Sat. night, we spent the evening with family for Dad's birthday. It was great family time. Yesterday was very busy, but it was another day to add to good memories.
B. and Sk. picked up E.R. and headed to First Baptist Leakesville EARLY. B. spoke at a men's breakfast. He & Sky said the food and fellowship were fantastic. Sy. and I got ready and picked up Cec. & Hal. around 9:50, heading to Antioch Baptist in Leakesville. B. & I spoke to the congregation about our testimonies.
These past couple of years have been amazing. Giving God ourselves has been a journey in itself. Often we say we give our lives to Him, but when it comes down to it, He has to sand and carve out parts to FULLY get our whole selves. His calling us, and our saying, "Here I am LORD, send me" has taken a lot of work on His part to get us ready for the next season in our lives for Him. I thank Him for working on me. He is so very good. I know He has much, much more to get us where He wants us. It's one day at a time. People sometimes think that WE have chosen this journey, but in actuality, He has chosen us, and we are only obeying Him. There have been lots of up and down times, laughter and tears during this journey. During the past year and especially during the past weeks, we have seen things take place that are what we call a "God thing." He has worked miracles right before our eyes. He is testing our full trust. He is ABLE and will work if we will only have FAITH and believe!
Afterward, the Hodges invited us to have lunch with them. It was so very nice. They welcomed us into their home and fed us a DELICIOUS meal.
We arrived back home around 2, and one of my students called asking if she could go with me to KidStuf. I make open invites to my students in class, but it is usually the same ones that want to attend with me. I had a carload to pick up--6 total! That's not including me, B., or our kids. I had 2 go this time that have not been before. It's such a joy to have them want to go to church with me. Never before have I developed such a personal relationship with my students before. I regret that I have not. This is the best year of my life with teaching my kids. I have really grown attached to all of them. After KidStuf, B. gathered 2 more kids in aadition to my 6 and our own 2, and we ordered pizza. We had a blast at our house. They practiced their hand on the piano, rode on the Gator with me, and ran around the yard dodging my silly string. It's great to break down and have fun with the kids.
Two of the kids are friends and church family with our kids, so they slept over at our house. It's really the first tiime that our kids have had anyone spend the night besides their cousin (who, sadly, was sick and couldn't attend). Sk. and Syd. had such fun!
MEMORIES...............Good memories!