Prayer Request

About a year ago I was diagnosed with diabetes. They found I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with Payton, and my blood glucose levels continued to slowly climb in these past few years to the point that they just diagnosed me diabetic. My theory is that my pancreas was just worn out. Pregnancy is really hard on your endocrine system with all the hormones you're producing, then I underwent a LOT of stress the following 6 months with all we went through with Payton, and there's a few other things that I think could've affected it as well. So whether it's truly diabetes or my body just needs a long rest, I don't know. In January they put me on some long term medication. I decided that at only 30 (at the time) I was too young for that. So I started seeing a well-known nutritionist in town who's seen amazing things happen through diet. She's seen people cured of diabetes, IBS, and other conditions. She truly is a genius. She's not just a dietician, but she really understands the chemistry of food and what it does to your body. So now I'm on a very restricted diet that is intended to be pretty low carb to give my endocrine system a rest - eating a lot of sugar and things would stress it out to have to kick out the insulin to keep up with it. My blood glucose numbers have been good, and I'm trying really hard to stay the course to help my body rest. My nutritionist says it takes 18-24 months for your pancreas to recover. All that said, I was seeking the Lord a lot last winter through all of this and feel like He said a few times that He would heal me. And so I'm standing in faith for that. I dont' know if it'll be through this diet or through something else, but I believe He'll do what He said He'd do. So the prayer request is that I'll be visiting a dear friend this weekend and going to her church where a few people after are going to pray for me and pray for healing. If you'd be willing to pray as well that the Lord would heal me I'd appreciate it. It's been an up and down year with this. Sometimes I feel like I can keep going and others I just get so frustrated. Medications have effects over the long haul, and so I feel it's worth it to stick to diet if I can, but it get challenging when we travel (like this past summer) or am out and about. I have to plan a lot more.

I copied a couple sentences from Google health describing what diabetes is. My doctor is unsure if I have Type 1 or Type 2 because I don't fit the profile for Type 2.

"Type 1 Diabetes is a chronic (lifelong) disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to properly control blood sugar levels."

"Type 2 Diabetes is a chronic (lifelong) disease marked by high levels of sugar in the blood. It begins when the body does not respond correctly to insulin, a hormone released by the pancreas. Type 2 Diabetes is the most common form of diabetes."

If you'd like to see more about my nutritionist, her website is www.karenhurd.com. She's got a lot of great info there if you click on "health topics" you can see her input on so many things like high cholesterol or migraines... she's got a lot there. And she just added info on vaccinations which I'd like to read up on. If you click on the link "the poisonous rug" you can see how she got started in all this. It's really interesting. And she's big on beans cause they have the highest content of soluble fiber which is really good for you. People in town call her the "Bean lady".

So for some reason the Lord has me on a short leash for now. I just keep trying to trust Him in all this. He has been more than faithful in the past, and I know He'll continue to be even when I don't see in the "right now" what He's doing. I'll keep you posted :).

Saturday in the park...

In a small town just North of us they have a little free zoo. Because the weather was so great on Saturday we decided to go up for a bit. Most of the animals were inside, but the mountain lion was out. He was fascinated with our stroller for some reason and kept following it back and forth.


I just can't get over how big Liv is getting. I think she's had another growth spurt - at least it seems like her jeans aren't quite as long on her... :)


Then we went to Culver's for lunch before heading home for a nap. I don't take weekends at home for granted. It was so nice to just be together.

Definitely a daddy's girl. I love how she'll put her arm around us for pictures sometimes. Such a big girl.

Small girl, big burger - she ate about half :).

My Marathon Man

Here's the loyal fans waiting for Aaron to cross the finish line.



Here's Aaron coming in - yellow shirt in the center.



Aaron just yards from the finish line!




Here's Jacob, Dan, and Aaron - the 2 students that Aaron ran the marathon with. They did quite a bit of training together. So proud of them :).

A few gems...

Liv continues to amaze me in what she says and comprehends. Here's a few things I don't want to forget:

• This one I heard from Aaron. I wish I could've heard it. Liv was talking to one of the students who was at our house one night. She was being a bit stand-off-ish; so the girl tried to engage her a little more in conversations and asked her, "What are you going to be for Halloween, Liv? I'm going to be a pumpkin." To which Liv replied, "I'm going to be.... right over there."
• When we were in FL, my mom had to stop somewhat quickly, and Liv said, "Oh Boy! That was close."
• Riding on It's a Small World with grandma and grandpa, "I'm happy."
• On Sunday night we were finally all together as a family, and Liv was sitting with Aaron and said, "I'm so happy to be with my daddy."
• Whenever she hurts something she says, "That hurts my little... (hand, tummy, etc.)."
• And in FL she kept replying yes to things, not yeah or uh-huh but yes. It was wierd to feel like I kept hearing proper English from a 2 year old.

I'm sure there's more, but those are a few that I can remember right now.

And you know how sometimes you're leaving the house and you feel like you're forgetting something? Well, about 75% of the time when I leave for a trip I feel like I'm forgetting something. And that means that I definitely have forgotten something. I just won't know what until I need it. Well, we left to fly to FL at 5 am, and I knew I was forgetting something. Turns out it was my camera. So we got lots of pics on my mom's camera, but my camera cord wouldn't connect to her camera to download them. All that to say that the FL pics will not be coming until Thanksgiving when I see my mom again. BUT I DID remember the camera for Aaron's marathon and will post those when I upload them. I was so proud of him, though. His goal was to finish in under 4 hours. He finished in 3:55. He crossed the line, gave me a hug and said, "That was hard." Needless to say, he won't be running for awhile.

Yay for 40 degree weather?

Well, we've arrived home safe and sound tonight. I didn't know if we'd get home in time for Liv to go trick-or-treating... we didn't. But we loved the warm weather in Florida. They're still having record degree heat. It was 92 on Thursday and upper 80's or even 90 pretty much the whole time we were there. And now we're back to leafless trees and cold weather :(. Even so, it's always so good to come home.

We haven't seen Aaron yet because he's headed down near the Sparta-Elroy trail tonight in preparation for the marathon he's running tomorrow! I haven't posted that, but he's been training since we got home this summer. So tomorrow is finally the big day. After 9 days apart, I'll finally see him when he crosses the finish line. He and 2 other students are running it together. I'll let you know how he does.

Yay for Sunshine!

I haven't posted in awhile so I wanted to say it'll be another week before I get a good post on because my parents are bringing Liv and I with them to Florida again this year! We went with them about a year ago as well and had a great time. I'm excited to see Liv this year cause she's really going to know what's going on! So when we get back I'll no doubt have some great pictures and maybe a story or two of our time in actual sunshine and warmth :). (Don't know about you but we've have a LOT of gloomy days around here). We fly out early in the morning and will be down there for a week. Hopefully we'll bring some warm weather back :).

My Gold Medal

I went to AIA tonight with Aaron. He had a speaker come in, a guy named John Peterson who's been on staff with AIA for 35 years AND who also won silver and gold medals in the '72 and '76 Olympics in wrestling. You could just see the students respect and awe for him, and it was fun to hear him share a little of that experience. He actually brought the medals and passed them around so we could hold them (so cool to hold something like that and feel the weight of it). As he was getting ready to pass around the gold medal, I fingered the little charm around my neck and thought, yeah, this is my gold medal. It's a necklace so very precious to me that I don't wear it on trips for fear that I'll lose it. It's a small charm, the size of a dime, that has a replica of Payton's footprint on it. I got when she was still in the hospital and wore it everyday after I got it - it was something that I had with me in the hospital with her and has a small piece of her on it. Yeah, this is a gold medal to me. I got to be Payton's mom. 3 years ago today she left her broken body and was made whole in the presence of Jesus - who I'm sure had the biggest smile and hug ready for her. Time really does heal the pain, but I'll always always miss her. But what a treasure to be the mommy of such a remarkable little girl.

And then today I kept looking across the table at another remarkable little girl. I think I've posted this before, but awhile ago I counted back from Liv's birthday and found that she was conceived (at the very least) the week we lost Payton. I believe it was the same day we lost Payton cause that's just what God would do. And so as I remembered Payton's healing in heaven today, I also marveled that this is when my sweet Liv's life began. What precious girls God has given me. I'm so blessed to be their mommy.

Almost Fall...

If I remember my science lessons correctly, tomorrow the 21st is the autumnal equinox - one of 2 days a year where there's equal parts day and night (I've also heard people say it's the 22nd...). And so now we begin having shorter days. Not to be such a bummer, but I'd enjoy fall so much more if I knew winter wasn't right behind :). But this has been just a gorgeous September so far, and with that I can't complain. I'm still wearing sandals and leaving windows open. Sorry to not have been posting much - due to part busyness and part just-not-having-much-to-say :).

Here's a few pictures from our first event of the fall - gathering surveys from freshmen.

Liv helped get the cups ready.

We had a beverage, info, a small gospel pamphlet, and a free cup!

We passed out about 1,000! Exciting opportunities to meet some of these new students! This is Anne and Lindsay. I have the joy of working with Lindsay this year. I'm looking forward to it!

Yesterday, my sister-n-law and I got to see Mary Poppins in Minneapolis. It was FAN-TAS-TIC! We both just loved it. We didn't know where our seats would be, but we ended up having 3rd row (?!?!?!?!!!) seats! And at the very end, Mary Poppins flew directly over our heads. But truly, it was a great show. The story is a little different than the movie - some of the stuff in the movie would be really hard to recreate on a stage, but it's still really fun to watch. And just to be that close, you can see so much detail or maybe catch a glimpse of a stagehand. It was fun :).

This week I starting working with my students on campus. I'm so excited for the semester ahead. I also speak this Thursday. I'm speaking on the story of King Ahaz in Isaiah 7. It's not a story I really knew until we were studying Isaiah in my church Bible study. What happens is that King Ahaz and his kingdom are about to be attacked, and he and the people are really afraid. God tells Isaiah to tell Ahaz not to worry but that they'll be fine. Instead of trusting in the Lord, Ahaz goes to make an alliance with Assyria (bad news). I remember reading this and thinking, "What an idiot! The Lord offers you a sure thing and you turn it down!?!" So it's easy to think of Ahaz as an idiot until you look closer. How much more has Christ offered me numerous promises of His faithfulness and care and presence and provision, and yet I can still make an alliance with so many other things instead of trusting in Him. So yeah, I'm a little less zealous in calling Ahaz an idiot :). I love the end of the story cause that's where God promises the sign of Immanuel (which means God with us, another name for Jesus). Despite Ahaz's refusal to trust Him, God says, "Okay, but here's the sign that will be a sure thing for all people of all time." We keep turning from God, but He never turns from us. He keeps after us until we come to Him. So I'm almost done writing the talk and will give it on Thursday.

Well, I think I'll stop there for now. Have a great week!

'Bye bye August

Well, it's September 1st... sigh. Summer is always over on September 1st. Classes on campus start tomorrow, and we've visited campus the last few days. Livie loves it - "Capus? See the boys and girls?" We passed out surveys to students yesterday, and Liv helped. Then we had an event in the park tonight that we went to. She just loves to see and watch the students. Even though summer is "over", I have to say it is fun to be starting the fall and to see everyone come back. I'm so grateful for what we get to do. I'm really excited about the students I get to work with this semester. Some new and some I have the joy to continue to work with. I'm also going to help Aaron with AIA a little more which I'm looking forward to, and it'll be nice to work together a little more.

Liv just continues to grow and change. She's such a blessing from the Lord. I'm so grateful for the sweet moments with her to cuddle and watch cartoons or read to her or watch her little brain work to figure something out. She has such a sweet little heart. And we're signed up for a 2's and 3's tumbling class due to begin in a couple weeks. I'm excited to see if she likes it. So that's a brief update for now. I'll get more pictures up soon :).

2 Year Old Talk

WAY behind on posts, but I wanted to remember a few of Liv's expressions...

• Poppasicle or Poppysicle - Popscicle
• What I'm doing - What am I doing?
• Uppie - Pick me up
• Come 'ere gwirt - Come here squirt! (I say this in fun and she loves it and repeats it after me)
• Anyways, so... - she'll say this really fast
• She took the comb and was combing daddy's hair and said, "Daddy, it looks bootiful."
• We left our nephews dedication last weekend, and as we were driving in back in the van she said, "Well that wasn't too bad, was it?"

She's been fun. We attempted to start potty training this week. She was so excited to sit on the big potty the first 2 times, and then she was "all done." So rather than make it a power struggle, we stopped. She's sat on the potty a few times, and we'll just slowly keep trying :).

I'll be back to post more soon!

Overseas post #5

Here's a couple views of the city from the city center.

Happy Father's Day dad!

There was a really big, beautiful park in the center of the city. There's a lot of space to walk, a pond, some playground equipment, and a small amusement park. One thing that was really neat was how many families you'd see walking around together. Not something you see as much here.

Here's another picture of the park and my 2 sweethearts.

Overseas Post #4

Liv had her 2nd birthday while we were gone! Despite the lack of American goods, we made nachos, homemade salsa, and garlic cheese bread with dipping sauce.... and of course a birthday cake! We did alright! And to all of us gone for nearly a month at this point, the taste of home was a welcome one :).


Liv ate quite a bit! A good thing considering that sometimes a hummingbird eats more than she does.

We played some kids party games like musical chairs...

Dad and Liv won a round!

...and we played toss the clothespin into the jar... and later we played a few rounds of hangman after Liv was asleep :).

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

Here's 2 of the stint girls, Jill, and Erin (Aaron's co-director). They were all SO good to Liv. I just love this picture :).

Mom and her 2 year old... my sweet little girl.

So Liv is quite the traveler on her birthday - born in Korea, 1st birthday in S. Carolina, 2nd birthday in the Middle East! We'll see where we are for the 3rd birthday!

Overseas Post #3

We had a baptism service on the Mediterranean. Aaron baptized 7 of the students. Each one shared their testimony, then Aaron read a passage, then he went out and had each student come out one by one to baptize them. It was really neat - so memorable for the students.

Here's Aaron and Liv overlooking the sea. Sometimes Liv looks at the camera, sometimes she smiles, and sometimes she gives her cheesy grin :).

As I've mentioned, Liv attracted some attention. This girl was with her family and the only instance where someone actually asked to take a picture (though we had some people try to "sneak" one). So here's the picture :).

I thought this was hilarious. Liv in her suit and Aaron's socks pulled as high as they'll go. She's got sass :).

Overseas Post #2

Partway through our time we went to Ephesus. In the new testament times, Ephesus was a very prominent city of (I think they said) 250,000. It's fascinating to see. So much of it has been covered, but they are slowly excavating more and more of the city.


This is the front of the library, probably the best preserved part of the city.

A more close-up shot - lots of detail!

This is our whole group, and behind us is the amphitheater that seats 50,000. This was the same one where Paul was dragged into by the silver smiths recorded in Acts.

A little ways away is a church built in honor of John - they believe he's burried in Ephesus. This church was built in (I think) 300 AD. Below is the baptismal. I just thought it was so cool to see. A few of us walked through it - who knows who was baptized there!

Overseas post #1

Here's a few shots of our home overseas. Liv fit well in this cabinet and liked to look at all the DVD's inside.

We stayed in the apartment of a family that had gone back home for the summer. They had a little girl, and Liv stayed in her room. She had this mosquito netting that could go over her bed, and Liv loved to sit inside. "Read in the tent?" she'd ask. So we read in there a lot. When we get her a big girl bed we'll have to get one for her :).

Here's my dear friend Sarah. She and her husband live in a different city, but came to help us all get settled the first couple days. She was the first to discover reading in the "tent." She was a tremendous help to me. She helped me find what we'd need and to navigate in our neighborhood as well as on a few of the buses. She also gave me a few helpful phrases that I might need. One of them was how to tell people that Liv was adopted. There's little domestic adoption and no international adoption there. So, needless to say we got lots of stares (and Liv got a lot of attention) wherever we went. I definitely don't miss being stared at. You get to the point where you just don't look at people's faces cause you know they're staring at you.

We lived on the top floor of our apartment building (6th floor), and this was the view from the front. Pretty much picture this same view from all sides. Just hundreds of other apartments in view all around you.

Here we are with the students in the living room of our aparment having church on Sunday morning. The city we were in has 2 million people but only 1 church of 15. Their service obviously wasn't in English, and it would have been awkward to have 30 of us storm in. So we had our own service with a little music and a sermon on CD (Tim Keller - love him :). The one thing you can't see is all the cat hair on the floor - I DO NOT miss living with the cats and having to vacuum every couple days... and that just got the worst of it. There was always some amount of hair.

Well, there's a brief post. More will be coming :).