It's a NEW blog post, finally!

Well my GOODNESS!! ....It has been quite a while!  I apologize for the LONG gap in posts!!  I have no excuse except for being a new mother...and if you have ever been a new mother, you probably know what I'm talking about ;).  My days have been filled with trying to keep up with our little one on top of my normal daily routine and then all our support stuff.  I found that the blog dropped to the bottom of the list as there were at the time more important things that needed to be tended to like making new materials for our support raising, prayer letters and well....Brinley ;).  But, here I am again - hello :) and I do hope to be updating our blog, well we BOTH hope to be updating it - yes, oh yes, Kaleb may just write a thing or two on here ;) - more often now.

Brinley turned 8 months old this week!!  I can't believe it!!

Gosh, lets see....the last 7 months have been a whirlwind!!  Since having Brinley we have had even more joy in our lives....and tears - man those post baby hormones are crazy! haha :)....it's kinda funny to look back at the things you cried about.  Well, I mean, to the wife it may be more funny....I have a feeling Kaleb is just SUPER happy those days are over, lol. 

Something like this may have happened a few times.....

Let me set the scene:  Needing a very quick meal on the go, Kaleb ran into a place to get us food while I sat with Brinley in the car.  I tell him a burrito sounds kinda good. He rushes in telling me before hand, he'll get what's fastest cause we might be late to our destination. I'm like OK cool, I'm good with that (and I really was.....then, haha). When he gets back in the car, he hands me the bag of food.

Me: (looking in the bag) "You didn't get me a burrito?"
Kaleb: "No, a bagel was quicker.  We gotta go, we're gonna be late."
Me: "But I'm starving."
Kaleb: "Well, we can get you something else later, can you wait?"
Me: "Wait? I'm STARVING.  I really wanted the burrito..." (and the tears start) "I was just thinking about that burrito a lot, I REALLY wanted that burrito..."
(Kaleb is giving me this stare like, SERIOUSLY while trying to figure out if he should hug me or just call me crazy ;))
Me: (while crying still) "I don't even know why I'm crying!  Why am I crying!?"
Kaleb: "Yeah, I really don't know either.  I think you're crying about a burrito."

We still laugh about some of those moments :).  Good thing that was short lived!

 

"No Mom, I did not eat the cookie"

There has definitely been more laughter, more sleepless nights (those can sometimes be "fun" :)  - especially when your child is a cat napper during the day, haha), coffee dominated zombie like days, stress, and then there are those "I'm so tired and have been so tired for so long I'm walking in a constant state of delirium" days.  Its been a crazy and wonderful new world all at once that has taught us some great lessons, some harder than others, while also bringing more smiles and joy than ever before, ahhh parenthood :)...it's already been one of the greatest, most challenging, and selfless adventures we've embarked on together and we are ONLY 8 months in!!!  I cannot begin to imagine the rest of our lives!! 

VERY.......

SOOO very......

 

 

TIRED.......

Ahhh......SLEEP ;)

Since our sweet Brinley arrived, life seems to have gotten busier than ever....in a good way.  Our weeks have been packed full to say the least!  We have been meeting with even more people to share with them about Lifelines and what we will be doing.  Kaleb is also still working part time.  In the midst of it all we have also been learning to balance family life.  We have had to make more of an effort to have a "Family Day"....our day off.  We started to notice after a few months that we weren't getting a day off together and it was wearing on us.  You realize the importance of this even more so when you have a kid we've discovered.  So, we have made more effort to get that Family Day and it has seemed to make the business even more enjoyable ;).

So where are we with our financial support?  Right now we are at 52%!!  We have been praising God for his provision thus far and we continue to trust him for the rest!!

This summer is going to be a busy one as we continue to meet with as many people as possible and continue to build those relationships with our partners.  We also just received the approval from our boss a few weeks ago to go on a Poth family reunion/vacation in Mexico in June!  What a blessing!  This will be the last time we will get to see Kaleb's parents for a while (who are missionaries in Ireland and will be leaving after that to return) and some of the rest of his family.  And then in July we will have the Cru National Conference we are required to attend.  We are excited about this as well as it will be a time to see the team again we will be working with in New Hampshire and all the other Lifelines staff across the country!!  It will be a time filled with some great teachings and if it's anything like the last one we attended - rejuvenating and encouraging!

We feel so blessed and encouraged to have so many who have felt led to partner with us in prayer and through financial giving!!  It is amazing to have such a team of people who have felt led by the Lord to help get us where God is calling us.

I will leave you with this....

Isaiah 40:31..."but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." 

Until next time :) .......

Welcome Brinley!!

She's finally here!!!!  Our daughter, Brinley Elizabeth was born August 26th at 12:38 pm!  She is a beautiful, healthy baby and was born weighing 8 pounds 12 oz and is 21 inches long!!

We are so thankful and feel so blessed to have had such an amazing birth story!  I was able to labor for quite a while at our home and then we went to the birthing center where Brinley was later born.  It was a blessing to be at a birthing center that was completely supportive of our drug free birth plan.  Kaleb was an incredible coach during labor too and we were blessed to have such an awesome midwife!  All these things combined made for an amazing birth experience!!

Holding her Daddy's hand

We are SO happy to finally meet her!!  These last 11 days have been a whirlwind of change, excitement and getting used to less sleep ;).  They've been quite the adventure and although we aren't sleeping much, we sure have been enjoying getting to know our daughter :).  Thank you all for your many prayers throughout this time in our lives!  We are so grateful for such amazing support and encouragement!

In other news, support raising has been going good - we are so grateful to be at 44% of our monthly support right now!  We are still praying that we will be at or at least very close to 100% of our monthly in the beginning of next year.  It's a huge leap of faith, but we know that if God wants it to happen, it will!  Otherwise, we know that HIS timing is perfect and we are trying our best to rest in that :).  Starting next week Kaleb will be back to work at his part time job and we will both be back up and running with working full time on support raising.  Please keep us in your prayers as we make the big transition from just us to a family of THREE and learning to function on a bit of a different sleep schedule than what we are used to! :)  Thank you so much!!!!

Taking Brinley on her first walk at one week old.  She's going to love the outdoors, we just know it ;).  I think once she starts walking her Dad's gonna be teaching her some of his climbing skills, haha ;). 

Change of STATE!

"For I know the plans I have for you', declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.'"  

Jeremiah 29:11

Suitcases, bags, boxes....ALL unpacked!  This is the first time in a year that Kaleb and I have NOT been living out of our suitcases....crazy right! ;)  I must admit that I am quite happy to have a place to hang our hats for a bit while still here in California.  We have been continually praising God for helping us find a place!!  I have thoroughly enjoyed "nesting" in our little home together.   This past month has been quite the busy one as we have been getting settled into our apartment, going about our normal work, and support raising.  We also just got back from NY a couple weeks ago where we celebrated the graduation of Kaleb's youngest brother, Ben, from West Point.  After that, we got to continue the celebration with a wedding where Ben married his long time sweetheart, Jenny.  It was a great week!  Overall a busy, busy month but what a great one!!

With all the sibs after Ben's graduation.  That's our little nephew in the front - starring in awe at his Uncle Ben ;).

CONGRATS Ben!!!

BEAUTIFUL wedding joining two wonderful people!!!

Now that we are back, we have some very exciting news to tell you!  There have been some changes within Lifelines.  Changes?  You might be thinking.  Yes, changes – and they are ones for the good that will help further the growth of the ministry (which is one of the many reasons we are so excited!).  For several weeks now, some restructuring has been in the works regarding Lifelines role and where staff are to be located.  Lifelines has been asked to now be a part of what is called the Leadership Development Team within the Campus Ministry of Cru.  This means that Lifelines staff will now not only be leading college students on trips year round, but also helping to train other Campus Staff within Cru to use the programs Lifelines uses to better reach non-Christians on their campuses (where there might not be any Lifelines staff).  To do this job better, leadership has decided to create regional hubs or headquarters for Lifelines.  Their goal is to eventually have a Lifelines hub in every region.  We have been asked to join the team in Plymouth, New Hampshire.  New Hampshire is where the Lifelines hub for the Northeast will be.  After taking some time to pray about it, we believe without a doubt this is the direction the Lord would like us to go.  Before our Vision Trip to Maine and since, we have felt continued confirmation that the Northeast is where we should be headed.

Plymouth was chosen because it is most centrally located to the most major Universities in the Northeast.  We will be closer to and able to reach more campuses, be working with a bigger team (we will still be working with the team in Maine - as they are moving to NH - as well as some of the team from Lifelines Vermont that will be moving there), and will have a vast array of outdoor activities/trips to offer to students in the town.  Plymouth is located in the foothills of the White Mountains, which are a popular destination for skiing, hiking, rock climbing and more!  This is another big plus of the relocation -in Maine staff were driving an hour or more one way for trips. The possibilities are numerous with this relocation and restructuring of Lifelines – we are very excited to see how God is working within the ministry to grow it and are even more excited that we get to be a part of that!  It's crazy how God works - I mean, if we would have been reporting this summer, or before...we would have been moving to Maine and then having to pick up again and move to New Hampshire before the fall -with a baby on the way! haha. God certainly knows what He's doing and HIS TIMING is definitely perfect!  So, the state we are headed to might have changed, but God knows best and all we can do is follow where He is leading!  Like He says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts….” (Isaiah 55:8) …what God had in mind is so much better!! 

For those of you that need a visual of where New Hampshire is ....yes, we had to look it up too ;) haha.

The White Mountains in New Hampshire. 

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  

Isaiah 55:8-9

In other news, we have taken a leap of faith and signed a lease with our apartment here through the end of January.  We are not sure how much longer we will be here and how much longer we will be raising support (we are presently 40% of our monthly), but we are praying that by the end of January we will be at 100% of our monthly support or very close to it!  We know that God has a plan and that He knows when He wants us there...so we shall see what He does!

We will leave you with some more pics....we took a few snap shots the other day - our baby girl is definitely growing a ton, as you can see by my bulging belly ;).  I am now almost 31 weeks pregnant!!!!  We SO cannot wait to meet our little girl!!! 

Until next time......... :)