Unveiling

It seems that since I've been pregnant I've gotten busier and busier. I'm leading GEMS, working in home care nursing 4 days a week, women's book study, trying to be an excellent wife to Scott and to be a diligent homemaker...add to that random commitments to youth group and friends at church and a book club I've joined (this is my fault, but it's Jane Austen!!!!)....*whew*! This is a lot of stuff. But through it all the Lord has been faithful and I've been learning to spend my time more wisely and to seek Him in what I do. I also have gotten more organized! Yay!

So in light of all of that stuff what do I do? I started my own Mary Kay® business :-) That's right, I could be your new Mary Kay® beauty consultant!!!! This has been a huge deal for Scott and I, we are both excited.

Here are my reasons for starting this little business: 1. I already love my baby and want to stay home with him to love and raise him to know the LORD. 2. I really love my husband (!) and I want to take a small part of the financial burden off of his shoulders while caring for our little one. 3. I feel that this will be an awesome ministry opportunity. 4. Rachel is a really great friend, whom I trust, and she loves her MK® business so much and she assured me I would love it. 5. I am a people person and I really like meeting new people, therefore I feel this will be a great outlet when the baby is small. 6. I REALLY like Mary Kay® skin care and make up. It makes me happy to be able to share that with other women.

So that is the newest challenge that is going on at 30 Broad. We are enjoying this season of life, God is really showing His goodness to us and we are praising Him for it!

News Flash!!

Sara Groves' new album is for sale!!! And also it's on sale for $9.99...check it out!

Art*Music*Justice Tour

This weekend Scott and I ventured out to the wilds of Central PA to see Sara Groves and some other singer/songwriters perform at Messiah college. What started out as a little get together with Shana and Chris ended up being a whirlwind of reconnecting with old friends! We saw Dan and Amy Eckel as well as Amy's friend and my acquaintance Heather. Then we ran into Deb Stuber. We also caught up with Bill and Becky Waring--Becky is another friend of mine from back home. It was so fun! One thing I noticed is that with some friends, extended time between visits doesn't change much. Amy and I hadn't seen each other in 3 years--and we noted---"nothing has changed, it's so fun and easy being with you!"

Amy, Dan and Scott

Bill and Becky in their hippy apartment :-)

As for the concert--what a beautiful and heart wrenching display of God's people loving the poor, oppressed, widowed, orphaned and needy... I cannot say enough of the efforts of the 6 people we saw and heard from. Please check out what is going on with that tour at http://www.saragroves.com/. Also you can find out information at Food for the Hungry and International Justice Mission. This tour was the brainchild of Sara and her husband Troy after they went to Rwanda in recent years. Sara has shared her heart and how she was affected in song on her newest album "Tell me what you know". The things they mainly focused on at the concert were the current issues of sex trafficking and modern day slavery in the world, things we would find gruesome and hard to swallow if approached with in our world right now. But these things are happening all the time, right now.

Sara, Troy, Sandra and Derek

Sara singing "Add to the Beauty"

Sandra McCracken

Derek Webb

Needless to say this concert has afforded me with more information in my brain that I must now wrestle with. It feels so hard to know how to divide your time and prayer life sometimes. Scott and I struggle at times, because we would like to help with all kinds of things, but we know that is impossible. This causes us to draw near to God and ask Him what should be the desires of our hearts and where we should be ministering.

Another, but more frivolous and fun, thing that I discovered at the concert is Sandra McCracken whom I have immensely enjoyed on the two Indelible Grace albums that we own. I now have the sampler from her newest album "Red Balloon". You can get it here. You can also get her husband, Derek Webb's newest album there as well.

You put the lime in the coconut...

Apparently Harold is the size of a lime and we are at 12 weeks! Finally there is an end in sight to the first trimester...Don't get me wrong, this has been fairly easy so far. But, just seeing the end of this delicate stage is so nice, I just want our baby to GROW! Not that I'm looking forward to the stage of tremendous belly, I just want to get to the point where it feels like that baby is safely growing.

Yesterday I had my hair trimmed at my friend Dee Frayne's and she said, "I like to look at women and tell what they are having by their appearance...I'm always right." I started laughing, of course, and said "oh really?!" She replied, "Yes and after you deliver this baby boy..." 'Nuff said for me, I'm buying it hook, line and sinker :-) Actually as much as I would love a baby boy I have come to the realization that a girl could be very fun! As much as I dread hormones and "princess" stages and tons of pink...I think we will have a cool girl. We can mold her right? :-)

Speaking of girls, we heard the heartbeat for the first time on Monday night. I thought I would be immune to the thrill of hearing my baby's heartbeat. Just on account of how medical it is and all that. But it was so cool!!! It was beating at 172 bpm. Holy beating like a drum batman! The reason why I say "speaking of girls" is because "they" say that the fast heartbeat means a girl. It also could have to do with the chocolate I ate before the appointment and how nervous I was during the appointment. Also, my midwife said it was way to early to tell the sex by that stuff...or so she said. Let me just say we stopped off at Aron and Megan's afterward to pick up my ipod, which, like an idiot, I left in Megan's car the other day, and I prattled on and on. I was so excited! Just the assurance of a heartbeat---Praise the Lord!

Side note (very side note, since this takes us down politics lane): If I never hear the following words again I will be a very happy girl--- "Maverick", "Wall Street/ Main Street" and "Community Organizer". The latter is probably my least favorite, since it never existed to me until this election. That's all on a red, white and blue note.

More to come after the concert this weekend...