One More Month!

This past weekend we went on our last recruiting trip for Maranatha! It is hard to believe that we'll never do it again. It was just like old days because we got to sing for the youth rally!

We got to enjoy some sightseeing on our way down to Wakarusa, Indiana, for Farm Fest. Five of us went, including Matt, me, Luke Backhaus, Grace and Billy Peters. We sang several songs throughout the day, Billy got to play his guitar, and we manned the table, trying to get kids to come to Maranatha. :)

In other news, Erin and Christopher got back from their family vacation and brought with them books! Books for our curriculum next fall! You'll notice the Algebra 1/2 book on top... that's a class that I'll be teaching! I'll also be teaching 7/8 grade Earth Science, 9/10 Biology, 9/10 English (yay!!), and PE (another yay!)!
Matt will be teaching high school History, Jr. High World History, Geography, Business Math, and Drama!

We are very excited to be moving in less than one month! We've started packing some boxes of stuff, but we have so much more to do! :) Please pray for us as we try to get organized and make some important decisions. We are so very excited, but we do have a lot to finish here.

One Step Closer

This spring break Matt and I went on a road trip to Maryland. 

We did a little sightseeing, went to a day of school, experienced a "snow day" in Maryland, toured some apartments... oh, and Matt signed a contract.

A contract that will require us to leave the first and only home of our married life and move to a new land. Mary-land. (Some of the natives have warned me about saying it that way, but sometimes it just slips out!)

Matt will be teaching at Faith Baptist School in Salisbury! It seems hard to believe that after all this schooling, he will get to do what he went to school for... more school! :) I don't know what I will be doing yet, but I am excited about how God will provide throughout these next few months. 

 It hardly seems real that we will be moving in a few months, but first things first. Matt has to finish his grad class homework so he can graduate! Then we can concentrate on getting ready to move. One step at a time. But we are one step closer to the next phase in our life. :)

Unexpected Blessings

As the new year has started, it has brought with it some changes.

New calendar, which means it's the same year that Matt and I will be moving to Maryland, Lord willing! More details to come on that later.

New school semester, meaning Matt's last semester of his Masters program! Yay!

Also, a new class for me! This semester, I get to take a class for free. Guess what class it is? Techniques of Coaching Volleyball! I'm very excited to be taking this class with some of my favorite people. :)

One of Matt's requirements for finishing his Biblical Counseling  program is to attend a week-long counseling conference in Lafayette, Indiana. That conference is this next week- the week of Valentine's Day! I was preparing myself to be alone all week at home, thinking of how much cleaning and organizing needed to be done around the house. On Thursday afternoon in the Admissions Office, I was telling Grace and Mrs. Hibbs how I wished I could go with Matt to this counseling conference. But, it did cost a lot of money and I would be missing a week of work which would put us doubly behind! So, it wasn't even really a thought.

Then, Matt walks into the office with a smirk on his face. He said, "Brace yourself." When he says that I never know what to expect, so I calmly sat back in my chair and waited for the news. He went on to tell me that someone from school had to cancel their spot in the counseling conference. It just so happened that this person was in charge of the trip, so the school paid for their trip... which was a non-refundable payment. So they were looking for someone to fill the spot!

Well, the Lord worked it out so that I can go with Matt to the counseling conference this week! It all came about so fast that I probably am not as prepared as I should be. However, I am doing laundry at this present moment, so that is a start I should think! I won't get the cleaning and organizing done like I was planning, but I will get to spend all week with my love. :)

I'm so glad that there are often unexpected blessings in our lives! :) We should be so thankful every day for the chance to live-- and when God gives us these unexpected and undeserved blessings, we should be so much more grateful!

And a Happy New Year!

This new Year's Eve, Matt and I went to work in the Admissions Office like any other day. Then, we came home at 3:30 and took a nap. Haha. :) We were trying to prepare (although I feel it was a hopeless effort) for the Calvary teen All-Nighter!!
So, we will welcome in the new year playing laser tag and trampoline dodgeball!
We've been so blessed by God throughout the year (as in all other years before)-- and we are never as thankful as we should be. Tomorrow afternoon (after we've awoken from our recovery sleep), we are going to go through our "Blessings Jar" that we started last year around this time.

In recent news, we found a kitty. Or rather, he found us. We had just gotten back home from our Thanksgiving trip to Pennsylvania to see the family. I was unpacking in our room, and Matt was reading for one of his classes. I heard a strange noise and naturally, I assumed it was my stomach. Haha :) Then I heard a noise again, and Matt said, "Wow- Did you hear my stomach?" Then, we heard it again, but this time it was a definite "meow!" It sounded like it was coming from the corner of our bedroom. How did a cat get in our room?

Well, it so happened that a little kitten was stuck under our house. He had gotten in through a hole and somehow managed to get under the old stairs in our basement. It took 2 days to get him to come out, through much coaxing, prodding, and turkey (it was the only food we had in our house!). Thus, we named him Turkey.

He has assimilated nicely into our family. Lanta and he are even friends. :) Happy New Year's Eve!

7 Months Later...

Wow. I was afraid to see when my last post was. May?!? Gulp. After 7 months of non-activity on the blog, you probably think there was a lack of adventure with Matt and me! But alas, that is not the case! Just a bit of writing failure on my part.
As I finally sit down to write this, the kitchen is sparkling, the dishes are washed and put away, the living room vacuumed, and the dog napping in the corner. Sounds like a typical evening at home, right? Haha. :)
Matt and I have been so busy these past few months. School has started back up for Matt, I started a new job in the Admissions Office at Maranatha as Administrative Assistant, college volleyball is in full swing, and Matt is in the last week of rehearsals for the production, Hamlet.

Matt plays King Claudius and the Ghost!!

My nameplate and pumpkin!

After a few weeks, volleyball will be done (going to Nationals next week!!), and so will Hamlet (production is next week!), so Matt and I will have a little bit more time to work on blogging and homework. :)

At the Moody Tournament

First day of school!

This summer was eventful with both family vacations, watching some friends' farm, helping with camp, and working a lot. We continue to learn more about our God and His grace. Near the end of the summer, we were shocked and grieved to hear the news that our friends from college, Chad and Courtney Phelps, had died in a bus accident and left their little toddler, Chase, behind. My immediate thoughts were, "Why?" and "Poor Chase" and "poor teens affected by the accident" and so on. I cried for days, just thinking of the families left behind, how the bus driver must have felt, and the way that Chad and Courtney were taken out of this world, but then God kept bringing to my mind a verse.

Jeremiah 29:11-- For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

When I thought of that verse, and the fact that I knew that Chad and Courtney were in heaven with Jesus, I couldn't think quite the same way. God always has a reason and He always is good. Why would we think that someone is "poor" because God has a different plan for them than we think He should? Yes, it is still hard to believe, and yes we were grieved-- especially for the families left behind; but we have the hope that there is more to life than this earth. Already we have heard of people coming to Christ because of the testimonies of Chad and Courtney and their families. And I know that Chad and Courtney would say that if one person came to Christ because of their deaths, then it was worth it.

That is one thing I learned this summer-- it brought my focus back to where it needed to be.

So, although there wasn't any blogging going on, there were definitely adventures God has brought our way. Hopefully I can keep you more up to date of what's going on in our lives... but I can't promise that will happen! :)

Truly a George Adventure-- The Outer Banks

This past week, Matt and I had the opportunity to join his family on their very first family vacation! That's right. The whole George family had never been on a vacation all together. Since Dad George is a farmer, it obviously is difficult to get away. Whether it is planting season, harvesting season, or feeding-the-cows season (every day of the year), there was never a chance for everyone to all go somewhere on a vacation.
So this trip was monumental. And I believe it may become a tradition! :)

We began our trip at 10 pm (not something that I would willingly do again, mind you). The plan was that the children (ages 7 weeks, 8 months, 3 years [in a few weeks] and 5 years) would sleep happily in the car the whole night through, without constant crying or having to stop for 27 potty breaks on the way there.
Well, that plan went mostly smooth. However, I felt like I was going to be the one to start crying because of the bar that I was sitting on in the backseat... it proved difficult to sleep soundly on the way.

But, just as all hope seemed lost, we crossed the bridge onto the island and found our breakfast place-- Stack 'Em High.
Well, we found it after we sat at an abandoned Stack 'Em High for a few minutes waiting for it to open. :)
Nevertheless, we got inside, ordered our pancakes, and started eating. After one of the waiters took our first family picture of the trip, Mikayla (age 5) wanted me to take her to the restroom. I didn't mind another chance to stretch my legs, so I went with her. When we stepped back out into the restaurant, to our chagrin, we heard wailing coming from the direction of our table. And of course, it was Mikayla's sister, Madisyn. Zach, her dad, was holding her on his lap with a napkin pressed to the back of her head. I knew it wasn't a good sign when I saw blood on the back of Madisyn's shirt. Poor girl. Not a half an hour out of the car, and it was time for a trip to the ER.

Well about 2 hours, 2 staples, and 2 princess stickers later, we were back in the car heading to our beach house. We had to wait a few hours to check into the house, so we stopped at the beach to relax while we waited. The wind was probably blowing 35 mph, and the sand was whipping our faces, but we didn't let that discourage us. "Natural Exfoliation" is what we called it. :)

Despite the multiple other injuries-- Dad's severely sunburned feet, Mikayla's fork jab to her leg, and Lyndsey's seafood poisoning-- it really was a relaxing vacation! :) A couple days we left the Big Kahuna and explored the aquarium, visited Roanoke "The Lost Colony," ate at Dirty Dick's Crab House, went mini- golfing at Mutiny Bay, and took pictures of the Brodie Lighthouse. We spent our days on the beach, trying to learn how to use a boogie board, collecting shells, building sand castles, and playing a game called kubb.

Here are some pictures from the trip.

At the aquarium

Building the sand turtle

Siblings

Eating at Dirty Dick's crab house

Crab hunting

Brayden

Brodie Lighthouse

Big Kahuna- the middle house

Sunrise

We had a great time and are grateful for the time that we got to spend all together. God's amazing creation reminded me of His grace and mercy towards us. Think of how big the ocean is...yet God loves little people like us. :) This song was in my head a lot last week: 

                       

                       Could we with ink the ocean fill,

                   And were the skies of parchment made; 

                       Were every stalk on earth a quill,

                        And every man a scribe by trade;

                        To write the love of God above

                           Would drain the ocean dry, 

                     Nor could the scroll contain the whole 

                        Though stretched from sky to sky! 

So thankful for the love of God and the love of our family. :) The week truly was a George adventure! 

Great Grandparents

This Easter, we (Erin, Elise, and I) were able to make a road trip to Minnesota. We haven't been all together at the Fred home since our sophomore year of college! (And THAT was a long time ago!) Haha :) The 5 hour trip was a good time to catch up on our lives and sing at the tops of our lungs to our new favorite musical. :)

On Saturday, we went with my parents to Bloomington, MN, where my grandparents live. It was wonderful to see Grandpa and Grandma both at their house and at my parents' house the next day. Although age takes its toll and sometimes slows people down, it was good to hear my Grandma laugh and make us laugh until we snorted! Just like when we were kids! Haha :) And of course, it was good to hear Grandpa pray and make his funny jokes that he always tells.

We went to see our Great Grandma, who turned 100 last July, in the care/nursing home that she is in. It is definitely different seeing Great Grandma in a bed, rather than walking spryly about. She was tap dancing on her 99th birthday and only started using a walker sometime last year! But again, despite the setbacks that she has experienced because of her age, she was still praising God for His faithfulness over the years. We sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "How Great Thou Art," and she barely missed a word!

 I am so grateful for all  my grandparents (and Matt's grandparents) that love the Lord and have taught their children to love Him too. I hope when Matt and I grow old, we can have that said about us too-- that even when time and age change us, we will never stop loving and serving the Lord.