Livin' Large

So many things have happened in these last few weeks. Our lives have been very full.  Not in the how-you-view-the-glass kind of way, more like the after-a-chinese-buffet feeling. You know, extremely satisfied and maybe slightly uncomfortable.  As the title suggests, we view this fullness as "living large." Now onto the good stuff.

Harper is almost 6 months old.  6.  Months. Half of a year.  We really are in shock.  She is so fun right now!  Her little personality is starting to show itself.  She does not prefer being cold, taking baths, or being stuck on her stomach.  She loves singing (hers or anyone else's), chewing on her toes, grabbing everything, and Ruby! She had her first sickness, a little cold.  It was so sad hearing her tiny cough, BUT it made her a snuggler which she is not normally.  So it was sweet. We took advantage of it.  No shame.

And she's teething.  Chewing on everything, clearly.

Another thing growing bigger by the day is our church! As you probably know, 9 of us moved here from Waco.  We started getting to know people in the city, inviting them to church, lifegroup, LSU watch parties, and pretty much anything else we were doing. We now have two lifegroups, good friends, and a growing presence in the city. The real story here though is that we have people coming to church whom the 9 of us have never met!  And we love that.  Our friends are bringing their friends and their friends' friends. It is FUN.

My birthday was this month.  I now feel like a twenty-something mom.  Because that's what I am...
I felt so celebrated. Harper surprised me by waking up at 5:30.  AM.  Yes, welcome to my first birthday as a mom.  It really was a great day, though.  Friends brought me coffee, lunch, and gifts.  I got mail, phone calls, tweets, and texts.  LSU beat South Carolina.  And Jake gave me this awesome gift:

A new bed! A friend of ours, Jacob, designs/builds furniture and made this headboard.  And Anthropologie supplied the bedding (after I paid them...) Have I mentioned that we have an Anthro here?  It is fantastic. And Jake is incredible. A few days later I, also, had a birthday party (with the lovely Jillian, whose birthday is 3 days after mine), complete with firepit and s'mores bar.  It was perfection.

This last part is that slightly uncomfortable feeling of being full.  Our family lost a very important man at the beginning of the month.  Don "PawPaw" Hart, Jake's grandpa, went to be with Jesus unexpectedly.  We traveled to Houston to be with family and to celebrate his life.  He was a fighter, so loving, and never met a stranger.  He left a legacy of faithfulness and kindness.  We obviously feel deeply saddened by the loss of PawPaw, but God is always faithful and gives beauty for ashes.  What feels painful and hard to understand now, we know to be temporary.  We believe in the unfailing and eternal goodness of God and gratefully receive every reminder of that. We miss you PawPaw and can't wait to see you again!

Now you are caught up on our lives.  Stay tuned for more frequent updates and possibly a weekly series... Intrigued? So am I.

Abigail

   

a pain in my neck

A few weeks ago, Jake got this awful pain in his neck.  I thought it was a crick, he thought it was from working out.  Whatever caused it, it was a doozie! He couldn't sleep very well, was in pain most of the day, and even a massage didn't help.  But, I guess it finally went away because he hasn't mentioned it in a while. Or maybe he passed it on to me... an epidemic!

You see, I woke up with a crick in my neck the other day.  It wasn't terrible, but it got worse throughout the day. By the evening, I had to sit with my body facing right so I could turn my head to the left, aka the only way it didn't hurt.  The next morning I was feeling more myself, but still in some pain. Quick movements still made me want to gasp... GASP (disclaimer- I live with dramatic people, y'all). The crick hasn't let up, but I learned to cope by looking over my left shoulder instead of my right and things like that. I'm making it.

I realized that this is like the sin in my life.  Jake does it first...  No, no, I kid.  It usually shows up unexpectedly. I am confronted with it.  For a while it's like a kick in the face. I rearrange my life because of it's inconvenience.  It's not my ideal and I want it to go away.  And then, gradually, I learn to live with it.  It becomes a little more convenient to just go about my life normally.  To live inhibited. I can pretend like it's not there for a very long time.
But I'm reminded that Someone once said that I was meant for more.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

Yes.  To live in fullness. Not to cope with my sin and the destruction that it brings. To be able to turn my head to the right and to the left.  To live a new life.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17

I am new!  I do not have to cope with the old me.  I am dead to sin and alive in Christ. I can lay my sin on the altar of His sacrifice. Walk in that newness for which He died. Jesus wants us to be free. He is just that good.

Now if only I could figure out my neck...

Abigail

Tiny, little packages.

I find it very fitting that we had a baby just weeks before we moved to "birth" a church. I'm sure that when we look back later, we will see so many other parallels.  But presently, a thought has come to my mind.  Actually, it's pretty much in front of my face daily:

there is POWER in small beginnings.

Our journey of starting a family did not begin the way we anticipated. Waiting, excitement, a miscarriage, disappointments, and questions filled the third year of our marriage. God was good to us, so trustworthy and faithful, but this was a small place. Then, as I braced for another month of disappointment, He surprised me.  It wasn't my timing or my plan.

It was bigger.

I had been stripped of reasoning and practicality and realized that I had been in "pleasant places" all along. And this place included anticipation, lack of sleep, tiny clothes and very swollen ankles, all leading up to an especially great Sunday. In the midst, we were preparing to plant this church.  Similarly, we had to wait and we had disappointments and we were in a pleasant place.  And I think Jake's ankles were even a little swollen...

Sometimes it felt like we were going to be preparing to go forever! BUT, now we have birthed a little church.  We have a small gathering of people.  And just like Harper surprises us everyday with something new, this church is constantly growing.  Friendships are forming, intercession is changing this city, and God is showing up in power.  Almost everyday we say how much we love how little our girl is.  She can't do very much or return the love we give yet, but our affection for her grows.  Our church is simple and we don't always know what we're doing, but we wouldn't trade it for the world! We cherish this season of small but powerful.  Because, as we've already seen, God's small is so much bigger than we could imagine!

  

Chemical Spills, Mosquitoes, and Talking Babies

This post is dedicated to our new life in Baton Rouge. And Harper. Duh.

But, first, a tribute to the place I grew up.  I lived in Texas my whole life.  It was mostly hot, sometimes humid, and full of pride, but lovely and so very unique. My only complaint for the longest time was that I would never see a white Christmas and then the miracle happened in 2009.  It was magical. It was as if Bing Crosby was in my living room, singing to me as the snow fell. I never once believed that living somewhere else could be better. I loved traveling, but I could always come home to the Lone Star State. To the Rangers, Mavericks, Cowboys, Stars, biggest contiguous state, Six Flags, cool cities, lots of country, BBQ, and (alright, alright) cowboy boots.
     

Two things you need to know about Baton Rouge.  #1 is that God is moving here.  It is humbling and way too fun to be part of this people and this movement. There is a hunger and vulnerability in people that can only be explained by a God in love with them!  #2 is that there is traffic.  Always.  Miles mean nothing in this city.  Time of day and the state of the interstate determine your travel time.  Like the other day when there was a chemical spill on I-10.  The entire interstate was shut down for about 24 hours.  It ended with the city burning off the chemicals and the fire department putting out the fire.  Sounds more simple than it was, I'm sure.  All of this commotion caused the city to be one giant traffic jam. One of my friends was on the road for 8 hours just to RUN ERRANDS. Reporters were interviewing people in their cars because they were at a standstill.  It was c-r-a-z-y. Being my father's child, I have tried to find back ways, the fastest ways, and really just any way to get places.  It's like my own little game... in the car while I'm sitting in hours of traffic. It's not always terrible. If you go somewhere at 6am, there's not any traffic.  Yea-uhh.  I guess a third thing you should know is that the mosquitoes are crafty.  You'd think that because the doors and windows are closed... and sealed... that they can't get in your house, but you'd be wrong.  The number of times I've woken up with mosquito bites that I didn't have the night before is getting longer by the day.  They're, like, mutant.  I'm pretty sure they can swim backwards.

And now the reason you're all reading this, I'm sure.  Harper is indeed talking now.  Though we are unsure what she is saying, she is saying it. Want some proof?
*disclaimer: please ignore the high-pitched baby talk/noises that are not from the baby... Have you ever tried to talk to a baby without doing that?

         

Can't wait to know what is going on in that little head of hers.
Until next time,
Abigail

1000+ Needed.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.  Sometimes those words aren't enough and those pictures could use a little help.  Like when you see a newborn baby and you think, "wow, that's a pointy head."  What the mother would tell you is that after hours and hours of labor and waiting and pushing, she got to hold her perfect little one for the first time.  She would also probably say that she's very glad that God designed that babe's head to fit through a small opening...
Another example would be the house we just moved into.  We moved to Baton Rouge just a few weeks ago and we were relying on family and friends to find a house for us.  But not just any house; a perfect house.  After months of looking through Craig's List ads and MLS listings and just driving around, we got the call.  They might have found the perfect house and they were sending us pictures.  We anxiously awaited the text messages.  What we saw was... well, it was pretty much a trashed house.  Every wall was white and there was trash on the terribly-carpeted floor.  Immediately after the pictures, we spoke to our friends. They assured us this was the best house they had seen and that when it was cleaned up it would be perfect.  Now you might be like me and think this sounds a little crazy.  You would be right (at least I think so).
We couldn't trust those picture texts (which is probably a sermon illustration in the making, right?), but we could trust our friends.  God has blessed us with some of the best, like-hearted, and fun people to start a church with.  They are all fully and joyfully submitted to the plans of God.  They live Philippians 2:3-4 by constantly seeking other's higher good.  Friends like these don't come around everyday.  And that is why we trusted them to find a house for us.  And let me tell you that where we live is even better than we could've imagined. And here are those lovely people that we are privileged to call friends and team mates.  

Blake and Lena Satterlee- these two are constantly seeking to serve and have the most fun no matter what the situation!

Preston and Carolynn Seibert- two of the most creative and excellent people I've ever met!

Matthew and Jillian Armstrong- this couple is smart, gracious, and so welcoming to everyone they meet!

Katie McCollister- she is a pioneer and so given to the things of God.  Every one of her conversations includes Jesus and something to make you laugh.  

Now, I'm sure, you can see how easy it would be to trust them to find a house for you.  We don't deserve such good friends, but we sure are thankful for them!

And here's a picture of our house, in case you are curious.  It was cleaned and new floors were laid before we moved in!

    

She Let Go, Jack.

I am not sappy. I hardly ever cry. I hate cheesy lines. You know like, "I'll never let go, Jack," or "you are the wind beneath my wings." I've been known to laugh out loud at serious movies (see quote above) or my husband being romantic (but not since we've been married. I learned a thing or two in pre-marital counseling). A lot of first dance songs at weddings jump start my gag reflex. But not any of the ones I've been to recently, in case you're reading, newlyweds.
Don't get me wrong. I am sentimental. (See my post about traditions) I didn't cry at my own wedding, but the vows Jake made are the most special words someone has ever said to me. And I just love reading over old journals and remembering different seasons of my life.
So, imagine my surprise when a song came on the radio the other day and I almost started weeping while driving up I-35. What song you ask? Not a Dashboard Confessional song or the song we danced to at our wedding. It was none other than I Hope You Dance by LeeAnn Womack. I know, I know, so two thousand and late. I used to give this song the stank face back then. Fast forward a decade and some and I have a daughter. Say what you want about pregnancy hormones and what not, but I really do hope that she never fears those mountains in the distance or settles for the path of least resistance. I'm being pretty vulnerable here, so try not to ridicule.
This incident made me realize that nothing is sappy when it comes to your babes. Though Harper may one day roll her eyes and beg me to stop singing lame songs to her in public (which I undoubtedly will not), she will know that I love her.
And maybe she will dance...

One month, wedding season, and Father's day.

This post will be full of updates. Babies, marriages, holidays, and pictures.  Just imagine yourself as a child carrying a glass of milk that is filled to the very top.  Don't spill any, ok?

First things first, (because, oops, it's three weeks late...) Harper turned one month old on May 29th.  Four weeks of diapers, middle-of-the-night feedings, preemie clothes, and lots of learning. We loved the first month of getting to know our little fighter.  She knows what she wants, even if she's only been in the world for a month. She took her first car trip to Houston. It was peaceful and she loved being with Grammy and Pop! Here she is at 4 weeks!

Around our house, this summer has been dubbed "the summer of the wedding." Today we finished our marathon of 7 weddings in 5 weeks.  Harper has been to four weddings, a rehearsal dinner and a bachelorette party and she's not even 2 months old.  Let's just say, she's going to be a wedding pro.  We had the privilege of being in the weddings of some our best friends. I wish I had more pictures.... but, here are a few to show you all the fun we had...

 our first family photo! at the Nottoli wedding

me and Kate Wasion

me and Leah Lara

Today is Jake's first father's day.  Sadly, he is in Houston and Harper is in Ft. Worth, but she's been sending him texts all day to tell him how great of a dad he is.  I can attest to the fact that he is a wonderful father.  He loves Harper so much and loves taking care of her. She will definitely know how important and special she is in this world.  She is a blessed daughter. 

Another blessed daughter is me. I had the honor of growing up with the Allan McBrayer.  He is funny, incredibly smart, and a great teacher.  He taught me many things; the least of which are driving and golf.  Selflessness and dedication, though, are among the top. He constantly gives his time and expertise to others.  In the gospels, we see that Jesus welcomes the interruption of people because he has compassion on them. I saw this in my own life everyday that I lived with my dad.  I hope that I can master these things the way he has and teach my daughter as well as he taught me.  Because Lord knows, I didn't master golf...

There's your glimpse into our summer.  Did you spill any of that milk?