@ninaschmidgall

Summer slipped away! Sweet memories in the sunshine with my people! ♥️⛱🌊🚤👨‍👩‍👦‍👦

Besties. Happy 18th to my favorite.

All Schmidgall kids are back in the same building! Little sis joins her brother in the Middle School and big sis starts her sophomore year in the Upper School. Let’s ignore that we have 21 teachers between them. 😳 It was a race to finish all the doctor and dentist appointments, attend orientations, teacher meetings, sports tryouts, supply buying, uniform prepping. But we are here and they will learn and stretch and grow. Wishing blessings on all students and educators this next school year! ♥️ 🏫 📖 📚 ✏️ 💻 #eloisekimberly (10th grade) #ezekieledwin317 (8th grade) #lorenzajoy (5th grade) @washingtonlatinpcs

FRamily reunion! Friends like family. We live too far from one another…so we have to make up for lost time by making epic memories whenever we can. Our hearts are happiest when we are together again. It is never enough time. Come back soon Whitfords!! 😘 #Whitgalls #Schmidfords #friendslikefamily

Fireworks! Friends! Family! Picnics! Parades! These are a few of my favorite things! Independence Day 2022! Our city throws the biggest and best parties for the Fourth of July! Locals attend the Capitol concert dress rehearsal to avoid the crowds. Then the community parade passes through our street, making the most festive start to the day! Picnics with family and, finally, fireworks above national landmarks…who could ask for more?? City life has drawbacks but these are the days that make it worth it!

The Father’s Day award goes @joelschmidgall who preached all morning long and then boarded a plane with our daughter to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia the same day! Ella’s first missions trip was scheduled to depart March 20, 2020. As the world shut down due to global pandemic, the trip was cancelled. It has taken us more than two years to make this happen but she is off to see just how big God is, at work all over the world. Her life will never be the same. Making the trip even sweeter, they are traveling with “cousins.” Aman and Joel grew up together and having the Mengistu family show Ella their country for the first time is a gift almost too sweet to be true. Thank you Joel for fighting for these moments with our family. You are incredible dad and the best partner.

Master of Ministerial Leadership, check! Scores of books read, thousands of words written, hours of class discussions. Done! This specific program (Executive MAML) was built for seasoned pastors. Because of that, our engagement with the material and our class conversations were were so rich. This small group of us were assembled by the incredible @alanehler just at the start of the pandemic. It was the Lord’s perfect timing! We wrestled together during a critical moment in the history of the church. We had to re-learn how to lead under new conditions. We shared heartbreaks and victories. I have never been more encouraged for the future of the church, led by people who love the Lord so fully. It wasn’t without challenges. Our kids were home learning for the first year of the program and our team was adjusting to pastoring with our doors closed by local ordinance. My program included quite a bit of travel which is what made our relationships in the cohort so connected. But it meant Joel had to manage the homefront without me each time. He took one for the team so I could take this on during a challenging season. We have a sign on the wall of our home that says, “In this family, we do hard things.” One motivation for pursuing the degree was that my kids would see me through a new challenge. My family saw me pull very late nights, miss opportunities with friends, complete papers and projects that stretched my thinking and skill. Over the past few days of commencement, so many people have shared kind words, saying, “I am so proud of you!” I am proud of me too! Hearing those words so many times reminded me of their power. I resolve to declare them to others in my life more frequently. When you do your next hard thing, I am going to celebrate big! I will be so proud of you too! #dcschmidgalls @seuniversity

“All of our hope, is in the name, the name of Jesus!” The beautiful words of the song while our little firecracker got dunked! Renzi declared to us about a year ago that ten was the magic number and the age that she was going to declare publicly her desire to follow Jesus all of her days. She has said it over and over again since. Renzi is a very independent thinker and she never hesitates to ask hard questions or press us for further understanding. It is such a gift to watch her faith grow! (This shot of her baptism is my favorite because it scans the room full of so many people that love Lorenza Joy so much! Community is the very best!) The day was even sweeter as families we have known since NCCs earliest days got to see their young people get into the tank. Give us the next generation Lord and we will keep declaring your name!) Best.Day. #dcschmidgalls #lorenzajoy

The sunrise service was only the beginning! NCC was gathered across all locations with services all morning! The church family was dressed to celebrate! We capped the day feasting with the fam! More egg hunts and some family kickball was the perfect ending to a perfect weekend! Our hearts our so full because of the gift of grace. Our lives are so rich with relationship! Thank you Lord! ♥️ #dcschmidgalls

Latergram: There are some WOW moments that get a special place in the memory bank. After prepping for the Easter Sunrise service, we were able to watch the sun rise as we declared He had risen! Epic morning! #dcschmidgalls

Easter Weekend 2022! Stations of the Cross devotional experience, Good Friday Service, Easter EGGstravaganza! I was going to count up the hours served…but every minute, every effort was a privilege The perfect weather was a extra blessing! Loving our community, creating sacred experiences, honoring what the Lord has done…all of it, so good. #dcschmidgalls

Orcas Island. Powerful teaching. Dear friends. A few steps closer to the finish line! Only a few papers and books stand between this crew and our degree completion! This week was our final intensive together and my heart is so full. Pursuing this program, I asked the Lord for this opportunity to be stretched. For extra blessing, He gave me a group of incredible pastors to share the journey! This semester: Spirit Empowered Discipleship and Semiotics. So, so good!