...or rather our first place with our own stuff in it ;)
Here marks the beginning of another chapter in our life together, so we thought we’d write an update on our blog.
First of all we’d like to say thank you Thank You THANK YOU!! To our friends and family for all the awesome functional and fabulous furniture hand-me-downs. Everything fits and looks great in our apartment! We are also thankful for all the moving advice & help, and anniversary well-wishes.
It has been so much fun getting settled in this week. We are finally able to enjoy our dishes and wedding gifts, so thanks again everyone for these generous and thoughtful gifts we’ve been given. It feels almost strange looking around and realizing that this is ours for a while and we get to stay! Moving in, we were relieved to discover that I (Kait) had remembered our space much smaller from my short tour in June. We have a coat closet and a linen cupboard that I didn’t notice the first time and the rooms are generally larger than I remembered. We were afraid storage was going to be a problem, but some of our dorm room solutions and extra closet space make a place for everything we need for now. Although, I am still mourning the temporary separation from most of our photo albums which we left in Iowa for now. We’ve been grocery shopping, thrift furniture hunting and welcoming fellow NWC friends to campus.
In other news Cody has already begun work at Christ Memorial Church helping to overhaul the 20’s & 30’s ministry. I accompanied him to a meeting with some of the leadership to discuss improvement needs and goals. I’ve been welcomed to join since most of the leadership team is comprised of young couples. We’ve already been welcomed to join a small group for Bible study with one of the couples from this team. We are quickly realizing that we will become acquainted with many, MANY people very soon through this ministry at church/work as well as through the seminary. This is pretty intimidating and could use some attention in prayer, as we are very comfortable with the friends we already have and it is difficult to know how to open your heart to so many new people. We have discussed that “friendships” and “ministry” doesn’t necessarily look the same.
I have been employed a few days here and there to babysit for my cousins. We took a walk downtown last Friday and stepped into a few interesting art galleries and a cool clothing store to inquire about job availability. I would like to be able to matte and frame for a studio as a side job and one lady seemed interested. I’ve been printing off resumes and filling out applications for a couple graphic design and receptionist job postings found online. Not many leads yet. The question has been raised whether I might consider subbing as an art teacher, I think that would be fun, but don’t I need some sort of education endorsement?? It is very easy to start getting freaked about the job hunt as we buy our first couple round of groceries, sign our lease, pay deposits and switch insurance! bah! Real life! Other than this one uncertainty, we could not be more pleased with our new circumstance. We are very thankful that we had the time to spend with family over these past months and the opportunity to save up for now. Please pray that we trust in God to provide and that I can be confident in myself and skills to land a job that will support us & be somewhat fulfilling at the same time. Tall order!
Love Always,
~Kait & Cody
check out the pics on facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150287184877789.349869.502812788&l=b495ffd2b9&type=1
On the Journey...
Historic Center of Florence
8.23.2011
2.06.2011
Haiti: Beautiful Land, Beautiful People
It's been hard trying to figure out how to write about our trip to Haiti - it is no small, insignificant experience. I think I, Kait, must start by saying that I never expected to go to Haiti. Not that I didn't want to or refused to, it's just that I never had the opportunity and never pictured myself going, but this January Cody and I found ourselves there. Our whole experience has been hard to process because we barely had a chance to process what we were about to do before we left. Cody's dad was putting this trip together while we were in Italy and asked us if we were interested in joining him and Nancy and several other members of First Reformed in Sioux Center. We prayed about it for a few weeks and thought we sure didn't have much to tie us down, if we were going to keep traveling, now was the time! Since we were in Italy until Christmas we failed to mention to many people that we were planning to go to Haiti and we were only able to make it to one meeting. So seemingly without much thought or planning we took off to another country again!
We went with a group of 14 with a ministry out of Sioux Falls called Mission-Haiti (the dash is essential because there are TONS of missions to Haiti and several variations of that name) a woman named Pam started this ministry in Ti Rivier, "Little River" and she travels back and forth as often as possible, leading teams to help.
It was a long trip to Haiti, including a couple flights that led to a night spent in Florida, then a flight to Port Au Prince where we hopped on the bus that was donated to the mission for a six hour ride to the village where we would be staying. Pretty crazy road conditions... a little frightening at times but we had a great driver.
I wasn't sure what to expect and we didn't know a lot about what we were going to be doing exactly, but I knew that Haiti is among the poorest countries in the world, so I don't know, I must have thought that meant the country was a mud hole or something, so one of my first realizations was that the land was sooo beautiful (once you get past the tragic scenes of Port au Prince) Our village was not much affected by the earthquake and cholera had not been seen there yet. I also think the affect of Pam and the ministry being there was evident. Their way is much simpler, and though it is obvious that the people could use more necessities and things that would make their lives easier, but I have to say we shouldn't "pity" them so much. Who's to say their way is wrong and ours is so much better with all of our possessions and technology? We got to see the way the Haitians live in a simpler world and how they Love God and praise him better than we do with all of our blessings and comforts. Our brothers and sisters in Haiti have amazing hearts and spirits for the Lord and for working hard.
We did several different things for Mission-Haiti, but I have to say this is probably the first "mission" trip I've ever been on, all the rest would have to be called “work” trips. I think we all came to Haiti with our NW Iowa work ethic in gear and expected to do a lot of tangible work and feel the great sense of accomplishment we are accustomed to. So when we found ourselves asked to just “hang out” with the children at the orphanage or the schools or the young men and women that came for youth group every evening, we felt like we could be doing so much more to help. But this was real ministry, I think, for the first time in my life, it was more important to talk to and get to know the people on this trip than to build them something to have. - We did a lot of that too and they have many tangible needs, but there was a sort of still, quiet ministry that was so unlike anything I had ever experienced. There was more of a language barrier in Haiti than we ever had in Italy, so our conversational, relationship-building ministry was so hard and frustrating at times because you want to love them and learn about them but there are too many unfamiliar words getting in your way.
This is something I didn’t much prefer to talk about before our trip to Haiti, but voodoo and the like spiritual forces are something very present in the country and something we had to come in contact with a little bit. We had the opportunity to pray for a young girl Stairlahn (I have no idea how to spell Creole names so I’ll just type it how it sounds) who was demon possessed. And I must say that is the last situation I ever wanted to find myself in, but God gives you the kind of strength you need in order to feel His power over the situation and fills you with Love for the victim and a great desire to free her, at least that is how I felt and I don’t think I’ve ever felt as peaceful about such spiritual things before Haiti. It was hard to tell if we were able to help Stairlahn, nothing “freaky” really happened while we prayed for her and her family, but we will continue to pray that her own faith will bring her freedom very soon.
As far as those hands-on projects we helped with, the mission was nearly finished completing a new preschool buidling which some of our members helped with and did some painting there. Karsyn and I painted big, white sheets to be used as classroom dividers in the one-roomed building. Some members of our group poured cement for sidewalks on the mission property. We sorted a huge donation of several different soccer shirts from the city of Sioux Falls to be handed out at the school so their teams could have uniforms. We went on a couple long and scenic mountain hikes to visit schools, teach VBS-like lessons and hand out sponsor gifts. This meant for some careful and exhausted climbing, but totally worth it for the view of the land and the kids’ smiling faces. Cody even got to ride a "tap-tap" on the way back from one of these hikes. Tap taps are the very colorful vehicles that tend to be filled to over-flowing with passengers using their taxi-like service. I'm sure this was a crazy but exhilerating experience.
It was very easy to become excited about the work that is being done there, as far as short-term missions go, I was more affirmed than I have been on past trips. I felt like I was an essential piece of the puzzle in a working long-term ministry. The mission is progressive, they have many goals: from supplying hundreds of students with school uniforms, to already expanding their mission property to include more room for new ophange buildings. You can see how every donation and group that comes for a week, really helps the mission make steps toward completing these goals and minister to Haiti.
View our pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=280111&id=502812788&l=6049852d96
We went with a group of 14 with a ministry out of Sioux Falls called Mission-Haiti (the dash is essential because there are TONS of missions to Haiti and several variations of that name) a woman named Pam started this ministry in Ti Rivier, "Little River" and she travels back and forth as often as possible, leading teams to help.
It was a long trip to Haiti, including a couple flights that led to a night spent in Florida, then a flight to Port Au Prince where we hopped on the bus that was donated to the mission for a six hour ride to the village where we would be staying. Pretty crazy road conditions... a little frightening at times but we had a great driver.
I wasn't sure what to expect and we didn't know a lot about what we were going to be doing exactly, but I knew that Haiti is among the poorest countries in the world, so I don't know, I must have thought that meant the country was a mud hole or something, so one of my first realizations was that the land was sooo beautiful (once you get past the tragic scenes of Port au Prince) Our village was not much affected by the earthquake and cholera had not been seen there yet. I also think the affect of Pam and the ministry being there was evident. Their way is much simpler, and though it is obvious that the people could use more necessities and things that would make their lives easier, but I have to say we shouldn't "pity" them so much. Who's to say their way is wrong and ours is so much better with all of our possessions and technology? We got to see the way the Haitians live in a simpler world and how they Love God and praise him better than we do with all of our blessings and comforts. Our brothers and sisters in Haiti have amazing hearts and spirits for the Lord and for working hard.
We did several different things for Mission-Haiti, but I have to say this is probably the first "mission" trip I've ever been on, all the rest would have to be called “work” trips. I think we all came to Haiti with our NW Iowa work ethic in gear and expected to do a lot of tangible work and feel the great sense of accomplishment we are accustomed to. So when we found ourselves asked to just “hang out” with the children at the orphanage or the schools or the young men and women that came for youth group every evening, we felt like we could be doing so much more to help. But this was real ministry, I think, for the first time in my life, it was more important to talk to and get to know the people on this trip than to build them something to have. - We did a lot of that too and they have many tangible needs, but there was a sort of still, quiet ministry that was so unlike anything I had ever experienced. There was more of a language barrier in Haiti than we ever had in Italy, so our conversational, relationship-building ministry was so hard and frustrating at times because you want to love them and learn about them but there are too many unfamiliar words getting in your way.
This is something I didn’t much prefer to talk about before our trip to Haiti, but voodoo and the like spiritual forces are something very present in the country and something we had to come in contact with a little bit. We had the opportunity to pray for a young girl Stairlahn (I have no idea how to spell Creole names so I’ll just type it how it sounds) who was demon possessed. And I must say that is the last situation I ever wanted to find myself in, but God gives you the kind of strength you need in order to feel His power over the situation and fills you with Love for the victim and a great desire to free her, at least that is how I felt and I don’t think I’ve ever felt as peaceful about such spiritual things before Haiti. It was hard to tell if we were able to help Stairlahn, nothing “freaky” really happened while we prayed for her and her family, but we will continue to pray that her own faith will bring her freedom very soon.
As far as those hands-on projects we helped with, the mission was nearly finished completing a new preschool buidling which some of our members helped with and did some painting there. Karsyn and I painted big, white sheets to be used as classroom dividers in the one-roomed building. Some members of our group poured cement for sidewalks on the mission property. We sorted a huge donation of several different soccer shirts from the city of Sioux Falls to be handed out at the school so their teams could have uniforms. We went on a couple long and scenic mountain hikes to visit schools, teach VBS-like lessons and hand out sponsor gifts. This meant for some careful and exhausted climbing, but totally worth it for the view of the land and the kids’ smiling faces. Cody even got to ride a "tap-tap" on the way back from one of these hikes. Tap taps are the very colorful vehicles that tend to be filled to over-flowing with passengers using their taxi-like service. I'm sure this was a crazy but exhilerating experience.
It was very easy to become excited about the work that is being done there, as far as short-term missions go, I was more affirmed than I have been on past trips. I felt like I was an essential piece of the puzzle in a working long-term ministry. The mission is progressive, they have many goals: from supplying hundreds of students with school uniforms, to already expanding their mission property to include more room for new ophange buildings. You can see how every donation and group that comes for a week, really helps the mission make steps toward completing these goals and minister to Haiti.
View our pictures at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=280111&id=502812788&l=6049852d96
12.20.2010
Home for Christmas
Hello,
Yes, we're stateside! It didn't look very positive for a while, but we finally ended up in Omaha last night at 10:15 PM, only 24 hours later than we were supposed to arrive. On Friday, Florence saw it's first snow since something like 1985, 4 or 5 inches: tons of fun for the Italians, but terrible for their public transportation. The Florence airport was closed Friday, most of Saturday, and then Sunday again. Luckily, we were scheduled to fly out Saturday at 12:30 PM to Munich, Germany. This turned out to be the only flight leaving Florence all weekend, and Munich turned out to be the only major airport functioning in Europe. However, our troubles began when our flight out was delayed by five hours. We got checked in, very slowly, and they were so frustrated that they didn't bother charging us our over-weight luggage or extra checked luggage fee. We boarded the plane around 5:30, and then waited 2 and a half hours while the plane de-iced and while the visibility increased. Finally, just when we thought they were going to take us off the plane, the pilot announced that it was finally safe to take off. We got into Munich at 10:30, and the Lufthansa service desk gave us all free water, sandwiches, chocolate, and fruit. We slept in the airport that night, woke up at 4:30 AM as soon as one of the check-in desks opened and got on the wait list for the last flight out of Munich to Chicago that afternoon. Then they even booked us on the plane from Chicago to Omaha. All very helpful. More free food, and more friendly reassuring service. (Lufthansa took very good care of us - Europe's passenger rights are different than the US so they are obligated to do a little more to help keep you comfortable. They even offered hotel and cafe vouchers.) Then they told us that there were a couple earlier flights to the States, and that we should talk to United about getting put on that wait list.
That's when Sunday's chaos began. We were placed on the wait list for the 11:30 plane to Washington, D.C.; the man behind the United re-bookings counter, we're pretty sure, was named Jorg, and he told us that the Munich's airport's top priority for the day was to get everyone out and overseas. We waited for that flight, and there wasn't room. "St. Jorg," as we came to call him, told us to remain calm, stay with him, and he would try to get us on the next flight out, 12:30 to Chicago. Again, no luck. St. Jorg told us that our next best bet was one of the five international flights left, at 3:30, and that we should get on one of those wait lists. We knew we were already on the wait list for the 3:30 flight to Chicago, but we had lost a lot of hope about getting on that plane anymore. We arrived at the gate just on time, and we were told to sit and wait until our name was called. Boarding began en masse, and the list of accepted passengers from the wait list starting scrolling; our name wasn't there. Our names weren't even on the wait list. I ran over to the counter to ask if we could get on the wait list again. Instead, she printed us boarding passes. Kait and I wept from relief our whole walk onto the plane. We even got to sit next to each other, thanks to a friendly fellow passenger trading seats. We made our connection to Omaha, got picked up by Matt (brother-in-law) at the airport. We still don't have our luggage, but we are home and comfortable and recovering from all the stress and jet lag.
Thank you so much for your prayers, your concern, and all of your words of comfort and assurance. Such a blessing.
Merry Christmas,
Cody and Kait
Yes, we're stateside! It didn't look very positive for a while, but we finally ended up in Omaha last night at 10:15 PM, only 24 hours later than we were supposed to arrive. On Friday, Florence saw it's first snow since something like 1985, 4 or 5 inches: tons of fun for the Italians, but terrible for their public transportation. The Florence airport was closed Friday, most of Saturday, and then Sunday again. Luckily, we were scheduled to fly out Saturday at 12:30 PM to Munich, Germany. This turned out to be the only flight leaving Florence all weekend, and Munich turned out to be the only major airport functioning in Europe. However, our troubles began when our flight out was delayed by five hours. We got checked in, very slowly, and they were so frustrated that they didn't bother charging us our over-weight luggage or extra checked luggage fee. We boarded the plane around 5:30, and then waited 2 and a half hours while the plane de-iced and while the visibility increased. Finally, just when we thought they were going to take us off the plane, the pilot announced that it was finally safe to take off. We got into Munich at 10:30, and the Lufthansa service desk gave us all free water, sandwiches, chocolate, and fruit. We slept in the airport that night, woke up at 4:30 AM as soon as one of the check-in desks opened and got on the wait list for the last flight out of Munich to Chicago that afternoon. Then they even booked us on the plane from Chicago to Omaha. All very helpful. More free food, and more friendly reassuring service. (Lufthansa took very good care of us - Europe's passenger rights are different than the US so they are obligated to do a little more to help keep you comfortable. They even offered hotel and cafe vouchers.) Then they told us that there were a couple earlier flights to the States, and that we should talk to United about getting put on that wait list.
That's when Sunday's chaos began. We were placed on the wait list for the 11:30 plane to Washington, D.C.; the man behind the United re-bookings counter, we're pretty sure, was named Jorg, and he told us that the Munich's airport's top priority for the day was to get everyone out and overseas. We waited for that flight, and there wasn't room. "St. Jorg," as we came to call him, told us to remain calm, stay with him, and he would try to get us on the next flight out, 12:30 to Chicago. Again, no luck. St. Jorg told us that our next best bet was one of the five international flights left, at 3:30, and that we should get on one of those wait lists. We knew we were already on the wait list for the 3:30 flight to Chicago, but we had lost a lot of hope about getting on that plane anymore. We arrived at the gate just on time, and we were told to sit and wait until our name was called. Boarding began en masse, and the list of accepted passengers from the wait list starting scrolling; our name wasn't there. Our names weren't even on the wait list. I ran over to the counter to ask if we could get on the wait list again. Instead, she printed us boarding passes. Kait and I wept from relief our whole walk onto the plane. We even got to sit next to each other, thanks to a friendly fellow passenger trading seats. We made our connection to Omaha, got picked up by Matt (brother-in-law) at the airport. We still don't have our luggage, but we are home and comfortable and recovering from all the stress and jet lag.
Thank you so much for your prayers, your concern, and all of your words of comfort and assurance. Such a blessing.
Merry Christmas,
Cody and Kait
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