Two became One

Today makes 8 months since Andrew and I said our wedding vows! So much has already happened that it seems like more time has past...

A month or so before our wedding, God blessed Andrew with a new job as a Sales Representative at a company that specializes in software protection, Symantec. We were thankful to receive time off for our honeymoon so early into his hire! After returning, we proceeded to move my belongings into his apartment above his cousin's garage. However, within the first month of driving an hour to work and back every day, we decided to move closer to his job and our church. We found a nice and affordable apartment that was only 7 minutes from his office building, and 7 minutes from the community college I would soon start attending, with our church only a 20 minute drive away as well! So, the first few months of marriage were filled with two moves, starting up college classes, and Andrew and I stepping up as head Junior High Ministry Leaders at our church... as well as the usual adjustments that come with newly married couples!

While the Lord has been teaching us so much about what a Godly marriage entails... we had started to become comfortable in where we were at in our lives. With Andrew's grandma being diagnosed with cancer for the third time (this time in the brain, bones, and lungs); the Denelsbeck family was shaken as we spent three weeks in the hospital/hospice attending to her until her departure from this world in the early morning of February 2nd! Neither Andrew or myself have ever experienced someone close to us dying, and we both agree that it is a very sobering trial to go through. With that said... as we prepared to share at her burial and memorial about her life and ministry for the lost through missions, God once again grabbed hold of our hearts and challenged us with our own lives! Were we to stay comfortable with where our lives were now? Or step out in faith to share the wonderful news of our Savior with those who have never heard??

As the month went on, we kept feeling a tug on our hearts! Just this past Wednesday, Andrew attended a meeting with our Pastor to discuss our passion and desire to pursue further training with New Tribes Mission. While it is easy to start feeling overwhelmed about all the things that would need to line up in order for us to go, we got our first boost of encouragement as our Pastor said that the church would completely back us in our missions focused ministry! What a blessing to already see the Lord opening doors for us!! So now come all the questions of what our next steps will be... Our Pastor challenged us with prayer and faith! We are looking into starting up the training in Missouri either this coming August '13 or January '14. While we take this time to rest in God's timing, as well as providing the finances for our training... we would appreciate your prayers and encouragement as God continues to direct us!!

Sunshine State

Well, yesterday I "officially" became a Floridian... I know that I've already been here 6 weeks or so, but I just got my license plates and car registration done! Wheeeew its expensive here : /   Times have been good so far, but definitely challenging with finding a job! I still don't have something consistent, but kinda just doing a babysitting gig here and there... God sure has been breaking me down through this time though! I've come to see so much strive for independence from God's will in my life, as well as impatience, selfish attitudes, lack of rest, and the big kicker is lack of trust! When all my plans start failing, its a quick wake-up call to the nasty attitude I can have... but thankfully I have a Father who already knew my weaknesses and is lovingly refining my heart and bringing me to a restful and peaceful mindset! It's been a tough month indeed and poor andrew has had to put up with my emotional break downs every other day! How thankful I have been for his patience with me and continual encouragement to keep seeking God through this hard time!! While the job search has not been very fruitful, the church involvement has :)  I've been attending a tuesday morning women's discipleship group every week and God's shown me how blessed I am to have a solid group of sisters that pray for me, challenge my walk, and encourage my spirit! I do miss my church family in Missouri deeply though... Its getting easier as time goes on, but I'll always have a special place kept in my heart for them!! My sunday school kids are SOOOO deeply missed... I wish I could just run up and hug them all for hours - hehe : P  Well, I'm off for some more job hunt times... I'll try to keep updating more often!

Its Happening Again!

Well, I'm on the move again... In about one more month I will be living in Orlando, FL! : )   I finished up school and right now I'm working two waitressing jobs, trying to save up for the big change of scenery. I'm sorry its been forever again - I yet to have internet at my house, but that'll be changing soon hopefully! I'll try to keep you posted and hopefully stay more updated once I'm all moved in! Please be keeping me and my transition in your prayers : )  ta ta until next time!

Change brings growth

I know that I've been terrible for not keeping up with this! Lol Sorry.... as my schooling was coming to a close for the year, a situation arose that allowed my roommate and I to get out of our lease early with a full refund of our deposit and the month thats rent we moved out....so we jumped on it! I am currently back in my parents basement for now, which definitely brings its challenges with its blessings! : )   I'm also in summer school for now, and picked up a second part time job for the weekends... so while I'm staying very busy, I'm still in need of much prayer! : P  I promise to update more as my life is continuing to change from terrain to terrain!

the weather outside is whiteful, and the snow is quite delightful

My church’s “Refresh” youth retreat went amazingly this last weekend! Not only did I really bond with the girls…especially on the 4-5 hours of driving, but I also left the resort feeling even more on fire for my Savior than when we left! The Lord very much brought me to a place of surrender through the lessons my pastor and youth pastor prepared! I was reminded… yet again, how often I try to be independent from God… try to figure things out on my own, try to deal/fix my sin, try to hide where I’m really at : /  but God is always so faithful to break down my walls and bring me to a place of humility where I’m reminded that God just wants me to get real with Him… be honest about my struggles and my sinful state… that He still loves me and doesn’t expect me to figure it out and deal with it on my own, cause He’s already paid for it ALL!! I’m always trying to be perfect and avoid making mistakes, because that’s what Christians look like… right? It’s the world and the law that puts that in our heads… God died for us when we were worth nothing, so why do we expect ourselves to suddenly have it all together now that we’ve chosen to believe in Him? We will never be perfected until we join Him in heaven, that is why we need Him every single day…we need His grace every single moment!! So my challenge to you is this – get real with God… we all need help, every single one of us! We all need a deeper relationship with the Lord! We all need prayer J Please pray for me…that I will continue to grow deeper in my walk with my Father, to never stop humbling myself to His power and His will for my life, to stay diligent at seeking Him out in my study time and my prayer time!

            Today is a winter wonderland in the land of MO’sville! Work closed down today because of all the inches… as I look out my window, all I can do is smile at God’s creation!! Everything covered in a blanket of white… and a thick blanket at that – hehe J  Its all powder, like a perfect dusting of sugar… not really sledding or snow man building snow, but perfect for rolling around in! I’ve already had an adventure this morning of walking to the store to buy a shovel so that I can attempt to dig my car out…but no such luck… I’ll be going no where till the plows come! : P  hehe  So my roommate and I enjoyed a nice big homemade brunch and some relaxing movie times! Tiz going to be a long day indeed… but a very restful & delightful one at that…

You all stay warm out there…and enjoy God’s creation with me!! J

Life, Life, and more Life

Well peeps... I know it's been waaaay too long since I last updated! I've decided to not wait to update just once every month, because so much happens in a month's time and then it feels like an impossible task to squeeze into a busy schedule... which causes me to put it off and then not update since... November - - my sincerest apologies! :) hehe  So to follow my new found agenda, I'll just be giving a quick update to catch up on the missed time, and then hopefully be better at keeping you more up to date on life's happenings!

Christmas vacation was a blast!! My whole family got to gather in Nebraska, where my grandparents and a few aunts & uncles live... it was such a blessing to catch up with everyone since I missed last Christmas with them! My niece, Lani, is growing up so fast... we spent a lot of good bonding time together and I'm pretty sure she's gonna remember me next time she sees me :)  hehe My cousin Michael has grown up a ton too... He's like a man now, a real live MAN!! We had some good times pickin on each other as well as "roughin" one another up a bit...ok, I got more roughed up than he did... but I'd like to think He'll use some of my moves someday! lol : P   For New Years Eve, I was able to participate in a youth Lock-in that our church held for some of the kids in the area. Man did God work on my heart that night!! After we had a lesson and some group games and watched our own countdown/ball drop... the night took a quick turn for the difficult : /   We had an issue arise with one of the girls that ended up taking from 1 to almost 5am to get under control... while it was very sticky, it ended on good terms with a very encouraging conversation about God, who He was/is, why it's important to have a relationship with Him, and how our relationship with Him practically affects our lives! For those of you who know me, know that my passion is to work with younger kids as a ministry... jr. high has never really been my forte'! But that night, God really set my weaknesses aside and used me in a way I've never seen Him work in me before! How amazing is our God that He is big enough to use US for HIS kingdom?! :)

Since then, my walk with the Lord has only been growing... He has allowed numerous people in my life to challenge and encourage my walk, as well as situations to point me closer to Him! I am indeed feeling very blessed right now to be a member of Christs' body and joyed to see what else He may bring into my life these next few days, months, etc...  If you could be praying for this weekend as I'm heading out with the youth again for a "Refresh" retreat :)  I'm very excited to see how God will work thru Cliff's teaching as well as the worship & fellowship times with the kids!!

That is all for now... i know there is soooo much more I could say about what God has been teaching me, but I'm sticking to my new plan! :)  I'll update again after the weekend...can't wait to share with you all that God does!!

Be Joyful

     Much has happened since my last post! I started up my first session of school at Columbia College... its a rushed program, so they are only 8 week courses & they are only 2 courses at a time :) I chose General Psychology and English Composition I as my starters in General Education. Classes have been very interesting... my English Comp teacher is a nut, I love him! He tells the corniest jokes about every 10 seconds. "Why did the pirate go to the movies?... cause it was rated Aaarrrrhh!" : P  hehe he just kills me! And he's a believer... i feel so very blessed - we've already had so many good discussions about how to stand for your faith while being a teacher! For my Psych class, I've been thee most intrigued by this one! Its been very interesting to study the worlds ideas of psychology. Other than the biology review aspects, the parts that really grab my attention are the different psychologist views, as well as their therapy treatments and studies for our personalities and natures. Being a Christian, I believe we are born into sin and that nothing but Christ's finished work and His Holy Spirit living in us can make our lives worth living here on this earth! While the worlds views are full of theories that will improve your character and bring you "happiness", I find myself sitting through class and counting my blessings for growing up in a home that taught me about God early on! If anything, I have that much more of a desire to reach unbelievers by being a light to the world, and school has given me a perfect opportunity to reveal His Love to my classmates and teachers! Midterms were last week and I must say, I waaay over studied! Oh well, at least I know I'm doing good grade wise : P Other than starting up classes again...
     I got an amazing opportunity to go to California for a week with part of my worship team, for a Worship Leaders Conference! It was A-MA-ZA-Zing : )  The teaching was very encouraging overall and the musical worship time very much refreshed me! I feel alot more bonded with my team members now... it can be hard really getting to know people on a deeper level when you only see them twice a week or so, and that time consists of being taught and singing - so I was blessed to have a whole week of pure bonding time. Having Jen (the other female singer on the team) as a roommate, as well as 4 other girls from different churches & states was a blast! I loved hearing about how other churches operate and the different ministries available. It was overall just a great time to bond with fellow believers!! : ) Not to mention the beautiful scenery of the Marietta Hot Springs! Oh my word, the campus was breath-taking... so much so, that numerous times I told Jen I would not be flying home with them, but staying in Cali at the Calvary Bible School for two more years, so that I could stay in this particular part of God's amazing creation!!!
     Getting back to work has been good, but the business of Lake Ozark has definitely diminished now that the cold is rolling in and winter is approaching! I'm continually being challenged with my positive or negative attitude as I collect tips when the table leaves. I know that God has never failed me and He continually shows me His faithfulness, month by month, week by week, even day by day : ) but I'm thankful for this awareness of attitudes, because God is using it to challenge the renewing of my mind and being joyful amidst my negative circumstances, when people let me down, when things don't add up to what I'm wanting, and when I start allowing my thoughts to worry! God has been reminding me to trust Him, once again, in all areas of my life... and keeping Him as my number one and the biggest desire of me heart! Even though times get hard, and discouraging at times, I know that my God is good and He loves me! Matthew 6:25-26 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life,what you will eat or what you will drink,nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food,and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" :) these have been just some of the verses that have encouraged me lately!
     Now, Thanksgiving is approaching and I'm so excited to see how the Lord made it possible for me to go visit my sister, niece, and brother-in-law for the weekend! It's been forever since I've been able to wrap my arms around each of them and I'm seriously stoked for this time I'll have, even though it will be short! I hope all of you have a wonderful time this holiday weekend and that you'll be able to spend some time with your families! May the Lord bless you and bring many reminders of things to be thankful for! Until next time...

Catching Up on Life after New Tribes

As most of you probably know, I moved to the hillbilly state of Missouri after I graduated :) The focus of my first year out of Bible College was to be: To work and save up for college again the next year, Get really involved in a Church that had ministry opportunities and a solid group of believers I could grow close to and have fellowship with, Actively live out all that I had learned in school and continue to stay faithful in my pursuing a closer relationship with my Savior! Since growing up at the New Tribes campus, I had seen many of my friends and fellow believers leave their love and zeal for walking with the Lord at the graduation door... this always saddened me and I was determined to be different!
Well, this last year and a half or so has definitely been an interesting adventure! It hasn't always been easy, in fact - sometimes just plain miserable! I've had ups & downs along the way and to be honest, I'm just NOW actually starting to feel like I'm getting into a comfortable familiarity. God has definitely continued to work in my life over this time, faithful as He always is... growing me to put my complete trust and satisfaction in Him rather than people, my plans, and life circumstances! I'd like to share some of the ways God has shown His faithfulness to me, because First and Foremost : God truly does deserve our Praises, even when WE think everything is going wrong; and secondly, because I know many of you may have had the same struggle of leaving the "new tribes safe bubble" and learning to live in the real world this past year... I'm there with you and here to encourage you that God is still good :)
God blessed me with a job, literally the day I moved down here... I started out cleaning camp cabins, hotel rooms, and even mansion style condos down here at the lake! It was very good pay, but very hard labor! I only planned on it being a transition job until I could find something with more of a stable schedule, and God answered my prayers in a very timely manner! Within the first month I got hired at a restaurant called Bandana's BBQ as a full-time waitress :) So my first goal on my "To-Do List" was in action... I could now start saving for college and other life expenses! I was able to live in my parents fully finished basement with my sister, which only required me to pay a small amount of rent for electricity and utilities. Other than the monthly fees of phone bills, groceries/toiletries, and car maintnance, I was pretty much free from the bulk of life's financial obligations... so, I decided now was the perfect time to get braces! I had wanted to get them for a while, but couldn't afford them and God opened the perfect opportunity! The orthodontist down here gave me AMAZING deal after amazing deal... if I would have followed through with getting them the year before in Wisconsin when the opportunity arose, I wouldn't have saved the $2,000 +  that I did in getting them when I did! :)  God is so good and perfect in His timing... not only did I save financially, I also only had to have them on 11 months, which was a year and a few months earlier than what the other orthodontists had told me! I feel very, very blessed to see it all work out and thankful that God allowed me to get something I've had my heart set on for years now! As for the college I had my hopes set on since I was 13...God had other plans for me! It was definitely hard letting go of my plans - some by choice, others not - but God knows better and He can see the future when I can't!! Thank goodness for that :) I was put on a waiting list for College of the Ozarks, but because of the economy, even people in close relationship with the advisory couldn't pull strings for me. Since C of O is a work program, its hard to qualify...and usually missionary kids are first pick, but because of the economy's situation with education and finances, they are now targeting missionary kids that have had no other education outside of high school, meaning... 2 years of Bible School made me not qualify! I could take the chance of re-applying in another year, but there would still be no quarantee of me getting accepted and I would have spent another year just working and not getting closer to my goal of future missions... so I decided to still continue my education at a community college here in Osage Beach! God again opened an amazing door for me and I'm so excited to be walking through it! I'm starting up my classes this coming Monday with half of its expenses completely covered by my financial aid! :) God is sooo good and faithful to provide financially... even though work has slowed down now that the summer tourists have left, God is continually challenging me to rest in Him and trust that He's carrying me and working for my best!!
My second goal was getting involved in a solid church here, and God blessed me beyond measure! Calvary Chapel was the first church I tried upon moving here and I was instantly hooked! I had been praying that God would provide me with a church that 1. Have solid doctrine teaching, 2. Some kind of Children's Ministry available, 3. a Women's Bible Study, 4. College group, 5. and preferribly a band that I could enjoy during worship.... I'm happy to say, that morning God matched every single one of those desires! So after attending a few weeks I asked to meet with the pastor and right away he helped me get involved :)  I started out helping with the nursery/toddlers and soon after transferred into team teaching with 2 other girls, a Sunday School class for the 6-8 year olds! The kids in my class have blessed me more than I can even express... not only have I fallen in love with each and every one of them, God has used them to continually challenge and encourage me! Their little minds retain so much and it has really allowed me to put into teaching practice the things I've learned from school :) Not only that, a few months after Christmas the worship leader and pastor approached me about joining the worship team! So after a trial period of practicing, I was officially accepted into the team and that has just been another completely amazing blessing in my life! It has really been a way for me to get to know more people in the church and build some strong relationships with those on the team :) Come November 1st, a few of us from the team are getting the opportunity to go to a Worship Conference with Calvary Chapel in California!! Yay... not only will this be an awesome time to connect and grow with others from Calvary's all over the US involved in worship, but I also get to see my Grandma for two days after the conference! God truly does continue to remind me of all the things He has done, and is still doing in my life!! :)
As for the third goal, actively living out my faith... I won't say that I've been completely consistent! I've gone through droughts and stumbled along a little when it comes to staying faithful at diligently studying God's Word, but I can see how God consistently brings me back to being more hungry for Him and His Holy Scriptures!!! I started up a Bible study a while back with some new believers at my work... I'm leading them through the book of Romans - I know, big task - but it truly has been awesome! We are taking it extremely slow and I can't be more thankful for Ernie's notes to help me along the way, hehe :)  and even though we had to take a short break during the summer since all of our schedules at work seemed to take up all our free time, but each girl was begging me to start it up again and I'm overjoyed to say we finally did now that our schedules are evening out again! I've seen these girls lives be challenged in very real ways, and it blesses my heart to see their desire to know God more and actually be convicted by the way they live, desiring to change for the glory of God!! This study, along with teaching sunday school, as well as other studies & personal reading I am doing in my own time, have helped keep me accountable and growing in my walk! Of course practical life situations are always a key to growth, and God has difenitely used them as well!
So to end this first post... I just want to say Thank You to all! Those friends that have stayed in contact, I've very blessed to have you in my life and know that each one of you has been a huge part in my challenging and growth this past year out of school! For those of you that I didn't keep in very good communication with, I'm so sorry... do forgive me! However, know that I am still very grateful for you, your prayers, and I hope that this can be a way that we will be able to stay in better touch! :)

Welcome...

Thank you so much for coming to check out my site! I'm new to the whole blogging thing, so I ask for your patience in figuring things out :)
I'll be posting updates shortly, on where I've been this last year or so after New Tribes and what things God's been doing in my life...so please come back and read more later!