Today is the day! It's off to Romania

Oh it is so cool. Me and about 16 others hit the skies toward Romania today. I'm pretty pumped! I've never been on a trip like this before. I will be with some pretty amazing people, including my niece Kayla. This is her first trip of this sort as well. God has really been preparing me and I'm so looking forward to what He is gonna do. I'm very interested to see the real reason why I'm going. If that sounds strange, it's because I have felt that God was gonna do some very unexpected things with me through this trip. I don't know for sure yet what will come of this in my life but I'm so thankful I'm getting to do it.

Please remember to pray for my peeps back home. Macie, 8, and Cody, 10 will be with their dad the whole time. This is a huge peace for me and I think they are quite relieved as well. They have not seemed anxious at all. Macie started getting a puny spirit last night but she also had been sick.

I'm praying that God will sustain their spirits and tremendously bless the time they have with Dad.

For Jeff, I'm praying that he will fully enjoy the children and have some much needed R/R over the 10 days. I think the time off will do him good and refresh him a bit. It has been a busy summer.

I'm praying that they all stay well and God protects them from any harm, for me as well.

For me, I pray that I don't have any issues that would get in the way of my ministering to the Romania people. I'm hopeful that I don't have any moments of anxiety, no migraines, or emotional collapses (from missing my babies). These are things that would interrupt my work and Satan would love that.

Lastly, pray please for the the Romanians. From what I've learned, they need to know the Father's love and the freedom that is found in Him.

Thank you for remembering this whole event in your prayers. Looking forward to sharing all that God does!!

Happy Birthday Puddin'

Yes, Today is Jeff's birthday!!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love him? Yeah, it's crazy love. My love for him is constantly increasing. The longer we are together, the better it gets!

I know I have talked before about some of the reasons why I'm so in love with my husband, but I have a new example today. I'm leaving for Romania in 2 days and for the past couple of weeks I have been fighting with migraines, the first in my life. Well yesterday was the worst yet.

So this morning when he got up, he went immediately to prayer, praying for me for 40 mins.

My husband has carried me through so many trying times. He is such a source of strength and comfort for me.

When you know your husband is praying over you like that, it totally wraps you in peace.

So I want to celebrate him today, for his goodness, his servant heart, his loyalty, and his godliness.

I love you babe!!

John 10

Did you know that once you confess Jesus as Lord of your life, you are counted as 1 of His sheep and can never be snatched from His hand? Isn't that a great truth to understand?

This week I have been studying John ch 10. Wow, its packed with treasure! If you haven't looked at it before, stop now and go read it. It will bless you so much.

Normally I try to put the scripture on the blog, but I just couldn't narrow it down enough. I couldn't condense it and still honor it the way it should be.

So I'll try my best to capture the diamonds in this mine, known as John 10.

Vs 7 Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep."

Before this comment Jesus had been telling the Jews that he who tried to enter by ways other than the door to the sheep were thieves and robbers. In other words, many try to gain access to heaven by ways that don't include faith in Jesus. But, to those who enter through the door would be led in by the shepherd (the doorkeeper, the door itself) to join the flock. He also explains that the flock follow Him because they know His voice and He calls them by name.

V 9 says that any who enter through Him will be saved. It is only by Jesus that you can be saved. The beautiful thing about that is heaven is not dependent on you. Jesus carries the key, you only have to believe that He is it.

V 10 says He came to give abundant life. Abundant life........if access to heaven isn't rewarding enough, He offers abundant life.

Friends, I don't have everything I want. My life is not always easy and there's not always peace around me. If you know me well at all you know the struggles my family has experienced. But, I can claim this: there is peace within. What greater gift, in this world, can a person have than peace? I have an abundant hope because of my relationship with Christ. I have that because, as vs 11 says, He laid down His life for me.

Now vss 14, 27, and 28 are probably my favorite. Vs 14 calls Jesus the Good Shepherd and says that He knows His own and His own know Him. He doesn't just know about you. He knows you inside and out, all the intricacies of your being. And if you re a believer, you can know Him the same.

Vs 27 says that you will know His voice and be able to follow Him. Jesus is not a mystery. It's a relationship and it brings a revelation of all that God is. And the best part of all is found in vs 28: He gives them (the sheep, believers) eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of His hand! That is security and stability at its finest!

Please search the scripture for yourselves and let God remind you of how precious you are to Him.

My Baby is 10

Oh my goodness, I can't believe Cody is 10 years old. Yep, today is his birthday, he's double digits now. Whoa!! Where has the time gone?

We are so very proud of Cody. Here is a list of amazing things about him:

Very imaginative: doesn't need to be entertained much, he can handle it by himself, and often chooses alone time to enjoy his own creative juices.

Definitely tenderhearted: is moved by the injustices around him and tends to separate himself from things that are obviously unrighteous. He internalizes everything and his heart becomes heavy easily. I pray God uses this to make him one who stands for what is right.

Wholly family oriented: he thrives on family activities, even if its just sitting together crackin up at Wipeout.

Godly: I do not say this pridefully. He loves the Lord, and the word. It is like a gift he has. He is drawn to Christianity and the day to day living out of one's faith. It is inspirational to us. He is quite the example to us all.

Repentant: When Cody messes up, he is truly brokenhearted over it. He does not do well when something isn't right between he and someone else and will often punish himself before we have a chance to.

Loving: Oh my, he is such a good brother to MayMay. Yeah, he aggravates her and sometimes treats her unfairly, but his goodness towards her far outweighs any wrong.

His Daddy's son: Other than the godly aspect, this is my favorite. He is just like Jeff. Same heart, same compassion, same servant qualities as his dad. It is such a blessing to me.

Talented: We are really starting to see his gift for music. He has been working at piano for a bit now, but he recently took on learning guitar. I pray he uses whatever talents God develops in him to bring Him glory.

So, we are so blessed to be Cody's parents. What a blessing he is to the world! We love you Cody. Happy Birthday!!

Miscellaneous What Nots

Hi Everyone,
I haven't posted much in the past week because I have been dealing with migraines. The first in my life. Not sure why I'm getting them but it really stinks!

The pics above are 2 of my sweet blessings. My friend Matt took them. If you think they are as great as I do check out his website: www.mattbryantphotography.com.

I wanted to throw a little shout out for my SS class. I had a get together at my house for them last Sat. I was so blessed to have them here. I was so proud for them even coming, we had a great crowd and they are so easy to be around. Sometimes they act ridiculous but they are such great kids and they don't really demand that much from me. I have been with this particular group for 2 years now and I can't imagine not being their teacher. I love em all so much!

So, we had a bad storm earlier this week which I think parked right over my house. Now, we have to get a new roof. How exciting.

Other needs we currently have:
a riding lawn mower (Jeff's knees are shot)
a desktop computer (our laptop bit the dust)

So, if anyone knows where we could get these for a very reasonable cost please advise!

Next random thought......I leave for Romania in less than 2 weeks. I'm gonna selfishly make a list of prayer request:
1. safe travel (I know that's obvious)
2. peace for me as I am far away from my family for 10 days. I am especially praying that I don't have any anxiety problems while I'm away
3. that the migraines have stopped, this is day 8 of them
4. most of all that I will be able to really focus on why God has me there, to serve Him.

so thanks for any prayers you lift on my behalf!

Praying for Kate

Please visit the blog on my blog list titled "What I learned from the word today". You will find a video from parents of a 5 year old who needs our prayers. Lets all be praying for this family. Just imagine if she was yours.....