Our Sweet Little Blessing

(Disclaimer: Sorry the post is kinda long but we have had so many people asking for details that it was a lot easier to just write them on the blog where everyone can be updated!)

One week ago today, Mitch, myself and my mom were sitting at Forrest General Hospital waiting on little Levi's debut. We had gone to the hospital the night before and I had SLOWLY progressed through out the night (emphasis on the SLOWLY) and continued to slowly and steadily progress through the day. Thankfully, I had a really sweet nurse who would graciously make it seem like delivery wasn't forever far away (even when it  probably was).

First family photo

Finally, at 8:50pm on September 10, exactly 24 hours after we had arrived at the hospital, Levi Harvey Jaeger was born! Levi was 6 pounds 14 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long with a full head of dark, dark hair (not sure where that came from!). 24 hours of labor? What labor? I had totally forgotten it all from the moment I got to hold  him.

It was around midnight when they had finally transferred Mitch, Levi and myself to our new room at the hospital and we were all exhausted! However, the moment the nurse leaves you alone in your room with your newborn baby exhaustion is quickly replaced with panic. I would love to tell you that Mitch and I were completely prepared and excited to spend our first night with our son but that would be a lie. We were TERRIFIED. What if something happened? Feed him every 2-3 hours? (I don't know how to feed him!) I use this bulb for what? In case he chokes?? Needless to say, we were really tired and really nervous. So when the nurse asked if we wanted to send him to the nursery for the night, I (guiltily) said yes (what kind of mother am I?) Although I felt extremely guilty and like a terrible mother already, God knew way before us that sending him to the nursery probably saved Levi's life that night! Sometime that night, Levi's blood sugar plummeted and he had gone unresponsive while in the nursery. Thankfully, the nursery is staffed with nurses 24/7 so they were able to notice his condition and quickly address it. Thank the Lord that He knew beforehand what we didn't! After that night, Levi's blood sugar has been fine but he was known as the "low blood sugar baby" for the remainder of our hospital stay (making big impressions already)!

The next couple of days were special, incredible, scary, nerve-wracking, and every other emotion from one end of the spectrum to the other! I still felt incredibly incapable of caring for Levi or even knowing how to care for him (I now realize I will probably always feel this way at least a little bit!) but I was so in love with him that I wanted to be holding him every second. The second day in the hospital (Wednesday), this escalated greatly when Levi had spit up some amniotic fluid and ended up choking and not breathing for a few seconds (it seemed like hours). Thankfully, my mom was holding him at the time and she had him breathing again in no time. I, on the other hand, had no idea what to do and sat stunned in the bed and then hysterically cried for a good 5 minutes (not to mention my blood pressure reading that hour was so high the nurse had to come back and re-check it later). If I wasn't scared I was caring for Levi before, I was then. I have probably never felt so vulnerable in my life. Finally, the last night we were at the hospital (Thursday night), I sent Mitch and my mom home for the night so that I could spend the night getting over my fear of caring for Levi by myself. Good news- we both survived!

My amazing, selfless mother (Mimi)

First full day at the hospital together!

Since leaving the hospital we have LOVED slowly learning how to parent and care for Levi. In addition, we have been learning that it never is going to go as you think or plan! In my head, I had this idea that we would come home from the hospital and just spend all day cuddling on the couch and we would all live happily ever after. However, since he was born, Levi's bilirubin numbers have been high and steadily climbing (meaning he has jaundice and his liver is not catching up with his system yet). Because of this, we've been having to go to the hospital daily to get his blood work done and his levels monitored. In addition, we have been having to syringe feed him formula (its as comical as it sounds). Since his numbers were still climbing fairly high as of yesterday morning, Levi has now been placed on an outpatient light therapy machine called a "biliblanket" that he has to wear 24  hours a day. The "biliblanket" is a long strip that fastens onto his bare torso that is then connected to a large power box that is plugged into the wall. The machine might be a pain but we are so incredibly thankful that we are not having to check him back into the hospital to be treated. Hopefully, Levi's jaundice will be treated and he will be off the biliblanket by the end of this week! God is good.

Heading home!

First day on the biliblanket

These few curveballs have been a little difficult to deal with (especially for an over-nervous mama), but have given us such a great perspective on parenting and a great reminder of what a precious gift Levi is! This past week has truly been the best week of my life and I never thought that I could become so enamored in such a short amount of time with something so small. We are so thankful to the Lord for entrusting us with this precious gift and we are so thankful for all of you who have prayed, called, texted, & shared in this joyous time with us!

(I plan on doing monthly "Levi updates" so be sure to check back if you want to keep up with him!)

It's the Final Countdown: Pregnancy Update

Since I have barely even mentioned our pregnancy on here, and since many have been asking, I figured that it was time for an update on our sweet little man that should be arriving any day now! I am extremely thankful to say that this pregnancy has been INCREDIBLY easy (I almost feel guilty saying that because I know so many women who have been sick most of their pregnancies!) God was extremely gracious and I haven't suffered from any morning sickness, too much discomfort, or any major complications. Because of this, I have been able to continue working and traveling up until a few weeks ago! I was even able to spend most of the summer running/hiking around Jackson Hole with a bunch of college students (although I can't even imagine climbing a hill at this point unless it is on a treadmill, in front of a fan, at my air conditioned gym).

7 1/2 months, Delta Lake Hike, Wyoming

Having a healthy and easy pregnancy has been such a blessing and I am so thankful that we were able to safely complete all of our summer travels and arrive back to Mississippi in one piece! Not to mention,
we will be able to show Levi all of the great places he travelled too before he was even born!

7 months (Wyoming) & 8 months (Colorado)

Although this summer was amazing, Mitch and I are very glad to be back home in Mississippi and able to relax and prepare for the coming semester (school starts tomorrow!) and for Levi's arrival. At our last appointment, we were told he could be coming any time now!!

Nursery

Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers for all of us through out this pregnancy! We cannot wait to update you on his arrival!

9 months (Mississippi)

Jackson Hole: Wrapping Up

I know that I have already written about our Jackson Hole Summer Project, what we did, what we taught, and what we learned, but I wanted to take the opportunity to share what our students wrote about the summer project and how God used those 4 weeks in their lives.

At the end of project, we asked students to evaluate the summer project as a whole and evaluate their own lives and how God had changed them over the past 4 weeks. Here are just a few of their words describing how they grew:

"God taught me that being a Christian is not about works, but about the relationship with him. I truly learned why Jesus died on the cross for our sins."

 "I grew in my walk with the Lord in so many ways. I have grown in my desire to study the Bible and pray consistently, build a community, and grasp unconditional love."

"God is asking me to leave all idols and things behind so that I can fully depend on him."

"I really grew in my understanding of the gospel. I learned what it really means to trust in the Lord and walk with him."

"I matured in my faith, gained a deeper understanding of the depth of the gospel and how it applies to situations in my life."

"I grew in understanding how much the Lord loves me despite me."

Praise the Lord again for choosing to use us and this years summer project to draw students closer to Him!!

Jackson Hole: Because He is worth it

Week four wrapped up our final week out in Jackson Hole as the project came to a close. The final week of a project is always overloaded with so many different emotions from students and staff alike:

1. Relief ("I don't have to share a shower with 20 girls anymore!")
2. Excitement ("I cannot wait to share with my friends and family all that I have learned!")
3. Sadness ("I'm going to miss all of these new and wonderful friends I have made")
4. Nervousness ("I am nervous I will get home and slip right back into my old lifestyle")
5. Fear ("I am going back to a place where I have no Christian community or support")

Because of the reality of these things, we spend most of the end of the week addressing how to handle what we like to call "Post Project Depression" or PPD. You may laugh when you read that but I promise, it is a very real thing! When you embark on a summer project, you spend anywhere from 4-11 weeks surrounded by uplifting Christian community. Most students that come on summer projects are coming from schools and atmospheres where Christianity is NOT the "cool" thing to do. Loving Christ and living unashamed in His commands is looked down upon and most times, criticized (by fellow students, parents and professors alike). Most students are coming from non-believing families, non-believing friends, and not many people to walk together with in Christian community. Because of that, going back home after  4 weeks of being surrounded by a very close, Christian community can be very hard and very overwhelming (which is why we spend time addressing how to handle PPD!)

In addition to discussing things like this, we spent the last week just having fun! Although I realize many people did not consider our final hike to be very "fun", Mitch and I thought it was a blast! One of the last days we were in Wyoming, we hiked up 3,000 ft on a 9 mile (round-trip) trail that placed us at one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen. It is a good thing that the lake was so pretty because the hike was HARD. We crawled across two boulder fields, scrambled up on our hands and knees at points, and the switchbacks looked like they would never end. But the moment we made it to the top, it made it all worth it.

Delta Lake

The hike to Delta Lake couldn't have been more perfect for our closing week of the project. For hours we climbed, sweated, cried, complained, fell, and became extremely tired. It was hard, and it was extremely challenging, but we kept going. The moment we reached the top and saw the lake we literally jumped and cheered. Why didn't we stop when it got hard? Why didn't we stop when the fear of heights got the best of us? Why didn't we stop when we were so tired we didn't think we could keep going? Because the prize was WORTH IT. What a perfect and beautiful picture and real-life experience of why we press on as Christians.

Why do we press on even though our friends criticize us? Why do we press on when our professors balk at our beliefs? Why do we press on when God asks us to do hard things? Why do we press on even when it seems like things will never get better? Because the prize is WORTH IT. Because HE is WORTH IT.

But as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing EVERYTHING

2 Corinthians 6:4-10

Jackson Hole: Week Three

Yet another week has flown by and we are now entering our last week out in Jackson Hole. This past week has been filled with a LOT of activities plus a LOT training- making it an all-around balanced & busy week! Starting out Monday morning, we met all together in our normal meeting room (the "Buffalo" room) and began our week studying the Biblical view of discipleship and evangelism and how to adequately disciple someone else. After a quick lunch, everyone headed out for an awesome afternoon of rafting down the rapids of the Snake River (no worries- Levi and I stayed home!) The students (and Mitch) had a GREAT time and the weather was perfect for the occasion. Like all Monday nights, we closed out the day studying the second chapter of our Gospel Growth books in our small groups. This week we studied the significance of Christ's sacrifice on the cross and what that means for our salvation and for our lives.

On Tuesday morning, we heard from Kari about how to follow up with a new believer and the importance of diving into the scriptures with them. After lunch, despite the overcast/rainy weather, we headed out for a more low-key hike around String Lake. Like most Tuesday nights, we headed into town for dinner and some late night visits to the candy shop and Moo's Ice cream. Although the hike and dinner were fun, the highlight of the day was definitely all the wildlife we saw on our wake back from our hike! While exiting the trail and park, we saw a bear, a moose and some beavers! 

String Lake

 On Wednesday, we spent time in the morning learning different methods of evangelism and certain evangelism tools that can help you clearly share your faith with a non-believer. A few of these tools include Knowing God Personally, Soularium, & Back Story. After lunch, we travelled out to Mormon Row where an old barn resides on a beautiful field. Rumor has it that the Mormon barn is the most photographed barn in the world! We spent the afternoon taking pictures and admiring the beautiful backdrop of the Tetons. That night, the staff enjoyed a night out to dinner at The Bird. The restaurant is known for having the best burgers and they did not disappoint! Although we love our students, it was so much fun just getting a night to hang out with our amazing staff team!

Staff night out!

On Thursday, Mitch spoke in the morning about the importance of discipleship and how discipleship always begins with You and God- you cannot adequately disciple someone else if your relationship with God is not where it should be. After lunch, I headed into town for the afternoon with the 4 girls that I disciple and we enjoyed an afternoon of coffee, shopping and discipleship. While we were enjoying the afternoon downtown, Mitch and all of the men on project spent the afternoon paddle boarding at String Lake. The goal was to stay on the board because the water was EXTREMELY cold (it is a lake in the mountains after all). We finished the day having our weekly men's and women's time.

On Friday, we spent the morning hearing from Pastor Don (head of the Bible College). After a quick lunch, the group headed out for an afternoon of paintball (again, no worries, Levi and I were convinced to stay home). Although many students were a little worried about the idea, they all ended up having a blast and stayed out on the course all afternoon. After a quick dinner, we had a bowling social that night at the bowling alley downtown. I say bowling "alley", but it was actually only four lanes total so we rented out the whole place! 

We decided to end a busy week with a very busy Saturday! After a later breakfast, we heading into the Park and began our longest hike yet- Death Canyon. Since the hike was 8 miles round trip, we allotted most of the afternoon for the excursion and I'm glad we did. The hike was definitely harder but the views made it completely worth it and I look forward to bragging to Levi one day that I made it to the top carrying both of us! After a quick run home to shower, we packed into the cars once again and drove across the Idaho state border to see "Monsters U" at the Spud Drive-In Theater! Although it was close to freezing outside, we enjoyed laying in the back of the cars and in the field in front of the screen and enjoying a night out at the movies! 

Liz and I outside the drive-in!

I cannot believe we only have a couple more days here before we head back to Mississippi and the sweltering hot weather I hear is awaiting us. Please continue to pray for us and the students as we wind down the project this week and start traveling home on Friday!

Jackson Hole: Week Two

This week has been one of the most fun and jam-packed weeks on a project yet! Mitch kicked off our week Monday morning by teaching on "How to study your Bible". He shared the differences between inductive and deductive reasoning, the importance of context when studying verses, and the importance of finding Christ in every passage we study. Monday night we discussed our first chapter in "Gospel Growth" in our small groups.

Tuesday we packed up early and headed to Yellowstone for the day! We spent the whole day touring around Yellowstone and seeing Old Faithful, geysers, hot springs, waterfalls, and a good amount of wildlife. It was a very long day but we had such a great time seeing one of the most visited national parks in the world!

Artist Point

 On Wednesday, we spent the morning in the Word as we experienced our first day of rainy weather since we arrived. Because of the rain, we had to postpone our daily hike and we spent the day relaxing, watching a movie (Disney's "Heavy Weights"), and catching up on some sleep (or at least I did!) We closed out the day by having a "night of reflection" where we spend time processing all God is teaching us and all He has been doing on our project so far.

Jackson Hole Staff Team

Thursday morning, Kari lead us in a study on holiness, followed by Katie sharing about prayer. After lunch, we headed to Teton Village and headed to the top of Jackson Hole Mountain Resort via the Aerial Tram. In fifteen minutes, we travelled 4,000 feet up to the top of the mountain (about 10,450 feet in elevation). We spent our afternoon admiring the views of Jackson Hole, eating famous "Nutella Waffles", drinking hot chocolate, and having a big snow ball fight. We closed out the day by gathering together for dinner and then hearing from Pastor Don, the owner of the Bible college that we are staying at this summer.

Birthday Boy!

Thursday was also Mitch's birthday!! We had a surprise birthday celebration at dinner on Thursday night and the camp made him a carrot cake (one of his favorites). After dinner, Mitch and I were given the night off to go hang out in town for his birthday. Once students started trying to guess his/our ages, we realized how old most of them really think they are- it wasn't pretty!

Olympics Bible Trivia

Friday morning, Whitney shared about loving others well and following Christ's example. AFter lunch, we spent the afternoon competing in the second annual Summer Project Olympics. Consisting of three events (volleyball, Bible trivia, and frisbee golf) and an "Ultimate Challenge" obstacle course (water balloon toss, egg race, wheelbarrow race, and dizzy bat), we had 6 teams battle it out all afternoon. Each team was allowed to come up with a team name and theme and they went ALL out! At the end of the day, the "Man on a Buffalo" team won and "Skittles" & "America" tied for 2nd. Friday night came to a close with another birthday celebration (Mary Larkin's) men's and women's time, and Paula coming to visit!

The winning team! 

The winners from each round "pie-d" the losers from each round!

Saturday morning we shared brunch together and then heard from Elizabeth about the power of our words and how to use our words to glorify God. After her talk, we headed out for a hike up to Ski Lake. It was a beautiful hike that was mostly uphill, but the views at the end were completely worth it! On the far side of the lake, we were able to find fossils amongst the hundreds of rocks that lined the side of the mountain. The weather and the scenery made for a perfect afternoon hike!

Ski Lake

We closed out our week by attended the Jackson Hole Rodeo Saturday night! We had 4 teams of staff and students who participated in the calf wrangling event in the middle of the rodeo, while the rest of us were thoroughly entertained by the mass chaos of students running around trying to take a flag off a calf's tail. The rodeo was a blast and we all left (in our flannel, of course) feeling a little bit more like locals.

Monthly update picture at 10,500 feet!

And last, but certainly not least, we crossed into the third trimester of my pregnancy this week! We are so incredibly thankful for an easy and healthy pregnancy so far and we are so grateful for all of your prayers for us and our sweet baby boy!

Jackson Hole: Week One

Week one has officially ended here in Wyoming and I am already realizing it is going to be so hard to leave at the end of the project! Jackson Hole is absolutely beautiful and waking up every morning surrounded by the Grand Tetons has been such a sweet blessing. Our staff team of 13 arrived sporadically on Saturday and the group of 28 students arrived on Tuesday afternoon. How do you help a group of 41 people get to know each other really fast? Send them on a 6 mile hike up a mountain to "Inspiration Point" which sits at an elevation of about 7200 ft. Although we were a little mistaken and had thought the hike would be easier, it was a great day of hiking, sweating, & fellowship- not to mention the view was completely worth it!

Inspiration Point & Jenny Lake

Following our hike on Wednesday, we broke off into our small groups of the summer to share with each other our "life maps". Life maps are our stories- where we are coming from, struggles & growths from our life, how we have come to know Christ, and what we are seeing Him do in our lives today. If we didn't grow close to others during the hike, sharing our life maps and our vulnerabilities with others definitely did it! Elizabeth and I are co-leading our small group of 6 girls while Mitch is co-leading a small group of 4 guys with Harrision. I know I'm a little biased, but I LOVE my small group and I'm so thankful for the relationships that have already come out of it!

Small Group

We spend our mornings here in group meetings where we spend time in the Word, followed by a time for personal time with God, and ending with a "teaching" talk. Thursday morning, Kari shared with the students how to share their stories (testimonies) with others and how to share the Gospel through our stories. Following lunch, we spent time in discipleship groups working through our goals for the summer as well as working on sharing our stories. We finished up the day by meeting in our small groups again and finishing sharing our life maps.

Rocky Mountain Lodge- Home for the summer!

On Friday, we went horseback riding through the mountains (minus me and Levi!). The students and staff said it was such a fun day and beautiful views of Jackson Hole. After horseback riding, dinner, and a quick game of kickball, we met together in groups for our men's and women's time. In our women's time, we are reading through and studying a book called "Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow (HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR WOMEN!). The theme of the book is about learning to be content no matter what the circumstances and thankful no matter where we are. In men's time, they are studying "Thoughts for Young Men" by J.C. Ryle. Each week we will read through a couple chapters and discuss them during our weekly men's and women's time.

Saturday we went on another group hike around Phelps Lake. The weather was a perfect 75 degrees (sorry friends and family in the south!) and the hike was a little easier and a lot more relaxing than our first hike. Saturday night we piled all 41 people into our rental cars and headed downtown for some touristy activities, souvenir shopping and dinner. Although downtown Jackson isn't very large, there are a lot of fun things to see and do- like the nightly "shoot out" reenactment at the town square.

Group at Phelps Lake

We finished our first week by joining together Sunday morning to listen to a podcast sermon by David Platt (pastor of the Church of Brook Hills in Birmingham, AL). In addition, we will come together as a group every Sunday night for a night of worship and sharing of the things God is teaching us while we are here on project.

Please continue to pray for the staff and students alike this summer. We are loving serving out here in Jackson Hole and we look forward to sharing with you all what next week brings!