gross

the pool at the YWCA was temporarily closed due to a fecal incident. gross. even more gross was that the sign for this annoucement was laminated.

Friends are friends forever. . .

After Thanksgiving, Heidi and I were riding back to MN with my sister, Sally, and her husband, Kent, and their 2 attractive children. Our conversation turned to the impact that certain friends have had on our lives. Since then, I have been thinking about how my life is so much better because of several people’s presence in it. Two of them are people I have not seen in years. Drew Marcus moved to CA when I was 13, but he was a great friend. Marc Maez and I were friends from 7th grade through high school and his fearlessness led me leave our small private school to attend Aurora Central High School and try activities that I would have never tried without his encouragement. He helped me build my confidence by just who he is. Sadly, we lost contact a few years ago. Jess Rector is the most fiercely loyal friend I have ever known. He is the kind of guy who would take a bullet for you without a thought. His wife, Kristi, is my oldest friend and Heidi and I love visiting the Rectors in Loveland, CO. Duane Trantham is the funniest person I have ever known. If you need a laugh or a coconut, Duane will hook you up. He is the subject of the funniest pictures in our wedding. Last, but most importantly, is Chris Heng. The guy is more like a brother than a friend. He and I became friends when we were 7 years old and are still friends to this day. The contributions that he and his wife, Zong, made to Heidi and my wedding were incredible. (He also introduced me to her.) I am so blessed to have Chris for a friend.

For the sake of this entry, I am only mentioning friends from my childhood. My college and post-college friends will have to be the subject of another blog entry.

I am truly blessed and grateful for the wonderful people that the Lord put in my life.

Movie review: King Kong

King Kong is a wild ride. I (Tim) liked it a whole lot. Peter Jackson made an interesting, pulse-pounding movie that does not let up once you reach the island. The 1930’s setting was far more interesting than if it was set in 2005. The actors did a great job, despite spending much of the filming in front of a blue screen. Kong looked amazing and actually seemed like a real ape, not a man in a rubber mask. The movie had little swearing and no artsy sex scenes (like Titanic – gag!). In fact, the interactions with Ann and Jack have a more innocent quality to them, unlike most modern movies. It was also refreshing to see a brave man who did not strut around and a heroine who did not take her clothes off. All in all, I would recommend this film.

Sweet scenes: The Running of the Brontosaurs
Kong vs 3 T-Rexes (big mouths, little arms)
Kong vs. bi-planes

Turd in the punchbowl: There was way too much taking the Lord’s name in vain in this film. It drives me crazy when people do that.

Recapping the week

I (Heidi) was sitting in my psuedo-living room this afternoon thinking, journaling, and praying and it hit me that God really blessed us this week. We had a really REALLY rough night Sunday evening and not much sleep was had. Come to think of it, the entire weekend was really heavy for us emotionally and spiritually because of some incredibly disheartening news we received. But anyway, it's always hard to go into a new week with things weighing you down like that. I even called in sick on Monday because of the aftermath of the prior evening's pain. Thus began our week. As the week progressed though, God blessed us. Looking back on the week I can see answered prayers and much provision. We were also blessed with opportunities to fellowship with old friends and connect with new friends.

God cares about the little things, for instance the UPS package that you really need to come early. (Because we all know UPS is certainly never early - at least not in my experience!) God cares about us and our lives and He knows every detail. I know we read that all the time, assuming you read your Bible :) and we hear it in church from time to time, but sometimes, it's just really, really nice to see it. To see God intervene in a small way just to show that He hears us and He cares.

The older we get, the more hardship we see and experience, and the harder life seems to get. But the closer we draw to Jesus, the less we focus on the hardship b/c we can't turn our eyes away from Him. In the last week a dear friend of mine lost a friend to a bus accident in Nigeria (love you Nicole!!!!) and some dear friends of ours recently found out one of their beautiful adopted sons has HIV. This is some really hard, heady stuff to deal with. It's not fair and I don't understand it. But I know in my heart of hearts, that God is a good God and He desires GOOD things for us. I praise Him for the struggle that I am in b/c it has drawn me nearer to the thrown than I ever could have come without the trial. Has it been a long time? Yes. Too long? It sure feels that way. But I praise Him for the trial and I count it joy.

I know I am rambling on and on, but I wanted to share my heart with you for just a moment. This week I have been blessed by reminding myself that God knows. He knows. He knows everything and I am thankful for that. Know that He knows. And be blessed.

Movie review: Narnia

Heidi and I went to see the new Narnia film with great expectation. We were not disappointed. While there were certain points when the special effects were less than perfect, it was still a great film. The acting was top notch and the story was adapted from the book fairly well. Every book ever turned into a movie has the problem that it never looks as good as it does in your mind, but Disney did a good job. I am particularly glad they did not turn it into a musical and remove all mothers from the story. (What does Disney have against mothers, anyway?) Also, my fears of the Christian allegory being removed or watered down were unrealized.

Heidi and I both give this film a high recommendation. It is well worth your time and money.

“He is not a tame lion, but He is good.” – my favorite line from the movie (and book)

MIT's

We are officially Missionaries-in-Training. That's right, M:MM accepted us!

We found out last week that we were accepted (without any stipulations, I might add) to be overseas missionaries with Mission: Moving Mountains. We're really excited, but it's all a little overwhelming at this point.

So now we begin the lengthy training process: LOTS of reading, about 21 books I think, forming a relationship with an M:MM mentor, working on our IDP's (individual development plan), and learning how to be good missionaries. It's really like a dream, I don't think it's sunk in yet for either of us. Even though we kind if knew it was coming, it's quite surreal. From here on out, it's strategy, stragegy, strategy.

We won't know our placement for a few months yet, but as we get more information, we will post it.

Concert Review: Project 86 and P.O.D.

Last night I (Tim) wandered downtown to join Matty D and the infamous Cape brothers at Club 3 Degrees for a rock concert. And rock it did. The opening act was a local band called Silverline. I expected them to stink, but was pleasantly surprised. They played a short, tight set and I enjoyed them. Next up was Project 86. Wow. They are amazing. Andrew Schwab’s vocals were outstanding and the band was energetic. They tore through some classics, like “Stein’s Theme”, “Play On”, “The Spy Hunter”, and some new songs, like “Sincerely Icabod” and “Something We Can’t Be”. After only 45 minutes they left the stage while the crowd lamented the end of their set. Soon enough the chords of “Tribal” resounded through the Club and Sonny’s long ‘locks were flying everywhere. They played “Southtown”, “Satellite”, “Youth of the Nation”, and quite a few new songs before they ended their set with “Alive”. Sonny communicated a real sense of humility and gratitude to be performing and clearly enjoys what he does. They only played an hour, but they were great. I am glad I got to go. It was a great show.

Narnia

Heidi and I are getting excited for the Chronicles of Narnia, which will be in theaters December 9. We are inviting people to see it with us. So, if you are available on December 10 at around 7 pm, we are going to the Wynnsong Theater in Mounds View. Please let us know if you plan to join us so we can get you a ticket. It will almost certainly sell out beforehand. Please let us know by Wednesday of that week. We look forward to a great film and some fun fellowship.

Check out this 9 minute trailer for the film!
http://www.tv4.se/player/categories.aspx?progId=32353&itemId=%20&treeId= 30141&displayTreeId=

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is a great Holiday. You get a four day weekend, lots of meat, and football. The Broncos pulled out a nail-biter against the Cowboys to keep one of the best records in football. Heidi and I spend the weekend in Indiana with my two sisters and their families. It is always hard to spend a Holiday away from your own family and with someone else's but Heidi was a real trooper about it. In exchange, we'll spend Christmas with her family, which I know I will enjoy.

Also, our last interview for Mission: Moving Mountains happened last night, so we should hear soon if they are going to accept us.

A few things I am thankful for this year:
-My sweet wife
-A family that loves me
-A job that allows me to pay the bills
-A healthy body (still filled with turkey from last week)
-A home that my amazing wife and I have made together
-A Broncos win on Thanksgiving Day
-There are many others but that will do for now.

I love Heidi more than football.

My first declaration of my feelings for Heidi came unexpectedly when I told her that I loved her more than football. I still do. However, anyone that knows me knows how much I love to watch the Denver Broncos. I admit that it is a little unhealthy that I actually have trouble sleeping after they lose a game. (Did anyone else see the loss against the Giants? I had my worst night of sleep in a long time.) I just wanted to take this opportunity to point out that my much loved Broncos have quietly (thanks to the Colts) earned the 2nd best record (8-2) in the NFL. With 6 games to go, things are looking good. While everyone is eating Turkey Thursday, be sure to think of me at my sister's house in Indiana wearing my Elway jersey and cheering like a fool. Heidi will be rolling her eyes and wondering what she did to deserve her fate. I told her at the beginning of our relationship that she did not have to like football, she just had to let me like it. It seems to be working out okay.

Happy Thanksgiving and Go Broncos!!!

Happy Turkey Day!

We are headed to the far end of Indiana this week for Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with Tim's sisters. We're driving out there with Kent, Sally and the boys. Well, Kent and Tim will be driving while the rest of us sleep seeing as we're not leaving until about 6pm and it takes 9 hours on a good day to get there.

It's a little bittersweet for me since this is the first time in years that my mom's birthday is actually on Thanksgiving Day and she's sad that we can't be there. And, the day after is the best shopping day of the year and there are no malls where Amy lives in Warsaw, IN. What?! No malls?! What?! I am more sad that mom and I can't bond over the sale racks and crazy long lines. But marriage is all about compromise, right? It'll be good.

Hope you have a great T-Day!

Blessings

Interview update

Well, we made it through the long day of questions and treated ourselves to frosties on the way home. Tim got "worked over" a little more than I did, but overall the interviews went really well for both of us and we feel good about them. We will hear back from M:MM in about 10 days with their decision. Then we'll have a week or so to make our own decision.

This week we are dog/house sitting in Otsego, MN for some family friends and their crazy little dogs. Three little Lasa Opsas (sp??) named Baby Bear, Sissy Girl, and Mr. Muffin Man. Tim hasn't quite warmed up to calling them by their proper names yet though. So far, there have been two BAs (bowel accidents) and it's only been about 16 hours. Hopefully this isn't a sign for what's to come.

Oh, our friend have stacks of great dvds and a monster TV, so if anyone wants to come and visit this week, give us a call!!

M:MM Interviews

We have our interviews with M:MM tomorrow aaaalllll day. Please pray for God's peace to fill our spirits as we are drilled with questions. :) And for our hearts to be prepared for what lies ahead, either way. Thanks!

weekend update

Even though it's Tuesday, this is my weekend update. I have noticed on many blogs that people always say what they did over the weekend, even if it was boring.

Friday we scored a free meal at Noodles and Co. on the U of MN campus b/c a good friend of mine from high school manages it. A couple times now we have gone to the U to dine at the lovely Village Wok, but stop in next door at Noodles to see if Andie is working and to say hi and she ends up buying us dinner. Can't turn that down. It was a lovely evening and we were able to chat with her for over 2 hours!

Saturday was a blur of crafts and fancy dinners. Tim was working but I had a little craft session with some girlies from college. I didn't get much crafting done but it was fun. Then we went to a fancy dinner for a ministry we're a part of. Great food and we got to dress up!

Sunday was a blur of church and movies. Sunday afternoons are always good for chilling out, running to Home Depot and catching a movie before rushing back to church for membership classes. All in all a nice, but WAY too short weekend.

How was your weekend?

You Are Italian Food

Comforting yet overwhelming. People love you, but sometimes you're just too much.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Hm, I think I would rather be Mexican food, spicy yet dependable. Oh well.

do you want whipped cream on that?

I almost forgot how fun it is to work in a coffee shop. Especially if that coffee shop is a Starbucks. I know they are a big corporation/huge chain and that all the bleeding heart liberals who work for Americorp and always ride their bikes hate them b/c they're killing the little-man-independent shops, but dang, they know how to make a good cup of strong jo! And they offer great benies. There is nothing like the smell of a latte right when the fresh steamed milk hits the carmelly espresso.....sigh. It's so great! I have only been working three days, but I love it already. Today I was able to work the bar, aka make the drinks and it was really fun. I remember a lot more than I thought from a few years back.

Coffe shop girl

That's me! I used to work at Starbucks a few years ago and as of next Tuesday, I am once again a "Cute Little Starbucks Girl." (That's a song title from a band Tim likes.) I'm excited about it; it's a fun job. It's also the new Starbucks on Grand Avenue right next to where Amanda works. I'm following her! We can be neighbors. This isn't quite the door marked 'how to advacne your career,' but this is the door that the Lord opened and therefore, I'm pumped. So, Nicole, now we both work in coffee shops. Only mine is a chain and I'm pretty sure yours is independent. Although, do they even have chains in Cananda? :P Just kidding!!! If only we worked together - how fun!

Well, since it's now time to rejoin the working world, I'd better live it up this weekend!!!

Worst movie ever!!!

I (Tim) feel that it is my duty to warn people about "The New World". A while back I saw a trailer for an upcoming movie (it opens Christmas Day, 2005) about John Smith and Pocahantas. It stars and Colin Farrell and some girl and a bunch of other people. The director is the same guy who made "the Thin Red Line". If you have not seen that film, than you should thank God right now. It is without question the worst film ever made. It is worse than A.I., Waterworld, Two Brothers, F.I.S.T., and Night of the Panzer. This movie will tear your soul from your body. If "The New World" is anything like "The Thin Red Line", it will be three plus hours long, waste the talent of good actors, make absolutely no sense, and be a statement about how awful the United States is. Consider yourself warned.

I would love to hear your comments about your own personal worst movie ever.

you smell like heaven.....

So I'm pushing my cart out of SuperTarget (best store EVER) and as I get to my car and start to load my bags, the "cart-boy" comes over and tells me I smell like heaven. What?! For one thing, I was downwind. For another thing, I am at least 10 years older than him. I had to suppress a heartfelt gaufaw (sp?) and instead I thanked him and got in my car and laughed the whole way home.

Not bad for not having had a shower for 3 days!!

new job

Many of you have been asking about how Tim's new job is going. It's going well. He's been training for the past week and a half. Training, as we all know, can be long and, well, a bit boring, but he's excited to get to the meat of the job. You know how much he likes meat.

Good reminder

I was reading through my blog on suffering from last week and it was a good reminder that there are good days even in the midst of trial. Days when it's easier to see the bigger picture of suffering and it's effect on spiritual maturity. The past few days have fallen into the "bad day" category and have really drained me physically. When you're in pain, sometimes all you can think about is that pain. But it's true that there are good days and God gives you grace to deal. And the joy of the Lord is our strength when we're willing to let it be our strength. I think that's the hard part. Letting the joy of the Lord overshadow the pain/trial/burden/etc. God is always bigger than our circumstances, especially when we feel particularly smaller.

Thanks for reading.

The older we get

The older I get, the more people I know who are suffering. In small ways as well as in big ways. I just got an email from a young woman I know who is experiencing some pretty serious health concerns given that she's also pregnant. And this weekend one of Tim's close friends fell from a roof and fractured his spine. He has a wife and three little girls, 4, 2 and 3 weeks. Life is hard. And it often involves lots of suffering. If not for you, then for someone dear to you. Life is so fragile. Yet, it's this fragile, precious life that Christ calls us to willingly lay down for the Kingdom. Sometimes that doesn't sounds very appealing to me. And at other times, there is nothing I would rather do for the Savior that laid His life down for me while I was yet a sinner. There's another side to suffering and that is that it has the ability to purify. That's why James can say count it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds, b/c we know that that testing of our faith develops perseverance and perseverance works in us to create character that we might be mature and complete not lacking in anything. I can tell you that there is nothing quite like experiencing this joy that James speaks of when you're in the midst of trial. No matter how dark life can seem, and it can sure seem dark at times, there is a way for us to rejoice in all things. Yay!

Update on Patrick: he had a 6 hour surgery yesturday that went amazingly well and we are hopeful and full of faith for a full recovery. Please keep he and Lynette and family in your prayers.

Do you know your student number?

I remember mine! I went to the U of MN this morning to get a transcript and what do you know, I still remember my student number.

Concert review: Petra Farewell Tour

I (Tim), being a long time Petra fan, felt the pull to Club 3 Degrees on Friday, September 30, 2005 to see them on their last tour. By the way, Club 3 Degrees is a sweet venue. If you live in the Twin Cities, you need to check it out. Petra took the stage after three forgettable opening acts and rocked the mostly over 35 years old crowd. After all these years, they still know how to rock. They played a few songs off their most recent album, but mostly focused on the old stuff. I was thrilled to hear such classics as "This Means War", "It is Finished", "Minefield", "Dance", "The Coloring Song", and "Road to Zion". While it is true that John and Bob are pretty dorky, I admire their hearts for ministry and love for the Lord. Christian music in 2005 does not hold a candle to bands like Petra, Whiteheart, Mastedon, Bride, and Whitecross in their prime. Those guys had it right. Wow. I feel old. Anyway, it was a great concert.

Orientation

We have our orientation with Mission: Moving Mountains this weekend and we are psyched! It's a really small group, only 6 candidates, including us! There will be staff and current field missionaries there as well and we are excited to hear from them. We are trying to schedule our formal interviews for later this month or early next....the pieces are actually coming together!

Here's another "wedding" photo just b/c it's fun! 

prayer request

Please keep our downstairs tenants in your prayers. They're a sweet Somali family, mom and 6 kids. On Monday night, a man broke in through an unlatched window and pulled one of the girls, Nadira, into a bedroom. He had her in there for a few minutes before Fozia (mom) awoke to Nadira's screaming. He heard her coming down the hall and ran away. No one was harmed and nothing was taken, but they are pretty shaken up. We're a little shaken as well. Shaken, but not fearful b/c we know who our Protector is - God.

God provides!!

Tim hasn't had a chance to blog about this, so I will b/c we want you to share in the good news with us. He was offered the job that he wanted!!!! Yay! We are so blessed and grateful to the Lord. It's quite overwhelming. We prayed for God's provision and we expected it, yet when it came, it was still overwhelming. God is so good to us! This offer came at just the right time. God's timing is always perfect. They called on Monday afternoon and he's already there right now. He's the Recruitment Coordinator for the National Marrow Donor Program in NE Mpls.

When God closes the doors AND windows, He opens the rooftop. I just hope it's not raining.

I think that's the longest title of all time.

I heard back from the job I REALLY wanted and it's gone. As in they aren't hiring anyone for budget reasons. That's the 2nd job I interviewed for to dissappear in that way in a week. So sad. Today has been kind of a bummer b/c of that. I must say, I am struggling to remain optimistic and full of faith. Back to square one. I even felt good about that one! If anyone has words of encouragement to share, now would be a good time.

10 Year College Reunion

Last Saturday was my 10 year college reunion. It all seems a little surreal. I don't feel old enough to have been out of college for 10 years. Anyway, I dragged poor Heidi to the event. She was pretty bored, I think, but survived okay. I had a great time. There is something about being around people that know you well. I also enjoyed showing off my beautiful wife.

The last 10 years have been great. I wonder what the next ten years hold.

Ugh

I needed a break from working on my application for Mission: Moving Mountains. It's so long!! I don't even know what me views on Eschatology are. Frankly I think there are better uses of my time that worrying about that. :) Clearly, I cannot write that. Guess I'll have to make something up. Just kidding!!

Ok....back to work.

What?!

This morning I stepped outside to see what the weather was like only to find a man taking a little "shower" in the water spicket in the side of the house.

word verification

sorry do this to you guys, but we added this in order to to nix the random computer-generated comments. so i you leave a comment, please type in the word verification. it's easy. that way we'll know you're a human and not a computer! thanks! we love your comments!!

Jobs

Tim and I are both waiting to hear back from jobs that we are really interested in. We really want these jobs, so please keep us in your prayers. We are still applying various places and I have another interview coming up, but our hearts are set on 2 jobs in particular. The end of October (aka the end of paychecks) will come soon and we are eager for the Lord's provision. While we are enjoying the time together, being able to volunteer and see family, it's hard to be in such a restricted state of limbo.

It's official

The photos that Amanda took on Saturday turned out great! (You can see her in the background on the pic I posted) I strongly recommend to all you wives out there to put on your wedding dresses again, if you haven't already done so. Great fun!

The Wonderful World of Aldi

Aldi, a discount grocery store that is sweeping the nation has recently moved into S. Mpls. It is a cultural experience to go there - always full of surprises, but we love it. I now buy most of our food there. You never know what to expect and you need to be prepared with your quarter (to rent a cart) and they only take cash. Produce is usually a little sketchy, but it's the best deal in town for ground turkey and tortillas. Sadly, since they don't carry black beans I am still forced to visit other food suppliers.

Last week and on our way out we noticed the an asian women who had been in line in front of us leaving on her bike. Not an unusual occurrence to see folks biking their groceries home, since we do, after all, live in liberal, environment friendly South Mpls. However, her husband was operating the bike, a small bike at that, the groceries were hanging precariously on both handle bars and she was indeed sitting "side-saddle" on the bar between the seat and handle bars. Her husband was carefully pedaling his oversized load home on the sidewalk. Swerving a bit I might add. I tell you what, living in the city, you just never know what to expect. We felt like we were in Thailand again!! It was crazy. You gotta love Aldi! (They even have .25 cherry pies...yum, yum, yum)

We took some outdoor wedding pictures today! It was really fun. And this way Amanda can start her wedding portfolio!! 

bike adventures with Angela

Today Angela and I went on another exciting bike adventure. We always have fun on our adventures, but this was especially fun. We looped around on the greenway and ended up near downtown right next to my old office! Turns out that her friend now works with Matt so we dropped by to visit. Matt was there and it was great to see the old office again - not too much has changed. Almost three great years there. Ah, the memories....

it suits you, but not me

i wore the new suit my mom bought me even though it's certainly not my style. i will just never be comfortable in a suit. thanks for the insight though, Am. you're always the voice of reason. first interview went well, but short. next one tomorrow and then i have another next Monday. groovey. still waiting to hear from Teen Challenge.

what to wear?!

I (Heidi) have two interviews this week - yay! One with Bethel (again) for a part time job that I am really excited about and one with a Technology firm that Mike G. hooked me up with. Thanks Mike! Obviously, that position is for a receptionist, not a techy. Can you imagine?! Not exactly a career move, but hey, an interview is always a start. And I should hear back from MN Teen Challenge at the end of the week as well.

Interviews

Both of our interviews went really well and we are excited about the prospects! My interview was at MN Teen Challenge and his was at the National Marrow Donor Program. This is a good, but challenging time for us. Job searching is always a little stressful, especially when it seems to drag on. Tim is in better spirits than I have been lately, so I would appreciate any prayers you can spare!! Satan knocks at the door with a spirit of discouragement, but I am trying to stay firm. Blessings to you all.

A Batman Moment

A couple weeks ago I (Tim) was running along the Midtown Greenway, as I often do, and I had a Batman moment. I think that many people have these, but call them something else. My sister, Sally, calls it a "Mama bear" moment. Anyway, as I was running I saw a man cruising the Greenway who I have seen several times before. He was in a motorized wheelchair and I believe he has cerebral palsy. Most likely he has a fine mind stuck in an uncooperative body. He struck me as being very vulnerable to anyone that wanted to take advantage of him. In the moment of that realization, I felt like Batman. I decided that while I am near him on the Greenway, nobody was going to mess with him. I would be his unknown protector. Of course, I could not just follow him around forever, so I had to let him go when I reached the street that would take me home. I took a final look up and down the Greenway to make sure that nobody suspisious was lurking about and headed home.

Have any of you had a moment like that? Let me know what you think.

Also, the movie, Batman Begins, is excellent. If you have not seen it, you should check it out. Leave the kids at home, though.

jobs, jobs, and no jobs

Tim has a second and I have a first interview on Tuesday. We both are really interested in these jobs! Please pray that God would continue to write His story through our lives.

crash!

i was in a car accident tonight. (before i start, let me say that it was not my fault. all the witnesses, and cops, said the same thing.) i think that makes like 10 bad "car incidences" in the last 2 years. well...not exactly 10, but there have sure been a lot. the worst part is that the driver of the car that hit me (as he ran a red light, mind you) drove off. i was a victim of a hit and run. amanda can relate to that. excuse my language, but it sucks!!!!!!!!!!!! big time.

i am doing ok though. this accident doesn't change what God has done in my body in the past 2 years since the other, more physically affecting car accident.

i will say that i felt very taken care of by the uptown community who witnessed this act. two different people came over to me with the car make and license plate and Mike, a helpful, if alternative fellow (who looked just like Gus) said that i should, and i quote: "get 'em and make 'em pay!! that just ain't right" it was nice that the folks at Rudolfs on Lyndale and Franklin cared enough to watch my back after this brutal attack....i mean car accident. :)

on a lighter side, what is with my car??!!?!?! seriously, if i didn't know the Lord i would think that my sweet little Honda was cursed! but i know it's not. so, with that, anyone want to buy a lovely, if slightly scraped-up Honda???????? it runs great!

oh, and the damage to my car was minimal. i was able to slam on the brakes before the imbecil hit me. it could have been worse.

We want your thoughts

It is the 60th anniversary this month of the United States dropping the Atomic bomb on Japan. Heidi and I were discussing what people thought of this and we want your opinion. Please leave comments and tell us. We will tell your our opinions if you ask, but we want to know what people think.

One of the reasons we bring this up is that last week I watched two excellent films on World War 2. Each movie was about Allied soldiers in Japanese POW camps. Both films I recommend, but neither should be viewed by children. These movies deal with true but terrible times and do not gloss over the events.

The Great Raid is currently in theaters and deals with the survivors of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines. It is a patriotic, flag waving, true story of a raid by American soldiers to free 511 POWs held by the Japanese. The movie does give its due props to the Philipino guerillas who aided the Americans.

The second film, To End All Wars, is a low budget film that had a short theatrical run in 2001 and went to DVD. While also a true story, it is different from the other film in that the main character, (who wrote the book it is based on) came at it from a Christian point of view. The story is of him and his fellow POWs coming to grips with forgiving their brutal captors. Hollywood had to get its hands on it and dumb down the Christian message, but it still shows clearly that the teachings of Christ were the turning point for those men. The end of the movie shows the soldier clutching a Bible and talking about how his life was transformed through that experience. It is a powerful film.

We look forward to hearing from you.

leaving comments

We fixed our blog site so that you no longer have to register in order to make comments. Maybe that explains the sudden surge of blogs. Sorry about that! So comment away!

In case you forgot what we look like!

State Fair Time!!

We are going to the State Fair this Thursday if anyone wants to come with us!! It's a MN tradition - here comes the food on a stick!

Missions Update

We are meeting with Mission: Moving Mountains (www.movingmountains.org) for the third time tonight. We are planning to attend their orientation in October and then start filling out our lenghty applications at that point.

So far we really like what we've heard about this sending agency and are proceding with prayer until we feel we ought to go in another direction. It's exciting!

Any feedback? Has anyone out there had any interaction with M:MM?? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Summer in the city

Today Heidi and I did what all Minneasotans do on a beautiful summer day. We visited the great outdoors. Runner's World magazine rates the Twin Cities as the #2 running city in America. The crown jewel of the Cities is the chain of lakes in south Minneapolis. I ran two of the lakes while Heidi biked. Normally we go together, with her riding slowly while I run, but today we parted ways. In the hour that I ran alone, I saw many interesting things. In the first 5 minutes, I saw Jody and Gretchen, women I have worked with at YouthWorks. I also saw 6 women practicing belly dancing by Lake Harriet. At least, that is what it looked like. On the south side of Lake Calhoun, I passed a guy who was riding his bike on the walking path. I told him that he was on the wrong path and his response contained a word I will not repeat. (This is a family blog.) I guess even on a beautiful day like today, people can be jerks. A lady with a jog stroller ran past me as I was running on the west side of Lake Harriet. That has never happened to me before. It seems I am not in as good of shape as I used to be. There was a group of people from Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie passing out water and God's love on the north side of Lake Calhoun. I give them props for being out there. Heidi finished her 4 loops around Lake Calhoun about 5 minutes after I finished my run. We loaded up her bike and headed home having enjoyed a rare perfect Minneasota afternoon.

Pain Report

I wanted to give a brief pain report for those that are praying for me. The past few weeks have been relatively decent over all, with a few incredibly bad days where I have done nothing but lay in bed. While the headaches persist, we've found a couple natural pain relievers that seem to help a bit.

PLEASE continue to pray for me and for us as we stand against this affliction. Having a community of faith around us is vital and we praise God for those of you that are faithful to pray for and with us. We know that these headaches are temporary and we are faithfully standing on and trusting in the Word of God for my complete healing.

God is so good!! We love you.

family, family, and more family

This week has been filled with family! Tim's whole family was here in MN for almost a week so we were busy cooking, laughing, shopping and spending time together. My parents even joined in the festivites when we took the boys to the zoo. Chase, our nephew, was more than thrilled to have 5 adults to play with. Amy and Christi left on Tuesday and Tim's parents and brother, Larry leave tomorrow. They are staying with us tonight. After having Am here for a few days, Amy and Christi for a few nights, and all the rest, we have sufficiently broken our house in for guests - it's been great! Please come to visit anytime!!

Am's party was great, it was wonderful to spend time with college freinds and reconnect. We will miss you when you leave again Am! She leaves for another year in Japan this Sunday. You can also check out her blog at www.japamberly.blogspot.com

On the job front, Tim has a second phone interview next Wednesday for a job we are really excited about. It's with the National Marrow Donor Program for a recruitment coordinator. It's right up his alley in terms of experience. So please pray that this interview would go well and would lead to another!

Other praise God news: the mother of a dear friend was just given a clear report for what we thought was a cancerous growth. Praise the Lord!!! We rejoice with this family as they celebrate God's goodness!!

Today is the end of the first week that neither Tim or I have had to go to work during the day. It's been an unusual week given all the family time, but are greatly enjoying this opportunity to be together all the time. It's wonderful! There will likely not be another time where neither of us are working, so we are blessed.

For all you ladies out there, I bought the CUTEST little dress at Marshalls for $10 to wear to Tim's reunion next month. It's white and bright lime green, in a sorta fifties style, very fun! Can't wait to show you.

End of an era. . .

I am putting forth my first blog entry. This begins a season of many firsts for me. After of six years of working in the YouthWorks! Inc. office, I am moving on to new adventures. I love YW and would never change a thing about my time there, but after much prayer and conversations with trusted people, I felt it was time to try something new. I am excited that I am not going to travel any more and I can actually spend time with my wife. The process of finding a new job does not fill me with dread, instead I am excited to try something new. The eventual goal, of course, is for Heidi and I to serve the Lord overseas and I would love to find work that would support that goal. I will pray for patience.

The next couple weeks I am going to play some disc golf, run some trails, and ride my bike. More than that, I am excited to spend some time with the Lord and with Heidi. I hope to reconnect with some friends that I have not seen in a while. In the summer, I end up putting a lot on hold and now I want to pick things up again.

Life is exciting and I look forward to this next chapter. Maybe I'll have time for some yard work. . .

God bless you all.

Tim

tan lines and scissors

I rode my bike to Tim's office this morning to say bye to a few people who I may not see again. Such wonderful people work there! It was really fun. We ate leftover pizza from the year-end retreat at the pinic table and talked about GI Joe.

I am trying to get rid of my tan lines from the summer so I can wear a cute strapless dress that I recently rigged to actually stay up. It was one of those buys where it didn't really fit right, but it was on sale, so I bought it and then never wore it. Tim loves that. But I cut out the shelf bra and now it fits great! Praise the Lord for scissors.

Have a great day and enjoy the sun!

trials of faith

The rain this afternoon was a nice little repreive from the sticky heat. Although I can't really complain as I have been out at my parents place the last few days enjoying the comforts of the suburbs. Gosh, it was nice. Tim is in Denver. His last trip - hooray! I am no longer a "Youthworks widow" as of this Friday! No more giving up my husband every week for the greater good of Youthworks. I can't even begin to express how thrilled I am. YAY!!!! That's a start :)

Well, on the job front, there have been a few bumps on this journey. I did not get the job as a Volunteer Coordinator ( the job I really wanted ) and I did not get the job at St. Thomas ( that sounded really cool ). I had a second interview at Bethel which went fine. Truthfully, I don't know how excited I am about the job though. Fortunately, God has a plan for my life, one to prosper me and not to harm me. After shedding a few fat tears over the Vol. Coord. gig, I was reminded of a few encouraging verses in Isaiah and snapped out of my short-lived funk. Since I was home, Dad was able to contribute to the ammassing evidence that God does indeed have an amazing plan for Tim and I in the coming years - dads are good for that - and I went on my semi-merry way to Super Target to buy soymilk. (Another benefit of the suburbs.)

After further thought, as well as more enlightment from Dad (he's amazing!), I was able to see yet again the testing of my faith in this circumstance of job searching. I had complete faith yetsurday morning that God would provide for us. I just thought it would come in the way of one of those two jobs. I still have that same faith, even if things aren't going as I had hoped they would, b/c He keeps him in perfect peace, whose mind is steadfast on Him.

One of the songs we sang at church (www.bcfnations.org) on Sunday had a lyric that said: "Through good times and bad, You are still on the throne. You are God and you alone." Praise be to God.

grape flavored ice

Well, the interview at Bethel went well. They said I will be contacted for a second interview by early next week. Yay! It would be amazing to work there. After 9 months, I could take classes for free and finish up my M.Div. and after 2 years, so could Tim. Talk about good benefits!

Now that I can almost see the end of all my glorious free time, I no longer feel bad sleeping in and watching A Different World reruns in my pjs as I eat breakfast. Life is good. Paychecks are good too. Today my goal is to paint one of the walls in our living room a lovely earth color, aka brown. If I ever figure out how to post pics, I will do so.

Last night we went with some friends to the National Night Out celebration in our neighborhood to gorge ourselves on roasted corn, hot dogs, root beer floats, cotton candy, and snow cones. I even met Ronald McDonald. He said he'd see me at the family reunion....what?! Good times.

Fun New Toy

So I (we) have only had a blog for about 9 hours, but it's like having a fun new toy! Maybe it's just that my (Heidi) head is swelling with the idea that people will log on to read my thoughts regularly. Kind of a rush. For now anyway, I would imagine that it wears off.

Here's the latest breaking news on the job front: I finally got a job interview at Bethel University! Yay!! Still waiting to hear the verdict with the interview at St. Thomas as well as for a third at the Metro Agency on Aging. God is so faithful to us. We are just amazed at His continued provision and blessing. Please pray for all three of these opportunities and that God would open the right door(s).

On another note, we attended an AMAZING conference this weekend by Voice of the Martyrs called Enduring Faith and it was more than fantastic. The condition of the persecuted church around the world blows my mind and causes me to fall to my face in intercession for these dear brothers and sisters. Is there any other responce!? God is moving in miraculous ways as our brothers and sisters are clinging to Him and to His word. I only pray that my faith in Christ would have a fraction of the purity as that of my brothers and sisters as they are literally surrounded by their enemies. The comfort of our beds, the convenience of our cars, our access to resources... many things to be thankful for.

If you feel so called, please visit these websites to learn how you can support our international family:

www.persecution.com
www.prisoneralert.com

In the beginning

Well, we have finally started a blog. All of our friends were doing it. 'Nuff said.

We hope to use this as a means of update and communication with friends and family once God opens the door for us to travel overseas for ministry. I had some time today, in the misdst of job searching, so I put us online.

Blessings!