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God has blessed me with a wonderful family! It all started when I met Patrick. I was 16 and he was 17 (2 days from being 18). (January 1993) I was working at Burger King and he came in with one of his friends, which was also a friend of mine. He introduced us and basically "set us up". (Thank you, Brian Burch!) We had never met and didn't realize we went to the same high school! I was very attracted to this gorgeous guy and whenever we were together we would laugh and have such a great time together. We spent the next 6 months together, and loving every minute we had. Then, in June 93 he graduated from high school (I was a junior) and in July he left for the Air Force. Even though we were definitely a couple, we had never talked about serious things...until he left. Within hours of him leaving I missed him so much that it hurt. I lived for every phone call and every letter I would get from him. We realized we loved being together, and hated being apart. On November 22nd he finally was able to come home for a visit and it was then that he proposed (I was a senior in high school) Our original plan was to wait until I went to college for a year then we would marry, but....as we started planning our wedding, we realized we wanted to get married as soon as I graduated. My parents were in agreement, so we scheduled our wedding for July 2, 1994. It was a wonderful day and I'm so thankful that I'm Mrs. Patrick Gimenez. Patrick is the love of my life and we are best friends. We are exact opposites in so many ways, but love the very same things.
Patrick was born in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. He and his family moved to Florida when he was 12. After we met, my youth Pastor, Shawn Smith, showed Patrick his need of a Savior and Patrick accepted Christ on March 4, 1993. In 1996 He answered God's call to be a preacher. I'm so thankful I married a preacher! He loves the Lord and is a faithful spiritual leader of our family. Patrick is a fabulous father and loves to have fun with his children. He's still a kid at heart and loves to play. He's also a wonderful husband. He's the best! He takes care of me and truly adores me. God has been so good to me to give me Patrick. We've always worked together, bus routes, Sunday school classes, youth activities. We are a team and I love that my man wants us to work side by side. When we are old and wrinkled and gray, we will be able to say that we "grew up together" and have loved spending our lives together. People often are shocked at how young we were when we got married. Yes! We were very young, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I don't feel like I've missed out on anything. We've made so many memories together , I can't wait to see what the future holds!
Joshua is our oldest baby. He accepted Christ very young, at the age of 3 1/2. He has grown into a fine young man that makes us proud. He is Patrick's right hand man in the ministry and works so hard! He's the Song Leader/Choir Director, Youth Man, Junior Church Director, Teen Leader, IT Design Guy....you name it, He does it!! He married a beautiful young lady, Tabitha, that has become one of my girls. So thankful for our closeness! I'm also now a grandmother! Although I prefer to be called Lolli. So thankful for Liberty Ann, Freedom Joy, Victory Belle and Patriot Stearns!
Elisabeth is our oldest daughter. For her birth we decided to have her at home with a midwife attending. Well...she came so quickly that the midwife didn't make it until 5 minutes after her birth. Her Daddy delivered her! Beth (as I call her, even though now she prefers Elisabeth) was saved when she was 6. She's a faithful prayer warrior and has a detailed list of prayer requests. She reads her Bible so faithfully and is an example to her family. She's our church secretary and diligently and discreetly keep the financial side of VSIBC going. She's an aspiring writer and has many books in her head, on computer, and on paper. She's always writing and researching for her next book. I'm excited to say that her first book was published and is now available on Amazon. Way to go Beth!
Brenna was our next baby in line. Like her sister, she was way too fast for the midwife and had to be delivered by her Daddy. She accepted Christ when she was 5 1/2. Brenna is bubbly and full of personality. She is now a married lady and technically Mrs. Blankenship. The story of AJ and Brenna is a wonderful, romantic story of God bringing together two people that were created for each other. She is also now a Mommy and Asa Carl has stolen everyone's hearts! Her talent at playing the piano is amazing! I love to hear her play.
Silas Boone was next and born exactly 9 1/2 years after Brenna. No, he's not a surprise, but a planned blessing. Patrick and I realized we weren't too old to have more and decided to have another precious baby. Silas brings us so much joy and laughter. He loves to read, play football and play games. He faithfully takes good care of his little goat herd and is learning so much in the process! God has called him to preach and he has preached a couple of times. What a blessing this boy is!Callie Grace is sandwiched between two crazy boys. She's definitely a girly girl, but can also get her hands all muddy and be pretty tough. She loves to read and loves to draw and write notes. She's so thoughtful and my collection of notes and drawings from my girl is quite large! She faithfully takes care of our chickens and collects eggs. She loves to read and sing and the Lord has blessed her with much talent!
Micah Reuben Yes, this little guys was our surpise, but we are all so excited God has blessed us with our Micah Roo! He was born in my parents guest bedroom with grandparents waiting anxiously to meet him. What a blessing to be surrounded by our loved ones during his birth! Micah loves to be involved in anything with tools and is often on our front porch hammering any boards he can find. He's always creating and building something! His dimple is adorable and one look at his sweet face melts my heart! God has also called him to preach and he has a heart for God's Word. He also has a talent to hear harmony and God has blessed him with musical talent.
The journey that our family has been on has been amazing, adventurous, chaotic, full of surprises, but most of all blessed. God has been so good to us!!
So, that's us! The Gimenez Family!
