Mission: Tempe

Well, we are now about 3 1/2 weeks into renovations. It has been quite the adventure!!!

Shawn has put in many long hours of work... from climbing in the attic with fiberglass insulation surrounding him, to putting in electrical boxes, leveling out the sunken living room floor, painting, framing .. Oh and did I mention we had to move all of our belongings out of the storage unit into the Tempe house???

Craziness!

We have been extremely blessed with friends and family that have stepped in to help us with multiple tasks... moving (mind you, some of these guys have

helped us move now at least 3 times!!) lots of painting, epoxying the garage floor, removing ducting from attic, electrical work, babysitting and the list goes on and on!

At times I have looked around feeling overwhelmed and wondered if we were crazy for taking on such a massive project, especially while caring for our children and finishing the school semester/Chi Alpha... but God has provided for us around every corner! God has brought me back to the entire reason why we made this move & the vision He has placed in us!

We have a little less than 1 week left before we need to be out of the Scottsdale Condo... the house still needs A LOT of work ... trusting God to help us through!

Please pray with us during this major crunch time..

1. That God would continue to provide the help we need!

2. Resources

3. Energy/Endurance

4. Renovations to go smoothly & quickly

Upcoming projects this next week:

-AC being installed & re-ducted to attic

-Flooring, hopefully, being installed

-Lots of Painting

-Framing/Drywalling

A HUGE shout out to many of you who have helped in significant ways! Your help means more than we can say!

We have been extremely blessed to have my Uncle Danny here, he has now driven from Colorado TWICE -- He has been a God send! (*Please, pray for him as he is looking for a new job and hoping to relocate to AZ... has had a phone interview and hoping for a face to face one this week!)

Thanks Again for everything!

Excited for this new journey!

Believing God for great & mighty things in Tempe & beyond!

Way to Go Kristen & Clark--- You two are my heroes!!!

Celebrate

I love Easter! Growing up I have so many fond memories of Easter... I grew up in the small town of Bagdad, AZ (yes is does exist, and no, you have never driven through it... one way in, one way out... a copper mining town.) Every Easter it seemed like the entire town would head to Santa Maria River to have an Easter family picnic. It was awesome... families of all ages spread all over the place at the river, enjoying time in the sun... swimming, four wheelers, egg hunts and tons of yummy food!

I have great memories of waking up on Easter morning and searching for our Easter baskets, which were always filled with such wonderful things! I must admit, I still love peeps... not sure if it is just a nostalgic thing or if they are indeed good.. but nonetheless I will eat at least one during the Easter season!

And obviously I loved getting a new Easter dress with hats & gloves to match!

I was also just thinking about the time my parents got my brothers and I colored live chicks for Easter... haha, not sure what they were thinking! It definitely made an impact.. .although I can't remember what happened to those cute purple, pink, blue and yellow chicks.... ?

Wonderful memories.

And now here I am all grown up and I have the awesome privilege to create wonderful and meaningful memories for my children!

Although we did go to church growing up, the church we went to did not attribute Easter to the resurrection of Christ.

I am thrilled that Shawn and I can impart our beliefs in Jesus Christ and his life, death & resurrection into our children! How cool it is to already hear Trenton sharing the story with us... I am continually amazed at how much children are able to take in. Such a reminder that as parents we need to make those times & opportunities to speak God's truth into their lives... to expose them to music that is focused on God, to help them memorize scripture and just spend time talking & praying with them. Time to sow seed that will indeed reap a great harvest!!

This Easter we not only celebrated our Lord and Savior but it was also Shawn's birthday & we celebrated Skyler's first birthday as well (April 12th-- today!).

It was such a joy to gather with family and some of our closest friends and their children! The weather was absolutely gorgeous.. the children played great together, the adults were able to slow down for a bit and enjoy conversation. We carried on our family tradition of our annual egg toss... such a fun tradition... can't go wrong with some good healthy competition! :)

Even though it was not the river... it had a similar feeling of simplicity and fun... a blessing to celebrate with friends and family! A reminder to focus on the things that really matter and to not get bogged down with so much stuff, allowing stress to dictate.

Thankful for many things but most of all thankful that Jesus has Risen and that He offers the gift of life to any that would receive Him as their Lord and Savior!

He is Risen! He is Risen, indeed!