Kristi Ann

Family "Quiet" Time

2008-10-09T21:44:00.000-07:00

I was trying to record our family devotions one night without drawing too much attention and ruining the moment (hence the footage of our legs). However, the sweet moments of "devotion" quickly deteriorated...

Highlights

2008-10-09T20:44:00.001-07:00

I continue to put off adding a new post to my blog because I feel that life has offered nothing out of the ordinary. I feed, clean, play, clean, and clean some more. However, I am always quick to snap pictures throughout my seemingly monotonous days. As I look back over the last two months of pictures, I must admit they are anything but monotonous. God has blessed me with a precious husband, 3 sweet sons, an awesome church, godly friends, an amazing family (my parents, my 4 bros, their wives and kids - 24 of us just on my side! - then I have another set of parents, siblings, niece and nephews on the Perdue side)...I could go on.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures over the last two months. These are my sweet reminders that each day is a gift and filled with God's new mercies and grace.

Isaac still wears this baby-sized winter hat -

even in the middle of summer. Crazy kid.

And you've gotta love Jacob's bright orange sun hat. Thank you G'ma.

They love their books. We've welcomed some refugees from Burma into our chuch body.
Here is one of them lovin' on Samuel.

Yes, that is a cup of "joe" (a small cup)

A new bike trailer. Yay! The boys love it. This boy's got moves!
How can you not love this face!
Love to All
And thank you, God, for the everday gifts that you bestow!

Baby Powder fun

2008-09-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here's how the conversation went as Jacob and I were sitting on the couch looking at pictures on the computer:

Me: Wow! That is a weird smell. I wonder what it could be?

Jacob: Maybe it's the baby powder that Isaac is dumping on the floor.

Me: What!!

Isaac (looking up innocently): Tasty!

A letter to a friend...

2008-09-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

Dear Luke,

You now know as you are known. You gaze in awe at the very face of Jesus. As Pastor Tom said, you are now the happiest of all men. I would not wish you away from the presence of your Creator.

But I wish I had told you of the evidence of God's grace in your life. This past year, I had the privilege of sitting back and watching you grow in your knowledge of God and love for Him. I saw it in your excitement to serve the church, your faithfulness to participate in the body, and your passion for the lost. My heart was encouraged as you soaked up instruction. I was praying that God would lead you to channel your enthusiasm and passion for His glory and for His kingdom. I now pray that none of us who knew you will ever be the same. May eternity be closer, this world be further, and Christ be dearer. May we be forever changed.

I miss you. My heart sunk when you did not walk through the door at our study this last Friday. Thank you for the joy you brought to our lives.

By His grace we can say that your life was not wasted.
Kristi

I have been wanting and dreading to write this post. The past few weeks have been rather surreal. It has been full of new and everyday events, but one event has defined these last 3 weeks for me and so many others.

Steve and I received "the call" on August 16th telling us that Luke Johnston had had a horrible diving accident. There was severe spinal and neck injuries and swelling on his brain. The prognosis was grim. We prayed. We were shocked and devastated .

Luke graduated from high school a year ago and approached the youth leadership of our church about starting a college/singles group. Steve and I were approached, and we agreed to host a study at our house every 3 weeks or so. We started going through "Don't Waste Your Life" as a group. We'd also have pizza and games. Luke was the driving force, the glue, that often brought these "kids" together. He was friendly, crazy, open, competitive, sarcastic and inspiring. We saw him growing in grace and loving God's glory more and more.

So many thoughts rushed through our minds when we were told of Luke's accident. We were on an emotional roller-coaster the next few days (along with everyone in Luke's family and the rest of our church body). We had hope, heartache, laughter and anguish in waves. We were up and then plummeted down. We began saying our goodbyes to Luke as he lay in a coma. He was declared brain dead on Wednesday (the 20th) and removed from life support the next day.

He will be so missed and never forgotten.

Alex, Dan, Justin, and Luke

(dubbed by Luke as "The Founding Fathers" of our college/singles study)

Blessings...

2008-07-31T12:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend our friends, Jason and Karen, dropped by for a few hours. Not only are we blessed to have such friends as these, but God has seen fit to relocate our respective families so that we are never far from each other (save two years since we have been married). These friends have been in our lives since before we were dating. We sang in their wedding. We ministered together. We have stayed up late playing games with them PK (pre-kids). We entered the joy of parenthood with them...and will soon have 5 children between our family and theirs. We have watched each other struggle and grow in our love and dependence on God.
God has always blessed us with sweet friendships wherever He has led us, but it has been an added blessing to keep us close to the Wredbergs...we love you guys!

Darts at our place
Expecting...
Jason and Karen and Meredith

Jason (with our Jacob) and Karen (with Meredith)

Jacob and Meredith

Jason and Karen with Isaac

*******************

One more gift from Him! My dad is attending a conference this week in Winston Salem and came over to Wake Forest yesterday to spend the day with us. We had such a nice time...another unexpected blessing from our good Father.

I have GOT to get back into this...

2008-07-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

O.K., so it has been 10 months since I posted anything on my blog...can I still call it "my blog" after 10 months of inactivity?
A lot has happened since my last post. And as I like to do, I will fill you in with pictures. I will try to fill in a few of the details from this past year, and I will at least endeavor to stay more up to date.

We found out we were pregnant with baby #3 at the end of August '07... and soon found out it was another boy!

I tackled my last semester of graduate school and, by God's grace, completed my M.A. in December '07.

We moved out of campus housing 4 days after I graduated into a sweet little rental house. It has been such a treat having a fireplace, yard, deck and a bit more room.

Baby Samuel was born April 26th, 2008.

On July 1st we accepted appointment to go overseas with PI. Here we are after a week of Orientation in Orlando.

Weekend in Wisconsin

2007-09-20T20:05:00.000-07:00

We were able to take a quick trip back to Wisconsin at the end of August. One may not define "quick" as a 20-hour drive one way, but it was worth it nonetheless. Our kiddos did great considering. And we were able to reconnect with friends and get some quality "hang time" with family. Here is a "photo journal" of our whirlwind week.

We stopped in Kentucky halfway to Wisconsin and stayed with our friends, the Gurneys.
Jacob and Noah are best buds and have been since they were born. They are 3 weeks apart.
Noah and his family moved from NC just this summer
so these two were thrilled to see each other.

Finally at Grandma and Grandpa's house! The boys LOVED playing on Grandpa's deck.

Steve and I attended college in Wisconsin (Maranatha Baptist Bible College, for those who didn't know...). This weekend was also the "regathering"/reunion of the alumni from our school.
Steve and his brother jumped in the fray with the other alumni who had played on the Maranatha football team.
They were able to keep the current college team from scoring!! Go Saders!

The field was just a "bit" muddy and Steve was covered with it...hence I am balancing both boys.

My buddy, Sarah. This girl is awesome.
How good God is to bless us with such friendships! (We were missing you, Jeannie.)

COUSINS!!

Dinner at the "P-Shack"

A little touch football on a perfect night in a perfect setting.

And the night must end with homemade ice cream...sooo good!

Fun Announcement

2007-08-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

Check out how my friend informed others of their happy news! Fun idea. Congratulations Ed and Leah.

Happy Birthday "Baby"

2007-08-16T19:57:00.000-07:00

One week ago we celebrated our little boy's first birthday. Isaac James was born on August 9th, 2006. From his first moments in this world, he was already so different from his older brother. We have been amazed to see two diverse personalities take shape in our two sons. This post is to thank the Lord for our precious second-born.
Our Isaac is fearless, happy, destructive, hungry, cuddly, busy, charming, and completely endearing.
We are truly witnesses to a daily miracle as we watch him learn and grow. We love you, sweet boy!

Greek and Grace

2007-08-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

Three weeks ago I was staring down the first day of my 3-week Greek Summer Course. By the 9:00 am start time, I had already changed a poopy diaper, dressed two boys for the day, watched "Curious George," had breakfast on the table for my husband and 2 boys, packed up my completed translation homework and textbooks and headed out the door.

As I was walking across campus (and humming the opening song to "Clifford the Big Red Dog") to that first day of class and considering the 3 weeks of daily class and homework on top of all my other responsibilities, I cried out to God for grace. I knew that I could not do all that God was calling me to do apart from His moving upon my life, my mind, my energy, my day. By taking that opportunity to acknowledge my great need and helplessness, my mind was fixed on God's work and not mine. I now look back on the past 3 three weeks and can say only this, "Grace, grace, grace. It was none of me and all of HIM! May He be praised."

Bye for now...

2007-03-12T19:01:00.000-07:00

I will be "taking a break" from blogging for a little while. I may upload current photos to an album and invite family and friends to view them, but I cannot keep up with maintaining a blog at this time. Maybe this summer I will be able to recommit to posting my life's current events and musings. For now, I will try to keep up with all you out there via your blogs and will be notified of any comments you want to leave on mine.
Here's a recent pic of my little fam - my cup is full. Thank you Lord!

Common Grace

2007-02-21T21:14:00.001-08:00

The ability of writers to compose, of instrumentalists and vocalists to perform, and the audience to absorb such spectacular music is God's common grace raining down on mankind.

Now if that doesn't make you smile!

2007-02-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl Story

2007-02-07T10:46:00.000-08:00

This past Sunday I was reminded of the January we spent in China and our efforts to watch the Super Bowl.
Steve and I had called all of the 4 and 5-star hotels in our city, Dalian, inquiring as to the Sports Channels their rooms offered. The only network that was carrying the Super Bowl in China was "Star" and NOONE in our city had "Star."
Sooo...we bought train tickets to Shenyang, a city 4 hours north of Dalian. We left Sunday afternoon (mind you we were 12 hours ahead of EST), checked into a Hilton, bought Pepsi and snacks (as American as we could find), and set our alarm for 5 a.m. We got up and drank Pepsi, ate Pringles and watched the Raiders get stomped on by the Buccaneers (a game from which Gannon never seemed to recover) with the rest of America in Super Bowl XXXVII. Good Stuff!

5 (little known) Facts About Me

2007-02-03T12:23:00.000-08:00

My friend Jeannie "tagged" me thereby "forcing" me to follow with a similar post.

I must say I had to sit and think awhile and even asked my husband to weigh in on what he thought were some interesting tidbits that might "define" me or make me unique. It is rather humorous that we so often find ourselves and others fascinating or mysterious. We imagine ourselves to have layers that are not really there. And in fact, we are all just humble, sinful creatures that possess no characteristic or ability apart from the grace of God.

Enough pontificating...here are my 5 (somewhat) interesting facts:

1) I am an avid reader. Many may not know this about me; I devour books when given the opportunity. While growing up, my brothers would hide my most current book and not disclose the hiding spot until I promised to play "army" with them for a certain amount of time. Granted, I often got so wrapped up in playing army that I did not return to my book.

2) I left for college at age 16. I did turn 17 during the first week of school, but left at 16 nonetheless for a college 2,000 miles away from home.

3) I have insanely long arms. Many of you know that the length of one's arm-span is often equal to one's height. Well....I am about 5'7 1/2" while my arm-span is a towering 6'2". There was a time that I could scratch my knees without bending over. No doubt the trait comes from my father whose nickname on the basketbaal court in H.S. was "spider."

4) I married into a family who collectively holds 8 Bacherlors Degrees, 4 Masters Degrees, 2 Masters of Divinity, and 1 P.Hd (I hope to add another Master's Degree by the end of this year.)

5) Stuff: I LOVE football (Go Broncos), have had dozens of different jobs, have lived in 4 different states and 2 countries, and love one man more than I could have ever thought possible.

Seeing as I know so few people in the blogosphere, I am "tagging" Ben Wright (I'm sure you'll love this, Ben.).

What a Week!

2007-01-29T18:35:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday Steve preached in both morning services at our church. After 3 weeks of arduous preparation, I informed him that I am not called to be a preacher's wife (obviously, I am joking, but it was a long few weeks with him pretty much checked out). He exposited Psalm 19 and did an outstanding job. (I'll post the link once our church uploads it for those of you who would be interested.) God's grace was evident and His words came forth.
Below is a picture of Steve's attempt to watch Isaac while I was getting cleaned up one morning last week...Hey, the kid was happy. I couldn't complain.

I also began classes once again last Thursday. My very first class "back in the saddle" was rather disappointing. The professor handed out the syllabi, read through it, and dismissed the class. I'm sure if he would have known the lengths at which I had to go in order to get myself and my boys together, wake up my husband after he had only 5 hours of sleep, and get to class on time he would've plunged into the lecture if only for my sake...Ah, well. It has begun. I have only 4 classes left. We hope to make it through still intact by God's grace.

Here's a pic of the chapel on campus which also houses a number of classrooms in the basement. There is nothing quite like singing "In Christ Alone" in this chapel when accompanied by the massive pipe organ and joined by hundreds of men and women training for ministry. We are privileged to be here in this place at this time.

Small Group

2007-01-23T23:46:00.000-08:00

Our church does small groups...although they are called "Care Groups"...and my husband and I are leaders of the newest addition to the small group family. We have been meeting weekly with three other couples for over a year now.
The leadership of our church states often that sanctification in the life of a believer cannot take place outside of true fellowship within the body of Christ ("body" inferring "local body" and "fellowship" being defined as much deeper than talk of "the game" around assorted potluck dishes). Reflecting on the last year, I wholeheartedly agree with our pastors. I have never been more aware of the condition of my heart mostly because I have 3 girls that call me and sit across from me and ask me the hard questions - "O.K., so you're disappointed/discouraged/overwhelmed/frustrated...? What does that say about your heart? How does that reflect on your view of God and the gospel?"
I sometimes miss the comfort of familiarity especially when thinking of friends and family. The other girls in my small group would agree with me when I say that we probably would not have chosen each other to be our closest friends. But that is what we have become. (I Cor. 12:18 - But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.) It doesn't matter that they don't know my favorite coffee drink...they know my weaknesses and vises and they are on their knees before our Father on my behalf. I love you guys! And I thank God for my church.

Grab Bag

2007-01-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

Hi All!...I'm probably only speaking to 5 of you when I say "all." I know my sporadic posts are visited by only a faithful few. So to you five out there, "Hey!"
It has been weeks since I've been able to compile some pictures and time to add a new post. You would think that my life would be much slower now that Steve is no longer in school, but it is amazing how quickly the time gets eaten up by other things. I have just two weeks before I step back into the role of student. I'll be taking two classes this Spring leaving only two left for me to finish with my Masters.
My days stay busy with all my boys and my evenings have been enjoyed spending some much needed QT with my husband. We are reading through a book together (which I highly recommend - "Reforming Marriage" by Douglas Wilson) as well as reading through our own books that we've bought or borrowed. It's been so nice drawing our entertainment from reading as opposed to the TV. We've acutally gotten into some poetry lately as well, very fun and sharpening.

He Did It!!

2006-12-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Last Friday my amazing husband graduated from seminary with his M.Div. If you don't mind, I'm going to take a moment to brag on the wonderful husband God has blessed me with.

Steve has been on this journey for three and a half years. He has worked part-time at UPS loading boxes and driving a truck, juggled another part-time job at Target, lived off of 5 hours of sleep, taken a full load of classes every semester, led a Small Group in our church, and still remained an incredible husband and father through it all. (I love you, Stephen!)

God's grace is so abundant! All praise to Him.

Christmas Traditions?

2006-12-04T07:36:00.000-08:00

I just thought I'd put a question out there...what are some Christmas traditions that you enjoy as a family or with your friends or church...? I know there are some young mothers out there. I would love to hear from some of you what you have done with your little ones as we are looking to instill the true meaning of Christmas in our boys. We also look forward to establishing some unique traditions of our own.
We have already established some Christmas meals and foods that are unique to our little family. We start out the day with Bacon, Waffles and Grandma's Cinnamon Gravy (oh, yeah!!). And we close out the day with a lasagna dinner (I know, not the traditional turkey/ham dinner) and top it off with homemade egg nog. The waffles and egg nog traditions came from our own families' traditions, but the lasagna is all our own.
We hope to take our boys out caroling at homes of the elderly in our church. My friend G-Knee is reading "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" aloud with a group of friends.
What do you do??

Happy Giving Thanks

2006-11-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

These 2 boys are just the tip of the iceberg of all the things I have to be thankful for...

As we all stop and give thanks for the good things our God has given us, may we not stop too long and revel in the gifts but in the great God who has lavished His grace and love upon us in orchestrating His best for each of us. The God of the universe sings songs over US! How high and how wide is His love for us...that we should be called the "children of God!"

Autumn is Here

2006-11-03T08:49:00.000-08:00

The trees are at their lovely peak;
The temps are dropping by degrees;
The winds cause it to rain leaves...
Fall has come at last.

Funny

2006-10-27T18:24:00.000-07:00

O.K. so I totally "stole" this from another blog, but it was hilarious.

Check it out...

http://girltalk.blogs.com/girltalk/files/learn_english.mpg

Being A Mother

2006-10-27T07:45:00.000-07:00

Most days these two boys make being a mother easy. They are sweet-natured and generally happy. But...there are days when I must cry out to God for patience and kindness as I juggle both of their needs. I have wanted to just walk away at times.
Then I remember that my God is sovereign. This is what He has called me to do. All those things that once gave me my "identity" are gone. But what is my true identity - it is not being a peace-loving, coffee-drinking, ocean junky; it is being a child of God. He is my King; I am His servant. He is always good and always right in regards to what is best for me. I can only trust Him.

Trip to the Beach

2006-10-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

So Steve had a week off of school last week. We ended the week at the beautiful Carolina coast for a short family vacation. It was a wonderful, relaxing time. The boys did great. The change of pace was just what we needed before the last leg of Steve's seminary journey - oh, yeah, Steve is almost done!! Two more months and he walks down that aisle to receive his M.Div. December 15, here we come!

The addiction is genetic...

2006-10-05T18:39:00.000-07:00

Vocabulary

2006-10-01T19:37:00.000-07:00

The attempt at communicating has begun full steam. Here is the litany of words my 18 month old is saying (or attempting to say):
Hi (the most frequently used word in his vocabulary and with every inflection imaginable-he's a friendly little guy)
Ball
Mommy
Daddy
Baby
Buddy (his teddy bear)
Go (all-encompassing for anything with wheels)
Car
Tractor
Cracker (these last two sound ALOT alike-context, context)
Pillow
Nite-Nite
Tree
Noah (his little best friend)
Sock
Shoes
Knee
Outside
Bye-bye
Ball
Balloon
Dog
Meow
Moo
Quack
Hot Dog
Yogurt
O's (Cheerios)
Go-Key (for car keys)
Dog
Elmo
Mo-Mo (for phone - don't even ask)
More (all-encompassing word for "food")
No-no (he reprimands himself he's heard it so many times)
Yucky
Owey
Hot

Outnumbered

2006-09-23T10:05:00.000-07:00

Here are the "boys." Isaac is growing like a weed. He is in the 75% in weight where his brother stayed in the 3 - 5 % until after he was a year old. I guess no two are alike. God is good. We are so blessed!!

Isaac James

2006-08-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

Our precious little boy was born on August 9th at 6:58 a.m.

He was 7 lbs. 6 oz. and 21.5 inches long.

I had less than 3 hours in the hospital before he was born....we made it in the nick of time. Everything was super smooth...I highly recommend anesthesia; I'm not sure why I didn't have it when I delivered Jacob. It made the experience almost enjoyable!!

We are all home and recovering/adjusting. We pray that we remain humble and so dependent upon God's grace for without Him we can do nothing.

Vacation

2006-07-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

So, the last week of June, we took off to Baltimore and D.C. for a little vaca. It just so happened to be the week that they got drenched with 10-11 inches of rain. We were still able to make the most of it and just ducked in and out of the thunderstorms as we were site-seeing.
This was the first vacation we've taken with Jacob which made things all the more interesting. We all had a great time together and we wore the little fellow out.

First Haircut

2006-06-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

I did it....last week I took clippers to Jacob's "mullet." I have been threatening to for quite some time and finally just shaved it off. I initially started using scissors, but had no idea what I was doing so I plugged in the clippers, attached the number 2 comb and "shaved" up the back and sides of his head.
He looks like such a little boy now. The difference is startling to me sometimes how just a little haircut aged him so much. I can't really call him my baby anymore.

Lighthouses

2006-06-12T20:32:00.000-07:00

My mom has always wanted to do a lighthouse tour of the East Coast. Well, my parents flew out here the last week of May, stayed with us for a few days, and we kicked off their whirlwind tour with a trip to North Carolina's Outer Banks (called the OBX by natives). We were able to see 4 lighthouses in one day and experience a 2.5 hour ferry ride to boot - very fun!
They arrived just as we were finishing up our exams so we were able to enjoy a break from the pace after a few very grueling weeks. It was great to spend some time with them and be reminded of the heritage I have as well as see some of God's spectacular creation.

My Two Boys

2006-05-16T07:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!

2006-05-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

Steve and Jacob and I headed to the beach for Mother's Day weekend. We had a joyous time! Steve and I were able to reconnect after a couple very busy weeks, and we were able to pour some extra time and love into our precious little boy.

Jacob Edward makes being a mom so easy. He is full of life and love. What a gift! What a sacred responsibility! I pray that I might be half the mom to Jacob that God blessed my life with. I love you, Mom!

May Madness

2006-05-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

We are nearing the end of our semester. Steve and I both have hundreds of pages of reading to complete; Steve has a 10-page paper to write and a couple of insane essay exams to prepare for. But the end is in sight!! Three weeks from now we will be enjoying a weekend with no homework deadlines hanging over our heads...that will be a first in a long time.
Steve recently found out that his M.Div. degree program was changed from 98 hours to 93 hours which means he will be able to finish and graduate this December! It is hard to imagine Steve not being a student. We still plan to stay on here and prepare for China under the leadership of our church. Our goal right now is to return to China by 2008 (er-ling-ling-ba). In the meantime, I will keep plugging away on my degree. I won't take classes this fall semester with another bambino coming, but with only 12 credits left I should be able to finish my M.A. before we leave.

Spring in North Carolina

2006-04-20T07:41:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful time of year...I have never seen anything like it! The trees and the bushes all "flower" before getting green leaves. The only drawback is the sneezing that accompanies the flowering.

Good Friday

2006-04-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

John 13:1
It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

"Let men count it folly, or frenzy, or whatsoever. We care for no knowledge, no wisdom in the world but this, that man has sinned and God has suffered, that God has been made the sin of man and man is made the righteousness of God."
(Richard Hooker, Sermon on Justification)

A little disappointment...

2006-04-12T19:45:00.000-07:00

We were planning to get away this weekend just for one night on the coast...but our plans were cancelled. Our little guy came down with a stomach flu on Friday morning and is just now getting back to his normal self. He didn't eat anything (besides drinking formula) for almost 4 days. That got a little scary for me as he is already a little tyke (He's been at the 3 percentile in weight since he was born...at least he's staying on his own little trajectory.).
Being able to stay at home and care for his needs made me so thankful that I am a stay-at-home mom. I love being there for Jacob when he needs me; and when he is scared or hurting or tired, I am the one he wants. I wouldn't want it any other way.
Well, our trip to the beach will have to wait. The salt water is in my blood...I can't stay away for too long. Here's a pic I took of our North Carolina coastline.

Hi to all!

2006-04-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

I recently had a friend ask if I blogged...not until now. We'll see how I do with this. I thought it might be a good way to keep friends and family a little more up to date on what's happening in the Perdue household. Last Friday, the 31st, was Jacob's first birthday. I cannot believe it! How the year has flown...and our second little boy will be here in the middle of August...life will never be the same. We are in the middle of our school term here at Southeastern. Steve is taking 9 credits, and I'm taking 6. It is quite the juggling act for both of us with classes, jobs, Jacob, church...but God is so faithful! Here are some recent pics of Jacob.