Our time Norway

As we take off on a plane to Uganda my heart is so thrilled and yet it sinks. The culture and love in Norway is so great, and our time there was incredible and divinely orchestrated. Really. We spent our short four days near the town of Stange (Stawng-uh) at the National Norwegian Youth With A Mission base (YWAM). This base is called Grimerud, and it sits just up from the bank of Norway's largest lake: Mjøsa. We came to find out that this weekend was one of few that there would be space for us at Grimerud. There was a national holiday on Thursday which everyone in the country received off and most YWAMers took it as a chance to take a break. We were super thankful to be in a community of international folks who had a love for Jesus and for people. Norway is so expensive that staying elsewhere may have been impossible on our modest "student" budget.  In a country where a typical meal at McDonald's runs about $22ish (Nkr 125), lodging costs seem through the roof!  For a Norwegian however, this seems normal given that their minimum wage is roughly $20 per hour (Nkr 20). All of that to say, we were very thankful for the administration at Grimerud for blessing with very inexpensive lodging including meals. 

With the base being quite empty and even the nearby towns being quiet, we learned quickly that taking rest is a big part of the culture. As one of the best countries to be a mother, Norwegian women receive up to 56 weeks off work with 80% when they have a child. The men even receive a significant amount of time off including pay when they become fathers.  a typical work day in Noway lasts about 7 hours (8:30-3:30), and Sundays are always off...a person can even receive a ticket for mowing the grass on Sundays! 

Another part of their culture I loved was the hospitality.  You never go to someone's home without having coffee or tea and some form of snack; typically being cake or waffles. This type of care and hospitality carried over into most of our time at Grimerud. The majority of our time was spent in missionary's homes talking about the culture, daily life, joys and struggles, and ministry. Grimerud is so diverse with culture and nationalities. I remember acknowledging at one of our meals that we were sitting with two Koreans, two Dutch, we are two Americans, and we were in Norway! Small World!

 It really was so rich and refreshing for our relationship as husband and wife to gain a new perspective and pursue something new together. We took our down time to imagine ourselves living there, to pray and ask what it would be like to be there, and to focus on what the Lord was saying to us. We knew going into it that four days was not enough time but we feel that for the time we did get it was perfect to really be with the people and hear their stories.

Thanks for adventuring with us!

C & M

What's Coming for the Outlaw's

On a bus in Uganda, summer 2010

This last semester in Arkansas has been so good for us, but sadly has gone by so quick.  I graduate in 31 days and we leave the country in 36 days.  Though those may be great things for us, I can't bring myself to really thinking about them because of all that must happen in that short time.  Part of not wanting to think about that time is that we are sad to leave Siloam Springs.  We love this little town, our community, our workplace, our church, our friends.  The relationships that have developed over the last 4 years are so important to us, and we are saddened by the fact that we will be leaving.  However, it is a bittersweet feeling because we are so thrilled to be going back to our home in Colorado.

As for a life update...

Families at Canaan Farm, summer 2010

Many of you reading this have received a graduation announcement and/or support letter about our upcoming trip to Uganda and general life update.  Before I go in depth with that, I want to clarify a few things.  Some of you have heard that we will be taking a short stop in Norway on our way to Uganda. 4 days.  This is true.  Marlena and I are very interested in Norway as a possible home some day so we are taking this time as an opportunity as to discover and see.  We want to spend time meeting with locals and praying about our possible future there.  It is important for us to let you know that the support we are raising for our Uganda trip does NOT INCLUDE Norway, we are paying for this ourselves.  We desire transparency with this whole trip, and we know that giving money for a trip involves a lot of trust in those being supported.  Regarding this, if you have any questions, concerns, or possible advice for Norway, please do not hesitate to contact us.  We would love to hear from you.

Now back to Uganda...

Canaan Farm, Summer 2010

Our plans are becoming more set in stone, and we have our plane tickets! Praise the Lord! This part is always such a hurdle, but it is also always so fun to see how He provides.  We will be arriving in Uganda on May 16th and partnering up with Yobel International out of Colorado Springs.  Their team will arrive a couple of days after us.  We will join Yobel in leading a business training course at Canaan Farm in the Kiryandongo Dirstrict (formerly Masindi) of Uganda.  The course was a curriculum developed by a ministry in South Africa, and is specifically tailored to apply to rural African village business.  Yobel taught this curriculum at the farm last year and the response was so good, that the farm leadership asked if we would come back and teach again to an entirely new set of aspiring village entrepreneurs.

Marlena with 2 of Sera's boys, summer 2010

We plan to spend roughly 12 days at the Farm and we are so thrilled to be going back there.  Some of you may know this already, but Canaan Farm is where our relationship began back in 2010.  This will be our third time going back, but our first time as husband and wife. We finally get our own hut! Both Marlena and I have many long standing friendships at Canaan Farm, and we are so excited to go back and pick up where those left off.  After we leave the farm, we will head south to Jinja, Uganda.  Here we will connect with our dear friend Sera Kasonga.  Sera is a foster mother to 27 girls and boys, all of whom were either "street kids" or abandoned by their families.  The month of May is the children's holiday, so it will be a perfect time for us to visit and spend time with the kids.  After we spend time in Jinja, we will leave Uganda on June 4th to return to Colorado.

Why now?

I will be graduating college in early May and we will be moving to Colorado 2 days later! From that point, we have until June 10th before I start my job.  That gives us an entire month of free time, and we believe the Lord has called us to use that time to be in Uganda.  We hope that he continues to send us there in the future, but we feel this is may be the last opportunity for a while for us to serve for this amount of time in Uganda.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.  We will be updating it regularly with information about our trip, and also plan to publish many stories of our time once we return.

If you are interested in supporting us, you can make a tax-deductible donation by writing a check to:

Grace Episcopal Church, memo: Christian & Marlena

and send to:

The Outlaw's, box 3272
2000 W. University St.
Siloam Springs, AR 72761

Have a wonderful week and enjoy this beautiful spring weather!

My great friend Jackson and I, Canaan Farm, Summer 2010

Wifely Sabbatical

As of August 12^th I have been a wife.

This choice to do so has become the best decision. I have never felt so treasured, so adored and so romanced in my life. As I had the biggest Princess Day it was only followed by continued awe moments. Moments that I still am not sure I have really been a part of. Moments that I never thought would really happen, and yet they are. It has been continual excitement to always be for someone else. To be the best that I can be and the most intentional that could possibly be. Marriage is the most beautiful and incredible relationship that I have ever been a part of in human form. The beauty of this all comes from our Awesome Father Jesus Christ and it is a wonderful thing to see that in His image, marriage is good. To be in and a part it has all been made much clearer. That in prayer and reading His word and serving together with my Husband as one it all is incredibly enhanced within a marriage. I really could not have imagined a relationship of Three to be so very immaculate. The Joy of accountability and the magnification of desire and the embrace of the Father as you are with another is just striking to me. Marriage came to me as a large surprise and I don’t know even really how to explain such bliss that I still am in.

It has been a joy to come back and slowly hear all the great stories of our wedding day. From a beginning of my parents families meeting for the first time and seeing a great blend there. Also seeing a broken relationship between my Grandma and my Step Grandma after 40 years of not a word spoken to an entire night and day of catching up on where they had left off. To my brother of course having a crazy trip to the wedding trying to make it back on time, and getting delayed by taking a ride with a surf bum in Colorado…quite a story and so thankful he made it to the weddingJ And fun with hearing who danced with who and what tasty food there was, because we didn’t get a lick of that:) Hah It has all truly been the best and really more perfect than I imagined.

And for me I have been brought to the South to the Beautiful Siloam Springs Arkansas. As we have established our place we call home and made plenty of meals and had probably too many laughs. Life here has been quite a pleasure. Although I still have sadness each morning Christian leaves for school, I have been quite a busy bee, which has come as a surprise to me. I never thought that making sure two people eat and stay organized and keep clean clothes, on top of setting up our “home” to be a good place to come back to, is really a task. I know things will slow down and I will begin this week reaching places I desire to work with a resume that states me on a piece of paper, in hopes that they will also desire me. This has been on my list for a few days but has not happen yet, which I am enjoying and I have really never taken so much time off, to just be and to develop the role as a wife. So really I am easing into it and going into it with much prayer and trust that my Father really knows what I will be doing and where I will fit into this town best. I really am thrilled to be a part of this sweet southern town! Thank you for reading and supporting and loving us. We feel incredibly blessed by those who have been in our lives; we wouldn’t be the same without you!

Marlena Outlaw

Joy+Freedom+Restoration=Our Engagement!!

This is the incredible story of our engagement on March 19th 2011!! Wow where do I begin, well I first start with the incredible last couple of weeks that I (Marlena) have had.....many of you know that I have been the one that Christian has been waiting on, really all of your relationship has been me coming through a bit later, since Christmas Christian had the ring and was thinking about it then, but my response to his desire was fear and unready feelings, so that leads me really until this past two weeks of feeling abundant peace and freedom with our relationship. Some of that may come from the fact the my parents told me in January that the were getting divorced which was crushing news, considering they had so much restoration from years before but they were done this time they could keep pressing through what wasn't going to work but (!!!) a week ago my daddy called me to share with me his thankfulness of my mom and that he asked if they could just have a separation and that they were going to do counseling and try once again. This of course brought me so much JOY! So with that preface it has been a journey to get to were I was the day before he proposed I let him know that I was finally at peace and felt that I wanted to be with him...For the rest of me life!!! Little did I know that he wanted that also and he was ready to go:) The following morning he had already been planning it all out, months before. He told me his parents would be in town early and that we were going to have a full day with them so I woke up and just did the normal, went for a run and spent some quiet time with my Father, but the Shannon who I was staying with here was very persistent that I get ready and I was a bit confused but once I was ready I thought his parents would be coming but she then gave me a red envelope with the first letter, this letter explained that the day was changed and he had a scavenger hunt for me. To begin it he made a video of himself of the last 10 days or so of leading up to me being here. In the videos were songs, scripture and recalled memories. As I was weeping, sweating and laughing I was still thinking that maybe it was just a sweet date he was planning, but I had a feeling it was a bit more than just a sweet thought. He wrote another letter then explaining his love for Jesus and how he really wanted me to focus and pray a bit before I left. Then his friend Julian came to get me and brought me to a bridge and gave me a map to get to Christian, he told me to walk and focus on those scripture and pray but I had a hard time doing that so once a saw him I threw me purse and started running across the bridge that lead to the pavilion he was in and I ran into his arms. As we were both so nervous, we had Communion together and then he brought out his guitar and began to sing a song he wrote for me!!! The name of the song is 10,000 and at the end he put his guitar down and pulled out the box and asked "Will you marry me?"!!!! Ahhhhhh I jumped into him and he put the ring on my finger...And the rest was history. =) Thanks for all your support and love to us. Please be praying for this time we have together and also when we have to part, hopefully the last time to do so, but that we would ultimately Praise our Father for His incredible love for us and for the healing and restoration he has brought and that we would enjoy all the following process!! Much love to you all!!

Wipes are essential

Today has been a thought processing day, with finals next week and Christmas just around the corner I have been overwhelmed to say the least. But within all of it I have had quite a joyous day with two of my favorite girls Eli and Emma. From about noon until 7 we have been doing it all from baking to dancing to crying, and sneezing and of course the joyous pooping and peeing:) All day though I have been using wipes, I wipe them after they have been outside and the minute they come in there is new yummies that love their hands, arms and feet. So I wipe them again and sit them down for a meal, within seconds this time all the real yummy things are on their hands and all sorts of different places by the time the meal is over....and this has contined on throughout the day and I feel like I am grabbing for the wipes quite frequently. Just to have even that few seconds of relief from the spots, stickys and gooeys is surprisingly the refreshing part of my day. With that said I turn in wards to my life, school, relationships, family and just the day to day, and realize I am striving for any bit of "wipe" I can find. If it is a hike, a bowl of ice cream, or just stocking some friends I really miss, I wipe away a little bit of my worries and crowded mind for just a moment and become so refreshed. As I realize these patterns and happenings of all the 'wipes' I am using especially this week of beautiful finals, I realize how temporay those things all are. Some much more than others but in the end with the bliss of Jesus in my life nothing can even be seen or thought of when I truly and in Love with my Savior. Quite a wonderful reality that I have continually been given, with first coming to the fact that what I feel should not be what my faith is. And realizing things really aren't perfect in my life and probably never will be. In all really just relizing I must have my roots in Christ above all, for then after that, after I seek His face and know His glory all else will seem so minute and miniature perhaps even microscopic that I won't even be able to see it with out the use of a tool. Wow isn't that a sweet image! I pray that you will see that reality and know the Truth of our Father today. And that it would do much more than just wipe away the crunchy bugurs from one's nose. But allow you to Abundantly Live The Life He Has Set In Place For You!!!

circumstance.

:a condition that affects what happens or how somebody reacts in a particular situation.

Most everyday we are faced with circumstances that we would not prefer, if it could always be mountain tops and rainbows we think...that would be the perfect life. Yet I stop and realize that when you live in mountains or one beaches or even in corn fields it all becomes normal and that is life. So really the mountian tops become what we choose them to be...if I don't look up and stop for a moment I could go a long time without even being aware that I am in mountians Humm I think what I am trying to grasp is why we let our circumstances change our attitudes and actions toward life...of course our feelings are apart of our flesh so those become hard to change but not the way we react or let them affect us. Today I am struck with a reality that not many people are content. That if some people had the chance to turn this dial or close that door they would and then....things would be complete but what if we took a look at each day for what it really is that in each morning we could realize our solid purpose for life: to be rooted in and loving our Father who has taken our aweful lives and given us...wow...oh so much His grace and forgivness and Abundant Life. What if we looked at each day through the eyes of the Gospel that we live because He died we Only have life because He has given His life! Isn't it just so incredibly beautiful and so much more yet we so easily get stuck and trap and distracted by what? Look into your own life I don't know what tells you to not choose the Abundant Life Jesus has today for you, perhaps it is bills that are unpaid, or relationships that are not so well. Or for me it is unperfect grades and listening to lies that I don't have what it takes. I am not sure where you stand today but I ask you to maybe stop and read Psalm 46 it is about being still and knowing God. Know God reigns today and take a step back and rest in that before being overwhelmed by the lies of this world. He is with you today...
"When you pass through waters. I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when yo walk through the fire you shall not be burned, and the flame should not consume you. For I am the Lord your God,"-Isaiah 43:2-3a.

Just to open my eyes and see

Just he other day here in Manitou I was struck by the fact of no purpose. I did not know what I was doing or why I was living where I was. So I decided it was time to open my eyes, to try hard to not be so distracted by the schedule of my life and the plans I had. First off I started to bake, a normal thing or me when I am stressed or just feel as if I am not amounting to much, I can have control (for the most part) and have a finished product come out well. After doing so I prompted my self to give out majority of the cookies-oatmeal chocolate chip walnut cookies mind you, and so I just began to ponder. Okay I have my roomie working down stairs and a few neighbors almost off to work also a neighbor guy I have never seen, and a friend moving out. So I decided that was a safe way to open my eyes to generosity and my community. Well He had a different plan for those cookies and really only one of those cookies. It was for Maggie a lady with a passionate soul who opened right up to me. It was sort of a gloomy day which is rare here in Colorado, and beautiful Maggie was sitting out side in a nook of a building reading what looks like the Bible and also sniffling from what seems to be tears. So I paced by her deciding I had a plan for the day I just kept walking...but couldn't keep walking. As my thoughts contradicted themselves over and over again I finally turned around just before reaching my car. I went back to see if the lady would look a cookie or some help. She dove right into the cookies humbly taking one for her self and boldly telling me what she was doing. She began with saying she was reading the Bible but just to learn Spanish it was an English and Spanish Bible. She also went on to tell me a portion of her life. After just losing a 15 year old brother due to the insufficient and toxic water in West Virgina she was on a mission to change the problem. Manitou was an incredible place to her, having fresh water streams every block of the town and real mountain streams that you cold drink from quite near, she is looking into moving herself and her 13 year old daughter her. She is saddened withe her families unwillingness to listen and hurt by the massive problem going on the east coast that "makes the oil spill look like a birthday party" she exclaims. As she goes on I am just in awe and refreshment of how whiling she was to just tell me about her. She has been on hunger strikes to protests to fight for the cause. What amazement I had when I heard her spoke. The reality that I barely ever talk to people about my desires and passions and just my life. Often I find my self becoming more passionate about complaints because it relates me to people. More Passionate than the ONE who Made me in my mother room. It brings me to tears to think that I speak of the things I am not content in than in the beauty of His majesty today. I was challenged in many ways by Maggie and what openness of word she had towards me. Look into your life what is the majority of what you talk about with the people that surround you, at home, school work and even church. Why is it that we are so easy to talk about negativity and fear rather than Life Abundant and Hope?! I challenge to just go one day without a complaint maybe just an hour and instead of complaining fill those thoughts and words spoken with Praise and Gladness for the Sake of His Glory. And maybe talk to someone new this week someone you wouldn't regularly, routinely talk to just a hello maybe a how is your day or even a what do you desire...