All We've Ever Known

in the moving truck

When Jay and I married in 2003, our plan was to live in Stillwater just long enough for Jay to finish his last year of school. 10 months really was all.

Plans changed...for the better. After Jay graduated from college, a temporary job opened up at our church where he could fill a need. His desire was to serve in ministry, so he took it. That was over wonderful six years ago. We knew a time would come when we would move to Dallas. That was the plan all along. I just had no idea we would get to stay so long and that I would fall so in love with this place.

We love Stillwater. It's all we've ever known together. And even though the size and feel of the town is so much different than what I knew growing up, I have grown so accustomed to this place and can't imagine anywhere else feeling like home. Of course, it's not the town itself that I have loved. It's those who live here and how our family has changed while we've lived here.

Countryside. We can't say enough how grateful we are to our Father in Heaven for the privilege of serving this body of believers through discipling and loving the youth. We have loved our students and have also been graciously loved by their families. The support and encouragement of the entire church has blessed us in many ways. This is a special place with genuine people who strongly desire to know the Word.

Our family. We've lived in a dumpy townhouse as newlyweds, a much better duplex when we got a little more, and then we bought our own home. We entered the real world work force here. We got our dog. We've had our baby boys here. This place is full of wonderful memories starting from the years we were dating until now when we are nearly to our 30s with our own children.

God's hand has been evident in our lives. He provided for us in ways we weren't expecting, including our move. Our house sold quickly (yea!), but that meant we needed a place to live for a few weeks. And just as it has happened over and over again, our need was met through the body of Christ. The wonderful Herrmann family opened up their home and offered for us to stay with them. I could not have imagined a better living situation or feeling more comfortable staying somewhere. We are humbled and blessed.

Now that we are settling in to Ft. Worth, I can say that I am excited to see what God will do in our lives while we are here. We trust that we will be blessed by those we met here, and our prayer is that we will be used to minister to others as well. It won't be Stillwater, but we look forward to making new memories as a family.

Athan's Eleventh Month

Could it be that this month had the biggest changes for our baby A?

He started the month crawling, moved to pulling up and cruising, taking steps, and is now on the move with a combination of walking and speed crawling wherever he needs to go. Watching him learn to walk has just been incredible. I love seeing his determination and feeling of pride as he lets go of whatever he is holding on to, checks his balance, and bravely steps out on his own. What a great example of perseverance and tenacity! He almost always ends up falling eventually, but that doesn't stop him from trying.

Cognitively, he has also made new developments. He enjoys driving cars and trucks, a shared passion with big brother. He babbles "ma, ma," "da, da," among some other sounds, and I really think he might know to call me "ma, ma." It's not all the time, but when he wants my attention.

His look is a little different as well. For the first time his hair has started to curl in the back- a shared trait for Lanes!

With only one month left in this first year of Athan's life, I am feeling grateful for him and looking forward to many more years to watch him grow.