Hey family

Hey everyone!
Well, we have our daddy/husband back and boy, are we thankful!! He conked out about 7:45 p.m. tonight, but we were very proud of him for making it that long! He actually jumped on an earlier flight in LA last night and made it home about midnight. He goes back to work tomorrow. Has to go to a debriefing meeting at Antioch tomorrow night. Pray that he doesn't fall asleep on the road.
Rita, you'll be happy to know that he took over 400 pictures! Unfortunately, the battery died right before the Black Hawk helicopter landed on the aircraft carrier! It sounds like 2/3 of the trip was actually traveling, but I suppose things went fairly smoothly. The team that was in the village before Randy's team (led by Ty Denney if any of you remember him from ACU - he was a "moonie") got stuck in a monsoon while they were traveling by boat to the village (RB's team took a helicopter). They were on the deck of this ship in the freezing rain, sleeping in body bags and throwing up constantly! A helicopter finally picked them up and delivered them safely! Ty somehow got seperated from the team and some of the rebels ended up "taking care" of him for a while (he asked to borrow their SAT phone because his quit working - ha!). His team wasn't even sure he was alive during the week. They were happy to find him. I think I'm thankful RB's trip wasn't quite THAT adventurous! He can tell/show you all about it - the destruction there is amazing.

About the article in the NYTimes (RB hasn't even seen it yet). Jamey commented on it at church yesterday and read some comments from Jimmy Seibert. Jimmy said that most of the quotes were misquotes or taken out of context, and that they actually have very good relationships with the Methodist ministers who were quoted as criticizing Antioch. He said they would not try to defend themselves - Jesus didn't. And it doesn't do any good anyway. Unfortunately, they have stopped and removed all reports on their website. Did any of you happen to print any of those out? I didn't even think about it. Oh well, not a big deal.

I did confirm that my billfold was stolen. Someone tried to spend over $300 on it after I had cancelled it. I've cancelled everything I could and gotten a new driver's license. It's been a real pain. I guess God is just getting me ready for Como! Ha!

Intense, but good weekend at church. A missionary named Bret Franzen from Darjeeling, India spoke at our leadership meeting and at church. He was one of the most humble, hungry-for-Jesus guys I've ever seen. He has 2 primary priorities in his life: connect with Jesus every morning and abide in Him so that he will bear abundant fruit. He used to be a missionary in Mongolia and I think 7 church plants have come out of that church. I was humbled and challenged. This guy spends 3-4 hours every a.m. with Jesus. And he just kept saying "That's not a law thing - I'm just really desperate for Him." That desperate need for Jesus becomes more of a reality for me all the time. His life and His love are becoming sweeter and more precious every day. Isn't He such a good God?! Anyway, all that rambling to say that I just love to see and experience the way God uses the Body to encourage us!

We'll be celebrating Moriah's birthday this weekend with my parents and maybe Dale and Rita - are y'all coming? She seems to have survived getting ignored last week.

Happy Birthday Bailey!! I cannot believe you're going to be driving! Take lots of pictures and post them! How encouraging that you are blessing younger girls with your commitment to Jesus in purity! May you raise up disciples who follow in your footsteps! And may you see more of the beauty of Jesus this year than you've ever seen or experienced before!

Rita and Dale, our kids sure are enjoying their "motorcycles"! They are the hit of the whole street - we can't seem to keep the batteries charged up! Thank you guys!

Well, I'll stop rambling. Only got a few hours sleep last p.m. so I think I'm going to go crash.
Love you,
Anda