Vacation

We arrived home on Monday tired, happy, and sad. We had just spent the past five days on vacation in Lincoln City, Oregon. We stayed at the Comfort Inn, right on the D River. Michelle was able to get a discount through her work - at least there's something good about her job.

We left Wednesday, October 13 after work. We stayed at Michelle's parents' house for the night so we could be 1 1/2 hours closer to our destination. Thursday morning we hit the road. After stopping at Multnomah Falls for a brief walk and lunch we arrived at Lincoln City around 2 pm. We got checked in to our room and went across the street to enjoy our first walk on the beach since arriving. It was sprinkling a little. but it was still wonderful to be there. There's just something amazing about hearing and seeing the roar of the ocean that makes you thank God for His beautiful creation!

Our first night we enjoyed dinner at our favorite Lincoln City restaurant - Mo's. For those of you who have never been to Mo's, you need to go! They have the BEST clam chowder ever! (Mo's was actually the reason why we chose to go to Lincoln City instead of a different location.)

Friday we decided to drive down to Newport. We walked along the Bayfront, saw some Coast Guard ships, and then went to the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. After playing around on the beach we went to the lighthouse and took a tour of it. Surprisinly, this lighhouse was only used for 3 years before it was replaced by another one a few miles away.
Michelle in the ocean.

Jon standing in the cold ocean.

Saturday morning we woke up early (6:30 am) to go search the beach for glass floats. Fortunately the weekend we were in town corresponded to the weekend of a Finders Keepers event. The organization put out about 200 floats along the 7 mile beach. After walking for about 1.5 miles we decided to head back to the hotel to get some breakfast and get warm. It was a little disappointing not finding anything, but it was still fun to walk on the beach before sunrise. We drove down to Depoe Bay and walked along the main road checking out a few stores. We also went to the Whale Observation building and saw a whale in the distant (we really only saw the spout of water it shot up when breathing). We also got to see a beautiful sunset!

Sunday we drove to Salem to visit some friends at Faith Baptist Church. It was so nice to see them! We also got a chance to talk with our friends, Brandon and Kate Weber, about their pre-field work and their support level. (They are missionaries with ABWE going to Africa.) After enjoying a Russian lunch at the church we headed back to Lincoln City for our last day at the beach. We enjoyed some more time at the beach and enjoyed one more meal at Mo's. At Mo's we finally found a Christmas ornament to represent our trip.(We have a tradition that we try and get a tree ornament from places we visit.)
Monday held yet another early morning as we packed up and headed home. We stopped in Tri-Cities for lunch at the Double Dragon. Then we stopped at Michelle's parents' house to see the deer her dad and brothers got over the weekend. Finally we made it home. We enjoyed one last dinner out and went home for the night. We were happy to be home but sad that our vacation was over.

Church Presentation

Jon had his presentation at our church this morning. He was completely nervous this morning but on stage you would have never noticed. He shared about his ministry and two stories - one about Palouse Junction, an alternative high school in Connell, and a story about Jeff, an at-risk youth who got saved this summer. Jon's practice at home paid off because he looked natural on stage and showed his passion for his Peak 7 ministry. It was a great success!

One exciting development is that New Hope has decided to be Jon's sending church. What that entails is not only financial support but also the support of the pastor and elders to introduce Jon to other churches in our area and basically vouch for him. It's really exciting because it means our church is willing to help Jon get in touch with other churches and raise prayer and financial support. It is a HUGE answer to prayer!

Our church's missions conference has one more missionary presenting next week and then the church will take stock of the financial commitment people are willing to make. You can continue to pray that people will commit to supporting our ministry.

In other exciting news, Michelle has finished her first MBA class. Each class is five weeks long, and she finished the class with 100%! She is really excited and anxious to start her next class this week.

This week we will be heading out on our annual vacation. We are leaving on Wednesday night and coming home the following Monday. This year's vacation will be at Lincoln City, Oregon. We hope to meet up with some friends in the Salem area as well as enjoy a relaxing time of doing nothing. Our only plans are to participate in Lincoln City's Finders-Keepers glass float search and to eat at Mo's. It should be a great vacation!

A Promotion and A Raise

Yesterday Jon had his annual review and came home with some exciting news! He was recently promoted to Program Director at Peak 7! Along with that he also got a significant pay raise! While this pay raise is extremely exciting it also means an increase in support is needed. But we know God is faithful and will continue to provide for us.


In addition to the exciting news at Jon's work, he also surpised Michelle with tickets to see the Best of Broadway musical South Pacific, which she really wanted to see. We went to the musical last night at the Spokane INB Performing Arts Center. It was a great production full of laughs and entertaining songs. If you have the opportunity go see it!

Jon is presenting his Peak 7 ministry at church on Sunday. Prayer would be appreciated - pray for Jon's presentation and pray for additional financial support.

Ministry

Last weekend we were at Camano Island for a Peak 7 Vision Meeting. Those in attendance were staff, board members, spouses, and a few key volunteers. It was a great time to discuss the future of Peak 7 and to recap the 2010 season. Peak 7 is still in need of constant prayer as many big decisions are on the horizon. We stayed at a house right on the water provided by one of the board member's parents. And it was beautiful!

Michelle is still working on her MBA. She is starting week 5 of 5 of her first class, Biblical Leadership & Ethics. She still has 2 classes left this semester and is anxious to start the next one. So far she has 100% in her class and is hoping to end the first class with 100%.

This next weekend Jon is presenting his Peak 7 ministry at our church, New Hope Bible Church. We're hoping that introducing his ministry to the church will result in an increase in financial support. Please pray for him as he presents on Sunday.

We have been working with the junior group at church since the beginning of summer. The Awana program started two weeks ago and with that we started the junior high level of Awana called Trek. We have seen a range of 9-11 junior highers coming on a regular basis with most of those working through the books. It has been a huge encouragement for us to have a large group coming. We are both new to the Trek program, so we have been learning right along with most of them. We are excited to see what God does with this group. Please pray for our ministry and pray for the hearts of the junior highers.

We ask that you please continue to pray for us and our ministry with both Peak 7 and the youth group. Thanks for stopping by Cramer's Cabin!