Back to reality...

So, Matt and I are back in the U.S.A. It has been a bit hard getting used to the time change for us. It feels a little strange to be back. It is so great to see family and our dog Ricky, but I miss our friends in Sweden, the food, the sea, and so much more. I am excited to start working so we can get back there as soon as possible.

Tomorrow is Matt's birthday! I am trying to plan something special for him. I really want him to know how important and loved he is. I will let you know what we end up doing> He doesn't like his birthday very much, but I will try to change that for him.

It is hard to not get stressed about the next step in our life. So many decisions and unknowns.. but I am really feeling God's hand in all of it. He is calming my heart and helping me know He is in control. Please continue to pray for us in this time in our lives. It is exciting, scary, crazy and so much more.

I am really excited for this weekend. One of my best friends from High school is comming to Colorado to visit. I can't wait to see her and to catch up. We havn't seen each other since our wedding.

I MISS SWEDEN SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!

Lots of Love,
Jess

Hejdå Sverige!

SO MUCH SADNESS!!!!! Today was a very hard day! We had to say a lot of goodbyes. . . well more like a lot of "see you laters". No matter what it was.. it was so hard to know that tomorrow we wont be here. It is hard to know that we wont walk by the sea, or see our dear friends whenever we would like to. It is so hard to say goodbye even if it is just for a few months. It feels good however that my heart is here. It feels good to know that I am feeling more and more like Sweden is home. Honestly.. the people are what make it home for us here. we are so blessed. I know I say it alot but we have made some amazing friends here. We have felt so loved, accepted and taken care of. I will be forever thankful!

I just want to say thank you... to our friends here. You have made our time the best! We have really loved getting to know you all and we can't wait for the next time! Please pray for us! We will miss you, we love you all!!!! To our Swedish family.... words cannot express the way I feel... you have given us more than we could have ever imagined.. you have made Sweden home for us! Matt and I really feel like you are family! We will miss you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now i am bawling... so i had better wrap this all up. Please pray for our flight, for the border, for our visas... and just that God will keep our hearts calm. I am brought back to Jeremiah 29:11.... " For I know the plans I have for you, declares the lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." God is in control.... and His plans are much better than ours.

I love you all... thank you for all of your prayers! You are the best!!!

Good-bye Sweden... i will miss you! Until next time .....Hejdå

I don't want to leave....

It is really hard to write lately. I feel like all i have to say is that i will miss it so much here, and that i am not too excited to leave. The past week has been so much fun, helping our friends renovate their living room, going to birthday parties, hanging out with our friends... and it just feels like the time has come so fast. We have four days left here. FOUR!!! I can't believe that the time has almost come to get back on a plane and go back home. It is so hard! It is hard because we love the people who we have come to know here. It is hard because we feel like this is where we belong, and on top of it all the weather has been amazing for the past 4 days!!! I have loved walking around and just taking everything in. The sound of the water, the cute white houses, everything that I will miss so dearly when we are gone. I can't beleive how amazing it is that I get to wake up each day, look out the window and see the sea! It is such an amazing blessing!!!

Last time I wrote I told you that Matt was going to be speaking in church.. that was last Sunday. It was awesome! God really used him... even though i have heard Matt's story a thousand times.. each time it feels like the first and I am overwhelmed with how far God has taken my miracle husband. I am so proud of how far he has come.

The next few days will be busy ones. We will be saying our goodbyes, packing, cleaning, and getting things organised to leave. I am so nervous to leave. I am feeling like this next chapter of our life is so uncertain. I feel the need to control and want to see how it all turns out.. but this week God brought me to a verse that has been in my thoughts constantly....

2 Corinthians 5:7 ~" For we live by faith, not by sight."


I am really trying to trust God with our life. I know He is in control, and I am trying to let His peace guard my heart and mind.... but it is a daily battle for me.

I don't know if I will write again before we leave. I will try, but i feel like when i write i get really sad and it gets hard to have my feelings come out. maybe i will try to make matt write. haha. We will miss Sweden.. our amazing adventure.. and we are praying for God to bring us back here to this awesome place... this blessed place... this place that we are starting to call home.

We love you all!!!

It is amazing to me how it can be SO sunny and beautiful one day and a blizzard the next! I had the most amazing day on Wednesday... the sun was shining and i took a long walk outside and took pictures of almost everything in sight. I realized as I was walking... that i don't take enough time in my day to simply thank God for all He has created. He is simply amazing! Walking has always been a way of slowing down my thoughts. It was such a beautiful day!!! The next day, Thursday... we woke up to a completely different kind of day..... it was snowing like crazy, windy and cold. I also realized that those are not my favorite days... by far haha.

Now with only two weeks left, I am really feeling the reality that is quicky comming. We will be leaving. It has been so amazing to hear everyone ask us to come back. It feels amazing to feel like they support what God has brought us here to do. Matt and I have been talking alot about the next step ... we know that if we were to come back (which is a good possibility) that we would want to stay for a longer term. We have found that in 3 months... it is hard to get things started. If we had more time, we both feel like God could open some amazing doors. AS much as I would love to start thinking about next year... i am stuck thinking about the next month. As of April 16th, my American Visa runs out. Matt and I are planning on heading to Canada so we both can work. Matt has to aquire a visa from the border and have a bunch of paper work filled out. We wont find out until we are at the border if Matt can in fact work in Canada. It is so easy to feel anxious about it all.. to feel uneasy about everything... But I know who is ultimately in control... and HE knows our hearts desires, and HE knows what is best for us. So i trust... or at least try to.

Please pray for our final two weeks. Matt speaks in church on Sunday, and although he acts like he has it all under control, and is calm... i know he is nervous for it. He is showing a video that the news did on him about how he had cancer, survived and his journey back to hockey. OUr very special friends helped Matt translate the text to Swedish. THANKS LINDA AND LOUICE!!!!! I sometimes get lost in thinking about how amazing Matt's story is. God took Matt on the most incredible journey.. through hardships, fears, tragedy, sickness.. and so much more. But then I look at him now... playing hockey.. living a dream... and am overwhelmed at God's amazing faithfulness and love. Matt gets to play hockey, and serve our God... and that is the most amazing thing!!!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. Please pray for Matt for this SUnday, for Matt's visa and for our trip home. I get so nervous about getting sick ....

Lots of love and blessings,
Jess and Matt

Getting sad....

It feels so strange to have the days go by so fast. I feel like we were just unpacking and soon we will be packing to head home. Each day it gets harder for me to accept that we will once again leave. I feel so weary of these times. Packing, unpacking, not knowing where we will be next. The hardest thing for me about leaving this time.. will be leaving our friends. I want you to understand how much God has blessed us when He blessed us with amazing friends. The past 3 nights we have spent our time at our friends Peter and Louice's house. It really feels so comfortable to spend time with them. Even now.. thinking about not being able to walk to their house whenever i want makes me want to burst into tears. She has become such an important part of my life. Her and Peter have been amazing friends to us and they are truly like family to us. Their son is turning two in 10 days and he has just brightened our life also. He loves Matt and loves to play hockey with him.



I feel so lost with the feelings I have. I don't understand why we have to come, and leave... i crave consistancy. I am a planner.. i like to know what i am doing it and for how long. God is truly showing me that His timing is the ONLY timing. I am really trying to accept how things are.. and I am trying to just be thankful for the time that we have had here.. but still i dread leaving. The next two weeks.. i am going to try to soak up my time here. Take lots of pictures, videos, and hang out with friends. Please pray for us as our time comes to an end. It is hard for Matt and I to leave. We really hope that God's plans are for us to come back again next year.



We will miss our friends so much!!!!! They are the best!!!! We owe them many meals!



Lots of Love,

Jess and Matt

Hej allihopa!!

Hello everyone!

Wow... i am stunned at how fast the time has gone by. Today we have exactly three weeks left here. It causes me to feel many different emotions. I feel so sad to leave again.. Sweden starts to feel like home for Matt and I. God has blessed us with amazing friends, who are life family to us. It feels so strange to have to say good-bye to them soon, and not know what God's timing will be for us to come back.

Matt and i both feel as if God wants us to come back for at least another term. We feel like He has more planned for us here and we want to be obedient to what He has called us to. I have to admit it is hard for me to not have something more stable and perminant.. like a home or a steady income.. but God is slowly teaching me that He is in control. He planned this all, and as long as I am yeilding to Him and my husband that things will work out for us.. just as He had planned.

Please continue to pray for us in our last weeks here. We really want God to move in mighty ways. He already has been.. Matt was able to share the gospel message with one of his good friends from hockey last week! Praise GOD! And Matt also talked with the guy he has been discipling about the importance of asking Christ to come into his life. Matt said that from his response.. he believes that his friend is a Christian! This is so encouraging to us! The best part for Matt is how is friend always calls him and asks him where he should read next. He has already gone through John, James and now first John. Matt said that he can see the Holy Spirit transforming his life through God's word.

Hebrews 4:12,13

"12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

God is doing such amazing things, and we are so thankful to be able to be used in it all. In the next few weeks we have many things to do. We still will be attending swedish classes, Matt is still coaching, and i still have figurskating and volleyball. However, on Sunday the 15th, Matt will be speaking in Church.. giving his testimony and sharing about what God has done while we have been here. Please pray for him as he prepares for this. I am sure he is nervous.. even if he doesn't say it to me! haha.

Thank you so much for your prayers, support and love through our whole journey. Please pray for us as we head back. It is really hard to leave our friends.

Blessings,
Jess and Matt