random wednesday thoughts:

It was a doozy of a day. Instead of delving into the details and throwing myself a little pity party, we'll just do a little bullet post full of McG family happenings. 

-Our house is still for sale. (Did I ever mention that we listed it?! We did. Two months and twelve showings ago.) We would love and appreciate prayer for a buyer! Keeping a house show-ready is a tricky task. One that I am quite over. :)

-I am 30.5 weeks pregnant. As in, we are in the final stretch of this pregnancy. Holy. Cow. This baby (gender still unknown) may very well end up nameless. We have a girl name we like, but no middle names and no boy names period. Yikes. 

-I just made a bowl of salsa and used a whole habanero and a whole jalapeno. I don't think I could eat something too spicy right now. 

-Two weeks ago, my ankle swelled up and began hurting. Since then, it's swelled off and on and the pain has come and gone. I mentioned it at an OB appointment yesterday, and they decided we needed to do an x-ray. Turns out I have "body fracture fragments" in my left ankle -- (from what I understand, piece of bone that has broken off and is loose in the ankle) -- one that appears to be old on the inside of my ankle, and a fresh, jagged spot on the outside. I am in a walking boot for the next three weeks at least, and will see what needs to be done from there.

-I am really really really thankful for a working air conditioner. (It has been in the 90's the last two weeks!)

-I still really love pumpkin spice lattes.

-and ice water. Cannot get enough ice water.

-My big kiddos are loving school. Nora loves mornings at home with just mama and loves when it's time to get Corban and Cate at noon. It's been a sweet transition-- I'm thankful for this time, and man oh man, are we going to miss it.

-Jordan and I are doing some discipleship training (t4t) with another missionary couple and it's been so good-- especially for me. The people we are meeting with are just incredible. So thankful that the Lord has them still here in this season and that we are able to have this time with them!! (Check out coopersonamission.com -- you will be encouraged, challenged, and blessed. Their hearts and their passion to follow hard after Jesus leave you wanting to do the same.)

-I am a soon to be homeschooling mom. I have started researching homeschool curriculums at least 600 times and then get overwhelmed by all the information and the crazy costs and quit. If anyone just wants to tell me what to do, that would be great. :) 

-Jordan is watching a cheesy western on TV and I am researching names (with no luck) and that probably means we should just go to bed. And so I will. Goodnight!

a perfect Saturday.

It's reached the time of year where my camera comes out of the bag only for photo sessions. I realized, while looking for some pictures of my kiddos, that I hadn't taken a single one of them (excluding the iphone) in weeks. I rectified that this weekend. :) We had the most perfect Saturday... a day away, no cell phone service, with family and friends that we love. We (they) jumped off the high dock, swam, boated, tubed, fished, hot tubbed, etc. etc. etc. It was a glorious mini-getaway and left us feeling ready for the week. I'm so grateful that we said yes to a day of rest instead of the day of ceiling painting we had planned. :) (The ceilings remain unpainted, however...)

I think I want to frame every single one of these! It's refreshing to break out my camera and just shoot for me, just capture our babies just being themselves. I don't know why I don't do more of it! Anyway, here's a few pics of just my precious kiddos:

first day!

First Day of School, 2013

 Caters, first day of Pre-K

 Corban, first day of kindergarten

They had an amazing first day and were so excited about going.
That bottom picture of the two of them is one I imagine will be on a slide show at their weddings... I pray that they always love each other like they do now, you know? They were in the same class last year (it happens when you're only 17 months apart!), but Corban moved up to Kindergarten this year and Cate is in Pre-K. Cate's teacher told me that he ran up and gave her a big hug when he saw her on the playground at recess. Truly, they are the best of friends and I am so thankful for their relationship. We had an amazing day of back-to-school shopping on Monday and were out literally all day. It was one of those 'my heart is bursting' type of days and I couldn't believe the ease with which we tackled our to-do lists and laughed and enjoyed doing so. We've come a long way, friends. Three babies in three years is no joke, but I praise God for his perfect timing and choosing us to bless us like He did, when He did. There were a couple of years when doing anything without another set of hands AND a stroller seemed impossible, but Monday was proof again that we are in a sweet, sweet new season.
I had two different moms stop me and ask the age of my kids (including the one in utero) who went on to tell me about their four children close in age. One mama said her children are now ages 8-14 and she's 'blown away every day by how fun it is'. I love that; I love the mom's who take the time to encourage us who are earlier on in this sweet journey of motherhood.
I guess I am just feeling nostalgic and emotional at this quick new beginning that will soon lead to another new beginning. I am so thankful that they (the kiddos) will have the constancy of each other as we transition to all of the new that's coming, you know? I'm thankful that they get the excitement of first day of school, of new school supplies, of walking down the halls of Horizon for a few more months, and then I'm thankful that they'll have each other as peers and classmates in the next. All around- just feeling thankful.

us!

Last week, my dear friend Lexi (of Lexi Russell Photography) snapped a few pictures of us after dinner. We needed an updated family photo for our missions website/prayer magnets/etc., as our last family pictures were taken when Nora was just over a year old, so we stopped by our church and had a real quick session. It was practically dark and super cloudy, but I love how 'us' these are. Funny how it works out... the very first picture we took ended up being the one where everyone is looking and smiling. The rest are just fun. :)

(I only watermarked them because there's been some issues with my images being stolen! Like I said, I didn't take these, just edited them.)

It's so crazy to me that these photos, too, will so quickly be outdated. We are just a few short months from our fourth baby joining us! I can't wrap my mind around being 25 weeks already! I have a lot to say about that- this new life, the months spent waiting and praying for this little one, the many emotions after having lost a baby and then carrying another one... I am just so thankful, so overwhelmed with gratitude for this sweet life growing inside of me. A whole post on the subject to come!

We are currently designing and ordering our prayer support cards, business cards, magnets, etc... It's all becoming so real. Have I said that already?! This week also marks the start of school for the kiddos- Corban to Kindergarten (still half day, praise the Lord!), and Caters to pre-school half-day everyday as well. I'm looking forward to settling into a new routine, though so sad that summer has passed so quickly. We have a lot to do in the next five months (!!!!) and the time with them in school should be helpful. They are really excited about returning, and I'm really grateful for that. Come January, we will begin homeschooling, so this time with them in school will allow me some time to research and prepare for that transition as well. So much change soon to be coming! As I've said in every post as of late, we really would love and appreciate prayer. For a list of things you could pray through, visit here: mcgmissions.com/prayer. Also, feel free to look around the website if you haven't already- lots of info there! We had a few people ask about being able to subscribe via email, so we just added that to the site as well. It's so crazy to be in this season, to be just months away from this move... to be in a position where we know that only God can make all of this happen. It's going to be (amongst many other things) so sweet...

Have a great day! 

home from our soon-to-be home

It's been quiet in this little space since two huge, life-altering announcements, and I think I'm ready to really talk now.
It's been a whirlwind on all fronts and my emotions have been many. We just returned home from 13 days in St. Kitts-- our last youth mission trip, our first to the island knowing it's our soon-to-be home. We listed our house while we were gone, had six showings while we were gone. We got home at 11:30pm Saturday night and threw a birthday party for Corban on Sunday. We slept in this morning and then spent a glorious few hours creek stomping with some dear friends and I feel like I'm finally beginning to let go of that breath I've been holding for months now, finally beginning to process all of this that is our life.

I'd like to pretend that I've got only excitement and am running full steam ahead with anticipation for what is to come, but that isn't the reality. Being in St. Kitts was a huge reality check: this is going to be hard. Oh, it'll be sweet and good, I am sure of that, but it is not going to be easy. As we exited the plane and breathed in the humid air, I fought tears-- not even knowing what I was feeling. I don't know if I've ever felt more colliding emotions at once. We walked through the days and the trip was really sweet, but I saw it all through a different lens this time: this is my new home.

It was good to be there and be with the Grayson's and get a glimpse of the ministries we will be a part of and see how and where we may fit in. There's definitely an excitement to plug in and get to work. But there's going to be a season of adjustment... To a new place, a new culture, to being away from our families and all that we currently know as comfortable and familiar. I was so thankful to be able to sit in the evenings before bed and talk it out with Jordan- for him to let me process and laugh and cry and then to sit and pray. This new season of stepping out is doing sweet, sweet things for our marriage and I am so thankful to be walking through it with Jordan by my side. I can't wait to get down there with our kiddos-- to watch them see the island for the first time, to play pick up soccer, to watch the little girls grab Cate's light brown curls and for her to be equally enthralled with their beaded braids. They talk about tasting fresh mangos and snorkeling and exploring and it is going to be so sweet to see the island through their eyes, you know? I am looking forward to a new start, for a season of 'new', even in the midst of the hard, to learn and grow together. It will be so good to be doing ministry with Brandon and Wendi again-- just the simple likemindedness is so sweet, to have hearts united and the same vision and burden and I really look forward to us all being a team again. I have no doubt that the Lord has big plans for this tiny island... and I really AM excited to be a part of whatever He has in store. 

It's just a lot to take in, how new and different it all will really be. Currency conversions, a language that is the same but sounds so different, homeschooling, new foods, driving, etc. etc. etc. Little things, certainly, but still different. And the biggest, hardest... just being away. I know that in this the Lord will stretch us and grow us and there will be a sweetness to relationships despite the distance, perhaps even BECAUSE of the distance, but all these things have me doing a whole lot of processing. 

So from here, things get really real. The mission trip was my far-off point that was my marker for time remaining. After the trip comes 'buckle down and get serious' time, and well, that time is here. I think that's why I've been such a mess of emotions-- it's just all becoming very very real. We would LOVE for you to be praying for us... for our house to sell, for our time remaining with the youth, for our kids and families as we prepare for the move, for prayer team and support raising, for the little baby growing inside of me, for all the little details between here and there. It is very easy for me to become overwhelmed by 'all the things' but we are praying to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, to walk rightly in the midst of it all, that our focus wouldn't be on our circumstances-- we would definitely love for you to join in with us.

On that note, I'm sorry for saying 'sweet' nine million times and being too brain dead to come up with a different adjective. :) I'm off to enjoy getting groceries at Super Target while I still can, then put groceries away in our house while it's still our home. All of the normal daily things feel a little different now, knowing that the time left doing them is limited. I hope to be doing more writing now that our busyness is shifting and we begin to transition to all of the 'new'. Have a great day!

when God says, "Go!"

If I would have written this post two and a half years ago, it would have been entitled, "when God says 'stay'." We had just survived the hardest year of our lives; enduring the death of my little brother and the immense grief that followed. We had a new baby (our third!). Our best friends and partners in youth ministry had just moved out of the country. Ministry felt lonely. The season was difficult. I ached for fresh. New. Exciting. But what the Lord spoke over and over was that we were to stay. We were to stay and serve, to 'bury our bones', that our 'mission' was this little suburb we live in, these youths surrounding us, this church we had grown to love.
There was a long period of seemingly hard, but what came afterwards was the sweetest season of serving in ministry that we've ever had. Relationships grew. Roots went deep, deep, deep. Though I knew it wouldn't be, I dreamed of staying exactly where we are, doing exactly what we're doing for the rest of our lives.
Funny how the heart can change, huh?

Over the last year, I have watched a vision and a burden grow within my husband. I've watched him be faithful to pray, faithful to surrender, faithful to serve. I have seen the Lord working and stirring and I have resisted something fierce. The Lord has been so gracious and my husband so patient, and I felt (although terrified) prepared when it was all out on the table:

The Lord is moving us on, sending us out. Our time in Indianapolis is coming quickly to a close and we will be beginning a new chapter come January 2014, as we join our best friends on that teeny tiny little island of St. Kitts.

It's been a roller coaster of emotions as we have begun to take steps in making this huge life change. My initial response was a two-fold grieving process: grieving the close of a season, and what I've jokingly dubbed the death of the American Dream. Leaving home-- which has far more to do with the people than the place-- is what will undoubtedly be the hardest. Moving away from our families, our kiddos away from their grandparents and aunts and uncles... our friends, our children from their friends, etc. etc. HARD. On a more surface level, leaving the comfort and familiarity of America will be a huge adjustment, too.
But friends, more than all of that, more than all of the 'hard' is an excitement to obey, to go, to watch the Lord provide and work and move and grow. The vision is big: We want to see the face of a nation changed as they grab ahold of the truth of Scripture, as the gospel is continued to be taught and demonstrated, as rules and religion are put to death and a relationship with Jesus is put in its place. Our desire is to go be a part of making disciples who make disciples who make disciples... who are then sent out to do the same. We are so excited to be joining back up and serving alongside the Grayson's again. If there were ever hearts knitted together, it is ours. We have so missed our dear friends and have prayed since the day they left that the Lord would allow us to serve together again. (My plan was on US soil, but hey, what do I know?! haha). Just all the way around, a huge excitement and anticipation for what the Lord wants to do with this little 65 square mile rock.

So there it is. A new baby coming November, and a new season starting January. We would looooooove (and desperately need) prayer as we walk forward in this-- selling our house, preparing our kiddos for and walking in transition after transition, raising support, etc. There have been many moments of 'overwhelmed' but I keep going back to Romans 4:21-22... Abraham did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He promised, He was also able to perform. The Lord has undoubtedly set this move before us. There has been confirmation after confirmation and we are confident that this is the direction He is moving us, and if He is calling us, He is going to make a way for it to happen. Please pray that we will walk in faith, that we will keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, that we will rest in His goodness and grace.

Lastly-- please check out our missions website/blog at mcgmissions.com. There's tons of info and details there about the island and what we will be doing and the logistics of it all. I'm planning on doing a "q&a" type post here in the next few days with the questions I seem to regularly be getting, so feel free to leave any questions you might have in the comments of this post!

We are excited, thankful, overwhelmed, full of anticipation. It is so sweet to trust in Jesus...

my favorite post I've written in awhile...

I'll just let the pictures do the talking. 

:)

Unbelievably, amazingly, overwhelmingly blessed!

Baby McG #4 will be joining our crew in November. 

We are praising God for this sweet, sweet gift!