Some of you know, some of you might have guessed, and the rest of you are probably all in the dark regarding our whereabouts for the forseeable future. I’ll clear it up: we’re staying in Spokane. God has answered the prayers of family and friends and has blessed Rick with a great job here. I am finally home.

There are a lot of things I will miss about Monroe, which may come as a surprise to some, but there were certainly attachments formed during our first four years of marriage living in Louisiana. I remember Isaiah and I driving the rental truck down, pulling into the driveway of the first house that Rick and I would live in, enjoying temperatures in the 70’s on New Year’s Day, having fun with friends, sighing contentedly at the deep blue sky streaked with pink clouds after a thunderstorm, and admiring the sunset over the peaceful bayou. I remember seeing the positive line on a pregnancy test with Kyrie, and again with Antonio, in the little bathroom of our house. I remember painting our dining room red because I need to live with color. I remember painting walls, sewing curtains, and hanging pictures to make our house a home. I gave birth to both of our babies in Louisiana. Antonio was born right in his sister’s room. There are so many special memories that we’ll carry with us. And I know I’ll never forget the challenges we faced as a new couple, and then a new family, living across the country from my family. It was good for me, and I’m thankful for the experience. I wouldn’t change it if I could.

Now that we are back in Spokane, I feel like everything is right. I feel joy when I just look into the starry night sky or smell the fresh, beautiful Northwest air. Every blade of grass that I see blowing in the wind seems familiar to me. I hear voices all around me in the buzzing of bees, songs of birds, and even the distant sounds of machinery or cars whizzing by that seem to be welcoming me home. It fills me with a joy and a feeling of belonging that I can’t fully describe.

We really enjoyed celebrating the fourth of July with our friends gathered at the Hathaway home. Thanks to Ryan and Taneisha for their hospitality!

We did some fireworks on the street…

And then I had some fun capturing sparkler art with a slow shutter speed (I knew the bulb exposure setting was good for something).

Those of you who haven’t already seen the ocean vacation photos can view them here and here.

The day you all thought would never come has finally arrived.

On Friday, we went to Moscow to spend some time with Isaiah. We enjoyed a terrific Italian dinner at the home of Lisa Jackson, and we met some new friends, as well as some old friends. Throughout the course of the night, our old friend Davey Henreckson mentioned that he has been interested in political theology, and he asked me about my recent reading of Caputo’s What Would Jesus Deconstruct? As we discussed the book a bit, I mentioned that I had been shifting toward a biblical theology of nonviolence over the past several years. I was shocked to find out that Douglas Jones has been doing work in this area. If you haven’t checked out the Biblical Theses on Violence, I highly recommend it.

I also found out something interesting at church today. After the service, I started talking politics with Bishop Cavalcanti. It turns out that he was a political science professor before becoming a bishop. After this discussion Fr. Jerry mentioned that Bishop Cavalcanti was a major player in South American politics, but we know little of him since he doesn’t write in English. A search on Amazon confirmed this as his name pops up in many books on evangelicals in politics in Latin America. One of them calls him a “leader of the evangelical left,” which I find a funny term since those are almost exclusive adjectives in America (though I would probably throw myself under a title like that).

An interesting weekend to say the least.

I was just listening to Rebecca St. James and Todd Agnew sing “Our Great God,” and it just reminded me how thankful I feel right now.

We’ve had a ton of bills lately with the new table (we outgrew the old one), computer (it died), washer and dryer (they were dying together), computer, midwife, doula, tuition, and visits from family. God has provided a lot of money to meet those bills. I mean a lot. Close to $10,000 in the last three weeks. (I broke a Black Friday sales record and received my overload pay from teaching all in the last three weeks.) That almost covers everything (yeah, they add up). What would normally have been a stressful time has not been that bad.

I have a beautiful new son. The birth was incredible. It couldn’t have gone any more perfectly. The doula was incredible when it came to supporting Rachel. The whole time Rachel was in labor, I kept thanking God for her. The midwife was great too, but let the doula pretty much handle things.

My daughter continues to grow in her relationship to Christ. She amazes me sometimes.

I’m glad to be in a church where we can chant, receive communion every week, feel loved, and our children can commune. We’ve actually been able to develop a relationship with a fellow congregation member (though in its early stages, it’s nice to be able to connect to someone other than the pastor and his family). The lady is a bit older than us, but her youngest son is close to Kyrie’s age.

My class this semester will be taught by Reggie Kidd, and it’s on my favorite subject. How great is that? I’ve been able to finish most of the books (I saved the best ones for last, so woohoo).

I’ve had off of work for three straight days. I don’t think I’ve had more than one day in a row off since August (and even then I was usually working on my day off). It’s been a time of healing and rest (though I must say I am wiped out from all the work I am doing–but it’s different work, so in a big way, it’s restful).

We have family coming to visit. Forrest and Rebekah will be here in less than two weeks. The Enloe family also plans to come by. Mommy and daddy plan on coming in February. It will be so nice to have company again, and it’s nice to have a table that will fit everyone (tightly though!).

I love how all of our close friends’ families are growing. Exponential growth is nice when it involves friends.

We are planning to stay our entire summer in Spokane, if possible. Actually, it would be nice to just move up there, so maybe a job can fall in our laps (pretty please!).

It’s Advent. The long green season is fully over.

Oh, Lord remind us once again of your wonderful works. Hallelujah! Glory be to our great God.

A friend of mine is an archivist at the University of Tennessee. The UT archives are becoming pretty popular because they house the political letters of Fred Thompson. My friend sent this article on his work this morning. If you’re interested in Thompson, it’s an interesting read.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve gotten to know Reggie Kidd, and I’ve come to appreciate him as a faithful man of God, who is open and honest with what he believes. Over the past few semesters, I’ve had a few discussions with him concerning the Federal Vision and the New Perspective on Paul, and when I told him that the PCA had adopted the MS Valley Report (we were at a class session when the vote came in), I could see the look of frustration on his face.

I asked him why he never wrote anything on the subject that might have swayed pastors to vote the other way, and the answer was that he just didn’t have the time. It looks like he found the time recently, and his thoughts are right on the money:

Thanks to Justin and Naomi Eastwood for these pics:

We had a great time with the Companiks this week. Kyrie loved playing with Evie (Ewie, she called her) and was sad to see her go this morning. Here are some pictures of some of the fun they had together.