31Days: New Church (14)

Today was the first day of being at our new church.  We got a warm welcome, the “right hand of fellowship” as Baptists call it – but this isn’t a Baptist church.

Heard a great sermon by the missions pastor from 1 Cor 3 on not taking any boast or division in man – but boasting only in Christ.  What a truth we all need to here.

We sang one of my favorite hymns “And Can It Be”.  Love it – how Luther-esque it is.  I remember singing it all the time in seminary at SEBTS, it was one of David Nelson’s fave songs.  We sang it so many times in chapel.

The saddest part but also the best part – it was the first and last time (for a while) that Eric and I will get to sit together for the entire service.  Love singing next to him.  Getting to hold his hand while we listen to the sermon.  Hearing what strikes him as “important” – those ah-ha moments that he has as he listens.  For a while I will be sitting with baby in the back.  So…I will sit with other people.

It was very good to put names with faces that I’ve met on facebook.  Already feel at home in this church – and thankful for the friendly welcome.  The last lady that came through the line to shake our hands – handed us a massive bag of Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips.  Don’t worry – the bag didn’t even make it home unopened.  It was a good appetizer!

31Days: New Appreciation (13)

I get to brag today.  I get to brag on my sweet husband.  I had to spend the night without him because he was/is at an Elder’s retreat.

As our pastor’s wives shared about their wonderful husbands – it gave me much more of an appreciation for mine.  I love bragging on him  – because he is absolutely wonderful.

1.  He is super humble.  Really – he puts me and baby Eli above himself at all times – even waking up at 4am to clean a poopy diaper.

2.  He serves me well.  I can’t begin to tell you how many times he did the dishes or cleaned up “morning sickness” during the pregnancy.  And he was a trooper during delivery – serving me by holding my hand and letting me crush his long piano-playing fingers.

3.  He loves Jesus.  He pursues holiness and loves the Bride.  He evidences the gospel to me – he reflects Christ so well.

4.  He is the man I respect more than any other in the world.  He not only must have my respect because he is my husband, but he also has my respect because he has earned it!

5.  He knows how to love me well.  In the year that we’ve been married he has learned how I receive love and nourishes me that way.  He hears my cries and dries my tears.  I look into his eyes and find peace.  That was especially true when I was in delivery.  My midwife said to think of something peaceful: I looked at E and said “he is my something peaceful” – yes, that was the sappiest time of delivery. 🙂  But, so true.

Dear sweet, Mr. Campbell – I love you.  So glad I get to do this thing called life with you.  My God has been very gracious to me in giving me you – and I look forward to the journey.

31Days: First Pastoral Retreat (12)

I just returned from my first ever pastoral retreat – with wives of course since I’m not a pastor.

We went with the other 4 pastors/wives to Heber Springs, AR which is about 90 minutes from LR.  We stayed at the Red Apple Inn.  It was an inn with beautiful grounds overlooking a lake and beautiful trees and served wonderful food.    Seriously, I have had chicken salad, homemade chips, salmon and baked potato, and fried grouper and sweet potato fries.  Yummy!

The best part about the retreat was two fold:

1.  Getting out of our apartment with boxes around us and everything.  We still aren’t quiet settled in and it was good to be free of boxes for a night!

2.  Getting to know the pastoral team we will be serving with.  It was such a joyful and meaningful sharing time – we laughed and of course cried.  I got to know the other pastors and their wives and that was such a blessing. So ready to start serving with them here in our new church. Also, I had people to help with little e.

The worst past about it:

1.  My husband gets to stay an extra day for Elders retreat.  I got to come home.  I am glad that he gets to stay, have a full night’s sleep without little e or me waking him up.  And he gets time with these godly men.  I don’t like to spend the night away from him.  I love king beds and all – but would rather have him to share it with me.  He will be back tomorrow and my parents come today – so I am not left alone with baby!

God is good – hope abounds

31Days: New Zip Code (10 and 11)

Good morning from 72211.  That’s right folks – we are mostly settled in to our new zip code.

I have already found the Kohls, Goodwill, Target, Kroger, Whole Foods, good BBQ place (Whole Hog), great Mexican place (Senor Tequila), and a fabulous date place (Brave New).

I’ve already made one trip to the airport but took two wrong turns, thankfully my friend didn’t miss her flight!  The little man is settling into his new digs and sleeping about 3-4 hour stints at night and The Lord is gracious to uphold us with little bouts of sleep instead of one long one.

I would love to tell you about the trails and hiking which we have around us because it is the perfect weather for it right now, but I am still in my post-delivery pain and haven’t ventured to walking yet (unless you count walking around Target).

So far we are really loving out new zip code and look forward to many more adventures in it.  We take our first road trip today so be on the look out for that new adventure tomorrow on the blog!

31Days: 8 and 9: New Celebrations

Ok – glad there is grace.  I missed the day yesterday for writing: I was sick, driving, unloading, feeding baby, and on a date with my husband.  Why was I on a date:

We celebrated ONE YEAR of marriage.  It was fabulous!  We went to a wonderful restaurant on the river in Little Rock (although it was too cold to sit out there and too dark to really see anything) called Brave New.  Wonderful food.  My friend Carrie had told me about it and I was hoping my hubs would surprise me with that location – and he did!  We enjoyed wine, Caesar salads, warm french bread, steaks with sides, and dessert ( I had homemade butterscotch ice cream – delightful).

We enjoyed leaving baby with a sweet friend, laughing, driving through Little Rock on our own in our own car, enjoying a fabulous meal, and talking about the past year and the year coming up!