It's ours!!

We are officially homeowners!! :) We move all our stuff out of storage tomorrow into the house and will spend our first night there tomorrow night!!!
It's been fun to watch God work this all out in His time! :)

Another doctor's appt and moving!!!!!!

Had a doctors appt today! It went very well! Everything looks great...she's even dropped some!! Will see the doctor in 2 weeks again and then after that every week...he says we are getting down to the wire. It is getting so close it's surreal!
Today we close and will get the keys late this afternoon!!!!!! We have TONS of help and are moving tomorrow!!!! Yippie! :)
I would post pics but we're out of batteries...so maybe we'll get some soon and I'll post some pics :)

In the 35th Week!!!!

This pic was taken at my Indiana baby shower

In the 35th week...Just typing that has many thoughts and emotions running through me!! I can't believe we are getting so close to D-day! This pregnancy has been so wonderful, God is awesome!! I'm just constantly reminded everyday of His power-such a miracle life is!
Many people refer to the baby as a "bun in the oven." I was thinking yesterday how much I love to bake and was thinking about people referring to a baby in the womb as a "bun in the oven" and thought about how I constantly check whatever I have baking-just to make sure it's not going to burn, see if it's done...I get so impatient. I'm going to be honest, there have been many times I haven't been patient and trusting in this pregnancy and have wanted to check on my "bun in the oven" but really couldn't. There's only so much you see/hear at the doctor's and apparently that hasn't been enough for peace of mind. So once again I was reminded by our loving, graceful, compassionate Father that He's got it all under control, and I don't (and never will).
At the beginning of this pregnancy it was even more tough to give all control over to God because 5 months before we got pregnant with Nataleigh we had a miscarriage. There are probably a few readers out there that don't know this and that's because we didn't feel it necessary to tell the whole world at the time. But now that it's been just over a year ago since it's happened much growing and healing have taken place! I can't begin to tell you how much Chris and I have grown closer together through this loss and even better yet- how our journeys with God have taken huge strides. And for this we are blessed and thankful!
So, at the beginning of this pregnancy with Nataleigh it was VERY HARD to let go and let God fully take this precious life into His hands and do with it what He had planned all along. I will never forget the overwhelming peace that came to me the night before we went to our very first doctor's visit. We would get to see her via ultrasound and hear her heartbeat just at 6 weeks and a few days! We got to so early because of having a previous miscarriage. The doctor wanted to see me every 2 weeks during the first trimester to closely monitor her.
The peace that I had was from God speaking directly to me about our baby's life. He asked me if I believed she was His child and I said yes. He asked if I believed she was His child even before we knew she was in my womb and I said yes. He asked if I believed she was His child even before we let her go out on her own and leave our nest. I said, yes, she's always your child first, we just get the priviledge of raising her on earth with Your help. So, knowing the truths of our daughter, that she is a child of God first gives me the biggest peace, knowing that she is ours to love and raise on earth and God will take care of everything if we let Him. I don't know how He is forming her everyday in my body, I can read all the books about what she might look like right now and read about her developments but I don't know fully how He is forming her right now...that's His miracle, that's part of His mysterious self. I shouldn't have to question His greatness! He is great!
So, we give her to You, God and we pray that she sees You and desires, chooses to walk with you on earth when she's old enough to grasp and choose this for herself. Thank you for our miracle! We look forward to meeting her and loving on her! We give her to you now and always. Help us be everything to her that you desire us to be.

This pregnancy has been nothing but healthy! Her growth is right on and she's even head down right now (all ready for her arrival). Praising God for so much!
If you or someone else has had a miscarriage and needs some encouragement please tell me. I'm ready to be that encouragement, I know how much encouragement I got from others who had miscarriages at the time of our loss and I still hold on to those words. I couldn't have made it without all of that support and encouragement.

God is up to something here...

Don't forget to go to our other site-http://web.mac.com/rupps or go to the right side of my blog where it says "Family & Friends" and click on "Church Plant Update" for a weekly update on our church plant!! There you will find a blog that Chris writes, prayer requests, pictures, videos and more. I wanted to post on here what Chris wrote this week on his blog...

So, here we are, post-launch!! Even though the build up to launch is over, the excitement is just beginning. We held steady this past week (April 19) at 150 people, and even better, more and more people are getting involved. This week I have TWO people coming to shadow our tech guys in order to become tech volunteers! One will be doing lights and one will be doing video! Also, I have two guys who are going to be auditioning for the band! One is a vocalist and one is a guitarist/keyboardist. Super exciting!! Our band is REALLY coming together, and it’s s much fun to be a part of! Our Fuel Groups are exploding, and we will be starting TWO new Fuel Groups fairly soon. Scott has also talked with a few people about giving their lives to Christ. God is good!

Jessica and I are one week from closing on our house! We will be moving in on Friday, May 1. We have lots of help, which is good because Jessica is not allowed to lift anything! She’ll be the “pointer” for where all the boxes go in the house.

One thing that has continued to amaze me is the way that God is working all over Cleveland in different ways. The amazing thing is how much all of the new church leaders all over the city are networking. This can be attributed mostly to the work of NEO360, and amazing organization that works to be a “catalyst for a city-reaching movement”. They are truly succeeding. At least FOUR new churches are in the works for Greater Cleveland in Fall 2009 and 2010, with two of them being in the city limits, one of them being in one of the worst parts of the city. God is up to something here!

Personally, I have a new opportunity that you all could be praying about. I have the opportunity to begin working with InterVarsity Faith Fellowship leading a Bible study group at John Carroll University in University Heights, just south of South Euclid. JCU is a primarily Catholic University, but people come from all over the country and world to study in the areas of medicine, law, and business. This is a great opportunity to reach out the college community. IVFF is the ONLY non-Catholic group on campus with a grand total of...ready?....FIVE members. That’s right. Five. In fact, there were NO Protestant groups for several years until 2006 when IVFF started back up at JCU. IVFF has a strong presence at Cleveland State and Case Western, so there could eventually opportunities for me at those places as well. Please pray with me about this. Jessica and I have a heart for college students, and we are waiting to see what God has in store.

God is up to something here...

Changed Privacy Settings

Dear Readers,
I changed my privacy settings because anyone could read my blog and comment and I didn't like that! It really freaked me out when someone from New Zealand wrote a comment...don't even know this person. For the type of blog this is (updating people on our everyday lives) I felt it necessary to make this more private. If there is someone who has read my blog that I didn't know was and I feel it's ok for them to know what's going on with us please let me know who they are and I will send them an invite.
Thanks!
Love,
Jessica :)

Doctor's Appt.

Had a great appt. today!! Doc says we have a healthy growing girl! He said that his guess, if I go to 40 weeks she will be around 6-7 lbs. She's still head down (tells us she's getting ready) This appt. made us realize that she will be here before we know it...exciting, yet scary. In 2 weeks we close on a house and are hoping to move in that weekend...so pray that we can get somewhat settled before she comes!!
Praising God for all of the blessings with this pregnancy!

JESUS ROSE & CONQUERED THE GRAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Easter from the 3 of us!!

Nataleigh's soon to be nursery!!

Here are some pics of her nursery!! Can't wait to get in there and work on it!! :)






And more pics of the house...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Middle of 32 weeks

House!

Well, 95% sure we have this house!! Home inspection was "well above average" said our home inspector. We are good to continue on with the process!!! We actually only saw the house once before we put an offer in, so it was comforting to know when we were in it for 2 1/2 hrs. today that it was in fact "the one"!! We loved it even more the second time we saw it...so that's a good thing!!
If the process continues to be smooth like it has been we will close on Thurs, April 30!!! Moving date weekend is looking like Fri, May 1-May 3. It's a great feeling that everything is in storage (minus a few things at his parents) and all we have to do is load up the moving truck...no packing...did enough of that when we moved from IL!! :)
Praising God for what He has done and thankful that we have a home where our church plant is taking place. It's been a long few months but we wouldn't trade it for anything!! It's been an experience for us both!
Thank you for your prayers and continued prayers!!
We launched this Sunday (had our first service) and it was so wonderful to be part of! I will post about this sometime this week.
We start our Childbirth class tonight (Tues) and will go for 5 weeks straight...so between the baby, the church plant and the house we are staying very, very busy!!
I still need to post the newest belly pic and some more pics of the house...I'll do that when I have some extra time this week (hahaha)
Love to you all!!

Baby & House News

It's been a pretty eventful week in the Rupprecht family! First, I had a doctor's appt today and he did an ultrasound to see how Nataleigh is positioned. She's head down and face down!!!!! She's getting ready for her Big Arrival...now hopefully she will end up in that position!! Everything in the womb looked healthy!! PRAISE THE LORD!! I am in awe every day of how God weaves this all together in a woman's body...it's so beautiful!
Second, we found a house!!!! We accepted their counter offer and are supposed to close April 30th. Home inspection next week, so we are moving right along!! If everything goes as planned we will be in our own home before Nataleigh arrives...but we all know our plans don't always line up with what God has planned! :)
Thank you for your prayers...please continue to pray the the housing process would continue to go smooth and for our baby girl as she continues to grow and develop.
Here are some pics of the house:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Love,
Jessica

A blessing

For the past year I have been following a blog that has encouraged me so much. Later on this month I will explain why this blog has been such an encouragement. But I would like to encourage you to read her latest post. You can get to it by clicking on the side of my blog where it says "Our Family and Friends" and go to "Bring the Rain." or you can visit her site right here: