The Riddles

Surprise!

2012-01-22T20:05:00.000-08:00

As of today, I am 14 weeks along with our second baby!!!!

We were totally shocked and surprised! Unfortunately, I've been pretty sick, as I was with Samuel. The mornings esp. are very difficult for me to function. Thankfully, while Doug is still working, his job has been flexible, so he has been able to take care of Samuel often. We are still working on support raising too, so balancing all this with me being sick is definitely a challenge.

However, the current youth worker in Baumholder leaves in April, so we are trusting God to get us to Germany by late March. This new little one is due July 22nd, so we are anticipating this one being born in Germany!

Please pray with us that this 'morning' sickness will not last very much longer so that I would have enough strength and stamina to pack and get us ready for Germany. Please also pray that the remaining amount of our support would come in.

THANKS FOR YOUR LOVE AND PRAYERS!

Pictures from our travels in December

2012-01-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

A wonderful couple we stayed with in Sarasota, FL

Visiting a dear friend in Sanford, FL

Heike and a friend went to a manatee park

Visiting with Heike's 9th grade French teacher from RVA in Seminole, FL

Samuel playing with one of his cousins in Boston, MA

Samuel loving being outside

Family picture at a New Years parade in Boston

A few pictures from when we were home in December

2012-01-19T08:50:00.000-08:00

Samuel loves being outside regardless of the weather. Pushing the stroller around is his latest fascination.

Doug and Samuel working side by side =)

Samuel on Christmas morning

Christmas and New Years

2012-01-03T21:41:00.000-08:00

We can't post pictures right now, so here's a brief written summary of what we've been up to. I'll post pictures as soon as I can.

--We wrote and printed our bi-annual paper prayer letter and sent them out.

--For Christmas we went down to Columbia and spent the 24th with Heike's family and the 25th with Doug's family. We had a wonderful time and are so thankful for our families!

--New Years we were in Boston with Doug's brother and wife and their kids. We went to the New Years' parade and had a great time!

--We've also been struggling with being sick (Heike esp.) and are currently passing around some kind of stomach virus. =( Please pray for our health.

Thanks for your love and support!

A few recent events

2011-11-18T14:10:00.000-08:00

What we've been up to:

We got dressed up for a Harvest festival at Doug's parent's church:

Samuel in his giraffe costume

Even little giraffes have to sleep =)

The three of us at the harvest festival

Then we went down to Columbia, where Heike's dad is back from Africa and we got to meet his new wife, Yemi:

We took Yemi to the Columbia Zoo. The Australian Parrots loved her =)

Samuel decided he liked the Ethiopian food Yemi made

Samuel was in desperate need of a haircut, so we got out the scissors and put on some Elmo to distract him:

The final product! I can't believe our little one is over 15months old!

We will be in Florida December 1st through the 8th and look forward to seeing some of you! We so appreciate all your prayer and support, please continue to pray that God would bring in the rest of the support we need soon.

October happenings

2011-10-30T20:04:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's almost November! This month has flown by! Here are some of things we've been up to this month (besides settling in to our temporary new home with Doug's parents here in Greenville):

Speaking at wonderful church in Rising Sun, MD. Samuel is trying to eat a pager. =)

Samuel started taking more then a passing interest in books--which really helped the long car rides go quicker

Weekend fun trip in NC with some college friends

Samuel loving pasta

Samuel discovering the joys of Daddy's nose

Samuel showing off the big scrape on his forehead. He is truly a toddler now!

God also provided for us to visit another church in Columbia and speak there. It has been a busy month, but a good one!

Coming up, we have another speaking engagement this Sunday in Columbia at another church that just started supporting us. It is so fun to see God provide for us! We are also looking to travel to FL the first or second week of December, so if any of you are there and want to see us, let us know.

Doug is still working, for which we are grateful, as we still need some income. I, Heike, have officially resigned from my nursing job in Columbia and am focusing on Samuel and support raising and packing. Too bad I don't get paid for packing, that seems to be a job in itself! =) We are so thankful for the support that is already coming in. THANK YOU for your love and prayers!

New Address - again

2011-10-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

We have moved and are settling in to Doug's parent's place. This is our new address, and will be our permanent one here in the States:

115 Coxe Drive
Greenville, SC
29609

We are enjoying mom's cooking and esp. her babysitting skills. =) Doug and I are both a bit overwhelmed as we start sorting through stuff for Germany and working on support raising. Doug is also still working some, which is actually good because we need the income. Please pray for us that we would use our time wisely and God would take us to Germany in his time.

I'll post some pictures when I get them uploaded to my computer. =)

back in SC - for now

2011-09-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

We're back in SC after 4,183 miles, 94 hours of driving, 8 states, 2 tropical storms, 1 earthquake, and 1 major diaper disaster.

What a trip! God protected us and encouraged us and blessed us beyond our expectations. We didn't pay for a single night anywhere, and often people fed us or took us out to eat, so we hardly paid for any meals.

Financially we are at over 70% of what we need per month now! So we are hoping by faith to be in Germany by the end of the year. Possibly November or December.

A few favorite pictures:

Riddle boys at the Boston Zoo

Cousins!

Aunt Heike with her amazing nephews

Samuel's first experience in a mud puddle - he walks everywhere now!

Now that we're home, we are packing up again-this time to move in with Doug's parents. All our winter stuff, boxes we've already packed for Germany, and kitchen stuff we aren't currently using are already at their house. This is, Lord willing, our last move before we go to Germany.

NJ and NY

2011-08-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your prayers for our health. Heike is still a little congested, but other then that, we are doing great!

Our week in NJ was wonderful. The missions committee generously let us stay in their missions house - an apartment right across from the church - and the apartment was wonderful! It gave us space all to ourselves and was perfect for us and so nicely set up! We even had a washer and dryer and dishwasher! The missions committee also had a little surprise party for Samuel on his birthday. He had cake, presents, lots of grapes and crackers, and another helium balloon! =) We were so touched and encouraged. Throughout the week we met with various friends and supporters but thankfully we didn't get too busy and were able to rest too.

We are now in Nyack, NY, and are headed to Boston today to spend the rest of the week with Doug's brother and his family. From there we will go to Ithaca on Saturday. We had a nice couple days with good friends here:

Samuel at the command center

Samuel is still traveling pretty well, but is getting more grumpy and is obviously getting tired of the frequent transitions. Please continue to pray for safe travels, good health, our support situation and for Samuel. Thank you so much!

Prayer request

2011-08-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

All 3 of us have colds and are pretty congested. Samuel is and has been grumpy. Please pray for good health, strength, patience and good rest especially as we meet with people and speak.

On the road

2011-08-14T18:31:00.000-07:00

We arrived in MD yesterday evening. There were at least five accidents on I95, between Richmond Virginia and D.C. As we crawled along at 25-35 miles per hour for at least 2 hours, I tried to remind myself to be thankful that we weren't involved in one of those accidents. Thankfully Samuel was a champ despite the fact that we were at least 8 hours on the road. I KNEW people were praying for us. =)

This morning we spoke at a church and then met with the missions committee for lunch afterwards. It was very encouraging, and everyone was sweet to us, even the poor nursery lady who came to get us during the service because Samuel had a meltdown.

Unfortunately church is usually during his morning nap time, and he is starting to do the whole 'separation anxiety' thing. So all that considered, Samuel did well, even during the long lunch where he amused much of the table by tearing hungrily into a bread roll, stuffing bite after bite into his face.

We are staying with one of Doug's good college friends and old roommate, so it has been relaxing and enjoyable. We will hear back from the church soon, they seemed to want to get behind us in prayer and also financially, so we are excited about that.

Tomorrow we leave for Tom's River, NJ. We will be meeting with the missions committee on Tuesday-which also happens to be Samuel's first birthday! We were able to celebrate early with Doug's family in Greenville, and we'll probably celebrate again once we get back home with other family members. Here's a couple pictures of the party:

Wearing the #1 crown that Aunt Jane gave him

He wasn't sure what to do with the cake at first

But he enjoyed the attention!

Favorite Family Photos

2011-08-04T14:14:00.000-07:00

So we had 2 photoshoots. I'm posting my favorite pictures, but you'll find out which one we picked when you get our new prayercard!

Location: Bonam's House
Photographer: Jeremy Bonam

Samuel is almost 1 year old!

Location: Irmo Park (it was HOT! We mopped our faces in between the pictures.)
Photographer: Amy Hamilton

She took some cute ones of Samuel too, but I don't have all her pictures yet. Samuel was a trooper, although by this last picture, he was done. =)

Photo Shoot!

2011-07-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

We're getting family pictures taken for a new prayercard. We're hoping to get it printed before we leave for our support raising trips up north.

Here's a link to some of the pictures: http://photographybyajhamilton.blogspot.com/

A week of vacation!

2011-07-13T15:45:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a lovely vacation with Doug's family. There are a lot of pictures on Facebook, so that's the place to really see how our time was, but I'll post a few of my favorites for those of you not on Facebook.

Samuel loved the beach-and eating sand

Snuggles with cousin Timothy

Hanging out at the pool

Story time with Grammy and cousin Aaron

All of us (minus Doug's brother Keith) in front of the beach house

We are so thankful to the Lord for all the fun times with our family!

I can't believe it's July already!

2011-07-01T16:01:00.000-07:00

Our activities in June:

-Settling into our new living situation.
-Doug training his employees and transferring management of the company.
-Samuel had an ear infection and has been teething.
-Trips to Greenville, SC to spend some time with Doug's family and help them paint and get one of their rooms ready for guests.
-Doug and I took 2-3 days and went on a belated anniversary trip. Doug's parents watched Samuel and a good time was had by all.
-Doug's first Father's Day!

Our mini vacation/anniversary trip

Samuel loves playing with his grandparents and vice versa

We were very happy to see Samuel again and he was pretty excited too =)

Happy Father's Day!

What July will look like (Lord willing):
-Doug's work is winding down--much to my delight, because I finally get to see more of him--and we can work more on support raising.
-Vacation with Doug's family at the beach for a week! This starts tomorrow!!!!!!! Can you tell I'm excited?!?!

We're planning to hit the northeastern parts of the US in August, specifically NJ, NY, and MD. If you would like us to stop by and see you, let us know!

Praises:

-Samuel is 10 and 1/2 months old and healthy! He walks with support and stands alone pretty steadily. It won't be long before he is running.
-Cheaper living situation
-Doug being able to work less
-First vacation in 2 years

Our special kiddo

Prayer requests:

-Support raising!
-Issues with our health insurance. Right now our insurance is ridiculously expensive and is taking a large chunk of our current incoming support. Doug is working on trying to get us onto a different insurance.
-Travel plans and time management
-Our relationship with God and with those we live with and within our family

Post-nap stare

We've moved!

2011-05-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

So Samuel loved the moving process. Lots of boxes and tubs make for a nice playground:

Can you find the baby in this picture?

He also loves dancing with his aunt Jane--which he can do more often now that we're living with her:

And cuddling with Omi Ria who was kind enough to come distract him so his mommy could pack and then unpack:

We're so glad he's happy anywhere--as long as the people he loves are around =). We're now working on settling in and unpacking.

Heike's cousin Katie will be moving in on Monday (with her large sheepdog) and so it will be one full house! We sadly had to give away one of our kitties, Eddie. He 'moved' yesterday and we are hoping it will be a good fit for him and his new family.

Samuel's passport arrived today! We are gaining more support, and are around 60% now, so we are excited and hoping to still be able to depart for Germany in September.

New Address!

2011-05-19T17:44:00.000-07:00

So the plan is to officially move this Saturday. If anyone has some muscles they want to work out.... =)

Here is our new address:
104 Saddlerock Drive
Irmo, SC 29063

Moving

2011-05-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

Life has been chaotic around here. Samuel is getting busier and busier...and making some fun new faces:

Doug is training his replacements at work-which is more work for him, as well as covering whatever shift can't be covered. And we're moving. AGAIN. The owners are increasing the rent for these apartments, so we're moving in with my aunt. We feel very blessed, as we'll end up paying less in rent and can therefore work less and consequently spend more time support raising.

I hate moving though, it's so much work, and since Doug has been working so much, I've been doing most of it by myself. Thankfully, Samuel thinks it's wonderful to have lots of boxes around:

Mother's day was special, we had some fun times with Doug's mom and his grandparents. Here is our latest family picture, taken that day:

Thanks to those of you who pray for us. We have to be out of our apartment by the end of May, and Doug's schedule is only going to get worse before then, as most of his office staff will be out in the next couple of weeks. He is also having to move his business by the end of the month, so needless to say we are stressed and feeling overwhelmed. Your prayers mean so much to us.

Life in March

2011-03-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't updated in a while because there hasn't been many new things going on. We are getting more involved in our church, working on contacting people and planning support trips. We hope to travel in April, May, and June, visiting NY, NJ, and MD. If you'd like us to come visit, let us know!

Doug has hired some more people to work in the office, and is training two of them to take over his job. YES, it takes TWO people to do what he is doing now. We are looking forward to him having more time to focus on support raising.

Samuel is growing quickly. His repertoire of foods is steadily increasing:

He loves peas!

He also is the proud owner of 2 bottom teeth:

And his new favorite thing:

standing up!

A few favorite pictures...

2011-02-24T14:29:00.000-08:00

Hanging out in the bath - He loves bath time =)

Sitting up well...and singing opera

So handsome!


Having fun with mommy

Last week was our church's mission conference and we enjoyed helping out as well as sharing about our upcoming ministry in Germany to a Sunday school class. We had a good time connecting with people and Doug really enjoyed working with kids by leading the opening and closing flag ceremony. It reminded him of how much he misses youth ministry.

Growing and Learning!

2011-02-01T11:48:00.000-08:00

Samuel is growing by leaps and bounds. He is not quite crawling yet, but he definitely rolls or scoots around:

He is learning to eat 'real' food:

He is such a blessing from God and we enjoy him so much!

Our project the last couple of weeks has been printing, folding, addressing, and sending out prayer letters - we are working on doing our once or twice a year paper letter - so if you're on our list, you should get one soon! If you're not on our list and want to be, let me know!

Samuel's first time in the snow

2011-01-13T15:08:00.000-08:00

We got about 5 inches of snow in South Carolina!

The parking lot in front of our apartment building

The next day I bundled up Samuel so he could experience it.

He was pretty fascinated

We built a Samuel-sized snowman =)

Yay snow!!

Reunion in Arkansas

2011-01-10T17:25:00.000-08:00

After our time with the Riddles in Greenville, we flew to Arkansas to visit friends and supporters.

The Fields have become a second family to Heike, and their daughter Hannah was on furlough from southeast Asia, where she and her husband are serving. We had a wonderful time, and got back home right before the winter storms hit. Heike was having way too much fun to remember to take pictures, but here are a few:

Gramma Gale made Samuel a cute hat

He loved it =)

Samuel had lots of people and toys to play with

Christmas with the Riddles

2011-01-03T21:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning in Greenville with Doug's family:

Keith, Doug's brother, and his two boys reading the Christmas story

Samuel enjoying his presents

Heike and Timothy modeling hats

Story time with Uncle Doug

Watching the snow come down with Grammy

Joseph and Timothy loved their cousin Samuel

So wonderful to be with family!

We ended up having a white Christmas this year which was so fun and special! Doug's family was such a blessing and encouragement to us, we thank God for our family and being able to be with them.
Samuel's first Christmas was definitely memorable!

Christmas with the Skaggs

2011-01-03T20:53:00.000-08:00

We had Christmas with Heike's family on the 24th:

Samuel helping Heike wrap presents

Opa wrapping Samuel in wrapping paper

Opa made Samuel a hat out of wrapping paper scraps

Samuel liked his new hat

Courtney, my wonderful new sister-in-law. It was her first Christmas with us as part of our family

We had a Christmas brunch and had a good time together. Heike's brother is in residency so we don't see him often, and thankfully he was off work. Heike's dad heads back to Africa soon so we enjoyed being able to be with each other, not knowing when that will happen again.

Then we headed to Greenville so we could be with Doug's family on Christmas morning.

Favorite December pictures

2010-12-28T21:54:00.000-08:00

In an effort to catch up, here are some pre-Christmas pictures - my favorites. =)
Christmas pictures will follow hopefully soon.
[Sorry for those of you on facebook, these will be repeats]

Working on the computer with daddy

Cuddling with mommy!

Making faces

The cats waiting for snow

Loving his bumbo seat!

Samuel loves looking at himself in the mirror!

Hanging out in the sink =)

A few favorite pictures from November

2010-12-28T09:06:00.000-08:00

Things finally slowed down a bit for us in November. So we made time with family and friends. =) Here are a few pictures:

Getting ready for colder weather

Sweet boy!

"Helping" mommy do laundry

Napping with the cats

Spending time with Opa (Heike's dad)

Totally asleep in his great-grandfather's arms

"Helping" Grammy (Doug's mom) play cards

Enjoying cards with his Papa (Doug's dad)

3 months old!

Some pictures from October

2010-11-04T22:30:00.000-07:00

October was a busy month for us.

My Grandma died and God provided for us to go up to IL for her funeral. Even the circumstances were sad, it was so good to spend time with family that we don't see often.

Samuel was a hit

Back home, we had a Halloween party:

Star Trek themed Riddles!

Doug and his little Romulan

We also celebrated Doug's grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary and 80th birthdays. We really enjoyed reuniting with Doug's side of the family.

Joseph holding his cousin

Timothy holding his cousin

Aunt Sarah getting some cuddle time in

Family picture!

Samuel is starting to smile more and more!

My amazing little boy!

Some of our favorite pictures

2010-10-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

A few more pictures of Samuel in September:

Happy boy!

He makes some excellent faces


Cuddle time with Dad. When Doug gets home from work, EVERYONE is happy to see him.

Doug and Samuel talking about their day

Samuel likes to sleep with his hands near (or on) his face

Enjoying his favorite chair

Samuel with the midwife who delivered him, at my 6 week checkup

Some of our relatives came down for a visit for a couple days

We're pretty tired these days, and looking forward to Samuel sleeping for more hours at a time, but we're so enjoying this precious gift from God!

Samuel loves camping!

2010-09-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

We went to Pisgah, NC with a group from our church for the weekend. Samuel slept better then he sleeps at home!

We hardly had to hold him all weekend. =)

Samuel was also one of the few people who actually stayed dry all day Saturday.

The Bachellors had tarps that we stretched over picnic tables and so we got to hang out with them and the Faders for the weekend.

The Bachellors also have a baby Samuel and here they are sharing a stroller =)

All bundled up to stay warm and mosquito free:

He also got to meet his other great-grandparents, who had their honeymoon in that area 60-some years ago:

First Bath

2010-09-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago we gave Samuel his first - and second - bath. He wasn't too excited about it (though he's started to enjoy them more). After his first bath he decided to give us a little present before we got him back into a diaper, so he got his second bath within a few minutes. At least we got to use both of the cute hoodie towels that we have.

Samuel in his Lion hoodie towel after his first bath - also our favorite photo

Apparently Samuel doesn't like being clean

Samuel's second bath

Samuel in his cute duckie towel

This Time in History

2010-09-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

Samuel is a strong, healthy two week old baby. That, in and of itself, is a miracle. His tiny hands, the quiet sleeping noises, the bright light in his eyes - it's obvious why they call it the miracle of life. All that knit together by God in Heike's womb over the past nine months. That means so much more when you realize that word, "knit" means an active work in progress, an intentional handiwork.

It's even more amazing to realize that it's a miracle Samuel's alive because he lives here and now. Because of such a "simple" problem of meconium inhaled into his lungs, Samuel ran into some serious problems when he was born. He's alive right now because there were four amazing, well trained specialists and nurses standing by when he was born. They intubated him, pumped oxygen into his lungs while deep suctioning them, and set him up on a CPAP machine to force oxygen into his blood stream. Because of another issue his blood volume was seriously low, forcing him to be on IV fluids for two and half days.

If Samuel was born any other time in the past thousands of years of human history, if he was born in most parts of this world today, he would not have lived for more than a few minutes after birth. I can't even understand what a blessing it is to have him with us now, so strong and healthy. Or how devastating it must be for families across this world and throughout history who didn't have the medical care we have today.

All that to say, we have been blessed by God, and are thankful for that blessing and all your prayers. It's great to have this miracle in our lives.

Samuel with Opa


Samuel with the great grandparents


With Grammy

On the way home from the hospital

Getting checked out by Eddie

He's finally here!

2010-09-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

Samuel Clark Riddle was born August 16th, at 11:24PM on his official due date. He shocked everyone by being 9 lbs 1.5 oz, and 21 3/4 inches long!

Samuel had a rough start, having swallowed a lot of meconium in utero and requiring some oxygen when he did finally come out. He had to spend several days in the special care unit on fluids and antibiotics. Thanks to many prayers, he recovered quickly and is now home with us and thriving.

We are adjusting to being new parents and the lack of sleep, but are so thankful that Samuel is healthy and doing well. He brings us joy and wonder each day.

Some more pictures of us this year

2010-07-28T23:49:00.000-07:00

At Heike's brother's wedding in May:

Heike's dad, brother Josh, and his new wife Courtney, a wonderful addition to the family

Hanging with Heike's aunt and cousins!

Doug and Heike's dad

Tired but happy

Out on the lake on Memorial day with Heike's dad and some friends:

Preparing and waiting for our baby!

Doug practicing using the infant carrier with a tolerant kitty

37 weeks and counting!

July Update

2010-07-22T12:41:00.000-07:00

THE MOVE!
So God has provided and we have moved again!
We moved the second week of June, and spent the first two days in our new apartment wet and sweltering. It turns out the main drainage line was blocked and because we're on the bottom floor we got the brunt of it, in addition to our A/C going out. Thankfully management jumped right on it, and we quickly got used to a giant fan blowing air under the carpet to dry it out. Even though this made our moving process more difficult and added significant stress, God placed friends around us to encourage us and we got through it. =) We delivered a long list of broken items and while they have been slow to come and repair, we are hoping that the rest of our stay here will be much more smooth and functional. Through it all God has shown us how much he cares for us through those He has placed in our lives at this time.
We are really enjoying being closer to our friends--who have really helped us out! Though we haven't been able to enjoy them yet, we are also looking forward to the many walking trails and pool that are now available to us.
Our new address is:
100 Fairforest Rd. Apt. K2
Columbia, SC 29212
Our cell numbers remain the same.

PREGNANCY

Shakespeare and Eddie enjoying the diaper 'cake'

The pregnancy continues to progress well, though Heike is still struggling with morning sickness. She is 36 weeks along now and we sure are looking forward to August! We were blessed with two wonderful baby showers as we try to figure out what we need and how to prepare for the new member of the family.

CADENCE
Malachi has officially changed it’s name to Cadence Student Ministries in an effort to be more closely associated with our parent organization, Cadence International, as well as to reduce confusion when explaining that organizational relationship.
We just got back from a Cadence conference and God really used it to encourage us. We were able to reconnect with our team who are already serving in Germany as well as those are still raising support to go. God renewed our hope as we face more support raising and we are so looking forward to serving Him in Germany. We had a very helpful meeting regarding our support situation and deficit. The BIG NEWS is: The contract was renewed for Germany, leaving us only 40-50% more of our support to raise!!! Our new target date for departure for Germany is June 2011. This may be ambitious, and we hold it with an open hand to God’s direction, but this gives us a goal to work towards. In regards to the deficit, Cadence is working with us on this so it will be taken care of and not hinder us going overseas. The bottom line is that we are hugely encouraged by these developments and rejuvenated in our drive and desire to reach the field as soon as possible. Please contact us if you have more questions. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have!

We can’t thank you enough for your love and support for us as we have struggled with getting to the field. While we need to wait for the baby to come first, we hope to begin to plan our next trip and visit many of you in the near future.

JOBS
Doug's job at the census is over and he is back to his old delivery job, but he is now running the office and got a raise. It was neat to see God work out several major issues such as pay, hours, and responsibilities that will allow Doug to stay in this job until we head to Germany. Heike particularly is thankful that he is now working somewhat regular hours! She has not been able to work lately because of her health, and we are not sure yet if she will go back to work after the baby gets here.

Thanks again for all your love and support!
Doug and Heike

Praise:

Contracts for Germany!
Encouraging time at Conference
Heike is 36 weeks along and baby is healthy!
Many blessings: our friends, apartment, and income that God has encouraged us with

Prayer:

The rest of our support to come in
Continued health for Heike and baby and wisdom and strength for us as new parents
Spiritual health and balance in our own lives as strive to put God’s priorities as our own and develop our relationship with HIM individually and together

Our update letter!

2010-05-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

OUR APOLOGIES!
We are so sorry! We have not communicated with you, our dear supporters, in such a long time. While there has been a lot going on, we feel bad that we have not been consistent in sharing with you all what God has been doing. In effort to keep this letter shorter then our last one =), we have a brief summary below. Please feel free to call us or ask us for more details.

OH BABY!

Heike is 25 weeks pregnant with a baby boy. She was very sick for at least 4.5 months, and pretty much lived on the couch with ginger ale as her dearest companion. Thankfully the past couple months have been better, and although she hasn’t felt wonderful, she is doing much better. We are very excited and looking forward to a new addition to our family in August.

MOVING AGAIN
We need to be out of the house we are in by the end of June, so Heike has been slowly packing up the house. Please PRAY with us as we search for somewhere to live.

NEW JOB
Doug started a job with the census as a supervisor a few months ago. He is enjoying the challenge of leading a crew of enumerators (the people who go door to door and ask you how many people live in your house). Even though Doug ends up working 50-60 hours a week, which limits our time together, this job is such an answer to prayer financially and we are thankful for the income it provides. Working with the census is temporary, however, and not guaranteed past July, so we would appreciate prayer in regards to where Doug should work next.

GERMANY/SUPPORT RAISING
Our new estimated departure month is January. We long to be in Germany in ministry with kids, but God is apparently not in a hurry! We are slowly making progress on our deficit with Cadence and truly appreciate your support in that area. We did speak at a church in SC a month ago, which went well. We are still planning to visit many of you, we are just not sure how to plan with a baby on the way. God has been teaching us a lot this past year and we are looking forward to seeing what He has in store for us!

We love you!

Our new cheap form of transportation! (Don’t worry, Heike isn’t riding it anymore)

PRAISE
- Our baby boy!
- God’s provision for us through a new job for Doug as well as other random checks which got us through a tough couple of months.
- Our Discovery Group

Our church “Discovery Group.” We meet three times a month, and these people have become family to us!

PRAYER
- Heike and baby’s health and wisdom as we prepare to be parents
- House to live in that we can afford
- Support situation: We feel like we are both constantly battling exhaustion in day-to-day life which makes it hard to focus on anything else.
- Finances after Doug’s job ends
- Heike’s dad is in town for a month, as her brother just got married last weekend. She had some really good times with her family.

2010-01-19T11:52:00.002-08:00

We’re moving! In two weeks we are moving to a new house here in Columbia. One of our favorite families has offered to rent their four bedroom house to us for the same price we are now paying for our mill village duplex. We have been looking for a new place to live for a long time due to the 100 year old, uneven, and steep steps in our current dwelling. Many thanks to the Franklins, a family who has blessed us in so many ways already, for this amazing blessing! Our new address (as of 6 February) is:

Doug and Heike Riddle

226 Steeple Dr

Columbia SC 29229

Other than that, we are continuing on as normal. Doug is still working as a delivery driver, though he is looking for a new job that has the same flexibility but better hours and pay. If you could pray for God to provide in this (or another) way, we would greatly appreciate it.

On the Partnership Development front, we have gone from a $16,000 deficit to an $11,000 deficit with Cadence in just the past three months. God is amazing in providing for our support needs and is well on His way in moving us to Germany. We are still around 45% of our monthly need, though, and are looking for individuals and churches to come alongside us in that respect.

Thank you for your prayers and support for us, they are always greatly appreciated! If there is any way that we can be praying for your family, please let us know.

Sudan Trip Letter

2009-04-19T17:47:00.000-07:00

Hey, sorry for the LONG silence. It's been a busy time for us.

We finally finished and sent out our letter on our trip to Sudan! If you'd like to get it by mail or e-mail, let me know. If I get a chance I'll just transpose it on here, but I don't want to guarantee that....

You can also check out: www.xanga.com/wordscrossedout (Doug’s travel blog) for more stories and pictures! He did a great job.

Traveling

2009-01-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

God provided all the money for our Sudan trip!!!! We stand amazed at how quickly and thoroughly He provided. All we have left to do is acquire some supplies as well as donations for the Sudanese and we're ready. We've even got Visas stamped in our passports. =)

Christmas was fun. We enjoyed our new cat, Shakespeare:

(Doug did not enjoy the Redskins losing--as you can see on the TV in the background)

Shakespeare 'helping' me wrap presents:

We had a lovely Christmas Eve with my family:

Christmas Day with Doug's family (which is all on our new video camera that Dad gave us)

and then a late Christmas with my aunts and uncles and cousins in Illinois.

We are now up north, on a fundraising trip. We visited people in IL, PA, and are headed to NJ tomorrow to speak at Doug's home church.

We head home next week, and I have to say, I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again with my fuzzy cats on top. =)

Halloween and Missions

2008-11-02T20:24:00.001-08:00

We're hoping to be able to go to Sudan next year in February for a 2 week medical mission trip. Heike went on this trip last year (see www.xanga.com/for_love_of_Akobo). We wanted to go this year too, but we would have gotten back two days before our wedding. We decided against it. =) However, raising support for a mission trip as well as to go to a different mission field is proving to be a difficult challenge.

We had a halloween party at youth group tonight. The group has grown slowly over the past couple months, which is exciting. The two girls on the left were new tonight, they are two of three kids in the group who are not chaplain kids. Check out Doug's new pirate hair-do:

Slowing down

2008-09-10T10:43:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been a while since I wrote, but thankfully, life has slowed down so there hasn't been much to write about.
Doug and I are still struggling with being sick a lot. We're both busy at work: me at the hospital with newborns and he at Fort Jackson with his youth group. Other then that, we've been doing some work on the house we're renting (when we feel up to it).
So, if you're reading this, please pray for our health. We really need to get moving on visiting people and trying to raise support.
Thanks!

More camp, Boston, and the Red Sox

2008-08-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

Doug is currently at camp with his Fort Jackson kids. It's a Young Life Camp in NC, Windy Gap. It's pretty impressive. I miss him, though, and can't wait for him to be home again. =)

The last few weeks have been busy with him getting ready for camp. I also took a trip with my parents-in-law up to Boston to see Doug's older brother, Keith, and his wife and 2 kids. I'm enjoying being able to be an aunt and getting to play with my 2 nephews.

We also played some games...

...saw some sights, and went to a Red Sox game!
Here we are standing in line for tickets:

We all had a great time, including Joseph. It was his first time going to see a baseball game.

On a side note, my arm is now better. After going from its previous state to this:

It's now almost back to normal!

Home again

2008-07-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

We're finally back home again, hurray!!

We finished up in CO with Cadence and then hurried to Myrtle Beach, SC to spend some time with Doug's family. I don't have any pictures yet, but it was a good time of playing with our 2 nephews, going to the beach, sleeping, eating yummy food, and sleeping some more. Unfortunately Doug and I both got a virus and were sick for a few days.

Then it was off to the MK Re-entry Retreat/Seminar at Bethel Camp in Gaston, SC. I have worked with this particular retreat each year for the past 4 years, and this year I was in charge. It's a retreat for kids who have grown up overseas or spent a considerable amount of time there. Most of them have just graduated high school and now they are coming back to the States for college.

Here's a picture of our group this year at the end of the week:

Thankfully, Doug was on staff (due to my recruitment =)) and took over for me the first day as I was still really sick. It was hardly a good way to start the week, pretty much all 6 of us staff were already worn out, but God used us anyhow. It was a great group, but a tough week, and Doug and I came home exhausted.

I unexpectedly ended up bringing something back with me:
It has since grown a little in size and turned incredible shades of yellow. It's the worst bruise I have ever had, so I had to show it off a little. =)

It's official!

2008-06-26T23:18:00.001-07:00

I'm a Cadence Missionary!

Candidacy in Colorado

2008-06-19T09:04:00.001-07:00

We are now in Dever, CO attending candidacy for me to join Cadence International.

It has been challenging because of how tired we are from mono, as well as emotionally draining esp. for me, but one of the things I love about Cadence is how open and honest and vulnerable these people are. They are broken people who aren't afraid to admit it. They have been through so much, yet now they are here, serving God and loving His other broken people--one of them being me. One of their 'Core Values' is transparency--they want you to be open with where you are and how you are, regardless of how ugly that may be. I feel like I have talked and shared more then I ever have in my whole life.

These are a few of the people who have meant a lot to me. (I found some old pictures of them on the Cadence website =))

daily life continues

2008-06-08T15:06:00.000-07:00

So we haven't been good at keeping up this site, but there hasn't been much to write about.

Doug continues to work at Fort Jackson with the youth there. It has been and still is frustrating for him as he waits for the contract to come through so he can work with the main post chapel in addition to the chaplain's kids. There are only 6 kids at the moment, and their parents kind of dictate what happens each week.

I am working at Providence Hospital full time on a medical floor. It's quite the switch from my newborns, but I am getting more experience which will hopefully serve me better when we go to Africa. It's been harder then I expected, mostly because I am still grieving my mom which saps me emotionally.

Physically Doug and I are both still fighting mono and trying to figure out a balance between getting done what we need to and getting rest.

We've also gone to our share of weddings this year. We went to another one yesterday and had the great joy of seeing one of our old friends again.

Until next time!

tired, tired, and more tired

2008-05-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Both Doug and I have mono. It started with the worst sore throat I've ever had and now both of us can't do much without getting exhausted after simple little tasks. Perhaps God is trying to slow me down. I tend to function off "To-do Lists" that run continually throughout my head and so I have trouble relaxing.

Thankfully, I'm transitioning to another position in another hospital, so it was relatively easy to put that on hold for a couple weeks. Unfortunately, Doug doesn't get as much of a chance to slow down, but at least his job is pretty flexible, so he can sleep in between stuff.

Here's to couches and movies!

Starting the process...

2008-04-30T13:31:00.000-07:00

Doug and I are working on sending monthly updates by e-mail.
We need to establish a base of prayer support, etc. as we hope to head to Germany next year.

So, if any of these appeal to you:
1. you would like to hear from us regularly
2. you would like more information on what we're going to be doing
3. you would like to support us by prayer or financially
4. you would like to meet with us (even because you miss us!)
5. you would like to offer your church for us to speak at
Please e-mail us back. =)

Any suggestions, etc. are welcome. It's kinda intimidating to start this whole support raising thing, but we know God wants us in Germany working with military kids and we're looking forward to what he's going to do.

Love you guys,

Heike (and Doug)

Our New Site

2008-04-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

So I'm still trying to figure out how to set all this up, but our purpose is so that people can stay in touch with us and keep up with where God takes us.
Plus it gives us a place to post pictures! =)