The Place We Dont Live In

Matt and I moved home the first week of September, we have been living with my parents since that time, hmmm......we are about to end of third full month of living with mom and dad. Gotta admit they've been great, its one of those "it's not you it's me" kinda situations. I love being with them but am so ready to leave. We bought a townhome in Mesa that needed some amazing work. To sum it up, we had mold so we ripped out all the kitchen cabinets and mold remidiation, which meant, tearing out the drywall in the kitchen and the master bedroom. We repaired the work ourselves after it was mold free. We also closed off a bedroom that had a balcony and we extended the wall around the staircase and the upstairs hallway wall, so we could get rid of the ugly wood banisters. I have pictures of what it looked like when we first bought it :-)

Missionaries

I have been blessed with amazing friends who have left behind comforts we dont even think of to minister to people far far away. I love hearing about these peoples lives and wanted to share the happenings!
April Soberg (ooops, her last name is now Martinez). She serves faithfully over in the Dominican Republic. I have been there three times so I am totally and completely biased towards this one country. Her husband is Columbian and they recently were approved a Visa for him to travel with April to the United States for the holidays. There are people in this country who are denied Visas for three or four years. No reason as to why, the country can just say no. So on their first attempt, God provided a miracle and she is able to bring her husband to her home country and spend some good time with her family soon. April's busy season just ended. They have work teams come from the states during the summer to work on the Young Life camp in Jarabacoa and then after those months, they have Dominican kids come for a week to enjoy a Young life camp. It is just like the camps we have here in the states. They are an amazing time of fun and fellowship where the kids learn about Christ. This camp is amazing - see told you I was biased! These kids are forced to grow up so fast and provide for their families so it is amazing that Young Life has provided a place for them for at least one week of their summer, they can act their age and there are no expectations placed on them. This is also April's fundraising time. She has a yearly need of about $30,000.00 That is 100% donor based. Please get in touch with me if you would like some more information about this need.
I also have a friend who is about to start his mission over in Afghanistan. Man I am excited to hear about that one!

Here Comes The Sun

I need the Sun. I think I would be in a lot of trouble if I lived somewhere that did not get a lot of sun. I have just been realizing for the last few days how happy the sun makes me feel. I spent the last two years in Colorado. They claim to have over 300 days of sunshine. I guess they kinda do, they just dont have a full 300 days of sunshine. I noticed my first problem without the sun during my first summer there. It would be sunny in the morning and afternoon and around 3:00, it would get overcast and rain for awhile. The problem was that I worked inside while it was sunny and got off right about the time is started to rain. I found I really missed the sun. Yesterday I was at a meeting and a ray of sun started creeping between two blinds in the window and the sun was on my back. I actaully straightened up and smiled when I felt it and my mood totally change. I found myself moving over as the sun moved through out the day. This morning it was a little overcast for my drive to work, the sun broke through the clouds for a few minutes and warmed my skin up. Immediately I noticed a change within me. I appreciate the gift of the sun.