Girls day out.....

Today the ladies and I went wedding dress shopping!!!

Even though it was the coldest day, it was so much fun! Mom, Kelly, Darcy, and Denise and Shannon went with me and I was so blessed to have them come along! Kelly even brought all of us huge chocolate bars for the day and they turned out to be a big hit when we were all exhausted and hungry! Thank you Kel!!!!

We started out at Candlelight Bridal in Chillicothe and had a great time there! I think I found THE Dress there!!! But just to make sure, we drove up to Columbus to David's Bridal after getting some lunch and picking up Shan. The day was supposed to be pretty short but we ended up not getting back until about 7pm!

It's interesting how when the right dress comes along you just know! And as much as I was expecting to feel the same excitement about another dress or two, I had my heart set on the one I found at Candlelight! I would love to post a picture or describe it but I just can't do that! I love surprises!!! I just prayed that I would find the right dress and I believe that God provided something so much better than I thought I was looking for!!!! He is good!!!

Well, since I can't post any pictures of our dress shopping extravaganza, Here is the link for some of the new JEWELRY that I just made!

New Jewelry

I pray that you all have a great Christmas week!
~Steph

Home Again...

Hello Friends and Family and Merry Christmas!

Finals are finished, grades are coming in, and I am happy to be home!

Since I've been home, I've been sleeping in a little, spending time with my family and I have loved being able to watch the snow fall! I am home when I finally get to see real snow!

I hope to post some pictures of family and friends sometime this weekend, especially all my little nieces and nephews that will be here Saturday! My neices, Bella and Sophie have definitely been keeping me busy and the boys will come home this weekend! I can't wait!

Next week I will do some more wedding planning I hope and Monday all of the wonderful women in my life are coming with me to go dress shopping!!!! I would love to post pictures of that but I don't want to spoil the surprise for Benj!

Today some friends from North Carolina are coming and will spend the rest of the week with Benj and I. They came last year around Christmas time and I am so excited to have them back! I have also been making lots of jewelry and will have a Jewelry Party this Saturday if any of you would like to join us! Let me know and I send you the details!

That's everything that's going on this week and next and again, I hope to get some good pictures up here for everyone to see! I love and miss you all and pray that your Christmas Season is a great one!

~Steph

Engagement Pictures...

We're coming home soon!!!

Benj and I are just finishing up finals here at school and will be home for the holidays!!! We have had a great semester but it seems like it went by so quickly! I can't wait to see many of you at home for Christmas and just wanted to share with you some pictures that Holly took for us while we were home for Thanksgiving Break....Enjoy!

Album #1

Album #2


Love you all and we will see you soon!
~Steph

We're Getting Married!!!!

Hey Everyone!

We just want to thank everyone for their excitement with us on our engagement!!! The wedding planning is going great!!! God is already providing so so much!!!!!

I just wanted to give our friends and family an update on how things are going! We are home for Thanksgiving break right now and loving it! Its been great to be able to catch up on sleep and work on studying and homework! Benj and I have finally picked a place and date so mark you calendars.....May 30th!!!! We'll be getting married around here and we are so excited for you all to be a part of celebrating with us!!!

Thank you all again for your encouragement and excitement with us on our engagement and we would appreciate your prayers during these last two weeks of school! Finals are coming and then we'll be home again for a whole month! Yay!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow!!!

~Steph

The Proposal...

Benj took me hiking last week, (Oct. 21st)! We had left after our morning classes to go back to our apartments so that we could take advantage of the beautiful weather (a great reason to skip my class, I know). The plan for the day was to take my car to the shop and then drive a ways down the road to go hiking. As we were pulling into our apartment subdivision, we followed a FEDEX truck in and I didn't think otherwise...Benj dropped me off quickly and later I found out that the truck had my ring in it!

Anyway, We didn't get to take my car to the shop so when Benj came to pick me up, we just went hiking. We got to the parking lot a little before 2pm and hiked and took pictures and hiked some more. When we got to the bottom of the waterfall, we were sitting on some rocks when another couple came up and were taking pictures. I really wanted a picture of Benj and I in front of the waterfall so he asked the man if he could take a picture of us with Benj's camera. The man took a few pictures and then as he was about to give the camera back, Benj ask if we could get just one more picture...he asked if I wanted a different pose and as I was trying to figure out how to stand a different way, Benj got down on one knee and it seemed like forever before he said something because I was so taken aback. He proposed and I excitedly said YES!!!

I had no idea that this was coming, he didn't even seem nervous or act funny! Benj did such a great job at everything...from picking out the perfect ring to planning the perfect day!!! God just blessed that Tuesday so so much and I couldn't be more thankful!!!! Later that evening after calling all of our family, we went out to dinner to a nice steak house and had a wonderful meal with great service!!! It was the icing on the cake (or rather for us...the whipped cream on our cheesecake that was just amazing!).

I hope you all enjoyed reading a little piece of our story and we are so thankful for everyone's excitement with us!!!! We can't wait to see everyone at Thanksgiving and Christmas break and look forward to hearing from you soon!!!

Still In Shock,
Steph

Woo...We're Engaged!!!

Hey Friends and Family!

Some exciting news here that I'm sure all of you have heard......Benj and I are Engaged!!! Yay!!!!

God has been so good to us and is faithfully showing us where to go next......I will post a few pictures on this blog and hopefully write about how Benj proposed this weekend!

Thank you all for your encouraging words and excitement with us during this time!

love you and miss you,
Steph

Half-Way Through....

Hey Friends and Family!

We just had our fall break here and I had such a restful and productive weekend! Just a quick note this week....

Please be praying for us all...Mid-Terms and big assignments/papers are this week! Please pray that it wouldn't be too overwhelming and that we would be able to stay focused and work hard!

Also, I posted some links on the right side of this page of most of the JEWELRY that I have made and that I am selling......pass the word, I am working on being ready for a party at home in mid-December before Christmas! I'm hoping for this one to have a little more of a selection and please let me know if you see anything you think people will like or that you like yourself and I will get to work on that!

Hope to hear from you soon,
Love and miss you all,
Steph


P.S.....here are some pictures from Joel and Lacie's Wedding!

Back at school....

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't been posting on my blog lately.....a lot has happened and I have finally found a quiet moment to sit and think!

I am finally back at school and loving living off campus! Our apartment is in a great location and is quiet. Kim (my amazing roommate and friend) and I have so much fun together and I couldn't have asked for anyone better to live with right now! School and work are busier than ever it seems, but it finally feels like things are calming down a little (i hope).

Last weekend, it was just wonderful to be able to see friends and family that I don't get to see very often at Joel and Lacie's wedding! Congrats Joel and Lacie!!!! What a great time it was and I hope to post some pictures too....

Benj and I are still trying to find a church where we can really be a part of, so maybe this is a prayer request...that we would find somewhere to be a part of each week and get to know some new faces. It's hard to find around here because it's such a college age atmosphere, so it always seems packed out with our peers and not regular families, but the searching is a blessing...we are learning a lot in the process.

I have also been learning that God is the giver and taker of all things. I think, though I know He has always done this, that this is the first time I have really realized that though He is blessing me and providing for me....He is also constantly taking from me.....keeping me completely dependent on Him and Him alone....keeping me from pride and boasting. It's a constant struggle it feels like sometimes, and Satan is trying his hardest to distract me and make me doubt......but God is faithful and is showing me that if I walk with Him and know Him and live for Him, He is my true source of power and life! This is all definitely easier said than done, but I just felt like I needed to share with you all what God is doing in my life right now! He is teaching me, stretching me, making me trust Him more, to prepare me for something.

Once again, I love and miss you all and would love to hear from you!

In Him,
Steph

God is moving.....

Hey everyone!

Once again, everything is busy busy busy! I have just been working a lot and trying to get things organized and cleaned up! I really just wanted to tell you all about our Vacation Bible School that my home church held last week!

We started on Sunday evening and it went until Thursday evening. Our theme this year was "Power Lab" and it was great. I loved the songs and the teaching was right on. I had the opportunity to be in the skit each night as the crazy Professor Wilma and then was able to help teach during the Bible Story time. During my time with two other adults teaching each group that came around, we really saw God work! Our Bible Blast room was an interactive story from the Bible and let kids experience different parts of each lesson! It was hard work to tear down and set up the room each day but it was worth all the work put into it! God definitely guided our time with each group and gave us the awesome opportunity to see children come to Christ for the very first time.

I may have written some time earlier this year about how when I went to Missouri for my training the first week I felt very out of place. I was surrounded by people who had been in ministry with children for years (and some for just 1-2 years) that were leading hundreds of kids to Christ. I felt as though I was a little embarrassed because I had never led anyone to Christ (though I knew God had used me to plant seeds and that it’s not about the numbers!). I was so excited to receive this training because I gained the know-how and the confidence to properly and effectively lead someone to receiving Jesus!!! And I was even more excited when I was trained to teach others the same thing!!! I also knew without a doubt that it’s not about the numbers but rather that I have a willing heart to just serve Him and be obedient when He gives opportunities to share Him!

The VBS ended really well and we saw over 20 kids come to know Christ for the first time on Wednesday night!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!! We still have no idea what God really did that night or any day after that because He was doing a mighty work before we even met each child. He is so Good!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th and hope to hear from you soon!

Blessings to you,

Steph

Home again, Home again.....

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated last....I have been going non-stop since I graduated from CMI. My visit to Liberty for the two week after graduation was great and I was so thankful to have seen Benj again and many of my friends and co-workers while there and my roommate and I were able to finally find an apartment, so thank you for all of you who were praying for that! God is providing and I am excited to get back to school.

I also went on a family vacation to Gatlinburg and it was so much fun. We got to go on a crazy long and hard bike ride and I went hiking with my brother and his fiance up to Mt. Leconte and though it was the toughest hike I've done, it was so worth it! We were able to see so much of God's beauty and I would love to hike it again!!!

To keep up to date here....I am at home now for the summer and working at the Bridge and I am so thankful to be work 30-35 hours a week!!! I really haven't had a lot of time to do anything else between working and trying to get my things in order and unpacked since I've been home! I was able to teach a couple of training seminars and received really good feed back and God blessed it so much! I have also had a potential invitation to teach at a friends church in North Carolina later this fall! I really love teaching these training seminars and it has already been such an eye-opener to how God works in my life! He is good!!! I have also been able to teach in the children's classes and I will be helping with Vacation Bible School next week!

I look forward to hearing from my friends in Missouri and the rest of my friends and family too!

I love and miss you all,
Steph

Visiting Liberty...

4-28-08

Hey everyone!

I am at Liberty and just loving it!!! It is so good to be back and I am excited to be able to finally be able to see Benj and all of my friends here! A friend and I are apartment hunting and I have also been able to visit everyone at the office that I worked in last semester and I am excited to go back to work there next semester! I will be here a little longer and I look forward to seeing everyone at home in a couple of weeks! I am having a great time and I get to meet with future internship students tomorrow for next semester to answer any questions they may have and to better prepare them for Missouri. I hope you all are well and feel free to email to say hey! I’ll blog soon….

Blessings,

Steph

Weeks 10, 11, & 12....

Hey everyone,

This will be my last blog from Missouri, but I will continue writing every week or two...

We have been having a great time, but it's very busy. I haven't had a whole lot of time for anything extra because we are wrapping up everything, handing in last assignments, and thinking about packing! We had a great weekend doing yard work at one of the instructor's home, then went through a progressive dinner Saturday going from house to house for different parts of a meal. Sunday we were also able to go to our church for the last time and then to dinner at a family's home that night.

Last night was our last Good News Club (a club to teach kids the Gospel) and it was amazing! We just knew that God's presence was there last night and the kids are great! I have been able to go to this club for the past 3 weeks and these kids have such a hunger for God's Word and to understand it. A disciple was known for their questions not their answers and these kids have truly amazing questions and we have been able to see their desire for understanding. How many times have I really desired to know more of God's Word like these children do? We who have been in the church for so long, know the right things to say and the right answers to questions about the Bible, yet we fail to ask questions and desire understanding. We want knowledge instead of wisdom and facts instead of the life changing work of God.

Even as my knowledge is increasing while in training here, I am realizing how much I have yet to learn. And I am thankful for that! My prayer is that I would always have the desire to learn more about the Bible and more about God and how He is working in my life and how He wants to use me. I never want to be afraid to ask big questions. Growing up my dad always made sure I knew there was no such things as a stupid question...I am thankful for that wisdom he had to share with me! If only more people (and more children) knew that today...

I hope to see you all next week and I look forward to sharing with you about my training...

~Steph

weeks 7, 8, and 9...

Hey Everyone, sorry no blog lately....nothing is really happening around here. Just lots of rain and boredom outside of school work. Tomorrow we are going to the Arch for the day and Union Station and we just finished out last practicum of the semester today! Praise God!!!! Here are some picture of our entertainment.....do you see the lack of it! The girls took me horseback riding for my birthday.....we spend our weekends at Panera in the next town over just for internet.....and the other is just a fun picture of me and the girls out by our lake/pond on a sunny day!!! i love and miss you all and hope to see you soon!
~steph

Week 8...

Hey everyone,

It is finally Saturday and this week just flew right by! I’ve got a lot of reading to do this weekend but these last 4 weeks should be a little lighter than before. This past week we started the last 5 weeks of training. We just finished a week of policies and procedures for CEF which, I had trouble relating to, but God definitely allowed me to pick up some valuable information for future ministry. We also went over some mission’s stuff which just amazed me and really gave me a new perspective on how many children are in different regions and it’s just amazing! So many countries are open to the Gospel and we don’t even know it!

Next week we are going to be learning about support raising and once again it will be with CEF, but I think I will be able to gain a lot of good information and training if I go in with the right attitude! Please pray that I can keep looking for good information that can apply to my future ministry outside of this organization and that I don’t become discouraged!

I also want to wish you all a Happy Easter! I am just having a restful weekend here, and tomorrow we are going to a couple’s house to have Easter dinner! A group of us young adults have been going to this couple’s home every Sunday evening….they work at headquarters and their kids are all grown so they invite us in and give us a place to go off campus since we are away from our own families! They are such an encouragement to us!!!

Before that I will go to a church that some of us girls and I have been attending and we just love it! The minute we stepped foot in this church, they welcomed us, talked to us, REMEMBERED OUR NAMES, and gave us a visitor’s gift. The next week they still remembered our names and just really made us feel welcome! It’s a church plant and still somewhat small but they are doing big things! It was refreshing to see a church work like they do, and they truly have the gift of HOSPITALITY which most churches do not have unfortunately. I’ve realized for future reference what a huge priority this must be in a church. People need to be a part of a family and community and they want to be accepted…don’t you? There are many organizations, occults, and the like, that do a much better job at making people feel loved and welcomed than churches do today! What is wrong with this picture? We learned in one of my classes that for every one Mormon that turns to Christianity, 7 to 10 Christians turn to Mormonism! Why, because they know how to make people feel welcome and part of their group. I would love to see Christians, including myself, step out of our comfort zones to make others feel welcome and apart of the body of Christ! They need Christ just as much as we do!!!!

Weeks 4, 5, and 6...

Hey everyone!

I’m so sorry it’s taken so long to update you all but it’s been a crazy few weeks! The last week of February was okay, but lots of work. Then we had a free weekend and had so much fun just laying in the sun and going out to eat and watching movies! It’s was a very restful and fun weekend.

These past two weeks I have been in a class called “Dynamics of Teacher Training” in which we learned how to teach training seminars wherever we go, training teachers how to teach children! It was the best class by far but the most draining! We had two weeks of non-stop assignments, teaching practicums, and to top it all off, most of us were trying not to get sick because the flu has been going around! I really can’t wait to come home and hopefully teach some of these courses!!!

Last weekend, I had a great birthday and I want to thank you all for your emails and cards and packages! They were all so great! For my birthday, my class sang to me and gave me a brownie with a candle in it and then the girls took me horseback riding in the afternoon…and it was a blast!!! After we got back, our class had a big birthday party for everyone and then a few of the girls and I watched a movie!

These two weeks, I have really begun to see that God is giving me a desire to really teach adults and train them so that they may in turn, reach more children than I could on my own. I want to equip others so that more children can have the Gospel presented to them clearly. We aren’t doing any favors by not giving them an opportunity to clearly hear the Word of God and the work of Christ. I can’t wait to teach teachers how to present the meat of the Gospel!!! This training has opened up a whole new world of learning about how God works through His Word!!! Yay!

I love and miss you all and hope to hear from you soon!

~Steph

"Week 3..."

2-16-08

Hello Again!

Thank you to those of you who were praying for our class last week! We were able to get through it and learn so much. This week was very busy, however, a little slower than last week. We had a lot of reading to do as well as making song visuals and object lesson visuals. I’m not liking reading so much in such a little amount of time, but it’s great material that I can go back to later. I also enjoyed learning how to make visuals properly and didn’t realize how easy it was to make my own!

This weekend will be packed with writing a 10 page defense paper and doing some more reading and trying to catch up on sleep! We are writing a paper this coming week about our defense on the ability for a young child can accept Christ as their personal Savior. I hope to share some of that when I’m finished and I would love to hear what you all think!

I hope you all are having a great week and I hope to hear from you soon!

Love and Miss You,

Steph

"Week 2...Sorry it's so late!"

Hello from Missouri!

Week two is almost over and I still have a lot of work to finish! Like I said in the last blog, this week was very emotionally draining! We learned about the abused child (mentally, physically, emotionally, sexually) and how to look for signs of abuse and how to get help for that child. We also learned about different religions and how to minister to kids with different religious backgrounds while still teaching them to respect their families. I was also able to take an elective class on Teaching Preschoolers and it's amazing how much I've learned through this class!

The Teaching Preschoolers class was wonderful and so much fun. We were taught to teach at a preschoolers understanding without sugar coating the Gospel or leaving out important details like the blood of Jesus! Praise God for allowing me to learn so much in such a little amount of time!!!

In the other two classes, we learned how to minister to children from different religious backgrounds and kids that were abused in different ways. It broke my heart to read and hear about children that are not being taught and shown TRUTH. I encourage you all to educated yourselves on issues that children face and how to help those in need. Are we really just sitting around, when we can see that a child is suffering in innocence!? Many say “Well, it’s none of my business,” or “I can’t do anything, I wouldn’t know who to tell.” Well, I would urge those people to DO SOMETHING, and actually LOOK for answers. This is my soapbox J

Well, to finish, I am having an amazing time here even though the weather is different every single day….60 degrees one day, 10 below the next! I am so thankful for all of your prayers and I am praying that God blesses you for your faithfulness. I love and miss you all and I hope to hear from you soon!

Finishing Week One....

These are some pictures of my room and the girls t.v. lounge! I had to add some of my own decorations but it's pretty cozy! I hope to have some better pictures next weekend.....

Finishing Week One....

Hey everyone!

This week was very difficult but it was great!!! There was so much information each day and really drained me but I learned so so much! Everyone here is great and the instructors have so much to share with us! The teaching here is very solid and I love finally learning about what I know God has called me to be! His blessings are abundant here and I am so thankful that I get to share it with you all!

This week we had 3 practicums to complete and I passed all of them!!! Two A's and a B!!!! God is good!!! Our practicums are basically evaluations by the instructors about what we have learned! So this week we learned how to teach a memory verse, a Bible lesson and how to share the Wordless Book! Once we learn the new material we have to do it ourselves in front of the instructor and two other students for the evaluation. Needless to say I was very nervous but made it through.

It's amazing to think about how little I knew about leading a child (or adult) to Christ. And I am excited to learn so much more. This coming week we are learning more about issues that may arise with children such as disabilities, home life situations and hard subjects that we need to know as we go into ministry. We won't have any practicums but I will have a lot of reading to do and I've heard that this week will be emotionally draining. Please pray that God breaks our hearts but gives us the ability to do well on our assignments!

I hope you are all doing well and I can't wait to hear from you!
I love you all and I will update more next weekend!

Blessings from Missouri,
Steph

"Getting Started..."

Hey Everyone!

I miss you all so much and I was sad to leave, but I was ready to get started again! This semester I’m sure will fly by! Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to some of you, internet (and time) has been limited. Dad and I had a beautiful drive here with great weather and he got back safely and also had a good drive. Thank you all for your prayers as we traveled!

Wednesday I was able to just check in and get unpacked and orientation started Thursday morning at 8am. There was a lot of information all day long but it went really well and the facilities here are very nice and almost everything is connected (keeping me out of the cold!!!). The building here is huge because of all that goes on here at headquarters. Thursday evening we were able to just relax so I was able to hang out with some new friends and get to know them better. The building has a laundry room, a library, computer room, and student lounges throughout and the dinning hall is great (the food is amazing here!!!)!

Friday was the first day of this 6 day class and we were fed a lot of information and ideas and all of them were great! I have learned so much already!!! The meals were great once again and that evening we had a “Get To Know You” night with different activities and ice cream sundaes after we finished. Because of the small class size, it is a little easier to get to know people and all of them so different, some traveling all the way from India and Singapore and other from the States and Canada! The ministry that CEF does is huge and I don’t even know the half of it yet.

I hope all of you are well, and I am praying for you and I appreciate all of the prayers and encouraging words that you are sending me! I love you all and can’t wait to hear from you soon!

In Training,

Steph

Hey Everyone!

I miss you all so much and I was sad to leave, but I was ready to get started again! This semester I’m sure will fly by! Sorry it’s taken so long to get back to some of you, internet (and time) has been limited. Dad and I had a beautiful drive here with great weather and he got back safely and also had a good drive. Thank you all for your prayers as we traveled!

Wednesday I was able to just check in and get unpacked and orientation started Thursday morning at 8am. There was a lot of information all day long but it went really well and the facilities here are very nice and almost everything is connected (keeping me out of the cold!!!). The building here is huge because of all that goes on here at headquarters. Thursday evening we were able to just relax so I was able to hang out with some new friends and get to know them better. The building has a laundry room, a library, computer room, and student lounges throughout and the dinning hall is great (the food is amazing here!!!)!

Friday was the first day of this 6 day class and we were fed a lot of information and ideas and all of them were great! I have learned so much already!!! The meals were great once again and that evening we had a “Get To Know You” night with different activities and ice cream sundaes after we finished. Because of the small class size, it is a little easier to get to know people and all of them so different, some traveling all the way from India and Singapore and other from the States and Canada! The ministry that CEF does is huge and I don’t even know the half of it yet.

I hope all of you are well, and I am praying for you and I appreciate all of the prayers and encouraging words that you are sending me! I love you all and can’t wait to hear from you soon!

In Training,

Steph

Starting Something New...

Sorry it's been so long since the last blog! I will try to update this each week while I am away!

Christmas Break was fabulous, but I'm ready to get started again! Several were wondering why I was still home, so I am going to tell you and hopefully keep you updated through out this busy semester!

This semester I will be attending the Children's Ministry Institute in Missouri! This school is basically an internship and class time all in one. I will go to several classes through out a 12 week period and attend 1 to 2 week class sessions then move to the next level. My first class starts this coming Friday and will end the following Friday then I will begin the next course on Monday and so forth and so on. I will also being working in one of the local churches but I don't know much about that yet....

I am required to complete this training for my major and then I will go back to Liberty for another year. There I will be able to finish up all of my General Education classes and the rest of my Bible classes. I am excited for this opportunity, however, I am really missing Benj and all of my friends at Liberty. I am praying that I will have the right attitude and that I will have the strength to make the most out of these short 12 weeks! I am hoping that this will be a growing time of focus and quite time to myself!



A little About The School.....
I will have my own room with a community bathroom. The school has about 40 students at a time and is located on about 600 acres of rolling hills. There is a shopping center about 3 miles away and it is only 50 miles west of St. Louis! There are singles and families that attend this school and it should go very quickly because of the short class sessions from week to week!



I hope to hear from all of you and THANK YOU all for all of your love, support and especially your prayers!!! I love you and miss you already!

Praying for you,
Steph