Elizabeth's Photo Journal

The view is pretty good from up here!

My first play date with my friend Emma!
I actually love the Mavs, but Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Trey gave me this towel, and I REALLY love them!
I wasn't in the mood to smile.
My 4th cousin Marin and me in our snazzy outfits.
My Aunt Sarah came all the way from Italy to see me!

I fit Just perfectly in the sleigh!
Is there anything sweeter?
Mommy rushed home from Bible study, and this is what she found.

Lots of Firsts

November was a month of many firsts for Elizabeth Grace. Her first Thanksgiving was quite busy. It began with the Turkey Trot 5k where we competed in the "stroller race" that Justin created. I think we came in 2nd among strollers. We will have to train a little harder for next year! The rest of the day was spent with family and lots of food.
This time next year will be quite an ordeal with turkey and all the fixin's for Elizabeth. Friday was a day for celebration in the Bassett house as the Aggies stomped on the longhorns with a HUGE VICTORY! We also celebrated Aunt Jenn's 21st birthday on Friday. Saturday we had Thanksgiving in Kaufman. No more turkey for us for a while! Thanksgiving was a fun time with family and friends, but it took Elizabeth a few days to recover from all of the travel and lack of a schedule.
Elizabeth also got to experience her first snow last week! After being in the northeast for a year, the dusting of snow was a little disappointing, but snow is snow I suppose. Atleast I got to dress Lizzie in her cute little snowsuit!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Well, Elizabeth was qutie the party animal as we celebrated Justin's birthday this weekend. She had her first trip to Aggieland which was fun but quite disappointing due to a 1 point loss. Justin and his dad went to the A&M game while Elizabeth, Grammy, Aunt Jenn and I did a little shopping.
On Sunday we had a little hang out with some friends and family to celebrate 24 years for Justin, and of course Elizabeth was the main attraction. Between two grandmas and a great grandma, the camera rarely stops!
All in all it was a good weekend.
We went to the doctor yesterday for her 2 month check up and she is weighing in at 12 lbs 2 oz and is 23.5 inches long! According to Dr. Scroggie, she is flawless! She is sleeping 6-7 hours at night and is a happy girl! We couldn't be more blessed!

Life Group Adventure

Many of you have heard a lot about CityView, our church. Here are a few photos from our rock climbing adventue with our lifegroup. It was quite an experience!

A Busy Week

Well, life with Elizabeth Grace has been quite eventful lately. She went on her first road trip last weekend to celebrate her great grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary! I am so thankful for my Granny and Grandaddy and their example of love and commitment! We stayed at the 5G Ranch in Caldwell where Justin enjoyed the 4 wheelers and fishing and I ate way too much! It was a great get away and quite refreshing to have several other who love Elizabeth to take care of her while I rested and relaxed.



Tuesday was Elizabeth's first Halloween which was enjoyed at home with Nana and Paw Paw. Justin and I helped to organize setting up two bounce houses in neighborhoods around where our church meets which was a lot of fun. You can't see her wings, but Lizzie was a little angel!


Yesterday, Elizabeth had her first "play date" with Phoebe, a friend from church, who is 3 weeks old! Phoebe's mom had to go into work for a bit, so I kept both girls. I think they had lots of fun. Praise God for the Boppy, the Bouncy, and pacifiers! I got a little taste of life with twins!

Happy One Month Elizabeth Grace!

Sunday, October 15th, will mark the one month of the life of Elizabeth. She is continuing to grow rapidly, now weighing 9 lbs. 14 oz. She has gained almost 3 pounds since birth which is really good. She has also grown over an inch.



Angela is doing well and finally able to get sleep at night. She is learning to readjust her life around 3 hour increments, because that is the longest Elizabeth will sleep at once.

Justin is doing well also. He is working during the week trying to sell copiers (or more like do the paperwork for those that do). It's not a bad job at all, but probably not what he is going to be doing long term.


In other news, CityView is going great. It's really awesome to be part of this community. We are growing and we are getting to see God do some awesome things in people's lives. The best way we can describe our church is "refreshing."


We will keep you updated as Elizabeth grows. We love you guys. Thanks so much for everything. So many of you who read this blog have blessed our lives in soooo many ways and we can't express enough thankfulness.

--justin, angela, and elizabeth grace :)

She's Here!!!!!

Well, Elizabeth Grace Bassett has arrived! She entered the world at 12:18 am on Friday, September 15. She weighs 7 lbs and is 21 1/4 inches long. She is beautiful, and we are so very blessed to be her parents. Here are a couple of pictures, and I promise we will keep 'em coming!

Just missing one thing...

Well, Elizabeth's due date, also my Granny's birthday, has come and gone now, and she is still quite content in her home inside my belly.
The nursery is ready,

the bags for the hospital are packed, she has more cothes than she could ever need,
and Justin and I are anxiously awaiting parenthood!
We would like to thank everyone who has been so supportive during this fun time in our lives. It is a little overwhelming, but we are excited to experience life as parents. We promise to keep you posted when Elizabeth Grace arrives with plenty of pictures and such. Until then we will wait "patiently" and enjoy our last few moments of quiet for awhile!
Eeyore and Cuddles are keeping an eye on the crib; it's just missing one thing, ELIZABETH!

A Hot Summer in Texas!

107 yesterday, but a "cold front" today means only 105! ATLEAST WE HAVE GOOD AC!

Well, we are back in Texas and finally settling into our house... with a YARD and a
DISHWASHER! Kyleigh loves the yard and Angela loves the dishwasher. Thanks to Mom and Dad Harris and Mom and Dad Bassett there is fresh paint in Elizabeth's room and the extra bedroom (which has a queen size bed for visitors!), the backyard is looking good, and most of the boxes are unpacked.

Our journey back to Texas was a lot of fun. We took a different route that took us through Washington DC where we had dinner with Sarah Whiting and experienced the flood. We also passed through Durham, NC, and Justin got to see Cameron Indoor Stadium where Duke plays basketball. He was like a little boy whose dream had come true! It was a good trip to talk and process what we learned in our past year in the Northeast.

Now that we are getting settled, it has been refreshing to have a little bit of time for Angela to rest and take things easy after a great year teaching first grade. Justin has hit the ground running and is the Commercial Account Specialist at Tarrant Business Systems where he does all of the billing and customer service type stuff. We are loving being a part of the body at CityView Church where Justin is going to be doing a lot of work with the local and global missions.

The countdown to Elizabeth's arrival date is currently 53 days!!!! We are getting super excited and Angela's belly is definitely growing. Lately with crazy insurance stuff, God has really been teaching us a lot about depending fully on Him and trusting His provisions (Matthew 6). We are thankful for this trial as it has forced us into dependency, and there is no better way to bring a child into the world.

We love you all and are thankful for the prayers and support!

Last NJ Update

Justin and Angela--2/14/06












Hey everyone,

this is our last post from New Jersey. We are going to continue and keep this blog updated, but we are not going to send out annoying emails everything we update. If you want to stay connected, please enter your primary email address in the text box on the right side of the screen. This way, you will receive an email telling you that we have updated but if you don't want to receive the emails, you don't have to.

Elizabeth Grace Update
For those of you that don't know, we are having a girl and her name is Elizabeth Grace. She is due to be here around September 10, and we couldn't be more excited. We will keep you posted.

Last days in New Jersey/New York City
We are ending our time here in the next week (if this is news to you, scroll down to the next article). With that being said, we are really looking forward to what lies ahead: parenting, new job for Justin, a new place to live, and the opportunity to be part of a church plant. This is an exciting opportunity and one that we are ready to jump into. Please remember to pray for us as we travel: June 27-29.

Fort Worth, Here we come...
We will be living in south fort worth and eventually moving to the Keller/Alliance area. But until then, we will be at our current location right off of I-20 and Trail Lake for at least the next year. I can't tell you how excited it makes us to be living right down the street from a Sonic. In the northeast, they always show Sonic commercials, but the closest one is 5 hours away in Virginia! If anybody wants a franchise idea--move to New York and open a sonic, it will make a killing. People here have been watching the commercials for years but have no way of satisfying that craving. I know at least 100 people who would be there in a heartbeat.

On a more serious note, we are definitely ready to make our new house a home for our family and to learn how to be Jesus in our community. And we also can't wait for the opportunity to reconnect with so many friends in the DFW area.

That's about it for now. Please pray for Angela as she finishes school. Her last day is next Wed. The 21st. Also, please pray for Justin as he is in Texas next week doing job interviews and working on the house.

for His glory,

Justin and Angela

Finishing the Race

The Home Stretch…

By now most of you know, so I apologize for the repetitive nature of the following information, but we are in the final leg of our journey and work in the New York City Metro area. We came to New York City about a year ago making a one-year commitment to serve God, the local church in which we were placed, and the peoples of the community God placed us in, especially the 1 million college students scattered abroad the New York City area. We knew we would spend a year here, but we were open for the possibility of spending several years in this area, investing into this church and the community. However, over the past six months, God has continued to guide us on the path He has planned for us. We have learned to trust and rely on His sovereignty and not our own ambition or our own plans. The bible says something about that in Proverbs, “there is a way that seems right to a man…but it leads to death”. Over the last few months, God has done so much to show us His path, to direct our steps, to close doors that need to be closed, to open others, and to help us accomplish milestones along the way. One of my favorite musicians/song writers is Derek Webb. One time in a song he wrote, “I know the plans You have for me…but you can’t plan the ends and not plan the means…” I used this phrase when I asked Angela to date me. Anyways, this phrase has meant a lot to us over the past four years. He has continuously taken care of the means.

Shifting Gears…

What’s next? Well, we are moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Initially, we will be living in Fort Worth, but we have plans to live in the Keller area. I am currently looking for a job in the Fort Worth area and Angela will be taking care of the baby. We have the exciting opportunity to get involved at City View Church in Keller. Over the past couple months, we have had the opportunity to connect with the leadership there and we are very excited about being able to be part of this community. We get the chance to join the church (now about two weeks old) in a very early stage, and get hands on experience in church planting. We are sad about leaving NYC but ready to jump into the next phase.

Currently…

Angela is doing great!!! She is now at 20 weeks in the pregnancy and doing well. We find out in a week if we are having a boy or a girl!!! So, we will definitely let you know when we find out. Last week was her spring break, so she got the chance to take the week off, relax, renew, and refresh before going back this week. My job here at the church is also going well. Over the last few weeks, I have spearheaded our church’s efforts to get a new website, which has basically consumed my life. But, it’s finally up and running, so my work is almost done with it. Check it out by clicking here. Other than that, I’m working with the student leaders and adults in the leadership roles to effectively phase out of my leadership roles here at BCI. It’s a slow road but it’s going well.

Please Continue to Pray…

We have been so honored and blessed by many of you and your commitment to lift us up here during our time in New Jersey. We have seen the results of your prayers in many and very important ways. Here are some ways that you can pray during our last six weeks in New Jersey:

Please pray for:

-A.J. Camota; he is taking over where I am leaving off with The Well (our collegiate ministry). He is a gifted leader but young. Please pray for Him as he transitions into the role of college pastor.

-BCI children’s ministry: Half way through our year here, the children’s pastor stepped down, so Angela and I have been co-filling that role. We honestly have no idea who is going to step in here. This was kind of unexpected, so please pray for the church to help them find a children’s pastor.

-Angela and I as we pack and move. We have a lot going on all at once, so we really need focus and wisdom as we prepare to move 1800 miles for the second time in 13 months.

-My job search. I have some leads; I need wisdom and clarity as I interview and make decisions.

-Baby Bassett: continue to pray for B.B.’s health and Angela during this time!

Thank you so much for praying for us and being such good friends. If we can do anything for you, please let us know. Thanks for hanging in there for this incredibly long update.

For His glory,

Justin and Angela

::baby

We want to take this opportunity to let everyone know that we are having a baby!!! We found out a few weeks ago; Angela is 9 weeks along and will be due in September! We have told many of you already, but we want to let everyone know! Please keep our family in your prayers during this time.

You will hear more from us very soon.


for His glory,

justin and angela

Blizzard of 2006!!!

First of all, we really want to apologize for not writing for such a long time. It's been well over a month. It's been crazy as we travelled to Texas and back via 28 hours each way in the car. Justin then went to Tennessee for a conference before returning to New Jersey, going to straight into a week-long intensive seminary class in the city, and trying to keep up with his workload at church. Angela began the spring semester on January 2!!! Her flight on the first from DFW to Newark was delayed significantly; she arrived at the airport at 7:00 a.m. and arrived in New Jersey at 4:00 a.m. on the 2nd. Then she taught class 4 hours later! It took a while to recoop from that, but she did a great job. In other news, we are very excited to be making another trip to Texas at the end of this week. Angela is out of school for all of next week due to winter break. We are going to use this time to spend time with family in friends in College Station and DFW. We will also have the cool opportunity to recruit for the TLJ program in NYC when we visit Texas A&M and our old church, Central Baptist. Blizzard of 2006--26.9" was the total amount of snowfall in NYC's Central Park. I don't think we got that much--but very close. Schools are closed today, and BCI, our church, cancelled its services yesterday. Angela is enjoying a much needed day off. After while, we will get to play in the snow!!

justin and angela

End of a Semester...

Hey everyone,

We really want to thank everyone who has so graciously supported us during these last 6 months in New Jersey/NYC area. We have seen God move here in unprecendented ways as a result of prayer. Thanks so much for everything--for keeping up with us, to encouraging us with random emails, gifts, letters, phone calls, replies, and so much more.

The last Well Gathering was a success. I felt like we have made some good strides in the direction of college ministry having established a solid core of emerging leaders who we have seen grow so much and guests taking part in our gathering every time! Also, our youth Bible studies have given our youth more substance than just social events all the time, and while our youth ministry still has alot of kinks to work out, we feel that its going well. Most importantly, we are also seeing our church slowly but surely grow and the mindset of our leaders is gradually moving towards a more missional/service focus. We have seen our church really extend itself to the Garfield community this year like never before. These are huge prayer requests we have had and have asked you to pray for. All we can say is thank you, but there is still so much work to do. Please continue to journey with us here.

On Wednesday, December 21, we are leaving for Texas. We are driving to save money and because the next month is crazy with conferences, flying and driving back and forth between Dallas, Fort Worth, Nashville, and New York City.

Over the past couple of weeks we have had about 10" total of snow. It's been really cool to see it all. It's weird because it doesn't melt here, it just keeps adding up!!! We took some really cool pictures at a park by our house the other day.

Our Schedule for Christmas:

Justin:

12/21-1/1: DFW

1/2-1/5: Nashville (Passion Conference)

1/6-1/9: New Jersey

1/10-1/15: Dallas

Angela:

12/21-1/1: DFW

1/2-: New Jersey

If you want to hang out, please, please, please let us know. We would love to!

We love you guys. Merry Christmas.

::justin and angela

The First Snow

Finally it has arrived. Angela and I awoke on Sunday morning to find the ground had been blanketed with 4" of snow. everything--covered in snow. It was cool. Below is a picture of what it looked like in from our apartment.



As i write this, we are expecting 5 to 7" tonight and tomorrow as well. Hate to make all you Texans jealous, but we have seen more snow in two days than nearly 22 years in Texas.

We love you guys,

justin and angela

Soon means Two Months

Hey everyone,

We have been telling you that we will update this blog soon. Apparently that means two months. That was the last time we updated this thing. Angela and I are doing well; we just returned home from a much needed Thanksgiving break.. We gorged ourselves with turkey and dressing for three straight days and the other two days had some Texas Roadhouse and some authentic Mexican food. Oh yeah, we got to see our families too!!!

Seriously though, it was a great break. We had forgotten how great Texas is! Hanging out with our families for those few days was awesome! On a side note, it was so good for Kyleigh to experience grass and other dogs, both of which were entirely new to her urban life. Also, the weather was beautiful–50 degrees warmer in Texas than at the same time in New Jersey.


Our college ministry is rockin’ along. We started this summer with nine students and are up to around 65. (Although the most we have ever had attend a gathering is about 30). I really feel that we are beginning to make a ripple in the landscape here in the community with our church and with the college ministry. We have students coming from at least four different campuses and we have talked to several others who are going to hopefully join us this Sunday night.

On Halloween, we turned our church property into a festive carnival complete with a moonbounce. We met about 500 people from the community and established relationships with many of them. It was really good for our church. I firmly believe that the best way for a church body to be healthy is by taking care of others. Churches exist to reveal God’s glory to a fallen world and one of the best ways to do that is to serve our communities. With this being said, our prayer for our time here in New Jersey is to help BCI in this area. We want to see the image of the church changed. Not that people in the community think poorly of BCI, but most don’t think anything at all because they have never seen us. We are in the works of planning several more community outreach projects. We really desire to see God use BCI to reach hundreds even thousands that live here in Garfield.

To change the subject, On Columbus day, Angela and I got the day off and go to take a two-day, one-night road trip to Vermont. It was incredible. We got to see some awesome fall foliage, hang out in the mountains, pick apples in upstate New York, and just relax for a day. It was really cool. The Northeast has some beautiful landscape, especially in the fall.

We are so encouraged by everyone who reads this blog. We thank you for your support, your
prayers, your encouragements, and your commitment to partner with us in ministry here. Please pray for us this week as it is huge! I am wrapping up two classes at Southern and have lots of reading and two papers due by the end of the week. Also, I have to prepare a lot of stuff for the church for strategy for 2006. Angela also has a really busy week with her first graders as she is back from a short week with them last week.

Also this week, please pray for the well. {visit the well online}. Sunday night, Aaron Coe, a church planter living in Soho (a really cool area of Manhattan) is speaking at The Well. Aaron is a very gifted speaker and has a huge heart for college students. Please pray that we will be successful in spreading the word and that many will come. Our gathering is on Sunday night at 6:00. Please pray for Aaron as he speaks and for our worship leaders and for everyone person that comes. This is our last official gathering for 2005, so we really want to go out with a bang to build momentum going into 06.

Thanks again for all your support of our ministry and your friendships. Please email us or call. We would love to catch up. We love you guys and will talk to you soon.

For His glory,

justin and angela

A New Addition

Hey everyone,


9.26.05
We have some exciting news! We have a new puppy! Her name is Kyleigh (pronounced ky-lee)and she is an 8 week old beagle puppy. We picked her up on Friday, so the last few days have been crazy trying to train her, get her adjusted to her new home, and take care of her. She likes to howl around 3 a.m. and chew on shoes.

In other news, The Well is going strong. We are through our third week of weekly gatherings and halfway through our teaching series, "what is love?" It's been a lot of fun and hard work. The Lord is certainly blessing it as we recently have seen two Well attendees give their life to the Lord. We have also have seen a core group of people get excited about spiritual transformation of a community(s) around them. Last week, we took the first step in reaching out as we handed out about 750 "rave cards" to students at Felician College nearby. If nothing else was gained, our students are beginning to catch a vision for what we see here in NJ.




Kyleigh just hangin' out...





Angela is into her fourth week as a 1st grade teacher and going strong. Please pray that she would get some rest before long. Our biggest prayer request right now is just for our time and energy. It seems that the busiest time of my week is Saturday and Sunday and hers is the rest of the week and so it is hard for her to recoop on the weekends like other teachers.

To add to the time strain, I began seminary classes about two weeks ago and am already behind. Fortunately, my self-paced online class is taking fall break so there are no new assignments this week, so i can use the next week to play catch up.

We love you guys. Thank you for your commitment to our ministry and our lives. We know that God is answering prayers for us and for this place and for our church.

For His glory,

justin and angela

A Big Week!!!

Hey everyone,

We are in the middle of one of the biggest week in our ministry here! We are in the process of launching The Well, a ministry you have heard about for some time now, but are in the home stretch of launching as a public gathering! This Sunday we are holding the first official public gathering at BCI! We have done a lot over the summer to help publicize this gathering and build unity with the college students and young adults in our church, and now the time has come to officially begin outreach to the campuses and communities surrounding BCI.

Our first message series is entitled, "What is love?" and will focus on the way the world looks at love versus the way God looks at love. We are very excited as we have nailed down most of our plans for the next few weeks. Also, we now have a very talented worship band to lead us. But most importantly, The Well is something our college students and young adults are taking ownership over and really promoting it among their friends.

Also, The Well is adopting a social cause every quarter. The first social cause we are promoting through financial giving, prayer, and service is to help out the victims of Hurricane Katrina. If you would like to help out this cause, please click on this picture:





This has also been a huge week for us as Angela started teaching today! She is teaching first grade at Abundant Life Academy about 10 minutes away in Nutley, NJ. Please continue to lift up our ministry here in the Garden State and in the NYC metro area. Also, please let us know how you are doing, especially if we haven't talked to you in a while. We really miss everyone in Texas!

For His glory,

Justin

Are Tortillas a Dairy Product?

Wow! I know it has been awhile since I have written! Things around here have been going great but super busy! I would like to begin with a fun story that all of my Texas friends will appreciate! A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make Debbie Gargis’s fabulous tortilla casserole. I went to our local grocery store but did not find the large display of tortillas that I would normally find at HEB or Albertsons. After quite a bit of searching, I decided to ask a store clerk, "Could you please tell me where the tortillas are?" With a puzzled look on his face he asked me to repeat myself, so I did and added, "They are round and used in Mexican food." He had no clue what I was talking about, so he called another man over and I repeated my request. This man seemed hopeful when he said, "Oh yeah," but then it just went down hill as he continued, "That’s a dairy product right?" Finally a nice lady who had been listening to the conversation pointed me in the right direction. It is definitely a whole different world up here, but I love it!!!!!

Justin's mom, sister, and Angela!


I had a great time a few weeks ago, as Justin’s mom and sister came to visit. They had never been to NYC before, so we did lots of sightseeing including lunch at the real Serendipity, complete with World Famous Frozen Hot Chocolate for dessert! It was really refreshing to have family here and a good Texas accent to remind us of home!
I got to really be home for a couple of days recently for my sweet Tressa’s wedding. It was beautiful, and I praise God that I could come home for the special day. I had a great time seeing old high school friends and being with my family! A huge thanks to Granny for taking up my dress the day of the wedding; you are the BEST!!!
I am officially going to be a FIRST GRADE teacher!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am to get to begin teaching precious little ones! I know that the Lord has given me this job at Abundant Life Academy for a purpose beyond anything I could ever imagine; it is going to be an awesome year. The staff has been so welcoming and is really making me feel like part of their family already. If anyone has good first grade pointers, please let me know!

Some of our College Students:

Angela and the girls!!!

Justin and the guys!








Please continue to lift up our ministry. On September 11, we are officially launching "the well" a ministry designed to reach young adults and college students. Until then we are busy doing service projects, hanging out with the youth, and organizing for the fall. Also, Justin has been very blessed (but getting fatigued) to have a speaking engagement almost every week! You can visit The Well online by clicking here




This has been a crazy fun week with our church’s Vacation Bible School! Susan and I have taken on the world of 3 and 4 year olds- WOW!!! They are adorable and have really been a joy to teach. I will try to send pictures of this event if I get a chance. We can’t tell you how much we appreciate your partnership in our ministry here! Please keep praying and let us know how we can pray for you.

Love,
Angela

A Long Week

Hey everyone,

I am writing on a very much needed day off, recovering from one of the longest weeks I have had in some time. Last Wednesday, we took our college students and some of our older youth to a concert and prayer meeting at the Brooklyn Tabernacle. It was not a Brook Tab event, but NHNY (the organization sponsoring us) rented the facility, invited Charlie Hall an amazingly talented worship leader, and led a time uniting college aged Christians from all over the city together. It was a great event, I felt our students really began to catch a vision for taking Christ to their schools and communities. With traffic exiting Manhattan and after taking a student home, I rolled into the apartment about 2:30 a.m. The next day, we awoke at 5:30 to take my mom and sister to the airport. Needless to say we struggled with fatigue at our all day service project.

Sunday, July 31 we had the second official gathering of The Well. Although we had some technical difficulties with sound equipment, overall, it went well. We doubled our attendance from the last meeting, and we once again casted our vision for the fall. We feel very confident that the Lord is going to use The Well to draw many people to Himself! We announced our weekly Well gatherings that will start on September 11.

On another note, Angela and I also have been battling sickness this weekend--Friday and Saturday, Angela had a cold, and Sunday and today, I have felt pretty awful. I know it was totally God's grace getting me through last night.

Please pray for our students and young adults. Also pray for leaders within our students and others that could fill gaps in different areas and lead different ministry teams. Right now, its four of us doing everything. We really need some leaders to step up and fill critical roles in starting a college ministry.

We love you guys and thank you for your commitment to keep us in your prayers. If there is anything you would like us to pray for, please feel free to contact us by email or phone.

For His glory,

Justin & Angela