two months down...

...forever to go.

today is our two month anniversary and it's time for another update-lucky you!

we continue to learn a lot about what this whole marriage thing is about. here are some of those things:

• moving is a challenge. and an especially challenging one for two very different people. when bryan and i moved in together, we didn't really have any problems because i had the mentality of "we're only going to live here for two months, so it doesn't matter if it looks like a bomb hit it 24-7." but now that we're getting ready to move into our semi-permanent "home," my own personal stress levels are high. i really want this new apartment to be a haven for my husband and i, not a wreck. but we have so much stuff and did i mention we're moving into a much smaller apartment? yeah, it's difficult. but on tuesday, bryan lead us in prayer about the situation and the Holy Spirit led my heart to this conviction, "more then cute decorations, matching furniture, and tidiness, our home needs to be centered around godly living and led by the Holy Spirit." we prayed this over our home and it was a huge breakthrough for me. i'm still overwhelmed, but i'm getting my priorities straight.
• being away from eachother for 80 hours is not fun. for two people who have been the kind-of best friends that talk and see eachother every day for 3+ years, leaving bryan home for 4 days was a challenge for both of us. the bright side is bryan got in some great friend time (but he missed seth a lot) and i got to see God working in lots of big ways in minneapolis, mn. you can read my post about it here.
  
• shiny new toys are more fun if you have the money for it. we are so stinking blessed. period. we love that we can afford nice things like a new tv. we love that we can take advantage of the sales because we have cash saved up. and we love treating ourselves to something really fun while working so hard to pay off our debt and pay for school with cash.
  

that's all i can think of right now, but there you go!

charlie conway, minneapolis, mn

ah, how i love the mighty ducks!

but this post has nothing to do with the mighty ducks, only with minneapolis. wow, God is working in great ways there! here's a quick recap:

• we worked with STEM International, Inc. that stands for short-term evangelical missions. i was really impressed with this ministry. it was definitely the most effective and fruitful 2 1/2 day mission trip i could imagine.
• thursday, we arrived in the city at around noon, ate lunch and headed over to the Hope Academy. this school was an amazing story of "loving your neighbors as yourself."
  
  • this school is located in the poorest neighborhood in minneapolis.
    
  • russ gregg, the founder and principle moved into this neighborhood for missional purposes
    
  • he started the school based on the biblical idea of loving your neighbor as yourself. he wanted a great school for his kids, so he founded a great school for his neighbors kids.
    
  • this school is reminiscent of a school russ previously worked at in edina, the richest community in minneapolis. that gives you an idea of the quality of education these kids get.
    
  • yes, it's expensive, it costs about $6,000 a year to send each kid to school. how much do the parents have to pay? as low as $60 per month. each kid has a sponsor and a scholarship for up to $5,400.00 each year. amazing? yes.
    
• friday, we worked with Source Ministries. this ministry was one with about 60 arms of service. from transitional housing, to homeless outreach, to prayer, to youth outreach, to outreach through the arts and beyond, this place is a hotbox of ministry. it was a true blessing to work with them.
  
• saturday, we listened. we went to a place called the marie sandvik center and there really wasn't anything for us to do. this is another ministry with their hands in a bunch of different outreach opportunities. we sat and listened to an amazing lady, marybeth, we passed out sandwiches to homeless men and women and prayed for them and we went to a church picnic. i met this amazing woman named kay at the picnic. i was so moved by her story that i almost started crying. i got to pray over her and ask God to do through her, everything she had planned. i will remember her for a long time and i'm committed to "pray for kay" for the next few years at least. it was a bittersweet parting for me, and i could simply say, "i'll see you in heaven." but it would be a sweet gift from God to see her in a few years and see the great things i know God plans to do with her life.
  
• the first two evenings, we went to phillips park and did some outreach to the children and youth there.
  
  • the phillips neighborhood is the most culterally diverse neighborhood in the entire us, possibly in the world.
    
  • within 1 1/2 miles, over 150 languages are spoken.
    
  needless to say, it was a great place to set up camp for two evenings. a 9-year-old girl named sophia with a strict muslim father accepted Christ. please pray for her safety and for her relationship with Christ to powerfully flourish despite her living situation. also, an ethopian man accepted Christ and took a Bible with him. we mostly played with the kids and loved on them, it was an awesome time.
  
• the last evening, we went to the downtown area of minneapolis and shared Christ with whoever was willing to hear from us. i had never done this before and i was amazed at how the Holy Spirit just totally took my body and my words and did with them what He wanted. i didn't experience any fear. only Power.

overall, my trip was amazing, and i have more to share with you if you would like. i'm excited for God to continue to do big things in and around me.

wifelike life.

a few weeks ago, i wrote a post about my dedication to being a miserly wife. but there's much more that i know i can do to be a godly woman and wife.

my friend paige and i are taking it one month at a time.

here's the line-up for me:

july: purposefulness
to me, this basically means i want to exercise general self-discipline in the following areas:

• time alone with God
• active, bold prayer
• cleaning
• tv watching
• spending money
• memorizing scripture
• facebook
  

august: welcome
some ideas for this month:

• creating a friendly environment within my home
• loving my home by keeping it clean and user friendly
• inviting people over (i have not done this in a loooong time)
• challenging myself to spend more time with people then i "feel like"
• (maybe) starting a woman's group on saturday mornings-still praying about this but are their any takers? just out of curiosity?
  

september: taking the sabbath seriously
i'm still not entirely sure how i feel about this one. paige and i talked about it a little and i definitely agree i need to work on this area of my life but i'm still trying to figure out what exactly the sabbath needs to look like in my life. sometimes i call the days i spend watching tv with bryan all day "my sabbath", but i don't think that's exactly what God's getting at. then i got the idea that my sabbath is actually the day i get the most stuff done as far as preparing for the week goes, but i'm not sure that's it either. i'll take any comments you'll give.

october: streamlining
not sure if this is the right word, but basically i want to "deal with today's problems today." and have a life that is somewhat predictable and efficient. ok, so that sounds incredibly boring when i put it like that. but i want to "streamline" my home so that things don't get so piled up. i want to have systems in place for the laundry, the mail, meal times, and things like that. i feel that this will both honor my husband and keep me from going crazy.

i'm not sure about the next 8 months (we're trying to do this for a year) but i'll keep you posted.

so how am i doing?

july update: purposefulness

• time alone with God: definitely been particularly discplined in this area. last week, i spent time with God 5 out of seven days and this week i'm 4-0, ready to finish out strong with 7 out of 7. this is not to boast, but to rejoice. june was a "good" month when i spent time with him about 6 times total.
  
• active, bold prayer: i've seen God work in a few awesome ways. another positive result of solid prayer time: i find myself actively encouraging others according to the leadership of the Holy Spirit-something i haven't been in the habit of for at least 4 years.
  
• cleaning: overall, not the best but i am more determined at tidying up after myself and husband. i'll work on that more in august! : )
  
• tv watching: also a work in progress, but their have been some significant improvements such as not turning on the tv as soon as i get home from work.
  
• spending money: i actually just added this to the list because i realized that i'm not very purposeful with the money i have to spend. sure, i have stayed within budget, but i'm not sure where all the money is going. i have yet to come in under budget and would like to work towards that.
  
• memorizing scripture: paige and i have almost 2 1/2 chapters of galatians memorized! my challenge will be to begin memorizing before the night before i have to say it to paige.
  
• facebook: no improvement. work in progress?