What will it BEE?

Our gender reveal party:
We had dinner with a few friends and family members and shared the gender of our baby! Boy, girl, boy, girl, boy, girl!?!?! Everyone came dressed in either pink or blue to cast there vote. We also have a Due Date pool for people to bring a dollar and guess the big day - Winner takes home the honey pot on the day!

Here are a few pictures of our dog before the event:

And here are a few pictures of the event:

Look at those happy grandmas!!! :)


 And...
                         

It's pink!!! We are welcoming a baby girl into the world!

brick by brick we build... OUR FAMILY!!!

Please welcome the newest member of our family... our little Bricklett!

He has made everything Beautiful in its time.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Created differently

We just recently finished a study in our small group. We did it over a study called Life 101 - Marriage Edition by Dr. Bob and Ann Livesay at Pine Cove. We have always been fascinated about marriage - the roles a husband and wife play. Throughout college we've read Wild at Heart, Captivating, Love and Respect. God made everything on purpose and he made men and women different for a reason.

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it ... Then the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is like him." ... Then the Lord God made the rib He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. - Genisis 2:15,18,22
- Man was formed from the ground for the ground and is therefore work-oriented. Woman was formed from a man, for a man; she is, therefore, relationally oriented.

How true is this? StuDoc definitely prioritizes achievements and goals, where I focus more on relationships.  Can you imagine if two people were only work-oriented or only relational. They would miss out on a lot in life. It always helps to be reminded that we were created different for a reason. Instead of trying to change eachother we should be better about listening and find a compromise. With little time that we get to spend with eachother, we don't have time to fight over silly things.

One thing we learned during this study was actually something a friend had suggested. She said that a lot of times her and her husband will end up arguing just to argue. For example, the argument can just get escalated into something bigger than it started out to be. She said, now when they can't agree on something they ask eachother on a scale from 1-10 how important is this to you? Usually, it ends up being really important to one person and not as much to the other. Maybe deciding on where christmas decorations should go, how the dishwasher should be organized, taking care of the cars, etc. I think we will quickly learn that most of the time we are fighting for something we don't really care what the outcome is. We'll notice that it quickly escalated into the crazy cycle.   It will be hard to remember in the middle of an argument to stop and ask the question how important is this to you, but it's worth the try!

Jealous

Some people want a normal life - an 8-5 job, house, 2 cars, a number of kids, live in the suburbs - or whatever you consider to be "normal." Some people dream big, always changing, and live spontaneously. I'll let you guess which one I am and which one my husband is. We balance each other out.

Before entering this journey of medical school, we discussed what it was going to be like. We tried to predict how hard it would be. One thing that we were right on was how we'd envy our friends who aren't in this journey. It's hard having life goals, plans, time lines, and so on that can't be met and watching other people achieve them. It's hard watching friends buy houses, have babies, new cars, nice vacations, and all things that we can't afford. It's hard to know that we have a very long road ahead of us before we will be there.

Sometimes we need to embrace the season of life that we're in. Embrace being poor, enjoy relying on nothing but each other, have faith. How can you have faith if you have everything?

On the average day, we don't consider God very much. On the average day, we forget that our life is truly vapor. But there is nothing normal about today. Just think about everything that must function properly just for you to survive. For example, your kidneys. The only people who really think about their kidneys are people whose kidneys don't work correctly. The majority of us take for granted our kidneys, liver, lungs, and other internal organs that we're dependent upon to continue living. ... It's crazy that we think today is just a normal day to do whatever we want with. - Francis Chan's Crazy Love

We have been blessed with this time to rely on God. Sometimes waiting patiently makes the gift that much better. And by gift, I mean the opportunity to buy our first home, car, new furniture, and so on.

So although, my life isn't according to my plan, I need to be better about embracing the season of life that we're in. Maybe some day I'll miss it? - a car that can break down at any time, no microwave, using quarters to do our laundry, and being conscious about every $20 we spend. Now granted, we are living below our means and living consciously, as we should. We are learning life lessons that we will use in the future (limited communication, living below our means, relying on God, and so on) and we don't even realize it. Whenever you ask doctors who were married in medical school, they always say their favorite time is when they were poor with their spouses. My parents, too, have told us that if you have to live on rice and beans to make your dreams come true, than do it - You only live once.

You have to give up the life you planned to find the life you have.  Or else, life will pass you by.

New Friends and Food Tidings

FACT:  SHE wants to hang out with as many people as possible and desiring to make more friends. HE is tired and just wants to relax, not spend more time with the people he's with all day.

I say "fact" because we have had arguments on more than one occasion about this and in our household it just needs to be recognized as a fact. I am constantly trying to get him to rally up a group together for dinner, a movie, or day at the lake. Right now, our friends consist of other StuDocs and topics revolve around medical school this and that. And he just wants to come home and relax with his wife. We are learning to compromise on this.

Our church recently made a posting about a Kickoff for new young couples community. I jumped and dragged my husband! Just kidding, he was excited to go too. We hate entering groups in the middle. So much, that we even hate entering an event late (in the middle) and everyone is already clicked off in groups . So when they say "kickoff" I knew we better go this week so that we are joining at the beginning and with other newcomers too. We show up to the kickoff, and let me tell you, we have never felt so welcomed. Immediately someone came up to us and introduced themselves, and before we sat down we had already met a bunch of people. And it wasn't that awkward pity "I'll come talk to you because you look lonely/pathetic" introduction, everyone was genuine and offered for us to sit with them. Never once were we by ourselves or felt out of place.  Just a reminder of how much making others feel welcome and being sincere can truly go on first impressions.

Now a little about the group.. A few things that stuck out to me - this group of 25+ married couples really take care of each other. For example, if you are sick, have surgery, a death in the family, or just had a baby the group quickly orchestrates a meal plan for you and couples volunteer to bring you food. They do this by using a website called Food Tidings. Ever heard of it? Me neither, so I checked it out. This website is a place where you can put together a calendar for people to sign up on what days to bring the family food, you put a place with what you're bringing so you don't make the family eat lasagna three nights in a row, it will have the family's address, list any food allergies, and any likes or dislikes. How cool is that? The group also throws diaper baby showers, have girls night, and guys night. I especially like the idea of the girls night because it will be the solution to our "fact" :) The group seems to be well organized in the sense that they are not all 'talk' but actually take action and are consistent.

We explained to them our situation - I may have to come alone sometimes - and they said that happens a lot.  We even met a doctor from Scott and White who is in his intern year. I'm sure we will flag them down eventually and ask them questions.

God puts friends in your life for a reason, even if it is only for a season.

For the City

Our church in Austin ruined us for life. Ok, not really. But seriously, no church compares to the Austin Stone. It is an amazing church that is doing amazing things. We had this mentality when finding a new church in our new city. We missed the stone so much that we have driven on a Sunday 3 hours there and back just for church (while he studies in the car). Today, the sermon was about their project For the City and a church's mission.

Types of Churches:
1. In the city - no lasting impact
2. against the city - protects themselves from the city
3. of the city - tries not to offend the city and therefore waters down the gospel
4. for the city - for his glory

It shouldn't be just the preachers in the churches trying to impact the city. It should be the businessmen changing the local businesses, teachers impacting the children, police officers, doctors and nurses, and the list goes on. He hand picked us to be in this partifular city at this time during this lifetime.

This struck a chord in our hearts. Instead of having the mindset of what can this small town church do for us, we should be thinking what can we do for our town? God could not have been more clear that he wants us in this town at this time for a reason. I mean, he brought us here in his own way and in his own timing and everything fell into place to make that happen.

What can we do for our small town?