Dan Gould

Tag: Marriage

  • Thanksgiving Rewind!!!!

    We had a great Thanksgiving with our family.  As we drove from place to place it gave me some time to think about all the things I am thankful for.  So here is a short list of the things I am thankful for:

    1. Jesus – I am not trying to sound super spiritual here but I would not be where I am today if it wasn’t for Jesus. At a young age giving my life to Christ was something I did because I wanted to go to Heaven.  At 18, when I learned more about what it truly meant to be a Christian changed my life forever.  Today, I am so thankful for His grace, mercy, and blessings.  Every time I look at the things in my life I am reminded of how good God is!
    2. My Family – I can’t imagine life without my family of 4.  It has been a challenging year with Jackson being in and out of the hospital with really non-related things, but to be honest, we are so blessed and it really could be much worse.  Seeing Stephanie smile and hearing her laugh still lights me up on the inside like it did the first day we met.  Josiah is growing so fast!  Watching him look and experience new things in life helps me remember what it was like to be a kid and experience things all over again!  Jackson has a way just to brighten any situation.  From his laugh to his babble, when I look at him i see the miracle of God and am reminded just how precious life is and how faithful God is!
    3. My Extended Family – Stephanie and I come from very different families.  Our families have played such a huge role in developing us, caring for us, and helping us succeed in life.  It’s always good to come home, and sad to leave because the time goes by so fast.  The boys have had a blast with the family over the past couple of days.  We are so blessed and the boys are so spoiled because of them.
    4. Our Church Family – We have been humbled and blessed by the generosity of our church family.  Words can’t even explain the feelings of gratitude we have.  To be loved on in such a big way spoke to the depths of our hearts.  All we can say is thank you!
    5. Our Friends – We have great friends around the nation.  Your prayers, time,  and words of encouragement have been a blessing to us.

    What about you, did you take time to think or talk about the things you are thankful for?  What would your list include?

  • Family Update

    Several People have been praying and asking about us so I thought i would let everyone know our status.

    We think we have made it out of the tuff days of Jackson’s recovery.  Days 4-7 were really hard, especially at night.  Jackson who normally takes meds very easily and drinks like you wouldn’t believe, started to refuse everything because his throat hurt so bad.  Thankfully, Nana has been here for the duration of Jackson’s surgery and recovery.  It is so helpful having an experienced Mother (not to take away from my wife at all, but Nana thought of stuff that just showed her experience of raising 3 kids).  It will be sad to see her leave tomorrow, maybe she will stay through Sunday, who knows!

    Josiah has been a great big brother.  He prays everyday for our house to sell and for Jackson’s throat to heal.  This week he has memorized Hebrews 13:8 and just today we started working on John 14:6.  So when you see him ask him what his memory verse is.  He is very excited about doing this and also asks every morning if we can have our early time.  That’s what Josiah calls my quiet time.  Today he joined me.  It was so awesome!  I think God is going to use Josiah in a big way!

    I have been developing new habits when it comes to my health.  I have totally cut out cafine.  Which is huge for a guy that would drink coke for breakfast, at every meal, and late into the night.  With this and adding a walking regiment to my week i feel better and have lost about 10 pounds.  While I walk I have been listening to  some podcast of Steven Furtick, Perry Noble, Ed Young Jr, Erwin McManus, Matt Chandler, and Andy Stanley.  It is still knew but I am loving it and being challenged and inspired.

    Stephanie will celebrate her B-day on Tuesday.  She deserve way more than I can give her, but maybe we can celebrate with a date night.  It would be good just for us to be able to get away without the kids and be able to focus on each other for a couple of hours.  Lord knows all of our attention has been on other things over the last couple of weeks.  We had such a great time in Cali to come home to such a intensly stressfull and scary time with Jackson.

    We continue to pray that God would be our provider.  He has been so good to us so far and as I listened to Perry Nobles talk during the one prayer series I want to live dangerously for Jesus.  I want to be a person that focus on what God is going to do next with great excitement and expectation.

  • Anniversary – Six Years of Marriage Bliss

    That’s right, today is our six year anniversary.  Yes, Stephanie has put up with me for six years and I look forward to many more years together.  I think she does also!!!

    We started the night out at Terilli’s.  Last year a couple of people got us a gift card to Terilli’s and we loved it.  The food was good and the atmosphere was great.  However, last night the atmosphere was still great, but the food and the service not so good!  We came with great expectation but left with less than average experience.  If it wouldn’t have been for the Dark Chocolate Seduction cake, we would have really left disappointed in the food.

    Following dinner, we decided to go see the Dark Night.  Great movie, not for kids, and very long.  There is one point that I thought the movie was going to end but then it continues for almost another 45 minutes.  We both liked it! A lot of action and the story line is pretty darn good!

    Last Night, was fun!  I look forward to growing old together!  Here is a pic for my Jeep before we went on our adventure!

    This is the pic Stephanie likes, I think I look anoid and not that excited. There is a better pic of both of us but she didn’t like her hair in them!