14 Oct 2012

31Days: New Church (14)

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Today was the first day of being at our new church.  We got a warm welcome, the “right hand of fellowship” as Baptists call it – but this isn’t a Baptist church.

Heard a great sermon by the missions pastor from 1 Cor 3 on not taking any boast or division in man – but boasting only in Christ.  What a truth we all need to here.

We sang one of my favorite hymns “And Can It Be”.  Love it – how Luther-esque it is.  I remember singing it all the time in seminary at SEBTS, it was one of David Nelson’s fave songs.  We sang it so many times in chapel.

The saddest part but also the best part – it was the first and last time (for a while) that Eric and I will get to sit together for the entire service.  Love singing next to him.  Getting to hold his hand while we listen to the sermon.  Hearing what strikes him as “important” – those ah-ha moments that he has as he listens.  For a while I will be sitting with baby in the back.  So…I will sit with other people.

It was very good to put names with faces that I’ve met on facebook.  Already feel at home in this church – and thankful for the friendly welcome.  The last lady that came through the line to shake our hands – handed us a massive bag of Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips.  Don’t worry – the bag didn’t even make it home unopened.  It was a good appetizer!

13 Oct 2012

31Days: New Appreciation (13)

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I get to brag today.  I get to brag on my sweet husband.  I had to spend the night without him because he was/is at an Elder’s retreat.

As our pastor’s wives shared about their wonderful husbands – it gave me much more of an appreciation for mine.  I love bragging on him  – because he is absolutely wonderful.

1.  He is super humble.  Really – he puts me and baby Eli above himself at all times – even waking up at 4am to clean a poopy diaper.

2.  He serves me well.  I can’t begin to tell you how many times he did the dishes or cleaned up “morning sickness” during the pregnancy.  And he was a trooper during delivery – serving me by holding my hand and letting me crush his long piano-playing fingers.

3.  He loves Jesus.  He pursues holiness and loves the Bride.  He evidences the gospel to me – he reflects Christ so well.

4.  He is the man I respect more than any other in the world.  He not only must have my respect because he is my husband, but he also has my respect because he has earned it!

5.  He knows how to love me well.  In the year that we’ve been married he has learned how I receive love and nourishes me that way.  He hears my cries and dries my tears.  I look into his eyes and find peace.  That was especially true when I was in delivery.  My midwife said to think of something peaceful: I looked at E and said “he is my something peaceful” – yes, that was the sappiest time of delivery. 🙂  But, so true.

Dear sweet, Mr. Campbell – I love you.  So glad I get to do this thing called life with you.  My God has been very gracious to me in giving me you – and I look forward to the journey.

12 Oct 2012

31Days: First Pastoral Retreat (12)

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I just returned from my first ever pastoral retreat – with wives of course since I’m not a pastor.

We went with the other 4 pastors/wives to Heber Springs, AR which is about 90 minutes from LR.  We stayed at the Red Apple Inn.  It was an inn with beautiful grounds overlooking a lake and beautiful trees and served wonderful food.    Seriously, I have had chicken salad, homemade chips, salmon and baked potato, and fried grouper and sweet potato fries.  Yummy!

The best part about the retreat was two fold:

1.  Getting out of our apartment with boxes around us and everything.  We still aren’t quiet settled in and it was good to be free of boxes for a night!

2.  Getting to know the pastoral team we will be serving with.  It was such a joyful and meaningful sharing time – we laughed and of course cried.  I got to know the other pastors and their wives and that was such a blessing. So ready to start serving with them here in our new church. Also, I had people to help with little e.

The worst past about it:

1.  My husband gets to stay an extra day for Elders retreat.  I got to come home.  I am glad that he gets to stay, have a full night’s sleep without little e or me waking him up.  And he gets time with these godly men.  I don’t like to spend the night away from him.  I love king beds and all – but would rather have him to share it with me.  He will be back tomorrow and my parents come today – so I am not left alone with baby!

God is good – hope abounds

11 Oct 2012

31Days: New Zip Code (10 and 11)

by | posted in: 31days, Arkansas | 1

Good morning from 72211.  That’s right folks – we are mostly settled in to our new zip code.

I have already found the Kohls, Goodwill, Target, Kroger, Whole Foods, good BBQ place (Whole Hog), great Mexican place (Senor Tequila), and a fabulous date place (Brave New).

I’ve already made one trip to the airport but took two wrong turns, thankfully my friend didn’t miss her flight!  The little man is settling into his new digs and sleeping about 3-4 hour stints at night and The Lord is gracious to uphold us with little bouts of sleep instead of one long one.

I would love to tell you about the trails and hiking which we have around us because it is the perfect weather for it right now, but I am still in my post-delivery pain and haven’t ventured to walking yet (unless you count walking around Target).

So far we are really loving out new zip code and look forward to many more adventures in it.  We take our first road trip today so be on the look out for that new adventure tomorrow on the blog!

9 Oct 2012

31Days: 8 and 9: New Celebrations

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Ok – glad there is grace.  I missed the day yesterday for writing: I was sick, driving, unloading, feeding baby, and on a date with my husband.  Why was I on a date:

We celebrated ONE YEAR of marriage.  It was fabulous!  We went to a wonderful restaurant on the river in Little Rock (although it was too cold to sit out there and too dark to really see anything) called Brave New.  Wonderful food.  My friend Carrie had told me about it and I was hoping my hubs would surprise me with that location – and he did!  We enjoyed wine, Caesar salads, warm french bread, steaks with sides, and dessert ( I had homemade butterscotch ice cream – delightful).

We enjoyed leaving baby with a sweet friend, laughing, driving through Little Rock on our own in our own car, enjoying a fabulous meal, and talking about the past year and the year coming up!

7 Oct 2012

31Days: New Time Zone (Day 7)

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I have always lived in the EST.  That is the Eastern Standard Time zone.  I’ve never had to worry about what time games start or shows begin because they are always on at the same time.

Well, today about 2:20pm we passed into Central Time Zone to become residents.  That will be a little odd, having to remember the time difference when I am trying to connect with friends via the telephone (people still make phone calls).  I’ll have to think about it when wondering what time the sun will set and what time it will rise.

A time zone change may seem little – and of course it is, but it is just one more change in a long line of changes coming for us this month!

6 Oct 2012

31Days: New Road Trip (Day 6)

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Today there were 4 people in two cars that left Raleigh for a long haul trip on Interstate 40.  We would start in Raleigh and we will end in Little Rock in 2 days.  40.  Nothing else except the streets we stay on (Knoxville and Jackson) and the gas stops and eateries.  At least we have the Smokies and Blue Ridge.

Since I like eating out – we ate at Brigs in Raleigh with Eric’s parents: pumpkin pancakes.  Yummy taste of Fall.

In Mocksville (where?) we ate at a NC fave of mine: Ketchie Creek Bakery.  All of us shared the 5 Flavor Pound Cake.

Then we got to Knoxville and at a Triple D (Food TV) hit Pizza Palace (ok, disappointed) with a friend named Bekah and ate it over 90 minutes of conversation in our hotel.

Here’s to sleep and tomorrow.

5 Oct 2012

31Days: New Endings – Day 5

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We are at a crossroads today!  In two ways:

1.  Baby Elijah finally lost his umbilical cord this morning.  So we are ending the “newborn” phase!

2.  We are ending our run at 842.  The movers are here as I type – thankful I don’t have to do it by myself.  And thankful for my husband and the in-laws and the several friends who have helped us pack – especially since I have been having some post-delivery complications from the delivery.  My husband has lived here almost 8 years and designed it nicely for a batchelor.  Then I moved in a year ago – its definitely not as clean but it has more love in it!

We enjoyed our last night in the house!

4 Oct 2012

31Days: New Feet – Day 4

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Our sweet baby was born 15 days ago.  One of the verses we prayed for him all during the pregnancy was Psalm 139 – that God formed Elijah’s inmost parts.  This definitely includes his feet!

When he came out and was taking his footprints we noticed two things about them:

1.  His feet were really long.  They barely fit on the print card.  He will have big feet and its ok with us!

2.  His 2nd and 3rd toe are webbed.  It is a variation in who he is.

I had a bright light moment yesterday.  God made those webbed long feet and they are perfect because God created them that way.  We are still deciding if we are going to “fix” them or not – but we shall see.

God made him and he is good!

3 Oct 2012

31Days: New Life Verse (Day 3)

by | posted in: 31days, Bible | 1

A new friend pointed me to this Psalm as a way that she was able to persevere through the first couple of weeks of her child’s life.  Once her sweet daughter was born she was immediately taken into surgery and then faced several days in the NICU.  Sounds familiar – except the surgery  part.  I haven’t even met this friend or her daughter but already I know we are going to be good friends.

This Psalm I have whispered to myself probaby 100 times over the past two weeks.  I have whispered it to Eric as we lay in bed at night, exhausted from a newborn and the joys of moving to a new state.  It is definitely taken out of context, because we know the psalmist is not moving and has not just born a child, but the truth remains because God never changes.

Psalm 68.19 “Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation.  Selah.”

I hope this offers you encouragement in whatever daily battles you are facing.