It's been too long...

I know, I know! It’s been a while since we last wrote any updates. Please forgive us, but life has been soooooo busy for us lately. It seems that the older Malachi gets, the more he keeps us busy as we try to keep him entertained. So here’s some updates:

1. We’ve moved from Groves to Nederland, Texas to another two bedroom apartment, which is an incredible savings for us. The bedrooms are a little smaller, however, the living room and kitchen is much bigger. The living room is big enough for us to have our Elliptical Machine in there! The landlord even let us paint the apartment, so it really looks nice. Though the apartment is a little further from the church (Impact) by about 15 minutes, it’s much close to Lamar University (where I work).

2. At Impact, we now have two worship services: Sundays at 11am and Tuesdays at 6:30pm. Both services occur on Central Standard Time and can be view on the web at http://www.impactumc.org/ The Tuesday service is called Soul Food Tuesday: Feeding the Body and Soul. We serve a Soul Food dinner every 1st and 3rd Tuesday and on all other Tuesdays, we just serve refreshments. At our very first Soul Food Tuesday, we had approximately 68 people in attendance. The best part about it is that Tuesday is a totally different sermon topic.

3. On Tuesday, November 17, our new Director of Worship Arts will be starting. For the past few weeks we have been worshipping to tracks and worship DVDs. Now don’t get it twisted, we’ve still been getting our praise on. It’s been a real test: Can one still worship without a band or without a worship leader? We found the answer to be YES!

4. Anissa took Malachi to a modeling audition and he did well. She walked him down the runway and everything. Of course he was all smiles and everyone loved him. But, it was just one of the mall model search things, so it was really just for fun. Anissa doesn’t think they are legit.

5. Finally, if you are available to come to watch our worship service on the web on Sunday, we will have a very special guest speaking this Sunday. He is none other than Father, Husband, Brother, Son and Friend of the Year: JERMALE D. EDDIE. Please keep me lifted in prayer during the preparation and delivery of God’s message through me.

The pictures are Malachi in his Halloween costume, and a super cute smile from Malachi at 4 months old.

Love,
~The Eddies

Life is Good!

Let me start by thanking all of you who pray for us on a regular basis. We feel so blessed to be covered in that way and we certainly need it. A few weeks ago, we were having a rough time. Jermale was busy and somewhat stressed out at his Lamar job while at the same time constantly having little, random things to do for the church. He would work all day and then have some kind of church responsibility almost every night and on many Saturdays as well. When he was home, he felt pretty drained. I was drained too from 24-7 baby duty. I wanted Jermale to be more available to help, but I knew everything he was doing was providing for us financially and that he was going to be really busy with both a full time and a part time job. Still, I was missing work, missing family and missing friends. The bottom line was that we both were experiencing some feelings of burnout and that translated into really missing Michigan and what seemed like a “simplicity of life” we left behind.

We began to really pray and seek God on what we could do to improve the situation and others were in prayer for us as well. As always, He came through. We were able to meet with our pastor and create a new schedule that allows Jermale to have 2 days a week where he does not have any church responsibilities. We also decided that we would both leave the house once a week for some personal time. My night is Monday and Jermale’s is Thursday. We generally head to a coffee shop on those nights with the laptop and do church work. I know it is still work, but it is relaxing just to get away and have a break! Then Friday is our night to just be together as a family or get a babysitter so we can go out together. Yes, I know – welcome to the real adult world LOL. So far the new schedule has been awesome.

Another thing that God did was allow me to be more at peace with my new roll and to value it in a different way. As I came to this realization, I expressed my feelings on my Facebook page by posting the following:

"I love being Malachi's mom :) I'm learning to enjoy the moment and cherish the simple joys of motherhood. The things I'm giving up for these baby days are temporary and being a mom is such an awesome thing. There aren't too many other ways to contribute to the world in such a monumental way as raising a child. I am privileged and blessed. I know the baby days will fly by and I want to treasure them while they last. It’s not so much that my life is on hold, but more so that it is forever changed and will have different things added and taken away in each stage from here on. Each stage will be an adjustment that will only strengthen and stretch me to reach a greater level of my God given purpose and potential. That is a cool thing :)"

After having our short-lived pity party, we had a great Sunday at Impact which reminded us again why we are here. Then, this past week we had a Family and Friends Day at church with a shorter service and a big dinner afterwards. We also had kids activities and played a movie on the big screen in the sanctuary. It was an excellent day!

Jermale and I celebrated 3 fabulous years of marriage yesterday. The past two anniversaries, we have spent a long weekend out of town. This year, we got a babysitter, went out for desert and caught a movie. Having a baby changes everything for real LOL. Still, it was a great night and we had fun. Seriously, we have had such a wonderful relationship and marriage which almost seems abnormal these days. We are very blessed and thankful for each other :)

Malachi is 10 weeks old now and doing great. He is full of smiles and also loves to “talk” now. He gets more and more fun as the weeks go by and we are getting to be pros at life with a little one. He will be baptized at Impact this coming Sunday and 4 of our really good friends are flying in from out of town for the occasion. We are so excited! Also, we will be going to Michigan at the end of the month so Malachi can finally meet everyone back home and Jermale can attend his 10 year High School reunion. Yikes – we’re getting old LOL

The pictures of us in the Impact shirts are from family and friends day and the one of us at the movies is from our anniversary date night. Of course I had to post a few of the baby too :)

Blessings,

~Anissa

Happy Birthday to the Boys!

In Anissa’s words:
My how life has changed! Malachi is totally the boss :) Still things have improved greatly from those early days. Although the tiny newness was fun, I am glad the first month has come and went! These first few weeks were rough. I wasn’t expecting my recovery to be as prolonged as it was. It seemed like as soon as one issue was resolved like muscle soreness, another issue would come like not producing enough milk. And of course I had some hormonal adjustments happening at the same time too. Let’s just say I cried as much as the baby did if not more during those first few weeks (even since the last blog when I thought I was on top of things). Jermale will have to write his own experience. I know it was tough for him too, especially when he went back to work. Between Lamar and the church I know he was exhausted. Plus it was hard for him to not be able to help with feeding the baby. He wanted to be able to get up more at night, but since the baby always wanted to eat when he woke up in the night – there wasn’t much he could do. Having friends and family visit and help was very nice, but there were still a lot of overwhelming moments.

So, today Malachi is 5 weeks old and things are calming down. I am feeling really good physically. Although I have not had a full night sleep in 5 weeks, I’m used to it and feel fine. I also nap sometimes when the baby sleeps during the day. I look forward to starting a light work out schedule after my 6wk check up. I’m actually wearing a pair of pre-pregnancy jeans today with the help of a $13 belly slimmer thing from Target LOL. They are still snug, but they are wearable :) I know it will take time to get back to a being physical where I want to be and some things will never be the same (I think these new hips are here to stay) I just have to be patient and not over do it. I am also happy to report that breastfeeding is going much better. I had in my head that I just needed to get past the 1st two rough weeks and I’d be fine, but it was more like 4 rough weeks. I’m glad we stuck with it though.

Malachi is getting more and more alert. He smiles now although he is still mastering that skill so they are not super frequent. When you get one though they are the best! He’s also getting more interested in looking at things which I fun. He has a pretty consistent night schedule that just happened. He goes down for the night around 11pm. Then he wakes up to nurse and be changed around 2 or 3am and again around 5 or 6am. He usually does one more long morning nap until 8 or 9am. During the day we just go with the flow. He has a very loose schedule that incorporates prayer and swing time in the morning, reading and floor play time in the afternoon and daddy bottle time in the evening. There is a lot of sleeping and eating mixed in there too and sometimes a bath. I am also part of a play group that meets on Wed. mornings too, but we have only gone once so far. The group actually has a lot of aspects to it including childbirth and parenting support, sustainable living practices and an art collective. They have asked me to be involved on a leadership level and I am going to help them prepare to seek 501 (c) (3) status.

The church is awesome. Things continue to progress there. As August approaches I will begin to do more administrative work for Impact. I’ll mostly be doing things from home and then in Sept. probably be in the church office a couple mornings a week. Again, Malachi is the boss, so we’ll see what he allows LOL. Tonight, Jermale and I are going to dinner for his birthday and Malachi will have his first babysitter outside of family (my mom kept him while we ran errands a few times when she visited). We’ll start there and see how things go. I’m excited for life to continue to become more settled and for all the fun milestones ahead :)


In Jermale’s words:
Now as a 29 year old Christian father, husband, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin and friend (my birthday is today), I look back at my life and see that God has brought me a long way. It seems that every since Anissa and I have married, our life has been filled with transition; all under the direction of Jesus Christ. Being a father is my latest journey and most challenging so far. I wish I had more time to spend with Malachi. I thought that I would only be working part-time at the Church during this stage in life and that I would be a stay-at-home dad, but with the need of health insurance, I had to also find a full-time job. It’s hard to find a balance between family, work at Lamar University, work at Church, personal prayer time & reflection, alone time w/ Anissa, personal alone time and sleep. I figure if we did not have to get sleep, I would have a little more time available. It has been very frustrating not being able to soothe Malachi when he cries sometimes. Due to the fact that he has a bond & dependence (feeding) with Anissa, most of the time she is the one who has to comfort him. Even at night if I get up to change his diaper, I still have to wake Anissa up to feed him. Since he usually rejects bottles and pacifiers, I just try my best to enjoy all the times where he is totally content with being in my arms and starring in my eyes as if he’s been looking for me and finally found me. Since having the baby, I feel that I have discovered a new love and respect for Anissa. She is doing a great job at a new stage in our lives. I know she needs a break sometimes, but with me working all day with my job and a half, I wish I was more available. I also wanted to enter into a Doctoral program, but thanks to some good advice from Malachi’s god-mother, I decided to wait. I can’t see myself trying to study and take care of Malachi at this point. I praise God everyday for using us to create and love Malachi. If I could send Anissa to a tropical place for vacation, I would b/c she deserves it ALL!

Picture Link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2614310&id=2247339&l=e415a38650

Life with Malachi

Whew-where to start LOL. Saying parenthood is the hardest but most rewarding job you’ll ever have is pretty accurate. These blog posts might be a bit less frequent, but I’ll do my best :) The first week with Malachi was pretty rough. Jermale and I were both pretty exhausted and I was super sore for a few days. Seriously, the muscles in my arms and back hurt a lot more than my stitches – labor is a very intense full body work out. Then breastfeeding was very painful at first- yep even cried once. Plus after, my milk finally came in, I got a fever and flu like symptoms. All that on top of very little sleep was not a pretty picture and made it hard to simply enjoy the baby. Week two was much better. I was less sore, the fever went away and Malachi started doing 2 and 3 hour stretches of sleep which felt great! Now, we are getting the hang of things more. Basic baby care, is pretty natural now and being out and about with him has gotten more routine as well. Jermale of course, is super helpful and willing to go it all. It has been wonderful to have some help and company too. My best friend, Gihane was here July 1-5 and my mom has no been here since the 7th and will stay until the 16th. Then Jermale’s brother Jeremy is coming to visit. With these visitors, I can still take stress free showers without working if the baby is crying hysterically even though Jermale is back at work. When it will be just Malachi and I, he will already be a month old so I should be able to handle things at that point.

Malachi is doing great. He had a touch of jaundice at the beginning which we watched, but everything was cleared up by his 2 week appt. He is a great eater (even though I’m still dealing with some painful breastfeeding challenges) and he is growing fast. He is too cute and already shows signs of his own personality. I wish I could capture some of his signature faces on camera, but as soon as you get the camera he stops making the faces LOL. Jermale has been busy getting back into the flow at work and with all the church stuff. I have been doing nothing, but baby duty for the past few weeks and will probably ease back into some church responsibilities soon. People are already asking me when/if we will have another one which I can not even think about right now. It is seriously a lot of work, but we are very thankful that things are going well and it is a blessing to have our family of 3!

Here’s a picture link:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2599028&id=2247339&l=51aca9c1ea

Love,

The Eddies

Introducing....

Malachi Jermale Eddie

He was born on June 23rd at 11:42pm. He was 7 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches long. The labor was long and hard, but we were able to do it naturally with no complications. We thank God that Malachi is here and healthy. He is absolutely perfect and we are totally in love with him! Thank you all for the prayers and support. Here is a link to some pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2598208&id=2247339&l=700756d6e9

Love,

The Eddies (all 3 of us)

Still Pregnant...

I'm not sure why this says June 10th- which was the date of the last post? Today is Saturday, June 20, 2009

4 days until our due date and we are really feeling ready! I've been trying to do natural things to help progress move along, but today I decided I'm done. The baby is going to come when he's ready and the stuff I'm doing is wearing me out and probably not making much difference any way. So, I think I'm going into relax mode. That is probably what the baby needs me to do anyway and I figure storing up some energy instead of exhausting myself might be a good idea. I'm just seriously soooooo ready to be done. I would write more detail, but I'm tired of talking about it. I don't even want to leave the house anymore because of all the comments about when I'm due and if I'm having twins, how I must be ready to pop any day now, and how cute my huge belly is blah, blah, blah... If you can tell someone is really pregnant, sometimes its best to just smile. Sorry, I'm just so done! LOL

Anyway, these pictures are us last weekend at the Impact Car Wash (which went great) and a jazz festival down town. We are trying to keep busy while we wait, but I think I'm ready to stop being busy and just wait...

Love,
~The Eddies

Impacting the Community

Today, Anissa calls me while I am at work to tell me that her car is not starting. This is the new car (Chevy Equinox) that we recently purchased and the vehicle that is easier for her and her belly to get in and out of. This is the car that she drives around town in most of the time. So, I was a little upset about that. I also had the thought of what if she goes into labor and the car does not work or something like that. So, after work I went to give it a jump. It was 91 degrees out, but the humidity felt like 100 degrees. I never know that these new cars had the batteries hidden under tons of plastic. After about 35-45 minutes, it finally worked. Since this is the car that my pregnant wife will be driving, I replaced the battery. At this time, it was 8pm (3hrs after we got off work) and no cooler outside. Needless to say, my wife has a car that is now working!

I wanted to write this blog to let you all know the great things that God is doing with our church, Impact. Since being in Texas, we have always said that we are here for the community of Port Arthur. Therefore, we have been letting various community groups use our church for free. We are also about to start letting some local soccer teams use our field for practice and games. It’s more about reaching the community rather than taking their money. Recently, I received several phone calls from the Superintendant of Port Arthur ISD. I originally wanted to meet with him way back in November, but time his schedule was full; therefore, I could not remember what I wanted to meet with him for. I agreed to the meeting and invited Pastor Noble and I were invited. We went into the meeting just to offer our services to the community and more important, the school district. When Dr. Brown heard that, he got a big “Grinch Who Stole Christmas” grin on his face. After calling some of his colleagues into the office, we all agreed that Impact would be used for the new Port Arthur Reading Academy. Due to the fact of the low reading levels and test scores, they were looking for a location with enough classroom space and kitchen to host the academy for the fall. Each class will have approximately 10 kids per 1 teacher. I think the thing that made Dr. Brown happy was the fact that we said that we would not charge them a dime!!!

Talk about OUTREACH! Now this is what I mean about helping the community and taking our schools back from the devil! We are a brand new church and God has given us favor for such a time as this! He could have used any church, but He chose us! Thank you all for your prayers.

Lastly, we will have our first free carwash at Impact this Saturday as an outreach effort. Each car that gets washed will receive a free bottle of Impact labeled water. While some of us are washing cars, others will be cleaning the inside of the church. I pray that we wash at least 75-100 cars in two hours.

I just wanted to give you all this quick update and thank you for your continued prayers.

Jermale

PS the picture of me is one a friend took for an upcoming GVSU article.

Almost There :)

I just wanted to give a quick update. I am now 37 weeks pregnant and could have the baby anytime. Yay! It looks like we will be pretty close to the due date though (June 24). My midwife predicts anytime between June 20th and 29th. I am just so excited that we are talking about weeks instead of months. Pregnancy is long! As of June 3rd, I was 1 cm dilated and 25% effaced so there is still a long way to go but it was nice to know there is at least a hint of progress. I will have weekly appointments now until baby Eddie gets here. My last day of work is June 10th. After that I will do last minute prep things and try to stay active and get the baby moving. We have one more class on Saturday focused on natural birth. I’m feeling pretty prepared, but still a little nervous.

Jermale plans to take about 2 weeks off when the baby comes. My best friend, Gihane, will be here the first week of July and my mom will likely come the 2nd two weeks of July. So - all that is very comforting to me :) Stay tuned because we will try to update Facebook and this blog right away and follow up with phone calls. Please pray that everything will go well and we’ll have a labor and delivery without complications and a healthy baby.

The beach picture is Memorial Day, the picture of Jermale and I is from our surprise shower at Impact, the pictures of me are the same day (36 weeks pregnant) and the ultrasound picture are from May 29th .

Love,
~The Eddies

Testing 1,2,3

Okay- so we are wondering who actually reads this blog? Please leave us a comment and let us know you're out there. Our purpose with this blog is to stay connected with friends and family, but we aren't sure how successful it is (Becky, you can disregard this b/c you always give us feedback - thanks :) Anyway, here are some pictures of the baby's room. We can't paint so it is still kind of plain, but we plan to at least put up a border. Anyone know how to do that in a way that is temporary and will easily come off? We pretty much have everything we need- now we are just waiting on the baby LOL

We have a few classes coming up- so I'm excited about that. We are taking a birthing class at a local hospital this Sat. Then I have a breastfeeding class next Tuesday and we have a natural birthing class on June 6th. I will be 36 weeks on May 27th and it is pretty much safe for the baby to come anytime after that. Yay! I'm very ready to be done and have this little guy here. My last day at work is June 12th and I'm not going back. At this point, my plan is to take the summer and just focus on learning to be a mom and getting to know the baby. After that, I will work part time for the church taking care of a lot of administrative tasks that need to be a priority. This will allow me complete flexibility with quite a bit of work I can do from home and it will be nice for me to give more time and energy to the church. From there, we'll see. Eventually, when the baby is older I would like to go back to school social work at least part time. I'm just leaving it all in God's hands since He's been handling things really well so far :)

I'm feeling good some days and bad others. Jermale remains very helpful and caring, but I think he too is ready for me to not be pregnant anymore. Still, we know an infant will be a whole new set of joys and challenges. Jermale is getting more comfortable at Lamar and enjoying it more. Thie church is busy and we still need more people to step up and help in certain areas, but we are making progress and God is blessing Impact.

That's about it for now. Leave us comments we miss all of you!!!!!

Love,

~The Eddies

On Being Pregnant...

Things I don't Like:

• The 1st trimester in general


• Being tired (I know it is nothing compared to what it will be with an infant though)


• Getting up to pee at night and having to go seemingly every 15 minutes during the day
  
• Painful kicks in the ribs and punches in the bladder


• Having an upset/unsettled stomach often


• Being overly emotional and irrational at times


• Acknowledging that I can no longer paint my own toenails (Seriously, I broke out in a sweat last week trying to do this. It will have to be a new job for Jermale)


• Getting winded from grocery shopping
  
• Dropping things, which happens a lot for some reason (and trying to bend over and pick things up is even worse)


• Running in to doorways (this usually happens at work-my equilibrium is off I guess)


• Being mean to Jermale (I really try to control myself, but I know he gets the worst of my mood swings)


• Having this experience and being far away from family and most friends


• Baby brain (this causes me to be forgetful at times, unproductive at work and obsessive at home all because I constantly think about the baby and all things related to him)


• Struggling to shave my legs (this will likely be another new task for Jermale)


• Being hot (I shouldn’t complain too much since I have historically always been cold, but it is pretty bad sometimes and the Texas weather doesn’t help!)


• Being uncomfortable in a general sense that is hard to describe


• Facing the unknown (I’m a planner- labor, delivery, infant care, parenthood- you can only plan so much and I’ll have to learn to go with the flow)

Things I don't Mind:

• Gaining weight (I have been blessed to have a slow and steady weight gain that has centralized in my belly. I have a month and a half left and have gained 17lbs so far)


• Strangers touching my belly (I’ve always been intrigued by baby bellies and I don’t mind people having a little rub)


• Baby hiccups (not the most fun thing I ever felt, but kind of cute and not a problem)


• Eating frequent snacks (I was already a snacker so this was easy to kick up a notch)


• Working (if I wasn't working my days would go so much slower and I'd be a big blob who did nothing all day except eat, make lists and watch episodes of a baby story and bringing home baby on TLC)


• Maternity clothes ( I have found a way to make a lot of my normal, flowy clothes continue to work and the maternity stuff I have isn’t bad)

Things I like:

• The amazing anticipation (waiting for this baby is like no other anticipation I have ever felt)


• Baby movement (I’ll never forget the first tiny pulse, tug kind of feeling I had at 17 weeks. Ever since then it has been so cool for the movements to change and get stronger and more distinct. It is so cool)


• Hearing the heartbeat (I love it every time and it was especially important to me before I could feel him move. Very reassuring)


• How Jermale randomly rubs my belly and talks to the baby (So precious)


• SHOPPING! (I have more fun buying things for the baby than I do for myself)


• Instant friends (It’s crazy how people just randomly talk to you like they’ve known you forever when you have a baby belly. I have heard the question “when are you due?” from every type of person you can imagine)


• Getting the room ready (the more things we get done in the room the more real it seems)


• Not having a monthly cycle! (Need I say more-fabulous!)


• The fact that I never threw up or had heartburn (what a blessing)


• My belly - and pictures of it. (Yes, it is a bit bothersome at times, but for the most part I love my belly and have enjoyed all the growth)


• My birth center (I have never had a hospital birth, but so far I have truly appreciated my experience at the birth center with the midwives and doulas)


• Eating ice cream (it’s really the only real “craving” I have so I let myself indulge pretty frequently)


• Going to Jason's Deli with Jermale after prenatal appointments (it has become a fun tradition)


• Reading, watching videos, and taking classes (Yes, I have discovered I’m an info. junky when it comes to pregnancy and childbirth. I can’t get enough)


• Ultrasounds (I only had one so far and it was so amazing. I will have one more at the end of May and I’m looking forward to it)


• Reading to the baby and playing music for him (bonding moments)


• Loving Jermale in a new way (I think back to the day I met Jermale as a new staff member at Calvin College. I was a junior. Little did I know when I shook his hand that he would later become my best friend, my husband and the father of my children. With each step I love him more)


• Loving the baby (it is almost insane how much you can love a tiny person you’ve never really met, but I’m already head over heels for this little guy)


• Seeing God's perfect plan unfold (If we had it our way, we probably wouldn’t have had a baby at this exact time, but God knows best and has worked out every last detail showing us that He is in control and confirming that this life was always meant to be and meant to be right now. I am humbled, amazed and thankful)
  

Here is the whole album of belly pictures my cousin took :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2570479&id=2247339&l=40b89113b2

~Anissa

Back In Texas...

We know that it has been a while since the last time that we wrote a new blog, but what can we say…life is busy! It is now between 70-75 degrees when we leave for work every morning, but hurricane season is about 5 weeks away. We are obviously back in Texas trying to get things back to normal in our lives. The church (Impact United Methodist Church) is now having weekly worship services. It seems like every time we turn around, it’s Sunday again. We have been averaging about 45 people per Sunday. We are looking to get out into the community of Port Arthur on this Saturday for “Prayer Walks.” This will be a time of walking around and scouting out the community for prayer needs, as well as shaking hands w/ and talking to community residents. While doing this and passing out flyers, it is our hope that we might inspire someone to come and give Impact a try. I really want to increase membership so that we can have more volunteers around the church. Now that I am working full-time at Lamar University, I am not as accessible as I was before. I am also excited to get some more ministries going.

As for 4:12, the name of my Student Ministry, taken from 1 Timothy 4:12 (Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity), things are moving slowly. I finally finished painting the Student Ministry room after 3 weeks. We had one meeting a few weeks ago, with a nice turn out, but I have only seen 2-3 of those students at church since then. I do know that the college students do not have a ride to church (I remember how that used to be). I am praying that God will bless us with a van and a driver, as well as young families. I do believe that God will use us this Saturday to bless the community in which we will be walking. Please keep us in your prayers.

On a more personal note, Anissa is doing well with the pregnancy. Baby Eddie is kicking really hard EVERY DAY all the time. I think he is working out in there so that he is ready for his world premier in June. My workout/office is now the baby’s room. It is looking more and more like a nursery. Anissa is doing a fine decoration job, even though she did not want the baby comforter set that I picked out. I tell you what, this baby is going to be on a 6 month probation to prove himself worthy, then he better get a job, because I am giving him a bill for all the stuff that we are buying for him! We are still renting our home out in Michigan and renting an apartment here in Texas. We would like to buy a home w/ more space, but I am scared about these dang hurricanes! I just feel like we are throwing money down the drain, because we really are by putting a rent check in someone else’s pocket! Overall, with all this being said, God is still blessing the Eddies. We would like to thank you for ALL your prayers and thoughts God Bless You! Please send us all the encouragement and prayers you can, while we are in the wilderness with nothing but Jesus!

Prayer Requests:
Adjustment at my new job (Lamar University)
Anissa & the baby
Adjustment to our ever changing lives
Home-sickness- we really miss all of our family and friends, especially now that we are having a baby (come visit us)The continuous covering of God’s anointing and direction

Here's some pictures from our baby showeres in Michigan

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2566664&id=2247339&l=4c8fea8b87

Love,

~The Eddies

PS We tried to change the settings so that anyone can leave comments now. So, give it a try :)

Remembering Felicia...

The home-going celebration for Felicia Eddie (Jermale’s mother) was today. She passed away on April 1st after a 2 year battle with stomach cancer. All though it wasn’t in this life, we know she still got her healing miracle and was victorious. Jermale and I have been in Michigan since April 2nd and we were able to help with all the final arrangements and spend quality time with the family. The service was a beautiful celebration. Felicia had told all of us that if she passed away she didn’t want a long, drawn out service that was sad and dry. We honored her wishes with up-beat praise and worship music, positive tributes, an inspirational message, and pictures reflecting happy memories. At the end, people were invited to respond to Felicia’s testimony and give their lives to Christ and many did just that. As friends and family said their final goodbyes, they were able to take flower seeds and fresh fruits with them such as apples, oranges, plumbs, and melons. Felicia loved gardening and wanted people to have something tangible to take in her memory. We really felt God’s presence throughout the whole day and thank all of you that prayed for the family. The weather was beautiful and the day really couldn’t have gone any better.

We will be in Michigan until April 18th because we originally had a trip planned for April 13-18 but came early after Jermale’s mom passed. We will be spending time with family and friends this next week and celebrating my grandmother’s 85th birthday along with mine and my niece’s birthdays. We are also having a baby shower while we are here. The pregnancy is still going great. We are 7 months along and time is going fast. Our “office” is taking on more of a baby room feel now that we have the crib, changing table and bookshelf set up. I am anxious to get everything ready. It is so fun to prepare, but overwhelming too because the more we get ready the more the reality of impending parenthood sinks in!

Impact has reached a new milestone as we are about to launch weekly Sunday services starting on Easter Sunday. Unfortunately, Jermale and I will not be at Impact for Easter Sunday, but we are excited to stop meeting every other week and begin weekly services. We have various volunteers in place now and we know that this consistency will help the church get more established and grow.

Love you all!
~The Eddies

March Update

Hi family and friends,

Well, we have good news and not so good news. The good news is that Jermale got the job at Lamar University! Not only is this good because he enjoys working with college students and it will help get him connected to the local college culture, but it is also some extra cash flow that will help as we prepare for the baby and because Anissa’s job (which was our primary source of income since the church is part time) does not offer paid maternity leave. So this is a huge blessing! It is an answer to prayer and t really gives us a feeling of security as we count down the baby’s birth.

The not so good news is that Felicia’s (Jermale’s mother) health has taken a turn for the worst. As most of you know, she was diagnosed with (a progressive) stomach cancer in the summer of 2007. At that time she was given less than 6 months to live. But, with a lot of faith and prayer combined with her will to fight the cancer-it has now been almost two years and she is still here. The cancer went into full remission on two different occasions, but came back both times within a matter of months. This last time has been the worst and at this point the doctors have done all they can do. She was told to gather her family together and make plans. Jermale and I got a call from his sister on Saturday saying we needed to come home, so we left Texas at 3:30am the next morning and drove to Michigan. We plan to stay here for the week. Thankfully my job and Jermale’s job have been very supportive and understanding (Jermale had only been at Lamar one week, but his supervisor told him not to worry about anything and take as much time as he needed).

Although Felicia has lost a great deal of weight and is in constant pain, she is doing amazingly well mentally, emotionally and spiritually. This is such a blessing! She still talks about how much she feels God has blessed her and how thankful she is for the opportunities He has given her to bless and minister to others throughout this illness. She does not doubt that God can still manifest her healing in this life and that she could fully recover, but she also acknowledges that He may choose to take her home. She has peace and joy about either option and told us last night “either way I win”. To see this positive attitude and great faith is such an awesome example and helps us all have peace.

Jermale is helping to get paperwork together and prepare for final arrangements and we are both doing what we can to help around the house and just spending time with her. Our prayer request is that she might have relief from her pain and continue to experience complete peace. We want God’s mercy and timing for whatever will happen. We also are asking for prayers for the family most especially Jermale’s father. He is having a difficult time, but does not talk about it and it is hard to know how best to be there for him. It is really good that we are here, but we know we can’t stay long. It is very hard for Jermale to now live so far away and try to still support his family as much as possible. I also pray that I will be able to support Jermale through this time as he has a lot going on with the church, just started a new job and will soon be having a new baby. We know God does not put more on us than we can bear and we are trusting that He will bring us through. I am still feeling good with the pregnancy (6 months along) and I’m so glad to not be experiencing any complications. It is strange to prepare for a new life and a possible death at the same time, but God’s miraculous power can be seen in both events and we know He is in control.

Thanks in advance for the prayers!

Love,
The Eddies

It's a Boy!!!!

It has been a while since we gave an update on life in the South…It has been even longer since I (Jermale) has wrote anything. A lot has been going on over the last month or so; I don’t even know where to start. Well, as you can see, I have given up on dread locks. I’ve had my hair twisted and ready to lock for about a year and nothing has happen, except it grew. As you can see by my Tito Jackson picture, I had lots of hair. That hair prohibited me from swimming, leaning back on furniture and from sleeping on the “good” pillow cases at home (it put bees wax and oil on everything). Anissa was not happy with a brotha! So now its cut and I’ve been getting cold a lot quicker lately. I also don’t recognize myself anymore.

We found out that we are having a baby boy! I am excited. Now I have to get something together so that my first born can have an inheritance, besides student loans. We got some great ultra-sound pictures-you can see them on this link http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2520099&id=2247339&l=d41d5. I am now starting to feel the baby kick and move. Its crazy that God has used us to create another life…I know Mary (the mother of Jesus was more fascinated about that than I am). I find myself getting more excited everyday. I mean who would not want another Jermale walking around? Duh!

Last week I had a job interview at Lamar University for an Assistant Director of Student Activities. The interview went great…at least I think so. I was trying to look good in my suit, but I was hotter than a mug! I should hear something from them by next week. I am so excited to get back on a college campus and work with students.

On a spiritual tip, I am seeking God’s face and voice. I feel that I have been in a spiritual plateau and I am ready to go to the next level. I am ready to walk in the destiny that He has called me. I am ready to use the power that He has birthed in me for His will. I mean what good is a tree with no fruit, a car with no motor, a vase that does not hold flowers? We need to serve the purpose which we were created for. If something is useless then its time to get rid of it! I sure don’t want God to throw me away. I am also praying for the spirit of a true worshiper. I want to experience worship in every area of my life. I want my walk to worship Christ, my wave to worship Christ, my blink to worship Christ, my sneeze….ok a sneeze might be too much, but you know what I mean. I am also seeking Christ’s direction on fasting. I’m telling you, I am ready for another level! My prayer can be found in Psalm 104:34: “May my meditation be pleasing [sweet] to Him as I rejoice in the Lord.”

Ministry is going well. We have 4 worship services under our belts now. This week Anissa ran both the Impact Café (coffee shop) and Nursery. She is on the grind for Christ, for real. I have made connections with approximately 10 college age students who are interested in being apart of the Student Ministry, so I am very excited about that. Anissa and I are also starting a kind of support group for young married couples, similar to what we were apart of in Grand Rapids. We feel that it is good to be able to have support and hang out with people who are in or have been in your same situations. The Proverbs 27:17 says that “iron sharpen iron.”

Finally, did anyone see Whitney Houston on that awards show last week? I thought she was going to sing or something…I was bamboozled!

Peace Be The Journey!
Jermale

PS The pictures are of my hair, the church and Anissa & I on Valentine's Day

2009 Blessings

Hi everyone,

Sorry about the update delays lately! If you’ve heard any baby rumors lately – they’re true :) As you can see from the picture baby Eddie is on his or her way and growing fast. (the other pix are from Christmas in Michigan and our trip to Dallas). Our due date is June 24 and Jermale and I are super excited. I am 17 weeks along (a little over 4 months) and things are going well. We knew for a while, but waited until Christmas to share the news when we saw our families in person. Everyone was happy. The first 2 ½ months were rough. Although I never threw up (thank God) I was extremely nauseous, tired and emotional pretty much all the time. Jermale was amazing through it all. He took over all the cooking and cleaning, encouraged me to sleep constantly, found me an amazing expecting mother’s tea, and knew when to comfort me and when to dismiss me during my emotional episodes LOL He is already such an awesome husband and I know he’ll be a wonderful dad!

Our other exciting news is that we finally had our first church service this past Sunday. I can barely describe how amazing it was to see it finally become reality after so much planning and work. We had about 100 people show up. Maybe 30 to 40 people came simply to support our first service, but there were a lot of people from the community as well. The best thing about the day was that God was there. It was so evident. It was our very first service, but by the end about 8 people responded to the alter call and many of them asked to become members right then and there. I felt so satisfied and at peace knowing that we are here for an amazing purpose and that this is just the beginning of what’s to come. The whole day was confirmation. I felt relieved in the sense that we tangibly experienced the reason we move here and for the first time I was 100% happy to be in Texas. I can’t wait to further engage into this ministry and truly impact the lives of people while I continue to grow and learn myself. I will try to post pictures soon of the church (especially the nursery and the coffee shop which were two special projects I helped with).

Christmas in Michigan was fabulous. It was wonderful to see family and even catch up with a few friends. I was feeling really drained before we went and being in Michigan reminded me of the support network we have still in place even though we are far away. The trip was spiritually refreshing for me as well. It was great to worship at Grand Rapids First again and I want to give a shout out to Jamon & Jasmine, Wes & Artina and Kim- the conversations I had with all of you gave me so much spiritual encouragement and helped me come back to Texas re-charged.

Life is good and 2009 is going to be incredible. We wish you all an amazingly blessed year!

Love,
The Eddies