One Week of Eloise Marie

((Written on Thursday, June 2nd, 2015))

I have officially been a mama bear for one week today and it has somehow felt like the fastest week of my life full of the longest nights I've ever experienced. All I keep hearing from moms who have gone before me is that I need to soak up these early months of her life because though they are challenging they will be some of my favorite moments ever. So that's what I've been trying to do, to focus on the sweet parts of being a new mom & remember that the hard stuff ... Like the absence of sleep & my buck wild emotions ... will pass. 

Eloise is a sweetheart baby. She has a gentle demeanor and doesn't cry much, she mostly squeaks or whimpers when she wants something. Today someone said she sounds like a baby lamb making the "baaaa" sound. Shaun and I can't seem to get anything done with Eloise around because we are so enamored by her cuteness. We photograph every minute of her day and the moment one of us walks away from her the other one is already excitedly saying, "Babe! Come look at how cute Eloise is!" And then we do. We come back and adore her. Oohing and awing over the perfection that she is. It's funny too because mostly she just sleeps. I've never in my life thought sleep was so adorable. 

We say that Eloise is "jet-lagged" right now because she seems to have her days and nights mixed up. She is up all night and sleeps most of the day, like us when we arrived to Spain. It's easy to type about but actually that part of being her mama has been really stretching for me because I am the one who feeds her during the night which means I'm up every 3ish hours, and I struggle to sleep in between that time because of anxious thoughts about her. I think last night was the first time I slept more than 3-4 hours in a 24 hour period and I woke up feeling like a brand new person. I love the daytime with her because there are people around and though I've found it difficult to nap I feel energized by sunshine and friends. Usually by the time the sun is setting I am holding back anxious tears and Shaun is praying with me and Eloise that our nights would continue to be blessed as I learn to breast-feed, and that we would all stay healthy and be able to sleep well. I don't think I've ever prayed as much in a week as I have been praying this week. I feel as dependent on Jesus as Eloise is dependent on me & Shaun to keep her alive. If we don't meet her needs Eloise will die. Literally. And if Jesus doesn't meet my needs, I too feel like i will die. Even if physically I remain alive, my heart & soul & mind & strength will be gone if Heaven doesn't bend to sustain me right now. 

I will say that every day has gotten a little easier and my emotions have continued to feel more and more normal. The emotions are more intense than before, both the good and the bad, and I cry daily for no reason, but my friends tell me that I'm normal, and even if they're lying, I appreciation the consolation. It helps. 

Yesterday we had our first well-baby appointment and we literally cheered when the doctor told us that Eloise was healthy. She feels so fragile and we love her so much, all we want is for her to be healthy. 

Since Eloise is sleeping as I type this and it's likely that won't last much longer I'll go ahead and wrap up this post with some final things I'll want to remember as our little darling grows. Everyone says she will change and grow quickly so this post is my attempt to bottle up this first week's goodness so we can continue to treasure it for years to come. 

7 things to remember about 7 days of Eloise Marie ~ 

1) Eloise likes to pee when her diaper is off which makes diaper changing that much more adventurous. It's not uncommon to find me, Shaun & Meredith changing her diaper together to see if we can conquer the wild pee as a team. Even if she has already peed, or poo-ed her diaper, the moment she feels the freedom of no diaper she pees again. To date she has peed on our bed, our couch and on her daddy... Multiple times. One time she even pooped with the diaper off. It was hilarious but we would be okay if that stayed a one time thing. 

2) Her favorite way to sleep is on her Daddy's chest. We call it sleeping in his "kangaroo belly". We love it as much as she does because it is so stinkin cute. 

3) She is a wiggly girl. She likes to have her legs in the "criss-cross applesauce" position, as our God-daughter Lily says. And whenever she gets the chance to stretch out tall on our bed she kicks her legs like she is riding a bike, really fast, getting her little feet caught on each other with each peddle which makes a flicking sound. We love the flicking sound. We felt her doing the same movements in my womb so it is extra sweet to see her doing them now. 

4) She is a champion breast-feeder. She learned to latch quickly & by the end of week 1 has been having full feedings. Full feedings means she sleeps better too... Which means we sleep better. Praise the Lord for that. 

5) Eloise loves to be with her Auntie Meredith. Every morning Meredith comes to get her from me at around 5am after she has finished nursing and Meredith looks after her until she wakes up again around 8am. Her Auntie helps with diaper changes, burpings, bath time and she holds Eloise every chance she gets. 

6) Eloise has already been out of the house 4 times. She has been to the YWAM LA campus, Ross - Dress for Less, Starbucks, and to the barber shop to sleep while her Daddy got his hair-cut. She either rides in the stroller or her Daddy wears her in a wrap on his chest. I think she prefers being on Dad's chest. 

7) On the second night of being home with Eloise I was looking at her adorable feet and realized that they didn't get stamped at the hospital. I immediately started to cry (hormones anyone?) thinking that we needed to stamp them immediately so we could know how little they were before they grow. I literally felt panicky as if they were growing right before my eyes. (I'm laughing as I type this because of how crazy it is.) It was around 3am and I was trying to find an ink pad in our house to stamp them right that second. Obviously I didn't find one. So then I got on Pinterest and tried to find out other ways to capture a baby's footprint. Eventually I came to my senses and realized what a nut I was being so I relaxed and decided to ask Shaun & Meredith for help getting her feet stamped then next morning. They laughed at me when I told them about my 3am crazy sesh and then together we got ahold of some black paint and pretty paper and managed to stamp her little feet so I could frame the footprints and remember them forever. The footprints are precious & the whole endeavor was raging with postpartum hormones which I think is worth documenting just so I can laugh at myself some more later. 

And now for some newborn photos by our incredible friend Sarah. If you don't know her you should get to know her and if you ever need a photographer you should hire her today. There's nobody better.  www.sarahgrunder.com // @sarahgrunderphotography

Gender reveal party!

I made a video of our Gender Reveal Party from a few weeks ago! 

It was so much fun I thought you should be able to be a part of it too. 

...I know... look at me getting all video savvy :) 

Fly to Spain with us -- VLOG

Guess what guys! 

We made our first official Vlog from our flight to Spain!! 

Hip hip hooray!

More will be coming soon! Enjoy!!! 

I'm going to be an introvert for now.

Thanks to jet-lag we were awake at 3:30 yesterday morning which made for the perfect opportunity to walk to the beach and watch the sunrise. It was SO beautiful! Excuse the slightly crooked photo! My fingers were frozen. 

I am a super extrovert married to another super extrovert, if there is such a thing. We are such "people people" that we make normal extroverts cringe. Really. We are constantly surrounded by friends— we love making friends, we love inviting friends to sleep over, and we love sleeping over. When we travel we are often asked whether we would like to stay in a hotel alone together or in someone’s home, we always prefer the home because we love getting to know the people who live there. Last year we were given a weekend vacation in Palm Springs and when we arrived to our little condo it took everything in us not to call our friends and ask them to join us because the place was so cool. Most nights we have at least one skater sleeping over, this past week we had around 15 there every night. Whenever we go to a new country I can’t help but invite my friends who live nearby to come visit. My thought process goes something like this, “I’m going to Spain! Perfect! I should tell every European friend I have to come see me!” or “Yes! We are going to Korea! That’s close to China! Let’s ask my friends there to come stay with us!” I do it in America too- I am always inviting different friends to come stay with us in Michigan for Christmas, and whether we are visiting Shaun’s fam or mine in Colorado, they are both accustomed to us spending every waking minute hanging with people we love. We love each other. And we love friends. That is how we do life. 

But something new is happening for us. Maybe it’s the baby girl who is growing inside of me right now or maybe it’s all the words in my head that desperately need to be written on paper and spoken on camera. Maybe it’s simply a need for balance. Whatever it is, Shaun and I are both certain that right now, this time while I’m in Spain, is a time for me to be more introverted. It’s not a time for me to round up everyone I love and invite them to come stay with us. It’s not even a time for me to hit the streets and start making new friends. I don’t need to pack my days with coffee dates and lunch dates and I don’t need to launch a small group or start a ministry that will last beyond my time here. Actually what I need is time to write, time make the videos that I’ve been planning to make for months and months now, and time to rest. We hope I’ll blog a lot while I’m here. We hope I’ll finish my book too. We hope my Spanish will improve and that our marriage will be strengthened and that the few visitors we do have coming will feel richly blessed by my focused attention. We also know that I’m not an introvert. So as much as I will love taking time to focus on these few particular things, I’ll also treasure the time I get to spend with the friends I already have here in Barcelona. I don’t have many. But the ones I have are gold, and hanging out with them will be one of my favorite things to do.

So that’s that. 

You’ll hear from me more than you normally do on this little blog and I’m sincerely looking forward to that. There is so much I have been wanting to say to you and I feel grateful to finally have the time set aside to say it. I pray that this place remains one of genuine encouragement to you. As I’ve said before, I won’t pretend to be perfect here and I hope you don’t either. What you’ll get here will be real thoughts about real life. I’ll continue to share openly about things as I see them, and I’ll do my best to keep reminding you about the living God, Who in His tender love, is working everything out for our good and for His glory.

You are precious. Thanks for visiting my blog. And please forgive me in advance if I don’t invite you to sleepover over during these next few months. I hope you understand.   

Gratefully, 

your super-extroverted, attempting-to-be-introverted, 

friend. 

baby girl. gummy vitamins. & our future family.

Waiting a while to blog is a bother because I end up with so much I want to say that I just can't seem to say any of it quite right. Rather than attempting to type words that flow perfectly, which will probably leave me with yet another day of blog-less-ness, I'm just going to spill my thoughts as they come. Future posts will be more... articulate... but today's will be on the sporadic side of life. 

This weekend we found out we are having a baby girl which is at the forefront of my brain from the moment I wake to the moment I sleep. She is wiggling a lot these days and three people other than me have already felt her kick, which delights me in ways I didn't know I could be delighted. My sister was the first person to feel her move and now every time I see her she goes straight for my belly. She talks to it. Rubs it. Pokes it. Then talks to it again. The baby moves most when I'm laying so Meredith has also forced me to lay down on several occasions just to feel baby girl dance. I love that people are excited because it makes me more excited too. 

On a dead serious note... they don't sell Gummy Prenatal Vitamins. At least not at any of the stores near me. I have checked multiple places. I am not incapable of swallowing vitamins, I've done it most of my life, but for whatever reason being pregnant has suddenly made me want to invest in my very own Gummy Vitamins. I've always thought Gummy Vitamins were incredible inventions because... well it's obvious isn't it? Vitamins that taste like gummy bears? Yes please. But this desire has led me to utter disappointment in discovering that they don't exist. They sell Adult Gummy Vitamins. They even sell Fiber Gummies for "kids of all ages". But who do they leave out? The pregnant ladies. Maybe they think that if we are about to have a kid then its time we get serious and swallow our vitamins. I'm more like, hey vitamin people, in a few months I am going to be squeezing out a watermelon sized human from a hole the size of a dime, the least you could do is give me a piece of candy that will fill my body with nutrition and my mouth with joy. 

But no. They don't sell them. Darn vitamin people. 

We were supposed to leave for Spain this Thursday but due to some visa issues we pushed our flights back a week. Now we are leaving March 4th and returning June 3rd. My due date is July 4th. We are both excited to go but haven't done anything at all to pack, so this 6 days is a gift straight from Heaven. 

People have asked how my life will change after having the baby. 

Will we still travel? 

Will we still work as unsalaried missionaries? 

Will we continue living in a room at the church? 

Will she be a skateboarder? 

Who is going to be buying her the pink helmet she'll need? 

All good questions. 

Here are some short answers: 

We know that traveling is a major part of the lifestyle God has called us to as a family so we are prepared to be mobile with the babe. We don't know what that means exactly but we are excited to learn. We also know that we want to be rooted in Los Angeles, which means life won't be quite as transient as it has been the last several years. Together Shaun and I plan to keep loving God, loving each other, and we'll figure out together how to maintain a healthy lifestyle for our family. Also, children fly for free until they are two years old, so you can count on us taking advantage of that as much as possible.

We will continue working as unsalaried missionaries for Youth With a Mission LA- Shaun will still be directing Calling All Skaters & I will keep leading Beauty Arise. We also plan to continue serving Models For Christ. My particular responsibilities will likely shift so that I can focus my time, energy, and breastmilk on my little girl, but we have no plans to stop doing ministry. Having children has always been part of our vision so over the last few years we have specifically been building our ministries in a way that they can continue to flourish with children and families involved. Our hope is that in the coming months I will be writing and speaking more and that some of my other duties can be delegated to wonderful, willing friends & coworkers. 

We will be moving out of our room at the church sometime in the summer. We do not know where we will be living yet and are grateful for your prayers on that. There is a prospective housing opportunity on the horizon but nothing confirmed at this point. We aren't stressed about it but mostly we just aren't thinking about it. That strategy is working at the moment but we know that as my tummy grows, the reality of needing a home will become more obvious. I'll keep you posted. 

She will skate. She will also dance sometimes and probably do a million other things too. We have loved the way our parents helped us to discover our passions by releasing us to do lots of different things and we want to do that same thing with our kids. 

I'm pretty sure my Mama will be the one buying her the pink helmet. Or my Aunt or my Grandma. These are the 3 people in my life who NEVER FAIL to remind me how important helmets are. They'll probably buy Shaun a helmet too, though I am doubtful that he'll wear it.
(PS. I am going to regret typing that part... I'll never hear the end of it.) 

My ramblings are coming to a close but I still have lots to say so you can expect another post coming soon. I hope you have a happy Tuesday! Thank you for being such a faithful friend & for following my blog.
You guys are a HUGE encouragement to me.

The Hover Latest

Hi friends! I hope you all are having a wonderful 2015 so far! It's been a little while since we have shared an update so I thought I'd take advantage of a free morning to get it done! Thank you to everyone who prays for us & gives to us financially to make these endeavors possible. None of this would be possible without you! 

Shaun was in China two weeks ago visiting our Calling All Skaters DTS team on outreach over there. He was doing what we call a "Pastoral Visit" - checking on the health of the team and the leaders, ensuring that our ministry partners over there are doing well, and joining the team in the ministry they are doing. He had an amazing time and has reported that the team is doing incredibly well. Here are a few videos he put together while he was over there! 

Last weekend we drove down to Ensenada, Mexico to participate in a Beauty Arise Fashion Show our Beauty Arise team produced there. YWAM Ensenada hosted the event as an outreach to their city & over 200 people attended! The models were women chosen from the community, young teens from the local safe house that our Beauty Arise team invests in weekly were seated front-row as the "guests of honor," & I was the featured speaker - sharing on the love of God & the value He has placed in each of us. Lizbeth Espinoza & Beauty Arise: Unfading Beauty YWAM-Ensenada directed & produced the whole thing! God was so faithful - taking care of every detail && we felt privileged to have been a part of the evening! Since the event multiple Mexican newspapers have posted articles about it. Here is a link to one:  http://ed.el-mexicano.com.mx/impreso/Ensenada/012815/28-01-2015_ENS_01E.pdf

Shaun just returned to California yesterday from a week-long pastoral visit to our Calling All Skaters team in Chile. The crew is doing great & he is excited to be home! Check out @callingallskatersofficial on Instagram to follow the work they are doing down there.

Next Wednesday I'll be leaving to serve another Models For Christ outreach to Fashion Week in New York City! Models For Christ ministry produces Fashion Week Outreaches, and provides support, encouragement, and community globally to fashion industry professionals through outreach and discipleship to reflect the light and love of Jesus Christ within popular culture.This will be fifth year helping to serve these outreaches and I am full of anticipation for what God wants to do in and through our team there. Please pray for us! 

On February 21st we will find out if our baby is a boy or a girl! 
We'll be having a gender reveal party to find out alongside our friends and to celebrate together just before leaving for Spain. We are TOO excited! We could actually find out the gender at our appointment next week but we are both party people so we think the waiting will be worth it -
even though we both SO want to know now!! The baby is due July 4th. 

Lastly we will be leaving for Barcelona on February 26th to launch the first ever Calling All Skaters DTS there. We have a team of people coming with us to help lead and staff the bilingual school. Since we will be delivering our babe in California we will only be there for the first 3 months of the project but we feel grateful to have such a solid crew to lead the students for the remaining 3 months. We return from Spain on June 3rd. 

That is all for now!
As always if you feel compelled to give financially to our ministry you can do so through the "Support" link at the top of this page! Click "Donate" and fill out the form accordingly!
 We are still hoping to raise roughly $350 towards my outreach to NYC.
You are a huge encouragement to us both and it's a joy to do life with you!  
All our love, Shaun & Jess 

heart emoti

I found out I was pregnant in Panera Bread.

photo by @sarahgrunderphotography

     I found out I was pregnant in a Panera Bread bathroom stall. We were in Huntington Beach staying with our family there and Shaun was out skating with some friends. I had felt a whirlwind of emotions in the week prior to that point, which led me to believe that one of two things was definitely true, either I needed to make an urgent appointment to see a counselor... or I was pregnant. I hadn’t intended to take a pregnancy test that evening but as I approached the Albertson’s and Panera shopping center the opportunity presented itself all too readily. I knew this Panera was classy and clean, like most other places in Orange County, so peeing on a stick in their bathroom seemed perfectly normal. I casually popped into Albertson’s to buy the test, trying my best not to look like I was anxious about whether or not my life was about to be changed forever. My strategy was to grab the test and then stroll through some other aisles of the store nonchalantly to convince any on-lookers that this test was for some time in the distant far-away future, and not to be taken in the next 5 minutes at the restaurant next door.  Once I made it through the self check-out I b-lined it to Panera and straight for their restroom. 

  I was the only one in the bathroom when it happened, which ended up being a really good thing because the moment that little plus sign appeared I burst out laughing and genuinely couldn’t stop. I remember laughing like that when Shaun first said “I love you” to me on a swing-set in Barcelona almost 7 years ago. I also laughed like crazy on Splash Mountain at Disneyland. I don’t know what all of those things say about me other than maybe with exactly the right combination of shock, joy and adrenaline, I can’t help but laugh like mad woman. Anyway after I pulled myself together and managed to leave the bathroom I was at a loss for what to do next. What do people do after they find out they are pregnant? I sat in a chair and tried to read the Bible, because that seemed like a pretty solid thing to do, but it didn’t work, all I could do was think about my new secret. So after a few minutes of pretending to read the Bible I left Panera and started to walk home. 

I had high hopes of finding some adorable Pinteresty way of telling Shaun he was going to be a Dad. Like one of my best friends who wrote it in on the bottom of a Starbucks cup, or two of my other friends who bought their men “world’s best dad” coffee mugs, (...is it becoming obvious that my people are coffee people?...) but plans didn’t quite go as I’d hoped. As I walked home the sun was setting and the beach sky was turning gloriously pink, I decided it was a good time to call Shaun and find out when he would be home, so that I could tell him the good news in person and in my oh-so-delightfully-extra-special way. As soon as I heard his voice, however, I blew it, which really shouldn’t be a surprise for the girl who took her test in a Panera bathroom. I think cute Pinterest girls always take their tests in the comfort of their own homes. Not me. So he answers the phone and I immediately squeal, “Baby! The craziest thing just happened! ... I just took a pregnancy test! ... And it was positive!” There it was. The big secret spilled. Shaun was of course thrilled about it and came home right away so we could celebrate. He has been ready to be a dad since the day we got married. He has never put pressure on me to have kids, but has always made it very clear that whenever I felt ready, he was ready too. At the end of August I nervously told him that I thought.... maybe.... I felt ready, and on November 1st we found out our babe was on the way. My husband makes quick work.

I haven’t dreamed of being a mom. I didn’t long for it as a young girl and I’ve never really been all that into children. I know kids are incredibly special and I love when people love them, but I personally have never felt particularly comfortable being around little ones. In fact people closest to me know that I’ve prayed a lot about this over the last few years because I have had some serious fears about becoming a mother. I can tell you more about that in a different post, but basically what I am getting at is that this whole thing feels new, and scary, and yet somehow exactly right. I know that life is a gift and that the Giver of life is the One I have placed my trust in. I trust Him to care for me and now I trust Him to care for my growing little one. 

I’m almost 15 weeks along (3 and a half months) and I haven’t known what I’m doing pretty much this entire time. I think that’s okay. Because I’m not the one in charge of forming this little treasure in my womb. My God is doing just fine with that. So I just sit here and continue to do what I always do when I don’t know what to do... I pray. I pray when I’m excited. I pray when I’m scared. I pray when I’m anxious and can’t tell if I’m overeating and it’s a bad thing, or just pregnant-lady eating, which doesn’t seem to be a problem. I pray when my eating leads to nausea and I pray again when my nausea leads to bathrooms. I pray when I don’t know if we’ll be delivering the babe in Barcelona or LA and I pray to say thanks again for my awesome new set of pregnant boobs. When I don’t know what to do, I just pray. Because I'm convinced that the One who hears my prayers is faithful to meet my needs, just like He did before I was pregnant, and just like He will again after. 

Special thanks to Panera Bread for providing a clean stall to change my world in. You’ll forever hold a special place in our hearts. Also, I’m sorry I didn’t buy anything that day. I promise I have made up for it since then. 

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows." James 1:17

"Always be joyful. Never stop praying, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus." 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT)

"Children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward from Him, children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior's hands. How joyful is the man who's quiver is full of them!" 

Psalm 127:3-4, 5a

PS. Let's celebrate my baby's Daddy becoming pro 

for Untitled Skateboards! Woohoo! 

Watch his "Welcome to pro" video below & visit 

Untitledskate.com to order his first ever official pro model board! 

We have good news!

(video by @sarahgrunderphotography)

Most of you have probably seen this little video already on Facebook and Instagram but I thought it would be great to share it on here too! Our little treasure is due to arrive on the 4th of July and we are thrilled about it - a new baby and a sky full of fireworks! How fun! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you loved ones for being so wonderfully encouraging to us! We love you and are excited to do this next season of life with you! 

My sister's wedding video.

Meredith and David got married this August and our friend Kate Cook made this gorgeous video documenting the day. She finished the video this week and I am SO excited to share it with you! 

a He & She list.

The other day Shaun and I were sitting together in a meeting and I started doodling this "He & She" list in my journal. He decided it was pretty fun and started contributing too. After we finished I liked it so much that I decided I would share it on my handy dandy blog.

And so here we are! I hope it is as fun for you to read as it was for us to make! 

He & She...

He is 28.

She is 26.

They met when she was 19 and he was 21.

He was born in Rochester Hills, Michigan.

She was born in Great Falls, Montana. 

He is a night owl.

She is an early bird.

He is logical. She is emotional. 

He is hilarious.

She thinks she is too.

They both love sushi and public speaking.

They also love breakfast burritos.

She walks. He rolls. (Get it?) 

She loves to throw parties.

He loves to attend them. 

He is afraid of spiders.

She is afraid of heights.

He is not afraid to tell a company when he is disappointed in their product.

She is not afraid to do outrageous things in public.

He has been excited about having children since they got married.

She is coming around to it.

She loves all things Disney. 

He thinks Disney is overpriced.

He loves getting a great deal and is excited about practical gifts.

She loves going to pretty places and is excited about extravagant gifts. 

They both love to talk about leadership.

They both love to travel. 

They both think cats and dogs are just okay.

(Actually he might hate them. But she is in denial about that a little bit.)

He loves to be active. She really does too.

They both love the movie The Santa Clause. 

They both love to do life with friends.

He drinks iced coffee with milk and one pump of hazelnut. 

She prefers sipping hot lattes through a straw.

They live in a church. But they are staying with family in Huntington Beach tonight. 

They both think you are pretty amazing for reading this all the way through. 

photos by @sarahgrunderphotography. 

Update from Husband!

Hi loved ones! Here's a bit of an update for you :)

LA THRASH!! 

We don't shower as much as we'd like; we don't have comfy beds to sleep in; we pack super light everywhere we travel, and we always stay up late into the night- But it's all worth it because we experienced the living God break through in our hearts and break out in the LA streets and skateparks everyday and every night. Designed to provide the rawest Calling All Skaters experience possible, LA THRASH was an intense 2 weeks of discipleship, evangelism, and vision, where high school age skateboarders lived and traveled with the Calling All Skaters crew and learned what it means to live a life completely surrendered to Jesus as a young skater.  Three days into the program many of the participants said that their lives had already been changed forever.  God united us as brothers and sisters in Christ more than we knew was possible in such a short time. He also used each one of us as ministers of the gospel- whether in front of a crowd at a skate demo in Hollywood, on the stage of a church in Tujunga, on the curb at a skatepark in Westchester, at a crosswalk in Compton, or around a bonfire in Hermosa Beach. All of us, staff and students, were stretched out of our comfort zones. As a community of skateboarders, surrendering our lives to Jesus daily can sure get uncomfortable, but man is it fun! 

A bunch of the skaters from LA THRASH got baptized on the last day at Venice Beach. It was beautiful. I've included a video of the baptisms :)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHRxP-NeWsk

STORY TIME 

Speaking of baptism, Let me share a little story from last night...   

My good friend in ministry had just arrived to LA from Barcelona late night, so of course we had to hit the local Denny's for a midnight meal. As we were checking out, a crew of 10 college age guys and girls came loudly stumbling through the entrance door, hungry after a night of drinking. As I was paying my bill they were waiting to be seated and strategizing as to how they could eat pancakes and still have time to hit the liquor store for more booze. 

I felt intimidated but I knew that I pretty much had a 5 second window to either open my mouth and interrupt their clamor or to just quietly walk past them and out the door. In that instant I realized that if the Holy Spirit lives inside of me then I have no excuse not to share the gospel with them. So I opened my mouth, 

"Hey, guys...I have a question...and If one of you can answer it right I'll buy you a stack of pancakes." 

As soon as I said 'pancakes' I had their undivided attention. So I proceeded with my question, 

"What did I do on my 21st birthday?"  

They immediately started rattling off answers 

"Went to the bar!...got wasted!...drunk!...hammered!..."  

I let them go on for a while before I piped up revealed the right answer,

"The bible says 'Do not get drunk with wine but be filled with the Holy Spirit'. I got baptized on my 21st birthday!"  

They were all shocked. The whole mood completely changed and they told me that they all graduated together from a Christian high school. Having their attention I simply testified of the power of what Christ did at calvary, the reality of the transformation that he did in my heart and the joyful experience it is trusting in God and being intimate with Him on a daily basis.  

It's awesome to see God's relentless love, that He would interrupt this group in the middle of their drunken night to remind them of his love for them and continue to invite them into his grace.  

NEW STAFF 

Jessica and I have recently added 8 new full time staff to the roster for Calling All Skaters and Beauty Arise! These are all guys and girls that we know intimately and trust. We also like them all a lot, which is good because those who join staff with us also move in and live with us. Emma from England has also been interning with Beauty Arise for the last 6 weeks and is getting ready to head back to England next week.

SHAUN COMING TO MICHIGAN

I am coming to Michigan August 6th through the 15th. If you live in Michigan lets hang out! 

KEEP UP WITH US

We post photos daily showing our lives and our ministry on instagram. If you have instagram you can follow us @shaunhover and @jess_hover

or you can view it all online at www.instagram.com/shaunhover and www.instagram.com/jess_hover

We love you and we thank you for your support! :)

God bless!

Shaun Hover

Shaunny in his element. Using skateboarding to change lives in Hollywood. 

because photos make life more fun.

Drove to Colorado with my cute-as-a-button sister Meredith. 

In Colorado for just a couple days but still managed to squeeze in time with some of my favorite friends on earth!! 

Family dinner on the back porch! 

Attended Melissa's bridal shower AND celebrated getting her braces off! FINALLY! No more jaw surgery!!!

Out && About in Colorado Springs. 

Porch time with beautiful Kristen. Finally met precious Ellis. && much needed fun with my sweet "twinny" Tara!! 

Breakfast at mom's in Cascade & the ever glorious Denver. 

Airport people-watching && delightful surprise reunions with old friends!! 

Back in LA just in time for the 4th!! 

Somehow managed to score an invite to sleep at a beach house in Malibu!!  

Beauty Arise meeting with Carrie & Emma! Tea party style! 

My beloved God-daughter Lily melting my heart first thing in the morning. 

Snuck a photo with this guy in church. Just because I fancy him. 

And a movie night with these beauties! Hooray!