Our Swedish home...

Hello Friends and Family!!!! Here is a short video of our home. We love it so much and feel so blessed to be able to stay here. It is such an amazing blessing and we can't stop thanking God for it! There aren't any photos of our bedroom.. as it is not in the best shape, but i will take some and post them soon. Thank you for all of your prayers. We miss you all.. and love you all. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Luke 2:13-14

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Swedish Pancakes....

Hello there friends and family!

What an amazing time of year! Lights twinkling, the buzzing busy people, the smell of a new swedish Christmas tree! I love it. I have to admit I was a bit nervous to be away at Christmas time. I wondered if it would feel the same, if I would feel at home, and comfortable. Although i do miss our family and friends... i have to say that God has already made this Christmas so special for Matt and I. We have a lot of first this holiday season. Last week we got our first Christmas tree. It is small, and not so pretty looking, but Matt has been SOO excited about it since we got it. We had the option to get a Danish tree.. which i have to admit was beautiful and full and the man told us that the needles wouldn't shed. It would have been nice to get that one, however Matt insisted we get the "Swedish" tree, as we are in SWeden! It is perfect! I love it. In Sweden then don't put up their tress until right before Christmas. So we are going to decorate it and put it up tomorrow. I will post some pictures of our house and of our trees hopefully tomorrow.

Last night we had an amazing time, as we went to a Christmas market/fair called "Liseberg."It was amazing. Full of lights, games, Christmas smells, and it truly made me feel like it was Christmas time. There was even an outdoor skating show where the Swedish national champion skated. It was so much fun. We were so blessed to get to go with our good friends Peter and Louice and Lucas their little boy. He had the most fun playing games, and riding some rides. I had this strange moment when we were walking through the park.. i just had this realization that we were in Sweden.. and it is Christmas time.. and how cool that is. It is amazing. God is sooooo good, and I can't stop praising Him for His amazing hand in our life.

Tonight I made Swedish pancakes tonight for the first time ever. I was so nervous.. but it was so fun and they were DELICIOUS!!!!! It felt so great to make them! We have such an amazing home to spend our christimas in, and we really do have amazing friends who are like family to us. I feel blessed beyond words. Lets not forget the reason for the season. Jesus came to this earth to seek and to save. What an awesome time to remember when he arrived. We love you all. Matt promised me he would write.. so we will see if he finds time. His hockey is going really well, they are on a break now, but still have practice. He is third for points on his team and has only played 9 games. I am so proud of him for working so hard. It is awesome to see.

Love you all and miss you all.. here are some pics from the fair..

Hello to our faithful readers!!!!

I was thinking today that I didn't really have much to write about, but I know it has been awhile since i last wrote.. so i will try. Things have been great here.. i love our house, i love our friends and God is really just so good! The past few days Matt and I have not been feeling the best. Matt came down with a cold and i have been trying to get used to the time. It has been pretty crazy, but it also has been nice to just get to spend time with my husband. The past few years have been such a crazy rollar-coaster of a ride for us, and the past few days I have just been able to be thankful for togetherness with my husband. It is just a blessing, even if we both do feel gross and sick ;)

Matt has had a game since i last wrote. He played very well and had a great time. He told me he missed a penalty shot, and he was so mad he made up for it with 2 goals and one assist. Their team won 4-0. Today he has a home game, and I am hoping i feel well enough to go. I love watching him play and i get so sad when I can't go. This last week there was a newspaper article written about Matt. From what we were told, it was an awesome story about Matt's journey with cancer, his history with hockey, and his reason for being here.. to tell people about God. What an awesome platform to have. I pray that everyone who reads the article will be blessed by our God's grace and provision.

Please pray for us this week, as we will be getting a better idea of what we will be doing this term in Sweden. We just simply want to be used, in whatever way we can be. Thank you for your support, love and prayers. I will be updating again soon after Matt's game tonight. Perhaps tomorrow, or tuesday. We miss you all and love you. Thanks so much for your comments also, Matt and I are truly blessed by them.

Blessings,
Jess and Matt

Finally here...

What an amazing feeling to finally be here with Matt and feel totally at peace! I can't even begin to tell you how amazing it was to walk into our new house and see all that our friends had done for us. I was brought to tears as soon as I walked in the door. The house is filled with love and has an amazing feeling in it. Everything is more than I could have ever imagined. I just kept hearing the verse in Ephesians 3:20,21

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen"

He really has exceeded any expectations that I had. Matt and I both feel humbled by this whole experience. Our friends worked day and night to make a place for us where we could feel at home. It is amazing. I wake up praising God, and thanking Him countless times for the friends we have here, for the home we have here, and for the ministry He has provided for us here. We are truly blessed! As soon as i get over the jetleg i promise to post some pictures. The only times i seem to be fully awake right now are when the sun is down, and the pictures wouldn't do our house justice.

Since I have been here.. Matt has played one game. It was so awesome to get to go watch him, and i know i am a proud wife.. but I truly have never seen him play this well in all of my time watching him. He is playing with such passion, control, and confidence. His last game he had 3 assists. He is playing with one of his best friends on the team, Mattias. Mattias and Matt have developed such a special bond. They began to have discipleship times together last year, and they will continue this year also. I would love to go into more detail about Matt's ministry opportunities, but i feel like it would be best if he got to share it. I will force him to sit down and write haha.

The team they played on Friday tapes some of their games, and posts the goals and important plays on youtube. Matt is number 10 and his friend Mattias is number 16 on the red team. This way you can see what I see when I watch him play here.

Thank you so much for your love, support and prayers. We really cherish them. We are so lucky to have so many people who pray for us and support us in this amazing adventure God has provided. We miss you and love you all.

Jess and Matt

Answer to prayer...

Well, we finally have some plans in place. (By the way... I wish i was better at writing on here. I have more time when i am in Sweden. ) So, right now i am in Canada, and Matt will be joining me next week. We will be here for a few days and then back to Colorado. Our plan right now is to leave by the 17th. The hockey team has been waiting for matt, so we are trying to get there as soon as possible. Also, my visa has come in for Sweden!!! Such an answer to prayer. God is working things out in His timing.

This week has been hard for me.. being home and remembering that I will be gone for Christmas, but i feel as though the timing for us to be in Sweden is what God wants of us. We have amazing friends in Sweden who are like family and I feel so blessed to have them there waiting for us to arrive. I know they will take good care of us over Christmas.

Please pray for us as we prepare for our trip. We still have many things to do, we have lots to remember, and we have very little time to do this all. God has truly blessed us this summer, and we feel more than excited for what He has ahead. We want Him to move in mighty ways and we want more than anything to portray the love that He has for us ... to others.

Thank you to all of you who still read our blogs. I promise to be better. I will start this week.... and it will onlt get better from here.

SO MUCH LOVE from us!

Jess and Matt

Prayer for Sweden... Visas... and so much more!

hello to our friends and family and blog followers,

This summer has turned out to be quite the experience for Matt and I. We were apart for most of the summer. Matt was in Colorado, and I was in Canada with my family. We thought it would only be for one month. One month turned into two, and two turned into three. We were apart from April to August. I was so upset at first about the length of time that we would be apart, but God really had this amazing plan. I had the best summer with my family. It was such a blessing to be able to be here. I know how hard it will be to be away from my family for a long period of time this year, so this was such a blessing to me. Matt also had a lot of work at home which is another huge blessing. Praise God for His provision!

Now, we are awaiting our visas for Sweden. The plan now is to get a work visa for a year so we can be in Sweden from October until April or May. I have been waiting to finalize things but i am praying that this week it will all be finalized and we will be ready to book our ticket to SWeden. Please pray for us as these next steps fall into place. While we are in Sweden we are planning to apply for Matt's perminant residency in Canada. We are hoping by the time we get back from Sweden that all the paper work will be done and he will have it. God has also provided in amazing ways sending us an angel to help us through this time.

I feel like through this summer i have been filled with so much doubt and uncertainty.. the other day as i was walking along a back road in Saskatchewan I was overwhelmed with an urge to pray aloud. As i was walking along this dirt road that never seemed to end.. i realized that God was trying to speak to me in this time. This dirt road was like the road that Matt and I are on. We both know there is an end to it, but we get tired and hot, and feel like it is the same dirt road we have been on a million times. AS i continued to walk, i cried out loud to God to show me what it was He wanted for our lives... As I stopped and looked out into a feild filled with crops.. as far as the eye could see.. i was brought back to the verse in Matthew 9:37

"Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few."

The harvest in Sweden is plentiful.. and He has called us to be His workers. Matt and I are so excited for this next term in Sweden. It is longer so we will have more opportunity to get our roots in. Please pray for us as we begin the process to get going. We trust that His plan is for us to be there. All he asked of us to do is GO.. .and that is what we are hoping to do.

Thank you for all of your prayers for us this summer. I will be updated this process as we find out new information.

lots of love,

Jess and Matt

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