Better late than never

Well, Matthew graduated from High-school! This was a while ago, but I kept forgetting to post some of my favorite pictures :) So, here they are!

These three are such goofballs, they don't always get a long but they love each other and are quite hilarious!

                                                                       

Matt and his sisters

 All us siblings :) 

These next few aren't of grad, but were taken on the same day. I had fun playing with my camera, plus I had a cute model :)

M&T get married

This past weekend was spent in Killarney celebrating the marriage of my brother-in-law Mark to his beautiful bride Terra! It was a wonderful weekend, and such a beautiful wedding. Weddings are my favorite, and when those weddings honor and glorify God in such a beautiful way, even better! It was such an encouragement to see their desire to keep God the center of this new journey they find themselves on! Also, I get a new sisters- that's pretty exciting! :)

Now for some pictures- that I took with my SLR, yay! 

The three brothers with Grandma Koldyk

The cutest little flower girl you'll ever see! Melanie :)

Ring bearer and flower girl, cousins of the groom.

Handsome guest book attendants.

Awaiting his bride

There she is, looking so beautiful!

It's official! Mr and Mrs Bergen

These two kept us quite entertained- it was adorable.

Seriously, how adorable is this!

Cousins

The brothers

Getting creative with holding the train

The proud new parents- another daughter, how lucky :)

Nine months pregnant..

I think this man needs a daughter ;)

The bubbles were a hit!

Lately

I have been trying really hard to use my camera more. But most of the time I've been taking pictures of camp, so the pictures I'm about to share are all

With my phone. I will get better at taking more pictures with my SLR! :) 

Little brother Matthew graduates from highschool! The last highschool grad we will be going to for a sibling! Crazy!

Apparently a rare find, a pink lady slipper. Found on the camp road not to long ago.  

Got to spend our first weekend of the summer at Grandmas trailer, it was such a wonderful, relaxing weekend. A good way to start off a busy summer!

A few weekends ago now Michael had the weekend off (meaning he didn't have to be back at camp for Sunday) so we went camping with our friends! It was such a fun, relaxing weekend! We camped at kerr lake, at a cabin we had rented. Seeing as three out of four of the wives were pregnant, we were thankful for real beds :)

My favourite thing this summer: vanilla soft served dipped in chocolate. So good!!

I've been so blessed with some wonderful friends. People who make me feel so loved! Last week just a week full of people showing me how much they care, and I appreciated it so much!

Michael and I had the privilege of going out for supper last night with his brother and soon to be bride! They get married this Saturday! It was a fun evening and we enjoyed getting to know them better as a couple. It was date night at the restaurant we went to- an appetizer, two main courses and dessert to share. Needless to say I was SO full even after the appetizer! But I somehow managed to find some extra room for this delicious dessert :)

Trials and Blessings

Well, we are now 35 weeks pregnant! I never really believed those women that would say: "9 months goes by so fast!" and even though I feel as though I've been pregnant FOREVER, 9 months really isn't long enough to do everything that you hope to accomplish! At least it doesn't feel that way. Life doesn't stop just because your expecting.

It's hard to believe that next week we will be entering the ninth and last month of this pregnancy! When I look at our list of "to-do's" I get nervous and anxious, but I am oh so excited to start this new journey!

We started off week 35 with our first and last pre-natal class. We just don't have the time this summer to  do weekly classes, and frankly we did leave it till the last minute. The local public health nurse came to our home on a Saturday and spent almost 4 hours with us! I'm sure it looked VERY different from your typical lamaze class, but this way she taught us exactly what we wanted to know and what we were curious about. Plus, because we waited so long we got to skip a whole bunch of steps! It was very informative, and so good that we got to take it in together. We haven't been able to do a lot of "team" learning around this whole pregnancy thing, so it was good to be taught at the same time and to know that we were on the same page. I learnt a lot about natural child birth, and even though I still think I'll need an epidural, am more and more willing to see how it goes before making up my mind completely. Let's face it though, i'm a wimp when it comes to pain!

We finally had some time this weekend to move all of our "extra stuff" into the shed in our back yard, which means I have a couch to sit on again! :) My awesome father in law also came over to help and he tilled and weeded my garden for me. I'm not sure what I was thinking of planting a garden this year, they're a lot of work and even though I have the time my body does not respond well to bending over anymore! HA! But, it looks great and things are even growing!

I mentioned in my last post I think of the nice long to do list that we still had and the set backs that we were facing. Such as our vehicle not being in running condition, our washing machine breaking, and finding these lovely (not) creepy crawly things in our baby room. Well, as of this weekend our car is in the shop getting repaired, our washing machine works as of today and as far as those tiny little worms go- we're still battling!

I was forced this morning to sit down and spend some time with the Lord as I got fairly overwhelmed at the amount of things that were going wrong. I did a load of just bleach water this morning just to see if the leak had been repaired, and it was still leaking! I also found a worm in our freshly packed baby bag, and FIVE in our second bathroom this morning. As far as I could tell- nothing was working in our favor. So- after a phone call to my husband to share my predicament I sat down on our bed and prayed. I pleaded with him that our washing machine would be fixed ( i had a lot of laundry to do) and that he would show us a way to get rid of these nasty bugs! In the midst of my pleading I was reminded that even though things don't always go our way, that life seems hard sometimes and they're are trials- we are BLESSED. In light of eternity these things seemed so small, and they are. Even though they do affect us now, and do require some of our attention they are not to be the very thing we focus on day in and day out. Yes, we are having a baby very soon. Yes, life is busy and our to do list is long. BUT- God is good!! And we truly are blessed way beyond what we deserve!

Michael came home during tuck time for a brief 20 minutes and figured out what was still wrong with our washing machine. AND HE FIXED IT!! It works, it really really works! I am currently now on my 5th load of laundry, and am so thankful! As for those tiny little pests called carpet beetles, we are still struggling with them. It's not the beetle itself but its larvae, and even though there small they are gross! They apparently live off of dust, lint, old bugs, clothing etc. So we've been doing a lot of vacuuming ( more than 3 times a day) trying to keep all of our clothes out of reach and spraying the life out of them with bug killer. But somehow they keep showing up. At first they were just in one side of our home, but today I found one in a laundry basket, and two in our on suite bathroom. I feel as though our home is slowly being taken over by these tiny creatures, but we will just keep plugging away and hoping that they disappear very soon! If any one has dealt with these things before, your tips and wisdom on the matter is kindly appreciated :)

And at the end of the day I'm thankful for everything my husband does for us. He works so hard at the camp during the day, and very often comes home at night only to battle with broken washing machines, and carpet beetles! I really don't know how I would do any of it without him! We're also so thankful for this tiny little baby growing inside of me. Everyday it reminds us of its presence with its strong movements that cause my whole tummy to move! He/She is getting bigger everyday, and we're getting closer and closer to meeting! Like I said before, we're blessed. We're blessed because we have a Savior who loves and cares for us, who listens to our prayers and most importantly laid his life down for us so that we could live. I've been reminded to remain thankful even in the face of trials, because in the end it's worth it and we really do have so much to be thankful for.

Showing off the 35 week belly! 

35 weeks of pregnancy and this guy has never left my side. I'm thankful, so very thankful for him. 

Thirty-Three Weeks

I can't believe it's July. Summer crept up on us so fast, and already the weeks are flying by! Right now we find ourselves in week thirty three of this pregnancy, and in some ways I can't believe it's come this quickly but at the same time I want it to go so much faster! Only eight (ish) more weeks until we get to hold our little bundle of joy!

As time goes on I realize how much we still have left to do. It's a little overwhelming, but i know it will all come together in the end. We're in the midst of a busy summer, but at some point we really have to set aside sometime to make sure were ready! Our car needs to be fixed, just the other day our washing machine started making horrific noises and needs to be fixed as well, the baby room needs set up including brining the crib and change table to our home, our garden needs weeded and tended too, I still need to pack my hospital bag (babies is already packed!) the list could go on and on! But for some reason I find myself not to stressed over these issues. I know they need to happen, and I know they will at some point. I like being prepared, and if I had things my way we probably would of been ready for this baby months ago!

Baby has been moving a lot lately, and I love it OH SO MUCH! I have no idea what way it is positioned, but I'm pretty sure sometimes it's feet are right under my stomach, and man does that hurt! We still don't know what were having, and I find myself thinking about that a lot! I am finding it rather exciting not knowing, it's going to be such a wonderful surprise! A part of me is convinced it's a boy, mostly because I have a lot of boy clothes and the name we have chosen for a boy was the first name we kinda settled one. But at the same time my heart longs for a little girl, I can just see my husband being such an amazing girl daddy. Either way, I'm astatic and am convinced that we will try our hardest to love this wee one with everything we have.

This past Sunday we went to a different church than usual, we we're staying at our Grandma's cabin and decided we would sleep in instead of getting to our church on time. (my husband was exhausted from his first week of camp) The sermon at this church was on raising up a new generation, raising children who followed God and listened to him. It was convicting/encouraging at the same time. Being a parent is a God given role, and an important one at that. We have the responsibility to teach and disciple our children to follow God- to show them what it means to be a follower of Christ and to give them opportunities to serve Him. It's not our job to make sure that our kids have a better life than we did when we were their age, yes we are to provide for their needs, but we aren't to make their lives too comfortable. I really do want the best for my kids, but the best that the world offers and the best that is offered to us through Christ is completely different. My hope and prayer as we walk through this thirty third week of pregnancy is that this little one inside of me would know their Saviour intimately.  That He/She would give their lives to serve him in any capacity, even if that means leaving their mom and dad behind and going to a foreign land. Never do I want to be the kind of parent that stops their children from serving God. It's easier to say that now as I really don't have a clue what it means or looks like to be a parent, but it's my hearts desire.

Well little one, we continue to hope in the day that we get to meet you, prepare for you and pray for you.

Supportive Spouse

For us, summer is in full swing! Which means camp has started and we are busy. This year however, looks a lot different from last. As most of you know this past January Michael quit his job building houses and joined me full time at camp as their new program coordinator. Just a week ago I finished working at camp and am now on maternity leave (if all the paper work goes through :) ) so instead of me being full time at camp and Michael supporting me from a distance, he is the one working full time and I am learning what it means to be a supportive spouse. Specifically a wife supporting her husband in ministry. First of all, I don't want to separate  Michael's ministry and my ministry, I believe that we do this as a team whether one of us in the front lines and the other behind the scenes. This is our ministry, and we must do it together. But over that past few days I've really been pondering what this whole "doing it together" thing really looks like. Michael works hard, and in my personal opinion (I'm biased, I know) is doing an amazing job! And I sometimes feel like there isn't much for me to do but hang out at home and get ready for this baby! (Because even in the midst of busyness, there will still be a child added to our family at the end of the summer!!) But I realize more and more that I do play a vital role in Michael's role at camp. Not that he couldn't do it without me, because there's no doubt in my mind that he could- but we're a team now and God has designed us to work together and for each other.

The first thing that i've learned in what it means to be a supportive spouse is to pray for my husband. Before Michael was in full time ministry, I did pray for him- but not enough. I realized that I can't be everything he needs, and that I can't help in all situations even though I would like to. He needs his Saviour first and foremost, and I need to pray that his God would give him daily what he needs for the work that is set before him. I don't think I've prayed for my husband this much throughout our entire relationship- regretfully. But if I'm going to support my husband, what better way to do that than surrender him to the one who made him and knows him so much better than I do? I may think I know what he needs, but in comparison to his heavenly father, I know nothing.

Another thing I've learned is to love him (or strive to love him) the way that Christ has and does, and that is sacrificially as a servant. This one is hard. I'm a selfish person, and I really do like getting things my way. And to be honest it would be really easy to make these next few months about me, and about the baby that we are about to bring into this world. But it's not, not even close. This summer, this next year and our whole lives need to be about the ministry that God is calling us to, and for each and everyone of us that's bringing the good news of the Gospel to a world that desperately needs it. If i'm not careful I can make my husband feel guilty for doing the work he is doing instead of spending time with me. I need to guard my heart from those feelings, because I know without a doubt they will come to the surface every once  in a while. I need to serve my husband the way that Christ would, and sacrifice even the good things sometimes, like quality time spent with my husband. So how do I serve? I don't know yet, and I know I wont fully grasp it on this side of eternity; but I think it starts with being sensitive to what he needs. Does he need to come home to a clean house that's stress free? Sometimes yes! Does he need me to fill in for him during the day for certain things, sometimes yes! Does he need me to bring him something to drink from home, or a sweater, or his keys- sometimes yes! Does he need me to just be there so that he knows I'm around and supporting him? Almost always- yes. Does he need me to hug and kiss him every once in a while so he knows that I love him? Probably not as much as I need it, but sometimes yes. There are a million ways to serve- and I think I'm barely just scratching the surface.

Ministry is hard. Full time ministry is hard. Work place ministry is hard. We need each other. God has given us relationships for a reason, we can't do it alone and were not supposed too. As a wife I was created to be a help mate for my husband, it's biblical, and frankly I wouldn't have it any other way.