Up until yesterday it was all about ME

Yesterday Pancho took his final final exam

for his undergraduate degree.

You are looking at a mechanical engineer.

(well, almost; we are still waiting for the

paperwork to be processed)

Pancho began his undergraduate degree pursuit in

1998 in Venezuela.

At that time he was pursuing an industrial maintenance engineering degree.

He attended the university in Venezuela for four years and

the semester he was to complete his internship,

God called us out of Venezuela.

Hindsight makes that decision sound simple.

It was excruciating.

Pancho chose, at that time, however, to trust the Lord

and His perfect plan, even though it meant

surrendering his dream of completing his degree.

We moved to the States and immediately looked into him

finishing his degree.

There were no viable options so he worked as a bee keeper's

assistant and even as a cook in a chicken joint.

(as a side, he is an incredible man, this Pancho that I

blog about... he has never been afraid to

"get dirty" to provide for his family)

15 months after we moved to the States a friend from church

approached Pancho and told him that he felt like he would

be a great fit for a position that was opening up at Greenheck.

We were thrilled to think that God would have this in store for Pancho.

Pancho was offered that position and excelled immediately as

a configuration analyst.

The Lord has blessed Pancho with an incredible gift in the area of

systems (computer stuff) and this was quickly recognized

at Greenheck.

A few years later one of Pancho's co-workers told him about a pilot program that

UW-Platteville was going to offer where he could finish his degree.

We worked quickly to get his credits validated "state-side"

and we were told that the industrial maintenance engineering

major would be best equated with a mechanical engineering major.

Pancho applied with Platteville and began to work with advisors

to develop a plan.

In 2008 Pancho started taking classes through

UW-Platteville as well as through UW Colleges.

In Venezuela the university requirements are much more

major-specific.

Here in the US we take many general education classes.

So, he had to not only take courses in mechanical engineering,

he also had to take classes like music, history and psychology.

It has been a long and windy road and yet

Pancho has persevered.

One semester his first son was born on the first day

of classes.

One semester he needed to travel to Venezuela

to bury his father and attend his sister's wedding.

Through it all God has given him the strength to

minister to his family, to work full-time as well as study.

The title of this post is

"Up until yesterday it was all about ME."

Some may think that I am referring to myself when I say ME.

Nope.

I am referring to M.echanical E.ngineering.

M.E.

Tonight when Pancho comes home there will be no

M.E. to attend to.

When he comes home tonight he will not have to

dine-and-dash to the desk downstairs to study.

Tonight when he comes home he will not have to

kiss all of us goodnight and return to that desk downstairs.

Tonight when he comes home he will not have to

endure hearing the laughter of his children and wife

upstairs while he slaves away, studying.

Tonight when he comes home he will be able to

enjoy his children and his wife.

And we will be able to enjoy him.

 God, thank You for providing the opportunity

for Pancho to complete his mechanical engineering degree.

Thank You for giving all of us the grace to help him

finish strong.

And thank You that he is done and it is not about

M.E. anymore!

Joel Thorne 9 months

Adjustments take time

Adjustments take time.

This is quite obvious and yet when

you are the one adjusting the time seems to

go much more slowly, doesn't it?

What have we had to adjust to since we got Simba?

a little bit of barking at night

finding Simba OUT of his garage kennel in the mornings

(he is a strong pup; and smart too... he would push on the door and bend the metal!)

(we have remedied the first two by letting him sleep in the garage, loose,

and he has done extremely well)

less crumbs on the kitchen floor, especially around Samuel and Joel's chairs

a companion for Pancho while he is up late and again up early studying

more frequent family walks/bike rides/trips to the dog park

a new connection point with my brothers

more of an urgency to be home

(all of which have proved to NOT be negative things)

Everyone is adjusting well.

Samuel has been found to ask to take Simba outside on the leash.

(this from the boy, who for the first week Simba was with us,

said multiple times a day, "Mama, remember, I don't like dogs.")

Joel enjoys sitting by Simba and pulling on his fur.

Even Simba has had to adjust, but he too has done well.

Adjustments do take time but this time has been precious for all of us.

Thank You, Lord, yet again, for Your provision of teachable moments

during each phase of life.



I'm not sure even where to begin ...

I mentioned about 3.5 weeks ago that we were beginning

a new chapter in our family's life.

Little did I know that chapter would have such a rocky start.

I will spare you most of the details.

I will, however, share that the past 3.5 weeks have been some of the

most difficult days emotionally for me as a wife.

As an individual I do not like conflict.

As a wife, I do not like it even more.

During the last couple of weeks Pancho and I have

not been on the same page when it comes to

how this new chapter of our lives should begin.

He has been on page 1 and I have been on page 100,

if that explains how differently we have looked at this

big decision.

He has listened to my perspective and I have listened

to his and we have sought the Lord individually, as a couple

and as a family.

We have involved some of our friends in this process as well
and they have committed to praying for us
which has proven to be such a gift.
(thanks A TAL) 

And in the midst of the discussions and praying

we have not been united.

Neither of us has been upset with the other.

Yet it has been a very uncomfortable place for us to be in

our marriage because we are not accustomed

to being on different pages, let alone such different pages.

Right in the midst of this difficulty, I shared this part with a dear friend.
 She reminded me that these times will come again
with future decisions 

and that it is good to simply push through,

doing exactly what we have done (discuss, pray, pray, discuss),

trusting God to bring about a united decision eventually.

What great advice.

(thanks, Amy C)

So, like I said, I will spare you all the details and simply say:

WELCOME SIMBA

Simba is a 5 month old Irish Cream Golden Retriever.

We are overwhelmed with God's obvious hand and

orchestration in his arrival into our family.

He has a sweet, honey-like disposition and has done

well with us during the past 15 hours he has been in our home.

This morning as I spent some time with the Lord I thanked

Him for seeing us through this decision and

giving us all the strength to walk in the way He clearly

indicated.

(this was one of my big concerns, how will we each deal with

whatever God calls us to do?)

I am sure there will be hard times with Simba, times when I question

whether it was a good decision or not.

However, as I am studying in God's Word,

"Come, let us rejoice in Him..."

Psalm 66:6

 I am learning that "to let" is not passive.

It is actively causing something to happen.

I am actively rejoicing in God's hand in

this decision about a dog, which dog,

when dog, how dog,

etc.

Please rejoice with us!

Remember, it says,

"Come, let us rejoice in Him..."

We hope you can stop by and meet Simba soon.

Just because

 I have been playing with the settings a little bit on

our camera and sometimes I have live

models and other times I have inanimate ones.

This time I had a live one and an adorable one to boot, right?

I'll Never Get Tired of This Image

No matter how many times I see this out the front window

or the patio door, I will never tire of seeing Samuel mirroring

his papa.

Lord, may Samuel mirror Pancho in more than

just lawn mowing!

Just a Swingin'-- Comparison

Here is another comparison collage.

I actually had a picture of each of the kids

at 8 months in a swing!

Because Katrina's picture was not showing her

face, I have one here where we

can really make a good comparison.

Any thoughts?

Joel Thorne -- 8 months

Family Photo Shoot

The extended Gehring family celebrated Easter together

on Saturday.

We had a delicious brunch, hosted by my parents, and

then we all walked to the park in shifts, where the kids played,

several adults played a game of PIG and we took some pictures.

Another New Chapter

Pancho has wanted a dog since before we were married.

Katrina was born and very quickly we discovered

that she enjoys animal life a LOT.

Last summer Pancho and Katrina

really REALLY 

wanted to get a dog.

I was able to buy myself nearly a year by saying

that we were going to have another baby and I

could simply not house-train a dog and

adjust to life with 3 children.

So, they have anxiously counted down the months

and God has been SO gracious to do a good work in my heart,

preparing me for life as a dog owner.

If you know me, you know that I can handle dogs but

I am not one of "those people" that is drawn to dogs at

every park, street corner, etc.

However, as the year has passed God has given me

a real heart to bless Pancho and Katrina with this

special, special gift.

Many people that know of our recent down payment

have responded with shock and even chagrin as they

have heard what we are embarking on.

That has been discouraging, to say the least.

It is the second time in a very short amount of time

that God has led our family to something and His people

have responded with anything but encouraging

comments.

I have learned through these experiences that it is

critical to receive news from family and friends

with grace.

So, on to the good news and the pictures...

Here is a little teaser/game.

Can you guess what kind of dog we are getting by the name?

Well, here is the answer!

Here is a picture of the dog that captures the

essence of the newest chapter of our lives.

*Samuel fell asleep in the car and missed the second visit with the puppy!

Hence the lack of a picture with him and Tundra.

She is a Siberian Husky and her name is Tundra

(thanks, Uncle Nick, for the great name suggestion!).

She will be 3 weeks old on Monday and we are slated to

welcome her into our home in early May.

Yesterday we purchased her first collar and got a

little engraved name plate.

It is very exciting and not hard to get wrapped up in the emotion

that goes along with this process.

That is why the negative comments have stung so much, I think.

This is the right choice for our family.

Some may say, "God doesn't even care about this type of thing,

why are you saying, "God led our family...""

I disagree.

There are instances in the Bible where the Lord used

the animal kingdom to teach VERY important lessons.

Two that come to mind?

Daniel in the lions den

and Balaam and the talking donkey.

We trust that God will use Tundra in our lives in a

special way.

Maybe it will be nothing more than a vehicle to create

some wonderful family memories.

Praise God!

Maybe it will something more profound than that.

Praise God!

We look forward to welcoming Tundra

into our home and we hope you

can meet her soon!