Sunday, September 20, 2009

Bats anyone?


Jeremy's brother came down for a visit this weekend, and we decided to check out the bats. Apparently Austin is home of the largest urban bat colony in america. They all stay under this one particular bridge during the day, then all at once they fly out at night. June and August are the best times to see them because they will come out while it is lighter. I was able to get a pic of the first few stragglers, but by the time they all came swarming out it was way to dark to photograph!!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

East coast? West coast? Right in the middle?

We are a month into our second year here and still don't know where we will be moving next summer to Church plant! During the next few months we hope to get some guidance and clarity from God. I'm posting this to ask for your prayers as we sort through our options!

Right now we are looking at Oklahoma as one possibility. Jeremy is from there and we both love the Norman/OKC area. Another option that is just as likely is to head northwest, possibly to Boise. We just feel drawn there and are planning to take a trip out there for Church planting scouting purposes sometime this fall. And finally, the northeast is on the list of places to consider. Our trip to Boston and New York definately made us more interested in that part of the country as well!

So you can see the difficulty of deciding between so many places that are all so different, but so appealing! Please be praying for us as we begin to narrow down our options and hopefully choose a location in the next few months!

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Boomer Sooner!!!







Winston and Bauer are ready for football season!


yes, we're those people. Not really, but since we don't have kids yet (see previous blogs) this is as close as we can get!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Who knew getting pregnant would be so dang hard?!!

So, many of you know we have been struggling with infertility for the past two years. As difficult as it has been, I wouldn't change a thing about what God has brought us through. Don't get me wrong, I'm ready at any time for this trial to end and for us to be blessed with a family! My desire to be a parent grows more and more every day. But I am so thankful for the closeness to God and to each other that we have expereinced through everything.


There's a verse in the Bible that says it is better to be in a house of mourning than a house of laughter. I never really started to understand that verse until this past year. Nobody wants to go through times of mourning. But think about what our lives would be like if we never had to experience anything hard. We would never grow in character, never feel like we need God, and never experience the peace and joy that comes as we draw nearer to Him, leaning on Him for strength. Going through our miscarriage last year was one of the saddest months for me, but in a wierd way also the sweetest. My marriage became stronger, my friendships deeper, and most importantly I learned to trust God more with my future, and feel His presence more in my life because of it.



It's tempting to want everything to go my way all the time in my future. I want my family, job, finances, and whatever else to be just how I plan. But even more than I want all these things, I want God's best for me, and if God's best for me means struggling with infertility than that's what I wan't. He is good and I can trust Him, even if I can't see or understand why things happen the way they do. To aviod the trials in life would be to turn my back on experiencing God, and He is worth walking through this for.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Dominican Republic!!!

We had the amazing opportunity to lead a mission trip to the Dominican Republic a few weeks ago! We spent the week prepping and painting a new edition to a school called Makarios. It's a school for kids in poverty who can't afford to go to public school. (Public school is not free in the DR, leaving many kids without the chance to get any education!) For more information on Makarios, click here.

Here are some pics of the week!




Jeremy painting away!




Laura loving on one of the kids








We did a lot of painting and sanding cement walls


Here's the whole group.
Riley, Jeremy, Nicole, Laura, Cara, Bradley, Katelyn, Graham, and Grace