RIVENDELL

I had entered into the sanctuary listening to God. I had asked for him to speak to me all morning about his will for us. I was thinking about the soldiers we would come in contact with and how I was having faith in God to lead us in our spiritual walk. I am constantly hungry for what God is trying to tell me in the little things. And then I read this from our pastor "One of the often overlooked aspects of worship is rest. In Tolkein's Lord of The Rings, the hobbits and their friends endure life-threating dangers and then come to Rivendell, the land of the Elves. There they rest and recuperate before their quest calls them forward. Soon all fear and anxiety is lifted. The danger of their mission was not forgotten, but ceased to have the power to overburden them. Health and hope grow strong again."

I really felt like that is one of the desires of our Hospitality House to provide a place for health and hope to grow strong again. I hope our home can be a "Rivendell" for everyone no matter where it is located.

So take some time and find a place to rest in our Lord, Jesus Christ.

The E-Mail

Here is a copy of the e-mail I sent out yesterday.....

Just wanted to send you a quick update by e-mail. After much prayer and consideration Chris and I have applied to be missionaries with Cadence International. Cadence works with military chaplains in assisting their ministries. Chris first became aware of Cadence when he lived in Germany and Cadence had youth pastors to assist the chaplains there. This made a huge impact on Chris' life. Cadence also offers Hospitality House ministry. This is where we feel God calling us. We would offer a home away from home for soldiers and their families. Our ministry would provide bible studies, mom's groups (hopefully a Mops group), day-trips, one-on-one discipleship, evangelism, and fellowship time. We would also provide home-cooked meals. Most of you know that for the last few years we have hosted game night in our home doing some of this very thing. We had a home interview Sunday and it went very well. Please be in prayer for us as we continue with this process.As of right now, our tentative plans are to move back to Phenix City in May. Find a place to rent or if someone has a place to loan us for a few months. We would go to Missionary Orientation , Training, and Commissioning in June. Then we would spend the next few months visiting churches and individuals to raise support. If you would like to see more about Cadence, you can visit their website at www.cadence.org

Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers. We are enjoying this time as our chapter in "seminary life" comes to a close. We have made some wonderful friends here that I will truly miss. The sadness of that is lessened by the excitement of what God is doing in our lives for the next chapter.

January is here

Don't have any pictures uploaded right now. I will really try to make that happen. The laptop is on its last legs! So it doesn't function quite like it use to.

Kids are doing great. School has started back for them an we are learning about bees. David is reading very well now. It is amazing how patience with boys really pays off. The girls are busy playing "family" with the boys and their baby dolls. They are constantly cooking and changing diapers. I think they observed a lot while I toted them around as infants!

We are anticipating colder weather this evening and are getting excited that we might have some flurries!

Chris will be starting classes for his last semester next week! Can you believe graduation is less than 4 months away? WOW!

We have decided to be missionaries with Cadence International. Running a hospitality house for soldiers and their families! Please pray for us as we move to Phenix City (short-term) and as we begin raising our support.

Wish I had more to tell you, but that is a good bit of news!

I will keep you posted!

Day for Mom

What a day! What a week! What a month! Wow! I feel like we have been moving non-stop. We spent Thanksgiving in AL with our family and friends. Then we heard back from Cadence. For those of you whom we haven't spoken with in a while, let me tell you that Chris and I are in the process of applying with Cadence International to run a Hospitality House. We are very excited. God seems to not only keep leading us to this, but also confirming different things along the way. This is a very interesting time in our lives as we watch was God is doing and how His story is unfolding before us and through us.

Today my friend and mentor Johnita Williams came over and helped me organize and de-clutter. My parents watched the kids while we worked. It was so refreshing. Now, don't get me wrong I am really tired. It is a good tired though, like you have truly accomplished something. Now if we just keep this up, we might have everything cleaned out before we have to move in 6 months. Johnita just blessed my heart by coming. It reminds me of how Christ comes into our hearts and leans out. He sees all the ugly dirty parts of your heart and helps you clean. It feels good . A bit painful sometimes, but good.

A couple of you have asked for an update on my cousin, Brian. He looked so good this weekend. I didn't get to spend as much time with him as I needed, but he looked the best I had seen him look in a long time. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. I thank you.

So even thought it has been a crazy week, it was nice to blog with you today. Thanks to Mom and Dad. Next time, I'll go out to eat!

FUN WEEKEND!

We have had a great time the last 2 weekends. Our friends Michael and Jennifer came down to visit us with their 2 children last weekend. The kids all had so much fun playing together and going on adventures. We had a great time going walking. And then the kids had a real blast cooking out hot dogs and s-mores. We used our little cook top grill, without the cook top and basically had a campfire in a grill. The kids cried and cried when it was time to say good-bye.

Then this weekend we had the joy of having friends in and out all day. I do not think their could be any sweeter sound on earth, than the voices of children at play. They were so sweet and precious. And the time with the Moms was really nice for me too. We also had a nice relaxing evening. Church was wonderful too. Did I mention how much I love our church library? The music today was really good. And Sunday School is always great. Not just the lesson, but the fellowship with others.

Trick or Treat

Geico Gecko, High School Musical, Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, Batman,
Glamour Girls, Iron Chef, Tob-lerone

We had so much fun Trick or Treating this year. The girls went as Glamor Girls and the boys went as Troy from High School Musical and Batman. Okay, in all fairness, Caleb also went as Toby Mac one night, and then changed to batman another time. We went with Grandma and Grandpa to their church trunk or treat and then went to our church on Halloween night. We had fun at both places. At our church the kids were happy to meet up with their friends. And they all loved the cake walk.

Finally pictures from the beach!

We had such a good time at the beach. Sorry it took so long to add some pictures. I still have a dozen or so to go through. Here is a little sample