We Closed On Our First House

Hello everyone!!! Sorry I haven't been on in a while...things have been kind of crazy. This morning Will and I closed on our first home. We signed many papers that said the same thing just in a little different wording and were handed our keys a little after 10! We went straight over to the house and we just stood there in disbelief. We have no words for how blessed we feel right now. God has provided for us in so many amazing ways since we got married last April. 


After we celebrated for a little bit, Will went off to work and I stayed to do some cleaning. Our house has been vacant for about six months or so, so it really needed a good scrub down. I cleaned for about five hours and realized how much I miss my mom. As I was cleaning I started to think about how much I wish my mom was there to help me and it wasn't even about the help but it was more about being able to celebrate with her. I love you mom! I have to keep telling myself I will see here in about a month. Anyways, we are planning on moving  into our house on Friday...pending the weather. We got about three inches of snow today and within the next two days we are supposed to get anywhere between 15-20 inches of snow :( OH BOY!!!! That is one thing that we would love your prayers for, good weather for moving. 


As we continue to get settled into our new house I will add more pictures for everyone to see. I may not be on the computer for awhile after Friday because we still have to get our internet set up but as soon as we do, you will be hearing from me :) Love and miss you all!

God's Love for His Children is Indescribable

WOW! What an amazing weekend! Will and I got the opportunity (along with the youth sponsors that organized the trip) to take the youth of Evanston to Snowcraze. Snowcraze is a winter retreat that is located up in Bozeman, MT. It is a weekend of fun, fellowship, growing, worshiping, and connecting with fellow believers in Christ. To be honest with you, Will and I were a little nervous to be going, considering we hadn't even been there two full weeks but God, being the amazing creator that He is, turned it into a weekend that we needed just as much as the kids. It was a weekend dedicated to getting to know the kids on a deeper level and without that it probably would have taken us a lot longer to get to know them and also to have them open up to us. We were also blessed to be able to get to know some of the youth sponsors a little better as well. 

I got the opportunity to stay in a cabin with thirteen other girls. That many girls in one cabin made for some amazing talks, funny moments, lots of bonding times, late nights, a lot of giggles, some tears that were shed, several heads that needed to be french braided, and many friendships that were made. On Saturday the kids were able to attend two of four different sessions that they had planned and then in the afternoon it was free time. Free time consisted of either tubing or broomball. I went tubing with some of the girls from our youth group and had a ton of fun. It was a little bit different than the tubing we have in Minnesota. Minnesota is fairly flat and the hills that are "created" there are not all that tall. Well this camp that we were at was located in the mountains, so let me tell you no hills needed to be created. I got quite the workout! I am still trying to get used to this elevation change. On Sunday, the kids were able to choose whether or not they wanted to go skiing or go to the Hot Springs. Being the inexperienced skier that I am I naturally chose the Hot Springs. I had never been to the Hot Springs before so I was pretty excited. This particular one that we went to had some of the pools inside and some outside. The middle school girls did end up talking me into going to the one outside and they even talked me into getting into the snow and then jumping into the pool....BRRRRRR!


Every night and also on Monday morning the kids got the opportunity to go to Chapel. Worship was led by the wonderful Elijah Scheidler and the message titled "Follow Me" was given by Brian Wiggins. Chapel was a time for the kids (and leaders) to focus solely on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit was definitely present and felt by everyone. Being able to see God's children worship with their whole hearts was something that I cannot explain. The only thing I could do was smile and let the tears run down my face. Seeing lives changed and hearts transformed was such a blessing from God. Being able to see the transparency of God working in Elijah's life and the boldness that it took for Brian to let God speak through him helped the kids to truly understand what it means to have Christ working in their lives. Two of the songs that really effected everyone at Snowcraze were "The Stand" by Hillsong and "You won't Relent" by Misty Edwards/ Jesus Culture. "The Stand" is a song that talks about standing before Christ and offering our heart completely to Him. It also talks about standing before Him in awe and abandoning our hearts to Him because He gave it ALL for us. "You won't Relent" is a song that talks about God not giving up until He has all of us. It is also a song for believers to declare that we will set God as a seal upon our hearts. Both of these songs were sung as promises to God that we would give Him our whole life. The Holy Spirit really worked in and through Elijah and Brian. 


Something that Elijah said that really challenged me was, "We need to abide in Jesus and surrender all of our fears and failures to Him in order to truly hear what He is saying to us." Being in a new place, away from all of my friends and family, it is hard not to let fear in. But the minute I let that consume my mind God's voice seems to get muffled. By abiding in Christ and surrendering that fear of the unknown to God, I will be able to  clearly hear what God wants me to do. Brian also said that, "God has us exactly where He wants us. He is going to use us in the here and now." This weekend was a great reminder that God was the one that has brought us to Evanston, WY and He is the one that is going to use us! I am so thankful for the kids and leaders of the Evanston Youth Group! 


Below are two links to those two songs I had mentioned earlier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEJnePjJZaM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAQ61KH7qRc

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hello everyone! Happy Valentine's Day! I pray you had a fantastic day spending it with the people that you love most. Although this is Will and I's third Valentine's Day together, it feels so different as a married couple. Being married to Will has been one of the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. The love that Will has shown me is unexplainable and to know that the love from our Savior is so much bigger than any love that we will ever feel here on earth and is literally unexplainable, just blows my mind.

Our Valentine's Day was just a day of fun! We didn't do too much but we sure had fun!! I looked for a Valentine's Day card for Will for a very long time. I just couldn't find one that said, "This is the one!" So, I kept looking and looking and looking, until...cue the lights and the music...TADA! I had finally found the one! It was definitely not an over the top love card. No, rather it was a card that made me literally laugh out loud in the store. It was PERFECT!!! I also bought him a shirt that says, "I put the MAN in romance!" (You can find a picture of both the card and the shirt on facebook.) We laughed for about an hour after I gave it to him and then we finished out the night with some pizza and a movie. I also taught myself how to crochet while watching the movie. Overall, it was a great first Valentine's Day as a married couple! Thank you for the husband you have given me Lord! Goodnight everyone!!

God's Comfort in Simple Reminders

Isn't God good!!! I can not even begin to tell you just how blessed Will and I feel. We have felt so welcomed here in Evanston by our church family that we feel like we have known everyone for years. This past week I have been thinking a lot about what a church family truly means and to go a little further what brothers and sisters in Christ truly means. Sometimes I think we get into such a rhythm of the familiarity of life that we lose sight of the work that God is doing around the world. What do I mean by that? Well, living in Apple Valley, MN my whole life (which I miss very much) and going to Crown College, I seemed to have a limited view of who my brothers and sisters in Christ truly are. I felt so comfortable and content with where God had me that I just thought the only brothers and sister in Christ that I would ever have were the people that lived near me in MN. HAHAHA! God showed me a thing or two. He has opened my eyes to not only my new brothers and sisters in Christ but also to the fact that there are Christians all over the world that are my brothers and sisters in Christ.  God's family is constantly growing, which means mine is too!

Tomorrow will be a week that we have officially been in Evanston, WY. It has been a challenging but rewarding week. Challenging in the sense that we are learning to call some place else our home, learning what Will's hours look like as a Youth Pastor, and being away from friends and family. Rewarding in the fact that we have already made some great friendships, been welcomed into Lana's home until ours in ready, and learning how to invest in the students lives. This past Thursday was Will's first Thursday leading the Youth Group. Will and I thought it would been good if we each shared our testimony for the first week. That way we are able to be vulnerable with the students and hopefully they will in turn be vulnerable with us. It seemed like the kids responded really well to our testimonies and we just pray that God will use them for His Glory. As I was listening to Will's testimony, I was really missing my family and being the worry-wort that I am, wondering how in the world God is going to use two 23 year olds to minister to these kids. I'll be honest I was distracted and even though I have heard Will's testimony several times before, God still wanted to teach/ show me something through his testimony. Will shared a verse that I have heard several times before but being able to hear in from my husband and right when I needed it, it gave me a real sense of peace and comfort. The verse was;

Philippians 1:6

New International Version (NIV)

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

God has us right where he wants us and he has already started a good work in and through us, but that's not the best part. The best part is that He is going to carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. God is going to be with us every step of the way. We will never be alone in this ministry. All we have to be are God's hands and feet and He will do the rest!! :) 

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!

Our Trip from MN to WY

The last thing we did before we left Crown was clean out our fridge.

This was the view that my mom and I got to look at for about 23 hours!

The first part of our drive was really foggy but we hit a point where it suddenly went away and the beautiful sun came out.

Will's first time driving the U-Haul...Bill looks a little scared.

The beautiful sunrise on our second day of driving!!!

We would like you to meet the sycho birds that we meet in MT.

This was one of the most beautiful mountain passes I have ever been through!

Hands up!!

Tunnel Number One!

Tunnel Number Two!

God's wonderful creation!!!

We made it! Now it is time to say goodbye to our U-Haul.

My travel buddy!

Will's travel buddy!

This wonderful lady is Lana! And she has been kind enough to let us live with her while we finish closing on our townhouse. Thanks Lana!

Our New Home

Hello Everyone!!!! Will and I are officially in Evanston, WY and slowly but surely adjusting to life out in the wild west :) Ok, ok, ok so it's not really the wild west but it's much more country than Apple Valley, MN. Today has been the hardest day thus far because I had to say goodbye to my mom. We dropped my father-in-law and my mom off at the Salt Lake City airport this morning and I think that was what solidified the fact that this is now our new home for me. Leaving them at the airport and having to walk back to the car was one of the hardest things I have had to do. To me it was kind of like a leap of faith; because now is the time in our life where Will and I are not only going to have to lean on each other but most importantly on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ during this time of transition. I am so excited to begin this journey in our lives but as I say that I am also a little scared and nervous. I know that God has some great plans for us here in Evanston and we are excited to see what they are!