surprise.

It's REAL awkward to try to write a blog post after not writing anyyyyything for 3 1/2 months. 

I guess the only good explanation for this hiatus is...

We're having a BABY! 

It's true, and we are ecstatic. Brian left to go to Korea for a couple months and I started feeling real sick and then I realized I was kind of sleeping all day. I put two and two together, took a test, and that was that. We were pregnant. 

We were definitely surprised and a little bit shocked at first, mostly since Brian was away and it didn't feel real quite yet. Now that he is back and we have let our secret out, we couldn't be more excited. We feel so grateful that the Lord would bless us with a sweet new life growing inside of me. 

We've been so blessed to have gotten to see our baby and hear the little wooshing heartbeat twice already. Everything looks great, and I am a little over 13 weeks along right now. I mostly look like I have just finished eating a large hamburger, which at most times is truth. I have been craving hamburgers and watermelon and indian food like it's my job. The nausea has subsided greatly, and I am feeling 100x better than the first 12 weeks, thankfully. My taste for coffee has completely disappeared, though, and I'm praying it comes back! Will it come back? I miss my warm mug in the mornings. 

Brian has been the best caretaker and gets me snacks all day long. He always checks to see how many oz. of water I've finished and is constantly refilling my water bottle. Our midwife told him he must make sure I drink at least a gallon of water a day, and he is taking his job very seriously. And for this girl, who kind of hates water, a gallon a day is pure torture. 

So, there is our fun news! Now that the cat is out of the bag, I plan to update this here blog much more frequently than say, every 3 1/2 months or so. Thanks for celebrating with us!

thankfulness.

Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances;
for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Although I truly believe thankfulness is a lifestyle, sometimes it's nice to have one whole day devoted to recognizing all the little blessings in life that call us to be thankful. The things that quickly become expected and deserved, rather than evidences of God's grace on our lives. This verse is one that I frequently have to call to mind, as thankfulness is not always free flowing from my heart. But yet, thankfulness is something God commands from us. And not just in the good times, but in ALL circumstances. If we believe, truly truly believe, that God works all things for the good-- then we are free to be thankful in all circumstances knowing with full confidence that He makes everything work together for our good. Is this how I always feel in my heart? No. Not at all. But I can decide in my mind to be thankful before my heart even feels it, and I can pray that God would soften my heart. And He is faithful, He always does. Thankfulness is not a feeling, it's a decision. 

And we have so, so much to be thankful for. 

I am thankful for God's grace on my life. That He chose to save me before I even knew Him. That because of Jesus my sinful nature was replaced with holiness, righteousness, purity, and grace. That He is all sufficient and more than I could ever need. That I could study His Word all day everyday and still not know all there is to know about His character. That I am constantly in amazement of His ways. That because of his full, perfect love and unconditional forgiveness that I never deserve, I am able to forgive freely and give love to others. 

I am thankful for my marriage, my husband. My best friend. My confidant. My fellow adventurer. The goofiest man in the world that follows hard after Jesus. The man that loves his family and desires to obey the Lord in all aspects of life. The one who works long days and comes home to serve me in any way that he can. The man who's life pushes me to Jesus as he desires to live a life fully dependent on Christ. The one that never complains and can find joy in even the darkest moments. The one full of corny jokes that everyone can't help but love. I am thankful for a man who is easy to love, and a man who finds it so easy to love others. 

I am thankful for our family. Parents and inlaws. Brothers and sisters. BILs and SILs. Grandparents. Girlfriends. Aunts. Uncles. Cousins. Nieces and nephews. And I'm not just saying this because I know they will all read this post. I'm saying it because it's true. They are loud and crazy and a little bit wild sometimes-- but Brian and I have never ever had to question whether or not our families loved us. We are thankful for 2 sets of parents that try hard to obey God, walk in righteousness, love each other well, and love their family well. We know for a fact that the reason we love marriage so much is because of God's grace and because of parents and grandparents who modeled healthy marriage to us for our first 22 years of life. And we kind of love how crazy our families are, wouldn't want it any other way.

I am thankful for technology and that even though it hurt our hearts to be away from our families physically, we got to see all their faces and feel like we were there in person. Facetime makes the distance from America to Japan feel a little bit smaller. That I can call my mom and see her face whenever I need to. That I can have coffee dates with friends back home. That I can watch my dear friend's pregnant belly grow. That we don't have to miss out on those things because of distance and a 14 hour time difference. 

I am thankful for community-- far and near. For how God has provided for Brian and I since day one in the Marine Corps. Since moving away from the only homes and families we had ever known, the Lord has never ceased to place people in our lives exactly when we needed them. People to do life with. People to pour into us and speak truth into our lives. We are thankful for our church here and our community group that has loved us like they have known us their whole lives. We are thankful for dear friends who are only an elevator ride away (or the stairs if I'm feeling sporty). That if we can't be with our family during the holidays, we get to be with friends who feel like family. 

I am thankful for this beautiful place we get to live. For our home that is more than we need. For this adventure that we will look back on nostalgically for the rest of our lives. For a time to be away from comfort and really find out who we are, how we do marriage, and be fully dependent on God. I am thankful for the turquoise water, the white sand, and the warm breeze. 

//

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend full with 2 whole Thanksgiving dinners, lots of time together, cooking and baking, Christmas tree putting uping, black friday shopping, board game playing, fresh flower picking, beach dinner eating, and so much more. Why can't every weekend be 4 days long?

Happy Thanksgiving friends. I'm thankful for you. 

Also: side note. It's ironic that after writing a whole post on thankfulness and then pressing publish, and then realizing that my entire post had been lost, I immediately began cursing my computer and blogger and anything in my direct line of vision. 

I would say the Lord still has a lot of work to do on my heart in this area :)