life as an ostovic

mike arnold
Originally uploaded by dostovic.

This is mike arnold.

For the past month I have been faced with the reality that this guy is moving to persue an AMAZING opporunity at a church in Las Vegas, Nevada. Boy am I excited for Him and his family, but boy am I at a loss for words too. These past few weeks my mind has been flooded with many memories involving him.

You know, he is one of those people who I would have never thought that I would become close with, and through whom I would never have thought God would teach me so much about myself and life. I will miss having him around.

So who is this guy?

Arnold is larger than life. At least that is how he lives life, and it is so inspiring to those around him. His “grab life by the horns” mentality is very contagious and only every now and then gets him into trouble.

Arnold is the jock. Very passionate about anything athletic and extremely competative . . . in a good way.

Arnold is also a true rennesaince man! Yes you herd it from me. Not only is he a jock, but he is also passionate about those artsy, creative kind of things. And beneath that tough guy appearance is a man who is in touch with his feelings. : )

But most of all Arnold is pasionate about truth, meaning in life, hanging with Jesus, and sharing this perspective on life with as many people who will listen. But it is so much more than preaching at someone like so many do on TV. Mike really cares! He really does. And he is quick to admit that he does not have it all figured out and continues to make many mistakes.

Arnold is real, raw, authentic, pasionate, excentric, creative, visiosary, inspiring, chanllenging, kind, loving, caring, and a really good friend.

So why did I make you read this post about someone who most of you do not know? Well, I am just struck by an amazing sence of gratitude for knowing him and I needed to share that with all of you. He and his wife Rachelle are two amazing people that have made our (Melanie and Me) lives so much richer. I am a better person for knowing Mike, and I just needed to confess that to you all, and I needed to say thank you to him. So here goes . . .

Mike you have helped make me who I am today. I feel as if you got the short end of the stick so far in our friendship. Hopefully I can change that in the future. Thank you.

D

p.s. Check out Mike & Rachelle’s new church right here.
p.s.s. If you have something to share about mike and rachelle, why not post a comment here? : )

akron skyline
Originally uploaded by dostovic.

well the title says it best . . . the autumn chill has begun. I do not know if many of you appreciate this wonderful season of change like Melanie and I, but we LOVE it!!!

This season reminds me that I have always been a person who enjoys change. I am one of those people who has to rearrange their living room every few months, and has their desktop image changing every five minutes. (NO KIDDING, every five minutes!) Anyway, although I like change, it still is not easy and isn’t that just a kick in the pants! Melanie and I are currently in a big season of change. Jack our son is on the way, (the furniture and miriad of baby stuff has started to collect), my sister is getting married, and a few other things are going on. All of these remind me that change is good, but not easy. It is kind of one of those hard goods. Kind of like running that last 100 meters of a run. You do not really know how good it is till it has passed. So with great expectation and blind faith, I embrace this fall of change.

Oh, one more thing, it is so nice to have friends and family who are living this fall of change right beside us. Thanks to all of you for just being there. : )

derrak

p.s. this is a picture of our fair city Akron, OH taken by a good friend and fellow akronite, john ziebro

Things are getting a little more interesting around here! I’ve been feeling so much better and doing much more. I feel like I have crawled out of my hibernation hole. This weekend we did our “fall cleanup” of the yard, brought my herbs indoors, emptied all the flowerpots, etc. Many of you know that Autumn is my absolute FAVORITE season- so I am loving the cool air, wind, changing leaves…most of all the SMELL OF FALL!!!!

The exciting news is that the same day we had our ultrsound, I began feeling the baby move and have felt him every day since then. It is SO AWSESOME to feel him move. It still takes my breath away when he moves, I am so amazed by it. It’s starting to feel more familiar, not so foreign. I can feel him move all over my belly. Finally the other day Derrak was able to feel him move for the first time. It was really fun to find out that he is a boy, and him move all on the same day. It-rather HE became so much more real on that day. Now I actually feel pregnant, not just sick and with a strange appetite. We’re collecting baby items getting ready for him. Only 18 more weeks!!!!! The whole 9 months of pregnancy is kind of a crock- it’s really more like 10 months (40 weeks- some months have 4 weeks, some have 5). So, I prefer to count my progress in weeks. We’re still undecided on the baby’s name. We still like Jackson Edward, but I’m not ready to make such a big decision quite yet. Some people have begun calling the baby “Frank”. It won’t happen- but it is fun.

Thanks to all of you who have left our comments on our blog. I love hearing from you!!!!!

smile!
Originally uploaded by dostovic.

Well, here are the lasest images of our son. Boy it is really strange to say that. To be honest I was anticipating a girl, and it was quite a paradigm shift to know that I was going to have a son. I do not quite understand it, but it is totally different to think about having a boy, verses having a girl.
I am very exited though, and cannot wait to goof off, run around, wrestle, and just have great dad and son time. Of course I have a few years before all that happens.

Well, I hope that you enjoy these images, Feel free to comment if you like.

derrak

We were very excited to find out today that we will be having a son! So much for mother’s intuition! I don’t know why I felt as though it was a girl, just did. So, I had to do some serious gear switching and go from pink to blue mentally!

We did have a scary moment when the boy was not cooperating and I was fearful we would not get to find out the baby’s sex. That would not have been fun. We are very, very excited. Tonight I just had to buy a few cute boy clothing items- I think it’s good for the bonding experience, don’t you? :) Let the baby preparations begin!!!

It’s weird how quickly things changed- to go from just being pregnant to knowing that we have a son inside. It feels more real now. Plus the ultrasound was so cool to see the parts of the brain, spine, chambers of the heart, etc. Pretty soon I’ll be able to feel HIM move a lot, and you all will be able to as well. :)

Today as I observed children I found myself thinking things like, “Oh, there’s a little girl. We’re not having one of those. Oh okay.” Or, “Look at that pre-teen boy. Someday mine will be that big and old.” Now that is weird. For us it’s super fun to know that there is a baby boy growing in me. For a while it was fun to think, “God Himself is the only one who knows if there is girl baby or boy baby in my tummy.” I liked knowing that God knew and we did not. It reminded me of what an amazing Creator God is.

Well, we’re chilling on a Friday night. We had some Bellicino’s for dinner, followed by a visit with some friends, and some Handel’s ice cream. The baby likes ice cream. Derrak bought a new Blue Man Group DVD and I think I’ll join him!