2nd Anniversary

Tim and I were SO blessed to be able to get away for our second anniversary this month (Jan. 15th) and headed to an amazing B&B in Red Wing for 2 nights. (We have this credit card where we get money back for every purchase so the weekend was totally free! - I definately recommend that!) It's called the Round Barn Farm B&B and we had a fantastic time. It was wonderful to rest, watch movies, sit in the jacuzzi in our room and just enjoy one another. A perfect weekend for a perfect anniversary. God is good!

Christmas presents

This is one of my favorite Christmas presents. My maternal grandma and grandpa gave us money for a nativity set since we don't have one. I love it! Probably won't come to Senegal with us, but I'm still very excited about it. I love baby Jesus! It's funny b/c I'm not really into the Willow Tree stuff b/c I don't collect things, but I love the nativity.

Christmas party

It's been a while since I posted pictures, but here they are!

We had a Christmas party with our small group and went to sing Christmas carols at an old folks home. Very fun.

This is Emily's Christmas sweater. What a find! A thrift store bargain.

Tim's 2006 movie awards

The Academy Award nominations are out and, as usual, I have not seen most of the films. As usual, I do not care to see most of them. Since most of the movies that I have enjoyed this past year are “popular” and “money making” they are not up for an Oscar. (In fairness, Heidi and I plan to see The Pursuit of Happyness, The Last King of Scotland, and The Blood Diamond, since we have heard that they are good.) In my humble opinion, the best movies this year were Pirates 2, Lady in the Water, X3, and Mission Impossible 3. My favorite indie film was The Second Chance. My vote for best movie of the year is United 93. Worst movie of the year is Friends With Money. Two decent movies that could have been better were Nacho Libre and Invincible. In the category of comedies that were not actually funny are The Break Up and You, Me, and Dupree. The movie with the most potential and least payoff was Flags of Our Fathers. The movie that entertained me far more than I expected was Rocky Balboa. In 2006 there were no films like Lord of the Rings or Narnia that became instant classics, but there were some good ones.

Please add comments on your favorites and least favorites of 2006.

Update time

We got an $8,000 donation this week. That is somewhere around a quarter of the money we need to get to Africa. I had been a little down about the huge task of fundraising and feeling like it will take forever to get to Africa when this money suddenly came in. Lord, forgive me for having such small faith. Praise God for gifts from unexpected sources.

Heidi and I watched American Idol on Wednesday night for almost two hours. It was like a train wreck. We could not stop watching. The show was a parade of people, devoid of talent and style, making idiots of themselves on national television. I weep for our society. Heidi and I are now dumber for having watched it.

After dumbing ourselves down with American Idol, we braved the cold and headed out for a fundraising appointment. Our next couple hours were spent with Pat and Jane Khanke. Pat is the pastor that married us and he and Jane are great people. We were encouraged by their resilience in a hard time and the cool things that are happening in their church and in their own lives. I am still tired from going to bed after midnight that night, but it was worth it.

Tomorrow we are going sledding with the Lost N Found group at church. Should be fun. I love sledding. But not as much as I love Heidi.

The great, the awful, and the decent

On our weekend away, Heidi and I rented three movies. We each got to choose one and then we found one that we both wanted to see. The results were great, awful, and decent.

The movie I chose was the Fantastic Four. It was a decent, big budget, comic book movie. Neither great nor terrible, it was what we thought it would be.

Heidi chose Friends With Money. It was billed as a comedy/chick flick starring Jennifer Aniston. As a comedy, it was the anti-funny. (That means that not only was it not funny, it sucked the joy out of us.) We both hated this movie with a passion. Please trust us that this is one of the worst films ever made. Please do not be like a former roommate of mine that, after hearing how awful The Thin Red Line was, went out and rented it. Unless you like amoral rich women giving obscenity laced speeches about how lousy their lives are, do not rent this movie.

The movie that we chose together was United 93. I cannot heap enough praise on this movie and both Heidi and I agreed that it is a “must see” film. (There are only a few “must see” films. Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan are examples.) The movie focused on two hours of September 11, in real time. It was neither political nor sensational and it was respectful and gripping. This is not a movie for children, but should be seen by everyone else. This is an important and powerful movie.

i washed my hair

After 4 1/2 months of not washing my hair, I finally broke down and washed it this morning. I couldn't take it anymore! Sorry, Runions. I tried. I has still revolutionized how I care for my hair though. I am definately not going back to washing it every other day. Maybe every 4th or 5th day....we'll see. Tim should be happy now that it smells yummy again!

Amazing story

A while back my friend Bill Honsberger sent me this link. I had heard about this father and son team, but this blew me away. The story is written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated fame, but I do not know who made the video. Here it is: http://cjcphoto.com/can/

long entry, bear with me!

It has been a while since I (Heidi) have posted except for pics. My folks are planning to check our blog tonight so I wanted to post for them. Hi Mom, hi Dad! Thanks for stopping by!

Anyway, things are pretty good, as Tim said, our holidays were good and very busy. I was happy to have xmas eve and xmas day off from work - was good to chill with the fam. As usual, Mom and Dad spoiled us with too many presents, but it was very fun to hang out, play with new "toys," try on new clothes, and wear fuzzy slippers all day :) My brother bought his fiance a sweet keyboard so she dazzled us with wonderful songs all day.

I was sad to miss a few friends that were here in the cities for the holidays, but hopefully my sadness with dissipate. :P

On a serious note, I wanted to share something that God has been speaking to me over the course of the last month. It started when we were in CO for a conference in early December. We had the privilege of meeting some amazing people with tremendous stories of God's faithfulness, care, and provision on the field. After we returned home, I continued to ponder some of these stories and they began to really affect me. One story in particular spoke powerfully to the provision of God in the midst of hard - really hard - circumstances. Thinking about this family and all that God carried them through brought me to thinking about other friends who have been dealing with hard trials lately, as well as what God has been taking Tim and I through in preparation for missions, as well as my personal trial of these headaches. I found myself asking the question: God, who are you? Who is this God that is SO good, so very, very good, yet allows his people to struggle so profoundly. I can't explain it, but the question lingered in my mind, Lord, who are you? As I have prayed about this over that past fews week, I am increasingly filled with awe as I consider how great my God is and how faithful He is.

During the worship time at church yesterday the word of the Lord came to me to answer this question. I was having a particularly difficult time entering in due to the pain, but as I worshiped God and thanked Him for the blessings in my life, He answered my question and said: I am the God who sustains his people.

Maybe that doesn't seem very powerful to you, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. Obviously, the Word says that very thing over and over again, but to hear it for myself from my Father in answer to my prayer during a very painful day was heavy. And to think of his answer in regard to friends who I know are struggling on a daily basis to remain faithful in the face of great trial was overwhelming. He is the God who sustains his people. I can tell you that He is the one who is sustaining me. And just when I think I cannot bear this trial anymore He gives me grace and fills my with strength b/c I hope in Him.

super gross

someone pooped on the floor in the men's bathroom at my Starbucks the other day. gross. i am glad i wasn't there to have to clean it up....poor Stacie.

Team Wolof

This pic went out with our newsletter but here is 80% of our team! They rock!

Here is the same 8 eight people and then a couple from the team in
the South of Senegal - they also rock!

Sad

This will be my final football blog until next fall. My Broncos pulled the worst choke job I have seen since the 1996 playoff debacle against Jacksonville. Losing in overtime to San Francisco at home in a game the Broncos absolutely had to have was demoralizing. However, something happened that makes football so unimportant. Darrant Williams, one of the Broncos bright young defensive players, was killed in a drive by shooting hours after the game. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, at a nightclub at 2 a.m. in downtown Denver. It is so sad to see a young life snuffed out. Sadder still that I do not think he knew the Lord. We live in a fallen, sinful world.

quirky neighbors!

We said we live next to a professional clown and here he is. Meet Bobbles the Clown :)