Coming soon...

Hello friends,
Elisha Titus should be making his debut soon. I feel great most days, and I am thankful to God that I've had a healthy, straight-forward pregnancy this time.
This is such a precious time, carrying a little one inside. What a powerful and mysterious experience. I look forward, though, to holding him in my arms instead of in my (rather large) belly.
My heart is so full, but at the same time, so heavy for dear friends of ours whose little lovely Olive was born prematurely in Thailand. She is so sweet and fragile. I can't imagine the emotional weariness that her parents must be feeling as they spend their days with her and the other families with babies in the hospital.
Mitchell is busy, busy, busy these past weeks. He maintains a joyful attitude in the midst of it, and makes it a priority to spend time each day with me and Johnathon, for which I am so grateful to him. He is preaching and teaching classes more lately, and I get a real kick out of hearing him speak. He has come so far, and I always learn new things from the Holy Spirit speaking through him.
Johnathon celebrated his 3rd birthday recently, and is truly growing in independence! He seems so grown-up to me, and I am continually amazed at all the new things he is learning. His health seems to be improving, and we are so happy about the foods we've been able to add back in his diet. Still a no-go on the gluten and dairy, however.
These days he is happy spending time with his friends and cousins, still loves to read (Dr. Seuss is a favorite), and is quite the singer--especially of praise songs. He belts out tunes everywhere he goes. And he is really getting into art, and loves to experiment with making paintings with unlikely objects. The other day he was painting with a feather from the feather duster and some Q-tips. It turned out pretty cool.
Blessings to all of you...hope my next post has some cute little baby pics!
Love, Rochelle

good times & happy news

Johnny loves Thomas the Tank Engine, so we started him on this trainset.

Puzzles are one of our favorite things to do together lately

What a character!

Surprise! Our kid loves music. :)

Oh yes, and then there's the news...My belly is sticking out....I've lived through the morning (all-day) sickness...and I'm running to the restroom every 5 minutes. Could it be? Yes, it's true. I'm pregnant. Hurray! We're looking forward to meeting either Elisha or Fiona Senti around November 17. So far things are going great with the pregnancy. No bed rest, yet (I spent 10 weeks laying down last time). And I have a midwife this time, and plan to have a natural birth at the birth center, instead of the hospital. Nothing wrong with the hospital, just want a different experience this time. :)

We are so excited! Johnny has told me that he plans to have the baby sleep with him. :) And he thinks it's a girl. We'll see. I learned my lesson last time, after people 'prophesied' that Johnny would be a girl...one friend even had a 'vision'. So please, all you well-meaning friends, no predictions!

Coming along dread-fully

Ok, I'm still on the web. Had another little thing on my mind. Literally, sitting on top of my brain--my dreads.

They are much shorter than before. Not only have they been shrinking as they lock up (this is normal), I did have to chop a bit off. They were getting, shall we say, a bit too 'swirly' in shape. I felt a little like Medusa.

A friend who's staying with us for a while has been helping me out with them. He is actually a professional dreadlock stylist. Yup.

Why, you may ask, are you doing this to your hair?

Many, many answers to that question.

The first being: I LOVE the way they look. Exotic, earthy, tribal, hippy, wild...they are so lovely to me!

two: I want them to be a marker of time in my life. I'm starting them along with my entrance into Motherhood, and plan to keep them (at least) until my kids are out of the house. This may seem like a LONG time (it is!) but dreads take a while to 'mature' and even after that, they change over time and go through different stages.

Perhaps I can share some more of my reasons in future blogs if anyone's interested.

I do get asked A LOT of questions about them, so here's some quick FAQ's:

Do you wash your hair? yes, actually more often than I did before. I wash them every 4 days or do with a combination of Dr. Bronner's soap, baking soda, and borax (a little concoction that seems to work well for me). I also rinse them with sea salt, and lemon juice occasionally.

Can you take them out? no. When I'm done with them, I'll either have to shave them off, or let my roots grow out for a long while, and cut my hair short.

Aren't dreads just for hippies and Rastafarians? Actually, dreadlocks are a very, very old practice that can be seen in history in many different places. Some theorize that Samson had dreads. Yes, many Rastafarians have dreads, since they are connected to their history. And there are many hippies with dreads. I suppose some people I know might be tempted to slap that label on me from time to time. But I know SO many people with dreads, it's almost sickening how popular it is in Bellingham right now! I've already given one friend dreads, and had at least two other inquiries (maybe I should start a little business).

How do you make dreads? well, there's a few methods out there. The simplest (and longest) being neglect. Just stop doing anything to your hair, and you might get dreads. :) But the path I've taken is backcombing my whole head in little sections, and then rolling the baby dreads between my palms on a daily basis. My friend Rob has been weaving the extra hair into the dreads, and has shown my how to knot up my roots by weaving them through. It's looking pretty cool!

I've included a really funky shot of the back of my head. Kind of makes me look like I have big bushy back hair, huh? :) It's a little hard to see, sorry...

Back to the Blog...

It's been a while again.

Is anyone still checking this blog? :)

Here's funny little vignette from the Senti home:

So Johnny (as he calls himself now) has a GREAT sense of humor. He's pretty quiet around anyone other than his folks, but around the house, he's hilarious.

The other day we're eating dinner together at the kitchen table. And he starts out,

"My grandkids... my grandkids' names are Sandy and Candy. Their parents don't listen to them! The playground is falling down, and they just don't listen!"

I questioned him further on these two new members of the family.

He replied, "You're a great grandma!"

And after Mitch questioned him on their ages he said (without blinking an eye), "They are one and two" (he is now 2 1/2 himself).

Don't know how he comes up with this stuff, but it's amazing!

Books that will knock your socks off...

Hello friends,
I have forgotten to write in a while, mostly due to my current feast of reading materials...which I have eagerly devoured! :)

If you have never heard of Rolland and Heidi Baker, and you love Jesus, then you NEED to hear about what God is doing through her. Read their book "Always Enough" and do it as soon as you can. And then surrender to Jesus again. I am so inspired by the power of the Gospel through their example. If you are at all apathetic, or jaded, or tired in your relationship with Jesus, please read this book. Wow, I'm getting all worked up just writing this!

And then I've been immersed in "Chasing the Dragon" by Jackie Pollinger. Another amazing testimony of the power of the Gospel to change lives. Ms. Pollinger was called as a young, naive woman to the darkest parts of Hong Kong--the "Walled City"--where heroin, gangs, and prostitution ruled. But God led her through many experiences to reach people, and to see amazing transformation in people's lives.

Some of you who read this blog work in "ministry jobs". Now, I think that anyone can minister through any job, but you know what I refer to...missionaries, pastors, counsellors. It's so easy to lose heart. I have to admit, I'm at a point where I don't see much of anything doing anyone any good, except that Jesus comes through for people. Every day I fellowship with dear souls who are trapped in their woundedness, mental illness, addiction, and poverty. Sex offenders. Crazy people. Chronically homeless folks. Alot of 'programs' can fix up little aspects of their lives. And that's good. But nothing, NOTHING can fix the inner woundedness that these symptoms stem from....except JESUS. And He really can heal and make whole.

Ok, I could preach for an hour, but I'll stop. Just read the books, and marvel at what God is DOING, and what He CAN DO. And then let Him do it through you.

Back from Vacation

Oh my, we had a great time last week in Montana. Out in the Yaak wilderness, acres and acres of lodgepole pines, rolling over hills, filled with white-tailed deer, and crisscrossed with cold glacier streams. A little taste of heaven for us--since Mitchell and I both imagine ourselves living in a log cabin by a lake in the new earth. Who knows, it will probably be way beyond what we can imagine...but whatever the case, we were certainly touching on some heavenly rest.

Now we're back in the wet, dark Fall of NW WA. Anyone out there have any suggestions as to how to keep one's spirits up in this dreariness? I

've been trying to read uplifting and inspiring things (like the Bible), but also good books. Just started an amazing book, called "Always Enough" by Rolland and Heidi Baker. These guys have a ministry in Mozambique to orphans, and also go into the villages and share the gospel. But this is no regular ministry. The Bakers live by faith, not sight. They experience miracles on a daily basis. Miracles of provision, healing, and even people being raised from the dead. Yes, friends, God still does these things today. And the people of Mozambique are truly blessed--they know their need for God. The gospel is spreading like a fire. There are thousands of churches that have been planted.

It's awesome!

I'm also reading "Country Wisdom and Know-How", a book jam-packed with little entries about everything from raising rabbits to making herbal poultices. I've been working out in the yard quite a bit, tending our raspberries, elderberries, and picking lots of tomatoes! I'm so inspired by this book, I feel a bit overwhelmed by all the things I want to get done before winter. :)

self portrait

Johnathon got ahold of the camera the other day. He's already a brilliant artist, as you can see: He doesn't quite get it yet that you look through the back of the camera. He puts his eye right up to the lens on the front. We'll keep working on it. :)

I call this next one: Mom Gone Goth

He did manage this nice shot of my foot.

More flattering than the last one.

But looks like I need a bit more time in the sun. :)