Assimilating

In an effort to not take where we live for granted, Justin and I have been making an effort to walk to the beach every day. If we make a habit of it now maybe later we won't forget to thank the Lord for it every day. We are so overwhelmed to be living here and experiencing such beauty around us.

We celebrated four lovely years together on the 20th. We spent the afternoon reading on the beach, reflecting on all we have done together in our four years married, went to dinner (many thanks to Santa for our gift card!) and laughed a lot.

Christmas was a blessing as three of my five sisters were here and my brother Rick came to visit. It was nice to have a bit of home here during the Holidays. We opened gifts, played games, and ate and then ate again.....and again. And then this happened...

#bowsfordays #beforeandafter

We have been filling our days investing in the lives of those here and being surrounded by people cheering us on in our journey. The last few weeks we have been discovering where we will best be used here. Justin has been tackling the building with Enrique and I have been helping with some administrative work.

On our downtime we have been going on hikes, kayaking, going on semi-submersible tours, dolphin quest tours, playing board games, walking a lot. Really, mostly spending time surrounding ourselves with the people here.

It's hard to believe it's December when everything is turning so green.

We are learning a lot of what goes into living with a family dedicated to service. Sometimes it's hard not to miss living life for myself, doing what I want when I want. We all are learning to take time to ourselves to recharge so we serve better as well. Our time here is going by quickly and our days are filled before we even know what to expect. It is exhausting, and hard work and so so fulfilling all at once. 

We miss our friends and family a lot. It was hard not to be with them for Christmas. Hopefully soon we will get to make a trip up to the mountains to get our fill. 

For now, we are soaking up all the Lord has blessed us with. We have some exciting opportunities coming up that will fill in our schedules even more. If you guys can, pray for us that we will bless those we work to serve.

 Some other prayer requests and praise reports

*God blessed us with work opportunities in the making (more info soon)

*We have been engaging well into the community

*That we would be flexible with God's plan

*For discernment about missions and where we are heading 

On An Island In The Sun

"We'll be playin' and havin' fun, and it makes me feel so fine I can't control my brain" 

I know it's weird but Weezer always reminds me of my my mom. I've had that one stuck in my head since we arrived on this little island.

Coming here is a lot like coming home. Most people that live here have lived here a long time- I mean, why wouldn't you? Because of this, however, most people here remember me from when I was a kid and also remember my mom. I've been getting a lot of compliments on how much alike we are and how much and how MANY people miss her all the time -a hard thing to realize in your own grief sometimes.

Getting here was a process to say the least. Many friends and family lent a hand to get us here and for that I will be ever grateful. Thank you from the bottom our hearts for every prayer and encouraging word in this process.

We started out early Saturday morning in Oakhurst trekking our way through 6 1/2 inches of fresh snow that had fallen overnight. Once we arrived in Fresno we met up with our sweet friends Troy and Allie who had their car stuffed to the rafters with our things. We grabbed some breakfast and hit the open road. Once we made it past Bakersfield we had found out the grapevine (our only route available to get to L.A.) was closed due to bad weather conditions. Whhaaaa?! So we waited it out and looked at all our options. A few hours later the pass reopened but our window to make it to the barge where we would ship everything had closed.

Allie's grandparents generously allowed us to stay with them in their breathtaking home in Whittier in southern California until Monday morning when we could make it to the reopened barge. Our stay was so lovely to say the least and I have a new set of adopted grandparents. 

Baptism by fire- that's how they role here in Avalon. We hit the ground running with so many opportunities to serve and be loved on while loving others.

We have been on the job hunt and things are looking very promising. Our plan is to work part time so

we can serve here at Singing Waters as much as possible. We will post more as we know more in that field. Adjusting to living here with all of its frequent visitors and events has actually been much easier than we had originally anticipated and so so encouraging. Enrique and Santa (who we live with) have been so gracious and encouraging as well.

I promise to take more pictures- and to actually share them too. It's too lovely here not to. Did I mention tomorrow will be 78 and sunny? Somebody pinch me....

If you think of us, can you please join us in praying for the following?

*my cousin Dennis who recently suffered a massive stroke and needs to wake from his coma to assess any permanent damage

*work for both of us

*vision and discernment

*finances

*the hearts of those living here

Keep checking in as we will post more soon!