Let the blogging begin

Well, this is the beginning of our blog! Things are going well for the Duarte clan as the Lord continues to bless us in more ways than we can count. Faith is nearly NINE MONTHS OLD! Just this past week, I was getting ready to go out the door for work in the morning and Bethany put Faith down on the dining room floor. She was so close to crawling, and I just didn't want to miss it. Thankfully, the Lord blessed me with the opportunity to be there on Friday afternoon when she just went NUTS crawling.

We were on the web cam via skype with my mother and step-father (Grandma and Grandpa Stanfield) and Faith was on a roll. Of course, she has taken an interest in anything electronic, so she was after my laptop, and I had to keep moving it away from her to prevent her from pounding on the keys while on the web cam. But Grandma and Grandpa got to see their Grand-daughter crawl, even though they were on the other side of the country.

Bethany is doing very well. She is such an awesome mother to Faith as the two of them have great routines each day. Throughout the week, Bethany will work in the Nursery at the church (Riva Trace Baptist Church) to allow other moms an opportunity to be involved in weekday ministries or Bible studies. As you can see, Faith has begun to enjoy cooking with her mommy as well. Aren't they just precious?

As for me, life is so full of blessings. Many times over the past month, the Lord has turned my eyes to my family and helped me to realize how blessed we are. I know that the days will come when we will face many struggles, and I view these days as a time to prepare ourselves for that as we continue to seek the Lord each day. Every night, as we lay Faith down to sleep, we thank God for His blessings, His Spirit, His Son, and His hand being in our lives... and we cry out to God, that He would do His work in us and that we might bring glory and honor to His name. Just as Jesus would say, may the world see our good works and praise our Father in Heaven.

Life is a stretch at times, for me, being a husband, father, Naval Officer and Seminary student. But that being said, the Lord is providing. My studies are going well and I'm learning more each day. I am half way through my second semester at Capital Bible Seminary. This semester I am taking 2 classes (6 credit hours). Both classes are New Testament classes (covering everything but the Gospel). I plan on taking two more classes in June before having the remainder of the Summer off. It's tough at times. Two days a week, I leave at 7:00 am and get home after 10:00 pm. But then, the remaining three week days, I get to come home to this precious little girl and her wonderful mom. How could anyone in their right mind possibly complain about that?

This summer, my big brother David, will be getting married to his beloved, Leticia. Bethany and I haven't even had a chance to meet this blessing of a woman yet! But she's gotta be somethin'! We are so excited to be there for their celebration and to finally meet the woman that hath wooed my big bro. It wasn't even two years ago that we had the entire family together in Florida for Bee's and my wedding. It's amazing how fast things happen.

Anyhow, I think I will end this for now. If you haven't had a chance to see our video from when Faith was born, check it out below!

Faith Arrives