Showing posts with label Bonetti Life `. Show all posts

Colville National Forrest




This morning Jonathan and I decided to plan a spontaneous trip west to explore.  We decided to visit Coville National Park, which is about two hours from Spokane. We went off-roading to get to the peak, but they closed the road about 14 miles in. I kept asking Jonathan, "Are you sure people take their cars up here??' because it kind of got intense at some parts. We ended up passing several other trucks...I guess that's the beauty of all wheel drive! Things really got interesting when we got a flat tire by what we think was a sharp rock. We had to drive down extremely slow until we got on the main gravel road to put on the spare. It's not truly adventure until something goes wrong I guess! We were able to get the tire patched  in a cute, little town called Chewelah. We then enjoyed lunch at a local mexican restaurant. Pretty fun actually!

On the drive, we could not get over the colors of the leaves! The contrast of the deep greens and bright yellows were truly breath taking.

Here are some pictures from today. Until next time friends. Enjoy the rest of your weekends!











We are The Church




Hello good friends-

The weather is getting cooler and fall is definitely upon us here in Spokane. I was talking with a friend the other day about our "friends giving" (we won't be able to come home for Thanksgiving, so we will be spending it with our friends here). I had the idea of having part of it outside to give us more room and she kindly reminded that this is Washington and there may be snow on the ground by then. I cringe. So long warm SC, holiday weather!

Moving on. I wanted to give you all an update on how we have been doing lately. Per usual, the Lord has been working and teaching us so much in various areas of our lives.

For the past month, Jonathan had been working the night shift at Hotel RL downtown. He would usually work from 2pm-11pm or after, and I would work from 8:30am-5:30pm. This put us on completely opposite schedules and we only saw each other on my hour lunch break and then on random afternoons he had off. During this time, I felt myself slip into a gradual depression. I missed Jonathan terribly and everything that was familiar. I felt so alone and coming home to an empty house sure did not help. Good thing Buddy was here. That sweet guy has seen a lot of tears.

I'll just be honest- I think we both had high doubts about moving at this point. "God, why the heck did you move us here.....for this??" "What is the purpose of going through these things?? "Did we miss something??" These were just some of the questions I asked almost every day (the nice, edited versions...). It felt like we were brought to our knees daily, and in those moments all we could do is look up, and with faint hearts whisper,  "God show me what you want me to learn thought this."

During this time, Jonathan and I grew so much closer to each other even though we hardly got to see each other. We realized how much we took for granted the time we had to spend with each other and made the most of every moment we were gifted.

Life was hard. But the Lord is always so incredibly faithful to give us the strength we need to get through, and to gift us with what we need most- more of Himself.

A few weeks ago, we were absolutely blown away.....AGAIN.... by the plan that God had for our move here. After church one Sunday, we were approached by our senior pastor with an opportunity for Jonathan to join the staff at Redemption as his assistant. After praying and being in almost complete unbelief at the opportunity, he accepted the position! And, even though it was Jonathan who got the position obviously, we believe that both of us accepted the responsibility and privilege of working along side the local church as a team for the advancement of the Kingdom. We are so thankful for having the opportunity to serve on the greeting and worship team. What a joyous privilege it is! We cannot contain our excitement to be joining Redemption in the Lord's work in Spokane, and using our gifts in anyway we can to help it grow and reach people for the gospel. We feel extremely humbled and blessed to be a part of Redemption, and we have made some incredible friendships within the body already!

To all of our friends and family back home- we cannot thank you enough for all of your prayers and the support you've given us on this journey. We wouldn't be here without you guys! Even though we are completely across the country, we are all The Church and we all have the same goal and mission.


-Love people well. Make disciples. Advance the Kingdom. Glorify the Father-


To our new friends and family here-we are excited to be coming alongside of you in this mission. We are here to partner with you in the mission set before us. We love you and look forward to doing life with you.

Well, I think that's all I have for this update.

Oh yea just a few more little side notes- I had to take out my dreads since I am working in the medical field. It only took about 15 hours total (in increments of course) to get all of them out. It was super bitter sweet. Oh and last weekend Jonathan stepped on a baby rattlesnake while we were hiking. He didn't get bit. He is fine. But we can now say that we are officially hardcore PNW-erns. I don't think that's a word but I just made it up.

Until next time friends! 

Settling In





Hi friends!

Just me again. I'm currently writing this at our recently found kitchen table. With stains and chipped paint, it was the perfect thrift find for our little apartment.

 It is a beautiful day in Spokane. The sun has been shining, the windows are open, and the temperature is a delightful 74 degrees with zero humidity (had to rub that one in a little bit for all my SC people). I wanted to give you all an update on how things are going in the Evergreen State. This Friday marks three weeks that we have been here. The apartment is pretty much finished now, with the exception of a few more decorating things I want to do,  which is a huge relief. We were able to get probably upwards of 90% of all of our furniture and household things from thrift shops which is awesome. I love the character it adds, finding things that do not to match exactly. Our favorite place to go thirfting so far is a place called Tossed and Found. It is an awesome little shop that has staff members go out to find inventory every week, so you know there are constantly new things coming in to go look at.

We have been welcomed into an amazing church family here with Redemption Spokane. Jonathan has been in contact with their pastor, Miles, since before we moved and we have felt nothing but love and acceptance from the moment (and even before) we arrived to Spokane. Jonathan has become friends with the worship leader and actually played the drums this past Sunday! We are so excited and thankful to have found a church home and cannot wait to begin building new relationships with people.  We have attended Redemption only three times now and it already feels like home. Last Thursday evening we enjoyed going to a training session at Redemption on Humility in Leadership, given by Dave Harvey with Sojourn Network (a network for church planting churches). It has been so great being able to jump right in!

On the job front- I am extremely excited to say that as of last Friday I got a new job! I will be working as a full time receptionist at a family medical clinic here called Rockwood. Orientation starts on July 25! This was completely the Lord's doing. To make a long story short- the first week we were here, we met one of the owners at Tossed and Found while looking for things for the apartment. Through our conversation, we learned that her husband is a pastor in town. We told her why we moved and that we were looking for jobs. She told me that she knew of someone who had an office admin position open, and I told her that was exactly what I was looking for. She gave me the number of the lady who is the manager at the clinic, so I called, and two days later I had a interview. A week later, I was offered the job and said manager is now my boss...who is super nice and awesome! I am a little nervous for sure, but I am fully confident that the Lord will equip me to do this job, just like He has done with so many other things in the past. Jonathan has gone to several recommended coffee shops in the area. Please continue to pray that he will find something soon. We are confident that He will provide!  He has blown us away with His favor, provision, and faithfulness.

During these past few weeks, our marriage has grown tremendously. Leading up to our move, we were not as connected as I'd hoped we would be. Things were hard, and it seemed much easier to internalize what we were preparing for instead of opening ourselves up to each other, adding yet another layer of vulnerability to what we were already feeling. I have to say that Jonathan was much better at this then I was. I can be extremely prideful sometimes in an effort to hide my vulnerability and what is really happening in the depths of my heart. ANYWAY.

With the extra time we have had recently, we have spent so much quality time together. Not the quality time that normally would entail eating dinner in the living room while watching The Office (which is still so great by the way). I mean the quality time where we sit in the quiet of the morning in our little apartment, praying with and for each other, crying with each other, and really being vulnerable and honest with each other. We really have had to rely on each other more. This move has stripped us from everything familiar and comfortable, and there is such a rawness that we feel daily. It kind of reminds me of a hard reset you have to do with your phone occasionally when it starts acting dysfunctional. Sometimes it needs a good reset to get things back on track and working properly.  Back home we had some dysfunction in our marriage, and this move has been the reset button. That push was painful, but has been so incredibly worth it.

There has been some slight lifestyle adjustments we've had to learn since being here, too. We have realized that the area that we live in has a very high theft rate. We have had a few things stolen, and have learned that we just need to be more cognoscente with our belongings.  I will admit, my first reaction to having our things taken was anger and frustration. I didn't feel compassion for the people who took our things, I felt resentment and an urge to shut everyone around me out. I didn't want to show those around me Jesus, and my heart quickly went to judgement instead of compassion. However, the Lord never fails to continue showing me where I need to grow and is slowly changing my heart. Jonathan and I have started praying for wisdom in how we can be a light for Jesus in our community. We aren't exactly sure what that will look like yet, but are confident that the Lord will make it clear in time.  We can definitely feel a brokenness over this city in many ways, and want to be used in anyways we can to offer the amazing hope in Christ that we have.

Buddy is eating up the fact that he is the main source of our attention. Anytime we go out with him, he loves to work those pathetic puppy eyes to get extra attention. He has completely mastered it and it is absolutely ridiculous.

As much as we miss home sometimes, we know this is where the Lord wants us and we are so excited to see what all He has in store for us here!

Well friends, I think that is all for now. Sorry it has taken me a bit to post an update.

Until next time!

<3