...Everything as loss...FOR GREAT GAIN

     Christmas day was a wonderful day of relaxing with our family here, calling/skyping our extended family for Christmas wishes, and having 2 ladies in our class over for dinner for a great evening.  Then at around 10:30 pm Caleb woke up and could barely breathe.  So I took him into the E.R. and yep, he had Crupe.  Poor little guy, this was his 5th time in the hospital since he has been born (4 times with Crupe and once w/ Bronchitis).  They kept him overnight and we were able to leave the next day just before noon.  There had been a cold cycling through our family for over a week and we knew that if it got to him, he could end up going to the E.R. again.  But praise God that he's fine and the breathing treatment and steroid took well.  Also praise the Lord for supplying insurance for our kids so we're not slammed with a huge bill to pay.  I wanted to give a report back to the prayer requests I had asked for back in October...

  Praise the Lord that today I was able to sit and remember that two years ago at this time Aaron and I were in the hospital praying that our fourth son would wait to be born 9 more weeks, and the Lord said "No". His will was for us to not be able to stop labor and the next morning around 8:30a.m. our doctor came in to check me and I was dilated to 6cm. We burst into tears...terrified. We knew that our son could possibly not make it. Through our tears Aaron knelt with me and prayed. And then asked, sobbing, if "Caleb Anthony" was ok for his name. A peace came over me. I am grateful that the Holy Spirit lives in me. I knew Caleb was the Lords and not mine. He was a gift to me, to never hold with a closed hand and trust God to do His will, His good and perfect will. Not long after we knew we were delivering Caleb labor really kicked in and my doctor explained he would probably be 2lbs and not even cry when he came out. I remember feeling this peace that he would su...

Hello there...it's almost Christmas time and this term has flown by! Aaron and I have meant to sit and blog so many times but our bodies have lurred us to sleep too soon! For those of you who are just hoping into our blog we are out in San Diego with our four kids after Aaron left his job at Furniture Row of 10 years, sold our house and tons of stuff and followed our Lord Jesus to attend discipleship school here for one year! Our first term was absolutely amazing and hard and full of so much. I am going to do my best to update you on some major highlights!  Some fun pictures from fun in our backyard...so blessed to have Aaron home!  Here we got to celebrate Aaron's best friends Cisco's daughter, Serena's birthday! Next to Rachel is my mentor, Cat and then Analisa who is going to Oaxaca, Mexico as a missionary with Cisco and his family for at least two years  The birthday girl!! What a blessing this school is for our family in so many ways. Af...

Just wanted to give some quick highlights of our recent Wilderness Trip through Catalina Island from last week! *  We were a part of seeing 2 people repent from their sins and placing their faith in Jesus Christ and his death, burial and resurrection for eternal salvation! Yay! *  11 people got baptized in the Pacific Ocean on the last day of our trip! Many of them never had anyone explain the importance of baptism, so this was a great moment to rejoice in.  One woman was battling with the choice and told me "I'm not sure if I want to die to my old self and put away the old me yet."  She was encouraged by many people and finally chose to get baptized. *  While we were up there, on day 4, we found out that Caleb had gotten sick...he was taken to the Urgent Care clinic, the doctor saw the x-rays and said it was Pneumonia.  So then they took him to the hospital and they redid x-rays and said it was Bronchitis.  He was in the hospital for 2 nights (t...

Hello there! I'm sorry I haven't been on here in a while. Two weeks of school have already passed and I am tired! The first full week was this week. The week before was like a preview and an open invitation to others to apply. So for this week we started with amazing worship where we get to linger in His presence. AWESOME! And then usually a devotion or testimony and then we head straight to class. This week we learned the entire bible...summarized in the 12 Era's and had to memorize the 66 books of the bible. I was sooooo grateful for Awana's when I was a kid because that childhood song has stuck with me forever with the books of the bible. After that class we split into the three terms. Aaron and I are term 1 and then there are students in the second and third(final) term that we worship with and then separate for different learning. We have done a bunch of preparation for tomorrow...WILDERNESS WEEK! We are backpacking on Catalina Island for Sun-Friday! We will hike...

     I keep getting that scene stuck in my head from 'Finding Nemo' where Nemo is waking his dad up and yelling at him "First day of school!"  Today was that day for Andrea and I.  This week is an event called Rock The House and it's designed for us as well as family, friends and others to come and see what Impact is about.  I went from 9-1 and then met up with Andrea and the kids for free lunch.  We then left and went back at 5:30 for free dinner and Andrea stays for night class until 10 or so while I took the kids home and put them down.  Yep, me with 4 kids, 5 nights a week...so grateful that I don't have to prepare dinner this week!  Next week, we might have pancakes and waffles a lot!      Getting a glimpse today of what we will be going through was amazing!  The day consisted of a quick registration, meeting quite a few people, worship, 2 teachings and hanging out getting to know some of the staff, vo...

Hello friends and family...hopefully you're still there. I am sorry this has taken us so long to update. In the midst of our move we have thought about when we would update everyone...and here and there we have tried to post minor updates on Facebook so people knew we were ok. So...here's what's been happening. After Aaron's last day we moved forward with packing every single day and trying to get everything figured out with our move and housing here...and saying goodbye to everyone. In the middle of that we also had had a family retreat we had planned a year ago for both of our families(The Taylors and Manfreds) in Estes Park and it was great! We were a bit frazzled here and there with knowing that after that weekend we would have 2 1/2 days left to finalize the home for closing. The day of closing a great group of friends and family showed up to clean our home and load the Uhaul! It was such a blessing! You would have never thought we got rid of anything because the U...

So here's an update on what's been going on.  I have finished work (last Wednesday was my final day).  It was very sobering handing in my keys to the building knowing that I am stepping out of a role that I had been in for so many years.  The time at home has been a great blessing.  We have been able to start packing furniture and other items to get ready for our move on the 21st.  Our kids have responded very well to me being at home and Andrea is loving the help.  God has been providing what we need at the right time during this process.  First with the step of faith in resigning and getting an offer on our home right after that conversation.  Another with God providing a free night's stay for us w/ dinner and breakfast included for after we close on our home.  God also provided us a place to rent in San Diego on my final day of work last week.  We have had many conversations about Christ, hopefully in some way furthering His...

In the middle...that's where I like to type...and that's really where I like to find myself. In the middle of His presence. I am sorry we are not quite to the point where we are blogging daily ...it will come. Please stay with us on this journey. So many amazing things have happened since God kicked us firmly and opened our eyes to the greatness of being followers of Christ.   Aaron has 2 days left of work...2 DAYS! It is absolutely surreal to me and him. It really feels like he's just taking some time off but we both know this is time on and we are raring to go. It has been a rollercoaster...and that's no joke. We knew that making the decision to leave his job, our home, our stuff, our close family, our kids school, our church and our friends to be devoted to Jesus and spreading the Truth would not be easy. I am grateful that we are in a place where we can recognize those struggles soon enough before they swallow us.   The buyers of our home delayed on signi...

This morning at our church, Summitview Community Church, the message was on Caleb's journey into the land promised to God's people. It was another great confirmation for us in so many ways. Parts that spoke to me were the fact that Caleb was bold and absolutely not afraid to do what others thought was crazy and "not the norm". I felt like it would really help everyone see some of God's very obvious messages that spoke to us as He confirmed this move.... First while Aaron was in San Diego he was waiting to hang out with his close friend Cisco and searching for a message to watch on his phone by Francis Chan...and the only one his phone would allow was this one...enjoy....   Another major confirmation was a blessing to us here at church. Our church had taken a two week break from teaching on Joshua and doing a talk on From Where you Sit? We not only wept through every single song Travis lead us in worship but the message brought us to tears...amazing...  ...

     So we are moving to San Diego California!  We are going to be attending a Christian Discipleship school called IMPACT 195 (i195.org).  The goal of this school is to grow people in their relationship with Jesus Christ so that they can impact the world for God's kingdom during these 12 months and afterwards for the rest of their lives.  Please go online and check it out if you are interested in seeing what we are going to be up to!      Since we have made the decision to go to San Diego, time has gone by so quickly, so here is the back story from Aaron's perspective.  I have worked now for Furniture Row for almost 10 years!  I have also been married for 10 years!  So needless to say, I started with Furniture Row 3 months after we got married back in 2003.  As most of you know, we have moved from Colorado to Montana to Indiana to Michigan and then back to Colorado!  It has gone by quickly and we have had ...

Hey friends...I am finally putting something up about our sweet miracle Caleb who turned 1 December 22nd!! And yes he was celebrated in the midst of crazy holidays. He is amazing. ENJOY