My Momma.

Psalm 34:1-8 

I will praise the LORD at all times. 

I will constantly speak his praises. 

I will boast only in the LORD; 

let all who are helpless take heart. 

Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness; 

let us exalt his name together.

I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. 

He freed me from all my fears. 

Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; 

no shadow of shame will darken their faces. 

In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; 

he saved me from all my troubles. 

For the angel of the LORD is a guard; 

he surrounds and defends all who fear him.

Taste and see that the LORD is good. 

Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

This is my family.  

Today is a big celebration for my family.

Today, we celebrate the fact that our family is still complete. 

Today, we celebrate my momma.

We celebrate my momma being 10 YEARS CANCER FREE.  

And today, we celebrate the fact that we serve the 

GREAT PHYSICIAN!

My momma is an amazing mom, wife & all-around person.  I am so thankful God chose to heal her; that He chose to answer our prayers and free us from our fears.  I am so glad they caught the cancer as early as they did!  You see, my mom was "too young" to have cancer and they may not have found it for several more years.  However, my nanny (her mom) was diagnosed with breast cancer so they sent my mom & aunt for an early mammogram...and my mom was diagnosed as well.  Unfortunately, my nanny lost her battle with cancer after a couple years of fighting. But, the Lord is so good and my nanny accepted Him as her Savior exactly one year to the month that she went to meet her Savior and receive her ultimate healing!   

We have had a couple scares in these last ten years.   I have to be honest, the scares were harder for me than when she was actually diagnosed.  Both scares came at a time in life that a girl needs her momma.  The first was when I was engaged and planning my wedding.   Then the last one was just this summer right after we announced our pregnancy. If you've ever been pregnant, you know how much a girl needs her momma during those 9 months!  And I'm sure I'll need her even more so when bringing home a newborn.  Fear gripped me during both scares making me realize how different life could be and how I could possibly not have my mom by my side for these major life events!  But God freed me of my fears and thankfully they were JUST scares & nothing else.  And now my mom is getting her first grand baby to celebrate!!  :) 

Again, I'm so thankful God saw fit to heal my momma and allow her more time here on earth with us!  I can't imagine life without her.  Not only is she my mom, but now she is my best friend.  We have so much fun together....maybe a little too much fun sometimes!  ;)

MOM - I love you so much & am so thankful for the woman of God you are and everything you've taught me!  I just hope someday I'll be half the momma you are!

"Taste and see that the LORD is good. 

Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!"

UPDATE.

WOW!  It has been a really, really long time since I've posted....and my mom has not let me forget it!!  We have been super, crazy busy and a lot has changed in our lives since our last post when I announced we were having a baby!  Plus, my computer decided to quit working so I can't blog when I'm at home during the day doing nothing.  I have to wait until Adam gets home and we usually have something to fill up our evening.  

Anyways, I'm just going to do a quick update post and try to throw in a few pics (a first for me).  Most of these are things I had every intention of blogging about and I still want to....just so I have documentation of these things for my own sake!

Since our last post, we......

• Found out we are having a BOY!!!  This is a profile at 20 weeks.

• Have gone through the interview process at a new church, been offered the position & accepted the position.  
• House hunted, bought a house & moved into that house!!!
• Welcomed a new NEPHEW into our family, sweet Jericho Mark!  We love him so much.

• Have had to say goodbye to our sweet Woodward babies....we miss them terribly!
• Named our little peanut...ELIJAH MAURICE.  I'll post about the name soon, hopefully!
• Started the new job & met our new church family....whom we already LOVE!!
• Attended the Cotton Bowl!!  Need I remind you who won?! GO HOGS GO!  :) 

• Had 3 baby showers....man, did those make us feel so loved.
• Had maternity pictures taken by Ginger Skillen...thanks again!  These were done at 36 weeks.  I'll post more once we get them!

• Attended 5 weeks of childbirth classes....plus a breastfeeding class & a well baby class.  We want to be as prepared as possible!  
• Worked hard to get our house ready for baby.  And NO, our nursery still isn't complete & I've come to terms with that since our little boy will have no clue he came home to an unfinished nursery!  

We've done all this in the middle of the Holiday season & while 7-9 months pregnant!!  We are less than 2 weeks away from our due date now and we are just waiting to meet our sweet baby boy!!  :)   

Expecting.

Here in the Leichner house, we are expecting some changes over the next several months:

We are expecting God to mold us.
We are expecting to experience love in a whole new way.
We are expecting to learn a LOT.
We are expecting our relationship to be tested, but strengthened.
We are expecting remodels.
We are expecting sleepless nights.
We are expecting life as we know it to completely change......


Most importantly, WE ARE EXPECTING A LITTLE LEICHNER!!  :)
Yes, WE'RE HAVING A BABY!

We are SO excited!!
Coming February 2012.....

WHEW.

Whew...the semester is over!!  

So far I have failed terribly as a blogger.  This semester has just been SO crazy and blogging has been the last thing on my mind.   And I'm pretty sure nobody reads this or cares, except my momma (thanks mom:) who asks me frequently when I'm going to write a new post.

This semester I drove 70 miles one way to class EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. It was not fun.   Especially once gas started rising.  That was definitely a budget buster.  But, Praise the Lord, it's over and no more driving....until this fall.  However, in the fall I only drive 2 days a week and it's to Enid where there is a little more civilization:)     

I have already had a couple of weeks off from school.  During that time, we went on a 3 day get-a-way to Tulsa for our anniversary, I have been working on catching the house work up, went to OKC for our state CTS competition, and traveled to McAlester for a few days.   The last two were both ministry related, but we had a good time with friends and family in the process!

Now that I'm off school, I will do my best to write more posts.  But, I'm not promising anything.   We only have a few more weeks before our crazy busy summer starts.  This year, we will be away for 6 weeks plus one week of VBS.  It is going to be hectic but I know that God has BIG things in store this summer!  So, please be in prayer with us that God will move in a mighty way in the lives of our children and youth.

P.S.  Since I have failed so terribly at keeping this updated, I'll be posting a catch-up post soon of all our 2011 highlights.  

Here Goes Nothing

We've considered starting a blog for a while now. 

We figure that it is the best way to keep our family & friends back home updated on our personal lives and our ministry.

I don't know how well I will do at this, but I'm willing to try!  

Our lives our extremely busy right now; Adam and I are both going to school full-time & our ministry keeps us very busy.  

So, I suppose we're officially bloggers.   

P.S.  Eventually, our blog will be "cuter"....be patient while I learn how all this works!