Richland, Washington!

This past weekend Ted and I were invited to come to Richland, Washington for me to interview at Richland Church of the Nazarene for the position of Pastor of Children and Family - super exciting!

We had a great time getting to know the amazing staff at Richland, the children, and families that make up this unique community. Not only were we able to hang out and share meals with all of the staff on seveal occasions but there were also two different church gatherings to get to know us better... Ted was pretty lucky, he just had to sit beside me as I got asked all the questions!

Richland is located in the Tri-Cities in Washington, which is on the eastern side of the state. While the Western side of the state (near Seattle) is very green and it rains every day, the Tri-Cities is located in the "desert" region of the state. So, one finds a lot of tumbleweed blowing around the area - I was told of some crazy situations when cars had to stop to let the tumbleweed blow past because it was so big. We found this little bundle outside our hotel one morning.

On our last day in Richland, Ted and I along with Steve (the Sr. Pastor at Richland) climbed up Badger Mountain, which is at 1,200 feet in elevation (or something close to that). It didn't take us too long to climb up but there were some steep parts; the view at the top was pretty amazing though. This is looking down into some of the fruit orchards.

View from the top of Badger Mountain, looking down into the Tri-Cities area.

A close up view of sage brush, which you can see all over the area. Apparently the drier that it gets, the more that you can smell it.

We had a great time in Richland - we'll keep you posted on what comes next! Thanks so much for your prayers and invovlement in our lives!

Ted's new site

I had some downtime this morning, so I thought I'd post a link to my new site. I've been working on the design for a while now, but I decided to use some of my birthday money to get the domain name (it's only $10/yr.) SO if you want to read what I've been working on, or more accurately, read what I will have been working on, you can check it out there! thanks!

PEACE
Ted

Graduation and Looking Forward..

The past couple of weeks have been a little crazy, with my sister Anna's graduation from Trevecca Nazarene and then my graduation from Nazarene Theological Seminary this past weekend -- but it was an incredibly blessed time. We had a great number of family in town - Granny and Grandpa Coker, Mom & Dad, Anna and her husband Michael, Lisa (Ted's mom), and Kelsey (one of Ted's sisters) -- it was so much fun to be able to spend time with all of them in the midst of the chaoticness of graduating which included things like a graduation picnic, senior chapel, All Seminary Banquet, Corlett Senior Sermon, and the big finale - Graduation.

We dressed up in our funny Masters robes and walked into Kansas City First Church of the Nazarene for what would be the final culmination of school for many of us. Strange feeling. I have told many people over the last couple of weeks how strange it feels to not be "a student" anymore. At this point in time, I have pretty much been in school for the last 20 years -- that is a long time! There is something steadfast and simple about being a student - you know what it takes in order to get good grades and satisfy the requirements. And, for some reason or another I am a pretty good student. As I walked across the stage and was hooded as a Master of Divinity, I realize, in part, that those days are a part of my cherished past. Now, I will always be a student - reading new things, learning new ideas, engaging in conversation and discussion with others; however, this will, for the most part, not take place in a classroom.Sarah and Paul Sheneman & Sarah & Ted Voigt
Thank you Lord for great friends!

This past year in our lives has definitely been a year of transitions - and the transitions continue as we seek to follow after God again. During the past semester I have met with several District Superintendents and while the interviews have gone well there is a certain amount of ambiguity with which one leaves these meetings. While you may have had a great conversation, there are still many things that are left unsaid. And so, you wait. Follow up, and wait some more. I think that this is the place where many of my fellow graduates are at right now - waiting. This is a precious place to be, a place where the people of God have been been many times. So, while we wait we have much to learn from those who have gone before us and testified, born witness, to a life of waiting in the blessed rest and patience of God.

Please be in prayer for Ted and I as we will be going to a church in Richland, Washington as I interview with the church for the position of Pastor of Children and Family. It is an exciting opportunity! In the mean time, here's to waiting...

April!!

So, I was just telling Ted the other day that we needed to post some more things on this website and keep people updated with what has been going on in our lives. For the first time in several weeks, I actually have had a relaxing morning - the kind of morning where you get to stay in your pajamas, eat breakfast out on the deck, listen to music, check your email, read. It's great! I was uploading some pictures from the past week and I thought that I would share with all of you some of the events in the life of the Voigts during the past month.

One of the major things that we have been working on is the Hillcrest apartment that our church is sponsoring. Hillcrest is a transitional housing organization in Kansas City that brings people from various life situations into their program for 90 days and during this time they are given a place to live, budget training, job skills training, etc. Ted and I, with the help of many in our church, have been working to get an apartment ready for a new family.
It has involved: painting, trying to find furniture to put in the apartment, cleaning (including an amazing job I did with the oven), and basic maintenance. This weekend we are having an open house for people in the church to come by and see - I'll be sure to take more pictures.

Life (for me, Sarah) has been occupied for reading, writing papers, and trying to graduate! Thankfully the end is in sight as I only have 1 book left to finish and 3 papers to write. Whew! However, by next Tuesday it will all be done! Amazing, I am not exactly sure where the last 4 years have gone but extremely thankful for the professors that have influenced me, books that have challenged me, and life experiences that have shaped and will continue to shape me. It is amazing to see the ways that God has encouraged, strengthened, challenged, and shaped me through professors, family, friends, and places.

One of the classes that I have had the privilege of being apart of this past semester is Sacraments and Asceticism - it has caused me to ask certain questions of life, both mine personally and the life of the Church. One of the major topics of the class has been food and the relationship between food and eating and our spirituality (there are some great books on this topic if anyone is interested). So, as a part of our class Dr. Hardy had the class over to his house for a potluck and a garden planting. He and his family have decided to plant a garden this summer and our class participated in planting. At the close of the time, we gathered around the garden and sang, read Scriptures about planting/sowing, and closed in blessing the garden.
It is an overcast day in Kansas City today and even with the allergies and gusts of wind (which can apparently cancel the fireworks at the Royals game, boo!) I am incredibly thankful for spring. The bright red, yellow, and purple tulips that I see all over Kansas City remind me that new life is possible and that there is hope in the midst of darkness and doubt. They remind me that we are in the season of Easter, a time to rejoice and remember our risen Lord.

Hemos Estado Ocupados! We've been busy!

Hello Friends! We've been very busy, but we would like to share some pictures of everything going on here!

Hola Amigos! Hemos estado buy ocupados, pero quieremos compartir algunos fotos de todo lo que estamos haciendo aqui.

Ok, all these pictures are in albums online with lots of other pictures, so here are the links.
Bueno, todos estes fotos estan en el internet, con mucho mas tambien, y aqui estan algunos... links? (hay otro palabra para links?? )


This is Sarah's sister's wedding / Aqui esta la boda de la hermana de Sarah





This is the SNOW we just got! yay! / Aqui esta la nieve que ya hizo.

Quick Update / Direccion Nuevo

Hola!

Just a quick up date on our situation here- a good friend of ours has taken us in, and we now have a somewhat permanent living arrangement. If you would like to write us, our new address is below. Sarah has been really busy with class, but as soon as I get a chance to steal her computer for a half an hour I will post lots of photos and stories about what we've been up to!

Ted and Sarah Voigt
PO Box 46947
Kansas City, MO
64188
USA

Hola amigos! Buenas noticias desde Kansas City... tenemos un lugar para vivir! Un buena amiga tenia un habitacion en su casa, y ahora estamos viviendo juntos con ella. Si quieren, ariba esta nuestro direccion nuevo. Sarah esta muy occupado ahora mismo, pero cuando puedo voy a usar su computadora para mostrarles a ustedes los fotos de nuestra habitacion nuevo, y tambien los de la boda de la hermana de sarah. fue muy linda! bueno, les extranamos mucho!

Al Aeropuerto... Les extrañamos!!

I have meant to put these pictures on the blog for quite some time, but just haven't gotten around to it. The last couple of days I have been missing our friends from Paraguay so I thought that I would add these pictures to the blog. This is Flavia, Priscila, and Joel with Ted and I at the airport in Asuncion right before we were going to leave. We miss you!

Queria poner estas fotos en nuestra blog para mucho tiempo, pero no tenia el tiempo. Tengo tiempo ahora, entonces aqui estan! Les extrañamos nuestros amigos de Paraguay entonces pensia que yo anadiria estos fotos. Este es Flavia, Priscila, y Joel con Ted y yo al aeropuerto en Asuncion antes estabamos yendo a salir. Les extrañamos!!

Ted and Joel... one last game.
Ted y Joel, uno mas juego.. Joel, te extrañamos!

Ted and Guillermo, they are crazy!
Ted y Guillermo, ellos son locos!

Priscila and Sarah - Isn't she super cute?? She was looking at my passport picture before we got on the plane and told me that I looked a lot prettier in the passport picture than now. That might have to do with the fact that I let Ted cut my hair... but now, my hair looks great - Thanks Mom!

Priscila y Sarah... ella es hermosa, no?

Aldo and Fatima, pastors at the church in Luque with us. How awesome that they came to say goodbye to us at the airport, even though it was absolutely pouring outside.
Aldo y Fatima con nosotros.. Que buenisimo que ellos venieron al aeropuerto para despedirnos.. estaba lloviendo mucho tambien. Gracias!

The rain at the airport in Asuncion... there was a whole bunch!
La lluiva al aeropuerto en Asuncion... muchisimo

Ted with a cup of coffee at Havana in the airport, it was really good!
Ted con un cafe a Havana en el aeropuerto.. era muy bueno!

Ted's backpack.. now a green egg. But, it arrived in Houston intact and we didn't have any problems!
La mochila de Ted... ahora es un huevo verde. Pero, llego a Houston entero.. no habia ningun problema

I hope that you all enjoyed these pictures, now we need to take pictures of Kansas City. Now, we are still looking for jobs for both of us, but we have confidence in our Lord. Thanks for all your prayers and love.

Espero que disfruten los fotos... ahora, tenemos que sacar fotos de Kansas City. Ahora, estamos buscando trabajo para los dos de nosotros, pero tenemos confianza en nuestro Senor. Gracias por tus oraciones y tu amor!