Disciple Now 2014

HELLLO Blog Land! It's been awhile. A month.  Lots have been going around here...and hopefully I will get caught up here soon!

This April, I had my 4th DNOW with my youth girls. They were freshman when I started working in our youth group. Now they are seniors. Graduating in a few weeks. Its crazy. This was my last DNOW for a good long while.  I'm not ready to start with a new group anytime soon.

Last year, the girls were at our house with Cole sleeping in my closet.  That surely wouldn't fly for him this year, so Ashley hosted, who lives down the street from us.  It was perfect! I could watch Cole sleep on DropCam (basically a surveillance tool...with a free iPhone app!) and then go back to my house at night to sleep in my own bed. Best DNOW ever!

Bus Driver let Cole take a turn on the wheel. He was in heaven and mesmerized by the microphone.

 

CHEESE! I love love love that Cole is not timid or shy around these precious girls. He KNOWS them and loves them. Not to mention the girls are SO patient with us. Cole can be distracting. He pretty much always is.

 

 Cole loving the Bentley's piano. Also, that is him napping later that day with a leg high in the sky. 

Flashback, four years ago.

Post DNOW. I'm getting too old for this. Thank you Lord for naps and iPads. 

13.1 for Nate!

On Saturday, 31 people joined together to help bring sweet Nate home from Bulgaria.  We raised over $2800 to help Clay and Jenny adopt their son and ran a crud load of miles in the process...!! Totally worth it.  The Chosen Marathon and Half Marathon gives 100% of the proceeds to adopting families. And you get to pick what family you are donating too.  It was SO fun seeing almost our whole life group at 6 am ready to run for a long, long time.  All for the same purpose. 

I decided to run without headphones so I could attempt to pray for Clay and Jenny's growing family.  It was a sweet time and I even met a few adopting ladies on the route.  One was expecting to pay $35,000 to bring their daughter home from Ethiopia and was two years into the process.  Adoption is definitely not for the weary or the faint of heart. It is for sure the heart of the Lord though.  He provides.  The money.  The patience.  The selfless and redeeming love of welcoming a stranger into the home.

 

1229 calories burned?! The madness! I made up for it real quick with two orders of chicken minis, Las Palapas for dinner and lots and lots of snacking that day, and the next.

Whitney's toenails are literally falling off.  That's dedication. I told her to take a picture to show Nate on his 13th birthday.

 

 The race was in New Braunfels.  IT WAS GORGEOUS! What a great distraction.  The hills were pretty fierce though.  My quads are still hating them.

 

Almost 200 miles trained for this race.  Whew! I am so thankful to be a part of this adoption and I can't wait to meet that precious Nate.

 

Disciple Now 2013

This weekend, we opened our home to... 20 teenage girls! It was a bit overwhelming to think about, but so so so much fun and worth every bit of vacuuming up LOADS of stray hairs later.  (I do wonder how often the Duggars have to vacuum.  Eww.)

God showed up big in our humble home this weekend.  I love that our playroom was taken over by Vera Bradley bags and hair straighteners.  Our conversation went far into the am hours, and Cole slept (sorta) in our bedroom closet.  Sacrificial love at its finest.

I love being a part of God receiving glory in these girls' lives.  I love hearing how they are finding freedom in areas that have kept them captive.  I love praying with them and laughing with them until it hurts.  I love hearing them confess areas of struggle and hearing Scripture change their hearts. So thankful.

Tita and Ellie on Saturday Morning

Cole taking one for the team in our closet so the girls could be loud and boisterous. 

Cole and Ashley

Our group serving in Edgewood!

Mondays in Edgewood

When the school year ended in May, I started going to Edgewood every Monday.  Edgewood is a small community on the west side of San Antonio that has many, many families who struggle financially.  Our church has developed relationships with about 100 families, mostly elderly, and we deliver bread each week to their homes.

It has been so wonderful to be a part of this community.  I love that we go into the homes, sit and visit with them, and sometimes pray over any needs they share.  I don't think it would be as effective or meaningful if we just had a bread pick-up location.

The families got to watch my belly grow as I got closer and closer to my due date, and now Cole is a huge blessing to them! One family calls him "Jaulito" (spelling??) ... they told me it means "blondie." haha! I partner up with my friend Lindsay.  She has a three year old, so we are always changing up things to be flexible with the tantrums, hunger demands, nap times, car seat shuffling, etc.  But so worth it!  I love our conversation and time together.

Every week my heart is so challenged. But I feel like it is such a great opportunity to love the least, and carry out this command.