dancing in the rain

We have said our final goodbyes and are home with some wonderful memories. This picture was taken at our last party. Most of the people that we grew very close to are in this picture, so that makes it very special.
A summary of our trip as a team:
We read with 79 people.
We had 344 bible study hours.
We had 36 people interested in follow-up.

We are so thankful for the lives that were touched and the seeds that were planted. The Lord was with us every step of the way and was able to help us in ways we couldn't help ourselves. We have lots of wonderful memories that we will be able to cherish for a lifetime. I pray that I will be able to see many of the people that I met again whether it is in Argentina again or in heaven. My life has been changed and I hope that others were changed too.

Thanks to everyone that supported me financially, through prayer and many other ways. I am so blessed to have you in my life and I would not have been able to go had it not been for you. I thank God for you!

Well our last party was a great success! We had red beans and rice and played bingo. We made paper airplanes and took lots of pictures! We said some goodbyes, but the church is having a special tea time for us today so many of them are coming to say goodbye there.
Our last weekend in Argentina has been filled with last minute things that we wanted to see and do. We went Uruguay on Friday and rode the Buquebus. It was awesome and very relaxing, just want we needed. On Saturday, we went the Chris (one of the missionaries) to the Province to have lunch at a down home Argentina grill. It was very good. The grill they cooked on was HUGE!!! Then we spent the afternoon with Karina, souvenir shopping and sharing coffee together. We walked along the port and talked about our experiences in Argentina. Then to close out the evening, we went to Spettus (the resturant I talked about before, that we promised to go back to). We took Eric and Erika as a thank you for all they had done for us while we were here. About 1 am, we headed home. We packed and stayed up late to be sure and be tired for the plane. Today, we visited one last place, La Boca (the city with the painted houses). It was very interesting and very different from anything else we had seen, but a lot of fun. We grabbed some lunch at Burger King and then closed out our sightseeing with a gigante cup of Freddo! (ice cream, that is).
We have a meeting with Eric to debrief our trip and then it is time to say our goodbyes. We have had a lot of fun and have made some wonderful friendships, but we pray that seeds have been planted and we will see all the people that we have grown to love in heaven one day. (but maybe before we meet in heaven, we will be able to come back)

This is will be my last post for a few days because we have our end meeting in Dallas. We will be in Dallas on Monday and Tuesday, but I hope to see most of you on Wednesday night at church.

Thanks for all your prayers and all your support. Our team would not have made it without you!

Okay, Dave, you asked for it! Below are your questions, which you will post on your blog, along with the official rules which will come after the questions. Ready? Go!

Questions for Dave
1. What is your favorite scripture in the Bible and why?
2. If you could change one thing about your trip to Argentina what would it be?
3. What is your dream or ideal job?
4. Of all the things that you did in Argentina what did you like the most?
5. Who is your all time favorite actor or actress and why?
Bonus Question:
Why is it that every time you fill out a survey about what character are you, you end up being a women?

Here are the "rules" I posted before, which you will post along with your answers:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here on my blog (not the same questions you see here).
3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Good luck, Dave-- I look forward to reading your answers at The Retirement Home! http://retirementhome.blogspot.com

1. If I could live anywhere without worrying about a job, where would it be and why?
I would want to live where my closest friends are, because they are what make a place special. But I would love to speak Italian and live in Rome or Florence, Italy. It would be spectacular place to live, but I would want my friends there with me.
But my dream is to have a log cabin in the woods, (not necessarily the backwoods) with a lake on the property and privacy to enjoy the nature around me.

2. What is your favorite song and what does it mean to you?
I have lots of favorite songs, but usually I have a song that I listen to that speaks to me at the time. So today, I have two. Being that I am on a mission trip I have things on my mind that make me want to be a better Christian. The first one is Audience of One by Watershed Worship.
Words: What I want doesn’t matter, what I do depends on you, what I become that’s matters (repeat) Who am I to chose, without your lead I lose, that is why I live to please an audience of one. Holy, Holy, Holy Lamb of God
When I listen to this song, it puts things in perspective. It is hard for me to say what I want doesn’t matter, but in truth does it really, it should be what God wants. What I become is definitely what matters, and whom I chose to follow to get there makes all the difference in the world. So the audience I should be please is God (the audience of one) not the world or myself. But if I am really desire to do what God wants then what I want should be the same as what he wants.
The other song is Start A Fire by Watershed Worship (also)
Words: Start a fire in me; let the flames run free, burn away the scars, holy fire of God. So let it begin, let it be new, let it be used for your sake, giving glory to your name, I can live knowing that you, you reside in my heart oh Lord you are the fire, the fire of God. (It repeats lots of times, so these are basic words)
I like the idea of know that God resides in my heart. I want the fire of being a Christian to run deep in me all the time. I want to get ride of all the things that could get in the way of me not being used for his glory. I think of fire as providing light and warmth, which is what Jesus, provides from me and I want to help provide that for other people.

3. Describe the place you feel most at peace and closest to God
I love to sit on the rocks by the lake or ocean and listen to the water hit the rocks and watch the sunset. I also (even though I am scared of heights) like to sit on the side of the mountains and look out (not down) and see the landscape.
I also love to lie on the dock or on a blanket in an open area at night and look at the sky and watch for shooting stars. I mostly feel closest to God when I am in nature and can see his awesome power and creation.
Retreats with other Christians singing praises to God (like Gulf Coast), when I get goose bumps from the words and the sound of all the voices being lifted up.

4. What is one of your first memories of me?
I am not sure if this is exactly a first, but I remember chatting with your mom when she came up early to paint your room before you moved into the center. You were working at the pharmacy and couldn’t come paint (since she loves to paint it was ideal for her)… that is not really a memory of you but then again it is. We were always rearranging furniture at the center and trying to decide what to do about the lobby upstairs. I remember going bowling and you were better than you let on…and still are. The memory that stands out most in my mind is the LSU/Ole Miss, we stayed up late and made signs, then we got up pretty early to go and sit outside the gate for hours on end to get our seats. It was hot, but it was a blast and an event I am sure we will never forget! (it just stinks that we didn’t win) (I also remember you being an Alabama fan and that is still not acceptable). It is hard for me to think… We didn’t start getting to be close friends until this past summer, because before then you went home often and stayed in your room a lot. So I have to say I like the later memories than the first one (not to say that the first were bad, I just didn’t know you as well as I do now). I hope this answer is not too disappointing.

5. What is the most unique experience you have had while in Argentina?
This one is difficult (not like the others aren’t) but I have so many. But I must say the one that sticks out in my mind, is the night we went to this steak house called Spettus. It is an all you can eat (literally) meal, without a buffet. They serve you and you have a red and green card on the table, when you are full you put it on the red side for stop. But being that we don’t speak Spanish very well they kept bringing out all kinds of meat and we didn’t know how to ask, “what is this?” but even if so would we understand the response. So anyway, they bring out this meat and we decide we will just try to all. And this particular piece was so awesome that we wanted them to bring it back, but there again we didn’t know what it was to ask. So until someone could come tell us in English what it was, we just called it the mystery meat. After waiting and eating many other things, it came time for us to eat it again. So you are wondering what was it… COW THROAT!! (Ok, get grossed out… but it was awesome… it tasted so good!!! )

Here are the "rules" I posted before, which you will post along with your answers:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”
2. I will respond by asking you five questions here on my blog (not the same questions you see here).
3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

thanks for interviewing me, heather.

My 5 questions from TraceTalks:

1. Top 3 reasons I decided to go to Argentina:

A. I had been on LST missions before and loved meeting new people and sharing my faith with them and I wanted the opportunity to do it again (also I will be graduating soon and I wasn’t sure if I would get the opportunity again)
B. I wanted to spend the summer with my closest friends, and what better way than in Argentina sharing my faith. (A great experience to share with friends)
C. I love to travel and see other places in the world. I am financially limited, so have a reason and being able to see the world on the side sounds great to me.

2. How are my sisters alike and how are they we different?
I think the way we are most alike is that we are all Christians and that has helped us get through our differences. We are all active in church activities, such as teaching Bible classes. We all want Christian husbands (some are more successful than others and that is how we different). We all love being outside doing outdoor activities. We are all daddies’ girls. We all like our sleep, but some like it at different times (for example Gena goes to bed early and sleeps in (but not since she is a mom), I go to bed late and sleep in even later, Carrie is like me and Carla is in between). We have the same smile, growing up we liked to share clothes and like a lot of the same foods and are all pretty picky (some more than others).
Ways we are different:
Carla and Gena are married
Gena has Davis (my nephew)
Carrie and I are still in school
Our interest in jobs and careers are different
Gena is a homebody, the rest of us not so much
Carla, Gena and Carrie loved Harding (I never went, Christian school was not for me)
We all have different ways to handle our problems, and this usually can cause fights between us.
I would say that we are more alike than we are different, even though our overall personalities can be very different, when it comes to interest such as movies, music, and friends (we do have a lot of the same ones though).


3. What makes art and design so intriguing to you?
I like creating things and making things look good. Most people will buy something depending on how it looks, so if the design is poor they are not going to buy it. That is where I come in. I love crafty type things and drawing. I love to see what other people can create, that is why I love art museums and shows. It is always interesting to me, to ask how did that think of that? what was going on in their life and mind at the time? Just like music (what inspired them to write the words they wrote)
A lot of times art comes from making a lot out of something little, like using junk at home and putting it together to make something interesting. Also art is something that will last, just like a picture. Every art has its own personality and that makes it special.

4. Five Memories or lessons you will carry with you from Argentina for the rest of my life
(These are not in a particular order)

A. Patience is a special gift and I don’t have a lot of it. Reading with different people and understanding why they believe the things they do takes patience, because I want them to know Christ and how much better life if they were living for him. Being patient, knowing you can’t have it your way all the time and being considerate of other people’s habits and behaviors. Not everyone thinks and acts like me. (Thank goodness)


B. Communication and honesty is very important! Every problem we came across this trip was all about communication. If we had just said what we were thinking or asked instead of assuming, things could have gone a lot smoother when there was conflict. Just being honest about how you are feeling and the desires you have. No one will know unless you tell him or her.


C. God is with me and anything is possible with Him! There were times where patience had run out, bodies where tired and sick, taxis were lost, hearts were broken and homes were missed but God helped us through it all! We always made it home, prayers were ALWAYS being answers and love was always being shown from those around us.


D. People need the Lord! There are so many people that just don’t know what they are missing. There are people here who have so many problems and are looking for a solution and I wish that they would look to God. There are so many people that need to hear God’s word and need to be loved as Christ loves us.

E. Friendship is priceless! We have made some friends and I hope that we will see them in heaven one day, but I would not have made it through this trip without my friends. When times were tough there was always someone there to pick up the pieces. When you think you can’t go anymore there is someone there to lend a hand or carry a bag. When you are missing the comforts of home, you know that one comfort from home is with you… My Friends!

5. Tell me about a time in your life that you look back at and say, “I will never do that again!”

Wow, there is so many! I guess most importantly what is on my mind right now, is relationships. There are lots of things I would never do again when it comes to dating someone. I have a list of what I am looking for and settling for less is something that I will never do again. God has a plan for me and he wants nothing but the best for me, therefore I should not want anything but the best for myself.

Now, by Tracey's instructions, I will interview the first three people responding to this post. The rules are as follows:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.”

2. I will respond by asking you five questions here on my blog (not the same questions you see here).

3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

With only one weekend left, we are trying to make sure that there is nothing that we missed and going back to the places that we want to see again. But this weekend was a little more relaxing than most because we were going to hang out with some of our readers and friends from church.
The weekend began was a good lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. We were in need of a little taste of home in the food department. So we ate til we were stuffed and then relaxed at the restaurant for a few hours before heading to the The Hance's to meet our friends. We arrived there about 6 PM and enjoyed visiting with Karina (one of the church members) as we waited for the others to arrive. We played cards and they taught us their version of spoons. (and you thought spoons was intense). Then we ordered empanadas and visited until everyone was tired and ready to go home.
On Saturday, we split up to go to places that we want to go back to. Sean and I went back to the Art Galleries, but only a couple were opened (I am beginning to wonder if they are ever open anymore) and Dave and Jeremy went to buy souvenirs. Then we met up with Karina to go downtown and see some of the things that she enjoys that we had not seen, like the planaterium, japanese gardens and the rose garden. After enjoying an evening around town we decided to go get something to eat. We ate at ta Chavito and it was awesome!!! It was one of the best meals yet. The hamburger was pretty close to a Wendy's hamburger. The meat was better but the taste was pretty close. That will be a place on our list if we are in that area again. We sat and visited at the restaurant and then to home it was. We had to get up early for our readers on Sunday morning.
It was a lot of fun hanging out with Karina and seeing the city from a different point of view.

We will be working extra hard this week to get ready for the LKT team that is coming on the 28th and preparing for our end meeting. Please pray for our last week here, that we will be able to end well and leave the message of Christ with all those we meet.

Thank you for your prayers when I was sick. I am must better now! I look forward to seeing you all in a week or so.

We took a group of 15 people to see Batman Begins after our party Thursday night. It was a lot of fun to be with our readers and to enjoy an excellent movie. It was awesome! They had an intermission which was wierd, but it was kind of frustrating because it was like going to a commercial at the important part of a TV show. But the movie was so good it didn't take but a second to get back into it. I think it is was one of the better ones I have seen. The actor they picked for Batman, was a good choice. It was action filled and intense. What a great way to start the weekend.

Our theme this week was Olympics. We had gatorade and cookies for dessert (the gatorade was homemade, but it was all gone so they were either really thirsty or just being polite). We began with a number game, where everyone had an activities they were suppose to do with another number. It was fun. Then let the games begin, it was odds vs evens. LST had given us some suggestions in our training book about Olympic games, so we brought supplies to do them all. We had two people from each team compete in each competition. There were some games that were more exciting than others. To close out the night we played two group games, the newspaper and simon says. The night ended with no winner in Simon says... you really have to know your English and fast.
We had 12 readers who attended this party. We have had more and more readers coming to each party. This time we had more readers in attendance than anyone else.
We are closing out our party next week with a Farewell/Bon Voyage to say bye to everyone.

For those of you who don't know, I have been very sick for about 4 days now. But I feeling much better today, so I have posted everything that has happened since I had been unable to post. You should be able to read everything below, there should be at least 4 posts. I hope that will get everyone caught up. We have our next party tonight so I will be posting about it soon.

Please keep our team in your prayers as we draw near to the end. Pray that we will remain focused and that our trip will end well.

Thanks to those of you that have prayed for me while I sick, your prayers are being answered. Just keep praying that we will all remain well for the remainder of the trip.

I love you all... see you in a few weeks.

The theme for Friendscamp was "Tell Me A Story". During friendscamp, we had the opportunity to look at some of the stories in the Bible that Jesus told. The lessons were set up kind of like our one on one reading session that we have everyday, except that we were in small groups. We met with the same group the whole weekend to help us get to know each other better. We began with ice breakers to help us become better aquainted. One of the lessons we talked about was the parable of the talents and we had a talent show later that evening so that some of our readers could display their talents. All the activities we had tied back to the lessons that we had been studying to help make a real life connection. We had a time of singing (both in spanish and in english) in the morning and in the evening and we had evening devotionals. At the evening devotional, one of the missionaries or a church member would share their story. On Sunday morning, a church member, Oswaldo, told his story and it was very moving. He is a testimony to what one small seed planting can do, when it is being fertilized by God!
To complete the weekend, we had mail bags that we put notes that we had written to each other during the weekend to encourage each other. It was a blessing to be able to read what the people hear had to say about us in a short amount of time. It will be a wonderful souvenir to bring home!

Friendscamp fun! Getting closer to our readers and the church members from Cabillito and Villa Urguiza. Getting closer had new meaning in the 3 legged race, we really had to work close together to accomplish our goal. I was on the yellow team (we had groups that we were in the whole weekend) and WE WON!!!
It was very cold but we had lots of fun trying to figure out how to make adjustments for small and large strides that were tied together.
We had lots of time to get to know each other better, during crafts and free time. Lots of the readers enjoyed playing soccer, while others were making cards, visors and bracelets. We enjoyed many meals together. The meals were excellent. There was a lady named Jacquie, who is from the states but she lives in Argentina now, and she hooked us up with some awesome AMERICAN food... like apple and peach cobbler... spaghetti and cinnamon rolls. That was just an added bonus to the weekend.

As time is drawing near to the end, our time with our readers is getting more and more precious. It seems that you draw closer as your time is coming to an end, which is when I ask myself what could I have done differently to help reach this closeness a lot sooner, but everything has its time and purpose and we have to make the most of the time we have now. We are getting ready for Friendscamp which will be a time when we can spend more time with our readers outside of our reading sessions. I only have one readers that is planning to attend, but I am thankful for that!
I have found that the young people across the world are struggling with the same things that I struggle with and that has helped us relate more to each other. We have been able to share stories, with each other and work together to look to God for the answers. We have been able to search the scriptures together and pray together too.
I know that God is working here and that seeds are being planted! I look forward to the day when we hear about there growth and we are all united again in Heaven.
The reader that is in the photo is Federico. He reads with me 3 days a week and comes to all the parties. He attends the church at Villa Urquiza. His family are not Christians. He struggles with helping his sister who is in Italy, when turning to the church is something that she does not understand. We have had many interesting discussions and have searched the Bible often when we neither one know the answer. I think that he is growing spiritually and will continue even after I am gone.
I have 11 other readers that are a lot like him, only he is searching deeper into God's word and they are lost and do not know where to search. I pray that the seeds that are planted here will help them see that God is the answer they are searching for!

We had our fourth party at the beach (not literally). We had 20 people attend and 9 of those were our readers. We gave everyone a hawaiian lia as they entered the door. We played hot potato with a beach ball. And Sean created a new game called "Doyle Ball" which was his form of volleyball seated. You had to eliminate the other team in order to win! There were extra rules made up as the game went along, but it made for great fun. We played limbo and Andy (Eric and Erika's son) won!! He enjoyed the sweet tarts he received as his prize. While everyone was enjoying fruit for a snack, we taught them a few words in "southern english". We would write the word on the board and they would have to use it in a sentence. If one team was unsuccessful , then the other team got a chance. So for you English majors we basically taught them what not to do in grammar class! :) The party was lots of fun and we are looking forward to the next one, when we take them to the Olympics.
The picture is of Ally (Chris Kelley's wife, one of the missionaries) and myself. She is such a wonderful person. We have only gotten spend a little time together but the time we have spent has been great. She is pregnant and about ready to pop!! We are expecting Jonathan Bruce at any time!

We went with about 11 people to the Argentina vs Brazil soccer game. It was wild. We were up near the top (but the view was still good, except for a pole in a few at times) and there was a bob wire fence in front of us. We were wondering what is the fence for, well as the game began and Argentina score the answer came to us. The crowd went wild and people were jumping on the fence like monkey in a cage. You could just feel the excitement, it was amazing.
The coolest part of the game to me, was that they chanted and the drums kept a constant beat the ENTIRE game! (of course Argentina was winning the whole time, but it was still awesome that they could constantly play the drums that long)
When something good would happen, they would all start singing and jumping up and down all in unison.
Some of the things that were different was there was no announcer, no scoreboard, no time remaining and no commercial breaks. For the commercial the game continues they just run the commercial at the bottom of the screen. How awesome would that be... no commercial breaks!!!
There was lots of people there and the Brazil fans had to stay in their seats until the Argentine people were gone to avoid fights. The fire department was there, we are supposing to hose down the fans who need a little reminder to behave. (keep in mind that it was really cold there too)
It was a awesome experience! Argentina wins 3 to 1!!!

Well this weekend the team decided to divide up and go see things that we wanted to see (especially since our time here is limited and there is not enough time to see it all). So on Friday, Sean and I set out (in the rain) to go to the Malba ( a privately owned art gallery). It had some very cool photos! On the way, we stopped and visited Tiffany's (the jewelry store, that is always raved about). The lady was so nice, she tried to sell us a Tag watch, but it was a little out of our price range, about $1200 out...:), then we went to the Macstation. It was very cool, I can saw I have been to the only Mac store in South America. We didn't buy anything, since it is more expensive than we can get it at home. Then we went to the Abasta mall, where we enjoyed a little taste from home (well not exactly but the closest so far) at Burger King. After dinner, we decided to go see a movie and just relax from walking blocks after blocks after blocks, which is what you have to do here to see the city.
We caught the last subway home by the skin of our teeth. But the day was lots of fun! Not too stressful, which is exactly what I needed.
On Saturday, we set out again but this time no rain. It was a very nice day. We went to the Teatro Colon for a tour. It was awesome. I would love to go see a performance there, but it appears that is out of the question since the staff is on strike. So we continued on our way, to the art galleries that we have been trying to buy art from and they were closed once again. This is where the walking and the not being able to talk in Spanish are a problem. You walk all that way and then they are closed, they have like garage doors over the regular doors so you can't see the time and then you can't call them if you can't speak Spanish, but we have decided we are going to go early one Friday and make sure we catch them when they are open. But we weren't in a hurry to see decided to continue walking to the other side and see some of the other art galleries were told about, but guess what? they were closed too. Saturday is not a happening day like it is at home, so we are just going to have to work something out to come earlier. We continue to walk some more to the look for the Galleria Pacifico, we weren't sure where it is so we just started walking in the general direction of where we thought it might be and we were successful. It was the ritzy part of town, with the name brands and fancy restaurants. But the oddest or coolest which ever way you want to look at it, there was an art gallery on the top floor. It was neat.
So it was about time to start heading in the direction of home. We walked the streets and saw a tango show and some other actors. It was pretty cool that they do that in the streets and it was fun to watch.
On Saturdays, they have youth night at the church, so we stopped by to visit for a little while and to find something to eat. The youth were playing futbol, so we decided to order (actually Ally ordered it for us) Pepperoni Pizza (which is very rare here) and watch Ole Miss vs. Oklahoma baseball on the internet! It was awesome! (although I dreamed of being at the game) We won! and it made a great end to a fun weekend. Back to work on Sunday! (this will be a long week because we have FriendsCamp this weekend)

We have been here for almost 3 weeks and everyday has it own experiences. I have had some interesting questions and been told interesting things. I will give you some examples. I have about 12 readers, sometimes more, sometimes less depends on the day (whether they decide to come or not). But recently, I received a new reader. I told the team not to pray for patience because God would put experiences in our way to test it! and as always that rang true. This readers names is Clara, she is 45 years old and is a radio broadcaster. She loves to talk!!! She was a buddhist but not she is a metaphysicist. She believes that she knows everything she needs to know spiritual and that she has all the answers. She believe in reincarnation and that is what she is waiting on. We met for the first time a last week, and at the first meeting we are suppose to gather personal information and share about ourselves. Well, we almost didn't get through the information page of about 6 questions, when I asked her "what is your nationality?' that opened up a can of worms. She wears a pin so that people will not ask, but I asked. She also told me that I spoke too fast for her. But then she told me that she was going to New York and want to know how they spoke and would I help her. ( I wanted to say they speak faster than me, but that is where the patience came in). We didn't get into Luke on that meeting, but we scheduled our second meeting in which we did get to read a little of Luke. She came prepared and by do I mean prepared! She had done lessons 1 and 2, and had written a page about Gabriel. (the lesson was about the angel coming to Mary to talk to her about being Jesus' mother) Gabriel in the metophysicist religion is very different than the way that I saw Gabriel, but again patience was needed. We finished lesson 1 and 2, but I told her that I thought we should stop there for the day since we are technically only suppose to do one lesson at a time per session. She was Ok with that because she had other plans in mind... sometimes I wonder who was teaching who in these sessions. She is very convicted about her beliefs as am I, so of course there is room for conflict. But what do you tell someone who thinks they have it all together? She has a book with all the answers to her problems and if she comes across something she needs help with her "masters" will help her. I asked her where did this religion come from and she said that it is the good from all religions. I think you understand my dilema here and why I need patience. I don't have all the answers, but I know where to get them and that is from God. It makes me sad to here her stories and the ideas she has because I want everyone to go to heaven. So please pray that I will have patience to talk to her (that I will have the opportunity because usually I can't get a word in) and not give up. I don't know what to say and I don't understand what she believes in.

I have many other readers that need Jesus, more than they need English practice. But God has opened a door for me to show them thru English. I pray that I am able to do that. I am reminded of one of my favorite scriptures: Ephesians 3:20-21 "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." It is in God's hands. I plant the seed and he makes it grow!!! It is not about me, it is about Him! We talked about weakness in devo this morning and how God uses our weaknesses to show our need for Him and that is so true. Because I don't have all the answers only He does, I just have to lead them to him.

God is blessing me in so many ways! Today I am thankful to have been raised in a family that loved God, because I wouldn't want to imagine life any other way.

For our 3rd party, we had a birthday party to celebrate Sean and Jeremy's birthdays along with others who had birthdays near by. We played musical chairs. For some this was the first time they had played. Jeremy is a little aggressive when it comes to musical chairs, we told him after he won that he was suppose to let the readers win... his comment was "now you tell me"... we all had a lot of fun! Then we had a balloon relay, which was very exciting. Some of the balloons kept wanting to come back to there owners instead of going to the finish line, so that made for great laughs. The weather was not very good that day with all the rain, but for the ones who braved it, we had a great time!

Well, our attempt at baking a cake was not a successful as you might think. We got up early to go to the store and get supplies. We thought how difficult could this be, well getting the cake mix was not that difficult, but they don't have what we would call icing... so we got what we thought was icing, nope...pudding! yes, pudding. So I proceeded to mix the ingredients and bake the cake. While the cake was in the oven, I made the "icing". By the way, this was for Sean's birthday. We wanted to surprise him. So we blew up balloons, but the only candle we had was a 2 ( but we thought that could be appropriate)... I didn't eat the cake since it was chocolate, but the guys said it was interesting. (we won't do that again)... But it is the thought that counts right!