HOLA!!!!

Hola, amigos!

Si, you guessed it!

This summer I will be headed with some of my new Cornerstone family to Tijuana, Mexico to build a house. We will be leaving July 9th and return on the 16th.

Here is a brief description of what we will be doing from our website. "Each summer since 2003, a team of volunteer “builders” from Cornerstone Church enter into the poor neighborhoods of Mexico to construct a house for a family in need there. Our Mexico Mission teams vary from year to year as God calls and raises people to go and live outside our American standard of comfort, to engage in hard labor and touch the lives of people we do not know…but will never forget. The team works under Amor Ministries, a world mission organization that has a strong working relationship with the Mexican authorities to provide access and permission to carry on their ministry there. Our church provides the team, but it also provides the prayer and financial support to the team."

We plan to drive there, and while we are there, we are sleeping in TENTS!

I've heard some whispers of glow stick night, along with a few other fun traditions that Cornerstone has established in their time there.

I am so excited to go not only to be a part of what God is doing with Amor Ministries in Tijuana, but also to get to know those traveling with me from Cornerstone. Please pray for the safety, stamina (I've heard that we will be exhausted each day), and comradery of our team.

Our trip will cost about $500-$700, but we try to raise a portion of that with fundraisers. I would like to ask you if you would considering supporting me on this trip.

One of our fundraisers is an Olympics. I have recruited my faithful and athletic co-worker Dustie, to be my partner for the Olympics. In this fundraiser, we have to hammer as many nails as we can in one minute. We will also cut as many 2X4's as we can in one minute,WITH A SAW WITHOUT ANY KIND OF ENGINE! And we will haul as many buckets of sand as we can for 90 seconds. (These are all things we will be doing in Mexico.)

We are asking people to sponser us per nail, board, and/or bucket. Example: If you sponser us for a dollar per nail, and together we nail 9 in a minute, you would donate $9.

If you are slightly intimidated by Dustie and my possible hammering, sawing, and bucket carrying skills, you can also donate a flat rate to help with the cost of the trip.

We are also doing work days to raise money. If you would be interested in having our team come and do yard work, painting, etc., and giving a donation for our work, our team has several days scheduled that you can pick from. April 16th, May 28th, and June 11th.

Thank-you for considering this ministry for your donation! Keep us in your prayers July 9th-16th!

and we are filled with joy

Today I came home with books that I had ordered for each of my children as a reward for their hard work in school. 

Last week, I met individually with their teachers and heard words like, "hard work, responsibility, kind, and thoughtful" mentioned with their grades. 

I was greeted with whoops of delight as my children were handed their carefully chosen books. Each knew they had a book coming, and the wait and expectancy only added to their joy when being handed the book. After their happy dances were done, they all nestled together on the couch, cuddled in electric blankets, to spend part of the blustery afternoon in content silence reading their new treasures.

K2 has been a place of refuge, adventure, and learning for our family. For 2 years, we have basked in the grace that K2 gently pours out into all who decide to put down roots there. I have grown so much through Dave's humble leading, and our path has become entertwined with others through our common vision. Our family has shared time and space with sweet people who have committed to walking through life together with us even when things are incredibly busy.

Dreams that were carefully placed in our hearts to match our personalities and passions, were carefully laid to rest like a tiny seed for a time, while past hurts were healed and the soil of our hearts was softened and enriched. A theme seemed to resurface during our respite there: "Grace breeds GRACE." Instead of pain where scars lie, compassion was able to surface. 

I recently wrote on my chalkboard wall, "Let our lives be full of both THANKS and GIVING." These simple words reflect life for us right now. I am so incredibly thankful for the time and the people who invested in us while we stumbled through life at K2. Thankful for the ONE who cares more about our hearts than our circumstances. 

And now our time there is done. Now it is our turn to pour out.

Eli accepted a pastor position at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Midvale last week. Some of our closest friends have decided to support us and stirrings inside of them in this next season by moving to Cornerstone too.

Like my children being handed their carefully chosen books, there are moments when we are twirling around doing our happy dance for the adventure ahead of us. The possibility of dreams maturing into sweet smelling blossoms after resting in enriched soil fuels our joy as this new journey begins. I dream of our family finding rest and community through commonality of purpose. 

But in the next moment, a familiar face flits across my mind, and I feel the sting of the loss of relationships that will end after life paths no longer entertwine. Having chosen the life of an adventurer, I know the inevitability of this truth and it is bittersweet before it I even taste it.

If you are one of those, who has loved my family and I for the brief two years we gathered together at a building, thank-you. You will always be part of my FAMILY and will hold a tender place in our hearts. And should the time come, that our lives again intersect, know that I am always excited to know what your own adventure looks like. The valley, the mountaintops, and the in-betweens. 

May GOD bless and keep you in the palm of his hand.

Lindsay