Lazy Days

The guys.

Amy's Shower

Katie, Nat & Jen helped make the room look beautiful!

God knew that I needed to be around my sweet friends that day. I was so blessed by them and my adorable Amy looked cute as ever. Before Nat & Jen left they gave me a card that with little notes in it from each girl. It was so overwhelming and I thank God for the strength and encouragement he gave me that day. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Spring Retreat

Us

Stopping in Fresno.

Flat tire on the way up but the gus had it handled.

Beauiful Day at the Lake.

Looking out at creation and singing "God of Wonders."

Superbowl Party

The girls seem interested. Maybe not.

Burke was way into the game!

Amanda just happened to know al l the answers to

our game of "Battle of the Sexes."

Our goup at Superbowl.

Home Owners

This is the lay out of our second floor. (Click the layout to see a bigger picture).

We have now been home onwers for almost a month and we have had some exciting things happen! It all started off with our toilet overflowing for about 5 hours and our closet and half of our bedroom was flooded in about an inch of water. We are so thankful that John found the flood in time and it wasn't running for 40 days and 40 nights :) The second thing that we found was a little furry friend in our pantry. Yes, we found a very small cute mouse that we named bandit. We have been trying to catch this thing for about a week but with no success. Hopefully it will eat the disguised poison and die in a peaceful place OUTSIDE!! The final adventure happened this morning as I was getting out of the shower; the entire glass door shattered! No warning, it just hit the bumper going very slowly and shattered in to a million pieces.

Well you can imagine our surprise at all of these events and in the midst of them all God has brought us peace and joy. We have so much to be thankful for and even though these situations can cause us stress and frustration we realize now more than ever the difference in storing up our treasures on earth or in heaven. When faced with owning your own home we never thought about how much we would be bombarded with materialism; we have really prayed against this and have continued focusing on Christ and furthering His kingdom.

John had the priviledge of leading a Bible Study last night at Cal Lutheran and it was a blessed time. He preached on being immovable for Christ and fighting with the strength and courage that only comes from above.

Our House

For those of you we haven't talked to since Feb. 14 th, we won the housing lottery in Camarillo! We are able to buy a condo to own that is below market rate. Everything has happened so quickly and God has given us so much more than we deserve. The middle condo is ours! God is so good. All of our paper work went through and we will be signing the closing papers next week. Thank you FM, family & friends for all of your prayers.

God is so Good

God has blessed my Mom and me with such a sweet relationship. I love her so much and we both have learned and grown so much in Christ in the past few years. After my Dad died my Mom has been searching for something to be a part of where she could pour her heart and time into. She found something! God has given her the opportunity to sew dresses for little girls in Africa! She is so excited and thankful to be able to be used by God in this way.

We are precious to God and useful to Him. We bring Him so much glory when we are satisfied in Him and enjoy His will being fulfilled in our lives.

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." -Psalm 139:14

Dad's Memorial

Mom with her rose for Dad.

All of us after the service at Jack and Marianne's.

God was so good to us that day. The weather was beautiful and there weren't a lot of people around. We got down to the beach aound 11:30 am and waited for everyone to arrive. My mom passed out roses and at the end of our time some people threw them in the waves and others kept them. Time actually felt like it stood still for the 3 hours we were there but the most amazing reality in the midst of our loss was that my Dad was in heaven at that moment with our Savior. I cannot express the overwhelming joy and peace that brings to me daily. I am not reminded of his suffering during the last weeks of his life or how he looked right before he died but his salvation and eternity with Christ. Our days are numbered and our lives truly count for nothing unless we have Christ. My Dad taught me to ride a bike, to boogie board, to be sacrificial, and to work hard but; the most important thing he ever taught me was to the love the Lord with all my heart and to live each day with the joy of our eternal life with Him.

Heaven or Hell...

I read morning devotions at seriousfaith.com and author Brent Riggs had this to say about Hell, "Jesus had much more to say about hell than heaven. Hell is a grim reality that is virtually ignored by Christians today as being too harsh, unloving or uncomfortable. We don't want to scare people away with talk of hell, so we simply ignore it, or give it a quick passing mention before moving on to more friendly subjects. That's a shame because our friendly intentions won't count for much to those who find themselves in eternal torment."
(Read more at:http://www.seriousfaith.com/teaching_detail.asp?teachingnumber=463) More often than not we stand in the way of the gospel message rather than give it full force. I am encouraged to press on and share faithfully with my friends and family who are unsaved. Let us not forget what we were saved from and persevere even in the midst of opposition. I had a great time talking and praying with Jenna last night at Starbucks. We also saw Jennifer Webber there which was a happy surprise.
"What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ..." Phil. 3:8

Living Water

We had a wonderful reception at EV Free on Saturday evening and Sunday. God has truly refreshed our souls with a whole new group of people to minister to and grow with. We are so thankful to the Lord for all that He has given us because we know that every good and perfect gift comes from Him. We look forward to what God has planned for this year and for the sanctification of His saints.

"...Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me,as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" - John 7:37-38