HomeAnd sorry it’s taken us so long to say hello! We had a wonderfully relaxing time visiting family and good friends in MN. It was such a refreshing time to be in the beautiful “land of 10,000 lakes”. I forget how beautiful MN is when I’m away from it. Especially the North Shore. Why did we ever move?! Unfortunately we didn’t see as many people as we would have liked to or get as much done as we would have like to, but it was some needed time to just slow down and remember to enjoy life. I think sometimes I truly forget to breathe when I’m not consciously aware of it. Having the extra help around with the girls and nothing “to do” around the house I was able to expand my lungs and take in the oxygen I’ve been depriving myself of. It was also a huge blessing to be able to take a couple of days and get away, just the two of us. I’ll post on that later. We did enjoy spending lots of time with our families.
(We do have photos of our time in Two Harbors with the Josephs but I’m not sure where they are at the moment. Hopefully I can post them soon.)
It was hard to say goodbye to everyone knowing it will be awhile before we see them again. It’s hard to return to a place where we don’t have the strong connections and relationships that we have in MN. Slowly we continue to work on growing our “community” here.
So as we knew ahead of time, upon returning home, we were going to have to jump right into the school year. And yes, we did. Chris started stuff with move-in at MSU the weekend we got back. And he’s been going ever since. Thinking and praying about this year ahead of us I got the feeling that this was going to be a trying time, or rather a time of testing our faith. The newness and excitement of moving and starting something new has wore off and the things of the future are still too far ahead to really grasp yet. Well, classes for Chris have been challenging. Actually just second year Hebrew and Greek. The profs are really diving in but have said it should slow down soon. Pray that Chris will have the strength to get through those classes and that he’ll have time to relax. His preaching class with Doug Oss is his refreshing time. He absolutely loves him and connects really well with him. Pray that he will be able to ask him to mentor him this year. Last week the breaks went out on Chris’ car and will be about $500 in repairs. Please pray that it will be fixed quickly and for alot less $$$! It’s ok having one car right now because it makes the girls and me slow down a bit and be more creative but I know they will be anxious to get out of the house soon.
Meetings for table hosting with MOPS will start soon. I’m excited to get more involved with the group and meet some amazing women. It will be nice to connect with some older moms called “mentor moms”. I’m always looking for people to gain wisdom from and I know they have lots! Please pray that we will be healthy this year so we can make it to the meetings.
So far the girls and I have been able to make it on Monday nights for the large group meeting of Campus Life, well at least for a little bit; it doesn’t start until 8 pm 
. It has been nice to be able meet and connect with students and feel like we know a little bit of what’s going on. I will be leading a core group with about five girls. A core group is a group for the leaders of the ministry to be discipled. Basically like a small group for leaders. I’m excited but also a bit anxious not knowing these girls. I know that it will be a great experience for all of us.
Sorry it’s so scattered. I’ll try to post more frequently now that we’re home. Thanks for all of your prayers as we were traveling to and from MN. And thank you for your continued prayers. We appreciate all of you. Please don’t hesitate to communicate with us while we’re home in MO. We love you all!