God's Faithfulness

While I was in Africa I just loved the sunsets. I am sure I would have loved the sunrises too...but I never woke up earlier enough to see them. This evening there was a beautiful sunset.

For me, sunrises and sunsets remind me of God's faithfulness. Every day the sun rises and it sets. Some days we can't see it but we know its there. The same goes for God's faithfulness, we may not always believe its there, but it is always there regardless of what we think. I knew when I was in Africa that when I felt lonely and homesick, I knew God was right there with me, the faithful friend. The same goes for me in my life now. As you all the know the economy is horrible right now and Oregon is one of the states really suffering. Schools are especially hurting during this time. Across the state schools are making huge budget cuts. Many teachers are receiving pink slips or in my case, not having their contract renewed for next year. So as of now, I do not have a job starting next school year. At first it was really stressful but as time goes on I am reminded of God's faithfulness to his people. Andrew and I both know that if God's will is for us to be here in Portland and for Andrew to attend seminary, then God will make a way. We are trusting in that and trying to be obedient to the Lord's way for us. A verse that has been on my heart lately and has been my prayer is Psalms 25:4-5, "Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." The other night I went to class with Andrew and the professor started class by singing "Great is Thy Faithfulness". Amen!!


Great is thy faithfulness, O God my father
There is no shadow of turning with thee
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not,
As thou hast been, thou for ever will be.

Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me
Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love

Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me
Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside

Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me

Easter Weekend.....Sunday Morning!

This one's for our moms...

Although our outfits don't exactly match, we still managed to take Easter Sunday pictures. It is difficult though to get good pictures when there is just the two of you and you both want to be in the picture. But we tried. So here it is...our first Easter as Mr. and Mrs. Wilson...I even added dialog so you could get the full experience!!

Anna: "Is it going?"
Andrew: "Yup"

Andrew: "Why are we doing this? It's too early for pictures."
Anna: "Come on, babe, it will be fun. You'll thank me later."

Anna: "Smile!"
Andrew: "Are my eyes open yet?"

Anna: "Thanks babe, you're the best!"
Andrew: "Are my eyes open now?"

Anna: "...."
Andrew: "I couldn't resist." (actual quote)

Easter Weekend.....Saturday!

Saturday evening we enjoyed the company of Shawn and Chris Burdette. Andrew has been friends with the Burdette as long as he can remember. All four of them even drove all the way down for our wedding. Anyways, we had a coupon to Sweet Tomatoe's (we love that place!) and then it was back to our place for some Dominoe's. That's right...one of our most favorite games!! I won't write much but I'll just let the pictures tell all....

Dinner at home

Man, its been a while! Sorry about that. Can't really say we have been super busy but I guess we have been some what busy in the past month or so. Andrew is nearing the end of his second semester...good job Drew! I am so proud of him, he is such a hard worker and a much better student than I ever was. Glad he's going to school and not me. On top of school he is coach water polo three days a week and has had a tournament almost every weekend. So he has been busy. I will update my life in a later post. Here are a few updates with what we have been doing in our lives.
Usually our dining table serves as Andrew's desk. Our apartment isn't quite big enough for a real desk for him so the dining table will have to do for now. But every now and then he cleans it off and we enjoy dinner at the table. One day I happened to get home a little earlier than usual and decided to try and new dish...fish!! That's right! And of course you cannot eat fish with out candles to set the mood. It was a great dinner and fun to just sit and talk about our day.

Easter Weekend.....Good Friday!

As you know Andrew is in charge of the chapels at the school and through this he has had many opportunities to meet some awesome people. Two young gentlemen that he has met and has become really good friends with are Scott Burns and Michael Badriaki. Scott is from Scotland and is about to finish seminary and Michael is from Kenya in his first year of seminary. These two men have joined Andrew a few times in playing music at the chapels. Not only have they been a blessing to Andrew in the music world but also in his spiritual growth. They love having deep conversations about what God is doing in their lives. Scott is engaged to be married in August to a girl name Monica, who happens to live very close to us. And Michael is married to Kristen. The boys made plans for all six of us to hang out on Good Friday but Scott forgot that he had committed to playing music for a small church in Hillsboro. Long story short, the three boys put their talents together and ended up all playing for this Good Friday service. The church was just adorable so I must include a picture of it. It was just the cutest little church and I would have loved to have our wedding here, but we probably could have only invited about 25 people! The church is called Bethel Church and there were about 15 or so people there. When we walked in a lady was playing the piano and an elderly gentleman joined her on the clarinet. It was so cute! Then it was the three guy's turn. Scott played the piano, Andrew on the guitar and Michael kept the rhythm on the djembe drum. It was quite the multi-cultural event. They played a few songs and it sounded awesome. The pastor shared a few words regarding the death and resurrection of Christ. And what a better way to end the service then by taking communion. We all truly enjoyed the service!
Oh but the fun did not end there! Off to Monica's apartment for a night of many laughs!! We spent the rest of the evening eating pizza and chicken and just chatting! It was great to get to know each other and talk of possibilities that might come in the future. I pray that solid friendships will be formed and that they will last many, many years. Plus, I knew I would get along well with these people when they pulled out the ice cream! If anyone offers me ice cream...we're best friends already!! And no night would be complete without some group shoots and people acting goofy. Enjoy....