#headdown

Hello Friends and Family!

We hope this update finds you well. Spring is fast approaching and we have many blessings to share!

Co Baby Shower at Katahdin Trust Company.

The first is that our son is now officially less than a month away from his due date of March 17th and is head down, according to yesterday's ultrasound. This is relieving. Megan and her midwives are expecting a healthy delivery, later than her due date. Megan is still doing well and continuing to work. Her last day at Katahdin Trust Company will probably be March 15th.

Arrows were the theme of the Calvary Baptist Baby Shower.

We want to say an early "Thank You" to everyone who has showered us with blessing for Nathaniel! The ladies at our church in Caribou threw a lovely shower this past Saturday, February 16th, including a beautiful devotional by Annette McEndarfer about children being, "a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth" Psalm 127:3-4. We are gifted with the job of helping to craft the identity, character, relationships, and purpose of these arrows. Thank you Calvary Ladies for your love and gifts and thank you to all our friends who keep checking in to see how the pregnancy is progressing, and to those of you who think of us from far away.

Lunch Break!

Our second announcement is that Benjamin has started a new job with Buck Construction. There are many blessings attached to this job that we could brag on God about. Benjamin had this week off from school so was able to put in about 50 hours of training with Buck and is forming good relationships with his supervisors. Godly work principles are appreciated by all employers. It is a blessing that in return for pleasing God by his work-ethic, Benjamin also gains the respect of his employers. Benjamin is still learning the ropes in switching from the food industry to the construction industry and we are still learning how to best support each other and schedule with this added responsibility.

Megan's Valentine's bag for work. 

Finally, we have received the much-prayed-for and long-awaited response from Moody Bible Institute (MBI) - They Said Yes!! Our admissions deposit is payed and we are moving forward in the enrollment process for this fall semester, 2019. Now comes a new list of to-do's as we plan for the move to Chicago in August.

Spare minute activities include knitting Nathaniel's baby blanket.

Please continue in prayer for us. We are excited to be going to Bible school with the expectation of becoming better equipped to serve the Lord through our time spent there. We are also humbled, knowing that serving the Lord starts every day in our own home to our spouse and coming child.

The end of a fun day of baby-sitting our twin nieces. 

To be clear about our future plans, here is a little more information: Megan plans to work until the arrival of Nathaniel, at which time her employment at KTC will be terminated. She is hoping to pick up some work that will help supplement Benjamin's income, such as editing online, cleaning or babysitting, that will also leave her free to spend as much time with Nathaniel as possible. We will not be admitting him to a daycare, nor do we have a contact here in Presque Isle that we are comfortable leaving him with. Benjamin will work at Buck Construction Monday and Friday each week in addition to attending classes Tuesday-Thursday at NMCC until his graduation in mid-May. He will then be employed full-time with Buck through the summer until he gives his two-week notice and we move into on-campus housing at MBI. We believe that God has supplied Benjamin with this job, though temporary, to allow him to practice the construction skills he is learning in school, and have that skill cemented before we turn to the next page in life.

The hosting church did a great job decorating for the IF Gathering, February 9th.

Other blessings of this month have been the IF Women's Gathering that Megan was able to attend at a local church here in Maine. IF is an organization designed to encourage and equip women in spiritual growth and multiplication. Speakers were live-streamed from the Dallas Gathering, encouraging ladies to be purposeful in their everyday lives to encounter God and engage those around them with the message of His Gospel. We have been considering how we can be more intentional in our lives since then. Here is a link for more information on IF and their free discipleship resources: https://www.ifgathering.com.

Also, we celebrated Valentine's Day this year by escaping to Bangor for the night! This was a restful and romantic time for us and also a strengthening time as God showed us how far we have come in 9 months since marriage and what things still need to be worked on in our relationship. This was also the initiation of our becoming an overnight Facebook sensation! (The sensation coming and going in 24 hours.) Benjamin was so excited to see the Bangor Police "Duck of Justice" in person and we were even more thrilled to become part of the duck's story through an article about us on the Bangor police facebook page.

Life is so fun. 

Anyone see the "snow moon" last week?

Please pray with us:
1) That God would bless Benjamin with wisdom as he leads our family in its many new directions, that God would empower him with strength as he handles a full school and work schedule, and that He gives Benjamin peace about our financial needs.
2) Pray for Megan as she begins a Bible study on the book of Proverbs with another young lady. She has never lead a one-on-one Bible study and desires to grow and be a blessing through this.

We're holding out hope for Spring! Caribou, ME's low temp. this year was -15. Chicago's was -22!
www.accuweather.com