ok, so my world is completely upside down from the last time i posted. the wedding that we were planning for in may was wonderful and we have now been married for more than 6 months. i began PA school at UNT Health Science Center. and i am still loving life. i will attempt to update pictures to help share the story.

plans underway

... and the plans begin. what a fun adventure! Matt and I are getting married on July 19. wow. i don't think i could be more excited. one of our first stops for planning was over at the Lays'. Jeff and Jenny have been a wonderful example to us. they have been mentors in my life for years and have now come alongside me and Matt. we are privileged to have them both do our premarrital counseling and Jeff to marry us. how sweet is it to have a model couple to love us as we figure out how to love each other.
and by the way, i bet they hate this picture. so, sorry, guys. but that night was fun. before we started making any wedding plans, we needed to make sure Jeff would be available. we made cakes and iced them asking him to marry us and her to "photo us".
they both said yes :).

ps. we have a site that we'll update for wedding-specific plans and such.
http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/view/co_main.aspx?coupleid=6855442142187031&MsdVisit=1

later this week all the registry info will be current

beginning our happily ever after...

well... i went to the forge to prepare for a lifetime of ministry. i'm now getting to see what a bit of that lifetime will look like. i'm going to be a wife! Matt proposed this last thursday. i was shocked but thrilled out of my mind! i don't have time for the whole story now, i'll add a link to our webpage soon so you can get all the details... but just know that i couldn't have dreamed up anything better.

NOLA

annual mission trip. this year we chose to go to new orleans. the whole trip is planned, organized, and facilitated by us, the students. it was a wonderful experience. i will, just like with Israel, refer you to Matt's blog (www.lantzfam.blogspot.com). his descriptions will be better than mine b/c he updates during the trip.

for now i'll summarize the trip through pictures. or van,
affectionately called "the Teal Dumpster", has no more of our affection. it broke down multiple times. it wound up actually just being funny when we eventually had to push it back to the church one afternoon. don't worry... it made it all the way home after some mechanical genius from a couple of the guys.

this precious little boy may have been the most impactful part of my trip. he is standing against a fence painted with voodoo art.
his mother routinely takes him to the voodoo temple. he is a normal, sweet little boy who enjoys his starbursts and his Chuck Taylors... and he's living in saturation of lies. evil is all around us, but this little boy, Falon, gave me a face to see how real it is.

finally, is a shot from our worksite. we helped reconstruct some of a deaf church damaged by Katrina. my main job was working with the drywall... never thought i'd say that.

practicing excellence

there are lots of pictures for this one, b/c they're just fun. one of my dear friends, Jesse, hosted a formal dinner last night. he recently a book about the art of dining and has wanted to practice his new skill. we were glad to help him out. he served a 5 course meal. the china was beautiful, the table elegant, and the food was wonderful. the gentlemen stood when ladies left or came to the table, etiquite was explored/corrected, and matt and i of course took the chance to take pictures with the large pine cone.

it was such a treat to allow him to teach us what he has learned and to see him be an expert with something he enjoys so much. it seems random to want to serve and dine with excellence, but we are called to work with all of our heart (col 3:23). jesse is inspiring me to want to be excellent at many things that i'm simply interested in. if you care about something, why not do it well? how about: photography (which i'm already working on), cooking, maybe piano or tea parties... the sky is the limit.

jazzercise

7:00 am on week days: P2. the 2 Ps are Prayer and Physical training. as a discipline we start each day by working out together. yes, that's good for our bodies, but we're also learning to pray during the routine of life. by intentionally focusing on prayer while working out we're training ourselves to commit our thoughts to the Lord and think about things that are true, excellent, praiseworthy. how amazing is it to actually dwell in the privilege of communing with the Creator of the universe!

horsey day

this semester we each get the chance to lead a week. when cecily was in charge she opened the opportunity for us to help the wranglers for a morning. after helping with the horses we were able to play like campers and ride. what a treat!

back from israel!!!

i don't think i can adequately express the beauty of the last 10 days. we had the opportunity to tour israel, being shepherded by a wonderful teacher. i want to post more later, but in the mean time check out lantzfam.blogspot.com. our director posted while we were away :)

non-superbowl superbowl

imagine a picture of me and rachel eating the remains of fresh brownie batter with a background of chips, queso, chili, and friends. that's just a sample of the party we threw on sunday night... a non-superbowl superbowl party.

in the covenant that the 14 of us decided upon at the beginning of the program we chose to abstain from many things. for the purpose of community, discipline, and being good stewards of our time we are not watching TV while we are at the Forge. this includes national championships, the new season of Lost, and the Superbowl.

bummer. well, we decided to make the best of it and throw our own party. if the rest of the country is getting together and enjoying parties, why shouldn't we?! so we did. it had all the trappings of a normal superbowl party. just subtract the TV and add boardgames. it was worth it to spend the quality time with each other.

... so, i'm sorry to say i don't have the picture with me for the update. if i were to wait until i get the picture it might be a while, so a post without a picture is better than none at all... :)

caroling in january

well, we're back from the break and it's been really good to all be together again. it's amazing how close you can get to 13 other people and miss being with each other all the time. we're also realizing how much we still have to learn about each other... we still have a long way to grow in areas of truly loving and trusting. we're all good at doing things on our own and not allowing ourselves to be vulnerable enough to need help. i'm definitely at the top of that list.

it's neat to see little moments when priorities line up. one night we were all finishing up papers that were due the next day. so much of me wanted to kick into task mode and not leave time for the people around me. it took a quick self-check to realize that the paper would still get done well even if i took the chance to play with my girls. we set out on a mission to bless the guys.

thanks to jane and her endless supply of winter accessories we had fun bundling up. with hot chocolate and pop corn in hand we set off to the house next door singing "we wish you a happy paper."

the little break was worth it. it's so good for me to remember that the work i do is not for the approval of my teachers, but for my benefit that ultimately equips me to have a positive impact on the kingdom of God. how privileged am i to have these opportunities!

Home for the Holidays

Time with family is precious. Thanksgiving was the last time we got to spend together in the house that I grew up in. After living in one place for 19 years it was good to have one final holiday together. Christmas came and it was really fun to be welcomed by a beautiful new (old) home. It does seem like home despite all of the boxes, but it’s a fun new chapter and I’m glad to see that it’s a good fit for my parents. The whole break is relatively long, but I’m excited to have the time to catch up on many different things both at home and in Tyler.

Quality Time

Classes, speakers, projects, papers, reading… we do a lot. We do a whole lot. In all of that, we are learning more than I realize. I have learned to cherish the down time where we just get to be with each other. It’s really sweet to simply appreciate life over a cup of coffee and process all that the Lord is doing.

Happy Thankmas!

Annual Pine Cove Thanksgiving/Christmas party: come wearing the tackiest holiday attire you can find. I think Matt’s woman’s sweater represents quite well. I'm one lucky girl. This is just one of the many wonderfully ridiculous things that happen regularly around here. Although the Forgies are not actually employed here at Pine Cove, the staff welcome us and allow us to enjoy their community. Life is good… and perhaps it’s even better when wearing Grandma’s sweaters.

Covenant

A forge is an environment that helps facilitate change. The specific desired result in my current forging environment is to develop leaders for a lifetime of ministry. As a group we get to help shape our experience so we may grow as much as possible. One of the ways we are able to enhance or time here is by creating a covenant together. Our covenant is the set of ground rules that we mutually decide to live by. We are asked to define how we will relate as a group to a number of different things like media, curfews, etc. We agree upon our own freedoms and restrictions for the eight months we are in this program so we can learn and grow as much as possible.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1-2)

Understanding the gravity of a commitment we have the opportunity to ratify our covenant. We each took time to confess the parts of our lives that make it hard for us to wholly commit to this program and this community. Our ratification resembled the commitment made between Abraham and God in Genesis 15. We then had communion, recognizing that any covenant we could make pales in comparison to the New Covenant from God in Jesus Christ. We need the perfect sacrifice of Christ to allow us to live in community with our God.

Conferences

What a joy! As part of the program we get to work weekend conferences for the camp. This allows them to have extra help while also giving us opportunities to put into practice all that we are learning. Conferences are like a mini version of camp- condensed into a weekend. Some weekends are for parent-kid combinations (father-son, mother-daughter…). There are also kids’ conferences that are structured very similarly to summer camp. Children’s groups bring kids and their own leaders serve as counselors. We help in whatever way is needed. This last semester I cleaned, served food, lifeguarded, ran the ropes course, and helped with the skits. Sorry, but I have no pictures of the skits. ☺ Although the ministry that we get to be involved with is specific to camps, we are learning so much more than camp skills. We have the privilege of developing relationships with staff and guests while focused intently on loving them purposefully. Ministry doesn’t stop when things are busy, so during these conferences we are quite busy. We work hard, and are training ourselves to find opportunities to minister in the middle of it all. One day I probably won’t be in a ministry atmosphere but will still have ministry as my priority in the secular world. Understanding how to manage relationships and tasks all at the same time is a wonderful responsibility and privilege.
Each Forgie is assigned a camp to work at for each semester (there was actually a big draft where they picked us… but that’s a whole other story). It’s really fun b/c I was able to work at Towers where I have been on summer staff since 2003. The picture here is with some girls that I have been able to keep up with for years. They are returning campers for conferences and during the summer. I’ve been at this particular conference for the last 5 years and every time they have come. It’s been really fun to see how consistency from ministry can really impact a person’s life. That’s why I’m here- to see how beautiful it is and continue on with that kind of impact for the rest of my life.

time to play

another surprise came in the form of an afternoon off to hike a mountain together. i don't think it could have been much more perfect. it was a beautiful day, breezy and quiet. we were able to just sit and relax and have some covetted time alone... oh yeah, and we'll take any excuse for a photo op.

our first adventure

well, a lot of what we are doing this year comes as a surprise. for the benefit of any readers that might apply to the forge, i will continue to be cryptic so that these things will be a surprise for you, as well. our first major adventure began with us knowing what to pack and when to show up at the vans... that was all. then we loaded up in the vans and drove for 13 hours. we got to our destination and went straight to the grocery store so we'd have food for the week. next thing we know it, we're locked out of our van. awesome. well, at least the boys enjoyed trying to break in with a coat hanger. after 45 minutes and all of their macgyver moves, it only took the AAA man 30 seconds to open the door.

the next few days were full of volunteer work and learning from some incredible people. we stuffed over 10,000 packets and worked on other similar types of projects. we helped prevent fire hazards and shook a lot of hands. this is so vague, sorry... but i will tell you that we got to hear from some fantastic speakers and met a few people that are really good at what they do. as a group we're being challenged to listen with a critical ear, that we may be ready to learn from someone's content as it compares with Truth but also from presentation styles.

one of the most influential subjects i heard from was about "allowing God to disturb us." may i not be satisfied with just having right answers or living well, but may i be transformed from the inside out. may my identity be so revolutionized as i surrender to Christ that my actions and words are changed as the tangible overflow of my inner self, not the other way around.

shoulder pads and yummy food

here we are: the girls at one of our weekly family dinners. we try to eat together as a house for most meals and once a week we trade with they guys, cooking for and eating with all fourteen of us. this particular night we had the opportunity to host some guests as well.
the weekend before, my mother was generous enough to donate many of her styling dresses for the towers skit closet. before we let these fashion gems get out of the house we used them to help us host as well as possible. shoulder pads and all, it was a successful evening but there was a ridiculously huge mess.
we didn't have time to even think about cleaning as we had to rush off from dinner to a speaker session. when we returned it had all been cleaned up... completely spotless. one of our guests knew exactly how to bless us after a long, stressful day. may i remember the little things that are so incredible in loving other people!

let the classes begin...

monday morning marked the first of our classes. we have now had a full week of speakers and opportunities to learn about many different wonderful topics. our actual class time involves a huge variety of subject matter. Life 101- practical life skills, Nehemiah- practical leadership skills, Sanctus- concepts to help understand living a holy life, Book Discussion, Leadership theory- discussing the theory behind leadership, Anvil- speaker sessions

this week was very purposeful in all that was discussed. a foundation is being laid for the next 8 months of this program. the first we are reading is Dietrich Bonhoffer's Life Together. he discusses the concept of community and what that must be within the body of Christ. it must be a treasured thing. since we are bound by the Holy Spirit we have encouragement and beautiful communion by the sheer presence of another believer. by recognizing the privilege of community we can take advantage of and see our need for each other.

“Therefore, the Christian needs another Christian who speaks God’s Word to him. He needs him again and again when he becomes uncertain and discouraged, for by himself he cannot help himself without belying the truth. He needs his brother man as a bearer and proclaimer of the divine word of salvation. He needs his brother solely because of Jesus Christ.” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together p23)

by understanding more of our need for Jesus we can love each other more effectively through living together... whether we are in a discipleship program, in a family, at a school, or persecuted in remote corner of the world.

orientation

here we are: 14 young adults, 8 girls and 6 guys. we have different stories but we all come together because we have so much to learn. we met about a week ago and we already feel like family. it's hard to think that it's only been a few days of living with each other (or next door...).
this last week was wonderful. there was a lot scheduled for our "orientation", most of it wound up being a surprise. one of our very first meetings included going to an actual forge near here in Whitehouse, TX. there we spoke with a very talented man named Charles who helped us learn about how a forge transforms raw materials into beautiful, functional tools. the right environment is the key to help purify and shape the metal. that is what we are doing for these 8 months, diving into the right environment to be transformed. there is nothing magical about where we are or what we are doing, we are just making ourselves available to be taught.
what a privilege!! i am completely in awe with what we are being handed. there are so many people investing their love in this year that we may grow to be humble representations of the God we serve. we are stewarding so many resources that i'm pretty overwhelmed at the idea of learning to use all that we are being given.
i'm barely skimming the surface here, but please know that your love and prayers are appreciated. our first day of actual classes begins tomorrow... i can't believe i get to enjoy such a journey!!