My Cousin Brandon

Please pray for my family as we morn the loss of my cousin Brandon.

Last week, my cousin Brandon died. Much of what we know came from the information his friends gave us who were there, and the bystanders witnessed. This is the story:

Brandon was in Lake Havasu, Arizona with some friends jumping off cliffs into the lake. Brandon leaped off a rock in the Copper Canyon and disappeared under about 30 feet of water - it was several minutes before he was rescued - (by a scuba diver who was in the area). An off duty registered nurse administered CPR until the paramedics arrived.

They took Brandon to the hospital, then airlifted him to a medical center in Las Vegas for more advanced treatment. He died last Tuesday due to massive head trauma suffered at the moment of impact.

Please keep his parents, and little brother in your prayers, and also for my extended family, as this is the 1st death on this side of the family- and it was so tragic.

Storm heaven with your prayers for Brandon, and our family.

May God be glorified through this, now and always.

The picture below is a recent family photo from December 2007. We have had 3 major family pictures like this one. Each time, every family member has made it a priority to be present. As you can see we are all represented by the colors of the rainbow. My dad is one of seven. There are 7 colors in the rainbow. We each got one. My dad and I have yellow :-) Brandon, his brother Ramsey, and his mom, my aunt Faith are in navy blue, (there is a navy blue family, and a dark purple family). He is pretty much front and center - had a huge smile on his face - I am so thankful we were able to get together for this family picture.

The BIG move

Greetings friends and family:

NET has ended, at least my time with NET as a supervisor. Currently I am working as an assistant around the office with daily organizational tasks ... more on that to come. However, because when you work for NET as a supervisor, you also live in household with the other supervisors of the same gender, when I stopped working as a supe, I had to move out. I am excited for this stage of my life . . . living in an intentional community has been awesome, and I will always live in some form of community (with a roommate, or my own family), but I also looking forward to living with just one other person, one person who I love so dearly ....

So on June 29th, Megan and I (Megan and I were on NET together in 05, we were on the same team, and ever since then I have dreamed of living with her - - - it finally came true!) moved into our very own apartment. This was new for both of us! In college we either lived in the dorm, or in a house, and we had never experienced apartment living before. So far, we love it. We are on the 4th floor of a building with only 4 floors . . . it is very spacious, tons of light, beautiful view (not as beautiful as the ocean and mountains of Washington, but rolling hills and the Mississippi River Valley are as close as it gets).

Every day, Megan or I will say to each other, "I love living here with you." or "I love our apartment." or "This is like a dream come true." - - - And every day is a joy. The Lord has given us so many blessings, and I am so thankful every day for that.

Pictures will be coming soon! We are getting the Internet hooked up tonight, and then I will have more time to post from home.

Check back in a few days. God bless you and enjoy your weekend!

Steubelville Conferences

Life is crazy - i know we can all relate.

This past month has been filled with saying goodbye to the NET teams, having a few weeks off to get some rest and frantically preparing for the Steubenville Conferences this summer.

NET has partnered up with Franciscan University of Steubenville this year to revamp the "Young Apostles" program. YA no longer exists and it is now called "Steubenville LEAD" (Leadership, Evangelization And Discipleship). 3 of us over here at the NET offices head out on Sunday afternoon to go all over the country and help lead and direct the LEAD weeks which happen the Monday through Friday before the weekend conference.

I will be headed out to Steubenville Sunday, then Louisiana the following Sunday, then back to Steubenville the Sunday after that!

When i get home on the 27th - my time with NET will be wrapping up . . . crazy to think that is has already been 3 years since i joined on with NET. (More to come on that later)

Keep the conferences in your prayers this summer, and all the young people who will be reached!

http://www.franciscanyouth.com/Apostles/

Catholics Come Home

Happy Holy Week! I was sent the following link from a woman I work with - she received it from a NET alumn who is studying for the priesthood in Canada.

I checked out the website and thought it was really neat, especially the television commercials at the bottom of the opening page. Just thought I would share! God bless you!

http://www.catholicscomehome.org/index.phtml

Here is a small taste of what this website offers:

"At Catholics Come Home, we promise to always give you the honest truth, with nothing held back. We won't shy away from difficult subjects, nor will we refrain from pointing out the many beautiful, wonderful, and even miraculous aspects of the Catholic Church."

West Saint Paul -

http://homepage.mac.com/wilsonwebb/iMovieTheater21.html

Check this video out - it is interesting!!!

Does it make you want to move here?

Let me know what you think.

One thing this video forgot to mention was NET Ministries! Oh well, I will get the word out!

Being Thankful.

Things I am thankful for today, Feb. 22 - 2:59 pm - Central Standard Time ....




*Traveling through 4 times zones in the last 2 weeks. Thanks what happens when you supervise 2 traveling NET teams, one in Las Vegas, and the other in Kentucky.



*Having a rap written about you - and all your roommates for Valentines Day's ... "From the Chateau to the Chalet, Happy Valentines Day ..."
(the Chateau is the name of the house the guys i work with live in, and the Chalet is the name of the house we women all live in)

*Going to Vegas, seeing the fountain at the Bellagio, recognizing the beauty that the sinfulness of Vegas is hiding, and riding in a PT cruiser convertible.





*Having 3 days off. Usually I would be filling some of my day with Jack Bauer in "24", but Bless the Lord ... It's Lent ...and I'm happily enjoying the sacrifice of NOT watching "24", while I blog and think about reading a book.





*Psalm 136 - the original, and the new renditions that Team's 5 and 6 wrote. "God's love Endures FOREVER!"





*Teaching my friends how to sew. Who knew all those sewing lessons as a child would come in SO handy!





*Being able to help Kathy make part of her habit! (She will be entering the Nashville Dominicans in August, pray for her.)





Recent pictures from the past few weeks:

Team 5 and their Supervisors (Me and Vito) @ Woodford Reserve Bourbon Distillery

Anna and Lupita at the Woodford Reserves Bourbon Distillery in KY

Chateau Men rapping to us on Valentine's Day!!!

NET Mission Staff Households joined together to celebrate....

The ladies of the Chalet sipping our Mexican beverages :-)

Right Order

Well - I have been meaning to post this information for awhile, and while I am hesitant because it is still not totally official, it is exciting and wonderful.

I am starting my own business!

While working as a missionary for NET ministries in 2005, I stayed with a woman who was in the process of quitting her job as a civil engineer to start her own business as a Professional Organizer. This conversation sparked something in me. I had no idea this was something people could do for a living! We stayed up for much of the night chatting, about her business and goals, and I was very intrigued. Though my interested was peeked, I didn't give it too much weight, because I didn't think it was actually something that was doable. I continued to travel on the road with NET until May of 2006, and then signed on to work for them full time as a Team Supervisor for the 2006-2007 & 2007-2008 NET year.

The wonderful woman that I met in Northern Minnesota emailed me and sent information about NAPO - National Association of Professional Organizers. Again, I didn't do much with this information because I was busy working for NET and had other goals I was working toward.

During the summer of 2007, I was looking into opportunities for grad school and jobs, knowing that my commitment for NET would be over in July 2008. Through all of the searching and investigation, I was not having any peace about grad school - and was prompted (by the Holy Spirit most likely) to recall the NAPO web site and check it out.

I found out that NAPO meetings (in Minnesota) happen the 1st Monday of every month, and the soonest I could make it to one was October 2007. At the meeting, I met many people who had tons of experience and advice about organizing, and one women who teaches classes about how to start a business, specifically in ORGANIZING. I took the class, and was on my way to starting a business.

Long story short ..... my business is called Right Order. The name came from wanting to have and idea of peace and calm in my home and the homes of others. After many names that were on the table, eventually Right Order came. The definition of PEACE is ...... mutual harmony, serenity and .... Right Order! It made perfect sense to me.

It is still in the very beginning stages, but I already have business cards, and the website is under construction http://www.rightorder.biz but viewable and has a few items up. Please check it out! I will post some before and after photos of the places i have already organized soon.

I will continue to give updates as things develop. Please keep all of this in your prayers.