It's Dad's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Mother's Day sort of came & went around here without much notice, since that's the weekend we were moving. Brent does so much for me, helps out so much, and makes sure I get time to recharge all throughout the year so, I really don't feel like he needs to do anything more on Mother's Day. But I always try to make sure Brent knows how much he's appreciated as a dad on Father's Day. He rarely does something just for himself so it's one time where he can just really take time to know how loved he is and recharge a little bit with something fun. I think this year I'm just sending him golfing whenever he can fit it into his week. He loves it, and hasn't been in a long time. I think he may even try to go with his dad when he's down here later this week.

I'm blessed to not only have a wonderful father for my son, but I have a great father myself! I'm so thankful for a dad that I always knew loved me and worked so hard to provide for us. I'm not sure what it would be like to be the only male in a house of 3 females, but I'm sure it wasn't always easy & he probably got sucked into far more fights over the bathroom than he'd care to remember. My dad set the bar high as an example of what a dad and husband should be, and I count myself & my sister very lucky for that! My dad is one of our biggest encouragers and always tells Brent and I how supportive and proud he & my mom are of us. That is more of a blessing to us than they could ever know.

I'm also thankful for a great father-in-law. I truly believe a big part of why Brent is such a great husband and dad because he had a great example to learn from. I know Brent also learned an incredible work ethic from his dad as well. Earl has probably helped his kids move more in the last 4 years than he ever helped anyone move in all the previous years combined! haha! He is always there to help the girls out with a (another) car problem, or move something heavy with Brent. He's there physically for his kids, but he's also there as loving support. He's been a wonderful father-in-law to me, and Parker is just his little buddy!

I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful, godly, caring, supportive, men in my life. I know not everyone has those people to lean on. I hope everyone has a great Father's Day, and takes time to remember we also have a Heavenly Father who loves us more than any person ever could.

Thank you Lord for being our Father, our Dad - who we can come to with any problem or fear and You promised You'd be there to see us through. Thank you for providing earthly fathers as a picture of Your love to Your children.

1st Night of Youth Group at PBC!

So tonight was the 1st ever night of youth group for Providence Bible church! Woohoo - that's exciting stuff right there! And because I'm a Dork with a capital 'd' I, of course, did not take any pictures. Oops. Please forgive me. I'll take many more throughout the coming weeks. Part of the issue was I had a certain toddler with me, who was supposed to be home with our lovely gracious babysitter. But she was sick so the little dude came to youth group. And he did great (especially considering his too early/too short nap.) I was certain he'd melt down, but nope he did great! All that to say, I forgot lots of things including the camera.

Brent and I (and Parker) went early to set up. It officially started at 6:00 and it was just us workers for a little while (Brent, me, Sarah, Greg, & Keaton) then a couple kids, Hudson & Isaiah showed up and played pool with Brent. Another kid, Isaiah #2 lol, came in a little bit later. It was great hanging out, eating, and getting to know them.

We played Indoor Marco Polo & Whack-Em. (Well the boys played, me and Sarah cleaned up the other room and kept Parker from getting trampled. Totally a 2 person job let me tell ya!) Then we went upstairs for prayer and a devotion. This first night was a little different just getting to know the kids and letting them know what youth group will look like this summer. But we were all so excited afterward & just know that God can do something great!

I'm sure I'll post tons more about the kids and youth group in the future. But tonight was just to great not to share!

One Month Later...What's Happening?

We've been here one month. A whole month!.......Is that all? haha It sure seems like alot longer than that!

It's been a very busy month! A few weeks ago we took the new members class at Providence which is about an 8 hour class I think. I can't remember exactly. It's a few hours on a Friday night and then a few hours that Saturday morning. We got babysitters for Parker and Brent and I did that. It's different than how alot of churches do membership, but we do alot of things differently than most churches. A fact I LOVE!

We hadn't planned on kicking off a youth program until the fall, but those plans changed a little bit & now we're starting next week! I'm really excited to see how God is going to take nothing & turn it into something. We already have 4 people committed to helping with the teens, which is such a HUGE blessing! And I think I found someone to watch Parker every Wednesday night, so that will free me up to help alot more too!

We're still praying and looking for a better paying job for Brent. The hours & pay at Starbucks just aren't gonna cut it for very long. It's hard not to worry about the things God tells us not to worry about. But if the lilies and birds have shelter and food I KNOW I don't need to worry one bit about how all that stuff will get taken care of for us. (Not that we're struggling with food or anything like that, we're not - wanted to clarify.)

Hopefully this week I'll be able to start helping out a little bit with Encompass, which is a nonprofit ministry set up by PBC to help mentor and support single moms, widows, and orphans. It's really in it's baby steps right now, but I'm hoping I can help out a little bit!

Besides all that, we've enjoyed lots of fun stuff too! We live close to Civic Park which hosts alot of the festivals that go on during the summer. We also discovered a fun play place at Cherry Creek Mall which Parker adores & I don't mind taking him to an air conditioned play ground one bit! And Parker and I made some friends at the park the other day who we're hoping to meet up with for lunch this week.

Slowly but surely Denver is beginning to feel like home. There are still moments I get totally lost or feel a little lonely, but God is working in me to not focus on the things that don't matter. I love that He's teaching me that, even though it's an uncomfortable thing sometimes. Brent has been such a blessing to me with his great attitude and excitement for what he does. He hasn't uttered one word of complaint or discouragement about anything since we've been here and that is just a huge encourager to me. I'm so thankful Parker has such a great dad to look up to!

I suppose that's plenty long enough for now! If our neighbor would kindly turn down his music I would love to go to sleep. :0) Oh, and a new blog header coming soon thanks to my friend Karen!

I love this age!

I have to say that one & a half is SUCH a fun age. Officially, Parker won't be 18 months for another week, but close enough! ha! I love seeing his little personality come out more and more; even if that means more fits and defiance. That's ok - we're working on it!

He just thinks he such a little man, and that anywhere we go he's the big man in charge. People always comment everywhere we go about how he just walks around with such confidence, like he owns the place. It's quite a sight.

Parker loves to help. And yeah, a toddler's "help" isn't always in line with the traditional definition of help lol, but his heart is in the right place. Lately he finds (or creates) trash to throw in the trashcan. So far he's limited it to actual garbage, but I'm sure we'll find a shoe in there at some point!

His new favorite game is "unlocking" the baby gate with dad's keys.

Don't you love his face of concentration?!

A couple days ago when we got home from someplace, Brent & I hung our coats up in the coat closet. I took Parker's coat off & set it on the counter to take to his room at some point. Well, he was just so offended that his coat wouldn't be treated like our coats & hung in the right closet. So, we put it in there with ours & life went on!

Helping Daddy eat his cereal

One not so cute thing that he's up to is thinking it's funny to run from me. Ohhhh so not cute. I know all, or most, kids do that at some point, but yeesh - it's super annoying. The bad thing is, sometimes it is a teeny bit funny & he's just so hilarious about it that I'm trying not to laugh & encourage it.

Starbucks Hubby

On Saturday, Brent got hired at Starbucks - woo hoo! He goes in tomorrow to sign papers etc. but probably won't start regular hours until next week. It's so great because some income is better than no income, but it really doesn't pay very much. Not enough actually. I think there's a difference between not paying very much & not paying enough. Therein lies our dilemma.

So for now it works, but he's going to keep looking & applying other places. He's really hoping to hear back on one that he put in for a non-profit downtown. The job is totally right up his alley & seems like it would be a good fit. So, pray for that if you think of us!

And how could I forget to mention the free coffee every week in this deal!? Brent gets to bring home a pound of coffee every week from Starbucks! We go through a tiny bag like once a month at home because I'm the only one that drinks plain drip coffee, and even then it's maybe twice a week. So I'm sure we'll be giving away lots!

So God is still providing! It would be so ridiculous for us to worry or question the way things work out at this point. God has proven Himself faithful again and again and we know He's got everything under control!

We've been here a week already!

Denver has been "Home Sweet Home" for a week now! I can't believe we've been here that long. It's been a blur of unpacking & feeling out of sorts for the most part.

We love our apartment! We didn't get to see it until we were moving in (RIS-KEEE!) but it's great. The location works great & the layout seems really roomy. It's pretty quiet too. We don't ever hear the neighbors, but sometimes the noise outside echos in the courtyard at night, but I'm the only one who hears it. The hallways in the building are an interesting cornucopia of smells. Multiple people's dinners with undertones of cigarette smoke and pot. Such is apartment living I suppose.

I can get to the grocery store by myself now! Although, I did go the wrong way down a one way street today. There was only one other car on the road, but he sure did honk at me alot! I'm like, "Dude, I know. I'm workin on it." Sheesh people! Have you never had a car coming head on at you before or something? Eeek, ok it was a little bad.

Brent has put out some resumes and has a couple pretty good leads. Pray some doors for interviews will open!

All in all, we're settling in pretty well. Today is the first day I felt kind of homesick and the reality of not knowing anyone here yet felt pretty heavy. In my head I know time will take care of that, but the feeling part is a little harder to deal with. I'll be curious to see when it finally feels like we're actually living here now...

Gold Medal Procrastinator

I've had many years of practice. I've fined tuned the art of waiting until the last second to do everything, and the bad thing is -  it does always get done. I'm stressed, cranky, and tired but it does get done. So, that fact doesn't really spur me to change.

At the moment what I'm avoiding is packing. Brent has done most of the packing so far. I wouldn't say he likes it neccesarily, but he does sort of get this overly-focused thing going and sort of HAS to accomplish whatever he's working on. (Most normal people would probably just call that thinking ahead and being efficient, but to the procrastinator by nature like me, it's "overly focused" ha!)

Maybe I'm avoiding for deeper reasons...I don't know. I have this knot in my stomach, and I'm not sure if it's from Los Compadres for dinner or if the thought of leaving is starting to sink in. Not sure, but it's making me not want to do anything. It would probably drive Brent crazy that I'm typing while there's still packing to do, but he's on a box run so I'll wait until he gets back to go to work lol! :0)

Someday when Denver feels like home, I'll come back and read about how unsure the future seemed & the thought of being in a new city was a little daunting and I'm sure I'll have to smile.