Wow He's Grown, and He has a Name!

Baby Bond has grown so much, and so has mama! My stomach is now the size of a basketball and it seems to get bigger everyday. Our sweet boy is very active these days, and very strong. Hopefully he will one day we as strong as his daddy - physically and in the Lord.

We decided on his name!

ELIJAH JAMES

Elijah - My God is Jehovah

James - Supplanter

We want our son to be a spiritual warrior! Our desire is for him to go into the kingdoms of the enemy, Satan, and supplant them with his God Jehovah. That has been one of our many prayers for him.

Many of the students I teach (they are all four and five year olds) are fascinated with the baby and my belly. They always want to see him and wonder when he is coming out. I even had an offer from one little boy to have the baby on his birthday, and then come to his party so that he could see us both. I've also been asked many different questions, such as "why can't daddy's have the babies too" and "how does the baby actually come out?" It makes me laugh so much because they are just so cute. 

Here's Neal swimming with 3 of my nephews
(There's a random boy in the back)

Neal and I have been very blessed being here in Alabama for these past few months. We have gotten to see many of our old friends and hope to see many more. We've gotten to visit our home churches, and also joined a church close to where we live, which has been a blessing to us and it has brought new friends. However, the most precious part of being here has been the time with our family. We've always lived 10 hours from family, and therefore we didn't get to be a part of birthday parties, cookouts, hangouts, going to eat together, etc. It has been really nice getting to see more of all of them. I'm thankful that my nephews will at least know who I am before I move to the other side of the world. 

We recently got to go on a brief, but wonderful, family vacation with Neal's family. We went to Guntersville Lake and God blessed us with excellent weather. One of the days they rented two jet skies for everyone to go out on, which they all loved. While they rode I stayed on the pier and watched and talked with whoever was waiting for a turn. It was so peaceful, restful, and a great time with his family, which is just what we needed!  Close to the end of the time with the jet skies Neal convinced me to get on with him and he would take Elijah and I around the lake very slowly. So, that's just what we did and Elijah seemed to love doing it!

Please continue to pray for us as we meet with people.  Pray that He will continue to grow Elijah and help him (and me) to be healthy. Pray that God will prepare Neal and I to be parents after His own heart.