Travels and developments

Hi everyone!

Joel and I have been steadily getting used to living in State College by now and are so thankful for all God has provided for us here. Living with Tom and Joanna Sperlich has been excellent and a way for us to automatically have fellowship since we live under the same roof! Plus, Tom and Jo are LOST fans, which is something we routinely watch together on Tuesday nights:-)

We've been searching for a church family to get connected with too which has been encouraging. There are so many great churches in this area and I think we've narrowed the search down to three. It's hard to pick though because of how great they all are! We have been attending State College Evangelical Free church more frequently and have even joined a life group (bible study) that meets every other week which works well with our traveling and support-raising schedule. It's a great group of mostly young married couples but also including two great single guys and a 1 and a half year old (so adorable!). Dinner, sharing, reading and deep discussion followed by prayer is always a good time and Joel and I feel so blessed to have been accepted so quickly into this group of friends.

We also just came back from a week of travel near the Pittsburgh area where Joel grew up which was an additional blessing for us. Joel had the opportunity to deliver all three sermons at his home church in Murrysville AND got to share with the congregation about our ministry with Campus Crusade! He did an excellent job speaking and we made some great support connections within the church...praise God! We also got to share at a Wednesday night dinner at Joel's brother James's church in Gibsonia which also led to great connections that we're hoping will help with our financial support as well. Plus we got to spend the whole week with Jess, Joel's sister in Monroeville! It was such a treat to stay with her and visit with James, Jaclyn and our nephew and niece (JJ and Gracie) AND we even got a visit from George and Judith! We're excited to go back again later this month for a baby shower (the ladies are throwing one for me!), even more family (Peg, Jon, Marie and Joey!) and Jaclyn's 30th! We'll hopefully make some more connections at that point too as far as support-raising goes.

The other thing that's on our mind a lot besides support is the fact that I'm already 5 and a half months pregnant!! I can't believe it's already almost Spring and that there's a big baby belly growing in front of me! We have been so blessed by friends and family checking in, sending gifts and planning showers. We've made plans for a shower later this month, one in Rome, NY in April with the Spitzer's and one as we visit NEW HAMPSHIRE in May! Please pray everything keeps going well with the pregnancy so that we can actually make these travels. I'm really looking forward to visiting and praying that we also make some significant connections with churches and individuals that would like to join our support team in those areas. We'll probably be staying in Rome and in NH for at least a week at a time! After the NH trip I'll probably not want to travel any longer seeing as how the baby is due the beginning of July.

Here's something else to look forward to: mom and dad Spitzer are coming to visit the weekend of March 15th! We're so happy that we have plenty of space so they can stay with us and we're looking forward to seeing them:-) Mom wants to make gioza (sp?) - Japanese pot-stickers pretty much - sounds yummy!

I'll have Joel post a picture after lunch, which it looks like it's about that time...and if I don't eat I get tired these days! In conclusion then, I hope everyone is doing well, resting when they can, getting spring cleaning under way and having peace in situations that are hard. One thing we've both been learning lately is how important it is to be thankful for all that God has provided for us both now and in the past. It's easy when things aren't moving at our speed to get impatient and discouraged, but when we remember God's faithfulness and love it brings a lot of peace to heart and mind. That is my prayer for all of you, now enjoy lunch!

Love,
Jenn (and Joel and baby!)

ps. and no, we are not finding out the gender of baby Shibata until it's arrival!