home again

After whirlwind travel and a busy weekend it's just good to be home and with my sweet girlies and having some good time with Sharon and Anna (and the Heckman's and several visitors!).  We had a great morning Sunday morning worshipping at Jean William's church, and then spent the rest of the day at the beach, which is always a good place to be together!

Once Lily stopped crying over the news of her new baby brother (oh, she was so so happy I didn't think she'd ever stop) she and Sofie have had a lovely time telling all our brothers and sisters here, and were off today to share the good news with their friends and classmates.

Matt, Sofie and I were very excited over the idea of another sweet Ayars girlie or a game-changing boy baby, but Lily was SET on a brother.  It's still a little hard to wrap our minds around how to do a boy, but God's always helped us one day at a time with the girls so we're sure He will continue.

One of our dear friends in college passed away unexpectedly our senior year, a man truly after the Lord's own heart and with a rare abandon and boldness to love and serve others in Jesus' name.  Because of his life and testimony, we always planned to name one of the children Ben, and so this one seems to the most appropriate.  He's Benjamin Asher...son of happiness, keeping with the tradition of Hebrew names and meaning in our family.  (When you marry a Bible nerd, you just know).

Nora, making Granny and Gertha play in her house :)

I'm on trimester three, and still on point for meeting Ben the beginning of July!  Praising the Lord for a so-far healthy pregnancy and baby, for a doctor who was willing to see me once, for the opportunity for good lab work and a sonogram and an appointment, and despite the advanced maternal age the doctor kept spouting and his concerns for Haiti being in a Zika-zone, all seems to be well and we thank you for your continued prayers.

Spending time with and speaking with the women of Crosspoint Churches (they had women from all four campuses there) was such a gift and joy. I didn't know what I was going to talk about for 45 minutes, but once the Lord clearly led me to a passage of His Word, it got a lot easier, because going through the Word together sure is a lot more powerful than any human-inspiration I could have come up with!  Praise the Lord for the opportunity and for bringing me safely home.

This week is somehow our LAST WEEK of regular classes, then next week is finals week (and all three of our Master's programs happen next week, too!), and the following week is graduation week!  Whew!  Lots of good stuff to do and be a part of