Cate Family and C.C.M. Update July 2011 :)

Well folks, it is official, we have to change our blog name! We became the Cate 9 on June 27th when Isaiah Douglas Cate was born weighing in at 7lbs, 7 oz., which just happens to be the perfect weight for baby number 7. 
The surgery went well, the hospital stay was not the best, but it was all good because only two short days after the C-section we were able to go home. The kids quickly fell in love with the baby that they affectionately call “Baby Dougie” and they have all adjusted well to another brother.
We were blessed to have Nate’s mom and brother Joel here for a three week visit. They were a HUGE help with the kids and house the last couple of weeks that I was pregnant and for the first week after we brought the baby home. We also have been blessed to have some friends here to help with the church from another Calvary in Sao Vicente. Kaka has been helping teach on Wednesday nights as well as leading worship. Our church body has fallen in love with both Kaka and Lillian and we will be so sad to see them go.
The church is doing really good. We had to leave the church building a few weeks ago and we have been bouncing between meeting in hotels and houses since then. It really is not the ideal situation but we have been able to see the Lord at work drawing us closer to Him and closer as a body during this transition time. The church body has just been awesome in their flexibility. We are continuing to look for another building and we are still praying that we find something soon.
The ministry with the kids in the community is still going strong. They had to take a break from the Surf School because of the cold weather and fishing season but they have continued to have other things for the kids on Saturdays until they are able to surf again. Last Saturday the guys took the kids to a turtle reservation and the kids loved it! For the next few weeks they will be teaching the kids Nate’s personal favorite sport- BASKETBALL! I am not sure who is going to have more fun, Nate or the kids.
So all in all we are doing well. We have a healthy baby, the family is good, and the church is good. We do however have a few prayer requests (as always).
A few days after coming home from the hospital I got another hernia. I have dealt with hernias in the past, but this one is huge, about the size of an apple (totally gross I know), and I am in lots of pain because of it. No, I was not doing too much, I really was taking it easy, all I did was stand up and “POP” she goes. The doctor said that we need to wait for three months before I can have surgery and I need to take it REALLY easy until then to make sure I don’t make matters worse. So I have pretty much been resting and in bed with the baby since this happened and Nate has been on full time Daddy Duty, Pastor Duty, and Husband of a sick wife Duty.
Please be praying for Nate in the next few months. He is going to have a full plate to be sure.
I have waited to share this prayer request with the blog world for a few reasons, one because I don’t want people to worry, and two because I don’t want people to think that we are giving up or over stressed. When I first got the hernia I was SO bummed. I kept asking the Lord why He was letting this happen. I don’t want to have ANOTHER surgery, I didn’t want to be on bed rest for 3 months - I have 7 kids and a husband to take care of! I didn’t know why in the world the Lord would allow us to go through yet another trial right as we were on the tail end of a difficult pregnancy, and to be honest I am still not sure why the Lord is allowing this to happen, but I know that He is in control and I trust Him.
During the pregnancy I felt as though we were stretched to our limit but the Lord taught me so much during those months. I was so blessed to feel the love of other Calvary Chapels here in Brazil as well as in the U.S. just encouraging us, supporting us, and reminding us that the Lord is in control even when we are going through trials. We were again reminded that when we are weak HE is strong.
We are counting on HIM and HIS strength to get us through the next few months. We are so blessed by all that He is doing in the church, in our family, and in the people in Brazil. I can’t wait to see what He has in store for us in the coming months! We are serving an AWESOME God!!