Leaving a legacy.

Grandma Templeton (Jon's grandmother) passed away on November 26, Thanksgiving Day. She was such a wonderful and caring mom and grandma. I only knew Paula for the last few years, but it quickly became obvious to me that she was a great mother & grandma. If you spend just a short amount of time with my husband's family, you will see quickly that they have something truly special. I am grateful to Grandma Templeton for raising such a wonderful & loving family that I am so blessed to be a part of.

"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."-Pericles

This last week I've also been thinking about my Grandpa Verhoeven who passed away in October of last year. I can never get over how blessed both Jonathan and I have been with such great grandparents and families. My grandpa was one of a kind and I miss him so much. Such a witty, loving and strong man. I can't think of him without hearing his voice in my head telling me some clever sarcastic remark which always put a smile on my face. Both my grandpa and Jonathan's grandma are with the Lord now, but the godly influence that they left behind has generated mutual love and respect in both our families, which will continue to extend from generation to generation.

 My grandparents were happily married for 74 years!! Amazing.

"Children's children are the crown of old men, And the glory of children is their father."-Proverbs 17:6

To PhD or not to PhD?

Jonathan has been looking into several schools to pursue a PhD in Communication Studies in the hopes of becoming a full time Professor at the University level. He's been teaching part-time at Cal State Fullerton and Biola for about 4 years and absolutely loves it. We started praying about his pursuit of a PhD almost a year ago (which makes me realize how fast this year has gone by)! This decision has proven to be sometimes tiring, exciting and scary all at the same time with several factors for him and I both to consider. The PhD program will take about 4-5 years and he would begin in August 2010. With several months of prayer, discussion, research, Jon studying for the Graduate Exam (which he did great on!), and finally a trip to Chicago for a conference to meet Professors from different universities, the decision was made and Jon is applying to 5 schools:
  
Arizona State University, University of Texas in Austin, UC Santa Barbara, Northwestern University (Chicago), and Louisiana State University.

So...between now and the end of January he'll be in the process of sending out his applications. If you could continue to pray for the Lord's will to be done throughout this whole process, it would mean so much to us! The greatest factor that will determine which school Jonathan goes to depends on where he gets accepted but also where he is awarded financial aid. This could mean a big move for us next summer which is why we want nothing more than God's perfect plan to be done and He be the one to open doors and close doors. We know in our hearts that the Lord is ultimatey in control and He is big enough, powerful enough and loving enough to take care of even this. So to PhD or not to PhD? The Lord will reveal it soon enough in His perfect timing and in the meantime... we will try not to bite our nails and I will keep you posted!