fun on the farm!

photos belong to the Tobias family

Last Saturday we hosted a reunion for our small group. Brian and Julia Tobias, along with their children Hayne and Natalie (4 weeks old!), recently became on Army family! We were so glad to see them again, and to get the chance to all be together.

Photos:
1) Some of the gang venturing into the creek.
2) The Tobias family (minus Hayne).
3) Pete pushing me down our homemade slip-n-slide.

Honestly, I live for these moments... times when we can just soak up the sun and play with good friends and family.

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Hey All!

Pete doesn't know I'm writing this!

Pete has had several opportunities to accomplish a lot of "firsts". Within the past month, he has led a baby dedication, begun leading pre-marital counseling sessions, and has preached his first sermon! Among all of these things, the Lord is developing relationships between us and the community in ways we are in awe of. The Lord is pulling us closer to Himself and growing us in ways we could not have expected. In it all, we are trying desperately to hear the beat of his heart... hoping in His good nature... trusting Him for everything.

If you have 30ish minutes to listen to Pete's first ever sermon, it will be well worth it. You will find the audio at:

www.highlandchristian.com/audio.html

It is under the series "Cultivating Craving" and is entitled "What Motivated Jesus?".


Thank you for involving yourselves in our lives.
Hope you all enjoy a celebratory July 4th weekend.
We're thinking of you!

Kassie

Life is Beautiful

Isn't it though?
I am up unusually early today.
As I was perusing some recent photos detailing market strolls, frisbee golf outings, family gatherings... I was struck with such awesome wonder about how amazingly beautiful life is. I want to just soak it all up.

Thank you Lord for your creation, human creativity, healthy relationships, cloudy days, sunny days, fresh mountain air and your peace that passes all understanding.

church planting

Quick update on the church planting process:

Next Tuesday, May 12th, we will be presenting what the Lord has laid on our hearts with our home church's staff. We will be sharing the vision that we have been wrestling with and have been carefully protecting for some time now. We pray that this resonates soundly with the staff, and that the Lord will prepare all of our hearts for this time. We desire for all of us to be "on the same page" and for there to be unity among us as we go forward. Please join us in this prayer. These relationships are crucial.

Additionally, we will be presenting to a church-planting organization in hopes of receiving financial provision for the church plant. This may be happening within the month. Again, we ask for your prayers: that Pete and I will be one , like-minded and supportive of one another, that we will not compromise the vision the Lord has given, and that if this relationship will be beneficial to the Kingdom of God that both parties will choose to enter it freely and confidently.

Thank you for taking the time to keep up with us... to be "in common" with us.

Kassie

Scout

Scout.

Isn't she pretty?
Almost three weeks ago, we said goodbye to this amazing dog.
Words cannot express how dear she was to us.
God can speak so clearly about Himself through His creation. Scout was no exception. She was our constant, loyal companion and protector.

A few facts about Scout:
Pete rescued her at 8 weeks old.
She was named after the character in To Kill A Mockingbird.
She was half rottweiler, half australian shepherd.
Her growl and bark were very convincing.
Her favorite place to be was at Pete's feet.
She lived with Pete in a Volkswagon Vannigan.
She "came alive" in rivers.
She would freak out when it appeared we were in danger: rock climbing, swimming, slack lining...
She was very perceptive of our emotions.
She was an alpha.
She positioned herself to where she could see both of us at all times.
She saw the country.
She was extremely intelligent.
She turned non-dog lovers into dog lovers!

She was the best dog who has ever lived, and much, much more.


Thank you to all of you who loved her too!

Kassie

Spring

Man, Spring is so amazing! If you live in the south you are like us and are so ready for this completely irregular winter to be over. I was having such a hard time going from 65 degrees to 20 degrees every 4 days.

Life is good for us as usual. We have so little to complain about and such much to be grateful for. I finished finals last weekend and have been trying to catch my breath this week and transition to all the work that has been put on hold. I still have a few things to wrap up with school, mostly busy work stuff. However, I am enjoying the opportunity to switch my brain full speed to church planting stuff. There is so many thoughts, ideas, to-do's that need my attention, and I am excited to jump in. I am also excited to get to hang out with friends again. We have such an awesome community here in Asheville and I feel like my social life has been on hold for about 8 weeks. I have really been missing hanging out with folks and am pumped to start sharing spring in the mountains with good friends.

Kassie is tiered. She has been helping our friends Luke and Misty with their bi-annual children's clothing consignment sale. Basically they do in 3 weeks what most people do in a year and it is exhausting. She also has had some photo work lately which has been nice. Needless to say we have not seen a lot of each other lately and are looking forward to some reconnecting time in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for all the prayers through finals. Pray that I finish strong with some of this busy work and that I can get a lot of things taken care of for the church plant before getting back into more classes.

Hope you have a great Spring weekend!

a breather

The above images were photographed by Pete. The first is of blown glass strategically placed on the frozen river behind our home. The glass was a gift given to Pete from his boss. The second image is a detail from a rusty, abandoned vehicle in a field nearby.

These images represent a brief break from the office. Pete has been diligently diving into writing, studying and memorizing for his classes. In order to "catch his breath", he has directed his efforts to photography for study breaks. Please, please, please pray for him as he faces finals at the end of next week. We would appreciate prayers specifically for mental and physical stamina. We appreciate your partnership with us as we approach our first academic milestone together.

We certainly cannot express it enough... we are thankful for you guys so much. Thank you for your encouragement, prayers and support of every kind.

For now, we are buckling down and faithfully chipping away at the mountain of work ahead!

Kassie