Updates and news from our new home in Germany

Okay, I'm back in my "blogging mood".
We arrived in Germany on the 4th of August. About 2 weeks after we arrived into the country I found out I was pregnant. Philip and I had been trying to get pregnant since May of this year, so we were both excited about the positive results on the home pregnancy test!
We are living on post and have a 4 bedroom apartment. Philip originally had plans of using the 4th bedroom as his office. Yet I had plans of turning the 4th bedroom into a guest bedroom however that problem was quickly solved. Its going to be a nursery.
The girls started school on the 25th of August at Schweinfurt Elementary. Allison began 2nd grade and Joslyn is now in 4th grade. They love it! Well Joslyn isn't to fond of her teacher, but has made many new friends and is in the Gifted and Talented program. Allison simply adores her teacher and has made fast friends as well! Joslyn is playing soccer again and is having a blast! She has practices on Wednesday's and games on Fridays. I'm still thinking about whether or not I want the girls to play winter soccer. I'm not sure if I really want to sit out in the freezing cold and watch the girls play soccer. I still have time before I need to make this decision. Both Joslyn and Allison love it here. They walk to school every morning and hook-up with Joslyn's best friend at the corner of our street and all 3 girls walk together to school. Every afternoon they meet up with their friends and play outside. As a matter of fact the girls are outside with their friends right now "Sweeping" up leaves into a huge pile so they can jump in it. We don't have a rake so they improvise with what they have.
Philip is getting ready to go back to Iraq for another year. We are hoping of course that he will be able to come home for 2 weeks for the birth of the baby, so keep your fingers crossed and pray for us too. Almost every wife in his Company is pregnant so we will see who's solider makes it home in time for their baby's birth. This will be my first year ever spending the holidays alone with only the girls. I just have to keep reminding myself, only 3 years and I will be back in the states!! Its not forever! I wish Philip and I were able to accomplish more before he leaves.
I have my European Drivers licence and I'm am waiting for my GPS system to arrive in the mail. Once I have the GPS system in my car I will feel more comfortable driving around. I have learned how to park downtown, I know where to park and how to get from the parking garage to my Dr's office. I know how to get to the Wildlife Park and finally found a store downtown that sells maternity clothes albeit they don't have a very big selection, but I can always order online. It all may sound like such small achievements but when so many road signs are in a different language- I pat myself on the back!
I am still adjusting to not being able to jump in the car and go to Target, Kohl's, Payless, Wal-mart, Dillard's and Old Navy. Our dollar is very weak over here. To eat at McDonald's, just the 4 of us we can expect to pay $40. If I pull out 100 euros from the ATM, I can translate that to $150 dollars actually coming out of my bank account.
I just applied to for a job as a substitute teacher again this school year. I should start sometime this coming week. There were so many hoops I felt I had to jump through just to get this job.
I am attending the chapel here on post. The Army Chaplains are the preachers and the service is alot different from what I am use to, but the message is the same!!The girls and I go to church every Sunday and are praying one day soon Philip will join us.
Well I think I have touched up on everything that has been going on with us. I will update you with all our adventures as they unfold.

Girlie Time

Yesterday Joslyn, Allison and I went to get a manicure and pedicure. The girls picked out the color nail polish they wanted painted on their toes and finger nails. We had a great time!

Vacation Bible School Power Lab!

The girls and I enjoyed an awesome full week of Vacation Bible School at our home church, St. Paul. We made the most of our week at VBS. The next time the girls and I will be able to attend another VBS at St. Paul will be in 2011. We all had so much fun learning about God this past week. The Church was transformed into a Power Lab. Each night we learned about different "Powers" God gives us. On Monday night we learned that... ...God gives us the power to be Thankful! (Colossians 3:15) The bible story for the night was about the 10 lepers and only one came back to thank Jesus. Tuesday night we learned that... ...God gives us the power to Help Others! (Romans 12:13) The Bible story was about the blind man that Jesus healed. Wednesday night we learned that... ...God gives us the power to be Brave! (Psalm 23:4) Tonight we heard the bible story about Jesus walking on water, and Peter who needed more faith to walk on water Thursday we learned that... ...God gives us the power to Live Forever in Eternity! (John 14:19) Tonight our leader in the "Bible Blast" classroom handed out stickers to all of us. The stickers had sad faces on them. We talked about sin and how we are all sinners. Sue, The Bible Blast leader told us about the sinners that were nailed to the cross and how one of the sinners asked Jesus to remember him when he went to paradise. We confessed our sins and placed them at the cross (in this case we placed them on the cross) We took our sad face stickers and stuck the to the cross. This was my favorite Bible Blast night! And on Friday night we learned that... ...God gives us the power to Share His Love with Everyone!(Mark 16:15) We heard the story of the first Pentecost This morning at Church we had our closing service for Vacation Bible School and the service was so awesome! The message that Pastor Carlos preached to us was the story of Jesus and His disciples on the lake of Galilee in their boat during a huge thunderstorm. No matter what storms we encounter in our lives we know that Jesus is right there with us and He will never let go of us. That is one of my favorite songs from VBS "He Never Lets Go"

Pennsylvania

On Sunday night I returned from a 4 day "vacation" in Pennsylvania. My brother and his wife had their wedding celebration in the small town of Lebanon, PA where his wife Brenda grew up. Philip was unable to go with me because of his school and the girls were spending time with their Daddy. So I joined my parents, Aunt Janet, my cousins Sera and Sen representing my brother's side of the family. I also spent a lot of time with my precious niece Geneve! The wedding was nice and I had a great time with my family.

Folklife Festival

Saturday evening Philip and I were able to go to the Folklife Festival here in San Antonio. We had a really nice time together and enjoyed the interesting booths, exhibits, food and performances from around the world. We got a little glimps of the many different cultures and their history that make up San Antonio today.

You Never know Jesus is All You Need Until Jesus is All You Have

Philip and I have been through A LOT the past 2 months! I've seen a side of Philip I never thought existed in him. For a while I was so scared my marriage was going to fail. I felt worried, scared, helpless, lonely, insecure, disappointed, angry and unloved. Philip was going through a very frustrating time at work and was finding different ways to try and release his frustration. He was drinking so much every weekend and his drinking drove me to the point where I didn't even want to be home on Friday nights. He would talk to me and absolutely everything he said when he was drunk made no sense. Philip was not the man I married the last 2 months.
I began to cover him in prayer (my mother and mother-in-law prayed for Philip as well) I prayed that our Lord, with His mighty power would destroy Philip's mountains of temptation. I prayed the Lord would destroy his mountain of temptation, adultery. Destroy the mountain of drinking alcohol in excess amounts. I prayed for Philip's faith to become stronger and God would use everyone around him as His lights. I prayed for every inch of Philip's flesh and mind. I also prayed for myself. I prayed for strength, security in my marriage, and believe it or not I thanked God for the struggle I was encountering because it was bringing me closer to him, closer than I had ever been before. I was spending more time in prayer than I have ever before.
Philip, the girls and I moved to a hotel in Coppers Cove after we had all of our belongings packed for Germany. We stayed in the hotel for a little over a week while the girls finished school and Philip began the process of signing out of Ft. Hood. I continued to cover every inch of Philip in prayer. During this time I realized that God was making changes in me as well. I needed to change so I could see the changes in Philip. I was less argumentative, I was more interested in what was going on with Philip at work, I had a desire to please Philip. Most of the hard spots in my heart were softened. Philip's drinking decreased tremendously after we moved to the hotel. He still drank beer but not Crown Royal or Jim Beam.
Memorial Day weekend we came to San Antonio. I needed a break from living in hotel and the girls were through with school (both girls have been promoted to the next grade. Joslyn-4th and Allison-2nd). We arrived in San Antonio Friday evening and Philip hit the streets of San Antonio "running". He caught up with some "friends" and every night was in the streets with these guys. He would stay out ALL night and not come home until the next day just to shower and hit the streets again. During this time was when I realized I needed to add to my list of prayers for Philip. I began to pray that God would break these chains of negative "friendships" Philip has with these guys. It was bringing Philip down and hurting his family. Oh how I prayed and prayed and prayed. I was hurting yet I was finding comfort in praying because I know God hears my cries! Every time we come to San Antonio to visit Philip would always hook up with these guys and put his family on the back burner. I would throw fits when Philip would tell me he was going out to see his friends. Memorial Day weekend I didn't fight him at all. I just prayed and prayed. I took my frustration and disappointment to our Lord.
Well the night we were suppose to leave for Ft. Hood Philip had an experience that knocked him to his knees. I believe that God used this experience to change Philip and to realize that family is far more important then these "friends" he was hitting the streets with. I believe God also gave me a sense of calmness every time Philip went out with these guys because God had a plan for Philip and I could not disrupt His plan from being carried out. Since this event has happened Philip has made HUGE changes in his life. He has set his priorities straight, demolished his past demeanor and everything that went along with his past demeanor. Philip has finally come to a realization of everything that he has been doing these past 2 months and has thanked me a number of times for staying with him through these storms and what a storm it has been! Through all of these struggles I have encountered over the past 2 months God has brought me so much closer to Him. He has taught me so much and heard my cries (I never once doubted He was not hearing my cries, I found comfort in knowing God's timing is perfect timing, and I tried my hardest to be patient). Philip has alot to face in the near future. I continue to pray for Philip,his future, our marriage, our girls, and our home. Now my prayers are different. I am praising our Lord for my struggles, for the miracles he did in our marriage, for the miraculous changes He made in Philip and in me. Like the title of the blog, Jesus is ALL I need!!

We made it!

As of today we are officially through with Ft. Hood, TX! I am so happy we are living back in San Antonio (even if it is just for the summer)! Philip was able to sign out of Ft. Hood with very few problems. We all made really good friends while we were living in central Texas and I will keep in touch with them. The girls handled the move very well. One of Joslyn's classmates is moving to the same post in Germany that we are moving to and at the same time. We are all very happy for Joslyn, it makes the transition easier for her. Knowing that her little girlfriend is growing through the same changes she is going through helps Joslyn. I had some really good times at Ft. Hood however like life, I've learned a lot from the setting I was in and I feel more prepared for our next duty station.