Our New Niece, Rosella Kay!

Our new baby niece, Rosella Kay, was born Oct0ber 6th at 2:58AM to her proud parents, Spencer and Jennifer. She weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20.75 inches tall. I had the privilege of spending a week in Portland just a few days after she was born. Wow! Let me first say that she is just precious! Having a baby, though, is a whole new world, isn't it? It really is true that there are 3 things that, if addressed, will keep that baby girl happy. Milk, diaper change, and sleep! I was amazed at how fast the days would go as I was there. Who knew that those three things would keep you so occupied in a 24 hour day?! My sister and Spencer are doing great! They seem to be adjusting to parenthood beautifully. Although the newness is challenging as they try to figure things out, their excitement outweighs every challenge that comes up! It's pretty neat to watch. They love that girl so much and already have so many hopes and dreams for both themselves and her as they grow as a family. From the sound of it, the love you develop for a baby as it's arrival comes near just grows more and more to the point that you just don't know how you could love him/her any more! But still, another day goes by, and your love continues to grow. It's beautiful!

Although Matt and I have not yet experienced the beauty of having a child, we have often discussed the fact that the experience would probably help us to more fully and deeply understand and appreciate God's sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. With so much love for a child He created, how did God do it? How did He knowingly allow His Son to experience such a brutal death on the cross? And even beyond the death itself, to allow His son to die on behalf of everyone else. Could we ever be so selfless with our child that we would allow their death for the sake of another's life? Wow! It's overwhelming and wonderful, and incomprehensible when you really think about it. It's so beautiful, too! The beauty of it is that before time, there was a greater plan in place. Acts 2:23 says that "This man was handed over...by God's set purpose and foreknowledge." Later in scripture, it says, "he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our sins; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" Isaiah 53:5. The familiar verse that many of you know sums it up so well. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:16-17 Despite the fact that none of us are deserving of this gift, I am so thankful that God willingly offers it! Romans 6:23- For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Balloon Fiesta 2008 - Albuquerque, NM

Mark and Charlotte came to visit us at the beginning of the month. It just so happened to be when the Balloon Fiesta was happening. What a ball that was! Although it may sound weird to watch big hot air balloons rise up in to the sky and be intrigued, it's quite an amazing thing in real life. You wake up while it is still dark, pile up people in the car, find a parking spot, walk among thousands of people, both local and international, and enjoy the excitement of the experience as you sip on some tasty hot chocolate! Thought we'd post some pictures for you to enjoy!

No news is good news?!

We have a saying in my family that "No news is good news." This means that by and large, the Bradshaw's are pretty bad about communication, unless of course there is an emergency. When something bad happens then we light up the phone lines and get on the horn. In fact, that is the sole reason we have a phone line, in case something bad happens. All of that to say that while we haven't posted in a while, everything is going pretty good.

Last weekend, I took 12 people to Juarez for 3 days. It was a very fruitful trip due in large part to the skill and willingness of the team members. I was excited to see how much we got done in such a short time. We even got to attend church service with 100 other people at the actual church we have been working on! It was awesome!

However, there is another side of the story. My poor wife DID NOT have a great weekend. She was part of a parade of bad events culminating in one stressed out spouse. In one weekend, she had to deal with a cable guy, a fickle router and internet connection, ran into my truck with hers, had the smoke alarms going off at all hours of the night, and tried to finish unpacking the rest of the boxes. While none of those things themselves seem too harsh, the culmination of all mentioned events, as well as those I left out, were too much to handle.

All of that to say that when I returned home after a glorious mission trip, I was not met with the love and affection I had expected. By far, the most difficult thing for us in this move and transition is adjusting to the schedule. Everything at this time moves SO fast, and just when I think I can let my guard down and recover, another event is right around the corner. SO, here is what we are learning:

• Even when we serve the Lord, we are at risk. We are targets when we are useful and must always be mindful of the struggle going on around us. I cannot pray enough for my wife when I am gone and now know that she is not immune to the attacks of darkness.
• Especially when we serve the Lord, we are at risk. Romans 12 reminds us to:"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." This is not just a reminder but should be a lifestyle.
  
• Even when we serve the Lord, we need help. Often, we believe we as Christians that we can do everything like John Wayne. But God has designed us to need each other. This weekend, Char learned to call for help and to not be too proud to admit when we can't do it ourselves. Thank you to Moses, Debra, Justin, my Dad and countless others who sacrificed their time to help when I couldn't. I greatly appreciate your help and you all serve as great reminders that we are not alone.

So, in summary, we are doing well despite our very wild weekend. We hope you are blessed by hearing about our struggles. Hopefully, you too know that we are here for you when you cannot do life alone. Thank you everyone.

Hey everyone! How's it goin'? Matt and I just got back from a short trip to Farmington to visit the family! We were glad to be able to get away for a couple days and get a family fix. Everyone seems to be doing well. Just plugging away! Our niece, Micaylah, just turned 8! We can't believe she's getting so big! She had a quite enjoyable gymnastics party! Mark celebrated a birthday as well. We got to see his hot rod in the making. It's come so far! Looking pretty fancy! Kate turns "Sweet 16" today. Wow, how time flies! Happy Birthday, guys!

This Friday, we will be closing on and moving into our home! We are so excited! So, this week, we will be packing up the little that we brought to the apartment in preparation! The rest of our stuff is in storage waiting to be moved! We're looking forward to being into our new home! I can't wait to have you all over!

Church life is still wonderfully crazy! God is doing so many amazing things through the church. It's so fun to watch Him work. We are so grateful to be a part of it. We're involved in some type of mission event 3 of the 4 weekends of each month, but seriously, it's a blast! There's nothing more gratifying than serving! You get such a high from it! If you all ever want to join in, let us know! We'd love to serve with you!

Matt started his semester of online classes a couple weeks ago. It seems to be going pretty well. He watches DVD's of the lectures and has his assigned reading to do. The hardest part for Matt is finding time to do it. But...he'll get 'er done!

Gotta go for now. Hope you all are happy and healthy. Call or write when you get a chance. Oh yeah...if you want our new contact information, e-mail us. We don't really want to put that info up on the blog. Some crazies might just do something with that info. Ya never know!

Love you guys,
Char

Enjoy the pics! (Some of the words got cut off! Sorry!)

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!