Life and Death

These past few weeks have been pretty nuts in the Simrak schedule. Two new babies born into the family brings a not unpleasant disruption to schedules. Just busyness. Although I haven't announced it yet on my blog, we, too, are expecting our second child. We are very excited. With that comes many decisions to make and many exhausting days where I feel all I can do is stay in bed and munch on crackers even though the thought of food typically brings a sickening feeling to my stomach and mouth. I walk around with a twist in my stomach and a nasty taste in my mouth trying to divert my thoughts away from anything that would make those sensations worse, desperately trying to ignore it lest I end up with my head in the toilet. The first trimester and the end of the third is always the worst. I have no idea how far along I am so I don't even know when I will be relieved of these symptoms. My first appt is tomorrow provided I can find a sitter for Elias. Hopefully, I'll find out soon when I'm due.

Last week, two teenagers from local churches died. We just found out yesterday that another CB East student was killed in a car accident while we were attending the funeral of Laura Lauterbach, the daughter of a local pastor who attended our youth group from time to time and went to Belize with us two years ago. Laura was in my small group so I got to know her a little bit. She was such a happy joyful person. The sweetest, most beautiful girl. Her parents told us that the Belize missions trip changed her life. They read a narrative she'd written about the trip at the funeral yesterday. My heart broke for a girl who attends our church - she was Laura's best friend. Please keep her in your prayers. She's dealing with this very hard.

The funeral was awesome. The gospel was shared. About fifteen people raised their hands when asked if they wanted to get saved. Who knows how many knew what they were doing. Only God knows, as always. But it's a testimony of Laura's life and the message that went out at her funeral. Everyone knew that's what Laura would have wanted. Her parents were the epitomy of strength and worshipped the Lord inspite of their grief. They knew without a shadow of doubt that their daughter was in heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ. How do they have that assurance? Because Laura accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. She didn't have it all together. Her own father admitted that she had her struggles. "Who doesn't?" he asked. We all do. But the assurance of Laura's eternity lies in her testimony that she accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. It is the only way to living eternally in heaven with God. And now, she is pain free. She is in the glory of the Father. She is living in her mansion of gold. She has no more worries. No more heartaches. No more struggles. No more tears. She is perfect and living in perfection. Oh how I wish I could join her! But now is not my time. I look forward to it though. I look forward to my death on this earth and being in the glory of the Creator of all things.

Until then, I look forward to the birth of our unborn child. I enjoy every day with my husband and my son. Eli's growing so fast. He's like a little toddler walking around, learning new things, immitating mama and daddy. He's such a good little kid.

Jessica Kerynn Simrak

Jaron Christian Riggall

Jaron mean "to sing out."
Christian, well, means "a follower of Christ."

A New Niece and Nephew

Tuesday, 9:30pm - Mary and Jeremy go into the hospital with concerns. Everything is fine, the doctors tell them. But they're in the early stages of labor. They go home for a fitful night of contractions....and all throughout Wednesday the contractions get progressively worse. Wednesday afternoon, Michelle's (Dan's brother's wife) water breaks while she's in her kitchen in North Wales. Chris runs to get her to bring her back to Abington where she endures a mere 3 hour labor and delivers...a healthy 8 lb 6 oz baby girl. Her name is Jessica Kerynn Simrak, younger sister to Alicia Marie, 21 months.

Meanwhile, Mary was still trudging through her long intensive labor. After 36 long hours, she finally gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Jaron Christian Riggall. He weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz (same weight as Elias, I might add).

Michelle, Chris and the girls are all at their home in North Wales. Mary is still in hospital. All are doing well. Will upload pictures when I get the chance.

Eli Rolls Down a Hill

Dan was teaching Eli to climb a hill at the park the other day. When he sat down facing UP the hill, he rolled backwards throwing his feet into the air. I happened to catch it at the perfect moment.

For your peace of minds, he didn't roll far. After the initial roll, he ended up on his tummy and just lied there until Dan picked him up. He was fine and didn't fuss at all. A jogger approaching us just as this happened saw the whole thing and guaging from our response that we were okay with it, he said as he passed, "That was really funny."

A Walk in the Park

Saturday was such a beautiful day that we decided to go to the park. Angela went with us. We piled Eli in the wagon and took off to Peace Valley Park.