All Tuckered Out

Levi took a nap in my arms this morning which is very unusual.  Just wanted to get a picture of the sleeping boy.  They sure look different when they are not blowing and going....

Washington DC Accomplished!!!

Thank you so much for all of you who prayed for this day.  We had a great time.  We were able to engage numerous internationals, share the gospel with them, ask to pray for them, and encourage them spiritually.  You know when you make up your mind to do something and just do it - it gets easier as you go along.  We ate at a great Ethiopian restaurant, rode the metro and accomplished all our objectives.  The only touristy thing that we even got to do was find the White House, snap a couple of pictures and literally turn around to book it to the metro so that we could get back to the bus at 5pm.  A small side note, at about 4:56pm - me, all 3 of my kids and another couple with a baby were in an elevator going up, going down - trying to find our buses.  It was a little tense for a few minutes because we were specifically told that the buses would leave at 5pm SHARP but needless to say, we got back just fine...  So enjoy the pictures...

Washington D.C. Trip is tomorrow!

Hello all! Just a reminder. Please remember to pray for our trip to DC tomorrow (Thursday, May 28th). Please pray that those whom we come into contact with will be brought closer to the Lord if not into His kingdom by something that we deliberatly say or do. Please pray for our children as it will be a full day with lots of traveling and walking around. Please pray that we will be sensitive to the Holy Spirit as we seek to intentionally interact with internationals. Pray that it will be a fun time for all!

Prayer Request

Would you join us in prayer? Jeff and I have committed to get up early in the morning so that we can have plenty of time for our quiet times. We have been getting up at about 5:15am - 5:30am. The problem is that Levi has decided to join us for these time and therefore, they are not so quiet nor are the spiritual. Would you please pray that Levi might sleep until at least 6:30am? This seems little but has been discouraging for us as we try to deepen our walk with the Lord. Thank you so very much!

The Big Green Package

The kids' wonderful Aunt Angela, MeeMee and Pawpaw sent them a big bright green box.  The girls loved getting it open and looking at all their treasures.  Levi was busy throwing a fit because he didn't get juice at the exact second that he wanted it therefore, he is not in the pictures.  Thanks so much for all the great stuff!!!

Happy 10th Anniversary to me!!!

No that is not a generic picture that I found floating on the world wide web.  That above picture is of the flowers my husband surprised me with on Friday, May 22nd which just happened to be our 10th wedding anniversary.  Didn't he do fabulous?!?!  They were beautiful and really, still are.  We were able to go out to a very nice restaurant without the children.  We had quite a few wonderful people from our quad that banded together to take care of them for us.  Thanks so much Amber, Rachel, Jeanne and Rick!!!  The restaurant was very nice but I guess the fancier and nicer you get, the less food that is placed before you.  Therefore, we had plenty of room to go to The Cheesecake Factory just for cheesecake and coffee.  It was so nice to have my own piece of cheesecake to myself....  Just so you know, I love my husband so much!!  These last ten years have been great and I'm looking forward to the next fifty years or so!!!

Please pray for our upcoming Washington, D.C. Trip

Please pray for our upcoming Washington, D.C. trip on Thursday, May 28th.  Our entire group of adults and children will divide up into small groups of 3-6 adults and descend on the nation's capital.  Our mission is to accomplish several things which include - observing an international family, identify 5 unusual smells, intentionally engage an international by assisting them in some way, eat ethnic food that we have never before eaten and bring an international closer to Christ by whatever means necessary.  Please join with us in praying for these encounters ahead of time.  Pray for our group as we will be traveling with 6 adults and 5 children - attempting to find our way through the subways and streets of D.C.  We appreciate your involvement in this very important day.  Thank you!!

SHOT DAY #2

Tomorrow will be our second shot day.  This, of course, is not a day that anyone looks forward to, most especially the children.  The kids will be getting more inoculations tomorrow than last week when they only received one.  Jeff and I don't know how many that we will get.  We both got three last week.  If you think of us around 1:15 Eastern Standard Time, please pray that this round of shots will go well and there will be minimal panic.

Hair cuts!

All 3 kids got a hair cut today.  Zoe just wanted her's trimmed, Hadassah wanted her's shorter and well, Mama and Daddy got to experiment with the hair clippers on Levi.

Just hanging out...and other stuff...

We have had a great weekend. All the kids are well. That makes for a good day any time. :) Yesterday, we went out shopping, just looking around because sadly, I really can't buy anything else because we literally have no room to put it. Jeff and I found some sunglasses and we bought the girls some shoes. Then we went to lunch at The Cheesecake Factory - my all time favorite restaurant and of course, we got my all time favorite dessert - cheesecake!!! We ordered two kinds - Turtle and a Lemon Raspberry. They were both great. We have just been hanging out today. It's so pretty outside here in Virginia. Tomorrow, we head back to class. Hopefully, with all the kids in tow.... Have a wonderful Sunday afternoon!

I just wanted to say how much I love my husband. He is so great. We will celebrate 10 years of marriage this month and I am so blessed that the Lord placed us together. Ten years has brought alot of change and we're getting ready to embark on a new adventure together but I thank the Lord each day for this wonderful man.

1 Corinthians 13: A Guide to Culture

If I wear the national dress and understand the culture and all forms of etiquette, and if I copy all mannerisms so that I could pass for a national, but have not love, I am nothing.

If I give all I possess to the poor, and if I spend my energy without reserve, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love endures long hours of language study, and is kind to those who mock his accent; love does not envy those who stayed home; love does not exalt his home culture and is not puffed up with national superiority.

Does not boast about the way we did it back home, does not seek his own way, is not easily provoked into telling about the beauty of his home country, does not think evil about the current culture.

Love bears all criticisms about his home culture, believes good things about his new culture, confidently anticipating being at home in this place and endures all inconveniences.

But we know only part of the culture and we minister to only a part.

But when Christ is reproduced in this culture, then our inadequacies will be insignificant.

When I was in America, I spoke as an American, I understood as an American, I thought as an American; but when I left America I put away American things.

Now we adapt to this culture awkwardly; but He will live in it intimately; now I speak with a strange accent, but He will speak to the heart.  

Now these three things remain - cultural adaptation, language study and love.

But the greatest of these is LOVE. 

Prayer Card Picture

This is the picture that we have chosen for our prayer cards.  With 5 people, it is just almost impossible to get a perfect shot, so this is what we ended up with.  Prayer cards to follow...

ROTAVIRUS!!!

Please pray for all of us here at ILC.  The rotavirus has attacked our campus.  There are currently about 15 people sick.  One child had to be taken to urgent care to have an i.v. put in because of dehydration.  Zoe has thrown up twice this morning but I'm praying that it is not the rotavirus.  She does not exhibit all the symptoms of rotavirus so we are hoping that it is just a stomach virus that Levi had at the beginning of this week.  I also have had a weak/uneasy stomach these last few days.

I will admit that I used to pray for these requests but at times, I just shot off a shallow prayer to soothe my conscious.  Gee, that sounds harsh, doesn't it?  But, alas, it is true.  But, praise the Lord, He is showing me that there truly is awesome power in prayer - so I ask you to beseech the Father that He will stop the spread of this illness.  Please pray that the parents will not be discouraged or depressed (that's how Satan works, ya know).  Pray that the children will get well very quickly and that God be glorified through it all.  Please pray that discouragement, anxiety and fear will be banned from our lives as we deal with this outbreak and try to continue to learn all the Lord has placed before us.  I'm counting on you!

Yorktown, VA

Main Street in Historic Yorktown, VA.

We took a trip to Yorktown, VA today.  We had a great time to get away from "The Farm" and spend some time with some new friends who are also going to Zambia.  For those of you who don't know (like me, before this trip) - Yorktown was the last significant battle of the American Revolutionary War in October 1781.  

Tomorrow we will have our small group worship (with no childcare, of course!) then tomorrow night we will worship together with the whole group here in 'Sub Sarahan African' style worship.  This is the new affinity group that Zambia falls into due to the some very recent re-visioning from the IMB.  May you have a wonderful worship time in your places of worship tomorrow!