we're here!

there's a lot to say but nothing at the same time. we are all settled in to our current residence, said goodbye to our house, and signed the lease for our tenant to take over on april 1. right now we are just hanging out. aaron is applying different places and is planning on substitute teaching until something more permanent comes up. right now...we are just walking the desert waiting for God to reveal his plan. there are bits and pieces here and there where we think God is revealing His grand plan to us. most of the time we just keep praying and try not to be too hopeful as it could all come crashing down at any moment.

we go on vacation (leave sunday after church) to spend sometime in wiconsin together and then down to quincy, illinois to visit our college pals tyler and jenny and their new little baby girl journey. we are really looking forward to that time of relaxation.

aaron went over and played with the GP band last night and had a great time. tonight we are going to help them set up for the weekend and tomorrow morning is the community group leader meeting. we are really excited to be a part of gracepoint and so thrilled to be here!

keep praying.

come as you are

occasionally i hear a comment about how fast this is all moving. sometimes i hear God speak to me. it's not so much audible as it is a thought that pops into my head and im not sure how i could have ever thought of that. this morning i was getting ready for my last day of work and was thinking about how quickly it feels like this has all happened. then the thought of Jesus calling his disciples popped into my head. when Jesus said, 'follow Me'...they didn't wait around. they dropped everything right there (some walking out on jobs, wives, children, community committments, etc). incredible. if we think we are 'moving quickly' then we have something else to learn. would i have been willing to drop it all and not look back if Jesus walked up to me and said 'lets roll'? its a good thought to chew on. if our answer is no...we need to re-evaluate our purpose.

wednesday night we had our last jr high ignite. it was sad, inspiring, and encouraging all at the same time. aaron talked about stained glass. its beautiful. when you look really closely at a portion of it you will notice that there are lots of different pieces making up a picture. each piece is different size, shape, color, and sometimes texture. pick out one piece and look at it. it is pretty...sort of. kind of odd shaped. one wouldn't know what to do with it or what its purpose was...until you see the bigger picture. all of these different pieces make up our mission. each person is different. their purpose may not seem significant but in the grand scheme of things...so very important. the picture wouldn't be finished without it.

may the Lord bless and keep you. may His face shine upon you,

aaron & sonia

see ya later

last night was our last HS ignite. daniel gall had a great lesson and it was just what i needed to hear. he spoke about the immensity of God. we saw videos of how small our planet is compared to our universe and we talked about how big God is. it seems so simple but when you see something like the videos that daniel showed us....its....inspiring.

it was a bittersweet evening. exciting to start our new adventure but ... surely sad as well. we are going to miss all of our high schoolers so much. what an awesome group of kids. at the end of youth group, they gathered around us and prayed for us...and i was blown away by their faith. the things they prayed were so beautiful and in that moment...i was SO proud to have had an influence on these incredible teens.

thank you to one of our teens that prayed for satan's rebuke. i have no words. anything i say wouldn't do justice do what i feel. so...rock on.

sometimes its easy to question if you are doing the 'right thing' even when you are sure that God is sending you on a mission. when satan is unhappy he does everything possible to destroy the path God has sent you on...and sometimes that leaves one feeling broken and wondering what the right thing is. so its a fleshly feeling to wonder if you ever helped at all...especially for youth ministry. it is one of those things that you don't see the result until years after you have invested (most of the time). last night one of our youth guys prayed a prayer that made me thing "that is why we were here". he thanked God for bringing us here and letting us "leave our mark on" him. he said (in more or less words) that all the people they would come in contact with for years and years to come would see a piece of our passion in them. wow. big words for someone so young in age.

after the 'prayer pow-wow', aaron said a few things to our youth peeps. he just thanked them for being a part of our lives. as much as we have touched them...they have touched us. that is SO true. each kid has taught us something or blessed us in some way. so awesome to have been a part of this.

i hate goodbye. i LOVE see ya later. i better see all of you at some point up to see us and know we will be back for a visit sometime soon. we will be thinking of you all and praying daily for your journeys. just because we have moved locations doesn't change the fact that we are all on the same mission together.

may the Lord bless and keep you. may His face shine upon you,

aaron & sonia