Endurance...

Well, we finally got Joel's first Christmas tree in the ground! Here is a pic of him checking it out. We didn't mean to dress him like a clown. Speaking of trees, Joel and I have been doing some major landscaping the past few weeks. I finished my tasks in 2 days (with the help of my mom), but I won't bore you with pictures of flowers... Joel's task however is taking numerous weeks. We are creating a courtyard/patio in the back corner of our yard. I am excited to see how another one of Joel's creative design ideas turns out. The kitchen and our master bath were creative ideas of his and we absolutely love both! However, due to Joel's lack of time at home, I believe it might not be completely finished until mid-June.. this May is a strange one. The ministry typically has 6 busy months, and 6 months that are 'lighter' (wow! better than a teacher!) the busy months are: September, October, November, February, March and April. However this year May has filled up significantly (see Joel's calendar if you are wondering - www.joelpenton.com/calendar.html) also August is a little booked up as well.. however I don't mind that one as I would rather have him be gone in August than September (baby due date Sept 16th)! Anyway back to May, Joel will be traveling to Kentucky, Wyoming, Utah, and Wisconsin! Just yesterday, Joel traveled 6 hours to an assembly in PA, then presented, packed up, and turned around for 6 more hours to travel home. He said he found me in the same position as when he left: in bed. Joel is not one to admit he has any limits but I believe he is approaching them. Please pray for his endurance - mentally, physically and especially spiritually. Little Joel misses him as well, whenever he sees a tall man with a white shirt on he says "Daddy!" also yesterday when I was running the washing machine he kept thinking that the sound was the garage door opening so he would constantly go to the laundry room and say "Daddy!" and then cry when I said no. :( It will be nice for him to have a companion to play with - along those lines we just found out that his new sibling will be a brother! We are so pumped and hope and pray they get along well and bring out the best in each other. I am excited because I get to pass them off to Daddy when they turn like 5 - right? The pic to the left clearly shows it's a boy! I know I am in for it as Boys naturally love to cause trouble - here is a pic of Joel's favorite place to cause trouble - the garage!

on a different note, we had an awesome Central Ohio FCA Legends event on April 29th. Joel was honored to present the Outstanding Christian Leadership awards to numerous HS seniors throughout Central Ohio. We were reminded of how difficult it really is to be a Christian in High School and how awesome these students are for 'Standing their Ground.' We hope and pray that the ministry we are doing encourages Christian students all over the nation to 'Stand their Ground,' we also pray perhaps even more so that thousands more students are able to "Stand their Ground" on Jesus if they haven't been doing that in the past. Please pray for the ministry and our family, thank you so much for reading our blog!