5 Years...

Joel and I just celebrated our 5th year wedding anniversary. Joel surprised me by taking me to the restaurant where we had our first 'real' date - The Melting Pot. The actual Melting Pot where we had our first date closed a few years ago.. wow, we are old! However, it does not seem like it was that long ago! In 5 short years we both managed to graduate from college, begin working a real jobs, buy a house, begin an ever-expanding ministry, and create two babies! We cannot help but think of how incredibly blessed we are! I am able to stay at home (for the most part) but also work for our FCA ministry and help my husband while attempting to cultivate godliness in our children (pretty easy for the littlest one - he/she is very obedient!). And of course my husband gets to do what he loves, for an amazing purpose, and also earn a living while doing it! We are so incredibly thankful and we pray that during the wonderful times but also during the tough times we will continue to praise God for who he is!


Here is a pic of us the day we found out we were expecting #2, and a pic of Joel III waking up from a nap with 2 legs and 1 arm stuck in the slats. He is laughing about it because I was laughing hard enough to go get the camera. Also here is a video of Joel III laughing/crying when observing a toy doggy http://blip.tv/file/3363007

So much to report...

Hey all! It's been too long! Joel III is 13.5 months old and the new baby is 12.5 weeks along! We had a very busy February and one highlight was our trip to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, which I briefly blogged on earlier, (click here) Each year Joel is graciously invited back to the Wuerffel Trophy Banquet and festivities. Recently Joel, Ryan, and a Wuerffel Trophy committee member, John Watts, have been scheming to turn this visit into a ministry trip as well by adding area assemblies and Comeback Concerts. The evening Concerts went very well and we have huge plans to continue ministry in the FWB area with even more events next year. The pic above is of former Wuerffel Trophy winner, Rudy Niswanger, Joel, Ryan and a student from Crestview HS at an FCA breakfast in FWB. Here is a quote from a FWB HS Student who attended the concert.

"Thanks for coming and speaking, my little brother has been struggling a lot and I am praying for him and have been for the past 3 years. He rededicated (his life to Jesus) tonight"

After the assemblies and Concerts, we had an awesome time getting to know Rudy and his wife Patricia a little bit better. Patricia is pregnant with twins and is due in early April.

Here are some more pics from Florida - Joel and Rudy acting important by signing some items, Joel with his favorite dirt-bike-riding friend, Jon Wuerrfel, and of course, us.







Joel III has been challenging lately, we have had to up our discipline efforts, and we are hoping (for his own sake) that he learns to obey quickly! Here is a video of Joel going down the stairs, a new accomplishment (Joel going down the stairs). Here is another video of Joel III and Mommy having a pretend phone conversation (phone conversation). I know looking at this sweet face below its hard to imagine that he has been whining and throwing fits, but sadly it's true. Please pray for wisdom as we learn to parent him and teach him to honor and obey so that one day he can honor and obey God.

An Announcement..

If you cannot read the words beneath all the slobber on little Joel's shirt it says "No one consulted me about this new baby thing!" That's right! Joel and I are expecting another little one to arrive around September 16th! We are so excited for this huge blessing and are praying for a healthy baby. Praise God!

Florida...

Joel and Ryan are in Fort Walton Beach, FL for 9 events in 3 days, tomorrow night Emily and I will be joining our husbands for 2 short days.. I will be leaving little Joel in Findlay with his Aunt Emily so hopefully he will adjust to her well. If you think of it, please pray for these upcoming days, pray that hundreds of students would attend the evening concerts and they would be receptive to the gospel! Here is a pic of a the assembly set up at Fort Walton Beach HS, in FWB, FL taken this morning.

Joel is Home!

Well,.. it was a long two weeks for me, but finally my husband is home! Joel and Ryan arrived safely at home on Sunday night after appx. 40 hours of driving each week! (this past week and last week)
We celebrated last night with pizza as we watched the Super Bowl. Oh.. Little Joel is home as well! He spent 3 nights in Cincy while I judged a meet this past weekend. It was super nice to have the house all to myself, but it felt weird, and I was happy to pick him up when Sunday came. While in Cincy, my parents took Joel and the other 3 grandkids to the Aquarium, here is a video of Joel looking at the fish:

http://blip.tv/file/3187456

And here is a video of a brief moment at the Aquarium, with two 2-year olds (Indy and Sydney), a 1-year old (Joel) and a 5-year old (Justin) my mom admitted that they definitely"bit off more than they could chew."

http://blip.tv/file/3187497

The pic above is from Joel's baby dedication in October.. I know it's old, but he just looks so cute and we have like 3 family pictures total so I had to include it.

Last time I wrote I promised to include some awesome student quotes.. rather than share with you quotes of Christian students or students who were easily convinced by Joel's gospel presentation, I have chosen to select some more controversial quotes.. the reason being, to show you the type of students who are at our Concerts and listening. Hopefully, these quotes will encourage you as you can see that we really are reaching the unchurched students who might actually want nothing to do with Christ.

-"I would like more of these events, I don't go to church, but I believe that God is with me even though I don't pray or go to church."

-"I am not convinced, if my "soul" is so important, I need to be persuaded that there is a God and that I need to believe in Him"

-"Your speech really opened my eyes. I am a jerk. I really need to quit being such a *&%#*, I talk about people behind their back and I shouldn't."

-"I have been an atheist for 3 years. It makes the most sense to me."

How encouraging.. seriously! All of these students, heard the gospel presentation as clear as day and stayed to fill out the comment cards. Please pray that the seed that was planted that night would grow.. that these students would be surrounded by other strong Christians, and would start to ask themselves questions and maybe even read the Bible!

Surviving..

Well, we are more than half-way finished with our long 2 weeks apart. I was able to see Joel

briefly Saturday night, Sunday night and part of Monday morning, so that helped.. Last week, the guys were encouraged by an awesome Comeback Concert in Madison Co., GA. Joel explained it as, "it was amazing, the crowd was excited at the right times, cheered at the right times, the presentation was one of the best we have done, and I could tell the students were really excited to be there." Also, we had some great Concerts at Eastwood, OH 2/1/10 (this week), Van Wert, OH, and Southmont, IN which were both earlier in January. Here is a pic from Eastwood this week. Next time I blog I promise to share a couple of student quotes with you from our evening Concerts, they are so uplifting and remind us why we do what we do.

Little Joel is going through a rough time lately. His attachment symptoms have increased drastically the past week or so and I can't help thinking that it might be because I have had to get lots of sitters and Joel has not been home. Sometimes when I just leave the room and he cannot see me his whole face turns red and he stops breathing for like 5 seconds because he thinks I'm gone and will never return (I guess?).However, I know that this age is usually the worst

of it, and I am hoping it will get better soon. We were all in Cincy this past weekend as I had a 2-day meet to judge, so of course, Gamma and PaPa had to throw a Birthday celebration for Joel and for his cousin Indy who turned 2 on Jan 23rd. Joel had an extremely fun time consuming his first ice cream cone and you can see a video of it here: http://blip.tv/file/3167762

Also we opened some more presents and one resulted in some seated dancing by Joel which was kinda cute, here is the video of that: http://blip.tv/file/3167684

The next 2 weeks...

Here is a pic of little Joel in the middle of the 3rd attempt at trying to recreate the picture of his dad at the same age in the same outfit on the same rocking horse. The 3rd attempt went much better. However, they look nothing alike!

These next two weeks are going to be tough on the family.. Joel and Ryan only have 5 assemblies BUT the locations are Osage, Iowa, Danielsville, Georgia, Wahpeton, North Dakota, back to Cedar Rapids Iowa, then ending the craziness with a 3 day retreat in Reading, Michigan. Oh, and yes you guessed it.. they are driving the Moose to all of these locations. Next weekend we will see each other in Cincy briefly as I will be there all weekend judging a meet.

Judging ... that is something that is also adding to the business of our lives but I haven't mentioned it much. As many of you probably know I was a gymnast for 14 years and absolutely loved the sport! Joel and I met through Athletes-in-Action at Ohio State and he attended a few of my meets my Junior and Senior year in 2004. After it was over, I gotta say it was nice to take

a break for a while.. I seriously didn't work out that entire year (which was right before we got married... don't worry I wasn't a blimp for my wedding!) but then I started to miss it - a lot! Finally I decided to give judging a try and I have loved it ever since! My mom took up judging about 15 years ago when I was just getting to be a decent gymnast and she could see that I might actually be in the sport a while. I judge anywhere from the little girls (level 3's and 4's around 6 years old) to High School aged girls. Gymnastics is a Winter sport so the busy season is Dec-Feb. Honestly, the most challenging part of judging for me is not letting it dominate my life during those months. I enjoy it so much and I know a lot about the sport, however, I know my priorities must first be Christ, and then my family... Next week I judge 3 High School meets and then a 2-day club meet in Cincy. I managed to find sitters for all the meets including my dad for the Cincy meet so Joel can take a rest while we stay in Cincy! Here is a pic of me competing in St. John Arena many years ago... Please note the 5 people in the stands..

Anyway, enough about me.. Please Please pray for safety during travel for Joel and Ryan and for patience and sanity for me. I depend on Joel a lot when he is home to take care of little Joel!