Well, it looks like its that time of the year when everybody makes crazy jokes and then say, "April Fools!" Haha...Well, Jason and I learned our lesson. lol. Last year we joked with everyone that we had a secret surprise for everyone (it was our way of saying April Fools!), and then two weeks later we found out we were pregnant :)! What a surprise to us! I had to take two tests to make sure it was true, because the first one was such a surprise that we both thought it couldn't be real...oh but it was real! You see pregnancy tests when they are positive always, always and always mean that you are pregnant. The doctors say you can't have a negative positive, but you can have a positive negative. I hope that makes since. Well, its been a year since then, and we couldn't be more happy with where the Lord has brought us in our lives together as husband and wife. You see our lives have been forever changed by our precious son, Joshua. We are so grateful for him, and we thank the Lord for him everyday. Jason and I cherish every second with our son, because we are not guaranteed tomorrow nor is he. I know that sounds sad and depressing, but its not when you worship the high king! Anyway, I have been taking lots and lots of pictures of our little man, because I want to capture every memory of him on picture and video. I'm doing the pictures and Jason is doing the videos. Once I figure out how to upload them on the blog I will. Jason is going to have to teach him to design my website better :)! I would like to be more creative with my blog, but I just need to figure out how to do it! Its funny how being a stay-at-home mommy makes you discover new things that you enjoy doing. I find myself enjoying art projects and sowing projects now! I thank the Lord that I have the time to do it, and that I have an amazing husband who provides for his family so that I can stay home with our son. Speaking of our son, Joshua is awake from his morning nap which means its time for me to be finished and go be a mommy!
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
Cathy
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
I know Joshua is real but sometimes I wonder...
Yesterday my precious son turned 3-months-old. He has hit a milestone in his life; Joshua has gone from being called a newborn to being called an infant. Time sure has flown by for Jason and me, and we have enjoyed every precious moment with our son! However, I must confess something though about parenting Joshua. Joshua has been so easy that sometimes it doesn't even seem like we have a baby. What do I mean by this? Well, let me share with you about the first 3-months of Joshua's life...
1. The hardest part of Joshua's life thus far has been his delivery. As most of you know, I was in labor for 36 hours with Joshua, and Jason and I only had a total of 3 hours (not an exaggeration) of sleep in a 48 hour period. At the end of all the intense labor the doctors decided that it was time for me to have a c-section. I was pretty bummed about this-especially since I made it to 9 centimeters dilated. Then, I had to wait for 2 hours to have an epidural. That part was very challenging, but I had wonderful people (my mom, my husband and my mother-in-law) coaching and praying me through the whole labor and delivery process. I couldn't have made it to the end without them. Once the doctors came to start the whole process with me, I started crying, because I felt like a total failure not being able to have Joshua normally. My mom and husband reassured me that I wasn't so, I had them wheel me off to the delivery room. Then (no joke) I was in an out of the delivery room within the hour, however, I still had to be in the recovery room for about an hour. This part was so hard for me because I'll I wanted to do was hold my son and be with my husband. However, in the end of it all, I wouldn't take back the most precious part of it all; hearing Joshua cry for the first time, and watching my husband carry him over to meet me for the first time. Then and there I cried, because I realized that the Lord blessed me with a wonderful husband and a precious son! What more could a girl ask for? I am a blessed woman! Please know that the rest of my hospital stay was wonderful. I didn't have to make meals, I had a lot of guests come visit me and my family in the hospital (that was nice), my nurses were great (except for one), I didn't have to clean my home, and I had some beautiful moments with my mom, husband and other family members. Though things didn't turn out the way I wanted them to, in the end, I still praised the Lord for blessing me with a healthy baby and wonderful family and friends!
2. The first month of Joshua's life was packed with lots of traveling. The first week of his life we went to Champaign, Illinois to have Christmas with the Allison side of the family! Joshua slept most of the drive up and down. I don't think he cried once. When we arrived in Champaign Joshua spent most of his time with the Allison family sleeping in some family members arms! It was nice to have so many people wanting to help. After our visit with the Allison family, we spent some time with my family! That was nice too! We had lots of people willing to help with Joshua their as well :)! The last three weeks of his first month were spent sleeping a lot! Joshua and mommy both did a lot of sleeping. The first month of Joshua's life we did a lot of co-sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's bed, and we also let Joshua sleep in his bassinet several times as well. It just depended on what kind of day it was, and if Jason and I needed sleep that night. Joshua and I always co-slept during nap time though, and I wouldn't trade those moments for anything! Mommy also spent the first month figuring out Joshua's schedule. His schedule was as follows: he would sleep 1.5 hours (5-6 naps), nurse 20 minutes (8-9 times), have to get his diaper changed 6-7 times a day, and then he would go down for the night at 10:00 pm. He usually slept until 2:00 am. Joshua was very content the first month of his life. He only cried when he was hungry, tired or needed a diaper changed. He didn't spit up ever, and he rarely burped. Overall, the first month of his life was absolutely wonderful!
3. The second month of his life was just as fun. He only cried when he was tired, hungry, in pain or in need of a diaper change. I started introducing pacifiers and bottles to Joshua this month. Joshua had no problem taking bottles or pacifiers. This made mommy glad, because it allowed me to leave Joshua home with daddy so that I could go out and have some girl time! This month had some sad moments, too! Mommy scratched Joshua on his forehead (he cried), he had to get some shots (he cried. I did, too), mommy cut his fingernail to short (he cried), and mommy bumped his head on the freezer door (he cried). I know what you're thinking-How could a mom hurt her precious son? Well, let me tell you something-I didn't mean to hurt him at all, and I cried too! Please know that I love my son so much that it hurts me when he is hurting and in pain. Also, since having a son I have realized something so much more than I have ever noticed before-God's grace is so wonderful and beautiful! I mean-could you imagine watching your son suffer on the cross for the sins of the world? I couldn't, but our Heavenly Father had too in order to save His people! Wow! What a God we serve. Thank you Jesus for suffering on the Cross.
Though there were sad moments this month of his life, Joshua, overall, had a great second month. He didn't get sick once, he only had three spit ups (very little spit ups I might add), he was still very much on a schedule, he started cooing and babbling (love it when he talks), and he found his first two fingers to suck on throughout the day! He is most definitely a first two finger sucker :)! He doesn't hate his pacifier, but he much prefers his first two fingers it seems. In addition to all of these new and exciting things developing in Joshua's life, his mommy and daddy moved him to Houston, Texas! If you won't to read about how our move is going so far, then feel free to read my note called: "So this is what its like moving to Texas?" In that note I share about all of our experiences in Texas thus far....
4. Now that I have everyone caught up with the life of Joshua here are some random fun facts about Joshua:
-He only cries when he is tired, hungry, hurting or needs a diaper changed. When he cries he is easy to comfort back to being happy! It usually only takes 2 minutes to get him to stop crying.
-He takes a bottle with no problem at all!
-He went to his first Houston Rockets Basketball game ever yesterday, March 17th. They won, too! Joshua also slept during half time and the first 8 minutes of the third quarter. I was surprised he did, too! It was so loud in the auditorium I don't think I could've slept during the game.
-He is now trying to do sit-ups on his own! Its fun to watch him do it!
-He sleeps in his crib now away from mommy and daddy.
-He is spitting now, too! Its funny to watch him spit...lol!
-He loves sitting in his Blue Bumbo seat!
-He has my hair color! I even think he is starting to look more like me! I do realize this could all change in a few months as well, but I am enjoying the moments while they are here!
-He is a very talkative baby! I think he gets that from me!
-He is trying to roll over from his back to his stomach.
-I think he might start crawling like my sister, Megan, did-backwards!
-His lip quivers when he sucks on his pacifier. Its pretty funny to watch!
-Last fact for now...He loves getting kisses and giving kisses!
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy!
P.S. I love being a mommy!
Love Y'all!
1. The hardest part of Joshua's life thus far has been his delivery. As most of you know, I was in labor for 36 hours with Joshua, and Jason and I only had a total of 3 hours (not an exaggeration) of sleep in a 48 hour period. At the end of all the intense labor the doctors decided that it was time for me to have a c-section. I was pretty bummed about this-especially since I made it to 9 centimeters dilated. Then, I had to wait for 2 hours to have an epidural. That part was very challenging, but I had wonderful people (my mom, my husband and my mother-in-law) coaching and praying me through the whole labor and delivery process. I couldn't have made it to the end without them. Once the doctors came to start the whole process with me, I started crying, because I felt like a total failure not being able to have Joshua normally. My mom and husband reassured me that I wasn't so, I had them wheel me off to the delivery room. Then (no joke) I was in an out of the delivery room within the hour, however, I still had to be in the recovery room for about an hour. This part was so hard for me because I'll I wanted to do was hold my son and be with my husband. However, in the end of it all, I wouldn't take back the most precious part of it all; hearing Joshua cry for the first time, and watching my husband carry him over to meet me for the first time. Then and there I cried, because I realized that the Lord blessed me with a wonderful husband and a precious son! What more could a girl ask for? I am a blessed woman! Please know that the rest of my hospital stay was wonderful. I didn't have to make meals, I had a lot of guests come visit me and my family in the hospital (that was nice), my nurses were great (except for one), I didn't have to clean my home, and I had some beautiful moments with my mom, husband and other family members. Though things didn't turn out the way I wanted them to, in the end, I still praised the Lord for blessing me with a healthy baby and wonderful family and friends!
2. The first month of Joshua's life was packed with lots of traveling. The first week of his life we went to Champaign, Illinois to have Christmas with the Allison side of the family! Joshua slept most of the drive up and down. I don't think he cried once. When we arrived in Champaign Joshua spent most of his time with the Allison family sleeping in some family members arms! It was nice to have so many people wanting to help. After our visit with the Allison family, we spent some time with my family! That was nice too! We had lots of people willing to help with Joshua their as well :)! The last three weeks of his first month were spent sleeping a lot! Joshua and mommy both did a lot of sleeping. The first month of Joshua's life we did a lot of co-sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's bed, and we also let Joshua sleep in his bassinet several times as well. It just depended on what kind of day it was, and if Jason and I needed sleep that night. Joshua and I always co-slept during nap time though, and I wouldn't trade those moments for anything! Mommy also spent the first month figuring out Joshua's schedule. His schedule was as follows: he would sleep 1.5 hours (5-6 naps), nurse 20 minutes (8-9 times), have to get his diaper changed 6-7 times a day, and then he would go down for the night at 10:00 pm. He usually slept until 2:00 am. Joshua was very content the first month of his life. He only cried when he was hungry, tired or needed a diaper changed. He didn't spit up ever, and he rarely burped. Overall, the first month of his life was absolutely wonderful!
3. The second month of his life was just as fun. He only cried when he was tired, hungry, in pain or in need of a diaper change. I started introducing pacifiers and bottles to Joshua this month. Joshua had no problem taking bottles or pacifiers. This made mommy glad, because it allowed me to leave Joshua home with daddy so that I could go out and have some girl time! This month had some sad moments, too! Mommy scratched Joshua on his forehead (he cried), he had to get some shots (he cried. I did, too), mommy cut his fingernail to short (he cried), and mommy bumped his head on the freezer door (he cried). I know what you're thinking-How could a mom hurt her precious son? Well, let me tell you something-I didn't mean to hurt him at all, and I cried too! Please know that I love my son so much that it hurts me when he is hurting and in pain. Also, since having a son I have realized something so much more than I have ever noticed before-God's grace is so wonderful and beautiful! I mean-could you imagine watching your son suffer on the cross for the sins of the world? I couldn't, but our Heavenly Father had too in order to save His people! Wow! What a God we serve. Thank you Jesus for suffering on the Cross.
Though there were sad moments this month of his life, Joshua, overall, had a great second month. He didn't get sick once, he only had three spit ups (very little spit ups I might add), he was still very much on a schedule, he started cooing and babbling (love it when he talks), and he found his first two fingers to suck on throughout the day! He is most definitely a first two finger sucker :)! He doesn't hate his pacifier, but he much prefers his first two fingers it seems. In addition to all of these new and exciting things developing in Joshua's life, his mommy and daddy moved him to Houston, Texas! If you won't to read about how our move is going so far, then feel free to read my note called: "So this is what its like moving to Texas?" In that note I share about all of our experiences in Texas thus far....
4. Now that I have everyone caught up with the life of Joshua here are some random fun facts about Joshua:
-He only cries when he is tired, hungry, hurting or needs a diaper changed. When he cries he is easy to comfort back to being happy! It usually only takes 2 minutes to get him to stop crying.
-He takes a bottle with no problem at all!
-He went to his first Houston Rockets Basketball game ever yesterday, March 17th. They won, too! Joshua also slept during half time and the first 8 minutes of the third quarter. I was surprised he did, too! It was so loud in the auditorium I don't think I could've slept during the game.
-He is now trying to do sit-ups on his own! Its fun to watch him do it!
-He sleeps in his crib now away from mommy and daddy.
-He is spitting now, too! Its funny to watch him spit...lol!
-He loves sitting in his Blue Bumbo seat!
-He has my hair color! I even think he is starting to look more like me! I do realize this could all change in a few months as well, but I am enjoying the moments while they are here!
-He is a very talkative baby! I think he gets that from me!
-He is trying to roll over from his back to his stomach.
-I think he might start crawling like my sister, Megan, did-backwards!
-His lip quivers when he sucks on his pacifier. Its pretty funny to watch!
-Last fact for now...He loves getting kisses and giving kisses!
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy!
P.S. I love being a mommy!
Love Y'all!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
So this is what its like moving to Houston, Texas!
Hey Y'all! It's been a while since I last wrote to you guys about what's going on with the Allison family so, I thought I better catch everyone up with the story of our life.
Well, as most of you know by now Jason and I have moved from Carbondale, Illinois to Houston, Texas for job related purposes. You ask me how its going? Well, let me tell you a little story about me....
I originally grew up in Des Moines, IA which had roughly a total of 500, 000 people. It was a relatively nice city. Perfect in size-not too big, but not too small. It had lots of museums, zoos and theme parks to attend. I loved the variety of things that Des Moines had to offer. Then, at the age of 13, I moved to Champaign, a college town in central Illinois. It was significantly smaller than Des Moines. I definitely had to adjust to a lot of things-new people, new stores, new schools, etc. I had to adjust to a man made hill to sled down, because central Illinois was very flat. Sledding down a man made hill was very strange sounding to me at the time, because I was use to sledding down the capital hill in Des Moines along with several other hills in Des Moines, IA. It was also very strange going from 3 malls to 1 mall. After living in Champaign for 10 years, I moved to Carbondale, Illinois, a very small college town in southern Illinois. That was a huge change. It had fewer stores, fewer coffee shops, one target that you had to drive 30 mintues to get to, and very little snow compared to Champaign or Des Moines. In fact, I don't think I went sledding once when I lived in Carbondale. The weather in Carbondale was significantly different than Des Moines, but not too much different than Champaign. I loved the outdoors of Carbondale. It had lots of places to go hiking, rock climbing and boating. The nature of Southern Illinois was completely different than Des Moines and Champaign. Southern Illinois had so much more to offer with outdoor types of adventure than Des Moines or Champaign had to offer. I loved it! Then, at the age of 21, I married my high school sweetheart, Jason Allison (as most of you know by now), and unbeknownst to us the Lord would move us from Carbondale to Houston, Texas after we graduated from college. You ask me how this move is going....well...let me share with you a few things about our move down to Houston, Texas...
1. Driving with a 2 1/2 month old can make a 14 hour drive turn into a 2 day event.
2. Having your mother-in-law drive the whole way is a wonderful blessing. Just so everybody knows-I did offer to drive :)! My mother-in-law insisted I be available in case Joshua needed me at anytime! She was right-Joshua did need me at times during our trip.
3. Playing hide-and-go-seek with your baby at Chick-fil-A can be very entertaining-especially when others look at you and your husband with odd faces :)! Good memories!
4. Having your baby lay on the table while your husband, mother-in-law and you eat a Denny's breakfast at 11:00 pm can be an added blessing-especially when you are starving.
5. Not having to drive in downtown Houston traffic is an added blessing as well! I couldn't wrap my mind around any of the crazy downtown loops and traffic. You have to remember I was used to Carbondale, Illionois where it had one main road that you took you everywhere you went. Now, I have to get used to thousands of roads! I'm a littler nervous about this part of Houston, Texas, but the nice part about living in Houston is that you can live in Houston, Texas for 13 years, and not drive anywhere close to downtown if you don't want to. I have a feeling that will be for a while. However, once Joshua is old enough to enjoy the zoo, museums, and parks I will be driving in downtown Houston more often! I'm getting practice with driving in Houston traffic as much as I can, but I'm avoiding the downtown loops for now.
6. The many added blessings of living in Houston include the following: they have thousands of Targets (It seems like they have one on every corner), lots of Whole Food Stores, amazing Malls, several parks, zoos and museums to attend, a basketball team, baseball team, football team and Hockey team to go watch and play-which we have the opportunity to with Jason's Aunt since her Varsity Choir sings the National Anthem for some of the teams throughout the school year.
In addition to living in Houston, Texas, we have the added blessing of making new friends and finding a new church family to belong to down here. Currently, Jason and I have visited two small churches-both of which our church plants. One is in Missouri City, Texas. This church is very reformed. It is Southern Baptist, and very solid. This church is called Baptist of the Redeemer. They meet at another church. Jason found this church through the cooperation map of Together4theGospel. We went to this church the first Sunday we were in Houston. We liked it! The pastor was solid in his preaching. The worship was the more challenging part for us, because we were used to Brad leading our worship. The worship wasn't bad-its just the worship leader wasn't a strong leader. He was very timid, but we thought that if this became our home that maybe Jason could join the team and help out a bit. This church also had a board of Elders and a great disciple/mentor program. They had a great handle on church discipline, too! We were excited about this as well! Great church overall!
The second church we went to is called TheCrossings. It is a small plant as well. Jason found this church on founders.org. It meets at a school in Katy, Texas. Jason I enjoyed this church, too. I loved this one a lot. The worship was great. They sang a couple songs we were used to singing at Lakeland, and they had a strong leader. The children's ministry was exploding. There were at least five baby boys Joshua's age or a couple of months older, twelve 1-year-olds, and ten 2-year-olds. This church had a lot of young couples our age, and some couples a little bit older. It seemed like a very tight group. The preaching was great, but it wasn't as good as the first church we attended. We think that's because they pastor has taken a detour on preaching a Marriage Series through the book Song of Solomon. The pastor even mentioned that he normally doesn't preach topical. He normally preaches verse by verse. Even though it was a topical sermon, I enjoyed it. Again...great church overall!
The third church we will attend is Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas. As many of you know the pastor of this church is Voddie Baucham. Jason and I respect this man greatly, and we enjoy hearing him preach. We will visit this church this coming Sunday. This church is farther away from us then the other two. Its like driving from the far end of Marion, Illinois to Lakeland, but we feel like we must attend his church at least once, because we both love and completely agree with the teaching that goes on at Grace Family Baptist Church. So what do we ask of y'all....well... we ask that you please be in prayer with us as to what church God would have us attend. Jason and I don't want to compromise on the preaching of the Gospel. We want to be a part of a church where the Gospel is proclaimed. even if that means we think the worship is just ok. We also want to be a part of a church were church discipline is instilled, and were there seem to be lots of strong leaders. So friends and family, please pray that God would make it clear to us as to what church it is that we should attend. We love you all, and miss you all dearly! Hope all is well in Southern Illinois! Can't wait to see you (Lord willing) when we come visit next time!
In Christ,
Cathy
Well, as most of you know by now Jason and I have moved from Carbondale, Illinois to Houston, Texas for job related purposes. You ask me how its going? Well, let me tell you a little story about me....
I originally grew up in Des Moines, IA which had roughly a total of 500, 000 people. It was a relatively nice city. Perfect in size-not too big, but not too small. It had lots of museums, zoos and theme parks to attend. I loved the variety of things that Des Moines had to offer. Then, at the age of 13, I moved to Champaign, a college town in central Illinois. It was significantly smaller than Des Moines. I definitely had to adjust to a lot of things-new people, new stores, new schools, etc. I had to adjust to a man made hill to sled down, because central Illinois was very flat. Sledding down a man made hill was very strange sounding to me at the time, because I was use to sledding down the capital hill in Des Moines along with several other hills in Des Moines, IA. It was also very strange going from 3 malls to 1 mall. After living in Champaign for 10 years, I moved to Carbondale, Illinois, a very small college town in southern Illinois. That was a huge change. It had fewer stores, fewer coffee shops, one target that you had to drive 30 mintues to get to, and very little snow compared to Champaign or Des Moines. In fact, I don't think I went sledding once when I lived in Carbondale. The weather in Carbondale was significantly different than Des Moines, but not too much different than Champaign. I loved the outdoors of Carbondale. It had lots of places to go hiking, rock climbing and boating. The nature of Southern Illinois was completely different than Des Moines and Champaign. Southern Illinois had so much more to offer with outdoor types of adventure than Des Moines or Champaign had to offer. I loved it! Then, at the age of 21, I married my high school sweetheart, Jason Allison (as most of you know by now), and unbeknownst to us the Lord would move us from Carbondale to Houston, Texas after we graduated from college. You ask me how this move is going....well...let me share with you a few things about our move down to Houston, Texas...
1. Driving with a 2 1/2 month old can make a 14 hour drive turn into a 2 day event.
2. Having your mother-in-law drive the whole way is a wonderful blessing. Just so everybody knows-I did offer to drive :)! My mother-in-law insisted I be available in case Joshua needed me at anytime! She was right-Joshua did need me at times during our trip.
3. Playing hide-and-go-seek with your baby at Chick-fil-A can be very entertaining-especially when others look at you and your husband with odd faces :)! Good memories!
4. Having your baby lay on the table while your husband, mother-in-law and you eat a Denny's breakfast at 11:00 pm can be an added blessing-especially when you are starving.
5. Not having to drive in downtown Houston traffic is an added blessing as well! I couldn't wrap my mind around any of the crazy downtown loops and traffic. You have to remember I was used to Carbondale, Illionois where it had one main road that you took you everywhere you went. Now, I have to get used to thousands of roads! I'm a littler nervous about this part of Houston, Texas, but the nice part about living in Houston is that you can live in Houston, Texas for 13 years, and not drive anywhere close to downtown if you don't want to. I have a feeling that will be for a while. However, once Joshua is old enough to enjoy the zoo, museums, and parks I will be driving in downtown Houston more often! I'm getting practice with driving in Houston traffic as much as I can, but I'm avoiding the downtown loops for now.
6. The many added blessings of living in Houston include the following: they have thousands of Targets (It seems like they have one on every corner), lots of Whole Food Stores, amazing Malls, several parks, zoos and museums to attend, a basketball team, baseball team, football team and Hockey team to go watch and play-which we have the opportunity to with Jason's Aunt since her Varsity Choir sings the National Anthem for some of the teams throughout the school year.
In addition to living in Houston, Texas, we have the added blessing of making new friends and finding a new church family to belong to down here. Currently, Jason and I have visited two small churches-both of which our church plants. One is in Missouri City, Texas. This church is very reformed. It is Southern Baptist, and very solid. This church is called Baptist of the Redeemer. They meet at another church. Jason found this church through the cooperation map of Together4theGospel. We went to this church the first Sunday we were in Houston. We liked it! The pastor was solid in his preaching. The worship was the more challenging part for us, because we were used to Brad leading our worship. The worship wasn't bad-its just the worship leader wasn't a strong leader. He was very timid, but we thought that if this became our home that maybe Jason could join the team and help out a bit. This church also had a board of Elders and a great disciple/mentor program. They had a great handle on church discipline, too! We were excited about this as well! Great church overall!
The second church we went to is called TheCrossings. It is a small plant as well. Jason found this church on founders.org. It meets at a school in Katy, Texas. Jason I enjoyed this church, too. I loved this one a lot. The worship was great. They sang a couple songs we were used to singing at Lakeland, and they had a strong leader. The children's ministry was exploding. There were at least five baby boys Joshua's age or a couple of months older, twelve 1-year-olds, and ten 2-year-olds. This church had a lot of young couples our age, and some couples a little bit older. It seemed like a very tight group. The preaching was great, but it wasn't as good as the first church we attended. We think that's because they pastor has taken a detour on preaching a Marriage Series through the book Song of Solomon. The pastor even mentioned that he normally doesn't preach topical. He normally preaches verse by verse. Even though it was a topical sermon, I enjoyed it. Again...great church overall!
The third church we will attend is Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas. As many of you know the pastor of this church is Voddie Baucham. Jason and I respect this man greatly, and we enjoy hearing him preach. We will visit this church this coming Sunday. This church is farther away from us then the other two. Its like driving from the far end of Marion, Illinois to Lakeland, but we feel like we must attend his church at least once, because we both love and completely agree with the teaching that goes on at Grace Family Baptist Church. So what do we ask of y'all....well... we ask that you please be in prayer with us as to what church God would have us attend. Jason and I don't want to compromise on the preaching of the Gospel. We want to be a part of a church where the Gospel is proclaimed. even if that means we think the worship is just ok. We also want to be a part of a church were church discipline is instilled, and were there seem to be lots of strong leaders. So friends and family, please pray that God would make it clear to us as to what church it is that we should attend. We love you all, and miss you all dearly! Hope all is well in Southern Illinois! Can't wait to see you (Lord willing) when we come visit next time!
In Christ,
Cathy