July 11, 2014

 Kelyn & Marissa (Hiett) Vix's wedding was held here in Fairview on July 5th.  For those of you that don't know, Marissa is the daughter of Marlin & Michelle (Sherry's cousin) Hiett who used to be the pastor at Valleyview.  Marissa was born in Dodge City! Marlin is now the pastor of Sherry's home church here in Fairview.  

It was fun to be around here for the wedding and take part in lots of wedding preparations and activities.  We had LOTS of family come for the wedding and they were around for about a week prior to and after the wedding.  So we have had LOTS and LOTS of family gatherings in the last two weeks!

Kylie with the Bride & Groom!

Kaitlyn & Kylie were gift carriers.

Kaitlyn with Cousin Lacey Lott.

Kelyn and Marissa left the reception riding into the sunset on horseback!

Darren and Sherry on their 24th anniversary.  Our anniversary was spent with family this year, as we had a family gathering/picnic out on a farm near Fairview.  They had this caboose all refurbished.

The girls enjoying the food. On the right is Johanna (Marlin  & Michelle's exchange student from Denmark) and Mandi Hiett, Kylie.  On the left is Johanna's sister, Kaitlyn, and Lacey Lott.

Kaitlyn & Kylie headed to the caboose.

Micah & Leanne Hiett enjoying the food!

 

 Kevin (as named by the girls) is a cardinal that lives by our trailers and constantly pecks at the windows.  He must see his reflection in the window and think it is another bird.  He is a beautiful bird, but gets annoying at times!

Tiger had his first mishap on the farm.  We don't know what happened and if you haven't seen him before perhaps can't see the swelling in his face and chin.  We came home one night and he was bleeding around his left eye and was puffed up.  It lasted about 24-48 hours.  We are guessing he perhaps tangled with a bullsnake, but we really don't know.  We are thankful he appears to be okay.

House - We are now scheduled to close on our house on Tuesday, July 22nd.  We will come to Cimarron on Sunday evening, July 20th and have borrowed a semi-trailer that we will load our belongings into on Monday, July 21st.  A pastor friend (Carey Gosen) called us and had this trailer that we could use.  What a blessing from the Lord!  A shout out to Wayne Bartel who is going up to Oberlin, Kansas, to pick it up for us.  Thank you, Wayne! We will be able to leave our stuff in the trailer until we have a place to go with it.  So we will bring it down here to Fairview until then.

Job - Things are happening on the job front, but nothing clear yet.  Darren had two contacts this week from churches looking for lead pastors.  However, we have concluded that he will not consider a lead position at this time.  He has also been called about being a band teacher and offered a position at a Christian School here in Oklahoma as a Music Teacher with other duties.  The "other duties" side of it is not very inviting and so he is not ready to give them an answer until he hears back on the worship/music pastor position and Director of Contemporary Church Music position at the college.  So, we are once again in "wait" mode.  But we are thankful there are options out there.  It is hard to say "no" and be patient for the "right" one as we are doing our best to follow God's leading.

Darren is doing much better after having over a month break from ministry.  I am starting to see his jovial personality return.  He is more lighthearted and motivated. We go to Idaho next week to meet with his Spiritual Formation group, which is where the recognition that he needed a change began last summer.

The girls are doing well.  Kaitlyn has two friends from college here for the weekend.  She made up a spoof flyer for them about "Camp KJ" giving them information about their amenities before their stay! They will have a great time, I'm sure.  Tonight they plan to ride 4-wheelers and have a bonfire.  Tomorrow they are going to get a plane ride from one of their classmates that live here.  Right now they are touring the farm!

Tiffany Huxman (Kaitlyn's future roommate) on the left and Courtney Reed (Kaitlyn's past roommate) on the right.

Kylie is getting rather anxious to know where she is going to go to school next year.  She's had a great attitude, but as time goes on it gets harder and harder to wait.  She misses her job at Clark's and her friends in Cimarron. . .

We continue to appreciate your support and prayers on our behalf.  The next few weeks will be crucial as we make decisions and figure out where we are going to plant ourselves in August.  We are trusting our Sovereign Lord in His leading and timing and doing our best to be patient and take one day at a time.

Sherry