January: Our last month hosting church in our home. We went out with a bang, somehow managing to accommodate and feed 120 people in our living room.
February: We began trying to find temporary (that were also long term?) locations for our church to meet on Sunday morning. We first met in the Radisson hotel this month, which turned out to be our most consistent place throughout most of the year.
March: Harper finally started to pull up on furniture/anything semi-stable, sometimes scaring us but mostly just making us proud. We also participated in a 5k to end human trafficking.
April: Jake's 30th birthday and Harper's 1st. It was a month of celebration (and lots of blogging...)
May: The beginning of a fun summer. Harper took her first real dip in the pool and got her first passport!
June: We found out that our family would be expanding (along with Abigail's belly) and shared the news with you! We also went on our first family vacation to Orange Beach, AL.
July: First overseas mission trip for our church! It was a treasured time in the Dominican Republic despite the virus that swept over our team. Also, our organization's conference for US church leaders, held in Utah, took Mom away from Child for the first time. It was not as sad as one would think ;) Harper took her first steps and tipped the scales at 20lbs finally.
August: the return of college students and football season. What could be better? We also discovered what the word "toddler" meant as Harper was a full on walker/climber and very curious... Our kid's ministry at church flourished, growing from our faithful 3 at the beginning of the year to averaging 15-20. This also meant that we had so many families coming that we needed to have 2 family lifegroups. So much fun to see God move like that!
September: We travelled to Waco for World Mandate with our discipleship school and others from our church. It was refreshing to be with so many whose hearts yearn for Jesus and to see the lost saved. It was like a big family reunion!
October: Antioch Community Church met at the Dunham School for the first time. Another temporary location, but with more room to grow than at our beloved Radisson hotel. Abigail celebrated a birthday and we hosted a team from Antioch's Discipleship School in Waco. While the team was here, we went to the fair and ate a lot of delicious fried food (can't wait for next year...). And a little elephant who wouldn't keep her ears on made an appearance at a fall festival in town.
November: Lots of time with family this month, as we travelled to Waco again for a baby shower and wedding, had Abigail's family in BR for a weekend and then made our way to Houston for Thanksgiving. As we looked back over the year, we saw just how much we had to be thankful for! Our church continued to grow and meet at Dunham.
December: We finally decided on a name for our dear son. God spoke to us so clearly out of Isaiah 45 that he would be like King Cyrus, used by God and a warrior, and so we deduced that to be his name. Cyrus Andrew (or more likely to be called Cy) should be gracing us with his presence any day now, though he seems pretty content in there. We hosted Christmas in Baton Rouge and Jake enjoyed using his new smoker to make a turkey and ribs for dinner. Our church signed a six month lease with Dunham, an answer to the prayer for a longer term place to meet than hotels or theaters! The auditorium seats 650, plenty of space in the lobby and room for Antioch Kids to expand when needed. We are a blessed people!
Thanks for coming with us on our adventures this year! We are expectant for all that God has in store for our family, church, and city in 2014.
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