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!! :)

The Prom!

The High School wanted a Prom again... so I got it all fixed up for them! :) It was really a very nice evening! Amanda was my Right Hand Gal... plus some!!! She was AMAZING! I learned a new decoration trick using tissue paper, which was FAR better than just balloons. It was SO NICE... the new campus can be quickly turned into a very romantic, peaceful place at night! We cut off all the lights, and put some spotlights up on some of our trees. We "MADE" a dance floor by enclosing an open patio area with some Black TNT (paper/plastic like stuff - we use it for everything! and it's super cheap!). It was really Incredible! The kids were very surprised that we could make the school, NOT feel like the School! :) They helped out with some of the planning, and a little of the decorations and invitations and all! It was very nice!!! :) Very Memorable! :)

A NEW PASTOR!!

GOD IS FAITHUL!! GOD IS TRUE TO HIS PROMISES!!

We are thankfully celebrating because our church has voted on and called a new pastor! We have had an interim pastor for the past 18 months, and he and his wife are really nice people! But... we are so thankful to have a new Pastor heading to the International Baptist Church. Mark & Lydia are incredible people! We were fortunate to spend a great deal of time with them while they visited Brasilia. He preaches and teaches with God-given Authority and challenges us to study more indepthly! Please pray for them as they transition to Brasilia, and into our VERY Multicultural church... where Baptist is on the sign and in the doctorine... but that's about it! :) We have almost every tongue, tribe, and nation represented... so no one really fits into a "Baptist" box. Praise the LORD that He doesn't require that of us!! :) Praise the Lord that HE allows us to have different views... yet ONE ETERNAL SALVATION PATH!! and ONE TRUE SOURCE!! :)

Science Fair

Ahh... Science Fair... I love Science Fair!! Well... I Love the NIGHT of Science Fair! :)

I teach ALL the Sciences for Grades 5 - 12! So.. that was 51 students to get ready for Science Fair and grade all the Research Reports, Papers, Displays, Projects... it was a lot! I got them all ready as EARLY AS POSSIBLE! and... overall... they did well. :) ... and I was glad it was over! :) THEY WERE TOO!

Marthon Brasilia!!

WOW!!! Chris and Casey set out in January to run a Marathon!!! So they started training... every Saturday, Casey, Chris, and Megan would get up at at 5am and go running!

They trained... and trained HARD!! It was definitely a lesson in discipline for them all!! They promised when they had actually run 40 km in practice... that Casey & Chris would run in their Sunga's! (Brazilian Speedos! -the most common bathing suit for me, and most of the men wear them to run in also!) SO... they did!!! And it "Just so happened" to also be when Megan's Parents were in town for a visit!! Megan and Casey are NOW married (July 11th)!! But.... can you imagine... wearing your sunga in front of your Future In-Laws that you had only met twice before!!! That's courage!!! :) So... Chris and Casey got to the park on that Saturday...wearing... well.... VERY LITTLE!!!!! :) (...the pic was in the reception video also!!! LOL!!)

On Tuesday, April 21st... Chris, Casey, Megan, and Scott (Student who joined in!) ran 26.3 MILES! Chris finished in 4 HOURS and 45 MINUTES!! That... my friends... is a LONG TIME to be pounding the pavement!! The actual course had many hills! They had practiced on flat ground. They did so good... What an encouragement! Chris was able to incorporate much of wht he learned into SMASH messages! :) Talk about Perseverance! :)

SMASH RETREAT 2009!

...::: BULLET PROOF :::...

Proverbs 4: 20 - 27 - Above all else Guard your hearts!

~How to Guard your Life, Mind, and Hearts...

and how to stand in the gap to help protect your brother as well ~

A week before the retreat... we were so PUMPED! It was gonna be AWESOME! God was going to ROCK it OUT AGAIN! We had an INCREDIBLE Speaker coming from Rio. The same guy we had last year! ... then ... The DAY BEFORE THE RETREAT... Our speaker called, and said he had to go to the States for a family emergency... oh no... what are we going to do??? Are the kids all going to cancel??? Will they think this is just another SMASH night??? They will be so disappointed...... Can *WE* (the Smash leaders) actually pull off an ENTIRE weekend retreat... and make it powerful enough to rock our kids' hearts??? We aren't equipped... We have all the other details worked out... but We aren't prepared... what are *WE* going to do?????

Knock, Knock, Knock.... HELLO?!?!?! HELLO!!!!!!

IT'S NOT ABOUT Y-O-U!!! IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!!!!!

IT'S ABOUT ME... I AM YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR... THIS RETREAT IS ABOUT ME! I WILL *STILL* ROCK THEIR HEARTS... IT WASN'T ANY SPEAKER THAT WAS DOING THAT ANYWAY... I AM! AND I WILL STILL BE!!!

IT'S ABOUT ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

...so we humbly said... "Yes, LORD!! Please forgive us!" ... and we spent the next 24 hours ON OUR FACES getting ready to hear what HE has to say!!! Then... we just jumped out there and did what He said! It was incredible!!!! :) The LORD IS MIGHTY TO SAVE!

The most powerful moment was Saturday night. We had a praise team there to do music, and they had left their equipment up at the front. Well... during free time, the kids started playing "AMERICAN IDOL" with the microphones! A couple got on the keyboard, some on the guitars... and they were all just singing and having fun. A bit later... as more kids started coming in... more joined in... and then they started singing praise songs. Jonathan grabbed his guitar and played without plugging up. All the kids came in, stood arm in arm, Singing LOUDLY praises to the KING! Singing at the tops of their lungs!!! It was the most powerful night!! It lasted almost 2 hours! The kids didn't want to stop!!! They didn't care who was standing next to them... how well they sang... tears streaming down their cheeks... raising hands to Jesus! It was so powerful! You could feel the Holy Spirit so thick... just kids... praising!!! No fancy band, no fancy music, no words put up on Power Point. ..... Just hearts ..... I am forever changed...

Easter Sunday 2009

This Easter was really nice! I took the opportunity to dress Caleb up and take a Million and One pics of him! :)

Our SMASH kids also did a musical presentation of "Mighty is the Power of the Cross" by Chris Tomlin. It was really remarkable!! I always have fun putting these things together, and the kids are always great to get involved!! :)

Reflections: The Cross is so Powerful... Can save a dying man, make me new again, and wash us White as Snow! The Cross itself has no power... no honor, nothing to be worshiped.. it's just wood. BUT... it's a symbol of what Power, Honor, and MIGHT our God has! He sent His ONLY Son... Sent Him to Die... a Sinners Death, sot that he could TAKE ON SIN, and by doing this... Paid our DEBT! Our lives COST HIM DEATH. And through and by HIM ALONE can we Truly LIVE! ...Are you TRULY LIVING??

Caleb Update!

I haven't put up a Caleb update in a while. I need to take some new pics too! Here are a few pics, most from December, some from March.

He's GROWING! :) YEAH! He has grown a Whole Inch since January! Still kinda funny that he has one pair of 18month shorts that he can STILL wear! He wears some 24 month shorts all the time. All the shirts, while would still fit him, are too short! So, he's basically in 4T everything. But still have to roll the cuff of the pants. 3T's still fit him fine, and he still wears these.

So hard to believe my 'Little Punkin' will be 6 in August. That's just crazy! He is doing so amazing in Kindergarten! He's READING now! So incredible! We just finished reading month, and he/we read 72 books. His teacher required that for every book WE read, HE had to read. So HE read 36! That's so great! Of course... his classmates read more than he did, but March was pretty crazy. Many nights we would get home around 9pm, with Caleb asleep in the car. We tried to 'catch up' on his reading on the weekends, but they are equally crazy. In fact, our lives are so 'on the go' that Caleb is constantly asking "where are we going next? Are we going to someones house? What do we get to do now?" ... He's BORED when we're home! :) We try to reserve out Family Time, and are successful at that most weeks. We LOVES hanging out with the SMASH kids and with our other families. He gets so excited to go play.

His 'Best Friend' is Nana. A precious girl from Zambia. He loves her dearly, and so do we! He LOVES CHICKEN HEARTS! ICK!, I know! But... he loves to go to the Churrasquerria, which is Brazilian BBQ (as in Grilled meat). It's very inexpensive, especially for all you get. He'll tell you it's his favorite place. He gets TONS of Chicken Hearts! It's a big Brazilian favorite here. It's just what it says... Chicken hearts then grilled on a skewer. He calls the restaurant the "Pineapple Man" place... because another TREAT they bring around is Grilled Pineapple rolled in CINNAMON! It's incredible!

He's learning more and more Portuguese so he's getting better about answering to their questions instead of just standing silent. He loves to play with any and all kids. If we go to the Playground, he'll just play and play with whoever is there. He so amazingly adjustable!

Sorry this one is sideways.

His favorite thing to wear to church is his Sweater vests. I here is a pic from Thanksgiving in one, I need to post another pic! They are so great. I bought 2 at a massive clearance last summer, and got them for $2.99 each! He loves them!! Everyone always tells him he looks so cute in them!

We are letting his hair grow. We did the Buzzed head thing for the past year and a half, but we're letting his hair grow again. I'm doing pretty good with cutting it myself. We tried to take him to a haircutting place, but they just ended up tapering with the Shears, I can do that! This time, I cut it a bit too short, but it's still cute! Chris is still wearing his hair BUZZED, and now has a sharp looking beard! (I cut his hair too!) :)

His teacher, Ms Amanda, is simply Amazing! She is helping him mature and doing a great job. AND... I especially love that I can also call her my friend! :) She sends him home with homework papers, and cute projects to do. He loves her dearly... although he does get a little distressed at all the "WORK" you have to do in Kindergarten! He told me one day, "I want to go back to preschool... we have too much work... and too many PAPERS in Kindergarten!" ...Welcome to LIFE, Son! :) :) ... you know Caleb... I want to go back to Preschool too!

I'll try to post more Caleb pics soon! I'll have to take a ton, so you can see his new haircut! There are some on Facebook, posted by others. Check it out! :)

New Background and Updates!

I have updated the Blog!! YEAH! And I found this CUTE background! :)
So... if you've been here recently... so sorry! But I have added 4 new posts (the ones dated for March). Thanks so much for following this blog and reading my posts! I pray they provide encouragement and maybe even a little smile! :)

Please continue to pray for us, and let us know how we can pray for you!

Happy Birthday DAD!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DADDY!!

Happy Birthday to the Best Dad a girl can have!! :)

I love you so much!

Thank you for your Model of a Godly Man! Thank you for all you have done for ME, for US, and for CALEB! Thank you for investing in a relationship with Chris, and leading him with great advice and awesome support. Thank you for loving Caleb - in a way like no other. Tractor rides, Baseball, and (what was that about the "Back porch?") HaHaHa! :)

We love you so much!!!

We hope you have a FANTASTIC DAY! Can't wait to see you!!