Seattle Trip

First things first....We have a contract on a house! Our main mission for our trip was accomplished and we are so thankful. Before our trip, an unanticipated obstacle to getting into a house had arisen and we went not really knowing what was going to happen. But once again, God has absolutely amazed us by His timing. He went above and beyond to provide for us during the trip. He continues to show us that He is with us and is in control of every detail.

So, we thank each of you who prayed while we were gone! Kaitlyn got better, and other than a miserable landing into Seattle, she did great! We got to see some snow, but the weather never hindered our plans. It was an exhausting week, but in light of what we put the girls through, they were amazing. As we walked through the first few homes, Hannah kept saying, "But there aren't any toys!" as if to say, "Nope, we can't get this house." We finally got her to realize that she'd be bringing her toys to put in the new house. Hannah also had a lot of fun getting to play with some new friends - children of other church planters in the area. We are thankful she has made some connections that will help in her transition. Right now she thinks all of her Nashville friends are going to be with her in Seattle.....

Here are a few pictures of our house. It is framed, but there is still about 2 months worth of work to be done before it will be complete. We are hoping this means we get to pick out tile, colors, etc. Now, look at these pictures and wrap your mind around the fact that this house was listed for $439,000 and we were excited because that is CHEAP! And actually it was originally listed in the $460's, so we really got a deal!





























One reason the real estate is so expensive is because the land is very valuable, so therefore most houses in the Seattle area have little or no yard.















Although I was sad to give up having a yard, this community has a playground for its residents. This will actually work to our advantage for church-planting purposes as people will naturally be drawn out of their homes.















Here are some finished homes down the street from us. We really like the Northwest architecture. The newer homes are all very Eddie Bauerish. Families have already moved into a few of the homes and we are guessing by the time we move about half of the homes will be occupied. So we'll have plenty of new neighbors to meet and more to greet as homes continue to be filled.















Here are some pictures I took while we were driving around. Seattle sits between the Olympic and Cascade mountain ranges. We're excited about the fact that ski slopes are as close as a 45-minute drive!




























Here are some pictures of downtown taken from a local park. The body of water is Puget Sound.




























Finally, here's a picture from our July trip, taken from the Space Needle. On clear days Mt. Rainier "hovers" in the distance. It's absolutely beautiful.

Heading Out

We head out to Seattle tomorrow afternoon to hunt for a house. And I've decided to make use of my blog to request prayer......

First - Kaitlyn has Croup. I'm thankful at least she's not developed an ear infection, as had been my concern, for her sake on the flight. But please pray that her condition does not worsen and that she will be a good traveler and house-hunter despite not feeling her best. Pray also that her weakened immune system would not allow her to pick up any other sickness on the flight.

Second - Snow is in the forecast 3 out of the 6 days we'll be in Seattle, one of which is tomorrow our day of travel. I really don't know what that means there - if it will accumulate or just flurry a little. So, please pray that whatever the case, it will not hinder our travel or our ability to look for a house.

And very importantly - we need to find a house. This is our one shot to do so!

I won't take the time to outline our other requests. Most of you will receive those through our newsletter. If you don't already receive it though you can sign up for it on the left side of this blog if you want. Thanks so much!!

What do we treaure?

There is a song that has captured my attention over the last few weeks. It's a Stephen Curtis Chapman song that I never really even noticed before, but I happened to pull an old CD out and there it was. Here are the lyrics to "The Treasure of Jesus":

What can I do? How can I live to show my world the treasure of Jesus?
What will it take? What could I give so they can know the treasure He is?

If I can sing, let my songs be full of His glory.
If I can speak, let all my words be full of His grace.
And if I should live or die may I be found pursuing this prize,
the One that alone satisfies......
the treasure of Jesus.

I just can't get this song out of my mind. It's SO convicting, yet inspiring. It's made me think about how I live and how I see other Christians living. Do we live in such a way that it is evident that Jesus is THE most valuable thing to us? I think many times it appears that other things are worth more to us.... time, money, security, comfort, the approval of others, our reputations, our pride, possessions, our ministries, our dreams, our opinions, the way we look, our health, relationships with others, having our way, our very lives.

The truth is absolutely nothing can compare to the immense treasure that Christ is and the complete satisfaction He gives. And He is so gracious to give us the gifts of time, money, our dreams, friendships, etc. But these things, while they may satisfy for a time, eventually leave us empty apart from Christ.

So the questions I've been asking myself......When we take an honest evaluation of what we really value above all else, is it Jesus? The world will know by the way we live. And if it's not Christ, then why would they want Him? Are we seeking to spread our names or the name of Christ? There are so many who don't know what a treasure Christ is. But if I am seeking after the same things they are or just trying to make my name great, then how are they going to find the only true Treasure?

Fun at the Braswells

We've had the joy of having our youth over for the past 3 nights for our January Bible Study. It was a blast! And a much-needed break for me from prepping the house to sell and packing! Although I've had enough chips and cookies to last me a few months!

Here are some of our awesome kids!














This is Hannah showing some of the kids her photo album with her baby pictures in it, narrating page by page. I happened to walk in as she was saying, "When I was little I was naked a lot."














Smash Brothers was a nightly activity.














Some of our faithful youth volunteers and friends!














Some more of the kids....














Hannah grabbed her Bible and sat down with her "big kid friends" for Bible Q & A. She lasted all of about 10 minutes.














Gotcha Moses!














Kaitlyn had fun being passed around. She loves all that attention!





























Here's our little walker showing off....














...and our big girl being silly with her story-time buddy.

Recent News

I'm realizing my posts are going to be fewer and farther between the closer we get to moving. So here are a few bits of news.......

..... We have been working HARD to get our house ready to put on the market. We should have had it up the first week of Jan, according to our realtor. Well, that was just too high of an expectation with all we've had to do, so we're shooting for this coming Tue. You'd think we'd be able to work more quickly with an extra little helper. ;) Hannah loves to get out her tools and "work" alongside Daddy or get a damp cloth and wipe down anything within reach. I was in another room the other day when she came in and informed me that she had cleaned the windows (on our french doors), which she had. If her desire to help matched her ability to do so, I'm sure we would already have a sign in our yard!

..... Kaitlyn took NINE consecutive steps tonight! After taking her first steps Monday she went for a few days without taking any. Then a few here and there.... and tonight off she went. We really aren't trying to encourage this - as if she needs any more help getting into everything! And it just makes it feel like she's already growing out of the baby stage - it's so early!

..... Dale added a great addition to the blog for me - a sign-up box for our Connect Church online newsletter. If you aren't already receiving it and would like to, just enter your e-mail and click "Join" and it's done. Receiving our newsletter is the best way to get all the details about what is happening in our journey to Seattle and how you can be praying. And we need all of that we can get!

Steps.....

Kaitlyn is 10 months old today and took her first steps! All 4 of us were hanging out in the living room this evening when Kaitlyn took 2 tiny steps towards big sis. I immediately jumped up to grab the video camera and was able to catch a few more. It was exciting that we were all there for the big moment! She's quite wobbly of course, but clearly on her way to more independence. My it happens fast!

Below are a few recent pictures that make me smile!

2007 Reflections

2007 was a year marked by major change for us. It began with a lot of questions about our future. Dale and I felt that change was coming in regards to ministry and were wondering if God was leading us to start a new church. It was an idea. But were we even cut out to do something like that? Seattle was a thought, but nothing more. Now we're about to put our house in Nashville on the market and are planning to purchase a home in Seattle at the end of the month. We still wonder if we're really cut out to do this, but now we have more than a year's worth of God's direction and confirmation...so on we go.

About the same time Connect Church was being born in our hearts and minds, Kaitlyn entered our world. March 14 at 9:00 p.m. on the dot. (Does that mean she'll always be punctual?) Becoming the parents of two proved to be quite an adjustment! But we wouldn't change it for anything. Kaitlyn is so much fun. She is a laid-back, good-natured, sweet little girl who has a very big giggle box. She's fairly quiet with occasional bursts of loud babbling or screaming, most of which are currently happening any time after 9 p.m. We're hoping her night owl phase will end soon! Her favorite words right now are ma ma :), ba ba, la la and something that sounds like yum, yum. She absolutely loves Hannah and wants to be wherever she is and doing whatever she is doing. For this reason we think walking will happen any day now. She already will stand freely for several seconds at a time and is cruising around easily. Her first tooth appeared just before Christmas. And she's now a member of the Braswell Christmas road trip club. We put 2200 miles on our vehicle in a 10 day period and she did quite well. Although now we can't get her in her car seat without violent protests!

OK, I realize I've gone from reflecting on the past year to reflecting on Kaitlyn....

So, as I think about '07 I am thankful. It has been intense. But I'm thankful because we've been able to experience God more intensely. Through all of our searching and changes in our family He has proven once again that He is with us... He is good. He is a faithful provider. He is an encourager. He is the giver of all good gifts. He is peace. He is powerful. He is a friend. He is our strength. He is a God who clearly speaks to us and will lovingly go to great lengths to make sure we hear Him. He gently leads us down the right path and covers us with grace when we often and continually miss the mark. He understands. He works out every circumstance for our good. He comforts, sustains and energizes.... and so much more.

Because of the intensity of His presence in 2007 I know He'll be with us in amazing ways through all that 2008 will bring.

More Christmas Festivities

Hannah's church preschool choir sang last week! During one song they were all snowmen. Aren't they cute! Between 2 of the songs Hannah and her friend Ethan provided everyone with some entertainment. She started hugging him and he'd pull away and shake his finger at her. Then she decided her friend, Naomi's, hair needed touching up and began to try to do that for her! I just love preschool performances!

This past Sunday we had such a sweet time with our friends the Shrums. We were able to capture a good picture of the girls while we were there.

Trip to the Beach

Well, we took the girls to the beach yesterday. Yes, the beach. Hannah's been wanting to "go to the ocean" for several weeks now, so when I realized the temps would be in the 70's our first couple of days in Houston we decided to head to Galveston. That's a good Houston Christmas for you!

The water was too cold for swimming, but we had fun wading in a little bit, letting the waves chase us and playing in the sand. Hannah and Daddy got a bit carried away though with their wading and a big wave knocked them off their feet! Hannah was traumatized for a few seconds and then wanted to go back in the water. As you can see in the pictures below a good time was had by all! This was Kaitlyn's first time at the beach and she loved it!

Christmas Festivities!

Yesterday we took the girls to see Santa. Although Hannah had been excited all morning, by the time she was face-to-face with St. Nick, she wouldn't let go of Daddy. So, we had to go with a family portrait if we were to get anything at all. Dale and I were not prepared for this. Next year we'll know better! Kaitlyn was very intrigued by Santa's beard, which was real. In fact, he was one of the best Santa's I've seen in awhile. He almost had me believing again! ;)



















Things got a little crazy on the train ride!














We had lots of fun decorating for Christmas last week! We tried to get Hannah not to put all the ornaments on the same 3 branches while trying to keep Kaitlyn from eating them!





























Hannah proudly put the nativity scene together, with a little help.














Kaitlyn proudly destroyed the nativity, with no help whatsoever.














When Hannah alerted us to the sunset, which she does often, we had to take a break to admire! Isn't it beautiful!

Thoughts about leaving

I have to be honest. The place in which we find ourselves right now is difficult. It's heart-wrenching. I know now why many do not take on this task - the task of going to a far-away place to begin a ministry that currently does not exist. I'm not even talking about the uncertainties involved or the enormous resources needed, but they are definitely factors in the difficulty of this venture. The hardest thing for us right now is knowing our time here is fleeting. We absolutely love the people God has placed in our lives in Nashville. I've asked God many times recently, "Are you sure about this!" because I don't know if I can do it.

But, as we've checked and re-checked what we feel God has been saying to us and leading us to do, we cannot change our course. He must be the one to redirect us if that is ever necessary. Above all else, we want to obey Him. He has been too good to us. And isn't that why we're doing this? So, others who don't know Him can experience the awesome life they can have in Christ?

God knew we'd come to this point where we wouldn't want to leave and the emotions would run deep. So, many months ago He began leading me to various scripture passages that would encourage me along the way and especially now. We think our time here is fleeting, but our whole lives are fleeting in light of eternity....they are "but a vapor".

One book in particular I've been reading in is Hebrews. Hebrews 11: 8 and on "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents....for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

Heb. 11:13-16 "They admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Heb. 13:12-14, "So Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."

Heb. 12:2-3, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

These verses, among many others, help me to have more of an eternal perspective. They highlight to me the temporary nature of this life and that this is not our home. Compared to eternity, the time we spend here is so brief anyway. So, why not say "good-bye" for a short time to go to a place where the gospel's light is dim and gain more family for eternity. If the God of the universe would leave the comforts of heaven to walk among humanity; if Christ would temporarily, but painfully, sever His relationship with the Father by taking on our sin and letting it kill him, is moving across the country such a big deal? Christ is our standard. He is the only one who can save, but we are called to nothing less than what He has modeled for us. Imagine the joy that is to come when we not only get to meet up in heaven again, but we are actually with God..... forever.

Family Pictures!

A friend of ours, Angie Gambill of Gambill Photography, recently did a great job of taking pictures of our family. Check out a slideshow of favorites here. For those of you in the Nashville area I highly recommend her!

Seattle It Is

Most people reading this blog already know that we are in the midst of preparing to move to Seattle, WA to start a new church, called Connect Church. Hence the main reason for my delinquency in posting. BTW, I do still intend to post some pictures, so keep checking!!

It's just a crazy time for us as we are doing much to get things in order while trusting God to actually make it all happen. And I will go ahead and say that if anything good or successful comes of this venture it will be solely because the Lord did it! That's not said lightly - we feel this more than we've ever felt it before.

Many people wonder why we would do this. It's not like living in Seattle has been a life-long dream of ours. All our family and closest friends are in the South, with the exception of the Corbins, who just recently moved to "the emerald city" themselves to start a church called The Commons. In fact, the idea of starting a church had never entered out minds until about a year ago. Plus, we just love Nashville and thought we'd be here long-term. There are many other reasons, which I will not take the time to detail, why this doesn't make sense. The only reason I can give is God is compelling us to do this.

It was through a series of unique events and interestingly-timed conversations that God put this idea in our heads. The initial hook for me was hearing that the percentage of Christians in China is greater than in Seattle, WA. Are you kidding me?! This southern girl was shocked! I must say that even though this fact intrigued me from the start I was not initially excited about this idea. In fact, I was even bold enough to tell God not to make us do this. But, He gently changed my heart as He has many times before. And I've always been glad He did.

With that said, we have spent months and months praying for God to put His desires in our hearts, to open the doors necessary to fulfill those desires, for clarity, for wisdom..... And here we are. So, Seattle it is.

(Please check out the links I've posted under "Seattle-Bound" to get more details about Connect Church.)

"Thank You God for my panties..."

Tonight during our family prayer time these words came out of Hannah's mouth, and I must admit that I was echoing them! We finally seem to have turned a tide this week with our potty training saga. Hannah successfully wore panties all day today! She was very excited and we hope that will continue to motivate her to be a big girl. :)

Kaitlyn Is Growing

I know I'm lame for not posting in well over a month! A friend of mine - I won't name names Tricia ;) - recently heaped the mommy guilt on saying how awful it was that people will only think of Kaitlyn as a screamer since I haven't updated since then. :)

Well, here ya go. Kaitlyn is officially crawling as of 2 nights ago. She's not going full speed ahead quite yet, but if she wants something bad enough she can find a way to get to it. She also laughs and smiles a lot, especially at her big sis who is always asking, "Can I play with Kaitlyn?" She sits up on her own and has begun to potty train. Just kidding on that last one. But at the rate we're going with Hannah, Kaitlyn will beat her at that! She's enunciating her Gas and Goos quite well too. We're so proud!

I'll post some recent pictures soon.

The Screamer

Kaitlyn is creating quite a reputation for herself as "the screamer". Occasionally she begins yelling out, not because she's upset. Oh no. She does it with a smile. It's somewhat alarming at first because she's SO LOUD. But after awhile it becomes humorous. I've been wondering if she's trying to say, "Hey people! Listen to ME! Look at ME!"

Until yesterday this mostly took place within the confines of our home. But now she's gone public! Her first performance took place during dinner at church last night. Everyone was staring at our table wondering what I must be doing to torture this child. People from across the room were stopping by to check on her. Of course once people realized she was just yelling for fun, they talked to her and encouraged more shrieks. One thing's for sure. She got A LOT of attention! I guess she liked it so much she decided to see what it would do for her while I got my hair cut today. Same affect. Lots of attention throughout the salon!

Fun with Food

Here's Hannah having fun helping me make brownies. She loves to help in the kitchen!














Kaitlyn eating green beans. She seems to like them, but she sure was eyeing our brownies!

Catching Up

It's been hard to keep up the blog w/ everything we've been doing. And now I'm trying to get my Premier business going again after taking an extended maternity break. Oh well. Here are some pictures from the last week or so.......

Kaitlyn enjoying one of Hannah's puppet shows














Kaitlyn trying to feed herself.














Last Sat. was Naomi's 3rd b-day and we helped her celebrate at the Bicentennial Mall Fountains, one of our favorite summer play places.

Naomi is examining one of her gifts while Veronica & Hannah are too busy blowing their bubbles to notice.














"Hey Ethan, how do you like my My Little Pony tattoo?"














I thought I'd throw in a picture of the capital building, which is directly across from the fountains. Notice the motorized scooters at the bottom. Apparently you can rent them to tour around the city. Pretty cool.














Last Sun. after church we went out to our friends Kevin & Tricia's new house for burgers and swimming. We had lots of fun!














Hannah eating at the kids table (without Mommy) at church Wed. night. More proof of growing up!














I finally remembered my camera! Here Hannah is before going to Cubbies. Our little poser. We are so proud of her! She is memorizing a new Bible verse every week. She just earned her first patch for being able to recite all of her verses so far. We are so thankful that she is already learning to hide God's Word in her heart. We pray that it will serve as a foundation for future faith.

Funny Football Story

Last Friday night we went to the Davidson Academy football game, where some of our students go. Before the game I prepared Hannah to cheer for the Bears. She enjoyed practicing "Go Bears!" Well, when the team ran onto the field I encouraged her to cheer. She said, "I don't see the bears." We did our best to explain why there weren't real bears there, but why everyone was yelling for them. She inquired several more times as to where the bears were, but by the end of the evening, she was yelling proud and strong "Go Bears!"

Also, she was confused by the fact that the announcer kept calling her name. A guy on the other team, who made most of the plays for that team, had the last name of Hanna. So, there were moments during the game where the announcer was saying, "Hanna...." every few minutes. Hannah kept looking around. Poor thing. Someone there said she must feel like she's in the Twilight Zone. A deep loud voice keeps calling her name and she can't find the bears! It was quite entertaining.

Growing Up

Hannah is growing up. I know that sounds like such an obvious statement. All kids grow up. But I'm so aware of it right now as I watch her. I can actually carry on a decent conversation with her. She has her own opinion about things, and she's not shy about expressing it! She asks me questions like, "How was your day?" and tells me, "Let me know if you need me" as she goes to another room to play.

Just today our friend Naomi came home with us from preschool and the two of them were carrying on the most adult-like conversation. It began something like this:

N: Hannah, do you remember we saw the fireworks? (I'm assuming she was referring to July 4th)
H: Wow! The fireworks! Yes, we did!....

She began going to preschool choir at church last night and had so much fun. She had about 10 minutes to eat her dinner at church before going off to Cubbies, the preschool version of Awana. (I will eventually remember to take my camera and actually take a picture of her. She looks so cute in her vest!) She took it all in stride.

Now if we can just get the potty training down, all will seem well in our world.

Firsts

Last night we finally started Kaitlyn on cereal. She really could have started a month ago and I think she's been ready, but with all our travels and craziness here we waited. So, here she is. It didn't take her long to figure out what to do and she ate the entire bowl!














Today Hannah began attending her new preschool at Parkway Baptist. Here she is just before going in. She had a great day! We are all excited about this new year in preschool.














This doesn't really go with the theme of "Firsts", but it's a cute picture I recently took so I thought I'd include it. Hannah and Kaitlyn are really having fun together now since Kaitlyn can respond to Hannah. Hannah loves making her little sister laugh!

Scootin' Around

I may soon have a crawler in my house!! Yikes! Kaitlyn has gotten quite fond of rolling over and can scoot on her backside quite well. Well, today she scooted at least a foot on her belly. She can't wait to be all over the place like big sis!

And just look at that pretty girl holding herself up!















P.S. Okay, I have to admit that after reading what I just wrote I had to go back and change Kaitlyn's name to Kaitlyn b/c I wrote Hannah. Is anyone with me on the second child potentially having an identity crisis b/c you tend to refer to them using the first child's name or am I the only dysfunctional mother doing that?! A friend informed me last week that I actually signed Kaitlyn in at the nursery as Hannah. The sad thing is I didn't ever catch it and couldn't remember doing it. Could I just blame it on sleep deprivation?