Praise God!

Had my appointment today and the cyst on Baby's brain is completely gone! Thank you God! McKenna and I were very tempted to find out the sex, but we used all our self control and made it through one more sonogram!
Randy's contract is still up in the air and not real favorable! Ask Alan!
We've loved hearing about everyone's vacation experiences! We're ready for Florida!
Grandma and Grandpa will be here soon with our Josiah to celebrate his return and MK's birthday. Bless all you guys and thanks for praying! God is good!

Anda

Golfing buddies.

Our pool was a great place to clean off from the beach. It was a little warm here (97+ every day) and the water in the pool stayed at about 88 degrees. But the kids loved it.

Our back porch. Much happiness is found here!

The view off our back porch.

Mother of all Family Vacations II

That sad feeling that our vacation is almost over has hit me today. No matter how much fun we have it is always sad when it is coming to an end. At times like this I often think of what C.S. Lewis said about the timelessnes of the age to come. He said that we have never known joy untainted by time. Every joy we have ever known has been accompanied by the knowledge that it would end. The joy of youth, the pleasure of children, the goodness of a meal, the goodness of pleasant conversation with friends, we always know that it is coming to an end. When Jesus comes back we will experience joy unbounded by time. I can't wait.

We have had a fabulous time in HH. Our house is directly on the beach. We walk the 20 yards to the beach whenever we want to and we have wanted to alot. When we are tired of that we jump in the pool, (Click this for the website with pictures and description of the house.) or we go play golf, or we go for a bike ride or we sit on the back porch and watch the sunrise or the night fall while the waves crash. It really is awesome and made all the better by spending it with our good friends. As the pictures show, yesterday we rented a pontoon boat and went dolphin hunting. We saw them in bunches and they came right up to our boat. (Alfred and I have seen several in the ocean off our deck, but it was a little too early in the morning for the rest of them.) We watched a couple of them surf boat wakes for a long time. I has just been fabulous. Thanks to mom and dad for the experience. We may be spoiled forever. We head home Saturday morning and will be there in time for church Sunday. Grace.

By the way, Happy Birthday Ashley.

Happy Birthday, McKenna!

Hope you have had a great day today, McKenna! You are so sweet and special and a wonderful cousin. I love your happy heart and your beautiful smile!
Ashley says, "Happy Birthday!" We love you!
Uncle Cary, Aunt Jill, and cousins

p.s. here is a funny picture for you!

Josiah learned some new tricks in Midland

We took a boat out today to spot dolphins...very successful trip!!

Night fun on the beach

Maggie

Our family is so sad tonight. Tomorrow morning we are going to say goodbye to a member of our family. Maggie has cancer and even though the doctor thought we would have plenty of time to love her and say goodbye after our trip things have changed and we have to let her go tomorrow. I so wanted to be there and can't tell you how bad I feel that Rita is having to deal with this. Once again she has shown us her unselfish love and understands just how much we are hurting because Maggie has been such a big part of my kid's lives. Rita thank you for loving her and being her nurse. I know she has been in good hands and I will always be thankful that you love her too. Say a little prayer for us tomorrow...it will be a hard day.

Fun in the Sun

I wanted to write a quick blog and let everyone know about our incredible vacation. We had a wonderful time at Disney World...it was very hot and humid but we managed to do 4 parks in three days and I don' t think we missed anything that we really wanted to do. Thanks Jill for the California Grill suggestion. We loved the fireworks and the food was wonderful. I'll save the story of our almost missing our reservation for another time. Watching Reagan enjoy it all so much was fun for all of us. He is so full of life ....Disney really was magical for him. He thinks that he wants McKenna, Ashley and Annie to go with him there for their 12 year old trip. On Saturday we left about 10 to meet the Branch family in Hilton Head. We ate lunch together and I gave Judy her scrapbook...she loved it and we all had fun looking through it. After lunch we had fun surprising the kids with the beach house. It is beautiful and plenty of room for both families. Judy, Meagan, Bailey and I went grocery shopping and the guys played in the ocean and then we had pizza out on our deck. We went to church this morning at the Hilton Head Church of Christ and met Angie Edmondson's cousin. After lunch we played at the beach (which is our backyard) and rode lots of waves. We have rented bikes for everyone and Reagan, Connor and I went for a ride on the beach. Later Tod and Al played golf...Tod shot an 83. We are enjoying being together and relaxing...it is a beautiful place and filled with such good memories for us. Dale and Rita we can't thank you enough for the wonderful gift of this trip.

Home again

Well, we are home now from our cruise, which we enjoyed tremendously. On Monday, our stop was at San Jaun, Puerto Rico. We really enjoyed the shopping. We didn't spend a lot of time there. Tuesday, we were at St. Thomas. Really pretty. We were going to go to the beach, but it poured. So we shopped inbetween the short time that it wasn't raining. On Wednesday, we were at St. Maarten and had an excursion to the Butterfly Farm. Lots of pretty butterflys. Then we went over the the capitol city of Marigot, which is the capitol of the French side. We stopped for 45 min. for shopping (this was part of our excursion). We went into the quite small mall to find a bathroom only to find out that they charge you a dollar to go into the bathroom. So we found a public restroom somewhere else. Then it poured for a while. When we got back to the ship, it was lunchtime, so we ate and went back out for shopping. We spent too much time walking around town, we didn't have time to lay on the beach. But we took a short walk on it. Thursday, we were at Sea. We went to the pool and laid out on the topmost deck and got fried. Yes, we did apply sunscreen, but I forgot to have James put it on my back, and I fell asleep in the sun. Interestingly enough, my back got a bad burn, but the back of my legs didn't get a burn at all. And I didn't put sunscreen on the back of my legs. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. On Friday, we were at Nassau. We had wanted to go lay out on a beach, but we hurt so bad from the sunburn, we didn't want to put a swimsuit on again. We walked around town and shopped a little. We came back to the ship and I took a long nap. As we left Nassau it rained. Then the sun came out just in time for a beautiful sunset. I got some great pictures. We also went through tropical storm Franklin during the night. I never knew it was even raining, but James says the windows to our balcony were rattling. That must have been some strong wind.
Overall, we had a lot of fun. We met some interesting people, and came away with an address to some friends we made. Of course this isn't everything, but it's the short story. We did go to some shows at night. Anyways, it was a great vacation, and thanks Mom and Dad for the gift.
Throughout the week, Lena has kicked quite a bit. Her kicks are getting stronger. She kicked really hard on the plane ride home. Everything is good. I am now 20 1/2 weeks, and it shows more now. James and I are in his brother's wedding in 2 weeks. It'll be interesting to see how the dress fits.
Goodbye for now. I'm sure James will have his own comments to add. It's good to come back to find everyone doing well. Ben and Trisha, I hope your move went well. I can't wait to see your house. Tod and Lee Ann, hope your vacation went well. What's wrong with Maggie? Ashley, happy late birthday.

Love you all and can't wait to show you pictures,
April

P.S. James just reminded me that he only got burned, I got fried.

Happy Birthday, Ashley!

Eight is Great!

Skates and a Scooter 

Our "Pookie" turned eight today. Grandma took her on a date for lunch, Mimi came in today to celebrate for dinner, and tomorrow is her "fifties-style" roller skating party. Somehow birthdays at our house get drug-out to 48 hours, or 72 hours, or sometimes weeks.

Ashley is sweet, cheerful and fun-loving. Ashley brings the gift of peacemaking to our family. She has her normal amount of "spits and spats," but overall, she is quick to forgive and looks for ways to cheer other people up.

Ashley was born giggling & smiling. She doesn't actually laugh, she cackles. Her infectious cackle is one of her trademarks.

Ashley is also famous for her double-jointed limberness. She will gladly show you any bodily contortion that she learned from the Chinese acrobats while we were at Epcot.

Ashley loves to make up dance routines with her sister, and she likes to play X-Box Karaoke and belt-out "We are Family."

She brings so much joy to this family, and everytime I stop to watch her, I remember what it's like to be a kid again.

Love you, Pookie
Mom

Mother Of All Family Vacations I

We have arrived. The mother of all family vacations (understanding that the trip to the west coast remains untouched as the grandmother of all vacations) has begun. We left Midland last night around 7:40 cst and pulled in to the hotel at the Disney World Gate at 8:38 est. For those of you time zone challenged that is 23 hours and 58 minutes straight. The kids were great and are so excited about the adventure Lee Ann has planned for all of us. They were great in the car although they have grown significantly since we started doing this kind of thing and there doesn't seem to be nearly as much room in a suburban as there used to be. I do love being together and in spite of the relatively relationship challenging circumstances we really did enjoy the trip across the southern U.S.

We get started early in the morning and will be going hard at it for three days. Thanks to Mom and Dad for making this trip possible. We have such a deposit of family memories because of their generosity. I don't know that in the long run it is any better than inner tubes at Inks lake, but we sure are enjoying ourselves.

Hope everyone has a great week. I will try to check in later. Grace, Tod.

Not much to say

I don't have much to say, but thought if I post something boring, someone else will find something new and interesting to add!

We enjoyed a day of "rest" from fundraising today as all our appointments fell through. It was nice to focus all our energy on packing, and I'm feeling like it might be possible for us to actually leave here by Friday (with a few late nights!) I keep having to let go of worry about our support. This living by faith thing seems to be more than just a daily letting go, but almost moment by moment.

God has refreshed my spirit in countless ways--a song, words from you, an old note I run across in the packing process, Elijah's delightful laugh.

Tomorrow is our last Sunday at Glenwood. We feel very much like we're already gone. Life has moved on without us in many ways. And yet, this still feels very much like home. I'm sure I will have lots of tears tomorrow--I do just thinking about it! Life is very dependable here. There is something comforting about looking across the auditorium each week and seeing Nelda Cade and Betty McKinney delight in watching my children during worship. I know when Lisa has made our special communion bread because it's especially good on those weeks. I know that when our family walks in the door tomorrow, Wanda Trotter and Faye Huckabay will be delighted to see us and will hug on me, and if I choose not to go to class I can sit in the workroom and visit with them as they drink strong coffee and tally the number of people who do go to class. I know James Stanley will ask me, "How's your heart?" and kiss my cheek with his characteristic "Mm, mm" as he does. I know what church feels like here. And I love it. I treasure it.

And I will love church in Odessa, too. God will grow that love in my heart over time and through joy and pain just as He has done here. Someday I will know the New Life church like I know the Glenwood church. It will be different, I'm sure. But it will come to be home. I'm taking the recipe for our special communion bread, along with special instructions from Lisa, the one who makes it the best--with just a touch of golden brown on the edges and rolled very thin. I will come to love the funny quirks of each member of our new little body. And through it God will do things more amazing and mighty than we can yet imagine. But I don't know them yet. I don't know their stories that have made them who they are. I will, with time.

I will treasure my church tomorrow. I will study their faces and try to imprint them on my heart. I will squeeze all the hugs I can get from them. I will try to look in their eyes and tell them what a blessing they are to me, and my words will not be adequate. I will pray for them as I look across the auditorium and see each one, knowing the pain that is in their hearts. My heart will ache to leave them, knowing I won't be here to encourage and listen and help and love face to face.

But at the same time it leaps with joy in anticipation of the future. I am thrilled to be part of the church God is building in Odessa. I believe we are obeying Him by going, and trust that He will bless our obedience. The story is just going to get better!

So, what do you love about your church?

Cowboys are Back!

Well our family rolled into town Wednesday afternoon after 10days of a wonderful vacation! We traveled through 8 states, played some great car bingo (with prizes!) and put about 3500 miles on the suburban! We loved seeing Mt. Rushmore--great stop on the way. We fell in love with Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I do think this is a vacation we will do again. It was so amazing just to be nestled in God's awesome creation for 5 days! We talked a lot with the kids just about the awesomeness of God. How He created the mountains, river, trees, horses, fish and nature all for us to enjoy!

One of my sweetest memories was the day we went to Yellowstone. It was Sunday--and I thought how perfect to be here on the Lord's Day. As we were driving out of Yellowstone, we had Chris Tomlin playing in the background and sang at the top of our lungs "Indescribable" and "How Great is Our God" and then (by Abby Claire's request) on to ZOE worship. Allison pulled out her Bible and started reading from Psalms several verses that described God's majesty and creation. Now that was WORSHIP!

All in all--it was a wonderful vacation. We can not thank Grandma and Grandpa enough for such a special gift. WONDERFUL MEMORIES! I may even have to scrapbook this trip! I don't think it's the last time the Spotted Horse Ranch will see the Brown family. We'll be back!

Tomorrow the kids and I are off to Mountain View Lodge in Brownwood. For some reason I don't think Mountain View will look quite as good to me this year!

Blessings to all--Holly

More Baby

Hello family.

Here is the picture April didn't have yet. It's not the best scan of the picture, but it will do until you can see it in person. Does the caption remind you of anyone?




We are excited about the cruise. Thank you so much Dale and Rita for this special gift that will mark our 5th Anniversary. Next Friday is the day.

We love you all.

-James

Baby

Well, I don't have a picture scanned in yet to post, but we went to the doctor yesterday, and had a sonogram. I couldn't resist it and we had to find out. We are having a girl. We're excited and are already calling her by name. James reminded me of a promise that I had made to him very early on in the pregnancy that if it was a girl that he could name her. He has been set on Lena Naomi for a couple of months now. So that is her name. I'm actually liking it a lot now, since I know that I have a girl to call her by that name now. Lena means "Light" and Naomi means
"Beautiful, pleasant, delightful". She is named after her Great Grandmother Brown and Great Great Grandmother Brown. We would've taken a either, but we're happy with a girl. God has answered our prayers and has blessed us greatly with this child. Blessed be his name.

We leave early Sat. morning to catch a plane to go to Florida to board our cruise. Seven fun-filled days without the stresses of work! We are so excited! Don't worry, we'll take lots of pictures.
Hope everyone is having a great summer. We'll check in when we get back.

Love,
April

YouthWave Malibu IV

One of the things we push for at YouthWave is to be sensitive to and available for whatever God might be doing around us. That means we don't just witness at "witnessing" time. Strange stuff happens all around us.

This morning a 16 year old kid in a baseball camp here at Pepperdine finally hooked up with me. He has been, I am not kidding, he has been chasing me for 3 days. He is the son of a Hollywood producer (Good Morning, Vietnam) and extremely curious about Christianity. He asked me to talk to him, really, he stopped at my table when I was praying and journaling and asked me to take some time to answer some questions. He literally interrupted me to ask me to to tell him the gospel. Neither one of us had time that morning so I promised to make time. He told me that he is leaving today (Thursday).

Yesterday I was meeting in the cafeteria with the campus ministry team from the church here. He came up to our table and asked if he could sit in on the conversation. I told him no. It wasn't a good time. I told him that I would find him later. This kid is a very bright, handsome, very sharp kid. How many 16 year olds would accept that kind of rejection? I tried to find him later but he was gone.

This morning he came by my prayer table again. This time I asked him to sit down. We talked for an hour and a half. He had amazing questions and insight. His only connection with Christianity is a mean pentacostal grandmother. His questions demonstrated a heart and curiosity and understanding that I haven't seen from a kid. I felt like I was in a chapter in Acts. Who knows what happens next. We exchanged email addresses. I fully expect to hear from him. It's quite a ride.

YouthWave Malibu III

I am sitting here in one of the patio areas at Pepperdine listening to the fountains and seeing the landscaping. There is something about beautiful design that moves me. Here is what I wrote on Monday about the very same subject.

11 July 2005. I love giftedness and artistry. I love beauty and design. I love color and texture. I love creativity. I love you God for giving all of it. Garden designers and music diviners; artists and craftsmen; architects and draftsmen; poets and playwrights and dreamers and seers.

I think that beautiful art and design and the people who make them are windows into the beauty and grandeur of God. I love to think and study, but this kind of stuff nourishes me on other really important ways.

The kids are doing great. Especially my kids. I see evidence of great gifting and deep passion for Jesus. Last night Bailey spoke into another girls life in a way that I can only describe as prophetically. She said things that laid open the secrets of the little girls heart. We all knew what we were hearing when we heard it. I was frankly a little stunned. Hutton continues to reveal his deep heart for God and for people. He has great courage. He regularly extends himself to try things that a lot of others, especially with his personality type, wouldn't even consider. I love it. Keep praying for us. We still have a lot to learn.

I will say that yesterday was the most blessed witnessing day for me I have ever had. My little parnter and I had several great conversations with people on the beach. God really helped her and encouraged her. I loved it.

Somebody tell me what is going on at the house. Grace,
Tod

thoughts

I can't remember the last time I blogged. I am just sitting here at work and I feel the need to put some thoughts down in writing, so I'll share them with you guys.
I watched the entire Lord of the Rings series this weekend while Anda and the kids were gone, so I have been thinking sort of differently this week. My basic sense is that I am in a place that is not fun, but I feel very confident that God put me here.

Today I feel like I will never accomplish anything worthwhile in this place. This morning 2/3 of my patients have been depressed, and both of them said my treatments weren't helping. I invited one to come to my house for our Bible study tonight. The other one seemed more interested in explaining why the medication I gave her last time made her lose her temper and hit her daughter. I don't expect either one to be much better next time I see them. There is so much dysfunction. I feel like Frodo tromping up the dark, dry, rocky mountain with very little hope of success, feeling quite alone.

I have been here a month and a half now. I still don't have nurses. I don't even have the printer I asked for the day I got here. I have to ask permission for every day off, or even if I want to take a long lunch. I work for the system, and I am feeling an acute loss of freedom. I'm grappling (no really, grappling) with the new contract, not sure how hard I should push for changes or whether I should just settle for it the way it is, hoping they won't do all the things the contract says they can do if they want to.

But God is working. Just like I knew Frodo would eventually get the ring destroyed I know that God will prevail even in this situation. So if you get a chance, pray for me.

I'm really thankful to have such a great family.
Randy

YouthWave Malibu II

God is amazing. He never fails to astound me, especially when I am in the context of YouthWave. We had a great day of training yesterday. We wrestled with learning how to see other people the way God sees them. We asked God to give us eyes that see beyond the presentation to the person behind it. Then in the afternoon I took a group to Venice Beach to spend some time with homeless teens and younger adults with Dry Bones Ministry.Hutton was with me.

It was a reorienting experience. The homeless community that sleeps on the beach was so very welcoming. I felt like I was safe with them. One time a very drunk or high young man came up to us and the guy I was with--Jose--began to act protective of me. It was an amazing thing to watch. I spent about an hour and a half with a Jose. We had a great conversation. What surprised me about him was his thorough knowledge of scripture. I am sure he has issues. You don't live that life without some kind of disconnect from normal thinking. But he quoted so much bible, in context and on point that I was humbled. I learned deeply from the experience. I kept thinking about Mother Theresa's phrase, "meeting Jesus in his most distressing disguises." I came away as I always do from Venice with a sadness over the sad and pathetic results of choosing to live a life celebrating self rule. When people do whatever they want it doesn't end in glorious freedom, but in cheap and boring irrelevance. But hidden under all the filth and desecration is a humanity made in the image of God. It is not quite as neat and clean cut as I tend to think.

Anyway, today we go witness at another beach. Pray for us.

Our kids were blown away by the experience of worship last night. It happens every time. I think it is because God reveals himself in a special way to people who surrender to the mission. I keep hoping they get the connection between their willingness to be involved in the mission of God and their experience of the power and presence of God in worship. Sometimes I worry that we get caught up in the worship experience and lose sight of our mission.

Off to class. Grace.
Tod

Kinda funny

We got a check for $2000 from a couple who disagrees with planting in the location of Odessa and refuses to support the New Life church because of Stadia. But they love us, so the check is for moving/house expenses for our family.

YouthWave Malibu

It is Monday morning here at YouthWave and I am thinking alot about what Ben started. I continue to believe that the fruit of this event will be seen for many years. Someone once said to me and I have repeated many times, "You can count the seeds in an apple, but you cannot count the apples in a seed." It is fun to see the development of the people who are working here. I am in a very different role than I have ever been at a youthwave event. I am a dad and a sponsor. I am not speaking or training at all. It is kind of weird and wonderful. I love Brian Mashburn and I am really enjoying the ministry God is doing through him. But it is still different to have to be on the kids schedule. They stay up later than I like to and they are in class all morninng. It is good for me to go back to the beginning.

I sure am proud of Hutton and Bailey. They are so good. They exhibit a love for God and a sensitivity to the people around them that makes me very proud. I have to wrestle with how to balance being a sponsor/minister with being their father. The tension between discipling my kids and giving them room to grow is a little tough. Both of them have expressed that they feel the pressure of trying to live up to the family name. I sometimes forget that. Sometimes the family legacy feels like a burden to carry instead of an inheritance to enjoy. We have several kids here without that legacy or with a legacy of an altogether different sort. I know my kids wouldn't trade places, and that line of thinking isn't always helpful. Pray for us. I really want Hutton and Bailey to experience the living Jesus in the fullness he desires.

Grace,
Tod

Update

Hi Family!
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Isn't that how a letter like this should start? We are praising God tonight for the ways He has made Himself known to us during the last few days. I think we've met with about 14 families in 5 days and have 7 "for sure" financial supporters (mostly in unknown amounts at the moment), 6 others that we feel pretty good about. We have lots of meetings set up for this week and 2 large group gatherings next week. This is one of the most challenging things I've been called upon to do in my life! We get discouraged too easily, especially when we encounter "the establishment", as I'll call it. It's amazing to me who is not "for" us. Just astounding. And discouraging. But then God brings friends who moved from Glenwood years ago, happened to be in town today, bought our lunch and are thrilled to have the honor of supporting us, just because it's us. And a couple tonight who I didn't even know until our visit, who got really excited about the opportunity!

We are seeking the face of God. I feel like my flesh and my life in the Spirit are at war. One moment I want to judge and criticize, the next I am overwhelmed with gratitude for God's provision. Church times seem to be the hardest, because there's a constant barrage of trying to bless people who we know are not "for" us, and bless people who are shocked and disappointed in our elders for not supporting us. We spin from one conversation to the next, just dizzy by the end!

Today may have been a bit harder because we celebrated Phase 2, the new part of our building. Alton stood before the church at the end and said that the next phase is to do missional outreach. May it be so. I pray that our conversations with people here will deepen their desire to reach the people in Tyler who don't know Jesus.

One fun little piece of the puzzle--one of the families we sent a letter to was the Dauphins from my days in Houston. Their kids were in my youth group there. Doran called and said that her daughter (who I last saw years ago as a high school kid), has married and moved to Odessa. She and her husband go to GCR and have committed to being part of our team. Their names are Fernando and Sharon Baeza, in case any of you knows them. Cool, huh?

Keep praying for us, please! For joy and patience and peace--just all those Spirit-fruits! And for God to lead our every step. He is fascinating to me! He doesn't do things the way I would expect Him to at all. What an adventure!

Baby Names

Okay, this is something I thought would be fun. As you know we have a definate boys name picked out, Noah Allen. But, we are having difficulty in girls names. We have several names on our list but thought it would be interesting to get all of your thoughts. This doesn't mean that we will go with the name that is picked the most, it's just something fun to do. Here are the names, but you should know that as of this moment, my favorite name is Emma and James' favorite name is Lena. These names are in no special order. What are your thoughts of which name is good?

1. Haly Dian

2. Hanna Lee

3. Meridith Jane

4. Emma Larissa

5. Lena Naomi

Good news...

I just have to share with you about our first support team members. They once lived in Midland and went to North A. He was one who was waiting for the "go-ahead". Ben met with them last night after church and they gave him a check for $2,000 for the first year and said they hope they can give more next year. We were delighted.

They called back this morning and said they talked it over and changed their minds. Beginning in January, they will send us $300 a month (on top of the donation they already made). We just praise God for such generous spirits! He is so good!

I also got to meet Mrs. Rivas, the lady who is buying our house. I knew if I met her I would surely like her. She is a secretary at the high school, her husband is a truck driver for a gravel company here in town. She loves our house. She's planning to keep the "Jesus Loves Me" room for a playroom for grandkids, and the beach room for her guest room. I told her I had planned to paint a scripture in the kitchen and she wished I had done it! She speaks "God-language". Her husband likes to take care of people, so I feel much better about leaving our sweet single neighbors with good people. She was quite agreeable to moving our closing to the 22nd.

Can I just say that I like this kind of faith-building days?

Happy Birthday, Mitch. Love you, Dad. 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Mitch!

By the time most of you read this Mitch will have officially turned 12. As I sat here tonight catching up on the blog I realized that I had not contributed in a while so I thought you guys might indulge me as I brag on my oldest son.

When I think back to twelve years ago walking out the door of the hospital room and lifting up my very own baby boy, tears come to my eyes. I was so excited and nervous. I wondered if I would be a good father and what kind of man would Mitch turn out to be. Who could have imagined the fun we would have and how proud I would be of him. I knew I would love him but I can't imagine being any prouder of him than I am today. Mitch has a heart for God. I rarely have to remind him to spend time reading his Bible and praying. I see The Lord developing his charater into a young man who is eager to show respect and serve. God has blessed Mitch with a passion for excellence and a strong work ethic. His teachers and Mr. Bruce brag on not only his intelligence but his ablility to discipline himself and focus on tasks until they are complete. I am especially proud of the way he is gaining wisdom as he seeks first to understand and then to be understood. He is charaterized by being honest even when it gets him in trouble. He is caring and kind to his younger brother and sisters who think he is the greatest big brother in the history of the world. When I called Josh from camp last week and asked him "do you miss me?" he replied "not as much as I miss Mitch." Mitch is making a wonderful impact on his younger siblings.

I know you all know how great Mitch is, but I wanted to let you know how proud his dad is of him. Happy Birthday Mitch- I am glad I get to be your dad.

America the Beautiful!

We made it to South Dakota this afternoon and saw some amazing things. We had to stop our car as a buffalo walked right in front of us as we drove through the Black Hills National Park. We checked into our hotel in Custer, SD, and after eating dinner we drove up to Mount Rushmore for an evening show. The drive was breathtaking through the pines and the granite boulders, and then we came up to the monument. The pictures I have seen don't do it justice. We sat and watched the sunset and then stayed around for a special movie about the four presidents depicted on the face of the mountain. When they lit up the mountain at the end of the show, Holly and I both had tears in our eyes. Something about summing up all that was accomplished in this great land of America in the lives of Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelt and Lincoln, was very moving. The last thing they did was have all of the veterans and current military members come down to the stage of the amphitheater to watch as they took down the flag. We sang the Star Spangled Banner as loud as we have ever sung it. As Allison said, "I will remember this night for the rest of my life."
We live in a great country!
Tomorrow, off to Crazy Horse (and maybe a second viewing of Mount Rushmore, since I cut Holly's time short in the gift shop).

'Tis done

Praise God, it's over. The overall mood of the meeting was very, very positive. I was proud of our elders, proud of my husband, and grateful to God for giving me a gentle spirit when I spoke. I don't know what happened between Thursday and today, but something did. The facilitator was one of my favorite men, Gene. He reminds me of Dad in many ways. He affirmed us, spoke kind words of love, asked that we be kind in our words about what has happened when we talk to people, and that we build unity, which he affirmed that he knew we would do anyway. He acknowledged that there has been some tension and that people are already talking. He told us that the elders are going to send out a letter to every member of Glenwood stating why the church is not supporting us corporately, but encouraging them to prayerfully consider supporting us individually. Ben read a statement to them affirming them and expressing our love, ending with Phil. 1:3-11. We read the letter they were planning to send and asked that one sentence be reworded (they removed it altogether). They prayed over us and it was done. They were all very affectionate toward us, saying they hope we will come back often and that Glenwood will always be our home. One kept saying, "It's going to be good!" about our mission.

The reason they are stating for not supporting us is that they want to focus their priority on "areas that are underserved and have little or no churches." We're okay with that, although it's clear that there is still lack of understanding or agreement about why we should plant churches.

No mention of Stadia was made, either in the conversation or the letter.

All in all, our elders were the men we've known up until now--encouraging, supportive, full of love for us. At the beginning of this process, we told them that what we really wanted from them is for them to be our senders--to give us their blessing. They did that tonight. We left them in a spirit of joy, mutual affection, and great hope for the future. No bitterness, no hurt, no defensiveness.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Eph. 3:20-21

I love how good God is. I love the way He answers prayer. I love that He is our Peace, our Mediator, our Provider. I just love God.

If the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective then you, our family, are righteous men (and women!).

Now on to that task of raising up a support team....

Greetings from Nebraska

Just thought we would let you know that we made the first leg of our trip without any problems. In case you didn't hear us, Holly woke us up at 5:30 to begin our journey. We traveled through Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and are now spending the night in North Platte, Nebraska. We watched several movies, listened to one book on tape, sang carioke (yes, it is spelled correctly), played car bingo, and saw a herd of buffalo and one huge rainbow. All in all, it couldn't have gone better. The kids seemed to have fun and we had no real sibling incidents.
There are not many towns between Abilene and North Platte, so we saw very few cars on the highway despite being July 4th. Our favorite town was Garden City, Kansas. We ate lunch there, and it looks like the All-American town. Charming older homes with perfectly manicured lawns; a nice courthouse and restored downtown area; and a 4th of July parade.
Tomorrow it is off to Mount Rushmore. We will try and check in on the blog tomorrown night. Thanks to all who took care of us at Providence Point. Sorry we had to leave in such a hurry. We will try and do our part next time.

We're home again

Hi everyone!
We are home again. We only had to stop twice to take care of Alex's throw-up. He is a very sweet sick kid. He didn't complain, just told me when it was time to empty his cup.

Driving into Tyler was surreal. The beginning of lasts--the last time we'll drive into Tyler as home. Only 10 days from now we'll drive away with all our stuff and start a new life. Wow!

I've already been to the church to pray over the conference room where we'll meet tomorrow night. My heart feels anxious about the meeting. Pray for peace and a calm spirit, for wise and loving words.

We had so much fun with you all this weekend! It was great to be together. We are so blessed! Thank you again, Mom and Dad, for the blessing of the lakehouse to enjoy all together. I hope it's all you dreamed it would be. It sure is fun!

And thank you all for your prayers for us. It feels like we're always the ones in crisis! Maybe we can get past this and practice the principle, "Save the drama for yo mama!" Really, we thank you for sharing in our joy and in our struggles. We love you for that!

Trisha

Not worth comparing...

"Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Romans 8:17-18, emailed to me this morning by my wise friend Jana

To God be the glory. It sure is good to be His daughter today! Dad, thank you for your words. It's also really good to be your daughter! I'm looking forward to that hug!

Love you all,
Trisha