Thankful for Cousins

We had a wonderful thanksgiving with all of Jeremy's family in one house. It's been a few years since we were able to get everyone together, so this Thanksgiving was extra special... for all 22 of us (yes... just the immediate family). Unfortunately we didn't get a full group shot... I don't think we all could have stayed still at the same time :-). But we did get everyone's shoes!

One of the best parts for Jeremy and I was watching Lincoln with all of his cousins. This was the first year Lincoln was able to just take off and enjoy time with the cousins. Throughout the weekend we caught glimpses of Lincoln with each one of his cousins having one-on-one play time. There are 12 kiddos in the family from almost 1 to 15. Lincoln is the second youngest, so it was adorable to see the cousins take him under their wing, include him in their play... and give us a status update on where he was. Needless to say Lincoln was loving the independence and space (haha I think we have been a little cooped up lately in the studio).

Seeing Lincoln enjoy his cousins made me think back to all the times the cousins piled into my grandparent's house for holidays, sleepovers, and just because. I remembered the many "performances" where we really only got a few lines out before we were all giggling too hard to continue. Playing in the mud when grandpa irrigated (I don't think I ever think about grandpa without smiling!). Camping trips in the RV. All of our photos are in storage, but I'll try to add a few to reminisce.

My cousins are in most of my favorite childhood memories... and I am so thankful that Lincoln has so many cousins to enjoy (3 on my side and 11 on Jeremy's). Hopefully we will have lots more fun holidays with all the kiddos together to build precious memories like the ones I have (I love you all!!!).

Our Thankful tree - Thanks Jen!

Jeremy's grandpa joined us for thanksgiving

A little sneak attack on the adults...

Jeremy and I love spending time with our nieces and nephews!

We all toured the lighthouse together. Our kid is seriously cute!

Ended the trip with tractor rides on Papa's John Deere

It belonged to Jeremy's Grandpa, now his dad... hmmm.. maybe some day

Had to throw this in. Lincoln consistently eats from the side of the pizza...

he definitely marches to the beat of his own drum

Church and Dedication

We recently returned to what we would consider our "home church"... Jeremy was practically born there :-), we met there, and were married there. Yes... we have the honor of being the very last royal blue wedding (the carpet was ripped up hours after our ceremony)! MCC will always have a special place in our hearts! While we were away MCC has done a lot of changing, including planting a church, and we are excited at all the new people we are meeting (and of course we love the long-time friends!). We feel truly feel blessed that God has led us to a congregation that is loving and supportive and holds so much history for us.

Our church has been going through a message series titled "Got Church?" It has been great to hear the heart of MCC, their core values, and be reminded why being in community at a church is so wonderful. Last week the message was "Loving Community." At one point in the service, Pastor Mark asked us to share with those around us a time when we felt the love of a church body. For us there were two obvious examples: communion and laundry... let me explain.

Our church family in Concord is a special part of our story. They walked through a difficult and yet joyful time with us as Lincoln spent the first two months of his life in the hospital. We will never forget how they supported us in prayer and in practical ways. Youth leaders stepped in and helped fill the gaps with our sudden delivery and shift in focus. They gave us gift cards and a love offering to eat out at places near the hospital so we could spend every moment we could with our sweet baby. And most amazingly Dena did our laundry...for two months... had us over for dinner and hilarious Howell/Brown puppet shows, and sent us home with fresh baked banana bread, cookies, or whatever she had whipped up that day (those of you who know Dena, know we were spoiled well!). Another group of that church family brought us communion when we were between churches, between worlds, and not really sure which end was up. They held us when we cried, carried/encouraged/pushed us through a healing process, and made us laugh until we couldn't breathe. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. You all have left an impression. We only hope to be a blessing to others the way you have blessed us.

Back to the present. Part of the series on Church included a time of child dedication during the service Sunday, and we were able to dedicate Lincoln! We know it is more traditional to dedicate a baby, but now seemed like the best time for us. When Lincoln was a baby we never felt the timing was right... not that we hadn't committed in our hearts to raise him in a loving Christian home where he would learn about God, because of course we had. But now that Lincoln is older we are learning what that commitment really looks like… and the need to be intentional. We are reading the Bible with him, teaching him about God’s character, telling him stories about God’s people, and praying with him. So, when we learned of the opportunity for child dedication in today's service, we couldn't shake the thought and we knew it was the right time. We wanted to stand up and commit to raise Lincoln in the church and ask the church to commit to walk alongside us in that journey.

We keep hearing God echo "community" in our lives... the need for it, the need to provide it, and the need to jump all in and be real. We finally feel like our time of transition... living between worlds... has ended, and we are "all in." We've chosen our church home, at least as long as God wants to keep us here - we won't stop listening just because we feel like we've found an answer. We are committing to raise Lincoln here, to invest into others in this church, and build a community we will do life with. We are committing to be real and authentic, to build meaningful relationships in this moment, and come alongside others with encouragement. For as long as God has us here we are all in... that's the only way we like to "do church.”