So, these past several days have been quite exciting, if you will... Experiencing an earthquake, the start of the semester for seminary, first day at new school for the kids, second weekend in our facility for Imago Dei Church, Hurricane Irene, busted water heater, flooded basement, shingles (and no wonder, I suppose ;-)... a LOT of firsts. Despite it all, we had the joy of hosting new friends and fellow church planters from the Outer Banks as they spent the weekend with us for their evacuation. The girls particularly had an exciting "hurricane party"...
They made jewelry, played dolls, watched movies and shared lots of laughs. It made the "stress of the unknown" back in the Outer Banks subside. Tony and I enjoyed the fellowship of Winfield and Kay. We are grateful for their friendship and ministry!
We are also very grateful for the generosity of friends (another set of church planters, Nathan & Elizabeth) from Winston Salem who donated a rear projection screen to Imago Dei Church! Thank you so much! It did, humorously, take us a near hour to get it all set up. Ha ha... What a blessing!
My girls assisted the hospitality team as they worked on a few preparations...
Donnie & Meghan working out sound & tech... I'm personally loving the shirts: an Imago Dei Church shirt & a Defend the Orphan shirt (which, by the way, I still have a few more Defend the Orphan shirts particularly long sleeve versions if you're interested...)
Winfield Bevins sharing a little about his personal experience as a church planter... an encouraging word for us (you can listen on the livestream from the past Sunday - see the right hand column of this blog for the link)...
Monday morning was quite the adventure for me... a laugh and then cry kind of day :-)... First of all, I spent the weekend watching a painful rash spread from my spine all the way around to my navel on my right torso. Very weird. I planned a Monday morning trip to a doctor...
Our house was busy beforehand with the kids getting ready for school and the Bevins packing up to make their post-hurricane journey home... We were all running around before noticing a gushing sound in the basement. The kids opened the door and all I heard was "Mom!!! Oh no!" The adults made their way around the corner to find the water heater spewing water everywhere and about an inch of water covering a third of the cement floor. Winfield rushed to shut it off while I called Tony in his office to call facilities for help. I just want to brag a minute of the 5 minute response time of SEBTS facilities! By the time I walked the kids to school and back, they were downstairs dry-vacuuming and replacing the water heater. What a blessing! Been running a dehumidifier ever since. So grateful...
(I was trying to take a quick picture of this cute girl's pink boots she got for her birthday and was dying to wear... adorable :-)
(James is growing up. I'm so proud of him. To answer someone's question, he like his siblings had a great first day of school. He is showing a real interest right now in reading. This is exciting. Thanks for your prayers!)
I made it to the doctor and found out, as I had begun suspecting, that I have Shingles. Some antiviral medicine and some ibuprofen and I'll be as good as new in 7-10 days... (Lord willing:-) In the meantime, I'm attempting to rest a little more here and there. I must give praise in response to our Gracious God who knows our needs, satisfies them completely and who is our ultimate need meeter! God has faithfully provided and will, to which I am overwhelmed. His grace is sufficient! Makes me want to sing! I pray you may find rest in His care today too...
Have I mentioned yet, that my children are a gift from the Lord?!. :-) This was before our walk to school today. We decided to take another route this morning (longer and likely the least traveled one in the future - ha). They are all doing well so far, minus a few cavities in 4 of them! So far, just four days in, they are loving school! This particularly brings joy to my heart! I LOVE that they are at the same school and can share this new journey together. They love it too. As for the question someone asked about school uniforms: the kids don't miss them, ha. I miss the simplicity of uniforms. I think uniforms are more cost effective as well. However, I must smile seeing my son pick out his own clothes and wanting earnestly to sport his Washington Redskins tee. I know I'm back on the East Coast when there's a restaurant down the street with tons of Redskins gear. :-)
Tuesday morning, Tony had the honor of preaching in chapel at SEBTS. I'm glad I was able to make it (was questionable for a minute with the lovely slight nausea inducing meds - ha). I can not get enough of the call to pursue holiness message! He shared from 1 Peter 1:13-2:3, 11-12. May it be written on our hearts, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." My favorite (today anyways) points were his last three: 5) Preach the gospel to ourselves everyday. 6) Feast on the Word of God. 7) We must believe that Christ is better than sin!
Within a few days, the message will be up and available to view here.
1 comment:
Kimberly, those three points on 1 Peter were just what I needed today for my boy (boy who is 17 years old and taller than his daddy). Thank you. Also, I would love a long-sleeved tee! How much?
Miss you :)
Julie
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