We Are Going Where?  

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I never thought I'd go anywhere really...
But when Josh and I started praying that God would open the doors he wanted us to walk through and close the ones that He didn't, we knew it meant we would actually have to WALK through the open door - not just turn and run the other direction.
With that in mind we want to share that we have accepted a position at a church in Frankfort, Indiana. Josh will be taking over the duties of leading worship at the Nazarene Church there in Frankfort. I cannot tell you how excited we are! For anyone that knows me, you will agree that I am not a "leap of faith" person, but throughout this whole process I have felt nothing but calmness and excitement over the possibilities that this job has to offer us. Even though I officially turned in my letter of resignation today, have a house to get ready to sell, and no job opportunities yet I am not nervous or anxious - which is a huge answer to prayer. We both firmly believe that this is the right decision for our family and are thanking God for his peace throughout this whole process.
It is all very strange how this all happened (well maybe not when you consider how small the Nazarene world is). Josh got a call out of the blue from the Pastor in Frankfort...who just happened to have started his ministry here in Adrian (weird!), after talking on the phone, Josh travelled to meet in person and then a few weeks ago we both went back and Josh led worship on a Sunday morning. We went back again this weekend and Josh was able to lead their praise team and we also had an official interview with the church board.
The whole process has not felt rushed or hurried at all (although it does seem to have happened quickly) and we both felt very positive early on that this was the right place for us.
So, now the work begins - sprucing up the house here, sprucing up the house there, quitting jobs (we both have given our notices), and all the stuff that goes along with moving. Oh wait, I don't know what goes along with moving because I've never done it before...Any suggestions let me know!
We would still appreciate your prayers as we continue on in this process, it's not something we have ever done before and would like as much support as we can get as we jump into this next phase of our lives.
I will try to post more on here so that we can keep everyone up-to-date with moving details and also some pictures of where we are going.

M.I.A.  

Posted by Heidi in , , ,

**Warning** This post contains a BUNCH of Pictures
It's a good thing that no one reads this blog! I haven't had time to post in forever! Unfortunately it's not because I've been busy doing fun things either. Work is taking up way to much of my time - but since I don't want to think or talk about work when I'm not there...I won't write about it either!

You met Shasta here and a couple weekends ago we finally took the Shasta out on her inaugural trip. And we made it there and back home! We just went a couple hours West of here to South Haven - - right on Lake Michigan! Which is by far my favorite body of water...

We had a slight bit of trouble on the trip there...minor overheating, but after stopping for a short time and letting her cool down we figured that we were just driving too fast for the old girl. Once we slowed down a bit we successfully completed our trip and also had no problems on the drive home!

We had a good time with my parents who took along their pop-up camper. Here are some pictures of the completed Shasta as well as a few from our trip!

Inside Shasta..New Paint, Floor, Cabinet Door


New, handmade table


Looking from the back to the front

The new front all put back together and painted



Finally at the campsite!

Dad and Josh cooking dinner

Sunset on Lake Michigan

We visited the local ice cream shop for Dad's Birthday treat

Lake Michigan




Can't Keep up with the Keenes  

Posted by Heidi in , , , ,

I can't even seem to keep up with us lately...and I'm living this life!
The last week has been crazy
Work
Concerts
Trip to the Lake (forgot the camera)
Josh's grandpa passing away :-(
Visits with family
More Work
More Concerts
Trying to get ready to go camping!
More Work
Feeling very overwhelmed with everything but glad for the long weekend and can't believe today was Wednesday which means I can see this weekend coming! The Shasta is looking good and is so close! She is clean so now it's just getting all the stuff moved it - whohoo!

Weekend Update  

Posted by Heidi in , ,

I never seem to have time on the actual weekend to post about our weekend! So now we are halfway (almost) to the next weekend and I'm just getting time to post! Oh well...
We had a really busy weekend and I have pictures! I know whoever reads this is so excited!! :-)

Saturday morning was filled with Josh working and me volunteering at our church's food ministry. Soon after that we headed off for a visit with Josh's grandpa who is in the hospital...We left there and went to this church in Galion, OH. It ended up being a 2 and a half hour drive so that wasn't too bad.
Galion Church of the Nazarene

Josh led worship for a short revival at the church on Saturday night and then again on Sunday morning. We weren't able to stay for the Sunday night service because we had to jump right back in the car and drive home for this concert.

Saturday night we were stayed in a neat apartment that is ran by some people who used to live in Galion. The apartment is only used by people who are in town at various churches doing ministry - missionaries, musicians, evangelists, etc. What a great ministry so that people don't have to stay in hotels and churches can save money on lodging. The people who own the apartment don't charge anyone for the use of it. It was tiny, but super cute and very clean!

Picture from the front door looking inside

Like I said we had to pack up and jet out of town on Sunday right after the service got over to make it back in town for Josh's benefit concert. It was a good time - there was somewhere just over 100 people that showed up and donated about $1100 to the Salvation Army! I know that Josh was happy with the turnout and the Salvation Army I'm sure is happy for whatever additional money comes in during times like this.


Somewhere along the way I married a rock star

That was our busy weekend. We are back in the swing of the work week. Josh used last night and today to work on the Shasta and he had his dad were able to get some work done like getting oil changed, etc. Josh also got most of the rest of painting done on the inside. It's getting close to the point where I can get in there and clean it up and get everything put away! So excited to finally use it in just over a week!

Belated Thankful Thursday  

Posted by Heidi in

So I missed Thursday....Well I didn't actually MISS Thursday - I was in Thursday, all day, just missed getting a post up on Thursday!
What a long week this has been! Between work and everything else it's been crazy and I haven't been on the computer much at all. However, in an effort to remain thankful - I'm going to post my thanks on Friday. It still works :-)
- Thankful that yesterday was Thursday and that today was Friday!
- Thankful that I got to spend quality time with these beautiful kids (6 days in a row!)
- Thankful that I have been home for a month with no travel plans in sight
Hopefully you found something to be thankful for this week!

Meet Shasta  

Posted by Heidi in , , ,

Several years ago I learned that my grandparents had an old motor home that they weren't really using anymore. Since that day I had been dropping hints about that fact that Josh and I would LOVE to have that motor home someday. Well, last August my grandpa decided that he wanted it out of their yard so we got a phone call saying if we wanted it we'd better come and get it. Whohoo!!

Off we went to North Branch (which is like almost 4 hours away) and drove home a 1977 Ford Shasta Motor home.

We made it all the way home - and we laughed pretty much the entire way because it was just so funny to look over and see us driving this huge thing! From the outside it is definitely still 1970's and the inside was panelled and carpeted (eww).As soon as we got home Josh started ripping into the inside and the outside. The cab was a little rusted so it got sanded down and repainted. The inside got the carpet ripped out, primed and then eventually painted. There was some leakage happening above the cab so Josh had to rip the entire thing apart and replace a bunch of the wood and then put it back together - that was the longest part I think. We also replaced the cabinet doors with some free doors I picked up at work (I work for a cabinet manufacturer...came in handy) . Josh also put down new linoleum squares on the floor along with trim for the baseboard (he never does anything part way). One of the owners at the lumberyard where he works has just finished making us a new table which is in the process of getting covered in polyurethane. I'll post some pictures of that soon. My grandma made us new curtains which still need to be hung and we got lots of fun camping stuff for Christmas!

Since we didn't get it until August and the work was taking a long time we didn't go anywhere last fall. However, we have booked a spot over on Lake Michigan the last weekend of May so the push has been on to finally get the thing finished!

Oh - and don't worry. We didn't mess with the coolness of the outside. Driving down the road you will still see the fabulous vintage 1977 motor home with this piece of sweetness on the back!

Thankful Thursday  

Posted by Heidi in ,

The other day on my Facebook page I made a comment and said I liked alliterations and everyone really enjoyed it so I decided to keep with the alliteration theme of last week and post another Thankful Thursday list (the other day it was Sunny Saturdays...oh my silly English Degree mind).

- Thankful that it's Thursday!
- Thankful for the rain AND the sunshine that came this afternoon!
- Thankful for dinner with my family and then a Wal-mart trip with Zac and Val
- Thankful for a weekend that looks to be restful and productive
(Goal for being productive = a clean house)
- Thankful that the work on Shasta is almost complete. Tomorrow or Saturday I will post about Shasta!!

- Thankful that after this long week I have this memory of a more relaxing time!

Josh and Heidi in Costa Rica, 2009

Hopefully you are thankful for something this Thursday!