Dear praying folks –

If you don’t mind, would you please say a pray for Cade tomorrow morning. He goes to the hospital at 8am to get tubes for his ears. There is a mild concern that there could be complications with the anesthesia since he had the flu last week and just finished his medicine this morning.

Thanks,
Robert and Michele

October Fun with Friends

This is my little sock monkey!!
He hated his hat so he was just a
wool sock for most of the evening!!



This is our annual Halloween party at
Lorelei and Everett's house!!
The kids love answering the door and giving out candy!
I think Hollyn was shocked by what she saw!! Cute kitty!




Sock monkey, Ariel and Superman!!
What a crew!



Best Buddies- Everett (22 months)
and Cade (17 months)







Cade loved the pumpkin patch!! He ran around
throwing little pumpkins, tipping over big ones
and sitting on the flat ones!

Cade's New Poop Corner

Just when you think washing dishes has no entertainment value..... you look down and realize all the dishes your son has thrown out of the cabinet!! Then you squat down to talk to him and a stench like no other knocks you over..... and he smiles!! Classic. Then he scoots over and begins a long stinky game of peek a boo!! What a cute toot!!!

First Haircut

He did so good!!!

Don't worry, I kept his curls in a baggy with his 1st hair cut certificate!

NO more Curls.... Big Boy Hair cut Now!!!

Why I Can't Stop Laughing!

Cade's Poop Corner!

"Busted!! Can I get some privacy Mom!!"

Some would say children drive you insane. I say they provide sanity and laughter when little else makes since!! My little Cade is already 16 1/2 months old. I have got to catch up on his funny stories.... I'm forgetting them so fast! So here is my top ten list of why Cade makes me laugh!!

1. He still shows off his muscles every chance he gets.

2. He runs everywhere he goes. Sometimes he hits the wall and says "UH Ohhhh". Then he gets up and takes off again.

3. He dances and taps his foot to music every time he hears it.

4. He is obsessed with playing the Wii! I know he is too little but he loves baseball, tennis and golf. The crazy thing is he actually plays it correctly!

5. Thanks to Sister Schubert Rolls The Dr. Says Cade weighs a little much, has a big head, short and very smart!

6. He loves to give kisses and pats on the back.

7. He loves riding in his new bike seat with his dad all over the neighborhood.

8. He drives his bus down the driveway like a mad man and turns just in time to hit the sidewalk.

9. He FINALLY says mama!!!!

10. I saved the best for last! He loves to brush his teeth when he gets out of the tub. He even gets water in his hand and spits when he is finished. Followed with an "Ahhhhhhhh"! This is the sweetest thing to watch......until a few weeks ago he was brushing away. I guess he didn't feel that he got clean enough in the tub because he glanced down and immediately begin brushing his business. Spidey man toothbrush was quickly washed and put away!! And I will never be the same!!!

What a Happy, Happy Kid!!!

---By: Michele

Faithfulness

Based on recent events in my dear friends' lives, I have been overwhelmed with heartache. I have prayed to God asking how this act of unfaithfulness could have happened and He revealed to me my own unfaithfulness to Him in each sinful act I commit. I still struggle with how these things are possible amoungst God's children and I again am reminded that we all sin. What I am learning is that there are people all around us hurting and struggling to maintain their commitments. Commitments to God and commitments to family are so often the ones that Satan attacks. Repeated attacks without reinforcements gives way to wondering off and wondering off gives way to the hardening of our hearts. This callused condition of our soul lends itself to becoming the empowering nature of self and seeking to be fulfilled through lustful pleasure rather than the love and grace of God.

All too often we are so overcome with how this person has hurt us through their act of unfaithfulness, that we react with a similar nature. We say to them -"you hurt me and I no longer want to be your friend. You have wandered too far from God for our friendship to remain." We simply write them off and harden our hearts toward them. But is that what we are called according to scripture to do? I sought out the answer to that very question and the Holy Spirit directed me to study the book of James over the past couple of weeks. Last night was the conclusion of that study (for now) and as I read the last few verses for a second time from the Message translation, God spoke clearly to me. Why should we maintain relationships with those who wander from God? So that through God's work in our lives and our prayers for them, He might draw them back to Himself and prevent them from destruction and an epidemic of wandering off.

James 5:19-20 (The Message)

"My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God's truth, don't write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God."

Update.........

We are finally settling in here in Fort Worth. School started this week for me and Michele and Cade is finally adjusting to his new daycare. Our house feels more like a home now and we only have a few boxes left to unpack. We still miss our old house and neighborhood, but things are OK here and at least we are not trying to cram all our stuff into campus housing. I bought a Greek New Testament this week and I hope to be able to read from it within the year.

My work schedule is crazy and I do go a little crazy being here at home all day on Mondays.

Michele and Cade have both been sick over the past few weeks but it looks like we are in the clear now.

Keep us in your prayers as we continue on this life altering journey.

A Sigh of Relief

Now that we are officially homeless, one would anticipate that I would be more stressed than ever. That is just not the case. Having completed the sale of the house, moved into a storage building, licensed to preach by FBC Hewitt and preached in front of a large group of friends and relatives - along with about 400 other people; I am actually releived.

Michele and I have spent two nights in hotels with beds more comfortable than our own and we actually went on a date - to a movie.



Monday was rough. We spent the night with the Bryants and said goodbye that morning, ate lunch with the Waltons and then completed cleaning out our house. After lying on the floor of our bedroom for a good 1/2 hour crying, we left - never to return to 741 Pebble Creek.



I have just spent the last hour taking care of some items on the SWBTS campus and the presence of the Holy Spirit is so strong here that I can not deny that I have made the best education decision of my life.



It looks like everyhting is on track for us to close on our house on July 29th and then begin moving in on August 1st. We will need lots of help as we try to move in, paint and decorate for the first time. We found a nice park in our neighborhood and a pool where Cade can learn to swim.

I am ready to get started and I will be even more relieved once the closing on our Ft Worth house is complete.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Farewell to Waco

Let me tell you a story about how great and powerful our God is and how wonderfully He has blessed our family. In early June, we received our student housing assignment for a 2 bedroom townhouse totaling 900 sq. ft. The rent was very affordable, but we would have to also get a storage unit to store our stuff for 4-5 years and I would be working from home in a very small dinette. We knew that we needed to find another option and but this was the only thing we could afford if we still had a mortgage to pay. We got our assignment on Monday and we had to let the housing department know if we accepted the assignment or not by 5pm Wednesday. If we choose to keep the assignment we would be scheduled to sign a lease beginning in July for a minimum of 60 days.

Our response..................We hit our knees in prayer and prayed intently that God would sell our house on Tuesday so we could feel confident in rejecting the housing offer.

God's response...............We got an acceptable offer on our house Tuesday afternoon at 5:30pm.

That was incredible, but now we had to find a place to live. We made offers on two houses that took too long to get back to us and it looked like we were not going to have a place to live come August.

Our response..................We hit our knees in prayer and prayed intently that God would provide a place for us to live and that he would help us find that house on our last trip to Ft Worth on June 26. We went to Ft Worth and looked at 6 more houses. Not finding anything we felt comfortable with and totally exasperated, we suddenly remembered the very first house that our realtor had shown us. We went to look at the house and discovered that the owners were just finishing seminar and going into the mission field. They were eager and the house seemed to fit our needs. We made an offer.

God's response...............Our offer was accepted before we got back home that evening. Plus, the owners directed us to a daycare that we ended up deciding was the best fit as well.

Our conclusion - Our God is great, and powerful and responsive to earnest prayer.

Now that we know what we are doing we are packing frantically to be out of our house by July 13th. Who knew you could accumulate so much stuff in just a few years.

As we prepare to leave our friends invited us to have dinner as a final farewell last night. We were touched and moved tears when we showed up and there were a bunch of people there to say goodbye. People who have touched our lives and impacted us in a way that we will never forget.

We are full confident that we are following God' plan, but we will miss the friends we have made in Waco and I am not sure that we will ever find people who love and care about us like this group. Not to mention that they are a lot of fun to be around. The two families we will miss the most are the Waltons and the Bryants. Especially since they hate to travel and will probably never come see us! - Just kidding. They better visit us. At least we all know that the Forrest family spends half of our life in the car already so it will be nothing for us to come back to Waco to see everyone.

Life's Little Challenges

Since surrendering to the ministry I have been met with challenge after challenge. I have been faced with a number of really tough decision to make, not just for myself, but for my family. I know that God has called me to preach and to pastor. I know that He has big plans for me and Michele; otherwise, Satan would not be so constant in discouraging us. We have decided, as a family, to follow God's call and move to Ft. Worth to attend seminary at SWBTS. Since making that bold decision, we have struggled with the reality of selling our beautiful home (at a loss) and buying another home that is not as big or nice. I have felt a little overwhelmed at the thought of a Master's program that requires 97 hours and will consume at least 4 years of my life. The truest paradox and my greatest fear are both quickly becoming a reality- I am destined to preach and pastor (my childhood fear) and at the same time I have an unexplainable desire to preach and become a pastor.

After a frustrating weekend dealing with our realtor and spending the day Monday looking at houses that just weren't that great, I was easily overwhelmed when it was time to go through the advising and enrollment process Monday evening. Feeling sick from all the stress Monday night, I turned to the back of my Bible and found a devotion that talked about God's timing and purpose in our life. It brought to life a passage that told of a person that had spend years suffering, not because of their sin, but so that Jesus Christ could receive glory when He worked a miracle in the person's life. Additionally, I recalled a scripture that I committed to memory while in college: Proverbs 3:5,6 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Oddly enough, the devotion that I read was written by me in 2002.

It amazes me how God can orchestrate the details of our lives and how those of us who boast of great faith can demonstrate such a poor example of our own belief in God' ability to handle our concerns when we face even the slightest adversity.

I know that God has a purpose for me and my family and we are anxiously waiting, trusting in His power to make it happen.

Dramatic Pause

Life has been so busy lately that my blogs must feel like I am Ryan Seacrest on American Idol (and this............................................................................................................................................................................................ is American Idol) a huge build up and a dramatic pause that is both irritating and uninformative.


Here is the latest. On Saturday, April 4th we had a sad family moment as we stuck the For Sale sign in our front yard. We are trying to sell the house on our own until May and then we will list it with a realtor. Right now our goal is to get as much as we can for the house so we can transition to Ft Worth with some security. We are still not sure where we are going to live or work. I am keeping my job and will be working from home. I hope that I can be disciplined enough to maintain my current level of productivity. Michele is interviewing and we hope to know where she will be working in a few weeks. We are also unsure about daycare. Ideally, someone would offer us $300k for our house and we would just move to Ft Worth and not work. But I have never been a fan of living in a dream world.

I never knew how attached I was to our house until we decided to sell it and move to Ft Worth. Maybe it is knowing that whatever we are moving to will not be as nice, or if we rent, won't be our's to fix up.

This whole transition has been a challenge and we are just anxious to see how God will make it all turn out. We are trusting in Him for some incredible results!

Our faith is growing daily.

A Zombie in Hewitt

A night-walker has been spotted in Hewitt.

According to medical studies a side effect of stress induced sleep deprivation is sleep walking. We now know this to be true, and I have the bruises to prove it!

On Sunday, March 29th Michele and I went to bed at our usual midnight. This, following a long weekend of trying to figure out how we are going to move to Fort Worth and still have a nice place for Cade to grow up. At 1:30 Cade woke up and cried for a few minutes. And then at 2:30 I got out of bed and began to wonder around. My best memory (and it is quite fuzzy) is that I had gotten up to go to the bathroom. After using the bathroom, I went to wash my hands before returning to bed; however, I never found the sink. I wondered around in a circle and ended up falling head-first into the bathtub! I landed on my neck and shoulders with my feet remaining overhead. Michele awoke at the sound of a loud thud and my thrashing and moaning. Thinking that I had stubbed my toe she got up and went into the bathroom to check on me. After a few moments in the dark, unable to locate my whereabouts, she whispered, "Where are you?" I answered, "I think I am in the tub!"

She found me laying in the tub still moaning and confused. After a few moments of tearful laughter, she helped me up and dried me off. She then escorted me back to the bed, so I would not wonder off again. She spend the next few moments calming me down because I was still confused about what exactly had happened, I became aware of the fact that I could have easily broken my neck and then began to worry that I might have a brain tumor causing this strange behavior.

I fell asleep and Cade woke up at 3:30 and again at 4:30. We are now all exhausted and I am still sore from the fall.

Misting Rain for the 1st Time

For the first time since Cade was born, we have had several days of misting rain. Yesterday while heading up the driveway with Cade in my arms I noticed a hilarious site. He was licking the air. Again this morning tested the air's moisture with the full length of his tongue. This was a hilarious site to behold and too funny to keep to myself.

Seminary Decision

I know that each of you have been anticipating finding out my decision for seminary training. I want to start by saying that I am very appreciative for the warm reception, advice and prayers for me & Michele.

I had previously narrowed my search to the two most prevalent Baptist schools in Texas, Southwestern and Truett. After previewing both programs, weighing the pros & cons, seeking out counsel from others and praying intently; I have decided to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Furthermore, I have been accepted to begin classes Fall 2009.

This was not an easy decision to make. In fact, the magnitude of this decision has been so stressful that I have been physically ill. I am 100% confident that this is the correct decision and I hope that you will offer your full support as we take the first step of this life changing journey.

After much debate and review of the program requirements we have decided to relocate to Fort Worth to take full advantage of the seminary resources. This will not be an easy process and we invite your prayers as we trust that God will take care of the details.

CUTIE PIE

Big Boy bath time is so much fun!! Cade loves to play in the bubbles. He dunks all his toys into the basketball hoop. I think this is his favorite time of the day!!!

Little Man is pulling up on everything. He is much happier standing than sitting. He loves to climb. It won't be long and he will be walking all over th place. He has managed to find every outlet plug and low shelf in the whole house. I am amazed at what he finds on the floor.

What a ham!! I am the luckiest mom in the world. That smile and the laugh behind it melt my heart everyday. Today a lady in the resturant was talking to him and she said "What a flirt!" It's true, you will laugh and cheese at anybody!! You are a heartbreaker!! I love you!!

8 months old in this picture

1st Busted Lip and Thrush

Cade managed to get his first busted lip 2 weeks ago!! He slipped on the tile floor in the bathroom while cruising around. He screamed loud and hard. It broke my heart and of course I cried with him! If that wasn't bad enough...... a few days later he gets thrush!!! The purple medicine is still on my fingers!! It stains everything it touches!! Purple People Eater

Busted Up!! You should have seen the other guy!!

Life Changing Moments

We all experience things throughout our lives that change how we live. Moving away from home, going to college, getting your first real job, getting married, having a child and the list goes on of events that change the course of our lives. The funny thing about change is that when someone else is controlling the change it can be much more difficult to adjust; especially if you are a control/planning freak like I am. I guess that is why it was so difficult to commit to God's call on my life to be a minister. I had a beautiful plan for my life mapped out. I was a business professional with talent, an advanced education and a flourishing future ahead. I own a home that my family could comfortably live in for years to come in a town that has been rated as one of the best places to live. Knowing that we are called to glorify God in our lives, I had committed to faithful tithing and lay ministry through the local church.

Now that I have prayerfully committed to God's call on my life and publicly professed the call at church, I have an uneasy peace. I have a peace knowing that God is in control and I am in His will; however, I am still uneasy as I consider all that has to be worked out over the coming months/years. In addition to the call to ministry, I also feel called to go to seminary in preparation for a lifetime of full-time ministry. Eager to begin this new journey, I hope to start seminary in the Fall 2009.

Depending on which seminary I choose, we may have to relocate, sell our house, find a new place to live and a new daycare. Michele will have to find a new job and I may have to leave my job. Obviously, this represents a lot of uncertainty; however, we know that God will not ask us to do anything without providing for our needs.

The bottom line is that we are learning to trust God even more through all of this. If these changes did not scare us, we would not be human.

In Matthew Chapter 4 we find the courage of the first men that God called to preach the Gospel:

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon
called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for
they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you
fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee
and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing
their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their
father and followed him.

I hope that we can have that type of courage as we consider all that is ahead of us!

New Pampers Advisory!

Caution to all parents that use Pampers #3 diapers. Pampers apparently left off a very important parental advisory on their packaging. Recent reports indicate that the following message was unintentionally omitted:

Pampers size 3 diapers will not contain a man turd! If you have a child that likes to take a huge morning dump while standing in his/her excersaucer, do not buy these diapers - they will not contain the mess! In fact, your child, your child's excersaucer, you and your spouse will be cover in poo within moments of your child's bowel movement.How do I know that this label as left off? Well, there is only one way you could know - first hand experience. More than just a repeat of our Love Monster attack, this time an entire turd managed it's way out of Cade's diaper, down his pant leg and onto Michele's pants!

On the bright side - Cade was relieved and Michele got to wear jeans on Wednesday!

I hope I did not gross any of you out, but I wanted to share our learning experience with everyone.

Valentine's Love Monster

While most people wait until the day of a holiday or special event to give presents, the Forrest Family (the one that lives in Hewitt) has always been bad about giving gifts early. Valentine's Day will be no different this year. Last night Michele had gone out to eat with her friends and when she came home she had some new dress pants for me and she said Happy Valentine's Day as she handed me the bag. Not to be out done, the boys decided to get in on the action this morning. I got up a little earlier than normal to help with Cade and he gave me a V-Day present just a few moments after his bottle. I got him dressed and then went to take a shower - to rinse off the gift that Cade gave me. That is when he decide to deliver his second present. A few short minutes later, I was out of the shower and Michele had changed, again. She did not think that the spit-up on her shirt was very professional looking. Having both received a present, we continued to work through our morning routine, pausing to admire our little gift giver smiling as he stood in his excersaucer watching Curious George. He was so adorable in his Mickey Mouse Valentine's outfit that we decided to take a picture. That is when he decide to deliver his third present. A gift that we could all share. Michele picked him up and my heart began to pound feverishly as I noticed a dark black bruise down the back of his left leg. I told Michele to stop what she was doing so I could get a closer look. It was about that time that I felt and then smelt the bruise. It was actually a turd that had leaked out of the diaper somehow! I am still not sure how this happened; the package said that the diaper would hold up to 20lbs and I am pretty sure that there was only 10-12 pounds of poop in his diaper.

That is not the best part. By picking him up & inspecting him, Michele and I both managed to get poop on us; not to mention the damage done to the Mickey Mouse Valentine's outfit and the excersaucer. We were both now late for work and we didn't even get a good V-Day picture of our little Love Monster.

A Hairy Situation

I found myself in a hairy situation today, literally. I went to go get my hair cut at Supercuts, where I always go and my regular gal was not working. I should have left, but I really needed a hair cut, so I stayed and I drew the black bean. It became apparent very quickly that the gal cutting my hair was new at this and that she was nervous about cutting my hair. That should have been my sign to fake a stomach virus and run out the door, but I gave her the standard directions for cutting my hair (same ones I have used for 10+ years) and she nodded that she understood. After hacking away for a good 7 minutes she decided to pause and ask what I thought. After a short pray, I responded that I needed some adjustments and I gave her further directions. 8 minutes later she was done and I looked like Vanilla Ice! She had already nicked the side of my head so I thanked her and asked if she could put some gel on it to help. I paid (left a $1 tip) and left. I wanted to encourage the young lady (because I could tell that she needed it) but all I managed to do is not yell at her or even appear to be angry.

Michele says that I shouldn't keep going to Supercuts because it is ghetto, but I like only pay $12 for a haircut and I usually get a decent chop when Willie Mae is working.

Hopefully I will not have any job interviews in the next two weeks.

To Blog or Not to Blog

I am not sure why I have been so resistant to joining the world of bloggers. I absolutely love reading them and I am always proud of the ones Robert posts. It probably has more to do with my fear of technology and the fear of feeling more inept after attempting something new and messing it up! Anyways, I have a beautiful child that I would like to blog about. Becoming a mother has been amazing on so many levels. There is nothing sweeter than Cade's morning hugs and silly giggle. I am truly blessed and I thank God everday for blessing me with Cade. I am going to share a list of his latest tricks and a few pics.

- loves to play with shoe strings

- enjoys fruit way more than veggies

- woke up around 3am and turned on the music toys hanging in his crib. After 5 minutes of playing I heard snoring again. So I went to check on things and it appeared that he had been sitting up to play and clearly became tired and just bent forward at the waist and pulled out the bumper for a pillow and fell fast asleep. OH to be flexible again. I of course thought Robert should see this.....sooo being the considerate wife I am I woke him up at 4am to check it out. We laughed (should have taken a picture) straightened Cade out and went back to bed.

-He constantly blows flitters and says dada

-2 teeth

-happier pulling up and standing than sitting

- loves all his new Christmas toys: jeep, bouncer, horse, orange chair

-Wakes up happy and falls asleep happy!!

I love this little guy!!!

Cade, Meet Cade

This is Cade playing with his new found friend, Cade.

Jumping is great exercise.....

This is just a snipette of Cade's daily workout routine. It puts me to shame!

Don't pray..............

...................that is unless you want answers, clarity or communion. Sometimes things come our way that we do not fully understand. Other times, we feel drawn to do things that are risky and uncomfortable. One thing you can count on is that nothing happens by chance or accident for those who love and follow God. You can also count on God for direction and provision.

When we are facing difficult circumstances in our life, prayer & Godly counsel can give us insight and confidence to face those challenges.

If you don't want healing and answers to the questions in your life or if you prefer to suffer from not adhering to God's call on your life - don't pray. If you do, God will surely provide healing and answers to the questions in your life. When that happens you will understand a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Today's entry has nothing about Cade, but I thought I would include this photo. It sure cheers me up when work gets crazy.

Letter of resignation

Life has changed dramatically over past 12 months from both a personal and a professional perspective. I am so grateful for all that God has provided me and my family with and during such a dark economic period in history I am certainly proud to still have a job. That being said, I recently expressed some repressed feelings about my work to Michele and she commented, "Well, at least now you know what to include in your letter of resignation!"

Before you begin to worry that I will not be able to provide for my family, let me reassure you that I have not quit my job. There are still tremendous opportunities to grow and learn at Healthland; however, I have again been overlooked for a management opportunity. I was informed last week that a new division has been formed within our marketing team to enable us to meet our goals more efficiently and that I would be part of the new group. I was then informed that the other Mkt Communications Mng at Healthland was promoted to the manager position for the new group. I am not knocking the other individual's abilities, but I did not even get an opportunity to interview for the position. There was apparently no consideration for the fact that I am the one MBA in our whole department! My boss (VP of Mkt) did mention how we had talked about my desire to be in mgmt but that this fit the other person better.

In addition to that great news, I had a meeting with our Sr. VP of Operations in September when I assumed my new role and we spoke at length about my desire to be in a leadership position and that I wanted some sort of mentoring to foster the on-the-job training/inclusion that I had with APS to prepare for a future leadership position. I was assured that this would take place and even complimented for me desire to progress; however, to date, no such actions have taken place.

I have to check my attitude daily and that bothers me. I am looking forward to being in a position that I again enjoy and can foresee a promising future!

I covet your prayers as Michele and I contemplate what to do next in our careers.

Our 1st Christmas with Cade

Wow! What a wonderful experience. This year we celebrated the birth of our Savior with Cade for the first time. He really got into the Christmas spirit with his toboggan and lots of infant accessories (bids, burp cloths, PJs, shirts, pants, socks).

He really liked tearing the wrapping paper. He even unwrapped a few presents as Michele was trying to get them wrapped! It took awhile for us to do presents this year because while Cade does enjoy tearing wrapping paper, he also likes to take his time doing it! Plus, he got more gifts than any kid I have ever known. In fact, it wouldn't all fit in the back of my truck!

It was a real joy to see how he changed our perspective this year and I can't wait to see how he gets into it next year when he will be 18 months old!