Celebrating One Year of Wedded Blessings!

I'm so thankful to God for this first year of marriage.   Mark and I had the unique opportunity to celebrate our one-year anniversary trapped inside due to heavy snowfall in Indiana.  As you can see from the picture, we won't forget this day easily. Mark and I have had a wonderful first year of marriage and we know it's because Christ remains at the center of it!

Granted, it wasn't all bliss.  Whenever you put two selfish, sinful people together, there will be conflict.  We both have had to learn a lot about serving one another even when it's not convenient or easy.  We are continuing to learn how to listen when our spouse is upset without responding defensively.  We are challenged to make sure we keep dating each other.  We have had to share our Saturdays because Mark likes to make a to-do list and Katie likes to-do nothing!

I'm not exactly sure what our second year of marriage will look like but I can only imagine there will be more learning!  We are praying that soon we'll both be full-time with the ministry to serve God and what He has called us to.  We are currently at 67% of recurring giving (check out the "Ways to Partner With Us" tab to learn more).   This season of ministry partnership development has taught us about how we're wired and how we can begin to think we are self-sufficient.  We are reminded daily that God is the one we are called to rely on and He is our provider. 

Leading up to our anniversary, we spent 10 days sharing about our call to ministry with friends and family from Mark's home church along with a 3-day visit to Chicago to recruit interns at Trinity International University.  It was such a blessing to meet more of Mark's home church family and to thank them for their Godly influence into Mark's life. 

Mark and I were blessed in so many ways by our time up north and here are some of the highlights:

1) spending lots of time with our nephew Clark and niece Chloe

2) sharing about intern opportunities at Trinity

3) having opportunities to share with Mark's mission board and families from his home church about our call to missions
4) introducing the game Pandemic to anyone who would play with us. It's so good! 
5) being blessed with free places to stay every single night including two nights in a hotel! Thanks to everyone who housed us and fed us!

 Thanks for taking the time to read our blog!
God bless,
Katie :)