Be it ever so humble...

there is no place like home!

That's right, we are home! Greg and I had a wonderful time on our trip out west! The Lord poured out blessing after blessing. Seriously, I would love to sit down with each of you and tell you about our journey day by day! I do not want to bore you, so I will just hit the highlights here. Friend me on Facebook to see all the pics.

Our first morning in CA we went down to breakfast and noticed several guys with guitars headed out to the patio outside the breakfast area. Greg asked someone what was going on out there. It turns out that KUTLESS, our favorite Christian band, was playing a worship set for a small gathering of Christian Radio Reps. The guy Greg asked was the lead singer for Thousand Foot Krutch, another Christian band. He let us join him to hear Kutless. After the devotion time we met a couple members of the band. What a way to start our trip!

Two of our six days in LA we went to Universal Studios...It was a lot of fun. Here are a few pics.

The other 4 days we spent exploring the city and up into Malibu...here are pics from those days.

The last 3 nights of our trip we spent in Las Vegas. Greg and I have always wanted to see Vegas, so we had a blast walking around and seeing all the hotels. We bought tickets in advance to see a Cirque Du Soleil show, and it was fun. We also had fun in Madam Tussaud's seeing all the wax figures. Our last night in Vegas we decided spur of the moment to go see Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian hotel!
Here are a few pics from Vegas.

Over all we had a great trip. I don't think either of us could pick out one certain thing we did or saw as our favorite. Our favorite part of the trip was just being together. It was nice to rediscover that we are also best friends...not just Mom and Dad, or any of the other hats that we wear each week.

Thank you for your prayers.

Hollywood, here we come!

Tomorrow morning Greg and I are headed west! We have been planning this trip in celebration of our 10 year anniversary for over a year. It is hard to believe it starts tomorrow!

Greg's parents are here to take care of the kids while we are gone...keep them in your prayers.

Come back in 10 days to see some pics!

Whew!

The PJ party went very well. I am still recovering from staying up until 3:30am! We had 22 girls come for all/part of the night.

The night started off with a HUGE game of Apples to Apples, followed by our group's favorite game... Catch Phrase! And what sleepover would be complete without a silly game of Truth or Dare! I have not laughed that hard in a long time!

Our discussion on Purity went well. We talked about it being more than Physical intimacy, but also a mindset. Instead of wanting to know where to draw the proverbial "line" in a physical relationship we talked about how to honor God in all parts of our dating or non-dating relationships.

Towards the end of the discussion part of the night one girl asked the question, "I know how to spot Mr. Wrong, but how do I know when it is the right person at the right time?" To answer her question I told everyone the story of how the Lord brought Greg and I together.

We ended the night by watching the movie "The Ultimate Gift". I highly recommend it.

Thank you for praying for us. We had a good time and a really good discussion about things that are affecting these girls right now.

It's PJ Party Time!

This Friday night I will be hosting the ACF girl's PJ party! This has traditionally been one of our best attended events. 20-30 girls will pack into our apartment to share a lot of laughter, food, and discussion on a topic that is affecting their lives.

Our topic for Friday night is Purity. This is an area that has come up a lot in my small group during prayer request/accountability time. Please pray for the Lord to soften hearts and guide our conversation Friday night.

Resisting the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit has been on my mind a lot lately. I am currently doing the Beth Moore study on the fruit of the spirit in my own study time and the small group bible study that I have been leading for a few students is going through the book of Acts. It is a neat combination. I can read about the fruit and then see it in action in the lives of the apostles in the early church.

Last week in small group we talked about the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7. One verse from that passage has been resonating with me this week.

Acts 7:51- You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!

These are pretty tough words Stephen hurdles at the Sanhedrin.

I have to be honest, they pierced me as well. I know full well that I can slip into being stiff-necked almost without realizing it. You know the hard-hearted feeling I am talking about. It happens most often when I am tired, overwhelmed, and too busy to find time to spend with the Lord. I choose to resist the Holy Spirit instead of being filled with it.

It reminds me of something Caed told me when he was 4. He has always had impulse control issues. Controlling his body when he is angry is hard, especially when he was younger. We were talking about it one time after an episode and he told me "Mommy, it is like there is a different, ugly Caed that comes out and I don't like it"

I know exactly how he felt.

Take a few minutes with me this Monday morning to bow your heart to the Lord and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Merrymead Farm

Friday afternoon we surprised the kids, picked Caed up from school early and headed over to Merrymead Farm. It was nice to do something as a family (even if the corn maze was not open!). The kids still had fun seeing the animals, and playing around with the fall decorations. Here are a few pics.

And The Moment You've All Been Waiting For...

Our LONG overdue newsletter. We had hopes of writing one in late July after returning from our family/ministry trip to Florida, but one thing after another sidetracked us. Once August hit, we were in overdrive as we prepared for our students to return. In any case, we are thankful for what God is doing here and excited to share it with you!