A new season is in the air..I can feel it

I am starting to think that normal is what you make it. Rachel and I joke some times about "when are things or life gonna be back to normal" but I really don't think we have set ourselves up for the typical normal lifestyle, and I think we are really ok with that. But having said that, we do feel that things are settling into a nice rhythm now. All of our roomates were home for the first time together last night! Barrett and Kristin are leaving again for a few more weeks, but its basically like they are here. Job possibilities are starting to come to fruition and we have been connecting with more people at Vox. Yesterday I made a quick list of things that I wanted to focus on this fall so that I had some goals and whatnot, and hopefully come Christmas time I can look back and see if I stuck with any of it. And as dorky as it sounds I am pretty stoked about some football :).... Also a quick side note, I feel very fortunate to have gotten to know my friend Evan for the past few months. He just left for Afghanistan for a few years to follow Jesus and serve. Very few people have effected me in such a short period of time like he has, you can follow his journey on his blog.

I am so blessed, I pray that I realize that everyday and celebrate it in thanks and gratitude, and share it with others.

From South to East

Its been 9 months. Our lease is up and we are moving. We are moving from our way too nice Soco( lingo for South Congress) apt where so much local and non-local activity goes down on a daily basis to a more fitting house, tailored perfectly for Rachel and I and our roomates in a humble neighborhood on the East side of town. We are super excited about this for several reasons. Number one being it is a house, and an amazingly renovated house at that! It has two larger decks, a partially covered one in front and a fully covered one in back. Another reason why we are excited is that we are going to be able to have a large garden and chickens!! Don't know a ton about either yet but can't wait to learn. Also, we are living really close to the faith community that we are apart of called Vox Veniae. It is also really close to Good & Fair Clothing, where we are doing our internship. We have some great neighbors that are old families that have been there for a while and have history that we can take a lot from. We are super close to some great coffee shops and restaurants and right down the street from the University of Texas. I will post more on our house and the garden and chickens and all as we go along, just wanted to get an intro on here about this next chapter in our life.

I hope my updates will become more regular soon

There has been so much going on in mine and Rachel's life over the past month or so, along with all of our apartments lives, that somehow it all kind of happened without me making the time to blog about it. I am aslo getting some new eye glasses so I honestly think that will help my blogging as well, because right now its pretty uncomfortable at times to sit and stare at a computer screen for a decent amount of time.

A quick recap:

Jomara's parent's and brother from Brazil stayed with us/traveled for 3 weeks

Danielle's younger brother Keegan stayed with us for 2 weeks

Justus stayed with us for 2 nights

Totaling 9-10 people in our 3 br 2 b apt for a little while

My parents also came into town for a few nights to visit during this same time but thankfully stayed in a hotel

Rachel and I were in our friends Stephanie and Adam's wedding in Dallas

Rachel and I started working/interning for Good&Fair Clothing

We found a house and start renting on July 1st!!!

God has also been teaching me a whole lot during and after this whole time. Im going through the Old Testament right now and have been learning a ton about the faithfulness of God and the love he has for his people,We are so quick to forget about God and what he has done for us, and God continues to show patience to a people who want to live counter to what the world gives us, to a people who want to follow and worship a one true God but that fail over and over at doing so.

-May faithfulness and love walk before us today

A little oasis in the Heart of Texas

Rachel and I had Tuesday night and all day Wednesday off so we decided, spur of the moment like, to go camping. There is a great state park only about 40 miles west of Austin called Perdernales Falls State Park that we had heard some really good things about so we thought that we would give it a shot. We were absolutely stunned at how beautiful this place was. Wildflowers, butterflies and cold clear river water! It was so peaceful out there the entire time. I love how 24 hours outdoors in a beautiful place like that is all you need, its almost like 24 hours of outdoors equals a week of vacation in real time. So if you are feeling bogged down and drained I highly recommend you take a day and get away and get outside.

To live?

What does it look like?

To truly live in peace and not fear?

To live in peace and not anxiety?

To live in trust and by faith, that God, who cares about the birds of the field, will take care of my basic needs and to be grateful and satisfied if that is all I have?

To let the worries of this day be enough to think about and not consuming my mind with worries to come?

To live in gratitude?

To live in and by Grace?

To live redeemed and restored?

To live the Church?

Funny comic

Found this on another blog and couldn't resist. Hope you enjoy.

Growth comes in unexpected ways

Ive been reading a lot lately about how God meets people in the margins, in the valleys and dark alleys of life. And I have experienced this as truth. The past few weeks have been tough. They have been sad and full of questions. In many ways life just seems difficult as of late. This past weekend Rachel and I were able to go back to Louisiana to a wedding and that trip just completely contrasted our life here is Austin right now. It reminded us how easy and manageable our life used to be when we lived in Louisiana. Needless to say it made us homesick. But that isn't to say that it made us want to drop what we have here and jet back. It allowed us to appreciate what we had, it gave us perspective on why we are here and why we still have a lot more to learn, and a few more things to accomplish and places to go before we head back HOME. We are very blessed with rich friendships, so if you are reading this right now then I am probably referring to you, so thank you for your friendship and place in our lives.