The Pioneers Are Settling!

The effect of freezing fog

Three Sisters Mountains


Noel -- our new dog

Joshua and Sensei Brian

Wow! We're almost all looking at the camera!

Joshua's 1st day at Karate

Chris was laid off from his last position in early March 2009. Ten months later, we are finally about to settle into our new home in a new town in a new state on a new coast. And, we are very excited! At the end of this month, Chris will be flying back to PA to pack up a truck load (one of two...the second will come later) of our belongings and drive across the country. We will be moving from this furnished rental, which has been such a blessing, to our more permanent home on February 1st. The kids are so excited to have their things here, ride their bikes, sleep in their bunkbeds, and I must admit that I am totally excited to sleep on my pillow-top mattress again :)

Chris has thoroughly been enjoying his new job here with Habitat for Humanity. It really is a perfect match with his giftings, skills, personality, etc. We can see God's hands in it all. As we begin to get settled here, we are seeking how God wants us to serve in the community. Right now, we are planning to lead a bible/topical study at our house for those in the Habitat community -- employees, volunteers, homeowners. Please pray for us as we start this in March that God would guide us and that this could be a vehicle for people to know and experience His love at new and deeper levels. Habitat does not broadcast it's Christian foundation, but it was founded as a Christian organization. At each house dedication ceremony, a Bible is given to the family and a prayer is given. So, we are thankful that, while there are a fair share of non-believers who are associated with Habitat, we are able to freely express our faith and demonstrate how God works in our lives without feeling like we will receive criticism from Habitat.

We had a great Christmas, although we have missed being surrounded by all of our family during the holidays. Chris's parents came from Christmas Eve to New Years Eve and we soaked up each wonderful moment with them. We tried to show them around but there was a freezing fog almost the entire time due to a temperature inversion (which creates very cold temps, dense fog/clouds, and beautiful white to form around everything it touches). So, while those beautiful mountains didn't show their faces too much, we still enjoyed driving around and seeing what OR looks like in the fog. :)

We have been attending Bend Church of the Nazarene and are enjoying the chances we get to know our new church family. The kids love being there and there is always lots going on for them. Joshua just started Karate lessons and will be doing that three days per week. And, we signed the three older kids up for swimming lessons, which will begin mid-February. Joshua and I are also in full-swing with homeschooling and he will be reading his first book this week as part of his phonics program. Wow! He's growing up so fast! We also added a new member to our family.....Noel, a 22 month old English Setter. She is very loved and has been a great fit!

Gotta go for now and get those sweet kiddos into bed. :) Love to you all....

The pioneering wagon has made it to the west...

Well, after 3 1/2 months without Daddy and still no contract on our house, we decided to make a way for our family to be together in Oregon for the time being. So, on October 29th our family made a cross country trip via airplane to Bend, Oregon...our new home. We are renting a furnished house that has been very cozy for us so far. The kids are loving their new adventures here...loads of lava in the yard, huge snow covered mountains, buttes to drive up and see all around, lots of hiking trails, campfires right in our yard and best of all -- enjoying all of these things with Daddy once again. We also made it a LONG 7 days without needing medical facilities...and then Joshua got his hand slammed by a door that shut from a gust of wind. This unfortunate thing happened as we were walking into one of the Habitat homes that Chris is working on. So, being that Joshua is left-handed and broke his left hand, we will be holding off on homeschooling until he recovers (the splint comes off in two weeks).

If you're reading this, we ask that you pray that God will bring a buyer for our house in PA very soon so that we can make our move out here permanent. We are trusting and TRYING to be patient!

Grace Sings "Halleluia"

A step at a time...

So, I had planned on updating a bit more by now, but life takes it's unexpected turns that sometimes throw you for a loop. Back on July 12th, as Chris was driving his last leg of the trip out to Oregon, I woke up with what ended up being appendicitis. So, I had emergency surgery that evening (and have since found out that two of the resident doctors are connected in one way or another to my church) that Sunday evening. Over the next two weeks, I scrambled around trying to find 24/7 help with the kids because I wasn't allowed to lift anything over 10 lbs.

As for Chris and OR, he is having a fabulous time and is really enjoying his new job with HFH. It is proving to be a great fit for him and he is really feeling a lot of peace about the move there. It's great to see how God is working in his life and giving him so much direction and confirmation for our family.

I got to go see Chris in OR last week from Sun - Fri, while Chris's mom watched the kids. It was wonderful to spend time with him, meet his coworkers, see where HFH is building homes, take a tour of the Bend Church of the Naz that Chris has been attending, meet the pastor and other staff, float down the Deschutes River on tubes it goes right through town), take walks around lakes and mountains, and narrow down the area of Bend that we hope to find a place to live.

So, I'm now back at home in Harrisburg with the kids. Chris's mom is returning to Connecticut in a couple of weeks and has found a new teaching position. We have thoroughly enjoyed our year having her live here in Harrisburg with us and will miss her lots.

We ask for your prayers specifically for our house to sell SOON! I also begin homeschooling Joshua in kindergarten next month. So, there is lots going on in our little family. Chris loves hearing from his friends & family, so give him a call if you have time.

More soon...

Chris's journey to Oregon...

Chris left today for Oregon after a yummy breakfast at the local diner with our family. It was soooo hard saying goodbye, not knowing when we'll see daddy again. Chris's first leg of the trip took him to Chicago, where he is staying with our sister-in-law's parents. He plans to arrive in Bend, OR on Sunday. I'll keep you posted! Check out the photo of the kids and daddy right before saying goodbye. They all have their Hawaiian shirts on -- a special tradition they have together.

Our story...

It all began 8 years ago when we started dating, got engaged within 2 1/2 months, and definitively felt God's call on our lives that we would someday be serving our community (wherever it was God placed us) together and in a full-time capacity. While we didn't know when or how or where or exactly what it would look like, we knew we needed to be prepared for whenever He called us. To that end, we left the ever so expensive Washington D.C. area in 2006 and moved to Harrisburg, PA (where Angie grew up) to start preparing financially to be ready whenever...paying off debt and not incurring anymore. Chris continued to work in commercial construction management, a profession he has thoroughly enjoyed. His last project was being project manager for the Penn State Cancer Institute. As the economy took a hit and construction projects got postponed and cancelled and as companies started doing major layoffs, Chris was let go on March 13th, 2009. He was the newest employee at his level in the region and, therefore, the first to go. In a whirlwind of events and circumstances happening in our lives as individuals and as a couple and as a family, we felt a strong urge and peace that THIS WAS THE TIME to switch gears and move away from seeking employment with another construction management firm and start looking for places to serve together as a family. This calling was confirmed over and over again in many different ways. As the Lord led us down a curvy path that we couldn't have led ourselves down if we tried, we came to realize that He was setting up a place for Chris to serve with Habitat for Humanity in Bend, OR....using Chris's construction management experience in a capacity that brings hope and life to people struggling to make ends meet. What is really cool is all the potential for us to work together as a couple and family with HFH. We are so excited to see how God will use my calling to work with women and children who are living in desperate situations and to be an agent of healing to their lives as we work with HFH. These are often the very people that HFH serves! And, it is already so evident how God is using the resources and gifts he has provided to Chris to serve with HFH.

Sooo.....Chris is starting this new position on Monday, July 13th, 4 months to the day after he was laid off. Mommy and the kids will stay in PA until we are able to sell the house. We ask for your prayers as we begin this new adventure....for Chris as he enters into a whole new world of work, for our house to sell miraculously quick, and for Angie and the kids as they miss their daddy sooo much and don't know when they'll see him again.

Stay posted for updates and keep in touch with us! The verses that Chris and I have both felt led to during this transition that has been both exciting and scary are from Ephesians 3:14-19 (Msg): "My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us."

We have experienced this great LOVE from our Heavenly Father and His power to do the unthinkable in our lives!