New Bunk Beds!

I (Ashley) bought a set of bunk beds on ebay last week. We picked them up over the weekend and Greg put them together while Caed was at school. HE LOVES THEM! The set will eventually have a bottom bunk perpendicular to the top for Abby. We are going to wait to put that together so they can stay in separate rooms until we set up the nursery. Anyway, here are a couple pictures...

Monday Weigh-In

Greg's weigh in this morning was 255.4 that brings the total to 18.2 lbs lost so far! YEAH!

Baby Boy Sovereign

Here is my ultrasound picture from today. It is a face on shot. You can also see the arms and belly. We also saw for sure that he is a boy...I will not post that picture! It is a little early to start embarrassing him!

Greg's Monday Weigh in

Well, He is actually in Pittsburgh this week so he weighed in Sunday...

the results...258.0!!!!

Thank you for your encouraging thoughts and prayers for Greg.

Message for Daddy

Greg is at a CCO training this week near Pittsburgh. Abby wanted to send her love through this song...

Ultrasound Results...

IT'S A BOY!!!

Sorry I do not have any ultrasound pictures to show, they were all fuzzy so I am going back next week for another ultrasound. But we are VERY sure it is a boy! YEAH!!!

Mother's Day weekend!

I had a wonderful Mother's day weekend! On Saturday, Caed went to a church event all day so Greg, Abby and I went to Michael's and the Mall. I have been CRAVING Chick-fil-a for weeks so I FINALLY got my fix! Sunday morning I got breakfast in bed along with a VERY sweet homemade card from the kids. I am sooo blessed!
We had a family picture done after church. It did not turn out too well, but I will post it anyway...

Monday weigh in

Sorry, I am a bit late getting this up...

Greg's Monday weigh in was 260.4! He has now lost 13 lbs!

Poems by Renneth

Renneth is a student at Arcadia who is involved with our ACF group. She has shared several of her poems at our monthly coffee house. I asked for her permission to share a couple. Here they are...

The Sound of Worship
By Renneth Grey

Oh Lord, My God
How can I begin to describe your Glory?
The King, spoke heralds of you in psalms
Shouting, “forget not all his benefits!,”
“He who heals our diseases!”
“He who forgives our iniquities!”
Like this, I will praise you my God.

You gave your creation
That sound of worship
Which pours from the harp of ancient Israel’s king David
It flows from the piano of the contemporary Marty Goetz
Reminding Zion of your honor and faithfulness


Like in David’s music, I will praise you
In Goetz Sanctuary, I will give you the Shechkinah
In my own way Lord
I will give you the sound of worship.



The Persecuted Church
By Renneth Grey

Everyday throughout the world
Many say the name of Jesus
Some as a curse
Expressing the anger dwelt within
Some as a name of power
That flows in those that believe

This name of power
Turns into a name of hope
Hope that is Evident
Even in the furnace of persecution.

Suffering encompasses all
But few suffer for him.
Suffering means dying
To your will and your ways
Taking upon a new life
Following the one
that was slain, rejected,
And scorned .

For this reason
Hard is this path.
At times it means loneliness
At times it means death.

Why follow such a bitter road?
When one could rest on the great meadows
Blossoming in the world’s vanity.

For to follow the bitter road,
Is truly life.

End of the semester at Arcadia

We recently hosted the final meeting of our campus fellowship. Since then Ashley and I have spent some time thinking over the past eight months of our involvement with ACF. We’re encouraged by what we’ve witnessed, and excited about the potential we believe next year holds. We feel like some critical building blocks are in place so next semester we (ACF) can hit the ground running.

Last September and October the weekly meetings largely consisted of praise and worship, prayer, and discussion (of either a Scripture passage or a pressing topic in the lives of the students). People would convene, sing songs, listen, talk a little, and then leave. While we were always thankful students were attending (about 8-10 on average), it was apparent that the group was missing a sense of community and fellowship.



A blessing in disguise, we lost our meeting place on campus at the beginning of the second semester. Another club reserved it for the semester and we were left without a place to meet. We tried a dorm lounge, but it was double-booked. We tried another lounge in a different dorm, but it just wasn’t conducive for the type of setting we hoped to achieve. Since Ashley and I had been hosting the After Party, an open-invitation hang out immediately following the ACF meetings, the student-leaders asked if we could begin meeting in our apartment.

A concern I had, which proved to be a non-issue, was that meeting at our place would make the After Party moot, and it would quickly wear through its usefulness. What I didn’t take into account was that our home provided the ideal setting for worship, open discussion, and prayer. The momentum we so quickly lost by being “homeless” for a few weeks at the start of the semester was eventually reversed and we saw the group size increase (about 10-14 on average) and the sense of community within ACF flourish. Students were sticking around to talk, watch TV, and play games... and the free food didn’t hurt, either!

Monday Weigh in

263.2

Greg had a bit of an "oinker" weekend....