We are a praying family.  We pray for growth in our marriage.  We pray for our existing family.  We pray for our future children, both biological and adopted.  We pray for our friends.  We pray for the fatherless of the world.  Most of all, though, we pray for alignment between God’s heart and our own.  We pray that He will give us peace and patience in His timing.  We know that He causes everything to happen and works it all for His perfect plan and purpose.  We pray that even in the middle of difficult times, we will choose to praise His name.  We pray that we learn and grow through difficulty and ultimately give God the glory for His all-knowing power and plans.

Romans 8:28 says, “We know that all things work together for good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.”

We seemed to stumble upon the address where God’s plan and our desires intersect.  I’m calling that our address of peace.  Anytime our God’s plans and our prayers come together, it seems that there is this overwhelming sense of joy.  Many things we have been praying about for a while are coming together now.

We visited a church that Ryan had attended a prayer night long ago, just to visit the Sunday morning service.  As we walked in, we both had an overwhelming sense of comfort, peace, and the presence of the holy spirit.  It felt like God was saying this is your temporary home.  It was funny.  We didn’t really even need to talk about it.  We were clear that God is calling us to grow in a new way and that will be a place where we can grow together in His plan.

Our house has been on the market in Asheville since we moved up to Chicago for Ryan to attend Moody.  It wasn’t on the market because we hoped to leave Asheville.  It wasn’t on the market because we hoped to move to Chicago.  It wasn’t on the market because that was the easy thing to do.  In fact, it’s very difficult to know what we want in all this now.  Our house is on the market, so that we can be flexible to the whispers of God, so that we can be open to His plan.  To be honest, I’m so glad that we can be in relationship with Him and seek His answers rather than trying to figure it all out on our own.  We need the Lord’s guidance, direction, and plans.  Last weekend, we got an offer on our house.  It came in very low…VERY low.  I didn’t really see it going anywhere, in fact, we didn’t even counter offer.  They came back with a much higher offer that seemed like a number we could work with.  The negotiating began.  We knew what we needed to get to feel good about the sale, to keep some of the funds we’d invested in the house through upgrades and amenities.  We also knew what the comps said we should expect.  This is all after two realtors told us last summer that we needed to price the house about $10,000 less that our purchase price.  As the offer and counter offers came in, we had our earthly desire and our desire to please God.  Each step, we prayed for the number to counter offer.  We were walking a fine line.  Each step, God granted us peace with a number.  It was actually pretty amazing to see His direction in this from our perspective.  After more than three days, we came to an agreement that allows everyone to walk away feeling good.  Not only are we able to recoup the money we’ve put into the house, but we are able to pay our realtors, and the new couple is getting a house that they can settle into as newlyweds and make their home.

Adoption Day Excitement

On Monday of last week, my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces headed to Greenville County Courthouse.  After two years of praying and waiting, of tragedy and laughter, Olivia’s adoption was official.  We have loved getting to know her quirky personality, seeing her open up to love and beginning to trust people.  God must have some pretty big plans for this seven-year-old.  She has more stories to tell from the happenings of her seven years than many of us will ever have in a lifetime.  I feel truly blessed to be able to share a piece of her journey and can’t wait to see the woman she grows into.

Sisters!

There are quite a few other answers to prayers that are amidst us right now.  I haven’t spoken about Ryan’s job or how we will be able to move forward with fostering to adopt, but those are unfolding in new ways also.  We will continue praying and seeking to align our hearts with God’s plan.  It has given us so much peace to notice the ways He has taken care of us every step of the way…how He has worked Ryan and my stories to meet each other at the perfect time…how He has produced so much fruit from our most difficult times.  It’s easy to trust that God!

entryway to our home in Asheville

After a three-week break from classes, where Ryan and I spent a  week traveling between Chicago and Asheville and two weeks at our home, we headed back to Chicago to begin our second semester.  Needless to say, we got used to some conveniences while we were at home.  I enjoyed sleeping in my own bed, cooking in the kitchen with all my “tools”, doing laundry whenever I wanted or needed, catching up with friends over hot tea or at the YMCA, and laying out in the hammock in our woods.  Ryan enjoyed spending time in the mountains, working on the yard, catching up with friends and ministry connections he has there, as well as staying on top of his work load.  Even Cirque and Maddox enjoyed their time there.  Cirque got to play with his best friend, Homer, and his master (our neighbor) Norman, and spent nearly all day outside in our backyard.  Maddox lounged as the sunlight flooded in our large windows, watched the birds and just simply lounged.  I say all this as I process what exactly we love about our time of living life there.

This was a particularly important trip for me, as it was my first time back after our move to Chicago where I actually had time to visit with friends individually and for more than just a few minutes at a time.  I was so grateful to those who took time to catch up with Ryan and I.  As I spoke with friends, many who I either worked with or was in home/small group with, mentioned to me individually that I look healthier, happier, etc.  At first, I just shrugged it off with a “thank you” and moved on, but then I realized that I was in a pretty dark place last year.  I continued reflecting further.  I recognize that I had a very difficult transition from Chicago to Asheville and it was easy to write off as one thing or another. We had planned on moving at the end of September of 2010, but then got a job at the end of August, beginning immediately after Labor Day.  I went to the lake house for the weekend, back to Chicago to pack up my car and left my house (unpacked), my friends who I love dearly, my pets, and my new husband.  I traveled to Asheville, set up a new class made of students pulled from other classes, and lived in a hotel for three weeks as I waited for Ryan to arrive and begin settling in together.  We closed on our house, our furniture arrived eventually, and we began making our house our home.  Although we had a few groups we connected with through church, I was worn out, exhausted, tired, and sad.  The transition from an urban midwestern school district to a rural southern district wasn’t as easy as I assumed it would be.  The norms and mores were vastly different.  I didn’t have the room on my plate to invest in friendships.  It felt daunting and I was uncertain as to which friendships to invest.  Because many were connected to churches we attended, I didn’t want to begin forming close friendships and then have to leave them if the church wasn’t a fit for us.

As I came to see what of myself I had put out to others last year, I was sorry and grateful.  I was sorry that I couldn’t invest more in the relationships around me at the time, but so grateful to the friends who have chosen to stick with me or give me another chance.  I was excited to catch up with people and share in the happenings of their lives right now…babies, lots of babies, even some twins, new marriages, job promotions, world records, and transformations.  I am excited to get back and spend more time if it is God’s will for us to be in Asheville.  If it isn’t, I still cherish the friendships we have there and look forward to visits and seeing how God is further working in their lives.

On our trip back to Chicago, we left Asheville after church on Sunday and drove to my

our Chicago apartment

parents’ new home just outside of Indianapolis to spend the night.  We got up early on Monday morning, so I could get back in time for work.  As we arrived, we walked back into our little 300 foot garden apartment, and remembered that this is ok too.  I looked at our tiny kitchen, I saw the desk and kitchen table that were so kindly loaned to us by friends, I saw our bed that is not so comfortable.  As I hopped into our shower (2′x2′) and struggled to close the sliding glass doors which seemed quite comical at the moment, all Ryan could say was, “Welcome home!”

Although it’s not much, this is our home for now.  As we settled back in, we are reminded of how unimportant some of the details of our life are.  Sure I love to cook when I can do so comfortably, but who cares I can’t cook extravagant meals for a while.  It’s actually kind of cool to look around our little apartment and see that our friends who care so deeply are generous enough to allow us to use their items for a while.  I have my husband and my pets right here with me.  God has truly blessed us in both places and uniquely welcomes us home wherever we are.

After finishing up work on Friday in Chicago, Ryan picked me up with Cirque and Maddox in the back seat ready to begin a long week of traveling and visiting with our families, before finally arriving in Asheville.  Sometimes the stress…well many times, the stress of getting packed up for a road trip, along with the anticipated visits and conversations seem to get us into a bit of a tizzy (borrowed word from my Mom).  This time we felt prepared for it.  We had taken some time Friday morning to commit our travels and visits to the Lord, asking for His blessings, guidance and presence as we embarked on the upcoming week.  We anticipated it would be full of the obvious questions about when we would have children, how our jobs are, schooling, homes, and that favorite one of ours…do you have any idea what you’re doing?!?  Well, it’s not usually put exactly like that, but it is a common question asked to us and yes, the answer remains the same.  We are pursuing the path that God is laying out in front of us each day.  Right now, that is very much a season of preparation and an exciting one at that.  God has given us great peace about our path and we are pleased to be in alignment with Him.  We have also noticed that our prayers are becoming more outward focused, less about us and more about loving those around us.  Anyways, back to our trip.  I’d like to say we got out of the city in record time, but Ryan got stuck in traffic and was 45 minutes late picking me up.  Normally, we would have let this escalate into a huge argument, but we were committed to throw out our agenda and focus on God’s peace.  We headed to my parents’ new home southeast of Indianapolis for the night.  We got in late and had a few minutes of conversation.  Saturday morning, we drove with them to Cincinnati, to my Aunt and Uncle’s house for an extended family weekend.  It was fun catching up with everyone.  Of course the common questions were asked. Prepared this time, we answered and went on with our visit.  It is really great to see that God is building Ryan and I closer together and with Him.  What may have become very stressful to me in the past, I was able to put aside and enjoy the time I have with my family.  I really enjoyed my talk with my Aunt, having my 16 year old cousin take me for a ride with her new license, and roasting Brussels sprouts with my twin two-year-old cousins.

Lavengood Christmas

We headed back to my parents’ house for a few days.  We went on walks, played games, and held our 2 nieces and nephew.  It was great to spend some quality time with my parents, sisters and their families.  I love seeing how God is developing each of our families in different ways and I can’t imagine what it will be like to celebrate together years down the road.  We really enjoyed our visit.

Weaver Christmas

Next, we headed to Ryan’s parents’ home in northwest Ohio.  During our drive, we had some really great discussion about future plans and ministry.  We were able to share ideas and envision what our future might look like.  We discussed what God has already shown us and how we can be praying.  Once we arrived, relaxed, we got to spend time in conversation, as well as visit our brother and sister-in-law and their two daughters.  We went to a “Christmas Eve” service a few nights before Christmas, checked out the Toledo Zoo Lights, and visited the new dairy.  We also enjoyed a peaceful time there.

Finally, on Christmas Eve morning, Ryan, Cirque, Maddox and I packed up our car and headed out to begin our trip to Asheville.  We had another great discussion in the car.  I began reading the book, Tentmaking, (Patrick Lai) aloud.  Out of that, we discussed the ways we could impact or are impacted by tentmaking.  We have many friends that do this type of mission work overseas and it was really interesting to find out exactly what “tentmaking” is.  For those of you who don’t know, it is a type of “busionarry” who goes into an otherwise unreachable country setting up a business that gives them an opportunity to live there as a missionary.  Feel free to ask Ryan or I, (or check out the book) if you want more details.  We’re very intrigued by the concept.

As we rolled into our driveway at 8:30, we felt at home.  We quickly unpacked, put on our pajamas and watched a Christmas movie.  Christmas morning, we woke up, went to church and then headed out for the most extraordinary Christmas.  We decided to head out into the wilderness for a Christmas backpacking trip.  We headed to the Foothills Trail, beginning at Sassafras Mountain, in South Carolina (highpoint for the state).  From there we, along with Cirque, packed in and set up camp.  We thought it would be a good time to take advantage of quiet trails and to imagine what it must have been like 2000 years ago as Mary gave birth outside on a silent night in Bethlehem.  Once we found our camp site, we set up the tent, made a simple dinner, played some games I’d taken along, and read from the Bible.  As we prepared for bed, all you could hear was the wind in the trees.  It sounded as though we would have a very stormy night.  We sang a few Christmas carols and fell asleep.  Unexpectedly, I woke up a couple times in the middle of the night to a truly “silent night.”  All was calm and still under the moonlit night.  No animals stirred about, not even Cirque moved.  Each time, I was amazed to think of the stillness and beauty of the night we were given out in the wilderness.  Ryan mentioned the same thing as he woke up.  Silent night.  It was a most beautiful Christmas.  It was filled with the love of each other, of family, and most of all, our Maker.  It amazes me that He could be so creative to send His Son into the world to save the world, on a silent night, through the birth of a virgin mother.  How’s that for an attention grabber?!?  The real kicker to me is that while he was executing this plan of the Savior’s birth, He knew full well that His only Son would walk a blameless life, then be hung on a cross to die for our sins and resurrected to go reside in Heaven to wait for us.  Christmas really came alive again to me this year.  I am truly grateful that it did.

Christmas at Sassafras Mountain, South Carolina

Overall, I am so glad we gave this trip to the Lord.  It is evident that He wants to care for our every need and does so in many ways.  Because of our reliance on Him throughout the holiday, we had most pleasant week with family we’ve probably ever had.  Instead of leaving the week feeling zapped of energy and dreading the next visits, I’m left feeling joyful and excited to have had the opportunity to love and invest in our family.

Thanksgiving 2011

We just got back to Chicago after a beautiful weekend at our home in the mountains of North Carolina.  This was our second year of hosting Thanksgiving at our house in Asheville and I felt truly blessed to spend time with our friends and some family there again this year.  We planned our Thanksgiving meal on Friday this year, since we had a long drive down and I would need some time for grocery shopping and food prep.  It worked great.  This year, both of my sisters and their families decided to join us, so they all came in on Thursday evening.  We spent the night brining the turkey, catching up, and of course playing with our two nieces and our only nephew.  The turkey brining went well, we used a wet brine in a cooler…made me little nervous at first, but I think we’ve found a keeper for a recipe.  It was delicious.  One of my sisters, brought a friend with her.  She moved here from England, so her British humor mixed nicely with my brother-in-law’s southern sarcasm.

On Friday, other friends arrived…Elizabeth and baby Max, the Rickmans, and then the Conklins.  Everyone came bearing delicious dishes to add to our table.  We had turkey, two stuffings, brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and rolls for dinner.  For dessert, Kara made one of her famous apple pies, along with a pumpkin pie.  Sarah brought a “banaffee” pie…a British tradition…a rich combination of banana and toffee.  Emily made a beautiful trifle with cranberries and other goodies.  Needless to say, we were stuffed!

Carrying Erilyn and Charlie

Saturday, I woke up to the scampering of little footsteps in the kitchen.  Our niece, Olivia, had not gotten her share of treats and goodies the night before and apparently some Guatemalan candy was calling her name!  I might note that the candy was on a dish on the top of our refrigerator:)  We had decided to go for a hike, so chatter began as to where we would hike.  We decided to drive to Flat Rock and hike up around the Carl Sanberg house.  We invited some friends too, but I think they were stuck in their turkey comas.  We headed out with six adults, the cutest 7 year old I know, two under a year, and two dogs (one crazy and one without a leash).  It made for a fun hike…luckily not too eventful.  We love spending time on trails for a number of reasons…peace, nature, beauty, but my favorite reason to hit the trails is the conversations on the hikes.  I love spending time chatting as we experience God’s creation.  People seem to let their guards down and just be.  I enjoyed conversations with everyone, sharing stories, and taking it all in.  On the hike up, Uncle Ryan got to help out with Olivia.  She loves to get a little tired and ride up on Uncle Ryan’s shoulders…it happens about halfway up each mountain.  He loves it too for now, although at 7 years old, those days may be soon coming to an end.  She’s growing like a weed!  On the way down, we got to take Charlie (5 months) and Erilyn (10 months).  Although they are 5 months apart in age, they are matched evenly in size.  Ryan and I loved hiking down with them.  It makes us excited for a time when we’ll share our love of the trails with our own children.  Until then, we’re content being Aunt and Uncle!

This year, I am thankful for such wonderful family and friends.  I am thankful for a husband who not only loves me unconditionally, but desires to continue growing our marriage and our faith.  I am thankful that we have the amazing opportunity to learn from such well-educated professors at Moody.  I am thankful for God’s provisions as we transition into ministry.  I am thankful for hope and anticipation of the next phases of our life in tandem.  I’m not sure where it will be or what exactly what we’ll be doing, but I am happy to know who it will be with.

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts to which indeed you  were called in one body. And be thankful!”
-Colossians 3:15

We headed to the airport at 11:30 last Saturday night. We flew overnight and arrived in Guatemala City around 6 in the morning. I was very tired, but full of anticipation of what laid ahead. We were picked up by two missionaries who were celebrating their 10-year anniversary of being missionaries in Guatemala that day. I was anxious to hear their stories and meet the girls at The Oasis. We headed to The Oasis to drop off our stuff and get ready for church. We drove through the city and then headed up into the mountains. Since it was early Sunday morning, there were tons of cyclists out doing mountain climbs and it made me think about Ryan. He would love to see what I was seeing and I know he’d love to ride these mountains.

As we arrived in San Lucas at The Oasis, the large, black steel doors opened to reveal a beautiful green lawn and ice cream colored houses, with a large play lot in the center. I was thankful for my sunglasses, because taking it all in caused me to well up with tears. I thought about the girls that lived within these walls and joyful-colored homes. I thought about the lives they have lived. I thought about the families they didn’t have. I thought about the abuse many of them had received. I thought about my niece, who has lived in group homes. I thought about the child that God has waiting for Ryan and I, where he or she may be right now. I prayed that if he/she is born already, that someone is loving and taking care of him or her. One by one, like the munchkins in The Wizard of Oz, the girls peeked out to see who was visiting and to greet us. I was so excited to meet them and just love on them. We took care of a few details and then headed off to church.

We were exhausted, but walking into church in San Lucas was exciting. We sang songs of praise and worship in Spanish. I was thankful that I could read Spanish and follow along. I loved praising God in Spanish…the words were different, but the heart was the same. When the pastor began preaching, he flashed the title on the projector. “El Caractario de Cristianos” As he spoke about the character of Christians, God’s word came flowing through my mind. I was able to find scripture to support his message. I used my bible to remind myself of some attributes of Christian character. Many of the verses I found were centered on FAITH, LOVE, PRAYER AND PEACE. As the pastor finished up (2.5 hours later:) He referenced 1 Timothy 4:16, Pay close attention to your life and your teaching; persevere in these things, for by doing this you will save both yourself and your hearers. I was excited that I was familiar with the text and the verses leading up to it. I was thankful to God for the knowledge He shared with me.

The next day was our first day to work. We began the morning with some sad news…the missionary that we were to work with for the week had to travel back to the states. His father had passed away. We got our assignments and a few quick instructions and then began our projects. Luckily, one of the guys on our team had spent two years working there and knew his way around pretty well. Since we were a small team, we had a list of odds and ends that needed to be completed around The Oasis.

I was excited to be able to work at the same site as the girls, because it allowed time for me to take mini-breaks and interact with the girls. I played, jumped on the trampoline, rode bikes, and best of all, got to sit and read with the girls. Our breaks were also filled with Guatemalan coffee and sweet bread, and intense conversations. Again, I felt as if God had prepared me in the few months leading up to this trip. He lead me right to scripture I had recently read and studied. I was able to take my thoughts and opinions out of the discussion and rely on what the scripture says and actual experiences I’ve had with God. I felt truly blessed that He is building such a desire to know Him and know His word.

We had a couple events that allowed us to really invest in something fun for the girls to participate in. On Wednesday, they invited us to their midweek church service. I really appreciated seeing the way the house moms and missionaries take scripture and simplify it for the girls to understand, while still keeping the heart of the message. I could really see how it is impacting the faith in some of the girls. Afterwards, we had a campfire and made s’mores with the girls. It was mad chaos, but SO much fun. The girls indulged on the sweet marshmallows, we had a “dance party” and we even saw the guys doing hand jives with the girls…hilarious. At the end of the evening, as I was telling one special little girl good night, she said something back to me in Spanish. She always speaks quickly, but this time I was having a difficult time understanding her and it seemed important. We waited a few minutes for someone to translate to me. She was responding to me with scripture…Psalm 4:8 “I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, Lord, will protect me.” Amazing. I love that she could both recall scripture and apply it to her life. Based on my understanding, she has probably experienced a number of terrifying nights in her eleven years. It make me happy that she has such a strong faith.

We spent the next day traveling to the remote village of Zapote. There we visited a day school for both boys and girls in the community. I really enjoyed seeing what their school was like and hearing the stories of how it has improved over the years. We traveled to Mount Pacaya, an active volcano, before heading home. We began by taking horses halfway up and then hiked through volcanic scree until we reached the summit. Summitting a volcano was pretty awesome! I sat on the mouth of an active volcano…crazy. We couldn’t see very far in, because so much steam and sulfur were coming out like smoke. I wonder how far down we would have fallen if we were to have tripped. I was really proud of the team though…it wasn’t an easy climb, mainly because it was hard to get your footing on the loose rock, but we all rocked it! I can’t wait to get Ryan there to experience it.

I have lots more stories to tell, but that’s going to have to do it for today. I would love to do a couple more trips. Ryan definitely needs to go with me, and I’d like to do one with some friends and family.

It was really great seeing that even when I didn’t know it, God was preparing me for this specific trip.

Classes at Moody have been life-changing for Ryan and I. One of my greatest desires going into the semester was that my prayer life would be transformed, so that I may fully experience God. I am taking a class with Ryan on the theology and practice of prayer and out of that, I am growing in my relationship with God everyday. We are reading through a book, written by Bill Thrasher, called A Journey to Victorious Praying. As I read, I am directed to scripture, which is feeding my soul. I can’t seem to get enough. I can’t help but stop and consider all our Creator has done for us. Another professor has challenged us to spend an hour per day with God, in scripture reading and prayer. All of this together, has cultivated a true relationship between me and God. As I pray, I am beginning to hear from Him and that brings such peace. I feel I am able to trust Him with my life’s plans better now than I ever have before, because of I know His character better. He hasn’t changed, I have. He’s drawn me near and I’m so grateful for it.

We’ve gotten to spend some really fun times with our friends here too. Our church has the “You are Loved” campaign where we go out into the streets during big events around Chicago and just love people. We got to go out and support our friends running in the Chicago Marathon, and as we cheered for them, we passed out boom sticks to other spectators. It was a really cool day to be out in the city.

We also got to experience our first “Food Battle”. So fun! The previous champion chose an ingredient and we were all challenged to use it as we created our dish for the battle. We sampled lots of dishes with balsamic vinegar as a key ingredient. Who knew I actually liked the stuff! We loved everything we tasted that night.

We have had a couple of date days this fall too. We took advantage of a free day at The Shedd Aquarium and enjoyed seeing the jellyfish, sharks, and just hanging out together. We also spent one exciting afternoon together riding our bikes along the lakeshore path. The waves were so high, they were sweeping up and covering the path at times. Welter saw that some bikers had been taken down by the huge waves! Thankfully, that wasn’t us.

We came to Chicago, expecting to go back to Asheville after the semester ended, but we’ve seen so much room to be involved in ministry and community here. We see that God has called us back to Chicago for a longer season than we initially expected. We’ve decided to stay through the end of the school year and after that, only God knows what will really happen. For those who want to know what our “plan” is, our plan has remained the same. We are following the promptings of God. His plan is better than ours.

All that being said, we have seen how some things may not be easy. The week before I headed up here was pretty difficult. Of course I wanted more answers. I wanted to know what we were bringing, how we were getting it here, where we’d stay while finding housing, when Ryan would be here, what we were going to do with our pets, and how all of this would really work out. While trying to figure out all these details, Cirque got deathly ill. After loss of energy and appetite, and an entire night of shallow lifeless breaths, we took him into the veterinarian office. He stayed there for the day, having one exam and test after another. After a series of tests including blood work, x-rays, and observations, the doctor concluded it was likely that he has either cancer or pneumonia. We treated for the latter since it was easier to rule out. She recommended that we hospitalize Cirque for three days and give IV fluids and an antibiotic drip. Knowing how social Cirque is, we decided to give subcutaneous fluids each of those three afternoons, antibiotic pills, and lots of water and love while we treated at home. Thankfully, with lots of effort and love, Cirque seemed to regain some strength after just a couple of days. Praise Jesus! He went from not being able to stand to having enough energy to go on a short walk in three days. We took him for a short walk on our neighbor Norman’s property. While walking, another neighbor’s dogs attacked us. It was on of the most frightening moments of my life. The first dog latched on to Cirque’s throat as the other three dogs surrounded us barking and pushing Cirque around. I got bit in the process of trying to free our sick pup. Thank goodness Ryan was there to help. As I called the police to report this, our Internet went down. For three hours, I tried to find out the names and address of the owners of the pack of 4 dogs. As soon as I was on the phone with the officer who was notifying me that he found the house, Ryan yelled down to tell me that the internet was back up. Strange and timely distraction. It was hard for me to leave, but I headed out on Sunday. I knew I needed to get up here and that Ryan had things under control at home. Before I headed out the door, Ryan shared a passage that he was reading. The passage discussed how often times we hold on so tightly to what we know and are comfortable with, rather than relinquishing control and accepting the blessings that God has waiting for us. I prayed and meditated over that on my drive and it continues to ring truth to me.

On that drive, I feel like I got some clear direction from God on how to spend my time in Chicago. I am excited to make some connections with women who are involved in the types of ministries I’m interested in learning about. I’m also going to get some training and experience in anti-trafficking initiatives. I plan on taking one or two classes with Ryan. It seems that Chicago has some really great resources to take advantage of, so that I can then take and use them in Asheville.

Monday morning, I got up and headed out to get my TB test and drug test to begin my employment process with CPS. When I completed the testing, I headed to human resources. I was told that my principal would have to change a few details and I could come back on Wednesday. All the changes were made and I went back on Wednesday. The budget was $0.89 short for the position. I went back on Friday and the changes were made, but now the budget is nearly $3000 short. I am really trusting the Lord and his timing in this. It’s not easy, but I trust that his plan is greater than I can comprehend. More than one week after I thought I’d begin, I’m sitting here typing this.

I did spend a lot of time finding an apartment last week also. I feel like the odds were against me, but persevered. We have two adults, an extra large dog, a cat, and are looking for a 4 month lease term. After much looking and many tries, I believe we’ve found the perfect apartment for us. We are leasing from August 20 through December 20. The apartment is close to friends and our church community. It will also be a very easy commute for Ryan when getting to school. This is a perfect example if God’s provision for us.

I’m very excited to see where this journey takes us.

13. It’s Business Time! : Ryan had been in an entrepreneurial career for a while. He began thinking that maybe this was the time to transition from building other peoples’ businesses to building his own business. We set out on a number of road trips to explore where we’d live and begin our business. We settled on Asheville. After lots of work and discussions, we realized that this wasn’t the time for our business yet. It’s still coming, but you’ll have to stay tuned for details.

12. New Jobs: One of our trips was to find jobs and one was to find housing. On the job hunting trip, I had a couple interviews at elementary schools. I was offered one of the jobs. I was so excited to see God’s hand in all this. Time and time again, I was reminded by people in the community that, “There are no teaching jobs available around here…How’d you get that one?”. I was hired by one of the premier schools in the area, and because they had started three weeks earlier, I would be pulling six students from each of the existing classes. I definitely had my work cut out for me. After my Friday interview, I was scheduled to begin the following Thursday. I drove back to Michigan to hang out with our friends at our scheduled lake house visit and then headed right back to Asheville.

11. Who moved my cheese? : Ryan and I were all set to move. I couldn’t believe that I would be leaving the city that had become home to me over the past 6 years of my life. We had experienced so much together…love, loss, first jobs, heart-break, faith, triumph, excitement, new love… It was time though. I left Chicago and drove down to Asheville about two weeks before Ryan. I had to begin my new job a little earlier than we were scheduled to close on our house, so I lived in the Clarion Inn for a little while.

10. Checking in: I arrived in Asheville around 8 o’clock the night before I was scheduled to begin working. My car was full of materials for my classroom and my heart was full of anticipation. I checked into my temporary home in the Clarion Inn. It would be home for the next two weeks until Ryan arrived and we closed on our house. It was actually pretty comfortable, and made moving into a classroom a lot less distracting. I was able to settle in at school, without being torn and wanting to settle in at home too. I worked Thursday and Friday of that week and then had more traveling to do.

9. Jet Setter: After my first two days at work, I flew back to Chicago to attend our going away party and Tom and Lisa Trimmer’s wedding. I was nervous to make my 4:15 flight, because I couldn’t leave work until 3:30 and 45 minutes would never be enough time in any airport I’d ever flown out of. Well that was wasted anxiety! I made it from my classroom door to the airport, checked in, through security, and to my gate in 17 minutes flat. Of course the flight was delayed. I was back in sweet home Chicago by 6:00 and had an early dinner at 6:30. I decided that if it was that easy to get back to see my friends, I could do this. The following week I did the same Friday routine and flew to Pennsylvania. I spent the weekend in beautiful Amish country, Lancaster County. Again, it was a very quick weekend. I arrived late Friday night, and then departed on Sunday around 2.

8. Home sweet home: After living in the Clarion for a couple weeks, the day had arrived for us to close on our home. I attended closing by myself and moved into our house. I spent the first night sleeping on my sleeping pad in a little nook in our upstairs. It felt cozy and I wasn’t used to the larger, more open spaces of the rest of the house yet. Ryan arrived with Cirque and Maddox the following day. I was elated to see them and the truck was unloaded by the time I got home from work the next day. We began settling into our new house and have begun making it home.

7. South of the Border: Ryan and I had a trip planned with some friends in October. The only problem was that we were flying out of Chicago…so back into the car we went. We drove up to Chicago, arrived at 2 in the morning and flew out to Cancun at 6 am. We had a great time lounging on the beach, checking out delicious restaurants, snorkeling, and exploring the Mayan culture at Tulum. It was a much-needed vacation!

This is after a very sun-filled day in Mexico. We snorkeled and saw a couple large sea turtles, among many fish on the reef.

6. Paddle Boarding: While we were in Mexico, Ryan and I decided to try our paddling skills out on a new sport. We rented a paddle board from a beach shop…only one board was available, so that’s what we took. We proceeded to try our hands at stand up paddling. First Ryan paddled, while kneeling. That left just enough room for me to lay with my head in a not-so-appropriate-for-public spot. After lots of laughing, decided that that was not the way to share this board. We tried it with Ryan laying on his stomach and me sitting on his back paddling. Again, it was a no go. We tried a few more positions, each one seeming just as obscene as the prior, and then came to the conclusion that we’d just take turns practicing. We were now far enough that one would hop off and watch as the other paddled around and got comfortable with it. When we were nearing the end of our time with the board, we had to go back to the obscene positions to paddle back in. We loved it so much that we reserved two boards for the following day. When we were on our own boards, we were able to go out over some reef. It was an area that we would not have otherwise been able to see…too shallow for snorkeling and even kayaking. Again, we saw how paddling gets us closer to the nature we love.

As I tried to take a picture of this cute little snow bunny, she pegged me with a snowball!

5. Home for the holidays: We had scheduled a very elaborate plan for our Christmas travels. We were going to drive 9 hours to Ohio to spend time with Ryan’s family, then head home toAsheville. We’d spend a couple days there and then drive another 7 hours to my sister’s house to spend time with my family. We made the trip up to Ohio and spent a few days with Ryan’s family. We went to the lake and enjoyed spending time together. We even went tobogganing! While we were on our way home, we learned that because of some complications with my youngest sister’s pregnancy, we would have to host Christmas in Asheville. Everyone arrived on Christmas Eve. Kara, Chris and Piper arrived at about the same time as Santa Claus in the middle of the night. We woke up on Christmas morning to large snowflakes falling and the most excited look on our niece Olivia’s face! It was a moment I’ll treasure forever. By the time we finished opening our presents, there were 6 inches of snow on the ground. As we cleaned up, Kevin, Michelle and Olivia made their first snowman in the front yard. After that, we all headed down the snow-covered path to the French Broad River. Of course, there was an impromptu snowball fight and great chats. It will go down as one of my favorite family days. We were just so happy and having so much fun.

4. Snow day: I taught in Chicago for six years, had lots of snow, but never a single snow day. I had my first snow day in Asheville, then my second, and third. One day, Ryan and I decided we would put our snow day to good use and do some skiing. We set out in all our gear, ready to ski, but realized quickly when we got on the road that there was no snow on this snow day. We laughed as we drove down the highway on this so called “snow day” to see green grass that was lightly dusted with a thin layer of snow. We discovered that the ski conditions inAsheville, although in the mountains, wouldn’t even be as good as the Midwestern snow skiing…clearly a far cry from the skiing out West. We had fun anyway. Luckily we didn’t have any mogul experiences that Ryan would have to carry me down on this trip. (I’m realizing I left out a very good story that should have fit in somewhere near 29 on this list. Shortly after we met, when I’m not even sure if we would consider us dating yet, Ryan and I went on a church ski trip. Adam and Kelly were along too. We drove up toWisconsinand although I was not a great skier, I was able to ski most runs in theMidwest. We got to the last new run and Ryan was convinced that I could “handle” that one too. Of course, since he knew me and my abilities oh so well at this point, I trusted him as he led the group down. The first half was fine, the second half was anther story. It was a mogul run. I can not ski moguls. I just stopped and looked. He was down at the bottom of the run watching up, along with all of our friends. He waited patiently as I tried to navigate down, but then got back in line for the lift to come rescue me. His plan: Carry me down on his back. Now if you know me, you know that this is clearly not an option. I have gear to wear or carry and I have no idea what this guy is capable of. It turned out ok, but I can’t remember how exactly I got off that run. I do know the culminated with a shot of our good friend Jack, as Adam and Ryan liked to trick Kelly and I into taking. Fun day.)

3. Someone is on the phone: Ok, it didn’t really happen like that, but Ryan did receive a calling. It’s been noticeably present at a few different times in his life, but this is the time he is going to act on it. Somewhere near the beginning of 2011, Ryan began feeling a calling from God into something greater. Through is prayer time, reading, and listening to the whispers of the holy spirit, he noticed that maybe he was meant to build something right now…not someone else’s business or his own even right now, but maybe God’s kingdom was what he was being called to. He kept pretty quiet for a while and continued pursuing God and his desires. Eventually, when Ryan knew that this was something he needed to do and that he would need my support too, he shared it with me.

2. One busy year! : We celebrated our first anniversary in Charleston, SC. We had such a fun weekend planned. We loaded up the car with two kayaks and our tandem bike. We headed down and arrived just in time for our first adventure. We had a sunset paddle planned for dolphin watching, and to see some of the inlets around Shem’s Creek in Charleston. It was fun. This was the first time I had paddled in salt water. We walked around and checked out the historic homes, took a carriage tour, and rode our tandem bike around the downtown. It was fun celebrating all the memories of our first year together. We read cards written to us on our wedding day too. It was fun to read the advice our friends and family had for our first year anniversary.

1. Back in the City: During my spring break, we decided to make a trip back to Chicago to visit friends and to check out a couple schools for Ryan. He had meetings at two different seminaries and with some of our local pastoral contacts while in town. It became very clear to him that Moody Bible Institute was exactly where he needed to be. It was an exciting, but somewhat scary notion. After all, we have a home in Asheville and have finally began settling in there. We used to live here, and wouldn’t it be hard to explain to everyone of why we were moving back? Had we made the wrong decision in moving in the first place? Are we just crazy? We wrestled over all these thoughts and questions daily for a number of months.

19. Here comes the bride: March 27th arrived and we were both still in it.  We met in the morning for a walk in the park and a time of prayer together.  It was so relaxing to be so confident in the marriage we were about to enter.  The day couldn’t have gone any smoother.  It was perfect.  We had so much fun celebrating with our closest friends and family. 

18. Roadtrip:  We stayed inChicago the night of our wedding and then at our home the next night.  On Monday, we headed west to San Francisco.  After our arrival, we picked up our rental car, a convertible of course.  No west coast road trip would be complete without the top down and the wind blowing.  We had a bit of a tight schedule to make it toLos Angelesby the next evening.  We saw some sights in  San Francisco and headed on down the highway.  We were both on such a high from the new adventure we were embarking.  We spent the day driving through small beach towns and as dusk set in, we began seeing the rocky coastline near Big Sur State Park.  We spent our evening in the coolest “eco-lodge” around.  Again, Ryan had convinced me that an eco-lodge would be a good way to spend our first night on our honeymoon.  I was a little nervous that this might turn out to be a tent with a couple old beds, just like we experienced inYosemite.  I was very wrong.  These were luxury yurts at the edge of a cliff, overlooking a beach.  The inside of each yurt was decorated adequately and had beautiful hardwood floors, an old pot-bellied fireplace, a sink and a skylight to look out at the starts.  As we woke up in the morning, we heard so many seals or sea lions down at Sand Dollar Beach.  We emerged from our yurt to get a view as beautiful as the sounds we were hearing.  We saw the rocky cliffs of Treebones Resort, overlooking the jade colored water.  We were surrounded by lush greenery and mountains.  We could also see the other yurts and the rest of the resort.  One of the most unique “rooms” is accurately called the nest.  It’s literally a human-sized nest up in a tree, opened to the views of the ocean and the stars.  We didn’t get to spend much time at Treebones, but will definitely go back someday.   After our delicious breakfast, we headed out for another day of driving.  We made some stops along the way toL.A. and still had time to take a trip on Sunset  Boulevard and Rodeo Drive.  We made it to the airport with time to spare and found out that there was a strike at the Tahiti’s Faa Airport and no flights were being allowed in.  We spent a frustrating, but fun night inL.A.and luckily our flight departed early the following morning.

This is the view from the top of the private island we stayed on during part of our trip to Bora Bora. It looks out at the two mountains of the main island and the over-water bungalows at the resort.

17.  How does Bora Bora sound? :  Sexy, sexy!  As we flew in toTahiti, the sun was just setting over the island.  The shades of the sunset were beautiful.  We had only one night there, so we checked into our hotel and then headed out for dinner and drinks.  We walked along the beach and had a pretty relaxing evening.  We had a leisurely morning, filled with playing chess on a life-sized game board, breakfast, and some pictures at the resort.  We had a short flight from Tahiti toBora Bora, stopping at another small island along the way.  As we flew over the South Pacific waters, we’d see an occasional white line as a boat spread through the sapphire blue water.  As we neared the protected waters of Bora Bora, I was filled with an indescribable feeling of excitement.  I had never seen the colors that my eyes were registering.  Ryan and I were overcome with anticipation of the adventure we would find on the island.  The island’s airport was on a motu, a protective outer ring around the island.  We took a boat transfer to our resort.  I couldn’t contain my excitement as we sped around the island, taking in all the different angles of the two mountains that made up the island, Mount Pehia and Otumanu.  The water was crystal clear all around us and we could see reef and fish below.  As we slowed to arrive at our resort, a Polynesian man played the ukulele and sang in his native tongue.  We split our days between a beach bungalow that was surrounded by lush green plants and an over-water bungalow that had a Tahitian T.V. in the floor…a viewing window into the wildlife below.  We spent our days exploring the island by bike, snorkeling at the reef on the backside of our resort’s private island, kayaking in the lagoons, eating some amazing food, and enjoying the seclusion with each other.

16.  That changes things up a bit:  Not too long after we got back from our honeymoon and began settling back into our normal life, Ryan got news of a lay-off.  Two short weeks later, I did too!  Needless to say, we weren’t super excited initially, but we figured that this gave us a great opportunity to embark on a new adventure.  After all, I would never leave my job at Walsh, unless the choice was taken from me.  I loved working with those kiddos.  This gave Ryan the right push to begin his own new career adventure. 

15.  Another Road Trip:  After our work finished up, Ryan and I spent about ten days on the road.  We had calculated a trip that would take us through some of our top choices for the next part of our life.  We looked at a number of factors, but some of the areas we checked out were Cincinnati, Knoxville, and Asheville. Cincinnati and Knoxville were quickly ruled out for a number of reasons.  We loved Asheville the moment we got into town.  We enjoyed walking around in the eclectic downtown.  The drum circles and hula hoop nights were so intriguing to us.  We made two more trips down to Asheville during that summer to decide if it would be the right fit for us.

31.  A proposed date and a “rejection”:  Ryan and I had met and chatted a number of times and the time had come for him to ask me out.  Unfortunately I had to refuse at the time.  My parents were in town visiting and celebrating their birthdays.  Luckilly I suggested a later time, otherwise I guess that was the one and only attempt that would be made.  We set the date for February 15th, 2009.  We went to Bistro Margot in Old Town.

30. I’m bringing my dog over:  One lazy Sunday afternoon, Maddox and I lounged on the couch and received a text from Ryan asking what we were doing.  About 10 minutes later, I heard a knock and as I opened the door, the biggest, most beautiful dog I’d ever seen pranced in like he owned the place.  Maddox heard him coming and quickly jumped up on the kitchen counter.  He was annoyed at first, but Cirque has since become one of his best buddies.  Although they continually get closer, I’m still waiting on the day that I come home to find the two of them nestled up together napping.

29. Wanna go for a bike ride? :  Ryan invites me on a 40-mile [training] ride, as he trains to ride the Lake Tahoe Century.  I accept and show up on my mountain bike.  Everyone else is set to jet on their lightweight road bikes.  I later found out that one of the other girls said to Ryan, “if you guys haven’t had your first fight yet, you better get prepared for one today!”  Needless to say, we hadn’t and we didn’t that day either…although we’ve had a few since;)

28. Meet the parents:  Ryan picked me up for our first date in his Audi A4 “Sport Wagon.”  I went back and told my friend E that he was different than other guys I’d dated, maybe ready to settle down and have a family.  Of course that could be the only reason he drove a station wagon!  She informed me that he was just a sporty mountain man…she was right.  He actually had ordered a new car, but it would be a few months before it arrived.  We later found the same car in stock in Pennsylvania.  He asked me if I would drive out to pick up the car with him.  I agreed.  We then decided to make it a “meet the parents visit” as we drove back to Chicago.  I also got to meet my brother and sister-in-law and week-old niece, Hannah.  It was a really enjoyable trip. 

28. Climbing Tallac:  This was truly our first adventure together.  Ryan flew to Tahoe with some friends to ride the Lake Tahoe Century, a 100 mile bike ride through the mountains around Lake Tahoe.  I joined them for the weekend.  We had discussed doing some big hikes, so he thought Tallac would be a good beginning mountain.  It was a nine mile day hike with a nearly a 4000 foot elevation gain.  We traversed forest, rocks, snow, ice and boulders.  Ryan made sure to keep me motivated by offering me “scooby snacks” along the way.  We still take these jelly beans and Doritos on all our hikes.  We celebrated our first summit, Mount Tallac, the 9735 ft mountain overlooking Emerald Bay on Lake Tahoe, on June 9, 2009.  It was a very special day for us.

27. Let’s plan a party:  Each year, Ryan’s parents are kind enough to let us invite our friends to share their lake house for the Fourth of July.  We learned that even though we have different party planning skills, we can get the job done.  The past few years have allowed us to plan together and we’ve definitely gotten more in sync.  We love spending time tubing, skiing, wake-boarding, cooking and lounging at the lake.  

26.  Kayaking the lake:  When I first went to the lake house with Ryan, we had the use of 4 kayaks, two that he’d selected for his parents’ use and two that he’d brought with his from California.  One of his was sleek and new, sporty and ready to perform in the water.  The other was used and laden with stickers from its past adventures, ready to perform in a CIRCUS!  You guessed it, that’s the one I got.  It became my trick kayak, I could easily spin 360s as I paddled under other peoples’ docks.  She’s loving named the “Red-headed Step Child” and is squirrely as anything you’ve ever paddled.  Our friends, Adam and Kelly, Ryan and I decided to go out for a paddle.  We took our time paddling around the edge of the water and before we knew it, we were on the other side of the lake.  They decided that we should make better time on the way home by paddling across the center of the lake at a less than leisurely pace.  Great…for everyone except me!  That was a fun and memorable trip.  With Ryan’s determination to make sure I loved kayaking (eventhough I grew up paddling with my dad and knew I liked it) and my relentless stubborness, we made it…and of course we were in really awesome moods when we got back to the house.  We’ve since decided to buy me my own kayak and have spent tons of time on the water…at the lake, near our home on the French Broad River, in Charleston South Carolina and in the Chesapeak Bay in Virginia Beach Virginia.

24.  Half Dome: The day arrived.  I’d done all my preperations, including backpacked in the city,

Half Dome, Yosemite National Park in California

run or walked nearly everyday, researched and listened to stories of previous treks…well that’s about all.  We flew into Sacramento, drove three hours through California to Yosemite and stayed in Yosemite Village in a tent cabin the night before.  When Ryan told me we’d be staying in a tent cabin, I didn’t know what to expect.  He said they were pretty nice, which I’ve learned since that we have different standards of what “nice” is.  Anyways, it’s all an adventure.  We showed up in the afternoon, checked in, and emptied our car of luggage and food.  We took the luggage to our “cabin” and the food to a bear box.  You see, in Yosemite you have to put EVERYTHING in these bear boxes, a kind of storage locker, so the bears wouldn’t eat your food, tear open the doors on your cars, slash through the canvas walls of the tent cabin, etc.  The way Ryan described it, I thought we were going to deal with some monster-like bears.  To this day, I’ve never seen a bear in the wild AND we even moved to Asheville, NC!  Back to Half Dome…we got up early to get ready.  I headed to the bathroom to wash my face, brush my teeth and put a little make-up on.  I’m not sure what Ryan did while I was gone, but he was definitely ready to get on the trail much before I.  As i anticipated the 18 mile hike to the top of the 8842 foot summit, I bumped into a family with who was had a 10 year old daughter hiking along with them.  I didn’t know how they planned on her getting up there.  We got started, passing Vernal Falls, where the mist off the water felt so cool and refreshing.  Then we passed Nevada Falls, a great hike all in its own, where we stopped to have a scooby snack to regain some energy from the 5 mile hike up a steep rock staircase.  We then hiked on a fairly flat and very dusty trail for a couple more miles.  Just when I started getting bored from the dust and flat terrain, we started up a very steep part of the trail.  This was a mostly wooded section, full of steep ascents and switchbacks.  Finally we started poking through the trees and I thought I saw the summit, but of course it was only a false summit (Quarter Dome).  We climbed some very steep and rocky switchbacks and then reached the cables.  Ryan told me to select a pair of gloves from the pile at the bottom of the huge granite mountain.  Germaphobe I am, I was superexcited to put my hands in some sweaty used gloves, but they were necessary as we began climbing the slope to the top.  We finally made it and celebrated by eating our lunch and taking lots of pictures.  We also built a cairn or “duck” to mark the summit.  Again, this day was an awesome adventure for the two of us. 

23. Kindergarten:  This one is mostly my adventure, but Ryan enjoyed it along the way.  While we were on our trip to Tahoe in June, I recieved a phone call from my principal explaining that the computer program would be cut the following year.  He offered my the kindergarten position and although I was a little unsure of my interest and abilities, I accepted the position.  The first day was filled with humorous moments, ask me about it sometime.  Ryan was there by my side the whole year, laughing along with every story and even visiting the classroom often to read with the children or help in other ways.  His encouragement made the transition into kindergarten so much easier.  I learned a lot that year and it turned out to be very successful.  I also learned that I was much more capable when working with this age group than I thought.

22. Swine Flu:  In October of 2009, you heard about Swine Flu or H1N1 all over the news…how it was coming to a town near you.  People were freaked out.  Well, I got it.  I was down for the count for 10 straight days.  Ryan stayed at my place, slept on the couch, and woke me up ever few hours to take medicine and drink some fluids.  I couldn’t do anything.  I never wanted to wake up, but every time I did, Ryan was there with a smile and some soup or sprite.  He was nursing me back to health, because he loved me AND because he had some important business to take care of when I was well again.

21. Another bike ride: 

Just moments after he popped the question!

On November 1, 2009 Ryan asked me to go for a tandem ride with him.  I was still regaining strength from my little bout with Swine Flu, but agreed to go if only we could take our speedy, red tandem bike.  He would have it no other way.  We rode along the lake [Michigan] and chatted like always.  The crisp fall air filled my lungs as we wizzed back south from the north end of the city.  Ryan asked if I wanted to stop for a little picnic at our usual rest point.  We ate our Jimmy John’s subs and drank a half bottle of wine we received at the Zwyer’s wedding back in May.  Toward the end, I was ready to get moving, but Ryan was interested in staying a little longer.  I went to throw out our trash and realized that this might be the moment.  The moment.  I was right.  A few short minutes later, Ryan was down on one knee asking me to spend the rest of our lives together.  I would have had it no other way.

20. Let the fun begin:  We began planning our wedding and decided that March 27 would be perfect.  It would give us 5 months to plan and I had two weeks off for spring break to take our honeymoon.  Ryan knew that this time of engagement would be a loaded time for me/us, so he was so patient.  Our pre-marital counseling was phenomenal and a time of growth for both of us.  It’s clear that God was truly at work in both of us and in our upcoming marriage.