Laugh a little :)

 

 

Moz 2012

     First things first, THANK YOU!  Thank you to everyone who supported us financially and to everyone who prayed for us while we were there.  Words cannot describle how grateful we are to you.I have been wanting to share my trip with you all for quite some time now, but due to technical difficulties have not been able to. So, here it finally is!     

     I will try to keep this brief and not bore you with too many details.  I want you to make it through the whole blog without losing interest! :)  The trip...in a word...was amazing.  The country is unimaginably poor, but the believers in Moz were on fire for Christ!  Granted, I was only there for 10 days, but this was my general observation. There is no politically correct, beat around the bushes, kum-ba-ya, attitudes.  It is, "Do you know Christ? Well, let me tell you about him."  Pretty awesome.  As a whole, they really don't have a woe is me attitude.  They do however have such a sense of urgency to share Christ with everyone around them.  As I sit in my air conditioned home, with my loving husband, my sweet baby girl, my comfy blanket, watching a favorite family movie after a meal where we have all eaten more than we should have...it is sometimes hard to imagine life being any better.  When the people of Moz lie on their dirt floor, or if it's raining, sleep standing on their mud floor, in the heat, with hungry stomachs, family members all around sick and dying with Aids, Malaria, Teburculosis, or about 1,000 other diseases, they know.  They know that in Christ life can be so much more becuase of the promises He gives us.  And Heaven...Heaven will be sweeter to these people than you or I could ever imagine.  Rev 21:4  "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

As I said before, I will be brief. So...to give you the "highlights" of what we did while in Moz.  We hung out, practiced, played, did bible study, a "girl's night", and went on a village walk with the teenagers in the Sparks Handball/Sports Ministry.  We painted a Green Door house that was 160square feet for a widow and her family affected with HIV to live in.  We prayed over mommas and their malnourished babies at Tessa Grace Nutritional Program and Baylor was even able to donate several of her blankets, bibs, and clothes from when she was a newborn!  We went to the hospital shared Jesus and gave soup with Soup Solution to the dying.  Colby preached the Roman Road and then we held a food pantry for 130+ families affected by HIV and were able to give them enough food to last over two weeks.  That's a big deal because they will often go days without eating anything.  We went with the Project Life ministry who holds bible studies in homes of people affected by HIV.  We held a VBS for a local church and shared the gospel, sang, had a craft, and gave snacks for 100+kids.

Favorit moment of the trip:  When the boys from the Sparks ministry found out our team had brought them new uniforms.  Our translator (who was also a member of the team) got so excited that he stopped translating and started cheering with the rest of the team.  The place exploded with excitement!  I cried.

Willl never forget moment:  The Sparks kids read scripture from John about Jesus washing the feet of his disciples and they said, "We want to be like Christ and wash the feet of our disciples." Then they sat us down, prayed over us, and washed our feet.  I cried again.

Think about it moment:  We were at a church made of mud and sticks and the preacher mentioned that if you know Christ, but your neighbor does not and you have food, but your neighbor is hungry, then you should give you neighbor food in order to share the love of Christ.  Remember they might not eat for days at at time, and what food they do have, they are giving to non-believers to share Christ.  Talk about sacrificial giving.  They're giving everything they have for Christ.

What now?

To truly experience God in a way unlike any other, GO!  There is no way to really put into words what being there is like. So go and see for yourself and you will come back changed! :) I know, not everyone's cup of tea...so give!  If you know of someone going on a trip, support them!  You will have an eternal impact on the kingdom of Heaven...kind of awesome huh?  If you don't know of anyone right now, find an organization that you believe in and support their efforts to take Christ to the world.  I went with Children's Relief International.  You can help support the missionaries, you can support a Tessa Grace baby and help ensure they are getting fed and cared for, you can support a Sparks student go to vocational school (kind of like their college) for only $35 a month for six months, you can build a house with Green Door for widows and orphans affected by HIV, or several other things.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! :)  There is so much more to share and we would love to share it with you.  Just give us a "Holla"! ;)

1 Cor 15:58 "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Happy Birthday Baylor!

Today is Baylor's second birthday and what a fun, special, blessed, joyful, exciting, and love filled time these two years have been with our sweet girl.  The first year of Baylor's life she was super calm, hardly ever cried, and was pretty much the perfect baby.  The second year has been equally as joyful, but quite a bit more active! Her personality is spunky but sweet.  She is fearless, but can be very shy.  She loves to wear jewelry and dirt equally. She never stops moving until she is made to, but then can be a great sleeper.  She is our dimple faced, strawberry blonde, girly tomboy that we love oh so much. 

Happy Birthday Baylor Ann!

Perfect Imperfection

It is late and I can't quite get to sleep tonight.  Our AC has decided to quit on a Saturday night in the middle of summer. So, here is my late night ramble. :)

Did you know that a dimple is really a deformed muscle?  Look at this face...

Amazing isn't it...how something so cute, is scientifically considered to be deformed or imperfect.  I can't imagine Baylor without her dimple.  It's part of what makes her, her.  In my eyes, she's beautiful. Perfect. She is perfectly imperfect. :)  

I am imperfect (shocking...I know ;), but in Christ I have been made new and perfect.  I am so thankful He doesn't see me through the eyes of man, but through HIS eyes.  He has a deeper love for me than I can ever imagine, he has a perfect plan for my life, and to Him I am fearfully and wonderfully made. But not just me.  We all are.

So let science have their theories, the world have their opinions, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.



2 Corinthians 5:17-Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  21-"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."


Psalm 36:5- "Your love oh Lord, reaches to the Heavens, your faithfulness to the skies."


John 3:16-"For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life."


Jeremiah 29:11- "For I know the plans I have for you declared the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."


Psalm 139:14- "I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full."


Joshua 24:15- "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

Catching Up

Summer is here and is as exciting as anticipated!  I have started my new part time job and am LOVING it!  The owners of the house we are renting have SOLD the house which means we have to be out by June 27th (which is also the same week Colby has his soccer camp, yikes!), but on the flip side we have a contract on our potential new house, woo-hoo!!!!  We are still gearing up for Africa starting July 19-29 and Baylor has her SECOND, I repeat SECOND birthday coming up!  How is she already two!?!?

Colby and I have been SO blessed with an amazingly generous and selfless lifegroup (sunday school) at our church.  2 years ago I remember crying after visiting churches, which were perfectly fine,but none which felt like "home" thinking I would never find a church that felt like the close knit church I came from.  But God, as usual, blessed us more than we could ever imagine, and we are thankful for them daily.  So, thanks guys for being so awesome! :)

Baylor is crazy, hilarious, cute, funny, fearless, and sweet as usual.  She is so blessed with a multitude of family that love her so much and cousins that are so fun and the sweetest things to watch together.  For her birthday this year we are going to go with a Cookie Monster - Milk and Cookies dessert theme.  Since we won't have a house of our own yet to have her birthday party in we are going to have it at "The Grove" which will probably be more fun anyway! :) I had several cute pics and videos to upload, but my computer is not cooperating so for now, here is the one I got.

It's hot out there guys...stay cool!

Summer Time!

4 more days and summer is officially here!  Woo hoo!!!!!!  As many of you already know, I resigned from teaching a couple of weeks ago.It was a decision that was prayerfully thought out and I did not come by it easily.  However, leaving Baylor, everyday, all day, was harder for me than I could have ever imagined.  I thought it would get easier or become more routine, but it never did.  I work for a great school and Baylor is in a perfect childcare situation, but there have been many a Monday mornings that I would just cry on my way to school because I HATED leaving Baylor after having a full weekend with her. HATED it! In my original plans of having children, I never wanted to stay home.  I thought that would be too much time with a baby and I sure as heck did not want to be poor!  Well, after being a working mom, I realize I would rather eat dirt everyday then have to leave my baby.   Funny how a little 6.9 lb bundle can change EVERYTHING!

Now, just to clarify.  I will be working a little, but only part time. It was, again, a position that I really feel God just layed in my lap.  So blessed!   I came by it through my life group at church.  We have a friend who has a pool and outdoor living business. Basically, if it goes in your backyard, he can build it! And as his business has grown, he is needing a little more help.  Which is where I come in....and Baylor too!  The type of business he does, he meets on the customers time table,which most often happens after a normal workdays hours.  He has an office set up with a meeting area for the adults and a play area for the children whose parents are meeting with him.  So during the day, from 8-12 on M, W, F Baylor and I will be working.  She will have a play area with toys, puzzles, etc and my desk will be right beside her, but she won't be bothering anyone because we will be the only ones there!  On those days I will basically be answering the phone, running errands, and done by lunch!  On Tuesdays and Thursdays Baylor will go to Parent's Day Out and I will work a little longer on those days and get more time intensive work done.  It is a new position for everyone involved, and I am sure there will be a learning curve involved, but I am excited!  And grateful. And thankful.  And did I mention excited!?  No more leaving my baby!!! :)

As summer approaches we have many things to look forward to.  Job change for me, our landlords have decided to sell the house we are living in which means we are in the house hunting market :), Baylor turns 2 in 2 months, and we are going to Africa!  Lots of change, but all for the better!

Here are some of our recent adventures we have been on and just some funny videos of Baylor. She keeps us laughing and on our toes,daily!

Tink,our dog, does not like balls.  Tink does not really like Baylor either. So here she is having to decide the lesser of two evils

On this particular night, my dad, Mac, was trying to teach the grandkids how to do a headstand. Unfortunately what I did not catch was him showing them how to do a headstand by doing one himself.  Look alive 55! ;)  

Let's Go Rangers!

Dollar Dog night!

When the snacks have run out, Elmo makes his appearance! :)

Riding off into the night with her Prince Charming :)

We also went to a Rough Riders game with some friends and their little girl named Taylor.  These two are too cute! :)

 Fireworks, not so sure at first

So loud,but so pretty!

Be Blessed!- The Peeks

Arboretum

Today I took this little cutie to go see the flowers

And this little cutie...didn't really like them at first

In fact, she said they hurt and even signed the word "hurt" for extra emphasis.  

But I finally got a toothy grin from her :)

We were so happy that Daddy got to come with us since he was on his way to a soccer game today

Such pretty things everywhere we looked

But then, she saw it!  And even gasped. It was...

A giant water shooting frog!  She wouldn't TOUCH the flowers, but the giant frog she has no issues with

This is our new "cheese" face...

Finally, Little Bit decided to smell a flower

It was a perfect morning with my sweet little munchkin