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