Soon!

Kevin & Savannah

Happily Ever After

December 27, 2008

(And I can hardly wait!)

Love you both!

Zambia Bound!

I will miss you Mama and Noel!

I'm hoping you guys will read this after I'm on the plane and you've started to miss me ;)

I know I will be missing you!!!

Thank you for all you've done to help me get off on my trip! I'm SO excited!!

You're the best and I love you!

I thank God for both of you and I'll be praying for you the whole time I'm gone.

Love,

Savannah

He's got the whole world in His hands!

Well! Pay no attention to the "Count down to Zambia"!

Looks like I will be leaving in 24 Hours! Tomorrow! Woo Hoo!! :-)


Hurricane Gustav has put a little kink in my plans...

But I'm just looking forward to walking through any doors that the Lord opens!!! And I am comforted knowing He will keep the plane up in the air for 18 HOURS!! Agh!

(but of course my attitude changes from minute to minute!)

"He's got the whollle world in His hands...He's got the whollle world in His hands, He's got the whole world in His hands!"

I couldn't help but humm this song as I typed this! ;)

So here is the plan:

To beat the hurricane and hurricane evacuation traffic- I will be leaving for New Orleans tomorrow lunch time (instead of Tuesday) - fly to Washington to stay with complete and friendly strangers about 4 days! (Jan Jal's bestest friend!)

Then on Tuesday meet up with Dan and Levi! Then head to Johannesburg- Then stay with more strangers! (Also good friendly friends of-well lots of people I know) Hallelujah! Then leave for Ndola the next day! Then the next thing I will be doing is- Seeing Kevin!-after 8 months! ha! YAY!! ;)

WELL The first portion of these plans were not MY original plans...

BUT here is what I think about that....

Recently I have decided I will not use this phrase:

"God will not put more on you than YOU can handle"

(and not because I'm afraid He will try)

But because HE WILL put more on you than you can handle! Because He wants to carry the load! Not you! He wants you to lean on Him!

I praise Him for that!

Proverbs 3:5 &6 states:

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

BOY are these verses my prayer today!!

Lord guide my paths with your wisdom and not mine!

And thank you Lord for kind hospitable children of yours. :)

Please pray for God's grace and wisdom while we take this trip to Zambia!

What a Friend We Have in Jesus!

The ladies in our church are starting a new "Ladies Prayer Meeting" on Tuesday nights and I am so excited and thankful!

What a friend we have in Jesus! Why not get together with friends and bring everything we have to our Best friend-Jesus!

Thinking about tonight has the lyrics to this song stuck in my head!

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In his arms he'll take and shield thee; thou wilt find a solace there.

Pray for us as we pray for our church family and friends!

My list of request alone could keep us there allll night! ;)

Of course my trip to Zambia to see Kevin in 22 Days!...is at the Top!!

This opportunity to come together as ladies, is among one of my top answered prayers!

Thank you dear Lord!

Better late than never!

Here are the results for VBS 2008!

85 Kids and 40 adults waiting in the heat!!

But after 8 were saved and 1 surrendered to preach... we decided it was WELL worth the wait!!

All of the kids were SO attentive... even the 22 kindergartners!! Yes...22! And only 2 teachers...needless to say by the end of the week it grew to about 5 teachers.

I had more help than I knew what to do with. I prayed...and they came!! You have no idea how hard it is to hang taradactils from 20 ft ceilings! ...But I wouldn't either! ha! I am so thankful for all the hard working men that showed up and let a bunch of women push them around ;)

And then there was Dr. Doug A. Fossilup! What a hit he was! Those kids will be telling people about him and what he learned for months!! Dr. Doug found out that the God made the world in 6 days... And that there was a flood that lasted 40 days- that's why there are no more dinosaurs. And 8 students learned that they were lost sinners and needed to repent and be saved! And now they are!!

Directing this years VBS was not all fun and games...and in fact, turns out you can get your feelings hurt awful quick when you take this kind of position! lol

But to know that so many children and adults now know just little more about God's BIG truth... makes me wanna take the heat any ol' day! (However I will have a nice 3 ring binder filled with all sorts of good ideas if anyone else wants to join the fight next year)... ;)

I can say that now I know a little more about what not to do, what works and what doesn't, what to say and what not to say, when to start and when to stop!

We've all heard it, to be a Christian you must grow, and when you grow there are growing pains, well let me tell you...I did some growing and some hurting and I wouldn't take it back for anything!!! I have learned Sooooo much!

Since Vacation Bible School 4 of the 8 that were saved have been baptized...and we heard the new preacher give his first message tonight! What a blessing.

By the way, I have a new job too! I'm now part of the BEAMS staff- Bible Education and Missionary Services. It's endless what God can do with your life if you'll just hand it over. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities He has given me.

Praise God for all He is doing!

"PAINTING" For God's Truth

Hello! I know...it's been a while! I just haven't felt the urge to blog in a while...but it's not because I haven't had anything going on...because the Lord has put me to work the past few months! I am having such a good time serving Him. Here are some pictures from our VBS "painting sessions"... I could take a week off just to paint, and paint, and paint! I love it! It's like therapy - It has brought me closer to some of the ladies at church. We visit, paint, and just brag on the Lord, together :) I see the Lord blessing us with unity...there is actually more help than I even know what to do with for VBS!

Last night, painting at the church gave me the opportunity to visit with all of the "cuties" in our church. They were so well behaved as they watched and gave me suggestions on what colors to use and how I should keep the paint in between the lines ;) Well that didn't last long, but it was sweet while it lasted. For Mother's Day, today we handed out cards to each of the Mother's of our church. All the mothers received at least 3 cards (some much more) from those who wanted to encourage them! What a blessing!! (Our ladies ministry sold Mother's day cards for a $1 each and handed them out before services today.) As I passed them out many were so sweet to say something encouraging to me! I had many who asked me how VBS was going...and I have to admit that in the midst of all the events of the day that I was a little envious of all the Mommys ;) But you know what? One lady brought this to my attention and I was so glad; she said "Oh, it will be such a blessing to be around all of those children for VBS; you must be so excited!" And ya know, to tell you the truth...I've wondered a few times, out of all the ladies at church, why was I chosen to be VBS director? And today it was as if God nudged me and said "That's why...because I knew you will appreciate the kids." As we walked away from church I even had a man and his wife roll down his window and say, "Don't worry Savannah, it's coming" :) And I even received 3 cards! HA!

Please continue to pray for our VBS! The devil doesn't want any of this going on...he hates the preparation and as the actual week of VBS approaches I am sure he will pull out all the stops. But My God is as excited as I am!!

Jeremiah 33:3

Dino Detectives! Digging for God's Truth! That is the theme for Vacation Bible School at Red Creek Baptist Church!

I am SO excited about VBS. Today was my day off and I tried my best to spend it preparing for VBS. Tonight after church we had a short meeting and I feel like it went very well. Everyone was smiling and enjoying the opportunity to meet and fellowship...and find out about this Dino Detectives VBS! But what really brought me to blogging today...was a new opportunity to brag on the Lord! Everyday brings new opportunities, but this one was the icing on the cake;)

As I have prepared for VBS, I have had the occasional "doubts"...Can I do this? Well first of all-It really doesn't matter-"What I can do"...It's all about what the Lord can and will do! And I suppose He decided to show that to me today:-) And I'm thankful for that!

2 weeks ago, I ordered (online)-the VBS Director's Kit. This Kit would contain lots of fun info for me to give out at the next mtg...which was, at the time about 3 weeks away...Plenty of time! Unless of course...you have waited 2 weeks now, and no kit.... I finally decided to call the company and ask how long it usually takes for the kit to arrive because I had been waiting for 2 weeks. The nice lady took my name and my church's name and found NO order. SO, my first thought was a sermon my pastor had preached a couple months back-that there will be storms-The Lord will give you test-and it's your choice whether or not you Pass or Fail. If you pass...you move on to the next test...If you Fail..you take THAT test again. Well I certainly like to pass! I could have gotten aggravated, huffed and puffed, broke down in tears, and snapped at the lady. But all I wanted to do was move on and pass this test! She offered to place my order. (Thankfully because we don't have Internet access at work- and I needed to place this order asap). This was on a Friday and the mtg was scheduled for Wednesday of the following week. I thanked her and asked when she thought the kit would arrive. And she politely responded, in a happy manner, "oh by the end of next week or definitely by the beginning of the next!" :-) With a smile on my face I said, "ok, thanks!" Oh no, I thought to myself. I'm not equipped for this. I think the Lord is trying to teach me a lesson! A lesson to be more careful-better prepared. Ok, I thought. Will do! Right on it. But in the mean time I prayed. I prayed God would send that kit sooner...like by the middle of next week-so I could have it for the mtg. I didn't want to let these people down already! I knew this was a long shot but what would praying hurt?

Back to this morning. I spent the morning reading my bible, praying, and VBSing...as I stand in the kitchen, about 3 oclock-convinced my kit will not be here today and telling myself "that's ok, they'll understand"...I hear it! The UPS truck! Praise the Lord! I run outside and say "Hey! Is that for me!?" and he says "yes it is" and I said "I've been praying for this package!!!" :-) He seemed quite happy for me too;)

And so there you go. The real lesson learned. God is SO big and mighty that it doesn't matter What WE are capable of-HE IS MORE THAN CAPABLE TO DO ABOVE AND BEYOND THE NORMAL. So all we have to do is be willing. And ask. And pray. And learn. And give Him the Glory. And pass each test with flying colors! That is a lot of "Ands", but they are SO simple compared to what God will do, if we do our part.

This little miracle may seem small...But it's BIG! Because we can't make these things happen. Only He can.:-)

I am very blessed.

Please pray for our VBS.

June 23rd-29th

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not. Jeremiah 33:3