What a Week!

A list from our life this week...

1. We moved into our new place! We now officially have a home, and we love it.
2. God is so sweet! Yesterday we met about 8 hispanic students on campus. Our hearts are bursting!
3. We are officially Colorado residents now, with CO car tags to prove it!
4. We learned that if we cannot live in a 1 bedroom with just the 2 of us- we have too much stuff.
5. 24 Hour Fitness can now call us members! And we got a sweet deal.
6. Austin learned how to thread a sewing machine. Kayla is currently learning how to make curtains. ;)
7.We went to a yoga class at the gym!
8. Kayla is still sore from yoga.
9. We met a few neighbors. Our housemate and his friend are AWESOME. We look forward to opening the leaf of our dining room table and inviting them over.
10. We found a church (we think!). A few things sold us: the teaching is rock solid, the church body is smaller, and mostly-the baby dedication. AMAZING. ;) Ask more if you are interested.
11. Our neighbor is a grad student in music at the campus we work on. He plays the guitar. It's nice to hear from the bathroom.
12. Ellie & Reid, two of our friends here, came over this past week for dinner. Our first house guests!
13. We learned that 52,000 seeds of grass is actually only about 11 cups. (wow!)
14. Biking to campus is great. It costs....0 dollars.
15. Austin got asked, and I quote, "Do you want to pimp?" on campus by a guy who walked up to him yesterday. hilarious. Kayla wishes she were there. Poor guy.
16. ALWAYS check reviews of movies before you watch them (or buy them for $1 at McKays)...anyone seen The Hours? So strange- so awkward at some points. That's what we get for knowing nothing about it.


17. Read Mark 11- Can you imagine what the disciples were thinking when Jesus comes riding into Jerusalem on the colt that was prophesied about for so many generations before? Jesus finally allowed them to SHOUT about the truth of who He is. They expected a King to come and free them from the rule of Rome. To lead them to salvation and destroy their enemies. Little did they know He would do that in quite the opposite way they were expecting. Instead, Jesus walks into the temple. He looks around. Causes no revolt like the people wanted. Again, Jesus does what only He could do. He walks in the temple later and stops all sacrificing, turning over tables. He plans to uproot their idea of the temple. They have made it the way to get to God. Instead, Jesus declares to His disciples soon after, "Have faith in God!" This is the famous verses that we love to craft into our own delight, "if you pray and believe, you can move mountains..." (you get the picture). They had their own agenda, their own understanding of "freedom" and destroying the enemy....Jesus came to show them that freedom could only be won in their hearts, and it was not done by pleasing God in the temple or overthrowing the current physical oppression.
Jesus is greater than the temple. He is their sacrifice. He tells them the temple is meant to be for prayer, not for buying your way into relationship. Jesus had the agenda of the Father. It was quite different than the people were expecting. He, the King they long awaited, was to die to save them from death. A King who died a common and terrible death. And who would rise and give life to those who "Have faith in God!"
Read these verses in a new light. We are praying that our agenda would be moved like mountains...and replaced with Jesus' agenda. It's quite better.  

We love you all! Thanks for reading.

**if you are interested in more of Mark 11, we are studying at our church. Last weeks' talk was on that portion. You can go to parkchurchdenver.org to listen to the talk.

Bigger Picture...

Hey friends & family!

Have you ever stopped and thought about what your community stands for? Let's go even further, what about your city? Have you ever thought about the values of the city in which you live? Is that even something we can see, hear, feel?

Maybe it's because we foresee staying in Denver for quite some time, or because the reason we are moving here is intentional- but I am pursuing hard to understand the values and atmosphere of this city. And I can already sense some things surfacing. Community. Social consciousness. A slower pace. Enjoy the moment.  The believing (in Jesus Christ) community here, from my week-old experience, has a real heart and focus on the city itself. They think first of their city. It's pretty remarkable at first taste. I look forward to getting in deeper into these values and draining them through the filter of the Bible. Denver makes it easy to call home.

It has been a little over a week since we arrived here, and we have so much to share.

This past week, we have spent some time making some new friends at the park over volleyball & running. Another value of the city- ACTIVITY. It seems almost everyone takes advantage of the "playground" around us with exercise, outdoor sports, and adventure. What a blast.

We met with our team leaders, Chad & Emily, for a few hours this week to discuss Destino, our place on the team, etc. What a life-giving conversation. Some things were revealed to me in that discussion, and later on that evening, that would affirm our being in Denver. As our leaders, that spoke some really direct and Spirit-filled words into our lives that I know was meant only for our affirmation and encouragement. We haven't even really done anything yet and they are showering grace upon us! My soul is already on a journey of healing as I am here enjoying the rest that Christ has to offer us in Himself and in the community of his people.

We also had our first staff meeting with parts of the team. It is so good to be a part of the ins and outs of a team again. Listening to the team talk about students and leadership and campus got us so excited to be embarking on Destino in the city!

The more we think about being in relationship with Latino students here in Denver, the more excited we get about starting on campus- but with that comes the overwhelming sense of a HUGE undertaking. We keep our minds focused on the truth that this belongs to God, and He will accomplish great things in His timing and in His way. Let us just continue to say yes!

We go on campus TODAY for the first time. Please join with us in praying that we will gain a heart for the students on Auraria and that we will learn quickly the campus. I believe we will be praying and exploring the campus a bit today. We look forward to sharing with you how it goes!


Love in Jesus,

A&K

Denver is now home. We've made it.

Hey everyone. We apologize for our almost COMPLETE lack of communication since leaving Knoxville, this past Sunday. I (Kayla), of course, left my phone in Knoxville that morning and had to have it shipped to us in Denver. We also haven't had internet until today (except for in the lobby at the hotel- which we didn't see much of). Here is an update on our time so far (the short version; longer version to come):

Sunday we left Knoxville and drove the 13 hours to Fort Worth, TX to stay at Austin's moms and to visit with his dad. Austin drove the Budget rental truck (16 feet...) the WHOLE WAY there. My mom and I shared the task of driving the Subaru, which proved much easier than the truck.

We spent the day on Monday in Fort Worth, showing the city off to my mom. She is such a trooper. We ran her ragged this entire week. She still acts like she's 35, and has the energy to match. She amazes me.

Tuesday morning, we woke up early and set out on the final trek to Colorado. We drove through West Texas (more to come on that), New Mexico, and eventually through the great state that we now call home. We followed the Rockies north through Colorado Springs and then on to Denver. The sun was setting as we were in the middle of the state. It was gorgeous, and I had no idea how to feel. Austin was elated. I was all over the place emotionally. We tried to talk about it...but it really was almost impossible to explain it, even to each other.

For the past 2 days (wednesday and thursday), we ran all over the city looking for a place to live. Although we were totally overwhelmed, the Lord went before us in everything. We learned some parts of the city very quickly, which was exciting and helped in not feeling as shell-shocked. After exhausting ourselves (all three of us, again- my mom is amazing), the Lord graciously provided a duplex house for us to rent. It is in a historically Latino neighborhood but is in sort of a transition to becoming a very eclectic area, very close to the arts distric (yahoo!). It's gorgeous and old. We love it. More to come on that.

We took mom to the airport this morning. We all appeared to do pretty well, all things considered. Of course, we all lost it once we departed. The Lord goes before us into that as well. He is faithful.

All of our things are in the condo that our friends have sold. We'll bum here until we can move into our place at the end of the month. Please pray for our transition here. It will be hard and good, as most God-designed things are. We look forward to sharing this life with you in the best ways we can. We love you all. Thanks for loving and supporting us as we've followed God to this city.

Please pray that students hearts will be open to the gospel here. We just want to be faithful to whom God calls us to serve. Pray for those moments on campus, in our home, on the bus, or wherever, where only God could ordain, anoint, and redeem hearts. Pray for our eyes to be open to them, and our feet to walk by faith into them.

Love you all.

A&K

ps. some gas stations here are called "loafnjugs". weird.  ;)