Family Time for Thanksgiving...Wonderful!

Dustin and K.J. celebrating with TOM

What a wonderful four days we've had with our family! Dustin's dad, stepmom, brother, gran, and grandaddy came from Georgia to celebrate Thanksgiving with us in our little house! It may have been a tight squeeze, but it was sure sweet squeezing in all together! We had good hang out time, delicious food, and many hugs! Here are a few pictures of our fun time together. 

Daniel hanging with Fat Bax!

On Tuesday night when the family arrived around 10pm it was raining!! Unfortunately, as everyone was bringing in suitcases and bags, our fat kitty Baxter decided to try to escape. In ninja-like fashion, Dustin sprinted for the door to stop him....Gran and I were in the kitchen and heard a large boom after a cry of, "No Baxter! No!!!" I ran into the living room to find...my strong man sprawled out on the floor! As he was running, he slipped on a large slick spot, feet flew out from under him, and he landed straight on his back with enough force to smack his head on the floor causing pretty good whiplash.  The first couple days he was in a lot of pain! But, the kinks soon worked themselves out!

Gran hanging in the Living Room

Baby Kitty, Libby, won the hearts of all!

 Since it was so cold, the boys went in the yard and chopped a ton of wood! "Little" bro, Daniel showed off his strong muscles as he "hiya...kamachuwa" the wood!!

Meanwhile, inside Grandaddy was busy fixing our terrible little table that bends every time you put weight on it! (Dustin has promised to build me my dream table from his family's walnut wood for three years...maybe this Christmas??)

 Gran, as beautiful as always, cooking away in the kitchen serving all of us with yummy meals! Maybe one day she'll let us serve her! Thanks, Gran! (However, we did weight ourselves once the fam left...we put on FIVE pounds! WOW).

 Cozy and snuggly, Dad and Ta Ta hanging out on the couch. Quite a few times, Baxter crawled up on Dad's lap to snuggle. So much for Dad and Grandaddy not being cat people...I think they fell in love!

 Yes, you too Grandaddy...you can deny it, but we know you love all of our furry kids!

Dan the Man! College man now...all grown up (well, almost!) Handsome as can be!

We had to bring in more chairs since we packed out the Living Room! "Dustin, can I join you on the flimsy camping chair?"

Tom the Turkey!

 Dustin, carving my delicious turkey I made...if I do say so myself. We had lots to eat and plenty of leftovers to eat turkey sandwiches, dinner, and homemade turkey bone marrow broth soup! That's what's cooking now!

The Family...

All the cups of the family!! We loved every minute. Only thing we would have loved even more was if every person in our family could have been present...wish there were many more cups up there so we could ALL be together (although you would have had to stay in the shed...no more room in the house!). 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY! LOVE YOU!

R.I. P. RUDY...In Honor of Thanksgiving

Not cool, Dustin. Not cool! There I was growing an attachment for my sweet, pretty chickens. Named my chickens: Rudy, Dot, Martha, Bonnie, Brie, Alice, and Tammy. Pets, you would say! I knew that we only could have one rooster in the coop since they get a little aggressive and start harassing the little hens, but I didn't think it would come to this...end this way...

Meet, RUDY. Such a pretty rooster. Loved life. Always the first one out of the coop when free-ranging. Always crowing...always. Always happy (so it seemed for a bird brain).

R.I.P. Rudy

A few weeks ago, Dustin alerted me to the sad fact that two of our three "hens" given to us by a friend, turned out to be roosters...and there was a reality that must take place soon. As the hens (we have five) are getting to egg laying age, two roosters is one too many for them. It was time for me to say, "Goodbye." The lot fell to Rudy since he was not only "discovered" to be a rooster second (we had already promised Dot he could stay), but the louder and more aggressive of the two.

My parents were coming in for the weekend! Dustin was itching to take Rudy to the chopping block. I told my dad the situation and how heart broken I was to see my dear Rudy, well, headless. He said, "Well, Jo, sounds like you need to eat him." Ah! And then I told my animal loving mama and she said, "That mean rooster is attacking the ladies?...kill him!!!" What!? Hello...Mom....is that you on the phone? So, since they were for the murdering of my pet Rudy, I told them if I had to eat him, they would too! 

 
 So, Dustin chopped Rudy's poor little head off (not really, but that sounds better than what actually happened) and boiled off his feathers. 

And I helped burn little hairs off his little body, seasoned him, stuffed him full of veggies, and shoved him in the oven! (Maybe I'm a better farmer's wife than I thought!)

Bon Appetite! Dinner is served! 

 A Special Note to Rudy: Dear pet rooster (R.I.P.) you were delicious! Thank you for your purpose in life...to give me joy watching you and Dot have cock fights as I looked in the back yard and to feed my belly! Job well done!

And a note to my Chicken Killing Husband: Darling, if you plan on making me eat my chickens, in the future, please don't have me name them first! I get attached! (Dustin promised me he would obey this rule...and that my puppies and kitties were safe cause he loves them too much...and gross!)

Here we Go!!! Step One: The Home Study...

Wow! So, things seem to be moving. We have decided to take an alternative adoption route! Instead of being conventional and getting an agency, Dustin and I have had the incredible opportunity to be connected with a women's resource center in Georgia and a labor/delivery nurse in South Carolina. We were told to get our home study completed ASAP and have an attorney on standby. This means that we could be parents in a couple weeks...or a couple years! Incredibly crazy to think there is a possibility that we could be parents by Christmas. We are excited with every glimmer of hope the Lord gives us...whether it is two weeks or two years. Might be the world's fastest "pregnancy!" But, very cool to think our first child could already be baking in the oven!!!

So, in the next week we would like to get our home study done and have an attorney on standby. 

Here's where you come in...

1. Prayer!!! Please everyone pray! We have no idea what this process is going to look like. Pray that the Lord amazes us and provides for us financially. We know He is going to direct us and the birth mother, so He places exactly the baby he wants in our family! 

2. Financial Help. If you feel the Lord leading you we could definitely use help here. Now that the labor/delivery nurse knows us, she encouraged us to get the home study done quickly. We know the Lord will provide some way and if need be, we can get a loan. But, I just think it is so much more exciting to think of who the Lord may be calling to join with us on this adventure by helping in this tangible way. The home study is the first hurdle. It is about $1,300. The nurse said the total cost is probably going to be around $9,000 (depending on attorney fees and birth mother medical). Over the semester break, Dustin is planning on making some furniture pieces so we can auction it off to raise some money (he is so, so talented!!). For now we will just throw out there this need. Any help is incredible help, even $10!!! For real...

After our experience raising support to work with the addictions ministry and only being there five months...believe us...we are nervous and gun shy about raising support again for adoption. But, the Lord reminds us often that none of us owns our money...God owns all for His glory. We know He is working and can't wait to watch this journey unfold! Making much of Him and making more worshipers!

If you do want to help us financially grow our family, please send me an e-mail to jojonally@gmail.com and I will send you our address.

Thanks friends and family...this is so exciting!!!

Future Children...Pray with Us

The Lord reminded me this morning: God's timing is always perfect, it is without delay! After teaching a session for my church's Women's Day on Psalm 46, you would think I had this lesson down. Nope! Yesterday morning was a difficult morning...tears of desiring to be parents and being lost in the confusion of why not, Lord? However, in my faithlessness, my Good and Loving God is always faithful. He gave Dustin and I a wonderful day yesterday and reminded us (normally through Dustin's Christ-centered words) that He has blessed us in so, so many ways and cares deeply for our hurts. He is going to allow us to be parents, in His perfect timing, without delay.

So, with that joyful truth we ask that you would begin praying for us as we begin the journey of adoption. We aren't exactly sure when or how this will look, just that adopting as well as (we pray) having biological kids, are part of the Lord's plan for our family. As we soon finish seminary, we think now is a good time to start this process. There are many questions and so much paper work we are fearful and overwhelmed to begin this journey, but we must trust our Abba Father who Adopted us into His family. He has been through this journey many, many times and will help us through ours!

Please Pray:

1. That our hearts would not be discouraged, but excited during this process.
2. That the Lord would provide all the finances we will need (we have $0 right now!)
3. Pray for the agency/lawyer God would want to work through.
4. Pray that God would prepare the woman to give us the gift of adopting her child.
5. Pray for our future plans...since we don't know where or when we could be moving, this could be a transitional time (which is why we were waiting). 

We don't know the time frame God has, but we need to raise money for the adoption and do a lot of research and paper work before we can even really get started. That is why, even in this transitory time, we figured it was okay to get started! So, all we ask is for you to begin praying with us! Oh, and if you know of any babies being given away...send them our way! ;) 

Thank you for asking our Great Father to answer our prayers in extraordinary ways! He gives marvelous gifts!

It's True...We Have a Mini Farm!

It all started back in college, about a year and a half before we got married. Dustin got the itch to get a sweet puppy dog. So we traveled seven hours one way to Montgomery, Alabama to a kill shelter and saved a little 5 month old boxer mix...our Daphne.

Young Daphne in Dustin's College Apartment

Then we got married and we're busy paying attention to one another and we felt like Daphne was needing a pal. So, after a day on the hiking trails of the Santee Canal in Charleston, six months after we married we got a little Weiner Dog cause we loved my mom's hotdog so much. Welcome Ike!

 

So, there we were...just the four of us for quite a few years. But, shortly after our 5th anniversary while working at Converting Hearts, Dustin walked into the men's house one Monday morning to be greeted by a stray cat who the boys let in over the cold weekend! So...after a phone call to his wifey asking to bring the little guy home, we welcomed Baxter into our family.

The most cuddly, sweetest kitty who ever lived! He sits like this on Dustin every morning!

Fat Bax, we call him! He's about 3 years old now.

Then, this past spring after watching our friends kiddos out in the country, their daddy told us to stop by a feed store right down the road. We stopped there and lo and behold, there was a box of free kittens only 7 weeks old. The store manager made us take one home with us!! How demanding! So, we chose our baby girl, Libby, who is the most beautiful and precious kitty I've ever seen!

(I post these pictures of Dustin kissing our kitties to prove to his family (Dad and Grandaddy!!), who raised him not to love cats, can see that it is in fact their beloved son who is wrapped around these kitties paws...it was not me who forced cats into our house. Though I do love all furry creatures! And so does my honey buns!!)

Well, you'd think we would stop there. But, nope...again, it was Dustin. This time he really wanted some chickens. So, we have the four furry creatures, a tank full of fish, and now introducing...OUR SEVEN CHICKENS!

Dot and Rudy are Roosters...and then there's Brie, Bonnie, and Martha...

Alice and Tammy

Bonnie's my favorite...so sweet she lets you pick her up!

 We tried to go with all old country names! (Minus the Roosters' names who were originally Dorothy and Ruth, until we found out the ladies were dudes!) My incredible talented carpenter hubby built the coop...my desired adorable Williams and Sonoma Design!

So, here are a few pictures of our mini farm...enjoy a sneak peek into our life!

Libby loves her doggies and tries to snuggle every day!

Bigger than her dad's shoe now

Her favorite! Her big brother Baxter...they are best friends!

My study buddy! ('Scuse the robe...)

Neighborhood girls come to our petting zoo!!! haha

Our backyard (and my mowing job!)

Our chickies enjoying free time!

 Our little house we've made such a cozy home. We sure love it here...ready for full time ministry, but wish we could take our house and friends with us!!!

Well, that's OUR FARM!

Tell all 'dem Deers....Watch Out!!!

Well, it's that time...the season of killing innocent little animals for dinner! And and as much as I hate thinking of that tearjerker, Bambi (terrible movie), I do love me some deer steaks, deer giblets, and deer jerky! So, I thank the Lord I have a hunter man for a husband (beard and all). I think it's quite manly(!!!!) to see my man all...

BA BAM! Ready for the Kill!

I don't mind the dirt smears and scary face paint. Just look how those baby blues shine! haha So, we have 40 pounds of deer meat already in our freezer from some friends of a friend who killed four deer and gave us two! My hubby spent about five hours processing the meat, grounding most of it, and neatly wrapping it ready for the freezer and my belly. We've already had deer chili (da bomb!) and meaty spaghetti...all without a hint of that icky gamy taste. (Don't think I'll ever enjoy that musky flavor). The goal is to get enough deer meat this season to live off (mainly) deer and fish for the upcoming year. Hey, these are tight times and we'll save a lot of money!! But, the coolest thing about this hunting season is this girl who is ready to hang with her hubby in the woods...silently...for hours...without making a peep...in the cold...who is just there for company...who has no gun....

I know, you're thinking, "who could this huntress warrior be...all decked out in camo?"

That's right...ME! Little bit 'a pink is good for them deers! 

(Don't worry, I'll close my eyes when the shot is fired. Need to show Bambi some respect!)

From Worrying to Rejoicing!

Schwarzenegger's words may be prophetic after all. IT'S NOT A TUMOR!!!! So the last couple weeks have been an intense battle to trust the Lord with the unknown. Whoa! That is hard to do. After weeks of fears of what this large mass was in my side and a request from my lady doctor to get it checked out... I finally went to a real doctor (sorry campus doctor...you're sweet, but not so great). Campus doc told me it was a tumor, but probably just a fatty mass. But, my mind wouldn't stop running with the "what ifs." So, on Monday I planned to get this thing looked at, but...

I went to leave at 2pm and my car was completely dead! Ernie (my car's name), I know you are 15 years old, sea foam green, have a cracked windshield, and a large dent in the side...but I really needed you to work! The battery has been sputtering lately but still running okay. I called everyone I knew and no one could take me or get me their car. One of my friends even conveniently locked her keys in the car (you know who you are...haha). A friend who lives a minute away called me right after I cancelled the appointment. I called the doctor's office right back to see if I could come late and they already filled my spot! GRRR…. Anyway, Dustin got home at 4:30 and tried the car…it started right up!!! Ahhh! Obviously the Lord did not want me to go on Monday. (F.Y.I. The car did need a new battery, oil change, and a filter). I was so frustrated…and then had a mini tantrum and cried because I really wanted to go (sick of the anxiety of not knowing...the Lord has worked at lot on me in this area lately...).

So, Tuesday was attempt number two. Doctor was wonderful and super sweet. He sent me to get x-rays done and called me today with the results! Never thought I'd say this with such glee; I have a HERNIA!! WOO HOO!!!! It's a big hernia, but not a tumor!!! So thankful...I cried! Apparently, when my super manly hubby requested my awesome muscles about 6-7 weeks ago to move all the furniture in our house around (my idea...) I pulled my side muscles and a hernia popped out :) So, he has told me to do some good workouts (3-4 times a week) with the hope it will go back in. It's been there a month (with no exercise!!) so we're hoping it goes in on its own with my new workout plan or I have to get a minor surgery. I'm thinking it will go in though!! My heart is flying high with thanksgiving right now!!!!!! So excited I could do a jig, but that could cause a new hernia! hah! Speaking of jigs. Dustin and I are tremendous fans of techno music and often blast it in our house and dance until we're exhausted...perhaps it wasn't the furniture after all?? Have you ever danced to techno...!! WOO HOO! Just a thought! 

Praising the Lord going into this weekend worry free. We are going to Hilton Head Island again!! Dustin is preaching for the third time at North Island Baptist. We are so thankful not to have this lingering over our heads so we can focus on the possible church revitalization! We'll keep you posted on that. North Island seems very excited to have our church here, North Wake, work with them to put together a pastoral team (teaching, discipleship, and worship pastors) to help revitalize this sweet church! It would be amazing and so divine if the Lord brought us to Hilton Head...we just really never thought this would happen. Please pray for us to discern where the Lord is leading us for full time ministry!

Last note. I am so very thankful for my fuller perspective on suffering through this last situation (I gave the short edition, but I was broken, scared, and crying out to the Lord). This is also an incredible gift since I'm writing on this topic and counsel many people who suffer. May I trust my great God with all things!! Rejoicing Today!!!

Forever Faithful: A Long Post with a Lot of Lessons

Many of you know I am writing a new book on suffering as I wait to hear from the publisher if they've accepted my first book, Absorbed. I figured I already had spoken on two different occasions about suffering and I had a lot of already written material. So, I would put it all together as a short counseling resource book called: The Sovereignty of God in the Storms of Life: Trusting God in Emotional Pains, Broken Families, and Addictions. I believe sharing life together is God's best for us; without sharing our joys and sorrow people begin believing they are the only ones with burdens, which makes them feel isolated. Therefore, Dustin and I have always been open books. I share this post so that you can pray for us and know just as Peter told us...in this life we will have many trials so that our faith may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:5-7).

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There I was writing away...structuring my wisdom in neatly written sentences on God's power in suffering...and life happened, another storm was brewing. It seems Dustin and I have become quite familiar to suffering in our almost seven years of marriage. A few weeks ago I noticed a large lump in my abdomen. This new found lump was discovered just a few months after the thyroid cancer scare (I don't have thyroid cancer)! Of course, I totally freaked out thinking it was some cancerous tumor and praying it would miraculously disappear so I could echo Schwarzenegger's famous line from Kindergarten Cop, "It's not a tumor!" But after a few days of too many passing thoughts, I went to the campus doctor. 

Though he determined it is a tumor of sorts, he was quite adamant that it was not cancerous or affecting any major organs. Whew! In a few months I will go back to get my "new mass of mystery" checked out and then determine if an ultrasound and biopsy are needed. Well certainly that was good news. However, I have been on a journey of frustration and brokenness. Why would God allow something else to be wrong with my body! Of course the doctors have determined there is nothing physically wrong with me as to why we have not been able to get pregnant...but something new! I have been praying for a baby bump and instead God gives me an abdomen lump! It was as if a dark cloud was sitting over my head even as the Lord was using me to do so much ministry writing, teaching, and counseling. 

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Paul's words reverberated in my heart, "When I am weak, you are strong!" I think the Lord is trying to teach me a few incredible messages about suffering. I wanted to share those with you this morning. 

First, God has done ministry through me, but it is based on His sufficiency, not my capability. He isn't concerned about making K.J. Nally praised. He is concerned about making His name known to the nations and using His precious children as vessels to die to themselves and live for Him! Honestly, I am weak right now...yet He is doing incredible work for His Name! Lesson number one: Life is all for His glory! And most times suffering keeps us humble and reliant on His power, not our own.

Second, I've realized suffering cannot be experienced retrospectively. Sure some understanding can come in retrospection, but not experience. The burden of suffering is when you're in the moment of feeling abandoned, lost in the pit of darkness, or drowning in sorrow. It is that moment when you don't feel like calling out to the Lord or being encouraged by friends with Scripture, that you need God most! And He promises never to leave us (Psalm 13). So, in my tears of frustration, my beloved husband has done what I needed most, he has washed me in the Word, reading Scripture over me, praying with me, and listening...until my tears stopped and truth once again budded in my heart.  In James it says, "Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the victor's crown, the life God has promised to those who love him." I want to cling on God's strength to endure my trials and overcome the quitting points...because I know my reward is the crown of life! More is at stake than my immediate happiness/contentment. Lesson number two: Perseverance is pushing on in trust and belief even when you are weary and ready to give up! I will not lose trust in my God! He is good no matter what...for His glory and my best!

Third, just as in the Garden of Eden when God asked Adam and Eve to trust Him when they didn't understand His request not to eat from the tree of good and evil, He is asking us to trust Him when we don't understand. God did not give Adam and Eve full disclosure in the Garden as to what would happen if they ate from the Tree. He simply said, "you will die." Satan manipulated God's words to Eve and told her God was trying to withhold something good from her...ultimately questioning God's character of goodness and love. Though Dustin and I desire to be parents and raise children to love and passionately pursue the only True God, He is asking us to trust Him even when we don't understand this long wait or new burdens. Lesson number three: When times come when I don't understand what God s doing, will I trust him because I know the truth that He is good, sovereign, and loving...or will I, like Adam and Eve, doubt God's character and lose faith! I am choosing today to trust!

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We are praying that the Lord would continue to guide every step we take. Our greatest desire is to honor our Savior King! Despite suffering, unfulfilled desires, and moments of distrust because God isn't answering on our terms (so silly...He is God!); we are passionately running after Him. We look forward to beginning the adoption process just as soon as we move to where he wants Dustin to pastor a church (and me a help-mate pastor's wife!) Perhaps we'll adopt one, two, three, or four all at once! hah! And as for physical "stuff" please pray the Lord heals my "lumpy" body and that one day He will open my womb (Ps. 113:9). Again, I enjoy sharing our struggles. My prayer is that at least someone is encouraged by the truth God is revealing to me...and honestly, we don't need one more "perfect Facebook family" jading our lives! God is good all the time...and in every situation! So whatever you are going through...don't lose hope!

A Few Pictures with Some Words... to Recap our Spring and Summer!

I know! It's August and I have yet to fill you in on our lives from April! It has been a very busy spring and summer...but wonderful! Dustin has given me probably one the greatest gift he could ever give me...time to work from home and write! After finishing out teaching at the most amazing school, Grace Christian School, we have barreled into our new schedules. Dustin is now working with one of his buddies doing handyman work full time. His hard work (and my teaching paycheck through the summer) has allowed me to take care of our home, organize, manage our budget, rest in the Lord, and write! I am working on two books. The first book Absorbed: Becoming Physically, Emotionally, and Spiritually Intimate as God Designed (formerly The Beautification Process but I changed the title to something less cheesy), will go to the publisher in a few weeks to see if they will accept it. So, please pray they do...my writing/speaking ministry career needs to produce some income soon! The second book, The Sufficiency of God in the Storms of Life: Trusting God in the Midst of Emotional Pains, Broken Families, and Addictions. will be published as an Amazon E-book by the end of the month. It is a mini book (about 75 pages) to be a helpful counseling resource (or personally when suffering).

So if you're wondering... I'm not a fancy stay at home wife who goes out on lunch dates every day. I have an office to do my work and I treat it as the incredible job that it is. Most every day I work 6-8 hour days writing. I do take an occasional lunch break or stop to wash the dishes when I need a mental break. Today, well...today I had writer's block (first time this summer). So I thought what a great time to do something mindless like update the blog! With Dustin and I having no kiddos yet, we thought this the perfect time to launch my writing. We desire very much for me to stay home with our kids one day and this will give me a way to work from home (and do the awesome ministry the Lord has called me to).  For now, the Lord has allowed us the means to keep me home writing and finishing school. If need be I'll happily get a conventional job. But, the Nally's don't do much conventionally, now do we!

Class starts in a few weeks. Dustin and I will both be going full time this last year. I am taking my four leveling classes for the PhD program ( and my last counseling practicum) and Dustin is finishing his Master's of Divinity. We will graduate together in May (Lord willing!)...it's been a long time in coming (5 years). So, here goes me trying to catch you up on life through pictures...way more fun than hearing me ramble on! (You can read my books to hear that!).
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The day I finished work, Dustin and I packed out bags for Hendersonville, NC to do a vision casting trip to see if the Lord wanted us to end up there.

Downtown Hendersonville

Floating down Lake Lure in Hendersonville

We had a wonderful time in Hendersonville, love it! Just not sure if that is where we feel the Lord calling us. Our incredible friends, Jordan and Luke allowed us to stay at their house while they were out of town. We got to spend a couple days with them and their precious little twin boys, Tate and Sawyer.

Enjoying our time in Hendersonville

 When we got back from Hendersonville, we watched out friends' kids. We went by a feed store on the way home and there were free kittens. I mean, we already had Baxter...and how to you say, "no" to this precious face!?

New Baby Kitty, Libby. Just 7 weeks old.

Not pictured is our other new animals. I know, we live on a very small farm. We now have 5 chickens too. We were given 3...thought one was a rooster so we bought 2 more ($5 each, chickens are cheap!) So, we have Martha, Ruth, Dorothy ("Dot"), Brie, and Bonnie (old country names). Well, this morning Dot who we were thinking was a rooster confirmed our belief...she is a HE. So in honor of our first rooster who Dustin let fly away (sad, sad story)..Zotavious. We know have Dotavious, the rooster.

 The first week of June my sister and bro-in-law came to visit us for a couple days. They left for the outer banks for the rest of the week and let us watch Abbagail and Ellie! We had such a blast!



Princess Night: Dress up, Paint Toe Nails, Watch Cinderella...what a night!

Train Ride at a park

When Kali and Josh got back from the Outer Banks, Dad came up from Hilton Head to meet at our house so Kali, Dad, the girls, and I could drive to PA to visit the family!

Gram was so excited to see the girls!

Siblings!

Cousins. Ellie is having the most fun!

The whole family!!

Cousins out to dinner

One of my best friends, Lauren, had baby Nicholas and I got to meet him!

Cousin Jordan's birthday party was a blast for Abbagail...blurry from the jumping!

We made it safely home! Ellie was so happy to be out of the car!

A week after I got back from PA, Dustin and I drove to Hilton Head for another preaching engagement at North Island Baptist Church. What an incredible job the Lord did through him! Hilton Head is now an area that we are praying about whether the Lord wants us there. North Island Baptist Church is a hurting church. We would love to be used to see the church revitalized. We got to talk with the elder of the church and he asked us to share our vision for the church during the chicken lunch after Dustin preached. Everyone was very excited. We haven't heard much now two months later...We'll keep you posted as we hear from the church.

Dustin was having more fun entertaining the kids than they were watching (notice Abbagail in the background not really paying attention!)

My Sandman!

Well, peer pressure...Ellie made me do it too!

Hilton Head, South Beach Marina

Back home it's been house projects and kayaking during a few weekends. We have been having a wonderful summer and pray that these next few weeks are as great...but slower. School starts on the 21st, but we are really excited about all the changes we have made to help our family run stress-free (well, less than before) and not be so chaotic with our schedules. We are excited and hopeful for all the Lord has planned.

Every year for our anniversary (which we're coming up on year SEVEN in a few months!) we give the new year a title. 2013 was dubbed: The Year of Anticipation. We are anticipating some exciting things. 

The only little fishies we were catching...pathetic. But, we had fun!

Have a wonderful rest of the summer! We'll keep you posted as things progress.