Ordination Exams...CHECK!

Wearing an almond box and hiding from the camera...future barrel woman?

Disneyland Thursdays! 

Special In N Out treat at one of our favorite parks nearby!

Esther is getting awesome at riding her bike!

Sorry that I haven't written in so long!  Maybe you can tell that the pace of school has really picked up, so blog-update time has been squeezed out.  Here are a couple brief highlights...

*Esther and Bella continue to do really well out here.  They love preschool and love having Dadda around more than he used to be. 

*Janelle is starting to feel a little better - we are hoping the first trimester sickness will really halt in the next week or so.

*I am working hard at school.  I'm really enjoying my classes.  I have learned that one of the lessons from this quarter (or maybe year) will be how to study in the Humanities - reading and writing all the time isn't exactly what they taught us at old Colorado School of Mines!  (Go Orediggers!)

*I recently received the news that I passed all 4 of my Presbyterian Ordination Exams!  Most people don't pass all 4 on the first try, so I am very thankful to have successfully completed the biggest hurdle to ordination left for me (besides graduating with my MDiv from Fuller).  It looks like I'll be ready for ordination when I graduate in June; it will be interesting to see where God takes us!

*We are open to pastor jobs, but we are currently pursuing PhD studies starting next Fall to dive further into the amazing reality of who God is as Father-Son-Holy Spirit (Trinity) and how we can share in the life of God through Jesus.  We'll see.  Somehow I have to find time to actually do the applying in the midst of a very full school load.  I trust You God.

I hope you are well!  If you are reading this, it would be great to hear how you are doing too! 

God's blessing and joy in Christ to you today!

We're Pregnant!

These are actually pictures from Esther's 4th Birthday party (clearly a princess party!)  in Louisville before we left, but they are too good to leave out!

This is our living room, complete with a new painting from our Nana and family pics from Chautauqua.

We are actually pregnant in two ways...
1)  We are having a baby!  Janelle is about 12 weeks pregnant.  We are due sometime in mid-April.  Janelle is doing an awesome job of loving on two active little girls and having a great attitude while feeling sick.  With Esther and Bella, the sickness faded about week 16, so we are hoping and praying for the same timeline.  We are very grateful and excited for the gift of life that God has given us as our family grows.  We'll keep you posted...

2)  I am pregnant too!  I have officially completed one week of my nine-month journey at the main campus of Fuller Seminary!  Here are some highlights:

• I have great classes - Hebrew 1, Exegetical Methods (how to get use your Greek and other tools to understand the meaning of the Greek text of the Bible), Communications, Wealth and Poverty in the New Testament, and Biblical Theology of Mission.  
• I am really enjoying my professors - They are awesome people.  I think one of the great gifts of being in Pasadena is the privilege of learning from the full-time profs here.  For example, my Wealth and Poverty prof is very young (32?) and brilliant, spends half of his year in Africa researching infectious diseases in villages with his MD wife and 13 month-old daughter.  
• I have a lot of classes!  Most folks here take 12 hours (3 classes) or fewer per quarter.  To meet the goal of graduating in June, I am taking 18 hours (4.5 classes).  After a week of class, I'm sure that I am going to be busy and pulling some late nights, but I think the workload will be possible.  My goal to not to just "get through" the classes, but to really engage with them as much as possible.  How much I can engage will be a dance with my family and my overall course load.  I'm going try to seek God first and ask him to lead and provide as we step forward each day.  
• The students here are great!  The stories I have gotten to hear already of how people have come here and where they see God leading them are wonderful.  There are a lot of really faithful followers of Jesus here from all ages and all walks of life.  

Side note - remember that if you want to get e-mails when we post here, you can put your e-mail in to "Follow" on the right side of this page. 

I hope this finds you well, whenever it finds you!  We miss you and wish that we could hear how you are doing as well. 

Today may you know the blessing of Immanuel, the God who is with us,

Forrest.Janelle
Esther, Bella, and ???