Welcoming Esme.

 

Our August started of with welcoming sweet Esme Ann into the world! She was born one minute after midnight on August 1st, and she is the sweetest little thing. 

Her name means "beloved," and our prayer for her is that she would see the love God has for her in Christ and take her place as one of His beloved through repentance and faith. Most of our Thai friends call her "Mae," as that is a somewhat popular name here!

Amazingly, Sheree's mom flew in just about 24 hours before labor began, and was such a huge blessing to have around as we navigated the many adjustments to being a family of four! At the time of Esme's birth, Ryan and Nova were dealing with some pretty significant sickness that lingered for a week or so after we brought her home. It made for a stressful initial adjustment, but we are all healthy now, and praising the Lord that He protected Esme from catching anything! We see God's kindness in so many ways surrounding Esme's birth and our first few weeks with her.

Nova got lots of "Mimi time" as my mom was able to be with us for 5 weeks! My dad flew in for the final 10 days of her time here and it was so sweet to have them with us.

We have been so loved on by our Thai friends since the arrival of sweet Esme! So many people have gone out of their way to visit us and bring us diapers and gifts to celebrate her new life.

PRAISES & PRAYER REQUESTS:

- praise the Lord for Esme Ann's little life! The labor and delivery was quick and uncomplicated, which is a huge praise as well.

- pray for Nova as she adjusts to being a big sister and sharing her parents. She has done well with the adjustment overall, but we still have challenging moments occasionally.

- praise the Lord for providing for our increased budget needs mentioned in the last update! We are continually blown away by God's kindness expressed through the readiness of His people to give and bless. We sincerely thank all of you who have played a role in this.

- pray for wisdom and guidance regarding the future of Sauced & Tossed. There are still many unknowns and we want to be fully surrendered to whatever the Lord has for the future of our family and our ministry here in Thailand.

"Saving faith is an exchange of all that we are for all that Christ is." (John MacArthur)