Summertime

Summer is just about here. For those of us still operating on the college schedule, we are counting down the days until Friday when the last final will have been taken and summer will officially commence. Meanwhile, Josh, who has been out of school for a few years now, has been showing us some servant-love by making breakfast for us everyday this week while we deal with the stress of finals. What a guy! I feel so blessed to be surrounded by people whose love for Jesus is obvious in the way they treat me and everyone around them.

As the semester winds up and summer plans draw ever nearer, there are some transitions coming. After a lot of prayer, Ben has decided to move in with some other guys who are a part of his church, Kingdom Life Fellowship. He is by no means leaving our community, but he will be living elsewhere starting in a few weeks. We will definitely miss him - his carefree spirit, his cooking, his laughter, his general silliness late at night, his beautiful voice echoing from the shower, and his unconditional love and service. But I guess if he gets too scarce, we know where to find him! We're praying that God will richly bless him as he continues in school and continues to follow Jesus with everything he has.

I (Wesley) will be heading down to Houston in just about a week and a half to begin the Lifeline Hospital Chaplaincy Internship. I will be working Mon-Fri, 8-5pm, as a hospital chaplain at M.D. Anderson Medical Center. It will be a quite a summer, I'm sure, and I'm really looking forward to all the things God will teach me through the experience. Of course, my heart is somewhat torn because I would love to be in Abilene, living in our neighborhood, playing with kids and deepening the many relationships that have become so dear to me. Part of trusting God is trusting that His work continues when we are called to be absent for a time; and I know that it will.

Josh and Aaron will be in the house most of the summer, carrying on as usual with open doors and open hearts. For about five weeks, starting June 13th, they will be traveling to Brazil to promote and participate in a church camp. This will be Josh's sixth time to go and work with the same people, and every year he has been blessed by the many friendships and the ways God has worked. He is eagerly anticipating all that God will do. This year will be particularly special, since Aaron and some other friends of ours will be joining him. If you would like to help out financially with this awesome trip, just email us for more details at joshlovemonk@gmail.com.

Last Friday was the last Friday Night Dinner with all of our college friends in town. The Friday and Sunday community meals have been a rich blessing this semester, but we anticipate just going with the flow this summer - less structured, more frequent. I hope to post again soon and tell you all about last Friday, a very fun and special night, but for now...it's time to study!