Amy's room.

our love nest.  

steadfastness, that is holding on;
patience, that is holding back;
expectancy, that is holding the face up;
obedience, that is holding one's self in readiness to go or do
listening, that is holding quiet and still so as to hear

S.D. Gordon
Quiet Talks on Prayer

Waiting on God requires the willingness to bear uncertainty, to carry within oneself the unanswered question, lifting the heart to God about it whenever it intrudes one's thoughts. It is easy to talk oneself into a decision that holds no permanence-- easier sometimes than waiting patiently.

Elizabeth Elliot

For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him?

Dueteronomy 4:7

The summer is coming to a close. We are preparing to say goodbye to our friends and gear up for the fall semester to start in a few weeks. It has been unbelievable to see God at work in 130 lives, including mine. I am leaving with treasures God has given me from my time with Him from His word. This was a training prgram for me too.
I have learned a lot of my experiences in ministry this summer, mostly by watching others love people well. And I am thankful for the ministry I work for. The Navigators have been a huge agent of blessing in my life. I can't wait to see what God has planned next.

God was so good to give us an overnight escape to do what we LOVE to do. Eat and explore places to eat.

While in asheville we ate delicious meals and walked around until we were ready for another delicious meal. With a glass of wine or a sipping chocolate in between. We split most things, just so you don't think we are glutons, just half glutons.

And when we were tired of eating and walking we set up our double eno for a nap in the park! It was so special to experience it all with my best friend. Thanks Lord.

My first sipping chocolate did not disappoint. Cayenne & Cinnamon liquid truffle. A french press was to wash it down.

We have the opportunity to get away tonight. So we are headed to Asheville NC where we will eat our way through the city. And stop and take pics along the way.

I took the three women I am discipling this summer on an adventure. We took pictures in fields of wild flowers, picked berries and then floated down the lazy river at the local water park. Day well used I say.

The power of prayer cannot be diminished by distance, it is not limited by age, infirmity, political changes or restrictions. The power of prayer in the life of an obedient Christian can only be undermined by neglect.

David Bentley-Taylor

ok, fine.  I confess.  The only thing I am cooking these days are Pioneer Woman recipes.  Its not that I am PW snob.  Its not that I go to her site to decide what to make for dinner.  Its that every time I browse, I am forced to cook something because it looks so dang tasty.  Its not really a choice.

And PW does not disappoint.  This soup is a bit spicy and I love it.  But it does call for some major simmer time that I cut in half due to lack of planning, impatience, and stomach growls.  This meal we enjoyed with some friends visiting the training program, Ben and Caryn!  Thanks friends for taking a chance with my cooking and for great conversation.

So thankful that this summer means more time with fam while we work. With one brother and sis-in-law 40 minutes away and another sister at the training program, we have gotten some sweet, but short bonding time in. Thanks Lord.

the pioneer woman seals the deal

There are few recipes that appear on The Pioneer Woman's blog that I do not drool over a little and think of an excuse to make.

This pork sandwich with cilantro jalapeno slaw was no exception.  We ate it last night with our siblings, Amy, David and Pamela.  Yum!

It is spicy pork that is cooked in Dr. Pepper and chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.  My only recommendation would be to buy the precut slaw bag.  Cutting cabbage into thin slices might be impossible.

We spend a good part of our week one on one with students. Sharing about life. Praying. Soaking in God's words. And of course sipping coffee. This summer just means we get to do it overlooking lush green mountains.

Earlier this summer we invited all the women of the program to join us for some worship and karaoke. With a trip to the thrift store in between.
Here is one of my fav team looks: jean jumper homeschool moms. (self-titled)
So fun.

I still cannot believe this was the setting for bible study this week. Shade. Breeze. Trees. Iced Coffee. Cows. What else might we need? Amazing.

Today was the first day of work at Dollywood for most of the 150 students in our training program. Look at those dresses and smiling faces after long hours of work in the summer heat.

Enough said!

Shepherdess

This summer I have been given the gift of shepherding 17 women. They will have other older women pouring into them this summer, so they are not limited to me. But its my privilege to know them, serve them, and care for them this summer.
Each of these 17 women have teams of three to four younger college student women. They lead them for the next 8 weeks of the program. We are so thankful that older students are willing to serve he younger students. To thank them we gave them small gifts. Which meant I had an excuse to find 17 cuter than cute aprons to remind them to serve.

fireflies

God is so creative and loves beautiful things.  I was able to witness something I have never seen before a couple of days ago.  Apparently there is a specific type of firefly species that mates for two weeks in early summer.  What is special about this species is that part of the mating process is synchronizing themselves to light up all at once, then stop, then light up all at once again.  Its like natures christmas tree.  There are only two places where you can see this happen, about 30 minutes from where we are living this summer and somewhere in China!

So we took about 12 women to see it happen.  We drove into the Smoky Mountain National Park and started walking a trail as the last bits of light were fading. We could see a few fireflies light up.  But as we laid out our blankets and waited, slowly more and more started lighting up the forest.  It was so unreal, one of the girls said she felt like she was in an enchanted forest.  I was so excited that God had created such a treat!  We spent most of our evening singing praises to our Heavenly Father and thanking Him for it all.  A few other spectators even joined us in singing a few songs.  :)

Pigeon Forge

We just arrived in Pigeon Forge. Our home away from home for the summer. This summer we will host around 140 college students in the Smoky Mountains. They will work at Dollywood theme park, live in a hotel, and be involved in intense bible study, evangelism and discipleship training for 8 weeks.
This blog is about to become a whirlwind of random pictures, stories from PG Las Vegas and mountain adventures. Here we go!

Melissa

5 years baby!

Today I celebrated the fifth year of marital bliss with Mr. Teten. We had brunch at our favorite local restaurant, went to a nursery and dreamed of future gardening, drove up the coast to a cute little town to walk around, read at a coffee shop and have dinner, and stopped on the drive home at the beach for the sun setting, more reading and watermelon for dessert. What made the day special was spending it with my best friend. I love him. He surprises me, holds my hand when I need him to, gives me butterfly kisses (don't tell him I told you so) and I even love the way his deodrant smells. The Lord gave me a great thing when He gave me John. I CANNOT wait to see what the next five years will bring.

One of fav things about summers in Jax is movies at the beach. A little picnic, a little wine, a little sea breeze and a classic movie.
This time we even invited friends into our little secret.

anniversary

tomorrow we celebrate the 5 year mark. This adorable card was sent to us from John's mom and I needed everyone to see it. More tomorrow about the love of my life. :)

in love

I have discovered some new things to eat! I had no shortage to begin with, but I am trying a whack diet to see if I have any food intolerances. So I have been gluten, dairy, sugar and depending on the day caffeine, chocolate and alcohol-free for almost three weeks. As a friend in town put it, its basically a food-free diet. Or a convenient-free diet. So I have been making yummy smoothies with spinach, drinking almond milk and eating more corn tortillas than I ever wanted to.
BUT . . . I have discovered a new convenient friend called Larabar. They are gluten, dairy and soy free and are usually made from three ingredients, totally raw. And after all that they manage to be yummy. They have flavors like coconut creme pie and banana bread. Come on! And to my delight I learned they are as cool as I am because they originated in Colorado! Thanks Larabar, for meeting my needs right when I was crying into my only-thing-I-can-eat-on-the-menu-yet-no-nutritional-value-iceberg-salad. I think a blueberry muffin is calling my name.

here she is!

Our floor is in the finishing stages. We finished the boards at 4am this morning and we could not be happier to say goodbye to the glue and trowel.

men at work

We are laying (glueing) a wood (bamboo) floor down in our house. Wood floors was on the bonus list for us when we were house shopping. And because the previous owners had a kitty who littered in the hall closet, we are getting our bonus wood, for free. 
It is, however, costing us much labor. In order to get sweet floors withing our flooring allowance we decided to put them in ourselves. Let me rephrase that, we decided John would do it. And his brother arrived just in time to get them started. 

We bought face masks and protection glasses for the sawdust, but as is common around here, we couldn't find them when we needed them. So bandanas and sunglasses it was. I call them rogue carpenters. 
David was a mighty help, but I think John got used to being able to bounce ideas off of someone right next to him. I have never heard John talk to himself more than this week. Its a constant stream of "oh thats true" and " yeah, I guess you're right". He is getting a good laugh out of it too. He just told me that he has started pep talking his tools: "you're really coming through today screw."
The best is when he has fit something perfectly and says something like "whats up now?" or "yeah baby" with a whistle. But the ultimate was when, to his own surprise, after cutting and fitting a board perfectly he yelled out "There is no Santa Claus!" Why? We are just not sure. 

it is the Lord's

Last night we dedicated our house to God. John's brother and his sweet wife were here to help us get our house in order. Before we started we spent the evening writing verses, prayers and praises to God on the our bare concrete subfloor. We each silently asked God to fulfill His word in specific ways in this home. And then we shared some of what we wrote and why. Finally, we prayed together to give the house back to the Lord, for His purposes and glory. It was pretty emotional for all of us as we imagined what God might do the years we occupy the home, the lives changed in our living room, the meals shared, the protection needed from the enemy, and the worship of God.
May this be the foundation of our home.

Thankful Things

It is hard to be away from family, especially on special days like mother's day. My mom deserves the honor and attention and pampering that come with the celebration. She has been such an example to me of a patient, honest, loving and sacrificial mom. I am so thankful for the woman she is and the relationship we have today. This photo was taken on my parent's honeymoon I believe. If you look close enough you can see the sparkle in her eye that was one day to be me. :)

On this day she had no idea she would be the mother of three. She is so young and hip in this picture. I wish she had saved all her late seventies clothes for me. And I love her wild hair, somehow my hair is neither thick nor curly. Bummer. Maybe my kids will have better luck.

Well, Mom, I hope you enjoy your picnic tomorrow. And I wish I was there with you! I would make you seven layer dip (with no beans of course) and then ask you to search our basement one last time for that yellow tank top.

wiith a lotta love,
Melissa

We closed today! Let the people rejoice we did it. And we also happened move out of our apartment and into our home today! I am SO tired. And SO thankful. I will post pics of today and share more later. Hooray!

Waiting . . .

We were scheduled to close last wednesday. 6 days later and we don't even have a date set to close. That is how unsure our lender is on when they will get their paperwork together. Shouldn't closing on a home be a little more seamless? This is their profession for crying out loud. We wont even mention the fact that they might have lost our paperwork three weeks ago, I say might because they haven't fessed up to it. They just wanted us to sign those 40 some papers twice?

Praise be to the only God! He has provided perfect righteousness and payment for sins in His Son Jesus! Thank you Jesus for living perfectly for me, dieing for me and changing my heart of stone into a heart of flesh.

                        

thankful things

One thing we knew in Gainesville. We did not do a good iob of building close relatuonships with our friends in town. Sometimes we even wondered if we had them. We were surrounded by awesome students who did become friends. And our church and staff family were a great network of friends. But outside of work? Peers? . . . (cricket sounds).

We moved to Jacksonville knowing we wanted friends. And Jacksonville has been anything but lonely. There have been so many connections with people throughout the city. And we have made friends! Praise the Lord!
Two of those friends are pictured here. They don't know I took this picture on our last doublie-do date. Sharlie will know once she hops over here to catch up on all things Teten.
We are blessed by them. They are our peers and are not on Navigator staff, already we are off to a good start. He loves sports! She bakes bread!
Even more they share a love for Jesus, are like-hearted and can sympathize with us in our stage of life! I am thankful that Jesus has friends for us along the way of painful seasons who can cry with us, pray with us and play ticket to ride with us.

What do you do when its friday and all your stuff is packed in boxes because you were supposed to move on thursday and you have found out that theres no chance you are moving until monday or tuesday or wednesday?
You spend your day at the pool. And then begrudgingly start unpacking because you need to eat, and you need pans and plates and forks and salt, which are all in different boxes. Humphfff.

a delightful surprise

We had dinner reservations at the melting pot tonight because we were
taking advantage of their free cheese fondue promotion. To my
surprise, John told me once seated that he intended to order a full
four courses in celebration of our first year of ministry in
Jacksonville! What a man I married. We talked about what we will
remember about this year, about our new house (closing on Wednesday,
Lord willing), and about our last dinner together at Melting Pot,
November of 2005, after John propsed to me. That dinner five plus
years ago was also filled with excitement and anticipation as we
dreamt in our private dining room about the future. About dates,
places, guests . . . I called myself Melissa Teten out loud, and only
took my eyes off John long enough to look at the sparkling ring he had
just placed on my finger.
Memories.

flop

I have never practiced labeling things I put in the refrigerator or freezer. Tonight proved why that is a good idea. Our pot pie's flaky crust turned out to be sugar cookie.

thankful things

To John,
I am thankful for you! I am thankful that you love me so well. I am so very thankful for your commitment to Christ and leading our family to follow closely after Him. You have been a solid comfort to me. And you are the only one I want to live this life with, with all its blessings and afflictions. And I am thankful that I can beat you every once in a while at Words.
Love,
the wife of your youth

Sitting outside at night in 80 degree weather with my husband listening to music by candlelight. Playing words with husband (an app). A delightful sunday.

we just heard that the whole A/C unit is being replaced in our house.  At no cost to us.  Because of new requirements in Duval County the old system was not up to par.  Hooray for God providing for us in a crazy weird way.  Who knew how long the old system would have lasted?

timeless truth

                                                    

Yesterday John and I had the privilege to join other Florida Navigator colleagues and listen to Jerry Bridges teach on trusting God.  If you are unfamiliar with Jerry Bridges, he has been serving on Navigator staff for 50 years, he is currently 81 and still working, serving the Lord.  He served in the Navy as an officer in the Korean War before joining The Navigator work.  He has written 17 fabulous, time and truth-tested books. The Pursuit of Holiness, Trusting God, Respectable Sins and The Gospel for Real Life to name my favorites.

I needed to hear what he had to say yesterday.  Trusting God, he said, can be harder than obeying God.  Often obedience is clear because scripture is clear about commands to obey.  But trusting God can be harder because we do not know what God has planned for our lives, even tomorrow is a blur.  

A helpful truth that he communicated was God’s control over EVERYTHING.  I want to blame.  I want to blame myself, others, choices, timing and anything else I can get my hands on when my life is not written how I dreamed it would.  Blame rests on someone who has done something wrong, and I cannot say God has done anything wrong.  He is purely and always GOOD.  Despite the circumstances or the presence of blessing, He is good.  He is good because He is good, not because of the "good" He gives us.

The way certain circumstances in my life are playing out may be a disappointment to me, but to God it is pleasing.  He sees the whole picture.  And I am not forgotten.  Details of the past few years have made me feel forgotten, by God mostly.  But when everything and everyone else seem to move forward, I feel stuck, left behind, forgotten.  Thankfully Jerry pointed us to verses where God states He cannot forget me.

In all of this there is purpose.  And it is not for me to know or be able to explain.  It is for God to carry out and fulfill.  

It has been made very clear that I am weak.  I have proven over and over that I am not able to do what I want, when I want it and how I want it.  My heart aches with this realization.  But God's power is made perfect in my weakness. Will I trust Him with this weakness? 

There are 101 downsides to being a one-car fam. An upside today was having a spontaneous lunch date eating Publix samples while we waited for our oil change.

Inspection

We just left our house from the inspection. And most everything looks great. A few repairs to be made here and there, all things the seller will do beforehand. HOWEVER the A/C compressor was stolen since the last time we were in the house. Apparantly thievery is common in vacant houses. So it stinks for the seller, sweet for us because their insurance will cover the cost of a new one. The olderish A/C has been in the back of our minds as something we migt have to fix in the next couple of years. Now, we don't have to.
And our inspector gadget friend has become our go-to man for advice on our home as we make changes, repairs and mistakes.
Now I can't wait. Let me in. Give me the keys. I am ready.

27 days until closing.

there is not much to share on the home front.  We have just been signing whatever our realtor, bank and lawyer send us.  Yikes!

But we have been thinking about how to use our carpet allowance.  We have a certain amount of money the seller has agreed to pay in order to redo the floors.  This is because they had a cat whose litter box was in a hall closet.   Yucko man.  Who would put urine and feces in a small, unventilated area meant for coats?
So what do we do? Carpet? Part carpet part laminate floors?  Laminate floors instead of the tile in the kitchen?  Can we install laminate on our own?  Is it worth paying someone else to sweat and swear their way through it? Who knows.  If you have any thoughts please feel free to share.

the inspection is scheduled for monday.  You may join us in praying God would protect us financially!

coffeecube follow up

my little effort is paying off. the cute little coffee hearts are chilling my iced coffee and not watering it down.

after church picnic along the river

we had errands to run today so John packed us a lunch before church. we found a park with this charming view of the st. john's river. i am thankful for today.

spring break

Its spring break for UNF students. That means time to fundraise for us. We took a mini trip back to gainesville to see some people. And I am sitting in places I used to spend hours upon hours with girls. We would read the bible together, pray for our friends and family, cry over broken relationships and build memory upon memory over cups of coffee. I miss those girls. But they are doing what we prepared them to do. Live in the world, work among peers and walk alongside people loving them and caring for them in the name of Christ. I want them to spend hours with other young women, showing them the riches that are in Christ that they have seen for themselves.

And I start fresh, with new, young, sweet girls who need to be shown the love of Christ and the freedom that comes from trusting in Him for salvation. I get four years with them, Lord willing, to stuggle our way through growing pains, asking God to make Himself known. This is a bitterSWEET calling. Some days its too much to handle, and others its too wonderful to imagine anything else.

in honor of some dear and precious friends

"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep, loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen." 

--Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

no fun

What's the fun in buying a house? At first, none. All you do is sign and initial this and sign and date that. Addendum yours, addendum mine. Please scan and email your life and while your at it, fax your first child to us too, ASAP, time is of the essence.

When do we get the keys bro?

accepted

Our second offer was accepted on Saturday! What? We kind of own a house if the appraisal and inspection go well. We are very excited about it all. And we are already learning how to dream but expect reality to kick in when it comes to updating the house.

Thanks for praying with us. We trust God, not our decision-making skills, not our realtor, and not the bank. The Creator of the Universe is sufficient for us.

waiting

Writing up the offer went well yesterday. It was surreal to throw around huge-to-us numbers like it was no big deal. So we wait today to hear back from the seller. Oddly enough this is the easiest thing I have waited for in years. Maybe because I don't forsee all possible complications, maybe because waiting a day is nothing in my book anymore, or maybe I have learned by now that nothing is in my hands. This is completely out of our control, considering God who already owns that house.
Update sure to come soon.

tomorrow!

We are putting an offer in tomorrow.  Can you believe it?  I can't.  These two slow movers are picking up the pace.

Until then, here is what I am dreaming and scheming FOR MY VERY FIRST HOUSE

from DecorPad

from Hardwareisle

from Holly Mathis Interiors

secrets out . . . I LOVE BEADBOARD.  I would put it everywhere if that were not OVERboard.  We will probably play it safe and go the dining room route, but don't tempt me, or you will see it in our closets too.

where our heart might be

We are ankle deep in the process of owning our very first home! We have been tossing around the idea of buying a home for years and it might be time to take this bull by the horns. We barely stepped into this house before I started mentally arranging our furniture in the rooms, painting the walls and watching, God-willing, our kids run around the corner of the hallways.
So here goes, two non-commital, easy-going, slow decision-makers are about to take the Jacksonville housing market by storm.
Melissa

Good to the last drop

What did you do with the last cold drops of this mornings brew? I put mine in tiny ice cube trays to freeze and use later in my iced coffee. It will take a couple of mornings to make a glass-worth, but I am giving it a shot. No pun intended, but appreciated once I realized it.

almond butter

Totally worth its $4 weight. Delicious. Sounds healthy with that flax and omega talk. And its not too hard to stir, being natural and all. All I need now is a TJ nearby.

date night

John and I enjoyed an evening in San Marco Square, a quaint nook of Jacksonville. It has beautiful homes along the river and has this cute little square filled with eateries and shops.
We never pay to see movies in a theatre, but we couldn't resist the historical theatre showing the Kings Speech. The theatre was built in the 40s and serves beer and wine. Certain to be a place we take visitors! So come visit!

Sunday

After a few days in a town so wonderfully hip but not our own and hours of driving around jacksonville homes we can afford but wouldn't dare buy . . . A girl needs the beach: free and in the town she lives!

pit stop

We saw Andalusia, the home of Flannery O'Connor, while driving home. John is a fan of her literature so we took a look. And John bought her complete stories. He is the mysterious literary brooding type these days.

By the way. I LOVE road trips with the hubs. Nothing bakes my biscuits like hours of time next to that man.

breaking the fast

what I miss: local, diverse, delicious breakfast

training

We are in Athens GA for a couple of days of training with The Navigators. Although we are technically in the enemy's territory (being Gators and all) I really like it: the campus, the feel, the hipsters, local eats. And now that I don't live in Gainesville anymore I can say that without shame.
Athens, I'm going to enjoy you and your cute coffee shops and your southern ways for the next few days. And I'm not afraid to spend a few hours at Trader Joe's either.

We got to hold this little treasure box this week while visiting Knoxville. Our friends on staff with Navigators at UT just had another babe. So cute and manly already, the baby too!

John and I are in Knoxville for a few days after he spoke at the UT Navigators meeting.
On our drive up I decided to tackle learning to crochet. John bought me a hook and yarn 12 months ago, and I never really gave it the all american try. My first practice chain and single crochet something or other resulted in what looks like a mustache. I will be really good at this thing if all I have to make resembles facial hair.

I got to spend a half hour walking the beach of jacksonville with a new girl in my bible study. We talked about relationships, her future, what God's teaching me, and summer plans. How is it I am lucky enough to spend my days getting to know college girls and walk with them for as long as they'll let me. Thanks Lord, its by your grace we have this ministry.

This semester I was invited to attend a seven week womens bible study at our church. For those who have never heard of Apples of Gold, its a study designed around the verses in Titus 2, that tell the older women of the church to teach the younger women. The study addresses kindness, loving your husband, loving your children, submission, purity, and hospitality. On top of it all is that each week a full meal is demonstrated and prepared from appetizer to dessert by the older women. Its soooo fun. A cooking show, bible study and a meal all wrapped into one. Tell me a better way to spend a thursday afternoon. Last week they made honeyed pork tenderloin with avocado-mango salsa. These ladies don't mess around. And creme brulee for dessert, helpful, since I failed at that recipe very recently.
I am thankful for these women.