Farewell to the Laughing Lady

Well this blog was to scrapbook all of the fun and memorable times we would have during our year at the Pastor's College. No one could have prepared us for what a rich and grace filled year it would be. Our deep gratitude to the Sovereign Grace staff, Pastor's College Administrative Team, Pastor's College Class of 09, Mahaneys, Kauflins, Ricuccis, Purswells, Harveys, Weltons, Donovans, Rosses, Rhoda, Nora, Dawn, Sarah and Melissa for giving us a multitude of rich memories and even more a living example of the grace of God. Missing you does not communicate properly how we feel yet we will use all of emotions we feel and fuel them toward praise to God for you. Lord its all about you!

For those of you who want to keep up with our more "normal" life, Matt has a new family blog for you to check in on, I do warn you I am pictured in some not so flattering dancing moves and there is a man or two in a dress:
http://www.slackadventures.blogspot.com/
Thanks for reading about me and my family this during the past year especially my blog coach, (Mr. Harvey)
Siobhan

Campout with Christian

To thank Christian for all his hardwork serving this year Matt surprised him with an overnight trip. They spent the night at a friend's cabin in the woods. They ate lots, talked lots and laughed even more! What a great memory!

Rolf's BIG birthday/graduation gift surprise

Well it took alot of help from many friends and alot of secrets but after planning with Rolf for months how we could celebrate all of Matt's hard work we both agreed a truck would really bless him. Rolf encouraged me to pray that the stock market would do better this year and then informed me that it did and he would able to make the surprise a reality. Aaron Law and the PC guys started by playing a Jepardy game show with Matt setup to win. They blindfolded him and brought him out to see his "prize". What a look of surprise and excitement! After he recovered he took his friends and kids for a victory lap. It was so great to celebrate all of Matt's hardwork. Thanks to Rolf for his amazing gift!

Jordan's Jam

To thank Jordan for all his serving in our family this year, Matt surprised him with a gift of recording at Sovereign Grace Ministry's Recording studio. He had a song he wrote and played the drums, bass, guitar and sang (not at the same time). He loved being in that environment and learning from Dave Mckenzie. The Donovans also joined us on this special afternoon. Jordan is playing the guitar that Mark gave him.

Green Smoothies at Healthtrax

The guys at the gym have been teasing me about eating Kale so for my last day at the gym I brought in green smoothies and everyone tried some. It was a great opportunity to get to know folks in the community and spend time with Mark and Maritza.

Donovan's Farewell

The Donovan Family showed us so much care all year. We enjoyed DC together, a tea party, went shopping, a historical photoshoot and lots of delicious fellowship. To top it off we had a going away dinner where they blessed us with thoughtful gifts. The girls made our girls beaded headbands. Kerry made a collage of the the girls photoshoot. Christian was blessed with a leather journal. Matt had been wanting an old hymnal and without knowing it the Lisa gave him one. I was blessed with pretty napkins. One gift in particular was a true sacrifice. Mark blessed Jordan with his Fender Telecaster electric guitar. Wow! Jordan was speechless and amazed. They have taught our family so much this year. We hope to make others feel as cared for as they have made us. We will miss you Mark, Lisa, Kerry and Emily!!!

Death is not Dying

I was so effected by this testimony and its hope filled proclamation of the gospel.
I wanted to share it with all of you. It is copied from the girl talk blog!

"We had a post ready for today, but we’re not going to put it up. This afternoon, we received an email from a girl talk reader named Shaila, in Vancouver, Canada. Her best friend, Rachel Barkey has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Rachel is a wife, a mother of two children, and she is not expected to live to see her 38th birthday.

Several weeks ago, Rachel shared a message with a group of women entitled “Death is Not Dying: A Faith that Saves.” We were so affected as we watched this video that we wanted to share it with you right away.

Many people have asked Rachel, “Why? Why is this happening to you? To Neil? To Kate and Quinn? To your family and friends?”

“I don’t ask ‘why?’” says Rachel. “Because I know.”

Please watch or listen and learn what Rachel knows

A New Member of the Family

Mariah has wanted a beagle for quite a while now. While looking on the internet at beagle puppies, she found a litter of newborns located in Binghamton, NY. After we had closed on our house we surprised Mariah by taking her to see the puppy that she had fallen in love with over the past few days. We placed a deposit on her, and in a few weeks (when she is old enough, and PC is through) we will bring her home. Mariah has already chosen the name Daisy J (short for jr.), in remembrance of Matt's grandfather's beagle, whose name was Daisy. Here are a few pictures of the puppy.

My teacher, my mother , my friend

My mother has taught me so much from her life. She has taught me how to love. As long as I can remember my mother has shown me much affection. My life has been showered with kisses, squeezes and hugs. What amazes me is that for many years she had every reason not to be loving towards me but not once did she ever remove her gracious affection from me. She has also taught me from her life to how to persevere. I can't ever remember my mom saying anything was too hard. For many years I saw her give all her strength to accomplish what needed to be done. Then when she gave her life to the Lord I saw her rely on Him for everything. She modeled what it meant to "trust in the Lord with all your heart". She has taught me to be joyful. In her life as a christian I can't remember a time when she wasn't filled with joy and gladness. My mom is such a wonderful example of a grateful believer. She is steadfast in prayer, passionate in worship and zealous in evangelism. I think of how generous, creative, frugal, fun , energetic, tenacious, adventurous and godly my mother is and I see the Lord's love for me. By God's grace I hope to be more and more like my mother. I love you mom!

Miss Emily's Art Class

We had no idea what a great art teacher Emily Campbell would be. She not only entertained the students with her down to earth humor, she taught them specific art skill and mostly importantly encouraged them in godly character. My kids couldn't wait until Friday afternoons to get to art class with friends and Mrs. Campbell. Thanks for sacrificing your time and sharing your talent with us all Emily!

Korean with the Kangs

As we have hoped to spend our last few dates in DC area trying ethnic food, our friends and fellow PC student and his wife the Kangs went to Korean with us to show us traditional Korean foods. We really enjoyed the food, but came away much more effected by the Kangs humility and commitment to the gospel and building a local church in Korea. Both Matt and I were so encouraged as they shared their experience at the PC and how the gospel has been affecting their marriage and parenting and how they longed for other Koreans to experience the same. They expressed much faith in God and displayed such patience with the timing of what the Lord might do. It has been such a priveldge to build relationships with the Kangs and other PC families.

Lurray Caverns with the Harveys

The Harveys not only watched our kids for us, but gave them a wonderful memory as they made the two hour trek to Lurray Caverns. The kids came home full of stories of the beauty of the caverns. They said that there was an underwater lake that so reflected the top of the cavern that you thought it was the same on the bottom. Matt and I have never seen a cavern so the kids are already more adventurous than we are. Thanks Uncle Craig and Aunt Jeannie!!

Weekend Getaway yet not away

Thanks to our friends the Harveys, Matt and I were able to spend two days all by ourselves. To save $ we stayed home but spent the days out. It was so good to celebrate what a blessing our marriage is. We stayed out Friday night and went to a late movie, unfortunately I fell asleep in it. The next day we woke up early, shaved Matt's head which he was very glad for. We rode the subway to DC and rented a paddle boat outside of the Jefferson Memorial. It was a beautiful day and it felt like we were kids. We left there and hunted down ethnic food at Adams Morgan. We started with a South American empanada (meatpie). Then shared a falafel pita at Amsterdam Falafel. They only serve falafel pitas and fries. The place was packed and we soon found out why. We ended up sharing a couple of appetiazers at the Lebanese Taverna. We then took the metro and took a tour at the National Gallery of Art. What a great day!The next day we slept in, Matt taught me how to understand the book of Hebrews better and we had indian buffet for lunch. Thank you Harveys for the time we had as a couple. Next blog post will be about what the kids did while we were away.

PC Spring Picnic

What a fun and beautiful day we had this past Saturday as we enjoyed another special event planned by the PC Admin Team. It was great to spend time with Tracy Branchaw one of our hosts. There was great music played live, lots to eat, animals to pet, playground to play on but best of all time to be together. I think we are all feeling the end is coming. It has set a desire in our hearts to savor. One of the highlights for me was seeing our fearless leader do what she does best, which is enter our worlds. Here is Betsy trying an almond stuffed date with Shari and Miran.

Easter: A day to celebrate God's greatest gift

Easter proved to be a fun memory making day. We started by going to church and then headed to the Lockharts for a ham dinner. We then did an Easter egg hunt and ended up with relay races that included an apple bobbing. It was a great opportunity to be together as families especially away from those we love back home.

The Pastors Conference: Celebrating as we look back and look forward!

We have always enjoyed conferences because of the concentrated time we get to spend praising God, the preaching and catching up with new and old friends. This conference for me was especially sweet. We first of all we were still in awe that were participating. Add to that amazing teaching that inspired awe at all that the Lord is doing and will do in coming generations. Then being able to have the two women that outside our moms have influenced my walk with the Lord the most in the same building. First was Mary Walsh (in the blue shirt) who walked faithfully with me as a new believer right up until I had Jordan. She was so real, many times teaching me with her life as I would sit in her living room as she taught homeschool. She said difficult things I needed to hear but always with such a heart to do me good. She even helped plan our wedding. Then when we moved to Orlando, God used Sandie Brooks( in the pink) to pick up where Mary left teaching me about marriage and self righteousness and raising kids. Then we saw the Kirchers who are a walking definition of fun and biblical fellowship. To add to all that we were able to spend much time with Allen and Janice Snapp (not shown here because my camera died) and recognize the immense priveledge to go to Corning and serve with them. Their son Jared stayed with the kids while we were at the conference which made it fun for all of us!

A night of grace-filled praise!

Some of the PC couples who are involved in worship back at their home churches had a chance to have dessert with Bob and Julie Kauflin last Friday night. We had started the year with a picnic at their home, sharing our exhuberance at being at PC. This time we sat around as Bob asked us what had been most impacting about this year. Couple after couple shared about how the grace of God and the gospel had become more tangible in their everyday lives through the care and example of Gary and Betsy Ricucci. It was helpful to stop and look back and see how much heart work has occurred over the past eight months. I described our time here as a continual "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory experience", one of wonder and amazement. I had a real treat at the end of the night as Julie answered my many decorating questions patiently and gave me some tips for our new home in Corning.