Baby Name Contest!

So since Chad and I have decided to keep the Baby's name a secret, we thought it would be fun to have a contest to see who can guess the baby's first name. Whoever decides to be part of the contest will have one guess for a girl's name and one guess for a boy's name (because we don't know which it will be yet!). Once the baby is born in October we will announce who won and they will get a prize! If you don't guess the first name and do guess the middle name we will have a smaller prize for you.

Now there is a chance that multiple people will guess the correct name, so it will be first come first win! Whoever submits the correct name first will be the winner! So get your votes in!

If you haven't received the email with the contest form, then please email babynamecontest@gmail.com with the address to send the form to! (Be sure to include your name in the email, because I will not send a form to a stranger!!)

Being Pregnant

Well, for those who don't know yet and read my blog...I'm pregnant! Chad and I are very excited. I'm just starting my 13th week. It has been an emotional roller coaster! Up until my last Dr. appointment I was a nervous wreck. With having a previous miscarriage at 10 weeks it was hard to let myself be excited for a while. But once we were past the 10 week mark and heard the heartbeat again, I felt like I could really start being excited. I have learned a ton about trusting God and giving things to Him. I'm so glad that He is in control and not me. And with pregnancy God is totally in control, the baby's development is out of my control completely. Now of course I can make sure I take my vitamins and eat right, but really my baby is in God's hands. It's not easy to surrender control over, but it definitely worth it.

Check out our update blog, the link is on the left of this page, for more pregnancy info.

Heaven

I've recently been being hit with "bad news". A good friend, Pat's dad passed away suddenly, then we found out that Chad's sister has a tumor (thankfully benign), then we got a call that Chad's cousin's husband has stage 4 cancer, and then yesterday we opened an email saying that 4 of our classmates from college were in an awful car accident and one of them, Ben, died (we know them all). All of this happened in about a week! I have been praying for all these things, but a part of me keeps asking "Ok, God what's coming next?" It just really seems like it all comes in waves...it's either a time of babies and weddings or disease and death! I'm definitely feeling a bit in shock, not too sure what to do other than pray. I feel like I should be doing more than that, but there's nothing else I can do.

God has been teaching me to trust and surrender to Him. He is in control, I know that. But like my mom says "It's the longest distance between your brain and your heart!" I pray that I will only continue to lean into his arms and that He will be there for those grieving and suffering.

Pat's dad and Ben are both hangin' in heaven now...I'm excited for that someday!

2008 Big East Champions!

So for those of you who are not basketball fans (and you should be!) Pitt, University of Pittsburgh, won the Big East! I will be watching/Tivo-ing all the Pitt games in the tournament! But the best part of them winning to me is that my cousin Jeremy is a Head Manager of the team. He got to cut a piece of the net down in Madison Square Gardens after winning! This link, http://pittsburghpanthers.cstv.com/ ,will take you to Pitt Panthers site!
Also Pitt's next game is this Thursday, 3pm EST on CBS....I encourage everyone to watch and cheer for Pitt!!! (if you're not going to cheer for them...don't bother watching!)

ON TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT....GO PITT!

idoubtgod.com

My church has launched a website, idoubtgod.com . I encourage you to check it out. It is simply people (Christ-followers and not) writing down their doubts or encouragements. Feel free to post something. If you are a Christ-follower then please write a response if the Holy Spirit puts it on your heart. If you are in the Charlotte, NC area then this Sunday, 3/22/08 Easter. There will be a teaching addressing some of these doubts that have been brought up on the site. I invite you to come and hear what has to be said. You can find directions at nextlevelchurch.org . I attend the Matthews campus (I go to the service that I wake up early enough for!).

I am pretty excited to find out is said at the service. And just to let everyone know...I doubt God, even though I am a Christian.

Martin Luther

I was bored and reading quotes online. I came across a Martin Luther quote. (Not Martin Luther King, Jr. just Martin Luther) Then I looked up more quotes by this man. I then wanted to refresh myself on his history and who he was (I studied him at GFU). He was a faith filled, grace filled, bold man. He nailed a document called "The 95 Theses" on the door of a prominent Catholic church. The pope wasn't too happy, since this ended up starting the Protestant Reformation. And because of that a lot of people stopped attending and paying the Catholic church. Luther's main deal in the Theses was against indulgences and pardons... basically buying your way out of penalties of sin (what a scam!). Anyway, here are some quotes that I enjoyed from this man.

"Faith is permitting ourselves to be seized by the things we do not see."

"God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars."

"Grant that I may not pray alone with the mouth; help me that I may pray from the depths of my heart."

"I am more afraid of my own heart than of the pope and all his cardinals. I have within me the great pope, Self."

"I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess."

"If I am not allowed to laugh in heaven, I don't want to go there."

"Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave."

"Peace if possible, truth at all costs."

"Pray, and let God worry."

All the above quotes are by Martin Luther.

Radical

So I'm not saying that I am a radical, but I do have a blog and I thought this comic was appropriate. I don't like conforming much, in fact I think I've gotten sort of kicked out of a church group because I spoke my mind too much and wouldn't fit into their "box"! But it is the mind God gave me and I'm going to use it and speak the truth as much as I can. And if speaking the truth is radical...well then I guess I am a radical....oh and "I have a blog".