Hello, Goodbye; Beginning and Ending

The theme of the last few weeks in the lives in the Schreiner household has been new things beginning a few things ending. Some are pretty trivial and others have had a large impact on our lives.

BEGINNING

Jon is now doing ministry full-time! We are extremely thankful for the opportunity God has given him to be able to serves the students better and with more flexibility. A few months ago he began working for Campus Fellowship at Drake while continuing his work with students at Grand View University. We are excited to see what God is going to do on both campuses this year!

ENDING

With Jon doing ministry full-time it means he left his job at Nationwide. He was employed there for just under three years. We were very thankful for Nationwide and how God used it to provide for us.

BEGINNING

This month we went to two weddings. Our friends Derek and Robin got married August 13th; Bo and Tim tied the knot on August 27th. I love witnessing our friends get married! Below are pictures from the Laehn wedding. Isn't Bo a beautiful bride?

HELLO

This month we got to meet two new babies! Charlotte Crummy is the daughter of Matt and Allie (some friends from church) and she was born on August 12th. With the birth of Charlotte, I realized that all the girls that I lived with my junior year of college all had babies within one year of each other. Carla had Kaisa, Colleen had Payton, I had Owen and Allie had Charlotte. Here is a picture of us when we were roommates.

Also, here is a picture of Owen and Kaisa trying to figure each other out.

While we were in Kansas City last week, we got to meet my newest second cousin Zack Dinkel, born on August 17th! After I left and realized I forgot to take pictures... I was so mad at myself!

BEGINNING

On August 12th, we got to witness Samanthya get adopted by Terry and Susan Amann. Sam is one of the students involved in CF at Grand View and Terry is a pastor at our church. It has been a good example to me of God's love for his children. In Galatians 4:4-5 says: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." Which basically means that when the right time came He sent His Son, Jesus, to earth to fulfill the plan that He had since the beginning of time. In response to our sin which caused us to be separated from God, He had Jesus live on earth as a man and had Him die on the cross to pay the penalty for us. When we choose to accept this free gift, God gives us eternal life and we become His sons and daughters. I love seeing that Terry and Susan are unconditionally accepting Sam into their family, along with her wonderful traits and her not so wonderful traits. She is theirs and they are hers. The same is true with God. When someone chooses to believe in Jesus Christ and trust Him with their lives, God then welcomes them to become His child and an heir of eternal life. Below are some pictures at the court hearing for the adoption.

ENDING

Owen is no longer an itty bitty newborn. Okay, maybe he never was itty bitty. But, O is growing up! This past month he stopped needing to be rocked to sleep, began rolling over, sitting up and today I put his 3-6 month clothes in a bag because he will never wear them again. It's so funny how the mind works - I already forget how bad labor was, I already forget how hard it is with a newborn and all I remember is how cute and cuddly he was. Now, at night or right before/after naps Owen will cuddle with us and I just soak it all in. But along with his being itty bitty ending you get to see all the cute pictures of what he can do now!

BEGINNING

I know I've mentioned it before... but my baby sister Sandy is now a freshman at KU! Just to see how crazy this is below is a picture of her the summer after my freshman year. I can't believe it!

Speaking of KU - Owen went to his first KU athletic event this past trip to Kansas! Sorry Gophers, the Jayhawks will have Owen's allegiance.

Also with the Tickles family, Mandy began her new job at the beginning of August and my parents became empty nesters.

Since we're speaking about family and new beginnings we want to say we are so thrilled that Jon's sister Anne is pregnant and we can't wait to find out if Owen's newest cousin will be a boy or a girl. We also are so excited for Melanie getting a new job! We are praying it'll go well for her!

ENDING

Summer is ending. I'm mostly sad because I love being outside. But it was also nice to take Owen for a walk and not worry if it was too hot for him. Look at him modeling off his fall clothes!

GOODBYE

Sadly, this month I had to say goodbye to my cousin and friend Jessica Roark. For the past few years, she has battled and fought hard against a rare cancer. In the midst of all of this, she was able to receive two very challenging degrees. She also studied abroad or did internships all around the world. She was quite the go-getter. I love you Jess and will miss you. Below is a picture of Jess and I when she came down to visit me at Drake.

One thing it has made me think about a lot is how short our time on earth can be. None of us really know when our last day will be. As you read this, my question for you is do you know what will happen to you when you die. I believe this is the most important question anyone can ask. If you would like to know how you can be certain you are going to heaven follow this link or contact me and I would love to talk with you about what the Bible says.

GOODNIGHT

I thought you might want to see how cute Owen is before he goes to bed.