A new beginning

We have a new apartment! It feels good to finally be in the place that will be 'ours' to call home after the wedding. Bob moved in on Tuesday, thanks to the generous support of some able-bodied friends.

We also drove around town picking up our new couches from their respective previous owners. One of the couches (the sofa-bed, no less) had to come through someone's porch window, which was quite a feat. Bob asked his care team to pray that God would provide some quality used furniture that was not too expensive...and God answered that prayer to a T with the couches! We arranged to buy them last week, and both owners were willing to let us wait a week to pick them up until we could get into the new apartment. Another blessing!

The moving crew

We got all of Bob’s boxes in, and thanks to shower and wedding gifts, already have almost all the essentials for the kitchen! We celebrated having our first meal in the apartment—frozen pizza is not gourmet, but it was still significant.

We had hoped to also pick up our mattress on Tuesday, but there was a mix-up with the store that delayed it. It worked out well though, because getting the couches took longer than anticipated so getting the mattress would have been a challenge. And it was delivered to our house the next day, so Bob only had one night on the floor. We are both excited to have a much better mattress than either of us have been sleeping on previously—Bob has nick-named it ‘heaven’.

testing out the mattress in the store

God is good! We still have lots of boxes to unpack, and other furniture to look for, but we look forward to many of you stopping by sometime!

Retreating with the monks

This week we went to St. Andrews Abbey for 2 days to have some time away to pray and plan for marriage. A bit ironic, perhaps, to go to a monastery for marriage preparation, but the setting was exactly what we needed. The Abbey is in the high desert, just about 1 hour from Pasadena, so it was hot, quiet, and barren. A great place to focus on God.

We planned out our time, since there were several things we wanted to discuss and pray about. We joked on the second day that with the schedule and the sessions, and the plans we were making it felt like a Christian conference...only it was just the two of us! We decided it was so effective though, we might make brochures and recommend the plan to other couples. :)

We took time to discuss and plan what our spiritual life and devotional time together will be like, prayed about our marriage, and even hiked up a nearby mountain path to sit under a desert bush and pray about God's vision for us. It was powerful to see the desert landscape and feel the sand and the heat while we reflected on others like Moses who experienced God's call in the desert.

hiking...

...and by the bush on top of the mountain where we prayed

We even set some personal and couple goals for ourselves, so you can ask us how we're doing in a couple of months! We also attended the morning lauds and evening vespers services which are such a key part of the rhythm of life at the monastery. Despite the fact that it was somewhat challenging to follow the service, it was beautiful to hear the songs and join with them in worship.

We hope to make this short retreat an annual event to seek God's direction and assess where we are at. We highly recommend this, and would be happy to encourage you or point you to some good retreat centers if you want to seize the opportunity too. Or even if you just want to check out the great cacti. :)

The Great Northwest

This month we got to go to Seattle and Portland to visit some friends. The first was Brent Louie and his family in Seattle, a good friend and former house-mate of Bob's. His kids especially enjoyed getting swung around, carried on the shoulders, chased, or scared by Bob. We got to spend the day at the zoo with their family, and got treated to some of Brent's famous delicious dinners. Here is their family:

Then, thanks to the use of Brent's car, we went down to Portland to celebrate the baptism of Timothy, son of Todd and Michelle Olson, also long-time friends of Bob's. There were lots of family and friends there to celebrate this significant event, and we thoroughly enjoyed reconnecting with all the great people.
We went to the Oregon Coast on Monday with Todd, and saw the infamous Haystack Rock--3rd largest Monolith in the world! We waded in the water, found some crabs, got sandy, and soaked in the Oregon beauty of the ocean, the forests, and all the green.
Now...back to the grindstone in Pasadena. :)

God is faithful!

Last week's project was invitations. Fortunately, we determined a week ahead of time that we would invite a few friends over to help us stuff and address them--which meant that we had a deadline! We stayed busy much of the week buying supplies, printing out invitations, photo-copying and cutting at Kinkos, and gathering addresses. Here is Bob deftly using the paper cutter at Kinko's, around 10pm Thursday night:
Despite the late nights, we saw God's provision in the process. Let me count a few of the ways:
1. Kinkos copied a big stack of stuff for us for free.
2. We were able to copy the response cards there, even though they initially doubted it would work with the paper we had.
3. The next morning, while I was doing piece by piece with the paper cutter at Fuller, an employee that knows Bob came an offered to do the whole stack for me on his industrial paper cutter--for free!
4. Four friends were willing to come help us stuff and address, and they stayed and worked even beyond the time we anticipated it would take, so that we got it all done!

Praise the Lord!

In the midst of that busy week, God also provided an apartment for us to live in. Another good story, so if you're interested I'll try to recount it briefly here:

In May, Bob applied for a transfer in Fuller housing to a new apartment (since his roommate will be staying in their current apartment). When he applied, he was 10th on the list. He checked back last week to see what the status was, and he was 19th on the list! He found out that they give priority to new students to try to ensure that everyone has at least some housing, which is why he moved down on the list. Bob called a supervisor in the housing department and explained that he was getting married, so had to get a new apartment. The woman was understanding, and said that there was 1 apartment available that was being considered by some other people. If they turned it down, she would offer it to us. It ended up being taken, but she said another had become available in the complex Bob currently lives in. Bob determined that it was where some friends of ours currently live, so we've both been inside the apartment and felt good about taking it. This means that Bob will have a very short distance to move, and that we will have a few days to move both of our belongings before I leave for IL. God is good!

Trip to Rwanda!

As most of the people reading this would know, Bob and I met in Rwanda. We were both living there, working in separate organizations and doing very different things, but both with the purpose of showing God's love to the people around us and letting them teach us about life and about God. Both of us built significant relationships with people in Rwanda, and are grateful for all they taught us about faith, culture, and community.

Before we even got engaged, we talked about when we might be able to visit Rwanda together. We are planning to go this December for a few weeks while Bob is on Christmas break from school. We are really excited about the chance to visit the Rwandans that we knew and the ministries that we were involved in, and celebrate our marriage with them.

If you would like to contribute towards this trip in lieu of a wedding gift, you are welcome to do so! We appreciate your support, and would appreciate your prayers as well, that God would use us to be an encouragement to many of our friends and colleagues while we are there.