Coming soon to a mailbox near you is our quarterly newsletter! For those who don't receive our newsletter, I thought I'd post a couple of articles on here as well. At the end of this series, there is even some news that has changed since we sent our newsletter!  

During the summer we attended a conference called the Awakening where we attended days of various seminars. One of them by Seth Barnes was entitled "Finding your Kingdom dream." The basic idea of this seminar was that 1) we are all designed to be involved in the building of God's kingdom, 2) God gives us His dreams and desires, and 3) its our responsibility to carry them out.

I was greatly inspired by Seth as he brought truths from God's word to encourage us to pursue God's dreams for His people!

One day someone asked an obvious question, "Does everybody get their own unique dream from God or do some help those who do get a dream?"Seth responded how he has seen how God doesn't give us His big dreams until we have proven that we are faithful in the small mundane,

ordinary, everyday things.

As he was saying this I felt a rumble in my spirit. I heard that still small voice say, "Serve someone else in the dream I gave them."

Since then my questions have been answered, once I realized what God meant. I got the opportunity when we got back to work on a side project with a guy named Clint Bokelman, the head of AIM's Short Term Department. One day after a meeting I shared with him what God had told me at the Awakening and how I was still trying to find my place at AIM. As a department head I was surprised when he didn't jump on my offer. The next day I told him that I was either going to culinary school (which is still a lifelong goal) or I would work for him. "Use me or lose me," I said, and he took me up on my offer.

I now work in the short term department at AIM. I set up 7 to 10 day trips for groups in the lower Appalachian area of the States. I also work in helping run our training for some new staff, and leading one week trips. I'm so excited about this new role where God has called me.

Two and a half years ago when we moved to Gainesville, we knew very few people. Corey had a few acquaintances from previous trips with AIM. One of these acquaintances, Sam and Jill Borg, l

ived in Gainesville and invited us to be a part of their small group.

This group of 7 young families has now become a close knit group. While we'll have 14 adults and 8.5 kids each Thursday, we still find time to each share about our lives, our families, our successes and our struggles.

When Corey has to be gone on an STM trip, this group of people reminds me that if I need anything, they are one phone call away. And if they find out I was in need but didn't ask for something... man am I in trouble! This is a group that is radically committed to meeting each other's needs!

We not only meet together each week, but we've found that we really like having fun together as well. A few of us girls go to the same gym and have a lot of fun dancing in aerobics classes together. The guys regularly make time for fishing or water skiing and every Friday morning they meet together for accountability and "guy time."

While Corey and I are now the only ones without children, we are SO thankful for the parenting training we get from all the kids in this group!

It was so scary to move to a new city with no support group in place. Looking back on this year I can see how we've grown in so many ways. Each Thursday we get to experience a little piece of what God really meant church to be!

This was the wisdom Michael Hindes, director of the World Race, shared with us when we moved back to Gainesville. The past year has taught us how incredibly true those words are. Between our small group and our co-workers, we truly can call this place home. There is nothing better than knowing each other deeply and being deeply known.

In addition, we have finally invested in actual home furnishings! We lived such a nomadic lifestyle up until this point that our belongings always fit in our little yellow car. Not any longer!

We've truly enjoyed setting up house this year. Between our favorite couch, Laura's napping chair, and Corey's kitchen toys, we love our apartment!

The best part is that we have a spare room. Laura has found a love for hospitality and we often have visitors stay with us. Will you be our guest?

Stay Tuned for a Look toward 2010...