all for your prayers
In Chirst,
Sarah

Update

2007-12-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

As you can tell, I've figured out how to upload pictures. I can't do anything fancy yet, but when I do...

Okay, let's face it, I'll never give the Hendrick blog a run for it's money. But we will be posting new photos soon...we're a little behind. For more updated photos (don't go right now, because you'll see what I've got here and not much more) go to:

http://myspace.com/joca4christ

Oh, btw, this is Joshua, not Sarah.

That being said...we finally know what was up with me. I've got a colon polyp. (Go to webmd if you want all the lowdown of this.) It's not overly serious. More than likely not cancerous, but the docs doing a biopsy to be on the safe side. Turns out this little booger has been causing all my abdominal pain for the last two years. You know, the thing that no one seemed to be able to diagnose?

Once they finally did the colonoscopy (should have listened to Rusty way back then and insisted on it) they found out what it was. So, once they figure out what it is, and what may have caused it (doc has theories, primarly an improperly done appendectomy) they'll treat it, and I should be gold.

Anyhow, way more going on than that, but I really should be getting to bed. Merry Belated Christmas, and a Happy New Year.

Sensory overload! In the best way!

2007-10-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

Yeah! What an amazing time in College Station! We loved seeing everyone and getting hugs from our brothers and sisters in Christ. We have missed ya'll so much and we have missed getting to see how the Lord is working in and through Living Hope. An amazing body of believers. We love you guys. It was fun to see all the sweet kids and babies who have grown and changed. Crazy. We were so blessed getting to spend time with some of ya'll in your homes and stuff. Man, hope groups are amazing. Those really are the people that you get to know and bond with and no matter how long you have been away, you still are bonded with them. We got to eat lunch at the Carpio's with them and a few others. It is amazing to think we were in a hope group with them that had to "multiply" and it was us, them and one other couple in this new hope group. We didn't know them at all. And now they are so dear to us, even though we have moved away. What a blessing, God is good all the time! Just a little plug for hope groups.
Well, it's getting late. What a wonderful time we had. And what a blessing worship was and hearing the word from Butch. God uses him in a mighty way, what a blessing. Have I said the word blessing enough yet? Blessed, that is what we were this weekend. Thank you guys!

Pictures from IHOP

2007-10-01T21:39:00.001-07:00

These photos are old. I'm in the process of organizing our photos. Since we've bought a digital camera, we've taken lots of pictures, but developed none. And while I don't want to overload the blog with photos, I also want to share pictures of our wonderful family with you all. These pics were taken in September, when we first started house hunting up here. Stopped off at an IHOP to eat...and while we were waiting...

Mom and the kiddos

Daddy and the Wee Ones

Beautiful Bella

Jolly Jack

I promise there are lots more of these. Christmas photos. Halloween pics. Bella's birthday party. So keep checking back. As long as Sarah doesn't freak about me posting pics on her blog, you'll get more. We miss you all. Loved to hear from you. We know we can count on Kathryn. :)

Moving Again?

2007-10-01T17:55:00.000-07:00

Yeah! We are getting to come to visit College Station this weekend! We are all very excited. It was kind of a last minute thing. Josh is off this coming Monday so it was a good weekend to come. I can't wait to get to see all our friends and worship with our church family. Bella is excited to see all her friends. She has been asking a lot if we can go down there and visit. Jack doesn't seem to really know exactly what we're talking about, but he is always glad to get to just hang out and do what the group does. Good for now. Hopefully later in his life the groups he hangs with will be God-honoring ones.

We will get to come down Saturday after Josh gets off of work and we might make it in time for the Saturday service. It will be like a fresh breath seeing everyone again and worshipping with everyone. We finished the membership class at DBC, so we just need to get our paper work in and we'll be ready to plug in. We still have not found a small group. They started beginning of Sept. We need to get plugged in. It's a little different than Living Hope. You have to try to get in touch with the overseer of the small groups and then wait for them to get back in touch with you. They have gotten back in touch with us, we just need to call back and get the info for where to go. Anyway, we need to get it together and get plugged in.

There are a lot of little kids for our children to play with around here. We went to the park they have here and two other families showed up. It was a lot of fun to watch them play together. Bella got a little too dizzy on the tire swing. But they had fun.

We have gotten to spend time with our families more which has been a blessing. We saw my mom this weekend and last week the kids and I got to go hang out with my sister and nephew and our new niece. My sister had her baby about two weeks ago. A little girl. She was born a month early, so she had to stay in the nicu for about a week. But she is home now and doing well. She is the sweetest baby. Bella got to hold her and help feed her, she was so excited. Jack tried to give her toys, it was sweet. Then they played trains with my nephew. It is nice being close to family.

And, I can't believe I have rambled on this long and not mentioned this. We really are the crazy campbell's. We just moved and we may be moving again. Same area, just into a house. The trailer we are in now is a nice home, but it is only two bedrooms. If we had two girls or two boys, we could probably live here forever. But, eventually it will be good for Bella and Jack to have their own rooms. And, I don't know if this home would last as long as a house. It has been a wonderful home for us. And to me it has been a comfort. To move and be in a new area, yet with the comfort of the same surroundings inside. It is actually weird sometimes. I sometimes still feel like we are in CS. And then we go outside and it's like, duh. So, we will be looking for a house either in Decatur or closer my mom's house.

Anyway, I better wrap it up or I could ramble for a while. I think I need to try and blog more, then maybe I wouldn't ramble so long.

What fun in Cubbies!

2007-08-26T18:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Bella's first night in Cubbies at DBC. She had so much fun! She was so excited to get to go to Cubbies tonight. She is already asking about her vest and book and stuff. We keep trying to tell her she has to earn those. She is making new little friends and enjoys our new church very much.

I have to be honest though, it was bittersweet for me. I cried, and I don't usually cry. I was missing all our church family in College Station. I was thinking how I always pictured her being in Cubbies and having amazing teachers like Mr. Ken and Mrs Cindi, and Kathryn and Kaylene and Mr. Jose and all the wonderful people who faithfully serve in that ministry. I always pictured her being in Cubbies with the sweet kids who she had been in the same class with since they were born. I know that is selfish, but I miss everyone there.

We are meeting new people and are developing relationships with our neighbors which is good, but it is different then the fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Some of our neighbors are believers, so that is nice. But I miss the bonds you have when you have served with others and when you are in a hope group together. We will get to take a membership class in a couple weeks, and then get to plug into service after that. And we are looking forward to their smalls groups starting soon, that will be nice. They try and have you in a small group close to your home. I think that way you really get to know the people closest around you. And some have had different ministry opportunities in their neighborhoods. So, that will be soon and I am so ready. A little scared about meeting new people and developing new relationships.

Excited too, but I miss our friends in College Station.

Our neighbor came over to look at our tv and we were all sitting in the living room talking. It reminded me of hope group. Those people in hope group with you are so important in your life and people who you will share with and laugh with and cry with.

I know that I'm rambling, I do miss everyone. But, I know that God is good and being up here has been good. We have gotten to see our families so much more. And just where we are, there are so many opportunities to share Jesus with others. To build relationships and friendships and through that get to share my Savior. One thing the Lord reminded me of tonight was that He is always there for us. Whether we know a lot of people, or whether we are just starting to get to know others around us, Jesus is always their and He is our friend.

On a fun note :) Bella has started dance/gymnastics class. She is having so much fun with that. Those girls look so cute in their little dance outfits. We're going to try it out and see if she likes it and go from there.

Jack is talking so much. He kind of started talking all of the sudden. When we moved he started talking more and more. He is so silly and he loves to laugh. We ask him what is so funny, and his new response is, "me"

Josh got a promotion! He is a personal banker now. He even gets his own office, how cool is that! I'm really proud of him. It just kind of happened. They were down to one personal banker in his branch and he applied and now there are two. He is excited to do something where he can interact with the customers more. I know that I'm his wife and a little bais, but I really do think he will be really good at this. He is very good with customer service and helping out the customer.

Well I guess I have rambled long enough. Hopefully I will be more faithful in getting updates on here. :)

Skateboarding!

2007-07-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

So we were outside this morning and our neighbor and his friend came out to skateboard. They are such sweet boys. They are like 12 and 13. Anyway, they are always nice to Bella and Jack. They brought out a little Mickey Mouse skateboard for her to borrow. Bella loved it! She didn't do too bad for a 3 year old. Finally she sat down and just started riding it. She would jump off and pretend she was doing tricks like the older boys were doing. It was so fun to watch. Jack mostly played with the rocks and dirt. But he did like the Mickey Mouse and got excited when he saw that. The boys were talking to each other and saying, "Hey, if she becomes a famous skateboarder we can say that we taught her." It was so fun!

Fellowship and Crafts

2007-07-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

Today we had a nice relaxing day. We went to church in the morning. It was really good. They are going through the book of Romans and we're in chapter 12. Today we were talking about the church and the different members and each member is important and has a place they are needed. Not just needed, a specific function and gift that they get to be a part of the body with. The teaching is really good. In two weeks they have a membership class, so we will look forward to going and checking it out. I so want to plug in with other believers. When he was talking about believer's each coming together with their own gift and serving, it made me think of Living Hope. What a beautiful picture of people using what the Lord has given them and serving to reach others for Christ.

We have seen here the many ways you can let the Lord use you in your own neighborhood. It has been awesome to get to know our neighbors and spend time getting to know them better. But there is something about serving along side other believers that I miss. I guess it takes time to build relationships. Once they start the community groups (hope groups) again we'll get to meet some new people and get to join in the awesome stuff that happens in a small group again. I can't wait!!!! We have so many sweet friends we miss and miss getting to share our lives closely with. I'm excited about the new friends we'll get to meet here though.

Okay, so yesterday I got to go to Micheal's all by myself. Micheal's is like a hobby lobby. Very big, many crafty things to do. I love doing crafty things. I don't do them as much as I used to, but it is so fun for me. I went in there to look for stuff for a door hanger for my mother-in-law. She saw our welcome sign on our door when they were here and said she liked it and wouldn't mind having one like it. That was a nice compliment. So here I go to Micheal's with a purpose of creating a door hanger. It was so much fun! Overwhelming, but fun. I stood there and was like where do I even start. Thankfully what I needed was not far from the entrance. I thought about calling Josh and telling him I was lost in the store and needed help to get out. They had so many fun things, and inexpensive stuff. A lot of their kid's crafts were on sale. It was very hard to get out of that store. I saw scrapbooking stuff, fun things for my sister's baby shower coming up, plenty of fun things for the welcome sign. It was a nice trip to a fun store. I got to come home and once the kids were in bed and things were settled, I got to work on the welcome sign. It was nice. And it didn't turn out too bad.

I love living in a neighborhood where you get to meet and know your neighbors. We spent some time outside this evening and it is was nice. I'm finding my neighbor across the street and I have a lot of interests in common. We will hopefully start walking together soon. Not that I really like exercise or anything, but it is much easier to be committed to it with someone else. Then there is a little girl down the street who comes to visit her grandparents and she always wants to play with Bella and Jack. Also there is a boy across the street who has been coming over to play, he doesn't speak English. Guess we need to start learning Spanish.

Well, my husband is almost finished with his new Harry Potter book. I haven't ever read them, but I would like to know what happens to Harry Potter. Does he live or die? That seems to be the big question. So, I guess I'll go find out.

It's been a while

2007-07-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

So, we've had the internet now for almost a month and this is my first post. Pretty sad I know. My husband was right in his post. I was kind of afraid of just complaing about all the many adventures we have had since we moved here. See, now they are adventures, not all the things that have gone wrong. Thankfully the mice are gone. Except the many that live out in the woods right next to our lot. Our hot water heater got fixed, which we totally saw the Lord's hand in. Our neighbor, another believer, helped Josh fix it for free! That's a lot cheaper than the $800 labor charges from other plumbers.

We like the church we have been going to and are looking forward to plugging in. They have a membership class, but the next one is not until August. I miss Living Hope like crazy. Let me just say worship at Living Hope is amazing and so beautiful! The worship at our new church is different, but the Lord is teaching me a large part of worship is where your heart is. The first Sunday that we were there they were sitting down and singing the songs on the screen. (That doesn't happen every Sunday.) I was like what is up with this! How in the world are you supposed to get into worship like this? Aren't we supposed to be standing at least? During my time of grumbling and complaining about not standing up to worship the Lord quitely spoke to my heart and said, "You can worship me whether you are sitting or standing. But right now your attitude does not reflect worship at all." That was pretty humbling. But it helped me to see all the other amazing things about this church and not get hung up on one little thing. The next Sunday they had everyone stand and worship :)

I am so longing to get plugged in with other believers. Their community groups start up in the fall and I'm excited about that. And Bella will get to go to AWANA in the fall. I am super exited about that. It's funny, I always looked forward to her getting to go to AWANA, but with the awesome Mr. Ken and Mrs Cindy and all her little friends from the nursery. Will there really be people as amazing as them loving on our three year old? I know there will be, but we'll miss ya'll.

Today was my first time to babysit some kids down the street. It was a little rough. The baby is only a year old and has never been with anyone except his mom and dad. So, he cried most of the time, except for when he finally fell asleep. I felt so helpless. There is another three year old boy and a five year old. Oh, and they don't speak English. Their mom rarely speaks to them in English, but the oldest boy can understand it. So, that made things interesting. I really wish I would have taken that Spanish class when it was offered. You never know when the Lord might have you use it. I will be watching them for about a month to two months til they can put them in child care. I am so nervous and am not sure I can do it everyday. I prayed a lot thoughout the day. The kids were really pretty good together for the most part. Maybe after a while the baby will get adjusted. I've never done this, so I'm not really sure what is normal and what to do. I would welcome any suggestions. I want to be able to help this family, but at the same time I don't know if I could do this everyday. I know that the Lord could stretch me and grow me through this. Maybe that's what He might be doing. In light of eternity, what is a couple of months. And, I'm not sure if they are believers or not, so it would be cool to get to share Jesus with them. The oldest boy is so sweet and helpful, and funny. Him and Bella get along pretty well. I told them earlier when they were playing with playdough they were being silly, silly, silly. The next thing the little boy says is silly, silly, silly. Then, Bella started calling me what they call me. It's a name in Spanish that their mom said means Mrs. It was pretty funny. Oh, I found out part of the reason the baby was so fussy is that he is majorly teething. So I guess after a while it will get better. But for now we all get to learn a new language. It is insane how fast kids pick up new languages.

It has been nice to be closer to our families. We have gotten to see them a whole lot more.
Well, now that I have written a book, I better go do something else. Hopefully, I'll blog again soon and it won't be quite so long.

My Daughter, The Evangelist

2007-07-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

So we were playing down the street with the neighbors grandkids the other day. Isabella was jumping on the trampoline with them, being uncharacteristically quiet, when all of the sudden, this happened:

Isabella: Sit down everyone. I have to tell you a story.

(Amazingly enough, every kid on the trampoline sat down and gave her their full attention. She stood in front of them, poking her toe on the trampoline, and lookind down demurely. Then, she looked up at them and said:)

"Jesus died on the cross. And He wants to live in your heart."

She got really quiet, smiled, shrugged, and went back to jumping. The rest of the kids got up and started playing as well. It was like nothing happened.

I heard the other kids dad say something behind me to his dad. I turned around and said, "What was that?"

He looked me full in the eyes and replied, "My kids can come play with your kids anytime."

As if I wasn't proud enough...

You know, despite everything else that seems to be going on right now...at least that much is right.

Life As We Know It

2007-06-20T19:34:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since we lasted updated this blog. So sorry. I keep trying to get Sarah to do it, but I think she is concerned she'll ramble on and on. She's also afraid she'll complain some about the things that have been happening here. So I'll just post what's been going on so she won't have to worry about it seeming like complaining when she talks about it. She'll just be elaborating on what her husband already has said. :)

Things have been a little on the crazy side here. As some of you know, we just recently got a home phone here...like last week. We've had service from Verizon for over a month, but we weren't hooked up from the outside of the trailer to the inside. It wasn't something I knew or was comfortable with figuring out. Verizon said that they didn't do that part...it was a liability or something. And the guy in our park would said he'd come do it for cheap was having some stuff going on with his dad, and the park had given him a lot of work he was behind on. But! The nice people from Charter have come out, and now we have phone, Internet, and cable all for just a few dollars more than what we were paying for phone and internet. Way better deal, if you ask me.

We've also had a rodent problem. Since we haven't been able to get skirting up yet, we've had little field mice getting in. Fortunately, they haven't been in our food, just our utility closet and our bedroom closets. We cleaned our out closets, laid some traps, caught a few of the buggers, and haven't seen any in awhile. So that's good.

Oh yeah...and our hot water heater is leaking. Not bad, slowly. We still have plenty of hot water, but the tank is definitely leaking somehow. We've had this going on for a few weeks now. We tried to call a repairman. They wanted to charge quite a bit more than we could afford. We tried going through Sears since we have a card. (I know, I know...Credit BAD.) However, once we ordered it and had the people come and fix it, they said they couldn't fix it (mobile vs. residental plumbing or something like that.) We've looked at buying a mobile home water heater, and me trying to install it myself. Thing is...they aren't cheap. They are actually more expensive than regular ones.

Cut to the good news. Sarah ran into a guy in our park who used to do maintenance work, and said he'd do it for less than the other guys. On my way down to talk to him, I ran into our neighbor at the end of the street. Just making conversation, I told him what I was doing, where I was going. He told me that he also has done maintenance on mobile homes, and could probably help me change it out. Oh...like, for free. You know, 'cause he's a believer and isn't that what believers are supposed to do??? Innit that cool?!? So he's coming over tomorrow, (I bought the one from Sears...I know, I know...credit still bad...) and he says we can do it.

Other good news. I will be getting the promotion...barring that I don't fail my health and life insurance licensing test. You know why that's so cool? Because I'll get an increase in pay, and monthly, quarterly, and yearly bonus....enough so that if I work hard enough I could double my base salary. The extra base monthly raise will pay for my commuting cost of driving from Denton to Decatur every day. The extra bonuses will help us pay off the loan we had to take out in moving up here.

See, I know that credit is bad. I think we might have been impatient and not waiting on the Lord about the move up here. But I do not doubt that it is His plan that we are here. Need more proof?

Sarah met a lady in the park who has little kids that she has befriended and been able to minister to.

My brother-in-law has decided to recommit his life to the Lord and stop drinking. He told me this after we had a conversation about how the Lord had changed my life.

He said, "Didn't you say you used to drink?"

I said, "Yep. Alot."

He asked, "How did you stop?"

I gave him the only answer I could. "Jesus, man. It was totally Jesus."

And we talked for awhile, then he took me inside, told his wife he had decided to stop drinking and he wanted us to help him. As far as I know, from that point, about two weeks ago, he hasn't
had a drink.

So God is good. And that's life as we know it.

Denton, TX...Home Sweet Home

2007-05-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Howdy all! Josh speaking here. I just wanted to give a quick update on our living situation, and since no one seems to read my blog :( I'll post it here. Don't worry, soon Sarah will be able to post from the comfort of our own room...next Monday, hopefully. Anyway, this is the haps:

The company moved our trailer out of College Station officially on Tuesday. (The took it out of our old lot on Monday, but parked it since it was such a long haul up there.) Tuesday night, we unloaded some of the U-Haul, and unloaded the rest on Wednesday morning. We drove to Sherman to drop it off. (Some sort of rate deal, don't ask why Sherman, I don't know.) We've spent the last few days hanging out at Sue's (Sarah's mom) waiting for water and electricity.

As of Friday, we had water. As of Tuesday, we had juice. We found out we had electricity yesterday when I went up and flipped some switches. So, we spent last night in our old home, new location. I can't speak for Sarah, but I love it! It's a beautiful lot. As soon as we figure out how to take the pictures and post them here, you'll all get to see it.
The kids are excited. Our new lot is double the size of our old one. Lots of room for the kiddos to play. And Bella especially is excited to finally be at her home again, sleeping in her own room. She's been asking all week when we get to go home.

We still have a lot to do. Gotta build a porch, set up skirting, put up some blinds, and unpack, unpack, unpack. It may be a bit until we are completely settled...but at least we are now well on our way.

Some other news: I may be getting a promotion. There is a position called Personal Banker (basically new accounts with added responsibilities) that just opened up in Decatur. I've already had an interview with the FCM (financial center manager) and the Sales Integration guy. I still have to be interview by the Area Manager, and if he green lights me, I have to take tests to get licensed in Investments and Insurance. Once that happens, I'll begin training for the new position. So be praying for this. If I get the job, (and I feel that I will) it will definitely be an answer to prayer. In order to move, we had to take out a loan. The lot that we moved to is $80 more a month. Our budget for vehicular gas will double as I have to commute 45 min each way to work. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have to take a second job to pay the bills. But if I get this position, the base salary is more than I make now, and with the product and service things that a part of it, I get commission on, which has the potential of doubling my salary if I do well and push hard.

The cool thing is, I would have never gotten a position like this at my branch in CS. I've applied for a position a couple of times, and never heard back. This one, I'm practically being ushered into with my new managers really excited about me doing the job. It's awesome!

Anyway, rambled enough...more as things progress.

Monday, Monday

2007-05-03T18:19:00.000-07:00

Crazy! We are moving our trailer on Monday. Things are happening pretty fast. I have a few things left to pack. We will have to move stuff out of our trailer and onto a U-haul on Saturday and Sunday. Josh has to work on Saturday and will be down here as soon as he finishes.

I feel like I'm in college again and I have a major exam in like two days that I have to hurry and study for. I don't really like that feeling. I thought that was gone when you finished college. Or it could just be the old a.k.a. Worry! Sin, not good. I need to just trust the Lord that He will help me relax and get stuff done.

Thankfully our children will be with Rachel tomorrow. She is SO awesome with children. She is totally amazing and the Lord has definitely gifted her. Bella and Jack always have fun when they are there.

Really there isn't much left to pack. Our walls are bare and look really weird that way. I'm pretty much just waiting for my sweet husband to get here and pick up the U-haul.

I'm gonna miss everyone here. Are there really people as cool as the people here up there? This is the part that I have been avoiding since I really didn't know exactly when we would be leaving. And now it is here. God is so good in His timing though. My sweet mentee is leaving out of town tomorrow so she is going to miss the last class. And we are leaving Monday, so we are leaving at the same time. We would have still meet over the phone, but it's cool how it is all in the same week. Being a mentor is such a refreshing and convicting time. As a wife you are already doing the things these girls are learning about. It is always a wonderful reminder as to what I am supposed to be doing. It is an awesome time for you to be refined as well.

Anyway, I am very sleepy now so I better stop writing before I don't make any sense.

Our Mobile Home

2007-05-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

Yeah! We will all be back in the same home soon. Like hopefully next week soon. Josh has been looking at land, mobile home parks, ect. And finally we have a place to move our home. Yeah! He has been contacting some mobile home movers and is waiting to hear back. To find out a day for next week. I am so stinking excited! The mobile home park is actually in Denton, so he will have about a 30 min drive to work. Not too bad. The park is nice and it has recently been taken over by new management. They have a playground, but I think they will be updating it. And adding a pool. The lot that we will have is in the back of the park, so the street is really not busy. The babies can ride their bikes and there won't be many cars to deal with. So that will be nice. I'm excited to get to know our new neighbors, but a little nervous too. We have some awesome neighbors now and I'll be sad to leave them. But, we will all be in the same home again, and that is good. I am thankful that my mom has opened her home to Josh so he could stay there and work while looking for a place for us. She's really cool.

So weird, we are moving from one college town to another. What's up with that. It's gonna be weird to live that close to the big city again. I drive on the highways up there now and think, how in the world did I drive on these insane roads when I was a teenager? Scary.

It will be nice to be close to family. My sister and I got to spend some time together this weekend and that was fun. They have my nephew who is two weeks younger than Bella. So the kids have fun playing together.

Oh and they have super tagrets up there. Super walmart is one thing, I love the prices there. But a super target, I wonder if their dollar spot is a super dollar spot?

Anyway, this is what we know so far. So, next week could be our last week in College Station. I will miss our sweet friends, who are more like family. I will miss being involved in their lives, and them in ours. But, I know this is not the end and we will get to see them again someday.

More down low on moving

2007-04-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

Is that term outdated yet? Knowing me and my way behind style it probably is. This will be one benefit to living closer to my 16 year old nephew and my 15 year old sister. You can always learn the "in" talk from them.

So, the down low. We are still trying to see what we are supposed to do with our trailer. We will probably be moving it up there. It will cost a lot more upfront, but it will save us money in the long run. It will also allow us to save for a house. So, as of today, we are looking at moving our trailer. However, that could change tomorrow.

I can see how the Lord is working and trying to teach us through this situation. I know that He already has everything planned out, even though we can't see it, He can. We just have to wait, to be patient, and to be still. I feel like how my children must feel when I ask them to be still. They can do it for about five seconds or so and then they are off again. It also makes me think of when I tell them no, or wait, because I can see the car up ahead or whatever it is. I feel like He is saying wait, be patient, I have things worked out and they will happen in my time. No easy task. I keep trying to remember when I tell my babies no, or wait, and that helps to keep me focused. Most of the time. I am excited to see what He has in store for us. I know that it will work out.

I'm missing my sweet husband too. I thought, no problem, it will be fine, we will still get to talk to each other on the phone. That is much different than getting to sit together at the end of the day and just hang out. I thought I would have no problem falling asleep at night. I've been taking care of our children and stuff so I should have no problem hitting the pillow and crashing out. Usually, no problem. But it is weird without my husband. So ladies, hug your sweet husbands tonight and enjoy their company.

One cool thing that the Lord showed me I missed was serving my husband. He gave me a new perspective on that. Usually, I have to iron Josh's clothes for work. Most of the time I'm not thinking, "I'm so glad that I get to serve my husband." It is usually "How fast can I get this done and still have it look nice." Same with the laundry and making his lunch, or even dinner, whatever. But even before Josh came home for the weekend, the Lord was working. I had read the section in the Her Hands book about wise women love their husbands. It was sooo good. It was awesome to read the scripture about Bathsheba and her actions toward David. Just the way she spoke to him and honored him. It could have easily been a time where the wife says something like "Hello, what are you thinking?" "Why is this happening?" But she came to him in a way that honored him and showed respect for him. It was very encouraging! I want to obey the Lord and serve Him by respecting and serving my husband. I want to be thankful when I respect and serve my husband. I pray that the Lord will continue to change me, my heart and my attitudes. Put off, put on. The Lord helped me to be thankful to be helper to my husband however that may be. I was thankful to have him home. It was awesome and fun.
Sarah

I like to toot it, toot it!

2007-04-05T19:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so here is the down low about our moving situation. Josh started his job at the Citibank in Decatur on Monday. He really likes it and says that he likes the people he works with. He says there is also a really pretty view of the hills and stuff from where he works. That may not mean a lot to some people, but to him it is definitely a big deal. He loves the trees and the scenery in College Station and he was a little nervous he might not like it up there as much. But, he does so that is good.
So, Josh is staying at my mom's house and driving about 45min. to and from work. We are thankful that he has a place to stay. While he is up there he has been looking for a place for us to live. So, the other part of our family is still here. We are just waiting for Josh to say that he found a place and come on. He does get to come home this weekend so that will be VERY exciting!!! I have missed him and I know that his sweet babies have too.
As of today, that is what's going on with our family. We are excited to see what the Lord has up there. Josh went to a life group last night, kind of like our hope groups here. He said it was awesome, so when he is up there on a Sunday he will probably be checking out that church. This has all happened SO fast. It was only a little over a month ago that Josh applied for the job in Decatur. And it was only about three weeks ago that they called and asked when he could start. Crazy!!!! But exciting. The Lord has shown us another way to trust Him and have faith in Him and His plans. Scary, but exciting!
I hope all of this makes sense.

One of the fun things that happened today was during bath time. We were singing the song from the Madagascar movie about I like to move it, move it. Anyway, one of my sweet babies tooted. And Bella decided to change what we were singing to "I like to toot it, toot it" I thought that was so funny!!!! It was one of those moments when I was like, shouldn't I tell here not to sing about toot it, toot it. But it was sooo funny!

Sarah

Sad Moving Train

2007-03-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago we went to Oklahoma City to visit Josh's mom and stepdad. It was nice to get to visit them. The babies have so much fun with them and Jack loves his Papa. But, we only get to see them a couple of times a year or so. On the way back home Josh and I were talking about how it would be nice to be closer to our families. Currently we are 6 hours from OK City, 3 hours from Ft. Worth, and about 8-9 hours from Pampa. We do get to see my family much more often then Josh's, but it would still be nice to live closer. My sister is going to have her second child and it would be nice to be close enough to help her with my nephew. So for fun we were like, what's the first big town we come to when we get back into Texas. It was Gainsville. So, when we got back Josh called the Citibank up there to see if they had any jobs open. They said no, but Decatur does. So he got in touch with them and they told him to keep checking to see when they post the job.

Well, yesterday Josh called me and said I have a job up there if I want it. So, he starts on April 2. Crazy fast!!! I am excited to be closer to our families, but so sad about leaving our family here. We love our church family so much and love serving with them. They are an amazing group of believers and I have learned so much. If I think about this part of leaving too much I may get cold feet about moving. We have been praying for some time for an opportunity to live closer to our families. We asked the Lord to open or close doors. Josh had applied at a Citibank in Ft. Worth and in Amarillo a while ago, but didn't get transferred.

So, I am trusting the Lord with this. I know that He will work out the details of where we are supposed to live. Do we take our trailer or leave it here? Where will we put it? Ect, Ect, Ect...... I want to just have faith and I know that God will take care of us. He always does and he has the DVD to our lives. I know that He has already seen this part of our lives, I just have to trust Him.

I love our home here. I love our neighbors, I love the pretty flowers in the flowerbed, I love our church family, I love our friends here, I love our hope group, I love the sweet college students we have gotten to know. I love the Dollar Spot and the library. Hopefully they have a target fairly close by. I love Fridays with other moms and their children. I really love our church family. How are we ever going to find a new church? These are the kind of thoughts that get my eyes off trusting the Lord. Today is Wednesday and we usually have hope group on Wednesday. Bella said today, "Our friends coming over?" She loves everyone that comes over for hope group. Recently she has gotten to play with Kaylynn S. and has really enjoyed that. I am so gonna miss everyone. I know the babies will too.

I moved down here in 98' to go to A&M. That was nine years ago. I'll be 27 in June, so that is like a third of my life. So weird, so crazy!

I know it will be good. I think that we will be better able to minister to our family being closer. Josh will be able to develop a better relationship with our brother-in-laws. I am so excited about my sister having a baby! It will be her second child. And itwill be fun for Bella and Jack to play with my nephew much more often. Also, I have a sister who is almost 16, so it will be nice to be closer to her. She's will be getting her license soon, that is a little scary!

We are so blessed to have been a part of such a wonderful, biblical body of believers. We will miss the fellowship, but I know the Lord will provide. Well, I could ramble for a while, but I better get to bed.

I am so thankful for blogs, staying in touch will be much easier. Maybe I can get high-tech and get some pictures on here. Bella thought it was so cool to see a picture of Ashton on the computer one time. : )

The laundry is laughing at me

2007-01-25T18:13:00.000-08:00

Last night was our first hope group for the semester, yeah! It was a lot of fun and the Lord brought some amazing people. God is so good! One thing that he has been trying to teach me with hope group and really with anyone coming over is to relax and enjoy them. In the past I have been so freaked out about making sure that our home was clean and nice for when people came over. I am kind of weird in that I actually like to clean. I like for things to be nice and pretty and clean. I used to clean when I was a kid too, so it has carried with me though the years. Anyway, I was so focused on cleaning and not focused on the wonderful people we were going to get to have in our home. Not only that I was so focused on cleaning I was not paying attention to the two sweet little people in our home. Lately the Lord has really tried to tell me to slow down and enjoy our babies while they are little. What other time in life can you make them laugh with the most simple, silly thing. I remember making a silly face a Jack the other day and he would just laugh like it was the most funniest thing in the whole world. I was thinking, wow, when else will I be able to make him laugh at such a little thing. Hopefully it will always be like that. But, it might not. So, I need to enjoy it, really enjoy that. And it is the same way with people coming over. Who cares if they see our home a mess? In light of eternity what does that matter? I'm not saying I shouldn't be a good steward of the home He has given us, but I need to love people more than caring about what someone will think if they see our home at the end of the day.

God is good and He put me with an amazing husband. His idea of clean and my idea are a little different. But, this is good. My husband would rather our home have toys on the floor, dishes in the sink, and a hideous pile of laundry, as long as the people in our home are not stressed out and grouchy, ie me. For my husband to come home and have a wife who is relaxed and babies who are so excited to see him means more to him than a spotless home. I'm not saying I should never clean up, or anything like that. Not all families and husbands are the same. If the Lord put me with someone who is as insane about cleaning as me, it would not be good. I should praise the Lord for the man I get to be married to and take his word about just relaxing and enjoying each other and those around us. You really get to know others better when you don't try to clean up everything and make things seem to be what they're not.
Well, enough rambling. I think I am going to try and tackle that pile of laundry that is laughing at me while Josh is at rehearsal and the babies are asleep.

Day 2

2007-01-09T17:42:00.000-08:00

I wonder how much I'll actually blog on here. Is it like a new toy and the fun will wear off? This seems to be a really good way to wind down after the babies are put to bed. I want to start working on a scrapbook for Bella. It's a scary thing for me though. I'm one of those people who doesn't like to try new things, (scrapbooking, paint our walls) cause what if it doesn't turn out right? Well duh, then you just fix it. Hopefully I will be able to move on and realize that. The good news is these things don't have to be perfect. I doubt someone would walk into our home and say, "Wow, this color paint and paint job look terrible." It would be funny if they did, but not likely.

Josh and I painted Isabella and Jack's room before we moved in here. It was our first painting job ever. It turned out okay. It's a really pretty lavender color, very calming for in there. However, it was right before we found out we were pregnant again. In fact I think it is possible that I was pregnant when I was painting in there. We didn't know if there baby was a boy or a girl. Guess what, it's a boy. Yes, right now he sleeps in a lavender room. I don't think he knows that right now. We could just paint it again. But then who knows we could end up moving or something. Then what would be the point. See, that is the fear I am talking about. Well, I'm sure that we'll figure out something. Maybe we could draw a line down the middle of the room and half could be cute and girly and the other half could be blue or green or something.

Wow, amazing the way I can ramble on. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention in my last blog, was my amazing husband's anniversary gift for me. Our washer was not breaking and it would cost about half as much the cost of a new washer for someone to come out and fix it. So, Josh was amazing and took care of the whole situation. The day before our anniversay he went down and got a new washer for us, well me. It is very pretty and still has the new washer smell. Did I mention it is pretty. I was so proud of him for taking care of the situation. What a wonderful husband. I am thankful.

Sarah

My first blog!

2007-01-08T17:51:00.000-08:00

Okay, here goes. My first blog. Wow, what do I really have to say, not much, but a lot all at the same time. Josh gets to do some community theater these days. The play is called God's favorite, he is SO excited. I'm excited to get to see him in community theater again. And it's a good play and he doesn't have to compromise his relationship with the Lord to be a part of it. I've had fun getting to run lines with him as he is learning his lines. Maybe someday we can act on stage together, that would be fun. First I would have to get over the fear of forgetting all my lines and messing up everyone else, and the scary being up in front of people thing. It would be fun though, I could express the extorvert that I am somewhere Really Really deep down. I did take a theater class in high school. That was a lot of fun. Met some interesting people.

Do you think people can start out as dog people and then become cat people? And then if you become a cat person can you go back to being a dog person? We have a dog and I would really like to be a dog person again so I can think him getting all happy and jumping around when he comes inside is cute instead of annoying. Anyway, in light of eternity, this really doesn't matter. Well, accept the fact that our dog is one of God's creation and I should be loving and kind toward the wonderful animal God has given our family. He really is a good dog. He lets our babies crawl all over him and he just lays there. See, that dog person thing coming out again. What is up with that?

Sarah

What Fun We Had

2006-08-03T21:48:00.000-07:00

We went to the Splash Pad near Tanglewood Park today. A fun time was had by all, including little Jack. We've been there before, and he was, let's say, a little timid about playing by himself.
This time, he had a blast! He kept running back and forth through the spray rings. It was really cute. He'd gear himself up, start running (or toddling fast in his case) and would then raise his arms up kind of to cover his head, I guess.
Bella had a good time to, of course. She ended up playing in the dirt, collecting rocks and such. She's a funny kid. Later today, she was digging around our in our yard looking for worms. Maybe she'll be an archeologist someday.

We also (Sarah and I) got our new glasses in today. Woo-hoo! My lenses are the transition jobs. Awesome! It's so nice to be able to go outside and not be blinded by the light. (An Eighties song just wafted through my mind.)

Still taking it a step at a time, working through the finances. In God we trust, right?

2006-08-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

And so our family blog begins.

What's new with us?

Joshua is on vacation this week.

He also just turned thirty-one on Monday (and consequently, his first white hairs have arrived on his chest.) He actually had a really great day. He got to play "scavenger hunt" to get his presents. (The cards with the clues spelled out SHMILY...See How Much I Love You.) We also got to go see Superman Returns. Mainly because Sarah is a genius and planned way ahead for a babysitter, all the while telling Joshua he had to go see the movie alone. (I am indeed a lucky man.)

We ate at Layne's for the first time today! For some of us, it was the first ever, for others (ahem...Sarah) it was their first inside dining experience there. We know it's good food, because Jack ate it, and he hardly eats anything!

Isabella had her second dentist appointment, and Jack had his first. Remarkably enough, Bella, who normally loves doctor appointments (even to the point where she pretends to give us, her stuffed animals, and any other willing participant a "check-up", shots included) was screaming and crying. Jack did too, of course, but we kind of expect that from him.

Things you can pray for:

Personal growth for all of us.

Joshua to become more of a leader in our home. (Yeah, that's his request.)

Financial stuff. That we would trust God as He leads us through one seeming crisis after another.

That we would be given wisdom needed to find a way to keep Ace in the yard.