Birthday Party Fun!!

Last week my sweet husband and my wonderful family had a great birthday dinner for Erika and I. My parents cooked an amazing dinner and it was a great time of fellowship with everyone! I am so thankful for a family who loves me and my husband and is there to support us in everything we do. It is so reassuring during this time of transition to have a loving, caring family who is excited and waiting with us for the arrival of our precious little baby boy. Here are some pictures of the fun night.







For my birthday present, my whole family (both sides) and Ben chipped in to get me something I have been wanting for a very long time: a kitchenaid mixer!! It is so wonderful and the very next day I was making cookies with it, I can't wait to make all these great creations with it! I am so grateful to everyone and especially my sweet husband who helped!

Updates, updates, updates...

Well, I wanted to give everyone an update on the past eventful week. And I wanted to post some pictures of the finished counter tops and the new sink we just installed with the help of Bec's dad and James Kendall, our new apartment mate. It was a ton of work and with the extremely busy weekend we had planned (I led worship at church and set up/ran sound for a wedding, Becca directed a wedding, and counter top/ sink installation) there is no way we could get it done on our own. The Lord provided enough help, the patience, and the strength to get it all done well. Here are some pictures of the process and the finished (almost) product.











Secondly, Becca directed her first wedding this past weekend! She did an incredible job. The Lord was truly gracious in supplying the strength and endurance to direct and organize well. Apart from being extremely tired at the end of day on Sunday, all went very well. I was very proud of her and so thankful to the Lord for her service! Here are a few pictures...











Becca's birthday was yesterday (6/14). We had a nice dinner at Vic's Italian Restaurant in downtown Raleigh. We sat outside on a beautiful night and had a great time together. We will celebrate with her family on Sunday (6/17). Here is Bec and Erika on their shared birthday.














We are very excited that the Lord has allowed us to serve James and Temarie Kendall for a season. They will be living in our extra bedroom (soon to be the nursery so you can imagine how must space they have right now) until they find a job and a place to live. I'm sure they would welcome your prayers in their job and apartment/house search.











And many of you have requested some new pictures of "Pregnant" Becca... so here they are!

This is Bec at 24 weeks (also on her birthday)

This is Bec at about 15 weeks on Easter...

This is Bec at 5 weeks...

Even though we have been extremely busy, the Lord has been faithful. Please continue to pray that we rely on Him to graciously give all things that we need.

"Here I raise my Ebenezer; Hither by Thy help I'm come"

While driving home this morning I was listening to Derek Webb and the song that Becca and I danced to for our first dance (Better Than Wine) came on and it made me think about this past year and five months that we've been married. To start I am incredibly thankful for my wife. There are so many ways that she has blessed me. She is beautiful and there is no one else in the world I would rather spend time with. I enjoy every moment I get to spend with her. I know that this is a gift from the Lord. Only He can take two people that are so different and make them one. And He continues to make us more and more similar everyday- from mannerisms to thought processes... it's amazing how He works. And more than that it's amazing how much the Lord has provided for us. Every time that we worry the Lord delivers. With our baby boy on the way it's easy to worry and think that the Lord won't provide. So I thought I would list the ways that God has provided for us in the last year and five months of marriage in order to encourage you and to inspire faith in our hearts:

He provided us with a place to live (with room to share), an incredible church where we have grown more in our faith than we thought possible, funding for Becca's finished degree, anonymous donations to help Ben go to school last spring, a randomly found engagement ring (not Becca's and not claimed by anyone) to pawn for much needed money, school books to sell and earn exactly the amount we needed for a bill, a "homeless" single friend and couple friends to share our home with for a time, a car bought for a dollar, a full time job at Ravenscroft with benefits for Ben, Becca's full time job she got without an interview that will allow us to save much needed money for the baby, literally years of clothes and a place to sleep for our baby boy, our wonderful families that encourage us every time we talk to them, free "new to us" couches, the grace to love each other and overlook offenses, great friends that encourage our faith, our community group full of friends that are as close as our family, an uneventful pregnancy (so far), the ability to serve each other even when we don't want to, life and breath and everything.

The Lord has been seriously good. There is nothing that we have that has not come from His hand! We are so thankful and looking back at His goodness and His provision convinces me more and more that He will continue to provide for us in all ways. Even though we still have many questions about our provision for the future we know that God will provide as He has over the past year and a five months. He will continue to work all things together for good- to make us more like His Son!



"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." ~Acts 17:25