Sorry it’s been so long since we’ve written. Christmas is always a busy time of year so I guess now that it’s February I don’t have any excuse! I’m sorry if you’ve heard some of this before, but I’m writing to a diverse audience so please bear with me!
First, a baby update. I am now 36 weeks along and my due date is March 9. My belly is getting bigger but my weight and size are on track for a “typical” pregnancy so that’s reassuring. The doctor said yesterday “this is going to be a March baby” and isn’t concerned about me going into labor early unless my water breaks unexpectedly. We are having a boy (yay!) and are so excited. I recently set up the Pack ‘N Play with bassinet where our son will sleep the first few months—just looking at it every day is a serious reality check! And no, we’re not entirely sure on the name, but the list is down to 2-3 now. We’re just going to have to meet him to decide. My family held a baby shower while in Wisconsin over Christmas (thanks Mom and Abby!) and we received many needed things. Then 2 weeks ago our church threw us a surprise baby shower with everyone from the church—we thought we were having dinner with one family, but everyone was there to celebrate with us! We were incredibly blessed and I now feel satisfied we have the essential starting gear for our son.
Our church, Crossings Community (www.crossingscommunity.com), is simply amazing. It’s small, about 50-75 people. Their generosity towards others and commitment to love and community is authentic. They really believe the Bible is truth and that we need to constantly apply it to our lives, changing our ways where they don’t match up with God’s. Each Sunday we are treated to an exegetical teaching (currently from Ephesians) by one of the leaders in the church. They are committed to building strong families and individuals first, then building the church into maturity. Currently 3 of the leaders are in process to be sent out from our body for training in church planting (in Iowa, of all places!). We are partnering with another church there that is aligned with our values and has been training up leaders for many years. Our 3 leaders are training up several other men to lead our body. Everyone is encouraged to serve the body and reach out to non-believers using the gifts God has given them, and there is much mentoring and accountability.
Speaking of serving the body, Matt is starting to get involved on the worship team at Crossings. He’s played drums and guitar a few times. It’s been great to get the drums out of storage, haul them to church, set them up, hear Matt play them, then tear them down and take them home (often I wonder why I married a musician who has to bring 8 “instruments” with him in order to play!). Just this past week Matt figured out how to fit all the drums in the car with the baby seat (and me) so we’re covered in that regard—I was a bit concerned about the baby fitting. J I’ve volunteered to edit a core doctrinal document written by one of the leaders (the it’s and its were driving me nuts) so it looks like I may serve as the grammar editor for future writings. We also started attending a Friday night Bible Study called First Principles covering the foundational beliefs of our faith. We just finished a study on marriage, the family, and roles of men and women, and are thankful Crossings is dedicated to teaching the basics before trying to actively incorporate new people into the church. There is a lot more unity and really knowing each other when you wrestle through and agree on core beliefs and practices in a small group. And we are VERY thankful for the equipping Maranatha gave us in these same areas!
Sorry to talk so much about Crossings but it is a huge part of our lives here and we love it! God is so good.
Matt’s job at Microsoft is a mixture of satisfying technical challenges and frustrating corporate bureaucracy. He is dedicated to writing quality software that people can use and that makes his company money. Thankfully his team has the same outlook and methodologies for achieving that goal—he works with wonderful people who recognize his skills and encourage him to make things better. Mostly we’re learning to let the frustrating things slide and learn from the experience. It’s really confirming that some day we’d like to run our own business, though we recognize the benefits of working for a large company. For example, my pregnancy has cost us $0 for medical care and Matt gets 4 weeks of PAID paternity leave when I go into labor. It’s an amazing blessing!
Matt still does Guys’ Night Out on Thursdays (after a 3-week break to attend Childbirth Prep classes with me—what a great husband!) with Rob and several other friends. Sunday mornings he has breakfast with the Crossings men. In the evenings he plays his guitar, dreams of buying a guitar amp, and escorts me on walks around the neighborhood. He takes excellent care of his pregnant wife, often offering foot rubs when I’ve had a tiring day. :) My days are full of housewifey things like cleaning and laundry, running errands, getting new tires on the car, working freelance on websites, sleeping, reading, shopping Goodwill/Salvation Army for baby bargains, going for walks, and trying to eat healthy. We spend a lot of weekend time together, savoring the freedom of “no baby yet”.
Last but not least, for all you folks with snow still, our weather. This past week it has been 75 degrees every day, and the crab apple type trees are laden with blossoms. So I guess we went straight from fall to spring here… still so strange to us.
I’m attaching some photos: my baby belly at 34 weeks, the crazy daddy-to-be breaking the rules as usual and both of us at Yosemite in December (this is a redwood tree that fell over—you’re looking at the roots). We miss you all very much and hope to return to the Midwest in June for 10 days or so. Hope all is well with you, and when you have a minute we’d love to hear an update on your life!
Love,
Erin, Matt, and Baby
First, a baby update. I am now 36 weeks along and my due date is March 9. My belly is getting bigger but my weight and size are on track for a “typical” pregnancy so that’s reassuring. The doctor said yesterday “this is going to be a March baby” and isn’t concerned about me going into labor early unless my water breaks unexpectedly. We are having a boy (yay!) and are so excited. I recently set up the Pack ‘N Play with bassinet where our son will sleep the first few months—just looking at it every day is a serious reality check! And no, we’re not entirely sure on the name, but the list is down to 2-3 now. We’re just going to have to meet him to decide. My family held a baby shower while in Wisconsin over Christmas (thanks Mom and Abby!) and we received many needed things. Then 2 weeks ago our church threw us a surprise baby shower with everyone from the church—we thought we were having dinner with one family, but everyone was there to celebrate with us! We were incredibly blessed and I now feel satisfied we have the essential starting gear for our son.
Our church, Crossings Community (www.crossingscommunity.com), is simply amazing. It’s small, about 50-75 people. Their generosity towards others and commitment to love and community is authentic. They really believe the Bible is truth and that we need to constantly apply it to our lives, changing our ways where they don’t match up with God’s. Each Sunday we are treated to an exegetical teaching (currently from Ephesians) by one of the leaders in the church. They are committed to building strong families and individuals first, then building the church into maturity. Currently 3 of the leaders are in process to be sent out from our body for training in church planting (in Iowa, of all places!). We are partnering with another church there that is aligned with our values and has been training up leaders for many years. Our 3 leaders are training up several other men to lead our body. Everyone is encouraged to serve the body and reach out to non-believers using the gifts God has given them, and there is much mentoring and accountability.
Speaking of serving the body, Matt is starting to get involved on the worship team at Crossings. He’s played drums and guitar a few times. It’s been great to get the drums out of storage, haul them to church, set them up, hear Matt play them, then tear them down and take them home (often I wonder why I married a musician who has to bring 8 “instruments” with him in order to play!). Just this past week Matt figured out how to fit all the drums in the car with the baby seat (and me) so we’re covered in that regard—I was a bit concerned about the baby fitting. J I’ve volunteered to edit a core doctrinal document written by one of the leaders (the it’s and its were driving me nuts) so it looks like I may serve as the grammar editor for future writings. We also started attending a Friday night Bible Study called First Principles covering the foundational beliefs of our faith. We just finished a study on marriage, the family, and roles of men and women, and are thankful Crossings is dedicated to teaching the basics before trying to actively incorporate new people into the church. There is a lot more unity and really knowing each other when you wrestle through and agree on core beliefs and practices in a small group. And we are VERY thankful for the equipping Maranatha gave us in these same areas!
Sorry to talk so much about Crossings but it is a huge part of our lives here and we love it! God is so good.
Matt’s job at Microsoft is a mixture of satisfying technical challenges and frustrating corporate bureaucracy. He is dedicated to writing quality software that people can use and that makes his company money. Thankfully his team has the same outlook and methodologies for achieving that goal—he works with wonderful people who recognize his skills and encourage him to make things better. Mostly we’re learning to let the frustrating things slide and learn from the experience. It’s really confirming that some day we’d like to run our own business, though we recognize the benefits of working for a large company. For example, my pregnancy has cost us $0 for medical care and Matt gets 4 weeks of PAID paternity leave when I go into labor. It’s an amazing blessing!
Matt still does Guys’ Night Out on Thursdays (after a 3-week break to attend Childbirth Prep classes with me—what a great husband!) with Rob and several other friends. Sunday mornings he has breakfast with the Crossings men. In the evenings he plays his guitar, dreams of buying a guitar amp, and escorts me on walks around the neighborhood. He takes excellent care of his pregnant wife, often offering foot rubs when I’ve had a tiring day. :) My days are full of housewifey things like cleaning and laundry, running errands, getting new tires on the car, working freelance on websites, sleeping, reading, shopping Goodwill/Salvation Army for baby bargains, going for walks, and trying to eat healthy. We spend a lot of weekend time together, savoring the freedom of “no baby yet”.
Last but not least, for all you folks with snow still, our weather. This past week it has been 75 degrees every day, and the crab apple type trees are laden with blossoms. So I guess we went straight from fall to spring here… still so strange to us.
I’m attaching some photos: my baby belly at 34 weeks, the crazy daddy-to-be breaking the rules as usual and both of us at Yosemite in December (this is a redwood tree that fell over—you’re looking at the roots). We miss you all very much and hope to return to the Midwest in June for 10 days or so. Hope all is well with you, and when you have a minute we’d love to hear an update on your life!
Love,
Erin, Matt, and Baby
