A Much Needed Update

Much has happened in the past month since we last posted a blog. I will do my best to update everyone without writing a complete book.

At the end of September, I (Christina) graduated from my training course for my job. It was a great feeling to graduate and move forward into my career as a social worker. Ben was able to attend the graduation and it was great to have him there. He was a continual support for me through the entire training course. Since graduation my job has taken off and life at work is very busy. Despite the craziness of the job, I love what I do and working with the children and families that I work with. I am learning the job quickly and how to stay organized amongst the chaos.

Ben's job continues to go well. He is quickly approaching the holiday season, which is busy, but he is managing all of his tasks efficiently. On the 16th of November there will be a Children's Ministry Sunday where Ben will be the main speaker. The children will also be apart of the service in the way of singing and skits. This will be Ben's first time preaching during a service along with doing it via translation. He looks forward to sharing about the children's ministry and getting others excited about it as well. Ben has also been working with the co-workers to establish a Mission and Vision for the department that will guide the Ministry. He is very close to having an official statement that the ministry can be driven by.

In the middle of October Ben and I took a mini trip to Virginia for the Columbus Day weekend. We went to see the historical triangle there, which consists of Jamestown, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg. We had a wonderful time on our getaway trip. One of our highlights was that the hotel we were booked to stay at was full so they put us up at a resort and we got our own 2 bedroom condo to stay in instead of a hotel room. The resort was remarkable and helped make the trip extra relaxing. The other highlights were visiting the 3 different historical sites. They were full of great information and had it set up in a way where the people were dressed up to represent the time period and the people were demonstrating the different things that were happening during that time period. It was a fun way to learn history and we would recommend it for anyone. It was a well-needed break for both of us and we were grateful to get away together and to experience history in the way that we did.

At the end of October Ben and I recieved sad news that a friend of ours from our previous church in Oak Park had passed away due to heart problems. We received the news the night before her funeral service and therefore up and left Indiana on the spot to drive to Chicago to be able to say our goodbyes and be apart of the service for her. It was a precious service and one of hope as she had a personal relationship with Christ. We got a chance to spend the day with some of our friends in Chicago, which lifted our spirits and was a nice time for us. We had wanted to go back to visit, but didn't expect to go on those conditions. Nevertheless it was a neat time being among our Chicago friends again.

It's hard to believe, but the Holidays are approaching rapidly and we are doing our best to prepare for them.

Unfortunately we were not able to post any pictures from our most recent endeavors due to a problem with our main computer that houses all of our pictures. We hope to post some pictures in the near future.