Christmas x3

Please excuse the complete lack of posts since December 12... we have been celebrating Christmas over and over and over again!

On December 18, Jeremy's parents came for a 3 day visit. We opened Christmas presents on our first morning together, visited the Christmas displays at Longwood Gardens, LOVE park in Philadelphia, ate a steak dinner, and watched The Grinch!

On Christmas morning, Jeremy and I spent our third Christmas together as a married couple, just he and I. We opened our stockings, went to church, and then came straight home to open presents. Here's a picture of Baby Powell on Christmas Day.

Later on Christmas night, my parents and sister Jenna arrived from Massachusetts... with Baby Powell due on January 17, our doctors instructed Jeremy and I not to travel for the holidays.

I am very thankful to both families for re-arranging their traditions and coming to visit us instead.

On Christmas night, Meredith and Kyle hosted everyone for a late dinner and cookies... then, the Sweitzer family Christmas activities started the next morning, December 26.

As usual, there were more presents than planned. Everyone seemed very happy with what they gave and received. Jeremy and I made brunch (egg-sausage casserole, bacon, cranberry-banana-muffins, fruit, etc.) and Jenna made English flapjacks. 

After opening gifts, we planned a family outing... we love our apartment, but its a wee-bit small to keep 7 people cooped up inside all day. Thinking ahead, we decided to visit the Brandywine River Museum, which features the Wyeth Family artists. 

I have to make this next picture BIG... it's officially one of my favorite sibling photos: 

My Auntie Janet and Uncle Jon drove in from Harrisburg to visit the museum with us, but somehow they alluded our camera! Hey guys!

Fortunately, we did nab photos the next day. On December 27, we had another big family occasion. My mom's other Pennsylvania-sister, Ellen, her husband John, my cousin Tristan and my Grandma Sawyer came to visit. 

If you didn't think we were spoiled enough... my aunt and uncle rolled in with armfuls of cookies and gifts. 

Meredith and Kyle received a "sticky rice basket" (for steaming sticky rice), which Kyle is wearing on his head in this picture:

And among other things, Jeremy and I received an amazing pop-up book of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, which we'll allow Baby PhillyPowell to play with around age 10!

My parents and Jenna went home to Massachusetts the next day, so here ends our Christmas recap. Again, we are very thankful to everyone who changed their traditions and plans to visit us. Thank you everyone! 

Christmas is Coming... and I am Getting Fat

Five weeks until Baby PhillyPowell's due date!

This Christmas, the holiday term "figgy pudding" is directly applicable to my silhouette.

Now Taking Bets...

As many of you know, I've been enjoying my pregnancy in the company of my two best friends, Eli and Christy.

Eli gave birth to beautiful Luke Samuel Henninger on November 30.

Christy (now 20 weeks) just learned that she is expecting a boy too!

Jeremy and I have opted to be surprised and he hates guessing games, so someone humor me please and give me your best bet. Boy or girl?

Book Guy

I think Jeremy has reached a new record in books borrowed from the Westminster library for paper writing...

Turkey, Chocolate and Egg Rolls

Grandma Mac and the Sweitzer Girls

Thanksgiving was great this year! I could sum in up in many words, but the most efficient would be: turkey, chocolate and egg rolls.

#1 Turkey
My aunt and uncle generously invited 24 people to their home outside Harrisburg, PA for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

We sprawled across three tables... and like the miracle of loaves and fishes, we never ran out of food. ;-)

Jeremy and my third cousin, Dominic, age 4.

#2 Chocolate
The next morning (after sleeping off the soporific effects of turkey and mashed potatoes), various groupings of relatives went off on various adventures:

• Kyle spun off to help Uncle John purchase a new electric piano,
• Jeremy hermitted himself in our hotel room for a productive afternoon of studying, and
• The remaining Sweitzer/Powell/Mohrs went to Hershey Park and Chocolate World with our little cousin Christina.

#3 Egg Rolls
Chocolate World was followed by a stop in Hershey at an antique shop (its a family weakness), and then we hurried back to Harrisburg for our most favorite day-after-Thanksgiving tradition... EGG ROLLS.

This tradition was started by our late Grandpa Mac who, after eating a large Thanksgiving feast, sought to thank and reward the cooks with, well, a second feast. 

My grandparents served as missionaries in Asia for over 30 years. As their grandchild, I've experienced their history through stories, testimonies, pictures and food... in fact, my cousins, sisters and I can probably eat our weight in egg rolls and sticky rice.

This year, my cousin Nora (above) helped my Grandma Mac to wrap and fry 85+ egg rolls for our post-Thanksgiving Asian dinner. As you can see, we enjoyed it very much!

Another Baby Powell...

Our apartment is blooming with signs of our baby-to-be-born... stroller, car seat, baby bath tub, pack n' play, baby onsies, baby socks, baby blankets... it's a joy to be surrounded by these things!

But a year ago, at exactly this time, the scene was very different.

If you peered into our lives at that time, you would have seen Jeremy and I sitting on our couch, eyes red with tears, faces crumpled in pain over the loss of our first baby, miscarried at 10 weeks.

People who haven't experienced a miscarriage (and even some that have) like to point out that "it happens all the time." Miscarriages are normal. But they are not. Death is not normal. Death is not natural. It is not part of God's original design.

But praise be to God, He has conquered death and one day, we will see our little baby alive and well in heaven.


"Women received back their dead by resurrection." Hebrews 11:35

In 2 Kings 4, Elisha prophecies that a faithful, but barren Shunammite woman will give birth to a son. And, like so many barren women in the Bible, she does. But tragedy is lurking around the corner:

When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. And he said to his father, "Oh my head, my head!" The father said to his servant, "Carry him to his mother." And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died (v. 18-20).

How sad. How unfair. It makes us beg, WHY GOD? WHY? Jeremy and I certainly did in the weeks and months following our miscarriage.

But here is where the Shunammite woman becomes a hero of faith...

Without a moment's hesitation, she puts her little boy down, gets up, and goes to find Elisha. When she finds Elisha, Elisha unknowingly asks, "Is all well with the child?" and she says, "All is well." All is shalom. 

The Shunammite woman is openly in distress (v. 27), but her first words, her first disposition, is to say "All is well" and do you remember what happens next? It is actually very amazing... Elisha goes to the child and lies down on his little dead body.

Elisha puts his hands on the boy's hands, his arms on the boy's arms, his mouth on the boy's mouth.

Elisha touches the boy's unclean, dead body and transfers life to him.

"... the flesh of the child became warm... then, the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes."

A beautiful and profound picture of Christ, Elisha becomes unclean to make the little boy alive again. Because of Christ, death has no hold on believers.

Not only will each individual believer receive eternal life in heaven, but the things and especially people we once lost to death will be restored.

"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?"

A Happy Little Camper

Today (Monday) was, well, definitely a Monday. But I won't dwell on it.

• My aging hybrid car had a minor meltdown, making me late for work... but as usual, it recovered. 
• Jeremy had an early morning exam in Hebrew... but its over now. 
• I had to stay late for an evening work meeting... but then, I came home to leftovers of my mom's delicious Italian tortellini soup and fresh bread. 

More importantly, I still feel very grateful and humbled by the exceedingly thoughtful baby shower my sisters and mom threw for me this past weekend. 

I don't have pictures at the shower to share (I was too busy opening gifts). Meredith will probably did post them on her blog. But I can show you some of the results! 

#1) Baby PhillyPowells' toy and bookshelf in our living room now has something on every shelf. 

PS: The awesome flowers and pine greenery you see on top were the centerpieces at the baby shower. My sisters and mom cleverly themed the whole shower: "A Happy Little Camper." 

#2) Baby PhillyPowell officially has his/her first bed... the beloved pack n' play, which I convinced Jeremy we at just had to test.

#3) Baby PhillyPowell has a whole wardrobe of new clothes to wear. 

#4) Plus, Baby PhillyPowell has an awesome infant swing for napping (thanks Grandma Mac and Auntie J) and a new stroller and car seat from a seriously mysterious someone who signed their card "Your Family in Christ." Wow. 

Jeremy and I are very touched by the generosity of our friends and family. Thank you. 

V'Forge

Our weekends are wonderful. This Saturday, I had brunch with a great college friend in Philly. Our conversation was deep and encouraging.

Then, I came home and Jeremy and I went for a sunny, but crisp walk in Valley Forge.

(I love this guy)

(29.5 weeks and still, not a huge belly)

(In various seasons, we've traversed this path on foot, on bikes, on cross-country skis, and once... we had to sprint down it to escape a torrential rain storm.) 

Books, Books, Books!

One of my primary purposes for blogging is supposed to be reading and reviewing books, but I confess... I haven't done such a great job.

Here's a little taste of what's on my bedstand these days:

The Mammoth Book of Great Detective Stories, edited by Herbert van Thal. A gift from our friend John Maltais... 26 detective stories "gathered from every corner of the genre, from classic writers to contemporary masters," including some of my personal favorites: Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Wilkie Collins, and P.D. James.

**Perhaps the coolest thing about reading this book is the edition... its an "uncorrected proof," printed and bound in Middleboro at The Country Press.

**John... next time we see you, we want to know the story. What was The Country Press?


Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament by Nancy Guthrie. A daily devotional that walks through the Old Testament to show how specific OT passages point to Christ and how countless OT stories are completed in Christ.


A Mother's Heart by Jean Fleming. Five-stars. Highly recommend. This book was a major catalyst in my recent decision to stay home after Baby Powell arrives in January.

It casts a godly vision for what a mother is and what her role can be, and calls moms (and moms-to-be) to understand their relationship with their children as a ministry that builds the kingdom of God. It is an inspiring, empowering, realistic and Christ-centered look at motherhood. I want to purchase copies for all my friends.


What to Expect When You're Expecting by Heidi Murkoff. A classic for expectant mothers. This pregnancy handbook explains baby's growth week-by-week and explains all the curious changes in mom's body too.

According to this book, Baby Powell (29 weeks this week) is probably around 17 inches long and almost 3 lbs. He/she is close to birth length, but has a lot of weight to put on.  


Any Guesses? 

On a totally unrelated note... I was talking to my sister Meredith on the phone on Saturday, watching the snow fall, when I saw this WEIRD thing on the sidewalk outside our apartment. Jeremy went out to investigate... what do you think it is?

Without poking or probing too much, Jeremy thinks its a massive bee hive dislodged from a tree by the heavy ice and snow. It sure is bizarre looking.

A Great Autumn Weekend

This whole weekend was great! The weather was great... we spent time with great friends... and we ate an abundance of great food.

Friday 
On Friday, I worked remotely from Westminster in order to see Jeremy preach in chapel.

Thank you for praying for his preparation. He did a very solid job. Here's Jeremy getting comfortable in the pulpit before the students and faculty arrived.

The man standing beside Jeremy is the Dean of Students who organizes each chapel.

Chapel is not mandatory at Westminster and Friday chapels in particular are somewhat sparsely attended. But one of Jeremy's more renowned professors, Vern Poythress, was in attendance and since Jenna was in town visiting... she came too!

After chapel, Jenna, Jeremy and I headed to the campus library. Jeremy and Jenna worked on school assignments and I jumped into some of my many work projects.

It was great to have some "study buddies" for the day.

Best of all, we planned our annual Halloween party with Jenna, Meredith and Kyle for Friday night after Jeremy's last afternoon class.

Usually, we dress up in weird outfits, but this year, everyone was very busy leading up to Friday night, so we opted just to hang out and make dinner. At Meredith's suggestion, we did M.Y.O. pizzas:

Saturday
On Saturday, the fun kept rolling!

Jeremy hunkered down to complete some reading assignments and I drove south to Maryland to see one of my best friends and college buddies, Christy.

Christy and her husband Jamie are also expecting baby #1... which officially means the entire basketball class of 2006 (me, Christy and Eli) are all going to be moms within a few short months of each other. Awesome.


We met at Elk Neck State Park on the Chesapeake Bay in North East, Maryland. The park has a beautiful lighthouse, which was open to the public. We climbed the narrow stairs and got a view of the bay from on high.

Sunday
Unfortunately, I didn't bring a camera on Sunday, but Jeremy and I went to church in the morning and then, drove into the city (Philly) for lunch with some church friends, Jon and Shelley George.

Jon and Shelley introduced us to Zorba's, a tiny little Greek restaurant with tables outside on the sidewalk. We enjoyed hummus and delicious gyros filled with meat (lamb, chicken, beef, fish, depending on what each person ordered), tomato, lettuce, french fries (yeah!), yogurt, spices...

Then, Jon and Shelley introduced us to an ice cream shoppe where I ordered a "regular" cone and got 4 massive scoops.

Needless to say, we were in food comas driving home...

Jeremy was so full and sleepy, he needed a little shut-eye on the couch before cracking the books open again. Ain't he cute! Haha.

Prayer Requests

To our family, faithful friends and blog followers. As I write each week about what's going in our life, I realize we really need your prayer support. If you have a quiet moment, could you please lift us up to God?

(1) Jeremy is preaching tomorrow in Westminster's weekly Friday chapel service. He volunteered. Please pray that he would be guided by the Holy Spirit to prepare well and present well. 

(2) Our Soul Care group has doubled in size, and as a couple, we're taking on more leadership responsibility to shepherd this wonderful crew of young families and children.

Some are new Christians and everyone is coming from a different church background. Please pray especially for Jeremy as he teaches, and for me, as I organize meetings and focus on building Gospel-centered relationships with the women. 

(3) I finally and definitively decided that I won't be working after the baby is born. I originally thought it was critical to try to keep my job. But I realized it will demand more time and pressure than is healthy and manageable for a new mom.

God also tenderly convicted us of our need to trust Him for finances. God will provide for us. Please pray that we would peacefully rely on Him and not be prone to anxiety.

(4) Please also pray that it will go well when I tell my boss and colleagues I'm leaving. I have a tendency to feel really guilty about these things! 

Recently...

Recently, the theme of our days and weekends has been transition and preparing for future transitions.

Jeremy is back at Westminster for his final fall semester of his 4 year M.Div. degree. The school year requires a new rhythm. More quiet times at home, more intentional bedtimes, and more varied wake-up times depending on Jeremy's class schedule.

(Jeremy's closet-office)

It's hard to believe Jeremy is a "senior" and will graduate this year. But I think we're ready for change.

Jeremy is enrolled in several "practical ministry" courses that are whetting our appetite to leave the classroom and apply what we've learned in school and in life to full-time ministry.

In addition, we're being challenged as leaders of a small group (Soul Care group) to walk beside and serve other Christians on a weekly basis and to think of their needs.

We're also getting very excited/anxious/nervous/excited/excited/excited for Baby Powell. Tonight, I had my monthly OB appointment, which really just constitutes a heartbeat check.

These days, I don't need a heart doppler to tell me the baby's there... he or she is a kicker! But I love hearing it anyway.

Usually, the doctor doesn't tell me our baby's heart rate. But tonight he did... 138 beats per minute.

Old wives' tales say that anything under 140 beats is a boy. Medical professionals tell you, its a bunch of phony-baloney.

But just for one night, I'll imagine we're having a boy and go to sleep thinking about Tonka trucks, blue baby clothes, and what a mini-Jeremy would look like...

Cranberry Harvest

Last Friday, we dashed home to celebrate Jeremy's parents with a big retirement party. But... as I've come to love and respect about the Powells... it was still a working weekend!

Cranberry Harvest 2011

The weekend was extra special because both my sisters and bro-in-law Kyle also came home. Jeremy and I realize what a rare blessing it is for two families to share so much in common.

Jenna and Molly (Jeremy's cousin), long-time friends:

Jeremy was unfortunately sick most of the weekend with a high fever, chills, nausea... euck! But by Sunday afternoon, he did manage to try out his cousin's new dirt bike.

And one last photo... Bob (Jeremy's dad) and Jay (Jeremy's cousin) knocking off the berries.