We're Home...

After 3 great days in Kansas, we made it back. The trip was everything we hoped it would be, and more. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us this weekend and for safety in travel; we saw the goodness of God through the whole weekend. There is far too much that happened to write about here, but I'll summarize:

We had a pleasant plane ride early Friday morning. The boys were very good and Jake was thrilled at his first time on a plane! Pastor Dave picked us up from the airport and took us back to his house where we relaxed and played all afternoon until 6:30 when we went to John & Maria Wernli's home for some delicious barbecue brisket and lots of other goodies. At the dinner we met the elders of the church and their wives. John's brother, Dave, who is on the board of elders, has an ATV and gave all the kids rides around the property. It was the highlight of the evening for Jake. Well, except maybe for running around after the chickens, he liked that too!

On Saturday Ryan and I spent time with each elder. In the morning we had breakfast at George and Rose's home for Ryan's favorite, biscuits and gravy. George then drove us around Emporia and gave us the grand tour. It is a very nice little town and Ryan and I could definitely see ourselves living there. We then went to lunch at Barry and Joy's house with the boys. They have a playroom and goats (who were outside and not in the playroom), so it was great bringing the boys. We had a very pleasant time with them talking about what Ryan's position would be at church and different ideas about the ministry. After lunch, we took the boys back to Pastor Dave's house where we were staying so they could take a nap because Dave Wernli was picking us up to drive us around the Flint Hills. It was a great time of sightseeing and talking about, well, everything with Dave. He showed us around his family property and farm house and taught us about silage, which is what they feed their cattle. While very different from the California landscape, Emporia and the Flint Hills possess their own beauty, and I very much enjoyed seeing them.

Sunday morning Ryan and I met with the Jr. and Sr. High group for a little get-to-know-us time. Ryan then preached during the service (very well I thought!) and we went out to lunch with John Wernli, his son, and his sister and family at a great Mexican place. Warren couldn't stand not being the center of attention, so as a grand finale he threw a big glass plate off the table. Good times.

Sunday afternoon, Ryan met with Pastor Dave and the elders for the grilling time. They asked him lots of questions and he asked them some questions. I hear it went pretty well. Sunday eve was a potluck at church for us to get to know some of the families who go to Flint Hills Christian Church. We very much enjoyed that time and met some great people.

One strange coincidence (or shall I say providence) was that Pastor Dave is a huge Chicago Bears and Cubs fan! If you didn't know, Ryan also inherited this strange trait to have in California from his dad. So Sunday night, the Hintz family and us all went back to the Wernli's home to watch the Bears (lose) play. That's Jake in the background wrestling with Jonathon, John's son. Warren is on the right, and the other two are Nathan and Amberly, the 2 younger Hintz kids. They also have an older girl, Julia.

Monday was pretty relaxed in the morning; the boys played with the Hintz kids and we packed up and left for the airport at 3:00 for our 6:40ish flight. That's something pretty different for us, the airport is 100 miles away so you have to leave way before the flight. Another mostly uneventful flight; Warren slept for a good 2 hours and Jake was very quiet. We were all so exhausted from a long weekend, and very sad to go. We couldn't have asked for a better weekend in terms of the wonderful people we met. They loved on us and showed us so much kindness. We felt like we fit right in!

So what's the next step? Well, on both sides, we will take the next week or two to go over the weekend, process all that happened, and after much prayer decide if the Lord is leading us to Kansas.

Jake exclaimed Friday morning when we woke him up at 4:50 a.m., "This is gonna be fun!" Right on kiddo.

New Directions

Well, Ryan and I had lunch yesterday with John and Maria Wernli, the couple from the church in Kansas that is looking for a couple of new pastors, and all we could say after the meeting was "WOW!" Believe me when I say that we had a fantastic time getting to know them and talking about their church and Ryan's school and our kids, among many other things. Even if we don't end up at their church, we know that we know that we will have friends in Kansas. We got along with them so well; it was very easy to talk and make conversation. Ryan and I got very excited about the ministry going on there, and they just confirmed that it is an excellent place for raising a family. (Am I rambling? There's so much to say, I'm just writing the very next thought in my head even if it doesn't go with the previous one!) We were very like-minded in our beliefs and convictions and from this initial first meeting, it seems like a great fit. They want to fly us out sometime in early fall, after we return from the summer in Castro Valley, to visit their church, meet the people, and see the town. We were just thrilled with the way our lunch went with them and can't wait to pursue this further and see where the Lord leads! We plan to keep in touch with them over the summer and keep building the relationship. Again, what comes to my head is "WOW!" It's amazing how the Lord changes hearts, well, mine in particular, from, "Oh no, not Kansas" to "When can we go visit?!"

Ok, I better stop my ramblings now lest you all think I can't write a coherent post!

Thank you if you've been praying for us, and we are so excited to share this journey with you!

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Some pictures too!

The Great Masked Jake

These were taken at my sister-in-law's baby shower last weekend. It was fun to get the family together and for everyone to see baby Jaina. I made that diaper cake for Christi. I made one for my sis Jess for her baby shower too last summer and discovered I like doing it! They are super easy to make...just roll up some 100 or so diapers, put ribbon around the whole thing, and add cute baby things. Hmm, maybe I should go in business! ("Diaper Cakes by Jen")
As you can tell from the other picture of Jaina, she had had enough of partying and wanted to get in to some comfy clothes! She'll be 4 weeks tomorrow; amazing how fast time flies!