Anticipation Is Building

On Friday night, Kelly and I met up with some Oxford Alumni in LA. We are so excited. The stories, the adventure, the experience.

We did learn the first term is extremely intense. If you want to come out please come between Oct - Dec. Kelly will be ready to see some familiar faces. By the sounds of it I will be in the classroom and then in the books from 6am to 11pm every day. Oh boy!

We are so excited.

In the meantime, we are going to Denver this week for Alex and Jen Sterling’s wedding. It will be a blast.

Gotta go.
-Mike

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Bitter-sweet

Bitter Sweet is the best way I can describe our move to Oxford. In one aspect there is great excitement for the adventure ahead. On the other hand, there is also a sense of loss as we step away from a wonderful church, community, friends and family.

In the midst of it, the best we can do is take a step of faith. Our decision has been bathed in prayer, and seeking wisdom & guidance. We feel unbelievably blessed by this opportunity. I was asked if I would ever have thought two years ago that Mike and I would be doing something like this. My answer: yes. We are dreamers. So in essence, we are living the dream… :)

–Kelly M

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Miracles In Motion Retreat

We just finished the MIM retreat this weekend. It’s the annual retreat where many of the families that live at the motel come up to a mountian getaway. Kelly and a number of volunteers organize the event and it was a blast. There was around 90 people that came up in our group to Forest Home (near Big Bear in California).

I think the greatest aspect of this retreat is the “family” feel. Moms, dads, kids, kids with kids, teens, grandparents are there — everyone in the family shows up. There are volunteer families and people who work at Mariners Church … it’s a giant melting pot of people with so many needs.

My highlight was connecting with the high school guys & girls. We played basketball outside and many of them who are normally very reserved and seem very sad, broke out of their shell. It was great to see them having fun and screwing around. A glimpse of joy. That night 2 of the guys and 2 of the girls made the decision to follow Christ. It was powerful to see these 16 year olds tear up and ask for forgiveness and make a decision to change their life.

I hope to come to another MIM retreat in the future.
-Mike

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This Last Year And A Half

We’ve had a great time in California this last year. Quite honestly, I didn’t think I’d like it as much as I have. In fact, I could see coming back. We’ve had a wonderful time in the OC. We’ve been plugged into Mariners Church — and Kelly has been working there for the last 18 months.

Kelly is the Director of Miracles in Motion and it’s been such a blessing. In addition to her work, we’ve been very blessed to serve in the college ministry … truly amazing. The students are awesome — seeking truth in their lives and it’s just so humbling to be around. We’ve even had a great time serving with the college pastor, Erin Kerr :-)

Kerr is great. He is a great friend, a wise man, and an all around fun guy. If you’re in So Cal look him up.

That’s all for today.

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Setting In

The realities of moving abroad are all starting to settle in. I’m realizing that our trip to Denver at the end of June will most likely be the last time we’re there for quite some time. We are trying to figure out how to get down to Florida to visit my brother and mom as well as Chicago before we head off.

And then in the same breath we are so excited. We just picked up our travel books to Europe / UK / Ireland. It’s going to be awesome.

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Off To Oxford

It’s official: We are going to Oxford. School starts in October and today we have narrowed it down to one school.

It’s been a 7 month process of applying to schools, going for interviews, getting advice, discussing our future, etc, etc …

We are super excited and now the planning begins

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