Redeemer Church

Yesterday we publicly launched our church name and website...ya'll, this thing is for real. Here we go! :)

 

As you know, Mike has been faithfully serving at Christ Fellowship for their church planting residency. It has certainly been a time of stretching and growing, and we have spent countless hours in prayer over the direction of the church plant. Through much prayer and conversation with the leadership at Christ Fellowship, we actually decided back in January that we would not extend the residency past Phase 1 {which ends this month}. We are so grateful for the relationships that the Lord has given us, but we know the Lord is leading us in a different direction.

 

Since the residency with CF will end next week, we have been seeking the Lord on what our next steps should be. We have taken steps toward forming the church's identity {hence the name and website}, casting vision within our group, and applying for 501(c)3 status. We know that we need accountability and oversight as we move forward, so we have re-engaged the application process with the Acts 29 Network. If you will remember, Mike and I attended a bootcamp while we were engaged, but ended up hitting pause on the application process since we got some good advice to not plant a church in our first year of marriage :) We will actually have our in-person assessment this week, so we would appreciate your prayers!

 

The Lord has been faithfully moving and working A LOT in the last few months. We have seen His provision in countless ways. We saw a member of our home group come to faith in Jesus. We have seen people dig deeper, grow, and commit to the task ahead of us. We have begun developing a clear vision and strategy for the church we feel God is calling us to be. There have been some tough things too, but we know that all of it is God's way of prepping us for what's ahead. We are excited about how the Lord is moving and allowing us to be a part! 

 

{iPhone Rewind} :: March

March means the beginning of Spring and the warmer weather! :)

After 7 long months...I finally got a haircut! I didn't lose any length (I'm still trying to grow it out), but I did get a good trim and new style.

Ok. Let's talk about the 40 degree-in-12-hour tempeature changes we experienced for a few days...ridiculous. So ready for Spring. Real Spring. With fewer temperature shifts.

My sweet husband surprised me at work with an afternoon Starbucks drink to help me make it through my day. Day. Made.

I have read that one coconut macaroon a day helps with Crohn's symptoms. So I decided to give them a try. They tasted SUPER yummy, but unfortunately, I don't think they were a good addition to my diet and might have to be avoided. So sad.

Our sweet home group enjoying some BBQ after church. I am so thankful for this group of people that the Lord has brought together.

We left Sasha with Granny while we were in San Antonio. Mike went to go pick her up and sent me this picture, saying she was waiting for me to get home. Although, I don't think she's excited to be home; I think she is depressed for having to leave Granny's house haha.

Mike has been working on an apartment outreach as part of his residency at CF. We served free hot dogs and cookies to the residents of the apartments next door to the church, and it was a great opportunity for us to invite them to Easter services.

Mike and I have been working on this puzzle off and on for a few months now, and we finally finished it! We enjoy working on them together. Nerdy? Maybe.

And then the temperatures plummeted again at the end of March. Seriously, Texas? 84 to 28. Not cool.

One of the sweet babies in our home group turned 1 and we got to celebrate with her at her bug-themed party :)

The birthday girl!

They had a cute photo booth set up at Addie's birthday party :)  {not an iPhone pic, but still a cute one}

Me and the bro {also not an iPhone pic, but fun nonetheless}

Sasha received a thoughtful Easter basket from Granny...

{iPhone Rewind} :: January

Because I do {A Year in Review}, I decided not to do an {iPhone Rewind} for December. Plus, let's be honest- December was a bit crazy. But never fear...we're back at it for January! :)

Mike officiated a former student's wedding, so we got to enjoy a fun date night out.

We also had our first Celebration Gathering for our home church...such an exciting time for a church plant!

My parents had given me a gift card to NY&Company for Christmas, and I was finally able to use it. I was so excited about the deals I got- nothing over $10!

I got to go wedding dress shopping with Laura, which was OH SO FUN :)

My new DSLR camera arrived, which was SO exciting! I haven't had a ton of time to play with it, but what little time I have spent tinkering with it has been really fun.

We had a random snow day where we had a good 2-3 inches that stuck for a couple of days...and then it went back up into the 70s. Gotta love Texas :)

 

Usually in the mornings, I feed Sasha and she heads back to sleep in her kennel. But lately, she has taken to joining me in the bathroom while I get ready...she's my "getting ready in the morning" buddy! :)

 

Mike and I have been walking through some of the pieces of the residency by meeting with varying people at CF. The first piece is Prepare & Enrich; I am happy to announce that we are a "harmonious couple" - we just have to work on communication :)

 

The second piece is the SOI (Styles of Influence). Mike is a Persuader, and I am a Specialist. It has been interesting to see how our different personalities and communication styles affect our relationship dynamics.

 

I got my first Birthday present from my sweet mother-in-law! :)

The Post With All the Christmas Festivities

I have to be honest and say that it hasn't really felt much like Christmas these past few weeks. Part of it is because it has been in the 80s for most of the time, and didn't actually get cold until Christmas Eve (but good timing, right?). And part of it has been the whirlwind of events, dealing with my health, and still having to work through most of the time. P.S. working on Christmas Eve should be outlawed. Just saying :)

But despite how different things may have felt this year, we still were able to enjoy LOTS of fun Christmas activities. And I just have to say that I am SO thankful for flexible families. Both sides are wonderful when it comes to scheduling holiday events, and I realize what an incredible blessing that truly is. I was sad to miss out on big family Christmas with my side of the family, as we didn't make it down to San Antonio this year. But I was really excited to have my brother and parents here for a little bit!

On Sunday, we headed over to the McCulloughs for Christmas #1. We were able to spend time with all the kids and exchange gifts.

It was what she had always wanted!

 

It was also fun to have my brother join us for the festivities. He wasn't able to head down to San Antonio either because of work and a roommate move/change, so he camped out at our house for the week. After work on Christmas Eve, we enjoyed a little family game time and Christmas movie watching. We made dinner together, watched the Christmas Eve service at CF, and had a relaxing evening hanging out and enjoying each other's company.

We had a huge thunderstorm roll in overnight, so I spent Christmas Eve curled up next to the Christmas tree and a scared pup. Guess Sasha got a Christmas wish too ;) The fun part of the thunderstorm was that it finally brought colder temperatures. And we actually had a white Christmas!

Christmas day we got to sleep in, and we enjoyed a Christmas breakfast and Skype date with my parents. We then headed over to Bryan & Christa's new house to enjoy an afternoon and dinner with family for Christmas #2.

Elizabeth wanted her daddy to paint Uncle Mike's toenails...pink with purple sparkles. That's a good daddy and a good uncle! ;)

A fun round of Taboo!

I headed back to work on Wednesday while my parents made the trek up from San Antonio. I was able to take the rest of the week off, which was nice to take a break and actually slow down for Christmas. We got to do Christmas with my parents and brother, with a full weekend of fun activities!

The boys were outfitted in camo for their next hunting trip!

Mom with her Starbucks goodies!

Dad shopping at Cabela's for his Christmas present :)

On Friday we headed out for some good old fashioned bowling fun. It's always fun to have a little friendly competition!

We also had my aunt, uncle, and cousins over for dinner and a game night. It was good to spend some time with them and finally have them over to our house! We played a few rounds of 4 on the couch, guys vs. girls- which was a fun end to the day!

The guys emerged the victors!

Saturday we went to see Les Miserables- which my mom and I thoroughly enjoyed, and the boys were kind enough to endure for our sake ;) We spent the rest of the evening playing games and hanging out.

Sunday Mike preached at CF, so it was fun to have my family here to hear him. He spoke from Titus 2 about resolutions, and how as Christians our resolutions should be distinct from the rest of the world. It was such a good reminder of the grace and purpose we live in Christ. His sermon will be available online in a couple of days! :)

We also had an intentional time of prayer for our home group and the future of our church plant. It was such a sweet time to spend in prayer together, and we are so excited for the changes coming in 2013. Don't forget to join us in our Pray nine3eight campaign for the first 100 days of the year!

Sunday evening we wrapped up a fun week of activities with a trip to the Spurs vs. Mavericks game. I had bought tickets for Mike for Christmas, so we were able to enjoy a fun family event ;) Our house is certainly divided when it comes to basketball, but it's so much fun!

A house divided!

Spurs, Mavericks, Lakers :)

It was certainly a FULL week of fun activities! We loved having my parents in town and it was sad to see them go. But it was a fantastic way to wrap up 2012! :)