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!

Saying "Yes"

Well...since there are a lot of you out there who still don't know our story as of late, this one's for you! (awkward wink) 

A few months ago Justin and I were feeling a strong desire to change the way we have been approaching our life in the long term. He, in particular, was feeling a change of heart about the direction we were heading and began to pray about what exactly this meant. As the weeks went on he began to have a stronger desire to work outside of the kitchen with something more hands on that would benefit more than just he and I. 

Fast forward a few months and many many prayers later to when we sold everything and abandoned our ideals of a career driven path. We are getting ready to move to Catalina Island to work with family friends there who will mentor and train us up to work full time in the mission field. We will work part time and the rest of the time invest in the lives of those in the small town of Avalon on the island. We both have a heart for hospitality and over the years have acquired the skills to serve people in a new way.  Long term we are praying about doing a Discipleship Training School through Youth With a Mission and possibly staffing full time with YWAM Yosemite. 

As we begin this new adventure we would ask for your prayers and we will do our best to update you all here weekly, if not more often. We are so excited to see where God takes us and how He will use us, but for now we are joyfully saying 'yes' and going. Official date of departure December 7th!