Relaxation, Nature, and Waterfalls

Last weekend Jessi and I were able to get away and enjoy some of the nice weather that we were having.  We went to Cataract Falls which is very special to us (where I proposed almost 3 years ago :) ) and had a picnic lunch, did some hiking, and some relaxing.

Oddly enough, the 23 years that I’ve lived here I had not been here until about two years ago, and was amazed at the beauty of this place.  It truly is a great place just to get away and enjoy nature, and the people that you’re with.

We had a good afternoon and it proved to get away from our normal schedules and clear our minds.

Upper Falls just below the picnic area

Upper Falls with the covered bridge in the background. The bridge is just used for foot traffic now.

Looking downstream from the Upper Falls, just to the left of the picture is where the mill would have been.

If you want to check out some more of the pictures you can click here.

Filed under: Family, Nature , cataract falls, hiking, indiana, Nature, waterfalls

Falling Into Place

So, plans are finally falling into place for our annual anniversary vacation, most likely because I’ve actually started working on them :)  Anyway here is the view from the room that we just booked.

Filed under: Family , anniversary, mackinac island, michigan, vacation

Small Groups

Jessi and I decided a few months ago that we wanted to get involved with a small group.  This was a decision that we made based on a few thoughts:

1. We have been wanting to get to know a smaller group of people, closer than just knowing their name.  We wanted to know the things that were going on in their life and we wanted them to know us.
2. We wanted something that we could do together that would help each of our relationships with God grow.

What we got was a small group led by the Gisel’s, discussing the different love languages and how to apply them to our spouse.  This is definitely what we had been looking for, especially since communication is definitely not one of my strong suits at times.

We’re going through the book “The Five Love Languages” and so far so good, it is prompting discussion, valuable discussion between Jessi and I and we’re learning as well as getting to know quite a few other couples that are in the same stage of life that we are in.

Look for more updates in the coming weeks, I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

Filed under: Family , communication, Faith, Family, languages, Life, love, small groups

Life Journey

Life seems to take us to some interesting places, through some experiences that we may not want to go through, and shows us things that could strike awe in anyone. I used to not know why all of these things happen, but as I get a little bit older I am starting to piece together these things and they are starting to make sense.

Lately I’ve been trying to figure out why I’ve been given the skills and hobbies I have and what I can do with them, other than just using them to give myself entertainment. Right now I am trying to decide where I am going to go with my career. I decided a long time ago that I do not want a career that keeps me from family or engulfs my life so that I can’t do anything else, but I want one that allows me to provide for my family. That’s it, I want my wife to have the ability to stay home with our kids, when we have them, and for us not to have to live from paycheck to paycheck, which I’ve done, and I feel sorry for those who have to do that. I’ve already found out that God will provide for us, through situations that we’ve already encountered, and I know that it is not going to change.

My ultimate goal is to not have a life centered around a career and seeing how much money and stuff that we can accumulate, that does not matter to either of us, but to have a life built that can withstand hard times, and help others who need help.  Recently, we went through a little tough time, we had our previous apartment flooded with a lot of our belongings inside and one of our vehicles being ruined.  It was a lot more stressful than I thought, mainly for the reason that we did not expect having to spend weeks cleaning and going through things.  We could not have gotten through this experience without the kindness of all of our friends and family around us who stepped up and helped when we needed it.  It made us really recognize the caliber of people that we have supporting us.  I want to be that to other people when the need arrives.  I know for sure that the reason that this happened to us is for us to see and respect the other people around us and to fully see the impact that just being there for others can have.  This is what I want for our lives.  I know that it most likely will not happen now, but I can’t help but think about the future, and I’m excited about it.

I truly enjoy my career and I am at an intersection with a lot of possible directions.  I curious to see where this goes.  Stay tuned and thanks for reading!

Filed under: Family, Life , career, Family, journey, Life, skills

Compassion Sponsorship

Hello All, my wife and I are thinking about sponsoring a child through Compassion. We feel that this is a great way to give back a little bit. That being said, this will be our first experience like this and I would love to hear your story, if you have sponsored a child through Compassion. Thanks in advance!

Filed under: Family, Life , compassion, give, helping, sponsorship