Happy Spring!

He is not here, but is risen! Luke 24:6

Hello friends,

Today is the first day of Spring. It must be official because I saw the first Robins back this morning! For you in the South, seeing a Robin after winter up here means that Spring has officially sprung! It is still a bit chilly and there is still snow on the ground...and we are supposed to get more snow tomorrow...BUT there is a hint of Spring in the air and it will come!

This morning my mom and I went down to the local Downsville Coffee House to celebrate my grandma's birthday. Lots of the ladies in Downsville get together for coffee to celebrate each other's birthdays. I got to share with them about my future overseas and compare drugs. Funny, I am on the same medication as about half of them! I guess I am an official old lady now :-)

My health has not been as good up here as it was down South. I wonder if it is because of the cold weather or the fact that I am more active now that I am working again part time or a combination of both. I have another appointment with my rheumatologist on April 4th and would appreciate your prayers as we try to figure out medication levels and how we are going to handle this auto immune thing when I am overseas. I need to make sure that where I eventually end up that I am able to get the medications that I need and access to good doctors if I need them. There is still a lot to be figured out over these next months. Please continue to pray for complete healing as this will solve a lot of problems and bring glory to our Lord!

I have been working part time at my home church. This is where I worked for a couple years before heading down South for school. It is so good to be back "home" and connecting with everyone again. It is nice to be able to pick up at work right were I left off. Right now I am working on things for Spring Missions Conference that is coming up the first week of April. Our theme this year is Being a Sending Church and we are having all of us workers that are heading out this year/early next year from our district as the speakers. So this year instead of planning the conference I get to be on the other end of things as one of the guests! It is going to be a great conference and I am looking forward to seeing how God is going to work.

Another special thing that will be happening is my Consecration Service. This is something that I have been working on for the last several years. It included a combination of reading books, writing papers, listening to tapes, going to seminars, preaching/teaching and interviews. This is the same process that men in the Alliance go through for Ordination, however the C&MA does not ordain women so for us it is called Consecration. I am looking forward to having a combined service with my friend Erik's ordination! If you are in the area, I would love for you to come. The Ordination / Consecration service will be held on Sunday, April 6th from 2:30-3:30pm at the Alliance Church of Menomonie.

Well, I think that's about all the news for now. I hope you all have a very Happy Easter and have time to reflect on what this special day is all about. Thank you Jesus for dying on the cross for our sins and raising again! He has risen! He has risen indeed!

The Great White North

Hello friends!

I thought I would give you a quick update now that I'm back home. My dad came down to South Carolina to pick me up take me back to Wisconsin. We ended up getting a trailer and pulling the Jeep behind us all the way back. It wouldn't have been so bad except that it was SO windy most of the way home. It was quite a work out for dad to keep it on the road. Thanks dad - you're the best! But we made it in about twenty hours. Two days of sitting in the car and going through drastic temperature changes made me quite sore. I almost had to borrow grandma's cane when I got back home! But I'm adjusting well and the cold doesn't feel quite so cold anymore.

I have my room back home pretty much put together and settled into again. It is strange to be back in the room that I grew up in, but nice to be home for a while before I head overseas for four years! It has been great to see family and friends again and I look forward to much more of that over the next several months. It is also great to play with Quigley again - that bulldog is the cutest thing ever!

I have been blessed with a part time job working at my home church, where I did my home service in before heading down south for school. I will be starting tomorrow morning and am looking forward to being in that environment again and working again. Hopefully in another couple months I can go back to full time work and start paying down those school loans.

That's about all the news I have for now. I want to thank you for all of your prayers and support as I transition yet again. That is one of the hardest things about this life the Lord has called me to. I feel like I am always saying goodbye and moving on and I hate that. I wonder if I will ever have the feeling of being truly settled somewhere? It was hard to leave my friends in South Carolina and it will be hard to leave here again next February. But, I guess that comes with the territory. I praise God that everywhere He has taken me, He has provided such great friends (even though it does make it harder to leave)!

So, until next time, keep on keeping on with me and we'll see where this crazy adventure with Christ takes us!