.Our Niece and Nephew.

One of the newest additions to life since moving out to MA has been two of Mike’s cousin’s children… for simplicity sake we call them our niece and nephew.

Introducing Devin (AKA – the Cop) And Brittany (AKA – The Cowgirl, with my boots on :) )Aren’t they cute??

[Note: Sorry about the pic quality, these were just with my computer camera, having fun one night!]

Their life has been hard. terrible. beyond comprehension at points. The comforts you and I take for granted, they’ve barely had.  Yes, there are those who have had it rougher than they have, but the things these kids have seen, experienced and lived through blows my mind.

Their father got remarried and as soon as his new wife got pregnant, she decided she didn’t want these two around to hurt the new baby. So, they were sent back to live with their mother, who had no parents of her own, lives in the projects, and has no idea how to raise kids. 

Mike and I are attempting to be a small light in their lives, parents who love and discipline them, and people who show them the basic parts of living life [cleanliness, kindness to each other, sharing, allowing the adults to be the parents, etc.] 

It’s tough.  In some ways I feel like I’ve been thrown into parenthood WAY before being ready, even though it’s only one night a week.  Other times I realize my humanness.  And other times they melt my heart!

I love having them around, showing them how to be kids, and bring Christ into their lives a little at a time. So, I thought I would share them with all of you and thanks for your prayers over this part of our lives!

(Peace out!)

-Heidi-

.Here I go.

Here I sit… wishing that I had hours and hours to spend with the Lord this morning, because my heart NEEDs Him this morning and He is wonderful!

Marriage is a beautiful thing and my heart becomes more and more Mike’s everyday… to the point that 5 min. of seeing each other in the middle of a crazy day isn’t enough, or he walks out the door in the morning and before he’s down the stairs I already miss him. Crazy how life is, huh? 

For our honeymoon he got us mugs kinda like this:

And in it, it says “I found the one my heart loves".” Song of Solomon 3:4. YES- I have!  YES! YES! YES!

I love loving him, knowing him, serving him, surprising him, making breakfast/lunch/dinner for him, cleaning the house so he has a cozy place to come home to… every part of being a wife!  It’s not always easy, but with Christ as the center, I know I’m truly doing it to glorify Him. With that in mind, it becomes easier [not easy, just easier.]

I start a job today with The Morning Star – a local Christian book store.  I’m excited because I see the Lord’s hand in bringing me this job, but saddened because it’s going to take away slightly from doing all the things I mentioned above, that MUCH to my surprise, I’ve come to enjoy the past month!  On top of this, school starts again on Monday for me… another bittersweet addition to life.

Life is about to change. I hope I’m ready and pray I made the most of the last month at home – setting-up house, building daily “wifey” disciplines, and most importantly reaching into the depths of Jesus Christ and making sure He is my sole focus!

It’s with both joy and sadness, I step forward into my day… here I go!

~H~

P.S. Aren’t we a cute couple?

 
{7.31.10 – before we were married, helping at Tara [Janik] and Chris Klefsaas’ wedding}

.Viewing God’s Word.

I’m going to have to interrupt my season of reflection and looking backward, to share about the here and now of life.  This is actually something I was just journaling about yesterday morning.   Reflecting on all that the Lord has done is extremely important, but how often do we [me especially] forget to savor the here and now.

What a RICH season I’m in… YES - because I’m a newly-wed and LOVING being married, but it’s more than that too.  I’m back among a fellowship of believers that are constantly blessing, encouraging and challenging my walk with the Lord! I.missed.this.SO.much.

My heart is hungry more of the Lord, yet so often I forget to feed it or only get a little snack – for the WHOLE day!  Imagine what your body would do if this happen, yet SO many times I do it to the ONE part of me that will live forever!  YIKES!  We need to be DESPERATE for the Lord, on our knees daily begging the King of Kings to change us and mold us to be more like him.  How BEAUITFUL!

Hearing and reading TRUTH, being picky even in the Christian realm of what you let into your head, makes a HUGE difference!  My eyes have been opened to the fact that so many times the Church and its leaders pick something they want to learn or know  and find scripture to back it up.  I’ve been guilty of this [Father, forgive me!!] and it rips me apart to know I have led people into this people-centered study of scripture!  Scripture is GOD’s WORD to us, how dare we change it!  My spirit is 110% more refreshed when I read a book by someone like John Piper or John MacArthur who have spent YEARS researching scripture IN CONTEXT. Men who go to the WORD and say – God get rid of me and reveal yourself!  NOT – God, show me what I want to see today.  We’re all guilty of the second, but it is not God’s BEST.

With that being said… I’m starting another blog to share about my journey with the Lord and seeking out HIS truth, not my own.  It’s not quiet ready yet, and I don’t want to rush it… so be looking for it in a later post.

-Heidi-

.Honeymoon.

And the next topic on my list of things to blog about is…. THE HONEYMOON!

I downloaded my pictures from our travels yesterday and sadly… there aren’t very many at all!  So, I’ll try and compensate by linking to the websites to all the places we were.

Our first two nights we stayed in a cute, secluded place near Pella, IA.  For those of you who don’t know where this is, it’s about an hour from where the wedding was, but well worth the drive!  For those of you who live in Iowa – this is a GREAT place for every married couple!  Here’s the LINK.

Next – we were off to Massachusetts! 

Our first stop was Chicago… where we stayed at the The Allerton Hotel.  It’s probably the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in [we got it cheap on Hotwire.] AND they upgraded us to the honeymoon suite for FREE! YES! We had a great view of the city!  The next day we went to Navy Pier, Giordano's [for some GREAT Chicago style Pizza].

Then we drove to Sandusky, OH so that we could spend a day at… CEDAR POINT!  It’s one of the largest amusement parks in the U.S.!  This is something we both GREATLY enjoy but have never done together!  Although we quickly realized that our ages have caught up with us when we were ready to leave around 4 PM and hadn’t road all the rides yet… it was still WELL worth it!

That night we stayed with one of my good friends, bridesmaids, and her new husband – Tara and Chris Klefsaas.  It was nice to be in a home for one night at this point!  It was a time of relaxed, sweet fellowship!

Then we made our way home, but only for a night… because then we were off to the Brookshire Mtns of Western Mass.  My aunt and uncle had given us a week’s time share at Vacation Village.  It was SO relaxing and yet went by SO quickly!  We enjoyed cooking for ourselves, their free movie rentals, hiking the Mtns and sleeping!

We also visited the Norman Rockwell museum that was near by, here are a few pics!

 His Studio.

 

Us

 

My man :)

On our way back home we stopped at my first corn maze!  Sad, I know, growing up in Iowa and never going to a corn maze is not something I’m proud of!

Surprise for me!

Starting the maze…

   We made it out alive!  And yes, Dunkin Donuts is my new favorite place to go!

Then we were home for a couple more days and flew down to Texas for ESOAL… but more on that later!

Overall we had a GREAT time hanging out, exploring the country, traveling, resting and eating lots of good food!  It.was.PERFECT.!!

-Heidi-

.Fall.

… it’s one of my favorite seasons of the year… SO I decided to change the look of my blog.  What do you think??

.Wedding.

Time to start getting back into “real” life again… by blogging about THE most surreal day of my life.  Well… really the surreallness started the Monday before our wedding, when my Groom arrived in Iowa. [We.would.never.have.to.say.good-bye.again…]

The week flew by, but yet was pretty low stress… my goal was to take a nap everyday, which was mostly successful.  There were days when I just laid there and prayed and pondered, but I slept for 30 min. the day before my wedding!  Everything was done and I had nothing else to think about!

CELEBRATING       .L.O.V.E.

[Note: I don’t have the professional pics yet, but you can see them here. The ones on this blog are all taken by a good friend and photographer – Ria Thurston.  You can see her blog here.]

Getting Ready – Starting at 8 AM, the girls met at Bridge City Design Studio… where we all had a blast getting our hair done and fellowshipping together!

(Not quiet done… although there was talk of me leaving my hair like this, what do you think? ) (My beautiful sister and wonderful maid-of-honor!  I’m a blessed woman to have her in my life!) 

BUT before we got started there, a few of us made a quick coffee run to “The Lucky Rooster” and started our day right :)!  There we were standing at the counter, fully focuses on what flavor we wanted to get… and I hear the door open.  SO, naturally I looked over to see who was coming in!  And who do I see?  But my wonderful groom!!! *Time seemed to stand still as he walked towards me*  It wasn’t until he looked up and saw me that reality clicked in and the flurry started! We decided not to see each other until the ceremony! One of my bridesmaids jumped in front of me, while the other escorted my shocked groom outside to see what he needed.  No one told him I was going to be there… and he was simply trying to deliver the following card and rose to someone to give to me [How Sweet!].

It was a fun moment and one that still brings a smile to my face and certainly brought a smile to the face of the coffee shop workers!

The Ceremony – it was perfect. full of joy. focused on the Lord. and blessed others.  Words cannot describe what I felt was I was FINALLY the one wearing the white dress, sneaking in the back door of the church.  I had enough coherency to sneak a couple small subway sandwiches [meat, cheese, and bread only… I’m not THAT crazy!]  Several influential women prayed over me and as several men did the same for Mike (in another room, of course!) … it was such a blessing to have each of them there!  And then…

The Music started!  Reality started to sink in… and then I turned the corner, took my dad’s arm, and started walking.  Seeing a few people along the way, and then my eyes were only for one man at the end of the isle.   IT.WAS.PERFECT.

Here are our vows – perfect reflections of our hearts and desire for Christ to be the center:

I, Michael John Batista, take you, Heidi Marie Abigt, to be my wedded wife. As is Christ to His body, the church, so I will be to you a loving and faithful husband. I promise you my deepest love, my fullest devotion, and my most tender care. I promise I will live first unto God rather than others or even you. I promise that I will lead our lives into a life of faith and hope in Christ Jesus. And so throughout life, no matter what may lie ahead of us, in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health, I pledge to you my life as a loving and faithful husband.

I, Heidi Marie Abigt, take you, Michael John Batista, to be my wedded husband. As you have pledged to me your life and love, so I too happily give you my life, and in confidence submit myself to your headship as to the Lord. As is the church in her relationship to Christ, so I will be to you. I will live first unto our God and then unto you, loving you, obeying you, caring for you and ever seeking to please you. God has prepared me for you and so I will ever strengthen, help, comfort, and encourage you. Therefore, throughout life, no matter what may be ahead of us, in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health, I pledge to you my life as an obedient and faithful wife.

Then communion. Unity Candle. Our parents prayed over us (another beautiful moment)… and then… we got to kiss and be pronounced…

MR & MRS MICHAEL JOHN BATISTA

The Reception -  was a wonderful time of fun, fellowship and food!

Our first dance was to “Love is Not a Fight” by Warren Barfield.

Cutting the cake was an adventure… let’s just say he had more self-control than me [I got him good!].  However, at our reception in Massachusetts, this was not the case.  I had someone come up to me after we cut the cake here and say “I’ve seen alot of things, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a bride run from the cake table like you.” Yea, it was fun!

Then we escaped into the night, in a very tastefully decorated car [click to see pic].

There are many more stories I could tell of blessings we received, funny things that happened, or about how we appreciated EVERY person that came… it was OUR perfect day!