Sing Over Me

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.
Zephaniah 3:17

In the years I have been leading worship, I have been given many kind words; words of encouragement, words of gratitude, words that complement...and I have been humbled by all of them. I believe I have been given a voice for a specific purpose and I pray every day that I am obedient to that purpose. I don't want to be led by selfish desires, I want His direction to lead me. I desire to go where He calls me and to use my voice for who He tells me. The above verse is a large reason as to why.

As I read this verse, even the thought of God's voice singing over me was overwhelming. I have never audibly heard God's own voice, but I believe with all of my heart it will be the most beautiful thing we have ever heard. I have been exposed to some incredible musicians over the years, but none can come close to Him. How incredible is the thought of Yahweh singing over you? That He would take so much delight in you, He cannot help but sing. This verse has become an encouraging challenge for me to live by. Is my life bringing Him delight? Are my actions intended to please people, or to please the Living God? Am I willing to be completely uncomfortable in order to bring Him gladness? When the day comes that I can finally stand before my God, I want to hear Him sing.

Playing Catch Up

I cannot believe we have been in Colorado for almost two months! It is amazing how much can change in such a short amount of time. In fact, we have had so much going on it is going to be hard to get it all in one blog. Here is my attempt to fill you all in...

SCHOOL: I began my first semester at Denver Seminary the last week in January. While it is a ton of work (I think I am always either reading or writing), I am so blessed to be a student here. The faculty is incredible, my peers are awesome, and much of my required reading teaches me more about Jesus! Loving every minute of it.

WORK: Well, we went from being discouraged about work to David having 4 part time jobs and me having one. God is good! David is not only working for Legacy Chapel and helping out with StoneBridge, he is also now a barista at Starbucks and helping out with administrative stuff for a new company in the area. I am now working part time at my favorite store in the world, Anthropologie!! I love it! And the discount ain't so bad either ;)

CHURCH: We have been so blessed to be a part of Legacy Chapel. It is so encouraging to watch it grow, knowing that God has something big in store! David's childrens ministry is going great and I have loved being able to lead worship with such an awesome group of guys.

WHAT WE MISS ABOUT TEXAS:

1. Our family (Stonebridge family included)

2. Madison Lyn (our precious niece who is growing so fast! Thankful for Skype!)

3. Our sweet Phoenix and my horse William (can't wait for Phoenix to join us up here!)

4. Tex-Mex (duh!)

5. All of our friends

WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT COLORADO:

1. Our Legacy family

2. The view! (Seriously, it never gets old)

3. All the new places to explore (from Downtown to all the towns in the foothills, we have so much to do and see!)

4. Having my Saturdays back (with our crazy retail schedules, Saturdays are precious to us)

5. Knowing we are exactly where we are supposed to be

THE BIGGEST LESSON OF ALL:

Go where God calls you. It's not always going to be easy, but there is nowhere better to be than in line with His will. Stepping out of my comfort zone has allowed me to see Him work in ways I never would have imagined. Wouldn't change one second of this transition.

There it is in a nutshell! More to come! Much love!!

Lesson Learned

This past week has been filled with emotion, both good and bad. We started out the week on a high--David's mom came into town Tuesday so we were so excited about seeing her and showing her around our new home. Then Wednesday I get a call from my mom telling me that my family dog was on her last leg and they felt it was time to take her in. We were all so sad as she has been such a good dog to us all. I spent all day yesterday knowing that it would be her last day and I wouldn't be able to say goodbye. When I got the call from my mom, I literally felt emotionally exhausted. Then to top it all off, I spent a couple hours last night dealing with issue after issue trying to get my books ordered for my classes beginning next week. I was missing home. I was missing the simplicity of home. I was missing the comfort of knowing the source of our income and knowing our families were right there if we needed anything. I was missing the fact that at home, I always had a friend I could call if I needed some girl time. Needless to say, I went to bed last night feeling overwhelmed and defeated, crying myself to sleep.

But while I was crying myself to sleep I was also praying, and this is what God reminded me of: Stepping out of my will and into His is not always easy, but it's always good. We are not promised a stress free life when we choose Him. In fact, we are promised that there will be trials. However, I have been finding peace in the promise that when I am feeling overwhelmed, He's right beside me. In the book Jesus Calling by Sarah Young I came across this reminder from God: "When you decide on a course of action that is in line with My will, nothing in heaven or on earth can stop you." So I pick up my head and keep going, because I am in line with His will. In my weakness I allow Him to intervene, and when I feel like I can't, He can. I left the simplicity and comfort of home...but I don't want simplicity anymore. I want Him.

The Kid In Us All

Yesterday, David began leading Kid's Chapel at our new church home, Legacy Chapel; it was incredible. We have been so excited for him to begin this position! Legacy is a new church here in Littleton with 15 weeks under their belt and already God is doing great things! Right now, we meet in a school gym and the kids meet in the cafeteria (sound familiar StoneBridge-ers??). Coming from a "mature" church like StoneBridge, it is interesting to be on the startup side of things. Last Friday David and I drove around with Abi, the pastor's wife, to get a projector for the children's ministry that was a reasonable price. Although we don't have much equipment wise, we are so thankful for what we do have and are really enjoying watching how God provides!

So Sunday, David began his new ministry with 7 kids! They were so enthusiastic about their new service-- at one point David had them cheering, which everyone in the main service heard! Apparently this "interruption" was during their time of offering and you know what everyone did? They began clapping. :) As a wife, I am so excited for David to be back working with kids. His talent in this area is uncomparable and I KNOW he will be used in huge ways.

Legacy plans on officially launching on Easter, so right now all attention is being spent on making sure everything is running smoothly. We are so excited to see how it will continue to grow from now until Easter, and then in the weeks after! Here are some pictures from the service:

Turning our house into a home...

As requested, here are a FEW pics of our new condo! I did not include either of the bedrooms because they still need a fresh coat of paint :). As soon as I get them looking just like I want, I will post them!

And this gives you an idea of the amazing view we are blessed with every day...

"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." Luke 19:40

More to come! God bless!!

A Mile High transition

A New Year, a new place, a fresh start. With our recent move to the Denver area, I thought now was as good a time as any to start the blog thing again (and keep at it this time!).

We have officially spent our first week in Colorado and it is still very surreal that we are here. I don't think it has fully hit me that this is our new home. My family and David's dad were wonderful and helped us move in. Those first few days were fabulous, feeling more like a family vacation that anything. Sunday morning, my family left and I would be lying if I said it wasn't hard. That first day on our own was tough, but that evening as I was going through my new devotional book, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, I received complete affirmation that we are where we are supposed to be. We are confident that God has us here for a reason and we are so excited to see His plans unfold! Hopefully this blog will be a way to keep in touch with all of our family and friends back in Houston. So join us in our journey! We are without internet until the 12th so posts will be done whenever I make it to a coffee shop or something, but pictures are coming soon!

We love you all so much!

Nikita's story

Well, it has been a week since we got home from Riga. I'm still in awe of what went on during our time there and I seem to miss it more this year than previous ones. Part of that reason, I believe, is because I was introduced to a little boy this year who will forever be a part of my life. Nikita is a 13 year old orphan who at first seemed very shy. It took a lot of patience to get him to talk; and the fact that he only spoke Latvian and very little English made it even more difficult. But something about Nikita was drawing me to him, so I would harass our translator to come be the middle man for us. Over the next several days, I learned Nikita was born with HIV. His brother and sister sometimes live with his parents and sometimes live at the children's home with Nikita. He has to take 11 pills a day in order to survive and he doesn't take this lightly. He is aware that his medicine costs 2,000 lats every 2 months, the equivalent to about $4,000. But what really drew me to Nikita was his appreciation for the life he's been given. Despite being diagnosed with one of the most depressing diseases, Nikita is thankful that he has one of the "milder" forms of the virus. He hopes to live a long life and one day come visit us in America, which could not make me happier. Our team does a pretty good job at keeping in touch with many of the kids we meet, and every now and then we meet one that we know we need to love on for as long as possible. Nikita is that child for me. Please pray for him; I truly believe that our God is capable of completely healing him from HIV. But I also believe that there is a plan in all of this that I cannot understand. If Nikita can continue to trust and hope in God, he is going to go on to do amazing things.

Over already??

Well, we are back at Petr's house after a week of camp. Like I expected, no internet so I was unable to blog but the easiest thing to say is this was by far one of the best trips I have been on. Quite honestly, there are too many stories/memories to share in one blog but God definitely moved in some huge ways. This year, there were several kids we had never met and several kids we were excited to see that did not make it, which made us sad at first, but of course God knew what He was doing. Everyone that was there (including us) was there for a reason and it was so exciting to see that. Each one of us connected in ways we would have never expected with the kids. Over the next few days, I plan on sharing some of their stories with you.

As far as our team goes, I could not be more proud. Although we were small in number, we were strong in unity. All week we worked together to make sure God was glorified above all. Each of our girls did an amazing job of showing what a godly young woman should look like. And as for David and BJ, they pulled their weight plus some to make sure all of those boys felt important and loved. I feel so blessed to have been a part of such an amazing team.

Tomorrow we will head to Petr's church again where hopefully we will meet up with several of the campers. After the service we will all walk over to McDonald's to enjoy lunch together. I always love this Sunday- it gives us another chance to love on the kids in an environment outside of camp. Thank you all so much for your prayers and support. There was no doubt this trip was covered in prayer from the moment our first flight took off until now, so thank you! We look forward to seeing you in a few days!

Buses, Trains, and Pizza

Today was so much fun. Our team always loves going to Jurmala...quiant town, beautiful beach, and lots of street vendors! We enjoyed our morning to sleep in, as it will probably be our only one the whole time we are here. We left for Jurmala around noon and met up with some of our friends from Petr's church, Artur and Esther, at the train station. Being as how we don't use trains in Houston, our team always loves the experience. We grabbed some lunch at a fun little restaurant, did a photo session on the beach (mostly the girls...), and of course got some shopping in. Not only do we love the country of Latvia because of the people here, but we also love how beautiful and unique it is. Several of our team members have traveled to other European countries and they say that none of them are like Latvia.

Tomorrow we will be going to church at Salvation Temple and then leaving by bus to camp! We are so excited to get this week going and as always, would appreciate your prayers! We are confident that lives will be impacted this week in big ways. I hope to blog each night but as internet service is a little iffy, not sure it will happen. But, no news is good news!!

Specific Prayer Requests:
* Pray over all the orphans and youth that will be at camp. Ask God to open their hearts to what Sasha and the rest of the Latvian workers will say.
* Pray that our American team and the Latvian team can work together and encourage each other. Romans 1:12 says, "When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours." Pray that that will be our mindset.

Much love to all of you back home!
- Lindsey, David, Bryan, Amy, Rachel, Caroline, Ana :))

Weary & Wired

Well, after 24 hours of travel we have made it to Riga!! It has definitely been a long day but compared to past years, the travel was much better. The plane rides were smoother, the layovers were manageable, and wait for it....ALL OF OUR BAGS ARRIVED!!! This is the first year at least since I have been that that has happened so we were all very excited. Since we arrived in Riga at 11:30 PM their time, we are exhausted. But what we all have come to love about this trip is how quickly Riga becomes home again. Although it's been a full year since we've been here, every time we come back it's as if we jump right back into the swing of things. Everyone here has truly become our extended family.

Tomorrow we will be heading to Jurmala (after sleeping in of course) for a fun day at the beach. This town has some great shops as well so we will be playing tourist for most of the day. Then Sunday we will go to Petr's church and head to camp! We are so excited to see what God's got up His sleeve for this week. Much love to you guys and thank you so much for your prayers!

-The Latvia team

Specific prayer requests:
*our team will grow even closer as we spend a fun day together in Jurmala. Pray that we are strong ambassadors for Stonebridge and Christians everywhere to anyone we come in contact with.
*Pray a special blessing over Sunday. We will be reunited with all the youth/campers at church so thank God that we have been given another year to strengthen our relationships. Also pray over new relationships to be formed.
*Pray for David and I- that we can be effective and caring leaders for our team.

Latvia Year 4

Well, it's Thursday and around 8:30 tonight David and I along with 5 youth will be heading back over to Riga, Latvia. If you know me at all, you know this trip has become part of who I am. Every year for the past four years, I head over to Riga for 12-18 days and spend time with some of the most incredible people I have met. I have loved watching many of the same kids grow up and also seeing how our team works together to spread the love of Christ. And I also have to say, I have been incredibly blessed to be doing all of this work alongside my husband. Not many couples are able to say they have been out on mission together and I definitely try not to take this for granted.

This year, our small team will be spending 12 days, a full week of camp plus the surrounding weekends, with Pastor Petr and the youth. This year will be a little different as "Mama Giles" will not be going. She has been the glue that keeps things together while we are there, so please please please keep David and I in your prayers as that role now becomes ours. We will travel all day today and tomorrow, arriving in Riga around 11:30 PM Friday. Please pray that all the bags arrive safely, 3 out of my 4 years mine has decided to take a little trip around the world before coming back to me :/. Saturday we will sleep in and then take a train to Jurmala, a wonderful beach town we visit every year. This will give us the opportunity the have some fun as a team before the hard work begins. And then Sunday we head to camp! Please pray that our team has strong unity throughout the week and that we put the work before any selfish desires. Pray for our stamina; the days are long and the mornings come quick so it is very easy to become tired by Wednesday/Thursday. And finally, pray that we make the most of the time we are given with each kid. For so many of them, this is the best week of their lives and we don't take that lightly. Pray that we are able to show them just how loved they are.

I hope to keep blogging throughout the week, so keep checking back for some updates! Thank you all so much for your support, we love you!

Lindsey & David
"For I hold you by your right hand- I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, 'Don't be afraid, I am here to help you'" --Isaiah 41:13

Phoenix

I haven't posted anything in forever but I wanted to give an update on Phoenix.

For those of you that do not know, Sunday we found out our dog has IMHA, which means his white blood cells are killing off his red blood cells too fast for his body to make more red blood cells. This causes two problems: first, the rbc's (red blood cells :)) carry oxygen so with those getting destroyed, his body is not getting enough oxygen; second, there is the risk he could get a clot and have a stroke. Unfortunately this is not a very nice disease and it will probably be around for the rest of his life if we make it through these next few days.

He has been in several doggie hospitals since Sunday with multiple tests done. Basically, a normal dog's rbc count would be around either 50-60%. For the majority of the past few days, Phoenix has been around the 18% mark. Yesterday, however, was pretty rough. He definitely went downhill energy wise and we found out his count had dropped to 9%. With it being that low, we decided it was time to do a blood transfusion. Unfortunately, we were having a hard time finding an emergency clinic (since we needed a 24 hr facility) in this area that had enough blood. So, David and I brought out our spontaneous side and drove straight from the vet to an emergency clinic in League City to have the transfusion done. With the cost of all this rapidly rising, we knew this transfusion would be very crucial. Well, when we picked him up this morning we found out that his rbc count had only gone up to 20% but he was like a completely different dog!! He actually ran up to us with his tail wagging! The day before he pretty much could not move so this was extremely encouraging.

While we were really happy today, we both realize that we are not in the clear yet. The crummy thing with this disease is that it can come back anytime. We also realize that euthenasia is not unrealistic. There may come a time where it just would not be fair to Phoenix to keep going. As much as that will break my heart, we are definitely keeping his best at the top of our list. But for right now, we are just so happy he has some of his energy back. And the best news, he is coming home for the night!! He will probably be back in tomorrow for another transfusion but it will be so great to have him home for at least tonight!! He is such a sweet boy and we definitely appreciate all your prayers!!!

Life is Crazy...

Life is just absolutely crazy but wonderful right now. Just an update, I am well on my way as a college student again. :) I'm loving being back but it is kinda weird being there with people younger than me. I definitely feel like I made the right decision in taking a break from school. Some people don't agree with that, and that's ok. But I am so much more focused and ready to get it done than I was before! Personally, I feel like you shouldn't start college until you have taken a year or two off. The age/maturity difference makes a HUGE difference! But, it is very hard being a full time student, working 2 days a week, and singing on the weekend. I pretty much study during any free time I have, so it has been hard not having as much "hubby/wife" time as before, and the pay cut has hurt a little bit, but I could not have a more supportive husband to be going through this with me. He is such a blessing.
Speaking of David, our first anniversary is coming up in a week!! I cannot believe it! This past year has flown by and we are so excited to celebrate our first year together! We are leaving next Thursday night to go to San Antonio for a great 4 days on the River Walk and Sea World! This break is very needed...it will be great to get away from the stresses of life! Even though I have a midterm the day after we get back!! Ha, I tried...

Back to School..

Well I am halfway through my first day of classes. I must say it has been exciting and strange all at the same time. I am so ready to be back to school and get my degree finished, but I never thought I would be one of those returning adults. Honestly, I probably look younger than my fellow students, but I was quickly reminded that I am indeed older AND more mature after a few comments were made by new freshman in my first two classes. This semester I am taking 4 classes, 12 hours. After getting an overview, I really think I will enjoy my first two, especially my psychology class. I am waiting in the hall outside my biology classroom but I can assure you I will NOT enjoy this class. Then I have Christianity. I am very curious to see what that class is like. Overall it has been a very good first day. Keep praying for me and David though, because going back to school will add more stress and busyness to our life. David has been nothing but supportive though, and I am extremely grateful for that.
On another note, we started our scuba training last night! We go this week monday through thursday from 6-10 and then have our open water tests Saturday and Sunday. We are so excited about it! I will be sure to post how it all goes at the end of the week...

Back in the swing of things

As wonderful as it is to be back home, it has been very difficult trying to get back into a normal routine. Being in Latvia for 20 days, we got extremely used to their time. We will be doing fine, but then at certain times we hit a wall. The problem is when it's afternoon here, it is late at night there and when it is early morning here, it is afternoon there. Our bodies are still on Riga time so when it hits about 4/5 am, we are awake and really struggling to fall back asleep.
I loved being over there for so long, but now that we are back, I feel so out of the loop and very behind on things here. That has been the most frustrating thing. And I know me and David miss everyone there so much!! We really got close to all the youth. Plus our team got extremely close so it has been weird to spend 24/7 with these people then come back and not see them. But with as crazy as things have been since getting home, David and I still feel truly blessed that we had the opportunity to go to Riga and serve together. We learned so much about each other.
On another note, we have a very exciting couple weeks coming up. The week of the 24th, I will be going back to school to get a degree in psychology. I am so excited about this next step. I am very ready to get back to school and over the last year, I have felt very strongly that I am called to do some sort of counseling for girl's. It is going to be a challenge trying to juggle school work, a job, and hubby/wife time, but I am up for the challenge. But we would both appreciate your prayers as it is going to be an adjustment. We are used to pretty much being together all day since we work together, so it will be weird to be two different places on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Also during the week of the 24th, we are finally going to do our scuba certification! I am an even mix of terrified and excited. But knowing that we will be able to see so many things excites me. I am looking forward to being able to share this with David.

Last night in Latvia

Well, it is our last night here in Latvia and I have to say this has been an amazing trip. And getting to do it along side my best friend has made it that much more wonderful.

I had wanted to update some while at camp but it didn’t happen, so…this last week we went out to Camp Norkalni and helped run youth camp. The days were very long and very busy but at the end of the day it felt like it flew by. I had the privilege of leading worship every other night. Last year I led every night which was great, but it was also nice to take a break every other day and just enjoy what the Latvian’s had planned. Leading worship over here is so amazing. I love leading at home but there is something different about being over here. I think I just can’t get over how cool it is to be praising the same God through the same songs but just in different languages. There were several times I would just back away from the mic and the room was just filled with voices singing. It is so humbling to be a part of that. To see what I mean, check out all our videos on Youtube under Latvia2009. Today (Sunday), we also got the opportunity to lead a couple songs at Petr’s church, which was just as incredible. I didn’t get a chance to do that last year so that was pretty exciting.

David had the opportunity to speak one night at camp this week and he was given the topic “friends”. It sounds cheesy, but the camp theme was Survivor: Becoming Stronger and so he was supposed to talk about becoming stronger with your friends. He did an amazing job and God definitely spoke through him. So many of these kids, especially the orphans, have had a hard time finding true friends and many of them came up to David afterwards talking about how much his talk meant to them. I was so proud of him.

It is going to be hard to leave. Being here for two weeks gave us a great opportunity to really get to know the kids, especially the youth at Petr’s church. I don’t think I have every met a group of teens with a bigger heart. We will miss them so much and can’t wait to see them again next year!

I could go on and on, we have so many stories to tell. But honestly, the best way to see what we have been up to is to check out the videos on Youtube. We recording a lot of stuff during the week and should have some more videos up soon.

Week 1 over...

Well, today was the last day of VBS, which means week 1 is over. Our team is definitely exhausted. In America, VBS usually only lasts 3-4 hours, but in Latvia, they like to make them 7 hours long. I absolutely loved the time we spent with the kids; it’s amazing to me how the majority of them know only 1 or 2 words in English, yet they still love just being around you. It made me want to pour into them even more. There were definitely those few that my heart just went out to. Throughout the week, we had a total of 115 kids come to VBS, which is GREAT for this part of town! Petr said that a kid’s mom came up to him and told him that she had told her son that she just couldn’t take him one day because she had too much to do and he insisted because he just had to be there! It meant so much to her that she changed her plans so she could take him! But David and I were both upset today because we missed the goodbyes because we had to leave to pick up team 2 at the airport. We were very excited to see team 2, but a lot of those kids we might never see again so that was hard.

It has also been great to see the soup kitchen StoneBridge helped furnish. I’ll admit I’m not a huge fan of Latvian cuisine, but what Petr’s church is doing with the kitchen is amazing. More and more I just love the relationship our two churches have. It makes me proud to be from StoneBridge to go in their kitchen and know that we have been a part of that.

It has also been really great getting to know Petr’s son David more. Last night, a few of us went to Alfa Mall and got dessert and we just started talking about Latvia’s history. It is so fascinating, the country is so young and already has SO much history!

Team 2 arrived safely and I must say it was quite humorous to see how tired they were. For a lot of them, this is their first year, so the traveling hit them hard. But nothing like some good guitar hero at Pastor Petr’s house to wake you up! I am really looking forward to camp next week! It is going to be so great to experience everything with a new group this year!

Tomorrow we are heading to Old Town Riga again to do some more shopping and sight seeing. It will be great to unwind and just have a good time as a team before heading to camp.

Please pray for our stamina, especially team 1, that we can keep our endurance up and pour even more into the youth this next week. We appreciate your prayers and miss all of you! 8 days down, 10 more to go!!

Latvia Update...

Greetings from Riga, Latvia!  We are currently hanging out at Petr's house.  So far things have been great!  We arrived in Riga around 6 pm on Friday after a LONG day of traveling.  We were extremely exhausted so we did not do a whole lot that night.  Yesterday, we slept in then went into Old Town Riga and did some shopping a sightseeing.  I absolutely love Old Town, the buildings are so old and there are cobblestone roads and street vendors...I find it romantic :).  We had lunch at a place called Malibu Pizza which was delicious!  We ate there last year so I was really excited to go back.  There were 8 of us and in about 5-10 minutes we had eaten 5 large pizzas!  We were very hungry!  That evening we had a meeting with the youth leaders from Petr's church to discuss the VBS week and then we split up in groups and went around to hand out flyers in the neighborhood for the VBS.  I am very anxious/excited to see how many kids come.  The neighborhood around the church is a little rougher with a lot of drugs and broken families.  It's so cool to know that God already has planned who will be there.  It's very comforting actually.

VBS begins tomorrow.  We still don't really know exactly what's going on, a lot of stuff gets lost in translation.  But I will try to update sometime tomorrow and let you know how it went.  Please pray that the hearts of the kids will be open.  The youth staff is expecting a lot of them to come strictly for the free meal and not really want to be there, so I just pray that something they see or hear will make them wonder more about Christ.  This is a very humbling position to be in.  I know our team and the Latvian team would really appreciate all your prayers!

I will update again tomorrow, but also check out our youtube page!  We have been/will be posting some videos of what's been going on.  To get to it, go to www.gostonebridge.com then go to the student page.  There is a link on there that will take you to our youtube account!

Latvia Bound

I am officially a horrible blogger since it's been about two months since I last blogged! But, I wanted to be sure to write before we leave tomorrow.
For those of you that don't know, David and I will be heading over to Riga, Latvia with a group of students from our church. We leave tomorrow afternoon and will be gone until August 10th! We are so excited to see what God is going to do in the lives of the kids in Latvia, and also in the lives of our team. I had the privilege of going last year and know the impact it had on my life, so I am ten times more excited to get to go over there with David. It will be a challenge, but one that will have great rewards.
While we are there, we will spend our first week leading a VBS for the kids of Riga at Pastor Petr's church. I am really excited about this. Last year, we did not do a VBS in the city so I am looking forward to something new. Lift David up in your prayers as he will be speaking every day at the VBS. Pray that God uses him in a huge way.
Our second week, we will be going to Camp Norkalni and leading a youth camp. The layout is pretty similar to camps here, there are different rotations each day. I am extremely excited because in addition to helping with the craft rotation and just hanging out with the kids, I am in charge of leading worship at night. I was able to do this last year as well and it impacted me so much. I will never forget leading one night and singing Open the Eyes of my Heart in both English and Latvian. Hearing two languages praising God at the same time is unlike anything else. With as amazing as last year was, I am looking forward to what God has in store for this year. Pray that we can break past any language barriers and worship one God with one voice.
I hope that we can keep you updated while over there, but it will all depend on time. If not, we will have MANY stories to share when we get back!

Things to pray for:

• Safety for both teams as we travel to and from Riga, Latvia
• Unity as a team
• God to be lifted high above all things
• Good weather
• All luggage to arrive
  
• Health
• Open hearts of VBS kids and campers
• that God will grant David the words to say as he speaks during VBS week
• that the worship team will glorify God through the songs we sing
  

David and I had a busy, yet great weekend. It started out Saturday morning with us working in our front yard. We had landscaped our yard a few months ago, but sadly it all died and looked pretty awful again. So, we had to start over. What made this interesting was our friends Brian and Whitney needed someone to watch their kids while they went to a wedding. David and I both love their kids, so I said they were more than welcome to come hang out while we worked in the yard. It definitely added some humor to the morning. Emily immediately fell in love with my little maltese Lulu and did not want to leave her side. She kept calling her lilo, which was adorable. I was very proud of Lulu, she had never really been around small children so I didn't know how it would go, but she did great! Our other two dogs had their polite moments which were quickly ruined by their disobedience. So they stayed outside most of the day. When we went out to work in the yard, Josh and Emily were playing with several bubble toys, which IMMEDIATELY attracted the other neighborhood kids. We got about half of our yard done then spent the rest of the time playing with the kids.
Saturday night, we went to the Marriott to see my little brother take prom pictures. It was so funny to see him in a tux with his precious girlfriend. If you know Josh at all, you know this side of him is very different. But, it was good to see all of them dressed up excited about their Prom.
Since both of us work at the church, Monday is our day off. We started out the day going to see my sweet Prince William, my horse I have had since 5th grade. Between get trampled by some horses in the pasture and david electricuting both himself and William, it is safe to say it was quite an adventurous trip! But it is always good to go out to the barn. That used to be my home away from home, so I love spending some time out there. After the barn, we finished up the front yard and it looks beautiful! We then went and got a phone plan together and both got the Samsung Instinct, so we spent a good part of the day learning our new phones. I think I'm really going to like it! I can't afford an iPhone so this is great!