Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear preceeds the crown we wear. To be a Christian one must take up his cross with all its difficulties and agonizing and tension-packed content, and carry it until that very cross leaves its mark upon us and redeems us to that more excellent way which comes through suffering.

-Martin Luther King Jr.

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the good news you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?

Mark 8: 34-37

I carry this verse in my wallet to remind me of my true purpose, so that when I become blinded by my selfish ambition, I can be reminded that all things I do are from my soul and the Lover of my soul.

Beginning Again

Last Friday Ben, Oliver, and I finally moved into our new house!

We are mostly unpacked and moved in but definitely still have some work to do. This is a time that I am thankful we live simply. We were beyond blessed to have so many friends help s move, we had all of our stuff in the house before 1:30.

House stats:
*about 1,500 sq feet
*2 bedrooms and a bonus room
*3 stories (1st story is a garage)
*townhome
*west-end of Colorado Springs
*little backyard for the pup!

We feel amazingly blessed and are trying to figure out how God wants us to use this house to bless other people. I will post pictures when we are all unpacked and the empty boxes are not littering the living room!

In other news:
>summer is finally here!
>Ben is doing his internship (which means he will graduate soon!)
>going to Texas at the end of the summer
>hoping to blog about "From Ashes to Africa," because I didn't over spring break
>missing my students a little (only a little)