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content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2023-08/index.org

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+---
+#+TITLE: True and Better 🔝 - August 2023 Newsletter
+TITLE: True and Better 🔝 - August 2023 Newsletter
+#+DATE: 2023-09-18
+DATE: 2023-09-18
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Lessons
+  - True and Better
+newsletter: true
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: Well, we ran out of food! That was the situation for our first night of TFC! It's a problem for sure, but a good problem!
+summary: Well, we ran out of food! That was the situation for our first night of TFC! It's a problem for sure, but a good problem!
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+* True and Better
+Well, we ran out of food! That was the situation for our first night of TFC! It's a problem for sure, but a good problem! And that's kind of how TFC has gone recently, let me share with you some of our plans for this year, and what we need your help in praying for!
+
+[[file:kickball.jpg]]
+
+Our plan for teaching this year, is to talk through a lot of the same stories we shared last year in the Old Testament, however, this time, we are going to share how all of those characters in the stories, point to Jesus. In so many ways, the biblical authors have crafted such a powerfully unique story that is linked all throughout to point to the one and most important person in all our lives, Jesus.
+
+That's why we've named our theme True and Better. Timothy Keller shared a sermon once with a series of statements of Jesus being a True and Better completion of many characters and stories throughout the Bible. And Tim Keller ended it with, "The Bible's not about you."
+
+[[file:trueandbetter.jpg]]
+
+Think on that for a moment, it's not about you, because all of it points to Jesus. It's about Jesus. It always has been and always will be. He's the one who lived a perfect life when I couldn't, He's the one who died under the weight of my sin when I should have, He's the one who stands before God forgiving me when I don't deserve it. It's all about Him, not me.
+
+That's our hope and prayer this year, that as we share all of these stories of how Jesus perfects all of these characters, that we will see ourselves in those characters and how we need to adjust our lives to point to Jesus better. Ultimately, we want the teens this year to better understand their role of how they too can point to Jesus, to share Him in new and unique ways by being a light in their schools, families, and communities.
+
+I was praying through these lessons at the beginning of this year and thought, what if I make a point to ask the kids over and over, how do you point to Jesus? If we can find ways to do that each and every day? What would our communities look like? Our schools?
+
+If you see the kids out and about sometime, ask them, “How do you point to Jesus?” And maybe too, do it with us, ask yourself, “How can I point to Jesus today?” It's a powerful question that really changes the way we ought to work and act in life?
+
+[[file:allthrow.jpg]]
+[[file:pitching.jpg]]
+[[file:kicking.jpg]]
+
+* Cochrun Happenings
+So, school has started and TFC has started, but our families biggest change has been that Josiah is now going to school! He has been really enjoying it, but boy does it tire him out! Luke misses him, but is really cute playing so well by himself! Finally, Ty has been such a sweet little baby! We've been incredibly blessed by the world's best baby! He rarely complains and sleeps 12 hours a night!
+
+[[file:family.png]]
+
+* Thank You
+Thank you all so much for cheering for us, praying for us, and supporting us! Continue to pray as the start of a new year of TFC is a difficult thing!
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by contacting me about helping out at TFC through either food or being part of the team on Wednesday nights! Please let me know if you or someone you know is able to help! Also, if you haven't, consider donating to helping us out by going [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]!
+#+end_quote

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2023-09/index.org

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+---
+#+TITLE: Father to Many - September 2023 Newsletter
+TITLE: Father to Many - September 2023 Newsletter
+#+DATE: 2023-10-06
+DATE: 2023-10-06
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Lessons
+  - True and Better
+newsletter: true
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: God is referred to as our father in the Bible many times.
+summary: God is referred to as our father in the Bible many times.
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+
+* Chris - Father to Many!
+By Abbie Cochrun
+
+God is referred to as our father in the Bible many times. When Jesus taught his disciples to pray, He had them start their prayer by saying, ““Our father in heaven…” Clearly the role of father in an important characteristic of who God is!
+
+But what if you don’t have a great example of how God leads and loves you in your dad on earth? Sadly, this is where many of the teens who come to Northern Valley TFC find themselves. Yet, I see God using Chris to fulfill this role in some small way. When Chris was at camp for two weeks this past summer, I got a text from another staff member that said, “Thanks for sharing Chris this week - these kids desperately need a Christian dad!”  He picked on and encouraged and loved those kids for a solid week at camp, and the work didn’t stop there!  
+
+This past week at TFC Chris noticed a few of the boys making fun of and laughing at another kid. Rather than just ignore it or sternly tell them to knock it off, he pulled them aside, and spoke to them about how Jesus loves us, challenging them to think about their actions and whether what they were doing was reflecting Jesus well. He actually came home quite frustrated with these guys because they really should know better! But even in his frustration I saw him fulfilling this “dad” role for these kids. He loves them and wants them to know how to live life according to what the Bible says! This is a hard task when you only have a few hours with them a week so please pray that God would use what He’s doing and multiply it greatly! 
+
+He has also started meeting with a few of the older kids for a Bible Study on Friday mornings again.  I know that it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that lives can be changed, so I’m praying that God would transform hearts like only he can, and that these kids would see how God loves them through the work Chris is doing! 
+
+This brought me to our Bible study group. I asked them to read through Luke this summer. Then I told them it isn't much. Just half a chapter a day. Mostly just 20 verses a day. And if they ever wanted to read through the whole Bible it'd take 12 pages a day and you'd make it in about 3 months. Then Josie flipped through her Bible and asked if I could help her figure out how long it'd take her to read through the entire New Testament, I think I got her convinced that it doesn't take much, just consistency.
+
+That was my final point in our last night of TFC too. Let God's Word change you. So with that, I invite you to do the same! If you'd like, read half a chapter of Luke every day this summer, and you'll get through it just a couple of months! And as you do, pray for our little group! I told them I'd be checking in with them over the summer to see how their reading is going, so pray that they'll keep it up and that they'll be changed!
+
+[[cash.jpg]]
+[[colt.jpg]]
+
+* Jesus - The True and Better
+Our theme this year has been True and Better. A deep look at how Jesus completes so many of the stories we encounter throughout the Old Testament. So many times, we read the Old Testament and feel disconnected to the stories because they seem old and strange and the practices people have in them seem barbaric, but Jesus completes so many of the incredible themes we find getting started in the OT that if we don't read it, we miss out on incredibly cool things Jesus does!!
+
+
+The stories we've talked about already:
+Jesus is the True and Better Adam. While Adam failed in the garden and brought death into our world, Jesus passes the test in the garden and brings us life.
+Jesus is the True and Better Abel. While Abel died innocent his blood cries out to God for vengence. Jesus also dies innocent, but His blood doesn't cry out for our vengence against us for killing Him, but for our forgiveness.
+Jesus is the True and Better Noah. While Noah succeeded in being blameless in God's eyes for a time, he was only able to save 8 people and still failed in his own garden. Instead Jesus was always blameless, and saves all who turn to Him.
+Next week we talk about Abraham. Jesus is the True and Better Abraham because while Abraham was the father to many and that one day someone would save the world through Abraham's line, Jesus was that savior and fulfills that promise!
+
+* Cochrun Happenings
+We have had a good September! Josiah has been doing great at school and enjoys learning new things and playing with his friends! Luke has adjusted well to being the “big brother” at home while Josiah is gone.
+We also celebrated Ty’s baptism at church this month. It is so cool to have him fully welcomed into the family of God! We’re excited to see how God will use his life for His glory!
+Life has just been really sweet lately with these three little boys! :)
+
+[[family.png]]
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by donating [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]! We love how God provides so we can serve this community!!
+#+end_quote

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2023-11/index.org

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+---
+#+TITLE: A Full Two Months - October & November Newsletter
+TITLE: A Full Two Months
+#+DATE: 2023-11-20
+DATE: 2023-11-20
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Lessons
+  - True and Better
+  - Mom
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: Around when I should have been writing and sending out my last newsletter, I heard that my mother was getting put into the hospital, likely with pneumonia. This started a long week of hospitals and the passing of my mother.
+summary: Around when I should have been writing and sending out my last newsletter, I heard that my mother was getting put into the hospital, likely with pneumonia. This started a long week of hospitals and the passing of my mother.
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+* Missing My Mother
+Around when I should have been writing and sending out my last newsletter, I heard that my mother was getting put into the hospital, likely with pneumonia. This started a long week of hospitals and the passing of my mother.
+
+My mom was a fireball. She was feisty, passionate, always knew she was right, and if you weren't careful she'd burn you good. My mom found her joy in her kids, in her family. It was the joy of her heart to watch her kids grow up to become self sufficient, good, strong people. And she believed in the best for us. Seriously, I can remember being in junior high, she believed I could do anything. Since becoming a parent myself, I know that you often feel your kids are incredible, but my mom was far and above. If I would have told her I was interested in government, she thought I'd become the President someday, if I was interested in computer science, she was expecting me to become the next Steve Jobs. Seriously, she believed in us, and would help to plow the way for her kids too. Of course life always gets in the way, but she was optimism incarnate for her kids. And she knew how to love us.
+
+My heart hurts so much to see her gone. The night she died, I paced the hospital reading Psalm 77. This passage is a large lament over the dangers that are surrounding the psalmist.  It gives the feeling like the psalmist has even almost entirely lost their faith in God. However, after their questions and struggles, they reflect instead on all that God has done. Note too, that this psalm is written much later in Israel's history, so the events that the psalmist is reflecting on are not ones that they've even seen themselves. This means, that just reflecting on God's Word, turned their hearts to Him instead of away.
+
+I spent time with students at TFC reflecting on these passages ourselves. As I shared about this, I realized that in a lot of ways, our world drives us away from the Lord at any chance that it can. We talked about Abraham and Isaac this last week as well, and I shared how Abraham could have been angry with God because Isaac was being taken away from him just like my mom was taken, just like many of the teens in our group have had someone or something taken from them. We could all be angry at God because of the things taken from us. And that's exactly what that liar, Satan, would want.
+
+But, that's not how Jesus combats the evil in this world. I was recently given a previewing of the upcoming movie by Angel Studios (the makers of The Chosen) called "The Shift". The premise of the movie is very similar to the book of Job. There is a man who loses everything in a lot of ways, and instead of turning against God, leans into Him with everything. The movie was pretty good honestly, it takes a lot of creative liberties since I'd call it more of an allegory set into a futuristic/sci-fi world, but gets the heart of the message. What would you be able to give up and still serve the Lord? It's a hard question really. Even when everything gets taken from you, It's a lot to think about, but even so, we must cling to Him. And Jesus was our perfect example of that.
+
+{{< figure src=momanddad.jpg alt="A Picture of my parents" caption="Mom and Dad" >}}
+
+* Lots Going On
+We also got the honor of taking the kids Operation Christmas Child shopping!! Between our small group, we raised enough for 5 boxes, but as I helped send off the TFC Drop Off center boxes this morning, the TFC Office sent off 1080 boxes this year!!!!!
+
+{{< figure src=occ/older-girls.jpg caption="The older girl group" >}}
+{{< figure src=occ/boys.jpg caption="Boys group" >}}
+{{< figure src=occ/younger-girls.jpg  caption="The younger girls group" >}}
+
+We have been having a lot of fun. If I could, I'd like to ask that you pray for some of our kids by name a bit more often!
+
+{{< figure src=bryson.jpg caption="This is Bryson, he's a squirrely one, but he has a good heart!" >}}
+
+{{< figure src=jaden.jpg caption="Jaden has been coming to TFC for over two years and in a lot of ways, has grown so much!!" >}}
+
+{{< figure src=jaycee.jpg caption="Jaycee is a fifth grader, so she isn't actually in TFC yet, but she has been around every now and then and it's fun chatting with her on my bus routes!!" >}}
+
+{{< figure src=featured.jpg  caption="Jeremy teaching about the paralytic lowered through the roof to be healed by Jesus." >}}
+
+This last weekend we had another 180 Encounter! I just loved watching an alumni and now good friend Jeremy Ford teaching the teens about Jesus as they sat at his feet!
+
+* Cochrun Happenings
+The last couple of months have been so full! We’ve been busy with house projects, battling sickness, and then walking through the hardness of losing my mom. We are honestly ready for the slower pace of the winter season!
+
+But we did enjoy many fun aspects of the fall season too. Ty enjoyed his first Halloween as the most adorable lion and the older boys loved “helping” me carve pumpkins for the first time. We also enjoyed a hay rack ride together!
+
+[[family.jpg]]
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by donating [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]! We love how God provides so we can serve this community!!
+#+end_quote
+
+Thank you all so much for your love and prayers! And for the many of you who have sent and shared sympathies for the passing of my mom. We know God has placed an awesome team around us for life and for our ministry!!

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2023-12/index.org

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+---
+#+TITLE: A Year of Waiting - Christmas Letter 2023
+TITLE: A Year of Waiting - Christmas Letter 2023
+#+DATE: 2023-12-16
+DATE: 2023-12-16
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Lessons
+  - True and Better
+  - Mom
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: Around when I should have been writing and sending out my last newsletter, I heard that my mother was getting put into the hospital, likely with pneumonia. This started a long week of hospitals and the passing of my mother.
+summary: Around when I should have been writing and sending out my last newsletter, I heard that my mother was getting put into the hospital, likely with pneumonia. This started a long week of hospitals and the passing of my mother.
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+#+begin_quote
+Be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near. James 5:7-8
+#+end_quote
+
+I am not one to pick a “word of the year” like some do, but this year it seems like God chose one for our family and
+that would be “WAIT”. 2023 has been full of waiting, and not really a bad waiting, but one of anticipating and
+hoping and longing for things to come. The biggest and most exciting thing we eagerly awaited this year was the
+birth of our third child! This third pregnancy was no joke. At one doctors appointment, my doctor told me I had
+“about every late pregnancy symptom there was”. Thankfully there was nothing serious and me and baby were
+completely fine, but I was definitely READY for this baby to get here long before he made his
+appearance! As it was, Titus Lawrence was born on June 5, just two days past his due date.
+We chose his name because of how Titus is described in the Bible. 2 Corinthians 7:6 says,
+“But God...comforted us by the coming of Titus.” And then verse 13 says, “We rejoiced still
+more at the joy of Titus.” Before this little boy was even born I was praying that his life
+would bring comfort and joy to all he meets. And so far, that has been SO true! He is the chill-
+est, smily-est, happiest baby of all. So often people just can’t help but grin at his cute chubby
+self! Granted he is a cute baby so that’s pretty understandable, but I will continue to pray
+that God uses him to bring joy to others! We nick named him Ty, and he has been such a
+wonderful blessing to our family. I told Chris that every morning feels like Christmas when I
+get to go upstairs to get him out of bed and hug his cute self. :)
+Another thing we anticipated this year was Josiah starting school! He turned five this past
+summer, and was very ready to start Pre-K in August! He’s always been pretty shy, and I wasn’t
+sure how he would do in this completely new setting, but he has been LOVING school. He’s so
+smart and loves learning and playing with all of his new friends. It has been so fun to watch
+him come out of his shell and be more friendly and fun with people he doesn’t know as well.
+His favorite things in the world right now is all things sharks (he knows detailed facts about
+multiple varieties...far more than I do!), building things with legos, and drawing really
+impressive pictures! He’s sweet and helpful and I loved watching him grow up this year!
+Luke is 3 years old, and is our blond haired, blue eyed tornado child.
+He’s stinking adorable, which is good because he’s often a handful! The picture to the right is
+after he found the sprinkler and the grass pile...He also got so good at talking this year which
+he was quite proud of. “I can talk like Josiah now!” He’s the goofball of the family, and makes
+us laugh with his silly antics and funny things he says. “I’m breathing out my ears!” (He got
+the hiccups). “Where’s all the buddies?” (Where is everybody?) “It was mean and it was
+angry!” (Talking about a cricket on the floor). He adjusted remarkably well to being a big
+brother and having his older brother be gone at school 4 days a week!
+This is Chris’s third year driving the bus for Northern Valley. He picks up the junior high kids
+and brings them to Long Island and then brings them home at 4 pm after school is out for the day. He’s done such a
+good job building relationships with those kids, many of whom come to TFC because they know him from the bus!
+This year for TFC, we moved the group back to Almena, after having it in Long Island for a couple of years. The group
+has about doubled in size! With the arrival of Ty, I knew I wouldn’t be able to help at TFC this year, and we were
+fervently praying God would provide some new volunteers for our group! And He did! We have two wonderful
+volunteers, one who even has cooked several meals over the course of the year! Chris has some challenging kids this
+year, so pray for wisdom as he strives to point these kids to the good news of God’s word!
+Over the course of 2022, we had several trips and planned events canceled which made our anticipation and longing
+for a family vacation even larger this year! And this year we got to go on two family trips! In March we booked a
+couple nights at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. The boys LOVED it. We spent hours at the water park attached
+to the hotel and getting to spend time with a good friend and some family who lives there! We weren’t really
+planning on going on another trip, but after Chris spent two weeks at TFC camp,
+and I survived solo parenting 3 boys, one who was less than 2 months old, we
+needed a break! So, we booked a last minute trip to Keystone, CO in August. It
+was the BEST trip. Truly so refreshing for our whole family! Ty slept like a
+champ, and was perfectly content “hiking” in his baby carrier! The older boys
+were amazed at the mountains and loved the little short hikes we went on and
+getting to swim at the pool at our condo. They still talk about Keystone, CO
+frequently, so I think we may be back!
+An unexpected twist in our year was the sudden death of Chris’s mom, Carla. In the midst of deep sadness, it was
+good to spend time with his extended family and to grieve and remember together. We know that God works all
+things for good for those who love Him, and are anticipating how God will use this for good in the lives of Chris’s
+family and in our hearts and lives as well.
+One of the biggest thing we’ve been waiting for this year is the opportunity to
+move into our NEW HOUSE! I have been longing for a place to truly call home
+since 2014. We are currently in our third rental house since we got married,
+and have been looking for a place to call our own for years. I’m not sure why,
+but there is never houses for sale in Long Island which is really where we
+wanted to live. But we have been praying and waiting for God to direct us in
+His timing to the house for us! At the end of the summer one of my friends
+contacted me about a potential house, and after contacting the owners, and
+looking at it, we decided this was the one! Not only is it in Long Island, but it’s also right next door to my sister’s
+house! We have a large empty lot in between us, that we own, and our kids will get to play together all the time!
+Hannah texted me, “It’s like our little girl playing house dream come true!” :) The older couple living there is waiting
+for a new facility to open up before moving, and there is so far no set date of when that will be. So we
+wait...anticipating the day we’ll get to move in, hopefully at the beginning of 2024!
+Part of our negotiation for the house was that we would paint it, so that was a BIG project this fall that helped us to
+make it feel a little more ours! The sellers were avid gardeners and I am THRILLED to have a big flower garden and a
+spot for a vegetable garden too! I also planted some fall bulbs with the boys and am anticipating spring when I’ll get
+to see what’s all there. And so now...we wait...And rather than be annoyed by the waiting, I have been trying to allow
+the tension of the wait to pull my heart towards anticipating and longing for Jesus.
+How the Israelites waited and longed for the Savior to come rescue them, and how
+we too should long with anticipation for His second coming, when He’ll come to make
+all things right! This advent season has held much more meaning for me because of
+this beautiful year of waiting. Merry Christmas friends! May you find more of Jesus in
+any waiting you might have this coming year!

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2024-02/index.org

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+---
+#+TITLE: All Kinds of Stories
+TITLE: All Kinds of Stories
+#+DATE: 2024-02-02
+DATE: 2024-02-02
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Lessons
+  - True and Better
+  - Weddings
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: What a new year! With so many new things!! This month has been filled with new changes at TFC, a newly married couple, and a new house!! What a firecracker starter to the year honestly, and boy has it been busy. Let me walk you through all that's been going on.
+summary: What a new year! With so many new things!! This month has been filled with new changes at TFC, a newly married couple, and a new house!! What a firecracker starter to the year honestly, and boy has it been busy. Let me walk you through all that's been going on.
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+What a new year! With so many new things!! This month has been filled with new changes at TFC, a newly married couple, and a new house!! What a firecracker starter to the year honestly, and boy has it been busy. Let me walk you through all that's been going on.
+
+* Some Tweaks To Our Schedule
+I decided we needed to change our schedule at TFC this January. Last semester, we had been starting at 6 o'clock. This had been perfect for eating supper before starting the night. But at the end of the semester, a high school girl approached me and asked if I'd consider doing high school TFC at a different time from the junior high, so that they can focus better on the lesson without the distractions. So after praying and wrestling with scheduling ideas, we decided to shift junior high TFC to start at 5:00 and start high school TFC at 7:00.
+
+It has taken some adjusting for sure, and it’s a bit exhausting to have two lessons in one night, but honestly, the outcome has been very encouraging! We've had some high schoolers coming that haven't been there regularly at all, and it's been easier to make the lessons tailored for each group. Last week we talked about the Passover. With our JH kids, we did a small bit of the meal and learned how it fit in with Communion. With the HS, we more slowly walked through the emotion and fears the Israelites would have felt that first Passover in Egypt. Then we saw how Jesus took that meal and tweaked it as a picture of Him becoming the sacrificed lamb's blood that marks us as God passes over us for judgment. It was really cool!!
+
+Please keep praying for us as this new schedule and some new rules are a bit tricky to handle, but pray we start to have a solid group of HS students and our JH group continues to learn the core concepts of Jesus this year.
+
+{{< figure src=coltgoofy.jpg alt="Colt" caption="Colt" >}}
+{{< figure src=avery.jpg alt="Avery" caption="Avery" >}}
+{{< figure src=levi.jpg alt="Levi" caption="Levi" >}}
+
+* A Love Story I Wasn't Expecting
+I haven't shared this in my newsletters because I didn't want to spoil anything for anyone who may have been connected, but I was approached by some TFC alumni at the beginning of the fall, Cameron Hendryx and Haylee Tien (teens who've been through TFC and each had a chance to intern with us as well!!) They got engaged this summer/fall and asked if I'd do premarital counseling with them and officiate their wedding! I was completely caught off guard when they asked and wasn't sure how to answer at the time! I prayed about it and talked to Abbie asking if God thought I was the right person for this, and felt God nudging me to do it. So, after many hours of meeting with Cameron and Haylee, and praying for them constantly, they are now Cameron and Haylee Hendryx!!! It was such a fun experience to walk through all kinds of material for Cameron and Haylee about marriage and even felt God working on my heart in our marriage too.
+
+{{< figure src=goofywedding.jpg alt="Look at them!" caption="Look at them!" >}}
+
+Cameron and Haylee are such a cool couple whose story is a great example of how God can use His mission and kingdom to bring such joy and love together in two people. I'd like to share with you what Cameron said to me one night in our counseling session when I asked what he and Haylee would like folks to know about them at their wedding.
+
+#+begin_quote
+It's only through the grace and mercy of God and Jesus that we are even here to have this wedding. Through Jesus's blood that I am able to be there, that Haylee is able to be there. A marriage without Christ is without purpose. There is a greater purpose to being married in Christ than just being married, that God can use your marriage to do more. Serving and glorifying God rather than just seeking our own happiness.
+#+end_quote
+
+{{< figure src=wedding.jpg alt="This couple is awesome!" caption="This couple is awesome!" >}}
+
+What a cool picture!! Please pray for Cameron and Haylee and the journey they are now on. For those of you married, you know that marriage can be hard and incredibly rewarding, so please pray for them!!
+
+* One Story I Was Expecting
+For the entire fall semester, Abbie and I have been in the process of finding and purchasing a home of our own. It's honestly been a very long, slow process. mostly lots of waiting, but as of January 26, 2024, we are now the proud owners of 371 Cooper St. Long Island, KS!!!! We are thrilled, and a little scared! We do have a lot of work ahead of us as we need to remodel the kitchen and bathroom to make it work for our family, but we hope to figure out what is required for us to be able to make it home quickly, take care of that first, and then finish the rest after we move in.
+
+Thank you all so much for praying with us in our journey to find a home of our own. As many of you may remember, we have been from place to place quite a bit over our less than a decade of marriage, and have yearned for our own house for a long while. Well now that that's over, we are so grateful for the many of you who have been prayer warriors in that! And for the many of you who have been our financial supporters to take care of our family as we work so hard to share the gospel with the teenagers of the Northern Valley community!! Please keep praying as there will be lots of work ahead of us, but we are eternally grateful for you all!!
+
+{{< figure src=house.jpg alt="We are SOOO excited!" caption="We are SOOO excited!" >}}
+
+* Cochrun Happening's
+Our boys are so excited for our new house! It is right next door to Abbie’s sister’s house, and our boys 3 cousins! The library and a nice play ground are right behind our new house, and as we’ve been working at renovating, it has been so fun to watch all of our kids run around and play in our yards and on the playground. 
+
+We have already spent a lot of time this past fall painting our new house, and are thrilled to have that project mostly done before even purchasing the house!
+
+{{< figure src=cochrun.jpg alt="It's been a busy month!" caption="It's been a busy month!" >}}
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by donating [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]! We love how God provides so we can serve this community!!
+#+end_quote
+

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2024-03/index.org

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+---
+#+TITLE: Conversations - The Heart of Our Ministry
+TITLE: Conversations - The Heart of Our Ministry
+#+DATE: 2024-03-28
+DATE: 2024-03-28
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Lessons
+  - True and Better
+  - Weddings
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: It's been a busy couple of months! So busy in fact that I forgot to get my newsletter done last month! So, for the price of one, you get two this month! What a deal! We've been enjoying the weather slowly turn to spring, but unfortunately as I write this, the weather has decided to pound on us with snow again and maybe that's a good thing because it gave me the time to sit down and get my newsletter out!
+summary: It's been a busy couple of months! So busy in fact that I forgot to get my newsletter done last month! So, for the price of one, you get two this month! What a deal! We've been enjoying the weather slowly turn to spring, but unfortunately as I write this, the weather has decided to pound on us with snow again and maybe that's a good thing because it gave me the time to sit down and get my newsletter out!
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+
+* Conversations - The Heart of Our Ministry
+It's been a busy couple of months! So busy in fact that I forgot to get my newsletter done last month! So, for the price of one, you get two this month! What a deal! We've been enjoying the weather slowly turn to spring, but unfortunately as I write this, the weather has decided to pound on us with snow again and maybe that's a good thing because it gave me the time to sit down and get my newsletter out!
+
+I want to share with you a long and fun conversation I've had with a couple teenagers just recently. One high school boy who hasn't been to TFC for years came to a 180 Encounter this last weekend, and I chatted with him for almost a half hour. It was a lot of fun to just catch up, but even more so, it was fun to see that God had used our time together when he was coming to TFC to spark a great interest in him. He knew that at TFC, we've always done our best to really teach the heart of the Bible to kids and help them to really see Jesus for who He really is!
+
+{{< figure src=max.jpg alt="Max at the 180" caption="Max at the 180" >}}
+{{< figure src=colt.jpg alt="Colt at the 180" caption="Colt at the 180" >}}
+
+Another fun conversation I had was with a young 6th grade girl I've been working with at TFC this last several months. She's always had a curious mind and this weekend decided to turn her curiosity to all kinds of inner workings of TFC and what it takes to be an intern and staff! She loved watching her peers on stage at the 180 Encounter and found that maybe she could do stuff like that some day, so I was telling her all about my experiences and how God uses those people to draw others close to Him.
+
+If there is anything that God is doing at TFC, it's through this constant desire kids have to become like their older peers they see at other TFC events. They see them making a difference and impacting others, they see how God has redeemed their friends and healed their hearts, they see how life doesn't have to be the way that they always see from their family and other friends at school. They see hope, and that's incredibly powerful to a young teenager.
+
+{{< figure src=shelby-cash.jpg alt="Shelby playing elbow tag!!" caption="Shelby playing elbow tag!!" >}}
+{{< figure src=avery-shelby.jpg alt="" caption="" >}}
+
+* Grateful For You All!
+I want to praise the Lord for the ways in which He has just provided so well for us. Our volunteers have given so incredibly much to help us on Wednesday nights and even though we are there for over three hours, they just keep giving to these kids!! And for the community of Almena being so incredibly gracious to let us use the community building and supporting us in that way!
+
+And most of all, for all of you who keep giving to us financially and praying for us continually! It reminds me of how Paul was incredibly blessed by all the folks he served and would always pray for and praise the Lord for them because of all God does through them.
+
+And so, "I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Phil. 1:3-6.
+
+* Cochrun Happenings
+The last two months have consisted of A LOT of construction work at the new house and trying to get ready to move in!! On top of that, we’ve enjoyed having Easter fun and watching our little boys grow!!!
+
+I loved capturing this picture of Josiah and Luke reading bibles at church this last Sunday!
+
+{{< figure src=family.jpg alt="Fun with construction!!" caption="Fun with construction!!" >}}
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by donating [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]! We love how God provides so we can serve this community!!
+#+end_quote

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2024-05/index.org

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+---
+#+TITLE: Some Very Hard Work!
+TITLE: Some Very Hard Work!
+#+DATE: 2024-05-28
+DATE: 2024-05-28
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Home Remodel
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: Well, it's been quite a big two months. A VERY big two months. But after much hard work, we are moved into our new house!!
+summary: Well, it's been quite a big two months. A VERY big two months. But after much hard work, we are moved into our new house!!
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+* Some Very Hard Work!
+Well, it's been quite a big two months. A VERY big two months. But after much hard work, we are moved into our new house!! I sit here in my temporary office in my unfinished basement next to the now wall-less furnace room writing this. We've wrapped up TFC for the year and have been in full blown remodeling mode recently! We have so much we want to do with this house, but for sure needed the kitchen and the bathroom done before moving in! It's been incredibly rewarding to say that we have our own place and have made it IN TO our own place. It's an awesome feeling to be fully moved in and having lived here for a week as I'm writing this now! We agreed to buy this house last August, officially purchased it the end of January, and have been renovating ever since!
+
+That said, we are quite exhausted, ever since TFC wrapped up it's felt like a final lap sprint in a marathon and to be honest, it's actually only the first half! The house is livable and we are so excited about that. The kitchen had been completely gutted and all new everything put in. It was both fun and challenging to watch the stages of things being torn down and slowly built back up. It’s been very fun to hear family remark on how nice the changes were as we installed new walls, cabinets, and countertops. Now, we are able to have meals in our kitchen and sit around our island enjoying food together. Last night we excitedly enjoyed grilled pizza out on our patio! However, there is still lots to do in the kitchen like backsplash, trim, and more before it’s complete!
+
+The main bath had quite the make-over too! We left the walls in place, but moved all the plumbing around and reworked where everything was. It was a lot of work but ended up with a better layout with a lot more space to fit all of our children in whilst getting ready in the morning or during bath time at night. With a new bathtub and moved plumbing you can imagine the possible leaks and stress of getting things right, especially when we are doing everything ourselves, but even that has been all figured out now and we can shower and get ready in our new bathroom. Now if only we could get the linen closet built & wallpaper on. 😆
+
+It's been a lot of work and our family is incredibly grateful for all who've prayed for us and helped in small and big ways, but it isn't quite over yet. We still need to fix up the basement so there is still lots to do and we'll have projects for years probably, but we've enjoyed our new little home for the last week and will surely enjoy it for the years to come! 
+
+{{< figure src=house.jpg alt="The New House" caption="The New House" >}}
+
+Now as we breathe a sigh of relief having got in the house, it's only days away until I leave on mission trip! I'm given the incredible honor of getting to go with 14 students from all over TFC-land to Rehoboth Christian Schools in Gallop, New Mexico from May 29-June 10. It's going to be a lot of fun and a good bit of stretching our servant hearts as we do home projects and work for the churches on the reservation and many of the Navajo and Hobi people in the area! It'll be a lot of fun to use some of the experience I've gained working on my own house on these mission trips too! 
+
+Please pray for our students going on the trip as a good chunk are new while some have done this many times, so we have quite the mix and are expecting to see a lot of cool growth in the lives of our teens and hopefully are a great blessing to the folks in Gallop, New Mexico! Also, pray for Abbie as she stays home with our boys in our new house!
+
+{{< figure src=missiontrip.jpg alt="Mission trip kids!" caption="Mission trip kids!" >}}
+
+* Cochrun Happenings
+The last two months have felt like the busiest of our whole lives! But is has had so many sweet moments! One of the most exciting is announcing that we are expecting another baby BOY this fall! Adding 1st trimester morning sickness into our craziness was not awesome, but Abbie is feeling great now and we are excited for this new little one!
+
+We also enjoyed getting to help Abbie’s family with their annual cow working day. Josiah and Luke LOVED “helping”. 🙂 They are loving town life, riding their bikes all over and eating at The Hut.
+Lastly, can you spot our tipped over chicken coop? They even made the move!
+
+{{< figure src=cochrun.jpg alt="Family Happenings" caption="Family Happenings" >}}
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by donating [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]! We love how God provides so we can serve this community!!
+#+end_quote

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2024-06/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+---
+title: Thriving in Desert Land 
+date: 2024-06-30
+authors:  
+-   chriscochrun
+
+tags:  
+-   Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+-   Northern Valley
+-   Mission Trip
+
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: This year I was given an awesome opportunity to go to Rehoboth Christian Schools in New Mexico for our mission trip! We brought 14 teenagers and 7 adults and boy, it was a trip!  
+summary: This year I was given an awesome opportunity to go to Rehoboth Christian Schools in New Mexico for our mission trip! We brought 14 teenagers and 7 adults and boy, it was a trip!  
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+
+# Thriving In Desert Land
+
+This year I was given an awesome opportunity to go to Rehoboth Christian Schools in New Mexico for our mission trip! We brought 14 teenagers and 7 adults and boy, it was a trip! First off, Lavonne broke her wrist. She was supposed to be our one able armed cook since Janice had earlier this year broke her wrists, but on the first work day we had, she slipped on some water in the kitchen and broke her wrist basically making her the one very unable armed cook! It was scary, crazy, and silly all at once, we were in shock, laughed, and prayed for her to heal over and over, but God was not surprised. Do keep praying for her though, it's a BIG job to get ready for camp as she is the co-director of TFC camp, and without being able to type things out on her computer as well, it sure makes things more difficult.  
+
+Back to our trip, we did a lot of work for Rehoboth and learned quite a lot about the culture and follow Jesus in a world that is unknown to us. One of the core things we worked on this year was helping students to have a "heart for the world". We wanted the teens to know that this world as a whole needs to know Jesus more and more, and that stretches from home to the ends of the world. That sometimes people do things very differently from you, and that doesn't make it wrong, you may see life differently, but they have different values and goals than you. We dove into their culture and wanted to learn all kinds of things about the Navajo people so that we might gain a bit of heart for those people.  
+
+So while we roofed two buildings, painted tens of windows and doors, cleaned up brush on campus and in the cemetery and demoed a computer lab so that it could become a special education room, we asked the kids to work on learning the language, we talked with a pastor about the challenges and joys of preaching and teaching the Navajo people, and we spent a Saturday at a farmers market trying to appreciate their arts and crafts and make a few deals!  
+
+Some of the students found it difficult to dive in and others thrived at it, but as the week went on we all learned that the Holy Spirit can give us a "heart for the world", when we simply stop and listen and give it a shot.  
+
+{{ figure(src=mt.png alt="Mission Trip hike!" caption="Mission Trip hike!")}}  
+
+
+# Camp Planning
+
+On top of mission trip stuff now being done, we have a whole plethora of jobs and things to do as we plan for TFC Camp yet again! I'll likely be helping to setup all kinds of things from games and media things for the 2 weeks of camp we have at the end of the month, but on top of that I'm praying that the students who are coming from the Northern Valley area will have hearts prepared for all the awesome things God will be showing them.  
+
+This year we are talking about sailors and pirates, but mostly the island of Crete and how Paul was coaching Titus to deal with pirate like people and call them to a higher way of life. Pray for our camp team as they plan how to portray the difference between seeing the world centered around ourselves, to seeing the world centered around God.  
+
+
+# Camp Donations
+
+If you can, please consider giving a donation to camp for food and scholarships! <span class="underline">**We have two students who are in need of a scholarship this year**</span> and a lot of food we need to purchase yet to fill hungry bellies at camp!  
+
+We are still in need of hamburger, sausage, eggs, bacon and cookies, and possibly some more! If you want to make a food donation just let me know  and if you’d like to make a monetary gift for camp food you can online at <https://tfcconnection.org/donate>  
+
+If you want to gift a scholarship, please let me know! Some teens come from families who just can’t quite make it work, and I’d like to use this as a chance for them to learn that the family of God loves them and will help them in their time of need!  
+
+Thank you all for the way you support us and make our ministry work!! We couldn’t do it without you all!  
+
+
+# Cochrun Happenings
+
+The last month was a rush as we moved in right at the end of May and have been getting used to living in the new house!  
+
+We have also watched as the boys have LOVED getting to play with their cousins next door almost any time they want, and have had plenty of other projects to do in the house to continue to make it feel more like home!  
+
+On top of all that, we got to enjoy Ty becoming a 1 year old! He is walking and nearly running all over the house, and we love getting to enjoy him doing just that!  
+
+{{< figure src=fam.png alt="Family Happenings" caption="Family Happenings" >}}  
+
+> Remember that you can help by donating [here](https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5)! We love how God provides so we can serve this community!!  
+

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2024-06/index.org

@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+---
+#+TITLE: Thriving in Desert Land
+TITLE: Thriving in Desert Land
+#+DATE: 2024-06-30
+DATE: 2024-06-30
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Mission Trip
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: This year I was given an awesome opportunity to go to Rehoboth Christian Schools in New Mexico for our mission trip! We brought 14 teenagers and 7 adults and boy, it was a trip!
+summary: This year I was given an awesome opportunity to go to Rehoboth Christian Schools in New Mexico for our mission trip! We brought 14 teenagers and 7 adults and boy, it was a trip!
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+
+* Thriving In Desert Land
+This year I was given an awesome opportunity to go to Rehoboth Christian Schools in New Mexico for our mission trip! We brought 14 teenagers and 7 adults and boy, it was a trip! First off, Lavonne broke her wrist. She was supposed to be our one able armed cook since Janice had earlier this year broke her wrists, but on the first work day we had, she slipped on some water in the kitchen and broke her wrist basically making her the one very unable armed cook! It was scary, crazy, and silly all at once, we were in shock, laughed, and prayed for her to heal over and over, but God was not surprised. Do keep praying for her though, it's a BIG job to get ready for camp as she is the co-director of TFC camp, and without being able to type things out on her computer as well, it sure makes things more difficult.
+
+Back to our trip, we did a lot of work for Rehoboth and learned quite a lot about the culture and follow Jesus in a world that is unknown to us. One of the core things we worked on this year was helping students to have a "heart for the world". We wanted the teens to know that this world as a whole needs to know Jesus more and more, and that stretches from home to the ends of the world. That sometimes people do things very differently from you, and that doesn't make it wrong, you may see life differently, but they have different values and goals than you. We dove into their culture and wanted to learn all kinds of things about the Navajo people so that we might gain a bit of heart for those people.
+
+So while we roofed two buildings, painted tens of windows and doors, cleaned up brush on campus and in the cemetery and demoed a computer lab so that it could become a special education room, we asked the kids to work on learning the language, we talked with a pastor about the challenges and joys of preaching and teaching the Navajo people, and we spent a Saturday at a farmers market trying to appreciate their arts and crafts and make a few deals!
+
+Some of the students found it difficult to dive in and others thrived at it, but as the week went on we all learned that the Holy Spirit can give us a "heart for the world", when we simply stop and listen and give it a shot.
+
+{{< figure src=mt.png alt="Mission Trip hike!" caption="Mission Trip hike!" >}}
+
+
+* Camp Planning
+On top of mission trip stuff now being done, we have a whole plethora of jobs and things to do as we plan for TFC Camp yet again! I'll likely be helping to setup all kinds of things from games and media things for the 2 weeks of camp we have at the end of the month, but on top of that I'm praying that the students who are coming from the Northern Valley area will have hearts prepared for all the awesome things God will be showing them.
+
+This year we are talking about sailors and pirates, but mostly the island of Crete and how Paul was coaching Titus to deal with pirate like people and call them to a higher way of life. Pray for our camp team as they plan how to portray the difference between seeing the world centered around ourselves, to seeing the world centered around God.
+
+* Camp Donations
+If you can, please consider giving a donation to camp for food and scholarships! _*We have two students who are in need of a scholarship this year*_ and a lot of food we need to purchase yet to fill hungry bellies at camp!
+
+We are still in need of hamburger, sausage, eggs, bacon and cookies, and possibly some more! If you want to make a food donation just let me know  and if you’d like to make a monetary gift for camp food you can online at https://tfcconnection.org/donate
+
+If you want to gift a scholarship, please let me know! Some teens come from families who just can’t quite make it work, and I’d like to use this as a chance for them to learn that the family of God loves them and will help them in their time of need!
+
+Thank you all for the way you support us and make our ministry work!! We couldn’t do it without you all!
+
+* Cochrun Happenings
+The last month was a rush as we moved in right at the end of May and have been getting used to living in the new house!
+
+We have also watched as the boys have LOVED getting to play with their cousins next door almost any time they want, and have had plenty of other projects to do in the house to continue to make it feel more like home!
+
+On top of all that, we got to enjoy Ty becoming a 1 year old! He is walking and nearly running all over the house, and we love getting to enjoy him doing just that!
+
+{{< figure src=fam.png alt="Family Happenings" caption="Family Happenings" >}}
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by donating [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]! We love how God provides so we can serve this community!!
+#+end_quote

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2024-07/index.org

@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+---
+#+TITLE: The Mystery of Camp
+TITLE: The Mystery of Camp
+#+DATE: 2024-08-09
+DATE: 2024-08-09
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Camp
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: More than anything I've yet to experience, TFC Camp is a magical place. I have loved it so much since I was a teenager and went myself. It was the place God changed my life...
+summary: More than anything I've yet to experience, TFC Camp is a magical place. I have loved it so much since I was a teenager and went myself. It was the place God changed my life...
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+
+* The Mystery of Camp
+More than anything I've yet to experience, TFC Camp is a magical place. I have loved it so much since I was a teenager and went myself. It was the place God changed my life, and the place where I found so many incredible friends that shaped who I became. I've never been able to put into words quite how astounding camp is and what God has done there. This year, I was blessed with having some remarkable conversations with kids and volunteers alike about their experience at camp, and their joy as God did His thing there yet again. I thought I would share some of the cool things they said in this months newsletter. Check them our below!
+
+{{< figure src=asa.jpg alt="Asa and the kid he poured hours into!" caption="Asa and the kid he poured hours into!" >}}
+
+#+begin_quote
+“This week has been incredible. I got to help in the kitchen at the first week of TFC camp and I am SO thankful for that!! This year [my kids} attended their second year and I was invited to help serve in the kitchen and got to bring my littles. It was hard work. It was exhausting. It was NOT enough sleep. But it was also one of the biggest blessings to myself and my children. The staff are unparalleled. Exceptional. More than my vocabulary can describe. The way they pour out love on every single person in their path. The way they spread the gospel and Jesus’ love on anything that moves. The respect, appreciation, encouragement, love, kindness and joy that they spread thicker than sand at the beach. Our week at TFC camp was beyond the words that I can express. It was such a blessing to me, and I truly believe that every moment my kids get to spend at TFC camp will bless them and change them for the rest of their lives.”
+- Tiffany Becker
+#+end_quote
+
+How cool is that!!
+
+{{< figure src=devo.jpg alt="It's amazing watching kids do their devos in front of the cross!!" caption="It's amazing watching kids do their devos in front of the cross!!" >}}
+
+And here is a text my wife received after the first week of camp:
+#+begin_quote
+“Enjoy your husband today!! ...He is turning into our “Larry”. His conversations with kids was happening all the time!...The number of times we heard...”I talked to Chris”, or walked past him walking with a kid intent on conversation was amazing!”
+#+end_quote
+
+Larry was on staff with us several years ago, and went to be with Jesus in 2017. He’s  someone we loved very dearly, he even helped officiate our wedding! Larry had a personality and gift for just chatting with kids and loving on them well. He had many conversations about Jesus with kids that changed lives all over the place. He, more than anyone I know, was all about Jesus. Furthermore, he loved teenagers well, and loved talking with kids about life and Jesus. It’s an honor to be compared to him!
+
+
+{{< figure src=skit.jpg alt="The kids who did a powerful skit on our last night praying for their peers!" caption="The kids who did a powerful skit on our last night praying for their peers!" >}}
+
+Finally, here is a message from Jack Hager, whom we've had speak at camp for years and has spoke at tons of other camps too. He and his wife Jane visited these last two weeks to help out.
+
+#+begin_quote
+“Just a written reminder that you guys are amazing. As you know, I've spoken at a few camps over the decades...and although "Camp Joy" in and of itself is not on the top ten, TFC Connection camp is number one.
+Why?
+The blood, sweat, and tears of the months of preparation that are brought to fruition during the two weeks. It was a privilege and joy to sit in on one of the planning meetings for "Cave" week, so I know a bit of what goes on. But just a bit. All I know for sure is that the programming fleshes out to opportunities to steer the thinking of campers and thus impact them with the message of hope in a wide variety of ways. I do not believe there is anything like TFC anywhere in the country. There may be, but not known to me.”
+                                                                           - Jack Hager
+#+end_quote
+
+
+** My Conversations
+Reading what other people thought about camp, is so affirming of what I believe camp is all about! It truly is amazing what God can do over five days of such intentional ministry. While at camp this year, I had chats with kids left and right, and some of those conversations were just incredible.
+
+*** Struggles
+One kid I talked to had been struggling with some things for many years and was wanting to set things right. After he and I chatted about his struggles being all too common, you could just see his shoulders straightening. We talked about how God wants nothing more than to forgive him and give him strength to overcome it. We prayed, cried, and chatted. He called me the next week asking me to keep praying for him, and while I'm sure he'll continue to struggle, as I mentioned to him, the desire to stop this thing means God is changing his heart!
+
+*** Caden
+Caden and I had so many talks throughout this last week too that I can't even count them! He had questions about friendships, working in ministry, and bible questions galore! We chatted every day I believe and all of them I found myself just amazed at what God was doing in Caden's heart. In fact I'm not even sure which thing to really tell you about because we just chatted so much!! But what I do know is that God was doing something in him. On our campfire night Caden sat with Theo and I and just broken by feeling lost as to what God is calling him to do in life, and feeling afraid that he'd get it wrong. We comforted him, prayed with him, and reminded him over and over that God is big and nothing Caden does would ever stop him from accomplishing his mission, so when Caden is prayerfully doing what God wants him to do, he'll be just fine.
+
+*** Others
+If I had pages and pages of newsletter, I might be able to tell you about most of the conversations I had with kids, and many too with interns. I wish I had the space to tell you all about Jeremy, Theo, Will, or Dorian, I wish I could share the heart-to-heart deep stuff about Kaylee or Cash, I wish I could tell you more about this family who sent their kids because they wanted to show their kids how they can learn about Jesus without bells and whistles at camp, and now they keep coming! Some things we hear at camp can't be repeated because it isn't our story to share, some things are just too sad, and some things are so incredible I'm not sure anyone would believe it! Despite all that, I know this, God is good, and like He has for so long, He uses camp to do some remarkable things in the lives of kids.
+
+*** Thank You
+Thank you guys for supporting us at TFC, I pray God is doing good things around your world too. If you aren't a part of our support team but want to be, just let me know! If you are, thank you so much for financially supporting us, it makes all this possible. And for everyone who prays for our ministry, thank you that we can rely on you to go to battle with us in prayer against much of the hard things we hear at camp. Most importantly, though, know that God is doing some cool things because you are praying!
+
+* Cochrun Happenings
+July flew by!! It’s been such a fun summer with our boys in our new house! We got Ty’s bday present hung up - a swing hung way up in our cottonwood tree! All of the children love it! We also had a grand 4th of July - ending with a water fight in our yard. Luke took GREAT joy soaking his Papa. :)
+
+The boys got to enjoy the fair while I was at camp and loved the cotton candy and all of the rides!
+
+And at the end of July, Josiah turned 6 and Luke turned 4! I was at camp for their birthdays, but they came up to visit both days so it was fun to celebrate with them a bit!
+
+{{< figure src=fam.png alt="Family Happenings" caption="Family Happenings" >}}
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by donating [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]! We love how God provides so we can serve this community!!
+#+end_quote

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2024-09_10/index.org

@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+---
+#+TITLE: Making It All Real
+TITLE: Making It All Real
+#+DATE: 2024-10-15
+DATE: 2024-10-15
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: This month we've kicked off our official Northern Valley TFC meetings with a hurrah! It finally seems like we are settling into more of a groove, after many years of uncertainty!
+summary: This month we've kicked off our official Northern Valley TFC meetings with a hurrah! It finally seems like we are settling into more of a groove, after many years of uncertainty!
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+
+* Making It All Real
+This month we've kicked off our official Northern Valley TFC meetings with a hurrah! It finally seems like we are settling into more of a groove, after many years of uncertainty! Our group meets at the Almena Community Building every Wednesday night. We start with the junior high at 5:30 pm, eat with the high school around 6:30, and then just meeting with the high school until 8:00 pm. We’ve got a pretty consitent group coming right now, and I feel hopeful for what God will do this year! My plan is that this year I want to encourage the teens to dig deeper and deeper into the Word and build each other up as we do. In order to do that, I've been working on some ways to make sure that we practice some of the things we are learning.
+
+First off, we have been learning to pray more and more. A lot of teenagers don't always enjoy praying, especially out loud! In fact, a lot of adults don't like to pray out loud. So what we've been doing at TFC is asking the teens to finish small one sentence prayers with a prompt. A simple prompt like "Jesus thank you for..." will often get many kids to start praying for the first time and those who've prayed many times to quickly jump in. It's been a lot of fun watching our group grow as they bring their requests to God.
+
+
+{{< figure src=featured.jpg alt="Praying around town!" caption="Praying around town!" >}}
+
+To build on that we had SYATP (See You At The Pole) on the last Wednesday of September. This is an annual event all across the country, but this year we wanted to do something a little different. Most of the time, we gather around the flag pole on Wednesday morning and pray for the school, our families, and friends. This year, I wanted to make sure the teens could see that they are part of a powerful practice of really going to bat for their community by praying for them. So instead of meeting in the morning and praying, we incorporated walking around the town of Almena and prayed for the community and country in all kinds of ways during our official TFC time. We prayed for the school and our peers at the school's flagpole. Then we prayed for the towns of Almena and Long Island when we walked towards the center of the town. After that we spent time praying for people who make our community what it is in their place of business and for many of the farmers as we walked to main street and the grocery store. Lastly, we stood around the flag pole by the community building, and lifted up our country and the things facing it during this time. It was really cool to see how God could use these physical places to kickstart our desire to pray for people. It is easy to be self-centered as a teenager, and helping them to look around and think about other people’s needs is such a good practice for them! Then helping them direct those needs to God who can actually do something about it, is so good!
+
+{{< figure src=highsyatp.jpg alt="SYATP" caption="High schoolers at SYATP" >}}
+{{< figure src=girls1.jpg alt="SYATP" caption="The girls at SYATP" >}}
+{{< figure src=girls2.jpg alt="SYATP" caption="The girls at SYATP" >}}
+{{< figure src=store.jpg alt="SYATP" caption="Praying for the community outside the store!" >}}
+
+Another thing we are digging into is just making this Christian thing real. I've been asking the kids to share with me their questions that they have about life, the Bible and Christianity. We talked about church a lot the other day actually. For many of them, they just don't feel that great about being at church for one reason or another. So we looked at the commands that Jesus gives us and how Jesus responded to people who are outcasts. It provided us all with a look at how we needed to attempt to be a part of church, and work to not become discouraged or upset simply because it might seem boring or the people aren't all that nice.
+
+{{< figure src=highocc.jpg alt="OCC" caption="The highschool group buying OCC gifts!" >}}
+
+These kids are asking some real questions and really do want to know Jesus. For most of them, they just don't really know where to ask these questions, so we are working through them as much as we can. It is actually quite an honor to be a safe place for these student’s questions, so please pray that God would direct my response and answers to always point to Him! And it's all thanks to you that we can do this!!
+
+This year we are working through the ministry of Jesus and each week we'll dig into things that are true about Jesus and things that some people get all wrong about Jesus so that the teens will be able to discern for themselves who Jesus really is and follow Him with everything they have.
+
+* Prayer Requests
+- Baby #4 will make his appearance VERY soon. This is super exciting, but will change a few things at TFC! I am SO thankful for some pretty awesome volunteers who are willing to take over a couple weeks of lessons for me. But would you please pray for them? Pray that they will step up into leadership, that God would speak through them, and that the group would be just fine while I take a few weeks off!
+- Leadership Retreat is October 19-20. Pray that this would be a refreshing time for the teens that go, and that they would be strengthened in their faith!
+- There have been many challenging things about working in the community we do. I don’t want to go into a lot of detail, but if you could just be in prayer for the town of Almena - that God’s truth would prevail over any lies spoken about His word, and that there could be more solid, Bible teaching taught in the community that would be so appreciated!
+
+* Cochrun Happenings
+Seems crazy that it’s baby month! We have had a CRAZY 2024 with moving into our new house and then trying to get all of the renovations done while also anticipating another baby! (There is still MUCH to do, so if you can pray that I would find time to keep making our house into the home we need, that would be great!)
+
+Something fun this month, is that Josiah got chosen to escort out the Homecoming canidates onto the football field for Homecoming! He even got to do it with his cousin, Eliza, which made it more special. 
+
+Abbie’s pregnancy has been really quite smooth until last week when she develped extreme pain in her right leg. At first she  thought it was just varicose veins, but after going to the dr, discovered it’s blood clots. She is getting daily injections of blood thinner to help, but things will probably not get completely better till after baby’s arrival!
+
+{{< figure src=fam.png alt="Family Happenings" caption="Family Happenings" >}}
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by donating [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]! We love how God provides so we can serve this community!!
+#+end_quote

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/2024-11/index.org

@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+---
+#+TITLE: The Gift
+TITLE: The Gift
+#+DATE: 2024-11-30
+DATE: 2024-11-30
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Events
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: This month has been a bit of blur honestly, but let's jump into all the cool things that has happened in the world of TFC! First of all, we had a blast going to a Jordan Feliz concert at the beginning of the month!
+summary: This month has been a bit of blur honestly, but let's jump into all the cool things that has happened in the world of TFC! First of all, we had a blast going to a Jordan Feliz concert at the beginning of the month!
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+* The Gift
+This month has been a bit of blur honestly, but let's jump into all the cool things that has happened in the world of TFC! First of all, we had a blast going to a Jordan Feliz concert at the beginning of the month! The kids had a blast and even really liked the guy who opened for Jordan, Joseph O'Brien. If you have the time, look up when Joseph O'Brien was on America's Got Talent, it's pretty funny!
+
+{{< figure src=concert.jpg alt="At the concert!" caption="At the concert!" >}}
+
+We also had many good conversations about Jesus and the incredible gift it was that he came to earth! Romans 3 walks us through this powerful and beautiful truth. How even though we don't deserve any of God's great gifts and we all fall completely short and cannot do a single thing to fix our problem of sin that we've committed, God gave us a gift in Jesus. This gift fixes the real problem. You see with all other walks of life, religions, belief systems, and even just attitudes other than Christian ones, they neglect the real problem. Sin.
+
+I tell the kids at TFC that since Adam and Eve turned away from God, their sin lives on in us, so we are born evil, and the even sadder truth is that if we were in their shoes back then, each and every one of us would do the same. That's why when you get to Romans 3:24 you feel so down hearted. But the next verse....
+
+** Romans 3:23-24
+"^{23} for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,^{24} and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,"
+
+God gave us an awesome gift in Jesus. During this Christmas season, would you be willing to share that gift with someone? Sometimes we go through Christmas just so incredibly focused on the night it was when Jesus showed up, but we forget why He is really there. Jesus is there to die. To die for you. To die for me. Because the real problem is sin.
+
+So yes, even though Harod wanted Jesus dead as soon as he heard about Jesus, Jesus would survive, but only to die later. To die so that we might be redeemed through Him. That's the true point of Christmas! What we celebrate isn't the birth of Jesus, it's the gift of His sacrifice! 
+
+** Ephesians 2:4-8
+"^{4} But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,^{5 }even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--^{6} and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,^{7} so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.^{8} For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,"
+
+And what an incredible gift indeed. So, it's been my challenge to the teens at TFC, give this gift to someone else this Christmas, because it's an awesome one indeed. All year, we've hit on how God designed earth to be in the same realm as Heaven, but our sin messed it up, and Jesus has been bridging the two back together, but now that Jesus has gone and sent us the the Holy Spirit, He has left it to us to continue His work.
+
+Remember what Jesus told His followers before ascending back into Heaven? "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
+
+If you get the chance, tell someone why you celebrate Christmas, tell them that Jesus has come to fix all that's broken in our world, and He is doing that by dying on the cross for our sins, so that we might become who we were meant to be again, God's children.
+
+{{< figure src=outside.jpg alt="The campfire 180!" caption="The campfire 180!" >}}
+{{< figure src=asa.jpg alt="Asa challenging other at the 180!" caption="Asa challenging other at the 180!" >}}
+{{< figure src=singers.jpg alt="The 180 band" caption="The 180 band" >}}
+{{< figure src=featured.jpg alt="Some cool kids I brought with!" caption="Some cool kids I brought with!" >}}
+
+* Prayer Requests
+- We have 4 children now!!! Wow! It has been so fun to see all of them at once roaming around our house, but it’s also a lot of work to raise young men of Christ, so please pray that as we do, God will work in them too!
+- At TFC, we’ve been having a decent group coming, but changes in sports schedules and school schedules always tweaks our numbers and mostly not in a good way, please pray that we will keep a good group coming during the advent season and into the new year especially!!
+- Our house has stalled in many ways recently! Due to the extra effort of 4 kids and the colder weather, a lot of things have slowed down, pray I’ll find time to keep working on it, and we will watch as God helps us to put together a good home for these 4 little boys!
+
+* Cochrun Happenings
+November has felt so busy, it’s hard to remember all the thing we’ve done in it!
+
+Since our last newsletter, we welcomed home Theo Cochrun! He’s already growing into such a wonderful little baby! And even smiling already!
+
+Our house work has slowed down some, but we have a mudroom all put together now!
+
+Josiah, Luke, and Ty loved putting Christmas up earlier! They all just love staring at the tree and our new Christmas village! We only had 2 ornaments break this year, which now that I think about it, is probably more than before, but we are happy with how much joy they have with it all!
+
+
+{{< figure src=fam.png alt="Family Happenings" caption="Family Happenings" >}}
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by donating [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]! We love how God provides so we can serve this community!!
+#+end_quote

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/_index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+---
+title: "Chris and Abbie Cochrun"
+description: "Chris and Abbie Cochrun serve together on TFC Staff!"
+weight: 70
+extra:
+    featured_image: ""
+    tags: ["Staff", "Northern Valley"]
+---
+![Chris and Abbie's Family](featured.jpg "Chris and Abbie's Family!")
+
+Chris and Abbie Cochrun serve together on TFC Staff! Chris grew up in Agra KS as a part of the Eastern Heights TFC group, Abbie grew up as a part of the Northern Valley TFC group and they got to know each other through TFC! Chris handles a lot of IT and video related things for TFC and Abbie is TFC’s graphic designer.
+
+Subscribe to our newsletters!
+- [{{< icon "email" >}} Email](http://eepurl.com/dPuMqz)
+- [{{< icon "rss" >}} RSS](index.xml)
+
+<!-- You can check out my own website at [cochrun.xyz](https://cochrun.xyz)! -->
+
+If you'd like to read our newsletters, check them out here!
+
+{{< spacing height="h-12" >}}

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/april2023/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+---
+title: "3 Months!? 📖"
+date: 2023-05-07
+tags: ["Chris & Abbie Cochrun", "Northern Valley", "Bible"]
+newsletter: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+showHero: true
+description: "How long would it take me to read through the New Testament? That's the question I got as we wound down our spring of Bible study with some of the junior high kids last week."
+summary: "How long would it take me to read through the New Testament? That's the question I got as we wound down our spring of Bible study with some of the junior high kids last week."
+showAuthor: false
+showTableOfContents: true
+authors: ["chriscochrun"]
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+---
+
+## 3 Months!?
+
+How long would it take me to read through the New Testament? That's the question I got as we wound down our spring of Bible study with some of the junior high kids last week. After our last night of TFC we had one last meeting of Bible study so that the kids could get to Luke 4 where Jesus begins His ministry. It has been a slow and long process getting to that point even with all kinds of scheduling conflicts and many meetings with junior high brains, but finally we got to the point that if they can continue on throughout the summer, they'll have prepared themselves for reading through the rest of the Gospel of Luke before the end of the summer.
+
+## Why Reading it is SO Important
+
+I was reminded that the first time I read through an entire book of the Bible, I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment. But I had something more, I had begun to build a habit of inhaling the Word of God on a regular basis. It was something that has forever changed me. I remember as a teenager, feeling like I'm understanding something that is both incredibly important and largely forgotten in my culture. For some of you reading this, you may forget, the kids in our group, especially the ones who grow up in families that don't go to church and don't know Jesus, that was me! I was never taught regularly about the Bible. Not only that but I didn't sit in on Sunday school often and talk about how I needed to change my ways. My parents had taught me to be a good child, but honestly a lot of that teaching was the basic don't do bad things. It is my personal belief that any amount of me not become a rotten twerp was by God's grace. What changed most for me was realizing that God created us to be different from most of the world acts.
+
+![Josie and Maddie facing off during capture the flag!](josie-maddie.jpg "Josie and Maddie facing off during capture the flag!")
+
+That's when it hit me. Most people, even a good number who go to church regularly, aren't truly the Christians they should be. For a lot of us, we are stuck on just being "good enough". I asked my little Bible study group if they think a lot of the others who go to TFC or even other youth groups were actually truly Christians. They admitted that they aren't sure. And even to some extent, some in our group I'm not sure of either. But I told them, since college, I have not been convinced that a real Christian can go long without regularly reading God's Word. Without having some sort of consistent and frequent "chewing on" of God's Word, I think a lot of Christians end up just going to church, without really doing what Jesus teaches.
+
+The reason I became so convinced of this in high school and in college, was because I read the Bible for myself. Jesus told people to pluck an eye out if it caused them to sin. He told them to not withhold their shirt but also give up their cloak if someone asked it. He told them to pray and love their enemies. To be honest, it's EXTREMELY rare that I see those sorts of things happen in the church. So, when I read that, I immediately thought, "Well, that cuts out about half or more of the church...".
+
+This brought me to our Bible study group. I asked them to read through Luke this summer. Then I told them it isn't much. Just half a chapter a day. Mostly just 20 verses a day. And if they ever wanted to read through the whole Bible it'd take 12 pages a day and you'd make it in about 3 months. Then Josie flipped through her Bible and asked if I could help her figure out how long it'd take her to read through the entire New Testament, I think I got her convinced that it doesn't take much, just consistency.
+
+![Team Rocket preparing for the final round!](rockets.jpg "Team Rocket preparing for the final round!")
+
+Some of these kids live in homes much like mine was. Some of them have better situations or even worse. But all of them need Jesus. We ALL need Jesus. Every day. And that's what I wanted for them most of all. So my challenge was this, read through Luke this summer. Luke is such a great Gospel! He wrote it for those who are outside the Jewish circle, and therefore it resonates just a bit better with us. It shares how Jesus came to be King! And not just any King but the King of Kings! And Luke tells that story masterfully! On top of that, Luke also wrote Acts, which means you can pick up the story their and see how the disciples carry Jesus's mission onward!
+
+If these kids read through Luke this summer, they'll have likely done more than most. If they can regularly breathe in God's Word and not just read it and move on but really think about it, it would change them, as it did me. That was my final point in our last night of TFC too. Let God's Word change you. So with that, I invite you to do the same! If you'd like, read half a chapter of Luke every day this summer, and you'll get through it just a couple of months! And as you do, pray for our little group! I told them I'd be checking in with them over the summer to see how their reading is going, so pray that they'll keep it up and that they'll be changed!
+
+![Josie tripped and caught Tea with a karate chop!](josie-tea.jpg "Josie tripped and caught Tea with a karate chop!")
+
+![It was so great to see some new faces as we brought the 5th grade and High School along for the night!](shelby.jpg "It was so great to see some new faces as we brought the 5th grade and High School along for the night!")
+
+## Prayerfully Asking for Some Help
+
+This summer is of course filled with all kinds of cool things happening! Mission trip is starting in less than a month! SPLASH is after that very shortly and Camp is coming at the end of July! That said, I have a few requests of you all that read my newsletter! We have some students who cannot afford to go to camp. While NVTFC has covered their registration costs, we would love to see them still go! So if you want to see kids go to camp, contact me with a donation of $100 so they can go!
+
+Another big ask I have for you all is that next year things are going to have to be tweaked a good bit for our group to continue on and to start high school TFC back up! Since Abbie will have a newborn and Dani, as an intern, could move on to the next thing, we are going to be desperately in need of volunteers/sponsors to help out at TFC. If you could prayerfully consider it, we need adults who want to see teenagers know the Lord to help out at TFC! From food to crowd-control and even teaching, we'll need some help! So please consider it if you think you'll be available on Wednesday nights! Or if you know of someone who would be good help send me their info!
+
+Thank you so much for being a part of Northern Valley TFC. Abbie and I love to work in this community, we love these teens. God has called us here and without you, we wouldn't be able to do it. So THANK YOU! Thank you so much for cheering us on and supporting us here.
+
+![Zane gives a scary thank you!](zane.jpg "Zane gives a scary thank you!")
+
+## Cochrun Happening's
+It’s almost baby month! We have been busy preparing for his arrival and are anxious to meet him! We’re still not sure if our other boys fully understand what this new baby will mean for our family so you can pray that adding this little one to our family just brings joy! 
+
+ We were so excited for warmer weather finally! We put up our hammock, planted most of our garden, and enjoyed celebrating Easter with our families!
+ 
+![Cochrun Family!](cochrunfamily.png)
+
+> If you'd like to donate, please head on over to [the donation page](https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5)

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/julyaug2023/index.org

@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+---
+#+TITLE: TFC Camp Recap and New Year Plans  - July and August Newsletter
+TITLE: TFC Camp Recap and New Year Plans  - July and August Newsletter
+#+DATE: 2023-08-21
+DATE: 2023-08-21
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+authors:
+  - chriscochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Camp
+newsletter: true
+showAuthor: false
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+showHero: true
+layout: hero
+showTableOfContents: true
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+description: TFC Camp is over and WOW has it been an adventure! From NVTFC, we had 9 kids total come to camp. Our theme this year was Simon Says, and we dove very deeply into the life and growth of Simon Peter. Throughout our 2 weeks of camp, we saw a lot of students grow in huge ways as they got to see themselves in Peter's life.
+summary: TFC Camp is over and WOW has it been an adventure! From NVTFC, we had 9 kids total come to camp. Our theme this year was Simon Says, and we dove very deeply into the life and growth of Simon Peter. Throughout our 2 weeks of camp, we saw a lot of students grow in huge ways as they got to see themselves in Peter's life.
+newsletter: true
+---
+
+
+* TFC Camp Recap
+TFC Camp is over and WOW has it been an adventure! From NVTFC, we had 9 kids total come to camp. Our theme this year was Simon Says, and we dove very deeply into the life and growth of Simon Peter. Throughout our 2 weeks of camp, we saw a lot of students grow in huge ways as they got to see themselves in Peter's life.
+
+[[./wk2camppic.jpg]]
+
+One of my favorite stories was watching 2 of our kids come to the point where they felt God has given them a family outside their own and love coming to TFC Camp or TFC because they feel they belong there. That's an incredible victory, not because of anything TFC did, but because God's family is the where we all belong, and TFC just tries to help be that for teenagers in our area!
+
+
+Jesus over and over invites people to follow Him and join into a new kind of community or family. This is exactly what TFC is all about, to help us move away from being a part of our own little community and into a godly family. One that is very different. One that means you belong. One that gives you the responsibility to care for and lift up others. This new family is different from the rest of the world. Instead of needing to worry about pleasing folks or doing the right thing, God's family is all focused on Jesus and what He's done. When we all see how much Jesus has forgiven us and recognize how much we have sinned, we see others in the same light. That Jesus loves them because He also loves us. Even though I had sinned deeply against Jesus, He still loves me. That changes things in God's family. Now I see others around me in the way Jesus sees me.
+
+Suddenly, even when others are a complete mess, I can still see them as a Jesus does. They need love too. And that's what those teens started to experience at camp this summer. It's the thing we are trying to create in NVTFC. We want the teens coming to know that they are a part of God's family, and they are accepted there always! Then to teach them to treat everyone else there in the same way. Once that happens, they bond in powerful ways. So with that, I wanted to ask you all to pray that we can do that well this year, even with a handful of changes coming to TFC.
+
+[[./camppics.png]]
+
+* NVTFC Plans for the Year
+At TFC this year, we are planning on moving things back to Almena and inviting highschoolers back to TFC. The goal is to continue building our group back into that family of God that I was describing. It's our prayer that we can get back to having a regular JH and HS group coming and pouring into teens, just like Jesus does. That being said, we are in need of adults. If you are available on Wednesday nights, please prayerfully consider being a part of NVTFC by contacting me at: 785-302-1664. We need some other adults, especially as we have highschoolers again.
+
+Also, if you are interested in cooking for TFC, please let me know as Abbie has 3 goofy kids and one just a few months old this year, so she won't have the time to cook this year!
+
+Finally, thank you all for praying for us over the summer months! It's because of your financial support and prayers that Abbie and I can do this! We are SO grateful for you all!
+
+* Cochrun Happenings
+The past months have been VERY busy! With TFC Camp, Chris was gone and Ty was just 2 months old! Right after camp, we tried to get back to feeling normal, but then went to Colorado for a vacation with our kids! It was such a great little trip! We may have not been on a lot of hikes, but where we did go and enjoy with our kids was a lot of fun! It was healing for our family! Now we've been sending Josiah to preschool too!
+
+[[./familypics.png]]
+[[./mountain.jpg]]
+
+#+begin_quote
+Remember that you can help by contacting me about helping out at TFC through either food or being part of the team on Wednesday nights! Please let me know if you or someone you know is able to help! Also, if you haven't, consider donating to helping us out by going [[https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z772/campaign/C-12WG5][here]]!
+#+end_quote

content/staff/chris-and-abbie-cochrun/june2023/index.org

@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+---
+TITLE: Our Growing Family 👶
+#+TITLE: Our Growing Family 👶
+date: 2023-07-07
+#+DATE: 2023-07-07
+#+AUTHOR: Chris Cochrun
+tags:
+  - Chris & Abbie Cochrun
+  - Northern Valley
+  - Camp
+showHero: true
+newsletter: true
+showAuthorsBadge: true
+showTaxonomies: true
+showReadingTime: true
+showWordCount: true
+showDate: true
+authors:
+   - chriscochrun
+showTableOfContents: true
+description: "This month has been quite crazy, and yet, not much has been done in TFC land. Just, ya know, two mission trips, a staff retreat to work on our plans for the next year, and a whole lot of TFC camp planning!"
+summary: "This month has been quite crazy, and yet, not much has been done in TFC land. Just, ya know, two mission trips, a staff retreat to work on our plans for the next year, and a whole lot of TFC camp planning!"
+featured_image: "featured.jpg"
+---
+
+
+* Our Growing Family!
+This month has been quite crazy, and yet, not much has been done in TFC land. Just, ya know, two mission trips, a staff retreat to work on our plans for the next year, and a whole lot of TFC camp planning! We just made part of the rules video, and I've been working on my seminar for camp too. But most of this month has been spent celebrating the incredible new addition to our family! Welcome Titus Lawrence Cochrun! We are calling him Ty, and boy has he been fun and tiring!
+
+And that's the thing with this job, it's a lot of the same thing as raising kids and having a family. There are a lot of very exhausting things that happen all the time. Just the last few nights, at some point, I've had to get up and grab Ty and rock him back to sleep. And on occasion, I've fallen asleep in the rocking chair trying to get him to sleep! Then there are those moments that just exhaust you mentally. Like when Luke, who is quite potty-trained, can't quite make it to the toilet in time. Every. Single. Morning. It's become a bit of a routine too! Or when Luke thinks it's time to wake up in the morning and it isn't... I tell him he's supposed to wait until the fan turns off in his room. But he decides he'll just turn it off himself! "My fan is off!" "No, I meant that you have to wait for it to shut off on its own!" The goofy kids are exhausting.
+
+And yet, these are also days filled with such sweet moments too! Like how at every meal when we ask the kids to share their memory verses, Josiah can say from memory more verses than most adults I know! Or how Luke comes running to me and gives me a giant hug when I get home in the evening. Or when he's just about asleep, Ty will occasionally grace us with the cutest smiles!
+
+And that's what we've been doing. Shaping a few young boys into men of God, one moment at a time. To be honest, it's a job harder than TFC. Raising children of any age is an extremely difficult thing. And I am sure no one really knows how difficult it is until you're doing it and thinking you've just ruined your life by inviting chaos into your home. But also one that is even more fulfilling. Watching children go from knowing NOTHING, to being young men and women who love Jesus and show Him to others is the most incredible gift and one that God wants for all parents.
+
+Scripture is clear about the role of a parent. Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it." It's one of those little verses that promises something but isn't clear on what to actually train the child in or how to do that, just that it should be done. And so begins the great mystery of parenthood. I do my best to train my child, to teach them about Jesus, to bring them to church, and to include them in as many Jesus opportunities as possible so that they know Him well. And yet sometimes they stray.
+
+So where does that leave us? Well, for Abbie and me, that means every day doing what we can to teach our boys to love Jesus. Reading to them about Jesus, teaching them why certain things are sinful and certain things aren't, and helping them to know and love Him. In the evening, we've been reading through a picture Bible that tells the story very well. One of my favorite things about it is that it tells the story quickly and straight to the point, but it doesn't leave anything out. When Jesus dies, it makes it clear that it was a punishment for our sin. It's our prayer that we can help our boys know that Jesus loves them so much and that our house serves Him, not because "that's just what we do", but because Jesus is incredible and He chose us and loved us first. That's why we do it.
+
+It's an eerily similar story for teens in our ministry. TFC's whole goal is to change the world from the heart of America by providing disciple-making opportunities that serve communities where student ministries are limited. And we do that by connecting teens with the truth of Jesus Christ…teaching and equipping them to live out the Great Commission. It's our heartbeat to make disciples, and for Abbie and I, that means our children as well. And it's a perfect every-day practice to be able to do that better with teenagers as well.
+
+* Plans For Camp
+Camp is coming fast! As I'm printing this off, we are only one week out from needing to go up there and set everything up for two full weeks of camp! That's crazy! We have lost a week from normal because of how schools around here are starting earlier, so please pray we have the time to get everything ready!
+
+
+In other news, we are still looking for some food items!
+
+- Ground Beef - 85 pounds
+- Ground Sausage - 50 pounds Bacon - 40 pounds
+- Boneless Chicken Breast - 80 pounds
+- Spaghetti - 28 pounds
+- Macaroni - 28 pounds
+- Rotini - 28 pounds
+- Brownie Mixes Cookies/Brownies/Rice Krispy Treats
+
+
+And finally, I am still looking for two more donations for camp scholarships! If you are able, send $100 to help send a NV kid to camp!
+
+* Cochrun Happenings!
+June was full of so much Ty, Luke, and Josiah! We had much fun with these boys and so to celebrate, from fireworks this week all the way back to June 5th when Ty was born, take a look at our cute boys!