Hello again Friends and family! Sorry it has been so long since I have written. Things have been going great! Matt and I are really enjoying our time here. Since I last wrote Matt has played two games, and has another game tomorrow. The first game he played was at home. It was awesome!!! They won 3-2. Matt got an assist and scored the game winning goal with one minute left in the game. It was such a great thing for him. He was playing on the first line, and he couldn't have looked better out there. He looked like he was having the time of his life. His last game was away, and I didn't go to it, but it wasn't as good. They lost the game with the score 5-7. It was a bit of a disappointment but hopefully they can bounce back from the loss.

This week has been a week of getting things in order and finalizing our schedule. We found out we will have Swedish classes twice a week again.. and we are really excited for it. Also, Matt has been helping with the school's ice time. He gets to go and play some hockey with a few of the students. It has been great.

God has really been opening a lot of doors for Matt on the team. Niklas (one of our great friends who is like the hockey team manager) has told Matt that he would like for Matt to be able to start a Bible study once a week in the rink. This is amazing as it is.. but Niklas also said they could provide some food, and whatever else Matt needs. Niklas also said he would be attending it. It just touches me how God has it all figured out. Matt has already been having Bible studies each week with one of the guys on the team.. and he is really responding to the Bible studies. Our church in Colorado helped us with getting some studies that relate to hockey, and it really helps to make the guys interested. Please pray for this whole thing. Matt is willing to speak, so please pray that the Holy Spirit will speak through him, and that the Lord's words would be heard!

Thank you for all of your prayers. It is hard to believe that we have already been here for over 2 weeks. Time really goes by so fast! We have such amazing friends here, and are able to keep really busy in fellowship with them, as well as the other things we are involved it. God just continues to bless us. He truly is in control... all we want to do is serve Him.. we are willing.. and we know He will use us according to His will.

We love you all and miss you all,
Please continue to pray for us...

Love,
Jess and Matt

Our lovely Swedish Appartment...

Brought back to truth...

This week has been quite hard. I have really been struggling getting used to the time difference. Last night was the first good sleep i have had since I have been here. I have also been feeling a little discouraged. I found out that volleyball will be cut from 4 days a week to only 1. This was hard for me. Volleyball was such a great time for me last year. I am still so excited to be a part of the team and to actually get to play on it this year. However, my heart was saddened. However figureskating has gone from 1 day a week to 2. I guess this opens up some time for me to serve in different ways.

Matt has hockey almost every day of the week, and has also had amazing opportunity to meet with some guys and have Bible study with them. I praise God for this time! How amazing that those doors have been opened. We had a meeting yesterday with the church group that supports us to be here. It was really great. They had everything written out for us as far as expectations of what we should do while we are here. Everything is great. WE are a bit nervous for our new Swedish classes that we will be taking. It is more advanced, and we both still feel shy to speak still. It is hard because we always know we can speak english. Please pray for us as we begin our new schedule next week. We are expecting to be busy.

During my quiet time today I studied Psalm 132. The Psalm speaks of David's journey to return the Ark of the covenant. The first time he tried he failed... becuase he didn't seek out the Lord and ask Him what he should do, and how he should do it. That is how i feel I have been this week. I have felt so discouraged and at times a bit caught of guard by what God has been doing. I was confused as to what He wanted us to do, even though we have only been here one week. When I read about David's struggle and how he only was able to do what the Lord had asked him to do, after he surrendered his own will and asked God how to do it... I was humbled. I realize that my agenda is not the agenda that we should have while we are here. I want the Holy Spirit to be able to move, to speak to us and to lead us as we should go. I want to seek the Lord out first, and His agenda. Ask Him what He would have us do while we are here. I believe that He will be faithful and will show us.. if we are faithful and willing to listen. Then we can rejoice and dance as David did in 2 Samuel 6:14. Once David did what he knew the Lord was asking of him, and by being obedient and seeking out His will... he could rejoice and dance. I can't wait for that day.

It is amazing to have all of the opportunities that we have while we are here. I am so happy to have an agenda to follow, with expectations for our time here. It feels nice to know what is asked of us.. i just have to remember that there is one whose opinions and expectations should come first... and we need to be in tune with Him in order to know what it is He is asking of us. I don't want to be careless and carry things sent from God on an Ox cart as David did haha.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. We truly can feel them. We feel as if the Lord has big plans for the island of Tjorn. We trust that He will use us, as we are willing to be used in whatever way He asks. Please pray for the lives of the guys on the hockey team. That they will see light in Matt, and continue to feel as though they can ask him questions.

Matt has another home game this Sunday. I am really excited. I love the home games. It is great to watch him play. Please pray that this week as we start to get back into things, that we would feel rested and excited. Also please pray for the Lord to reveal what His plans are for us while we are here.

We love you all.. miss you all.. and can't thank you enough!
Jess and Matt

Back at it...

Hello again!

We have been here for almost 4 days now, and honestly I feel as though it has been non-stop! The night we arrived we went to our close friends Peter and Louice's house. It was so amazing to see old friends and be right where we were nearly one year ago. The next evening we were so blessed to have a party thrown in our honor. Many of our friends were there, and it was such an amazing time to get to see everyone again. They have all touched our lives in such amazing ways, and it felt like we were right at home being around them all once again. They are already trying to make us speak more Swedish. I really pray that the language will come more easily to us soon.

On Sunday Matt had his first game. He was a little nervous, but though that he wouldn't play at all during the game because he had only been to one practice during the week. In the middle of the second period the coach sent Matt out. He only played 4 shifts in the game, but made a huge impact. He scored 1 goal, made a big hit ( I was so surprised) and had a penalty shot. I really want you to understand how i feel when i watch Matt play in Sweden.. it is as though God made this game just for him. He looks so at ease on the ice, and enjoys every minute. It is truly such a blessing.

The past few days have really been packed full of things for us to do. It has been harder than we expected to adjust to the time. We find ourselves not able to fall asleep at night, and then sleeping into the middle of the day. Please pray that we will start to adjust better. It is so strange to wake up in the middle of the night and be hungry. It makes sense though considering 2am here would be dinner time at home.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and thoughts. We miss you all, but feel as though God has us here at this time for His purpose. We are excited to see what will come. We have a meeting on Thursday concerning what we will do while we are here. Matt is at hockey now, and i will be going to figure skating tonight as well. It feels so great to be back to the usual things here.

Missing you all,
Jess and Matt

Part Two of Our Amazing Adventure

Hello dear family and friends,

The time has seemed to just fly past us. It has been a year since our first arrival in Sweden. WE leave today at 5:15pm. I have to admit that I am a bit nervous. Not for being in Sweden, or anything about the place... about our flight over there. I am really praying that we both don't get sick. It was such a horrible ride there the last time.

Please pray for us as we arrive, see all of the framiliar faces, and begin our time of ministry. Matt is hoping to play in a game this weekend, so please also pray for health for him, and that the time change isn't hard on his body. We both can't express how excited we are and how blessed we feel to be doing the Lord's work. He has been so faithful to us, and we find ourselves humbled and in awe of who He is.

Thank you for all of your support through giving and prayer. We love you all dearly! I can't wait to get back into the swing of things in Sweden and begin writting to you what God has been doing. Please pray for open hearts, and that God would move in amazing ways!

Thanks again for all of your prayers, we truly can feel them!

Lots of Love....

Jess and Matt

Goodbye lovely Sweden...

I really am being honest with you when I say that I feel as if my heart will be left behind here in Sweden when we leave. This experience has been more than words could ever express. I find it hard to even write this. I really don't want to leave. Even with the thought of comming back.. leaving here is going to break my heart. I just feel like God has been blessing us in amazing ways here. I feel more like me than I ever have, and I have made friends that are impossible to ever forget. Matt and I have just had a hard time the past few days.. wraping our head around the reality of leaving. We both have found our place here and love it with all of our hearts. I know for him it must be so hard to leave. For him, leaving also means going back to work. I know that after this experience.. that would be hard.

Tonight we were so blessed to have a going away party thrown in our honor. It was amazing to get a chance to be with alot of our friends who have become like family to us. A couple of the hockey guys showed up as well to say goodbye. My heart is overflowing with gratitude. I am so thankful to be able to know all of the people that we have met here. I really can't imagine not waking up here. The party tonight really made me aware of how much I want to come back. I really can't imagine not ever seeing those people again. They are too close to my heart. I know Matt feels the same way.

Tomorrow is our last day in Sweden. Even writing that sentence brings me back to the reality of it all. Tomorrow.... we will spend our last day packing, taking a walk, and spending some time with friends. Please pray for us in this time. It is really hard for us to leave. Also please keep our flight in your prayers. Matt and I both are not too fond of flying, and after my experience in comming here... i am very nervous and anxious to fly. It is crazy to think that this time...l this season in our life is over. Now we ask for you to pray for our next steps. Please pray for us as God continues to guide them. We do want to so what He wants. I know that He gave us such an amazing love for Sweden and for the people here. We are excited to start the next process in getting back here. We love you all and thank you for comming along for the ride with us. It is so sad that it has come to an end.. but we feel as if it is also just the beginning.

Lots of love from Sweden.......

Jess and Matt

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MATT!!!!

Hello friends and family!
Today Matt turns 27. SO OLD! haha. Matt and I both have such mixed emotions about leaving. On one hand we feel so excited to see our friends and family, and share with them some of the adventures GOd has taken us on. On the other hand... we both have fallen in love with everything here. God has really shown us so much about where our passion lies. It is amazing how when we surrendered our time, money, and posessions... how God totally took control. He really wanted to strip us of everything, and He has taken amazing care of us. He has showed us things about ourselves individually, and as a couple. God took us and just used us, and that is exactly what we prayed for when we arrived.

I have been involved in the figure skating show here. It was yesterday and is again today. It is so cute. I just love watching the little girls skate around so proud looking for their parents. I was nearing in tears yesterday thinking of how blessed I am by those little girls. They love me without words. It is amazing.. God has just showed me how to show His love to them.. when no words are even spoken. I will miss them a lot.

Matt has been enjoying some time off from practice.. now he has some time to just relax before we head back to Colorado and he begins to work at full speed. Tomorrow we will have our last meeting with the Church group. Also, our friend Nikolus will be there to help us figure out things for next year with the hockey team and the school. Please remember him in your prayers. I really just want him to see the love that we as Christians have for each other. I want him to feel accepted and loved. Matt and I really feel that God has amazing plans for him. We are praying for him. He has played such a huge role in everything we have done while we have been here. He has made it so nice for me. I love Volleyball and he is the one who first invited me to go help coach. Him and Matt have been able to form a great friendship as well.

Please pray for us as we begin to pack our things and head off. It is pretty emotional for us. Even with the thought of returning.. it is still hard to leave this place that we have fallen in love with. It is hard to believe that we arrived here nearly 3 months ago. Time passed so fast! I know the rest of this week will just fly. My mom knows that i will wait until the last minute to pack all of my things. I think i got that "gift or procrastination" from her. haha.

Thanks again from the bottom of our hearts. This time that we have spent here has been life changing for Matt and I. We both can't wait to share our stories with you in person. Thank you so much for wanting to keep up with what we are doing, and for being so invested in our time here. We love you all so very much.

LOVE,
Jess and Matt