I bet you didn't know Christy was an avid hunter :) We need to work on her camo however!

Nine more weeks to go! I think Christy just gets prettier and prettier as the pregnancy progresses 

Picture with us, the Governor, and first lady at the GRADD annual dinner. I only wish the picture was clearer. You just can't trust state photographers! 

Here we are at the 2005 GRADD picnic. You are looking at the 2005 Cornhole 3rd place champions...not bad for our first time. Yes, there were more than three teams! 

A more serious pose....this one was John's idea. 

You can see how Christy is growing! Isn't she cute!!! 

New Doctor

Yesterday's visit was rather uneventful. We met our new doctor (Dr. Griffin). He seemed pretty ok...nice enough and helpful. I think we'll be fine with him.

We had our last ultrasound. This time we got to see all four chambers of the heart. Luke seems to be progressing just fine.

Other notes, Christy is feeling a bit under the weather. Its her first cold of the season. This usually happens when she starts back to school as her immune system gets built back up. Unfortunately, there's not a lot she can take. So basically she just suffers through. With lots of TLC from me I might add :)

I trust everything is going well for you. We'd love to hear from you so drop us a line!

Family Update

I don't have any news as far as the baby is concerned. More on that should come after tomorrow's Dr. appointment. However, much has happened in our lives recently. On Monday, Christy's parents moved to North Carolina for her Dad to take a new job. This move was anticipated but it always is rough when final goodbye's are said. Thankfully, as believers we never say final goodbye's since we know that a fabulous reunion awaits us one day when we meet Jesus. However, it is rough on Christy having her parents so far away...especially while pregnant and ready to have a baby. Her parents did arrive safe and sound so that was a relief.

We also found out on Monday that we would have to find a new OB doctor since ours was retiring. We knew he was retiring but it was our understanding that he would see his patients who were already pregnant through the end of their pregnancy. Unfortunately, he changed his mind. Evidentially, he sent out a letter to all his patients explaining his change. However, as a result of our move we never received his letter. Thankfully, there is another Dr. in the office where we currently are that we are comfortable with. We will meet him for the first time tomorrow.

Christy and I were talking this morning how when we first found out we were pregnant and discussing our future plans that we didn't want to move right away since her family is near to help with the baby and that we had an OB doctor that we really liked. As you can see the Lord has removed both of those comforts. I don't exactly know what that means yet. Did we mess up by not stepping out on faith and moving in the spring? I don't think so. I believe the Lord in His infinite will knew where we would be and what decisions we would make to get us here. Plus, we never had any options come up that would have required us to move. That being said, I do believe the Lord is preparing us for some major change in our circumstances beyond just having a baby (as if that wouldn't be change enough!!!). It just seems that all the circumstances and events are funneling down to the Lord revealing our next step in life. To review, One, we will be out of debt in about a month and a half. Two, Christy's parents are far away which removes the need and desire to stay close by. Three, we will have a new doctor. That isn't huge in of itself but we really didn't want to have to move somewhere and find a new doctor that we didn't know.

We both are anxiously awaiting the Lords next move in our life. I have no idea what it will be but I believe that the Lord has used these two years to build in us the discipline, faith, and commitment to each other for a reason and may bring something across our path that we never would have expected which requires these particular character traits. One thing is certain the Lord is as much in control now as He was 1,000 years ago and as much as He will be 1,000 years from now.

Another thought entered my mind...I've just finished reading C.S. Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters". Its a very interesting read about a "senior" demon (Screwtape) writing instructions to his nephew, a young tempter (Wormwood), about how to best tempt the youngsters "project". It is a very unique and fascinating exploration into how the enemy tempts us to sin. Anyway, one of the tactics was to get the human to always thing in the future...never about what was going on now. I realized that often times I spend too much time worrying and wondering what is going to happen that I fail to grasp what is happening. I've been praying that the Lord would open my eyes and keep me alert to the multitude of ministry opportunities that He walks me into every day. This is difficult for me because I'm very much a planner and like to know what's coming before it arrives. Hmm, perhaps this is why the Lord is not giving much foresight into His plans for our near future? If He showed me too much I most likely would run off to make my plans and take the glory for finding His will rather that humbly watching as He walks us into His will.

Just a few thoughts I've been having...I'll update soon on our visit to the doctor tomorrow.

In case you forgot what we look like...

This was taken at the Maple Hill Manor (www.maplehillmanor.com) not the Manor House Inn(www.manorhouseinn.com) as I previously posted (oops!). It's a bed and breakfast just outside of Bardstown, KY. My parents got it for us for a combination Valentine, Birthday, and Anniversary gift. It was very nice! It sort of was our last getaway before Luke arrives.

Picture test

This is a test to post an image. Please read below for our updated posting. By the way, this is my (John's) parent's view from their back deck...peacefull! I would post a picture of Christy and I but I don't have one :(

July Update

Hello all, Christy and I had our doctor appointment today. All is going well. Nothing to0 exciting to tell. We did get another ultrasound and Luke looks a little less like an alien now...thank goodness! We got to see his nose mouth and chin. I think he's going to have my nose and Christy's mouth.

We still are waiting to move downstairs. Our landlords are taking their time in moving the stuff out from their father who lived below us before he passed away in January. There are two girls that will be moving in above us and they are to move in on Aug 8th so we will have to be moved by then.

My job search is still on going. I have a pretty strong prospect with the City here. I should hear something the first of next week. Lord willing that will transpire into a position that will afford us a little breathing room financially when Christy stops working in November. He has provided for us thus far and there is no reason why He won't in the future.

The biggest news is with Christy's parents. Her dad has accepted a new job in North Carolina and will be moving on Aug 8th...that will be a big day for all of us. Her mom will stay behind a few days and wrap things up here. The Lord really has confirmed this is the right move for them even though from our perspective it couldn't have come at a worse time. All the big things have fallen into place...they sold their house in about a week and a half to a couple who is paying cash, etc. This will be a trying time for Christy since she is so close to her family. Again, the Lord will see us through this time as well.

It seems the Lord keeps placing us in positions where we have to continually depend on Him to make it. This is a good, and at times a scary, place to be. I'm confident the Lord will use this season of life to shape us and our character.

As always we'd love to hear from you so feel free to email us! Have a great day!!

P.S. We have added the places we have registered under links just to the right...just in case :)

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!

Well, we found out this morning that we are having what looks like a male alien. If you have ever seen an early ultrasound you know what I mean. But it was confirmed that we are having a boy (and the doctor's are pretty sure its not an alien!)!! Needless to say Christy and I are very excited. We have picked out a name...Luke Ryland. It's nice not having to call the baby "it" now.

Other news...Christy's graduate classes are over for awhile. She worked very hard and did very well (as usual). Her work ethic and committment to quality continue to be an example to me. It will be nice for her not to have these classes hanging over her head for awhile. We still are not sure if she will continue her degree or not. The earliest she would start taking classes again would be January 2006. Please keep that decision in your prayers.

My job situation is still the same but I do have some possibilities on the horizon. Even though nothing has changed we continue to have a peace about the Lord providing for us. Please keep this in your prayers also.

That's a quick update on our (growing) family. We would love to hear what's happening with you!

Have a great day!

June 7 Update

First off, I'm sorry for taking so long between posts!! We've had quite a lot happen this past month. We had our second monthly visit last week. It went well. The baby's heartbeat is right where it should be (around 150 I think). The only cause for concern was that Christy's blood pressure was a little high. The Dr. has her checking it about three times a day until next week when he wants to see her again. I don't think its much cause for concern right now since she's been testing fine at home. Probably just a case of nerves at the Dr. office. We are hoping to find out the sex at the July visit but it may have to wait until the Aug visit. Christy went through about a week just prior to the visit when it seemed she was growing by the day. It has tapered off a bit now but she is starting to look a little pregnant. She's not very big yet but you can start to see what looks like a little ball in her belly.

The Lord has worked out new living arrangements for us. We will be moving to the apartment below us. Although the bedrooms are a bit smaller overall it is a bit bigger as it has an extra room on the side. However, the main benefit is that it is on the first floor so Christy won't have to navigate such steep stairs while pregnant or carrying a baby. Before we found out about the apartment, we had looked at a house that we were very interested in. It would have been a stretched financially for us and Christy would probably have had to work part time which we were not very excited about. The day we were going to make an offer our landlords approached us about the apartment and we worked out a deal for much less rent than they had originally quoted us for the downstairs apartment. While we would have loved to have a house it just didn't work out financially. I don't believe it would have been a blessing to us because we would have been stretched to thin financially.

We are still praying for a new job to come through for me...or a nice raise at my current job. Our board of directors meet about staff raises tomorrow so I should know something soon. I don't expect much but I had a really good evaluation and the ruler of the universe is on my side. We know that the Lord will provide for us and take care of us. He has already proved faithful in so many ways that I have no doubt we will be well taken care of.

Thank you for taking time to read and have a great day!!

May 3 Update

I realize its been awhile since our last post but we wanted to wait until our first Doctor appointment to post again which was today. Since the last post, Christy has been feeling good on some days and bad on others. We will be very glad when she gets past the nausea and food aversions! Well, like I said before, we had our first Dr. appointment today. The biggest news is that we got to hear the heartbeat!!! It was 170. I think it sounded like probably one of the strongest heartbeats ever heard in a doctor's office. Not that I'm biased! It was very exciting to hear evidence of our new baby for the very first time. I think that has relieved some anxiety for Christy.

As far as updates on the past prayer requests goes...not a whole lot has changed circumstantially. There is the possibility of a new job for me on the horizon but I don't know many details yet. Other than that the only thing that has really changed has been my outlook. The Lord has given me a peace that He is going to provide for us. I've always known, intellectually, that He will provide but he has (at least for the time being) given me a peace emotionally that He will provide. There is still a lot left for the Lord to reveal in the upcoming months but all will come together in due season.

We are looking forward to Christy finishing school in the next few weeks. This will allow her a lot more time to rest and start to get ready for a baby. We have decided for her to go ahead and continue her graduate work for the time being which means she will have two classes in June. This will be a very busy time for us. The classes are both online so she won't have to drive to Bowling Green. Please pray that the Lord protects our marriage especially during what we expect to be a very busy month. We both know that when we get busy and are not able to spend as much time with each other as we like that the enemy tries to capitalize on that and tempt us into doing or saying things that are harmful to our relationship. We will take full advantage of the times we do get but we want to be aware of the enemy's tricks.

On that note, have you ever wondered why you keep stumbling in the same areas time and time again? I know I do. I encourage you to think back on those times to see if there are any patterns that emerge. Perhaps its when you have not spent ample time in the Word. Perhaps you have been very busy or very bored. Try to identify some common denominators that you can watch out for down the road. We may not be able to change our circumstances all the time but we can enter those times with our eyes wide open and our senses on heightened alert for the enemy to throw another curve at us. Even though we may still stumble at times, I believe that as the Lord increases our intimacy and continues to fine tune our heart to the Spirit's leading we can avoid more and more of those pitfalls.

Anyway, thank you for taking interest into our lives. We would love to hear from you!

April 19 update

So far so good. Thankfully we haven't had any major problems this week. Christy still worries a bit about feeling so good. I think when you hear horror stories about being sick for three months and bed rest for the last six months you begin to think all pregnancies are like that. So, when you don't experience that you start to worry that you're not "normal" or that something is wrong. Please pray that Christy can relax and enjoy feeling ok.

Our first real doctor's appointment is May 3rd so we should know a bunch more then.

Now for something that's been on my mind. Sometime around the fall of 2004 I had prayed that the Lord would put us in a place in which if He didn't come through then we wouldn't make it. At first thought that seems like a crazy prayer but I believe being in those situations challenges our faith and can serve to increase our dependency upon Him. While being at the mercy of God can sometimes be a scary place when we can't see the road ahead we know that it is also the safest place to be. I believe every person needs to experience occasional seasons where if the Lord doesn't come through then you will fall flat on your face. As Hudson Taylor said, "Either the Lord is Lord of all or not Lord at all."

We soon found out that the Lord loves to answer these kinds of prayers.

In January we had a major car repair expense totaling $4,000 then we find out in April that we are having a baby. Thankfully we had the money to repair the car but it put a major dent into our finances as you can imagine. Christy and I have always had the goal of her staying home with our kids once they came along and we have planned our budget to accommodate that by only using my income to live off of. We also had the goal of being completely out of debt and we have been using her income to work towards that goal. Thankfully, in Aug/Sept. we will be completely debt free allowing us the freedom for Christy to stay home. However, herein lies the next hurdle the Lord will have to see us over.

My job, while steady and a great work environment, does not pay very well. We will be able to live off of my income but it will be extremely tight. We are praying that the Lord provides a better paying job allowing us a little more cushion. I don't want to take a new job simply because it pays more. One of my great professional passions is to help people with their money so a job in some sort of financial services field would be ideal.

Next, hurdle/questions. In order for Christy to keep her teaching license she has to complete 15 hours of graduate studies by August. She started on this last summer and is two classes shy of that going into the summer. It is possible for her to pick up those two classes but our dilemma is whether or not its worth it since she does not plan on returning to full-time teaching. Unfortunately, she does have to work in the fall for insurance purposes but she can file for a one year extension on her certificate to see her through that time. We hate to essentially waste the time and money already spent but would that time and money be better spent this summer preparing for the baby?

Next hurdle. Our current living situation has been great for us as a newlywed. It is a spacious apartment close to everything in town. However, we have to travel up fairly steep stairs to enter the apartment and have to go outside and down two flights of stairs to do laundry. Obviously, this will not work once we have a baby and even once Christy gets greater with child. Again, our current financial situation does not allow us to pay much more than we currently are paying in rent but we need to find something that better fits our needs.

It seems that situations exist in almost every area of our life where the Lord must come through for us to make it through. I truly believe He will walk us through this time and that our faith will be greatly increased as a result. Can you point to a time in your life where the Lord had to come through for you to make it? If so, I'm sure you can attest to the joy in truly KNOWING that the Lord cares for you and will see you through. If not, perhaps you should pray for the Lord to place you in a similar situation but be prepared. He loves to answer those prayers!

April 14 update

Christy has been feeling better the past couple of days. Today even her back has started to feel better. We are very happy about that! The Lord has answered prayer yet again!

Christy heard from her Dr. today regarding her blood tests. It turns out her progesteron levels were a little low. They should be above 20 and hers were 16.2. Progesteron helps support the cervix and endometrium (sp?). If its too low it can cause miscarriage. She's been taking progesteron since Monday and she's starting to feel better now so it seems her progesteron levels are starting to come up.

Prayer requests:
That the Lord gives her a peace of mind about the pregnancy and that she doesn't worry too much. Being a first time mom and uncertain of what should "feel right" coupled with all that's happened this past week has caused some worry.
That the baby continues to grow and remain healthy.

April 12 update

We have had a very eventful weekend. Christy noticed some unexpected bleeding and back pain on Saturday and called the Dr.'s office. The nurse suggested that we have her checked out at the ER. To make a long story short the Dr.'s ran some tests and said that everything appeared normal. They suggested that we call the OB on Monday but come back in if anything got worse.

Well it did.

She noticed some heavier darker bleeding on Sunday morning so we headed back to the ER. This time they did two ultrasounds to check everything out. They found a heartbeat (for the baby) which was a great thing and saw that the baby was not tubal. As a result the Dr.'s feel that everything should be fine. Some women just have a little bleeding during the first part of the trimester.

Christy went back to the OB on Monday to have additional blood work done to ensure her hormones were high enough and the Dr. started her on Progesteron (sp?) which is a hormone normally produced by pregnant ladies in very high doses. She's going to be on this until the test results come back then they will re-evaluate.

Prayer Requests:
Christy's nausea and back aches
Christy's appetite to return

Welcome to our new blog!

First of all you may be wondering what a "blog" is? Well, it is simply a glorified listserve. It is a place that we can update you all about what's going on in our life...or share anything else that is on our minds...and you can share your thoughts or what's happening with you.

So, the BIG NEWS! WE ARE HAVING A BABY!! We just found out last week and are very excited and somewhat nervous. The baby is due December 1st so we are still early in our pregnancy adventure. Click on the "Baby" link at the right to see an approximation of what's happening today with our new baby. Christy is adjusting pretty well. She has had some bouts with morning sickness and food aversions this week. If anyone knows any tips on dealing with this we would love to hear.

Other news...Christy is continuing her Masters program in educational administration through Western Kentucky University. She is working as a music teacher at a school here in town and I'm working as an economic development specialist at an area planning agency. We are still wacking away at our personal debt and plan on being totally debt free by September. This will be a huge blessing since we are now expecting. Our plan is for Christy to stay home with the baby once its here.

We are trusting that the Lord will provide for us once Christy stay's home. Even though we have planned for her to stay home once we had kids since we were married by living off just my income it will be very tight moving from two incomes to one as any of you who have made that jump can attest. We firmly believe that the Lord has called Christy to stay home and raise our children so we believe He will continue to provide the means for her to do so.

Well, as you can tell a blog is also a place for people to ramble on...maybe it should be called "blab" instead. Anyway, we would love to hear from you!!