Introducing... Isabelle Reue

After spending most of Tuesday night not being able to sleep, we came to Lapeer Hospital at 3:00 AM. Later that morning, family arrived anticipating a granddaughter. Jamie's labor was actually delightful after the epidural :). By 6:02 PM Isabelle was here. She's nice and long at 22 inches. Her weight is, well, unknown. Officially she weighed 8 lbs. 4 oz. at birth, but we know now that the weigh in was off. She was probably closer to 7 lbs. 10 oz., but with all the excitement, we (and the nurses) aren't exactly sure. Either way, she's a beautiful healthy baby girl, 7 lbs. 2 oz. tonight, and sucking everything like a pro. We are in awe to be parents and thankful for God's miracle-gift to us.

Here are some pictures to help you "get to know" her.

Just 9 days to go (we hope!)

The closet is stuffed full.

The decorations & furniture are in place.

The diapers are ready.

Classic Pooh is right where he belongs.

The books & toys are waiting for a baby girl . . .

who will arrive in her own good time . . .

Our last Easter as just the two of us

with questions,

fears,

anticipation,

and lots of love

we're ready

we think

Picture Time . . . 6 months & counting!

setting up the nursery little by little

our Christmas picture at our church

(almost 5 months pregnant)

6 months, taken this weekend

Tummytown

For those who have facebook, this isn't anything new. For those who don't, we're starting to shop for baby stuff (already stocking up on diapers). Our due date is April 24, one day before our 5-year anniversary. One of the teens in our youth group said we could have a candle-lit hospital dinner together. We'll see about that, but we're really excited about becoming parents! We heard the heartbeat yesterday and we go back in four weeks for a second visit, which will hopefully include and ultrasound. More to come later.

North Branch, MI

We move in 3 days. Our fourth home since being married four and a half years ago. For those who don't know, and that's probably most of you since we don't update this thing, the church we've been at in Baraboo, WI closed August 17. After my resignation, the district assessed the church and spoke with its leaders. After prayer, the district decided to end the ministry of Jubilee Wesleyan Church.

I had resigned the beginning of June and was looking for a new place of ministry when I got a phone call from Pastor Peter Damaska at North Branch Wesleyan. I had sent a resume there and hadn't heard much back. So I thought God had other plans...

Jamie and I thought we'd be leaving Baraboo much earlier than this. It reminds me of the story of Lazarus dying and Jesus learning the news. Instead of going to be with Lazarus when he was sick, Jesus waited until he had been dead 4 days. I heard a song once that says "My God is great/When He's four days late, He's still on time." In our case, God seemed to be a few months late in providing this new job. Maybe this is cliche, yet I believe God was right on time.

We wondered how we would live on a couple hundred dollars a week and how we would pay for moving expenses. We even thought of moving to Madison and trying to find jobs there until something popped up. Or if worse came to worse, we were going to move in with our parents, something I'm sure they would have loved (for the first week). So thanks, God, for being on time and for giving us an amazing fit of a church.

I'm officially going to be Pastor of Discipleship and Leadership at North Branch, which is in the thumb of Michigan. This means I will coordinate and empower our volunteers for children's youth, and adult spiritual formation. I get to give resources, teach, help cast a vision, keep us all on track with that vision, and encourage us as we move forward. The weekend we candidated we met a lot of people who are involved and who care deeply for their church...I think they'll make our "job" a lot easier. I also get to give leadership to the missions and local outreach efforts of the church. The church just took its second mission trip to Antigua in the Caribbean and I know we're looking to do much more globally.

So that's a fairly good summary of what's ahead. I'll post our new address on my (Josh's)Facebook page, so if you're a "friend" you can get it there. If you're driving through the east side of Michigan and want a good hotel, just shoot an email and we'll put you up.

We're Alive, We Promise

Yes, we are still breathing...just not typing as often as we'd like. Since we last updated you, several new things have happened.

First, I was ordained on June 26th. It still feels weird to be called "Rev." and I'm not sure if I will get used to it for a while. Rev. Hilty makes me sound so not 24 years old. It was a joy to be ordained alongside some of my friends in ministry and by Dr. Jo Anne Lyon. Our ordination ceremony was the first she took part in as our new general superintendent (and for those who don't know, the first female general superintendent in Wesleyan Church history). My family and Jamie's parents were all able to come up for the weekend, and we had my grandparents with us for the week prior to ordination. Jamie and I had a great time seeing family.

Second, the church is closing. Last Sunday I announced to our congregation that our final Sunday as Jubilee Wesleyan will be August 17th. This has been quite hard for some as they have been a part of thus church for most of their lives. I personally cannot totally empathize with them because I've never gone through this before. And yet it's hard for me to see a church that we've poured the last 2 years of our lives into close down. Please be in prayer for the people of the church in this time of transition.

Jamie and I have no real clue as to what God has in store for us next. We are in contact with a couple churches, but nothing is definite. Both places sound like they could be good fits, so please pray that God's will would be done AND be done in His time. He has been faithful up until now and I don't anticipate Him quitting anytime...ever. We will be quick to let you know what He does for us when that happens.

We had a good rummage sale the 4th of July weekend, getting rid of lots of things we don't use. There's two less sleeper sofas to move into a truck! Plus we earned money to help us get through the summer and to allow us to go on vacation, which we did this past week.

We drove 4 hours up to Door County, WI to Peninsula State Park where we camped for six days and 5 nights. If you're from Indiana, think Brown County. If you're from Michigan, think Mackinaw area. Door County is right off of Green Bay (the actual body of water) and is just a hop, skip and jump from Lake Michigan, right in the thumb of Wisconsin. It was a chance to stop thinking about the transition we're in and focus on ourselves. It's safe to say we both are more in love this week than last (not that we were on the rocks before...anyway, I'll stop digging). On our way home Friday we stopped in Green Bay at the NEW Zoo. We were literally one foot away from a giraffe's head, which I thought was pretty cool.

Also over vacation we both had the chance to read a book called "Who Stole My Church?" by Gordon MacDonald, a serious every-Christian-must-read book. It's a fiction book in which MacDonald puts himself into a made-up church that is going through a time of transition. He tells the story from his perspective and also gives the thoughts of older and younger people within the church along the way. I wish I could do a better job describing it. All I can say is, if you've ever wondered why one generation of Christians has a hard time letting younger generations change things, this book is for you. If your church has ever had a "worship war," it's for you. READ IT. NOW. :)

Tomorrow we give a concert for our church. Thirteen songs we've sang as special music numbers over the past few years along with some personal testimony times.

I'm sure there's more I've left out from June and July. But this will have to do. Until the next random post...

Resigning

Today I made the announcement to our church that I was resigning as pastor. Jamie and I don't know where God will take us next but we're trusting Him to be faithful just as He always is.

If you'd like to find out more about why we resigned, send us an email to either josh.mathetes(at)gmail.com or jamieleahilty(at)gmail.com. We can give you our phone number from there if you'd like to talk (I'm not sure how smart it is to post it here).

Thanks for all your prayers.