Classical

It’s hard to believe another school year is starting. I’ve always felt that schools in Florida started way too early anyway, but this year it feels like we just finished the previous school year.

Oh, wait. We did.

For the last couple years, Rachel has deliberately stretched the school year out over about 11 months. This provided a few advantages, such as a 4-day school week (which allowed for a day to focus on house work), time to work around unexpected days off, and a routine schedule even during the hot summer months when the kids would usually be cooped up inside in the AC anyways. The year would end in July, the kids would have their evaluations, and we’d be back to it after Labor Day (like the sane schools up North).

This year is a bit different however, as we begin with Classical Conversations. We looked into this program back when we first moved back to Pensacola, but it didn’t work out at that time. Nevertheless, we’ve been intrigued by classical education, and over the past couple of years we’ve made a point to integrate some of the components, such as public speaking and Latin, into our homeschooling. This year we made the decision to dive into classical education head first.

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Change is the only constant

Those of you who follow our Facebook feeds (see the sidebar) already know that we’re back in Pensacola again. It seems that just when we get settled into a place God moves us on. It reminds me of the end of Psalm 55:19, which says, “Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God.” I wonder if God wants to keep us on our toes to keep us dependent on Him; I know at this point we’ve moved so often that I have a hard time imagining that we will be here for more than a couple years, and I find myself wondering where He’ll bring us next. Really, it doesn’t matter so long as we know that we’re exactly in the middle of His will: that is the most important thing in all the world.

Joshua Daniel Heinrich

Well, he’s here! Joshua Daniel Heinrich was born this morning (August 16) at 5:13 am. He was 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches long. The camera is still at the hospital with Rachel, so I’ll have to upload pictures later. In the meantime you can see one that I took with my phone on my Facebook page.

I still can’t believe how good God is to us. I just don’t understand why He blesses us over and over again, but I praise Him for it anyway! The name “Joshua” means “Jehovah is generous,” and though we didn’t know that when we picked the name, it fits perfectly. In so many ways He demonstrates that He loves us beyond measure, such as the people He had praying for us this weekend. Blessings take many forms, and even if we don’t always recognize them, it’s wonderful to know that God has for us “thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jer 29:11)

Update: Pictures are up.

Even Again

For those who didn’t know, Rachel and I are expecting again! We had the ultrasound today, and it’s a boy! So we’re even again at 3 girls and 3 boys. I guess it’s time for me to make a new “Little Bundles” photo album. Now we just need to figure out where to put the second crib — and where did its screws go?

Another new chapter

Another year, another move. Fortunately, this time it’s because I have a permanent job. I started work at Unisys last month as an Oracle DBA. Besides selling mainframes and development software, Unisys has a large outsourcing business as well.  We handle IT services for quite a few large companies, and most of the hardware is hosted in the Eagan, MN data center.

We’re in the process of purchasing a house in Apple Valley, just 15 minutes south of Unisys.  It will be nice to live close to work again! No more hour+ commutes.  I’m particularly excited about this house’s enormous back yard.  There’s lots of room for a garden and for the kids to run and play, and there’s a steep hill in the back that will be great for sledding in the winter.  The house itself needs just about every room repainted, but otherwise is in fairly decent shape.  And, it has a hot tub!  Rachel’s particularly excited to finally have a place of our own.  With a permanent job and a permanent home, we feel that God is finally establishing us here in MN, over a year after we moved here.  That’s something we’ve been praying for earnestly, so it’s good to see those prayers finally answered!

Bundle of Hope

Announcing Julianna Hope Heinrich, born today at 4:34pm!  She’s 7 pounds 10 ozs and 21 inches long.  Mom and baby are doing great.  I didn’t bring my cable for the camera, so I’ll have to wait till I get home before I can upload some pictures.  More soon!

“Turn you northward.”

We’ve gotten established here in Minnesota. In my last post I mentioned that I had a couple of job interviews. Well, the Lord opened the door to one of them, and I now work at Siemens Power Transmission & Distribution. It’s a one-year contract position, so due to the uncertainty of where we’ll be next year, we’re renting a house in Maple Grove, in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis. That works out well, though, because we’re still waiting for our house in Pensacola to sell.

End of a Chapter…

We’re coming down to the end of a chapter in our life. This will be our last week in Pensacola, as God has called us to Minnesota and we will be moving next weekend. In many ways it’s kind of sad and a little scary. For instance, there are a lot of things we are going to miss about Pensacola: we love our new pastor; we have great friends; I keep seeing restaurants I want to try (or try again); we have a wonderful babysitter that loves our kids and goes out of her way to help us; and of course we have the best beaches in the country! It’s scary because as of now our house hasn’t sold, I don’t have a job (though I may have a couple interviews — pray for me!), and it seems like there are so many things that are still left to do in the next week.

On the other hand, there is a great deal of excitement as well. For one thing, it’s good to know that we are following God’s will. If He wants us there, then what blessings does he have planned for us?

Update 2006

Wow, and I thought I’d gone a long time before without a post. To be fair, I did make a post when Andrew was born, but that one was lost when we switched hosting providers. Still, I’m amazed that people still visit our site with such stale content. And yet they do, because occasionally when I update I’ll get comments about the new pictures or whatever. So thank you, all of you friends and family that keep this site alive!

November 2005

The temperatures have cooled off these past weeks, and we’ve taken advantage of the beautiful weather to get away. Last weekend Rachel surprised me with a weekend getaway to Marianna, about 2 hours east of here. We stayed at a Bed & Breakfast, did a little antiquing at an extraordinary old Victorian-era hotel, and went canoeing down the Chipola River. Apparently Marianna was a popular place, because I know of at least 2 other families from PCC that were there on the same weekend!