Update and Thank You From Nathan

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their concern, love, and prayers over the course of our last pregnancy. We were humbled over and over again at particularly the prayer support.

This pregnancy was an amazing answer to prayer. During the entire time Melanie was pregnant, we asked God for a June birthday (full term) and a strong, healthy baby. Christina was born in June – on her due date to be exact. Hearing the nurses come through and say, “Happy Birthday, Christina” was such a joyful thing. It was a frequent reminder that her birthday was indeed in June. She was strong and healthy – all answers to prayer.

Melanie handled a very difficult labor well. The Lord blessed us with a great relationship with our care providers, all of whom shared and supported our desires for (in fact one even specialized in) an intervention-free, natural birth. However, a number of challenges arose including the baby being in distress, which culminated in a c-section.

It was amazing to be holding Christina not too long after her birth, marveling at her alertness and how well she was doing. Even as God directed events in ways we were hoping to avoid, He answered our prayers for a healthy baby!

Melanie is enjoying her best postpartum experience as she begins her recovery. Christina is doing great and is a most welcome addition to our household.

I had the privilege of being Mr. Mom for a week. It gave me a wonderful appreciation of all that Melanie accomplishes on a daily basis.

On a lighter note, I’d like to offer a parenting tip of the week. You’ll laugh, because I’m sure this is quite obvious to many of you. For years I’d struggled with how to teach the little girls to rub their hands together after getting soap on them before putting them back under the water. They tend to stick hands right into the water with no rubbing once I put soap on them. Part of it is logistics. They reach their hands out for soap and pull them back to “rub rub” them, which is where the stream of water is. Instantly, soap is rinsed off with no real skin contact. This week, all of a sudden, I realized that I could turn the water off as I squirted soap onto their hands. It works like this. Hands go into water. Then I grab the soap and turn the water off. Next I squirt soap into their hands as well as mine, “rub rub,” water back on, and rinse. Wow – so simple!

Finally, thank you for the encouragement on Abigail’s helmet. We’ve often marveled at the sharp-eyed blog readers. Yes, her helmet wasn’t adjusted correctly. I have no good excuse for that. I know how to adjust helmets; it simply hadn’t happened yet. You’ll be happy to know that her helmet is now correctly adjusted (see below picture)!

Again, thank you for the prayer support!

Love,
Nathan

Christina

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

–Micah 6:8

The First Time

We’ve been visiting friends out-of-state on our way home, and last night, we had an amazing surprise. Our friends’ Christian neighbors washed Uriah while we were eating dinner and having family Bible time! Imagine our shock when it was discovered what had been done. It was a complete, total, unexpected surprise and blessing. We feel overwhelmed with their act of kindness. They did the most thorough job–truly amazing!

Thank you, Mike and Son!

The Maxwells

“Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;”

Colossians 3:12

Conference Report

We were incredibly blessed by our time at SEARCH. There is so much involved to putting on a conference. This one was even more complex, since they run an enormous used book sale. The SEARCH staff ran a well-oiled machine.

Since we had been to CHAP last year (another amazing, extremely well-done conference), we saw quite a few familiar faces. We enjoyed fellowshipping with old friends and meeting new brothers and sisters in Christ.

On Friday, Dad and Mom’s first session started at 11 a.m., and the guys had a session as well. The day passed quickly with more sessions. Hearts were tender and receptive to what was shared. Since there are eight of us, and we all have different roles (speaking, book tables, etc), we interact with many people. Come Saturday night, as we’re in the bus driving, we love to talk about memorable conversations we had. Through the feedback shared, it was obvious hearts had been encouraged and strengthened in the Lord Jesus. It was also a joy for us Maxwell children to be able to speak to the young people. One highlight for Dad was sharing a new session called, Where Are You Headed After High School? We hope to offer it as an audio resource sometime later this year.

We see clearly why the Lord brought us to the conference: to be used of Him to meet specific needs. May fruit be brought forth!

Enjoy the pictures, which will give you a taste of our time there.

Love,
Sarah

Crockpots make easy meals!

The used book sale was a great success.

Precious face.


John and Anna

The snack cart came around every now and then. It was a great idea!


John and Anna giving Brothers and Sisters, Best Friends Forever (formerly Dwelling Together in Unity).

A practical example.

Listening.


Writing notes!


Break in between sessions.




A young lady, Abigale, who enjoys the Moodys. My heart (Sarah), is filled with joy to the Lord Jesus for using these books in ways I never dreamed of. It is a delight to meet children who love the Moodys.

Pack up time!




“Not because I desire a gift: but I
desire fruit that may abound to your account.”

–Philippians 4:17

A Preview

Our hearts are full of what the Lord has done through another conference. As we talked this evening as a family, we marvel at the Lord’s working. We’ll leave you with a few pictures and a full report later!

Love,
Sarah

Jesse

Sisters



“Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.”

–Romans 15:13

Set Up and Ready

We arrived here in Souderton about 4:30. Set up went very quickly and smoothly, with lots of bringing-in-materials help. It is a blessing to be able to park at the church, and it is extremely convenient not to have to move the bus until the conference is over.

We would be grateful for your prayers tomorrow and Saturday as we share in many sessions. Lord Jesus, may our hearts be prepared and ready to speak the words You want us to!

Love,
Sarah

We went through several tunnels today.

We had lots of help--what a blessing!

Who is behind the sign?

Joseph, Anna, and Jesse worked on putting up the banners.


“The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace
for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts.”

–Proverbs 17:3