The hearts of the Children

 

What a fun week we had at VBS. This years mission project was raising money for the Amazima Feeding Program. This was very special to me because I will be visiting Katie Davis http://www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ on my mission trip and will be part of this Feeding Program while I am there. Sarah and Julie did such a good job at teaching the children about the Feeding Program and why there is a need for it.Thes children worked so hard to bring in money for the kids in Uganda. I heard that some  were having lemonade stands,some gave all of their allowances and some gave away birthday money.In the end the children raised about $1,000.00 and w/ a very generous donation all together we were able to donate $2,000.00 for the Amazima Feeding Program. Even now, I write this w/ teary eyes. What a blessing and soon I will see those little children in Africa and be feeding them myself. :0)

We definitely needed to reward the children at VBS for their great efforts and giving ways. Since , the theme was High Seas Expedition, we decided that the reward would have to do w/ water and since some of the pastors were getting the kids wet during the week........hmmmmmmm............there was only one thing to do: The Pastors must Walk the plank!!!!!

First, the kids had to find all of the  pastors.

The Plank

Let the bombing begin. :0) The kids got to throw water balloons at them and try to knock them in.

I think Sailor Jack is going down.

There he blows me hearties!!!!

ARRRG!!!

Well Shiver me timbers!!!Finally, all men overboard!!!

What good sports!! It was alot of fun!!!

PS Thank you Seneca for taking pictures ! Very nice girlie!!!!

Shots of the Fling Part 2

Ok , Now it's time to dance!!! It was what I was waiting for all night!!

Jonah is showing off his moves!!

Riah showing off something else. LOL

I couldn't get a good shot of Molly because she just kept spinning.Check out that hair though!!!

And the winner Is...... She was trying to outdo Jonah and she did!!

Connar was acting all shy and then the truth came out. He is not too cool for crazy dancing afterall. These make me laugh every time I look at them!

Lydia getting down!! Really we were surprised that she did not fall down. Rock on Sister.

Too cute!! Livy was giggling w/ embarrassment but she couldn't help herself.

Annalise bustin a move. I tell ya Break Dancing  must run in the family. Go Annalise!!

It's time for Family  Feud!!!! I must say that my team kicked butt. Woot Woot!!!

Molly and Livy modeling the Tu Tus we made to auction off.

And here is a little taste of the goodies that were donated for the auctions. :0) So thankful!!!

This is the beautiful quilt that my Mother in law made and donated. My Aunt Judy was blessed to take this home!! She was so excited!

I love the tag and what it says. :0)

Shots of the Fling Part 1

 

If you plan it , they will come!!! If you make the sgetti , they will eat it!!! :0) We filled both the upstairs and the downstairs of the VFW. Who needs to sell tickets ahead of time!!! Isn't God good!!! If you obey , He will provide!!!

Mom and her friend Debbie working in the kitchen.So thankful to my Mom and all she did to make this dinner happen. Debbie was so sweet to spend her night in the kitchen helping!!

 

This is my friend Val and her kiddos Quinnten and Quersti. What a blessing !! These guys along w/ their friend Whitney and Vals husband , Billy  were such a huge help. They shut the place down w/ us as well!! Thank you , Thank you!! 

Here are some more of my kitchen helpers! There is my Mother in law, the one who made that beautiful quilt!!:0)That man of mine was busy all day!! Running errands, setting up and cleaning up. He has been so supportive ! Did you know that he is taking a whole week off to be Mr. Mom while I am gone?? :0) I love you Guy David and appreciate all you do for me!!

Hey Bartender!!! Good thing he wasn't in the kitchen!! LOL Thank you Papa!!

 Here is my sister in law, Michelle and my nephew Jackson. Shell spent the night putting together a scrapbook for me along w/ other things. I love it!!! Here are some other shots I was able to get during the short time I used my camera. Thanks to all who came, made donations,prayed for me, baked goodies  etc. etc. God was so good and used so many of you to bring about the success of this event!!

I am blessed w/ great friends and family!!! I wish I got shots of all of them.

I love this one as I remember back in the day ,my mom and Aunt Helen teaching me how to do the bump.

 

I really have seen Gods Hand  all over this event and my trip in so many ways and so many people have been so generous but I feel led to share a story in particular. Because it shows how His timing is perfect and that he truly loves us and cares about the details of our lives!! As I shared in my last post, I really did start to get a little stressed as I was spending money on this dinner that I did not have.  There was one day  that I was having a really bad day and even shed some tears as I was praying. That afternoon when I went to the mailbox there was a very generous check from my Aunt Mougie and Uncle Johnny w/ a note that let me know I could use it however I needed whether to help w/ the dinner or for the trip. I felt so loved  at that moment and so blessed!! How awesome that that check was used for both!!! I look forward to all that God has in store for me and all that God will do through me  as I continue to prepare and travel to Africa.

With a Grateful Heart

WARNING!!!!

This may be a long post and one that is all over the place. My thoughts and emotions are all over the place but I need to share my heart with you!!!!!

Yesterday on my way to church I was really feeling bad about not publically thanking my Dad at the Spaghetti Spring Fling. Though he had not done anything for the dinner,he has blessed me in such a special way. I had in my head all I wanted to say when I got up there but totally forgot so much. I thanked my Mom and Ryan but forgot Terry ,who paid for the use of the VFW.My Mother in law made a beautiful quilt to auction off. My Father in law was willing to donate all of his time for a Horse and Wagon ride someone could have won in the silent auction for less than half the price. I have seen all that goes into that  and know what a huge sacrifice that was. Any way the list is huge. How in the world could I thank everyone? Ok, back to my dad a couple of weeks ago he asked me if I had enough money  to get my shots. I told him that I really didn't but I would do what I needed to and it would all work out. He then let me know that he would pay for all of my shots because this was my dream and he wanted it to come true w/ as little stress as possible. This is after he already gave me a very generous donation towards my trip. ** sigh** and tearing up as I write.  I am overwhelmed and feel this kind of support of wanting  to help make my dreams come true from all of my parents. I am grateful beyond  what  words can express. This same kind of support is coming from so many of my family and friends and I feel blessed!!

Once I got to church and stood up to sing and worship, I realized that I never mentioned a word about the Lord and all He has done for me so far for this trip. With out Him this wouldn't even be my desire to get on a plane and fly 13 hours to Africa and w/out Him it would not even be happening!! I am in awe of my Father in Heaven and how He wants to make my dreams come true!! There is noone who knows me better or loves me more. I just feel the need to brag about Him today!! For the past 5 years or so , I have seen Him bless me in so many ways. Well, he certainly always has but never have I felt a closer walk w/ Him and have truly believed that He loves me. I had the knowledge that he did but didn't fully believe. Quite honestly I was extremely depressed back then and just cried out to him.   I am not sure of all the reasons but here is one :  I have this huge desire to  to adopt. My heart has always broke for children who are abused or do not have the love of a mommy and daddy. I never really thought of adopting until I was blessed to be a part of the journey my friend Sarah and her husband got go on to adopt their daughter from China. I remember going to her house to pray for that little one. Then it was time to decide what we were going to do in memory of our first little girl, Alayna. I had always wanted to do something but could never figure out what. After learning more about the orphans of the world through Sarah and Bobs' adoption ,it hit me that our little girl received more love in her 2 weeks on this earth than what some of these children get in their lifetime.  Believe me , the more you become educated about the orphans of this world, there is no way that you canlook the other way and not feel like you need to do something.I ,then, knew that whatever we did to remember Alayna was going to help orphans. That is how our Pie Sale was started. Every year  around Alayna's Birthday  we have a Pie Sale and the money goes to sponsorships  and helping children in need in some way. This year we were able to donate to Smile Train and help 3 children receive cleft palate surgeries.  So , I have continued wanting to adopt and unfortuneately my husbad does not have this desire. I say this w/ great respect to my husband and in no way do I want in any way want to make him look bad. He is a very generous, kind and loving man. But I certainly have let this come between us in the past.  Not too long ago after many times giving it to the Lord and then taking it back, I finally left it all in His hands. I started praying that God would show me what to do w/ all that was in my heart. I was finally able to accept that adoption just may not be in the plans for us but I knew God had placed something in my heart for a reason.  It was soon after I prayed that prayer that I heard about this Missions Trip and felt the Lord calling me to go. This so out my comfort zone but I have a full trust and think about this verse often: Phillipians 1:6 being confident of this very thing,that He who has begun a good work in you  will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ 
 God has really been meeting my every need so far throughout this process and I know He will continue. Though, the road doesn't always feel smooth . That is for sure. I have to admit that I was very stressed as I was spending money on this event and not seeing a whole bunch of tickets sold. I was spending money I did not have and was very tired too. Saturday Morning , I was finishing an apron and Guy David took the kids to the VFW to start setting up. I had a wonderful time in prayer. I felt a peace wash over me and knew He would provide. So I say thankyou to God for all he has done for me and for loving me so much and for giving me the desires of my heart. He has blessed me w/ my familys and friends support  and has sent very generous people my way.

I thanked my Dad yesterday for saying the blessing and he said," I find if I think too much I am nervous but if I just speak from my heart it just flows." So I am here this morning speaking from my heart. My brother said something at the dinner that made me feel bad... Certainly not in a bad way ..he was blessing me...but he said in a joking way something like " me going on this trip made him feel like a smuck." I write all of this not to make anyone feel like a smuck. God calls us all to different things and has created us all unique and special w/ our own gifts and desires. The important thing is just to obey to whatever He calls you to. There is my heart and here are a few shots from the dinner. I was too busy to take the pics I wanted too. Oh well!! Ry and Shell made a scrapbook for me out of the shots from the photo booth!!! I have been having fun looking at that this morning!!! Actually i will post pics soon. I had uploaded 5 and then lost them and decided not to wait to post. :0) Thank you again to all of you !!

And the winner is.......

We did pick the winner yesterday at 6:00 pm but then I left to take my Mom out for Mother's Day. My assistant and I put all the names in a hat and then picked one.

Wish you all could have won but the one who did is .........


Drum roll please...........



And the winner of this adorable apron is...........


VALLEYGIRL!!!!!!



Congratualtions girl!!! It will look adorable on you!!!

Maybe she will wear it to the dinner. ;0)


And for those who did not win, there will actually be 2 at the dinner that will be auctioned off along w/ some other homemade goodies!!! So excited!!! 


Thank you all for visiting my blog and voting, etc. It was so fun for me to have my very first blog giveaway!!

I still am not sure what the second sauce will be. ***Sigh**** Still considering your votes and weighing the costs.Looking forward to seeing you there!!!