I hope the months of April and May have been kind for you. Sorry for my lack-of-updating as we continue to put travel, support raising and travel recovery before a lot of blogging and updates. Although I love getting updates from other people so I should prioritize! We have been doing a slew of different things both in State College and beyond lately...including getting increasingly more excited for baby Shib's arrival into the world! The baby shower count between February and the present is officially THREE and God has provided everything necessary for baby and more I think. Plus it's been great fun hanging out with the Shibatas, the Spitzers and New Hampshire friends during those times. We are blessed to be able to look at the friends and family we've been given and are just in awe of everybody's generosity in gifts, support and prayer. We've spent the last couple of months thinking of that and being encouraged through all the transition we still continue to work through.
The month of April was spent in anticipation as we prayed with our housemates and friends Tom and Joanna. They were in the process of looking to buy their first house and wanted to ideally put an offer and get it accepted by the 30th to take advantage of the $8000 government gift. I don't really understand it, but I figure that's a pretty nice deal for now and we were hoping along with Tom and Joanna that God would answer that prayer. As most of you may know, He totally did! And they'll be moving in mid-June to a house only a few hundred yards away from us! Another way God provided through this; Joel, baby and I get to stay in our current awesome house! Almost time to decorate the baby's own room and we're getting pretty excited. It's so neat to watch how God provides even if we are in need or if tragedy strikes.
May has been a mix of the usual duties and transition for us but also getting to hang out with more Penn State students and Staff. It's been a great blessing learning how fun and genuine our staff team here at Penn State is while getting more of a heart for the ministry here in State College. Some of these students are among the most driven I've ever seen as they lead others at Penn State and reach out to those who need it the most. I'm really looking forward to working with them once we are able to report to campus.
Jeff walking at his graduation.
Another treat was being able to visit with the Spitzer/Sanocki family in Saratoga, NY for my brother Jeff's graduation from college! Although the day was freezing and raining we were so proud to see Jeff walk and hear his name called as a graduate of St. Rose! He was so thankful and I felt humbled to see such gratitude in him as he welcomed and thanked everyone for coming. I felt so much like he was an adult it made me feel old! Great to see him done there as I'm sure he'd agree. Pray for him that he finds a job sooner rather than later either in the police force or something more specific and taylored to his desire to "not work behind a desk".
The view from our hotel room at Cape Cod.
From Saratoga, Joel and I traveled to Cape Cod (Falmouth) for a night to celebrate ONE YEAR or marriage! Already a year...who'd have thunk!? It's gone be so so fast. It was a great getaway. We spend the afternoon and night at an Inn on the beach (by the way, go to the Cape in the offseason if you want no crowds, cheaper prices and the same beauty) and shopped for the foods we had on our honeymoon last year in Aruba. We also re-read our marriage vows to each other which was a really special moment and a great reminder of what we have committed ourselves to. Thanks to Tim Henderson for sending those along to celebrate our "paper" anniversary. (apparently there's a theme for each anniversary, like paper or flowers or wood or lots of other things I'd have never thought of)
Finally we made our way up to NH after a delicious breakfast of eggs benedict over crab cakes provided by our new favorite breakfast place "crabapples" in Falmouth (run of course by the amazing Goulet family...we got to see our friend Pat there too which was an added blessing!). I forget what Joel got, but those crabcakes won't leave my memory for a while. Spending the week in NH was so much fun. We were able to see almost everyone we've been missing since the move to State College (between the two of us). It went by so fast that by yesterday (Sunday) I wasn't ready to leave! It allowed us to look again at how we've been provided for since the big move and how thankful we are to still have such a strong support system in the Northeast. It was great seeing everyone else getting ready for changes in life, taking steps of faith and/or continuing to grow. So much fun...thanks so much to the always awesome Vinnie for letting us stay with him and to the beautiful Danielle for planning such a lovely baby shower. We both had an amazing time and can't wait until the next visit (which at this point we have no idea when that will be).
New Hampshire friends!
Which leaves us where we are now... thinking about the future which is about to do a 180 very soon! I mentally have not grasped having baby shibbs on the outside of me yet. I'm just trying to make it to the delivery room and then am trying to trust God from there. Joel is ready to hold baby and see what he/she looks like and interact with him/her. However we each feel I think it's safe to say we're excited and maybe a little anxious (on my end) for the next couple of months and the transition to parenthood. Thanks for all your prayers as we continue to try and trust God for all of the above. It's been an amazing year of journeying together and I'm sure it will continue to get more amazing with every passing day. We're hoping this month to do our last couple short trips support raising before it's time to stick around state college waiting for baby to arrive. By the way, where anyone got the idea for a stork is beyond me...
Love to you all and I hope the coming of summer is encouraging to everyone!!
-Jenn, Joel and baby Shibbs
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