Wow, what a year!!

Wow, what a year it has been.  One year ago today we started our journey to Alaska.  After driving for many days over 5,000 miles, we made it.  Looking back, it has been a whirlwind, but in the middle of it, some of the time seemed to go so slowly.  This has been a year filled with blessings, yet steeped in loss.  During the past year I have said goodbye to two grandparents and three angle babies that we did not hold here on this earth, but I know we will see when we get to heaven.  I have dealt with crippling panic attacks, but have overcome them with the strength and grace of God.  We have gone through a year of Bible college, Bryan was the student, and spent about 6 months “dating”, getting to know, a mission organization.  We are now officially a part of that mission organization.  Our family is now officially a missionary family with Interact Ministries.  During this process we have made some awesome friends and developed wonderful relationships with them.  We have also found a great church here in Alaska, Church on the Rock in Palmer.  Three of our children were baptized by Pastor Chris from Church on the Rock, Palmer, and I have recently been able to become involved in worship ministry again.

There have been many more ups and downs; I don’t think I could possibly list them all.  Most importantly, our relationship with God has strengthened exponentially.  We have really had to lean on Him this year, and that has really developed our relationships with each other, and with Him.  God has taught us so many lessons this year.  This year has been FAR from easy, but God has brought us through.  Honestly, there were times when I would just cry out, “God, I don’t know how to do this, or I can’t do this”, but God would always put His hand on my heart and give me the Peace that can ONLY come from Him and tell me, “I know you can’t, but I CAN.  I’ve got this.”.

 I love to listen to praise and worship music, and there is a verse in one song that says, “When the storm rages, I won’t be afraid, because I have locked eyes on You face to face”.  I love that song, but more specifically that verse.  The storms will rage all around us, in every season of our lives.  We have been in the middle of some crazy storms this year, but we don’t have to be afraid, because when we keep our eyes on His, we WILL NOT sink.  We may feel crazy, and it may feel like the water is starting to rise, but as long as we are with Him, we will NOT be overcome by any storm that this world may throw at us.

I am so thankful for all that God has done in our lives this year, both the joy and the heartache.  It is easy to rejoice and praise Him in the good times, but our strength is built in the heartache.  It is in the heartache that God will lift our heads and remind us that He’s got this!!!

Thank you so much for your prayers and love this year.  We ask that you continue to pray for us daily as we seek to do His will in our lives. 

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We are official!!

We are so excited to announce that we are officially members of Interact Ministries. We have been working with Interact for a few months now, and have been in the application process, but as of this past Monday afternoon we are officially appointees with Interact Ministries.

That means that we are missionaries in the process of raising monthly support so that we can hopefully go into ministry full time once we are fully funded. We are not up on the website as of today, but should be soon. You can find out more about Interact Ministries here.

We are looking for others to partner with us in Ministry.  Our ministry focus will be here in Palmer Alaska, ministering to individuals and groups who use our Lazy Mountain campus.  We will also be working with the LEaD Alaska program, mentoring students who participate in the program. 







We are so excited about the opportunities that God is placing before us.  We would like to ask that you consider joining with us in this journey.  We are just starting out on this portion of our journey, and are looking for partners who would like to come along side us in ministry and give their support both financially and through prayer. 

If God is moving in your heart and you would like to become one of our monthly financial partners, you can contribute through Interacts site, or by mail. 

Thank you for your love and support!!

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What does the Bible say to you???

We were recently in an interview and were asked, "What is the main theme that jumps out at you from the Bible?".

This was a great question, how do you sum up the Bible?  What is the main theme?  To me, the main theme of the Bible is love.  God has really been speaking to my heart lately about this.  The entire book begins with Love.  God created the earth and everything in it, and it was good.  He did not just half heartedly create the universe and mankind.  He took great care when He created all of the intricate details that make up our world, and our very being.

Even today, God does not just poof us into existence.  He crafts every detail of our being with His mighty, skillful, and loving hand.  He knows every detail of who we are, and He still loves us anyway.  Before the fall, Gods creation was perfect, and there was no reason not to love it.  However, since the fall, things have gone terribly downhill, but He STILL loves us.  He loved us so much to sacrifice His only son, the Holy Lamb of God.  Jesus willingly came in our place and took our punishment.  Did He do that because He "liked" us a lot?  No, He did it because He loves us!!

When we look at all of the Love that God has for us, and has had for us since the beginning, how can we do anything but Love like He did, and does.  We should love when it's not "convenient", when it is hard, and even when it hurts.  We are called to love others.  We are called to be bearers of good news, and carriers of Light.  We are called to share the Love of Christ with others. 

Love, Love, Love.  God Loves us so much and he cares about all that we go through.  He cares about the small things, just as he cares about the big things.  We are His creation, created by His love, saved by the very blood of His son.  God is Love and we are to live according to His Word.  His Word tells us to Love. 

What about you?  How do you summarize the Bible? 

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My chains are gone, I've been set free......

I love that song, and especially the chorus. Those chains can be different things to different people. For me it has been silence. I know that sounds akward, but for the past three years or so, I have worn the chains of silence.

For me this was a big deal. You see, I have been active in worship in the churches that I have attended since I was 4 years old. I can remember someone else holding the michrophone for me to sing into when I was super young. It has always been a big part of my life, until around three and a half years ago. It was at that time that I was silenced by God. It was so hard struggling through that and not knowing why it was happening. It was a real battle for me. I loved worship, and always had, but suddenly it was gone. I was no longer able to lead others in worship, and I just felt lost. It felt like a part of me was gone, and I was so confused.

Looking back now, I can see that even way back then, God was preparing us for the ministry that we are now in. I still don't know the exact reason, but I feel like that if I had stayed in the role that I was in at the time, we never would have moved to our sending church, and we never would have made it to the mission field in Alaska. I am sure I would have felt so obligated to stay where we were actually involved in worship ministry, that I may have missed the bigger picture that God was drawing for us.

I think that it is in our times of silence that we grow the most. I know during the past three and a half years, I have searched for Gods will, actively pursuing His will for our lives. It has not been easy, and there was a lot of time spent waiting. It was during this time that I was able to grow closer to God in my prayer life, and really really depend on Him. He has developed new passions in me that would not have come without the silence. He has shown me things that I never would have been able to see, without the silence. He has taught me how to "be still, and know that He is God".

Because of all of these things, I am thankful for the silence that I went through. Just recently God has been impressing upon my heart the desire to become involved in worship ministry again. At first I was hesitant, I wanted to be sure that the desires of my heart were also the desires of God. After much prompting from the Lord, I took the appropriate steps to audition and become involved in worship here in Alaska. It felt great, but I realized one more thing while I was up there on the stage, that in my time of silence, God was teaching me how to truly worship Him. Not just how to put on a show, but how to truly worship Him with all of my heart, holding nothing back. He taught me about living a life style of worship, not just waiting until Sunday morning, but striving to have a constant connection with Him.

It feels so good to be back where I know God has always planned for me to be, and it is so awesome to have that desire burning in my heart and soul once again. The desire to lead Gods people in preparing their hearts to be in the presence of the Holy Spirit and to be receptive of what he has for them.

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