Here is a long over due update on things that have happened since the wedding. We had asked some people to be praying for some of these and have yet to get back to them but we figure everybody can rejoice with us about these things with us now.
- Safe travels to CO- We had a couple hiccups on the way out here but nothing to change our schedule too bad. We were blessed by the generosity of family and friends through the wedding to have the funds to make the trip as comfortable as possible with good meals, coffee stops, and comfortable hotel rooms for our two nights on the road. When we arrived in CO our friend let us stay her until we fot our feet on the ground and found a place to stay while another friend let us store our things in his apartment until we moved in.
- Getting jobs- We had a little over a week out here to rest up and get settled before I got a full time, salary job with benefits. Soon after that Laura transferred her part time job from back home. This helped the financial cushion and kept us both busy through the day. The week after we moved into our apartment Laura landed a full time job where she was working allowing her to work more and use some of her HR training in her new management position. This past week we found out that Laura is the top performing Leader on Duty in the whole district! We still don't exactly know why we are here but good things are happening so we are continuing to move forward.
- Finding a place to live- We were looking at apartments for the better part of a month. Laura did the majority of the leg work in finding the complexes to look at. After searching and looking at a lot of places that we really weren't excited about we found a small 1BR+1BA apartment on the north side of town. It is the perfect size for us at this point and Laura has done a great job at making it comfortable and very "us" :)
- Finding furniture- While Laura was working part time she was milking Craigslist for all it was worth, and it paid off! Not only were we able to get furniture that is good quality that we really like but after all was said and done we saved roughly 50% compared to buying all of our furniture new. Laura even found the same sofa that she really wanted from the furniture store on Craigslist and we ended up getting the sofa with matching chair and ottoman for about the same cost as the sofa would have been brand new. She's a keeper :)
- Strong marriage- Marriage has been wonderful. We certainly have had times when we've looked at each other and asked "what were we thinking?" but so many things have proved that this is where the Lord has us for this time. We have both been faced with the ugly sides of ourselves at times. In those times the Lord has given us grace to be humble when faced with ourselves and grace to handle the other person with compassion. We have experienced honesty and openess in communication that has made coming together to function as one a beautiful thing. A variety of things have raised their head at different times, but we've learned first hand that those things can either come between you or they can push you together. I am grateful that Laura and I have stayed committed to pulling together and not allowing things to come between us. Functioning as one and not leaving any negative emotion on the table at night have shown how essential those pieces of wisdom are.
- Finding a church- After a long, and often discouraging church hunting experience we finally found a church to settle into. Woodmen Valley Chapel is one of the larger churches in the area but it has everything we have been looking for in a church. They value excellence and do a phenomenal job with their media, classes, communication, teaching and with their worship. They are a contemporary church that steers clear of putting on a concert. Their music is done well enough that is is not distracting but rather engaging and facilitating of worship. AND, on top of it all, the head teaching pastor is committed to the doctrines of grace, something that was very important to both Laura and I as we were looking for a church. So grateful to have a church to call home.
- Finding community- The week after our first visit to Woodmen Valley Chapel they were starting their 3 week Small Group Launch class so we joined in. That class has turned into a wonderful group of young married couples that we are meeting with weekly and has been such a comfort to be able to look for faces at church on Sunday morning and have a list of phone numbers to call if we want to do anything with someone else. We have already been challenged and encouraged by these wonderful people and we are looking forward to growing with them.
Lots of great stuff going on out here. Thanks to everybody who has been praying for us. We just want you to know that so many prayers have been answered already.
