We miss you Kelly, Crystal, Grace, Faith, Luke, & baby Hope!!

...it's just not quite the same here without you!!

(it's too quiet and the pool is so empty :) )

We send our love & prayers for you as God is growing your family!!

we made it!

we arrived safely here in east texas friday night after 5 days of driving and over 2000 miles! :) i'll post pics of our roadtrip later this week when i have more time...

we've had orientation all weekend and tomorrow we start a full day of classes. the next four weeks will be pretty packed full! we are excited to finally be here and experience all that God has in store for us over the next several weeks! it is a smaller group this time with only 14 of us--one is from austria, one from norway, and a few from canada. the mix brings a range of life exprience and background and spiritual maturity--we are eager to learn from others. it is beautiful here and even green (east texas is green unlike the rest of the state :) ). it is not as hot as we remember it from last year in august. our room and classroom are air conditioned.

we have only been here a couple days, but we both continue to feel so at peace here, at peace with what we are pursuing, and this time in our lives. i can't articulate it other than that it feels so right. we don't know what lies ahead, but we know we are where the Lord wants us and trust that He will carry us through and provide. we serve a sovereign God!

we send our love from texas!
t&h

we're off, y'all! :)

The time has come!

We leave tonight headed for Texas for our training!! we will be gone a total of 8 weeks. we are driving so will not have internet access for about a week. the base has internet though, so we will be able to post regular updates during our time away. please pray for our safety, spiritual growth and wisdom during our training, that we will continue to seek God's desires and not our own, and that we will make the most out of the next eight weeks.

Thank you so much for your prayers!!

t& h

the bIG mOvE!!

Finally done!...we've spent the last few weeks packing and boxing up everything we own and hauling it to storage! Its been quite the project that's taken a couple hours here and there over the last month. And we seriously couldn't have done it without the help of our in-town family! Mom Z helped me box our whole kitchen and all our breakables, Dad Z helped us borrow a trailer and haul loads over to storage, and big sis helped me clean the house!! Family is the best! Tim has spent hours at our house finishing up and getting it ready for renters. Applications are in the works, so please pray that God will bring just the right people soon!

my hubby's green thumb

This summer we've been enjoying our first and very own vegetable garden! It's something Tim has wanted to do for a long time. I'm so impressed! He's had a lot of fun tending to it, watching it grow and produce. And of course, we love eating the yummy fresh veggies! The cucumbers have grown quickly and we can't seem to pick them fast enough. We are still waiting on the corn cobs. I guess our renters will get to enjoy them :)

Here are a few pics from our garden:

embraced

We just returned home from our weekend in Bend. We spent lots of needed and valuable time relaxing, resting, and catching up with family. The highlight of the weekend, though, was the time spent with our church family. On sunday we had the opportunity to be their speaker and present our ministry to the whole congregation! Despite our feelings of inadequacy, God gave us the words to say and it all came together. They embraced us. We left overwhelmed by their excitement for us! We could see it...and we could genuinely feel their love. I don't know how to explain the experience, other than it felt like we were admist God's family in the way He has always intended it to be. This church lives out their call to love...to embrace others like He does. We went expecting to challenge them; we left with a lesson in love and generosity.

surviving

I came across this video the other night...created by a past Mercy Ships volunteer. It potrays Liberia's people--beautiful and so full of life--and yet in such desperate need of hope after years of devastating war. I was so touched; and being that it pertains to our future ministry, I wanted to post it to share. It's about 4 minutes long, but so worth the time...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02pqoNxc_ak

-h

missing her...

My twin, my bestest friend, moved to Colorado over 3 1/2 months ago...need I say any more?!!

I love you Nomo!! Can't wait until we can be together again...my heart misses you!

"The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."
Numbers 6:22-26

berry sweet :)

We have blackberries in our backyard!! They have really only showed up this year...they are growing from the open field behind our backyard--up and over the fence! I was so excited when I discovered them. I love berries, and blackberries are among my favorite. We also enjoy berry picking each summer, so it was pretty convenient this year :) Some of my fondest childhood memories are berry picking with my dad and sisters. I do, realize, though that blackberries have a tendency to "take over." So, perhaps when we come back in a couple of years I won't be so pleased to find them...everywhere! :) But for now, we're enjoying them...last night I picked the berries and made fresh blackberry cobbler for the first time, served beneath a scoop of vanilla icecream. And this morning we enjoyed our oatmeal topped with berries! Yum!!

-h

camping with Mom & Dad Z!!

WE MISSED YOU MAREA, NOMO,& JASON!!
It just wasn't the same without the whole fam...!! :)