Pretty Girl

Winter of 2006

sporting Daddy's hat

Little surfer girl!





Our babbling brook.

my little Illinois buddy:)

November 2006. Aren't we cute??

Sleeping Beauty

Kristen likes to sleep....but only for short periods of time.... about 45 mins to an hour at a time. And that's at night too !

Hanging out in the Boppy

Baby's first wink

Introducing Kristen Joy O'Neal

Kristen Joy O'Neal was born September 12, 2006 at 6:10 in the morning. 

 

Phil and Cecilia O'Neal - Our Story

In September of 96, I (Cecilia) met the man of dreams, I just didn't know it yet.  He and I both volunteered for St. Louis's Lighthouse Ministries to Children.  Every week we got on a bus and rode to St. Louis (from Greenville) to love on and teach inner city kids.  Neither of us thought much about the other one... until October.

In October, a group of my girlfriends decided to play interm. football.  I reluctantly joined the team and went to one game before quitting.  It was at that first game I noticed Phil.... well, actually one of my friends, Melissa, noticed him and talked about him and talked about him.  Melissa found out that she shared a calculus class with him and decided she was going to ask him to tutor her.  He did and through their tutor session, I learned more about him.  I think through her, I developed a crush on Phil.  My best friend, Katie, also had a class with him and  she started telling me more about him as well.   Katie, who also volunteered at Lighthouse, made a point to pick seats next to Phil on the bus and in church.  (Both Katie and her boyfriend, Dan, were heavily involved in matchmaking us. )  Phil also made efforts to come see Katie and I during open house and at football games.  Slowly a friendship developed between us (Phil and I, and Phil, Katie and I.)

In November, the Lighthouse Ministries invited several of the kids to a skating party.  I noticed the way Phil interacted with the kids; I had seen him in Sunday School every week, but watching him play with the kids made me like him more and more.  Towards the end of the evening, we skated together.  I tried to pay attention to what Phil was saying as we skated, but I had to keep gesturing to Dan and Katie to knock off all their clapping, jumping and their funny gestures. 

On November 24th, we had our first date... well I don't know if you can call it a date.  But he  did ask me to go, we arrived together, we sat next to each other and we left together....  It was an evening church service at First Christian Church. 

In December, we talked a lot during our forty-five minute ride to Lighthouse each week. 

In January, both of us ran around with our friends more and only saw each other a couple of times: either at the DC, the library or Scott's Field.  During this time, my church was in upheval, as our senior pastor was asked to leave and the board was dealing with the reprecussions.  I took the news hard and questioned why the board had done this and who were these people that I had looked up to.  At the same time, two of the founding families of the church were fighting with each other and talking badly about each other.  Both of my close high school friends had denounced their faith in God as well.   I was a baby Christian and it felt like all my mentors were petty, hypocritical fakes.  For the next two months I called my pastor, my sunday school teacher,  and my friends to discuss my wavering faith.  I prayed about whether or not I truly believed in God anymore.  And I asked Him to show me someone who really lived the life Christ talked about.  I talked with Katie and Phil about my doubts.  Both were helpful, but I needed God to speak to me.   Soon after that prayer (mid February)  some missionaries, Todd and Danita Stephens, from my home church visited Greenville and spoke at chapel.  I know God was answering my prayer.  Todd and Danita Stephens were the real thing.  I had seen their love for God when they were guest speakers.  I had seen their love for people when they invited me and several of my friends over for dinner.  I had read about their life and their work in their newsletters.  God had given me the "someone" I had asked for. 

And He spoke to me about my friendship with Phil through Todd's message at chapel.  I don't remember details... but the main gist was to love everyone, the saints and the sinners, but find other Christians who walk the walk to spend your life with.  Invest your time and energy in cultivating mentoring and accountability friendships.  And as I was listening to Todd list off the fruit of the Spirit, I was picturing Phil and how he acted, spoke and treated others.  And I believe God was telling me to invest more time and energy on that friendship. 

The month of February was ackward as both of us knew we liked one another and we spent lots of time together, but we never acknowledged the budding romance.  Soon all my friends knew about my crush and teased me horribly.  His friends found ways for us to "bump" into each other.  I remember a long long trip in a car with Phil  towards the end of February.  Dan, Katie and I were headed to Chicago for a weekend break.  Matchmaking Dan offered to give Phil and Jereme (Phil's best friend) a ride to their destination, as it was on our way.  The trip was ackward and very crowded.  Dan, Katie AND Jereme really enjoyed teasing us.

It took a bunch of kids in the month of March for us to finally admit our feelings.  Lighthouse Ministries had another skating party that Phil and I both attended.  The kids watched us talk, flirt and be ackward around each other and  they, being kids, called us out on it, in front of all of our friends.   It was ackward and embarrassing and I think I hid in my room for two days.  My friend, Brent, finally convinced me to come out of hiding and met me at Hardees, where he preceded to convince me to talk to Phil and sort the whole thing out. 

I think a day or two later, Phil called me at midnight and asked me to go on a walk.   Somewhere between 2 am and 3 am he admitted that he liked me and  decide to "go out." 

The first year and half  of dating was fun.  We went on lots of long walks, made each other cute things and sat in Scott's Field talking for hours. 

But I graduated a year before him and went home to  KS to teach while he finished his two degrees (at two different schools).  The next couple of years of long distance dating was much harder, but in the end, rewarding.  We wrote lots of letters and traveled to see each other often.  Phone calls lasted two to three hours on a regular basis. 

Around year two, we broke up for a short time (I think for three or four months.)  But soon, we realized that we wanted to be together. 

That next summer, Phil took an intership in KS and stayed with my family.  It was fun having him around again.  By the end of the summer, we were engaged. 

Now we have been married for six years and are about to have a baby girl.  Wow !   I am soooo thankful that Phil is still the godly man I fell in love with.

It has been a great six years and I am excited about the next 6 plus years.