ternes trekkings

Mischief

2011-11-05T07:07:00.000-07:00

This occurred a few weeks ago... Savannah was being awfully quiet, which is never a good sign. I went looking for her and heard some faint noises coming from the bathroom. This is what I found:

"What Mom??? Why are you staring at me?"

"Oh that... that wasn't me!"

"Really Mom, I didn't do it... I just found it like that!"

The little stinker! I caught her as she was sauntering out of the bathroom and she really did look at me like she was the most innocent thing in the world. Kind of like, "Did you see what happened in here? I didn't do it!" It was pretty funny, despite the poor fate of the toilet paper roll.

Update

2011-10-27T05:48:00.001-07:00

A quick update: I had an ultrasound on Tuesday and found out that I have a 5cm (nearly 2 inch) cyst on my ovary. It's most likely a remnant of my last cycle. From all that they could tell, it seems to be a simple cyst. I was told that if it were a complex cyst they would need to surgically remove it, but the kind I have should go away without any intervention. So this cycle we're on our own, no Clomid or mid-cycle ultrasound. Hopefully it will go away! If it doesn't, the doctor will likely want to put me on birth control for a month to get rid of it... and I really don't want to have to do that!

"Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.... I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me." Psalm 63:3, 6-8

Find Rest

2011-10-25T05:42:00.001-07:00

I thought I was pregnant. I really thought I was pregnant. I had spotting mid-cycle which I've never had and the timing was perfect for it to indicate implantation. But then I got my period... a week early. So now we start over and try to figure out what in the world happened this cycle. In the meantime, I'll be clinging to these verses:

"Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from Him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
My salvation and my honor depend on God;
He is my mighty rock, my refuge.
Trust in Him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge."
Psalm 62:5-8

I've decided that if this is what it takes to bring God glory, so be it. I know He loves me and I know He hears my prayers, so this must be where He wants us. So I will cling to Him and trust that He will provide exactly what I need when I need it.

Prayer Request

2011-10-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

Friday at 11:30am we have an ultrasound and I would really, REALLY appreciate all the prayer we can get. This has been my third cycle on Clomid and my second ultrasound. Last month didn't go so well... we went in for our ultrasound to see if I had any follicles large enough to ovulate and I didn't - just a bunch of small, undeveloped follicles. We met with the infertility nurse after the ultrasound and the first words out of her mouth were, "this just isn't working..." It wasn't the most encouraging conversation I've ever had. So this month we upped my dosage and we're going back for my second ultrasound. I so badly want to be positive about it and full of hope, but all week I've had this bad feeling about how it's going to turn out. I'm praying God will perform a miracle... that He'll remember me and open my womb and lead us out of this dark and tiring journey.

It's so strange the emotions that come with infertility. Some days, I have an inexpressible joy that I know comes only from God. But just as quickly as the joy comes, it can disappear, for no apparent reason and leave in its place doubt and dread and confusion. One of the hardest parts for me is not understanding how God wants to use this in my life. I know He has a purpose, but it doesn't make any sense to me right now. I know God is sovereign and controls all things, which can be comforting, but can also make everything that much harder because I know God has complete power to open my womb, but for whatever reason He is choosing not to. That is a hard thing to wrestle with... to praise and worship God despite feeling like He is holding back one of my greatest desires. But He is bigger than me and I'm constantly humbled by that fact and my lack of faith.

So I'm praying that God proves me wrong this month - that all my gut feelings are wrong and we walk out of our appointment Friday with renewed hope and joy... because right now my hope is starting to run low. It's just exhausting trying to conceive month after month with no success. Thank you all for partnering with us in prayer and I will let you know how it goes. My prayer is that God can be glorified regardless of what happens.

Blessings

2011-09-23T20:08:00.000-07:00

Sometimes there is a song that helps define a period of your life; a song that nearly perfectly describes what you are feeling or what you are going through. ‘Tis the case with Laura Story’s song Blessings. I feel like it captures so much of how I have felt during this period of my life:

We pray for blessings. We pray for peace.

Comfort for family. Protection while we sleep.

We pray for healing, for prosperity.

We pray for your mighty hand to ease our suffering.

But all the while you hear each spoken need.

Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things.

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears?

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life, are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom; Your voice to hear.

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near.

We doubt Your goodness. We doubt Your love.

As if every promise from Your word is not enough.

But all the while, You hear each desperate plea.

And long that we’d have faith to believe.

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears?

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if trials of this life, are Your mercies in disguise?

When friends betray us. When darkness seems to win, we know…

The pain reminds this heart that this is not, this is not our home. It’s not our home.

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops?

What if Your healing comes through tears?

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near?

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy?

What if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights, are Your mercies in disguise?

Infertility has been my companion for nearly two years. It is like this invisible devastating force in my life that just will not go away. No matter how much I hope, how much I ignore it, or how much I pray, it never seems to leave my side. It has changed my life. As much as I have tried to live in spite of it and not be defined by it, I truly believe that it is one of those things in my life that will forever change me. As a result of all we’ve gone through, I have wrestled with God more times than I can count and been humbled to my knees more times than I can even remember. Infertility is such a humbling thing because you realize you have no control. When you can’t even control what happens within your own body, this body that allows me to live and breath and think and move… to realize that I have no control over it, is incredibly humbling. To know that no matter how much I beg God for a child, no matter how much I pray or read His word, or plead with Him to hear my cries…. it doesn’t change the fact that my womb is still empty. It’s humbling. It’s humbling because it makes me realize that I cannot control God. It reminds me that I can’t always get what I want and sometimes God has plans that are different than mine. Even when His plans don’t make sense, when I can’t understand or comprehend why this journey can’t finally come to an end, He knows. And He loves me enough to keep asking me to endure it, to keep putting me in situations that get harder and harder at every turn.

This song describes my heart perfectly. We pray for things to go how we want them. We even pray for good things, things we know God loves. But just because we pray doesn’t mean God is going to answer and just because God doesn’t answer doesn’t mean that our cries weren't heard. I know He hears my pleading. He sees the aching in my heart and my longing to hold a child. The desire I have to teach a little boy or girl about our Savior, to see their eyes light up over the silliest things, to hear their cries knowing it is my arms alone that can soothe them… He sees it all. The hardest thing to do is to wrestle with the emotions of feeling abandoned and cast off by God and somehow begin to view them as blessings, as His mercies. Because how can something so painful, something that seems filled with darkness and loneliness and silence, how can that be God’s blessing?

There have been times when I have cried out to God, asking Him where He is, why He is so silent, why He seems so very far away. Sometimes I’m angry, but most of the time I just hurt because I don’t understand it. I don’t see it as God sees it. I only see little snapshots of this life, I can’t see the whole canvas, I can’t see the whole story He is writing and fulfilling day by day. I’ve doubted who God is and how He can love me when He feels so far away. And regarding those emotions, Laura Story brings up one of the most piercing lines. “As if every promise from Your word is not enough.” That thought pierces my heart to the core because infertility does not change what God did for me. It doesn’t change the fact that He died for me; in fact it just shows me yet another reason why He died for me. He died to rescue me from the death and darkness and diseases of this world. He died to rescue me from the sin that brought about infertility in the first place. I firmly believe that if there was no fall, no sin, there would be no infertility. This cannot be how God intended it. Christ died so that I can one day be free of everything that fills this world, the sadness and darkness and depravity. This isn’t my destiny forever. Regardless of what happens today or tomorrow or next year, someday I will be free of all that grieves my heart. I will see my Savior and fall at His feet and for the first time truly understand what He did to set me free, what it cost Him to allow me to walk into His presence and spend eternity with Him.

My heart knows all that, my heart knows that this world is not the end, but it still hurts. It doesn’t change the fact that I still have to walk through this journey today and feel the weight of unfilled desires and unanswered pleas. I have hope that God has good things planned for our family, but I daily have to grapple with the fact that even if God never answers our prayers for a child, He is still good and sovereign and worthy of our praise. He is Adonai and Abba, both my Lord and my Father… my Savior whose grace daily sustains this beating heart.

My desires is to be able to be more open about where we've been and where we're going. I know we have a family that desires to walk with us through this journey and it is hard to be supportive when you don't even know what is happening... so here begins our postings about this arduous journey (that will hopefully have a sweet and beautiful ending sooner rather than later...).

Life

2011-07-15T15:08:00.001-07:00

I know this post is going to be a little outdated now, but I'm slow at blogging and I finally have a little time to spew my thoughts out to whoever might still be reading our decrepit blog. As a bit of a preface, I'm a people pleaser by nature. I don't particularly like conflict and I have a tendency to try to see all sides of an issue before I say anything. It seems like a good quality, and can be at times, but sometimes it's a hindrance because everything can start to feel like it falls into a "grey" area and people oftentimes have strong opinions about something only until they get placed into that life situation and suddenly they see things from a whole new light. But isn't the whole point of a blog to share life and have a platform to speak on issues that I'm passionate about, regardless if they please the whole world? So this is me speaking out about something that I think does not fall in that "grey" area, something I'm quite passionate about.

I recently changed jobs, which has been an interesting experience. For the past few weeks when we've gone on break, the Casey Anthony trial has been on the tv in the break area. I don't really know much about the case to be honest, but a lot of people I work with have followed it pretty closely. On the day when the verdict came out, it was the talk of the day. A few people specifically requested to be able to get info about the verdict as soon as it came out, so that's what happened. When people heard the verdict, "not guilty," the whole room was full of people's shock and horror and anger. The most frequent comment I heard is that someone will probably try to take justice into their own hands and right the mistake made by the lawmakers of letting her get off so easily (except their language was a little more colorful). I sat back and watched all of these people get so worked up, so angry, so passionately horrified that such little justice was done for a beautiful three year old little girl. Many people thought the mother should have gotten the electric chair. Passionate anger. They felt she was a murderer through and through. I don't know what happened to that little girl and my heart breaks about the whole situation.

What struck me the most, however, is this fact: if that little girl, the same exact little girl with the same DNA, who would grow up to have that cute little face and the beautiful brown hair, if her life had been taken a few years earlier - no one would care. Most people wouldn't have known and most people who would know would probably advocate for her death. The nation wouldn't be horrified, it wouldn't be the talk of the day at work, people wouldn't get passionately angry and fight for her rights. Her mom could have walked into an abortion clinic, had her little girl removed from her womb, and that would have been the end of it right there. No trial, no uproar, no investigation.

How is it different? Why at three years is it murder, but at three weeks it's freedom of choice? At three years people want to put that mom to death, but at three weeks people stand up for her and fight for her right to live out life how she wants. Maybe it's at three weeks she decides she doesn't want her daughter, maybe it's at three years... aren't they one and the same? If it isn't alright at three years, why do we have such apathy at three weeks? "But it's not a child yet, it's only a fetus and has no rights... it's not a person... it's has no soul, no spirit, no rights..." Really? That child when it is born will have the same DNA, those little bundles of cells will turn into a little boy or girl that will smile and learn to talk and maybe change the world. But we make pathetic excuses to make ourselves feel better when life doesn't go our way and we want to avoid the inconvenience or the pain or the turmoil that might come with having an unplanned child. We somehow think that getting rid of that little pile of cells in our womb isn't murder. We tell ourselves that we aren't murdering our child. But that's what it is and it's what our nation has done. According to the CDC, over 800,000 abortions were reported in 2008 alone. I read that number and my stomach turned upside down, I wanted to throw up at the mere thought of it. Over 800,000 in one year? What are we doing as a nation? Freedom of choice? The freedom to choose is a right that exists before a child is conceived, not after.

I know there are women hurting and I know it's a hard issue and I know I'll never know all the circumstances involved, but there are no good excuses. Every life is precious, every life is a gift, and it makes me want to weep when people can view a child's life with such disregard. It's an issue that makes my blood boil. Equally as bad, however, is that we've made it a cultural norm and have lied to our teenagers with a message that abortion is an accessible, easy way out. We let them think that it's a way to make the issue disappear, yet fail to tell them they will carry those wounds for the rest of their life. There's no easy way out. That's not how life works.

I'll step off my pedestal now and say a few prayers that those mom's considering abortion would consider adoption instead - that those children would have a family to nurture them into the child God intended, a child who just might change the world.

Follow up

2011-06-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

Let me set the record straight. We will not, and I repeat, will not become vegetarians. Period.

Prey

2011-06-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

I was just staring out the patio door watching my puppy as she eyed a Robin. In the past week, she started chasing birds. It’s quite entertaining to watch because she hasn’t quite mastered the skill of stalking and she just starts wildly running through the yard after them. At this point, I’m not sure the Robin has much to be worried about. Oddly though, I found myself cheering for my pup – almost hoping she could catch the bird. Now I’m a huge softy at heart. For Pete’s sake, I’m the one who rescued seven baby raccoons from being smashed at a busy road crossing (but that’s another story). One day in high school I hit a cat while I was driving... I had to pull over because I was bawling so hard. I’m the one always cheering for the antelope to get away from the tiger on the jungle chases or the buffalo to outwit the lion. I cringe at the moment when they make a kill and the poor creature lies defenseless – it’s almost as if my very being cries out against it.

However, as I’ve watched my pup grow, I’ve seen again and again that her prey drive is woven into the very fabric of her being. Nobody taught her that, it’s just part of who she is. It’s how God made her. Now, knowing that was God’s design, why do I struggle so much with it? In the wild, if that tiger doesn’t catch the antelope (or whatever else it’s chasing) and that happens often enough, that tiger will die. Now the antelope can eat grass and whatever other plants it can find, but because the tiger needs meat, I cheer against it. Why is it better for one to die than the other?

As I sat and pondered my “soft heart,” it dawned on my just how much a hypocrite I am. I hate the thought of death, yet I don’t bat an eye at eating meat every night for dinner because I don’t have to see the process it goes through (unless I’m butchering chickens at the Ternes farm). I totally understand where vegetarians are coming from and their plight for people to really think about the food they eat. I’ve pondered becoming a vegetarian a time or two, knowing that my lifestyle affects the lives of numerous creatures. But watching my pup I started to think about it differently.

I firmly believe God didn’t originally design our planet to work in this fashion – with death of one creature being needed to bring life to another, and I don’t believe it will always be like this. One day Christ will return and there will be a new heaven and a new earth and I don’t think carnage will be a necessary part of it. However, right now, it is. And if I can’t accept that God designed it that way, than I need to reevaluate how I view God. Does that mean I’ll go hunting just for sport? No. Nor will I probably ever find any joy in seeing a creature die (and it will most likely always cause me to cry). I firmly believe that life should be highly valued and the weight of death strongly considered. I also believe humans are MUCH more valuable than animals. With that said, I do believe God designed some creatures to be prey and some creatures to be predators.

That statement reminds me of Romans 9 where it talks about God designing some people for noble purposes and some for common use, how some are designed to be objects of righteousness, and some objects of wrath. I don’t understand this, and I can’t say I really like it. If I could have my way, everyone would repent, and everyone would go to heaven, but that’s not the way it works. On the flip-side, I’m so grateful that we’re not all damned as we deserve to be, but that God has chosen to save some and desires for all to be saved. God is sovereign, He is good, and He is also just. Those things ALL must fit together. When I don’t understand a piece of it, I can’t just make up my own theology or discredit His design. After all, death had to come to His Son, a painful, bloody death, in order for me to be made righteous. God has a purpose in His plan and I need to accept the good parts, the bad parts, and the parts that I don’t understand.

Thanks pup for chasing that bird and bringing about a theological discussion in my head. I’ll try not to cry when you finally catch one some day.

Meet Savannah Mae

2011-06-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

Time to get my bum into gear and start blogging again. No promises, but I’ll do my best to keep it up. Our most recent adventure was to buy a puppy and take on the hefty task of trying to raise and train her. I spent the last 9 months baby-sitting my nephews – with that in mind, I feel like I have my own two year old. Sometimes she’s sweet as a button and my heart just melts, but other times…. oh goodness… she can be a pistol! So without further ado, here’s our little lady – Miss Savannah.

7 weeks - the day we got her

8 weeks - with a delicious looking treat in her mouth

9 weeks - "Mom, isn't this how everyone sleeps?

10 weeks- getting ready to play with her favorite toy: a ball on a string

11 weeks - visiting my parent's house for the first time

She's pretty cute, I will admit! She had cute little floppy ears when we first got her, but a week later one ear went up and by the next week both were up. Based on her paws and big ears, we're thinking she might be one good sized German Shepherd. As long as she behaves she can get as big as she wants (if only she'd keep the puppy fur!).

Today she found a cockroach. I'd share the video, but it's kind of gross. She had a blast chasing it around... until it got stuck to her nose. It was pretty funny. It met its demise with a nice loud crunch that nearly had me gagging!

One final picture:
This is how she was sleeping one day last week. How can that possibly be comfortable?

Fun with my nephews

2011-01-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

Silly faces

Making a fort

Hanging out in a makeshift house

Adorable smiles!

A "brief" pondering about Christmas

2010-12-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

Last week I was pondering the common themes of Christmas. On one hand you have the baby in a manger representing the Christian perspective of what Christmas is all about. On the other hand you have Santa Claus, which has become the commercialized symbol of Christmas. There is a steady debate among the Christian community as to whether Santa Claus belongs in Christmas at all, and if he does, the question arises, "How do you reconcile Santa Claus and Christ?" I'm a fairly big blog reader when I have time and I came across this article by Mark Driscoll about what they tell their kids about Santa. In brief, they talk to their kids about who St. Nicholas really was and help them decipher between what is real and what is imaginary and allow them to enjoy it all. To give a little background on Saint Nicholas (from the article):

"Nicholas was born in the third century in Patara, a village in what is now Turkey. He was born into an affluent family, but his parents died tragically when he was quite young. His parents had raised him to be a devout Christian, which led him to spend his great inheritance on helping the poor, especially children. He was known to frequently give gifts to children, sometimes even hanging socks filled with treats and presents. Perhaps his most famous act of kindness was helping three sisters. Because their family was too poor to pay for their wedding dowry, three young Christian women were facing a life of prostitution until Nicholas paid their dowry, thereby saving them from a horrible life of sexual slavery."

Where people land on this issue is totally a matter of personal choice and conscience - that's not really where I'm going with all of this. As I pondered the two "symbols" of Christmas, I started thinking about if I was Saint Nicholas. I spend my life striving to live for Christ - my redeemer. I pour all that I have into helping those in need because, after all, Christ said, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me," (Matthew 33:40). I am known as a follower of Jesus Christ, the Christ who hung on a cross to die and then rose again only a couple hundred years before I lived. I worshiped the one true King and spent my life serving him, so much so that I was canonized as a saint. What would my reaction be if I knew that a few thousand years later, I would become the secular symbol of Christmas? That I would be viewed as the "alternative" symbol for Christ at Christmas time. If I knew that children would be worshiping (or at least focusing) on me at Christmas time instead of the Christ that I was focused on all of my life. How devastated would I be if I knew that somehow I had become a figure that diverted the focus away from Christ, my Savior?

I can only imagine his devastation if he knew how his image had been distorted, to know that he was being used as a distraction rather than a means to glorify the Savior he worshiped. If I were him, I think I would fall down weeping and through my tears proclaim, "Why are you all looking at me, a mere sinner? Why aren't you looking at our Savior, the one who redeemed us, the true gift-giver. He is the one who can redeem our souls and give us the gift of eternal saving grace? What are my measly gifts in comparison to that? Stop looking at me - look at HIM!"

Who knows what he would really be thinking, but I can't imagine he would be proud or thankful of how we have chosen to honor his life. I started thinking about how I would want to be remembered and what I would want people to say about me. I long to be known as a servant of Christ - one who lived and died worshiping the one true God. I'm guessing that is what Saint Nicholas would want to be known for too, and maybe that is what I will tell my children about him. I want them to have fun at Christmas time, I want it to be a joyous event, but I also don't want to do a great disservice to a man who lived his life for Christ, nor do I want to lose sight of why we celebrate Christmas at all - the birth of our Savior.

DPS Update

2009-07-13T17:15:00.001-07:00

We finally have a little news regarding Andrew’s job application process. The last time we heard anything was back in May when we were told that due to everything happening with the economy and budget cuts, the academy was no longer a sure thing, but rather tentative based on funding from a federal grant. If the academy happens, it will start late September. At that time, it was estimated they would find out the status of the grant in early August and Andrew and I guessed they would wait until after that to extend final offers if the academy was a go. Unfortunately, even if the academy happened it would be possible that Andrew would not get an offer… two big variables that would decide a lot for our family in the future.

We have been told again and again that no news is good news throughout this whole process, so we weren’t concerned that we hadn’t heard anything for nearly two months. Typically in the past we’ve been told that offers will be extended via the phone and bad news is sent via letter. With that in mind, you can imagine why Andrew would be a little nervous when he opened up the mailbox this past Friday and inside found a letter from DPS. When he first started reading the letter, however, it seemed to be merely a letter touching base with the candidates again informing them of the tentative academy and when they expected to get news regarding the federal grant. Much to our surprise, however, they decided to extend tentative final offers to those candidates who would be at the 2009 academy should it occur and Andrew got one of those offers. Praise God! We are ecstatic and so thankful that God has brought him one step closer.

Although I wanted to give everyone an update about the status of the DPS job, my primary reason for writing this post is to ask/beg that you would be fervently praying that the academy would get funding. If that is not God’s will, so be it… we will still give Him praise if it doesn’t happen, but our heart’s desire is that it would. It is likely that if the academy is cancelled this year, it will likely not happen again for another few years. The timing couldn’t be more perfect for Andrew to do it now while we still live close to Camp Dodge and we have no children. Again, we would ask that you would be praying that those processing the grants would find favor with the request of Iowa DPS and they would get funding for this year’s academy. Thank you all for your continual encouragement and prayer for us. We’ll be sure to update you as soon as we hear something!

Into Stuff

2009-07-07T13:54:00.000-07:00

A few days ago, I was talking to someone I dearly love about Jesus. As we were talking, she told me a few times that she hadn't realized how into this stuff I am. It struck me in sort of a negative way because when I think "into stuff" I think religion or church traditions or even dark things like witchcraft or drugs. Being into stuff connotes being into something that is man-made, some grouping of ideas that you can take or leave depending on what suits you. I guess I don't see myself as being into stuff, but into Jesus. I'm not into religion. I'm not into denominations, church sects, or traditions. I'm into Jesus Christ. I'm into Him because He is the only one who has the power to save me, the power to redeem my sins, and the power to cleanse this wretched heart of mine. Out of my own free choice I've thwarted God, I've sinned in vile ways, I've defiled myself and other people. I've sinned against God and because of that, I deserve death, I deserve damnation, I deserve to pay the just penalty and spend eternity in hell. That's the truth and my conscience screams it at me.

I'm into Jesus because out of God's compassion for me, a vile, sinful person, my Father sent His Son to live on this earth, empowered by the Holy Spirit. He lived on this earth, was betrayed by men, was beaten, cursed, and hung on a shameful, cursed cross even though He never did anything wrong. He hung on a cross because He told everyone He was God and the only way to the Father. He made the claim that He was God which either makes Him a liar who deserves damnation just like me or it means that He was actually God and came to bring mankind the best news it had ever heard. He brought the news that He would die a painful death to take upon Himself our sins. He lead a perfect, blameless life in order to make the payment for our sins. He was the spotless lamb that was slaughtered in our place so that we could be made pure, so that we could have communion with God, so that we could spend eternity in the presence of a holy and righteous God. We deserved wrath because God is just and we violated Him. But God is compassionate and merciful and turned His wrath from us to Jesus so that those who have faith in His Son could have their sins forgiven because of Christ's spilled blood.

I'm into Jesus because He triumphed over Satan, sin, and death and rose from the grave victoriously so that I do not worship a dead God, but one who is alive, living, and breathing. I worship a triumphant God who one day will ride to earth on a white horse, speaking the Word of God, with the title "Lord of Lords and King of Kings" tattooed down His thigh. He will come to earth to bring God's wrath on those who have not trusted and worshiped the one true God, and to bring salvation and redemption to those who have.

I'm into Jesus because He freed me from my slavery to Satan and death and breathed new life into my dead heart. He put in me the Holy Spirit to teach me and guide me in His truths. He gave me a heart capable of loving a God that I despised and the ability to despise all the sin that I used to love. I'm into Jesus because He died for me while I still hated Him and rejected Him. I'm into Jesus because He saved me from myself and gave me the most precious gift possible: He gave me His blood in exchange for my sin. I'm into Jesus because He shed His blood for my friends and my family and for anyone who might come upon these words. I'm into Jesus because He will give the gift of His blood in exchange for your sin even though you've done nothing good to deserve it... trust Him as your Lord and Savior.

Plain and simple, I'm into Jesus Christ and I guess if that means I'm "into stuff," I'll take that label and wear it with honor and humble gratitude, it's the best claim I can make about myself.

what it means to be a woman

2009-07-02T06:43:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I stumbled across a series on Proverbs by Mark Driscoll, a pastor in Seattle, Washington. This series has shaken, challenged, and refreshed me all at the same time. I often have an ache in my heart as I ponder my purpose, my future, and all that I am told by society. As a woman at a liberal college I constantly feel the pressure to “make the most of myself and my opportunities.” I have a bright future and brilliant career ahead of me, right? What happens when my urge is to flush all that down the toilet and do something really inspiring with my future… like be a mom and a great wife to my amazing husband? How have we come so far as to think that inspiring to be a mother is a waste of a time? Sometimes I find myself being sucked into this horrendous lie that our culture has come to embrace. When people ask what I want to do when I graduate, I shy away from saying what is really in my heart. Partly because I am afraid of getting the.. “oh, that’s all you want to do?” response, and partly because I am afraid that being bold would interfere with possible opportunities that I may want to pursue before Andrew and I have children. As the weeks have gone on this summer, I have felt God putting the weight on my heart that I cannot be silent about this area of life that I am so passionate about. God designed us in a very unique and purposeful way and it breaks my heart to see people’s misconceptions and offenses when it comes to that perfect design. Thank you to all you mothers who have sacrificed or hindered your “careers” in order to be the light of Christ to your child/children. I am so encouraged by you!

Stromboli

2009-05-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

I've gotten lots of requests for this stromboli recipe, so here it is for all of you who asked. (Thanks Mrs. Sabin for the great recipe!)

For one Stromboli:

1 loaf bread dough (thawed) - I use Rhodes Bread Loaves
1 egg, beaten
Italian seasoning
Pepperoni slices
1/4 lb. thinly sliced hard salami
1/4 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 lb. shredded swiss cheese

Roll thawed dough into a 9 x 14-inch rectangle. Brush dough with beaten egg and sprinkle Italian seasoning on top. Line dough with salami. Arrange pepperoni on salami. Sprinkle cheese on top. Roll dough up like a club (using the longer part of the rectangle). Pinch to close openings (along the top and the ends). Place club on greased cookie sheet (with the seam facing down). Top dough with beaten egg and herbs. Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes, until desired brownness. Slice and serve with your favorite pizza or spaghetti sauce.

Note: You can add/modify ingredient amounts to your liking. I would recommend leaving a gap at the top edge of the dough when adding meat and cheese. This will make it easier to roll up without fillings falling out the top.

Enjoy!

Lessons

2009-03-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

The Lord has been teaching me a lot lately. A few weeks ago God started opening my eyes to ways that I had let school replace Christ's role as the lord in my life. This semester has had pretty high demands on my time with projects, exams, quizzes, time consuming projects... lists of things that need to be accomplished. I found myself worrying and working on all my "to do's" from sun up to sun down while I kept telling God, "I'm sorry, I just don't have time today... I just don't have time for you." Days turned to weeks and, before I knew it, my identity started slipping from God and into school. It's interesting to me how a desire to serve God, to do things with excellence to bring Him glory, can turn into just doing things with excellence and forgetting the whole reason for doing it in the first place.

A few weeks ago, God started convicting my heart of this. At about the same time, Cornerstone announced that they wanted us, as a Church body, to take part in Lent this year in order to focus our attention on Christ and prepare ourselves for the celebration of His resurrection. For Lent, I decided to give up school as my first priority in the morning and replace it with God. Instead of waking up to finish details of a project, study a little more for an exam, or go to work early... I committed to reading God's Word and focusing on Him.

Well, the past two weeks have been amazing. God has not only taken back my heart in the morning, but all day. I've been reminded who Christ is and why I long to serve Him with my life. I've also realized how easy it is to slip into worldliness and complacency. This week Andrew and I started listening to a sermon series called "No More Games." It is about the holiness of God and how we, as Christ followers, should be living and breathing the holiness of God. I've been rocked pretty hard. His sermons are filled with truth and they shine a light on sin and wrong thinking. I often forget about the magnificence and loftiness of God and the demands this makes on my life. God says, "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). We are then told to "live our lives as strangers here in reverent fear" because we call on a Father that judges each man's work impartially (1 Peter 1:17). We were bought with a price, Christ shed is precious blood to redeem us. That is what I want to live for. My prayer is that God continues to teach me how to live and breath His holiness.

Busy day...

2009-02-10T18:20:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy day. My morning started out with an eight o'clock exam. From there I went to a three hour lab where I was the kitchen manager of the tearoom (that I mentioned in an earlier post.) If you were in my class and heard that, a look of pity would surely enter your eyes because you know how much time, work, and stress come with the job of kitchen manager. To explain, each week every person in lab rotates to a new position. For example, I was sous chef my first lab, so I assisted the chef and made all the sauce for our BBQ meatballs. The next lab, I rotated into the chef position, where I was completely in charge of getting all the calzones made that we served to a room full of paying customers. Well, as a kitchen manager, it's my job to take assigned recipes and make the meal happen. The planning for this meal began over 2 weeks before it was actually served. It involved making a menu, figuring out how to streamline everything that goes into making the meal, deciding who does what, who measure out the ingredients, who cooks each meal, how it's cooked, when it's cooked... you get the idea. One of the biggest things that must be done is to write up special instructions for everyone working in the kitchen (about 16 people). These special instructions have consumed my life for the past week. Each set of special instructions includes a time line for each person telling them exactly what they will be doing during the entire lab and then detailed explanations about all of their tasks. There are lots of other pieces to the kitchen manager position such as charting out when each piece of equipment will be used, costing the meal... the list goes on but I will spare you the details. The biggest weight, however, is knowing that the responsibility of the entire meal is on your shoulders... yikes! Well, today was the big day... and fortunately it wasn't a big flop. We served the most customers that our lab has served yet at 66, plus we serve a meal to everyone in our lab which brings the total up to about 96. That's a lot of people! There were definitely some stressful moments throughout the morning, but the food all turned out great so I guess that's all that matters. I'm glad I don't have to do it again though! Oh, but lest you think that was the end of my day, it gets better! From lab, I got to go to my final class of the day and take yet another exam! So tonight, I am "relaxing" with my husband, watching more episodes of season 1 of the show 24 (by far the most addicting and exhilarating show I have ever watched.) In case some of you take "relaxing" the wrong way (as my husband did), I say that because it is not really possible to relax when watching 24, it's too intense... Andrew laughs at me for how on edge I get. So, that is the story of my busy day.

Moving on...

2009-01-21T10:19:00.001-08:00

Another round of good news!!! Andrew passed his polygraph examination today and is moving on to phase 6 and 7, the psychological and medical exam which will take place next Friday (Jan. 30th). If he passes these two phases and is selected by the department, he'll move on to phase 8 which is an intensive background check. This will consist of the department interviewing all of the references he listed on his application as well as neighbors, school teachers, you name it... oh, and me. Unfortunately, he won't get a final offer until May (we're hoping this date isn't pushed back)... so we still have lots of waiting to do. One piece of good news, apparently due to the state budget, the academy was pushed back a month, so instead of starting June 1st it will start July 1st. This means that I would get to spend one more month of summer with my wonderful husband before he would have to go to the academy AND there would only be ~4 weeks between when he would graduate from the academy and when I would finish my semester of classes. I'm not looking forward to being apart from my husband 5 days a week for 20 weeks... but at least our estimated time apart keeps getting shorter. Continue praying he makes it through this process if that's where God wants him. We're both excited to see what happens. Oh and next time you see Andrew, you should make him tell you about his polygraph exam... it's a pretty interesting process. I'm glad it wasn't me! They even read him his Miranda rights before they started! How bizarre is that? Good thing he's not a crook or he might be sitting in jail tonight! Thanks everyone for your prayers through this process, we'll keep you posted!

The Littlest Daisy

2009-01-20T16:34:00.000-08:00

I'm very excited... my sister-in-law Kristen paints these super cute cards and just started selling them on Etsy. Here is the website: The Littlest Daisy. Her philosophy is that even the littlest daisy can brighten someones day. If you need a cute card to make someone smile, you should check them out :)

Holidays and more!

2009-01-12T14:57:00.000-08:00

Well, it is time for our once a month blog post...

Andrew and I spent LOTS of time with family over the holidays. We got to see EVERYONE which was wonderful! We ate lots of food, shot Andrew's gun, watched lots of movies, and I even learned how to play the drums! (I'll have to be honest though and tell you it was on a drum set for the Wii, but still... it kind of counts, doesn't it?) Below is a picture of me rocking out on the guitar :)

I started a new semester of school yesterday. It seems like I will have a unique combination of classes this semester. I'm taking a course on world food sssues which will focus on hunger and poverty in the developing world. Then I go to a class on nutrition throughout the life span where I will learn all about the nutritional needs of individuals during infancy, adolescents, pregnancy and lactation, all the way up to the needs of the elderly. Next, I go to a food law class where I will learn all about food laws and regulations and why they have been put in place. Bright and early the next day, I will go to a class about food service organizations (a hotel and restaurant management class) followed by a lab for the same class. From what I understand about lab, each person will move through all the positions found in a restaurant. There is a "teaching restaurant" in one our buildings that is used and the students actually provide meals for paying customers. I'm a little nervous about the whole thing, but I think it will be a great learning experience. My final class is on human and family life development. I'm so used to taking science or nutrition courses, it will be a big change to take a class that focuses more on families and social development. So, in a brief nutshell, that's what I'll be learning about all semester.

Our newest, most exciting news is that Andrew passed another phase in the application process for DPS. He had his interview last week and is now on to phase 5, the much anticipated polygraph examination. He does this next week, so if you think about it, say a prayer for him! There is a packet of information they gave each applicant to fill out before the polygraph. They dig into about any and every area of unlawful activity you can imagine. I'm guessing he'll get drilled pretty hard by the examiner to make sure he's not lying about his lack of trouble making. Fortunately, he hasn't gotten into much, if any, trouble in his lifetime so it should make it pretty easy for him to tell the truth and pass the exam.

Beyond work and school, I've been reading some cookbooks I got for Christmas. If any of you want some good reading, check out any book by Rose Levy Beranbaum. I often tell Andrew that I want to be just like her :) She has a wonderful way of explaining recipes including how to modify the recipe and pointers for success. Maybe some of you will even get to taste my attempts at making some of these newfound recipes :)

Almost there....

2008-12-09T14:53:00.000-08:00

Guess what everyone.... only three days of class and one day of tests before I am officially done with the semester! Although I should be studying right now, I thought I would take the time to pass on this exciting news.

I can't believe Christmas is a little over two weeks away. Andrew and I have a cute little Christmas tree with a growing stack of presents beneath. Some of you reading this blog may be excited to know that a present or two might be coming your way in just a few short weeks! I guess you'll just have to wait and see. Can you pick out which one(s) will be yours?

5 Things

2008-11-25T20:47:00.000-08:00

Danielle tagged me to complete the following.....

(FYI: I did this over Thanksgiving break but am a total amateur when it comes to blogging and I wasn't sure how to tag people... hence why it is being posted in December.)

The "5 THINGS GAME" The rules are to write 5 things under each of the 5 headings, and then tag 5 other people.

10 years ago...
1. I was in sixth grade
2. Going to school in Central City
3. Probably listening to Spice Girls or Natalie Imbruglia
4. I had a pair of JNCO jeans (they had WIDE legs and looked ridiculous, but for some reason I thought they were cool)
5. I started playing the saxophone in band

5 Things on Today's "To-Do" List
1. Make crepes with my grandma
2. Do some Christmas shopping
3. Play cards with my dad
4. Make enchiladas for supper
5. Talk to Andrew before bed
(rough day huh? Praise the Lord for Thanksgiving break!)

5 Snacks I Enjoy...
1. Ice cream
2. Oreos
3. Popcorn (freshly popped)
4. Cookie dough
5. Blue cheese and crackers

5 Things I Would Do if I were a Millionaire!
1. Buy a cozy house out in the country
2. Adopt a couple boys from Africa
3. Save for retirement/college for the kids we will hopefully have
4. Buy Andrew a few guns ;)
5. Give a lot away

5 Places I Have Lived...
1. Central City
2. Mount Vernon
3. Ames
4. Huxley
5. Ames
(I've lived three different places in Ames, so I feel justified using it twice)

5 Jobs I've had/Still have...
1. Babysitting
2. GNC
3. The Cafe - bakery
4. Quality Attributes Software - administrative assistant
5. ISU - research assistant

5 People I'm tagging...
I don't know five people that blog so we'll have to go with three (really, I didn't just copy you Danielle, I only know 3 other people who blog too!)
1. Caitlin
2. Stephanie
3. Heather

Weddings, holidays, and guns

2008-11-10T13:16:00.000-08:00

So, Andrew and I will be the first to admit that we've been terrible about updating our blog lately. Life has been busy... and I didn't figure anyone would want to read updates about what I've been learning in school. Andrew's sister, Anna, got married in October so that was a big event. I'll have to post a few pictures when we get some. She was a beautiful bride and the weather was AMAZING!

I don't know about everyone else, but this cold weather has made me quite excited about the holidays. Although I despise the cold weather, I love Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years... all the great holidays that come with this time of year. Andrew and I started Christmas shopping a few weeks ago and have even listened to some Christmas music here and there. What could be better than seeing family, giving gifts, and have NO homework or tests!!

And of course, a blog post on our blog wouldn't be complete without some reference to guns or plants... so I'll give you a little of both. Everything in the garden is dead. We pulled up all the fencing around it a few weekends ago and packed it in the garage. It was sad to see all the plants brown and lifeless, but I guess it makes me cherish springtime when everything comes back to life. Unfortunately, the garden was a bit of a flop this year, but I did manage to get some jars of salsa out of the deal. I still haven't figured out if I did something wrong or if it was just bad, wet weather. For now, I think I'll choose to believe it was the latter of the two! I'm hoping to try again next year.

Now, on to guns... my husband has had quite an impact on me. For a long while I would get really annoyed when Andrew would sit at home reading posts on gun sites all night or when he would sit watching video after video on youtube of people shooting guns... I just didn't get it. But, I decided to start asking questions and let Andrew teach me about this hobby of his. To my surprise, it has been very fascinating. We spent over an hour this weekend talking about shotguns, rifles, pistols, revolvers and their differences. I'm learning about gauges and calibers and which guns should be used in different circumstances. For instance, what gun would be used to go rabbit hunting? Well, you would use a rifle because it can shoot accurately at a distance, yet it wouldn't leave a big hole so the meat wouldn't be damaged as much. Pretty impressive, huh? Andrew will be proud! I've even become interested in getting my own little handgun... that way Andrew and I can go target shooting together and I can have a gun to lay claim to! What has he done to me? It's amazing how marriage can change a person :)

The mind of a woman

2008-07-24T16:26:00.001-07:00

There was a semi-serious conversation that I wanted to have with Shantel this evening (being the wonderful husband that I am and meeting the emotional needs of a woman), but Shantel had other plans. Have a listen:

Andrew: So there is something that I want to talk about that begins with a "d", ends with an "s", and has a "p" in the middle.
Shantel: Diapers?

While Shantel was correct that diapers does begin with a "d", end in an "s", and have a "p" so perfectly placed in the middle, diapers was not what I had in mind. My intention was to talk about DPS, the Department of Public Safety, but I guess that will have to wait for another evening when the mind of a woman isn't focused on kids, poo, and diapers.

Mulberry Jam anyone?

2008-07-11T09:12:00.000-07:00

Let me begin this by saying that I have the BEST husband! This past Sunday, we had our first canning experience together. We canned mulberry jam! A few weeks ago, to my heart’s delight, I discovered the apartment complex we live in has numerous mulberry trees on the edge of their property. After getting the okay from the property manager, I excitedly went out to pick as many as I could. I used that first batch to make Mulberry Buckle Cake, which I’ve been craving since the last time I made it back in my middle school days. I haven’t been able to stop thinking of all the delicious things I could make with such luscious little fruits… and then the idea of making jam occurred to me. What a perfect way to be able to enjoy the pleasure of mulberries all year round! Plus, it would give me excuse to experiment for the first time with canning :) I made up my mind that Sunday was the day for the big adventure. I assumed Andrew would do his own thing while I made a mess in the kitchen, but my to my delight he jumped right in to help! We had so much fun and we’re proud to say, the jam not only turned out beautifully but it tastes pretty yummy too! My next experiment… jam filled cookies!

Our life in a nutshell…

2008-07-09T19:04:00.000-07:00

I know, I know… it’s been WAY too long since we’ve posted. Andrew and I have been busy riding our bikes around Ames, reading books, hanging out with family, and working. So far, the summer has been wonderful. Andrew and I have taken advantage of the beautiful weather and we’ve been outside a LOT.

The garden is growing beautifully. A few weeks back we had a slight problem with the evil little bunnies eating through my plastic fence and mowing down over half of everything I planted from seed. They even decided to bite off some of my pepper plants (even my jalapeño plant!). That’s not the worst of it though, they didn’t even eat them, just bit the poor little guys’ heads off. But we’ve recovered. I put up chicken wire, which has kept them at bay so far. I replanted everything they ate and we’re hoping to get a little something out of those crops. Our corn was indeed knee high by the fourth of July… which made me a very proud amateur gardener. We will have to take some more pictures of the garden and post them soon.

Andrew and I got to spend a weekend seeing all of my family a few weeks back. We got to see our niece and nephew together for the first time, which was priceless. I think I’m going to like this aunt thing. I get my fill of cuddles and then Andrew and I get to go home and have absolute silence if we so desire!

We’ve gotten to spend lots of time with Andrew’s family too. They have been busy planning a wedding for his sister, Anna. The first bridal shower is this weekend, which begins the final shower marathon for the Ternes siblings. It will be a blast… I can’t wait!

Andrew is still enamored with his gun. I’ve gotten over my jealousy and have accepted that he has another love in his life besides me. At least I can cook; it keeps me from getting completely replaced! No, actually, it’s been a great hobby for him. I’ve gotten to shoot it a few times and have really enjoyed it.

I feel like I’m writing a Christmas card with all the family updates! We’ll try not to wait so long for the next blog posts… we’ve got to keep you all coming back :)

Ames Mess

2008-05-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

It normally takes me 35 minutes to get home from work (Des Moines to Ames), give or take a minute or two, depending on the road conditions, the flow of traffic, the mood I am in, the number of idiots on the road, and the speed that I am driving. The other day, Friday to be exact, it took me 80 minutes! That’s enough time for me to drive to Des Moines and back and have a piña colada in between, if I drank that is. But really, those record setting times are expected in the dead of winter when snow and ice demand longer driving times. The odd thing about it was that it was a sunny, nearly cloudless, 80° day in May, which was a nice surprise after a week or so of clouds and rain.

Due to all the rain we have had and the amount of rain that has fallen north of Ames, I was not completely surprised to see a digital orange sign above I-35 read that Hwy. 30 was closed west of I-35 due to flooding.

For the Ames natives or those familiar with Ames, you should be able to follow, for others, bear with me for the time being or follow by way of Google Maps.

Actually, after reading this to Shantel, she told me that people wouldn’t care and I needed to shorten my description. Needless to say, it took me 40 minutes to get from 13^th St. to Wessex, due to the result of closed roads, car-packed streets, and a flooded town. (If you would like the long, drown-out description, let me know and I will post it. Beware that it is pretty long and dry)

After eating supper that Shantel had ready, I suggested that we go for a walk/bike ride/run to check out the flooding.

The top picture is taken from S 4th St. looking towards the Intramural softball and footfall fields. The middle pictures is Target on Duff Ave. Can anyone guess where the last one is taken?

The day has finally come!

2008-05-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

We are all familiar with the joy that Shantel has shown through the growth of her “little ones”! Although my face hasn’t been as sparkly or glowing with praise as Shantel’s, I too am amazed at God’s life through plants. I, however, beam with excitement about different blessings from God.

Shantel posted earlier how I like to enlighten her on the newest model of gun put out by Springfield and she is correct, but my enlightening days are over. No longer do I have to show pictures or try to explain how something works. A dream came true when I purchased a Springfield Armory XD. I will admit that I like guns and believe strongly in the 2^nd Amendment. Some people (I won’t mention any names…Thaddeus) go as far to say that I am a “militia man”, but such words are harsh and unnecessary! Despite what others may say, guns will be a part of my house, and yes, the wife approves!

Some of you may be asking yourselves how I managed to pull off this purchase when Shantel and I fit the “poor college student” mold. You see, the answer is quite simple. I have a very understanding wife!

Nah, not really. Well, sort of. Shantel is very understanding, but I…..I am a nerd. I spend my spare time “building” spreadsheets about financial information/projections. One of the spreadsheets masks our savings account. The amount of money in the account is allocated between different savings categories and one of them just happens to be “Andrew’s Stash.” And before all you women start jumping on my back, Shantel has a stash fund as well. My fund has been built up mainly from selling textbooks, donating plasma, and receiving gifts from people. Some funds have been donated by an anonymous donor….Shantel’s Stash. Since I run the show, I get the dough!

For all you people who think that I am unruly tyrant, the last sentence is a joke!

Little Goslings

2008-05-15T20:20:00.000-07:00

Yet another reason why I love our apartment complex! The little goslings are so fluffy and cute! I would have liked to get some closer pictures, but Mom started hissing at me and I thought I better not push my luck! I didn't feel like getting attacked by a Canadian goose today :)

The Garden

2008-05-15T19:31:00.000-07:00

Finals are over, which means Andrew and I actually have a little free time! We celebrated our 1 year anniversary on Monday. Who would have thought it has been a year already!

The time off means that I could finally plant the garden. Andrew and I spent all afternoon Tuesday pulling weeds and planting seeds. It was so refreshing being outside in the dirt. Andrew and his big muscles were quite helpful in hoeing out trenches for the seeds :-) Today was the big day for all of my indoor plants to move out to their new home. They have been hankering to get out in the sun and stay there. I'm sure Andrew will miss watching me move them in and out of our bedroom each day to get their fill of time on the balcony and then me worrying that they'll get blown over in their little yogurt cups.

Our garden is complete with cucumbers, onions, potatoes, broccoli, beets, kohlrabi, spinach, tomatoes, all sorts of peppers, sugar peas, and sweet corn. Andrew thinks we'll have food coming out our ears, whereas I have a hard time believing anything will grow. It will be so exciting to harvest food from our own garden... I can hardly wait!

My strawberry roots never grew...I don't know if I did something wrong or if they were just bad roots. Andrew was wonderful, however, and bought me some strawberry plants and a strawberry jar! Hopefully we'll have bunches of strawberries in the fall :)

An update on my herbs... I think they are confused. They were growing like mad and then I decided they needed to be thinned out. I didn't want to kill the plants, however, so I transplanted them. The disturbance caused all of them to fall over, so now they're growing in odd directions, but they are still alive. It will be interesting to see how they turn out!

That's all the garden updates for now... I'll post more pictures when things start to come to life!

Our little ones

2008-04-20T08:44:00.001-07:00

Although Andrew and I aren’t part of the recent movement that has brought three new beautiful babies into our family, we do have our own new excitement. Last weekend I put together an indoor garden on a bookcase in our bedroom. It’s complete with adjustable fluorescent lights and a container to grow my seeds. Last Sunday I planted dill, cilantro, and sage. Since then, each morning I have crawled out of bed to check on them and see if any life can be seen, but day after day I’ve waited, seeing nothing but dirt. As you can imagine, I was starting to worry that they may never come. Saturday morning, however, I glanced over and saw something out of the ordinary in my pot.

Much to my surprise there were three little dill sprouts that had come up overnight! I was ecstatic! By later that evening a few more had popped up. This morning I got up and there were nine dill sprouts, two cilantro sprouts, and one sage sprout! Some of you may think I’m crazy by my overwhelming excitement, but there is just something amazing about putting a little seed in the ground and then seeing it sprout after days of waiting. Andrew, being the wonderful husband that he is, has even gotten quite excited about them!!

I also planted some strawberries, but the directions were a little misleading and I’m afraid I may have killed them by planting them too deep in the soil. I’ve corrected the wrong, but we’ll just have to wait and see if any life will come from them. You’ll surely get another post when that happens! In the meantime, while all of you new parents are gazing at your beautiful babies, I’ll be talking tenderly to my new little dill sprouts!

The first post....

2008-04-20T07:40:00.000-07:00

So, here it is, our first blog post. A few weeks ago I came home to see Andrew beaming and with an excited, “guess what?” voice, he proceeded to tell me he wanted to show me something. I was a bit hesitant thinking he was going to enlighten me on the newest model of gun put out by Springfield or the latest advances in the budget that would allow him to buy such a gun. Instead my eyes fell upon a blog page with “Ternes Trekkings” standing out in bold letters across the top. I was a little caught off guard. I was excited about the prospect of having a blog, but I can’t tell you the last time I had heard the word trekking and it was being used to describe our lives together. When I inquired about the name, he was quick to read me the definition. According to dictionary.com, trekking means to go on a journey or trip, especially one involving difficulty or hardship. At first, I was a little sad that this was the word picked to describe our lives together. Andrew then went on to explain his reasoning and I feel he nailed it on the head. He said our life will be a journey that will be difficult due to the sin in the world and the fact that we are not yet in heaven. The more I have pondered this idea, the more certain I am that this word is perfect in describing the future of our lives. When I think of a journey, I think of a long trip that may be rough, but has a much anticipated destination. That is indeed true of our lives. The road ahead will surely have rough times, but this trek is taking us toward our Lord and Savior and finally being with Him in heaven, our final destination. So enjoy the updates of our trek together.