Jesus Trees and Kayaks

No, we haven't disappeared. Allie and I are still very much alive and well.

Both of us are working lots: Allie is continuing to coordinate the summer program at Planet Gymnastics – all the kids love her! I am working for The Home for Little Wanderers in a program that helps older teens transition out of residential care into the "real world." Neither of our jobs are ideal but we are slowly learning what it means to wait and persevere.

I am also taking some classes at Tufts University in preparation for starting grad school next year. It has been good getting back into the swing of studying as I dive into Counseling Psychology. Having learned tons, I am excited for our future of helping others!

When we aren't working, studying, or working on the house (still coming along, but still a ways to go), we have been having a lot of fun kayaking and biking with Allie's parents.
Here we are enjoying the sun on the Assabet River in Maynard, MA.
Though some of the transition to living in MA has been difficult, Allie and I are faithfully moving forward. Though we often have unanswered questions and are impatient, we are enjoying this adventure.We would love to hear from friends back in CO, or anywhere else for that matter! We miss you all and hope that you continue to be amazed by the adventure God has you on.

The Dusty College Student

Warning!!!!! New symptoms of the terrible and deadly swine flue have been discovered in Massachusetts. In addition to all "normal" flue symptoms, a New England man exhibited strange paling of skin and raccoon type de-evolution. These new symptoms have not been recorded anywhere else, and can be easily mistaken for drywall-sanding-aftermath.

Ok, so maybe I don't have Swine Flue but Allie and I have been experiencing the wonderful and diverse pleasures of drywalling. Our project has consumed 12 sheets of 1/2" drywall, a 5 gallon bucket of mud, numerous rolls of tape, 7 lbs of screws, and 39 boxes of kleenex – thanks to a very vindictive case of seasonal allergies. Ah, the joys of DIYing. (We'll soon post more pics of the finished project).

In addition to all our drywalling fun, I (Chris) have just enrolled in summer classes at Tufts University. During the next 12 weeks I'll be taking Intro to Psych and Abnormal Psych in preparation for applying to a Master's program. I never thought that I'd be returning to school, but after much encouragement and reassuring from Allie I am pushing onward.

I did hear back from The Home for Little Wanderers, and they offered me a job...yay! I am still waiting to receive the go-ahead from their background checks, so I haven't oficially started yet. My shift will most likely be 3-11 pm (my class(es) are from 10am-12:30pm, so I can work and do school. Nice, thanks Lord). So starting in the next couple of days (or weeks, who knows on these things) I'll be taking classes three days a week and comuting down to Plymouth, MA for work.

Allie is still plugging away at the gym. She has had the wonderful and stimulating honor of putting together the staff schedule for the entire summer. I will liken this task to being a baseball umpire: most try to find fault, nobody is happy, and when you do it right nobody seems to notice. Her sacrifices and patience to provide us with some income are humbling to me.

Mom and Dad P. have been incredible over the last two months. In addition to allowing us to make dusty messes all over the place, they have both gone out of their way to make us feel welcome and loved. Thanks mom and dad!

So there you have it. We miss all you people back in Colorado. Forgive us (by that I mean me) for not staying in better touch; it's been a little crazy around here. But know that we love you all and do think of you a lot!

School and Work

Here is a short update regarding our search for job(s) and graduate schools.

Allie and I drove down to Plymouth, MA on Monday for an interview with The Baird Center, a residential home for boys operated by The Home for Little Wanderers. The Home is highly regarded in the area and has been helping kids and families since 1799! The Baird Center houses 25-30 boys ages 11-17. I interviewed for a counseling position that I hope will turn into more of a programming or activities directing position. I feel that this would be a great place to work and I am excited about the possibilities it presents, but it would require that I commute an hour and half each way. So please pray that The Center would recognize my talents and abilities, and pray that Allie and I would approach this decision with wisdom and discernment.

On Wednesday, I (Chris) braved the MBTA (Metro Boston Transportation Authority) in all its glory for a meeting with the head of admissions at MSPP (Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology). They are my first choice for pursuing an MA in Counseling Psychology. They are a small school with a very relational approach, which is attractive to Allie and me. However, due to the fact that I do not have any Psychology classes on my transcript I will most likely be taking three classes this summer at a local college. So, I will begin studying for the GRE (ugh!!), take those classes, and apply at MSPP for the Fall of 2010.

Since I am not working yet, Allie graciously accepted a position directing the Summer program at the gym where she has been previously employed. The owner of the gym was so glad to have Allie back, that she immediately gave Allie a ton of things to do! Besides planning the summer programming, Allie was tasked with staff scheduling, completing all the advertising and promotional postcards, firing old staff and hiring new, and still working on the gym floor. Though she received a lot of responsibility in a very short ammount of time, she is tackling the challenge and excelling.

In the midst of all this, we have also been helping Allie's parents with an extensive home renovation project. The list of projects includes, but is not limited to: 1) Reroofing the House 2) Installing eight new skylights 3) Remodeling both bathrooms 4) Painting all interior walls 5) Installing new floor in the attic 6) Laying new flooring throughout 7) Building a new wall and closet in one of the bedrooms 8) Refurbishing the chimney 9) Restructuring the old detached garage – new supports, new roof, new siding 10) Installing new shelving and storage on the main level. Whew!!!

So that's what the Stoddards have been up to. We do greatly miss all our Colorado friends. Please feel free to call us anytime, or even come for a visit! Just be warned, if you come within the next month or so, you'll most likely be sleeping on that pile of drywall sitting in our room. :)

Milk and Coffee

So I was doing some thinking this morning. I have been arguing with God about how He is directing and teaching me. Let's just say that it's not how I would be doing it. I do not like the fact that I am jobless and am finding out that my path to graduate school will be a tad harder than I had anticipated. It seems that what I am doing instead is mundane and, well, slow.

I recently found this photo of something strikingly beautiful and different. At first glance, you'd think that it was a strange kind of mushroom or a highly scientific reaction finally revealed for mankind to behold. But it is simply a drop of milk dropping into a cup of coffee.








Slowed way down, a very simple and mundane occurance becomes surprisingly beautiful and complex.

I think that is what God is doing with me. He is slowing me way down, allowing me to see that what He is doing in me is not a waste of time, but is actually a complex development of character driven by His awesome purpose for me. I'd much rather get on with enjoying the taste of the coffee and milk, but God wants me to see the beauty in one drop of white on brown.

So enjoy your milk and coffee knowing that God is doing something in you which is simple yet complex, mundane yet beautiful, and pretty darn yummy.

Much awaited update from Chris and Allie in Boston!!!

Due to many requests, I have decided to take a writing breather and give our Colorado following an update =). First of all, Chris and I want you all to know that WE MISS YOU!!! We miss dinner fun with friends, rock band, beer, laughs, hide & seek . . . =(. But our move to Boston has shown to be just the thing we needed to move forward as God has called us to. We have moved into my parents' house here - a 100+ year old country colonial in the Northern suburbs of Boston. With my mom's massage career taking off and my dad busy with new church commitments though, the house itself had become cluttered and in need of some TLC. That is where Chris and I come in.

We have been working our way through piles and boxes and bins of clutter, helping my parents simplify their home and helping them find skilled help to make their home renovation dreams a reality. Finding a good carpenter, mason, roofer, etc, was very time consuming! In the end, the Lord brought the people we chose to us and that was clear. All believers (rare in this area) and one father-son team (Chris and Chris) have hired my Chris to help with the roofing & siding since he is not working. Pretty cool we think! This project has been hard & overwhelming at times, but incredibly fun for me overall. I quite like organizing & categorizing and have loved the challenge of marrying aesthetics & functionality into this space. Chris and I couldn't have more enthusiastic and appreciative "clients" in my parents, so that makes it fun too!

Aside from some basketball playing, hiking, biking and rollerblading - this home project is pretty much all we have done for the last three weeks. In that time Chris has also applied to probably 20 jobs and interviewed at one. We are trusting in the Lord's timing and trying to enjoy our bonus time together in the meantime. It helps a lot to have the house to work on because Chris and I feel like we are going to "work" together everyday - a dream of ours anyway =). Thanks to all who have been thinking of us, praying for us, and even calling us on occasion. We love you and miss you, but thank you for your support and we have followed God's leading to this next adventure!