8 questions

Whew. Today I finished answering the following questions for the A29 wife questionnaire. Wives- how many of you had to answer similar questions for your husband's job application?? Anyone?? Welcome to the unique pressures of being a pastor's wife! God, help me walk this path with grace and courage!!


Church Planter’s Wife Questionnaire



1) Share how you met Jesus including what your life was like prior, the key factors that led you to Jesus, and how your life changed after meeting Jesus (begin very briefly with your family of origin).


2) Provide us a candid narrative of your marital history.


3) Have you and your husband always been faithful to each other — improper sexual behavior either emotionally or physically? Please describe the circumstances of any unfaithfulness?


4) Please describe how your husband has led you spiritually and contributed to your growth in your history together.


5) Describe how your husband has functioned as head of the home, and how he has taken responsibility to teach, train, and pastor your children.


6) Please tell us what you believe your husband’s primary spiritual gifts are, and why you believe your husband would be a good pastor.


7) Are you convinced of the call on your husband to plant a church? Describe how you came to agree on a call to church planting?


8) Describe a time when the demands of ministry put strain on your marriage or family life and how you as couple dealt with it.

green rag

The first week of school Grace came home with this.




I immediately assumed it was some sort of craft project. You know. All the kids use cloth pens and the assistant compiles the squares to make a quilt for the teacher? That's what I was thinking, anyways. So I stash the random rag somewhere in my house and await further xerox on clip art paper instructions. No news.

Then I get an email from her teacher.

"Hi Everyone! We had quite a few questions about the cloth with your child's name on it we sent home in the folders. Those are cloth napkins that one of our parents made for each child. I hope that you will send it into the school with your child's snack often. Thanks Mom for helping us be a little greener!"

Of course!! How silly of me. I then reread the start of the year letter which recommended packing a napkin each day for you child's snack. I never had. So the green rag just stayed stashed. Until...

Grace says to me, "Mommy, can I pleeeaase have this with my snack? Allll the other kids have one!"

Only in Cville.

racial reconciliation and the gospel

Portico just finished up a series on racial reconciliation and the gospel. I strongly encourage you to download the podcasts for this series. Curl up with some coffee and let God open up the scriptures in a new way. You will be blessed!

i made a new friend

And her name is PUMPKIN BAR.

bar

4 eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup canola oil
15 oz can of pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla


2 1/4 cup. flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Bake at 350.


Icing

1 stick butter
1 8oz of creme cheese
powder sugar
vanilla
1/2 and 1/2

Wait to ice until it is completely cool. I set out the butter and creme cheese to soften while I mix and bake. I also chopped and toasted some pecan crumble to top half of it. Beware. You might want to eat this for breakfast.

Here is the carnage.



Grace had soccer this morning. Her coach is German and speaks german to his son who is also on the team. It makes it interesting. Snortangus came along for the ride. Poor baby had to borrow Mark's ratty hat b/c mommy forgot one and it was rainy and cold. I know I eat pumpkin bars and such, but someone please help me understand WHY I thought I should buy the babybjorn that is intended for extra large obesse parents? I'm not kidding. Back in the 'Burg days I decided that we needed the special XXL babybjorn. The tragic part is that the center plastic piece does not fall in the middle of my back. Instead, it is up in-between my shoulder blades. The result is that instead of relieving pain it induces it. I hate to purchase another one b/c they are so stinkin expensive. Notice the two extra feet of slack. Good grief.





Earlier this week I got this message in Grace's pre-K bag.



You can imagine my surprise. I had packed Grace string cheese, organic milk and grapes. I DID NOT pack peanut products. I swear it. I promise! Then, HOW did THESE end up in her snack bag???!!!



That sneak packed BALL PARK PEANUTS in her snack bag AFTER I had already packed her something. This could quite possibly be the worst preschool snack ever to be packed. Miss Dee, can you help me crack these major mess making, epi-pen required peanuts please?? UNREAL. Don't worry. We had a really good laugh. Especially when I tried to explain to the teacher in pick-up line that it was really GRACE that packed the peanuts and not us. I don't think she believed me.

Speaking of princess peanut, did I mention that I love this girl? I've been meaning to tell ya'll what a rock star big sister Gracie has been. She is such a great helper, she has not retaliated, and she remains such an energetic joyful spirit in our home. Grace personifies zest. Her whirling and twirling and did I mention, TALKING is virtually nonstop. Yet, sometimes, even the restless give in. It's hard to believe that she will be F-I-V-E this February.

Who ever said that you can't look like a million bucks in a Target wedding dress?




Bless her heart. This is what her Daddy brought to a recent lunch date at Panera. Sorry, honey. Daddy just needs to finish up a few things before I can eat that Frontega Chicken panini. Would you mind holding this for a minute?



It looks like it is already 1:00. I hear someone snorting...

the sweet life

Mark and I were watching Food Network the other evening when Mark remarks, "Hey, that guy's name is Norman. Wasn't the guy who made our wedding cake named Norman?" Sure enough. IT WAS HIM!! Hysterical!! We couldn't believe it. He won some cake competition on Food Network. I distinctly remember going to his house/bakery and taste testing cakes. Our wedding cake was a top priority item for me and Norman did not disappoint. He did an almond pound cake with hazelnut filling and a butter-creme icing for us. The Sweet Life bakery is in good ol' Annandale VA. Beware. Norman makes amazing cakes but his website is a total fail.

buzztangus

The buzztangus and co. enjoyed a trip to Short Pump on Friday. To our delight, we ran into the Dauberts! Mark spotted Megan's hair across the lawn! The weather was gorgeous and Grace ran and played near the fountains. Joy!

buzz shout out

I've gotta give Craig's List some cred, ya'll. I managed to convince Mark to drive me to Roanoke to procure a Quinny buzz stroller and Dreami cot from a random lady. The woman who was selling it, brand new I might add, wrote the stinking owner's manual. Of course she did. She recently relocated from Boston to Roanoke due to her husband's job. With meager (she was selling for 65% off retail price) wad of cash in pocket I was in and out in minutes with my prized piece of wannabe Euro mommy delight.

Here it is!



We are now calling the snortangus... Buzztangus!

In keeping with the Buzz theme, I used the last of my Whimsies' giftcredit to get BUZZ! He will be the adorable comrade in tow for our outings.

buttered blessings

Gracie at the breakfast table. 7:35 am on a random Tuesday morning.

Mark: Sweetie, go ahead and eat your bagel. Come on, it's time to eat.

Gracie: I'm waiting for God to tell me when to eat my bagel.

Mark: Really... God is going to tell you when to eat your bagel?

Gracie: Yep. I'm waiting for Him to say GO.

Mark and I are now exchanging those "we need to write this stuff down" glances.

Mark: How will you know when God tells you?

Gracie: Ugh. Blank stare. OK. He said I can eat now.

What I took away from this was:

1. God has something to say about whether or not and when you should eat your breakfast, or any meal for that matter.
2. We should wait on the Lord and his timing for even the smallest of tasks.
3. Cynical people, perhaps even those in a position of spiritual leadership over us, might doubt that God is really speaking to us when He really could be.
4. Discerning God's voice can at times be a challenge... even to an actively listening child-like servant.
5. When God says GO, we best hurry along and enjoy the fruits, or in this case, carbs of obedience.



This is a recent picture of Grace and Mark's college roommate Paul at his parent's house in Charleston. We stopped there on our journey back from Oralndo. Grace is clearly in prayer and I think Paul is trying his best to hear from the Lord.

Why not run 13.1 miles?

It's in the game plan folks. Me, and my nursing mom self (she has her own identity), Lord willing, will bust out 13.1 miles this Thanksgiving. Amazingly, I have already accomplished this feat once before. It has taken me two years to recooperate, and now I'm ready to give it another go. Dixie Tree, Hotlanta Hausfrau, my little bro and the hubs will also be running.

Here we are TWO years ago. My mascara held up pretty well considering there was a total monsoon that day. Of course I wore makeup.



This time I am going to attempt training. I can practically smell the sage dressing now.

amazing faith

This dog was born on Christmas Eve in the year 2002. He was born with 2 legs -

He of course could not walk when he was born. Even his mother did not want him. His first owner also did not think that he could survive and he was thinking of ‘putting him to sleep'. But then, his present owner, Jude Stringfellow, met him and wanted to take care of him.



She became determined to teach and train this little dog to walk by himself. She named him 'Faith'. In the beginning, she put Faith on a surfboard to let him feel the movement. Later she used peanut butter on a spoon as a lure and reward for him for standing up and jumping around. Even the other dog at home encouraged him to walk.



Amazingly, only after 6 months, like a miracle, Faith learned to balance on his hind legs and to jump to move forward. After further training in the snow, he could now walk like a human being. Faith loves to walk around now.



No matter where he goes, he attracts people to him. He is fast becoming famous on the international scene and has appeared on various newspapers and TV shows. There is now a book entitled 'With a Little Faith' being published about him. He was even considered to appear in one of Harry Potter movies.

His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect 'soul'. In life there are always undesirable things, so in order to feel better you just need to look at life from another direction. I hope this message will bring fresh new ways of thinking to everyone and that everyone will appreciate and be thankful for each beautiful day. Faith is the continual demonstration of the strength and wonder of life.

stand still

I'm at a stand still. All of our Disney pics were downloaded onto hubs computer. Darn. Sadly, I cannot depict my life as more fabulous than it really is. There is no funnel cake to hide behind. No staged princess pics by the castle. Just me, myself, and my present reality. Which, by the way, involves hair loss. And I do mean massive hair loss. Anybody??? I realize it is a postpartum symptom. By the way...how long can I keep claiming postpartum to justify bizarre physical symptoms?? This is getting ridiculous if you ask me.

home tour!

Here is a tour of our house. Want to buy it?!

James wears James

My stomach was totally wrecked by the 9 months of gestation. There is no way around it. I have sacrificed my waistline on the alter of motherhood. What is a woman to do? That's right. HIGH RISE bootcut, sister. It wasn't until after our move to Cville that I began to appreciate premium denim. Old Navy might as well be called Old Rot now. The cheaper the denim the cheaper the denim and that's all there is to it. Problem is, siesta cannot regularly justify the high price tag that quality brings. I am a pastor's wife after all. Didn't you know that if your husband is in vocationally ministry it disqualiies you from good jeans?

So, I went into Judy b's today and lucked out yet again. I netted a perfectly appropriate, and modest post-partum pair of James Jeans for $70. I'll admit...that is still a lot to pay for jeans. The original price was $181.00, and that is a whole lot more. PLUS, I had some birthday money. Understand, I had nothing that fit me properly either. Every pair of size 26 in my closet might as well have been muffin tins. Sausage casing extrodinaire. The new pair promises, and I quote, "lifting, lengething, slimming." I want me some of that.

home tour!

You know you are getting old when you spend the first days of your vacation working on house projects. It is nearly impossible for Mark to get major projects done throughout the week because he only has one day off. Most major projects necessitate at least a full weekends worth of time and attention. Our exterior window casing was in desperate need of repair. All manner of winged insects were beginning to settle in and call our casing home. We had to rip out the old casing, install new casing, caulk and paint. It was a huge job, but with the help of several friends (THANK YOU!!!), it is finished! We also had several other smaller projects that needed tending to.

On our list:

- exterior window casing
- re-paint entry way and front door
- remove front door hardware and install new hardware
- paint ceiling on main floor
- caulk and re-paint interior window frames
- clean up

I've decided to give you all a home tour to showcase our labors. Just what you have been asking for!! Not really.

Welcome to the Campbell Casa!

Before



After





We repainted the front door a slightly lighter craftsman shade, replaced the hardware from shiny brass to the dark bronze, spray painted the kick plate (these are like $50 to replace!), purchased a summer to fall lavender transitional wreath for $8 (was $40!) from Target, replaced the front mat, repainted the trim surrounding door, and repainted the entryway ceiling.

Here is the other side of the door. Come on in, ya'll!



Tomorrow I'll show you around. I'm out of time this morning.

re-hash day 1

Day one of vaca Daddy put together a Disney princess tricycle purchased for $21 from Target during the end of summer clearance. It ended up being a total fail. The front wheel is super small and Grace is super tall. Oh well. It made for a sweet morning.