Our journey...

Well, considering our last post was quite a while ago I have some catching up to do. To get right to it, we found out that my thyroid cancer has returned. We realized this through a regular check up with my thyroid doctor (endocrinologist) in November. This news was difficult, mostly because it was not in "our" plans. Our plans included starting a family, becoming debt free and more. While we were busy planning we forgot that our plans may not be the same plans God has for us. The first week was tough, but through prayer by us and many others we have found peace and comfort in knowing God is sovereign. A friend shared with me a story of a pastor and his journey through a brain tumor. The pastor was interviewed and asked, knowing what you know now, what would you have told yourself before all of this happened. The pastor said he would have told himself, "He has prepared you." This is exactly how I feel. Looking back over the past year to see how God has orchestrated life, from my job at the church, to our desire for scripture and mentors to the people put in our lives. We are so grateful. A few weeks before I was diagnosed, God put a verse on my heart, that I would read, memorize and pray many times throughout the day. "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11 I know God used this verse to prepare me, to comfort me. God is so good and has already been so glorified through our situation. Our friends and family have come together to pray for us, encourage and provide for us. We are beyond grateful. There are no words to express how love and blessed we feel.

Today, we flew to MD Anderson in Houston for treatment...a blessing orchestrated by God through friends in Sunday School class. Tomorrow morning I will begin to go through a series of tests: blood work, cat scans of my chest and neck and a chest x-ray. After the tests we hope to have a plan for treatment. We are excited and ready!

We can't thank you all enough or think of enough that we can do to repay all of you that have loved, encouraged, provided and prayed for us. We will be praying for all of you.

For now we pray:

Heavenly Father, we praise your name and thank you for the opportunity to go to MD Anderson. We thank you for our church, its leaders, our small group, sunday school class, family and friends. We pray that you will use us through this journey and continue to bless us with peace and comfort knowing you are in control. We pray blessings over our friends and family. In your name we pray, Amen.

Where did the summer go!

The summer has flown by, it seems like we say this every year...but seriously, it has! Over the last month Matt and I have cracked down on our spending and have been completely devoted to our Dave Ramsey plan. It is not easy, but so exciting to think about the legacy we are starting for our family. We are gazelle intense! We have decided to sell our brand new Escape and are taking on a couple of extra jobs each as well as a roomate, our friend JP. JP will at least be a fun change:) Mostly we are excited for the journey and its outcome. We know this will be a humbling experience, but we have already seen God's provision. God is good ALL the time and all the time God is GOOD!

Becoming debt free requires a little creativity for dates which has been easy so far. We had a gift certificate to 1492 in Midtown which was a lot of fun, we had a great time at the OKC Museum of Art with free passes from Matt's sister Stacy and we won a Chili's Gift Card at Matt's Highschool Reunion which we used to eat out with friends.

That's right, it has been 10 years since Matt has graduated high school. His reunion was at Firelake Grand Casino and about 30 people came. It is always fun to think about what Matt was like in highschool and I was able to see some very interesting pics in a slideshow. We had a great time.

Finally, we inherited a dog that Matt's parents rescued. He is so sweet. He is a toy schnauzer and his name is Duke, Matt's dad named him after John Wayne:) I've never wanted an inside dog because they are smelly, germy and stink, but Duke is pretty sweet and cute.

Well that is our August in a nutshell:)

High School Wilderness Trip

Matt and I were blessed to have an amazing opportunity to join the High School Ministry at our church on a wilderness trip. We had so much fun rock climbing, repelling, hiking and white water rafting. At night we discussed our hope and trust in God, as well as obedience and the joy we find in God. We also had an amazing time worshiping around a camp fire...imagine being surrounded by mountains and stars next to a beautiful river and singing praises to the Creator of all, it was incredibly moving. We learned so much from the students. Our top 5 favorite things of the trip...

1) Being blessed by a high school student sharing their faith and how the Holy Spirit has helped them to overcome sin. This was such an incredible moment for us to see someone so young to to have no fear and share their testimony in front of their peers. It was beautiful.

2) Getting to know the students. We loved them! They were some of the funniest people we have ever met. We enjoyed getting to know them and see how much confidence they have in themselves and God. One of our favorite moments was sitting around the camp fire while some of the students made up songs about the trip. It was hilarious! Each person was so unique and special in their own way, we were so blessed just to be able to hang out with them.

3) Sleeping outside in God's creation. We have never seen so many stars! The first night I woke up about 2am and went outside the tent to see a billion stars, more beautiful than words can describe...I decided to wake people up to experience the beauty, not everyone was excited as I was to view the stars at 2am. On the third night everyone went down to the river after worship to enjoy the beauty of the stars. I was the most excited about the stars and the only one that missed a shooting star.

4) All of the activities that Matt and I have never done and were able to experience together. We hiked for 6 hours, which definitely pushed everyone to the limit. We climbed from 9K feet to 11,600 feet, except for Matt and a student who decided to show everyone up and climb another 400 feet for fun. You can see their view point in the picture of the lake. White water rafting was a blast and I had great company with a fun bunch of girls. Also, rock climbing and repelling was incredible and scary! Matt climbed 60 feet in 42 seconds, which was the quickest time...pretty great considering he has never rock climbed.

5) Matt and I getting to share such a powerful experience. Being able to watch how each other has grown closer to Christ and sharing that joy with students. To leave the daily grind and see each other in a different environment was so wonderful, we thank God for our marriage.

Patio

This is Matt placing the last stone on our patio. We had so much fun! Now we just have to stain the stones and plant grass. So far we've only had to spend $20 on sand! Thank you Dave Ramsey for making my husband thrifty.

Hanging out with Grant

I hung out with Grant (our nephew) and had a blast! We had a sword fight, read books and played with bubbles all before 9am.

The Weekend & Patio Update

Last weekend was very busy and fun! We met with our "dinner group" from our Sunday school class. We had a great time eating delicious food at Iguana Mexican Grill and then on to Gelato in the village. Matt accomplished so much with the patio, but not without help from another friend. Needless to say, we have amazing friends. On Sunday, Michael and Matt worked on the patio, while Heather and I decorated for VBS. Then we had an amazing dinner with our small group, we love them so much!

Summer

We love the summer! I love all the beautiful flowers and the heat, yes even 100 degrees. Matt and I both love hanging out outside and taking care of our yard and flower beds. Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend and we planted 40 feet of monkey grass given to us by the Fosters (thank you!) and transported 100 sq ft broken concrete slabs. We are so grateful to our friend John Paul for helping move the concrete. Matt had a brilliant idea to save money and recycle by salvaging broken concrete slabs and using them like flagstone to create a patio. Stay tuned, I will be sure to share each step of the process.