A Quick Update

A whole lot of life has happened since our last post. Steph was busy wrapping up her school year, cleaning her classroom, and saying goodbye to her students for summer break (totally jealous). And I was hit with a nasty bacterial pharyngitis (like strep but something else?) on top of general exhaustion, all of which knocked me out full force for the last six days.

In the time that I was home I planned to:

Do the laundry
Iron my clothes
Pick up dry cleaning
Maybe get a little work done

In the time that I was home I actually accomplished:

Picking up the dry cleaning (only because it’s in my building)
Watching a marathon of 24
Reading a few pages in my book
Getting lots of sleep

I also got a ton of emails, texts, and phone calls from family and friends, most of whom know the nitty gritty details about my health and know that if I’m sick enough to stay home and ask for prayer stuff just got real.

It felt super good to have these people in my corner reminding me what I already know – I was working way too hard and if I didn’t rest, stop taking care of everyone else, and take care of myself, at least five good friends would tie me to my couch and make sure I didn’t get up again until I was good and rested.

Thankfully Heshan realized four days in that I legitimately was not getting off the couch because I legitimately was as tired as I said I was, and he tackled the laundry and line drying and folding and all the stuff that goes with it, and I collected a serious amount of sleep.

So here are a few quick updates…

Before I was sick I finished Rhinestone Jesus by Kristen Welch. You guys … Page. Turner. I didn’t want to put it down. It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year, because her story is so real. It’s not fancy, it’s not intellectual, and it’s not even close to glamorous. It’s just one woman’s story of how she became a wife and a mom and then the founder of a maternity home in Kenya, and how none of it went according to her life plan but God keeps getting her through. Amazing.

I’ve also been dying to tell you that Heshan and I built a blog for the photo work we’ve been doing together. We actually built this about a month ago, but he pushed it public this weekend.

Remember when I shared our Follow Frame for this year and the areas of focus we set? We had no idea of this dream would actually come true or what God’s timing would be, but dream number 1, included all cryptically with the initials FF, stood for Fernando Foto. Heshan has been dreaming about putting his passion for photography into practice for years, but when it came to actually making it happen, he kept talking himself out of it. So after a few years of encouragement and prayer, and lots of budgeting and planning on his part, we took the leap. I’m literally amazed to see this dream coming to life, and I can’t believe what a God-given talent he has.

When we put this frame together earlier this year, I wasn’t sure what it would all mean. I just knew God was asking us to make a change, and we were at the ends of our ropes enough to do it. I’m completely humbled and grateful that things have been as different this year as they have, even when it’s crazy or up in the air or not secure or sure at all.

That’s it for now. Tell us what’s happening in your world. Give us the scoop!