Soul Fest + Cwtrials

This past weekend we ran around from event to event, meeting lots of new people and reconnecting with some old friends. The one thing that kept coming up among these people (many of whom we haven't seen/ talked to in months or even YEARS) was Soul Fest + Cwtrials. Yes Cwtrials was the hot topic (umm esp since we spent our Saturday at a kick'n event doing 3 demos) but a lot of people asked how Soul Fest went.

Can I just tell you how encouraged and blessed we felt this weekend? People we hardly know were telling us that they have been following Cwtrials and been praying for us. Others were excited to see a demo live for the first time since they had only seen the YouTube vids.

So, let us give a praise report for how freaktastically amazing Soul Fest was for Cwtrials. 

Yes it was exhausting with long hot days (that we expected and well prepared for) and yes we slept every chance we got when we came home, perhaps going to sleep at, say, 8pm? But it blew our socks off! We were on a beautifully exhausted high the week we came home. We were so encouraged by those who came out to see the 10 1/2 shows (one got rained out part way through), people who stopped by our booth and many who eagerly asked how they can get us to their event. We were blessed by those sincerely poured out their hearts of gratitude for the ministry God has called us to. It was so humbling and we soaked in every word of truth spoken to us as fuel for the mission we are set out on. God has given us a big vision for Cwtrials and our family and we are amazed by what God is laying before us. 

So here are the details of our week at Soul Fest. 

Craig and I got there Tuesday the 2nd and spent the night setting up our RV that his Grandparents let us borrow (HUGE blessing!) Little Abigail joined us the next morning with our friend Abby Woodman (who has been an incredibly huge help in preparing for Soul Fest including, but not limited to, designing and sourcing our amazing vinyl banners and making t-shirts)

Our friends let us "borrow" their 12 year old daughter for the week as a Mother's helper. Oh. My. What a blessing that was! Honestly, my biggest stress leading up to this event was our very own sweet daughter. How in the world was I going to be at the booth, prep our meals, support Craig, manage our volunteers and our daughter who still naps 2Xs a day?? Our little helper was amazing! Truly, that could be a whole blog on its own. We are SO thankful for her!

In the 4 days of Soul Fest, doing 10 1/2  15 minute demos and sharing the Gospel, we estimate about 2,500 people were at all of the shows combined.


God first put Cwtrials on Craig's heart in July 2010 and Cwtrials was launched in October 2010. Our YouTube video that we launched with has had over 3,000 hits in the past 11 months. People from New England, all across the US and our friends serving in other countries around the world have asked us when we might be able to come and do an event with them.

Our vision is to partner with churches/ ministries throughout the US and around the world, using the stunts of extreme biking to draw peoples attention and share the Gospel. We are passionate about partnering with ministries so that there can be follow up and an opportunity for people to connect with other Christ-followers to learn about having a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Below are a list of links to connect/ follow us via the internet. Sign up on our website to receive our e-newsletter with reports on events, prayer and praises. We are so excited and thankful for you journeying with us in this ministry!

Click here for our website www.cwtrials.com
To e-mail us info@cwtrials.com
Click here for pictures via Flickr of Soul Fest, and other Cwtrials events.
Click here for our YouTube link
Click here to like us on Facebook with regular updates and events, pictures and tags.
Click here to follow us on Twitter
Click here to support us via Paypal

iNSPiRATION

Hey there! So today I just want to have a little creative fun and share with you.

We have a few weddings and big events coming up, 

so my creative juices are flowing as to what I can give as a creative/useful gift!

PLEASE NOTE:  

I desperately tried to be creative my whole life and a few projects squeaked out of that. 

I give all credit to any creativity I now have to being a Mom. For real. 

Maybe it was hormonal, something out of desperation because of our lack of money, 

wisdom God gave me as I meditated like crazy over the Proverbs 31 woman 

and how it talks about how she worked with her hands and had strong arms for her tasks 

(no joke- I literally work out my arms more because of reading this a hundred something times).

In any case, over this past year and a half my creative juices have been flowing like WOAH and I'm loving it! In January I started reading a few blogs semi-regularly that are written by some fantastically creative ladies.

I now present to you my creative list of what I've been inspired by. 

ETSY is my BFF in the creative perusing department. 

I also set up a little shop there- go check it out!

I recently purchased this print from the lovely Naptime Diaries Shop

I have been reading her blog for almost a year now, had the honor of guest blogging 

a while back and she hosted a review & giveaway with REDEMPTION soap for Mother's Day

In starting my own small business I happened upon Gussy Sews. She writes a lot on starting your own biz "how to quit your day job and work from home." She does a lot of interviews with other work at home ladies. It's just been an all around fun and inspirational read! 

In fact, it inspired me to borrow (... and yet to return) my Mom's fantastically hip computerized sewing machine. I wish I had pics of the fun things I made... WAIT! I have one of the headband I made.

not the clearest/ brightest of pics but you get the idea. if you have seen me at all this summer i have probably been sporting it. my fashion trends usually cycle between 2-3 items.

I bought this giant piece of fabric in Chicago years ago and it has been waiting to be used. 

So, I made a dress, headband, laptop case 

and the rest is thrown over my heater disguising it as a table for the summer. 

The print... OH the print! I have recently become a fan of vintage prints. Words like Damask and Toile are music to my ears... but really the images of them make my eyes dance.

 

Ooo and ahh over these lovelies! photo credit

To wrap it up, my friend and old roomie over at transition is my middle name posts short and sweet, up beat posts with beautiful pics. This girl was so sweet to ask me to guest blog for her while she was away. In keeping with her blog style and in honor of Father's Day, I wrote about Second Breakfast.

Big Vision Big Dream

Last summer, while at Soul Fest I remember whispering to my husband "Cwtrials is going to be here next summer!" It seemed a little far fetched at the time since the vision and launch of Cwtrials had just been born. I'm a dreamer, I know this. But I don't believe any dream is too big when you have God working with you to proclaim His name. 

Just 12 months later, we returned from Soul Fest again... this time as Cwtrials vendors. 10 1/2 demos later, 5 nights, 2 full-time helpers assisting us, and even bigger visions have been cast for next year.

We thought it sounded a little crazy last summer when we felt God pulling us away from youth ministry and working with our church at the time. We stepped away for 3 months as our daughter came into this world, we struggled through unemployment and a dream for Craig's career having been crushed just weeks before sweet Abigail was born. It was a lonely, desperate and scary time for us. We watched our daughter battle something within her as we sought Doctors and Specialists out, sometimes going 4 times in one week.

All this was going on as we earnestly prayed and were ministered to by close friends and family. We both have felt a call on our lives for ministry, but we needed to take this crucial time to see if we were headed in the right direction of ministry- that being church ministry.

I remember so clearly the day Craig came home and shared his heart with me that he believed he was supposed to use his trials biking skills to share the Gospel. I didn't laugh. I didn't cry (though we were so stinkin dirt poor and I was so stressed it would have been an appropriate emotional response) I just agreed to join my husband ENTHUSIASTICALLY on this journey God was taking us. We accepted Cwtrials as our call to ministry. And can I tell you something? God has not stopped blessing our socks off and reaffirming what we are doing. 12 months later and we are going stronger than ever. We have an incredible support system and so many people all around the world have messaged us encouraging us to keep doing what we are doing!

One scripture that I have clung to this past year comes from 1 Corinthians 2:3  "I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." (emphasis mine) Craig and I are both gifted in many ways that the Lord has enabled and equipped us to be living examples of the Gospel. In all of it though, we know and we feel inadequate because any good that comes from what we do is not because of what WE do, but rather us allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us.

2 Corinthians 12 goes on to tell how in our weakness, in the trials and hardships we face, Christ is able to shine His light into those painful, dark places of our hearts, bringing about healing, blessing and bringing Glory to His own name. What we went through during the first 3 months of our daughters life was the most awful season of our lives, but having gone through it all and come out a conqueror through Christ's power, I wouldn't trade one hardship.

So this post really didn't share a lot on our time at Soul Fest which many of you have messaged me to hear about. I promise to share more over the coming weeks as we process and as we get to see evidence of our time there bloom. Our hearts are bursting with joy over the responses we heard from people at Soul Fest and with our follow up as well.

Our vision for 12 months from now is to be doing Cwtrials full time. 

It isn't just about Craig riding his bike, but God has gifted us both with speaking and leadership abilities and we share a heart for discipleship training. So while we are excited to see where God takes us around the country and world, we are humbled that He has given us a heart to help teach and train others to be more effective leaders in their community. Pray for us. We need wisdom as we book events throughout this year while Craig still works full time and we have a little one at home. Our journey these past 12 months has been unbelievable. I can't wait to see what the next 12 months unveil!

Check out our website to learn more www.cwtrials.com We also have a Facebook page and Twitter account... and YouTube and Flickr and Paypal... yeah we are a little into social networking ;)