So, we knew we wanted to share about this past year. We wanted to share where we are coming from. But first, I want to say that this past year has been a “butt kicker”. There have been moments where we loved it and where we hated it. I’ll be honest, the majority of the time I hated it, but for what we’ve learned and how far we’ve come, I wouldn’t change it for the world.

This past year we also started MissionBrand. This is a company specifically designed to support missionaries through the sale of custom apparel that my incredibly talented husband designs. We learned a lot from this experience, too. Things don’t always go the way you expect them to. We received an incredible amount of moral support and encouragement. A lot of people have said that we inspired them to take steps of faith out into the unknown. This meant so much to us! Would I do it again? Um…Oh God, please don’t ask us to do this again. Will He ask us to do this again? Probably.

In January 2013, we said goodbye to some incredible students that it had been our privilege of ministering to since 2009, both as volunteers and then as their youth pastors. This was one of the most challenging things we have ever had to walk through. During that season, we had some of the most rewarding and heartbreaking experiences of our lives. We learned a lot and we didn’t do everything perfectly but, by God’s grace, we did our best.