Cam and I recently went on an 8 hour road trip to Dayton, OH with our friend
Amy Boelk to attend the New Millennium Conference at the
Dayton Vineyard. We loved the churches motto: "A pretty good church". It was true. We stayed at the
Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Dayton. Here is the view from our room.
I can state with ease that the conference was life changing for all three of us. The teachings were full of wisdom and I felt like I was in God's living presence the entire time we were there. We really couldn't have asked for a more incredible experience.
On Friday morning we were pulling out of the parking ramp downtown and heard what sounded like a cat meowing. We thought at first that the sound was coming from the radio and next that there must have been a cat in the ticket booth at the ramp exit. When the meowing continued I made Amy stop driving even though
Bill Johnson from
Bethel Church in
Redding, CA was teaching that day and we had intentionally left an hour early to get front row seats.
We pooped the hood and looked inside to find a little black kitten on the engine. As soon as I said one word, it jumped back in and hid inside, out of reach! Just then a truck pulled up behind us and ran over to ask for help (more like beg for help, I was so desperate and pathetic they had no choice).
Scott and Kyle did everything they could to help us and truth be told, they were the heroes of the day. They had to jack up the car to get the kitty out, which took about 45 minutes and some prayer out loud - Scott looked at me like I was crazy but within a couple of minutes of telling God He had to do it because we couldn't do it on our own the kitten repositioned so Kyle could get a hold of it.
Yay praying out loud shamelessly and
yay God for answering that prayer!
It very much felt like Satan had thrown a wrench in our plans, we didn't get our front row seats but we did get faith, in both God and humanity. And the cute little black kitty went home with Kyle (the guy above on the right) who lives on a farm :)
So after what we deemed a victorious morning we got to hear Bill Johnson teach twice on Friday. I was even nerdy enough to go up front, dragging Cam with me to get a photo with Bill. It's not the best photo we've ever taken but we were grateful to get one.
An experience like the one we had with incredibly affirming ministry time and amazing teaching after amazing teaching results in a heart for God that just won't ever be the same. We know that our lives have to change too, because we've changed inside and the only thing we are capable of is changing for the better on the outside through our actions.
As we drove home from the conference we laughed and talked about the things stirring in us. We have lots of ideas. Lots of renewed hope in our renewed minds. The work is just beginning, to know how to discern God's presence and His will for us. To be so full of the Holy Spirit that it spills out into our lives over the people surrounding us. That's what a life of faith can look like, and so much more. All of God using all of me. What would that look like?
This next one is a self portrait that Elleh did. I think it is completely gorgeous.
I like the composition of this photo of Cam. I find it really interesting.
I think this is one of my all time favorite photos of my brother-in-law (Elleh's daddy) Larry. I especially like the light.
And how could I resist a silly photo of Miss Adi. Too funny.
Keep it up Elleh. Your artistic photography can truly tell a story through images. I'm quite impressed :)
Once we arrived we learned that they ran out of kolaches (for sale in large quantities) and wouldn't have more available until 3:00 (it was around noon when we got there). Papa was pretty PO'd so he boycotted the 2 kolaches per person limit they had enforced and chose not to get any. Silly Papa. We got our two each and they were goooooood.
Next she went on all the fun blow up carnival attractions. This was a train maze.
Adi was tickled to get a chance to ride a rainbow pony. It was her first pony ride, so sweet!
And here is the beautiful pot of flowers that Papa bought Adi at the Iowa City Farmer's Market. She was so excited, just like her Mama - Adi LOVES flowers :)
So CSA stands for community supported agriculture. Our biggest complaint about our CSA last year was the fact that we had to go to the farmer's market on Wedn evenings to pick it up. I know that doesn't sound like a big deal, but we split our share with three other families and we planned to take turns picking up our share. Somehow the organization of that wasn't as easy as I thought it might be and we missed out on our share several times (I think we all dropped the ball at least once), disappointing when you've already paid for the food and if you miss, you miss. At least our share went to Table to Table, a local organization that feeds those in need.
I can state with ease that the conference was life changing for all three of us. The teachings were full of wisdom and I felt like I was in God's living presence the entire time we were there. We really couldn't have asked for a more incredible experience. 
Scott and Kyle did everything they could to help us and truth be told, they were the heroes of the day. They had to jack up the car to get the kitty out, which took about 45 minutes and some prayer out loud - Scott looked at me like I was crazy but within a couple of minutes of telling God He had to do it because we couldn't do it on our own the kitten repositioned so Kyle could get a hold of it. Yay praying out loud shamelessly and yay God for answering that prayer!
It very much felt like Satan had thrown a wrench in our plans, we didn't get our front row seats but we did get faith, in both God and humanity. And the cute little black kitty went home with Kyle (the guy above on the right) who lives on a farm :)
An experience like the one we had with incredibly affirming ministry time and amazing teaching after amazing teaching results in a heart for God that just won't ever be the same. We know that our lives have to change too, because we've changed inside and the only thing we are capable of is changing for the better on the outside through our actions.
As we drove home from the conference we laughed and talked about the things stirring in us. We have lots of ideas. Lots of renewed hope in our renewed minds. The work is just beginning, to know how to discern God's presence and His will for us. To be so full of the Holy Spirit that it spills out into our lives over the people surrounding us. That's what a life of faith can look like, and so much more. All of God using all of me. What would that look like?
It was a beautiful day and I was glad that I brought along Adi's swim suit. Adi learned how to use the spray hose to fill up a swimming...
Pot! She put water in a stock pot which she was supposed to just stand and splash around in. Adi had much more entertaining ideas than that.
And here's a photo of all the hard work we did in the back yard. Carisa and I also planted lots of annuals in the front garden but I forgot to take pics of those. 
Cam tilled the area to the right and left of the white arch that he and Grandpa Mike installed. Not much planting got done while we were there but it was a really great start to a garden transformation.
