Our baby boy is due in April of 2010. That’s a miraculous thing for which we are very thankful to God. It’s been a long journey and we’ve prayed for a long, long time for this second child. We’re officially naming him Samuel David and you must read my wife’s post about how we arrived at that name. She tells the moving story far better than I could.
My wife has spent the last few weeks in front of a computer cramming for a major exam to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (I think that’s what it stands for). Today, we drove to Fort Smith where she took the test… and passed! What does this mean? Well… you’d have to ask her, and she plans on blogging about it all over at the Sweet Life, but I wanted to be the first to say how proud I am of her, for so many reasons, but today especially for passing another great test in life. I’m proud of you honey!
By the way, this was her first try. And she was worried…
When I was in high school, dating was popular. Okay, it’s always been popular. I dated… or at least I went on a few dates. There arose here and there those opportunities to ask a girl to go out, and I had a few first and even second and third dates here and there. But I never felt motivated to
I remember meeting Angie for the first time. We sat in a classroom full of old computers by ourselves talking (I don’t have any idea where we were supposed to be. We talked and talked. Soon we did a double-date with a couple of friends and watched the classic Cool Runnings. And that was it. She was kind of done… or so she thought.
I called her repeatedly and we would talk for great lengths of time. I somehow managed to convince her Mom and Dad I was a good guy, so her Mom’s persuasive abilities came into play as well, encouraging her daughter to “give this guy another shot.” I groveled, begged, and conned Angie into another date on January 5, 1995. The rest is history, and I’d do it all over again!! Why? She was worth pursuing, and still is.
I married a woman of excellence, and I’m proud of her. She dresses the part. She’s graceful, elegant, cute, funny, stylish, encouraging, and beautiful. She cares. She loves. She serves. She laughs. She’s awesome. I pursue her still!
Now Angie and I find ourselves immersed together in lives that are at times, busy, crazy, and hectic. We’ve been praying for a second (or more) child for over five years. We’ve been through an ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage, and surgery that we were hopeful would help the situation. Through it all, I’m so glad we get to find ourselves in each other’s arms. I would not want to live life any other way. Angie, you are so worth the chase!
Well, the cat is out of the bag. My wife, Angie, is now a blogger! You can check her out over at AngieRCox.com. She’ll be blogging periodically about family, life, church, and our struggle with infertility. Drop her a note, she’d love to hear from you!
Also check out my father-in-law’s blog (he needs to post) at DannyRKirk.com and our friends, Jeff and Terri Chadd.
Dear Family and Friends,
It seems impossible that three years have passed since we moved our family to northwest Arkansas. . We feel so overwhelmed when we think about all with which God has blessed us since coming home to Bethel.
Ella started the first grade and seems to be coming out of her shell a “little” bit-(she gets that from her daddy). One of our greatest gifts this year was Ella making the decision to place her trust in Christ and accept Him as Savor. We look forward to her baptism in January. Angie continues her work as a therapist with children and families. She faces unique challenges everyday with children and families that have been wounded by this world and it’s a constant reminder that there are hurting people all around us-in need of redemption. In addition to loving ministry as Bethel’s Pastor, Brandon has also taken up the hobby of graphic and web design. In Angie’s words, he “plays on his computer.”
Many of you are aware that we are continually praying and seeking God’s plan for our family- in particular “growing” our family. This year has not been without its difficulties; however a cute little furry dog name Beau was added to the Cox household and he has been sweet comfort for a little girl’s heart who has prayed daily for a brother or sister. Please keep us in your prayers that we will know and embrace the Father’s will for us as a family.
This year we will travel to St. Louis to be with Angie’s family for the Holiday. We look forward to her mom’s great cooking, singing Christmas carols around the piano (yes they really do that) and reading the Christmas story on Christmas morning! We won’t get to travel to Kentucky this year, and we will dearly miss our family and friends there.
This is a season to rejoice-to celebrate God’s great gift to us-Emmanuel! We pray for God’s blessing to be upon each of you this Christmas and throughout the coming new year.
We love you all-
Brandon, Angie, & Ella Grace Cox
Our little baby’s growing up! Few things are more precious, and more heart-breaking, than your six-year-old little girl with a backpack on, marching off to school. We’re happy for her, excited about her future, and prayerful that she’ll be used of God in mighty ways! But we also don’t want her to age another day.
Angie was scheduled for surgery in Tulsa at 9:30 a.m. today. I set the alarm for 4:30 a.m. so that I could study and work a bit before making the two hour drive. The alarm failed and I awakened at 6:17, giving us exactly enough time to get ready and get out the door. All the way to Tulsa, I reflected on how good God was to be faithful to us in such a small detail.
Angie’s surgery went well – the doctor accomplished his goal of fixing some problems left behind from two previous surgeries and Angie’s insides are all better now. I can say this with greater certainty since I saw actual pictures of body parts that I really don’t ever care to see again. The only problem was with her recovery. She awoke in a panic, unable to catch her breath. Nonetheless, she’s recovering now with some abdominal pain that should subside in a few days.
After all of that, we managed to arrive back in Northwest Arkansas with an hour to spare before Bethel’s Missions Rally. More on that in the next post… Keep praying for Angie to recover well and for me to be a good nurse for a few days!
Isn’t summer supposed to be our vacation from the busyness of life? This summer, for the Cox family, is flying right by in a whirlwind of activity. We’ve traveled to see family in three different states (Missouri and Georgia for Angie, Kentucky for me). We’re getting ready to spend a week at church camp. And then, it will be time for Angie to return to work, for me to get busy with a new church year, and for Ella to begin Kindergarten.
In the midst of being busy in these bigger ways, I’ve also found ministry to families and needs to be rather pressing lately. My phones are ringing off the hook and I’ve done more “people work” in the last few weeks than ever before. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I’m very thankful to be needed, to be used in God’s hands, and to watch God at work in people’s lives. On the other hand, I hate what Satan is doing to the people around me that I love so dearly. It has certainly caused me to have an appreciative perspective on my own life. God has been so gracious and merciful to me, especially when I’ve least deserved it!
I will also say that the pressing nature of many of the issues I deal with drive me to my knees. I feel the continual need to remain constant in prayer so that my own spirit is not dragged down by the multitude of problems in the world. Depravity, and its results, can be draining on our frail emotions and if we aren’t careful, we’ll be tempted to despair. But then there is that verse in Romans 8:37, “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” More than conquerors, winners, valiant victors in the war called life. And why? Because Jesus died and rose again!
Brandon is first and foremost a follower of Jesus Christ. He's a husband to Angie and a Dad to Ella Grace and Samuel David. He's a Pastor to Bethel Baptist Church, Editor of Fuel Your Blogging and also a logo and web designer.
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