Is there a Doctor in the House?

Not yet, but soon! :) David will be starting his doctrinal work next week!!! Actually, he's finishing it. Due to a program he was a part of while we were in MI, he is 1/2 way done with his doctorate! Remember how he/we would go to WI for the Center for Excellence in Congregational Leadership (CECL) sessions? Well, Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL thinks so highly of the program that they are allowing the CECL program to count as 1/2 of a doctorate in Congregational Leadership. What does he have to do? Well, between sessions in Chicago (he'll go to campus 2-3 times a year for the next 2 yrs) he will be given a list of close to 10 books of varying subjects he'll need to read and write papers on. When all of this is done he'll then write his dissertation and well, I guess once that's done and approved he'll be Reverend Doctor David Hardin! :) I am so excited for him and proud of him! He has wanted to get his doctorate for a long time, always been a goal for him, we just didn't expect it to happen so quickly and in such a great way!!!!! Because of the CECL program we have a lot of it already paid for, and with the continuing education budget at church which will help, and help from family, that leaves only a small amount to pay ourselves! The timing is right and we're jumping in! :)

Next week David will be heading to Chicago for the week. Cora, Molly and I will be in Akron with my folks. We thought we'd all go (minus Molly) but the thought of being in a hotel room with a 22 month old just doesn't sound appealing! The next session I won't be going either as it is around the time the baby is due! :) But, the campus does offer on-campus apartments so we hope to be able to use those in the future so we can all go and see the sites of Chicago a little too!

Flesh Eating Bubbles

The other night I thought it would be fun for Cora to take a bubble bath. She has done this before with her Mimi and loved it. So I thought, why rush bath time tonight? Let's have some fun! So, I start filling the tub, dump some bubble-making stuff in the water and call Cora in. She looks at the water, unsure, and I put her in. Suddenly, she gets bubbles on her foot! She immediately picks up her foot, looks at me and shrieks!!!!! I thought maybe the water was too hot and then realized she did not like the bubbles. Sigh... I tried to calm her down and let her see how they would be fun, and how they're soft, etc. but there was no changing her mind. And, then, to make matters worse, she gets bubbles on her HANDS!!!! She is then balancing herself solely on her rear with her arms and legs going up in the air. I knew bath time was not going to happen until the offending bubbles were gone, so I began to empty the tub. She was very sure to point out any lingering bubbles and was not happy until EVERY SINGLE bubble was gone and fresh, clean, NON-bubble water was filling the tub. Sigh... I love this child.

Being a Pastor's Wife

I think I need to change the name of my blog. It seems I rarely actually talk about being a pastor's wife. Oh well, it took me long enough to come up with this title, so unless I can find something more snappy you're all stuck with this! :) In any case, I thought today I would do some musing from the perspective of a pastor's wife. :) Aren't you so glad you stopped by today?

My first experience as a pastor's wife was not great, or wonderful, not even good. Oh it had it's moments, but that's truly all there were, moments. But now, God has moved us to a such a wonderful place and church that my whole perspective on what it is to be a pastor's wife is changing. And, sadly, I must admit it's been a slow change. When you've been hurt over and over again it's hard to let those defenses down and let people in. However, every Sunday I am trying. I know the place God has us now is far different from where we came, and so I have been forced (thankfully, really) to look at life as a pastor's wife differently.

David and I always get a chuckle when I'm told things that he will never be told. It's very interesting the things people will tell the PW, but not the pastor. It's as though they're thinking, "well, the pastor is too good to hear this, but I still want to say it, so I'll tell his wife, and I'm sure he'll still hear it. At least it won't be directly from me, and he won't think less of me." It really does make us laugh! Or, maybe people just want to get something off their chest but don't want to tell the pastor because he might think less of them so they tell the wife. They never seem to catch on that David and I tell each other everything so it really doesn't matter. :) Some examples: complaining about different members of the church; or I was told that now since we live across the street from one of the ladies hopefully THAT will inspire her to get to church more often. Other funny things are complaints, or observations, or I'm not sure what, about us! :) "You're house is AWFULLY big, don't you think?" says one lady who's never been inside and is simply judging from her drive-by! :) :) :) :) Sigh... gotta love the old ladies! :) I am asked EVERY single Sunday by a dear lady in her late 80s why am I not showing yet? Is there something wrong with this baby? What's going on? Sigh... I'm guessing once I do start showing she'll be asking me why I'm still pregnant and when is this baby ever going to get here? :)

These comments are harmless to me, now. Maybe if this had been my first experience I would be hurt, offended, confused. I'm not sure. But, this is my second experience so I just chuckle, know the ladies don't mean any harm and go about my day because I know that in this congregation the comments aren't meant to be mean. I have found the women, especially, to be so loving, kind and compassionate towards me, and to David and Cora too. With me being sick they have been so concerned and a couple have offered their time to come help me with Cora so I could rest. What a change. I was sharing with my sister one day that the spirit of this church is so different from our previous church and she very astutely said, "Could it be because they are filled with the HOLY Spirit?" Hmmm... very possible!

In any case, I know our time here will not be perfect, will not be without hiccups, and everyone will not love us all of the time. However, we are already off to a much better start, have already experienced the love of God through these people and know things can be handled in a Christ-honoring way. God is so good in all He does. Even when life is rotten, horrible and seemingly hopeless, He is still good. He is still working on our behalf.

*Disclaimer: not all of the people in our previous church were terrible people. We are still friends with a few of them. However, the overall spirit of the church was not Christ-honoring and the overall experience with the folks there was nothing in comparison to what we are experiencing now. I know there are some from that church who read my blog, so I don't want them to think I'm lumping them in with the others! 

16 + Weeks

Above is a photo of my friend, B, and myself a week ago at my birthday party. I think B is about 29 weeks pregnant (she's in the homestretch!) and I'm 16 weeks. I was so excited to have this photo taken. You see, I got married a lot later then most of my friends, and so they've all pretty much had their kids now, and I've not had the fun of taking any preggo photos with any of them. I know, kinda silly, but fun nonetheless! :) This photo is special for other reasons too. B and I have been good friends for many years--since high school! We both played the flute in band and became fast friends. I honestly don't remember our "becoming of friends" moment (sorry B!) I just don't remember ever NOT being friends with her! We've been through a lot with each other, had MANY laughs, got each other through boyfriends and crushes and our own weddings. She is one of those friends that no matter how long the span of time has been since we last talked, we just pick right back up. I was so excited to know we'd be able to get this photo together! Our 2nd babies (her first is 4 and my 1st is 21 months) will be close in age and I hope all of our kids can grow up knowing each other and being friends!

Love ya, B! 

21 Months and Counting!

There are a few things I find challenging about the age/stage that Cora is in right now, but probably the biggest is knowing what to do to keep her entertained all day! If she got her way she'd get to watch her "Kipper" DVDs all day! :) However, we all know that sitting in front of the idiot box TV is not good for anyone, so I must come up with other things. What to do? What to do? I find entertainment tough because she has the attention span of a gnat and so we can do 50 million things in a MINUTE (and no, I'm not exaggerating, much anyway!)!!!! We tend to read a lot of books during the day, and right now I think it's because she doesn't feel all that great. But, let's face it, after reading the same books day in and day out (yes, I know, I need to get us to the library!) I get bored of them, even if she doesn't! :) I pulled out the Play-Doh and crayons for her the other day and she was entertained... for about 10 minutes! :) Oh well, such is life as a 21+ month old. I know this will get better as she gets older. Until then, enjoy these photos!

Enjoying a banana chocolate chip muffin she helped make this morning! :) 

Overwhelmed

I'm feeling so overwhelmed. I am, today, 15 weeks pregnant. With Cora by this point I was pretty much over all the sickness and ickiness of the 1st trimester. Today, I feel horrid. I don't know what the issue is. Could be being over-tired from all the holiday stuff, could be I'm coming down with whatever other people seem to be getting, could be this pregnancy will be different, and I'm not going to feel better like I did with Cora. I don't know yet. All I know is I feel horrid and just want to crawl in a hole and be there until I do feel better. And yet, with all of this I receive my weekly update from babycenter.com today and see that what is going on inside of me is normal, and let's just face it, AMAZING!!!!!!!! I'm told that today my baby is about 4 in long from crown to rump and weighs about 2 1/2 oz--about the size of an apple! "Her" (we don't know the sex yet) little lungs are developing as we speak, her legs are longer then her arms now and she can move her joints and limbs. Oh, and even though her eyelids are still fused shut she can sense light.  Truly amazing. David and I always wonder what's more amazing--that God is doing this or that he gave man the ability to KNOW what's happening in the womb? Either way, it's all very much overwhelming.

On to other news: Cora! All I can think to describe this child is BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!!!!! She is always on the go, plays hard, talks LOTS and well, is a handful!!!!!! I am daily amazed at how much she is learning, soaking in and just doing. Her vocabulary seems to grow daily and what a chatterbox she is! (You can stop laughing, Mom!) She is also testing her boundaries and asserting her will and well, we tend to have a lot of crying during the day as she doesn't get her way when/how she wants it. I find it very challenging, and though this stage is a lot of fun, it has also been the most challenging for me. I'm sure feeling like poo has not helped the situation! Cora seems to have gone through (is going through?) a growth spurt and is now 31 lbs, and I'm not sure how tall. She is growing out of her 3T clothes and I'm guessing we'll need 4T soon--which I was hoping we'd not need until her b-day in March. Oh well, such is life! :)

As I'm pregnant and have a toddler I am reminded a lot of what we must be like to the Lord. Helpless, babes, can't do anything, really, on our own and in need of a constant Helper. As Cora asserts her will and does things on her own that she isn't able to, and then gets horribly frustrated, I can't help but wonder if this is what it's like when we try to do things on our own and God says, "Hey, can I help? Can I show you how to be successful at this?" and we in turn say, "no," throw a fit and get unnecessarily frustrated. I will close with an adorable look at my very cute little girl! :)

To add to the cuteness of this photo, she posed herself like this and was very insistent I take her photo! She made sure she was right in front of the Christmas tree. :) 

Christmas Part III

So, thus concludes our Christmas celebrating with this last entry! I must say I'm exhausted and ready to get back to the hum drum of our days and back to eating normal, not having all the cookies and other junk around. BUT! I digress! Our last celebration was in Columbus with David's mom and step dad. We went down over New Year weekend and had a good time. We opened presents, went shopping to spend our gift cards and money, went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants and had a good time just visiting. David and I also had the opportunity to bring in the new year with the small group we were a part of while in Columbus. It was good to see "old" friends and get caught up with everyone. In all truth it was like we had never left! We're back home and now the "fun" begins to de-Christmas the house and get things back in order. See? I must be feeling better if I want to clean again! :)

New socks from her great Aunt J! :) 

New laptop from Grandma and Pops! 

Molly getting in to her gift

As you can see, the laptop was a huge hit! :) And, still is!