Whew...what a week! We were in six states this past week. Now, some of the states we were only there for brief moment, and in an airplane, but still...six states. Arizona, Texas, Alabama, Tennessee, Illinois, California, and back to Arizona. Our first stop was Houston, TX where we had a two hour lay over. Then, we were off to Birmingham, AL for the annual ARC conference. Mike was with us and we met up with Joey. It was motivating, inspiring, and life changing. I'm so glad we went. I feel recharged and energized. We saw some of our dear friends and listened to amazing speakers while we were there.
After that we hopped on a plane that went to Nashville, TN. Hopped off that plane and got on another one which went to Chicago, IL (I really want to go back there), then took off from there and landed in San Jose, CA at 10pm that night. We stayed in San Jose that night, then rented a mini van to gather up some donated church equipment. We drove from San Jose to the Fresno area (about 4 hours) and got some speakers, wedges, light thingamajig, snake (not a real one...the wire thing), and a lot of other techy stuff. We packed it all up and drove to Barstow, CA (another four hours) for the evening where we made camp. The next day (Friday) we drove it on home to Gilbert (about six hours). Here are some pics from our week...
This is Selina. She and Ryan, her hubby, are planting a church in Chattanooga, TN next January. We have really gotten close them. They are pregnant and due July 2nd. (My momma's bday) They are having a boy, Gannon!
This lovely couple is our sponsoring church for ARC! Peter and Carolyn are amazing! We love them so much and are so thankful for them. We went and visited their church, Substance Church in Minnesota, last September. We had an instant connection with them. They really keep us motivated!
Jeremy got us a fabulous deal through Hotwire at the Sheraton in Birmingham! I think he was a little excited when we crossed over the sky link into the grand hotel! Good job Babe!
Here are my boys on their laptops at the airport. What dorks.
The yellow sign in the background is the focus of this picture. Isn't that sad?
Ok, last August when we went through the ARC assessment these are the three others couples that made it out alive!!! We have a really cool bond with them. We have all been through the process of ARC together and are launching churches together across the country. It was like a family reunion! The couple next to me and Jeremy is Shane and Rachel who started Freedom Church in Indiana two months ago. Next to them are Dan and Stephanie who started a church in New Jersey a month ago. Then, Ryan and Selina will launch The Net Church in TN next January. Very cool.
Cheese.
I call this my Panera Bread masterpiece.
One of the many mountain ranges we drove through in California.
Another one.
Say it with me now...Awwwww
Workin' hard for the money.
I'm trying to get more artsy with my photos...don't really know if I accomplished that here...but, I'm trying.
When we were on our excursion through Cali, we came across hundreds of these giant propeller thingys. Don't know what they are or what they do, but they sure were interesting!
They were everywhere for about a mile on either side of the highway!
For a second I thought we had hit warp speed and were on another planet.
ATTACK OF THE BLADES!!!
