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Can't Believe It's Already March!

It is hard to believe that it is March! I feel like this year is flying by! I am grateful to be going into warmer weather though. We had some really crazy snow falls this winter. And Tommy & I managed to do some crazy damage to our cars with this snow! I broke my back windshield cleaning it off and Tommy's skid plate came off. We were supposed to go to a conference that weekend, but both of our cars were out of commission! Praise God He provided an emergency fund! Needless to say, we are ready for Spring.

Last weekend Tommy's parents came to visit us for the weekend. We were afraid they wouldn't make it in since it snowed the day before they arrived. But the Lord was gracious and they arrived safely and got back to Cali safely as well. We had an awesome time with them! We had some great Indian food and of course got some philly cheesesteaks. Most importantly we got to spend some great quality time with them. I must say I feel truly blessed to have them as in-laws!! It's awesome having in-laws that are God-fearing, loving, caring and that can be considered wise counsel in a Godly sense!


Praise Reports:

1. God in His faithfulness has provided some clear direction of next steps for us. We have been praying for His direction in specific areas and He has answered our prayers. We are so grateful that He loves us enough to guide us and that His Word is a lamp unto our feet!!

2. We were able to get 2 rooms in our house painted! (Who knew it took this much energy to paint lol).

3. God is doing some awesome things on CCP's (Community College of Philadelphia) campus. The director of Male Engagement really desires to help in promoting the ministry and really wants to be a part of making sure that students are aware of the ministry.

Prayer Requests:

1. We are in the process of raising support. Please pray that the Lord would give us wisdom and favor in this as we seek to do His will.

2. Please keep our church lifted in prayer. Please pray that the Lord will continue to lead and guide our elders and that they will continue to have ears to listen to Him, even in difficult situations.

Philly is a very interesting place!!

Tommy's shovelled more snow in the last 2 months than he has in his life!

We built a snowman!! :)

Snow up to my knees (taken in our back yard area).

Our street.

My Car buried under snow (above).

Philly is the only place that I've lived that has extreme inclement weather. When we do have blizzards or regular snow fall, it is the only place that i know of where people save their parking spots by putting everything from trash cans, cones, old coffee containers, recyclable bins or chairs in the spot. It is one of the most passive aggressive statements that I've seen when it comes to saving a spot. After having had to dig myself out of a parking spot before (and it took an hour) and also seeing how much of a pain finding a parking spot is when there's snow on the ground, I now understand why people save their spots - but it's still pretty funny to drive around and see plastic/metal chairs, cones on top of plastic crates and recyclable bins in parking spaces...as if they can't be moved! Gotta love Philly!! And although I don't think this has happened since I've lived here, I was told that one year someone was shot because they took someone's spot. Praise God for His peace, mercy and grace!! :)

Hope you enjoyed the photos.

And here are links to us making snow angels!! :)

Tommy's Snow Angel

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybKy1yFHFLo

Fatimah's Snow Angel

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFjJYuuDs7M

We Have A New Living Room!

We spent all this past weekend painting our living room and the upstairs hall way. It was a big ordeal as we were supposed to have folks over to help us paint the living room, the dining room, and the hall (and maybe the kitchen). We couldn't decide on the kitchen colors but picked out a color for the living room and dining room. We went to buy the paint and got it and then when we put the color on the wall, I didn't like for the dining room since it was such a rich color. So we primed the living room (after taping and putting down the drop clothes everywhere) and then we applied to coats of paint. The hall way was finished yesterday. The color has grown on me and I like it now. It definitely beats the yellow that was on the walls. So it feels like we have a new living room!!! We still have to stain the mirror and hang it up and hang up some more pictures in the living room but at least the walls are painted!!(...and we have to get rid of the red carpet!!) Can't wait to do the dining room so we can have that room back in order. (We finally landed on a color! ;)).

It's 2010!!!

It's hard to believe that it's 2010! It still feels like it's 2009. The Lord has really been so gracious to us in these 3 months! We have been learning so much about each other and ourselves in the process of becoming one.

Communication is something that I've always valued and knew was very important to any relationship. But I think I've realized more since we've been married just how important it is and also how differently women communicate verses men. While it has been somewhat challenging, the Lord has had His hand on our communication and that has allowed us to not let miscommunication get out of hand.

We've had a busy 3 months so far! We hosted Thanksgiving at our new home with half of my family. It was such an honor and we also were able to babysit 4 of my nieces and nephews for a few days while their parents celebrated their 15th anniversary! 4 kids are a lot of work! But we had such a great time and were blessed by their presents. It even allowed us to have a deeper bond with them that we didn't have before. We went to Hersey with some of the family as well, which was a treat. We did all of the free stuff and did one activity that you had to pay for but it was worth it!

We then ventured down to NC for Christmas. We stayed with my sister Laila for a few days and spent Christmas day with my brother's family in the morning and then rode over to Greensboro to spend the later half of the day with my sister's family. The next day all of the family got together for our annual gift exchange. What a crazy and fun time it was with everyone under one roof!

Finally, we spend New Years at a Crusade conference in Baltimore on the harbor. It was terribly cold but a great conference to set the tone for what the Lord seems to be up to in this season of our lives. Many of the speakers talked about having faith in a time of change and in the unknown time - which is where we find ourselves.

We are in a season where we need to raise more support and are seeking the Lord for direction on how to best utilize our gifts to His glory. We are also getting more involved in our local church plant community - both starting new ministries to serve the college students at the church and also assisting the church and the surrounding community with job hunting resources and skills.

There's so much more say but I'll end it with some praise reports and prayer requests.

Praise Reports:

1. The Lord has been faithfully providing for our family even though I currently do not have employment.
   
2. We are blessed to be able to utilize our giftings in our local church - which is leading into new ministries being started in the hopes that more would come to know the Lord and be spiritually developed.


3. We are developing relationships with older couples to help us in continuing to develop a solid foundation in our first year of marriage.

Prayer Requests:

1. In this season of unknowns, we desire to continue to walk in the will of the Lord. Please be praying for wisdom as we move towards next steps and plan for the next year and a half.


2. As we start the new ministries at our church we are praying that they would truly be effective for Kingdom growth and not just adding ministries to the church. We desire for lives to be changed and transformed through these ministries.


3. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to learn each other and grow with one another.