Happy New Year!! We traveled from Des Moines to Davenport on Monday the 2nd. We are geared up for our internship with Harvest Bible Chapel Davenport. We spent Monday and Tuesday night at the Cochran's house....Thank you for your hospitality! Jamy is a huge football fan so the boys were excited to watch the Rose Bowl with them on Monday night.
Tuesday morning John began his internship with a nice long day. He left the house at 7am and then we meet him for dinner at 9pm. The kids and I just went around the city for the day and ended up at the mall. Nattalie was excited because she found a great deal on a jacket! She is so proud of her find!! The kids were excited to see Dad at 9pm for dinner.
Wednesday John was off again early in the morning.....his day started at 6:00am this morning. HBC Davenport is making sure to get John involved in as many ministries as possible this month. The kids and I got up at took all of our things to the Merrifield's house. This is where we will be staying for the month on January. We thought that we would be able to start school on Wednesday, but after getting all our things in place, me making a bunch of phone calls and then going grocery shopping the day was almost over. We relaxed a little before it was time for dinner and then it was time to head to church for youth group. Another large youth group for the kids to get involved in....they really seemed to enjoy themselves. We met up with John when we got to church. John and I together observed the high school youth group. Came home and it was time to hit the bed as we were all tired!
Thursday.....wow this week is just flying by. John left off for work again bright and early! We had a breakfast scheduled together to meet some of the family leaders of the church. We had a fantastic time....and we found a great place to go on a "date breakfast" on Monday! While I was at breakfast the kids began to work on their school work and then we hit to books hard when I got home. Wow, it's been a while since we have done school with moving and then Christmas. I think as Monday comes we will have our routine back down.
Friday, as normal John headed off to work and the kids and I worked hard on school! We pulled back out our Greek....we are in a new section and they all start with review so that was very helpful. We are all ready for new Greek words....it has been fun to learn this together. We are hopeful that after we have completed the full course that we will be able to study the New Testament in the original language. Part of the Greek lessons we will be to completely translate the book of John.
Tomorrow the entire family gets to work together with one of HBC Davenport's ministries.....King Harvest....looking forward to serving together! Then we will also go to Saturday service together.....excited to worship at Harvest Davenport!
Please pray for our family as this will be a very busy month for us. We are getting as much information as we possibly can in one month while we are here. We are very thankful for how HBC Davenport has welcomed us and are loving on us while we are here. Clear Lake will be home SOON! Continue to pray for Harvest Bible Chapel Clear Lake....Lord build Your church!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Saturday, December 24, 2011
The Next Chapter Begins.....
John has completed his training with HTC in Elgin, IL....a very busy but an amazing season for our family. The last couple of weeks in Elgin flew by and I wasn't sure that I would ever get the apartment packed up to move back to Iowa however we did finish in time and well prepared to pick up the truck on Thursday morning....bright and early or should I say dark and early. We went to Home Depot to pick up the Penske truck at 6:15am.
After picking up the truck we were ready to work hard and fast with the time we had with John before he headed off to his last 1/2 of training. We were blessed with a couple of the guys from the training center to come for about an hour to help with some of the heavier things....we did get a lot accomplished in that first hour. Then they all headed off and the rest was left to the kids and myself. We began to work hard as a team and about 10 minutes went by and we were surprised by Dylan and April. They came up to help us pack up and travel back to Iowa. WOW, what a true blessing!! With the help of two wonderful friends we finished packing and the last miniute cleaning of the apartment by 10:00am.....we beat our deadline of Noon (which was the time John would be done for the day so we could get on the road). We turned in our keys, got one last "The Cheff" sandwich and some pizza from Rosati's.....and then it was time for the road.
Just before John was ready we found out that my cell phone was having some trouble....it was able to do everything, but if I made a call the person on the other end could not hear me at all. Made a quick call to Verizon and found out that I needed a new phone all together....Praise the Lord for warranty. I was able to have it overnighted to my parents house in Ankeny, IA. So funny, Nattalie said that her phone wasn't ever used that much in one day by her....thank you Nattalie for letting me use your phone as we traveled to Iowa. (By the way, I got the transfer to the new phone all taking care of this morning....wow having the iPhone made this easy! Didn't lose a single bit of data.)
Traveling went so smooth....no snow, no bad weather, no car trouble, no accidents.....NOTHING! Thank you, Lord! We decided to have a girls car (thank you April for doing the driving as I was a little tired and worried about how I was going to do with the that), then Dylan and Johnthan were in the Penske truck (thank you Dylan for driving that BIG truck), and John and Daniel followed us all in our car. We made is to my parents house by 6:30 that night....back in IOWA. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner prepared for by April and my mom...thank you for feeding our hungry and tired bodies!
Then Friday morning came quickly.....Dylan was helping up again as we headed up to Clear Lake to place all our belonging into the garage of our rental home. We left again "dark" and early. We made it to the house by 8:00. It took us about an hour to unload this load and then we headed to the storage unity to move the rest of our stuff to then rental house....this took a little longer since 2/3 of our stuff was in the storage unit. John, my dad, Dylan, Johnathan, Nattalie, Daniel and I worked hard to load the truck....WOW it was cold. I took time to run to Kum and Go for a Hot Chocolate run! By 11:00am we were headed back to house to unload this truck full....Larry Day ended up coming in right behind us and within minutes we had a wonderful addition of help as we unloaded. Thank you Larry Day, Larry Weakland, Scott Stauffacher, and Slim Meints.....it was a blessing to have your extra hands (and muscles) to help unload. Praise the Lord we were all done by 1:00pm. We took the truck back, ate lunch, returned to key to the storage, went to the post office.....all of to do list was completed for the move!
Enjoyed and evening of appetizers at Larry and Kay Day's house with other couples that are a part of the core group.....fantastic evening! We had laughter, we had serious moments, we had tears and then we had even more laughter. Thank you everyone for such a great evening!
Now, it's Christmas Eve and we are ready to relax and enjoy family. Thank you, Lord for the wonderful family that you have so graciously given to me (and to John). What a blessing to spend time together and enjoy this beautiful season of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Next page....internship in Davenport for the month of January. John has his schedule and it will be a busy month, but an amazing opportunity as we work with Harvest Bible Chapel Davenport.
The page after that....move into our house in Clear Lake, IA and begin to work with our core group as we follow the Lord's leading in building His church......Harvest Bible Chapel Clear Lake. Pray with us as we follow the Lord's leading in our lives, our family and our community.
After picking up the truck we were ready to work hard and fast with the time we had with John before he headed off to his last 1/2 of training. We were blessed with a couple of the guys from the training center to come for about an hour to help with some of the heavier things....we did get a lot accomplished in that first hour. Then they all headed off and the rest was left to the kids and myself. We began to work hard as a team and about 10 minutes went by and we were surprised by Dylan and April. They came up to help us pack up and travel back to Iowa. WOW, what a true blessing!! With the help of two wonderful friends we finished packing and the last miniute cleaning of the apartment by 10:00am.....we beat our deadline of Noon (which was the time John would be done for the day so we could get on the road). We turned in our keys, got one last "The Cheff" sandwich and some pizza from Rosati's.....and then it was time for the road.
Just before John was ready we found out that my cell phone was having some trouble....it was able to do everything, but if I made a call the person on the other end could not hear me at all. Made a quick call to Verizon and found out that I needed a new phone all together....Praise the Lord for warranty. I was able to have it overnighted to my parents house in Ankeny, IA. So funny, Nattalie said that her phone wasn't ever used that much in one day by her....thank you Nattalie for letting me use your phone as we traveled to Iowa. (By the way, I got the transfer to the new phone all taking care of this morning....wow having the iPhone made this easy! Didn't lose a single bit of data.)
Traveling went so smooth....no snow, no bad weather, no car trouble, no accidents.....NOTHING! Thank you, Lord! We decided to have a girls car (thank you April for doing the driving as I was a little tired and worried about how I was going to do with the that), then Dylan and Johnthan were in the Penske truck (thank you Dylan for driving that BIG truck), and John and Daniel followed us all in our car. We made is to my parents house by 6:30 that night....back in IOWA. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner prepared for by April and my mom...thank you for feeding our hungry and tired bodies!
Then Friday morning came quickly.....Dylan was helping up again as we headed up to Clear Lake to place all our belonging into the garage of our rental home. We left again "dark" and early. We made it to the house by 8:00. It took us about an hour to unload this load and then we headed to the storage unity to move the rest of our stuff to then rental house....this took a little longer since 2/3 of our stuff was in the storage unit. John, my dad, Dylan, Johnathan, Nattalie, Daniel and I worked hard to load the truck....WOW it was cold. I took time to run to Kum and Go for a Hot Chocolate run! By 11:00am we were headed back to house to unload this truck full....Larry Day ended up coming in right behind us and within minutes we had a wonderful addition of help as we unloaded. Thank you Larry Day, Larry Weakland, Scott Stauffacher, and Slim Meints.....it was a blessing to have your extra hands (and muscles) to help unload. Praise the Lord we were all done by 1:00pm. We took the truck back, ate lunch, returned to key to the storage, went to the post office.....all of to do list was completed for the move!
Enjoyed and evening of appetizers at Larry and Kay Day's house with other couples that are a part of the core group.....fantastic evening! We had laughter, we had serious moments, we had tears and then we had even more laughter. Thank you everyone for such a great evening!
Now, it's Christmas Eve and we are ready to relax and enjoy family. Thank you, Lord for the wonderful family that you have so graciously given to me (and to John). What a blessing to spend time together and enjoy this beautiful season of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Next page....internship in Davenport for the month of January. John has his schedule and it will be a busy month, but an amazing opportunity as we work with Harvest Bible Chapel Davenport.
The page after that....move into our house in Clear Lake, IA and begin to work with our core group as we follow the Lord's leading in building His church......Harvest Bible Chapel Clear Lake. Pray with us as we follow the Lord's leading in our lives, our family and our community.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Moving Plans!
Wow, it is hard to believe that it is already time to pack up and head back to Iowa.
We will be leaving Elgin, IL on December 22nd after John is done with class for the day. We have been so very blessed.....God has provided a fantastic house for us to rent. We signed the lease just this last weekend! Planning to move all our things into the garage there for the month of January.....we are praying that the weather holds out until we get all the things moved into the garage.
After moving all our things we will be able to spend Christmas with family and friends....praise the Lord! The kids were so excited today....with moving and tansitions we gave them their presents today. We have always tried to keep present giving simple in our home......Johnathan got a nice new shirt from Buckle (which he was wanting) and Curve cologne, Nattalie got two sweaters from Aeropostle and two pairs of earnings, and Daniel got two sweaters from Aeropstle and a trick yo yo (he is already learning all kinds of tricks). As a family we will be purchasing a goat for a church in Nepal....this will provide Christmas dinner for an entire church....we are all so excited about this!! John got some great things from Walk in the Word and I got two pairs of earnings. God has blessed our family and we are so grateful!
This week I will enjoy my last time with my women's small group....so excited because we will be meeting as a flock and enjoying fellowship, sharing about our lives, and exchanging a Christmas ornament. Nattalie and I will enjoy a nice evening together at the women's Christmas event with Mandesa and Matthew West concert on Thirsday night. Finally on Friday all the training center wives will meet together for the last time before we all head out for our internships. What a blessing it has been to create new friendships with some great Godly women. We will be great support to each other as we all work hard with our families to plant churches in many different communities.
Last week our website went live..... http://www.harvestclearlake.org/ .... what a blessing. We are so excited to be a part of what God is doing in Clear Lake and Mason City, IA. Visit the site to see things like....the mission of the church, the four pillars of Harvest, and other important events within the Harvest Fellowship.
Internship.....we will be spending the month of January in Davenport.....we are so excited to work hard and learn many things while at Harvest Davenport.
We will be leaving Elgin, IL on December 22nd after John is done with class for the day. We have been so very blessed.....God has provided a fantastic house for us to rent. We signed the lease just this last weekend! Planning to move all our things into the garage there for the month of January.....we are praying that the weather holds out until we get all the things moved into the garage.
After moving all our things we will be able to spend Christmas with family and friends....praise the Lord! The kids were so excited today....with moving and tansitions we gave them their presents today. We have always tried to keep present giving simple in our home......Johnathan got a nice new shirt from Buckle (which he was wanting) and Curve cologne, Nattalie got two sweaters from Aeropostle and two pairs of earnings, and Daniel got two sweaters from Aeropstle and a trick yo yo (he is already learning all kinds of tricks). As a family we will be purchasing a goat for a church in Nepal....this will provide Christmas dinner for an entire church....we are all so excited about this!! John got some great things from Walk in the Word and I got two pairs of earnings. God has blessed our family and we are so grateful!
This week I will enjoy my last time with my women's small group....so excited because we will be meeting as a flock and enjoying fellowship, sharing about our lives, and exchanging a Christmas ornament. Nattalie and I will enjoy a nice evening together at the women's Christmas event with Mandesa and Matthew West concert on Thirsday night. Finally on Friday all the training center wives will meet together for the last time before we all head out for our internships. What a blessing it has been to create new friendships with some great Godly women. We will be great support to each other as we all work hard with our families to plant churches in many different communities.
Last week our website went live..... http://www.harvestclearlake.org/ .... what a blessing. We are so excited to be a part of what God is doing in Clear Lake and Mason City, IA. Visit the site to see things like....the mission of the church, the four pillars of Harvest, and other important events within the Harvest Fellowship.
Internship.....we will be spending the month of January in Davenport.....we are so excited to work hard and learn many things while at Harvest Davenport.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Updates.....
Wow, it has been a long time since I updated the blog..... a lot has been happening. I will try to share a little bit of everything that has been happening.
Just after the last post we headed up to Clear Lake for our first Open House. We took some back roads to get there and it was just the most beautiful time of year. Definitely not a road to take in the winter though.....lots of hills and curves. We spent time touring the Clear Lake and Mason City area....looked at potential places for worship services, looked at warehouse to hold meetings in, and just all in all checked things out. The kids were so excited....they didn't have to come along with us and they got to walk around town. We have never let the kids do that so they were so very excited! Great day and then it was off to the Open House in the evening. The Open House was a huge success! We had a total of 42 people in attendance. What an amazing blessing! God is building His church.
Back to Elgin it seems that we are always keeping busy.....Small Group, Women's Bible Study, Youth Group, Small Group in Winnetka (which has now ended), and many other things.
We had a great Thanksgiving in Iowa. Thanksgiving Day we spent with my parents and had a great meal. We also went and visited my Grandma in the nursing home. She was so happy and that was a blessing to see! Then after looking through all the sales ads decided to do a little Black Friday shopping. April, the kids, and I went to Kohls to cash in on some great deals. We ended up with a new Keurig coffee machine. (Merry Christmas to John and I....and the kids because they like hot chocolate and some coffee.) We also ended up with new tires on the car. Mom has a friend that works for Firestone and she had a friends and family coupon for tires. Got a quote on Wednesday night and would take it in on Friday. They opened early for Black Friday as well.....John and I got up and took the car in at 5am because they were working us in. Even more of a blessing they had Black Friday specials and we ended up saving even more.....all in all saved over $450.00 for the tires and an alignment on the car. We are truly blessed. Then that afternoon we went to visit friends that just had their baby.....Toby is soooo cute. Then we spent some time with April and Dylan and then joined them with fellowship and small group.....great night. Saturday was another busy day.....we went up to Mason City and Clear Lake. We had a great time with Nick and his family. It has been almost 2 years since I saw the kids....wow they are getting big! We had a great potluck with some of the core group that evening.....great time of fellowship and getting more acquainted with one another. After that headed back to Ankeny to my parents house. Just as we pulled in the driveway we got a call about a possible rental house in Clear Lake. We looked at one early that day that just didn't feel right. We talked about it and decided to head back up Sunday and take a look at the house. April and Dylan joined us.....they give to our family so sacrificially. We are truly blessed to have them as friends! The house was amazing! We pray that we are able to work this one out it will be yet another blessing! Headed back to Ankeny to pick up the kids and my Uncle, Aunt and Cousin with her little Kaine man came for a visit from Arizona. We all enjoyed dinner together and then we had to get on the road to head back to Elgin. We had a great, but busy trip.
We are coming down to the wire here in Elgin. We will be packing up and moving to Iowa the last week of December. We will be staying in Davenport for the month of January for an internship with Harvest Davenport. We have been blessed with the opportunity to stay in a missionary family's home for the month as they will be gone. So when we leave Elgin we will take all but some clothes up to Clear Lake.
So, how can you be praying for us.....pray for the packing of the apartment to go smoothly, for good weather as we travel in the winter months, John as he finishes up here in Elgin, the kids and I that we prioritize our time well and not to get behind with school as we do all the other things, for the housing to work out in Clear Lake, and for God to continue to build His church in Clear Lake and Mason City, IA.
Just after the last post we headed up to Clear Lake for our first Open House. We took some back roads to get there and it was just the most beautiful time of year. Definitely not a road to take in the winter though.....lots of hills and curves. We spent time touring the Clear Lake and Mason City area....looked at potential places for worship services, looked at warehouse to hold meetings in, and just all in all checked things out. The kids were so excited....they didn't have to come along with us and they got to walk around town. We have never let the kids do that so they were so very excited! Great day and then it was off to the Open House in the evening. The Open House was a huge success! We had a total of 42 people in attendance. What an amazing blessing! God is building His church.
Back to Elgin it seems that we are always keeping busy.....Small Group, Women's Bible Study, Youth Group, Small Group in Winnetka (which has now ended), and many other things.
We had a great Thanksgiving in Iowa. Thanksgiving Day we spent with my parents and had a great meal. We also went and visited my Grandma in the nursing home. She was so happy and that was a blessing to see! Then after looking through all the sales ads decided to do a little Black Friday shopping. April, the kids, and I went to Kohls to cash in on some great deals. We ended up with a new Keurig coffee machine. (Merry Christmas to John and I....and the kids because they like hot chocolate and some coffee.) We also ended up with new tires on the car. Mom has a friend that works for Firestone and she had a friends and family coupon for tires. Got a quote on Wednesday night and would take it in on Friday. They opened early for Black Friday as well.....John and I got up and took the car in at 5am because they were working us in. Even more of a blessing they had Black Friday specials and we ended up saving even more.....all in all saved over $450.00 for the tires and an alignment on the car. We are truly blessed. Then that afternoon we went to visit friends that just had their baby.....Toby is soooo cute. Then we spent some time with April and Dylan and then joined them with fellowship and small group.....great night. Saturday was another busy day.....we went up to Mason City and Clear Lake. We had a great time with Nick and his family. It has been almost 2 years since I saw the kids....wow they are getting big! We had a great potluck with some of the core group that evening.....great time of fellowship and getting more acquainted with one another. After that headed back to Ankeny to my parents house. Just as we pulled in the driveway we got a call about a possible rental house in Clear Lake. We looked at one early that day that just didn't feel right. We talked about it and decided to head back up Sunday and take a look at the house. April and Dylan joined us.....they give to our family so sacrificially. We are truly blessed to have them as friends! The house was amazing! We pray that we are able to work this one out it will be yet another blessing! Headed back to Ankeny to pick up the kids and my Uncle, Aunt and Cousin with her little Kaine man came for a visit from Arizona. We all enjoyed dinner together and then we had to get on the road to head back to Elgin. We had a great, but busy trip.
We are coming down to the wire here in Elgin. We will be packing up and moving to Iowa the last week of December. We will be staying in Davenport for the month of January for an internship with Harvest Davenport. We have been blessed with the opportunity to stay in a missionary family's home for the month as they will be gone. So when we leave Elgin we will take all but some clothes up to Clear Lake.
So, how can you be praying for us.....pray for the packing of the apartment to go smoothly, for good weather as we travel in the winter months, John as he finishes up here in Elgin, the kids and I that we prioritize our time well and not to get behind with school as we do all the other things, for the housing to work out in Clear Lake, and for God to continue to build His church in Clear Lake and Mason City, IA.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Time is Flying By.....
Wow, cannot believe the end of October is almost here! We have been busy learning all that we can get our hands on and then some here in Elgin and other HBC close in the area. Some things that have happened since the last post.......
Johnathan has had is birthday and is officially 14. He enjoyed shopping for some new clothes. What a blessing that all three of the kids like to get new clothing.....able to double as a gift and making sure that we always have clothing that fits their fast growing bodies.
My parents have been here since October 21st and will not be heading home until late on Thursday. We have been having a great time. They also took Johnathan shopping for more birthday clothes....and Nattalie got new clothes since her birthday is coming up soon (Nov 1st). Today we spent the day in Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry. What an amazing place. It will definitely take more that just one visit there to take in all that they have.
I have been a part of the Thursday morning ladies Bible study and have truly enjoyed it. What a blessing to have an additional group of women to help me as I transform into the person that God has called me to be....and to have even more sisters praying for our family as we follows God's leading in our life to plant Harvest Bible Chapel Clear Lake/Mason City. Also, as couples we have small group with Lyn and Rick every other week. I thank God for these ladies as they pray for and help to hold me accountable to grow in Spiritual disciplines, Character growth, and a Relationship in my life that needs some healing.
John has been working so hard....it was a true blessing to join him Thursday afternoon......Paul Tripp came in to speak to the training class and their wives. What an amazing, God challenging time. Other things that I have been doing with John is small group in Winnetka/North Shore with a core group of people. We are going through the 5G devotional study with this group....what a blessing.
I know that I have mentioned a lot that we have had so many blessings.....God is truly bathing us in blessing after blessing. God has surrounded us with amazing friends that are prayer warriors and truly love our family. So humbling the love that we have been shown.....thank you so much Lord for all the blessings in our lives.
Looking forward to the weekend! As a family we will be headed to Clear Lake/Mason City to meet to rest of the core group. So excited to meet the rest of the core group. Please pray for our travel to and from Clear Lake this weekend.
Johnathan has had is birthday and is officially 14. He enjoyed shopping for some new clothes. What a blessing that all three of the kids like to get new clothing.....able to double as a gift and making sure that we always have clothing that fits their fast growing bodies.
My parents have been here since October 21st and will not be heading home until late on Thursday. We have been having a great time. They also took Johnathan shopping for more birthday clothes....and Nattalie got new clothes since her birthday is coming up soon (Nov 1st). Today we spent the day in Chicago at the Museum of Science and Industry. What an amazing place. It will definitely take more that just one visit there to take in all that they have.
I have been a part of the Thursday morning ladies Bible study and have truly enjoyed it. What a blessing to have an additional group of women to help me as I transform into the person that God has called me to be....and to have even more sisters praying for our family as we follows God's leading in our life to plant Harvest Bible Chapel Clear Lake/Mason City. Also, as couples we have small group with Lyn and Rick every other week. I thank God for these ladies as they pray for and help to hold me accountable to grow in Spiritual disciplines, Character growth, and a Relationship in my life that needs some healing.
John has been working so hard....it was a true blessing to join him Thursday afternoon......Paul Tripp came in to speak to the training class and their wives. What an amazing, God challenging time. Other things that I have been doing with John is small group in Winnetka/North Shore with a core group of people. We are going through the 5G devotional study with this group....what a blessing.
I know that I have mentioned a lot that we have had so many blessings.....God is truly bathing us in blessing after blessing. God has surrounded us with amazing friends that are prayer warriors and truly love our family. So humbling the love that we have been shown.....thank you so much Lord for all the blessings in our lives.
Looking forward to the weekend! As a family we will be headed to Clear Lake/Mason City to meet to rest of the core group. So excited to meet the rest of the core group. Please pray for our travel to and from Clear Lake this weekend.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Amazing Weekend!
Friday morning all the training center guys headed out for Davenport to spend the day learning more about Harvest at HBC Davenport. The kids and I headed out later that day. We had to prepare the dog for his stay with Stephanie and her family (what a blessing it was to have them watch him) and then load up the car. Before we hit the road we enjoyed some Steak and Shake....the kids love this place! Our travel went uneventful to which we are truly grateful!
John and Jamy Cochran hosted us in their home. What a blessing that was.....thank you so much for the hospitality. (John is the associate pastor at Harvest Davenport and church planting is some of his many duties.)
Friday evening we meet some of the core group from Clear Lake, IA. We enjoyed dinner together and spent some great time just sharing and getting to know each other. One funny thing that brought the room to laughter was that Johnathan introduced himself and said that he was 14. We quickly explained that he is excited for is birthday, but that it was not for two more weeks. They all knew about his excitement because in Iowa you can test for your learners permit at 14. The kids were very excited to hear that Larry Day flies amazing kites and they have an annual festival in February on the lake.....and yes the lake is froze over at that time. Check out the site www.colorthewind.org
It was a great time and which we shared about ourselves and the core team shared their heart as to why Harvest. What a blessing!
Saturday morning Jamy graciously kept the children home with her.....they enjoyed waffles, cinnamon rolls and played games together. We met with the core group for breakfast. Thank you John Cochran for having all the plans and reservations in place. We spent more time getting to know each other and talking about Harvest. We shared laughter and we shared tears. We shared excitement and we shared fears. God has orchestrated new relationships built together to bring Him glory....AWESOME!
Saturday afternoon John and Jamy knew it was time for some fun for the kids.....so we went to John Deer Pavilion. There was a ton of tractors. Daniel brought his cameras and enjoyed taking some pictures. They also had some simulated machines to show you how some of the tractors worked. One is tried to drive the tractor in a straight line to prepare the field for planting.....wow that was hard. Then the other one was an excavator. The kids would sit in this one and get a bucket of dirt and then try to empty it into the truck.....it was not that easy with each motion the handle moving part of the bucket and arm. The computer would measure what it had in it and at the end of four minutes it gave you a total of what amount of money you would have made.....I did the best!! :) Yeah mom!
Then we went to church.....HBC Davenport. What a great service. We found out that their main worship pastor came down very sick Friday night and their worship leader had to fill in at last minute. Wow....he did a fantastic job! You would have never know it was last minute.....we only knew because we were with John when he received call about the change for worship. Our great friends meet us there at church.....April and Dylan Knudsen. After church John and Jamy had planned a great time of fellowship with another church planting couple. We enjoyed great food and fellowship.
The kids were excited to find out they got to spend the night with April and Dylan at the hotel and then just have fun on Sunday morning. John and I went back to HBC Davenport.....we spent some great time with John Walters (children's pastor). He had some great wisdom to share and we enjoyed our time with him.
After church it was time for fun for everyone.......we meet up the kids. When we got to the hotel they were in the pool and having a great time playing "chicken".....it was really funny to watch. We headed to Michael's which was a great place.... Go-Karts, laser tag, bounce houses, rock wall and tons of games. We spent a handful of hours just having a great time. And for the record.....Dylan and the girls won in laser tag. That was a ton of fun!!! Then we decided to enjoy a movie together.....Courageous. What an amazing movie. If you have not seen that I would highly recommend it! All around a great day and just enjoyed being with out great friends....April and Dylan.
Monday we spent some more time just catching up with April and Dylan.....then we went to the mall. Enjoyed lunch and then spilt up to shop. The boys didn't think all the girl stores they had in that mall would be fun. We had a great time looking around. John and Dylan ended up in Barnes and Nobles.....they got the Resolution for Men and the Resolution for Women.....these are the books that go along with the Courageous movie. We are excited to go through these books together.
What an amazing weekend! We are so excited for God has in store for our future.
ENJOY SOME PICTURES..........
John and Jamy Cochran hosted us in their home. What a blessing that was.....thank you so much for the hospitality. (John is the associate pastor at Harvest Davenport and church planting is some of his many duties.)
Friday evening we meet some of the core group from Clear Lake, IA. We enjoyed dinner together and spent some great time just sharing and getting to know each other. One funny thing that brought the room to laughter was that Johnathan introduced himself and said that he was 14. We quickly explained that he is excited for is birthday, but that it was not for two more weeks. They all knew about his excitement because in Iowa you can test for your learners permit at 14. The kids were very excited to hear that Larry Day flies amazing kites and they have an annual festival in February on the lake.....and yes the lake is froze over at that time. Check out the site www.colorthewind.org
It was a great time and which we shared about ourselves and the core team shared their heart as to why Harvest. What a blessing!
Saturday morning Jamy graciously kept the children home with her.....they enjoyed waffles, cinnamon rolls and played games together. We met with the core group for breakfast. Thank you John Cochran for having all the plans and reservations in place. We spent more time getting to know each other and talking about Harvest. We shared laughter and we shared tears. We shared excitement and we shared fears. God has orchestrated new relationships built together to bring Him glory....AWESOME!
Saturday afternoon John and Jamy knew it was time for some fun for the kids.....so we went to John Deer Pavilion. There was a ton of tractors. Daniel brought his cameras and enjoyed taking some pictures. They also had some simulated machines to show you how some of the tractors worked. One is tried to drive the tractor in a straight line to prepare the field for planting.....wow that was hard. Then the other one was an excavator. The kids would sit in this one and get a bucket of dirt and then try to empty it into the truck.....it was not that easy with each motion the handle moving part of the bucket and arm. The computer would measure what it had in it and at the end of four minutes it gave you a total of what amount of money you would have made.....I did the best!! :) Yeah mom!
Then we went to church.....HBC Davenport. What a great service. We found out that their main worship pastor came down very sick Friday night and their worship leader had to fill in at last minute. Wow....he did a fantastic job! You would have never know it was last minute.....we only knew because we were with John when he received call about the change for worship. Our great friends meet us there at church.....April and Dylan Knudsen. After church John and Jamy had planned a great time of fellowship with another church planting couple. We enjoyed great food and fellowship.
The kids were excited to find out they got to spend the night with April and Dylan at the hotel and then just have fun on Sunday morning. John and I went back to HBC Davenport.....we spent some great time with John Walters (children's pastor). He had some great wisdom to share and we enjoyed our time with him.
After church it was time for fun for everyone.......we meet up the kids. When we got to the hotel they were in the pool and having a great time playing "chicken".....it was really funny to watch. We headed to Michael's which was a great place.... Go-Karts, laser tag, bounce houses, rock wall and tons of games. We spent a handful of hours just having a great time. And for the record.....Dylan and the girls won in laser tag. That was a ton of fun!!! Then we decided to enjoy a movie together.....Courageous. What an amazing movie. If you have not seen that I would highly recommend it! All around a great day and just enjoyed being with out great friends....April and Dylan.
Monday we spent some more time just catching up with April and Dylan.....then we went to the mall. Enjoyed lunch and then spilt up to shop. The boys didn't think all the girl stores they had in that mall would be fun. We had a great time looking around. John and Dylan ended up in Barnes and Nobles.....they got the Resolution for Men and the Resolution for Women.....these are the books that go along with the Courageous movie. We are excited to go through these books together.
What an amazing weekend! We are so excited for God has in store for our future.
ENJOY SOME PICTURES..........
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| Kids playing chicken with April |
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| Johnathan, John and Dylan preparing to race |
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| Core Group we met with weekend...Tank family, Larry and Kay Day, Slim and Pat Meints, and Scott Stauffacher |
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| Tank Family scooped up in a plow! |
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| Nattalie working hard at getting a full bucket with the excavator |
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| Johnathan...concentrating so hard....hopefully he doesn't bite his tongue off :) |
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| Daniel concentrating really hard to drive the tractor in a straight line |
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Busy Learning and being involved in Ministry.....
The calendar is starting to fill up as we are involved in everything possibly while we are here in Elgin. Last week was the intro for the Women's Bible Study on Thursday morning.....I truly enjoyed that. The study throughout this week has been great and I look forward to the weeks ahead. I am excited for personal growth in God's Word, but also to see how HBC uses Bible Studies at the church to connect the ladies into a Small Group.
Tomorrow night we have our first Small Group with fellow residents in the training center. On the agenda is dinner and then to get to know each other we will share how we meet our spouse and our engagement story.....for those of you who have not known John and I that long our engagement story is a fun one. I will take the time to share with you...... We loved to drive up to the mountains at night and look and the stars and many nights we would see a lot of shooting stars....so beautiful. Well, John had planned another enjoyable evening like this starting with dinner and then head up north to the mountains. We enjoyed a great dinner together and then got on the road. We were about an hour out of town and the clutch in the truck just fell off the truck while we were driving on the highway....CRAZY! John coasted over to the side of the road.....and it was great the next exit was about 7-8 miles up the road. Oh fun...but we were blessed with a military guy headed home to his family that sopped and gave us a ride to the next exit. We called a tow truck and then road with the tow truck driver to pick up the truck and then he dropped us back off at the same exit. (This was before cell phones.) We called John's dad to come and pick us up. We went to the Denny's there and got a drink while we waited for John's dad. He finally made it......then all of a sudden I turned around and John was on his knee with a beautiful ring in his hand. Not exactly what he had planned for the evening, but he knew he needed to propose because everyone back at home knew what his plans were for the evening. Also, just so you know the clutch on the truck was under warranty and was fixed within a few days and we drove up together to bring the truck back home. So, that is our engagement story. :)
Back to what is going on here.....the kids are getting involoved in everything they can as well. On Wednesday nights they enjoy youth group. Thursday mornings they help with childcare during the Women's Bible study. And something they just started tonight is livestream for all harvest students. They log on and have fun with Landon and other youth leaders, but then they always have a Bible study. Right now they are going over the fruits of the spirit....this is awesome! Another way to get students involoved and in God's Word!! It is such a joy to watch the kids so intent on learning from God's Word....they are watching this right now as I am typing the blog.
The month of October is exciting for us.....we will meet the core group from Mason City, April and Dylan are coming for a visit, Jason and Dava are coming for a visit, and my parents are coming for a visit. (And mom and dad just so you know the order is not that we are not excited about your visit....I have just listed them in date order.) So excited to have friends and family around us!
Please continue to pray for the sale of our house back in Des Moines. We have gotten some crazy news over the past couple of weeks.....a couple of weeks ago we got a call from our realtor and she told us that the lockbox was pryed off the railing by the front door. Then yesterday, before there was a chance to get the locks changed, we got another call. Whoever took the lockbox broke it open and got the key out.....and they stole the furnance. At first this was hard to hear, but we are trusting this all in the Lord's hands. We have called the insurance company and should hear back from them soon. Thank you to all who have helped with the A/C.....my dad and Butch took it to Carl and Becky Jackson's house so that it wouldn't be taken as well. Thank you for your continued prayer support for our family! God has truly blessed us and we are so grateful!!
Tomorrow night we have our first Small Group with fellow residents in the training center. On the agenda is dinner and then to get to know each other we will share how we meet our spouse and our engagement story.....for those of you who have not known John and I that long our engagement story is a fun one. I will take the time to share with you...... We loved to drive up to the mountains at night and look and the stars and many nights we would see a lot of shooting stars....so beautiful. Well, John had planned another enjoyable evening like this starting with dinner and then head up north to the mountains. We enjoyed a great dinner together and then got on the road. We were about an hour out of town and the clutch in the truck just fell off the truck while we were driving on the highway....CRAZY! John coasted over to the side of the road.....and it was great the next exit was about 7-8 miles up the road. Oh fun...but we were blessed with a military guy headed home to his family that sopped and gave us a ride to the next exit. We called a tow truck and then road with the tow truck driver to pick up the truck and then he dropped us back off at the same exit. (This was before cell phones.) We called John's dad to come and pick us up. We went to the Denny's there and got a drink while we waited for John's dad. He finally made it......then all of a sudden I turned around and John was on his knee with a beautiful ring in his hand. Not exactly what he had planned for the evening, but he knew he needed to propose because everyone back at home knew what his plans were for the evening. Also, just so you know the clutch on the truck was under warranty and was fixed within a few days and we drove up together to bring the truck back home. So, that is our engagement story. :)
Back to what is going on here.....the kids are getting involoved in everything they can as well. On Wednesday nights they enjoy youth group. Thursday mornings they help with childcare during the Women's Bible study. And something they just started tonight is livestream for all harvest students. They log on and have fun with Landon and other youth leaders, but then they always have a Bible study. Right now they are going over the fruits of the spirit....this is awesome! Another way to get students involoved and in God's Word!! It is such a joy to watch the kids so intent on learning from God's Word....they are watching this right now as I am typing the blog.
The month of October is exciting for us.....we will meet the core group from Mason City, April and Dylan are coming for a visit, Jason and Dava are coming for a visit, and my parents are coming for a visit. (And mom and dad just so you know the order is not that we are not excited about your visit....I have just listed them in date order.) So excited to have friends and family around us!
Please continue to pray for the sale of our house back in Des Moines. We have gotten some crazy news over the past couple of weeks.....a couple of weeks ago we got a call from our realtor and she told us that the lockbox was pryed off the railing by the front door. Then yesterday, before there was a chance to get the locks changed, we got another call. Whoever took the lockbox broke it open and got the key out.....and they stole the furnance. At first this was hard to hear, but we are trusting this all in the Lord's hands. We have called the insurance company and should hear back from them soon. Thank you to all who have helped with the A/C.....my dad and Butch took it to Carl and Becky Jackson's house so that it wouldn't be taken as well. Thank you for your continued prayer support for our family! God has truly blessed us and we are so grateful!!
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