update

all is well here at the mattingly house hold.just this week our dog katie ran away for a week and then after we deciede she was gone for good she shows back up. we have been geting in our grove finally as a family and as planters since the house is gone YEHAWWW any who we miss KY less and less and our enjoying the fall activities around us. we do miss all of our friends and hope they vist some day. LATER cmatt

FREE at LAST

hello all it has been a busy summer for us so i apolgize for not bloggin, as most of you know i lost my mom and dad a about a year ago and all this was incompassed by us following are leading to south carolina to be apart of the journey church plant. also our house has been on the market for two yrs givin all these circumstaces and with the pull of our family needing us and we them. we question Gods calling us here to SC many times.For some reason we tought that like most people that came it would be smooth sailing we move to SC sell our house share Christ with people and live our life. we had no ideal that it was going to be thiss ruff, we have perserved by Gods grace to remain here.God has done some amazing things along the way to confirm were we belong. one after noon while driving in my truck wrestling with all the descion i needed to make. up to this point we had really been leaning on our house to sell as confrimation so the lack there of was not good,so while driving i was talking with the Lord about all this and was to the point that i really just need a gleamse of why we were here, so a basiccly said to him i don't care about the house i just need to know if you want me back in ky then give me a job offer there or some thing i just need to know, so that very night a freind of mine that i have been reaching out to here wanted to talk so we meet up and God showed up as he gave his life to Christ that night. from that God was saying there is your sign Chris, and at that point i deciede that come hell or high water i was staying what were God had me SC.Later jenny had a similar story of afirmation, so we began to make our home here from building a fence to just doing some land scaping any thing to help this Southern plantet to fell more like Ky and home. from the day that happened i tore my knee up playing softball and dealt one my moms one year lost labor day i was even told by a friend that we were not obligated to stay here a week after my encouter with jake and god i had a friend tell me about a job in Ky. so i was thinking crap here we go agian but jenny and i refused to go there no more beening tosed about by the waves i was staying. just last week my realtor called me to tell me we had someone looking hard at our house which i heard many times,later on that we they made a offer (now keep in mind it has been two long years) so tears of joy were in our heart as we gave God thanks. our closing date is going to be at the end of this month and we our extremly gratefull. now heres the cool part the people buying our house was called by a uncle from texas before they even seen our house and told them he had a dream about a house and he desribed that house to them in detail just so happen(GOD)it is our house. i can tell you one think i know with out a shadow of doubt that my place is here in Summerville SC, and we are persuing Gods glory here with a thankfull and joyfull heart

growing up

just some new pics over the last mth,

Joshua has settled into being a big brother now and he is very sweet with Emma and he has been growing up so fast and saying the funniest things. Here are a few things for example.

"Emma's pity" = Emma's pretty
"Put on my poots" = put on my boots
"I'm fart", no Joshua ssssss...mart, "I'm sssss....fart" Ok then fart it is.
oh yes and "I'm horny" = I'm hungry

He's been on the naughty mat lately for not obeying mommy and daddy but he has also been making us laugh and stealing our hearts away. Here are a few pictures.

Life with 2 kids

Well last week my mom and sister were in town to help me and Chris get our week going as parents of 2 kids and it was wonderful! Of course it just makes me miss them more but our visit was great and I am looking forward to them coming again sometime. I guess we are adjusting pretty well but there are still a few bumps in the road. Joshua has decided to show some protest during bed and meal times and with the extra time given to his discipline coupled with nursing for an hour every 3 hours, my day is pretty much focused on kids. I can't drive all week and I'm already feeling couped up and it is only Monday. All this coupled with several hours less sleep--I've given Chris fair warning about my mood come Thursday (or maybe as early as tomorrow). I must give plenty of deserved plugs for Chris though because he is an awesome dad. I'm sure this doesn't come as a surprise to any of you but he always feeds Emma at least once in the middle of the night for me and both Friday and Saturday night he let me sleep all night long. Wow that was great.

Daddy's girl

i never thought that i would be pinky wrapped by a 8.8lb baby but i must say that she has me hooked already enjoy the pics

emma day 2

emma marie mattingly

pics so precious, daddys girl

False Alarm

Yesterday I woke up around 4:00 a.m.ddsa with strong contraction after contraction (I've been having them since Tuesday). Anyway, I packed my bags (yes at the last minute), I called Chris to come on home and I thought we would have had a baby but after going to the Dr. she basically said "suck it up girlfriend, this could go on for weeks--you aren't even crying" so she sent us on our way and I had contractions for the entire day yesterday but none of them made me cry or made my water break so basically we are still a family of 3 as of this morning (well physically anyway). We'll keep you updated.

p.s. If it weren't for the Browning's I don't know where we would be. I called Tarah yesterday morning to tell her that I was having contractions, she heard Joshua screaming in the background and came right over with Jed in his pj's and picked up my screaming little boy. Then she and Will kept him all day so Chris and I could have a nice day together. They are the most selfless people we know and we are so grateful for them.

God's provides for our family

For weeks now I have been wrestling with frustrating thoughts that have clouded my view regarding my work situation and today God showed me that despite my sinful expectation of His provision for my life, He was in control all along. Ultimately I always know this but sometimes my actions speak louder than my words.
About a month ago my boss discussed the end of the road for me at Humana (which I was expecting and was OK with); however, it took a toll on my emotions when I realized that my last day would end up falling the day before the baby was born AND that because of my part-time work status I would NOT be eligible for maternity leave and I would lose 90 hours of accrued sick time. In my frustration and desperate eagerness to make something happen to provide for my family during the month of February I have been frantically searching for another position at Humana or otherwise and I was only successful at stressing over how we were going to pay our bills. Now, long story short I will be paid for maternity leave and have my position with Humana through Friday, March 14th. And if that weren't good news enough, I have even been given an additional 6 hours each week. So not only has God provided for us He has gone above and beyond. I am so humbled by His blessing amazed that He would take care of us in so many ways.

part 2

though it has seemed liked a hard year it has only served to remind me once again that we are but a breath of air created from the dust of the earth. life is only what we choose to make of it. we can crap it away on useless things or we can use every second of breath that we have to praise God for that very second of breath. In the book of Job after Job faced his difficult circumstances. he sought the Lord and when God did finally speak to Job all he said was this "who are you to question my ways" Job's perspective was to expect good and bad from God, and i am sure mine should be that of the same. as much i have wanted to be angry or mad at God for all these things i simply am not able because i have experienced the fullness of his love. and everyday he reminds me that no matter where i go, what bad choice i have made, that Christ's death on the cross was enough, and that he has suffered with me as well.

even still i have been in the midst of wrestling with all the why's & hows? and i find myself in a storm of emotions, yet my heart is still calm and relaxed waiting for my savior wondering what is next............

to be cont'd

when life Sucks

this is CHRIS BLOGGIN
any way as most of you know it has been one hell of a year for Jenny and i, from finding out mom has cancer,to joshua getting MRSA,to losing mom, and then losing dad, but what has been imprinted on my mind so much is that none this started inti ll we decided to move to SC to be part of a church plant. most logic,and new agers would say bad carma,or that maybe we should have stayed and those thing wouldn't happened. that is B.S it was a likely product of us being faithful to Gods call on our life. am i blaming God no! i am just stating the facts. part of the reason for leaving was that jenny and i had put a lot of time, prayer and thought into this process. whispered into my heart mths previous to all this was a passage of scripture that states if a man loves his mother & father house or land more than me
(me being Jesus) than he is not worth of me. SO WE WENT :)since then God has humble more than i could imagine. part of being a follower of Christ is knowing that often persecution and heartache as well strife will come....to be cont..more to follow at later date

"Hut" eye mommy

Well Joshua has been, shall we say, clumsy to say the least these days. Right before leaving from KY back to SC he tripped up the stairs banged his chin on his cars and bit his tongue on both sides. After nursing it with some fun blue ice from Nanny's house all was well. The very next night, however, back in SC he was running through the kitchen, wiped out and hit his eye on a plastic storage container. No big deal you say? Well let's just say that with everything else that has gone on and my hormonal, emotional roller coaster when I got Joshua up the next morning and he tried to look up at me with his one swollen eye and said "hut" eye mommy, I couldn't keep the river from flowing. I took a picture to prove the need for sympathy and of course just a couple days later his eye has perfectly healed and all is well.

Christmas at Nanny's and the Mattingly's

Christmas was marked with many ups and downs and bittersweet memories this year. Due to pregnancy Chris and I were not going to be able to go to KY to celebrate Christmas with family so we had planned a couple of new "traditions" and had dreamed up a couple of ways to incorporate Christ's birth in our holiday. Unfortunately, on December 18th we received a call that Chris's dad had died and our plans went out the window. We drove to KY anyway and got to spend Christmas with family afterall but with the looming reality that both of Chris's parents have died in the same year just a few months from one another. So to say the least Christmas was filled with a number of ups and downs this year and it was difficult to focus on the reason that we celebrate Christmas in the first place. I feel guilty for not doing more to focus Christmas for Joshua's sake but hopefully we will be able to do more of that next year.

Anyway, here are a few photos