Stacy and I thought that an update was in order—so much of life has changed in these past few months that it seems like a great excuse to send snail mail, complete with a picture of our family and an update on our involvement in a mission project in the Middle East!

Elisha Scott Fowler was born on Saturday, March 22^nd weighing 6lbs and 4oz via c-section. Everything about his arrival was a surprise, we didn’t even find out our baby’s gender until we got to see him for the first time! Most first steps as new parents proved very hard for us, for Stacy in particular. We are blessed to have had very good doctors and nurses, very helpful family, and encouraging friends to pray for us and help us through the weeks of adjustment. But we have learned a lot the hard way and are passing along the news: be prepared, prayerful, and ready to change your plans as a parent at a moment’s notice. Don’t set your expectations so high that you are disappointed by the challenges you face as a parent. The books often paint too “average” a picture to adapt it to your child. And remember: you are blessed to live in a world where pregnancy and childhood are VERY VERY safe compared to every other generation that lived before modern medicine!!!

So many new perspectives come to life in Scripture when you are having a child of your own…the pain and trials of loss and infertility become frighteningly real, every verse of parenting becomes alive with meaning, and the life of Jesus—who was a baby—becomes so interesting! Many of these thoughts are finding their way onto Patrick’s blog at blog.pathfinders.training if you are interested in reading them.

Since Eli’s birth, Patrick’s been busy on the house—creating a garden and a chicken house for Stacy to plant and manage on her 16 week maternity leave. Being close to nature is being close to God for Stacy, so we are doing all we can to create an awesome home for her and our child(ren). We expect to have lots of cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and eggs this summer. If you are in Clarksville, be sure to let us share the wealth in fruits and vegetables if things go well!

We are also using Stacy’s temporary freedom from work to build more relationships. Having her home daily, rather than after 6-7pm most days is awesome! She’s able to become a very experienced caretaker for Eli and she can plan to join me for dinner with friends or with people we are getting to know in the community without exhausting herself. While Stacy’s job provides good health insurance and a great income, we are VERY hopeful that we can find opportunities for Stacy to work less and less in the future so that we can continue to use every opportunity to share the love of Christ without taking time away from our relationship and our family. Keep us in your prayers for a good future job in that respect. It’s hard to make enough as a pastor to support a stay at home mom, but I am hopeful that we can manage money and opportunities in a way that makes that a reality.

Stacy and I are blessed beyond belief. We wouldn’t trade our life for another, knowing that our circumstances and challenges are nothing compared to most of the world. We send this out to you in hopes that you will thank God for His blessings to us and to you, and that you’ll let us know how we can pray for and stay in touch with you too.

Sincerely,
Patrick and Stacy