The Longing for Beauty

KP writes:

The Longing for Beauty

I previously have written on The Seven Longings of the Human Heart, a book we read for class. I wanted to write again on a second chapter that I found equally intriguing. The second point that really struck me was 'the longing for beauty'. Although I have tried to compose paragraphs, these are like mini sound bites of my thoughts mixed with quotes from the book. I hope you hear my heart, or more importantly I pray you hear God's heart.

The heart is a God-designed void created to be filled with the beauty of God and to reflect this beauty. The beautiful God made His favorite creations to be beautiful. Wow! We are to reflect God’s own beauty. Also, we were created to long to possess beauty and to gaze upon it. I so see this part of the God given longing filled in so many illegitimate ways in our society.

In His ultimate design, revelation of God’s beauty has two dimensions: the beauty of Jesus as our Bridegroom, and the beauty of His Bride.(Us!)

God Himself is the source of all beauty. He is a beautiful God. This is not something that is often taught from our pulpits. He is absolutely radiant in appearance. And what is often times more foreign to us is the fact that He wants to impart this same magnificent beauty to us. A key element of redemption is the fact that His radiant and perfect beauty has been transferred to us through His Son. Isaiah 61:1-3 tells of the promise of exchange of His beauty for our Ashes. When we became a believer we weren’t merely saved from Hell, but we were made to be beautiful and to show forth God’s beauty to the rest of creation forever. It is part of the process. “For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the humble with salvation.” (Psalm 149:4)

There are actually manifestations of this spiritual or inner beauty. He changes our very countenance by lighting it up and changing our personality. We begin to have a bright spirit. In our first days at Intro our family commented during our ‘Price evening debriefings’ at the common physical characteristics of the IHOP Intro staff. We had noticed how bright their faces and eyes were. Their eyes were shiny and their expressions were full of life unlike the masses we typically encountered in day to day life.

As mentioned in an earlier post, God takes pleasure in us. That is a hard statement to digest on many levels. Most of us do not feel attractive when we stand before God. Our many wrong actions and attitudes run rampant through our minds. All we see is the contrast between His holiness and our sin. Beloved, if He thinks we are beautiful (and He does) it doesn’t matter whether we or others agree or not. The King gazes upon us and likes what He sees!! “The King will greatly desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, worship Him”. (Psalm 45:11) “I am my Beloved’s, and His desire is toward me.” (Song 7:10) God only surrounds Himself with beauty! Being desired by God mandates that we are, in reality, truly beautiful!!! This is a powerful revelation. His desire dictates our worth.

There is temporal beauty in this age and eternal beauty in the age to come. In regards to our eternal beauty, we will possess physical beauty beyond the angels. We will have a beautiful face, body, mind, and heart. We will be stunningly beautiful forever. Our resurrected bodies will be made to express the glory and beauty of God in the New Heaven and the New Earth. Remember, a bride walks in a newly-acquired level of ownership in relation to everything her bridegroom possesses. We will be crowned with God’s glory and honor…”(Hebrews 2:7,10) We, as the Church, will be the Bride and we know that all of the Bride's beauty is a reflection of His.

But what about this present age? The Word tells us that His very beauty or glory can be placed within us. Humanity itself was made for the very indwelling of God. (Ephesians 2:22) “This indwelling of God is how God, the Consuming Fire, chooses to express His glory, His grandeur, His love and His beauty to the rest of creation for all time.” It affects how we think, speak, and feel.

Bottom line is who are we listening to? What are we believing? Do we value the opinions of others over that of our heavenly Father's? What is our standard of beauty? Do we hold to the harsh reality of imperfection and self imposed condemnation? There is only one opinion that carries any weight. It belongs to the only One who has any rights of ownership to us as created beings. It is God’s thoughts that matter. God is the one who created us and gave us the deep desires regarding beauty. He has called us unto Himself to fulfill them. He is faithful and true. He cannot lie. He is beautiful. He has made us beautiful. I challenge each of us to walk in the revelation of our beauty as identified by our King!

Kristian

JP - Me, a Bride?

Jeff writes:

As a man, I find it a little difficult to identify with the Bride of Christ thing talked about in the book of Revelation. Bride of Christ, what’s up with that? Now, if we’re talking about Joshua, Samson, Samuel, or David, that’s something I can identify with. Fight, kill, conquer!!! Ugh Ugh!! William Wallace (Braveheart). Freedom!!!!!!! As men, we are right there. As young boys, we’re all about playing army or cowboys and Indians. But, playing dress up and “let’s get married”? No way!

“But God, End-times Jesus of Revelation 19 is coming as the victorious King of Kings, eyes aflame with fire, a sharp double edged sword coming from His mouth, and robe dipped in blood from treading the winepress of His wrath, ugh, ugh, right?” True, but He is also coming as a jealous Bridegroom coming to avenge His bride. And guess what guys, you’re the bride, too!

Being a little slow, I asked God to help me relate. Being ever Faithful, He broke it down to a level I could comprehend. “You’re a husband and father of two daughters, think of it from that perspective”. That I could do. While Kristian and I were engaged, we lived 3 hours apart. We looked forward to the weekends when we could be together. However, inevitably one of us would have to leave. We longed to be together such that we would often leave Monday morning at 5:00 AM in order to be to class at 8:00.

Finally, our wedding day came. I remember standing at the altar at the front of the church waiting anxiously for the doors at the back of the church to open so that I could finally see my beautiful bride. It would only be a few minutes more before we would finally be together. No more having to be separated by distance and time. I could hardly wait for everyone in attendance to catch a glimpse of my beautiful bride. I remember my heart seemingly beating out of my chest. Why was it taken so long for her to get ready? Finally, the doors opened and she was more amazingly beautiful than I could imagine. Adorned all in white, radiant in beauty made ready for the wedding. How proud I was! Everyone in attendance stood in unison to gaze upon her. This is exactly how God sees and relates to us. He sees us as beautiful and has waited and is waiting longer for us to prepare ourselves for the wedding. Song of Solomon 4:9 says that we have ravished His heart. That His heart beats faster with one glance of the brides eyes. Men, can you relate?

Now, from the father’s perspective. I remember Kristian telling me that her dad started to cry just before the doors opened. He was both sad at “losing” his daughter, but also he was rejoicing in her joy as a bride who was going to meet the bridegroom that God had chosen for her. God revealed that this is how He feels about the marriage of His Son and His bride. He weeps for those who reject His invitation, but rejoices that the bride has made herself ready for the Bridegroom. Whoa, ok, I’m starting to get it.

We tend to forget of Jesus as the Bridegroom. I challenge you to look at Him more from this perspective. It causes you to receive His love in a whole new way. It has really opened my eyes as to how much more intimate He wants to be with me. He doesn’t want to be just our weekend date. He desires intimate times on a daily basis.

When I consider the heavens, the works of Your fingers, the moon and the stars that You have ordained, who am I, Lord? - Psalm 8:3-4

The bride of Christ, that’s who. Are you willing to spend time with the Bridegroom?

KP- Longing to Be Enjoyed

KP writes:

The Longing to Be Enjoyed

For one of our classes we read The Seven Longings of the Human Heart, by Mike Bickle and Deborah Hiebert. I was particularly struck by the chapter on 'being enjoyed by God' and wanted to share some of it with you. I pray the Lord personally speaks to you about how much He really enjoys you too!

“The Lord jealously desires that we believe He sincerely enjoys us in a personal way”. The key here is that ‘we believe’. He actually created us with the need for that assurance. We must know deep in our hearts that He desires and delights in us for reasons bigger than anything we can secure by any level of dedication or achievement. “The Father has affection for us as His children, and Jesus has passion for us as His Bride”. Our lives have value and importance specifically because God enjoys us. We are defined by the One who pursues us. This is great news to be shouted from every rooftop, to every human being. Contrary to what the world and well meaning parents or professors would tell us, we are NOT the sum total of what we accomplish. We are defined as important by virtue of the One who WANTS us, LOVES us, AND ENJOYS us. Our success is measured solely by the fact that Jesus values and desires us. Now that is a new story to the Western world! Do you see the freedom in that revelation?

We discover a new confidence in God when our hearts grasp the concept that we can be fully known by God and still be enjoyed by Him. As we see in John 15:9, God literally loves us in the same way He loves His own son. John the Apostle clearly understood this and God confirmed it when He had him record in the scriptures on numerous occasions that John (speaking of himself) was the disciple whom Jesus loved. John had personal revelation that he was God’s favorite. We have trouble with this concept of favorite because in our finite love, to love one the most means loving another less. It is again a comparison issue. But God, in his infinite love, is able to love individuals to the utmost. When we understand that we are beloved of God we can begin to walk in intimacy with Him.

Often the question remains, how can God enjoy me? We must renew our minds to the concept that God’s assessments are not based on our human abilities but on the movements of our hearts before and toward Him. I Samuel 16:7 is the firm foundation on which we must stand. ‘The Lord said, “…for the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Bottom line is who are we listening to? What are we believing? Do we value the opinions of others who will forever compare us to a changing degree of worth based on the most recent accomplishments? Do we hold to the harsh reality of imperfection and self imposed condemnation? There is only one opinion that carries any weight. It belongs to the only One who has any rights of ownership to us as created beings. It is God’s thoughts that matter. God is the one who created us and gave us these (seven) deep desires. He has called us unto Himself to fulfill them. He is faithful and true. He cannot lie. He does enjoy us. We are beloved of Him.

Love ya!
Kristian

AP: Revelation Studies-Pt 2

Ashton writes:

The other day in the prayer room I was struck in awe of what I read and the clarity that I recieved. I was studying Revelation 4 and 5 where it describes the glory of God. I have learned so much! My mind seems to be blown by the holiness of God. Some other chapters that go along with these are Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 7. I had never read either of these before and my mind was in awe of the things I read. I strongly encourage you to read these chapters. Let me describe to you what I read in Revelation 4 and 5. Imagine you are standing on a crystal/turquoise/sapphire sea. It goes for a long as you can see in every direction. It is not calm like a lake but choppy because the four winds are blowing as strong as a windstorm. You see a great cloud coming that looks like a consuming fire. From the cloud are flashes of lightning and thunder. Out of the cloud comes a brilliant light so bright you can bearly look at it. In the center of the cloud there is what looks like a huge piece of glowing metal. You see four living creatures in the fire cloud. As they move they do not turn. Each beast has four faces: the face of a man, the face of a lion, the face of an ox, and the face of an eagle. They also have 6 wings: two to cover their faces, two to cover their feet, and two to fly with. The wings of the creatures make the sound of rushing waters. When they stay still they lower their wings. Wherever the Spirit goes they go. They look like burning coals of fire/torches. They have eyes all over their body because it takes all the eyes to behold the beauty of God. Fire moves back and forth between the creatures. The fire is bright and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures speed back and forth like flashes of lightning. There is a wheel on the ground beside each creature and all four wheels look alike. The wheels sparkle like chrysolite and are all ablaze with fire. The wheels look like a wheel inside of a wheel, like a wheel intersecting a wheel. There are eyes all around the rims of the wheels. The wheels move with the creatures. When the creatures rise, they rise. When the creatures move, they move. Wherever the spirit goes, the creatures go, and the wheels would follow because the spirit of the living creatures are in the wheels. Spread out above the heads of the living creatures is an expanse, sparkling like ice. The sapphire sea. On the sapphire sea is the throne of God. The throne has the appearance of sapphire and brilliant light and is flaming with fire. From the throne come flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. The one seated on the throne has the appearance of jasper and carnelian(sardius). (back in John's day jasper was white like a diamond) Imagine the shape of a man, but a complete diamond. The carnelian is a burnt red color which is his burning desire for us. This too consumes His body. His eyes are aflame. So he is like a diamond and red color. He looks like glowing metal, full of fire. A brilliant light surrounds him. A rainbow on a cloudy day is the appearance around him. From the throne comes flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. Your whole body trembles at the sound of the thunder. Around the throne is what looks like a circle of emerald, which is his mercy. Everything He says must go through His circle of mercy. A river of fire flows from beneath Him and the throne. In front of the throne are seven burning lamps which are the seven spirits of God. Thousands upon thousands attend Him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stand before Him. Around the throne are 24 elders seated on their thrones. They are dressed in white and have crowns of gold on their heads. Day and night the four living creatures never stop saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." When the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to Him who sits on the throne the 24 elders fall down before Him and worship Him saying, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." You guys, this is our God. This is our Savior. This is Jesus who longs for us to be His friends. This is the creator of the universe who loves you. Can you even imagine? This just blows my mind.

I hope this has encouraged you to study Revelation for yourself. Don't take what I say for granted, but search it out and see for yourself if what I wrote is true. When you begin to dig into the word with this type of mindset it will become alive to you. I strongly encourage you to study this. It is fascinating! Don't think about it in a future context. This is your generation. This is your story. You will live through these events. This thinking puts the whole book into new light. The reason we know it is in our generation is how Israel became a nation in 1948 and Jerusalem became a city and part of Israel in 1967. We are in the beginning birth pangs. If you read Matthew 24 you will see that five things must take place before the end times. We are starting to see some of these now. We will see many false prophets, wars and rumors of wars, famines, natural disasters(hurricanes/earthquakes), and nations against their own nation(civil wars). So don't say that this is for a different generation. It is for us!

I hope I was able to get my points across through all my rambling. If you have any questions PLEASE feel free to email me and if I can't answer it I'll ask someone here. I hope this encourages you to dig deeper in the word and puts an uneasiness in you spirit that can only be quenched by getting to know Christ more.

I love y'all!

His Forever,
Ashton :)

AP: Revelation Studies-Pt 1

Ashton writes:

Revelation. When you first read this book it looks like something only the scholars can master. But revelation is for the weak, the humble, the ordinary person. Everything in this book is explained almost in the next sentence. Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. (Rev. 1:1) If we want to know Jesus, we should read this book. It reveals his heart, power, and leadership in preparing the nations for God's glory. The more I study about eschatology, the end times, I get more and more excited! I can't wait for the day when He comes to rule the earth as the Bridegroom King and Judge. Even though it will be a terrible and dreadful day, my soul still cries for His return. (Joel 2:11 and Malachi 4:5) It will be very terrible to the rebellious who will witness the most severe outpouring of God's judgements ever seen. They will receive the fullness of His wrath. (Rev. 14:10) But it will be a great day to those who call on Jesus' name because they will experience the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit in history. (Joel 2:28-32) The end times is the most written about subject in the Bible. There are over 150 chapters about the end times. If you put all of the Gospels together there are only 89 chapters. This clearly shows us how important God thought it was to warn us about the coming days. We must study the end times because they reveal Jesus' heart and leadership. The scriptures in the end times are literal unless specifically indicated as symbolic by the scripture.

While I was studying Revelation, I came across Revelation 14:19-20 which says, "The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside of the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia." This is talking about Jesus returning as the Bridegroom King and Judge conquering the earth. It confused me how a God of love, mercy, kindness, and compassion could be so cruel to kill so many people where the blood ran in the streets as high as a horse's bridle for almost 180 miles. I couldn't fathom a God who wipe so many people off the face of the earth without the blink of an eye. I knew that they were evil but I didn't know why He chose to do it this way. I kept asking Him to show me this side of himself and thankfully He did. He showed me He must do it this way because He is righteous. I knew that He is full of justice and justice must be paid by evildoers. He showed me that He hates injustice. How He hates sex slave traffickers, abortionists, and many more unjust things. He told me that He is a lover of justice, a lover of truth, and a lover of humility. He said to imagine how I felt about sex slave traffickers, abortionists, and other injustices. He showed me how I want to do everything in my power to make them right. That is how Jesus feels and how he has felt since the beginning of time. He talks to them to get them to stop but they have hardened their hearts and do not listen. So He must wipe them out. It all became clear to me after he explained it to me. Now when I read the passages about him wiping evil men off the planet I get excited that He is showing His justice and restoring those who have had injustice done to them. Even though a lot of people will be slaughtered to reach the goal it is all done out of love. He slaughters the evil people out of love for those suffering injustices.

I hope this makes sense. If you have any questions or want to challenge what I wrote or correct me please feel free to do so. I love you guys! I hope this wets your appetite to want to study more about Revelation.

I will be doing a lot on Revelation as I go through the Omega course with the Intro group so keep watching to see when I post another on Revelation. God Bless!

His forever,
Ashton :)

JP: The Wilderness

Jeff writes:

Isaiah 40:3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the Lord..."

During summer break when I was a Sophomore and Junior in high school, my brother and I would head to the North Georgia mountains for a week at a time to go trout fishing. At that time we were pretty die hard about our fishing expeditions. It basically was us against the trout and only true fishermen were actually in the stream and using artificial lures. Real trout fishermen didn't use waders either. For you non-fishermen, waders are like huge rubber pants that come up to your chest and go over your clothes to keep you dry and in this case warm also. Warm because the stream temperatures in North Georgia run about 65 - 70 degrees. So, as real fishermen we would be out there in tennis shoes and shorts.

In our minds, any novice could sit on the banks and catch fish using corn for bait. After all, this was part of the feed that the trout were raised on in the fish hatcheries. Our goal was to find a place in the wilderness far removed from people. Fishing with artificial lures involved you attempting to entice the trout into thinking that your lure was actually a part of their natural environment through movement and speed or "activity" as Mike liked to call it. The last thing we wanted was some "rookie" spoiling our perfect environment by stumbling and splashing down the creek. We had a neighbor that had a perfectly secluded cabin that was miles from civilization and if that wasn't available we would search to find the most remote, desolate spot possible to camp.

I remember one trip in particular when I was a 17 and we were in the perfect wilderness area. We were so die hard that we would even separate from each other so as not to "spook" the fish. So, I was all alone working my way down the creek. I was navigating down a small waterfall area that had sheer walls about 6 feet high on both sides and a pool at the bottom that was about 7 feet deep. Then it happened, I slipped and fell. I remember what proceeded to come out of my mouth.... "Momma!!!" Now why would a 6 foot, 185 lb athletic football player yell out for his momma? Because that was safety to him, that was the one he could trust in to help and save him.

So, why are we in Kansas City? I believe that one reason we are here is that this is our wilderness. Cold, snowy, windy, and isolated from the world that we love. This is a time to be removed from the things in our lives that might become a distraction from fully pursuing God at this time.

Deut 8:2-3, 16 the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what is in your heart.... So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger and fed you manna which you did not know... that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone: but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.... who fed you in the wilderness with manna... that he might humble you and... test you, to do good in the end.

Just as God placed Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, and Jesus in the wilderness for for a time of testing and teaching, He has placed our family in the wilderness to cause us to fully depend on Him. Placing us in the wilderness to remove distractions that take our gaze off Him. God is jealous in His desire for us. He was wanting to remove those familiar props that we knowingly and unknowingly lean on instead of Him. He desires for us to find our identity solely in Him rather than our job, our church, our friends, dance, or even our family. Our existence and identity are sustained and upheld by what God says about us, not anyone else. He wants to be our sole provider and sole means of identification.

He desires all of our first cries to be Abba instead of Momma or IRA or bank account or XYZ Company. The Father is releasing His grace for us to walk through our wilderness and is revealing His heart for us. He asks us to just rest our heads on His chest and to remember that He is Faithful and True. This is the one thing of greatest importance, right?

Psalm 27:4 One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to seek Him in His temple.


Blessings,

Jeff

KP: Family

Kristian writes:

Wow, I cannot believe that we have been in Kansas City for 3 weeks!! Time is going by so quickly. I read my children's blog entries and see where they write, "now that life is slowing down" and wonder where they are living?! Then I read as they describe accurately all that we are doing/learning and know that we may not be in the car as much as we were in Marietta, but that life has by no means 'slowed' down. It has just shifted, and it is good.

There are so many things on my heart to share but time restrictions demand that I must choose. I title this entry as 'Family'. Each of you know that if there is one thing that we are known for it is family. Both Jeff and I were raised with a significant priority being placed both on our immediate and extended family. We were raised in the wisdom that life is 'done' in the context of family. Good times, bad times, happy times, sad times, accomplishments, poor choices, holidays, vacations, church, and 'regular days' all are lived as a family. Since having our own children we have continued in that vein.

In His great wisdom, God has placed us in families. Over the years, these relationships lead us and draw us to Him. He loves us, we learn to love Him back and then we spill that love over to those we are in relationship with. What a great set up. And as we grow, He expands our family. We grow from our immediate and extended families to deepening relationship with our church family, to our cell group family, to our intercessor family, to the cell group family we shepherd (like Jeff and the 11th grade guys), to both the Middle School cell group family (for Mallory) and High School cell group family (for Ashton), and our dance family. We grow, and then...

He calls us out. Our calling is not really changed. Jeff and I have always been called to minister to families-whether to young children, youth, or couples in the context of their marriages, or even just as a way of how one family raises children just a little differently than the norm of our society. So, we have been called out. Our location and the members of some of our peripheral families are changed. But one facet of our calling is the same. Jeff and I, along with our 2 precious children, have been called to IHOP in part to minister as a family in the context of family. Jeff and I knew that part of our 'job' from the Lord as Intercessory Missionaries at IHOP would be to disciple, raise up and support in the context of family some of the students in the schools, internships, and even some of younger ones on staff. What a privilege to pour into future evangelists, preachers, worship leaders, forerunners....These young men and women are being trained in a lifestyle of night and day prayer and fasting and we have been allowed to be in this place at this time praying for them, with them, praying for the nations that will be impacted by each one. "But Lord", we cried, "how? So many of them are light years ahead of us in their theology. They are so passionate. They are truely in love with the Man Jesus, our bridegroom". We felt so inferior, so incapable. Then the compassionate words from the Lord came...when you are weak, I am strong (IICor 12:10), those I have called, I will equip (Heb 13:21)

So, we said yes, full well thinking that we would be ministering to the 18-22 year
old group. That would be logical. Our children are approaching that age range. We have found ourselves pouring out on their peers in the past. But no, that hasn't really been the case since we have been here. God is currently using us with the single 28-32 year olds. Wow! Who would have thought? Well, obviously God did. And do you know what is opening the doors to relationship? FAMILY!! These are great 'young people' from great families and God has called them out, to IHOP-KC, for this season of concecration and prepartion. They miss their families, their moms, dads, siblings, their church families. (Just like us) But we represent what they are missing because God in his infinite wisdom has called the Price FAMILY to IHOP Kansas City. Wow! They want to come over and hang out with the "old people". (Hey for a 28 year old, Jeff and I are kind of old to choose to hang out with on your evening off from the prayer room!) They want to ride in our van, with the family. (Even sitting in the backseat!) They want to come over and chop onions and make dinner with us. They want to eat at the table with family. They want to come over and play Uno. They want to hear stories about how the 4 of us all pile on top of the bed in the evening for family review of the day and what teaching struck each one or what the Lord revealed that day. They want to bounce ideas off of Jeff and I. They want to share how the Lord is teaching them. They want to ask questions of us about issues we have faced since being called as missionaries. Our experiences, our setbacks, our joys, our heartaches. Many of the guys and girls are from our Intro class but they did not necessarily come here expecting to stay for the longterm. They are seeking what they Lord has as the next thing and wondering what we have encountered in our journey.

Yes Lord, use me. May I be faithful in all that I do. I pray that I will be a blessing to others. To whom much is given, much is required. The Price family has been given much. I pray we give much and that the Lord is glorified.

On a flip side of the coin, the Price family also misses the families that we left in Marietta. But God knew. And, He is so good. So many of you have called, emailed, written. Thank you! You will never know what a blessing you are. And, God in his infinite mercy has put us into some new families as well. Our Intro class is like a big family of 50, but we care about what each one has on their hearts. Within the class we are in 4 groups and from here we break out for discussion and have our home groups. Our leaders are a wonderful couple with 2 amazing young sons! (You better study your Bible because this next generation of 5-8 year olds will put you to shame.) The girls have begun attending their Jr and Sr. high youth groups. Mallory met a sweet friend the first night who has helped to acclimate, and Ashton met a 16 year old dancer who takes class at a nearby Christian dance studio. We have even been taken in by some of the KC friends of our friends back home (Thanks Jules). Ashton has become reaquainted with some of her leaders from when she came to Awakening Teen Camp last summer. One precious lady whom we met when we were here for a week in April has adopted our family. She is always giving out much missed hugs and even brought dinner to the 6 of us when we were moving in. (4 Prices and my mom and dad) Then she took my parents to the airport on Monday morning when we had to be in class. What a blessing. Then there is precious Ashley G. I love that girl!! She gives the best hugs and always searches us out to say hi with that big beautiful Georgia grin!!! And, I have to brag...Moma Sandy you should be so proud of your Ashley. She selflessly texted Ashton and Mallory on our 3rd weekend inviting them to the movies. That was exactly what they needed! She picked them up from the prayer room, took them to see her home, took them to eat, and then went back to our house to watch a movie. God is so good.

We miss you all dearly. In the same breath we are at rest that we are right where we are supposed to be. God is good and we are so blessed.

We love you much!
Kristian