step by step. hand in hand

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Courageous

In case you are in need of a date night or an activity this weekend, I highly advise going to see the movie, Courageous. The movie comes out in theatres this Friday, the 30th. We had the awesome opportunity to preview this movie out in Colorado this summer & we were very impressed. The message that this movie delivers is multifaceted- it calls men to “walk in courageous faith and do what God has called us to do, specifically as fathers and men” (Alex Kendrick- director) as well as delivers the message of Jesus Christ. Also, ladies, it's not just a movie for men- it's an all around family focused movie as well! This movie is produced by the same people that produced Fireproof. I've attached a couple links so you can read more about the movie as well as listen to a FamilyLife Today radio program interviewing the producer & director of this movie.

To read more about the film: http://www.familylife.com/site/apps/nlnet/content.aspx?c=dnJHKLNnFoG&b=6196501&ct=11231017&notoc=1
To listen to the radio show: http://www.familylife.com/site/c.dnJHKLNnFoG/b.6235823/k.809F/FamilyLife_Today.htm?fromhp=TopNavAudio
To check out the movie's website: http://www.courageousthemovie.com/

If you're saying to yourself, "I am going to wait until it comes out on video" or "I want to wait until I hear what other people think of it before I see it" PLEASE consider this: Opening weekend (this weekend) is crucial to the life of this film. Currently this weekend the movie will open in 1,000 theatres around the country...IF enough people go watch the movie on opening weekend (this weekend), then the film with spread to over thousands more theatres & that many more people will have the opportunity to hear the Truth! Plus, it's just a good movie & you won't be disappointed :). Have a great weekend!

Friday, September 23, 2011

welcome to our home

It has taken some time but our home is pretty much all settled! We have actually loved apartment living. We are so thankful for the apartment that God led us to and have had fun making it feel like home.

We love ...the convenience of maintenance
...living on a top floor
...having a pool (EVERY apartment in the south has a pool...though sadly we haven't used it too much)
...how cozy it feels
...all the sidewalks and nearby trails
...having a dishwasher for the first time!!
...having a guest room for all our awesome guests ;)

We miss... a yard
...not having to walk up three flights of stairs with arms full of groceries
...having a place for seth to work on his projects
...more windows & sunlight
...a garage & basement/storage
...good water pressure (top floor=bad pressure)

We've decided that you can make any place feel and look like your home. It's more than the building or the architecture. It's even more than the decorations and pictures on the wall...it's about the environment- the love and the family. Corny, yes. But so true.

Here's some pictures of our home...

As you walk in...this is the hallway

Kitchen

Another view of kitchen

Our living room

Another view of living room

Dining room

Guest room

Office in guest room

Guest bath- we love having 2 bathrooms!

Master Bedroom

Another view of master

Master bathroom

Two of my favorite garage sale find redos....

1. We found this window pane at a garage sale and decided to leave it as is...we liked the old look & then put some pictures in it!

2. We got a pair of chairs for $5 total at a garage sale...they needed a lot of work, but I love the finished product!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

a little bit of recently

I have like 1,000,001 things I need to write about….I guess that is what happens when I don’t do a good job staying updated. I’m trying to decide if I should work from where I left off or from where I am and go backwards…or break this possibly enormous post into some smaller and less-time-consuming-for-the-reader posts. Well…I’m going to start with now and work backwards.

We are still adjusting to the “culture shock” of Arkansas. Laugh if you will, but it’s a different country down here. Yesterday we finally went to get our drivers licenses and do all the car change stuff. We got in line to get our new Arkansas drivers license and the lady starts asking our information…the whole time either calling me “Mrs. Braker or Babydoll” and calling seth “Mr. Braker”…it would’ve had to make you smile. Anyways…she gets all the info she needs from our Illinois drivers licenses and all of a sudden I hear a plunk!...she tossed my license into a scrambly old worn out cylinder container which must serve as a grave yard for licenses! I’m hoping I didn’t allow any of my inner emotions to be expressed on my face because I wasn’t prepared for that! As she continues doing her job and asking questions, all I’m thinking is, that’s my license! Give it back to me- I am from Illinois, not Arkansas…if you throw that away, you’re saying that I’m no longer a resident of Illinois…that sounds so permanent. As with most things, I’m a drama queen…though you’ve probably caught on to that already. Sigh…so there you have it…in my wallet, in a place where an Illinois DL used to reside now sits a license with the residence of: Arkansas.

We have decided that there are some things we like and some things we don’t like so far.

Like:

Weather (now…not when we first came & it was 110 degrees all day long)

People (oh my, have we met some incredible people!)

Living in the city (I’ll admit it’s nice to have a grocery store down the road)

Our apartment (yes, pictures are coming!!)

FamilyLife (we love this ministry. It’s definitely a change in job roles than we are used to, but God is teaching us)

Growing us & learning a lot more dependence on God

Don’t Like:

Being away from a lot of our family and friends

Missing out on things

Changing leaves

One World Café (may sound superficial but we just haven’t found a comparable place yet)

Construction & Nursing

These aren’t exhaustive…but they are some of the things we are thinking about. I was at a Bible Study last Saturday and they used the quote…”It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s just different”…that’s true about a lot of things down here.

We had our 3rd anniversary on September 14th- but have decided to postpone celebrating it until the end of the month since things have been so busy!

We had some of our dear dear friends, Justin & Kirsten Wiegand, come and visit us a couple weekends ago and had an awesome time! On Friday we all went to a restaurant we heard about from a few people. I knew we had to try it to humor my OSF CFH friends back home who often told me what Arkansas was like…and I heard this place was it. We drove about 40 minutes, pretty much to the middle of nowhere, and stopped at a restaurant called “Cothams- Home of the hubcap burger”. To give you a visual…this place is backed up to a swamp and looks like it could fall over at any given point. The inside is an old general store where they simply pushed everything to the sides and plopped in some tables. Justin & Seth split the “hubcap” burger which is 17oz of beef. It was well worth the experience! We also did some hiking and just hanging out with them. We were sooo blessed by their visit to us!! Below are some pictures of our weekend together:

Breakfast of sausage & eggs, fruit salad & muffins before our hike!

They said this wasn't the first tree they saw that grew like this!

Love them!!

The four of us

The final night we did "mexican" night...salsa, guac, enchiladas & salad...& finish off with blue bell ice cream!!

The weekend before that we went to the Braker reunion in Joplin, MO. We had an awesome time seeing family and talking with them face to face. We got to see our awesome niece and nephews and soaked up as much time with them as possible! Below are some pictures from the reunion and the weekend:

Little miss maggy moo!

Our sweet nephew, Rio- he has gotten so big!!

Well, that's about a long enough post for now! I'll be updating on some previous things and upcoming things as well!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Mission: Honduras

MISSION: HONDURAS

_________________________________________________________

LOCATION: TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS

TIME: 7-14 AUGUST 2011

OBJECTIVE 1: TRAIN, EQUIP AND DEPLOY HONDURAN HOMEBUILDERS TEAM TO TEACH BIBLICAL TRUTHS ABOUT MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

OBJECTIVE 2: FACILITATE 2 “A DAY TO REMEMBER” SEMINARS FOR MILITARY AND POLICE PERSONNEL.

OBJECTIVE 3: GET SUMBERSED IN A REGULAR ROUTINE OF P90X J

DEBRIEFING: God has been doing some amazing things in the city of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, namely within the ranks of military and police personnel. He is raising up leaders who are passionate for him and who are willing and excited and ready to share His name. Be prepared to see His mighty hand at work.

I had the great privilege of travel to Honduras this past week to mostly observe what the FamilyLife team is up to in Central America. My travel buddy was Gabe Buchholtz, who I met a few weeks ago at the Cru staff conference in Colorado. He spent 29 years in the US Air Force and has been on the global team at FamilyLife for the past 10 years. He has been a wonderful example, mentor, and friend this entire week. He is also responsible for bringing the P90X dvds and setting us up with a great workout each morning! We met the rest of our team at our hotel in Tegucigalpa. Leonel and Miriam Motto have been on staff with Cru for over 40 years and currently reside in Miami with the focus on ministering to families in Latin America. General Rodolfo Interiano and his wife Eva served are retired from the Honduras military and are now using their experience and influence to reach out to military families. Last, but by no means least, we met John and Shirley Wind, who lived in Honduras for 20 years as missionaries and have been in Mexico for the last 12. Let me just say that I am extremely blessed to have been surrounded by such experience and wisdom.

Below is a photo tour of our week, to give you a taste of what I saw:

My home for the week at Hotel Plaza San Martin.

Tuesday during the day was “A Day to Remember” seminar, which is similar to FamilyLife’s “A Weekend to Remember,” only condensed to a day. This was at the Air Force base and 40 couples attended from the Air Force, Army and Navy. 51 people committed their lives to Christ!!

Gabe and I, with General Espinoza, one of the Christian military leaders, I spoke of earlier, who invited us to do the military talks! For those who are familiar with the US military, his position would be comparable to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff.

Tuesday night was the beginning of a four evening training session. These people are military and civilian couples who are passionate about Jesus and desire to share his truths about marriage and family. This was Movement Makers III training which taught them how to be effective speakers. Many of them already completed levels I and II and were officially certified at the end of the week. They are now equipped to host their own events and seminars and they are very eager to do so.

Wednesday we went to the National Police Academy in Tegucigalpa and held another “A Day to Remember” seminar. The crowd of 25 couples was a younger crowd with newer marriages. 10 attendees prayed to receive Christ that day! We met one couple who was fighting through the husband’s infidelity. God working through this painful day for them, brought about a repentant heart for him and the beginnings of forgiveness for her. They have a tough road ahead, with lots of work, but praise God they are moving the right direction!

Thursday was back at the Air Force Base for a short session about Family Relationships. Gabe got to share part of his own testimony of marriage and raising a family. Leonel translated into Spanish for him.

Friday night after training was complete, General Espinoza surprised us with a separate graduation reception, consisting of ceremony and a fabulous spread of hors d’oeuvres.

One of the most exciting parts of the entire week was Saturday morning. This morning was an optional breakfast for any of the couples that wanted to be part of the Honduras team. We were expecting 3 or 4 couples…..10 came!!! They were all eager to volunteer for positions and Tegucigalpa is now equipped with a team ready to reach their community for Christ!

I was beyond blessed to be a part of this trip and see first hand what God is up to in Honduras!

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Mike + Kenzie

I've known Kenz since 7th grade when we became instant best friends. We were pretty much inseparable & knew everything there was to know about each other. Kenzie is one of those people you can completely be yourself around and know you are loved without end. I think we could compile a book from the hundreds of "notes" we used to write each other during class. I still find them when I go through my old stuff & they make me smile at how silly we used to be! We've been through some of the hardest things together & some of the best things together. We were roommates in college & knew each other almost better than ourselves. All it would take was a certain look from her & I would burst into tears or start laughing hysterically. Those are some of my best memories. I am so blessed to have such an amazing friend & sister in Christ. The moment I met Mike, I loved him. I could see why God put these two together. They have such a sweet but fun love for each other. We had an awesome day celebrating their marriage! The wedding was awesome & the reception was gorgeous!

Here's some pictures of the weekend: