VACA

We just got back from over 9 days in Chicago, IL.  We met up with Ashley’s sister and Brother-in-law at Ashley’s Parents house!  We had so much fun and really enjoyed the time off!  I am so blessed to have such a great family that I grew up with and now I get another whole great family to add on to it! SO BLESSED!  The week was full of tv shows and movies to relax to at night, and everything from exploring the city with Alan to shopping on Michigan Ave to eating Thanksgiving dinner with 3 other families!  Oh and I got to experience the “Green River” soda and lobster patty sandwich!  YUM!  And ate at Gino’s East for some famous deep dish pizza. I really enjoyed riding the subway everywhere we went!  Probably one of the big highlights for me. Everyone else there is so used to them, but I found it fun!  :)  Check out the family pics from both sides durring the break!  I am so grateful for Family and all God has blessed us with!

D-NOW

IWNLA: I Will Not Look Away

We had an amazing DNow weekend this past weekend!  James and I were both small group leaders for juniors and seniors.  These weekends are always powerful – getting students away from everyday life.  We had the privilege of hearing from Dominic Russo on Friday night.  He brought a powerful message entitled ‘Do Not Say I am Too Young’.  Students were empowered and challenged to seek God for His dream for their life and to start NOW!

15 for 50… God blew us away with all He did through this project!  Elevate set out to raise money to build one orphanage in India. We are now building 2 churches & 2 water wells to go with the 2 orphanages

15for50 = movement… our students got up and did something!

Below are some truths revealed to my girls in their own words… powerful

-       God wants me to know my future

-       I’m not too young to do something big
that God has for me to do… I don’t have to be older

-       My security is in God

-       Let every tear and every heart ache become
the foundation for your relationship with God

-       I have the opportunity to impact nations

-       When I choose to be pure… God takes notice

-       To the degree I care is the degree I’ll be used by God

-       100% of the time – there is something extraordinary in motion

James and I are so thankful for the opportunity to invest in these students!  We see so much potential… they each have a unique story and unique calling.  Our hearts break for a lot of the situations they are in… but we know that God is good and He is making all things work out for their good because they love Him!  We will continue to invest our time and energy in these students.  They will truly change the world!

thornejam

Yes this is a post about our business, but only to share what is going on:).  I launched, with the support of Ash, a side business where I can excel in my creative abilities.  Offering a ton of things, so not really pin pointing all the strong points, but fun to still be able to offer a wide range of skills.  It def helps us out, and I have already had a handful of projects that I have done.  From banners for TD Bank, to a couple of websites for Safari Sportz, and Mountain Peak Productions.  I have also done any form of print piece, email, and graphic/website for Red Church.  I plan on honing in on my best abilities after a year and only offering what I do best!  Just wanted to share some of the things I have started this past month!  Take care - oh and here is my push for the business :)  - "spread the word."

Happy Labor Day!

James and I are enjoying our extra day off. Cool weather and no schedule for the day… a beautiful thing and we are thankful! August Highlights…. New Job: I have recently gotten back into Interior Design! I am currently working with a firm in Southlake and I am also starting to do some things on my own. I am excited to be back in the field – being creative and serving people in their homes. We are excited to see what opportunities that God has ahead of us! 15for50: This year, Elevate (Milestone’s student ministry) is gearing up to do something bigger than we have ever done before—we are choosing to rise up and take action to help end someone's suffering in this world. Human trafficking, poverty, child slavery, hunger, millions of orphans with no one to turn to and more. The situation is breath-taking but we can make a difference. That's right, we're declaring we can make a difference in these overwhelming problems that seem so hopeless and plague our humanity. Instead of looking away or ignoring the problems completely, we are choosing to face them head on. By partnering with Angel House through the 15for50 project, we are imparting hope to 50 suffering children in Andhra Pradesh, India. Our students are excited and jumping in to do their part! Check out our site – if you want to be a part! We appreciate all of you – our friends and family! We are constantly overwhelmed by your love and support! Love – Ash

REVO CAMP 2011

July 18th I took off on a bus full of 45 guys headed to Lake Travis out side of Austin! We had 87 in all with students and leaders go to camp this year, and it was a blast! 4 main services that were each night and God showed up in huge ways. Students received Jesus, broke off addictions, got a heart for people in their schools and the lost. I had a group of 9th grade guys, and they made the camp for me! So much energy and life on these guys. Some of them natural leaders and all of them huge potential to do great things – and that is exactly what God has for these guys – GREAT THINGS! Everything from Flag football tournament, to our own iron man, BMX, paintball, water volleyball, and amazing worship services to experience God in a whole new way! Great week and I wish I could do this type of thing all the time – so rewarding and life giving! We got back on July 22nd and I was wiped out – but it was all worth it! Check out the videos I posted below. Three of the days we were their all captured! Pretty cool!

God is so good, and I can not image my life with out Him!
Love you all!

James

Our House Decor

We are so blessed to have a house, and everything that is in it. Thank you to all that sent us gifts to help fill our house! We have had such a blast putting things together and setting things up each weekend. Now it is time to have people over:)!!!!

We want our house to be an open place for people to feel welcome and loved. We want people to feel the Love of Christ even standing outside our front door:) “Lord, may this place be dedicated to you as a house of worship, and may people meet Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior in this very place!”

SO… We have been married now a month! We constantly Laugh, love learning things from each other, and we are just now getting used to sleep in the same bed over night:) haha.

Love you guys!
James

Our Honeymoon

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with us at our wedding! We had an amazing time and stay tuned for pictures.

We LOVED our week in Jamaica! No cell phones… no computer… no schedule… need we say more!?! It was a fun week of enjoying time together and relaxing. The people of Jamaica are amazing. We had fun getting to know the people who worked at the resorts. We spent most of our days at the Royal Caribbean Resort – relaxing on the beach, listening to live music and enjoying the restaurants. For my birthday James planned an excursion that took us tubing down a river. We were able to see the countryside as we drove to our destination and our guide was legit… he had 10 of us tied to his raft and he pulled all of us down the river… check out the video! It was an amazing week to start this new season.

We are having fun living in our house and learning to live everyday life together. We are overwhelmed with thankfulness as we enter this new stage of life!

18 DAYS!!!

I can not believe how fast time is flying by. I have never been so busy in my entire life, but have never been so excited either! In 18 days I will be in a room full of all of my friends and family and watching my bride come down the aisle! I have always wondered what my future family was going to look like – and now I know how it is starting! I START A FAMILY IN 18 DAYS! It is so surreal, but I have never been more excited and so blessed in my life in this season. Ashley is more than I could ever ask for, and God always knows better. Looking forward to the day as I countdown!!!!! Next time we post on our site we will be married and have pics up from our honey moon! Love you all!

James

BOTS!

What an amazing weekend! We have over 200 students come together as we addressed relationships, dating and sex. It is always powerful when we get away from our everyday life and take a weekend to focus on God. 47 students gave their lives to Christ! The presence of God was thick at this retreat – students learned what it was to hear God and many experienced His love in a deeper way than ever before.

James produced the retreat – this meant that he was the go-to person for any leader and he made sure everything ran smoothly. He is great with weekends like this and we always know that the details will be taken care of! In the midst of his tasks he was also able to have some key ministry opportunities with students.

I had a group of 10 freshmen girls and an amazing co-leader! It was a great weekend to love on these girls and I am believing for God to continue to show up in power. It is amazing to hear the different stories and experiences that these students have… but in the midst of it all, we know that God is bigger and that he can make all things work together for the good of those who love him! I was also able to share during our girls’ session. I love having opportunities to share with girls – encouraging and building them up! God has more than we could ask or imagine in store for these students!

The reality of the truth – HIS power is made perfect in our weakness – was evident this weekend! I am continually blown away when God chooses to work through us in our weakness! God being glorified and lives being changed is worth it!

Every time James and I get to spend time investing in students – our hearts are continually stirred and we love that God has given us the desire to invest in these amazing young men and women! We are honored to be a part of all that God is doing in and through them!

It's March Already?

We have 75 days until we get married, and time is flying by! We are having so much fun in this process and so many things are falling in to place. God has given us so much and we are blessed beyond imagine! Ashley and Meghan are all moved in to the house and we have painted rooms and and set up furniture. It now looks like a wonderful little home! I can not believe we own a house!!!! WHAT?!? Anyways, I wanted to share some exciting things that has happened in the past two weeks….

We have a small group of students that meet up with Ash and I on Thursday’s after School. We meet at a cupcake shop in Keller and the group consists of Juniors in High school! We have really grown with them and love every minute of it. Ashley is really good with the girls and I love seeing her flourish in ministry. Last week I gave them all three sheets of paper and they had to interpret there day with the paper. They had to be creative in your own way. So below you see their interpreted day from paper:)!

Also, C3 held an assembly at Medlin Middle School in Roanoke. Tyron talked on Cyber Bullying and we addressed parents and students. It was another success and we all had a part in investing in the students. I love getting these opportunities and allowing us to go on a campus and be apart!

I love OUR life together! Thankful for everything and everyone!

Love you guys!

House to Home

The weather has been crazy here is Texas… but I loved our ice/snow days. James and I have been hard at work to put things together in our house. From assembling and installing cabinets to painting walls and hanging artwork. We love our house and it’s coming to life as we add our personal touch and creativity!

My mom came in this past weekend. She is one of my closest friends – I’m so thankful for her. She loves people so well and I have learned so much from her! Our plans were changed due to the weather – but we made good use of our time painting the house. I can’t wait for her to visit in March when we will be focusing on the wedding!

I’ve been blown away by the love of God through this whole process. God loves us – His children – and he loves to give good gifts to us! It isn’t because of what we do for him or because we are good… it’s simply because he loves us that much! God knows us better than we know ourselves, and I love how this process has shown me that he sees everything that is in my heart. He is a good dad! We are so excited about our house – to start our life together here – and our prayer is that it is a safe, peaceful place where others will experience the love of God!

Our New House!

God is so good!
Ashley and her roomie Meghan have an apartment that ends up the first of February.  We had both decided that maybe if God works it out, then we should get a house to live in when we are first married and when a better time to get it then January!  So I called a great family friend, Realtor, and they found us a bunch of houses to look at in our range.  Well, a long story short, God opened up an opportunity to get a brand new house in our price range because we were closing it in January!  We are so excited!