New and Improved Blog

Hey friends, if you haven't heard - I've "moved". Jonerik and I started blog together and you can follow us at www.santiagosinphilly.blogspot.com. Check it out.

Lowering Cholesterol in Kensington One Bag at a Time

What have we been up to lately?

Other than family things, eating Philly cheesesteaks (there is a reason why Philly is one of the most overweight cities in the nation!), and other normal things that people in Philadelphia do - we have been busy with ministry stuff at Cornerstone.

Jonerik and I work together now to do a monthly food give-away at the house next to our church. Cornerstone is linked with a local food bank as one of their distributors. We pick up the food and then have a "Food Cupboard" day where people who have signed up ahead of time can come and get bags of whatever food is available.

We got lots of Cheerios this time around which points towards the title of this post.

This is a great time to connect with some people who go to our church and other people who are just living in the community.

Jonerik has been doing this for a year now and this past Thursday was our biggest day yet. We gave out 44 bags of food from 10 AM to 1 PM. We also gave out some slices of our frozen pizza that we ate for lunch =)

We enjoy this part of our work at Cornerstone because we can work together and meet new people as well as follow up with some of the "regulars". This past Thursday Jonerik was able to pray with a man to receive Christ! He gave him information about the church and encouraged him to come and get involved.

We are also excited about a new group that will be meeting this summer to study deeper matters of theology. There were about 30 people at the first introductory class (we had it this past Wednesday) and while some are intimidated by the big words like 'hermeneutics', many seem highly interested about diving in. There are newer believers and others who have been in the Word for many years. It is a great mix and we are excited to chew on some meat together. The classes will start sometime around the end of May.

You can be in prayer as we are seeking how and when to work on raising our support levels. If you or someone you know (no this is not a bad info-mercial) is interested in learning more about and partnering with an inner city ministry, send me a comment or email me at emily.santiago109@gmail.com. We know that Jesus has us here with purpose but we are not able to both work here full-time at this capacity in ministry without people who are willing to give towards the cause of Christ. Please be in prayer about how you can be involved in that process.

March - In like a lion, out like a lamb...right?

March has been a full month for us, but not excessively full. We are trying to balance our time as a couple in the beginning stages of marriage (today does mark month 5). The transition has been an incredible one and we have seen the grace of God in each step.

You might be wondering how I am doing on my overly ambitious challenge of setting goals in each area of life. Well I am winning some and losing some, lets put it that way. But I'm not giving up and working to fulfill as many as I can. I have finished 3 books so far! Mirror, Mirror, Sacred Marriage, and Same Kind of Different as Me are the books, all very different and all very good. I would highly recommend Same Kind of Different as Me for anyone to read. I will admit Jonerik came home to find me curled up with that book and a box of tissues (he was really confused) it is very moving.

I am really behind on my training for the Broad St. Run. I have about a month to go and I am still not where I want to be. The cyst and some other things threw our exercising off but I think we can tackle more this month and will pray our way through the run.

We hit two benchmarks today.

1. We gave away our big brown van (affectionately known as...well...the turd). It was great for Jonerik to have while we were dating and I'll admit it would be convenient to have around now if we wanted to take groups of people somewhere or take all the nieces and nephews to the park, but it wasn't worth the insurance money and the money we would eventually need to put into it. It was a blessing for a time, but we felt it was time to pass it on. We had hopes to give it to someone in the recovery ministry here, but that didn't work out as we had planned. Instead we were able to give it to someone who had their car totaled in an accident last week.

2. We bought a computer for home. I know that this is a very controversial issue for a lot of people and just to let you know we are not die-hard fans either way...yet...but we bought a Mac. My last HP computer(s) was a messy situation and their tech support was not a good experience to say the least. We did some research and finally landed on a refurbished iMac. It was a little more money than a PC, but from what I'm learning it should last us a lot longer and there are some other benefits as well. We were blessed with some extra money recently and felt this would be a good use at this stage.
This is good news because now I can do more work from home. Jonerik has a laptop that he uses for work and for church things. He uses it for quite a lot and is helpful in his research, lesson prep, sermon prep, and worship with the teens and church.

We are still praying about my involvement with Kensington and Cornerstone and where God is leading. For right now it seems like he is saying, wait. The ministry of being. I'm taking this time to invest in my relationship with the Lord and with my husband recognizing that there will probably never be a stage in life quite like this one.

Highs and Lows

We've had some ups and downs in the past few weeks. We are adjusting nicely to married life and I am enjoying Philly.

About a week ago we had a blast with some of our family. We went to the Giggleberry Fair at Peddler's Village in New Hope. It was our nephew's 5th birthday so we partied it up in a giant child/adult playground. Here are just a few pictures!



This was fun because we could play with the kids and get more involved. It is a three story, 6 level climbing/sliding area. There was also an arcade and a carousel.

On the flip side, we recently had a scare. I started to feel some abdominal pain two nights ago. I took some pills and put some heat on it for a little while, but it only progressed and got worse throughout the night. I got a little sleep but not much. By morning I knew something was not right and Jonerik took me to the ER. After and ultrasound and some examining they informed me that I had a ruptured ovarian cyst. OUCH! There was a lot of fluid in my body and that was making it very painful and hard to breath deeply (let alone do little things like blow my nose or cough). They gave me lots of fluids and some pain killers and sent me home saying it is just a matter of resting and "pain management" at this point.

Jonerik has been so wonderful helping me in any way he can. I am still walking bent over most of the time and at half of my speed but I am able to blow my nose now (progress!) and do lots of other fun things like laugh carefully and put my own socks on. As they were doing my ultrasound I said to the doctor, "This is probably a lot more exciting when there is a baby inside!" He agreed. (No worries, they tested me, no babies yet)

We are both so grateful that it was not more serious and that no surgery was needed. God has been faithful and is helping me push through.

The Challenge

A group of good friends I have invited me to join them in a year-long "Challenge". All of these friends are spread across the country from Texas to New York but we thought this would be a good way to stay connected and motivate each other. The Challenge runs from Feb. 1 to Dec. 31. So this is what it looks like:

Spiritual
1. Memorize 45 Bible verses (grouped or individual)
2. Research 5 theological points of a religion or Christian denomination

Social
1. Share 2 meals per month with someone other than your significant other. One meal must be homemade.
2. Write one letter per month (birthday and holidays cards are not included)

Intellectual
1. Read five complete books
2. Learn and become proficient in two new skills of your choice.

Physical
1. Exercise at least 3x per week (you are permitted to miss 2 wks/6 sessions)
2. Compete in a physical competition of some sort

Personal
1.
2.


I am allowed to make up my own personal goals which I'm still thinking through. I think this is quite an ambitiuos list! I love reading but usually never get to the end of one. I get too distracted by the next book. I am going to try to join a local gym here this week. Jonerik goes so we can keep each other accountable. I hate paying money to exercise but it has just been too cold to go outside to run lately. Ideally I'll find a plan that is monthly so I can run outside more once it warms up. There are some really beautiful places to run here in Philly.

I don't like to commit to something if I don't think I can follow through on it and this Challenge is definetly going to stretch me, but I think it will be a really healthy thing. When you are working to accomplish a giant task (like running the Broad St. Run) there is a lot of momentum because it builds as the event draws closer. This will be a test in a different way because it deals with daily living. It takes endurance beyond a few months. It is encouraging a new lifestyle.

And I like it.

Wedding Pictures

Our wedding photos can be viewed at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Emily.Santiago109

Joshua Parry, a long time friend from growing up, was our photographer. He brought an assistant between the two of them they did a fantastic job! If you want to check him out his website is www.jparryphotography.com.

Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Happy New Years! As we start 2010 I thought I would briefly update you on the last month of our lives. I am short on pictures right now and we are having some technical difficulties so I apologize, but will try to post some fun pics soon.

December was busy as it is for everyone. My computer seems to have died (or at least the screen, and it is a laptop) so I need to play with it a little more to see what the problem is exactly. For right now we are down to Jonerik's laptop which is mostly for work. Blogging and Facebooking has slowed for me a little, but I can't complain.

Our Christmas and New Years were wonderful! We spent Christmas day with Jonerik's family and had a great time watching the kids open their presents. Jonerik read them a story first and they were very patient as they waited. I was surprised when they started to ask why the story wasn't longer! We had dinner at his mom's with some good Puerto Rican dishes.

The Tuesday after Christmas we went back to Victory Valley Camp for a reunion. We had a great time visiting with old friends, getting caught up, and playing some hockey and volleyball. Jonerik and I met at that camp when we worked together the summer of 2001 so it was fun to go back as a married couple. What memories!

That night we went to my parent's house in Selinsgrove. By Wednesday afternoon my whole family had arrived, My oldest brother and his girlfriend, the other brother, his wife and baby, my parents, and my Great Aunt. We spent New Years Eve together playing games, eating food, playing with Ellie (my niece) and building a 8'6" snowman in the backyard! There might not have been any snow left on the ground when we were finished.

We (most of us) stayed up to bring in the new year and the following day we travelled to NJ for a bigger family Christmas. These times are always so special because they are so rare. One of my brothers lives in TX and the other lives in Istanbul, Turkey with his wife and baby. To have us all in one room at one time is amazing. Andrew and Alanna were able to come home for our wedding and then stayed for the holidays while doing some things with their "organization".

I have started my modelling career (haha...ok maybe not) by helping a friend who has just started a new line of fabulous clothing. Shera Simon has launched her designs on www.girlyfied.com and asked me to model some of her scarves and shirts. Jonerik even modelled a few last time! She now has clothing in three stores here in Philly and sells online as well. Shera also sings on the worship team with Jonerik and I and she is a very gifted friend.

We are now back in Philly and are preparing for a year full of discovery and adventure. I am still adjusting to a new way of life in a new place and yes, I am still loving my new life. We are praying and seeking God's direction in our lives and what He has for us here in Philly. We are praying about the possibility of increasing out support raising efforts which would give us the opportunity to serve together here in Kensington. Jonerik has worked at Cornerstone full-time for over three years now and has a vital ministry which is unique because he grew up in this neighborhood and has gone through the teen ministries at the church. Cornerstone is placed in the heart of a community that is faced with a lot of financial difficulties and so the staff need to raise some of their own funds. We know that God provides and that He is calling us to this work, so we are seeking His leading on what steps He is asking us to take.

2010. So much has happened in the past year it is hard to think of what may happen in the upcoming year. We place it in God's hands.

Thanks for reading, I hope to keep you a little more connecting in the future. I am also working on getting our wedding pictures onto a photo site so you can view them. Check back in soon!