His Necklace

Since I’m soooo not known for my amazing memory, it MUST BE GOD, that since 6^th grade I have remembered and shared numerous times a story I heard once in chapel at Metro. It touched me so deeply even then and has done so over and over my whole life! I’ve shared it with lots of youth over the years and then…

THIS WEEK GOD USED THIS STORY ONCE AGAIN to illustrate one of the coolest, hugest, most ginormous blessings He has ever given me!

I’ve debated sharing the personal side of this story all week but as I always say,

‘If it will encourage EVEN ONE , it’s WORTH IT!’ :D.

So first, the story that touched me 25 years ago….

A young girl had a FAVORITE bead necklace. She loved this necklace soooo much that she wore it every single day and with every single outfit. School, church, playtime and bedtime this necklace was on display! Some would have to admit -they even ‘identified’ this girl by the necklace b/c it’s was ALWAYS on her!

With this in mind, you can imagine her surprise when one night her sweet daddy was reading to her in bed and said, “Do you think it would be ok for ME to have your necklace?”

GASP!

What?! My NECKLACE?! “But daddy! Why would you want my necklace?!”

“No honey, it’s ok. It’s ok. It’s ok! I was just curious. But I understand if you don’t want to. It doesn’t change how much I love you. Not one little bit!”

Whew, she smiled. But with a left over quizzical glance, she thought to herself “What in the world was that all about?!’

Next night. You guessed it. He asked her about the necklace again. Not every night, but most nights over the next month, her daddy at unexpected times would say something about having her necklace!

One day, as she was playing in her room, she was internally reeling over what this all could mean. ‘Why would He even WANT my necklace? Doesn’t He know this necklace makes me …well ME?! What would I DO without my necklace?!” But then she had the thought, “He’s never gotten mad when I say no. He still loves me the same and spends time with me every time I want to. I’ve always been able to trust Him. And well….. I …I…know that everything He does really is because He loves me.”

That night she decides to surprise her daddy. Much to her dismay, He didn’t ask for the 2^nd night in a row! At the end of the book, she can’t stand it any longer! She looked up at her dad grinning from ear to ear and said, “Daddy, I WANT YOU to have my necklace. I don’t really know why you want it but I want you to know that I love you so much more than that necklace!”

Simultaneously, as she drops the necklace into her daddy’s big strong hand, he is pulling something out of his other pocket.

‘What?!’ She was a bit confused by what she thought she saw. ‘Pearls?! Are you kidding me?! Are those REAL pearls?! For ME?!’

Her dad smiled watching her take it all in. And then smiling He said, “Child, I’ve had these for you all along. I didn’t mind waiting. I knew that when you were ready you would trust me with your beads and you would be ready for your very own pearls. “

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~~Like I said, this story has stayed in my heart for what, 25 years. I pull it out from time to time to share or just to remind myself on those days when my TRUE ‘sight’ is limited. He IS a good Daddy. I can trust Him with EVERYTHING in me and EVERYTHING I have.

NOW---- to what happened this week. I’m not going into the details because those are for me and God. But, last week I gave something to the Lord that was soooo not easy to give Him. In fact, much like the bead necklace, I wasn’t sure what I would do without it! You see He had been gesturing to these ‘beads’ for years. Ugh. I always had the right justification ;). But something in me last week CLICKED! It wasn’t a ‘hoping’ it was a KNOWING…..HE IS FAITHFUL, HE IS THE BEST DADDY, I CAN TRUST HIM WITH EVERYTHING!!! Combine that heart with a couple timely sermons and dreams and bam! The clutched for years necklace was joyfully relinquished!

Fast forward 4 days and I was found struggling. You know the mind games, lies, fear, doubt, “Oh maybe He wasn’t really pointing to THAT! ugh.”

Thankfully, this time I quickly picked up the armor and went into mental battle. “Oh Jesus, give me strength. I DO trust YOU.”

Right then He reminded me of the story I just shared with you.

Lucky for me, ha, I was in the middle of a quite literal battle with a laundry pile that was almost taller than me! Needless to say, I had plenty of time to think and ‘re’live that story. When I finished I remember saying something like, “Well, I feel the same way she did. I love YOU more than anything I am or have. You are my whole life. Please show me what ‘my pearl necklace’ is at just the right time.”

READY FOR SOME INSANE, RARELY GOES LIKE THIS TIMING?! Ha!

I walked STRAIGHT from my laundry room to my closet to put some things away.

Ethan had gone to camp the week before and I had taken out a closet divider for him that had been in the same place for almost 10 years! You know one of those canvas things that hangs down long and creates cubbies for plastic baskets, whatever?!

Well, when I went to hang something up in this newly available space, I saw something that took my breath away! I just stood there frozen, ½ laughing and `1/2 weeping!

NINE AND A HALF YEARS AGO, and shortly after our house had been robbed and my jewelry box, including my wedding ring was taken, I had hung a nail on the wall behind this cubby

On this nail, was hanging a single pearl necklace.

And this was not just ANY pearl necklace.

MY DAD gave me this necklace for my 21^st birthday. For the past 9 years, I thought I had lost it. With my sweet daddy in heaven for a year now you can imagine how significant this gift is to me!

Does the Lord always move in this kind of timing that WE prefer?!? Ha. No. But it is always HIS timing. And I’m learning to CHOOSE to believe on the days that I ‘get it’ and especially on the days that I ‘just don’t’….that I trust HIM.

Coming out of a slump myself, I can identify all too well with the days ‘of not feeling it’. The past 10 months have been the hardest of my life. I used to sympathize but not be able to relate to those struggling with depression. Man, I can’t say that anymore!

Keep in mind, in the past 9 years I’ve seen the Lord instantly heal my dad of a disease that had completely robbed his mobility at the age of 50. Over the time period of a couple days, the Lord walked me through forgiving someone that had held me in the vise grips of bitterness and unforgiveness for 15 years! The Lord had freed me of addictions that held me captive for years! I’ve spent hours and hours hanging out with Him ALONE in my house having a better time than I ever have with another! I used to laugh at David in the Psalms who seemed up and down!

But the past year has been a very different season for me. It has been one where I have been re-reading those journals of His faithfulness in my life. When I am praising Him through very real tears. When I am waking up telling myself, “You KNOW the Truth JULIE! The Truth does not change!” Not the whole ‘whack-a-doodle calling something healed when it’s killing you attitude!’ Please don’t hear that!

But more of a MY GOD IS FAITHFUL! AND I LOVE HIM MORE THAN ANY ‘FEELING’ I MAY OR MAY NOT BE HAVING RIGHT NOW!

So, hopefully you can celebrate with me. Maybe it’s a stretch b/c you’re in a ‘not feeling it’ day, that’s ok I get it! Or maybe it’s one of those, “But wait till you hear what happened to ME today!” days.

Whatever the case just KNOW…

Our God is crazy in love with YOU. On your best days and your crummiest days. They simply don’t affect His love for you at all.

But I highly recommend trusting whatever He is whispering to you.

His plans are SO much greater than ours. His thoughts are always higher than ours.

And thank goodness,

His love is SOO much deeper than ours.

Love, Julz

Your friend in the journey no matter where ya are ;)

2010

It's almost 2010.

We are more than excited about what God has in store! This year has brought us so many unexpected challenges. In January, one of our sweet kiddos was killed in a senseless drive by shooting right here in Tulsa. 15 years old. Kordero had such talent, love and a bright future in front of him. Now he is living the ultimate adventure in heaven. His family is still trying to pick up the pieces, heal and move forward. Please pray for his mother when you think of it. Since his death, she has been having such an understandable hard time. His best friend and brother, was at his side when this tragedy happened and has been deeply affected. The two youngest children of this family have been living with us for the past several weeks and it has been such a joy to have them. They add so much life and laughter to our home.

Having them here 24/7 reminds us of so many reasons that we feel the Lord is calling our family to open our arms to these kids. For the first week, they were in awe. Their first time to have their own bed. Dinner around a table with everyone present. Homework completed before fun and help being offered. Clean clothes to wear to school. And more than anything....a family that was constantly acknowledging that we are nothing without the love, strength and grace of Jesus Christ.

Another one of our kids was in a horrible car accident in March. He was clowning around with a friend and on the hood of a car in a parking lot. In an instant, things went terribly wrong and he was thrown under the car and his skull was run over. He slipped into a coma and the doctors were unsure of this bright 6'4 athletic, brilliant boy's future. After 15 days in a coma, our amazing LORD healed him! Not a little bit, but ALL THE WAY! Within a month, he was working again and had full use of each and every part of his body.

Each week for 2 years now we have been gathering all the kids together in our home for food, fellowship, total goofing off, and then sharing all Jesus is doing. Lately, we've been a bit overwhelmed as the size of our group has grown to over 20 but God has sent us some amazing people with hearts to love on these kids with us. Being a consistent presence in these kids lives has really brought us together as family. We laugh, cry, play, study, and celebrate together.

As I said, we are excited to see what the Lord has in store for 2010! So far, we know that He is leading us to really plunge deeper into smaller groups, focusing on attending THEIR activities.

Often, people say to us, "I just wish I could figure out what God is calling me to do!" You know, we are constantly wishing the same!

But what we are settling into is this....

LOVE. Love those around you. Love them with the same love He makes constantly available to you. We have so many questions. We are constantly wishing we could do more. But we are confident that loving these kids like our own introduces them more and more to the love HE HAS FOR THEM and the amazing future He has planned for them!

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please pray for us as you are lead. We are constantly dependent on Jesus to make the difference in our time together. Without His Holy Spirit moving in ways that ONLY He knows, we are simply another meeting. But with Jesus present and acknowledged we are believing for changed lives! Theirs, ours, and many future generations!

WE LOVE YOU JESUS!!!!

does God still talk?

does God still talk?

that is what we are asking our kiddos.

what do YOU think?

i think that over the last 2 years i've become so desperate to HEAR HIM talk that I began assuming everyone else was too. as we comfort people around us that are going through all kinds of trials, i'm finding that's not the case.

the other day God put it on my heart to gather 3 teenage girls together and talk about God. not just talk about Him but talk TO Him and listen for what He said back. as usual, one of their comments made me smile so big b/c kids just have a way of saying what most adults don't have the balls to say.

after 20 minutes of just being quiet and listening for God one of them says, "julz, I don't know how to hear His voice." she didn't try to mask it with all the other things she could have said, she just said the truth. in that moment, i realized THIS is exactly how most people feel and exactly how i felt a couple years ago.

can i just tell you that hearing God's voice has practically become like catching my breath. it has so become my source of strength that i get scared imaging what it would be like to not hear Him. didn't David talk about that? i'm going to look up those verses and insert them here.

well, normally i would never write about this for fear that it would sound prideful like, "of course I hear the Lord, DONT YOU?!!?!" oh man, if that is AT ALL what you are sensing, please hear me out.

everyday i still have the internal struggle of deciphering, 'was that ME?', 'was that dream the 5 oreos i inhaled before bed?', or was that God? really i DO! but if you can relate at all to where i was 2 years ago, or where this beautiful honest teen was- i want to tell you what i believe helped me jump into the exhilarating, adventurous, life giving waters that ARE my strength.

i began making a conscious choice to not just believe in my HEAD but also in my ACTIONS the verses that say....

John 10:. ³The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.

so i guess i made a choice...."Lord, i know who You are in my head, but i'm ready to not only know you in my heart but to hear and feel You leading me thru this CRAZY thing called life. i know i'll mess up, i know i'll get off track, but talk to me, teach me Your voice so that i will be more familiar with YOUR voice than any other voice."

wish i could tell you i'm batting 100 but yeah, not so. honestly, what i'm practicing now is learning how to hear Him and then also hear what to do with what He says. when i first started hearing Him, i got so excited i ran all over the place telling anyone that walked by me. now i'm learning that He also wants to show us what to do with what He tells us. whew!

in that honest teen, the beauty that struck me was, "i WANT to hear HIM." i think that has to be first. however, there are people like paul in the Bible that DIDN'T want to hear Him and had no choice but to accept that He is alive and talking. but for most of us, our stinkin world is SOOOOO loud and busy that to hear Him is almost impossible!

the other night we sat down with all the kiddos and i had recorded several different voices saying the same message. on top of the recordings, i also had a tv going, a radio playing, and obviously THEY were making their own fair share of noise. so the first test was, who is voice #1? mind u the kids were talking, the tv was on, and the radio was cranked. as they realized the challenge they were like, 'Turn off the tv, turn down the radio, everyone SHUT UP!' ha.

how true is that for us? FOR ME!

if i desperately want to know what God is telling me to do, do i shut down all those things or expect Him to blast them all out?! this is a daily challenge for me.

let me just close this with what happened to me yesterday.

all day long, i had been wanting to have some time alone and quiet with God but as usual the demands of our world kept crashing in and taking precedent. finally, about 1 in the afternoon, isaiah was sleeping, bella was playing dollhouse, and i had a few minutes before i had to leave to pick up ethan. the laundry was undone, the dishes were everywhere and i was unshowered. i was rushing across the living room when all of the sudden i thought, "stop the insanity! if i dont just STOP, i'll NEVER have time!"

so i was standing in the middle of the living room and my next thought was, "Ok, i'll turn on some music to get 'in the mode' even that was yet another thing to do, find my ipod, pick a song, etc.

so i resisted and just started talking. 'God i NEED You. more than anything i NEED YOU." it's not always like this but yesterday it was, a wave of emotion barreled over me. it had NO guilt in it, no 'yeah, boy, do u ever need ME!', no 'well, do the right thing and then I'm here" it was just, "I'm HERE JULIE!"

honestly, i couldnt even begin to tell you all the things that my heart heard and felt in the next 10 minutes (yeah, i didn't go too deep, ha) but MAN, did it change the rest of my day! it was the reminder that Someone much greater lives outside of our sphere and is available to us 24/7/365. that all i have to do is still myself and listen.

do u crave that? if not crave, do u ever find yourself wishing u had the $ for counseling? man, i know i do! guys, the ultimate Counselor is at your disposal all the time. you don't have to be living right to hear Him. you don't have to 'know how' to hear Him. you just need to recognize your want and be still. i promise, He does the rest. and the cool thing is that He knows each of us in our uniqueness SO well that we each hear Him different. i get pictures. my friend gets verses. another friend usually hears one word over and over. my point is, just begin practicing.

it is a 'fix' you'll never be able to live without again.

i promise.

our summer

wow, it's been toooooo long since I've updated this!  forgive me.  life throws a few curve balls from time to time.

june 30th my dad passed away.  one of my very best friends.  i better not get started or i'll start bawling or preaching but just know, it has been a summer i'll never forget.

in light of that though, it's interesting....

for the past 3 years, i've been walking along doing my very best to follow God's call on my life.  you know, loving those around me, learning to love myself, and to use the gifts God's given me to further His ETERNAL kingdom.  for 2 years now, i can honestly say, it has become pretty obvious that God has given my husband and i an annointing to love on the down and out, especially kids.  so we've altered our lifestyle and done our best to sacrifice comfort for the sake of HIS kingdom and His children.  it had gotten to a place of 'no-brainer'.  i wasn't finding myself contemplating everyday (shallow but true) what my life would be like if i could just be a 'soccer mom'.  all these kids we love on had become a true part of our family and making time for them no longer felt like 'ministry'.  ugh i hate the use of that word most days.  

anyway, on june 30th this year, when my dad died, my world went spinning.  it was such a shock to us that i found myself in literal FROZEN mode.  breathe....just breathe.....that's about all i could think for a couple weeks.  for those 2 weeks we didn't meet with the kiddos and i didn't even call them.  i just didn't have it in me.  honestly, that scared me.  my inner thoughts were like, "oh no, am i losing that part of my life?  will i ever be able to go back?"  while those thoughts scared me, they weren't strong enough to make me pick up the phone and check on them and let them know I was ok.  while i know this is very 'ministry incorrect'.....it was just where i was.  i was barely doing my own 3 kids.  

so, as depressing as all that may sound....i'm genuinely thankful to tell you that the Lord is crazy faithful.  He has truly worked all things together for good.  while i am still grieving my dad and unsure of God's timing in his death, i am witnessing the fruit of drawing closer to God in times of uncertainty.  

week 3 after my dad passed we met with the kids for the first time.  i wasn't sure if i had it in me.  oh the body of Christ is such a beautiful thing.  several people from our house church simply surrounded us and took care of EVERY detail....making it possible for me to just 'show up'.  the kiddos were amazing.  their genuine love, compassion and respect for me and my family during that time showed me just how FAMILY we are.  

it has now been 2 months since my dad's passing.  i'm learning so much about grieving.  i could literally write a book and will spare you, but suffice to say, HIS POWER IS PERFECTED IN OUR WEAKNESS!  

God doesn't NEED me, He desires to be made known thru me.  the good, the bad and the ugly.  human is all i'll ever be but please dont mistake my God, the God inside of ME,  is so much bigger than me.  He is on the move among these kids like never before.  They are HUNGRY to hear His voice.  He is whispering to them and they are listening and responding!  

A long time ago, i wrote a journal entry about what a FAMILY is.  I'm not going to pull it out to quote it but it was along the lines of .....real, growing, loving, hurtful at times, changing, forgiving, imperfect, and belonging.  

that is what i've found.  

by opening our family to include many ages and races we have blessed God and ourselves.   children and adults of all ages that gather together every thursday night have made it possible for God to love me thru this season.  over and over, i had to resist the urge to isolate myself and instead allow myself to be real and needy.  they in all their beautiful ways have proven to me that GOD IS LOVE.

now that i've finally gotten this post out of the way (it was one i procrastinated b/c i was dreading it-ugh) i'll hopefully blog more often.  God is SO on the move among this big family and hopefully it will bring you some encouragement.

if i can leave you with one thing to ponder....

whether you believe it or not, you were created for a PURPOSE.  

there are people around you that WILL be influenced by your life one way or the other. 

i am so thankful that the testimonies of my dad's influence are still pouring in.  

your life is important.  

YOU are awesome.  

you have a DAD that is madly in love with you and available in every moment.

perfection should never be the goal.....

growing closer to HIM should.

the rest works itself out.

May 09

Wow, I have been slacking on the updates, eh? 

So I've realized that the end-of-school schedule is NUTS...especially when u multiply it by 14!!!!  I can't even count the ceremonies, graduations & bday  parties we've been honored to attend!  Such fun but I'm SO not a scheduler and this month has required even ME to keep a calendar!  UGH!  I'm ready for no-school/pool time schedule!  

Just thought I'd give a brief update on what God is rolling around in this silly little head of mine...

Don't get so busy you miss life.

The scriptures about not worrying about tomorrow and how He cares & provides for even the sparrows.... yeah, totally true.  (In case u were wondering! ha!)  Over and OVER we have seen Him come through in the midnight-hour to provide for anything He puts on our hearts.  

Grown ups are SO much more complicated than kids.  Take your shoes off, sit with them, and enjoy what He is doing.

Our garden is in full bloom and I'm amazed how these kids are ok with learning patience in a instant gratification world.  Peas and sunflowers are really amazing to watch grow and lettuce is trying on the patience.

A bored or hungry kid is often destructive.  Give them some food and something they are interested in....and then just sit back and watch.  Beautiful.

Our world may seem to be in chaos but there are some really beautiful people out there LIVING LOVE.  We have to stay focused on our hope and dreams.

It's late and I'm tired.  Before this turns into 'Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy' - I'm signing off.

I love you Jesus.  

Bless ya!

OPPORTUNITY TO BLESS

Hey all :)

I just sent out an email to some people that have expressed interest in supporting the kiddos over the past year.  Thought I'd post it here just in case there are others :)

Let me know if you're interested!  Bless you.....email follows....

Dear Friends and Family!

How about taking a few minutes to be really encouraged?!  I decided an update about all that God is doing with our kiddos is LONG overdue.  So grab a cup o’ coffee and be prepared to smile J!

First and most exciting, about 2 months ago I was baking cookies with Ki’Ara (13) when what seemed out of the blue she says, “Ok, Coach Julz, I’m ready.”  I looked around, “Ooookkkkk?  For what?”  She said, “To pray.  You know…I’m ready for Him to be IN me.”  Just like that!  We scurried around the crazy house looking for a semi-quiet room and right there on Bella’s bunk bed Ki’Ara prayed and asked the Lord to be in her life.  

This is just one example of MANY the Lord has sent our way, to remind us that WE do not PRODUCE the fruit.  We simply plant some seeds and water as long as He allows.  In HIS time and His way, the fruit flourishes.  Praise God!

Not long after that, one of the 16 year old boys came to us asking what he should do when his thoughts are bad.  I shared with him the power of God’s Word for His children and quoted the first scripture that came to mind, “Greater is He that is IN me than he that is in this world!”  Right there on the hood of the minivan, just before we were about to leave, he kept reciting it over and over until he walked off ten feet of the ground and excited to try to this out for himself.    Again, just plant, water , & count on God to take it from there. J

Two weeks ago, we planned a baptism party for Ki’Ara in my parent’s hot tub.  The whole gang gathered and couldn’t wait to celebrate with her.  Unfortunately, Ki’Ara had several really hard things said to her that day at school about her brother’s untimely death and that night her emotions were really strong.  When she broke down in tears, the family (all 20 or so of us! J)  were able to simply demonstrate His love and understanding that the baptism could easily be rescheduled.  She was relieved and is ready to reschedule!   Another girl told her, “I’ll do it with you as soon as I get my weave out!”  Ha!

We are beginning a new project together.  A GARDEN!  Last Thursday planted seeds in flats and hand painted our garden stakes.  I am so excited to see how God uses this experience to reveal Himself even more to these kids.  We are also re-starting construction on our prayer shack!  This week we were given a gift for all of the lumber!!!  We’ve dug a ditch for electricity to be run to it and prepared the foundation.  Inside our little prayer shack we will have bean bags, walls covered in chalkboard paint , art supplies, legos, music and more.  Our hopes are that each of these kids will begin to treasure their time to be ‘alone with God’ expressing themselves however He leads.  Their little worlds don’t allow much quiet and alone time.  Google 24-7 Prayer if you have never heard of this concept.  Upon completion, we would LOVE to open this shack to be filled with 24/7 prayer for hopefully a week by anyone (that’s YOU! J) willing to join us!!!

Just last week we had an unexpected blessing of fruit.  Some of you may have received the email about Kurtis (16).  His brother was Kordero.  Since witnessing the murder of his brother and best friend, Kurtis has been suffering from reoccurring nightmares.  The other night he opened up to us in a very beautiful and transparent way desperate for prayer.  Right there in Braums, the kids all held hands and asked God to give him peaceful rest.  Just as you probably expected the Lord has blessed Kordero with peaceful rest since then!  He told me, “I’m sleeping till 8am without waking up!  And I told God thank you!  I know it was Him who did it!”  Love it.

A couple nights before Easter we stayed up way too late with the kids talking about why we celebrate Easter, why the world celebrates Easter, and how we can thank God for sending His Son and raising Him from the dead so we could have eternal life!  We watched the movie Passion of the Christ and all wept and prayed together.

Chris and I both have really noticed over the past year how much love and discipleship the older boys need.  Because of this, Chris and several guys started taking them bowling every Saturday morning.  They have a ball, make all kinds of crazy bets, and mingle God in all over the place.  He wakes up dragging and comes home 10 ft off the ground :).  The guys seem to be loving it and calling every Sat by 6 AM!!!! to make sure they are still going....ugh! ha

Finally, God has been soooo gracious to send us many, many beautiful people with a heart to bless these kiddos with His love.  Many from our house church and the wind business have been coming on a regular basis and being so patient as the kids grew comfortable with them.  It is so awesome to watch them open up to those that are there simply to share the love of Christ! 

God also sent an amazing administrative friend to me to volunteer her talents!!!  So many of you have volunteered over the past year to bless and support this gathering in any way needed.  This may be just what you are looking for….keep reading just a LITTLE more!

As you can imagine, feeding a group of 20+ every week is quite a task.  My friend has offered to begin a volunteer page on the internet that you can access anytime to find a spot that fits your availability.  Anything from bring a dessert, salad, veggie, casserole, whatever!  I’m certain she’ll be able to explain it better than me, but our hope is that anyone desiring to bless what the Lord is doing over here could do so in a way that easily fits your budget and time!  I can’t explain what a blessing this would be to me!!! 

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN GIVING THIS WAY….would you please reply just saying, SEND ME MORE INFO –I’M INTERESTED!  (And feel free to pass this out to anyone I may have missed.)  Like I said, you could give one time, every couple weeks, whatever.   How cool is this….the Lord literally sent someone to my home a couple weeks ago to give us a FREE DEEP FREEZE!  So now you could  drop off at your convenience and it could be in the freezer waiting!  He’s amazing!

Alright, I could go on forever but will refrain!  God is good and greatly to be praised!  He loves these kids so much more than we do and it is an honor to co-labor with HIM!   It is so awesome to see these kids experiencing His love in ways that we are certain will effect their lives for years to come.  Please continue praying for us!  He is the source of all good things! 

Much much love to you!

Life together

We've been so busy I haven't had time to write but thought you would enjoy some fun shots!

God is doing such amazing things among our family.  We have lots of projects in the works that we can't wait to share with you!  Construction has begun again on our 24/7 prayer house and we are about to begin our sustaining mini-farm garden!  Say a prayer---our labor hands are full of energy!!!!