I hope this news finds you well!
Today marks one month from arriving in Kansas City, after our move from California. It seems we have been here a very short time, yet, we have been immersed in so much since we arrived. Here is a brief update on the journey here, and a few details on what we're involved with currently.
We left Redding just over a month ago, having sold almost everything we owned, with our car and pickup packed to the brim with our few remaining belongings, and headed across the vast expanse of the American West - 1800 miles of it! This was most definitely a bittersweet feeling, leaving such wonderful friends, and family - namely Claude Bonjour (our housemate), and his family who have so generously welcomed us into their home in many ways over the course of the last year.
As you know, we took nearly two weeks to travel from Redding, CA. Our first leg of the trip included a stop in Salt Lake City to see Carrie's oldest brother David and his family. It was great to see them again, and we got some very good quality time to catch up since we haven't seen them in person since our wedding nearly three years ago. We then traveled to Grand Junction, CO to see more of Carrie's family (her mom grew up there). We hadn't seen many of these folks since our wedding either, so we got to do lots of catching up in person, which was great. From Grand Junction, we crossed the mountains to Denver, and stayed with Carrie's mom, Debbie, for a couple of days. This was a really great time of refreshing for us, and got to spend some valuable time with Matt (Carrie's brother) and his family, and see their new house.
From Denver, we stayed a couple days in Longmont, CO, where my grandma, aunt, and family live. Grandma suffered a stroke early in February, and had been in the hospital for surgery, and placed in nursing care at a home in Loveland, CO. It was wonderful to see her, and tell stories; and difficult to see her in a sad state, where her memory was rapidly deteriorating, and having difficulty in the basic functions of daily life. We were not sure how long she would be able to hang on in this state, so it was the most incredible blessing to be able to see her on our way to KC.
We arrived in KC one month ago today, and are staying with my folks until we secure a lease on a property closer to where we are both working with 24/7 Prayer and the KC Boiler Room. Now that we've adjusted to the area, we've locked in on a couple of neighborhoods where we want to live, and are looking forward to viewing a few apartments/homes in the next week, and landing in one of them by May 1st.
We've been invited and welcomed very warmly by the community here, leadership and family and friends and new friends alike. We're excited to begin work with organizations that have the same sense of values and desires for the Kingdom and Family that we have come to live by, and every day are reminded of God's goodness in His timing, His planning, His greatness in coordinating and administrating all of it - and to Him we give Him thanks, and praise, and many kudos for blowing us away with the perfection of His doings.
Two weeks after having arrived 'home', we received the terrible news that Grandma had passed. So last week, we all made a short trip back to Colorado to be with family to grieve the loss of our most amazing Grandmother, who valued life, lived it fully, and love everyone so well. This was incredibly difficult, and we grieve her loss, but we have the privilege of knowing without any doubt that she herself, has gone 'home' to be with our Lord.
All in all, we've seen many moments of divine appointment, prophetic ministry, seen a few healings during some meetings, and are growing in our amazement of how amazing this family of believers is, and we'll be keeping you updated on these stories as they happen.
For now, continue to keep us in your prayers, as we are entrusted with more responsibility, more friendships, more work, greater influences, and larger stewardships of all of these things. We think of you often, and we can't help but appreciate all of the time and effort you've put into remaining as a staple part of our lives, reminding us of the faithful and longsuffering parts of Papa's character, and supporting us through the years of uncertainty, and through the passionate pursuit of His heart and Kingdom.
Blessings to you from our home to yours, and we bless you with the grace (ability) to continue to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, as we uncover the goodness of God together, encourage each other in our discoveries, and become so overwhelmed that our lives spill out all around us the praises of our Christ, and Creator.
We love you, and please let us know if there is anything specific that you would like to know about, or that you would like to share with us!
