WEEKEND - Thanksgiving in NY

Since home for us is more than 1,000 miles... we decided to not make that journey for Thanksgiving. But, our friends (J, J, & K Buisch) invited us up for the weekend. Most of Jonny's family turned out for the occasion. Farm chores, games, and eating were the top activities. I also brought along one of the traditions from my family in making candy turkeys. So that was fun to have a part of what my family does come with us to NY.


It was also cool to see baby Kate growing by leaps and bounds, being awake and aware of her surroundings.

We had an awesome time visiting with friends, relaxing, and helping with chores. The weekend went all to fast, but was enjoyed every minute. Other than speanding time with old friends, seen only in a great while, the highlight of the trip was the birth of a calf. They were expecting several calves in durign that general time frame, and we were present for one of them. It was amazing to wonder about God's design in procreation and the continuance of life on earth.

So it was a Thanksgiving to which we have much to thank God for in how he has wonderfully provided above what we ever have think or hope.

Quote - Dr. Charles McLain

It doesn't matter who the audience is. It doesn't matter what the occasion is. What does matter is that God has given us this Word to present for Him. This is what makes the occasion solemn. This is what makes it serious. This is what provides us with the need to study.

- Dr. Charles McLain TH500 Hermeneutics

Quote - Theodore Roosevelt

"There is not in all America a more
dangerous trait than the deification
of mere smartness unaccompanied
by any sense of moral responsibility."

-- President Theodore Roosevelt

Kenyan Proverb

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed...every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death.

It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle...

when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."

- Kenyan Proverb

WEEKEND - Home!

We braved the 18 hour drive up to the Mid-West to visit family a few weekends back. Some might wonder why since its like the middle of the fall with Thanksgiving just a few weeks away. It was actually for my college alumni basketball game. My brother is on the team and I wanted to play with him at least one more time before he's done. He does have another year left... but we really do not know how long or short a time God has purposed for us on this earth... so we took advantage of that moment.

So I was able to play basketball with my brother, which is always fun. It was way to short, and we lost to the college team 94-89. So it was close, and I had 3-point basket for our team in the last minute which brought the score to 89-92. It was a close game, but we fouled they made their shots and time expired. Good hard play all-around. The coolest part is that my college team is very Christ centered, even in athletic activities. So before and after the game we had prayer, and it was good fellowship before, during, and after. After the game my college siblings posed for a picture. I sure do miss them.

Spent some time with the fam... then headed ot Michigan to spend time with all the In-Laws! That fun too... just isn't enough time for everyone.

While we were at Sarah's parent's home the kids had a costume party and we joined in...
we were Preston and Penelope. She was the nose-in-the-book librarian with wrinkly knee-highs. And I was the captian-of-the-chess-club geeky nerd. We had crushes on each other but were kinda embarassed to admit it, openly anyway (most of the time ;)

So it was a whirlwind trip, but it was great to see family, they are greatly missed... yup... life is a lot quieter missing those 17 siblings. But love spans the greatest divides, no matter how far, and thats what we have for all of them.

WEEKEND - N.Y. Trip (Upstate)

We had a free weekend so our friends the Buisch's were on the agenda. They had recently been introduced to their first child, Katherine... so we thought it would be a perfect time to drop in and say hello. It was a beautiful fall drive with all the changing colors of the Appalachian's.

This is their lovely farm home. Jonny and Jess were awesome friends in college, and still are now that life has carried us off into adulthood. It's rather funny to go and visit friends in their homes rather than just traveling down the hall and popping into their dorm rooms.

So the real reason for the trip was to visit the new Buisch baby...! It makes one grasp with gravity the shortness of life, the importance of family, and the joy of gifts that only God can give.

(isn't she cute??? >>>)

So it was an awesome weekend up on the farm. It brought back many good memories of the Midwest farm country which is missed greatly in the culture shock of living in the outer-reaches of Philidelphia. We were able to help with chores... and it was the first time working with dairy farming... which is a good bit of work itself.

So here's proud Ma and Pa... along with good friends who enjoyed every minute of it.

WEEKEND - Philadelphia Orchestra

A couple of weekends ago we were able to travel down to the Kimmel Center and attend the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra. Two other couples from seminary joined us in our venture down into the city. As usually the girls wanted to dress up, and show off their true royal selves, so naturally the men dressed to match our better halves accordingly. It's a little over an hours drive, but we took one wrong turn and ended up heading the wrong way in downtown Philly. It was literally on the other side of the tracks. Being all dressed up to attend this classy event and ending up in the downtown getto area which looked very rough, was needless to say a little unnerving. But after crossing back over the SEPTA line (a.k.a. - "the tracks") we were in the downtown Philly business side of things and everything was contrasted starkly with what we had just experienced. Instead of low-rise, rundown... it became high-rise, ritz.

The concert was phenominal. It was really, really well done. The performers were suburb and the sound carried itself as if alive throughout the whole hall. It was our first concert we have attended together, so we now have some nice cultured dates under our belts in case anyone thought otherwise. Live preformances have something magically about them. The way you can "feel" the music, the way you know that its the "real" thing. All in all... it was a fine evening to spend having a little fun, getting out on the town... and trying to experience the interesting aspects of life out East.

WEEKEND - Gettysburg

What follows are the past few weekends of our traveling adventures.

The first in this series is a trip to Gettysburg, which is about 2.5 hours from where we live. It has been a dream of Sarah's since she was a little girl to go and visit, so... we did. It was really a perfect day, slighty overcast, yet mild weather. We borrowed my friend Dustin's CD guided tour which we listened to in the car and it guided us around the battlefield giving discriptive narrative all along the way at the various points of major happenstance. As well as the a collective overview between those points with interesting background information. The highlight of the trip was that the day we went there were Civil War Re-enactors for both the Union and Confederate sides. We were able to see a great demonstration of some Union infantry show us the techniques used for the musket lines. It was very well done, realistic and loud. Here is a video of the reinactment... it was almost mind-numbing to think that they would line up across from each other and fight like that.

So here we are... on the illustrious battlefield. At the point of Pickett's Charge where they breached the Union lines, and where the this battle's tide was at it's peak and in the final moments of deciding to whom the victory would fall.

All in all, it was a fabulous weekend. And it will always leave a remeberance of the time when our country was once divided and the price that was paid keep it intact to this day.

SEMINARY - Calvary Baptist

This is the real reason we moved half-way across the country, to further our understanding of God in seminary.

Calvary Baptist Church established this seminary as a ministry tool to help teach and train ministers of God's Word. I came in contact with the seminary during on of the church's National Leadership Conference they hold in February. After that I also was a pastoral intern at the church two summers’s ago and was able to take one of the seminary courses through that program. I loved the teaching and how everything was made practical, applicable, and relevant to understanding the whole Bible as a whole in relation the how one would live this life.

So that is why we are here, both Sarah and I are taking courses this semester. She has 6 credits and I have 8. And we trust that God will allow us to us the time effectively so that we can be as adequately prepared as a human can be for His service.

Busch Gardens

The next fun thing we did was go visit our dear brother Ben - who was just completing some army training out near Virginia Beach. We went camping over the weekend and then on Saturday went to explore the famed Busch Gardens! It was totally fun!

It was a great weekend to get away and travel down the coast. Driving to Virginia was about 5 hours from where we are a little north of Philadelphia. The weather was warm but not oppressive, cool yet not cold. Just right one might say. To clarify lest anyone think we're spending willy-nilly (Busch Gardens is quite pricey), Ben found that they offered military discounts (i.e. - free tickets) for those in the Armed Forces so we were all able to visit a place otherwise regulated to those with a large amount of disposable income. Ben enjoyed himself quite thoughly even when we forced him where everyone has always dreamed he would be restrained...

It was quite the multi-cultural experience within the realm of these United States. With different areas of the park dedicated to different countries. We both had varying opinions... but in the end opted to visit them all.

I can honestly say that I've been in England... but didn't have a good chance to find a stero-typical red phone booth... so we both made sure to take the cursitory picture with one since it was handy.

We visited several different countries with various cultures and enjoyed spending time with family when they happened to be half way across the country at the same time...

Ben came just for the Big Band music... but all of us found everything enjoyable.So anyone who wants to come and visit just let know... and we'll have a ton of fun... just ask Ben!

Home Sweet Home...

So... after the move of persons, possessions, and onto different places... WE are finally home. Our home. An interestingly strange new place that neither of us had been anywhere before locationally, emotionally, or relationally.

This post is simply to show all of those interested what the features of this newly created home look like...

So we have the decorated door... the exterior apartment shot (with our blue Jetta in the foreground. Our apt. is the bottom row of windows)

Over here on the right is our living room... nice and homey.

And this is our couch... (and it was FREE!)



Moving on through the house we find the kitchen... which is a little crowded but allows our table to fit perfectly in the space that we do have.

Turning and following our quaint hallway...

... making a slight left we find ourselves in the office which is where all our grad-level, diligent studying happens (well... will happen).

Now if we travel back into the hallway we shall explore the last area of the house... our bedroom. And there you have it... our new home!

A nice home. All we need... just enough room for two, and the occassion company. And close to school, work, and church... so God has been good... and for that we are thankful.

Moving...

So the marriage is underway... the honeymoon over... what's next? The move. We moved to Pennsylvania to begin our pursuit of our graduate degrees. We packed up all my stuff in MN and drove to MI to pick up all of Sarah's stuff that we had accumulated at her parents house. Along the way picked up the moving van and had the Borth kids make sure it was sturdy enough for the long haul. Ensured of it stablity, we loaded it up, said our last goodbye's and headed out on the road to PA!

2 days, 2 nights, and 28 hours on the road... we finally made it safe and sound 7 states later, all the way to PA!

So now we are moved, settled in, and adjusting to live life in the East, enjoying it as it comes... and as God gives in the ways that He deems best.

The Honeymoon...!!!

Well... just in case some of you might have wondered what we did for our honeymoon... we brought a few pictures back to let you have a sneak-peek on our trip to Duluth...

It was a great trip. One in which we took our time relaxing and enjoying the sites, sounds, and sun of a carefree week of life. Completely enjoying the one time of life when responsibility seems to fade away from all thought.

-- SATURDAY --

Was the basic arrival and "Whew! I can't believe we're married!" stuff. We found a cool ski lodge at Spirit Mountian to live in for the week and enjoyed it thoroughly.

-- SUNDAY --

Sleeping in took on a whole new meaning ;), recovering from a very long, full, and happy day from the wedding. Taking time to spend with God instead of trying to find some random church was very much a comfort and a blessing in the first complete day of being married... and comes highly recomended as an awesome experience. So we kept it simple...

-- MONDAY --

Ah... yes, Duluth in the summer... what shall we do? We started off by strolling the lake lock (which we frequently did) and then taking in a movie. But not just any movie, no, this was the Omnimax. We're not talking big screen, we're talking REALLY BIG SCREEN. Thus superman became much larger than life (approximately 300 times larger).

-- TUESDAY --

As we would come to find out, this day was typical of the week, 80-ish and perfect sunny weather. We opted to take in some of the natural habitat and wildlife and visited the Great Lakes Aquarium. Fish are always fun, but they happened to have an exhibit on the Great Abyss and featured a plethora of information on the watery depths. http://www.glaquarium.org

-- WEDNESDAY --

Started out the day with omlette's for breakfast... the only way to start the day! We decided that we were getting the hang of this one activity a day thing... so we attempted two, back-to-back. First we started off with a North Shore Scenic Railroad train ride along Lake Superior, and followed that with a cruise on that same gorgeous body of water, on a perfect day, with the perfect person! And for dinner we finished off the evening with Mark grilling steak out in the fresh, open air.

-- THURSDAY --

We wanted to get out and explore the country... so we took off up the North Shore. If you ever get the chance you should take the trip up the North Shore of Lake Superior. Gooseberry Falls, Two Harbors Lighthouse, and Split Rock Lighthouse were on the agenda for the day. They were ranged from the hiking trails of the falls up and down the river, the pier out of Two Harbors, and the historic scenic information of Split Rock. The day in which we covered the most ground by far, over 100 miles up and back viewing these grand displays of both natural wonder and man's attempt to adapt to the wild, untameable water. After our grand tour of the broad expanse of the North Shore... we went back into Duluth for a fine dinner at the Radisson's revolving resturant and enjoyed quite a unique, once in a lifetime dining experience.

-- FRIDAY --

Wow the week when by so fast! But we loved every minute! We finished the week with both the refinement of high city class culture, as well as the enjoyment of complete bliss in vacationing. It was decided that for the majority of the day we would just leisurely take our time at the beach, enjoying the 90' weather and the cool refreshing water of Lake Superior. And then finished the day, and ultimately the week in style by visiting the Duluth Playhouse for their version of "Once Upon A Mattress"... which was an outstanding preformance.




It brought to a prefect conclusion, a perfect honeymoon... and is entirely the best way to start the (well... most of the time ;) perfect relationship!

-- SATURDAY --

One last part to this story that makes life interesting and keeps one humble happened to us on our way back from the honeymoon. We were traveling down I-35 from Duluth to the cities in no-man's-land Minnesota and were about 2 hours out of Duluth when one of the cars tires blew out and went flat. We had to unload all our travel bags and wedding clothes and dig out the spare. Taking it in stride, we had the tire changed in 10 minutes and then drove on that for the next 100 miles until we made it to Minneapolis where we could find a place that was open that had tires and could change it out for us. What a way to start out... nothing like a little faith in God to keep us focused where we need to be.