EPIK

This is a shot of the cafe down below. At top left is the room where we'll have gaming systems set up for students to come with their friends after school during the week. They can also come early on our Wednesday nights too.

The other half of the lower level (I'm on the balcony) looking towards the front doors. The desk to the left of the doors is guest services where everyone has to register. Adults are not allowed to wander around unless they are a leader or a registered guest. To the right (you can't see it in this pic) is the gym (wood floor), pool tables, and future home of a climbing wall. This is right after they opened the doors for students to come in.

Me, Leah, Carrie, and a 300-seat packed auditorium.

Jon Hohm, youth pastor extraordinaire!

Matthew (my one and only) leading worship. I was so blown away at the energy during worship- it was so tangible! The team did SO GREAT- even memorized their songs so they wouldn't be staring at music stands and have more freedom to worship too.

This is a guest artist/speaker they brought in for opening night. He did GREAT! This is how he ended the night- had really powerful music playing and tied together his message with this powerful visual aide. The message was about the God-shaped hole in each of our hearts, placed there at birth, and how we spend our lives trying to fit things in there that don't fit. Students were given time to visualize the things they've been trying to force into that hole.

He invited students to come forward that identified with his message, prayed over them/with them... then asked them each to walk by the painting and touch the shape they identified with, to serve as a reminder when they left. It's so easy to step outside of a powerful moment like that and forget what you promised yourself and God that you would take care of. Many students commented on how powerful the message was. 5 students came forward, never having had a personal relationship with Christ, wanting one.

When I look back on my life so far, I can recall moments where I've felt God's presence in such a full, tangible way... this will forever be one of those moments I'll remember and cherish that I was able to be apart of. My heart was so full, seeing so many new faces, feeling the excitement of so many students worshiping God together... this is truly a dream realized for so many that have wanted a place where students can really feel they belong (especially those that have never felt they've 'belonged' anywhere).

What an amazing night!!!

Epicenter... OPEN!

Tonight is the first night of youth group in the brand new building.... YEAH! It has been such a long time in the making, that we are all feeling a bit of the Christmas morning anticipation. I had a hard time sitting in my chair at work today- partly because I had a constant flow of sludge out my nostrils, mostly because I'm excited about tonight.

I can't wait to see area students flood this place to worship Jesus!!! I'm going to take some pictures during the service and I'll post them (hopefully) later tonight.

Ode to a Tylenol.

Today at work the flu turned sinus infection, turned into a huge migraine! It was the weirdest thing- it actually started out as a pain in my arm. My left arm was hurting and tingling the whole morning, and then when the migraine appeared, my arm was fine. What is wrong with me!?!

Anyways, it was quite the accomplishment that I made it home without incident. Ever have those moments where you get to a destination, then completely blank out on the whole drive there? Extreme headaches will do that to you. So I get to our apartment building, drag myself up to the 3rd floor, crash on the couch and realize we have no medicine I can take for this migraine/sinus pressure.

Thankfully, 2 hours later Matthew came home with extra strength Tylenol. He also brought me some fall colored roses to cheer me up from this week of nasty sickness, and made supper for us. Awww... Ironically, when he went to 'tuck me in' on the couch there was a HUGE spider on the blanket. *shudder* Even delirious, I was across the room huddled against the wall in .2 seconds!

Now, 4 hours later, my headache is down to a dull pain... hooray! Thank you, commenters, for your encouragement in the last few days. It really blessed my heart... love to you all.

sick.

Sorry for my absense. I just wanted to give a quick explanation why I've been gone. I came down with the flu last Tuesday and have been sick ever since. It's not been a real pleasant week. Thankfully I work for the best, most understanding people ever, and was able to get most of the bug under control by sleeping A LOT. Wednesday I woke up at 8, went back to sleep at 9 (with some help from medicine) woke up at 3pm, then fell asleep for another couple of hours... and still managed to fall asleep that night!

Crazy how our bodies go into hibernation mode when they are trying to heal, isn't it?

Today has been my most productive day this week. I read for a long time, cut/filed our dog's nails and bathed/dryed her, then cleaned the bathroom. My fever is getting to me, though, so I'm off to lie down.

Hope you're all having a great weekend...

Home sweet home.

I have an update on the offer Matthew and I placed on the cute house in Oregon with the little pond in front. The people that put their offer in right before us, finally found financing to back up their offer... and thus, they will be living in 'our house'. I think we'll introduce them to the art of tp-ing when we get out there. Kidding.

Good news, though! We put in an offer on another house. It's a little cozy, but it has a nice size yard for our dog, and it's a little more in our price range.

Bug? Poxer?

This is my my sister's newest baby, Daisy. Although I think this week her name is Mollie. They ended up changing it after finding out the first name was not so original. Our cousins picked the same name for their new puppy... Daisy the Boston Terrier.

I wonder how she'll feel when she grows up to find out she was the product of artificial insemination. I don't think she'll mind with everyone fawning over her. Definitely the cutest mixed breed I've ever seen, although I wonder if they were mistaken and bred a boxer with a gremlin. You should see the way this puppy terrorizes their full-grown black lab!

Oh yes...

Matthew and I had quite a successful intervention session with my nephew Jakey. For some reason he grew to hate having his picture taken. At 4 years old, I can only guess that stems from one too many women saying, "Oh, aren't you just the cutest little thing! Hold still... just one more. Oh shoot the flash didn't go off that time. Wait- GET BACK OVER THERE AND SMILE!"

For the last year or so he HATED the sight of cameras. But last weekend we were there for Zoey's birthday, and the kid was all about the pictures! "Tina, take a picture of me and Maffew." He is quite the adorable, chipmunk cheeked little boy- not quite so obvious in this shot because of the face mashing.

This weekend.

I bought this pendant at the Arts/Crafts Fair yesterday.

That place was insanely exhausting- white tents everywhere!

Even though most of the stuff there was kitch, it was neat to think

about all of the work that went into everything being sold. After

many hours of looking at crocheted pumpkins and potpourri, I was

really excited to find this artist's hand glazed pendants.

Very cool... and only $4 for this one!

Then I came home to this man outside our window.
Why is this so odd?
We live on the 3rd floor of our apartment building.

He spent hours outside our window pounding and scraping. Apparently our building is getting a fresh coat of paint. Our dog, Bertie, was so confused that a man was right outside our window that she didn't even bark at him- just watched. Pretty unusual for a dog that freaks out anytime she hears the slightest noise outside our front door. Pretty unusual to have a strange man making friends with our dog from a 30 foot ladder outside our window.

Friday.

I'm becoming increasingly aware of my accident prone tendencies. With crazy life changes come difficulty to pay attention to something so menial as keeping my body safe. In the last 2 weeks I have received 3 deep tissue bruises. One to my hand playing ultimate frisbee (my entire thumb and palm swelled up and turned black and green... the second happened last weekend and was by far the most painful. I nailed my knee on a minivan door when I was jumping out. I don't know what I hit it on, but I immediately plastered myself against the front entrance of the store my sister and I were going into and declared myself unable to walk. People were staring. Now, nearly a week later, my entire kneecap is dark purple with white chunks. The pain is still there too, so I think the next step is an x-ray to see if I chipped it or something. Oh, and the third bruise happened this morning. I was carrying Officemax supplies into work when one of the bags disintegrated and a giant 3-hole punch fell on my flip-flop clad foot. Not nearly as impressive looking as the kneecap, but the day is still young!

Tomorrow I'm going with a friend to a HUGE event in Little Falls, MN. It is an arts/crafts/flea market, and from what I've heard, it's the biggest in the state! I'm really looking forward to this weekend in general... I think it will be a lot less stressful since I won't be 'going to Ireland in 5 days'. Ireland... sigh...

Tuesday.

Wow, Ireland was terrific! Um... kidding. Because everything happened so close to the departure date, and over a holiday weekend, we couldn't get tickets changed in time (without costing the company nearly the entire profit for the tour). So here I am. A bit disappointed but a little relieved. Being that we put an offer on house #2 a few days ago, this week we will be finding out if we own our first home. I suppose it's good to stay in the country for such occasions.

Hey, we got our interview letter from the government! Only a couple of years late, but we'll take it! This is the meeting where they talk to each of us seperately, asking us all sorts of questions about our marriage, to see if it's legit. I keep picturing this dark room with a metal table and a bright lamp being held over my head by a beady eyed officer:

"In centimeters, how tall is Matthew Shane Brian Cherry?"
Sweat dripping down my cheek, "I... uh...I... I CAN'T REMEMBER!"
"Ma'am, we're going to have to deport your 'husband'. How do you expect us to believe that you are in a committed marriage if you can't recall something so trivial? Oh, and I'm going to have to shave your head because you are such a bad wife. Now get out of my sight!"

My Day.

Here is how my day has gone so far:

-Matthew and I put an offer on House #2. It is technically a back-up offer because someone beat us to the punch. The other people's finances aren't looking good, though, so we have a good shot at it still.

-HUGE crisis at work today. Very stressful and heartwrenching. Being that most everyone I work with (at the tour company) are all immediate family members... things get a bit stressful if there is a family emergency. Where does this leave me, the company graphic designer?

-Unexpectedly leading a 10-day tour to Ireland... in 5 days.