Life Goes On

And we're back from Mexico!!  Oh boy, are we back!  A good almost 3 weeks now.  And what happens when we get back - BAM! Hit hard with car troubles, sickness, teething Brinley baby comes back, and all the other little things we needed to get done in between seem to become great hurdles everyday that we are trying to get over....

I probably sound negative right now and....well, I was going to say I'm not really, but really (re-reading what I just wrote) yes, I guess I am! ha.  But truly, that's not how we feel....now.  God always tends to teach us a lot through the rough times, huh? ;)

So, 2 days after getting back from a gorgeous, fun, relaxing family reunion/vacation with the Poth side of the fam in Mexico....our car decides, that's it, she's done (yes, I just called it a "she").  As we were driving that night, she overheated like crazy - when I say like crazy I mean smoke billowing out and the temperature gauge trying it's best to push past the "H" on the reading!  Pretty hot.  Yep, Kaleb checked under the hood later and found that our radiator had cracked.  Not fun.  Luckily, I have this super talented husband who likes to be (and can be) Mr. Fix It, and he was able to order the new radiator and replace it himself.  Which saved us just under $500!  That's pretty hot too....in a "my man is this good lookin' guy who can fix your car hot"......yes, I just said that :).  Thank you Jesus for my handy hubs :).  But there were other things going on with it Kaleb knew he didn't have the equipment to fix, etc and so we had to take it in to the mechanic after he fixed the radiator.

the hot hubs  :)

In the middle of all this....I noticed I was feeling WAY more tired than normal. I'm talking so tired I could hardly function, sleep all day (which of course that is not possible, lol) TIRED.  I kinda thought it was just from traveling recently, although I knew that was not normal.  Kaleb mentioned that he thought something was going on and that I should get checked out.  You see, I have, unfortunately, had a history of getting a type of infection that is a major super bug - and is hard to get rid of.  And pretty much the only symptom I ever initially have from it is being SUPER tired.  He was worried I might have it again and boy, was he right.  We've learned over the last couple years I have a weaker immune system than normal and I've done so many things to try and boost it back up (including diet changes).  But it's a long process and I had gone 10 and a half months without getting this super bug...so you can see why I was pretty frustrated I got it again.  The ONLY thing I'd done differently is literally eat whatever I wanted when we were in Mexico.  So I ate things I hadn't had in forever and MORE of things I had cut down to having only occasionally or only a little bit of (like sugar, just to name one).  And sugar was definitely at the top of my list of things I majorly consumed on our trip (for those that know me well, it's always been a weakness of mine.  Pretty ironic that one of my weaknesses literally makes me weaker).  I figured, eh, we're on vacation!  Ohhhh that darn delicious immune suppressing sugar!  My body obviously hates you :P.

I used to be able to DOWN a pile of candy like this!

So.....2 days after returning from our trip our car freaks out.....4 days after returning I find out I have this really fun super bug again.  And then, lastly, in the MIDDLE of all this - Brinley cut more teeth.  If she was one of those babies that woke up one morning and we were to surprisingly discover a tooth....this would not matter.  But she, sweet girl, has always been quite the sensitive teether.  You definitely know when she's about to get one and when the tooth is cutting through!  And when we got back, she cut TWO....in the first week and a half!  For those that have kids who have been sensitive teethers, I think you can understand some ;).

Even though it can be hard when I'm teething sometimes, I'm still super sweet and cute! :)

So, at this point, my poor hubs is having to help around the house more than normal with Brinley because I was lacking major energy and our sweet teething baby is definitely more clingy when her gums are in pain.  And me....well, I was just trying to work up the energy every day to function and get stuff....something....anything done - while working with the doctors I see trying to figure out what's going on with my immune system and get better.  All sounds so fun, right? ;)  I could elaborate much more, but that's enough about that (I'm sure you are sad ;)). I will just ask that, if you feel so led, for prayers that I would continue to get better.  I am at the tail end of it right now and this last week have been feeling great again.  Now it's just figuring out what's going on with my immune system and working to build it back up.

Through it all, initially we - to be completely honest - were both thinking, REALLY!?  Stuff like this always seems to happen before something big.  Since being back from Mexico we knew we'd be hittin' the ground running again trying to continue to meet with as many people as possible before we left.  Kaleb would be working his other job and then just getting stuff done before leaving for a while.  We always know when God's trying to work something big because that seems to be when we get hit the hardest by things that could really hinder us.  So, we were a bit frustrated that all this was going on because it did slow us down......BUT, no one ever got anything done by just moping around and complaining about it - so we, like always, push through the best we can...life goes on and God gives you strength and motivation to do so.  And we know that these things we had going on were not the end of the world - just big annoyances that we needed to push through.

God is good. VERY good.  And although these last 3 weeks have pretty much been crazy.  We've learned, yet again, we need to stick together and that God IS working in a huge way and we cannot let things take us from where God wants us and what He wants us doing.  Sometimes these big annoyances can cause division (especially when you're over tired) and so you can have a tendency to take things out on each other.  We've learned this in the past, not that we are perfect with paying attention to this....haha....oh, far from it ;) -we are still learning.  But we have learned to try and pull together instead of just getting annoyed with each other over little things when we are overtired and dealing with obstacles and most importantly, GIVE IT TO GOD.  Cause seriously, I don't know how you can easily move on in anything in life (big or annoying) without relying on God.  THIS is what helps keeps us positive and THIS is what helps bring us joy despite what's going on around us.

In Mexico with her Granny Sanny and Opa who she won't see again for a while.  She sure enjoyed her time with them!

It was such a blessing to have had the time in Mexico with so many family that we will unfortunately not get to see again for quite some time.  What a great send off though!

As we continue to prepare for our trip to our National Staff Conference in Colorado with Cru (we leave July 9th).  Please pray we would keep with being productive, for a safe journey out there (we will be driving), that God would continue to provide and that we would never loose sight of what GOD wants us to focus on!  We are very excited for our trip out to Colorado!!  We will be receiving continued training with the rest of the Lifelines staff across the country and getting to learn from some great speakers along side around 4,000 other staff.  It's usually a time of great learning, rejuvenation, and encouragement for us!!  One of the things we are most excited about is getting to see the rest of the Lifelines staff we will be working with in New Hampshire!  We will even get to be roommates with some of them for the time we are there!

As far as support, right now we are at 56% - praise God!!  We are so thankful for how He continues to provide and have seen so much of Him through others and their faithfulness!

Lastly, if you could pray our car would continue to last us for a while after all the repairs.  We still do not have it back and it will probably not be done until after we leave (so we've been getting to know a rental car pretty well ;) and will either be renting again or borrowing a car to drive to CO).  But should be good to go after it's done!

THANK YOU for your prayers.  They really are much appreciated!  We will continue to keep you all updated! 

I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
    I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens;
    your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
    let your glory be over all the earth.

Psalm 108:3-5