A Mid-May Update

Congratulations to Ryan and Kristi! I've been looking forward to saying that for a long time! And I'm excited to see you both fairly soon. To think by Christmas time you'll be married, wow. And awesome. I just wanted to start by saying we're really happy for the both of you!

I know it's been a long time since I posted an update here. Sorry about that everyone. I do want to keep you up to the minute on what's going on. Life gets really busy for me in May, when the school year winds down and I always find we have a lot more to do than I planned on. So, anyways.

Last weekend was awesome for our family though. Gideon got to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma (Peters) and Courtney and I got away with our friends to a local bed and breakfast for a "Marriage Retreat." It refreshed both our marriage and our church. Although, I have to say, I have a great wife and going into the weekend we both felt as if the retreat would be more a celebration of our healthy relationship rather than the fixing of a tattered one. We've had some rough spots throughout our married years, but I'd have to say that raising a son has brought us even closer, and the past year and a half have been the best of our marriage. A lot of that has to do with the way that Courtney treats me as a father and supports me in the things that I do. I just wanted to recognize here what a wonderful wife I have!

So the retreat weekend was really a fun time, but a lot of late nights, which made this week really difficult. Courtney and I have been doing a workout program together in the mornings here at home called P90X. It's pretty much amazing. I've lost 5 pounds in the first two weeks, but it is kicking our butts. We were so sore the first week, like all the time. We'll have to post our before and after pictures when we're done. The bad thing is that it requires us to be up at 5:00 in the morning in order to do it while the little guy sleeps. So without much sleep, that made this week kind of difficult too.

We could use prayer in a couple of areas. First of all, we've dedicated ourselves to a couples devotional time in the evening. Over the years of marriage, we have often maintained personal devotions but find it difficult to find time to follow Christ together. Often, we are too tired at night, or in the morning, and the middle of the day gets crammed with stuff. So, we're trying to spend a half and hour each evening in the Word and then in prayer as well. There's already been some challenges, but I think this is really important for our family.

Also, prayer for our church would be appreciated. Nothing really specific, but I'd really like to see the Holy Spirit liven us up a little bit. Sometimes it seems we fall into a rut, and so just prayer that we will continue to feel alive in what God has called us too.

Thanks for reading my long update. Can't wait to hear more from all of you. Thanks for the mother's day thoughts as well mom, I love the old pictures. And it was nice to talk and see Drew and Kristine last weekend. Too much time passes between our visits:( Hope to see more of you soon. Love you all.

Matthew.