Wow....I'm so in love....

I am so in love with my Ava. The other night I was feeding her before bedtime & she was just staring up at me with her big blue eyes & it all just hit me. Hard. She has become my world. She has become the reason that I want to love God more & to show Him through my lifestyle. She is the reason that I've fallen crazy in love with my husband again. She is the reason that I'm finding joy in the small things again. The first few months were so hard. I knew I loved her, but she had not captured my heart yet. But the other night, it became official. I'm hooked on that little girl. I love everything about her--but what I love most is that she's mine.


I love this picture :)



Her face cracked me up in this picture!



Visiting with my Gramma--Ava's Great Gramma. What a special afternoon!



Ava with my dear friends the Odoms. They have prayed for me every day for 9 years. They are some of the greatest people I know!!

On Our Way To Texas!!

Hey everyone! Well, as most of you have heard by now, we are moving to Houston, TX (well, actually Pearland)!! Matt was offered the job of head student pastor at Sagemont Baptist Church (www.sagemontchurch.org) and we have accepted the job! This has all been in the works for several months now, but we have had to keep things quiet to protect the process of finding a new student pastor. It feels so good to be able to share our great news with you!! I have a hard time keeping secrets :) We flew out there on Saturday for our official visit (or as us baptists call it--"in view of the call"). We met with the pastor on Saturday then joined the church at Reliant Arena (not their usual meeting place) as they celebrated the church's 40th anniversary. The pastor has been there since day one & the church has such an incredible legacy! The church has been completely debt free for almost 38 years & God has blessed them for that in so many ways! I could go on and on about amazing stories of God's work there, but it would fill up pages. You can go to the church's web-site though & listen to the pastor share what he calls the "sagemont story" if you have a free hour--it's pretty amazing!
Matt's official start date will be July 1st, although we probably won't move until the 5th. There are about 500 kids that come on a weekly basis, so we have such a great mission field--we feel so blessed to be able to pour into these kids lives every week. Matt has spoken at their camp for the past 3 summers--and is actually speaking again at both Middle School & High School camps this year too--so we really know a lot of the kids. We are so excited to get to know them better b/c we already love them so much! Both the head student pastor & the associate student pastor positions were open, so Matt will be able to team with the search committee to find a new associate, so we are excited about that too. We really feel like God is calling us there for the long haul. We would love to retire in this church--God willing. So in light of that, we were in search of a home that we can really grow into & stay in for years & years. On Monday we looked at a house in Pearland & fell in love with it! We kept looking (and looking & looking......) but we couldn't get this one out of our heads. We got such a great deal on it & we know that it is another of God's great blessings in all of this. We've included some pictures below so you can see what it looks like. We LOVE our new house & can't stop looking at the pictures!! It even has a playroom & a play structure in the back yard for Ava & her future siblings :) We keep trying to tell her about it, but she seems more interested in eating, sleeping and of course pooping. Some day though we know she'll love it!!
Please keep us in your prayers this month--things are going to be CRAZY!!!! We got home this afternoon & leave again to go back to Houston on Tuesday. We leave for Sagemont's 2 weeks of camp on Saturday & get home on the 26th of June--just in time to move! We are already exhausted so we need prayers for strength & endurance during the long days ahead. Our excitement is definitely stronger than our exhaustion though! Thanks for your prayers--we covet them during this time of transition! We love you all!


Our new house!!



The living room with a double fireplace that goes through to the kitchen



Dining room (ha ha--just in case that one was hard to figure out!!)



The kitchen & hearth area in front of the fireplace



The hearth area in the kitchen--the breakfast nook is next to it



Ava's new playroom!!

I'll be back soon!

Hello all :) Just wanted to let you know that I will post more pictures & updates soon! We have been out of town like crazy (& will be much more in the next few weeks) so I haven't had time to unload my camera & get pictures up here. Thanks for your patience!! I should have more pictures & some exciting family updates by next week, so stay posted!! Love you all :)