A great opportunity...

Hello friends and family!

WOW.. it has been a great week. My mom and brother were here. My mom left Saturday morning. I was pretty sad to see her leave. My brother was supposed to leave today, but he decided to extend his ticket. It has been really cool to have him here. He has been able to help me with volleyball, and also practice with Matt's team. Matt likes having another guy around, so it has been a lot of fun for us.

Yesterday evening we had the opportunity to speak with our home church in Colorado. It was such a blessing for us to be able to share what God has been doing through us and in us here. The people in our home church are amazing and have supported us 100% since we decided to come to Sweden. It was an awesome time to share with them how their support financially and through prayer has opened up amazing doors for us here. Matt and I were so blessed to be able to share and see some framilliar faces. OUr friend Tommy also sang a song in Swedish. It was so great. Tommy has a great hunger for God and is a great friend to Matt and I. He was encouraged after the service and we ended up talking and sharing for a couple hours after the service ended. Matt was able to share what God has been laying on his heart about sharing our faith. It was encouraging to me as well hearing him speak about not being selfish with our faith. I really am praying that God will continue to open doors for us in the last weeks of us being here.

It is so crazy to think that we will only be here for 5 and a half more weeks. Time really has been going by so fast! I think back to the beginning of our time here and am just in awe of God's provision and faithfulness! He truly is an "all knowing" God. Please pray for us in these last few weeks here. Matt starts playoffs this Wednesday. They play the best of 3. This last month will be very busy for us, so please pray for strength for us. Matt and I have a new hunger for sharing our faith, for being servants to people, and for being open to any opportunities that are laid in front of us. The past few months I have felt as if we have grown spiritually, but also personally and as a couple. God has taught us so many things about ourselves. We feel so blessed to be able to be here, and we also feel so loved by everyone who helped us to get here, and who continues to support us. You truly will never fully know what it means to us. This has been an experience that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. It is also an amazing gift to be able to share our faith and have God use us in the capacity that He has.

Thanks again to everyone at Temple Baptist in Pueblo! You truly are close to our hearts and it was such a blessing to be able to see a lot of you yesterday. Thank you for your love, support and prayers. They are precious to us, and we are so thankful to have a church family that consists of such amazing people. It was so touching to hear all of your kind words and encouragment. Hearing that you all really are praying for us touched my heart. Bob Wood (Matt's brother in law's brother haha) said that him and the kids pray for us every night, and I was broken by this thought. How amazing that we have that gift. We know that God truly hears all of our prayers but how precious for children to be praying for us. Thank you to all of you for your prayers. They lift us up and give us strength!

We love to hear from you all, and appreciate the comments and great encouragment! I will keep you updated on how the "mighty red lobsters" do this week. Please pray for Matt as he is starting to feel a cold comming on. He wants to be able to finish strong, so please pray that he may do so.

Lots of love,
Jess and Matt