Growing up...

January has been a rough month for Ross and me. Ross has been sick twice, once with flu stuff and the next with stomach. I've been sick with viral stuff once that knocked me dead on my feet. We have been met with many decisions to make about life, leadership and family this month. It has been hectic at work for both of us - late nights and lots of understandably emotional families. Yet, the Lord has grown us closer and our marriage is stronger than it has ever been. We feel like we are in the process of waking up... For me it's the kind of waking up where your eyes are opening and you get a glimpse of the beautiful day, but you are still dead tired so you want to go back to sleep, so you do... Then you wake up and see how beautiful it still is outside, but it is still SO comfy in bed and you would just like to lie there a bit longer...It's a good place, but if you stay in bed all day you will get NOTHING done (in our case for the Kingdom). For Ross it's a bit more like waking up for a coma and he feels like he doesn't have time nor energy to catch up with the world that he has missed out on for the last few years. It's a bit like waking up into a tornado for him. As we take everything around us in, we are comforted by a Savior who is loving and the greatest Guide in the world.

In the midst of our crazy month, we have been watching Anne of Green Gables. Ross bought me the whole series for Christmas. Ross had never seen it before. So he has gotten to know a bit about Anne Shirley, Gilbert Blythe and Diana Berry. I used to watch Anne of Green Gables over and over in Japan because it was one of the only movies we had in English. I loved it! It was an escape into a place of brokeness, story, rescue, love, and redemption... I still love it. I spent every movie smiling and enjoying all the lines that I remembered from childhood and all of the beauty in a good, wholesome movie. I hope my kids will want to watch Anne --- and love it just as much as I do and as Ross did. :)

Outrageous Love and Contagious Life

This is the week of prayer and fasting for our church. We spend a week in January praying and fasting for our church family, the Kingdom coming in Fort Worth and the world and asking God to speak about the upcoming year. The first two days titles for prayer were Monday: Outrageous Love and Tuesday: Contagious Life. I love these two phrases! Outrageous love really challenged me yesterday. I really had to remind myself what that meant... that didn't mean providing basic Child Life services throughout the day - that meant EXCEEDING the expectations of my patients and families, blessing them beyond their wildest thoughts, and doing everything in my power to make their hospital stay better... quite a task, but one that could never be completed without the Holy Spirit's presence. So I spent the day reminding myself that Jesus was the most outrageous lover of our souls. The Lord was good to remind me of the power of love - selfless laying down of my life often. Today the Lord was good to remind me of contagious life and what that meant. I kept thinking I want everyone to "catch the infection" of the Kingdom. I want people completely ruined, totally INfected, by the Holy Spirit - the kind of infection that EVERYONE around me catches quickly and is knocked down by. (I work on an infectious disease unit at the hospital...this is the best analogy for me.) But infections that are contagious are usually subtle in the beginning, bold in the middle, and totally exhaust you by the end, yet refreshing when completed...what a beautiful picture of Kingdom living. I want to be exhausted for Jesus and His purposes. I want to be contagious in EVERYTHING that glorifies Jesus! These two word phrases have been powerful this week. :)

2010 - Kingdom living = whole living

Maybe in 2010 I can keep up with blogging. Ross and I really believe that God has been very clear that 2010 is going to be a big year for us so I'm thinking I will have a lot to share. We are not sure of all that that holds, but it is shaping up to have a lot of fun things so far. We have 2 very close friends getting married this year, which is a joy! :) God has us multiplying into a cell group with friends that we love very much. Our church has a beautiful new building, and while a church is not the building, we do love worshipping there. Our brother-in-law rededicated his life to Jesus and was baptized this past weekend - so excited for you, Shawn! We got to reconnect with old friends to start off the new year - beautiful. It is wonderful to see friends really living the Kingdom life in all corners of the world (or Texas) :). It has been beautiful to really learn what it means to live in the Kingdom this last year. Now we feel as if the Lord is really asking us to walk it out - in our church, friendships, families, jobs, and our marriage. We are thrilled to get to walk in Kingdom living with people we love, that love us and that change us daily! We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's. Below are some photos of some of our favorite people and moments in the past month:

Our house in the Christmas Eve snow

Our sweet friends, Josh, Sarah and Kate Seefeldt

Beautiful Kate! :)

Truly some of my MOST FAVORITE people - Hannah, Eric and Will

The Handsome Gardners!

My Favorite Hannah B! Love her!

Precious Garrett Gardner!

Kodi dressed for the Season!

A snowy family picture! Craziness!

Family Visits, Valentine's, and an update

Ross' brother came to visit at the end of February. We had a great time getting to spend time with him. He was an unbelievable guest - he helped rake the backyard, clean up Kodi's puke, and still had time to sit and enjoy Texas a little. He truly was family while he was here and it was so good to have him. We had Ross' dad in January and we look foward to hosting more Alaskan family in the near future. We love sharing our home! :)

Enjoying Angelo's BBQ


An Angelo's Icon :)

Kodi - Cutest Mutt EVER!!!

A Jazzy Valentine

Awww...

Ross and I also enjoyed a great Valentine's night. We went to a jazz concert at a little place in Fort Worth called Arts 5th Ave. It was so fun! We had dinner at La Madeline's. It was a sweet night.

Kodi is still with us. Our foster dog is sure needy!!! He did get out the other day, but thankfully ended up in then animal hospital parking lot where the sweet techs lured him with treats. We were so glad to have him home safely. We hadn't locked the gate well...

Ross is loving his new job in home health! He is still in training, but loving all of his visits. His days go by quickly being all over the place. I am co-directing asthma camp this summer, so that keeps me busy along with daily duties at home and work. Overall, we are doing very well.

Keep us posted on how you all are!!!

Catching up again!!!

So, I'd really like to be better at this blogging thing. I just don't have the time that I want to have... Many things have happened since December 24th. On December 25th we acquired a dog! People laugh when I say "acquired," but it is true. We really did acquire him. He showed up at my parents house with a coon dog. The coon dog had a gold plated tag on and had an owner looking desperately for this dog worth $6000!! Our newly acquired dog was a stray with a puppy collar still on. The neighbors had seen him wandering for about 3 months! I don't know how you could let this wander!!!

:) That's Kodiak - better known as Kodi. He was our Christmas present! We looked for lost dog signs for about a week and found nothing. We think it was meant to be. Now he is an inside outside dog. We think he definitely has some border collie in him, but he's big, so maybe some lab or golden retriever. He is about 1 year old now. He is so sweet though and very gentle. We have since discovered he is not fond of bald men. He gets pretty bent out of shape. He's just great for us!

We have also spent a little time out at Halsell Hill. My grandmother continues to fight ovarian cancer. We have had some wonderful visits though. My grandfather and she continue to work as a team to make it through each day along with the family's help on the weekends. These are a few pictures from a recent visit:

Grandmother and Ashley

Grandmother and Aunt Sue

Ross also has a new job. He is working for Encompass Home Health. The Lord has been merciful and sweet to us in so many ways. Ross is loving his new job. He is still in the orientation phase, but is liking visiting with one patient at a time and having some time in his car. There is much more responsibility in home health, but Ross is up for the challenge!

I am still at Cook Children's. I am enjoying my job so much and looking foward to when a Child Life Specialist position opens up. God has blessed us so much with jobs and family. We are so thankful for all that He provides.

We are being discipled by a wonderful couple that leads our small group and have been reading Sacred Marriage with them. It has been a sweet journey. We finish up next week. The Lord has truly engrained in us that marriage is not about us but ALL about Him! It has been beautiful and fresh. I am also reading Sacred Influence with a dear sister from afar. It has been a blessing. I strongly recommend Gary Thomas' books. They are chalked full of great teachings of the Lord.

We love you all and pray that the Lord is sweetly blessing each of you as Valentine's Day approaches!

Here are a few more pics of our Kodi!

The Holidays!!!

Merry Christmas EVE to everyone! Ross and I have been enjoying a few days of what we like to call "normal" life. :) I finished my internship last Friday. I will return to Cook today for my first day back to pack bags for the kiddos. Ross works half the day tomorrow :(, and we both work on Friday. We got to spend Sunday and yesterday out at Halsell Hill with my grandmother and papa. Grandmother is struggling with ovarian cancer. It was a great treat to get to be with them twice in one week after not seeing them for a while. :) We spent Thanksgiving here with Jill (our dear friend), my parents, my Granny, and Michael and Mattie Mae. We had a wonderful time. :) Here are a few updated pictures:

Our photographer was amazing!!! :) (her car is in the background) :)

Michael and Mattie LOVE Granny!!!!

Michael and Mattie Mae with Turkey Pumpkins!!! :)

We pray that each of you is blessed by the celebration of our Savior's birth! May you know His deep and tender love for you this Christmas. May you feel Him warm in your soul! We love you!!!

4 More Weeks

I am getting close to being done with my internship. I start a 4 week count down on Monday. I am in a trauma rotation currently. It has been incredibly overwhelming with an intense amount of visual stimuli. I'm back to having a difficult time sleeping and recovering from the things I see each day. I am learning a lot though - mostly that I have the most amazing husband. He does such a great job getting life accomplished for us in the midst of craziness. I love Ross' heart. He is such a server. The Lord has taught me so much about His character through Ross - especially during this time. God is so good to use marriage to sanctify us. We are ready for this season to come to a halt, but God is good to sustain and grow us. God is good - all the time.