Staying Sharp

Last week was a challenging week in general. As I came to the end of my week I looked at how life truly was. In all honesty it wasn't that great. As I've transitioned from being at School of the Word and entering the real world of work, home and a social life I have come to realize that it's not easy (not that anyone said it would be). Bible school was the most amazing experience of my life without a doubt and I would do it all over again. The hard part actually comes when you leave and no one tells you how hard it's going to be leaving that spiritual bubble and being thrown into a completely different world. But I have to look back and remember that I've been prepared for this life as I now know it. When I come to difficult times and my life is a whirlwind of activity I remember that these are the most important times to stay in the Word, pray in the Spirit and worship God as much as possible. It's so easy to sit and study for an hour when there's nothing else to do. But I'm being challenged daily to take even 15 minutes to sit down and spend time with Jesus. I have time to pray and worship all throughout the day and yes there are days where only that is possible, but it's so vital to take that time everyday to devote and refresh myself in God and all that He has for me. I just encourage everyone, as you go through your crazy schedule each day simply draw from God's Word and the Spirit - this is what will truly strenghten you for everything that you meet throughout the day and give you wisdom to deal with every situation. Be blessed and know that I am praying for you!

An Early Morning Call...

This morning I recieved a wonderful phone call at 6:30am. Normally this would have been just fine, but when you take into consideration the fact that I didn't go to bed until 2:30am you can only imagine my state of mind (just a bit delirious to say the least). But I was soon fully awake when my best friend Hannah from Wales announced to me that she is now engaged to Gary Worrall!!! I was so excited I almost cried! Hannah told me all about the proposal and giggled through the entire conversation. I have a feeling she'll be giggling for the next 6 months. :) I met both Hannah and Gary when I moved to Wales for School of the Word. I'm truly excited for all that God has in store for them!

CONGRATULATIONS HANNAH & GARY!!

Wow...it's been a long time!

Honestly I didn't realize how long it had been since the last time I posted something on here. So here's a little update on life.

Work is going very well. I just finished my 2nd week outside orientation and being completely on my own. I love the people that I work with and the babies are so precious. I had always said that I wanted to work with babies, but now I know that this is definitely what God has called me to do. I am able to pray for the babies constantly and lay my hands on them for their healing and salvation. It really has been an amazing opportunity to work there. In the next few months I will have the opportunity to cross train on the Labor and Delivery side which is a wonderful opportunity. Most hospitals will only train in one department, but my hospital is more than willing which is great. I'm considering the possibility of getting my master's but am just looking at different programs at the moment. I still need to decide if I want to do 2 more years of school!

The Church is doing very well. We've been going through a time of transition and lots of changes, but it is all good and exciting. I'm still currently teaching on Covenant with Darla Loy at the home groups. It is going very well and I've had some great feedback which is encouraging. It is really great to be able to share all the revelation that God has given me about covenant and to pray that it will grow in the hearts of those that I'm teaching. I'm continuing to get to know lots of people from church. God's people here are amazing and I feel so priviledged to be a part of the body here.

Life in Elgin is good and I'm enjoying living at my parents (although it does have it's moments). I'm praying about buying a house, but haven't completely decided on that yet. We had a big snow storm here a few weeks ago and got 8 inches of snow. I discovered that my new car (Stella) handles very well in the snow which is a great blessing since I have very little experience driving in the snow.

My family is doing very well. My mom is very busy with her job and continues to work 5 days a week. My dad is transitioning between jobs at the moment (not a big surprise to some). Kristin and Peter are great and keeping very busy. Kristin is still managing the food court and is complteley committed to what she's doing there. She's works a crazy amount of hours, but I know she likes it. Jeremy is also a manager at Costco and is working loads of hours. I've been able to spend a bit more time with him in recent months which has been great. Amy, Brian and Cora are fabulous. They will be seeing Brian's family on Christmas and then coming to my family on the 28th. I'm am incredibly excited to see everyone. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures for everyone to see.

A Little Holiday Treat

Check out the link below. I'm sure many of you have seen these videos before, but this is one of my favorite so far. For those on the other side of the pond, this will give you a taste for the American way of decorating for Christmas. But remember we are not this fanatical about decorating JUST for Christmas, but ALL holidays. Hope you enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2476694165464962182

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This morning I watched most of the 80th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. As I lay on the couch watching 50 foot balloons float down the street I began to think about how ridiculous Thanksgiving has become! Rather than being focused on family and all that God has blessed us with, we are bombarded with tv show marathons, football games, and the best shopping sprees for the entire year. This year God's blessings have almost been overwhelming to me. His financial provision is literally unbelievable to some and yet I have received an abundance simply because I serve an awesome God. I'm so blessed to have the family that I do and to be placed within a Church that is moving forward in the purposes of God. As I have been going through certain situations recently I'm learning to trust God more and more, and through all of this I've learned of God's patience towards His children and His faithfulness. I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but most of all I hope you remember and continue to live in the blessings of God.

Visit to St.Louis

I went to St. Louis 2 weekends ago so I know this is late coming, but ever since I got back from St.Louis I feel like I've been crazy busy. Praise God that I have a whole week off from work to catch up on things!!

The main reason I went to St.Louis was because my dear friend Jackie Stam got married!!

Congratulations Chris & Jackie Burke!! It was wonderful to see lots of friends that I had not seen in a long time (some since I went to Wales!)

The bonus about going to St. Louis was that I was able to stay with Brian, Amy and Cora. Cora's birthday was on November 3rd and had an extended birthday by recieveing gifts both a week before and a week after her actual birthday. Here are some pictures of her opening the present from me, Aunt Kristin and Uncle Peter.

(She loves taking things in and out of boxes.)

Going after more presents *haha*

Having fun with her new toys.

I also got to play with her a lot before leaving on Monday and she was such a character!! She changes so much every time I see her that I can't believe how fast she is growing up! Here are some pictures of our good time together. Enjoy!!

Hello There!

Standing on her head

Clapping her hands

Shopping at Costco

Being Silly :)

Farewell Claire

About 2 weeks ago I was informed that basically my lovely little car, Claire, needed a new engine. I had an idea that she needed some work...but a new engine?! Crazy, I know. In my half asleep state (after a full night of work) my father explained the situation to me and I decided it was time for a new set of wheels to get me to work (which is only 2 minutes away) and around town. So a week ago I made the biggest purchase up to this point in my life...a new car!! I would like to introduce Abbey to you.


I'm sure to all those in the UK it looks quite large. Compared to other cars around here its not really that big, but I am adjusting to the size since Claire was much smaller.


This is the inside. I think my favorite thing is the fact that it is so quiet while I'm driving!! My other car was incredibly loud and I always had to turn up the music if I was on the highway. Now this car automatically adjusts the volume according to how fast I'm going!

Kristin took this picture the other night before going out to coffee.

All I can say is that I'm so blessed by this new car. It was unexpected to have to buy a new car at this time since I was planning on driving the other one til she was completely dead, but she was half way there so I knew it was time. I also wasn't expecting to buy this nice of a car so soon, but God's provision has been so amazing and now I have a very reliable car for several more years.

So something I would like a little input on. In case you didn't notice I like to name my cars. Although I did mention that this one is Abbey I've decided to have a little contest to see who can come up with the best name. Now if you think I should stick with Abbey tell me that too. Just to give you a few specs about it. It is a 2006 Mazda 6; 23,000 miles; dark red/wine/marroon (whatever your interpretation is of the color); cd player and all the little gadgets you can think of; power everything; airbags all around; no sunroof at this point but I may put one in next spring. So...if you have any ideas on a name just jot it down (and there will be a little prize for the final decision) :) Look forward to your ideas!!!

Covenant Love

I am currently teaching with Darla Loy among our Life Groups about Covenant. We just moved to a new group last week so last night was my first time with the group. At the end we discussed a few comments on my teaching and ended up having a great discussion on covenant love. Looking at 1 John 3:16 which says, "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." This is the love we should have for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We futher discussed that even if you meet another Christian on the street, once you find this out there is a certain level of love that is shared that is not/can not be shared with someone that is not a Christian but is instead of the world. All of this is based on the New Covenant that God has made with us, and because of this covenant we can now live in covenant with our brothers and sisters. It's important to remember this covenant is not for our personal benefit, although it is an added blessing when we come into the family of God. As the Body of Christ we are protraying God to the World. The Godhead is the perfect example of a covenant relationship as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in perfect unity. As the Body of Christ grasps this we will reveal to the World who God trully is. We will be seen as a united people who have the same vision and purpose in mind. We will not be seen as a stiff group of people who simply don't know how to have relationships with each other, as sadly so many churches have today. I pray that the Church will continue to recieve revelation about the Covenant of God with His people and that we would begin to walk out a covenant relationship by attaining the same purpose of advancing the Kingdom of God.

To finish off, a quote from Erling Thu's Covenant Friendship: "There is a perfect harmony between the persons of the Godhead and God wants that peace to be expressed in the covenant community of His people. Peace is the result of God’s activity in covenant, and is expressed in completeness, wholeness, harmony, and fulfillment in a relationship."

God has done so much in my life since moving back to the States in June, but so much has happened that I'm not going to try to back track over the past 4 months.


As most of you know, this is my neice Miss Cora Jane. She was in Chicago this past weekend for a visit along with Amy. She has become the most adorable little person I've ever known, although she can have a little attitude of her own when she wants to. She's really starting to get a huge personality and it's often hard to not laugh at her when we really shouldn't. Her 1st birthday is in a week so I'll post pictures from that in a few weeks.