Wonderful Day & GOING HOME!

Today was a wonderful day in the church house for those of us here in Alabama.  This morning, Brother Ray, a missionary to China, came through, and preached a wonderful message about the how salvation is provided and how we must go and proclaim it.  Then, I stayed with Kimberly for the Spanish church service, and then tonight, Brother Joel Logan preached a great message from Ephesians 4 regarding avoiding evil communications.  Both messages were very good (i.e., convicting).  It's wonderful how the Lord allows us to hear just what we need to hear!

Well, tomorrow, I'm going HOME!  While I've had a great time in AL with David's family, I'm very, very ready to be back home with David.  It was nice to be here while he wasn't at home, but when I know he's at there, it's not so fun.  Please pray for traveling mercies for me tomorrow.

Quick Update 2

Just another quick update...  I'm having fun in AL, but really miss David (who is having a good time with the teenage guys from church).  I've been able to spend a lot of time with my nephew, Matthew, who is adorable!  He only has 50% of his hearing, so he doesn't talk too much; but it's unbelievably cute to watch him communicate without words.  His facial expressions, movements, and sounds let you know what he is trying to say.  Thankfully, with hearing aids and special instructions, he'll be able to talk just fine... he's still learning right now.  Pray for him if you think about it.  

It was also great to see David's and my new nephew, Jacob, and our niece Chloe. Jacob is an adorable baby, and the whole family is happy for the addition.  Chloe has grown so much in the past few months!  We certainly wish we could see our niece and nephews more often.   

VBS is going well.  There were a few more kids today than yesterday overall, but our class only had 7.  We've got 4-5 year old boys... they're a hand full!  

Quick Update

So, today is my first whole day without David in over a year (he went on a 2-week missions trip to South Korea and the Philippines in May of 07).  It's definitely not fun, especially when he's still at home (I had to leave before he did so he could take me to the airport).  We both cried when he dropped me off at the airport.  I'm already having  a good time with David's family, but it's simply not the same when I'm not with him...  

VBS begins tomorrow at Sweet Springs Baptist Church, so please pray that there will be many kids in attendance.  It would be wonderful if many trusted Christ and it had an impact on the remainder of their lives.  The turnout is usually really good, so I hope that's true of this year's.  

I'll update with pictures and stories from the girls' trip and this week later.  I really don't have time to do last week's trip justice right now!

Photo Ramblings

On the Road Again

We're taking off after church tonight! Pray for us as we're on the road and spending time with the young people from our church! Have a good week! Pictures and stories to follow.

Photo Ramblings from my classroom

Here are some after pictures of my classroom!  

The school where I'll be teaching emphasizes character education, as well as academics.  They have five lifeskills which are the following:  truthfulness, trustworthiness, no put-downs, active listening, and personal best.  There are Bible verse that go along with each.  In the center of each flower, a lifeskill is written down.  

This is one of the bulletin boards in my classroom...  I'm not sure what I'm going to put up yet.  

One of these boards (right) will be my "math meeting" board, and the other will be my classroom jobs board.  The board on the left was a REALLY old chalk board.  Kimberly and I figured out a way to make it look like a bulletin board, so it really looks nice now!  I'm just going to have to constantly remind myself and the students that they can't place tacks in it.  

I love the bookshelves in the back of the room!  It's so nice for storage.  I need to get some more organizing done, but it looks so much better than it did when I first saw it!  

Sorry for the lousy quality of the pictures.  I took these pictures with my phone.  

Blogging Break

On Sunday, David and I will be leaving on Bible Baptist Church's annual Girls' Trip.  Each year (since I was about 12), our pastor and his wife, plus another couple, has traveled with the girls (and then the boys) somewhere for about one week.  This year, we're the other couple. Needless to say, David and I are both very excited about the opportunity.  It was always a wonderful time to get to know each other, as well as Bro. James and his wife.  I think it's wonderful that our church does it separately.  I don't think any (that might be a stretch) of the girls want that to change...  I know the group when I was younger did not.  

The week after the Girls' Trip, David and Bro James will be going with the boys.  I'm not invited on that one (though I'm really not too upset about it), so I'm going to be traveling to AL to visit my new nephew, as well as help with VBS at my in-laws' church.  The only downside is that I'm going to be flying alone.  I've done that quite a few times (back in before-marriage days), but the more I fly, the less I like it.  It's also going to be weird being away from David for 9 days. I'm sad already.  

So, all that to say, I probably won't be blogging much, if at all.  I really haven't been this summer due to our hectic schedule.  When we do get back, I'm sure I'll have many great pictures and stories to share with you.  

Photo Ramblings

The view of the Orlando skyline from the roof.  
A not-so-great picture of a firework.  

This is a "before" picture of my classroom...  I have since, with the help of Kimberly, fixed up the bulletin boards, covering them with colorful background papers and cute borders.  I will post more recent pictures soon.  It has been great setting up the classroom.  It definitely looks much better now.  

This picture was taken right before leaving to pass out tracts in Orlando.  We wear these shirts (church name on the front, Jesus Saves on the back) to many events.  With denim, we looked very patriotic.  

As I mentioned previously, we watched the Orlando fireworks show from the roof of a building right downtown.  This is us with an ADORABLE boy from church.  You really can't tell how high we are, but it was awesome!  

This is the adorable sister of that cute little boy!

Sorry the pictures are out of order!  I always forget that blogger puts the pictures you upload last at the top of the post...  

Happy Independence Day!

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th!  David and I went to Orlando to pass out tracts and watch the fireworks (from the top of a building in downtown Orlando).  Our group passed out at least 7,000 tracts... there were 170,000 people or so there (so we obviously didn't get everyone) waiting for us to give them tracts.  

I will post pictures later.  

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Last night, my family went out to celebrate my little (ha) brother's eighteenth birthday. Welcoming Christopher to the realm of adulthood is a little bit odd... to me he should still be about 14. It's funny how we expect everyone else to remain the same age, even though we're getting older. I'm very proud of my brother; he's very smart, extremely funny (sometimes), and loves the Lord. I certainly hope that he spends the rest of his life serving our wonderful Savior! He's starting college in August, and hopes to become a doctor. I know his plans may change, but I'm happy that he has high ambitions. I think having plans for our lives is important, though it is also important to be willing to alter those goals if God guides and directs in another way.

Happy Birthday, Christopher...  We love you!