Is he here alone? Is she sitting by herself...?

Its been a while.. its been super busy!  I cannot belive its the end of July.  As a teacher... after July 4th comes & goes your mind immediately tries to trick you and says "YOUR SUMMER IS OVER!!!"

Realistically its not at all! Its about half way.. but you can imagine the second 5 weeks are not nearly as relaxing as the first 5!

Well more updates later on our summer (more flowers growing, hanging out, our west coast vacation).. but right now I wanted to update you on our Milwaukee trip!

Every year we go to Milwaukee the same weekend for Mikes works meeting ~ Northwestern Mutual.  At this meeting - about 11,000 people travel from around the United States and join together for both fun & business/learning sessions. There is a garden party at the Milwaukee Zoo on Sunday and a concert on Tuesday.  This year it was Tim McGraw!

While we were at the meeting I had this realization that I need to be more open to people and friendly.  I typically shy away from being the first to introduce myself or start at conversation.  However, when dealing with interns or new financial reps I realized I need to be the one who introduces myself and gets to know them.  This is something that is often hard for me to do.  I want to be able to display the characters of Christ to people and I would like to think that he talked to anyone and everything, smiled when he walked past, and truly cared about people.  Of course there are great examples in the bible as well of how Jesus cared for all people regardless of status, religion and moral standards.


I realized all this while sitting at the Tim McGraw concert.  There was an empty seat to my left and then a man in the following seat.  He was alone.  Here he was at this concert, with 11,000 in attendance, with his 'northwestern mutual family' and sitting alone.  It made me really sad.  To the point of tears.  I hate when people are alone.  Maybe he was content with it but I sure wasn't!  I also hate when I see people eating alone..

Overall I am so thankful to have loving family and friends who make sure I am not alone in a room of 11,000.. I am beyond blessed and need to remember that more..

<3 Alisha


Here is an interesting article about the annual meeting in milwaukee!

flowers, flowers and more flowers :)

This year Mike and I got mulch put in when we were away and then I decided I needed to make everything perfect with flowers!  Here are some pictures :)

Love Grows Here 

We planted some lilies and removed some hastas!

The hanging baskets that I will NOT kill this year :)

I do not know what this flower is.. any thoughts?  They grow every year.

White Iris!

Our mulch & some of our new bushes.. hope they grow!

More to come :)

Trials

This year has been a year of trials.  Most people do not know but Mike and I started off the 'school year' with the news that we were pregnant.  While we were not expecting to become pregnant so fast we were really excited!  However, soon after ~7 weeks we had a miscarriage.  I can honestly say it was the most difficult time of my life.  I had a great support group of family, friends and our small group (who put up with a difficult me for a while)..

At the same time my aunt Cindy was losing her battle to cancer.  It was actually the same day of her funeral that we found out we miscarried.  I always like to think of Cindy holding my little baby up in heaven :)

The months after the miscarriage were hard... but I clung to the hope of what God was trying to teach me in the season of trials.  I had to put my faith in Him!  Every month I had increased tension/worry that I would not become pregnant or that something was wrong with me.  That my body somehow was unable to carry a child.  I have had few trials in my life that have pushed me... beyong struggling to find a teaching job last year I honestly have not had to depend on God alone to get me through something tough in life.

I am learning in a season of trials that I need to completely trust him that beyond what I think is best... God has my best interest in mind.  EVEN if that means I go through suffering.  It has taken me months to get to this point & by no means does this make every day easy... many are still hard at times.

Anyways, the past month or so have brought on some concerns.  My grandpa is in the hospital after having a major triple bypass surgery.  He has been up at the hospital for some time now and is making steady progress.  It was slow at first but we are seeing positive signs.  I am thankful for him and I know God is working in my families life through this.

Within the same week of that I found out that I am moving up a grade with my students.  I will no longer be at 5th grade but will be moving to a new building, new teachers, new rules, new administration, new... new new! I have the same students (IDK how they will feel about that ;) ) !

Wow!  God surely is teaching me a lot lately.  I know that God will not give me more than I can handle, but more importantly I trust that.  I have been walking through a dark valley but amidst that valley is Gods presence.  I write this today as today was the due date of our sweet little baby.  I was reminded this morning of Gods faithfulness and glory when the daily verse on my bible app was: Psalm 129:13-14

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

God is my shepard.  God is my Savior.  He is my hope!
I choose to trust Him.

As the school year comes to a close, I see this summer as a rejuvenating summer.. a time to reflect on my life, my faith and focus on what God wants of me :)

-Alisha

Community

Mike and I have been extremely blessed by our small group.  I remember when Mike and I initially thought of the idea to lead.  It was not an easy one - I knew it would require time, dedication and a leadership skill that I did not think I had.

We started leading our group back in February of 2012.  I can't believe its been a whole year!  We started off leading in one of the couples parents homes (since none of us had a place big enough of our own) doing the study Romans.  Mike and I then moved to Lake Zurich and were able to open up our home to the others then!  We did social nights in the summer and then had a couple changes in our group - Some people left and then some new coouples came!  It feels as if we all instantly were able to connect and be volnerable which I think can be pretty rare in a group.  We all have been married 4 or less years & were in the 'newlywed' stage still :)

We did a study by Mark Driscoll and his wife called Real Marriage!  It was challenging and we really grew in many ways.  I love that Harvest is based on Gods Word as well as community.  They really encourage people to get involved not only in small groups but volunteer opportunities!  There is nothing like seeing change in people, seeing people have a hope to live for and seeing people encourage each other through words and actions!

Check this out!!




Baptisms March 2013 from Harvest Bible Chapel 1 on Vimeo.

Our Hope

Mike and I are so excited to start this new year. I am excited to finish my first year teaching (I really like it!), its our first year in this house for the whole year and we are hoping The Lord shows us His plan for our family :)

We had mikes central regional in Chicago at the end of January and have the recognition dinner in aurora. It was our first time since mikes office started under the Effner agency.

We decided to take a little winter getaway this February to the Heidel House on Green Lake! It was beautiful :) it was a nice weekend to take a fresh start and grow closer together.

I promise I am going to get better at blogging. As of now I am planning on once a month :) it shouldn't be too hard but we will see!!

Alisha & Mike