Bowling and Theology Pub

Well Friends,

We have had a great week thus far, I know I know it is only Tuesday, but the Week has been very good (minus our sadness with the Viking loss). On that fateful Sunday Mike and myself were able to enjoy the "good" part of the game with some friends from Mike's work. We watched all of it, but just didn't enjoy the entire game, company yes, game not as much. After the game we stuck around for awhile and got a chance to chat. This was a great time and I got to know some of his co-workers a little better and really got an opportunity to speak with the gals (girlfriends of the workers).

We have also attended the 3rd Theology Pub! It is a group of 20-somethings that meet in a Pizza Place/Bar and discuss the Bible; coming from all different areas in our walks as well as different denominational backgrounds. It is a really cool experience thus far and I know I have gotten a lot out of it. Our first Theology Pub we attended we became true homeowners; how you ask? Well we had our first bat in the house. Even 2 whole weeks later I find myself looking at the ceiling in the closets before I go and grab my shoes or double checking the covers to be sure there isn't 1 taking a nap in my blankets. But no friends of his have come back to haunt us thus far, I think we may be in the clear until it warms up again.

And I know I have touched on this before but the 2 of us are in a couples bowling league. Normally we bowl on Sunday, but with this big-important game on we needed to Post-bowl. So we did that yesterday before Pub and it has been a very good experience for us. I am not sure if we will do it next year but it is something nice to look forward to every-other week.

Prayers and Blessings. As we enter another cold front I pray for health and warmth. I thank God that I have both, and pray for those who have only 1 or none. It says in the Bible for if you you have 2 coats give 1 to your brother. It is at this time that we are challenged to do so, and in an economy we are currently finding ourselves in it is an even bigger challenge. I know that the more I have given of myself to the LORD the more I have reaped, not in the earthly tangible way necessarily but in a comfort. I encourage you today on this very cold, but lovely Tuesday that you give of yourself. Some of us cannot give physical items, but we can give encouragement and joy to someone who is lacking. Be the vessel that you are called to be to the hurting, the hungry and the poor in spirit.

Love,

Mike and Amy

Life as a DuFrene/in Hutchinson

Well we are starting to get more and more used to living in a small town again. Well again for me (Amy) and for the first time for Mike. We are participating in a new Bible Study here in town, Theology Pub. A group of younger folks get together at the Pizza Place/bar here in town. It is a great experience. There are some who grab a pint, others that grab a water, some with pop and we all sit and talk about Jesus. It is a great experience, if you are ever in Hutch on a Monday night come on by to Main Street at 8p.m. for Theology Pub. But with the thoughts of Theology Pub reminds us of our first Pub-we had a nice encounter with a bat. YES a bat! Gross! So we took care of it, and man we looked all over the house for where that little guy got in. Still we have no idea how he got in, other than maybe getting in sometime and enjoying our stuff off the wall for painting. But EWE is all I can say.

We are also about to start participating in a Dodgeball league that happens the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month. That should be a lot of fun.

Much Love and Prayers!

The DuFrenes

Happy (somewhat belated) New Year!

Welcome to the lovely 2010! Can you believe it? It has been 10 years since the Y2K freak-out happened. Well it is official Mike and myself had our first New Years Eve together. I know what you are thinking, weren't you dating/almost engaged at that point last year? Yes we were, but I had to work. I was at Mille Lacs, Hinckley, Webster, and the Mall of America all week that week, and when the clock struck 12, I was tearing down the decor at Mall of America. So I didn't even know it had happened until Mike texted me a little after 12.

This year we spent the New Year with friends and a little family (sister/brother-in-law). It was fun to see how "normal" people celebrate (by normal I mean those who don't work on New Years). And it was extremely relaxing. Since then Mike has worked, it was his weekend to work and so I stayed home and started painting. We decided to start working on the rest of the house now that the New Year had begun. So Saturday I worked on the hallway and entry way (which Mike helped a lot with too....I'm not a tall person). And then yesterday I worked on the upstairs bathroom. That was a tedious job; covering a dark turquoise with a creamish-yellow. But it is done and now we can move downstairs. There is only a little of the kitchen and the upstairs bedroom left! booya!

Now on to resolutions. I have only made 1 resolution in my life; to not drink pop for a year which was more to prove to everyone I could quit drinking pop for that amount of time rather than to make a resolution with a change towards the healthy. But this year I have thought of one (not that I had made any steps towards it yet), and it is one where I am daily committing myself to be more loving, more caring, and earnestly seeking after the will of God. I know that is what we are called to do as Christians and that is what I hoped to have been doing all along. But I think at this time of year it is always nice to remember what we are here for. Why am I placed in Hutchinson, the town I grew up in to do ministry. Why not some remote area where the "true missionaries" go? These are the questions that are placed in front of me constantly and I think unintentionally I overlook them. I know that happens with everyone too, what have you overlooked today? What gifts or abilities has God given you to do a job that he has instructed only you to do? So Mike and my hope and prayer is that we may be constantly growing in the Word and growing towards what God has called us to be. That we may be an example of how to love the way that Christ loved the church and how God loved all of creation. Blessings on your New Year! Pray that this challenge I have placed before me is one that I constantly remind myself of. Only in support can we fully accomplish what we were meant to be.

Following HIM and much love,

Amy and Mike