Surgery, sports, summer, world changing, and adventures in real estate!

My last post was about being a blog slacker...and I do freely admit that things have been a little hectic around the Patrick household...but my hopes are that this blog and a few more posts with pictures will bring me back into the good graces of the two people who haven't given up on us.

Here is the last few months all summed up:

Surgery: I tore my ACL, which I talked about in a previous post. I am now four months removed from the surgery it took to repair said tear and I have just learned today that I have been released back to my normal life again, this means that I can suck at golf, tennis, and softball again but at least now I can blame my surgically repaired right knee if it gets too bad

Sports: We have really gotten into soccer and baseball this summer. I joined some friends and got season tickets for our MLS team Real Salt Lake and have really enjoyed going to the games we just got to see the US national team play El Salvador in a World Cup Qualifier match...what a game! I have become a Boston Red Sox fan much to the chagrin of my sister who is a huge Yankees fan but when I was in Texas for a week Brandy made it possible for me to see two Red Sox/Rangers games the first game our seats were in the Comissioner's box and we were literally 20 feet away from first base...THANKS BRAND!

World Changing - I signed up for World Changers again this summer and the project went great. I was blessed to have the best summer staff I have ever had with TK, Lauren, Angela, and Christopher. I don't think I have laughed that much or had that much fun while working so hard. Some of the statistics from our project are: 28 projects completed, 4 community salvations, 3 participant salvations, 6 rededications, and 1 student called to full time missions! What a cool week. World Changers is changing up their schedule for next year. I'm not sure I like the changes but we'll see how it goes.

Adventures in real estate: Rachael and I are purchasing a house! I have included a picture of the house below. We've had an interesting experience while looking for a home. We saw one house that reminded me of Silence of the Lambs with its creepy basement and hat making business. Another home we saw had horrible water damage and smelled extensively of moth balls. We were very happy to find this house and God has really provided us with the right situation at the right time for us to get into the house. We close on September 30th and take possession 48 hours later. We'll have to re-do the carpet and have had the thought of hardwood floors in areas of the house. We'll also work to update the bathrooms and the kitchen of the house but it will be cool to make it our own and any improvements we make only help the resale value if we have to sell but we're not planning on that for a long while.

Rachael: Rachael went to Kenya with a team at the end of July and into early August. The medical team that she went with helped a lot of people with not a lot of supplies. God really used her experience to help her see through his eyes and I'm sure there will be return trips to continue the amazing work that is being done there. Rachael is hard at work in Occupational Therapy. Her mentor took a job at the University of Utah so she is now one of the most tenured OT's on the rehab floor. She is constantly telling me of patients and their stories, but is encouraged when she gets to see them walk or function in a new way.

Sean: Things in ministry have been going awesome. Since restoring our Pastor to full time ministry we have been moving in leaps and strides rather than in baby steps. People's lives are being changed and transformed by the movement of the Holy Spirit and it has been amazing to be a part of it. In addition to my responsibilities with Worship, I am now in charge of missions and properties at HBC. I can honestly say that I am in my dream job and it truly is an honor to be serving the kingdom with this congregation!

here is the house pic...