Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Mass Advertising.

I've mentioned in the past about how funny I think it is when a tourist attraction is advertised several hours away from the actual tourist attraction. It just strikes me as... humorous. :)

Well I found a new tourist attraction to add to my list: Meramec Cavern! Now I don't recall exactly when the billboards started, but perhaps what they lacked in mileage they made up in abundance. As in many. :-) I wish I had taken a picture of the three billboards that were within close proximity of each other ~ all advertising the same thing! I'm really restraining myself because we're only 7 miles away from this cave and I feel like I should at least give it the benefit of the doubt that it's not a dud of a tourist attraction. :-)

We'll be in Missouri for the next few days at a conference, so perhaps during our spare time, we might be tempted to give in and visit well-advertised cave.

I'll keep you updated should we dare to go below... :-)

Monday, April 16, 2012

Deputation Trail ~ #2

Where to start?

I'll spare you all the details of just how pretty Pennsylvania is -- yes we did decide to take the road less traveled in western PA! -- but we have had a fantastic start to our deputation trail! We left bring and early Thursday morning - wait, 8:15 AM isn't bright and early?? :) We had the privilege of joining in on Anchor Baptist Church's third annual missions conference as well as the third anniversary of the church! We were really looking forward to being in this conference because our church was able to have a part in supporting them from the beginning! So it was neat to be with a missionary that we supported. :)

I can tell already that one thing about deputation will be hard: spending several days with a church and the families, getting to know them and interact with them, and then - moving on. Bummer! A wonderful family from Anchor housed us while we were there and they were generosity from the start. From asking what kind of foods we liked to eat to having us try snoogles, we were well taken care of!

Of course Anchor Baptist were wonderful hosts too. Each evening there was a delicious meal provided (courtesy of the ladies of the church) and we enjoyed getting to know the other church planters, missionaries, and evangelists. One of the church planters is from Maine, and we discovered that the little Baptist church we attended while on our honeymoon in Maine was started with the help of this church planter! Small world. :)

Saturday morning we got to go out on visitation and then for lunch the ladies and men split up and went out to eat. I loved the fact that the ladies of Anchor really enjoy spending time with each other and laughing! We had a great time... I keep saying that, don't I? ;)

To end the missions conference, the pastor had all the missionaries stand up front and since it was their Faith Promise Sunday, he had the church members give their faith promise commitment cards to the missionaries. That was really neat to watch the whole church family - little kids included! - come up front and give their commitment cards in. The pastor's emphasis was that all the money that comes in for Faith Promise goes directly to the missionaries.

After the noon meal, the pastor shared that the commitments doubled from last year! I was extremely thrilled for this church as they take a step of faith forward!!

We had a meeting work out for Sunday night, so we drove the hour east and really enjoyed being at Stow Falls Baptist Church. The Lord really set up this meeting for us in a neat way. When we got to the missions conference at Anchor on Thursday night, there happened to be another man there who knew the pastor at Stow Falls. After talking with my husband about our ministry, this man called the pastor up and told him about our ministry. Not ten minutes before this man called, the pastor and another man were praying about the same particular people group that we plan on working with! This church has a real heart for this people group and has a bus ministry that brings in about 100 of this people group every Sunday. We just so happened to have Sunday night available since the missions conference at Anchor ended with an afternoon service. Isn't God good?!?!

Stow Falls was extremely welcoming and friendly and I just loved the singing... I felt like I was back at my home church. :) After the service, there was a fellowship (which had already been planned - details only the Lord works out!) so we were able to visit with some people. This church graciously put us up in a hotel and the pastor said we could meet for lunch, not breakfast at an insane hour of 8 AM or something like that. ;) We were really appreciative of having the opportunity to get a good night of rest and just s-l-o-w down from the marathon it feels like we've been running. :D Of course the bonus for this hotel was having a breakfast provided, so we made sure to take advantage of that!

So that's just part one of Deputation Trail #2! We still have five weeks in this trip so I'm sure there will be many more updates along the way. ;)

Monday, April 9, 2012

From Trip To Trip.

Nat and I just returned from a quick trip to Long Island and we decided to pack a lot into the 24-hour trip... just because. :-) Actually, the most exciting adventure was driving through New York City ~ traffic at its best! We did discover that you don't have to pay to use the Holland Tunnel... if you're leaving the city. That was a nice surprise since tunnels, bridges, and sometimes just existing seem to cost a bunch of bucks!

Long Island Baptist Church was a very gracious host and we felt welcomed from the start! I've known several of the ladies there through the blogging world for a long time, so it was so nice to finally meet them in person. :-) After the service we went out to eat with a dear, dear couple and thoroughly enjoyed our time visiting and fellowshipping with them. Heaven gets sweeter all the time as I meet new friends ~ just think, no more good-byes in Heaven!

This morning we went way out on Long Island to a place called Riverhead where a new church is being started by Long Island Baptist Church. It was exciting to hear the pastor talk about the area and the growth the church has personally seen. The needs are everywhere and the great thing is God is at work!

So it was a quick trip, but we really had a great time and now it's on to the next trip. I just realized tonight that we *are* leaving in two days for a 6-week trip and I should start packing and getting things ready! Between now and then are two very full days, including an ultrasound for peanut!

Some how, some way it will all come together.... it always does. :-)

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Home.... But Not For Long!

It was a good week to travel... don't we look so happy?!? :D

I must say, this was one of the best trips I have taken with teens; we really had a great time:). We even got sleep on the bus, which is practically a miracle! It helped that the boys were in the front of the bus this time, so we didn't hear most of the noise;). The only down side to sitting in the back of the bus was the blaring music. Apparently you can barely hear the music up front because of the engine noise, so that means the volume gets turned waaaaaaay up until they can hear it. Bad news for the back because the level goes from comfortable to unbearable. Thankfully the Lord gave grace, especially when anyone had a headache. :)

The thing I was most concerned/terrified about with this trip was stopping the bus just so I could go to the restroom. I'm happy to report that I only stopped the bus once each time, going and coming! Of course I was at the front of the line for every other rest stop but that's just a given when you have an expectant lady on board;).

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This week I reach the halfway point in my pregnancy! It has seriously flown by and I would like to know how to slow the days down a bit. :D I finally bought two maternity skirts, but I'm grateful I can still fit in my normal clothes. :) Peanut/peanutella has been giving some light kicks, especially when I'm going to sleep at night. We go in next Tuesday for our ultrasound appointment and we're looking forward to that!

As for preparing for this baby, we have exactly two things, both of which were given to us - a stroller/car seat combo and a couple of gender neutral outfits and that's it. :)

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We are planning on leaving in just over a week for a 6-week trip (deputation #2). During this time, we hope to see some family and friends-that-are-like-family as well as being in some new (to us!) churches. Much to do before we leave, but we're looking forward to this trip and what the Lord has in store for us!