February Part II

Terry had a great mission trip. A guy from our church went with him this year. In five days of ministry they seen 46 people accept Jesus as their Savior, had a pastor’s conference with over 80 pastors and leaders, and had a youth rally with 200 youth in a theater with no.heat. No.heat.at.all. In February. Where it snowed every day from Tuesday to Friday and there is still snow on the ground. No.heat. 200 youth. Don’t you find that just amazing? I am not sure we would have something like that here in America. In Romania, people of all ages are hungry for more of God in their life. The guys had many prayer partners which is such a great blessing. One night Terry was coming back from preaching. It was normally a 2 ½ hour drive through the mountains and the roads there are not like ours. Well, it was snowing. The roads were covered. They came across a truck that had jackknife. He sent out a tweet asking people to pray and pray they did. With the support of prayer, they made it back safely to the ministry base. People can be involved in missions even if they cannot actually go overseas. They can be involved in two ways: prayer, and giving. Without those two components, not much will be accomplished.



Pastors/Leaders Conference



Theater where Youth Rally was held

Snow in Romania

Terry (center) at Youth Rally

My husband is already planning his next mission trip to Peru in June. Thankfully the kids will be out of school and there will be no sports going on. (Maybe I can still get some meals cooked while he is gone.) Our daughter Sarah wants to go with him. He will be going with a team of about 20 people and part of what they will be doing is having kid’s crusades or the like. Sarah is interested in working with the kids. Terry wants to do evangelism. He should be able to minister somewhere every night he is there.

Other significant things went on in February. My two children had major birthdays! Stephen turned 13 and two days later Sarah turned sweet 16. We had a big family party and of course went out to eat for their birthdays. I now have two teenagers! It doesn’t seem possible. I am so very thankful for my two precious gifts! It’s definitely not always perfect, but it is all worthwhile. I shared with you that a lady in my church, Mary, did some cooking while my husband was out of the country. One night I had warmed up our dinner that she had made and Stephen says to me, “Mommy, Mary sure does have a servant’s heart. She does for people and never complains.” You know that blessed my heart! And it blessed Mary too when I shared it with her. I am very proud of my children. They are overall good kids and more importantly they have a heart for Jesus! When Sarah heard her daddy was going to Peru, she did not hesitate to say that she wanted to go to. Who knows what all the Lord has in store for her – and Stephen too!

Stephen - 13th Birthday

Sarah - Sweet 16!

Blessings,

February Part I

February came in like a lion and it left like a lion. February was absolutely nonstop for my family.


Basketball for the kids started in December but for some reason, it was in full swing during February. I think it was because early on we had games that were cancelled due to the weather and all the makeup games fell in February. There were some weeks that were back to back that Sarah had four games and Stephen had three plus a couple of practices. There were some weeks that they both had games on Saturday. There was one week towards the end of the season that Sarah had five games. Needless to say, the girls were getting very tired by the end of the season. Needless to say that mom and dad were getting tired by the end of the season. Our away games are like an hour and half away. We had a lot of late nights.

I am proud as punch to share that Sarah’s JV girl’s team had an undefeated season! They were the season champs!! They really did so great and I was very proud of them. By the time the tournament came the girls were slammed out. They were exhausted because of the crazy schedule of the last couple of weeks. The first game of the tournament they played hard but lost by two points. It really was not pretty at all. It was crazy and so intense. And so the girl’s season ended. But they were the season champs! The coach shared with the girls that this season was the best one in five years and did more for the girls program.

I am also proud as punch to share that Stephen’s Middle School boy’s team only lost two games – and it was to the same team. In one conference they were undefeated and in the other conference they came in second place. One of the last games they played Stephen had some really sweet plays and of course I and his dad were not there. The coach shared with Terry that he actually jumped out of his chair and ran part way down the court to see the play. It was that sweet! The boys won the first game of the tournament by a lot. However, they lost the second game (if they won they would have played in the championship game) by two points. It was not pretty. In the last seconds one of our boys put up a shot that would have tied us but the refs did not count it. And it was off before the buzzer sounded. They then went on to play a third game for the consolation and won by like 25 points – and that was playing our second string in and out. So they came in third place for the tournament.

Also during February my husband went on a mission’s trip to Romania. Yes, and it was during tournament week. Thankfully my mom and her husband were there to help me during Sarah’s first and only tournament game as well as Stephen’s first tournament game. Then a friend, Missy, came up late Thursday night and stayed with me until Saturday. And thankfully a lady in my church did some cooking for us. The kids were thankful for that as well. We had some very late nights and it was so nice to just come home and warm something up rather than going through a drive-thru or having to cook something myself. I truly was blessed by all of their help during that week. It’s hard for me ya’ll when my husband is gone because he does so much around the house and especially in the mornings getting ready for school and work. He loves mission work and God spoke to me several years ago that this was part of His plan for Terry’s life. I have accepted that and am very grateful for any kind of help I can get when he is gone. I am not shy about desperately needing help!

Tomorrow I will share more about Terry’s mission trip and share what else happened in February. It was a crazy month ya’ll!

I will leave you with a verse I shared with a friend yesterday. I love this verse and I cling to it over and over.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Blessings,