Water from the Rock

As I read this story in Exodus 17, it made me think about how God gives us water from "rocks" in our lives. The Israelites were grumbling and complaining about their circumstances (granted, they were in the desert) and not having anything to drink. Moses took the people's complaint before God, in fear of his life, and asked God what to do. God, being God, leads Moses to take his staff, strike a rock, and water will come out. SO, I sit here thinking... When I am about to lose my mind with the kids, one of them will say or do something, or even smile in a way that causes me to stop and say "Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of children." Or, when you feel like nothing in your day is going right and you get a phone call from a friend, just to say "I was thinking about you..." Even better is when the hard times come, you fall on your face before God, worn out, drained, and sometimes even frustrated, and you hear Him say... " I AM" The refreshing water of our Father in heaven can be found through so many different things. All of them reflect his glory. That is water from a rock.

PRAYER

I have been participating in a Bible Study at our Church on prayer. We have studied the Lord's prayer in detail, and how it is a fantastic model for our prayer lives. Through this I have realized my prayer life was in great need of a "revival". We often forget how awesome a opportunity we have to communicate with the creator of this universe. He hears our prayers even before we utter them because he knows our hearts, but to sit and speak the words (or think them in silent prayer), and agree with the King of Kings is breath taking on so many levels. I once again am reminded of this, and I am so thankful to have this privilege. It has really been impactful these past few days specifically. Our dear friends the Hirsch's have been traveling back and fourth to Springfield because Gary's sister is VERY ill, and the doctors are not hopeful that she will make it. Gary and Lynette have been asking us to pray for Jeanni's salvation. We have prayed along with them that God would even reveal Himself to Jeanni in her dreams. Low and behold, a friend of Jeanni's shared with Gary and Lynette this weekend that she and Jeanni had talked about God and a relationship with Jesus Christ a lot, and that she had prayed with Jeanni to accept Christ sometime in the past. PRAISE GOD!! Now, the Hirsch's can rest assured that if Jeanni doesn't pull through this, that she has had the ULTIMATE healing, and that she is with her King. God didn't answer the prayer we were praying to reveal Himself to her, but he revealed to Gary and Lynette that He had already called Jeanni unto Himself. Isn't God Good?!?!! Anyway... that is what I have to share today.

Time to catch up!!!

It has been quite a while since I have put a post on our blog. Needless to say things have been busy. Tim has been traveling, we have had family visit, we are buying a house, and most importantly, taking care of kids. I will tell a bit of each arena here in a minute.

First of all... God is so GOOD. I am really enjoying my time with him lately. You know, sometimes spending time with God for me has been dutiful instead of joyful. Lately, there has been much joy in my time with Him. I am so thankful. I am not much of a journaler. I love to have my thoughts and prayers down, but I am not disciplined enough to do it consistantly. I want to journal, but often don't take the time to do it. Well, the other day, while waiting for my girls to get out of school, I found myself journaling for an extended period of time. Just writing and talking with God was so refreshing. It brough to mine so many things I can praise Him for, confess, and acknowledge Him in. It was great. I really need to do that more.

My sister, Marcia, came for Spring Break. I love her so much. She and I are about 9 years apart, and are total opposites. We have never had the kind of sister relationship that I see Brenna and Taylor have, but we have been there for each other through a lot of junk. We had a great visit, despite all the rain, and she was the first one in my family to see Kara. It was a special time.

Tim took his first trip away from all four of us to go to Ft. Lauderdale, FL for business. The next week . It was harder for me than any of his other trips. I really missed him. My parents were here to help out with the kids and keep me company, but I really missed my husband.

Mom and Dad were here for almost a week. My dad has aged quite a bit in the past few months as he has battled different health conditions. He still has a long way to go, and my never be back to where he was prior to this last bout of things. He is still here for a reason, and I pray that he will see what it is God wants him to see / do with the rest of his life. We had a good visit, and it was wonderful for them to have time with Brenna and Taylor, not to mention their first time with Kara. It was hard for them to leave, but we remain trusting in God that he has all of us where we are for a specific reason. He is soverign!

Brenna and Taylor are doing great. They are getting ready for the state manditory testing over the next few weeks. They are ready academically. Brenna isn't really nervous about her tests, because she has done the testing thing for 3 years now. Taylor has her first set of "state tests" this year, and comments that she is nervous about it. I keep telling her that she will do fine, and just has to trust in God and do her best effort. That is all that matters.

Through all of this year, God has been working on all of our hearts about homeschooling. Both of the girls are even keen on the idea now, and we haven't tried to "sell" them on it at all. Tim and I are still praying and seeking wisdom from God on the matter, and are woking to gain more knowledge on the process. We have been blessed these past two school years to have great teachers who, for the most part, are believers. But, we really feel that we need to take the entire responsibility of educating the children that God has blessed us with. Please pray for us as we contine to seek on this.

Kara is doing so well. She caught a cold while Tim was out of town. ( It NEVER fails, someone always gets sick when Daddy is out of town) She has bounced back pretty well after a rough few days. She is growing so fast. Her little cheeks have filled out, and keep filling. I love talking with her, and she just stares and coos along. We are so blessed to have 3 beautiful princess. We already pray for their someday husbands! May God keep them and grow them to be strong GODLY men who love the Lord with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength! ( They are gonna need it)

Well.... we are buying a house. After much prayer and searching, God lead us to a wonderful home that is being built by our current landlord. He is a wonderful man and does a tremendous job building homes. We would reccomend him any time for anyone who wants a home built. We hope to close at the end of the month and get moved in early May. (Happy Birthday to me). We already are looking forward to using the house for God's glory in whatever he wants us to do with it. I will contine to post pictures as the house gets finished up, and will give a grand tour when we get moved in and settled.

That is pretty much what we have been up to. I will try and do better posting more frequently. Remember, I am not very consistant at the "journaling" thing like some of my friends.

Welcome, Kara Elise Igo!
We are all so excited to announce the birth of Kara. She arrived February 14th, at 3:36 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 2 1/2 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful and a precious gift from God. Big sisters Brenna and Taylor love to hold and kiss on the baby whenever they can. Mommy and Daddy do too! She has been a great baby so far, and is working hard on getting her days and nights in the right order. Praise God for the gift of children and how he shows His glory in them!

The past two days have been a blast- except for the fact that Tim is not here. He is out of town on business and has missed the snow with us. We will be VERY happy when he gets home tomorrow. The total snow fall was about 8 inches around here. When the girls woke up this morning, they thought it was so cool that their footprints from yesterday were covered up with new snow. Just like the new mercies of God everyday...

On the baby countdown, we are just a few weeks out from D-day. We are anxious to see the new little one God is putting into our lives and can't wait to share her with everyone.

Sorry that nothing has been posted in a while. There has been a lot going on. We found out we are having a girl (again), and we are so very excited. We are on the final countdown. Eleven weeks left until D-day. We stayed in Missouri for Thanksgiving and joined our friends in Thayer for the meal. We had a good time, but missed all our family. Christmas is just around the corner, and things are buzzing with excitement. Christmas parties and programs keep us busy, but thankfully the shopping is done, and the presents are wrapped (for the most part). The pictures included are of me and Tim on his birthday, and Brenna and Taylor at Thanksgiving.

We hope and pray that each of you take time this season to remember our King who was born!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Last night we went to a local pumpkin patch. The weather was amazing and we had a great time. This was a little celebration of the end of the first nine weeks of school. Both the girls did TERRIFIC on their report cards. We are very proud of their hard work!

It's A.....

Well, folks, don't know what to tell you. Doctor Watson tried very hard, but baby was breach and legs are crossed. We can't tell what we are having yet. The baby's heart rate and all the measurements were just perfect. The estimation on weight at this time is about 11 ounces. The due date is still March 1st, and everything is right where it should be. Hopefulyy we will be able to try and take a peek again in 4 weeks at our next appointment. Until then, I guess we just have to wait!

Taylor ran a cross country meet at school today. She came in 3rd place of all the girls in her grade. She ran very hard!! (1/2 mile in 5:02)

Here are Taylor (left) and Brenna (right) hanging out at our hotel in Poland. The trip was amazing! We spent about two weeks in South Poland in a village up in the mountians. We met a group of Russian students there for and English Camp held by Student Venture / Campus Crusade for Christ. What an amazing time. We met so many wonderful people and we miss them a lot. Brenna and Taylor traveled very well and had an amzaing time making Polish and Russian friends. We can't wait to go back, Lord willing, next summer!