beloved.

I am LOVING this song right now by Kari Jobe. Beautiful lyrics and exactly what I need to hear today!

You're My Beloved

You're My Bride

To sing over you is My delight

Come away with Me My love

You're Beautiful to Me

So beautiful to Me

Under My mercy

Come and wait

Till we are standing face to face

I see no stain on you

My child

You're Beautiful to Me

So Beautiful to Me

I sing over you My song of peace

Cast all your care down at My feet

Come and find your rest in Me

I'll breathe My life inside of you

I'll bear you up on eagle's wings

And hide you in the shadow of My strength

I'll take you to My quiet waters

I'll restore your soul

Come rest in Me and be made whole

You're My beloved

You're My Bride

To sing over you is my delight

Come away with me my love

fall fun!

I can't believe I haven't posted until May! So much has happened since then! Some of our highlights include, celebrating with Keith and Hannah the birth of baby Graham!, fall trip to Edward's, Harry Potter Exhibit, living with 4 girls in volkman apartments at the JU we flew to LA hung out with some of our favorite people (Ryan Poling, Laura Avey, Matt and Andrea Vaudrey) drove to palm desert and watched my childhood friend and neighbor Paige Minor get married!

We had such a busy fall! Craig and I both worked 2 jobs and I also finished up my first semester of Junior year at Judson. Craig got hired at apple!!! and he absolutely LOVES it! I am leaving in January for the Spring semester in England. This blog will be mostly devoted to keeping people updated on my life while I'm away!

Here are some pictures that highlight fall!

Roomies Volkman 209

Meeting the sweet boy!
3 generations!
Momma Karner and her boys!
Love this one! First time Uncle Craig.
Harry Potter Exhibit! Sooo cool!

yummy Edward's goodness!
It was a beautiful fall day!
Downtown date!

beautiful palm desert!

Curlyfries!!

Love it!

We got to spend some time with my favorite family the Haeckers!

Paiger all grown up and getting married! She was a BEAUTIFUL bride!!!
Thank you Matt and Andrea for hosting us! It was a blast!

prague update

Hello friends and family!

I thought I would share a few stories and experiences that really touched my heart while we were in Prague serving the gypsy kids. Craig and I are so thankful and we feel really blessed to have gotten the experience of going to Prague. Thank you to all who supported us financially and through prayers and love. Most of the time in Prague I worked with the kids and Craig did construction work with most of the other guys. There was a lot to do and most of it was heavy lifting and heavy machinery oriented. I did work with them a few days which was really fun! I got to jackhammer and hammer and shovel brick. I can't imagine doing that kind of work everyday. I have a new appreciation for construction workers!

One of the night I went with some of the guys from out team to hang out with high school kids that are involved in Young Life in Prague. It was really cool to meet them and hear what God is doing in their lives. We mostly just hung out and played games. The girls sat and talked. I met a girl my age named Zorka who is studying psychology (same as me!) in the city. Lucky for them they don't have to pay for college! It was such a fun night, but my favorite part was sharing my story at dinner. I realized the impact that our stories have on each other, and I also realized that we don't share them enough! I truly believe that things happen to us so we can share them with each other. Community is so important.

On our last day we walked through the house of hope that we had been working on all week and prayed in each room. It was such an impactful moment for our team! Just to not only work on something all week but then pray for what would happen next. After that we went in the attic, which is mostly finished from Axis working on it throughout the months, we prayed in English and Czech, which was sooo cool! It was powerful to hear the languages blend together in praise to God.

I loved the children. They were full of joy and laughter like all kids are. We played games and danced and sang songs. I loved singing "Open the eyes of my heart Lord" in the community center. We sang in English and then they followed in Czech. What a powerful experience that brought tears to my eyes. It was utterly lovely.

There are soo many stories to tell and I would love to talk about them more. I realized a few things on the trip about myself.

1. I love serving. Serving is truly the best way that I can give back to God.

2. I truly feel God calling me to be a leader. I know he has big plans for my life and I'm excited to see what they are...

3. I love serving and working with Craig. It was soo cool to see our different gifts and build off each other. It helped so much to have him there, because I did get a little homesick, but he was my home away from home.

4. I do not think I will live in Illinois all my life. Although someday I would love to "settle" down in the burbs, I just really don't think that's God's plan for me. Luckily I'm with an amazing guy that supports me no matter what!


Lots of learning and growing! Excited for this next year!

Love,

Mel

Prague.

Craig and I are so excited about the upcoming adventure we will be going on! On May 2, (day after finals for me!) we will embark with a team from Axis to Prague!! We will be staying in a hostel for the trip and working with Craig and Sarah Springer. Just some background, Craig and Sarah started a ministry that we call "House of Hope". They are reaching out to some of the most un-reached people in Prague, the gypsies. I am personally so excited because I have felt really called to care, love and offer hope to people who are hurting and broken in this world, not only as a Christ-follower, but for a profession. We will be hanging out with the gypsy kids and construction to help build the building for Craig and Sarah's ministry. Craig is especially excited about Prague, because of its history! Mostly we are thrilled to be serving together and getting to mature in our faith. One thing we have always wanted and said is important for our relationship is to serve others, and we're so excited for this opportunity! 

Right now we are raising money and are in the beginning process of getting paperwork and passports in. We want to invite you along this process and journey with us and we hope we can share stories that encourage and show God's hand through all of this!

Love,

Melissa & Craig