Hi family!
Every time I hear someone say, "wow, time flies!" I always say we're not created to live in it. But even so, I am always amazed at how it flies!
Our school year rounded up well. Our girls (Ilsa and Maddie) finished their year with a school trip to the historic sites of South Dakota, and of course they had a blast. Eli finished well, top of his class. We had a handful of students graduate, and some of them are sticking around for another year which is always good to hear. We have already had a gathering of people who are interested in being involved with us on campus next fall, got a great student team, and some really fun new ideas. We're really excited about being on campus full time again!
So how is that going, you ask- the whole finance part? We are 500-1000 short of our budget. So we continue. But fundraising is fun because you get to see and hang out with people you haven't seen forever, so! We have our double wide up for sale as well- Phil is turning our rarely-used garage into a 2 bedroom apartment. Once the double wide is moved, we will finish the new construction part of the house and refinance. That alone will bring us almost up to budget, according to numbers supplied by our banker.
Problem is, the double wide has sold three times, but people can't get financing for it. So we are at a place where- if it doesn't sell (with a check in our hands) by the end of June, we will scrap this project. Which means, double fundraising and traveling for the rest of the summer :) Reason being- we can't be doing a construction project come mid-August: we need to be fully rested and available for students. So probably our biggest prayer right now is - that it would sell if that's what the Lord wants us to be doing. If not, that the rest of our budget would come in.
Other news: our Sozo teams are growing! We currently have 4, with 2 more wanting to learn and be ready soon! I was looking at the schedule and we have 20+ sozos scheduled for the month of July- how amazing is that?! People are hungry to get saved-healed-delivered. And these are only from word of mouth. I am excited to have these teams up and running for our community so I can be free to be working with campus this fall!
In all this, we are trying to rest. Phil is finishing stuff around here that has been waiting, and he's getting runs and canoes in as well. He is thinking about competing in the Paul Bunyan Triathlon in July. The girls and I, along with Ian (Sam) finished the Life Time Tri: Winona (formerly the Trinona) last weekend!! It feels amazing to be a 2 time triathlete! I am thinking of joining him in the PB Tri, but haven't decided :) In addition, I have been working at finishing the second edition of The Gift of Sam- we are officially out of copies! New Life Family Services emailed me the other day and they are out as well- and they had 700 copies. I hope to have the re-write, complete with reunion stories, finished by fall and published with Amazon publish on demand.
On top of that, we are starting our Good Communication, Great Relationships class at First Assembly tonight- we're so excited to facilitate this one! We are using Danny Silk's Defining the Relationship DVD course- it's for pre-marrieds, but we have found that everyone who views and studies these grows as a person and is blessed in their relationships and communication skills. First Assembly is full of people who want to learn and grow and we are excited to bring students there this fall.
Friday Night Worship is on hiatus until the second week of July- we are gone for so much of June and with the proposed construction project, we took a break. We miss it though- and are looking forward to starting again in July. I remember the days when I prayed fervently for a guitar player....and now we have so many I have to rotate them through! Praise God! So pray that I have the wisdom and skill to lead all these musicians and help them find and develop their gifts!
In all this- we work hard to guard our hearts, for they are the wellspring of life...no matter our circumstances, how big or small our group is, how crazy our finances are, we are determined to keep our peace. We believe God brought us here and will take care of everything, no matter what uninformed choices we've made (the house thing weighs heavily- wish we had known what we know now!) - He has mercy and will take care of us :)
I have added a LOT of pictures from the last four months....its so fun to see all that has gone on around here! Enjoy!
Thank you so much for your prayers! We are excited to be here and will keep you posted!!
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| Phil having breakfast at our annual Incite conference (for XA staff) in Rochester. We love sidewalk dining! |
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| Our last Nepali dinner of the year! |
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| Our boys! |
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| This picture of Ilsa and Maddie always makes me laugh..... |
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| Sort of a disjointed family picture at Ian & family's cabin last winter.... |
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| We built a loft in the great room! More room for FNW! |
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| Eli and I playing with the webcam..... |
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| Our team rocked SALT's Dodge Ball Tournament....and then we came home and had one here! |
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| Game nights....the dude in the striped shirt is Adam - BSU's Inter Varsity staff...he's part of the family :) |
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| Ilsa and Maddie's school play :) |
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| Chi Alpha helped sponsor and put on Voyageurs' High School Prom- it was a blast! |
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| our girls checking out their dad outside the window....he had been lifting weights and was looking rather buff :) |
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| outside our front door |
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| our dear friends the Wetmore's donated furniture for our Sozo room at First Assembly! Their generosity never ceases to amaze me :) |
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| this storm.....was awesome |
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| a cat adopted us. just what we need :) haha! |
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| me and my sisters at our carb-fest the night before the race! |
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| Eli and Dad waiting for us girls at the finish line |
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| L-R: Ian (Sam), my Dad, and Ilsa- at the finish line :) Behind them in green is my sister Kelly and her husband Otto- it was a great family reunion |
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| L-R: Maddie, Ian, Ilsa- three of the four finishers!! |
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| me coming across the finish line....so exciting! :) I'm a LIFER! |
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| Me and Eli chilling after the race |
