#samuel wagner

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simlearningchannel Big news: Sam and Maite are expecting again! Baby #2 is due this October, which will make Juliana just ten months older than her little brother or sister. Congratulations, Wagners!

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simlearningchannel Welcome to the world, Juliana Marie Wagner! Sam and Maite Wagner got the surprise of their life back in December when their baby girl was born three months early.

From Sam: "We weren't expecting this for a while but man makes plans and God (and man's wife) laugh. What can man do but deal with it? He's already handled months of pregnancy hormones and wild late-night requests. A newborn is a piece of cake in comparison. We've been at home for two months enjoying private time as a family and getting used to parenthood. Thanks to everyone who prayed for me, Maite and our baby!"

Congratulations are in order for the new parents!

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Two months earlier...

Transcript below the cut

Conversation with "Lissie ❤️💍"

Sender: Home soon 😘

Sender: You'll never believe what happened during my shift

Lissie: what??

Sender: So a really religious-looking couple comes in around 8 last night. Long skirt, young wife, the whole thing

Sender: Husband is a total dick to the poor woman

Lissie: wow she's actively in labor, give her a break man

Sender: Yeah it was awfulllll

Sender: Anyway, they come in, baby is born early morning. 9lbs and something oz

Sender: I'm back to check on them right before I leave and husband's on the phone to a relative(?) saying shit like how much of a surprise this was, how the doctors had no idea why such an [sic] premature baby was so strong, how nobody here had any idea of God's power and blah blah blah. And then he says something about the beauty of "God's design for marriage" and holding off a statement until the new year and hangs up

Lissie: premature?? their 9lb baby??

Sender: YEP

Lissie: also...statement?

Sender: Idk

Lissie: maybe they're internet famous or something

Lissie: there are so many people with a million followers that I know nothing about thanks to the algorithm or wtv

Sender: Yeah could be

Lissie: that's so funny though I can't believe he was fully talking about god's "design" for marriage while sitting in the room with his sin baby

Sender: Sin baby hahahaha

Sender: When he said that I just looked at Gabe like ??? and he was trying so hard not to laugh. Me too obviously

Sender: I gotta wonder if their family/church/whatever is going to believe them. It's such a clear lie you'd think not but I guess you never know with these types. Honestly hping they do for the wife's sake because girl looked tiredddddd

Lissie: honey you work on a maternity ward. everyone's tired

Sender: not like this ☹️

Lissie: :(

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Maite: …honey?

Sam: Mmm…yes?

Maite: Would you mind turning the volume down a little? I can hear it through the door, and I’m trying to fall as—

Sam: Seriously? I can’t watch a video in my own living room? At 7PM?

Maite: No, no, of course you can still watch it, I was just wondering if you c—

Sam: [muttering] Unbelievable. [raising his voice] Well, fine, I’ll turn down the fucking video. I’ll turn down my whole fucking existence while I’m at it, how about that?

Maite: Honey, no, I wasn’t—

Sam: It’s FINE, honey. Go to bed. I’ll sit in the car tonight. So sorry for bothering you.

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Well! Sam has certainly surprised our family. Right after Stephen's graduation, he called us from his station in Selvadorada to give us some incredibly surprising news: he had gotten engaged!

He met Maria Ester (Maite) Flores at an ISCS-organized church event for the soldiers on base. She volunteered, they met over (non-alcoholic!) punch, and the rest was history! And by "history," I mean they began getting to know one another through a chaste, respectful, special friendship. Though not without some effort on Sam’s part, according to him! My boy is so persistent—apparently he had to ask four times before Maite would give him her phone number. He was just so bowled over by her beautiful countenance that he couldn’t give up.

Praise God, Maite's family are proper Christians, so Sam didn't get mixed up in any funny business with those yet to receive His Word or those who are interpreting His Word incorrectly. (Though I have to say, some of the dishes Sam described eating at her family's home sounded pretty strange to me! Definitely not what we Christians over here eat.) Instead, the lovebirds had a whirlwind courtship under the watchful eye of her father. Sam was so caught up in the romance of it all that he forgot to tell his poor Mom and Dad at home until he had already proposed! But I can't blame him for being a little irresponsible. He's a man, and men can lose their heads sometimes when around beautiful young women! I'm just relieved that my son has grown up into a strong, masculine young man, unlike certain other young men in our church family.

"Losing his head" is a pretty apt phrase, I must say! In the same conversation, Sam announced his intent to bring Maite back to Brindleton Bay. He wanted to marry her "as soon as possible." What a romantic! We were already expecting him home within a few weeks for his transition into reserve duty, but we never thought we'd have a wedding as well as a homecoming to plan! Even so, out of all my children, of course it was Sam who stirred up this surprise. Ever since he attended Camp FIGHT he’s been incredibly driven. He knows what he wants, and as he put it during our phone call, what he wanted was “to marry her before someone else snatches her up”! Isn’t he sweet?

Thankfully us Wagners were able to throw together a lovely, intimate ceremony just in time for their arrival. Christians tend to get married fast, but this has got to our chuch's quickest wedding yet! (Although it wasn't held at our church; for ease, we rented out a local restaurant instead.) Seeing another one of my sons united with his helpmeet was such an emotional experience! Of course our family isn't perfect but at least Sam has insisted on a traditional marriage. (With Maite in agreement, of course.) He'll be the leader of the family, having final say on all decisions, and she'll follow his guidance. All accordiong to the way the Lord designed Holy Matrimony for His children!

After the wedding they took a brief honeymoon: camping in Granite Falls! I don't think Maite is much of an outdoors person, but Sam loooooves camping and just had to show her what it's all about.

Now they're settled in Oasis Springs, where Sam already had a job and a rented apartment lined up. He spent his basic training there, and loved it so much he couldn't resist returning! I'm going to miss my baby boy but I'm encouraged by the fact that he found the one God made for him. Maite may not understand our culture, but she's a sweet girl with such a servant's heart so she'll do just fine. Besides, I'm sure she'll learn—hopefully sooner rather than later, because with how in love these two seem to be, I wouldn't be surprised if I was blessed with another grandbaby within the year! A honeymoon baby, if the Lord sees fit.

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Sam received his orders to transfer to a base in Selvadorada, so we all went to the airport to wave him off. We have no idea when he'll return for good, or even when he'll get some leave, so when it came time to say goodbye, I was falling to pieces! I practically tackled the poor boy with a hug. (Not very ladylike, that's for sure. Thank the Lord SLC were okay to do another take!) Luckily for Sam, his father had much more restraint and sent him off with a nice manly handshake.

We are so proud of our son for fulfilling this important calling but at the same time we are praying twice as hard for his safety--Selvadorada can be very dangerous, he doesn't know a word of Selvadoradian, and if that wasn't enough, so many Selvadoradan souls are unsaved or worshipful of false idols. Though of course he'll be spending most of his time on base, which does put my nerves at ease. As usual I am giving EVERYTHING to God and trusting in Him to shepherd our entire family through this difficult season.

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double post day today! enjoy these extremely serious valentine's day cards from your favorite lovers <3

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Sam is 18 years old! All through his childhood, and even his early teen years, I worried about his demeanor. He was such a gentle, soft little boy, not at all a warrior for God, not at all the kind of boy I wanted to raise up. But praise God, we launched our FIGHT program for boys and young men--including Samuel--a few years back and ever since he has completely turned himself around. He is truly a fantastic son, totally dedicated to the Lord's will. Luckily for Colin and I, he is also totally dedicated to the commandment "obey thy father and thy mother"! Children who respect their parents according to God's design are true blessings.

Sam is also the picture of traditional masculinity and provides a great example for his younger brothers of what i His favorite thing to do is work out with his punching bag at home or the weights at our local gym (only the quietest hours, so he's less likely to see a woman in a state of immodestly!), which probably explains why he decided to enlist in the military. He just received his uniform and is shipping out to Oasis Springs for basic training next week. We're all going to miss our favorite gym rat, but at the same time, we're so proud of him and the burden he has for our country. I can't wait to see him walk God's path in adulthood!

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I am SO proud of Sam! Over the past few years, since he began attending Camp FIGHT, he has completely turned around his attitude regarding his masculinity. He's used some of his savings to purchase a gym membership and now he goes regularly. He also jumps to play soccer in the backyard with his brothers, where before he'd turn them down. Best of all, he's begun talking about enlisting in the military. Praise the Lord for Godly, masculine sons!