Happenings

Wow, how time goes by so fast. It is just over a month now that I will be heading back out to Guatemala. I am very excited about this trip. I am looking forward to spending time with Ashley. She is the young lady who I met when I went down there the first time. She is an American, who just turned 21 last week, and she has lived down there for 2 years now, and she is so on fire for God. Her passion is to spread the Word to all of the people down there who don't know about the love of Jesus yet. She is doing a wonderful job, and she is also very fun to be around. I plan to take as much clothing down there with me that I can, and she and I will go around to the places that have the most need, and give it out. I am also taking some Spanish Bibles with me to give out to those who need/want them. The last time I was there, we had a whole bunch of Bibles and they went so fast. Everyone wanted them. I wish I could take a whole bunch with me this time, but space is limited, and since I am going alone, there is only so much stuff one person is allowed to take, even when you are paying for the extra bags, they will only allow me to take 3 extras.

If anyone wants to help out, I am still in need of used clothing, that is still in good shape. I really need kids and teens sized clothing, boy and girls. I have adult male and female clothing and I have baby boy clothing but am lacking the inbetween sizes. If you have any that you want to donate, please let me know asap. I need to start packing the bags to see how much I will be able to take with me.

ALSO....some of you know about the REC that I worked back a few months ago. I was playing drums for the music team. Well, I just got a call today asking if I want to play drums for the next women's Emmaus Walk, which is in September. I said yes, and am very excited about playing drums for that. So, I will have a very busy next few months between getting ready and going to Guatemala, and practicing for and going to meetings for the Emmaus Walk, and then the weekend of the walk. But, it will all be exciting and I will enjoy spreading the joy of God!

By the way, if you want to see what kinds of stuff Ashley is doing in Guatemala, I have a link to her blog on mine. Just click on her name.

Coincidence? I don't think so....

For the past few days, Mike and I have had something weight on our hearts, and we needed to discuss an issue with someone. We had a couple of different ways we could go about this, but we were just not sure which way to go about it. I prayed about it over and over, and just really wanted to do the right thing. Mike and I were trying to think of someone who we trusted who we could talk to about it, without that person being really around here, and therefore potentially close to the situation, because it involved other people and we did not want to give any private information away. Mike mentioned that he thought we should call Pastor Steve, which was a good idea. Well, Monday afternoon, Mike and I were at Taco Bell in New Albany, and who did we run into? Pastor Steve and Mariana! They were just passing through the area on their way north to see their family, and they decided to stop at Taco Bell for a bite to eat. We were able to talk with them and they prayed with us regarding the situation, and we were all ready to do what we needed to do. We felt confident that we were going to handle it well, and we did. Coincedence? I don't think so..............answered prayer? Definately!

I have struggled with prayer somewhat in the last several months, so it was refreshing to see a prayer answered so blatantly and obviously.

Baby Jake

Today, Mike and I got to babysit for my best friend's baby, Jake. He is such a sweet, cute, and good baby! He was two months old on Saturday, and he is just the best baby. He did not cry once the entire day! It was a fun, relaxing day today, playing with, cuddling with, and even snoozing with little Jake!

Memorial Day

Mike and I went to my mom and pop's house on Memorial Day in the afternoon/evening. We roasted hot dogs and made smores on the fire. It was fun...but it really got fun when Pop got out the 4 wheeler. It had been a while since I had gotten to ride it, but what really made it fun was that my two nieces wanted to ride with me. There is nothing better than getting to share something that I really love to do with my little nieces. At first, my three year old niece was ready to hop on with me right away. She was loving it. I think she will grow up to be like me, because she not only likes the 4 wheeler, but she also enjoys playing drums, and she seems to like a lot of other things that I like. We tried to get my older niece, 10, to ride, and she did not want to at first, but after watching us ride for a while she decided to ride too. So, I got to take both of them around and around and around..........they did not want to quit once we got started! Here are some pics and video for you to enjoy. It was a good time, not only with the girls but also with the rest of my family. I always enjoy hanging out with my family. Oh, and for those of you who cringe seeing a kid riding on a four wheeler........I want to assure you that I stayed between 6-8 miles per hour and stayed in the relatively flat, obstacle free yard. No crazy driving with the kiddos on there!!

WoW!!

I think my title about says it all! I spent this past weekend in jail. No, I was not taken there by someone else, I went there on my own will...or maybe I should say on God's Will. I was working a REC, which stands for Residents Encounter Christ. I blogged about it a few weeks ago. I was the drummer in the praise band that did the worship while we were in there, but as it ended up, I did so much more than play drums.

Let me go back just a bit. This was basically a three day retreat for the ladys of the Clark County jail. There were 39 ladies in the jail as of last weekend, and while they were given the choice of attending or not, 38 of them choose to attend. The Major at the jail said that he has never seen that high of attendence for any other REC or other meetings that have gone on there. That was a true blessing. Also, after getting to know some of the residents, I truly feel like each one was there for a reason. I heard stories like one lady missed the bus to prison, and if she had made the bus, she would not have been there for this REC. I heard others that were supposed to be somewhere else for different other reasons, but yet they were there, and got to be at the REC. Also, we were scheduled to do the REC three weeks sooner, but it was post-poned, and there were a few ladies who I talked to who had only been there for a few days, and would not have been there if we had it earlier. So, just some instances to show that God does things for a reason. There were some ladies who were there, and who definately were impacted in a big way, and had the REC not been that exact weekend, they would have more than likely missed it. Oh, and there was one lady in particular who was hugely impacted for Christ, and she got out the next day! You would never be able to convince me that she was not there, in that place, at that exact time, for a purpose.

Esther 4:14For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"


I have mentioned to my friend who was also working the REC that since I have been home, it has actually been a bit frustrating trying to tell people about it, because I just don't have any words to use that can accurately express just how awesome an experience this was. When I talk about what went on, and what I saw, heard, and experienced, my words fail to come even close to comparing to what an impact that this had on me. However, I do want to share a few things, because it is just too amazing to keep to myself.

The first time we met the residents we were playing an upbeat praise and worship song, with the rest of the team singing. The ladies came in and I watched their faces. Many came in with huge smiles, some joined right in with singing, and/or clapping their hands, some danced a little bit, others gazed around the room, curious and smiling, while others did not smile, but looked around the room just to take it all in. I am sure that some really did not want to be there, but choose to be there just because it was something different to do with their day. Those are the ones I was looking for, because those are the ones who I felt we could have the biggest impact on. Later that night I found one. I will call her.......Angie. (Not her real name) I watched Angie the whole weekend. I saw her rolling her eyes, sitting like she was bored out of her gourd, snickering at a few things, etc. I prayed for her. Do you know, on the last day, when the ladies were being taken to a different room for the ending stuff that we did, as she passed me, she hugged me and thanked me for being there. I had not actually talked to her that weekend. Others had I am sure, but I had only watched her from a far and prayed. Also, she said later....not just to me but to a group, that she did not believe in (our) God coming into this weekend. She figured that there was something out there but she did not believe in God as we know Him, but now she is beginning to believe that maybe there is something to it (God, religion, etc.) Wow...how amazing is that? I mean, she was not down on her knees calling out to God, or accepting Christ, but still...........we all have to start somewhere! How cool is that?

Ok, this blog is already going on too long, but I just have so much to share. So, I will share a bit more. How about talking intensely to a sweet, sweet, young lady, who has anger and abandonment issues. I was actually just walking around the room, to each lady, showing some love, and I ended up with her. She was having a hard time allowing us to "love" on her. She felt like she was not worthy of it. She told me she is a mean person, and she does not deserve for us to be nice to her. Also, as it was Sunday, our last day there, she was also upset saying that everyone always leaves her, and we were going to be leaving her later that day. Wow.......how sad. I did get to talk to her for a while there, and a long story short, she finally agreed that she would start to let go of her anger, and pray, and read the scriptures. I did not have a good answer about me leaving, because of course I had to leave, but I told her that she would be in my prayers and that I am not really leaving, I just cannot physically stay there in the jail with her. I encouraged her to write to me, because I want to continue to commuicate to her what a loving and forgiving God we have, and that He never will leave her.


Or...visualize this. We are in a concrete room, the residents, and the REC team. We have just listened to one of the leaders speak, I cannot even remember right now what it was about.......and then this lady, with a beautiful, strong voice (a team member) starts singing Amazing Grace....accapella. One by one, everyone starts standing until everyone in the room is standing. The residents are singing out loud and strong.....everyone has their arms around those close to them...it was just so powerful. I had to stop singing a few times just to listen, partly because I wanted to hear how awesome it sounded, and partly because of that lump in my throat!

Well, I could go on and on and on, but this blog is pretty long already. I would be more than happy to share more with anyone who asks. A side note, this REC is a part of the Emmaus program. If you have ever been on an Emmaus walk, I would encourage you to check into being part of a REC team. It is an awesome experience. And, if you have never been on an Emmaus walk, I want to encourage you to talk to me about that, and I would be happy to sponsor you to go on one. It is a time for you to focus on your relationship with Jesus, and it also helps foster Christians to become strong leaders, so it benefits your church as well. There are some really awesome things that go on.......which is why I might have been a bit vague in my blog about some of the specific things we did, but, if you ever experience an Emmaus Walk you will be blessed!

Video from Henry's Ark

See other blog below for more Henry's Ark photos.

Fun with Carly

This past Friday evening, Mike and I got to enjoy spending some time with our young friend Carly. We picked her up at school and went to Aldi's to get some fresh vegetables, fruits, and crackers, and headed out to Henry's Ark over in Prospect Kentucky. This is a personally owned zoo that has a variety of animals that you can pet and feed. Many of these animals have been rescued from less than favorable situations, so many of them have weird oddities to them, but they are all very friendly and they love it when you have good food to give them. I have added some pictures at the bottom of the post for you to enjoy.

Besides going to pet and see the animals, we really had an enjoyable time getting to talk with Carly and catch up on what all she has been doing lately. After the zoo we went out to dinner and then to a bonfire to hang out for a while.

Mike and I both are very blessed by the time we get to spend with our high schoolers at church, and really enjoy getting to have special time with them outside of church. For you high schoolers reading my posts.........we'd like to spend time with you too! It is hard to get to know all of you at church but any of you who want to hang out with us outside of church, just let us know. We'd love to find things that you like to do and spend time with you as well.

Enjoy the animal pictures below! Oh, and by the way.......Carly and Mike seem to think that the ostriches want to attach, but as you can see by the picture towards the bottom, they really just want some crackers and some love!