Our first Sunday Service...

...Well...first off...I love my sister. I forgot to post this a couple of days ago. But the first photo is when Kraig and I were flying to Alaska on Tuesday, we had a layover in Houston!!! Britt came to see us for about 45 minutes! It was so wonderful to see her. She has been such an encouragement to me over the past few days...she can not know how her random text messages of prayers and verses have come at exactly the right time for me. :) God is so good. She sent me this passage a few days ago and I thought I would share it with you all as well. On a side note...please keep her in your prayers. She has pink eye...so let's pray for a quick healing. Thank you. :)

Ok...1 Corinthians 1:21 - 22..:)

"It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand FIRM for Christ. He has commissioned us, and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything He has promised."

Now, I don't proclaim to be a Bible scholar or one who knows what the Bible means at times. So...I will put this to you the way I see it...I am probably wrong but this is what it meant to me the day Britt sent it to me and over the past few days as I have pondered it. Ok...here goes, real quick and to the point...since we, as believers, have the Holy Spirit in us, we are to stand firm for Christ, together...in unity. I am probably going to read more into this than there is but this is what it has meant to me. We are in this together. We are to labor together, fight together, cry together, love together, pray for each other, and stand firm for Christ together. Now, for some reason...when she sent that to me...I was really struggling with "being alone" out here in the wilderness of Alaska. And she (and the Word of God, of course) encouraged me to know that I am not alone, not only do I have Kraig in this with me but my sister and Lance, my parents, Kraig's family...and many other prayers from you all at home! We are so grateful! Thank you so much! We can definately feel your prayers. Now, again...I am not a Bible scholar and I know that there is more to this passage than I have wrote about... and I have probably taken this passage way wrong but for me, at the time...that's what God spoke to me about. And I want you to know that...if you send Kraig or me prayer requests...we pray...so you are not alone either. We even pray when you don't ask. :) Thanks for being so supportive. We serve an awesome God!

With that said...let me explain some of the pics. :) The first 2 are the pamphlets that I have been working on as we get ready for the 4th of July parade and the carnival on July 5th. And the 3rd pic is of the 40 days of Purpose campaign they are starting on July 18th. I worked on the poster for that...it will be hung up in store fronts all over Wasilla. I hope I didn't spell anything wrong :)

Kraig has been the muscles behind the scenes all week. He pretty much demolished one stage..."It was a beast to take apart," he said...but he did it in one day when Mike thought it would take a team of about 4 and probably 2 days :) I am so proud of him. Then, he took the stage he took apart and moved it to the next theater where the church is meeting now, and Kraig and Mike put it back together for today's service. "It was solid" Mike said and he felt comfortable on it b/c it wasn't as rickety as the old one.

So...we had the service today! It went very well...and let me just tell you...mainly, this is to my mom!!! I have been up by 7 am since we have arrived here last week. And I have not been cranky :) But we got to the theater about 7 this morning to set up and clean up a little from last night's movie but we got everything out really quick and with a few minor glitches in the sound, we were ready to roll. Everyone was so nice and very welcoming.

Well...I guess that's all for now...it's late. I will continue to take pics and post our updates this week. O...and it's been rainy...so we have yet to really see the tops of the mountains. But it's not HOT so we will not complain about the weather at all!! We are just praying for sunny days so we can go hiking to see the Mat-Su glacier and stuff this weekend.

Please continue to pray for CrossCountry Church as well as the parade and the kid's carnival this coming weekend.

John 14:27...Love you all

Kraig and Ashleigh