Re-Connecting

It's been great getting together with people that we haven't seen, literally, in years. Some of the people that we've been able to re-connect with:

Matt and Meredith (Stephens) Coleman - I went to ETBU with them. Meredith and I went to China together in the summer of 1995. Matt has his own video production company and Meredith teaches elementary P.E. They are expecting their first baby in October.

Johan and Amanda (Bradford) Richards - I went to ETBU with Amanda. I met Johan when I moved to Longview and started going to Church on the Rock/Life Challenge, but really got to know him when we went on a mission trip to Honduras. He went to LeTourneau with Joel. Johan spent a few years in Panama where his parents were missionaries, so he is now working on getting his certification to teach Spanish...and is also a youth pastor. Amanda taught music for a while, but is now a stay-at-home mom with 2 little boys (Corban,2, and Creed, 4 months).

Daniel and Heidi Babb - Joel went to LeTourneau with them both. Daniel works as a tool vendor at Lowe's and Heidi works for the government. They have a 2 year old daughter, Caitlyn.

Alisha (Lewis) Elam - She was my best friend in college. She is now married to Piper and is a stay-at-home mom of Coleman, 2. I was also able to catch up with her sister, Aimee, who is married with 2 kids of her own. I used to hang out at their house in McKinney alot, so it was good to catch up with some of Alisha's family.

Susan (Johnson) Daniel - I went to ETBU with her and she is married and a stay-at-home mom to 2 children...Matthew and Sara, who are 14-15 months apart.

Justin and Jen (Wert) Sprayberry - Joel and I both met Justin in Longview at Church on the Rock. Justin was Joel's roommate right before we got married and was also his best man. We got to know Jen when we all went on a mission trip to Panama. They now have twin 2-yr. olds (Madison and Caleb), a 10-month old (Elijah), and one on the way in September.

Brandon Helm - He was the youth pastor at our church in Phoenix. He moved here a few months before we left Phoenix. When we found out we were coming here to Dallas for training, he talked to his church (he works there as one of the associate pastors over youth and college/career)...they paid for part of our room here. So cool.

We were also able to meet some new people...Stephen and Stacey Russell. They offered to let us stay in their home while here when we were trying to figure out what to do about housing. They are really cool, fun people who are on their way to India for a year in June. It would've been a blast staying with them I think, but was probably wise to get our own place in the long run, with the kids and Joel's crazy hours and all.

Anyhow, it's been so great getting together with people who live here in the area. Just thought I'd share about some of our friends.