Since the wedding...

I'm sure that the three of you who ever check this blog have noticed that the posting has been sparse. It's not because Nate and I don't live incredibly tantillizing lives, nor is it because I have found myself unable to articulate the fascinating experiences we have been living through. No, it is merely because I haven't had any time to download any pictures of our life, and I feel like this kind of blog is not read to be read, but it is read to be gawked at. Well, "Nathan and Abby Hoff" is not for a gawking audience. It's for a reading audience. Or maybe a blind audience who wouldn't appreciate pictures anyway. Somebody read my blog to a blind person for me, okay?

Anyway...here's a quick breakdown of our life since we've been married.

Our life as Mr. and Mrs. Hoff began July 14, 2007 (9 months ago TODAY!) at Centreville Baptist Church. Best day of my life...and I actually remember the wedding!

[a wedding picture would be here]

We spent 4 days hiking in West Virginia, then loaded up a U-haul and u-hauled our tooshies back to Dallas in time for Nate to start school again and me to assemble our apartment and start the job hunt.

Nate is finishing up his 3rd year at Dallas Theological Seminary working toward a ThM (Master's in Theology) concentrating in Bible Exposition. He is currently taking his fourth and final semester of Hebrew (praise the Lord!), History and Philosophy of Christian Education, Teaching in Higher Education, and Soteriology. He is continuing his part-time job in a lab at Baylor Hospital monitoring bacteria growth and pretty much saving lives. Nate is also halfway through teaching the adult Sunday School class taking us through the book of Romans. On top of that he plays in the worship band and is generally revered in the church. However, only a few people openly refer to him as "sensai".

[a picture of us (maybe our Christmas picture) would be here]

Abby has been working for 8 months at Santa Fe Auto Insurance as an administrative assistant, but as of last week has accepted a summer job as a nanny. After that is entirely a mystery to us and entirely known by the Lord. She is one class and an internship away from earning her MA in Christian Education concentrating on Family Life Ministry. She has been working with the youth at church for 1 1/2 years, and last semester began leading a small group of first year women students at DTS. She just finished playing in the newly-developed intramural league at DTS where her co-ed ultimate frisbee team came in second (ironically, their only loss all season was the championship game *sigh*).

God has been faithful in providing for our needs in every aspect of our lives, and he has surrounded us with wonderful friends down here who faithfully walk beside us as we start this journey of marriage together.

[we would have put a picture of us with our friends here]

It has been a wonderful and truly awesome journey so far, and we are asking the Lord to continue to grow us and sharpen us through each other so that we’ll look more and more like Christ. To think that our relationship with each other is a picture of our relationship with the Lord! This is a truth that is becoming more real and more precious every day.

Our current prayer requests are:
- that God would give Nate the wisdom and words as he teaches the book of Romans
- that Abby will be able to minister well to the girls in the youth group and in her SF group (small group)
- that Abby will be able to find a job that will start in the fall
- that God will continue to provide for us financially, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually
- that God will continue to work in our marriage and keep us humble before Him and before each other

[here would be a picture of a sonogram]

[underneath the sonogram would be a caption that read "just kidding"]