Are you prepared for the deatheaters? We Are.

Joanna here.

I love Saturday mornings with my family. Bob and I usually guard our time on Saturday mornings. A typical Saturday morning might include reading a fiction book or biography together, playing with Betsie, and going to the West Tennessee Farmers’ Market. When the weather isn’t scorching hot, we gather up our things and stowe them away in the basket underneath the stroller, tuck Betsie in her seat with a toy, and off we go on a thirty minute walk downtown. We always enjoy these walks. It’s a great time to laugh, talk, and pray together.

Farmers’ Market trips are also great because we usually see friends and meet new people at the Market or on our walks. We like to buy yummy, fresh fruits and vegetables and other such things. We usually leisurely sip our Gusta Java iced coffee and munch on some muffins as we walk. I really like the Hawaiian muffin, and I think Bob’s favorite is the blueberry muffin.

We just got back from the Farmer’s Market this morning. It was especially beautiful with the rain lightly falling through the sunshine. And this morning Bob and I have been especially silly, like we sometimes can be. We just kept making each other laugh as we were deciding which vegetables we wanted to eat this week. Bob was telling me about one of his life dreams. It’s a wonderful, extravagant, adventurous dream, and I can’t tell you what it is…

After he had gone on and on for several minutes with funny details about how he would accomplish this life goal of his, he said something that just made me laugh even more. He said, “And I haven’t told anyone else about this, so if you ever think I’m a deatheater, just ask me this question!”

He’s of course referring to the Harry Potter books. Bob and I watched all of the Harry Potter movies and read all of the books this summer. We enjoyed them immensely! And now, we are both prepared in case any deatheater using polyjuice potion comes along trying to fool us. Bob and I each have our questions ready. Do you? Are you prepared against the deatheaters?

Well, of course we’re just being silly. Bob quickly added, “There aren’t really any deatheaters, but I could be Soviet spy!” Oh what a funny man.

That’s all for now. Have a good Saturday morning!

Keeping and Organizing Important Documents

I’ve been doing some organizing lately of important documents. I used to keep anything and everything when it came to receipts, bank statements, and the like. However, I began to wonder if keeping everything was really necessary. After a little googling I discovered it is not. Here is some advice from Dave Ramsey and Good Housekeeping on what documents you need to keep and how long.

Preparation for Pastoral Ministry

I found a great article the other day via Justin Taylor’s blog on preparing for the pastoral ministry. In it, Chris Brauns, a pastor in Illinois, shares some wisdom about what to do when you believe the Lord has called you to the pastorate but you’re not sure what to do next in order to prepare. There are also some links to some other great resources on memorizing Scripture and advice concerning seminary.

The Church

“The church isn’t an optional extra; it’s the shape of your following Jesus.” – Mark Dever, 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, p. 16

Do you agree? Is the church “the shape of your following Jesus?”

On Reading Logs

I don’t know if you are an avid reader like I am, but I wanted to share with you a practice that I began last year to help motivate and track my reading. Last year, my father-in-law told me that he once kept a notebook listing all the books he read each year. After he shared that with me, I decided that I would begin a similar practice. So during 2010, I kept a word document listing books I had read, books I was currently reading, and books I was planned on reading. Each time I finished a book or discovered another book I wanted to read, I would update my list. I also set myself a goal of 17 books to read and wrote out a plan for how I would accomplish it. I actually was able to achieve far beyond my goal by reading a total of 33 books! This year my goal is 30, and I am hoping to exceed this goal as well. If you are an avid reader or just someone who wants to start reading more, I would highly recommend creating a reading log and developing a goal and a list of books you really want to read because this practice will help you keep your goal in mind, motivate you, and better organize your reading.

Dear Betsie

Dear Betsie,
We like the way you wiggle. We like the way you smile in your sleep. We like your ears, your nose, and your mouth, and when you have teeth, we’ll like them too. We like the way you sound like a monkey or an elephant or a bird when you make your little noises. We like your toes. We like the way you sleep. We like the way you sneeze. We like the way you hiccup. We like the way you look around the room when your curious. We like the way you yawn and stretch when you wake up. We like you, and we are thankful for you. We praise God because you were fearfully and wonderfully made.

Love,
Daddy and Mommy

The Top 10 of 2010

Happy New Year from the Sparks! We’re back to blogging, and we want to begin this year with a top ten list of the most exciting and momentous events of 2010.

The Top 10 of 2010
10. Bob transferred to a new school down the street.
9. Bob completed his Master of Arts in Education at Union.
8. Some of our best friends, the Henrys, the Evans, and the Weises, got married.
7. Our good friends, the Glodjos, welcomed home their son, John Elliot.
6. We decided to stay in Jackson and bought our first house.
5. Bob started taking seminary classes online and through the Southern Seminary Extension at Union.
4. Bob started the pastoral apprenticeship program at our church.
3. We celebrated our two year wedding anniversary.
2. Joanna found our her cancer was gone.
1. Our daughter, Betsie Noelle was born!

Betsie was born on December 19 at 10:49 a.m. She weighed 8 pounds 12 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed being Betsie’s parents so far and lots of fun getting to know her. More pictures, updates, and other sorts of posts to come! Here’s to a more consistent year of blogging!

Pregnancy

Joanna here.

Below are some pictures taken periodically throughout the first seven months of my pregnancy that i thought you might enjoy. I’m 30 weeks along now, and I can’t believe it’s getting so close. Pregnancy has been an adventure. In the beginning I was sick all the time, but other than that, it really hasn’t been so bad. One of the best things has been feeling the baby move. It’s like I’m already getting to know her a little bit. Anyway, I won’t go on and on about pregnancy, but I have compiled a short list of what life is like for me in the third trimester:

1. I can no longer put on my own socks.
2. I can still cook a meal, as long as I remember to ask Bob to get anything I may need from the bottom of the refrigerator or the bottom cabinets.
3. I never knew heartburn could be so unbearable… so I’m sticking to several bowls of cereal and milk each day.
4. Stretch marks itch. Who knew?
5. As soon as I entered the third trimester a light came on, and it occurred to me that we need to paint the baby room right away! No more delaying; the baby is coming soon! (We still have yet to paint the baby room.)
6. Going to sleep at night requires about four pillows strategically placed all around me.
7. Last night a friend interviewed me about pregnancy for one of her classes. One of the questions she asked me was if I have a strategic plan for when the baby is born… Suddenly it occurred to me that I need to stop thinking just about pregnancy and labor and start thinking about what to do when the baby comes. Needless to say, after the interview, Bob and I drove to the only bookstore in town and bought a book on babies. Now I guess I’m in the process of making a strategic plan.
8. And lastly, this is the first time since knowing Bob that he feels cold and I don’t.

16 weeks (4 months)

16 weeks (4 months)

18 weeks

20 weeks (5 months)

20 weeks (5 months)

21 weeks

24 weeks (6 months)

24 weeks (6 months)

24 weeks (6 months)

30 weeks (7 1/2 months)

30 weeks (7 1/2 months)

30 weeks (7 1/2 months)

Of Legos and Cleaning Supplies

Bob here. So I realized today how grownup I am. As we were leaving Target, I had the same excitement I would feel as a kid when headed home from the store with a new Lego model, eager to put it together. However, today, I had just bought a bunch of cleaning supplies and was eagerly anticipated using them to thoroughly clean (and paint) on our house during fall break.

Our Fall Garden

Fall is here, and that means football, cooler weather, and, for the Sparks, a little last-minute gardening before the end of growing season. Inspired by a desire to eat carrots and other hardy vegetables, we planted carrots, spinach, and lettuce about a month ago. Hopefully, our current attempt at having green thumbs will be successful. Our past attempts at keeping things alive, such as flowers and multiple Betta fish, have failed epically. We did find moderate success this summer with three tomato plants, but unfortunately the scorching heat of August just about did them in. Here’s to a more successful end to the growing season. What about you? Have you tried growing anything this year? And do you have any suggestions for our fall vegetables, such as how to tell the difference between a sprouting vegetable and a sprouting weed?