Reverend Russell

*Post Script* This blog has been sitting in my box, waiting, since June 30. I have tried to upload a video of our dads no less than 5 times. So I quit. Here is the blog. Hope you enjoy.


Last Sunday night I experienced one of my proudest moments as a wife ever. My sweet husband, Ryland, was licenced and ordained into the ministry. Basically this means, on paper, that my hubby can legally perform weddings and is recognized differently according to tax purposes. But, in his heart it means something completely different. Ry has started his own blog (how cute is that?) and I thought I'd let him share in his own words. Here is a link.



http://www.rylandrussell.com/more-than-a-piece-of-paper/



Maybe I've shared this before but my hubs is a worship leader. Not a "my band can't make it at the moment so this gives me a paycheck guy" or a "I play in a bar on Saturday night and play in a church on Sunday guy" or even a "I write songs with ambiguous lyrics that are spiritual but don't directly reference God so they can be more mainstream guy". He is a guy whose heart and purpose is to use his voice, his songwriting, and his instruments, to give God glory and lead others into a worship experience with God. Let me be clear before I continue and get hateful e-mails. If those people truly have a heart in ministering to people then I am thankful beyond belief that they are out there in places that make me uncomfortable. (I am pretty positive that I am going to be in trouble with Ry for saying most of this stuff anyways.) But if the motivation is solely a paycheck, notoriety, or even an ego trip- then that is sad. God does NOT give musical talent to everyone. The least you can do is give it back to Him. (Stepping off soapbox- where did that come from? Pregnancy hormones, perhaps? I guess the apology e-mails will start soon)



Back to what I wanted to say before I detoured in crazy town: I am so proud of Ryland. I am so proud that he is unapologetically using all that he has for the glory of God. I am proud that he chose to share his life with a crazy, ranting, pregnant woman. I am proud that Hope and Isaac will be exposed to such a great example of obedience to God.



Ry was ordained at our new home church, CBC. We shared the evening with our church family, all of our grandparents, our parents, some dear friends, a few aunts, uncles, and cousins, and Ry's sister and her family. In a Baptist church it is a tradition for a member of the ordaining council to (WARNING: churchy term) preach a "charge" to the person being ordained. This is a fancy way of giving a challenge and good advice to the person who is entering the ministry. There were 2 people who preached Ryland's charge: My father, and his father. I can't recapture in words the precious things that we will treasure in our hearts so I am posting the videos here. (TRIED AND FAILED, SORRY. This is where they would have been.) I know that you will find them as inspiring and encouraging as we did. We are blessed with two very special Daddies.





More than anything, I am certain that Ry is doing exactly what God has called him to do. Does that mean that it will always be easy? No. Does that mean everyone will always like him/us? No. Does that mean that we will have the perfect marriage and raise perfect kids and never have financial troubles or make bad decisions? I wish, but no. All I know is that this ordination means that we have made a commitment to do our best to follow God's call on our lives to the best of our ability. That is a good place to be. It's the only place I wanna be.

Life in The New Town

I apologize in advance. This one is going to be a list of randoms. Otherwise I would spend FOR E VER and probably several posts saying what I could have said a little easier in short bursts. I shall give it a try- and try not to be too wordy. No promises.

1. I quit- Well, I did it. On May 28th, with relatively few tears, I walked out of my classroom for the last time. After it was all said and done, I feel a tremendous amount of peace. I know leaving was the right thing. I will probably be fine until August until I start dreaming about getting my classroom ready, and I start seeing facebook posts about teachers going back- then I know I will miss it. But, then I will remember all my Monday morning guilt ridden tearfests over leaving Isaac all week and I will be fine.

2. Reverend Russell- Yes, that's right. On June 28th I will officially be the wife of a minister! The real thing. Ry is being ordained at our new church. I am so proud of him. We both know that he is called and we are ready and willing to give our lives to whatever God has in store. We know it won't always be that simple, but I'd rather rest in God's hand than be anywhere else. And the world needs more Rylands. He has such a great heart, he constantly amazes me and I am so proud of where he is leading our family. And the poor guy is stuck with me.

3. Hope- I met my new OB, Dr. Gibbens, who will be delivering Hope in October. I LOVED her. She was so attentive, thorough, patient, and professional. I felt very good about our choice to see her. She did a full exam and an ultrasound. We found that Hope is definitely a girl and we looked at all of her- her brain, her heart, her kidneys, her lungs, her spine, her bladder, her bones, her face- and she is perfect. She is growing right on time for her October 15th due date and is a very healthy, wiggly, little cupcake. I cannot describe how thankful I am that God put her together so well. He answered my prayers for a daughter and has made her healthy and complete. I am now praying that He will finish this good work that He has began in me & keep her cooking until she's done.

4. I moved- I am now living in our rent house with Ryland and Isaac. I am so thankful for the provision of a place we can stay for free- but it just does not feel like home. It is FULLY furnished and decorated, but as selfish as it is, it is just not my stuff. Its really hard to let yourself relax when you are worried about taking care of something that belongs to someone else. I did bring my own dishes, I am planning on shampooing the carpet, and I am going to try and put away some things that are in the way. I am hoping that I will settle in soon- I may just need more time. I wish we had room for family and guests. Ry's parents are coming up and I hate that they can't stay with us. I guess you just have to take the sweet with the bitter.

5. Isaac- I love him. I love him. I love him. It is hard for me to imagine how I can possibly love Hope this much. He runs full speed all the time, He says new words everyday- today he told me "more milk". He loves animals and knows tons of names and sounds. He loves baths, french fries, and tickling people. His name means laughter and he is full of it. He is a light in a dark world and I am so glad God chose me to be his Momma. He actually has a lung infection right now. He has had a yucky cough for about 6 weeks, no fever, no weird symptoms- we tried allergy medicine and cough syrup, but neither have worked. We went to our new pediatrician for the first time today and she said his lung capacity was only functioning at about 90 %. She compared it to walking pneumonia, he feels okay, but his lungs need some help. He'll be fine soon with the help of a nebulizer and some antibiotics.

6. Geeking Out- From time to time I will start indulging my self in some time wasting thing that is maybe a little nerdy. Right now Ryland and I are watching vlogs (video blogs) of this family in Idaho. They call themselves the Shaytards. They crack me up! They vlog and post their videos on Youtube. They do things like shoot guns, jump out of windows and roll their windows down with their 3 kids in the car wash. Yes it is geeky, yes it is a little voyeuristic, but they are hilarious.

7. Home- Our house is STILL on the market in Guthrie. We have only had one looker since last time I blogged. I am frustrated. I want to sell it so we can buy a place of our own here. I am so ready. I want to really live here, no strings attached. Please pray that our home will sell.

8. New Job- I am going to be working at our church's preschool this fall. I am going to be teaching music, 3 days a week, to kids from tiny little babies to 4 year olds. I am so excited! It is a departure from what I am trained to do, but it will be a fun challenge and NO DIAPERS! I can't wait to start.

9. Summer Plans- Since the Tulsa Zoo is 15 minutes away, we bought a year round pass so we will go on any cool days we can manage. Isaac's Mimi Cyndi is going to be up next week so we plan to soak up some Mimi time then. We have weddings for Riann and Trent & Steph and Todd planned, we are going to Arkansas to Ry's parent's for a weekend in July, we are going to Tenkiller for a few days in August, Ry is going to Falls Creek and Tulakogee, we will see my parents a lot, and hopefully have a home closing or two mixed in there. I am also committed to cooking more using e-mealz. For $5 a month, they plan my meals, send me a grocery list, save me money, and make my life easier. We have had 3 meals so far and really like it. It saves me time and money- both of which I always seem to be short on. :)

10. New Church- I love our new church. I have loved every church we've had an opportunity to serve in, but this is just different. Ry fits here better than he has anywhere else. He is able to use all of his talents and we are really making great friends here. I am so happy to see Ry like this. He is awesome and is so well received here- again, proud wife moment.

That's all folks!

Mindy