Great News!
FED-EX delivered our passports WITH VISAS this morning. Thank you, God! And thank you Denise Hope (our courier in Chicago: "There's Always Hope!") She's helped us both times.
2.01.2012
1.30.2012
Travel Dates!
Today has been quite the flurry of activity. WE KNOW WHEN WE'RE GOING!
We received notification earlier this morning that we have an appointment at the US Consulate in Ghuangzhou,China for February 22nd.
As soon as we got these dates we did the following (in between regularly scheduled duties of parenting and pastoring):
**Called my mom to give her the dates so they can book flights to come watch the kids. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!!!
**Called our friends who have an appointment one day after us to see if we can at all travel together. (It looks like we will fly to China together but fly home separately!)
**Contacted our courier to (finally) submit my visa application.
**Contacted the travel agency to get a tentative (finalized after our agency confirms) international flight itinerary.
**Communicated more with our agency re: travel prep details.
We are extremely excited--but also a little overwhelmed. We've got a LOT to do as a pastor, as parents, friends, and pending travelers to be ready to go NEXT WEEK!
PLEASE pray for us!
Thank you!
R
We received notification earlier this morning that we have an appointment at the US Consulate in Ghuangzhou,China for February 22nd.
As soon as we got these dates we did the following (in between regularly scheduled duties of parenting and pastoring):
**Called my mom to give her the dates so they can book flights to come watch the kids. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!!!
**Called our friends who have an appointment one day after us to see if we can at all travel together. (It looks like we will fly to China together but fly home separately!)
**Contacted our courier to (finally) submit my visa application.
**Contacted the travel agency to get a tentative (finalized after our agency confirms) international flight itinerary.
**Communicated more with our agency re: travel prep details.
We are extremely excited--but also a little overwhelmed. We've got a LOT to do as a pastor, as parents, friends, and pending travelers to be ready to go NEXT WEEK!
PLEASE pray for us!
Thank you!
R
1.29.2012
Live Like It Matters
The last 24 hours have been emotional for me. Last night, we received news that a pastor friend of ours was in a major car accident. HIS WIFE AND TWO OF HIS CHILDREN WERE KILLED. Only he and one son survived.
I grieved when I learned the news and I fell asleep crying in my husband's arms. This family has been through so much. Hard churches. Cancer. Significant medical challenges with a child. So much pain. So much heartache.
And then today, I went to church where instead of regular worship we hosted a service event we called i feed one. Together, more than 400 people packed and sorted 252,000 meals that will ship directly to four orphanages in Africa.
But not just us Jesus-loving church-goers came to pack.
Neighbors came. Coworkers came. Girl scout troupes came. University of Hartford's lacrosse team came. Entire sororities came.
Brown hands, white hands, black hands all working together to do something Jesus would be proud of...feeding His children. It was one of the best things I've ever been part of. The church being the church. Serving people and sharing Jesus and inviting others to join in.
For awhile, I struggled to put the two events together in my mind. To make sense of it all...until a message grew so strong I am moved again to tears.
We need to live like today matters.
None of us know just how many breaths we'll take. We don't know how many days we have. I want to live intentionally. I want to serve Jesus every day like it might be my last. Because it might. I have today to make a difference. Packing food. Caring for orphans. Visiting the sick. Sharing what I have with others. I have today to love people in a way that could lead them to Jesus and change their eternal life.
Today matters.
I'm going to live like it does. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.
I grieved when I learned the news and I fell asleep crying in my husband's arms. This family has been through so much. Hard churches. Cancer. Significant medical challenges with a child. So much pain. So much heartache.
And then today, I went to church where instead of regular worship we hosted a service event we called i feed one. Together, more than 400 people packed and sorted 252,000 meals that will ship directly to four orphanages in Africa.
But not just us Jesus-loving church-goers came to pack.
Neighbors came. Coworkers came. Girl scout troupes came. University of Hartford's lacrosse team came. Entire sororities came.
Brown hands, white hands, black hands all working together to do something Jesus would be proud of...feeding His children. It was one of the best things I've ever been part of. The church being the church. Serving people and sharing Jesus and inviting others to join in.For awhile, I struggled to put the two events together in my mind. To make sense of it all...until a message grew so strong I am moved again to tears.
We need to live like today matters.
None of us know just how many breaths we'll take. We don't know how many days we have. I want to live intentionally. I want to serve Jesus every day like it might be my last. Because it might. I have today to make a difference. Packing food. Caring for orphans. Visiting the sick. Sharing what I have with others. I have today to love people in a way that could lead them to Jesus and change their eternal life.
Today matters.
I'm going to live like it does. Today. Tomorrow. Forever.
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