Life Unexpected

This morning I called my Dad as early as possible to wish him Happy Father's Day. It's tradition that my sisters and I try to be the first one to wish him Happy Father's Day, and this morning I believe I won due to the fact that I was up at 6:15am to preach in 3 services. I feel incredibly blessed to have the Dad that I do. My Dad is so much more than a Father to me. He is a hero to me. I don't think he is told often enough just how much of a difference he makes in this world, but he really does. He has touched the lives of so many people, I am not even sure that he understands his impact. He is one of the most compassionate, loving, and non-judgemental people I know. He has a love for those around the world, a desire to see others be a part of God's kingdom, a desire to see young people make a difference for God, and just a huge gigantic kind of faith. I have watched as my Father has been a pastor for the past 30 years of my life, and I am amazed every day a...

Tomorrow Dads all across the world will celebrate Father's Day. I have been thinking a lot about Nate today, as tomorrow will probably be hard to some degree. I think when we think about the infertility journey, we think a lot about the way we as women who are hoping to conceive feel on Mother's Day, but don't talk much about how the men feel on Father's Day. Infertility is a shared road when it comes to a marriage. The heartache, the brokenness, the disappointment...it's all shared, whether our husbands talk much about it or not. I just wanted to take a minute and say how thankful I am for Nate. He is a truly an incredible man of God. I have watched as he has spent the last 10 years of his life pouring into kids as an elementary teacher. He wasn't just a teacher, he was a mentor to each one of them...instilling values, love, and encouragement each day. I have watched as he has poured love into my nieces and our nephews. He has an incredible way with ch...

BEWARE...THIS IS A LONG ENTRY, BUT TOTALLY WORTH GETTING THE FULL STORY...The last 48 hours of our life have been a little crazy. It all started when Nate decided to "browse" the Toyota car lot. We had decided a long time ago that with the adoption coming up, we wanted to purchase a car with 3rd row seating. Our beloved Jeep Cherokee had a whopping 195,000 miles, no working AC, and dents in all places that gave it character, so we were due. There was only one problem...I was not willing to purchase a mini van. I know that sounds vain, but the idea of driving a mini van to the high school to meet with students, or coach volleyball, did not thrill me (sorry all of you mini van drivers that read this...I have a lot of respect for you!). I guess I am just one of those stubborn 31 year old youth pastors who won't cave on the mini van debate. Anyway, he came back from the dealership and said he wanted me to look at a few cars. We weren't planning on purchasing a car...

Last Thursday we celebrated our 10 year Wedding Anniversary! It's hard to believe that ten years has already passed. It feels like it was just yesterday that I was chasing (or "Stalking" as my teens say when we retell the story of how we met) Nate on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College. Time flies and we feel extremely blessed by all that we have been able to experience over the past 10 years. Nate and I spent the weekend camping in Williamsburg. We went to Busch Gardens, shopped, had late night runs to Sonic, and ate at the world's greatest Chinese Buffet (seriously...it has a sushi train!). But more than making our tummies fatter, we had the chance to just be reminded of how much we love this marriage that God has blessed us with. Here are a few of my favorite things: It's the little things in life that make us happy...like late night runs to Sonic We can make the best of any situation... We laugh about the stupidest stuff... We bring out the best in ea...

A couple of months ago, one of my youth leaders, Vickie,(who is also a really good friend), came to me and told me that her small group really wanted to do something for Nate and I to help toward our adoption. Their idea was to do a pancake breakfast at the church. With the calendar being full, the only weekend available was Memorial Day Weekend. I knew a lot of families would be away, and Nate and I were also going to be camping for the weekend. She insisted that they put it on anyway because the girls were really excited to help. Nate and I actually came from camping to attend the breakfast for the last part. When we arrived, we saw these amazing signs out front (thanks Julia for the incredible drawing of the pancakes), welcoming people to a "Pancake Fundraiser...for a good cause!" By the time we came, the parking lot was empty, and there were only about 5 people there, 2 of the small group girls, Vickie, and our friend Sarah. We walked in and were greeting by these ...