WF Christmas 2011

 

 "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus"

 

 

 

Let's party!

God sustained us through seminary, and we are so thankful!

Now it's time to celebrate!

Lunch at a local fave (Tropical Pickin' Chicken), some gift exchanging,

a time to rest and then a graduation party with family and friends. Fun times : )

Oh Happy Day!!

The day we thought would never come has arrived! Josh is graduating from seminary!!

3.5 years, literally 1000s of pages read, 2 languages learned, dozens of papers written (long papers!), several sermons written and preached...what an amazing journey this has been for our family! God has confirmed every step of the way that back in the fall of 2007, when we stepped out in obedience and applied to Southeastern for seminary training, we were right in step with His will for our lives. We sold our house, packed up our family of (then) 5, and moved to Wake Forest in August of 2008. What sweet, sweet grace we've tasted! And now, the fruit of countless hours of work and prayer...Oh Happy Day!

Trying on all his graduation gear a few days before the big day...

Heading to turn in his last assignment!!

Dr. Akin (president of SEBTS) and his wife open their home to host a reception for the graduates and their families the day before graduation It was such a treat to tour Magnolia Hill, especially at Christmas time. It's a beautiful home and we enjoyed spending some time talking with Dr. Akin and several different professors, many of whom have had a great impact on Josh during his studies.

The whole gang waiting for "Commencement Exercises" to commence : )

I didn't know what to expect from Mollie, because we were seated for a looong time.

But she did great! (Thankfully, because I would have hated to have to take her out in the middle and miss some of it!) Cutie pie.

They did a special recognition of the parents of graduates.

(They also did a special recognition of spouses, but I didn't like how the picture turned out, and since I'm the editor of this blog, I get to decide what goes in and what doesn't!)

Such a blessing to have our families come in town to be a part of such a special day! They have been incredibly supportive of us and we definitely don't take that for granted!

Here are all the candidates for the Masters of Divinity degree.

Yay Josh!!!

Less than halfway through, Hudson was over it and way more interested in his cars.

On the floor. Whatever it took to keep him quiet, right?!

Awesome!!

Didn't take long for the boys to get bored with all the picture-taking and chatting that was going on outside Binkley Chapel, so they went to play with their cars.

In the dirt. In their dress clothes. Sigh.

So grateful for their love and support!

Took a quick trip up to George's office afterwards. He has lots of cool stuff to look at, including this massive knife that he was given as a gift.

George was the one who invited Josh to come up to visit SEBTS with him in 2007 when he was going up for a job interview. We moved up here literally months apart in 2008, and God has mercifully answered my (many fervent) prayers to live near the Robinsons by planting us literally 2 houses apart and around the corner. 2 minutes walk to their house!

I'm constantly amazed and humbled that the Sovereign God of the universe cares intimately about every detail of our lives.

George has discipled Josh for many years now, and his investment has been so precious to my husband. He has this yoke in his office, and wanted a picture with Josh in front of it.

I love Josh's expression here. It says more than my words ever could.

And then this on the way out. Gulp.

I'm sure that day will be here before we know it.

And in the meantime, I love to see my little man emulating his daddy.

Our prayer is that, in the words of the Apostle Paul, all our children would

"Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." (1 Cor 11:1)