This week has been long already! And it's only Thursday. Sunday night we went to Miranda's church, Lakeview Baptist Church in Peoria, AZ, and had a really great time. We went to the Pastor's house (Bro. Crichton) for pizza and fellowship and had a good time laughing about funny and crazy things we used to do. The Pastor and his wife are so sweet and you can tell they love Miranda as much as we do. I am so thankful for them that they took my request for them to take care of Miranda seriously. It would've been easier to forget about it and not worry about picking her up, letting her fall by the wayside. But they continued to pick her up and keep track of her for the last 1 1/2 years.
Monday morning we picked Miranda up and went to the mall. We only had the morning since she had track practice at one, so we couldn't really do anything fun like the zoo or a museum. By the time we got there and got in we would've only had 2 hours to do anything before we had to head back. So we just walked around the mall and goofed around. I got texting on my phone (YAY!!!) so we drove Caleb crazy by texting each other while walking next to each other. It was sad when we had to take her home, but I'm glad we got to spend a little bit of time with her!
Monday night was the first night of the Global Independent Baptist Fellowship. We aren't a part of the fellowship, but Bro. Randolph (the Pastor of the church that was hosting it) said we could put up our display anyway. We figured, hey, free advertising, right?! Plus a lot of our friends were going to be there including my Pastor I had growing up and my Youth Pastor. It was really, really, incredibly good to see them! They both had such an influence on my life and I'm so thankful for them. My Pastor always had a heart for kids and youth and making sure we had a youth leader that would take us to camp and things. I know that he took teens to camp when there was nobody else and I know that not many Pastors would do that! My youth Pastor, Doug Taylor, was also very special to me. He gave his heart to us teens and gave us his all. He was always quick to correct us in a loving way, but he was never overbearing, from what I remember. He married Caleb and me and he was the one that was always pushing us together! When we were working with the youth I found myself thinking "What would Doug do" very often! I know he gave his all to us and I'm thankful for that, I always will be. I love you, Doug!! (Mr. Taylor, sorry)
The meeting lasted through Wednesday night and although it was exhausted, it was fun. The preaching was all excellent, the church was very good to us with meals and coupons, and I always love seeing my friends from college! It is such a blessing to see people you went to school with serving the Lord just like you are. It's an encouragement and also a reminder that you need to be faithful, so you can be an encouragement to them. We had good fellowship, good food, and good preaching. What more can a Baptist ask for?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Family Emergency
Before we left for Arizona we had a little family emergency. A member of our family was dropped and broke her arm. She's okay now, Caleb was able to tape her arm back together even though the plastic band that is supposed to hold it on broke.
Okay, I'll be serious. Kayla's favorite doll, Jean, was dropped and her arm broke. Kayla cried for no less than 40 minutes and wouldn't let anyone touch Jean! She was holding the broken off arm in one hand and cradling Jean in the arm while laying face-down on her bed wailing and lamenting. I called my mom because I had no idea what to do. Let her cry it out? Try to console her? Make her stop screaming and crying? All I could think about was a time when I was 12 and I got in really big trouble for doing something really stupid. I cried for hours I think, because I was disappointed in myself. So I called my mom to see what to do and we talked about it. Eventually Kayla came out of her room and talked to Grandma. I don't know what Grandma said, but it worked!
Kayla let Caleb (our in-house doctor) tape up the arm and put it in a cast. We have to get a different kind of tape to make it a permanent fix, but she has a good temporary cast. Kayla was feeling much better afterward but decided to leave Jean at home to recover and brought a different doll with her to Arizona. We're hoping Jean will be stable enough to travel again when we get home in April. Kayla would appreciate your prayers on this matter!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
I have been so remiss in updating this. We don't have internet very often and when we do, it's only for an hour or so and I hate writing in a rush!! Last time I left off we were headed for Arkansas so I'll start there!
We were supposed to leave Monday afternoon I think the 26th of January? Not sure of the exact date. But, a huge ice storm moved into Oklahoma on its way to Arkansas, so we would have been following a huge ice storm the whole way there. We decided not to go, and delayed it for that weekend. We left on Saturday and when we got there found out we were staying in a nice Missions Apartment about an hour away. I am so sorry, I can't remember any town names. This is why I hate writing in a rush!! The church where Caleb was working needed toilets and vanities put in, hot water heater put in, and a water fountain. They were also working on getting the painting done and carpet in. The Pastor was really nice and we all had a good time. They didn't get all the work done by Tuesday morning like they wanted, but I believe they were able to meet in their new building that Sunday which was a huge blessing. They had been meeting in a train depot and they had to set up and take down for each service.
We left there Tuesday afternoon and got back to Oklahoma late Tuesday night. Wednesday we did laundry, packed and cleaned up. We had to get ready to be gone for two months! Thursday we left a lot later than we wanted, we didn't leave Mustang until almost noon and we had a ten hour drive ahead of us. But the drive went well and we ended up in Albuquerque, NM late that night. We stayed in a Missions Apartment there at Rio Grande Baptist Church. It was a nice facility and it was free, so that made it better! We are so incredibly thankful for Missions Apartments, words can't describe what a huge blessing they are to Missionaries! They save us so much money and enable us to do so much more than we normally would be able to do. I think every church should try to have one in their church, even if it's one room with a bed and microwave!
Friday we traveled to Prescott, AZ and we're staying in a Missions Apartment there at Valley Baptist Church. The church bought an actual house that they turned into an apartment in the Master Bedroom area, and the rest is classrooms and a fellowship hall. They then turned the shop outside into the sanctuary. It's at a great location and it's so beautiful here! I never knew that Arizona had mountains and it's unbelievable pretty here. It started snowing Sunday and snowed all through Tuesday morning and so the kids had a great time building snowmen, snowforts and having a snowball fight! The weather is warm, in the 30s-40s, but the snow isn't melting. It's perfect play outside in the snow weather!
Saturday we met Bro. Ikenberry at his church, Faith Baptist Church in Prescott Valley, to do visitation. It was fun to do that again, a surprisingly large amount of churches don't do visitation anymore, or just the Pastor does it. It was good to see a church that was concerned for its neighbors and those around them! That afternoon we went to a birthday party (I promise we were invited!) where Caleb thoroghly insulted the hostess by suggesting she turn her goats into summer sausage and jerky. She firmly said "We don't eat family members" and glared. They were both joking about it and had a good time, but what made it even funnier was that the Pastor suggested to Caleb that he tell her that goats make good jerky! He was totally set up by the Pastor. We played a game where you kind of needed to know people, and Caleb ended up winning, how strange is that? He's good at reading people I guess.
That Sunday we were with that church in Prescott Valley and had a great time. The church is very sweet and loving, and we felt like we fit right in. Caleb taught the teen class for Sunday School, I played an offetory and he sang a special for morning church, and then he preached for night service. I think things went well and the Spirit moved. It was a refreshingly relaxed and loving church, not something you find often out on the road.
On Wednesday we were with Tim Larkly in Cottonwood, AZ. Caleb knew him in college and hasn't seem him since, so it was good to see him. He's married now and his wife is so sweet and fun, we had a good time. They have two adorable kids and our kids had a good time being rascals together.
This Sunday we're going to be in the church with the Missions Apartment (Valley Baptist) in the morning and then in the evening we're going to Peoria, AZ (in Phoenix) and we're going to see MIRANDA!!! She's a girl that was in our youth group a couple years ago. She was saved at a youth rally she went to because her friend made her, and she was such a blessing to us. She was over at our house almost every weekend and she was my best friend, even though we were ten years apart. It was really hard for both of us when her Dad got a job in Arizona two years ago, but I am so excited to see her again. She was faithful enough to find a good church in her area that would come pick her up (her mom wouldn't take her to church) and her Pastor says she's a faithful person in the church. It will be so good to see her again, I always call her my mini-me.
After that we'll be staying in a Missions Apartment in the Phoenix area and I am praying with all my heart that they have internet!! I know that's so vain and carnal of me, but it's a desire of my heart! My pregnancy is going really well now. I'm about 6 months along and I'm in that final stage where I'm always uncomfortable and feeling huge. But at least I'm not sick anymore and the baby kicking reminds me that he's still there and still healthy! It's such a relief to not have to wonder if the baby's okay, to just be able to feel it moving and know it's okay. God is so good to give us worrying moms that peace of mind! We still don't know what it is yet, boy or girl. We might find out in April, if I can get an ultrasound. We're trying to get our insurance things worked out and see if anyone will cover it. I'm almost to the point where I don't care! We've waited this long, what's the point in finding out now?! But then I see cute baby stuff in the store and I feel the need to HAVE TO KNOW because I want to buy stuff!!!! Whether that be cute little pink fluffly socks or little suits. But, God will provide when I need it!
We were supposed to leave Monday afternoon I think the 26th of January? Not sure of the exact date. But, a huge ice storm moved into Oklahoma on its way to Arkansas, so we would have been following a huge ice storm the whole way there. We decided not to go, and delayed it for that weekend. We left on Saturday and when we got there found out we were staying in a nice Missions Apartment about an hour away. I am so sorry, I can't remember any town names. This is why I hate writing in a rush!! The church where Caleb was working needed toilets and vanities put in, hot water heater put in, and a water fountain. They were also working on getting the painting done and carpet in. The Pastor was really nice and we all had a good time. They didn't get all the work done by Tuesday morning like they wanted, but I believe they were able to meet in their new building that Sunday which was a huge blessing. They had been meeting in a train depot and they had to set up and take down for each service.
We left there Tuesday afternoon and got back to Oklahoma late Tuesday night. Wednesday we did laundry, packed and cleaned up. We had to get ready to be gone for two months! Thursday we left a lot later than we wanted, we didn't leave Mustang until almost noon and we had a ten hour drive ahead of us. But the drive went well and we ended up in Albuquerque, NM late that night. We stayed in a Missions Apartment there at Rio Grande Baptist Church. It was a nice facility and it was free, so that made it better! We are so incredibly thankful for Missions Apartments, words can't describe what a huge blessing they are to Missionaries! They save us so much money and enable us to do so much more than we normally would be able to do. I think every church should try to have one in their church, even if it's one room with a bed and microwave!
Friday we traveled to Prescott, AZ and we're staying in a Missions Apartment there at Valley Baptist Church. The church bought an actual house that they turned into an apartment in the Master Bedroom area, and the rest is classrooms and a fellowship hall. They then turned the shop outside into the sanctuary. It's at a great location and it's so beautiful here! I never knew that Arizona had mountains and it's unbelievable pretty here. It started snowing Sunday and snowed all through Tuesday morning and so the kids had a great time building snowmen, snowforts and having a snowball fight! The weather is warm, in the 30s-40s, but the snow isn't melting. It's perfect play outside in the snow weather!
Saturday we met Bro. Ikenberry at his church, Faith Baptist Church in Prescott Valley, to do visitation. It was fun to do that again, a surprisingly large amount of churches don't do visitation anymore, or just the Pastor does it. It was good to see a church that was concerned for its neighbors and those around them! That afternoon we went to a birthday party (I promise we were invited!) where Caleb thoroghly insulted the hostess by suggesting she turn her goats into summer sausage and jerky. She firmly said "We don't eat family members" and glared. They were both joking about it and had a good time, but what made it even funnier was that the Pastor suggested to Caleb that he tell her that goats make good jerky! He was totally set up by the Pastor. We played a game where you kind of needed to know people, and Caleb ended up winning, how strange is that? He's good at reading people I guess.
That Sunday we were with that church in Prescott Valley and had a great time. The church is very sweet and loving, and we felt like we fit right in. Caleb taught the teen class for Sunday School, I played an offetory and he sang a special for morning church, and then he preached for night service. I think things went well and the Spirit moved. It was a refreshingly relaxed and loving church, not something you find often out on the road.
On Wednesday we were with Tim Larkly in Cottonwood, AZ. Caleb knew him in college and hasn't seem him since, so it was good to see him. He's married now and his wife is so sweet and fun, we had a good time. They have two adorable kids and our kids had a good time being rascals together.
This Sunday we're going to be in the church with the Missions Apartment (Valley Baptist) in the morning and then in the evening we're going to Peoria, AZ (in Phoenix) and we're going to see MIRANDA!!! She's a girl that was in our youth group a couple years ago. She was saved at a youth rally she went to because her friend made her, and she was such a blessing to us. She was over at our house almost every weekend and she was my best friend, even though we were ten years apart. It was really hard for both of us when her Dad got a job in Arizona two years ago, but I am so excited to see her again. She was faithful enough to find a good church in her area that would come pick her up (her mom wouldn't take her to church) and her Pastor says she's a faithful person in the church. It will be so good to see her again, I always call her my mini-me.
After that we'll be staying in a Missions Apartment in the Phoenix area and I am praying with all my heart that they have internet!! I know that's so vain and carnal of me, but it's a desire of my heart! My pregnancy is going really well now. I'm about 6 months along and I'm in that final stage where I'm always uncomfortable and feeling huge. But at least I'm not sick anymore and the baby kicking reminds me that he's still there and still healthy! It's such a relief to not have to wonder if the baby's okay, to just be able to feel it moving and know it's okay. God is so good to give us worrying moms that peace of mind! We still don't know what it is yet, boy or girl. We might find out in April, if I can get an ultrasound. We're trying to get our insurance things worked out and see if anyone will cover it. I'm almost to the point where I don't care! We've waited this long, what's the point in finding out now?! But then I see cute baby stuff in the store and I feel the need to HAVE TO KNOW because I want to buy stuff!!!! Whether that be cute little pink fluffly socks or little suits. But, God will provide when I need it!
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