My Daddy

As most of you know, my daddy has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Being a daddy's girl all of my life, this news has been life changing, as I wrap my head around a time line being put to my dearest dads life. My dad has been the most influencial person in my life thus far. He taught me how to love, cherish, and value the salvation that Christ has given us on the cross. He revealed to me the wisdom and beauty that the Bible brings to our lives. He taught me the value in living for Christ everyday and the necessity to dig deep into His word and pray without ceasing. He taught me how to keep my heart tender. He taught me how to love and encouarge others with a sensitive heart. He taught me how to change a tire. He taught me to never put a cat in the mail box. He taught me how to share my feelings, and that communication is key to any healthy relationship. I have always been and always will be a daddy's girl (and to be honest a mommy's girl). I love my dad with all my heart, but God is given me such a peace-that passes all my human understanding. Despite the way that I think I should feel, I keep trusting in God, and the ultimate comforter keeps giving me an abundance of it. He knew we were going to be in Minnesota during this time, and I believe he has been prepareing me for this throughout the months we have been here. My dad is at peace with this, and that is such a blessing, as he knows that he will be in paradise sooner then we thought. There are so many miracles that have come from this and we know there are more in store.

My beautiful, talented, wonderful friend Shan Shan took some family photos with us while we were in Cali last month. I love the way she captured the essence of our family. Here are some of my favorite:

40 Days for Life

Our church is doing a 40 Days for Life Campaign. I would love for everyone to partner with us in prayer for the victims of forced abortions and for God to reach the heart of the world to see abortion as such an abomination as slavery is seen today. My heart has really been convicted about this issue and I pray that we all decide to take action to help those woman who feel they have no other choice. Donate baby clothes, bottles, anything, or the easiest, money to buy these supplies to your local pregnancy care center . But please, please pray for our nation!

We got to see this live, and yes it was intense.

Sydney

Isn't this one of the most precious faces you have ever seen! This is my niece Sydney, and I can't wait to see her again. She brings so much joy to my life!

Small Group

Since the move here Mark and I have made some pretty incredible friends. In addition to that we were so blessed to be invited into a small group associated with our church and this group has been nothing but a gigantic blessing to us. Not only are they all awesome people and totally fun to hang out with, but they desire deepness, pushing each other toward Christ, holding each other accountable to resist sin, and fighting for our marriages. The Lord is so good to us, and this group is among the top blessings in my life. We are growing closer every week and I can't thank God enough for how amazing it is to be a part of a body that treasures encouraging Mark and I toward Christ as one of their priorities. I pray that we can only do the same for them. It is apparent that this is right were God wants us. We have experienced many struggles thus far in the move, however more joy comes each day in the satisfaction and blessings that God brings through much provision financially, relationally, and emotionally. Wow I feel blessed!

It has been such a blast with my new camera! I have taken many photos and I am excited to continue to learn more and more. This is Kenneth, my little friend that I babysit here on campus every so often. He is just the cutest thing ever, I promise more photos to come as I get better at this editing thing :)

Winter is cold!

Mark and I are doing extremely well here in MN! God has blessed us tremendously with so many friends and our church is just amazing! You should all listen to Pastor John Pipers sermons at desiringgod.org. We feel so blessed to be at this church and to get the privilege of serving with people who desire God with such fervent hearts. Mark is truly enjoying his internship there and we are growing so much! Winter is going well, it is cold, and we have to plan many indoor activities as the -22 degree weather doesn't allow much time to be spent outside. But it has not been as bad as everyone told us it would be, we just stay really active and dress appropriately! Plus the snow is so fun :) I'm still in the honeymoon stage of loving the snow. We will post pictures so soon, thanks for checking in and sorry for the lack of posts.

Running for Jesus

So, I have this goal to run a marathon. I think it is a God-given desire because I hate running. I want God to be glorified and honored with everything I do in my short life, and though I fail often, this is my passion-and I know by abiding in Him, He will be glorified (John 15: 7-8). I don't want to fit God into my own passions and ambitions, I want His will and plan to come and thwart all my plans, and for me to step aside and watch Him work. Saying all that, I believe that through running I spend a unique time abiding in God. It's desperate need of Him to help me not only physically, but defiantly mentally, as I accomplish something that takes a lot of time, commitment, perseverance, consistency, aces, and pains. My prayer is that these disciplines that I develop with spill over into the rest of my life, to better serve and glorify My God. To prove to myself that this was a serious ambition, I took my first step of commitment, and ran my first 5k race. I loved it, the energy of all the people was really cool, and I ran my PR! I took 6 min. off my best time. I still have a long way to get to 26 miles, but that is all part of the process that God is taking me on. Here are some silly photos of the morning.

Here's me putting my "race gear" on :)
I'm ready!

I was very cold, and nervous!

Trying to act excited about the next three miles that I was about to run.

You can't see me, but I was in there. A really humbling experience is letting all the people pass you (especially the older ladies, which I totally admire), as you try your best to pace yourself to not get burnt out in the first mile.

Racing to the finish line, I was so happy to see it, I sprinted all the way!

Afterward, tired, sweaty, but so happy with my time, God really helped me as I prayed the whole way!