Breakfast with Friends

Two years ago, John and I ventured out and following God's calling decided to become Navigators of a small group. Our church is centered around small groups and feel that the best growth and the best way to help each other become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ is through a small group setting. Stepping up from just being members of a group to leading a completely new group was scary but God so richly blessed us with an amazing group of people and a wonderful experience. That first group lasted about 16 months before one couple moved to Saudi Arabia and then the rest of us decided to split into two groups to support our church's mission of multiplying groups. John and I are now leading a group with one of the other "original couples."

Well, the couple that moved to Saudi Arabia in August, The Perry's, were in town for a visit and we all gathered Saturday morning for breakfast (minus one wife who was out of town) and enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship, hearing about how God is moving through them in Saudi, what everyone else is up to and also watching all of our children play together.

What is amazing is that when we started this group the only kids that were born were Peyton and then the Perry's son, Gavin who were only around 6 months old at the time........

In addition to Peyton and Gavin, another couple was pregnant at the time with their first due 6 months after our group started, so essentially three kids at the start of our group..... NOW....we have five kids that are born, Graham on the way and another one on the way in July....7 KIDS!!! Talk about multiplying in another way! And I think it is amusing that Peyton is the only girl among those seven!

Even though we are all not in small group every week together and one of us lives in another country, we are still all there for each other, praying for each other, guiding each other and helping each other learn to love God and others more. It has been such a wonderful example of how biblical community should work and we have been immeasurably blessed by these relationships in addition to the relationships we have formed in past small groups.

It was a wonderful Saturday morning for sure!

Busy Weekend

This past weekend was crazy full!

Friday, Peyton and I did not make it to gymnastics because I didn't want to wake her up again as I had done pretty much every day that week so I decided that I would let her sleep and if we woke up in time we would go but if not it would be fine! She slept in, I slept in and that was for the best given how busy the rest of the weekend was!

I left Friday afternoon for our Mpact weekend which is the fall retreat that we do for the high school students. So, around 184 students, 27 leaders and about 10 support staff all headed up for Carolina Creek Christian Camp in Huntsville, Texas! I left a little earlier than the kids so I could get up there and set up or that was my intention but Houston traffic put me there only a couple of hours before so it was a little crazy! But as tiring as the weekend was, it was so amazing to watch all these students worship God, experience God and be moved, changed and molded into more like His image! It was awesome! We had a great speaker, Joseph Turner from Sojourn Community Church in the Heights area of Houston and an awesome Indie Rock band from Abilene called Words in Windows. And I personally LOVED the staff at Carolina Creek! I know that the students didn't really see all they did but for me, who was doing most of the behind the scenes stuff, they were amazing! They had such joy in serving us and it was an awesome testimony to the power of service and how you really do show God's love by service. They were amazing!

So, Sunday afternoon I headed back home and was exhausted but the weekend was not over at all for me. I rushed home, jumped in the shower, got dressed and out the door in twenty minutes and headed to church for Group Link! We are starting a new adult small group and Group Link (our connection event to get people into group) was that night! John was already up there, I ran in and got set and then started meeting new people interested in group. This was the largest Group Link with just under 500 people looking for a new group!
In the end we ended up with 5 new couples plus John and I and our co-leaders, the Lutz's for a total of 14 people! We are so excited to get to know these new couples, do life with them and grow closer as a biblical community and closer to our Lord! I love seeing how God puts groups together and can't wait to see how His hand was in this new group! As excited as I am.....I will be honest we are a little scared! It is always a nervous feeling when you walk out with these new people entrusted to you by God and by the church....and as John said, "well, now we have to depend on God to somehow mold this group to be fully devoted followers of Christ." Very true!

Finally after Group Link we picked up Peyton from our friends house and I received the biggest hug ever from her. All she kept saying was, "Momma, Momma." I loved it!

I am super tired today and it is raining so we are relaxing on the couch, catching up on blogging, emails and being lazy. We will probably venture out for some groceries this afternoon and but what I am really looking forward to is NAP TIME in approximately 3 hours!

Happy Monday everyone!

Baby Dedication

This past weekend we did a baby dedication for the three babies in our small group. We had Peyton, Gavin and Caleb. It was such a special event and even more special to be able to do it with friends that mean so much to us. We had food, cake and invited all of our friends and family who have been instrumental in supporting us in the endeavor.

Our church has the small groups within the church do a dedication because in reality, the relationships that we have in small groups are the ones that will be praying for us specifically, encouraging us, mentoring us and being the ones to help keep us going. One of the wives from our small group's dad is a pastor at our church and he graciously came out to lead the dedication. Since it is May and insanely hot in Texas, we mostly hung out inside, but decided to have the ceremony outside so everyone could see.

The dedication part was so sweet and inspiring. We appreciated hearing the pastor's words that he spoke about it being our responsibilities to teach Peyton to trust the Lord and to love HIM and serve Him through our words and our actions. Now...during the dedication we saw why these are done when kids are babies. Peyton wanted to get down and run around and at one point, got her lovey and paci and laid down on the grass to go to sleep! What a silly girl! And then when the pastor was done, she promptly waved and said, "bye," to him. Silly!

It was a special day and I am glad we took the time to create those memories!

We made it!

Peyton's first time at Pee Wee Ville was about a month ago and we haven't made it to church since. Mostly this has been due to me being sick, then Peyton being sick but last weekend it was only due to lack of planning that we didn't make it. I never realized how much planning and preparation it takes to go somewhere as simple as church. 

Peyton's normal schedule has her starting the day at 6 AM with a feeding. She consistently wakes up at 6 AM so it is great! However if she was to eat at her normal time on Sundays, we would be at church at 8:30 AM and she would need a bottle 30 minutes into service. I don't want to leave a bottle with her or leave the burden of feeding with the PWV caregivers and since it would be at church I can't really replace that feeding with pumping in order to keep up with having bottles available for her. So, after much deliberation we decided that we would need to have her start her Sundays at 7 AM instead. In order to do that she needed to have a really late night or early morning feeding to help keep her the extra hour. Last night she didn't eat very much at 9 PM and woke up at 1:30 AM to eat some more and then woke up at 6 AM but was easily convinced to go back to sleep. I am hoping this doesn't mess her week up too much but we really can't figure out a better plan for church. 

Church went well. I thought she would nap but they said that she would dose off and then wake up wanting to join in the excitement. She was playing in a bouncer when I went to pick her up and she was trying to hit the toys. I am sure it was fun to see something new and different. Since we didn't nap at church she came home, ate and went straight to napping. 

The rest of today is pretty busy. We have small group at 2 PM, then going over to Grandma's to unpack the gear she needs to care for Peyton next week and also decorate sugar cookies!

Building a Fire

On this past Mother's Day, Bruce Wesley with Clear Creek Community Church (our church home) delivered a message titled, "Building a Fire." It struck a chord with me and resulted in me keeping my notes which I stumbled upon the other day. Now that I look over them as a mother and not a mother to be, everything takes on so much more immediacy and looking at my little girl makes it so much more imperative that I remember my responsibility in giving her a head start in her faith.

The message was centered around scripture found in 2 Timothy 1:4-7 "As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure dwells in you as well. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."

The main point was that as mother's (and essentially all parents) we give the faith we live to our children and that we can give them a "head start" by offering a sincere faith. By focusing on building the fire in your own heart you can give your kids a greater start in their faith/life. I have been blessed to have a mother and grand mother that both demonstrated a sincere and real faith to me and that in good times and bad were honest about their emotions and their relationship with the Lord. Their actions mirrored their words. I am part of a legacy of strong women of the Lord, women who strive to be and often emulate Proverbs 31 women and I don't want that legacy to stop with me.

Bruce gave us three questions that help you determine where you are in offering a sincere life and sincere faith to your children:

1. If your child's spiritual life became exactly like yours, would you feel like you succeeded as a parent?
2. If God only did in your child's life what you specifically asked in prayer, what would the spiritual life of your child be like?
3. If your child were asked to write out all that he or she learned about God from you, what would they write?

In the end, we are to take responsibility for you own spiritual like and "fan it into flame" for our kids. Make your spiritual life personal and accessible. As for me, those questions have not left my mind since I found my note sheet the other day. Honestly, I am struggling with the first question and need to take the time to develop my actions to match my words. I will be writing out those three questions and posting them in various places so I am constantly reminded of what a pivotal role my actions, non actions and prayer play in Peyton's future.

The message is no longer available online but if you would like to learn more about Clear Creek Community Church, listen to more recent messages you can visit their website at, www.clearcreek.org.

Pee Wee Ville

Today was Peyton's first time at Pee Wee Ville (our church nursery) and we all survived! I say we all because it is more like, mommy survived! I decided last night that it was about time that I allowed a stranger to take care of Peyton considering that in January she will be heading to day care. You would think this would have been a relatively easy event for me since I have been serving in Pee Wee Ville for  2 1/2 years and knew how great the people are but that was not the case. It is kind of funny, when I was serving before becoming a mom I never truly understood the complexity of the look of fear in a parent's eye when they dropped off their child. I knew that it must be hard but it never hit me the amount of trust that the parent was putting into me to watch their precious child. I am sure that this morning I had the look of fear in my eyes and whenever I do go back to serving in Pee Wee Ville this experience gives me new compassion and a heart for serving these parents. 

So, this morning we made all the preparations to leave a little earlier for church and made it to the 8:30 AM service. We headed into Pee Wee Ville Lane and went to registration and got to show Peyton off to all the staff that have been so supportive of John and I and have been such a big part of our serving there. We got our tag and headed over to the infant area to check her in. They put a name tag on her and we put all of her stuff she would need in a little basket (we only left a pacifier but you are supposed to leave her food etc so they don't give her anything she isn't supposed to have) and then with great hesitation and feeling sick to my stomach, I handed her over to the caregiver. Since Peyton had eaten before we left and then had a car ride she was pretty much out (and it was during her morning sleep time) so I told them that if they put her in a swing she would probably sleep the entire time. We headed over to church and I tried very hard to pay attention and then as soon as it was over we hurried back over and looked in the window to see what was going on and sure enough there was our little pink bundle passed out in the swing. We picked her up and they said that she woke up for a minute, looked around to see where she was and then went back to sleep. Overall it went very well and we will be heading back next week.

First time at church

Yesterday we ventured out and attended church the first time with Peyton. We went to the 8:30 AM service since it normally has less people and we started out as a family in main church and she slept right through the loud music and then right when we started praying she started to stretch which also meant she started to grunt. I am sure we thought it was louder than it was but I knew she was only getting started so I went out to the cry area right before the message. She never cried but just stretched and grunted which can be pretty loud and distracting. All in all she did great and in a couple more weeks or so we will try out Pee Wee Ville.

20 Weeks

We made it to the half way mark!

What is the baby doing?

She weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now and is around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel - the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, measurements were taken from the top of the baby's head to the its bottom - known as the "crown to rump" measurement. After that, measurements are from head to toe becuase the baby's legs were curled up against her torso during the first half of pregnancy and were very hard to measure). A greasy white substance called vernix caseosa coats her entire body to protect her skin during its long submersion in amniotic fluid. This slick coating also eases the journey down the birth canal. She is swallowing more which is a good practice for her digistive system. She is also producing meconium, a black, sticky substance that is the result of cell loss, digestive secretion and swallowed amniotic fluid. This meconium will accumulate in her bowels and we will see it in her first messy diaper (although a few babies pass it in utero or during delivery).

How is the Mommy doing...

I am shocked that I am already 20 weeks pregnant! The first trimester seemed like it took forever but these past six weeks or so have flown by. Now that we are in the second half I am excited about starting to prepare the babies room and start the real preparation for the arrival of our little girl. We have registered for classes at the hospital (birthing, baby care and breast feeding) that starts Monday, June 2. We will be attending those classes Monday nights for six weeks. I am excited but also nervous.

This week went by fast which was great because on Friday John and I headed to Austin for the weekend. We went for time away and to attend the Weekend to Remember Marriage Conference. We were really blessed that my sister Ashley came into town this weekend for a job fair and offered to watch Titus which saved us money and Titus was able to be spoiled by Auntie Ashley. Our weekend in Austin was great! On Friday, we went to the Co-op and got the baby some gear for football season (bows for her hair, a longhorn stuffed animal and two little outfits). The conference started that night and it was great to be reminded about the basics of having a God centered marriage and how to keep our marriage strong. Praise for a great time away and visiting our favorite Austin places! Austin has such great memories for us and it was nice to get away before the baby.

This upcoming week is busy with a dentist appointment on Tuesday and then a doctor's appointment on Friday. We have also started getting more and more information from potential day cares and are going to visit the first one on Friday before my appointment. We are really hoping that it will be evident where we need to enroll and the schedule that we will have. Then on Saturday I am co-hosting a bachelorette party for my good friend Megan and am excited about seeing Megan and celebrating her upcoming marriage. I was able to find a fun dress to wear out that night and a swim suit which was a relief. Also this week, my bridesmaids dress for Megan's wedding in June came in and I am really excited. It looks great and I think it will match really well with the rest of the bridal party.

I have been a little uncomfortable this week and especially this weekend with the large amounts of sitting that I have been doing. Pray for rest and that I am able to find some comfort in sitting and relief from back pain.

Also, I have a poll (see the left hand column) going for help on a middle name. Vote for your favorites and if you have another suggestion, post it on this entry in the comments section. You can also vote at http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9625287.

• Next Doctor's Appointment: This Friday (May 9) for my monthly check up
• Total Weight Gain: 12 pounds
• To Do This Week: Dentist appointment, get ready for Megan's bachelorette party on Saturday

How is the Daddy doing...

John also had a great weekend away and attending the conference. He is really excited about being a leader and raising a daughter! Austin was a great and being back in the city and campus was enjoyable. Another praise is that we found out John has five additional paid days from work to take care of me after the baby is born. We are so excited that he will have two weeks home with us and then a week at Christmas to go on vacation.

Small Group Run a couple of weeks ago (April 20). You can't hide the baby bump in running clothes!