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| The front room of Travis and Joy's house where Antioch Community Church will meet until we grow too big. |
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| We can't wait for our first service August 7th at 5pm! |
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Our Church
USCP!
Every other summer AMI holds a church planting conference, alternating between US church plants and international. This year we got to go to USCP since we're technically the staff of Antioch Community Church, Tempe (I say technically because as our church grows, our roles will likely change, but at this point, we're all on staff). What an honor and privilege it was to get to hear from key leaders in this movement. There were four large sessions where there was dynamic worship, powerful intercession, and awesome teachings and two breakout sessions, where we had the opportunity to get into smaller, more intimate groups and talk about specific ministries we're apart of. Andy and I went to the college breakouts because we'll be helping head up the college ministry here in Tempe. We just felt so equipped and envisioned to see the gospel reach this city. Our team is so thankful to God that we got all of this valuable teaching and information a week before we get things started! Praise God.
Another fun part about these conferences is that everyone comes together--there are a lot of lifelong friends in this movement that no longer live near one another because God has scattered us across the country and world. Although we just left Boston a couple months ago, it was SO GREAT to see our dear friends at the conference! A lot (not all) of our close friends back in Boston are on staff at CFCF, so that's a plus :) I didn't get many pictures, but here are the ones I got.
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| worship/ministry time at the conference |
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| getting into the presence of God is so refreshing! |
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| Finally! A good picture of Amy and me. I love this sweet friend of mine. |
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| Great buds, Andy and Seth. So excited for Seth to be a daddy in a few weeks! |
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
An Update in Pictures
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| Going for a swim at the Phillips' pool |
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| Getting some sun! |
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| 4th of July sunset over Tempe Town Lake |
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| That's Sun Devil Stadium in the background (ASU's football field) |
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| Andy and me at the 4th of July festivities |
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| Andy and John |
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| Gracie, Travis, and Ellie celebrating Gracie's 2nd birthday |
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| My favorite little goober |
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| Love those shorts |
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| Love that suit! |
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| Birthday cake I made for her birthday. Swimming pool theme. |
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| Baby Emily aka "Emmy" |
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| Me and the birthday girl |
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| The beautiful Phillips family. Our dear friends. |
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| I love this girl! |
New blog design!
What do you think? I'm still playing around with it, so it might change again.
And I promise a better update in the next couple of days!
Love, Emily
Sunday, July 3, 2011
What we've been up to...
Hi, everyone! Sorry I haven't blogged much since the apartment post. There's nothing too exciting to report, but I'll write anyway :) We've mostly been unpacking and setting the place up. Getting settled. I still haven't hung anything on the walls, though. (That is my least favorite part. I'm not a very confident decorator!) Here are some pics of the place:
We also have a hallway, a guest room, and a back porch not pictured :) I promise to post more pictures when we get the place decorated. Our goal is to use these next two weeks to finish up the "settling in" process as much as we can.
On Sunday July 17th, our Antioch Tempe team is having our first real meeting. We're having a Vision Rally at the Phillips' house, where we'll share the vision for our moving out here and what our church and movement is all about. We'll be inviting any Christian believers we have met or already know out here and will invite anyone to be a part of what we're doing here in Tempe. Then we'll have our first church service (again at the Phillips' home) at the beginning of August. So, in other words, we're getting close to the starting line here, and I want to have the little details taken care of. Andy's been taking care of the car stuff (changing our insurance, getting new registration, etc.), so I'll be the domestic one :)
Another thing we've been doing here at 2525 College Ave is job searching, resume sprucing, and praying! I am still waiting on a nursing job--part time or full time--and Andy is applying to various part time jobs. He has an interview at a tutoring center on wednesday. He's been study up on Trigonometry and Calculus--so funny! He has to take a literacy test in addition to the interview. He'll do great, he's so smart. You can pray that we continue to walk in faith and trust God in the waiting process. We know He will provide. We definitely do not want to be like the Israelites who were brought to the desert, but doubted God's goodness. They ended up wandering in the wilderness for way longer than God had intended because they didn't trust Him. Some ended up getting the blessing, but only after 40 years. Lord, may we continue to be faithful and trust in your GOODNESS! My resume is out at several different places. I'm praying for a specific job at a pediatrician's office. We'll see.
Lastly, I drove to La Quinta, CA with my friend Kristen this weekend. She was going home for several days to work on support raising and talk about our church plant at the church her family goes to. The drive is only about 3-4 hrs (depending on how fast you drive... ), so it was fun to go to another beautiful locale so close by. She grew up in the desert of California, so she is used to this Tempe climate. We had grand plans to visit Disneyland or Universal Studios. Naive us, we thought the tickets would be like $30-50. Um try $80-150!! No way. We ended up sleeping in that day and driving up the mountain to Idyllwild, a cute little mountain town. It was very quaint. Here are some pictures from the weekend.
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| My favorite room! |
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| Still adding my little country touch :) |
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| Lots of great cabinet space. |
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| My goofball :) |
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| The living room. Large enough to host a large college faithgroup. |
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| The guys. (Our friend John lives with us.) |
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| Front door! Yay |
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| The little community pool. Andy and I just took a dip--it's nice! |
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| Guest/John's bathroom. I LOVE this print from Target. |
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| Our room, undecorated. |
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| Our little bathroom. |
On Sunday July 17th, our Antioch Tempe team is having our first real meeting. We're having a Vision Rally at the Phillips' house, where we'll share the vision for our moving out here and what our church and movement is all about. We'll be inviting any Christian believers we have met or already know out here and will invite anyone to be a part of what we're doing here in Tempe. Then we'll have our first church service (again at the Phillips' home) at the beginning of August. So, in other words, we're getting close to the starting line here, and I want to have the little details taken care of. Andy's been taking care of the car stuff (changing our insurance, getting new registration, etc.), so I'll be the domestic one :)
Another thing we've been doing here at 2525 College Ave is job searching, resume sprucing, and praying! I am still waiting on a nursing job--part time or full time--and Andy is applying to various part time jobs. He has an interview at a tutoring center on wednesday. He's been study up on Trigonometry and Calculus--so funny! He has to take a literacy test in addition to the interview. He'll do great, he's so smart. You can pray that we continue to walk in faith and trust God in the waiting process. We know He will provide. We definitely do not want to be like the Israelites who were brought to the desert, but doubted God's goodness. They ended up wandering in the wilderness for way longer than God had intended because they didn't trust Him. Some ended up getting the blessing, but only after 40 years. Lord, may we continue to be faithful and trust in your GOODNESS! My resume is out at several different places. I'm praying for a specific job at a pediatrician's office. We'll see.
Lastly, I drove to La Quinta, CA with my friend Kristen this weekend. She was going home for several days to work on support raising and talk about our church plant at the church her family goes to. The drive is only about 3-4 hrs (depending on how fast you drive... ), so it was fun to go to another beautiful locale so close by. She grew up in the desert of California, so she is used to this Tempe climate. We had grand plans to visit Disneyland or Universal Studios. Naive us, we thought the tickets would be like $30-50. Um try $80-150!! No way. We ended up sleeping in that day and driving up the mountain to Idyllwild, a cute little mountain town. It was very quaint. Here are some pictures from the weekend.
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| This is the view from her front yard! Amazing! |
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| Kristen's childhood home! |
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| Idyllwild, CA |
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| Gorgeous views from the drive down |
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| Sweet friends |
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| My "wish you were here" photo |
Monday, June 27, 2011
Stationery card
Par Avion Moving Announcement
Create custom cards for Valentines Day and Easter at Shutterfly.
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Wednesday, June 22, 2011
He is FAITHFUL!
That has been my heart's cry these past couple of days. Mmm, so true. God is the most faithful, compassionate, kind, powerful, holy One who ever has been or ever will be. I say these things from experiencing their truth afresh this week.
We have been here for 17 days today and still haven't moved into a home, still haven't gotten jobs, and still haven't fully settled here. Boy, did we have different plans. We figured we would get here the night of the fifth, start looking at apartments and homes the next day, I would have my Children's interview on the 8th, we would find a place in three days, I would get the job that week, and we would move in by the 13th. So, today is the 22nd and none of those things have happened! The house hunt was becoming more and more discouraging with each day, but we remained hopeful and continued to trust in God. He had promised us that we would live in a home where we could minister the love of Jesus from and where people would be able to experience his presence. We knew He wanted us to be in a place easily accessible to ASU students. There weren't many options around campus. But we kept looking. We even applied to 3 different places. Different things came up that made us change our mind or pull out. We were particularly needing encouragement this past monday. We had signed a lease on a house that the landlords had promised we could move into "soon". "Soon" turned into July 1st, and that wasn't possible for us. (Our pack rat is due back on June 27th or else we have to pay for an extra month & we're staying with friends but can only stay til friday). So we had to decide what to do.
Andy, John, and I prayed together Sunday night, feeling like we just needed to praise God and give Him the glory.
*Sidenote: We had been staying at the Phillips' home until Sunday, when Joy and their 3 girls and our friend Kristen (also on the Tempe team) arrived home from being in TX for 4 weeks. We relocated to a wonderful Antioch family's home in Paradise Valley, about 20 minutes away. And let me emphasize the paradise part of Paradise Valley. We are staying in the most beautiful and amazing guest home in their back yard. We open our windows and look up towards a beautiful landscape of mountains and blue skies. We have a resort style pool a few steps away. King sized beds with mattresses like a cloud. Ahhhhhh-mazing. We're so thankful for this little retreat! But still, our hearts are longing to be settling into a place in Tempe and getting ourselves ready for life here.
So, we worshipped and prayed that night, and I was just feeling good. I didn't know what would happen, but I knew again that God was in control. He didn't call us here to leave us in the dust. He had a plan. The next morning, Andy felt like God gave him a picture of a piece of half-eaten cake. God said, "I always save the best bite for last." The best bite of course being the very back of the piece of cake where you get lots of frosting :) He didn't know what that really meant in terms of us either looking for a new place or waiting on the current one and hoping we could move in soon. We decided to apply for a different apartment complex, but we had to wait on some paperwork to prove income from CFI in Boston.
There was one last apartment complex we thought we'd take a look at on Tuesday. I honestly asked if I could stay back and just have Andy look at it. I wasn't expecting we'd like it, and I just wanted to wait on the house. To me it was just easier to do that, even if we had to move in late and pay extra for our pack rat. I wasn't super in love with the house, but I felt like I was sacrificing and was happy to do it. As long as we could make it homey and inviting, I was fine with whatever. The kitchen was pretty small and not updated, but I had given up on having a wonderful kitchen the first week of our search. So anyway, Andy wanted me to come look, so I did.
We three stepped into this apartment and immediately felt the peace of God there. He was smiling. We were smiling. I didn't think we wanted to even be in an apartment complex. It was all recently updated, and the kitchen. OMG. I love it. I couldn't have dreamed of a better one. The landlord and all of his family are believers, and he is the nicest guy! He is excited for us to be here planting a church and even knows what that means! To top it off, this is the most affordable place we have looked at and the closest to ASU. GOD IS GOOD! We didn't even expect this. He saved the best for last.
That morning, God led me to recount the promises He had made about coming to Tempe and about where we will live. I feel like these past three weeks have been a true test of faith. I'm learning to trust God and believe what He says like never before. I was reminded of Hebrews 11:1 and meditated on that passage for awhile before we left to look at the apartment. It says,
"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."
He is worth waiting for. He always comes through on His promise, on His word. I learned early on in this process that it is Him I was waiting on; not on an outcome or on a circumstance or on a blessing. He is enough for me. When we get that perspective shift, life is so much more enjoyable. He is patient and kind with us as we journey through life, though. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts throughout this process. We move in this weekend :)
Send us mail!
2525 S. College Ave. #6
Tempe, AZ 85282
We have been here for 17 days today and still haven't moved into a home, still haven't gotten jobs, and still haven't fully settled here. Boy, did we have different plans. We figured we would get here the night of the fifth, start looking at apartments and homes the next day, I would have my Children's interview on the 8th, we would find a place in three days, I would get the job that week, and we would move in by the 13th. So, today is the 22nd and none of those things have happened! The house hunt was becoming more and more discouraging with each day, but we remained hopeful and continued to trust in God. He had promised us that we would live in a home where we could minister the love of Jesus from and where people would be able to experience his presence. We knew He wanted us to be in a place easily accessible to ASU students. There weren't many options around campus. But we kept looking. We even applied to 3 different places. Different things came up that made us change our mind or pull out. We were particularly needing encouragement this past monday. We had signed a lease on a house that the landlords had promised we could move into "soon". "Soon" turned into July 1st, and that wasn't possible for us. (Our pack rat is due back on June 27th or else we have to pay for an extra month & we're staying with friends but can only stay til friday). So we had to decide what to do.
Andy, John, and I prayed together Sunday night, feeling like we just needed to praise God and give Him the glory.
*Sidenote: We had been staying at the Phillips' home until Sunday, when Joy and their 3 girls and our friend Kristen (also on the Tempe team) arrived home from being in TX for 4 weeks. We relocated to a wonderful Antioch family's home in Paradise Valley, about 20 minutes away. And let me emphasize the paradise part of Paradise Valley. We are staying in the most beautiful and amazing guest home in their back yard. We open our windows and look up towards a beautiful landscape of mountains and blue skies. We have a resort style pool a few steps away. King sized beds with mattresses like a cloud. Ahhhhhh-mazing. We're so thankful for this little retreat! But still, our hearts are longing to be settling into a place in Tempe and getting ourselves ready for life here.
So, we worshipped and prayed that night, and I was just feeling good. I didn't know what would happen, but I knew again that God was in control. He didn't call us here to leave us in the dust. He had a plan. The next morning, Andy felt like God gave him a picture of a piece of half-eaten cake. God said, "I always save the best bite for last." The best bite of course being the very back of the piece of cake where you get lots of frosting :) He didn't know what that really meant in terms of us either looking for a new place or waiting on the current one and hoping we could move in soon. We decided to apply for a different apartment complex, but we had to wait on some paperwork to prove income from CFI in Boston.
There was one last apartment complex we thought we'd take a look at on Tuesday. I honestly asked if I could stay back and just have Andy look at it. I wasn't expecting we'd like it, and I just wanted to wait on the house. To me it was just easier to do that, even if we had to move in late and pay extra for our pack rat. I wasn't super in love with the house, but I felt like I was sacrificing and was happy to do it. As long as we could make it homey and inviting, I was fine with whatever. The kitchen was pretty small and not updated, but I had given up on having a wonderful kitchen the first week of our search. So anyway, Andy wanted me to come look, so I did.
We three stepped into this apartment and immediately felt the peace of God there. He was smiling. We were smiling. I didn't think we wanted to even be in an apartment complex. It was all recently updated, and the kitchen. OMG. I love it. I couldn't have dreamed of a better one. The landlord and all of his family are believers, and he is the nicest guy! He is excited for us to be here planting a church and even knows what that means! To top it off, this is the most affordable place we have looked at and the closest to ASU. GOD IS GOOD! We didn't even expect this. He saved the best for last.
That morning, God led me to recount the promises He had made about coming to Tempe and about where we will live. I feel like these past three weeks have been a true test of faith. I'm learning to trust God and believe what He says like never before. I was reminded of Hebrews 11:1 and meditated on that passage for awhile before we left to look at the apartment. It says,
"Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."
He is worth waiting for. He always comes through on His promise, on His word. I learned early on in this process that it is Him I was waiting on; not on an outcome or on a circumstance or on a blessing. He is enough for me. When we get that perspective shift, life is so much more enjoyable. He is patient and kind with us as we journey through life, though. Thank you for your prayers and thoughts throughout this process. We move in this weekend :)
Send us mail!
2525 S. College Ave. #6
Tempe, AZ 85282
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