Come Home

I have not spoken to my husband in 6 days and it is starting to affect me! He has been in Nicaragua since Saturday and is not due home until this Saturday. I miss him very much, but I know he is having a great time! Come home soon my love!

Love Wins!

Lily Anna

Today my sister-in-law's (Rachel) sister (Hannah) will have her baby (Lily Anna). There are some special concerns revolving around her birth. Please keep Hannah and Lily Anna in your prayers today! God is our Healer.

Love Wins!

Party in the Park

It's back...May 23, 2009! Visit the website for more info!

Love Wins!

Catching Up

It has been forever since I have updated this blog, but I have a little free time so here we go...Life has been very interesting in the Varden household. School is finally winding down (thank you Lord!). This semester has been so busy. I am taking two graduate courses (the worst ones from what I hear), as well as, a clinical course that has required 135 hours of my time over the past 3 months. I will be finished with this semester on April 25, and I cannot express how excited I am about that fact. One great thing has happened this semester and that would be the fact that my two best friends have moved back home. It has been great catching up and planning another wedding. Congratulations Amy and Sean!

Keith has also been busy with school and work. For those of you who do not know, we will be making a major change in May. Check out Safe Haven Church (on the side bar) for details. We are incredibly excited about what all God is doing in our life right now, and we would love for all of you to be involved. We will be relocating to Tuscaloosa in the near future, so keep an eye out for updates. I still have so many things that I want to post about, including tons of pictures from Mexico (I am pretty sure I left half of my heart there). Luckily, I do believe that we will be returning to Casa Hogar Elim as soon as the border begins to calm down. If you are interested in visiting this orphanage please visit See the Need's website for info. See the Need will also be hosting another "Party in the Park" pretty soon, and we will definitely need some volunteers, so check the website for dates.

I cannot express how excited I am about all the changes our small family is going through. It seems chaotic and a little scary, but I have never felt such peace. God is good!

Love Wins!

One Year

On January 26, 2009, Keith and I were officially married one year. We celebrated our anniverary by flying to an orphanage in Mexico (more to come on that later). It could not have been a more perfect first anniversary. The night before we left for our trip Keith surprised me with the best gift. He personally made a book (on his MAC) of pictures from our first year of marriage. Each picture had a caption describing the moment. It is absolutely beautiful. He did such a good job that I even cried. So I have to props to my husband...you did good! I love you so much and thank you for the past year. God has blessed me with a man who first, loves Him more than anything on this earth, and secondly loves me unconditionally. I could not ask for more!




Love Wins!

Pray

Today...Pray for Abby! Click on the side bar to read her story!

New Year Resolution(s)

It is amazing to me that it is already 2009! I had always heard that time begins to move faster when you get older, but I had no idea it would move this fast. Over the past year Keith and I have managed to accomplish and encounter many amazing things. Here are few that are on my mind (in random order):

1. We were married on January 26, 2008...we are closely approaching our first anniversary!
2. We spent a week in Jamaica celebrating our marriage.
3. I started the nursing mobility program...one step closer to be completely done with school!
4. The Generation Band completed their first CD.
5. We experienced God move in a mighty way through our college ministry.
6. God laid it upon our hearts to begin a non-profit ministry that provides opportunities for individuals to travel to orphanages and serve our God...See the Need!
7. Keith's father survived a massive heart attack...to God be the Glory!
8. We planned our first international mission trip through our non-profit organization.
9. We added a member to our family: A 901b. Weimaraner named Bella.
10. Keith visited New Orleans for school...said he would never go back.
11.Realized that there is nothing more precious on this earth than family!

These are just a few of the major events that occurred this past year...I know I am leaving tons out! It was a very busy year. As 2008 came to a close, and 2009 began I found myself once again making resolutions for this next year. In the past I have made resolutions that are so far out of reach I know that I will never accomplish them, but this year I have been slightly more reasonable.

New Year Resolutions for 2009
1. Become closer to God. This is by far the most important on my list. My heart is yearning to learn and know my God more. It is something that has constantly been on mind the past few weeks. God is doing so many great things in our lives, and I want to know more of Him.

2. Eat health. Much less important than the first, but what I can say. I am not going to say that I want to lose weight in 2009, but I would like to fill my body with more healthy items. This one will prove to be very difficult. Keith and I have such crazy schedules that eating usually consists of fast food on the way to where we are going or a frozen pizza because we are both too tired to cook. I know that the first step to meeting this challenge is to only buy healthy foods, so when I finally have time to go to the store that is definitely what I am going to do.

3. Complete the BSN portion of my mobility program. This one will be completed in approximately 4 months...so this one is pretty much done! Thank you Lord! I hear the master's program is a little easier, so I am looking forward to that...and to finishing!

4. Be more spontaneous! Keith will love this one! I am usually a "I need a plan" kind of person, but this year I am going to leave a little bit of that behind...or at least I am going to try.

5. Focus a bit more of my time on "my girls" in the youth department. I love my girls, but I can honestly admit that I have neglected them over the past year. We have been so busy with other things that I have failed to make time for them. I know that God has put each one of them in my life for a reason and I feel a little responsible for them now. My greatest desire would be that they would grow to be beautiful women of God, and I pray that God would give the wisdom to lead them in this direction.

6. Last but not least...to show my husband every single day how much I love him. I must say that I really believe that Keith and I have a great relationship. Yes we are married, so we do fight, but overall we are generally a very peaceful couple. I make this resolution because I know that somedays I can be harsh and moody, but I always love him. God has blessed with an incredible man, and even though he is a little hard to handle sometimes...just a little...I love him and I never want him to go a day without knowing exactly how I feel.

So here they...six things that will happen over the next year. I also plan to update my blog a lot more.

One thing that I would like to mention would be our upcoming trip to Mexico. We will be leaving the 25th of January and traveling to Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. This is part of our non-profit org. There has been concerns over safety and the condition of the border town we will be traveling to. I would like to ask anyone who reads this blog to please keep us (there will be four of us traveling) in your prayers this week. We will be leaving the 25th and return home on the 31st. Not only would we like your prayers for safety, but we also pray that God would be glorified through this trip. We will be spending lots of time with approximately 110 orphans and their caretakers. My brother and I have previously visited this orphanage and it brings tears to my eyes thinking that in only two weeks we will be there with them again. Needless to say, I can't wait. I pray that God uses us and the supplies that have donated to this orphanage to minister to these children and show them God's love.
I will post pictures when we return, but until then please check out our orgs. website and blog for new info.

Until then...

Love wins!