Busy at the Bradshaw's

Hey guys! How are you? Life has been very here...for both of us now! This is a long blog. So, get ready! As I said, there's lots going on!

As of July 28th, I officially began my job as a Presbyterian Hospital nurse. I had to take classes for about a week and a half before I was actually able to take care of patients on the floor. Since the second week of August, I've begun my 3 day work week on the unit and have really enjoyed it. Remember us mentioning the fact that I was going a tad bit crazy not working??? Well, I now realize that the longer I was away from patient care, the more I developed that passion to give patient care again! In Kentucky, I was beginning to notice myself having a lack of compassion with my patients, and experiencing a feeling of drudgery in going to work week after week. Now, thankfully, that feeling is gone! I'm so thankful for the Lord's goodness in bringing that desire back! Now, I can again do what I was created to do!

Matt has continued to keep his calendar full in planning and participating in mission trips week to week and month to month. He's doing such a great job! On August 9th, 250 church members went out and served the community via a couple different avenues. And yes, I did say 250! What a turnout! Thank you, Sagebrushers!

One outreach event was directed toward the homeless population in downtown Albuquerque at Coronado Park. So many church members came prepared with enchiladas, beans, and drinks ready to serve to the people. From what we hear, good conversations were had and good entertainment occurred while a talented band of church members played in the background. We finished the day off by preparing sack lunches for the people to take with them!

The second outreach project was with Gerald Martinez, a New Mexico pastor who sees his mission as one of hope to a troubled community as he has attempted to clean the crime-ridden area that housed the church he served in Albuquerque, NM. You may recognize his name when I tell you that his family was blessed by Extreme Makeover: Home Edition in April of this year. Although Extreme Makeover helped the family do so much more than they could, they still desire to do more for the community. So, our projects were to 1)prepare his backyard for a place where he can marry the couples he serves and also to 2)clean out another house just a block away, with the goal of creating a medical clinic there. There was a lot of hard work to be done, but with all the generous volunteers, we got a lot accomplished! All for God's glory!

This last weekend, a group of 20 people from the church went to Juarez, Mexico. We are working with missionaries there, who are training pastors and preparing facilities for church services to take place. Although we did get so spend some quality time with the pastors and their families, most of our time was spent getting the building in shape by tearing down walls, removing some damaged sheet rock, replacing a roof, and cleaning up the property . You should see the joy and excitement in the eyes of the pastors and their families. They're thrilled! We would find them singing worship songs aloud on the property, smiling from cheek to cheek, and just expressing their appreciation to us because our coming to Juarez encouraged them to keep going! They shared what the Lord had done in their lives, and blew us away. We have so much and they have so little. Yet, they are the joyful ones! It's so interesting when you think you're going to bless someone else by doing something for them, and you realize afterwards that you are the one being blessed by the people you serve. We had a good time and are looking forward to our next opportunity to serve them!

One last praise!!! We recently had our 5 year anniversary! From never planning on getting married to thoroughly enjoying the journey of marriage, we are so thankful for the Lord's protection of and blessings on our marriage!

So sorry for the length of this post! Hope all is well in your world!

Love you,
Char

P.S. Pictures will be up soon. Haven't had a chance to download them yet!