A Weekend with Kindred Spirit Friends

If you've ever seen the movie, Anne of Green Gables, which I am hoping to receive for my birthday or Christmas...hint hint....because it is one of my favorite movies...you know the term "kindred spirits." Anne calls her best friend her "kindred spirit." Well, I feel like we have spent the weekend with our kindred spirits. :) Our dear friends, Krisanne & Paul Emch, friends we met in Fargo, ND, came to visit this weekend. We have been having a fun weekend with them - spending a couple of fun fall days around Duluth.


Here we are - enjoying Canal Park. It was a gorgeous night.





And then today we went to Park Point and to downtown to Pizza Luce. It was windy - the waves on the lake were huge! But it was still awesome - I love this city!








Krisanne & Paul will be heading on the mission field soon with Wycliffe - so we probably won't be seeing them as often much longer. It will be hard to say goodbye, but we are so excited for what God has in store for them in the country they will be traveling to. We pray that someday we can go visit them there!! It has been a wonderful weekend with our kindred spirit friends.

Move-In Weekend for students!

Well, it has been a crazy busy weekend - with students moving back to campus for classes to begin on Tuesday. We have felt a bit overwhelmed - trying to connect with the students we have been in contact with over the summer and re-connect with students from previous years - our student leaders. We had some fun events planned for the weekend - on Saturday, Brandon and I went to the dorm rooms of the women I had been in touch with via email throughout the summer. We were able to meet quite a few of them - which was exciting! Many of them are interested in being a part of the women's Bible study I am hoping to lead this semester. Yea! Praise God! This is what I've been praying for all summer - I am encouraged by how the semester is beginning. God always comes through when we really commit things to prayer. I seem to know that in my head....but I am not usually very diligent in actually doing it! But this summer, we really committed the Nav year ahead to prayer - and I am seeing awesome things happen! :) It is exciting!

Saturday night - we went down to Canal Park. We had about 8 new students join us. It was great to see some of them already connecting with one another. It was a fun time - Jingrui Le, Hong Bo, and Fang also joined us. They loved Canal Park!



On Sunday - Brandon planned an awesome activity - "Amazing Race: Duluth." He put a lot of time and effort into it - so it's a bummer that only 2 new students showed up to take part. But in the end, it turned out to be a good bonding experience for us - as we reconnected with our student leaders. Here is a picture of us out for pizza following the event.



Today is Labor Day - it's a hot one! Brandon and I have been enjoying a good family day - at least until he goes bear hunting this afternoon. (It's the first day of the season! Hope he gets one right away tonight!!!) :) We went out for breakfast with the Madster and then went down to Canal Park. It's too bad it was so hot...or we would have taken more in. I am a wimp in this weather. Here's a nice photo of Maddie and Brandon in the Maritime Museum. I love our time spent together! Wish we did more stuff like this!



Thanks everyone for your prayers for the start of the semester. God definitely has His hand in things - as we get revved up for the school year with Navs. I am excited to see how things go.

Nav Leadership Retreat

We had a busy weekend - helping with the Nav leadership retreat and canoe-a-thon, held in Jay Cooke State Park. We had about 5 students who have hearts for leading and discipling other college students join us for camping and an 8 mile canoe on the St. Louis River. I, Katie, stayed back, taking care of Maddie and preparing meals. The guys enjoyed, and worked rather hard, canoeing! Sounds like it was quite the adventure! :) You'll have to ask Brandon about it sometime. But we ended up having gorgeous weather and really felt God's presence among us at the campground - as we planned, prayed, and prepared for the semester ahead.

I am getting excited for students to move in this weekend! I have a handful of freshmen girls who have shown an interest. I also continue to meet with my dear Chinese friends! We are still looking for furniture for them for their apartment. I went to visit them yesterday - they have nothing! So if you have any unneeded items....like furniture, dishes, pots/pans, pretty much anything - let me know! They would be so grateful to you for whatever you provide. Thank you! Jingrui Li went to the Art in Me community outreach event our church held in Chester Bowl, yesterday. I can tell she is very impressed by the people's hearts and kindness they have been showing not only to her, but to the community. She is alreay wanting to be involved and asking me about coming to church with us next week! I am so excited about the things God is doing in her heart! Please continue to pray for Jingrui Li - along with the 3 other girls. Pray that we would be a blessing to them and that they would see the light of Jesus as the reason as to why we want to be serving them!

One other exciting thing! There is a contact thru church who has met Jingrui Li (Claire) and the others - major God story! I am really seeing the hand of God!! Also - another woman from church talked to me yesterday - she has been helping another student from China find housing....and she will be at church next Sunday as well! Another Chinese student at Anchor Point....another friend for Jinrui Li!! Wow - I am so thrilled at the things God is doing around us!

God is so Faithful in Answering Prayer!!

It has been such a wonderful weekend! God has blessed me with so much - and so many opportunities to minister. I am finally feeling my "place" here in Duluth. Yesterday, I met four very sweet Chinese women. To make a long story short, through random connections - being involved with the Navs, a man called Brandon from Arizona last weekend. He is discipling a Chinese man there, who recently became a Christian. This Chinese man's girlfriend was heading to the States to study....and of all places, guess where she was coming??? Duluth! So, we have been in touch - only this last week (everything has moved so quickly!) and I went to meet her yesterday, on UMD's campus. I told her I would help her find some housing. When I got there, there were three other Chinese grad students with her. They all were looking for housing together. Just typing all of this gets me so excited again! (We are having trouble finding them housing, with it getting so close to the school year starting....so please, if you think of it, remember them in prayer!) Anyways - we looked at a couple places yesterday, with not a whole lot of luck, but they ended up at our house for quite a few hours, making us Chinese food! It was wonderful! The best part was, Jingrui Li, asked if she could come to church with us on Sunday!! What more could I ask for?!?!?! What an answer to prayer!!! Jingrui Li is really seeking God - she has many questions. Please keep her in your prayers! Already she is becoming a very dear friend to me. I look forward to getting to know her and the other three friends of hers, better. Thank you God for such wonderful ministry opportunities.

I also just got home from a church potluck and meeting. I feel so blessed to be a part of Anchor Point's community. I have never felt so connected and a part of a body of Christ - striving together for on purpose. Icannot stop praising God for where He has placed Brandon and I at this time in our lives!!! As you can tell....I am on cloud nine!!! Posted is a picture of Jingrui Li (Claire), Hong Bo Lin (Lydia), Jiyiug Li (Jean), and Chen Fang (Amy). They just loved Maddie!

Oh my...

I just wrote a huge update on all of the things we've been up to this summer and I guess i didn't save it and lost it all!!! That really stinks and makes me really sad. I don't have time to write it all over again...so I guess I'll have to write more later. :( Wow, I'm disappointed!

For now, I'll just post a few more pictures. Madeline is almost nine months already! She is a joy - busy scooting around (not crawling) and walking around, holding onto the furniture. She's taken a few steps on her own....very exciting! She is understanding some words - like mommy, daddy, clock, eat, kisses, and puppy. She continues to be the most smiley baby I've ever seen. She is a joy and I continue to praise God for allowing me to be at home with her every day, seeing these huge milestones! I love it!

Madeline is 6 Months Old

It's crazy to believe how fast time flies and how quickly Maddie is growing! She is officially 6 months old and is such a fun and happy baby. We just can't get enough of her. Enjoy these photos that a friend of mine took down at Canal Park last week. She's a doll! :)

A fun weekend in North Dakota

We had a wonderful weekend - spending time with friends and family in Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota. As we were driving into Fargo on Friday night, I was feeling a bit of sadness - because I kinda miss the place! I mean, I love being here in Duluth - but it has been hard being away from our good friends there in North Dakota. I also realized how much I missed being involved in ministry with the Crowleys.

We headed out there Friday night after Brandon got off work. We stayed at our good friend's apartment in Fargo. Krisanne and Paul were awesome hosts to us - and Krisanne is an amazing cook, so we ate really well! Krisanne and I painted Maddie's nails for the first time, sitting on their deck outside. She has very pretty pink toenails now! The Emch's invited our other good friends, David and Amy - who are expecting a baby girl in September! - over for dinner Saturday night. We had a great visit with them, and we learned how to play Settlers of the Catan. On Sunday, after church, we went out for lunch with Greg, Mari Lynn, and the kids - it was so good to see them. We miss them!!

After lunch, we traveled to Mayville, where Brandon's sis, Heather, was having a band concert. After spending time with her, we drove over to Grand Forks, where we stayed with Danae, Jeramy, and Mattea. (and all of the animals!) They had baby goats, a lamb, and 2 dogs running around. It was so cute! Maddie loved the "kids" - she wasn't afraid of them at all. We stayed with them until Monday, when we headed home. So it was quite the packed weekend, but it was a lot of fun!

Now, it seems like Maddie may be getting some of her first teeth. She has had a bit of a fever, a runny nose, and has been very fussy. Hasn't been quite her happy self! I feel so bad for her. I pray this goes fast!

Spring is finally here now...I think the weather is beginning to shape up! Yea! Time to go for a walk!