blessings all around.

greetings family!

the month of november is nearly over, which means Autumn Quarter at SPU is also almost over. time passes quickly, and we are still learning how and trying to practice slowing down. as i ride my bicycle, i realize and am thankful for how it allows me to take in my surroundings and truly appreciate them. i actually notice the beauty of the persons walking on the sidewalk beside me and am able to greet them warmly with a "hello!" or "good morning!" without a rolled-up car window giving me an excuse to drive fast right past them without even a wave of my hand.

i hope you had a wonderful weekend of giving thanks and were able to spend time with people that you cherish and love. we had a lovely weekend here at OurHouse. cory, lindsey and i stayed in seattle. heather spent thanksgiving with her family in Oregon, and ben enjoyed himself immensely in Cabo, Mexico. my mom, Becky came up from Indiana, and my brother and his 4 yr. old son, Teague came over for Thanksgiving dinner, as well as Lindsey's parents, Susie and Joe and brother, Curtis. we also were blessed to have some friends join us for dessert and merry music-making. the fireplace set a warm glow to the room, and a banjo and harmonica entertained us with their joyous sounds.


cory, nate, brother josh, mama becky, abby


indiana family photo


jacob


within the last couple weeks, many blessed opportunities to serve our community have been presented to us. we are continuing to seek our Father's will and are so blessed when He gives us ways to serve.

+ one night, a few of us went over to the Green Bean [a coffee shop in Greenwood that lovingly serves the community] to help them finish their clean-up and asked if there was ever any need for volunteer baristas. our response was a very excited "YES!" so cory emailed Hayden, one of the women who runs the coffee shop and told her of our interest. we met together one evening at SPU and shared hot cider and relaxation while listening to some friends play music at a fall art party hosted by Lingua- the arts journal on campus. i told Hayden how i was once a barista at tullys for 1.5 years and missed making drinks but even more, i missed my customers and the relationships that i had built with them. those relationships are what makes the Green Bean so beautiful, and we want to be a part of that community even more. Hayden even talked about the possibility of offering a class for those wanting to learn the art of coffee-making [ben and cory want to learn! heather, lindsey and i have all had equal experience in this area]. thank you Hayden and Lisa for needing help! we'll begin volunteering there in December and January!

www.greenbeancoffee.org

+ We're going to be hosting an exchange student!

our new friend Richard Struijk is coming to Seattle from the Netherlands to work a 3 month internship with Steve Geelhood and his company, a member of Sanctuary church. Richard is in his early 20's and is 4 years into a 5-6 year joint BS and MS Chemical Engineering degree. happily, we have an extra room in our house to offer him. we are excited to have another member in our family! thank you Steve for thinking of us!

finals are next week for us at SPU. we're almost done and trying not to procrastinate as we desire to finish well.

please contact us if you need prayer, for we would be so blessed to have you come to us.
we LOVE you.
also, if you know of someone who needs help in some way or could use clothing donations, we are here to serve that person. we want to serve YOU.

slow down and find the beauty. it's everywhere.
and be blessed as you bless others.
thank you for your prayers and your support.