our new addition

Well, we finally broke down and got Leah a dog!! She's been begging us to get one since she could say "dog" - and we have just kept putting her off, but now that we're settled for a while and Lex is getting bigger we decided to go ahead!! So here is Maximus (or Max as we call him). He's a Shorkie (half Imperial Shih-Tzu and half Teacup Yorkie). He weighed 1 lb and 15 oz at the vet today and he is SOOOO good. He loves playing with Leah and Lex and he lays around on the couch at night with me and Doug when the kids are in the bed....the perfect companion!! Just wish he were fully potty-trained, buy, hey, neither is Lex.

Here are some pics, enjoy!!

Leah and Max

Max got a hold of one of Lex's "binkies" - needless to say - we didn't give it back to Lex!!

Time to eat!! =)

a gift from the Lord

On our new front porch in Pierce, KY!

Well, let me just tell you what's been going on in the Bratchers' lives the last several weeks!! First of all, we were FINALLY able to look at our new house about a month ago (the parsonage of our church)....it was a Friday afternoon before we were to leave on vacation (for a whole week) the next Sunday. And the house was in terrible condition. Lot's of garbage, broken things, nasty carpets and bathrooms....the list goes on. I wish I had pictures. Anyway, the day we had our first look at it I was SOOOOO upset I cried all the way home. What had God given us short of a dump? I think I was most upset because we were getting ready to go on vacation and couldn't begin to work on it until the week school started.

But God had a different idea. We left for vacation on Sunday and by the time we got home the next Sunday the house had had a COMPLETE transformation!! Over 30 members of our church had been working around the clock the entire week to restore the house. They cleaned up all of the garbage, painted every ceiling, every wall, every closet, every inch of the house, installed new hardwood floors and carpet, fixed/replaced lighting fixtures, cleaned windows, cabinets and appliances, replaced and restored showers and toilets, planted flowers........someone even picked up every single one of the thousands of cigarette butts outside the garage!! It looked like such a transformation that they parked the church van in front of the house that morning and we all came out and yelled "move that bus"!!

What a blessing my church family has been!! God turned a seemingly hopeless situation for us into a blessing AND allowed our church family to go on a mission trip right in their back yard!! I am so thankful for His perfect plan. How often I forget that (especially when I don't get it) He has something AMAZING in store!! Thank you church family!! We love our new house hope that God continues to use it for His kingdom!

graduation, birthday, wedding....oh my!

I have LOT's of pictures to post tonight!! There's Leah's preschool graduation (she's starting kindergarten at Greensburg Primary Center in August), her 5th birthday party and my sister's wedding!! It's been busy, as usual in the lives of the Bratchers. We're hoping to get moved in our new house in Pierce, KY (right beside the church) next month so we'll keep you updated on that too. (We're sure memaw is ready to kick us out of her house by now - hehe!)

Anyway, on to the pictures!!

Preschool Graduation (4 year olds)

Leah's 5th birthday party

Doug throwing Lex in the pool at Leah's party.
Lex LOVED it!!

Lex and his sparkler!

My sister, Kristin's wedding.

Leah & me singing at Kristin's wedding.

a new, but familiar road...

WOW!! Where do I begin today? I guess I should begin at the beginning. About a year ago at our spring revival, God clearly told Doug to "get ready." Immediately we began praying and talking about what that meant. It was obvious that it meant Doug going back to school. Last summer we began exploring the options of him going back to seminary or possibly attending Campbellsville. and if you've been keeping up with our blog at all you've already read about the job we thought we had at Campbellsville University last August (that didn't end up working out). But Doug quit his job and decided to go to Southern Seminary in Louisville. He has been Mr. Mom, staying home with the kids ALL year AND attending seminary on Monday's.

As we got closer and closer to the summer we also began realizing that although God has provided 1000-fold this year even in spite of the absence of Doug's teaching salary, we knew that we needed to look for a full time ministry position if he was going to continue with seminary. Assuming that that type of position would only be available in Elizabethtown or Louisville, we began to pray and seek God's guidance in where He'd have us apply.

We applied for a position at a church in Etown and even went through the entire interview process with one other candidate (a friend of ours as well). But that wasn't where God wanted us. And although we were broken hearted that it didn't work out, we still knew that God wanted us in a full-time position this next year.

So three weeks ago we resigned at Trammell Creek Baptist Church, not knowing where God was leading us, but knowing that it was toward a full time ministry position. As hard as it was we knew that was what God wanted. We told the youth first during Sunday School and then announced to the church after Doug preached that morning. Our last day was to be June 28th. Of course it was sad, but it was almost peaceful as people approached us with tears flowing, yet so supportive and understanding.

Then God threw us a curve ball!! Two days after we had resigned the personnel committee got together to discuss what would be next and low and behold they came up with something far beyond what Doug and I could have imagined. They decided to create a full-time Associate Pastor/Youth Minister position with full time pay and the use of the parsonage. Immediately Doug and I began praying about the possibility of staying where we love to serve so much!! And God's peace overwhelmed us!!

Today the church voted to create the position AND to hire Doug to fill it. =)

We are SOOOOO super excited about what is next. Culmination to a year in the desert relying on God to provide us with our promised land of full time ministry. And a new road in a VERY familiar place!! There is no way we could have dreamed up a more amazing plan. Isn't God good!!

I think this is a very appropriate time to quote our youth group theme verse...

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.'" Jeremiah 29:11

we moved!

Well, so far May has been a busy, stressful month, but it's finally starting to slow down. I think I mentioned last month that we sold our house...which is great in this economy, but selling it a week after we put it up wasn't quite what we had planned. We thought we'd have a while to figure out what will come next. So, since we had to get out for the nice new owners, we've moved in with Doug's Memaw!! Thank God for Memaws!! Doug's been finishing his first semester back at seminary (he had 9 hours) and I've been finishing up my Master's Degree (6 hours). So I've had school (GCMS) and photography, we've both had church and finals plus our two kids and other odds and ends that just have seemed to come up during this busy time!! But Memaw has taken AMAZING care of us. I thought we just needed a few rooms to sleep at night and a bathroom, but she has provided us with a home, childcare, her vehicle (as we only had one that worked the beginning of the month), home-cooked meals, and an occasional basket full of folded clothes when Doug doesn't get them done (yes, I said Doug =)!! I don't know what we would have done without her!!

Anyway, here are a few photos of the kids here at Memaws....even though Memaw isn't IN any of them!!

Lex and Papaw on the 4-wheeler.

Leah & Papaw on the 4-wheeler.

Leah & Lex helping daddy wash the car!!

Bathtub time!! =)

spring break

My spring break has been great this year. We stayed home and got some packing done because we sold our house (woohoo) - well, we close on Wednesday! We played outside on the nice days, died Easter eggs, made cookes with icing, took Leah and a friend to see Hannah Montanta: The Movie, ate Snappy's, had a few rt. 44 cokes and diet dr peppers (with xtra ice) from Sonic, watched some old House episodes and just hung out!! Here are some pictures I took of the kids in their Easter get-up! It was a task getting Lex to look at me, much less smile!! Leah, on the other hand, ate up the camera =)

Leah Anderson Bratcher (4 years old)


Alexander Douglas Bratcher "Lex" (18 months old)

it really is worth the wait

Ok - so maybe I'm just the WORST blogger ever!! The title of my last post was "Where did January go" and now it's almost APRIL!! I guess this semester has been a little more hectic that I had thought it would be. I have some great video of Lex and Leah that I really want to get up here this week, but for now your just going to have to settle for a few pictures from our recent youth trip to Pigeon Forge, TN. We took a very close-knit group of 20 to Pigeon Forge for a "Worth the Wait" weekend and we had a great time. Sometimes I take for granted what an amazing group of young people that God has allowed us to shepherd over the last several years. They are all so unique and we LOVE hanging out with them and sharing what God has done in our lives. And hopefully after this weekend they truly believe that it really is worth the wait =) Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Our group =)

Feeding the ducks.

Doug feeding the ducks.

Dustin trying to go for a ride.