Well Worth It

By God's providence, I received a message through myspace from a guy named Steve this past Sunday. He explained that he grew up with Tony in Indiana and that he was doing a job here in NC until Wednesday. Oh yes ... Steve Lamping. The name rang a bell. They haven't seen each other since 6th grade. He and Tony corresponded back and forth through myspace and we made plans to eat dinner with him in Durham. So last night (after a few u-turns) we finally made it to Steve's hotel and we went to eat at Carrabba's Italian Restaurant. The food was so yummy! The fellowship even better!! The guys had a great time catching up on 16 years of life. :) Lord willing we'll be able to get together again real soon.

We dropped Steve off at the hotel and started our hour and a half drive home. About 20 miles from the house, Tony asked me for his phone - which he had handed to me as we walked into the restaurant. I reached in my purse and only found my phone. I started calling his phone, thinking that it was in the car somewhere. Nope. Nowhere to be found. :( So now I'm trying to playback in my mind and remember my every step. We had went to Carrabba's, then to Starbucks [which ended up being closed, but we did get out of the car there], then to the hotel, and then to a gas station. There was no telling when I actually lost it. In my prayer journal that night I prayed "Lord, please let it be found by someone that will call my phone and return it to us with ease. Please keep it safe and cozy wherever it may be." May sound like a silly prayer to you, but it was prayed with all sincerity and faith. And this afternoon I drove back up to Carrabba's restaurant to pick up Tony's phone. You know where it stayed the night ... in a safe. Lord, thank you so very much for keeping Tony's cell phone in a "safe" place last night - literally!!

Fact

I use my left thumb a whole lot.
This was confirmed when I cut it this morning while slicing apples. :(
Nothing too major ... but it is wrapped in a bandaid and I am not able to use it like usual.
Thank you LORD for my left thumb!! And I am sorry for taking it for granted!!

A Surprise

My very sweet husband did a wonderful thing today! He surprised me!! :) When I got home from running errands today, there were two packages sitting on the porch. One was from iherb.com - which included our good for us vitamins. The other was a rather large box from a name I didn't recognize in Brooklyn, NY. It was addressed to Tony, so I let it sit there by the front door. When he got home from work, I was telling him about the mystery package. He got a smile on his face and said that it was a gift for me. :) Oh... I was so excited. I really like surprises! He told me to get the camera for him -so I did. You can watch the video for the rest of the story.

Yay! We have our very own grain mill - and I am very surprised and very excited!!
Thank you so much My Love!!!

A Hat for Brittany

New Years Eve

I give you thanks, O Lord,

with my whole heart;

before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name
for your steadfast love
and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.

Psalm 138: 1-2

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Last night we joined about 25 precious siblings in Christ on the streets of Richmond, VA.

The glorious news of the gospel was proclaimed over and over again through open air,

one-to-one conversations, and gospel tracts. Thousands of people were reminded of how

fragile this life is and that they will one day give an account to the Creator of the universe.

Many mocked. Some got angry. Others listened.

God was glorified!

Because we had such a large group of laborers, we were able to set up four different

preaching stations. It was great! I don't know how many times I heard someone walk

by and say to their friends, "Man, they're everywhere. Come on. It's New Year's Eve." As the time neared midnight, the crowd got much thicker and louder and hyped up. It was hard

to hear the one preaching ... so what did we do? We joined together and sang hymns to our

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!

What a wonderful way to start the NEW YEAR.