Ramblings...

It's so hard to say Goodbye... But I think that Chris and I have gotten relatively accustomed to it. I was doing so good, UNTIL... at the airport, Marie gave me a Scrapbook that she and others had made! Each page was an Awesome Note and pictures and memories... So Precious to me!! Caleb even got one from Kaylee, with all of their pictures together in it. He combed through each page as if he was scanning each square millimeter for reprinting. We left a place we cherish and a place that has DEFINED us for the past 3 years. 3 years... seems like a small number. 1095 days... minus the summers... I am NOT going to actually calculate every day... but that does seem to make it seem a bit more significant. We feel as if to so many people, we were gone but a blink... a short whisper. And I guess it would.
But I feel like I could re-live each day, in full color, Like the first girls' sleepover. I was nervous, I asked Laura to stay with me, because I didn't know the girls SUPER well, as we'd only been in Brasilia for 6 weeks. I had planned every hour, with back up plans too.... But it totally didn't matter... we laughed, talked, goofed off, played a couple of games, watched a movie, then when it was about bed time... we SWAM in our clothes at 2 AM!! The neighbors even referenced the late Hour the next Sunday at church!! LOL!! But... what I hadn't prepared for... was the morning! I just KNEW the girls would sleep in!! Right?!?! NOPE... they were up at 7am (after sleeping only 3 hours) and wondering what the day had in store!! We ended up at the Amusement park for a few hours of fun... before all of us folded in dehydration at 4pm!! I still remember that MASSIVE headache from no sleep, little fluids, and being spun in every rotational direction possible!!! Ahh... sweet memories! I remember Chris's first guys sleepover too! So many memories... so many kids. I wish there was a way to actually COUNT the number of kids who have been in our house! Or... even more so... RIDDEN in our CAR!! *We've always packed them in at least 2 deep in the back seat with Caleb on top! Often having at least one on the armrest in the front, or (if a girl) on my lap! *I'm secretly hoping whoever is thinking of buying our car isn't reading this post!!!* My sweet Pandu named our car "The Ghetto Mobile!" *In a GOOD Way!* I still remember how to get to EACH and EVERY kid's house! I can even quote most of their cell numbers, even though they were all programmed in my phone. Most would call collect, as they NEVER had credits! ... so many memories... I'll miss their hugs. and smiles. and laughter. I know that the Lord has AWESOME plans for each of them... I know HE loves them even more than Chris or I do! That is Incredibly Reassuring!!

My prayer for them is... ick... so many of them. How do I narrow my prayers, hopes, and greatest desires for their lives?? TO BE FULLY DEVOTED TO HIM! ... AND ... each of them has such a special place in my heart... each of them has unique gifts, and unique promise, and unique beauty.

I guess if I had to BLANKET statement all of them, I'd put them under the blankets of the Key Verses we used for the past 3 retreats... that would be a Start, I guess.

Ephesians 6: 10 - 14 - Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to Stand Your Ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Hebrews 4: 14 - 16 - Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, Let Us Hold Firmly (to The ROCK) to the faith we profess. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

Proverbs 4: 20 - 27 - Above all else, Guard Your Heart (Bulletproof), for it is the wellspring of life.

Merry Christmas!

For to us a child is born,

to us a Son is given,

and the government will be on His shoulders.

And He will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.

Goodbye's

Yuck! Goodbye's are NOT fun.... Not at all. I don't like them, I don't like them Sam-I-Am!

We've had to spend the last couple of weeks saying Goodbye! Goodbye to our Kids that we love.... Goodbye to the Church that we love... Goodbye to the School that we have served in diligently for 3 years... Goodbye to Great Friends that seem more like Family... Goodbye to places that have deep meaning and memories... Goodbye to a lifestyle...

Thankfully we are NOT saying Goodbye to our Memories, to our Hearts, or to our Fond Thoughts of this incredible Country. We are saying GOODBYE only in a physical sense, but certainly not in an emotional sense.

We know that we carry with us small parts of the dear students that we have poured our lives into... and we know that we leave small parts of our hearts in them.

Goodbyes are not fun. But the Lord has Equipped us to transition well, and to "GO FORTH"... right now... that "GO FORTH" means returning back home. We know that the Lord will "SEND US OUT" again... in some way... some where.

But for now... we rest in EAGER ANTICIPATION of what Awaits us... He has never failed us, left us, abandoned us, or lead us to danger. Instead... He has lead us to places of greater growth, greater ministry, and to greater knowledge and relationship with Him. *What better place to be?!?!*

We know, FULL HEARTEDLY, that He is leading us home... and that HE has already PREPARED a way.

We are called to TRUST. We are called to OBEY. We are called to ABIDE.

... and so we shall ...

UPDATE!!!!!

Well... This note has been a while coming, and a bit overdue. However, wanted to inform you guys that do not receive our emails that

*We will be HOME for Christmas*

..and it is *NOT* for ONLY a VISIT... but for GOOD (or as long as the Lord allows).

My Mom has been diagnosed with Cancer. She has gone through all the staging processes and has began chemo. As many of you know, I have been an Oncology nurse since 2001, before taking a pause to come and Teach here in Brasilia for the past 3 years. Because of my background, and because the Lord has really laid it on us.... we need to be home. *Now*

It will not be easy... NOT BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION... As we have Poured our lives into our kids here, the school, the church, our ministries. We have worked harder, slept LESS, done more than we have EVER done in our lives AND certainly more than we had ever thought Possible... for the Glory of Christ alone.

We have learned so much about Who God is. He has been so incredible to show us more of HIMSELF over the past 3 years.

Leaving will bring SO MANY tears... and we know the Adjustment back to the States will be difficult. We LOVE OUR KIDS!!! We Love them so much.... we have seen them grow, fall, struggle, TRIUMPH, get frustrated, and have Great Hope! ALL Facets of the Teenage experience. We feel like we have "GROWN" with them. The Memories we have, we will cherish for Days, Months, and YEARS!

The INCREDIBLE thing is that we KNOW that many of these kids, while we will not see them here on Earth again... we *WILL* see again in Heaven!!! And... for the Lord to allow us the precious experience of being a part of what HE DID in their lives is beyond our human comprehension.

Please pray for us as we try very hard to FINISH WELL. Please pray for our kids. Please pray for OUR HEARTS! Please pray for us Financially, as well, as we START OVER! We have NOTHING in the States. My Dad will allow us to borrow a car, but literally... we have nothing... well, Ok... we actually did save a Christmas tree! LOL! Pray for safe travel. We fly out of here Christmas Day at 11pm.

Thank you for your Prayers. Thank you for your Support!!

~Beverly - for the Fryar Family!

CHRIST"Smash" BASH

The Christ'Smash' Bash was an AWESOME Event!!

Lots of kids came out for Incredible Food, Fun & Exciting Games, and to hear the "REAL" Meaning of Christmas in some different and unique ways.

For we know that without CHRIST, Christmas is just a pointless holiday... but WITH CHRIST at the CENTER... Christmas becomes an incredible event and time in which to Celebrate, Worship, and GLORIFY the LORD for His Awesome Sacrifical Gift... HIS SON! Who would bring about the SALVATION of the World.

Here are a few pics from the night! :)

SURVIVOR RETREAT

The Smash Series

~ OUTSERVE, OUTLOVE, OUTLAST ~

The First Fall Mini-Retreat was INCREDIBLE!!

Our Students came out READY to STAND, READY to LEARN, and with OPEN HEARTS to hear about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!!

We had some Incredible Games, SURVIVAL Techniques, and FUN!!

BUT... more Importantly... we got to ALL get quiet... Listen... and Hear from our Savior!! The Messages were Sweet, Personal, and Straight to the Heart. Our Worship was Purposeful, Authentic, and Glorifying.

We ALL Learned a lot on this Retreat... About Priorities, About STANDING, About being BOLD to the Call... and about Persevering... even when you don't want to!

We even had a Massive Rain Storm at 1am... that eventually sent all our campers to Shelter (despite their DEEP DESIRE to "SURVIVE" it!) ... but even that... didn't DROWN out their Enthusiasm!! Even after sleeping on wet blankets! What a GREAT Spirit!!! :)

It was SWEET! Thank you for your Prayers!

Upcoming Retreat News!!!

We are VERY EXCITED to be having a Mini-Retreat this fall! We haven't done one of these before, as we pour so much into the Spring Retreat. We just really felt like our kids NEED this right now... and so do we! SO... next weekend we are heading out of town for some RENEWAL! Please pray for our Kiddos and the SMASH leaders! Our THEME... SURVIVOR! The SMASH Series!

New Pics

Here are few New Pics, and a Few Older pics from last Spring.

Caleb and Kaylee on his birthday at the Bowling Alley.

SMASH Update!

The SMASH Ministry continue to plug along! We have had our usually Every Other Friday night events with LOUD VOLUME, Fun & Games, and HARD TRUTH! Chris is doing a series right now on Spiritual Warfare... and for good reason! We are all feeling it!!! BADLY!! The Kids, The Teachers, US! We feel the major BATTLE going on in our lives and in the student's lives. Please pray for them! Please pray that the Holy Spirit moves in POWERFUL, Exciting ways that will allow for REVIVAL amoung our Teens.

We have continued our SMASH Unplugged sessions also. This is Small Group Bible study and a time for the students to dig in DEEP. Amanda is leading the Girls, and what a blessing she has been! She is teaching some of the Attributes of God. She studies and digs in deep to get a "GOOD STUFF!" Chris and Jonathan have the guys split between them and are working on building the group to be unified. Please pray on these lines as well!

SMASH in the PARK!

SMASH'A'LIZING!!!

We had our FIRST Smash'a'Lizing event last Saturday! We want SMASH to reach out the community this year, and we started that by having SMASH in the Big City Park. All the families were invited and we all sat out under a big tree right next to the major walking track. We played games, we fellowshipped, and we worshipped the CREATOR in HIS Creation! We had song sheets that were translated, and a translator for Chris. Chris shared an Amazing message about God's love! It was a great "Nuts and Bolts" Salvation message. We had some vendors come up, and one fella who shared about his motorcycle accident. Even though we didn't have the Brasilian turnout that we had planned for.... One of our new families were there... One of our non-believing families... and they just SOAKED in the message! The Lord has his MIGHTY Purposes!! It also showed us which of our Smashers were really wanting to serve and had a heart for service. It was a great day!! We will continue these on a every 2 month type basis!

Caleb turns 6!!

My Baby Boy turned 6!!

It seems like just yesterday we were meeting him for the first time in Hong Kong. I took time to pull out about 30 of his Baby Pics that Sarah & Rachel had taken of him in HK. His story is so God-Sized! He has TRULY been LOVED so much by SO MANY! I just had to post a few of his baby pics here! The Lord has blessed me, as a mother, beyond all logical reason and explanation! I'm so thankful that the Lord is in the MIRACLE BUSINESS! ... Amazing Grace ...

He's such an amazing fella! I'm so proud of him!!! He is in a class of only 5, and happens to SHARE his Birthday with another boy. They had a fun Double Party at school, and then we took him out for Bowling that night! (his choice!). He also loves for anybody and everybody to join in with him... so we invited the Staff and Staff kids. We had a great night! He actually beat the other Staff kids... who are Teenagers! :) He got a big kick out of that! AND... His FAVORITE present of all.... A Bible! Now that he can read, he wanted a Bible that didn't just have pictures... he wanted a Bible like Dad's! So we got him a small sized Young Readers NIV... no pictures! He's so proud of it!!! No sweeter sound than my precious one asking..."Hey Mom & Dad... can we sit together after dinner and read the Bible?" ... He's a Whiz at memorizing Scripture also! Tonight... he was singing..."Children, obey your parents in the Loorwd, for this is right...." :) We had to joke about recording that and playing it back when he is Sixteen! ...but all joking aside... nothing is sweeter than knowing (at least for now!) your child desires to know more about Jesus! AND... he's even EVANGELIZING! He conducts his OWN "SMASH Meetings" with some of our friend's kids... where he says he "Tells them all about Jesus!" :) We may just have a little evangelist in our hands! God is So Good! He has BIG Plans for this special child! Chris and I are so thankful to have him "on loan" for a few years... please pray for us to continue to mold him in the correct way.

I know that some Adoptive parents remember birthdays as the anniversary of another event: the Amazing, Brave, SELF-LESS courage of a birthmother. The day after his birthday, I took time to explain some of this to him... and had some precious moments. We prayed for her together. And then ... Of course... in true Caleb style...this In depth Mom-driven discussion ended with "So tomorrow, after school, can I ride my bike at the school?" ... classic ...

Please join us in praying for his Amazing Birthmother & Birthfather.

Back in Brasilia!!

We arrived back in Brasilia on July 29th. Ready to start our new year. We spent a few days relaxing and trying to refresh. We were a bit too busy over the summer time to really be able to just Chill. So it was very nice to have several days of Family Time, and getting back to routines. We started inservices on August 4th and they comprised of meetings in the mornings and lots of time to work in our rooms in the afternoon. That was nice.

Every year I teach different subjects. I was excited to find out that 4 of my subjects are ones that I have taught before!! YEAH!! This Fall semester I am teaching: Life Science, Biology, Chemistry, Algebra I, Geometry, Drama, and American Literature. The Literature is a bit of a stretch, but I'm really enjoying it!!

Chris headed straight into all his Finance work... in fact, he never quite STOPPED that during the summer. Every day during the summer, he would log on to the Brasilian bank, pay bills, reconcile accounts... all of that!! So, he didn't really get any kind of break!

Caleb started the FIRST GRADE!!! That's so awesome!! :) He's with the same 3 other boys from last year, just missing his sweet Zambian girl friend! His teacher is amazing, so I'm sure he will have a good year! :)

We lost some really great students last year... and we were really afraid that the lose of those key people would be the focus of the Jr & Sr high. And it was for a few days... BUT... PRAISE THE LORD! We have 5 new students in the Jr & Sr High!! So, our actual student totals are up to 31 for the 7-12th grade! YEAH!! And, we hear that we may have a few more! We are very excited about any new opportunity to share Christ with our international students! They are just so amazing... so many countries, cultures, beliefs and experiences... all centered right here in Brasilia! Amazing!!

Please keep praying for us and all we do here!! I'll be posting some SMASH updates very soon!

Keep on Checking!!

I know some of you have been loggin on and seeing the same post over and over again. BUT, I'm back tracking some posts from the summer. I will try to add more in over the next couple of days, then update you about the new semester! School starts on THURSDAY, August 13th!! It's closing in fast! So... things are a bit psycho now... but all's well! I'm trying to add in posts.

THANKS SO MUCH for checking in!!! :)

Delayed.... but not Dismayed!

Ok... so we didn't quite make it to Brazil as expected... But, we are definitely welcoming the REST!!! YEAH!!!

We got held up in Memphis, so we didn't make our connection to Rio. Delta only has one flight A DAY to Rio, so we are waiting until tonight to fly. They (of course) didn't let us have our luggage... but they did give us little shaving kits with a toothbrush, toothpaste, all the other basic essentials, and t-shirts! YEAH! Something to sleep in! Here is a pic of Caleb and his! He kept jumping on the bed singing "I'm an ANGEL, I'm an ANGEL!" ...that he is!... LOL!

So... As I sit in Barnes and Noble and Caleb plays with the cute wooden Thomas train set with a new friend... I thought I would update the BLOG.

YES, I KNOW... I'm way behind!!!! ;) Thanks to those who graciously reminded me! :p BUT... I do have a few reasons for not blogging April and May. Those months were really hard for us! I didn't send out any of my emails either (if you want to be added to that list, reply or email me!) ... but those were tough months. It would have been hard to be encouraging. I do TRY very hard to include mostly encouraging and happy posts... and unfortunately some would have been fabricated. On *THIS SIDE* of the events, it's much easier to find the God Moments! :) So... I will now update these posts!! :)

ALL POSTS AFTER APRIL 4TH ARE NEW!!! If you haven't been here in a while... then you can just pretend it's all NEW and I didn't get behind! :) For those of you who check this Regularly - SO SORRY! - and you can catch up now! :)

Summer Memories!!

Old Friends...







New Friends...











Family...















Fun!!!!





















It was an incredible Summer!! It was another Psychotically Busy Summer... but really awesome!! From hanging out with Nana & G-daddy, Chuck, & Brooklyn - Riding bikes, eating SOUTHERN cooking, SALSA, shooting fireworks. Fun Memories with Mimi & Jennifer, Madison & William. To our AMAZING HOME GROUP FAMILY!!! *Always There to hang with, help out, meet our needs, laugh, cry, hug, encourage, love!!! To meeting incredible

people at the NICS Pre-Field orientation - Mel & Tobin, BUNKIN' BUDDIES, Incredible SMALL

groups, New Brasilia Staff, Crazy John Richards!! Hanging with Murrell... (the list goes on!). To 'Re-connecting' with Kelly & Vaishali and my MC College buddies. Seeing our Hong Kong friends! Speaking and being encouraged by Colonial Hills and Bible Church of Cabot!! 4th of July BBQ at the Williams', swimming & TONS of fun at the

Townsends!

The Most INCREDIBLE Wedding of two of the most INCREDIBLE People (Meg & Casey) - in North Carolina!! (with some Pre-Wedding Chill time at the lake with most of the Brasilia crew & Herring family!!). Museums (Coke, Aquarium, CNN, and Smithsonian!). Staying at the Amazingly Peaceful "Chateau de Folgelsong!" Cruisin' in the Olds!... Ahhh.... A truly great summer....



































God is so good to us!! He always provides... He is always faithful! We are so blessed to be so loved!! I wish we had a month for each group of people... We know we didn't get to see everyone, and for that we are so sorry... But we felt so encouraged by so many!!


















Thank you to all of you who made our "Vacation" so special!!! :)

My Momma!

Happy Birthday to my Mother!!

What a blessing she has been to me for my entire life. She IS the Proverbs 31 woman to me! She is always prepared, rising early to work for her family, and attending all her duties without idleness.

She is always caring for others. She has stayed in the hospital with people for surgeries, she tutors anybody and everybody, she's always making quilts for those who are sick.

The Greatest Blessing, and one for which I can NEVER Re-pay, is her attention, love, care, and time when I was sick. If any of you reading this don't know... in February 1999, I was diagnosed with Cancer in the bone of my left arm. It was aggressive, so I had to also have aggressive Chemotherapy and Radical surgery. Mom put her life on hold for TWO YEARS to be with me, stay with me in the hospital, care for me. Chris and Mom had a "tag team" approach. Mom took care of me in the hospital, and Chris took care of me when they discharged me. Both had to deal with stuff you would NOT WANT TO HEAR ABOUT!! TRUST ME!!!

My Mom is an Amazing Leader, Servant, Teacher, and Pastor! The Lord has blessed my life with her!

Thank you, MOM, for ALL you have done for me. Happy Birthday!

Ahhh.... AMERICA the Beautiful!

It never ceases to amaze me of how much I love that American Flag! It brings so much joy to my heart to see them flying all over the US around the 4th. What a beautiful site. I found myself wanting to take as many pics of them as I could. I would stare at them.... especially that BIG one on Goodman Road at the Nissan Dealership. That's my favorite one.

There's another one at my Mom and Dad's house. They fly it out in the front. It has now replaced the giant Dogwood tree as our favorite Family Photo spot. Interestingly, one of my girls from BIS asked me the other day... "Is it required for everyone in America to put a Flag up?" (this was after she saw my pics from summer) At first I said "of course not, there's not that many.... well.... actually... there are... A LOT OF THEM!! In fact, most people do fly theirs all year long too! I guess we're just really patriotic!" :)

I love that!!! I love that everyone finds ways to CELEBRATE our nation... no matter the "economic downturn" or the political garbage. God is Great! He planned our Government to be rooted and based on HIM! We must praise HIM for that! Despite the issues, our country was built upon HIS promises.

PFO 2009

We arrived back in the US at the end of June. We were asked to be advisors for our network's Pre-Field Orientation. It was amazing! 180 new teachers heading out to the "ends of the Earth" to spread the GOOD NEWS of JESUS!! AWESOME!!





We had an Awesome time there! It was TOUGH... Long Days, Late Nights, and VERY Early Mornings. But it was still really great!

We really got to know the other advisors and our new staff, as well. As part of being an advisor, we lead small groups. I had a small group of 5 girls. It was really a blessing!!! It is so amazing how close you can get with people you just met, because of your "LIKE-MINDED-NESS!"


Chris had an AMAZING Group also! He had 3 couples and a single guy. It was a great set-up!!






I'm glad I made Life-Long, World-Wide friends!! :) Please pray for all of them as they deal with the massive transition of living overseas. Many are new teachers and young, or new teachers that have changed careers! :) The Lord is going to do Great and Mighty things through them all!!

CALEB GRADUATED!!

My Angel Baby graduated from Kindergarten! Amazing!! He had a Great Year! His teacher is so amazing! I just can't say enough great things about her! She has a PASSION for JESUS and I have to say... that is her greatest quality! She is so good with her kids! She LOVES them!!





Caleb has learned to READ this year! He knows how to add and subtract, count by 2's, 5's, 10's. AND SO MUCH MORE! :) He's doing so good!!! :)






Here are some pics from Graduation. His class is so diverse! There are only 5 of them... but they come from 5 different countries, have completely different complexions and ethnicity. They are a Beautiful representation of Heaven!! The only girl, Nana, is Caleb's best friend!! She is such a blessing! Her family is amazing! God is so good!! :)