One journey coming to an end, a new journey begins!

There are 7 weeks left to graduation and the time marches quickly! Life in the last semester of Seminary, 4 young girls, homeschooling and planning for our next chapter of life keeps our minds in the moment, yet here and there we dream and think of what is to come. I think Shane can see the light at the end of the tunnel, though it hasn't let up yet. I am seeing how to close out our school year and how much more to try to do. Not to mention the day in and day out instruction, correction and training of our children, home, school, etc...

People ask us all the time, "Where will you go after graduation, what is the plan?" We chuckle and say, the plan is Montana, but we have no idea where, or jobs or homes or anything! It is said that Montana and other areas in the Northwest are actually considered an unreached people group with only 2% evangelical. There is a great need to revitalize churches as well as plant new ones. Since Shane has grown up in this region, he understands what it is like and who the people are. He is a native so to speak. He has also been away and seen and experienced many other ways of life and now seminary too. So it seems he would be an ideal person to minister the gospel in these areas. In addition, we would really like to be near his family to be helpful in the coming years, life out there can be hard if there is any illness or injuries with needing to get wood and managing snow, etc... And lastly, this is an area we would love to live and raise our family. All of this has gone into our plans to go there, but God directs our steps (Prov 16) and we will go where ever He leads us.

We do not have any leads with any churches and pray for a full time pastorate in this region by this summer. Our main concerns right now are how to decide what area to settle in while we wait for the fruition of a call to a church. We don't know what area to go to (ie... a town or city), we need a home to rent, and income to bay bills. It is daunting and overwhelming. We are excited, but also battle with anxiousness a little as there are so many unknowns. However, God has been so faithful in bringing us to seminary and seeing us through seminary that we are confident He is leading us and training us for ministry in His kingdom, we just don't know how or when and what to do in the meantime.

Well, this lets you know a little of what is in our lives right now and how you might join us in prayer for His will to be done and for our faith to grow. I pray this finds each of you well as you read this. We are planning to visit home (California and Cornerstone) the first 2 weeks of June, but are not sure yet how the finances will go. But we need to connect with family, and church family and get some things we have stored there. So we are trusting God to provide a way for this to work. Enjoy the recent pics! (Tess's birthday and family in the woods!) And for our friends and family in cali, we hope to see you soon!

Blessings,
Jess

Christmas Break

The Christmas season is now over. This is always a sad time of year for me. I love the Christmas season, college football is about over, and hunting season is about over. My consolation right now is that I just watched Oregon win the Rose Bowl and am currently watching Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl. I haven’t been able to watch a lot of football this year so it is nice to watch some big games tonight. We also had intermittent snow all day today and that was so very beautiful to watch!

The break has been a busy but good break. I have worked a lot of hours in my job and done a lot of studying. It has been good to have a break from the rigors of classes. The week after finals we went up to a cabin in Brown County Indiana for 2 nights and 3 days. That was a really nice time together. The weather was cold and we enjoyed times around the fireplace. We also went hiking and played a lot of games. The lodge up the road that rented the cabins also had a very large indoor water park which we all enjoyed.

We have been able to hike quite a bit in the last month. It is a great time of year to hike here because the mosquitoes are dead, the poison ivy is dormant, the snakes are sleeping, and the heat is gone. So far, it has been unusually warm also with temperatures getting as high as the sixties, but mostly staying in the mid fifties.

Christmas was a nice time for us this year. It was weird because it was the first time in which we did not spend at least part of the Christmas season with family. Yet, it was nice to be together even though we missed family.

Now, we are exactly halfway through the winter break. However, for me, the break is mostly over! I start a two week class tomorrow on the doctrine of the church taught by Mark Dever. I am looking forward to the class and the reading for the class has been really good. It has helped solidify some questions in my mind regarding the nature and function of the church.

Jess and the girls are doing well. Kate just finished reading Jane Austin’s Pride & Prejudice. She is a reading machine. Rose is really growing up as a little girl. She is becoming much more articulate and playful. Little Tess is just as spunky as ever. She almost always has a twinkle in her eye and is trying to make us laugh. She often comes up and says something goofy to make us laugh. Beth is nearing a year old now. That seems hard to believe. Her top front tooth came in forked so that is weird. It makes her grin really goofy and she grins a lot! So far, she reminds us of a cross between Kate and Rose. She is determined and persistent, yet when she gets fussy, she can fuss with the best of them!

The below pictures are the story in photos of the last month. Enjoy!




















Jess and the girls in front of a really cool tree we found on our hike this past Saturday.




















Tess has developed a great love for Minnie stuff! She got her first Minnie from my uncle Chris last year and has grown to really enjoy her!














The girls love to play with their stick horses and pretend they are either wealthy show jumpers or cowgirls. We got them some cowgirl hats and bandanas for Christmas and they wear them all the time!
















One of our traditions here is watching jets around Christmas. With Louisville being the UPS hub in the US, the airport gets quite busy the week of Christmas! These Jumbo Jets are chartered by UPS. They are fun to watch!














All of the pictures below are from our cabin trip.














This is the aquatic center at the lodge in Brown County State Park. It is really nice!














Rose coming down the slide!














We went on a night adventure hike. It was fun and cold!














Playing games in front of the fire at the cabin we rented.















The girls as we are leaving for our hike from the lodge.

This is the cabin we stayed in

Nearing the End

It has been so long since I have posted a blog, many of you have probably forgotten we even have one! I checked the date of the last post and I am not really sure how that much time slipped by in between posts. Well, sort of… This has been the most challenging semester so far and the last three months have been the busiest I have ever been. The combination of a full load at school that included Hebrew, working 20 hours a week, and serving at our church during a season without a pastor proved to be very time consuming! Not to mention being sure to spend quality time with Jess and the girls! Needless to say, when I turned in my last final exam on Friday afternoon, a great sense of joy and gratitude came over me as the Lord brought us through yet another semester! Now, I have five classes left to take to graduate with my Mdiv. I will take one this winter and four in the Spring to finish.

Despite a very busy season of life, we are doing well. The Lord has provided strength and mercy every step of the way. Our family outings were much more limited this semester than they have been in the past, but we still were able to make some great memories. We were able to go camping for three days during our fall break. We were able to once again experience the incredible colors of a Kentucky fall. The colors came late this year, but were stunning once again. One can only marvel at a God so gracious as to give us such beauty for us to enjoy. We were able to do several hikes in the surrounding state parks, including some picnic dinners. We were able to go watch the National Horse Jumping Competition in Lexington with the girls. I took Kate bow hunting for the first time. We were also blessed to have Ed and Sherie (Jess’ parents) come out and spend a few days with us. In fact, we were so grateful that Jess got the flu the night they flew in and we made sure it spread through almost everyone before they left!

Now we are settling in to enjoy the Christmas season and some relaxing time together as a family. We are going away next week to a cabin in Indiana for a few days. We have been looking forward to that for several months now. Our little house is cozy with our Christmas tree and decorations so that has been enjoyable. We are looking forward to snow and colder weather also.

As we begin to look to the future and pray for what God would have for us, we would welcome your prayers for us. It is hard to believe there is only a semester left until graduation. It seems like we just pulled in and unpacked the truck!

I have posted some pictures below of the past couple of months. Lord willing, either Jess or I will try to keep our blog a little more current from now on! May the Lord richly bless you as we near the time in which we celebrate the coming of Christ to rescue us from our sin and restore us into a living relationship with God our Father!

Blessings,
Shane

The girls with their new stick horses on a recent hike. An early Christmas present from Papa and Nana!

Hiking out at our favorite forest; Bernheim Forest.

Jess and the girls in front of the Christmas tree on Jess' birthday.

This photo was taken at Fort Harrod. It is a rebuilt fort from the first settlement in Kentucky, dating back to 1774. They have it set up as it would have been then and it is fascinating!

Tess has been collecting a zoo from Christmas presents over the past two years. She had them all set up in her bed with her!

I was blessed to be able to take Kate bow hunting for the first time. We saw deer but not close enough to shoot! Last season I was able to hunt quite a bit. This season I have only been out twice.

Kate caught a huge Praying Mantis in our yard this fall. She made a cage for it and named it Katie. She said it was a girl. Not sure how she knew that. Katie ate very large crickets caught in our basement and she slowly ate them alive. Pretty gross. Unfortunately, Katie only made it about two weeks.

Jess, Beth, and Tess on our camping trip in October.

The girls playing with fire on our camping trip. One of their favorite things to do! What kind of a dad.....?

Summer is Over (Praise God from Whom ALL Blessings Flow!)

Summer is over and fall is upon us. Despite the fact that Louisville set a record high yesterday of 102, we know the heat is about to break. It is supposed to be in the 70's tomorrow! Summers here are hard because the heat is very oppressive. July was especially bad this year. Fall is beautiful though and we are excited for the coming new season. I am also excited because football has begun and hunting season is about to begin. It does make me miss coaching football!

I am now three weeks into my final year. It is hard to believe three weeks have already passed of the semester. Counting this semester, I have 9 classes left. After this semester, I will have 5. The plan is to take one in the winter and 4 in the spring. Lord willing, I should graduate in May. This semester I am taking Systematic Theology I, Preaching Practicum, Christian Ethics, and Hebrew. It is a full load but the classes are really good. Hebrew is the class I have been the most scared of since coming to seminary so it is good to be getting a start on it! So far it is okay.

Jess and I went away for three days at the end of July to celebrate our 13th anniversary. It was a great time of relaxation and rest. It was also much needed as this summer has been incredibly busy. We went to Lexington and spent some time in the horse capitol of the world. One of the things we did was go visit the Kentucky horse park, the home of the World Equestrian Games. Put simply; it is the dadgum fanciest place for horses I ever did see!

The girls have started school here at home and they are doing well. Kate has started reading up a storm. She is reading regular books now and reading them quickly. On her own, she is reading through the Bible and in a few weeks is half way through Exodus. Rose is now writing the alphabet in cursive and at the beginning stages of reading.

Tess is riding a bike with training wheels now and Rose is riding her new bike like a pro. Beth has started eating solid food and she is now crawling. That has introduced a whole new facet to life!

Next Saturday, Jess and I are running a 5K on the campus of Southern Seminary to raise money for missions. I have already called the paramedics and they will be standing by. My prayer and hope is to cross the finish line and to beat someone. I know....lofty goals, but I am feeling optimistic!

Well, I better go. Enjoy the pictures!

Blessings,
Shane

Tess has started Cubbies now at Awana and she is very excited about it! She earned her vest last week and was beaming!

Beth eating her first solid food!

We had a cooler day at the end of August and went out hiking at one of our favorite places. This is the trip we learned about chiggers. Poor little Tess had over 20 of them on her when we got home. They are like tiny little ticks that suck blood. Not exactly one of my favorite creatures!

Beth is growing up so quickly! She is a very jovial and happy little one. She is a big smiler and enjoys life.

On July 31st, it was 95 degrees and we were tired of being holed up in the house because of the heat. So, we decided to brave the heat and went down to Bernheim Forest. They have a great bike trail down there. Jess and I rollerbladed and the girls rode their bikes. It was a fun day and all slept good that night!

Jess at the main arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. There are multiple arenas there, but this is the main grandstage one. There was a national event going on while we there so that was fun to get to watch some of it.

Near the end of July, we met my uncle Chris, my aunt Lynnie, and Grandma Sander in a little town in Indiana called Nashville. It was fun to spend time with them.

Tess does really well with little Beth and she enjoys holding her.