Updates...and Prayers Please

Wow - time flies when you are having fun. Owen is now ten months old now, and I can't even BEGIN to describe how different our lives are now. When people ask me what it's like to be a parent, I can only spout off awesome things. Owen is such a beautiful boy, truly the joy of our lives. When you love a little one unconditionally, the sleepless nights, temper tantrums, etc. just sort of take the back burner.

Anyways, I am going to try to be better about my blogging. I want to provide some updates on what we've been up to, and also, we would like to ask for your prayers. Inspired by Will's amazing Uncle Pete and Aunt Ruth, missionaries in France, Will and I want to begin sending out monthly prayer requests to our network of closest friends and family. If you are willing to commit to praying for us, please let me know. Also, we WANT to pray for YOU, so please let us know how. You can message me on facebook or through my gmail. Prayer works, and I know a lot of you reading this believe that as well. We've found as we have gotten older and busier that it is hard to see friends and family as often as we'd like, and I believe praying with and for one another will help us stay more connected, even if we cannot see each other face to face as often as we want to.

So here are some updates on us and our prayer requests.

1. We are on a journey of becoming debt-free. We have a budget in place and are being pretty strict to stick to it. We are currently listening to Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University audio CDs and I have just re-read Financial Peace: Revisited. We are committed to being wise with the funds God has given to us and to working hard so that we can save, GIVE, provide a college-fund for Owen, have retirement set aside, and also so that we can leave an inheritance for future Mitchell generations. There is money in the world to be made, and we hope that through our humility and hard-work, God will pass money through us to impact others.

We are learning a lot through this process. For example, we still eat out. But we do so with gift cards from friends and family (we are still using Starbucks gift cards Will received from his students for his Christmas.) Or we budget to eat out maybe once or twice a month, then use buy one get one free coupons from our Citipass coupon book. We just bought a Costco membership and are already saving a ton of money this way. It has become almost like a game really - how can we still have fun and spend the least amount of money?

We ask for your prayers for wisdom during this process and that God will reveal himself to us through it all.

2. We want to sell our town-home in 2010 if at all possible and move into a home. Now this is going to be a way for God to truly show his power in our lives for sure. I hope that at some point in the next year I am referring back to this very blog post bragging on God.

See, we met with our realtor yesterday, great guy by the way, and received the news that there about 8 properties in our subdivision that are either on the market as short-sells or foreclosures, meaning they are SUPER cheap. There is no way, on paper, that we are going to be able to sell our town-home for what what we purchased it for this year.

So, we are waiting and praying. We are not going to sell and lose money and be stupid. BUT, we do believe God has told us we are moving this year, so we are not sure what he's going to do to make this possible.

Please pray for us...that these other homes would get off the market and that we would be able to sell our home to the right buyer for the right price. Nothing is impossible through God and, quite frankly, over the last year, God has taught me that things might not always look so good on paper, but that he always provides a way. Remember, the Bible says He can move mountains. I publicly admit that I do not doubt that at all.

3. Will is turning into quite the chef! As part of our journey to seek financial peace, we eat at home a lot. We eat mainly organic foods and lots of fruits and vegetables, but we find we can afford to do so because we don't eat out very often, mentioned above. We don't like putting junk in our bodies (except coffee...which is bad, but hey, we are still new parents.) So Will has been making tons of new recipes and they are GOOD. This isn't really a prayer request, but we do praise God for good health, for both me and Will, as well as Owen.

4. Will and I are both working - me at Mercy Ministries and Will as a second grade teacher at St. Paul. We praise God for these great jobs, both of which are very mission-driven and where we see fruit from our work on a daily basis. We ask that as part of your prayers for us, you would pray for both of these organizations. For finances to flow, as these are both non-profits that rely on donations, for those that we serve, and for our leaders.

5. We are continually in prayer for Owen and, if you are going to pray for us, then we ask most of all for prayers for him...specifically that he would continue growing and developing as a healthy young boy. We know God is going to do great things through him, whether his hands are anointed to work a calculator, play a guitar, or even sign documents as President. Really, who knows what he will grow up to be, but we just ask for your prayers and that God will give us wisdom to be good parents.

Well, that is pretty much it for now when it comes to us. Thanks for reading and for your support of our family. I will try do better with my blogging!

Amanda

Thoughts on Love and V-day

This post is in honor of my husband...don't kill me, Will.

Will demonstrates God's love to me on a daily basis, and today on Valentine's Day, I want to share a little of our story with others. I'm not bragging, just blessed and very grateful.

It really is all in the little details. Sometimes, when it's all in the details, it is easy to overlook things and take things for granted. Today, I choose to recognize all those little things and define the ways that Will has shown me true love.

Love is...

-not keeping record of wrongs. Will, thank you for always forgiving me when I mess up.

-taking care of your household. Will, thank you for working hard in the classroom every day. Also, thank you for your commitment to running alongside me with "gazelle intensity" so we can get out of debt.

- being there in sickness and in health. Will, thank you for all the fun times when we are well. I love riding in the car with the sun shining, windows down and music playing. Thanks for rushing out for crackers and soup when I'm not well...and also for that time you held a trash bag open for me while I lost my morning smoothie when I was pregnant.

- sharing humor. Will, I love our thousands of inside jokes. I hope others do not think we are obnoxious.

-making bottles, changing diapers and snuggling with our precious boy. Will, I hope Owen grows up to be like you.

-God. Our God is love. Will, thank you for seeking God and for reading His word and for saying prayers with me and Owen every night. I know God blesses our family because of it.