All summer, we've heard from the wonderful women of SEBTS and caught up with their ministry and travels around the world.  Today's post will catch you up on what we have been up to here in Women's Life.  It's been an awesome summer! 

Denise's summer

This has been a summer of pressing forward toward the goal. What is that goal, you might ask? Well, the goal is graduation in December with my EdD! 

Even though that has consumed most of my time outside of work, we were blessed with a visit from our oldest daughter, Courtney, and her family. We went on a frog hunt, played at Monkey Joe's with cousins, saw Despicable Me 2, had a pool party with cousins, and had dessert every night. It was lots of fun, and I really miss them when they are back home in Savannah. 

Another highlight of the summer was visiting with several missionaries. We celebrated Lincoln’s one year birthday with Josh and Allison, spent a weekend with long-time friends who have been serving in South America, and had dear friends spend the night with us on the way to two months of training.

Summer went by way too fast, but we were blessed immensely!

Carrie's summer

Whew . . . this summer has been such a unique time for my husband and me!  Typically, summers for us include the normal working schedule, a few trips to the beach, long evenings spent with family and friends, community mission projects, and of course – church softball games!  Besides an amazing trip to Ohio to see my brother’s BAPTISM, this summer has been quite different.

You see, Cameron and I are in the process of adoption.  There will be a baby boy born in October who will need a family to love him and a home to live in, and we are fortunate enough to be that family.   We are also in the process of selling our home.  Life for us at this moment could be described with one simple word – PAPERWORK.

In the midst of all the busyness and hectic deadlines, the stress and demanding schedules, we are reminded by the Lord that this is a season and we can take joy in Him and His provision during this time.  I think we are learning the meaning of the phrase, “Be faithful in the small things.”  During a summer like this, where hours of leisure are non-existent, we are learning to do what we can when we can.  The grace of God is such a beautifully sustaining presence in our lives and we are so grateful to know we serve a good Father who cares for us and guides us in every step of this journey.

Even though this summer is not full of grand overseas travels or hours with our hands deep in summer mission work, it is full of trying to remain faithful in the midst of chaos.  For this season, we are thankful, and for God’s faithfulness, we are forevermore grateful!

Liani's Summer

This has been my first summer in North Carolina, and our family has taken advantage of all the really cool free amenities and events available.  We have taken a few Saturday day trips to the different North Carolina Beaches, as well.  We leave early, allow the kiddos to wear themselves out while we watch them play, and then they sleep wonderfully that night, usually even on the ride back to Wake Forest.

I also had the very unusual experience of meeting some siblings that I had never met before.  While my husband and kiddos spent some time visiting relatives and friends back in Arkansas, I went to the state of Washington, along with 1 sister I grew up with, to meet 2 younger siblings from Washington, and 2 older siblings from the Netherlands.  Thank goodness they spoke English!  We met to celebrate the 75^th birthday of our biological father.  It was a neat introduction to family and relationships that I will continue to kindle, because while we share our biological father, we do not all share a heavenly Father.

Year round elementary school began this past Monday for my children, seminary is around the corner for my spouse, and I will soon take another BWI Class or two.  For our family, hectic-ness is approaching, but I am pleased to say our first summer in North Carolina has been enjoyable!

Megan's Summer

This summer has been a memorable one for me, and it's not over yet. We had fun visits from both sets of our parents, and we spent much of our time working and simply enjoying a (wet) NC summer.  There were weddings, and my roommates (FINALLY) returned from their year of mission work in East Asia.  Greg and I celebrated our first anniversary by taking our first ever trip to the Outer Banks. It was a beautiful, restful time, and I thank the Lord for our first year!  

Quite soon, we will also be heading out to Montana to hike around Glacier National Park with my family. Glacier is currently #1 on my "places in the world I want to go" list, and we're going to make the most of it! We will be backcountry camping with my cousins for 2 nights, and then we will hike out on the 3rd day to spend the rest of our time with our family at Many Glaciers Lodge. 

We'll get back just in time for the hustle and bustle of New Student Orientation and the start of the fall semester. Greg will be starting his second year of seminary, and I'll keep working as we work to pursue relationships with our community. And we'll continue to grow closer as we enter year 2 of our marriage :)

This summer, we have highlighted SEBTS women and their suggestions for summer reading. Today's post is from Fawn Burkett, a professor’s wife, a mom, and a mentor.  Read on to discover her good summer reads…

 Calm My Anxious Heart
by Linda Dillow 

This is a book for those of us who are "worriers". It talks about learning to be content and trusting God. It has study questions in the back and can be done with a group or by yourself. I've read it twice in a group study and found it encouraging to discuss it with other women.

Passion and Purity

by Elisabeth Elliot

  This is a great book for single women. When I was single a friend of mine let me borrow her copy. I loved it so much I bought my own copy and recommended it to my single friends. This book is about Jim and Elisabeth's relationship and the importance of waiting on God and putting His desires ahead of our own. It helped me to not be discouraged or get ahead of God but be content to wait on Him and His plans for my life (especially in relationships).

 

Predator 

 by Terri Blackstock

 Terri Blackstock is one of my favorite Christian fiction authors. In this book she addresses some of the dangers of social media (such as Facebook) and why women should be careful when posting information about themselves. This was a suspenseful book to me because even though it is fictional I felt the story was very real. It has helped me to be more discerning and selective when using social media.

 

 Hi! My name is Fawn Burkett. My husband is John Burkett who is the director of the Writing Center and teaches English in the College. We met in a church singles group in Fort Worth, Texas where I'm from.  I have one son and I'm a stay at home mom. I love to read at night during my "down time". I mainly read Christian fiction and love a good mystery/suspense. I also read to my son who loves books and his favorite time of the day is storytime. I also like hiking with my family and baking sweets (and eating them!).