Update on the Frey's

I know, it has been WAY TOO LONG since I last posted. I enjoy looking at everyone else's blogs and forget about my own. Plus, I always like to upload pictures and I haven't had any recently. I also don't have time to post things at my new job.

We are both doing well. Heston is very busy with his job, but he enjoys it. I am enjoying my job as well and also my grad courses that I am taking at LBC. I am excited to be in a job where I will be able to use my counseling degree. The Lord had that planned perfectly.

Heston & I looked at an apartment today and we will be on our own soon. We are excited to be settled. We are still praying for the sale of our house. We know God has those details planned out, but it is hard to wait!!

We found a great deal the other night. We went to K-Mart to get some curtains for my new office and we just happened to look at their clearance section. I saw a tv/entertainment unit that held a TV, 1 cabinet, and 4 shelves. It was marked for $28 and I knew we couldn't pass that up. When we went to check out, the lady scanned it and it came up to $13.99!! We couldn't believe it. We left our previous entertainment center in WI since it was so big, and God led us to this smaller, more appropriate for our apartment, unit. It is neat to see that God cares about the little things.

Hopefully soon I will be able to post pictures of our new apartment!

Great Weekend; Bad Monday

This post is a week overdue, but I thought I would share it anyways. Last Friday, Heston & I went to Maryland to spend the weekend with Heston's parents on their boat. We had a great time. On Saturday, Heston spent the day crabbing. He actually caught 19 crabs!! He had so much fun. We got a lot of sun on Saturday and we both got burned pretty bad, even though we put sunscreen on. That part was not fun at all.

That last part leads to the bad Monday. Well, Monday morning, my car wouldn't start. We thought we had "fixed" the problem over the weekend, but apparently not. Thankfully I only work 1 mile from where we are living so my boss came to pick me up. Heston was working on my car that night, getting under the car, cleaning things, changing the battery, etc. He was using WD-40 and some other cleaner and it ended up dripping on him, especially his hair. Well, he came in and took a shower. Suddenly, we hear screaming coming from the shower. At first we thought someone flushed the toilet or something, but the screams and yells kept coming, louder and louder! Heston's sister, Hillary, is a nurse so she ran to his aid and asked what was wrong. He was writhing in pain. We put bags of vegetables and steaks all over his back and his shoulders, but nothing seemed to help the burning and stinging. Benadryl wasn't working either. After about and hour and a half of intense pain, we took him to the ER. I don't think they understood how much pain he was in. We think what ended up happening was the chemicals from the car cleaners got into the newly broken open blisters on his back. He said on a pain scale of 1 to 10 he was at a definite 10. Life is always interesting with Heston! Glad you are feeling better, Babe.

Here are some pictures of the weekend.

4th Wedding Anniversary

Our 4th wedding anniversary was last Thursday, August 2. Neither of us could believe that 4 years have gone by already! We were planning a get away, but decided we probably shouldn't spend the money. So, I decided to plan a surprise anniversary celebration night for Friday night. I bought gifts as clues for each step of the date. Before we got into the car, I realized that the whole surprise thing was not the best idea for Heston =) He really didn't like the fact that he did not know where we were going!

His first clue was 2 sodas and our favorite chips Flamin' Hot Cheetos. I got our favorite pizza from Papa John's. Yum!

We stopped by Heston's parents house to eat since it was close to the next clue and they were away for the weekend. I then gave him the second gift, which was a DVD copy of our wedding video! you have no idea how special this was. That was the FIRST TIME we had ever seen a video of our wedding. Someone recorded it at our wedding, but it seems to be a never ending project. Apparently a guy at our church had video taped the wedding and had it filed away. That was a GREAT anniversary present.

The next gift/clue was movie theater candy. We went to see the Bourne Ultimatum on opening night. It was a great night, but I won't be making surprise date night an activity for the future.

Thanks, Heston for a wonderful 4 years. Thanks for the beautiful card =) I love you very much and I look forward to many more years with you.

Weekend on the Boat

After Sharon Jordan's wedding this past Saturday, Heston & I drove up to Maryland to spend some time with his parents and go out on their boat. We got there around 6 pm and we went by boat to a great restaurant. It was so fun! I wish I would have had my camera out the first day because the next day was pretty rainy. It was great to sleep on the boat Saturday night, but we felt like we were still "floating" even after we got off of the boat. Sunday morning we had breakfast at a neat little restaurant and then we also bought about 2 dozen crabs for the Frey clan to enjoy. It was also Heston's mom's birthday so it was fun to be able to share that with her. Thanks for a great weekend, Mom & Dad Frey! Here are some pictures of our weekend.

The Front of the boat

Heston & his mom

Sitting in the captain's chair

Heston loved driving the boat. His Navy days came in handy.

Heston may have enjoyed his crabs a little too much =) I love this picture...


My Captain =)

Just some pictures

Heston and his "Congratulations" cake for his graduation and his new job.


Madelyn loved the blue frosting!


Madelyn and her Uncle Heston


Phoebe playing in Uncle Steve's water =)


Heston and Coach Herron trying on some hats while at a store near Shady Maple where we had lunch with the Herron's and Josh & Anna Beers.


A group of us at Sharon Jordan-Howard's wedding - fun times!!


The Fab Four

Update

Well, we have been in PA for 3 weeks. Time has flown! We are gradually finding our way around everywhere and getting reacquainted with old friends.

The Lord graciously allowed me to find a job at the Caron Treatment Center which is a center for those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. I am actually working in the Student Assistance Office which sends trainers into the local schools to do presentations on tobacco addiction and also help those who are already addicted. It is a sobering thought to look at the reports and see how young kids start smoking and also for the reasons that they start smoking. I truly believe that this job is from the Lord as He worked out all of the details:
1) My resume fit the job description to a "T"
2) My office is 1.07 miles from where we are staying
3) The timing was perfect
4) My boss is a great woman who is hard working and caring

Heston is thoroughly enjoying his job and is getting things ready for the school year. He has enjoyed getting to know some of the people at the school.

We are still praying for our house to sell. We know God will sell it in His own perfect timing. It is always hard to wait, but God has been teaching us to trust in Him and to look to Him alone for guidance. We are thankful for His faithfulness to us and for directing us in each step of the way. We are excited to see what He is going to continue to do in our lives.

Where We are Moving

Hello to All!
It appears that I haven't made it clear exactly where we are moving and what we are doing. At the beginning of this spring semester, as we started thinking more seriously of our future after Heston's graduation, we started asking about full-time positions here at Northland for Heston. However, God had other plans. Josh Beers, who is at Lancaster Bible College, called Heston and asked him if he would be intersted in a Sports Information Director Position at LBC. We didn't know what to think as we thought we would be here at Northland for years to come. But as we begin to talk about it with others and received prayer and much counsel, we realized that God specifially opened that door of ministry to us. Heston went out and interviewed the beginning of May and accepted the position.

It will be very hard for us to leave Northland, as this has been our home for the past 4 years of married life and then our school for the 3 years before that. We are eternally grateful for the friends we have made, for the decisions that we have made and for all of the lessons that we have learned. We are so thankful for the years that we have spent here at Northland and are excited to see how God is going to use that training in our future.

We are excited to be a part of a new ministry and also to be close to Heston's side of the family. We are praying for the quick sale of our house so we can get settled in Lancaster.

We are looking forward to catching up with all of our friends who live in PA. Please pray for us as we are packing up tomorrow night and then starting the long trek out to PA on Friday morning.

Wow, it has been a while! We have been very busy the past month or so. We had our big grad class the first week of June, the next week I went to visit my family in CO to help my grandparent's celebrate thier 60th wedding anniversary and also to see my sister Brianne who was home from Zambia. We had a wonderful time!

We are packing up our house as we are loading our truck on Thursday night and leaving on Friday morning. We have someone who is interested in purchasing our house and told us they would let us know by tomorrow what thier thoughts are. It would be a huge burden relieved if the house were to sell before we moved!

We will be spending a week relaxing and getting settled and then Heston will start working on July 9. I applied for a job at the school so we will see how that goes.

Thanks for your prayers and words of encouragemet. We are sad to leave Northland, but we are very excited about this new phase of our lives that the Lord has so evidently led us into.

We will definately keep everyone posted! Please pray for the sale of our home and for safe travels.

Here is a slide show of my time in CO. More to come!

Happy Birthday, Bryce!

Bryce celebrated his 27th birthday the Monday after graduation. Brad Gaugler made Bryce his famous "has beans" cake. If any of you have had that before you know how good it is! Thank you very much for making that, Mr. Gaugler!!

Bryce wasn't feeling too hot and he doesn't really like birthdays, but he humored us with blowing out the candles and letting us sing to him. Happy Birthday, Bryce!! Thanks for coming to see us.

Family Pictures

We had a good weekend with my family. I was so happy that it worked out for them to come out one more time before we move. Dad & Bryce helped Heston put a deck on the back of the house. Phoebe wasn't sure what to do with all of the extra people, but she did enjoy the extra attention

We took Mom to Four Seasons for Mother's Day. The food was great and we had a great time.


Kelli, Dad, Colton & Bryce at Moose Jackson's in Iron Mountain


Mom & Dad on Mother's Day at 4 Seasons


The kids, minus Bri


The Deck


Heston & Dad working on the deck


Kelli & Colton on the front deck


A picture of us admiring our newly built deck

Thanks Dad, Bryce & Colton for all of your help on the deck! We couldn't have done it without you. Sorry to put you to work!! It was great to have you all and we look forward to having you visit us in PA! We miss you, Bri!!

Heston's Graduation

I know this is long overdue, but better late than never! My parents and two brothers, Bryce & Colton, were able to come up for Heston's graduation. The weather was the best in the 7 years that I have been here at Northland. We had reserved seats so it was nice to not be rushing around that morning trying to get there early. Phil Hunt spoke at the graduation and mentioned my sister who is working for him in Zambia. That was really special! After graduation we made a stop at the Grind.

The Happy Couple


Us with Jen Ramos


Richlene & Colton


Dr. Horn & Heston


Colton & Kelli


The Family


Us & Shannon Murdock


Bryce enjoying his coffee in a "lounge" chair

Update

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and for your prayers. It has been very exciting to see what the Lord has been teaching us through this time of uncertainty. We have been praying since the beginning, that the Lord would make it VERY clear to us whether we are to stay here at Northland or whether we are to move on to another ministry. We are still praying that prayer and still waiting on Him as we seek to make the best decision for our future.

I am very excited that my parents, and two brothers will be flying in tomorrow evening to see Heston graduate on Saturday. We are very excited that the Lord worked it out for them to come out and visit, especially since we may be moving on. I am glad that we will be with Mom on Mother's Day and Bryce on his birthday on Monday. I am sure I will take lots of pictures!!

Here is a quick recap of this past week. Heston & I drove down to Green Bay last Wednesday evening and stayed in a hotel. Heston had hurt his back the night before by moving boxes and playing basketball. Needless to say he was walking like an old man. We stayed in a hotel down by Lambeau Field. We woke up early on Thursday and I dropped him off at the airport. I then went back to the hotel and watched TLC and then headed to go shopping. I met my friend, Sarah Neighbors for a quick lunch at Noodles and Company, did a little more shopping, and then headed home.

Heston spent Thursday and Friday at Lancaster and then the rest of the weekend with his family. I wish I could have gone! Phoebe and I spent a lot of quality time together and she was especially cuddly. On Saturday night, Heston called to say good night and out of the corner of my eye, I see Phoebe chasing a mouse around the woodstove. Heston asked if I was sure it was a mouse! Yes it was! It went back behind the TV so I moved it out so Phoebe could get to it. Sure enough, the mouse comes running out, but Phoebe was still behind the TV looking for it. She is not the world's best mouse catcher. Needles to say, we didn't find the mouse that night.

Sunday morning I went to pick Heston up from the airport. After collecting all of his belongings after the zipper on his suitcase was ripped (of course it wasn't the airlines fault!) we went to the mall for a little bit and then headed home. It was so nice to have him back home!

Heston had two finals on Monday and his exit exam on Tuesday morning. We are thankful that he is done!

The Lord is continually causing us to trust in Him. At times it seems like we have everything figured out and then something changes. We are anxiously awaiting to see God put all of the pieces together. We are thankful that the Lord has chosen to use us.

The Lords Hand

This post is from me, Heston, Kelli's husband. This is a first! The information below is how the Lord has moved in our lives and how He has shown us that He is in control...

The information I am to give you goes out to you because of what the Lord has done in my life and the wonderful love He has provided to us all.

Yesterday, April 30th, this is what I shared with the girls that are currently on the soccer team. (it is a little lengthy, but good)

Names of Christ
He is the Chief Cornerstone
-There is always a start for something, on a building it is the foundation and there is always a beginning part of any building.
-Dr. Bennett always talks about “setting the rudder of the ship”. That setting will define where you are many months and years down the road. In all areas

He is our Counselor
-God has all wisdom. He needs no one to give Him advice. We only need to seek after it and ask for it.
-He loves to give counsel to men. Men often refuse it, but He has given it.
HAVE YOU REFUSED COUNSEL? From God, from Godly authority.

Finally
He is Wonderful
-In the beginning God promised He would send a Savior to deliver them from their sins.
-We have seen God in both forms- God and man- while man he remained perfect
-He remained wonderful-
-AS A SINNER, THAT’S ALL I NEED!
-Are you looking for the external? Pleasure, rewards, etc…


What about obedience- faith living
-Is it easy?
-IT MEANS LIVING BY PROMISES NOT BY EXPLANATIONS
-Abraham and Sarah, Job,
-We must learn to live by faith, or our world will fall apart

When as a child, I laughed and wept,
Time Crept
When, as a youth, I dreamed and talked,
Time walked
When I became a full grown man,
Time ran
And later, as I older grew,
Time flew
Soon I shall find, while traveling on,
Time gone

At the age of 75, Abraham enrolled in the “school of faith”
At the age of 100, he was still being tested through faith
“When we stop learning, we stop grown; and when we stop growing, we stop living”

Gen. 22
1. Expect tests from God
-Family test, fellowship test, fortune test, fatherhood test, farewell test
-We must have occasional tests- why would we trust if nothing ever fails us!
-Understand that not every test is a temptation- but they can just caused by our sin
-if we would have started by obeying-the temptation would not exist

2. Focus on promises not explanation
-Our faith is not really tested unless we are asked to bear what we think is unbearable
-When anything happens, one may ask “why me, Why Lord?” Right away we want an explanation
-As soon as we begin to ask “why” to God, is when this should determine you do not view God as a true provider of all and that He is our only provider we need.
-Faith does not need explanation, faith rests on promises

3. Depend on God’s provision
-As Abraham walked up to sacrifice his son, what could he depend on?
-He could not depend on his personal feelings, friends.
-Abraham could only depend on the promise and provision of God
-It is only then that we see what our Father can really do for us.

4. Seek to glorify God
-Because we are sinners, we will look for “Ways to get out of this!”
-What about glorifying God a asking “What can I get out of this Lord?”

5. Look forward to what God has for you
-God wants to provide for you!
-Abraham was blessed by God- given new assurance, new approval, new son, and finally he was given a deeper love for his God.
-We need to be assured that Gods gifts do not take place of the giver Himself
-It is worth to go through trials when at the end the Lord can say, “well done”
-Do you believe that? Not just believe but is it lived out in your life?

Can change be a trial? Of course! If we do not have our focus set properly on our God, yes, change can feel like a trial.

I say the above to say this- When Kelli and I moved to NBBC we thought it was going to be forever! We were so happy and so ready to become a part of this staff and what NBBC stands for. I still see that as true, but I see that the Lord used the past 6 years to prepare me for other things. With some restructuring in the Athletic office Kelli and I find ourselves being moved by God. With the moves I began to apply at several colleges for specific jobs. The Lord convicted my heart for doing so. He kept me on my knees all night one night and taught me that He is the only one I need to rely on. The next morning I received a phone call from another Christian College. What an awesome answer to prayer. This coming Wednesday, I will be flying to Lancaster Bible College for a final interview.
The Women's Program will continue with qualified coaches! Those alumni, please pray for Kelli and I as we continue to pray for the Lords guidance. Future athletes that I have been communicating with and are a part of this group- continue your future at NBBC if that is where the Lord has directed you! Those current student athletes, as a Coach and Kelli as a "mom", we have had several sleepless nights. This is not easy. But is awesome to see the Lord direct.
We ask you all to continue to pray!
-Those on the Uruguay trip- It will continue. I will have more information on that soon!
In Christ,
Coach and Kelli

Junior/Senior Banquet

This is a bit overdue, and I know I haven't posted for a while! Sorry!
Last Friday night was Heston's Junior/Senior banquet. It was held at the premier center in Iron Mountain. It was fun, especially since we got to sit with our friends, Vivian and Kraig.




Heston & Kraig

Julie, Scott, Heston & Kelli

Heston, Kelli, Vivian, Kraig

Kelli, Shawna, Heston

Kelli & Kim

My wonderful Husband

I just wanted to say that I have a wonderful husband. He is such a wonderful man who works so hard and gives so much. He is kind, thoughtful and compassionate. I am thankful that the Lord led us together and that He has allowed us to grow closer together and closer to Him. I am thankful for his leadership in our relationship and for desire to serve the Lord in his life.

Last week, Heston bought me a special gift, just because. It was a beautiful right hand diamond ring. I have always wanted one and he found one and surprised me! He said it wasn't much, but boy was he wrong...even the thought behind the gift was enough for me to realize what a special husband I have! Thanks, Babe...I love you very much!

Then, I came home from work yesterday, and Heston yells "something is done, wife" (that is his name of endearment for me "wife") and I go into the main bathroom and he tore out the old floor and laid down the new floor, all in one afternoon. What an amazing man! I am so thankful for him and his hard work. I am also thankful for the skills that he has. He has saved us so much money with the little repairs that he can do on our house. He is also in the process of building a retaining wall on the side of our house. It looks great already! The entry way floor is the project for this weekend.

The Lord is taking us through some things that are really causing us to trust in Him completely. I know this is where He wants us and often times God uses different circumstances in our lives to cause us to rely on Him and trust in Him completely. We are thankful for these times and are thankful that God is in control and He knows what is best for our lives. I am so glad we can rest secure in that!

Update

Well, I haven't written in a while. Heston finished his student teaching this past Friday. He is so excited to be done! We went out for Chinese food to celebrate.

Heston spent Saturday installing a water tank to help with our water supply. We have a decent well but the recovery time is very slow. It seems to have helped!

Sunday we drove down to Green Bay and I dropped Heston off at the airport because he was traveling to Oklahoma for a PR trip. It was a basketball tourament for 1,000+ teens. He just got back late last night. I missed him alot! I enjoyed shopping in Green Bay on Sunday and then having some of the soccer girls over on Tuesday night.

Today we are headed down to Milwaukee to stay with our frinedsRuth & Steve. Heston has an appointment at 7 am tomorrow morning at the VA hospital with a surgeon to see whether or not he will have surgery on his back. We are looking forward to the weekend away, spending time with our frineds, and celebrating Haven's first birthday!

Spring Break is next week, but we will just be working. Maybe one of these years we will go somewhere for Spring Break!

Good Quote

Nothing is too great and nothing is too small to commit into the hands of the Lord.

-- A. W. Pink

Praise

Since Heston has been student teaching the past 7 weeks, his paychecks have been very small since he can only work about 10-15 hours per week instead of his usual 40. The Lord always provided for our needs, and we were able to get some extra money over Christmas since Heston was able to snow plow while we were in Colorado. But this past weekend we received a rather large check from the military in regards to Heston's schooling. The Lord is awesome and it is so neat to reflect back on how He has always provided for us, above and beyond what we can ever imagine. I praise the Lord for that!

By the way, Heston only has 9 more days of student teaching! Praise the Lord!

5 years ago today

Five years ago today, my wonderful husband and I began our relationship. I remember being in the library and my friendSharon Jordon pulled aside my other friend, Elisabeth Ashmore, and told her that Heston liked me. Of course, Elisabeth told me, but I didn't know what to do. You see, I knew that Sharon kind of liked Heston. Later that day, Sharon asked if we could go to the Grind. We sat down and she told me that there was a boy that she thought I should like. I was trying to evade the question because I knew where she was going and I kind of knew how she felt about it. She was adamant that she wanted me to like him and told me that he would be calling me later that night. I remember being in my room and then Heston called and asked if we could go to a basketball game. We then walked and talked and went over to the rec hall and talked some more.

There were alot of other things that happened and I am not 100% sure the order of everything, but previously, I had asked him to fix my headlight because I knew he was a "fix-it" kind of guy. He graciously went out in the freezing cold and fixed it. I offered to take him to coffee, but he politely declined. This was before I even knew he liked me. I remember another time we were in the rec hall playing Rook and my teammate left so I asked him if he would play on my team. Apparently he was xtremely nervous, but he did end up playing. It seems like such a long time ago, and it was, but I am forever grateful that the Lord brough the PERFECT man into my life in His own timing.

We got engaged 6 months later, on August 28, 2002 and we were married a year later on August 2, 2003.



Whenever Heston tells people how we met, he always talks about how he asked Shyla who I was, and she told him that he should get to know me. I met Heston the first day or so of class that we had with Dr. Zichterman, Guidance Counseling. I thought he was nice and all, but the guy never even talked to me. We would both get there early, he would wave to me, then sit 1 or 2 seats away from me for the whole entire semester. Apparently he liked me this whole time but never even said anything! Crazy guy! I laugh about this now. He pulls out details of that fall semester that I had no idea he was even paying attention.

Heston, I love you very much and thank you for being a wonderful husband. I have enjoyed these past 5 years with you so much and look forward to many many more! Thank you for all that you do for me and for loving me. You are a wonderful person and I am so proud to call you my husband, my best friend!